UpdateBot at 19:43, 22 June 2022

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{{short description|Indian politician and social worker (1915-1983)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder 
| name = Mohammed Afzal-ul Amin
| image = File:Lord Mountbatten with Afzal ul Amin at Cuttack.jpg
| caption = Afzal-ul Amin shaking hands with [[Lord Mountbatten]]
| birth_place = Amin House, [[Cuttack]], [[Bihar and Orissa Province]], [[British India]]
| office = President, Odisha Board of Wakfs
| term_start = June 1963
| term_end = November 1977
| office2 = Vice chairman, [[Cuttack Municipal Corporation]]
| term_start2 = 25 February 1955
| term_end2 = 27 November 1960
| office3 = Chairman, [[Cuttack Municipal Corporation|Cuttack Municipality]]
| term_start3 = 21 March 1960
| term_end3 = 21 June 1965
| birth_date = {{birth date|1915|07|16|df=y}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1983|05|28|1915|07|16|df=y}}
| occupation = [[Politician]], [[Social activist]]
| alma_mater = [[Ravenshaw Collegiate School]]
| death_place = [[Cuttack, Odisha]]
| resting_place = [[Qadam e Rasool, Cuttack]]
| ethnicity =
| citizenship = *British India (1915–1947)
*India (1947–1983)
| party = [[Indian National Congress]]
| otherparty = [[Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee]]
| father = [[Sayeed Mohammed]]
| mother = [[Begum Badar un nissa Akhtar]]
| children = Tabasum Sultana, [[Farhat Amin]]
| relatives = [[Hussain Rabi Gandhi]] (''elder son-in-law'')
[[Saleem Farook]] (''younger son-in-law'')
[[Ibrahim Suhrawardy]] (''father-in-law'')
| spouse = Syeda Roshanara Akhtar
}}
'''Mohammed Afzal-ul Amin''', popularly known as '''M.A Amin''', was an Indian [[Public figure|statesman]], politician and social worker from [[Cuttack]], [[Odisha]]. He served as the general secretary of [[Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee|Utkal Pradesh Congress Committee]] during [[Biren Mitra]]'s chief ministership.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Gandhi's ideals|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/states/odisha/gandhi-s-ideals/cid/374784|website=www.telegraphindia.com|language=en|access-date=25 May 2020}}</ref> Afzal-ul was the Vice Chairman and later the Chairman of Cuttack Municipality and also the President of Odisha Mohammadan Association. He played a major role in preserving [[Urdu]] language in [[Cuttack]] by establishing several lower primary and upper primary Urdu schools in the city. He is also credited for organising various nationalist meetings and mobilizing the common masses in [[Cuttack]] during the [[Quit India movement]] of 1942.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Pati|first=Biswamoy|date=1 March 1992|title=The climax of popular protest: The Quit India Movement in Orissa|journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review|language=en|volume=29|issue=1|pages=1–35|doi=10.1177/001946469202900101|s2cid=143484597|issn=0019-4646}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://resultuniversity.com/election/cuttackcity-odisha-assembly-constituency|title = Cuttack City Assembly Constituency Election Result - Legislative Assembly Constituency}}</ref>

==Life and career==

[[File:Afzal ul Amin portrait.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Portrait of M.A Amin]]

Mohammed Afzal-ul Amin alias M.A Amin was born into the Diwan family to the notable educationist of Cuttack, [[Sayeed Mohammed]] and his wife [[Begum Badar un nissa Akhtar]]. From his mother's side he was the great grandson of the famous poet and writer, [[Ubaidullah Al Ubaidi Suhrawardy]] and from his father's side he was the great grandson of the Sufi Pir [[Khwaja Fazal Mohammed]]. After finishing his schooling from [[Ravenshaw Collegiate School]], Afzal-ul entered the field of politics where he emerged as a prominent Muslim leader in the town. Like his father, he too mobilized the Odia Muslims to join the [[Indian freedom struggle]]. During the 1942 [[Quit India movement]], Amin worked in close association with [[Malati Choudhury]] and [[Ramadevi Choudhury]], he organised various nationalist meetings at his place in [[Cuttack]] to gather support for the movement after Surajmal Shah and Bibhunendra Mishra were arrested in August 1942.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Gayer|first=Laurent|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qSnmSjPO6JsC&q=ma+amin+cuttack&pg=PA248|title=Muslims in Indian Cities: Trajectories of Marginalisation|date=2012|publisher=Hurst|isbn=978-1-84904-176-8|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Cuttack City Assembly Constituency Election Result - Legislative Assembly Constituency|url=https://resultuniversity.com/election/cuttackcity-odisha-assembly-constituency|website=resultuniversity.com|access-date=