Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

The Musalman: A heritage publication catering to the niche

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Recently random net surfing led me to a news in the Khaleej Times about an almost century old Urdu newspaper published or rather written from Chennai. It was about The Musalman, an Urdu newspaper which is handwritten. Urdu has a tradition of calligraphy. There was a time when books, magazines and newspapers were handwritten. The katibs (writers) wrote with machine like precision. The art of writing calligraphy is called kitabat. Master katibs were high in demand and they were respected for their finesse and dexterity to write in cursive style. With the advancement in print technology the art of kitabat slowly lost patronage and usage. That’s why it came as a pleasant surprise that even in these days and times there is still a newspaper which is published using the beautiful art of kitabat.

The Musalman is published since 1927. It is published on spreadsheet and then folded to make it a four page. The daily was started by Syed Azmathullah of Chennai in 1927. Presently Azmathullah’s grandson Syed Arifullah is running the newspaper. Arifullah has done MBA in marketing and has dedicated himself to the dream of grandfather to continue the newspaper. The Musalman is a daily newspaper. The daily circulation is 21000 copies. It has dedicated readers from all over India and in Chennai it is also available on newsstands. The annual subscription is paltry 400 Indian rupees. The cost per copy is mere 75 paisa.

The newspaper has illustrious history. The first edition of the newspaper in 1927 was inaugurated by famous freedom fighter and a leading leader of Indian National Congress, Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari. Some interesting stories are also associated with the newspaper. In early 1960s the then Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru visited Chennai, he was pleasantly surprised when he was interviewed by The Musalman reporter, Krishna Iyer. While Iyer was interviewing Nehru, a photographer of another newspaper The Hindu entered the room and introduced himself as Mohammed Asad from The Hindu. This example of plurality and composite culture of India where a Hindu was working for The Musalman while a Muslim was working for The Hindu left Nehru speechless. In fact, a few years later, Indira Gandhi held up the incident as a model of India’s secularism (Ziya Us Salam, 2021).Both The Hindu and The Musalman are still published from Chennai. The Hindu is in circulation since 1878 when it started as a weekly and later turned into a daily in 1889 (The Hindu, 2021)

The Musalman is most probably the only Urdu newspaper which still uses the traditional system of Kitabat. However, some of the newspaper reports about The Musalman mention it as the first Urdu newspaper (Joydeep Sen Gupta, 2021). This is not only patently wrong but also shows the casual manner these newspaper articles were written. By the time The Musalman was launched in 1927, Urdu newspapers in India had already completed more than 100 years. Various researchers give the credit to either Jam e Jahan Numa (1821) published from the then Calcutta or to Maratul Akhbar (1822), also published from Calcutta. Besides these there is a long list of Urdu newspapers which were started in early 18th century, thus, preceding The Musalman by almost a century. Some of the important Urdu newspapers from early 18th century are: Agra Akhbar (1831), Jamiul Akhbar (1841), Azam Akhbar (1848), Umdatul Akhbar (1849), Taleemul Akhbar (1851), Suboh Sadiq (1855), Tilisme Hairat (1856) (J.S. Ifthekhar, 2015; Mrinal Chatterjee, 2011).

I had telephonic conversation with the editor of The Musalman on 28 November 2021. I found out that at present the newspaper is delivered through email. The editor told me that hard copy will be back in print within a month. The newspaper at present can be subscribed either by visiting it’s office in Triplicane, Chennai or by sending cheque. At present the management does not accept payment or bank transfer. Either way its a treasure worth preserving and a story worth telling.

References:

J. S. Ifthekhar (2015) All about the Urdu media and more. The Hindu, February 17. Available at: https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/all-about-the-urdu-media-and-more/article6904069.ece. Accessed on 3 December 2021.

Joydeep Sen Gupta (2021) How The Musalman, India’s hand written newspaper is defying covid-19 challenge. The Khaleej Times, 16 June. Available at: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/coronavirus/how-the-musalman-indias-hand-written-newspaper-is-defying-covid-19-challenge. Accessed on 2 December 2021.

Mrinal, Chatterjee (2011, November 3) The history of Urdu journalism in India. twocircles.net. Available at: http://twocircles.net/2011nov03/history_urdu_journalism_india.html. Accessed on 1 December 2021.

The Hindu (2021) About Us. The Hindu. Available at: https://www.thehindu.com/aboutus/. Accessed on 3 December 2021.

Ziya Us Salam (2021) Plural Imprint: Chennai-based Urdu daily ‘The Musalman’ continues its strong show. The Hindu, 27 August. Available at: https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-nation/plural-imprint-the-musalman-chennai-based-urdu-daily-published-since-1927-continues-its-strong-show/article35787242.ece. Accessed on 15 November 2021.

Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy cries out for help

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Author: Mohsin Aziz

Darul Musannefin popularly known as Shibli Academy or Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy is a research institution based in the Indian city of Azamgarh. The idea of a residential academy where scholars can stay and undertake quality research was conceived by Allama Shibli Nomani (3 June 1857 – 18 November 1914). Shibli Nomani bequeathed his property at Azamgarh city for the purpose. Besides his relative also donated their share of the property. Today the Academy is situated in 23172.67 square meters campus. The campus has a library, meeting hall, mosque, mango orchard, press and staff quarters.

The purpose of Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy is to:

  • Nurture and sustain a body of scholarly authors.
  • To provide a congenial environment for scholars to create, compile and translate literary works of high scholastic and historical value.
  • To undertake printing and publication of the literary works of the Academy.

The Darul Musannefin since its establishment has nurtured a body of scholars of repute. It provides a congenial academic environment for scholars to create, compile and translate high quality literary work. So far it has published more than 250 high quality books. Some of the best-known books of Darul Musannefin are ‘Seerat -un- Nabi’, ‘Al Farooq’ and ‘Seerat- e- Aisha’.

The Darul Musannefin also publishes a widely reputed Urdu monthly ‘Maarif’. The first issue of Maarif was published in July 1916. The journal has already completed 100 years of uninterrupted publication. At present, it is the longest surviving Urdu journal in the world.

The Press Information Bureau of  Government of India, on the occasion of the Golden Jubilee celebration of the Academy, described it as “Moulded in the scholarly tradition of India’s ancient centres of learning, the Darul Musannefin Shibli Academy, in the old Azamgarh town of Uttar Pradesh, has taken its place alongside some known modern research institutions. The small band of devoted scholars in the Academy, who preferred the pursuit of knowledge to the lure of status, comforts or emoluments which could have been theirs for the asking, recalls the glory of the ancient scholars of Nalanda, Cairo, Taxila and Transoxiana.”

Among its admirers Shibli Academy can count stalwarts as Allama Sir Mohammad Iqbal, Maulana Abul Kalaam Azad, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Pandit Motilal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Zakir Hussain. The present president of the Academy is Hamid Ansari (Former Vice President of India).

To show support to the Academy prominent personalities became life members. Some of the important life members of the Academy were Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Maulana Abdul Kalaam Azad, Rafi Ahmad Kidwai, Nawab Hamidullah Khan.

In the past prominent political and intellectual personalities made it a point to visit Academy. Some of the prominent personalities who have paid visit to the Academy are Mahatma Gandhi, Motilal Nehru, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, Maulana Hasrat Mohani, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Ram Manohar Lohia, Suchitra Kriplani, Chaudhary Charan Sigh, Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, Bi Amman, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad, Sarojini Naidu, Dr. Zakir Hussain, V.V. Giri, V.P. Sigh, Professor Sir Ziauddin, Professor Abdul Salaam (Nobel Laurate), Rahul Gandhi and Hamid Ansari to name a few.

Before Independence, Shibli Academy got valuable monetary support from the Princely states of Bhopal and Hyderabad. Particularly, the Begum of Bhopal was an important patron of the Academy. However, these sources dried up after Independence of India. Despite offers from the Government of India, the Academy opted not become a government organisation so as not to lose its independence of thought. Presently, due to a variety of reasons, the Academy is in dire financial situation. Had it been about construction of a Mosque or supporting a Madrasa, it would have been much easier to generate funds. However, people usually do not understand the importance of a research institution or a think tank. Hence, the lukewarm response of the community towards the Academy. The people at the helm of affairs are trying to tide out of the present precarious situation. Since the Academy survives purely on the donations received from the general public and does not have any permanent income stream, the present administration is trying to build a corpus fund. The idea is to make the Academy financially sustainable so as to reduce the need to go to the community again and again for support. However, due to certain factors, particularly the lockdown, the Academy’s finances are really stressed out. So much so that the April salaries were delayed by 15 days, perhaps first time in almost 106 years of its proud existence. The Director of the Academy, Professor Ishtiyaq Ahmad Zilli, has appealed to the community for help. The Academy is in precarious situation. I am appealing you to kindly help in whatever way you can.

There are several ways to financially help the Academy. Some of them are:

  • Become life member of the Academy
  • Buy books published by the Academy
  • Direct monetary contribution. Monetary contribution can be either one-time lump sum amount (no amount is small. Even 100 Indian Rupees would be helpful). The other more sustainable method is to give standing instruction to your bank to transfer a particular amount every month to the Academy (Again no amount is small. Most of the banks accept standing orders of minimum 100 Indian Rupees per month). It would not be out of place to mention that the Indian contributions to the Academy get tax benefit under 80C. The Academy also has permission to receive funds from outside India.

For those who would like to contribute directly to the Academy, the Account details are as follows:

Account Name: DARUL MUSANNEFIN SHIBLI ACADEMY

General Account No: 4761005500000051

IFSC Code: PUNB0476100

Foreign Account No: 0504010100046001

IFSC Code: PUNB0476100

Bank Name and Address: Punjab National Bank, Heerapatti, Azamgarh.

For further details the website of the Academy can be visited at:

website: www.shibliacademy.org

The administrators of the Academy may be contacted at:

E-mail: shibli_academy@rediffmail.com

info@shibliacademy.org

Note: Please forward the post to your friends. You never know who may help.

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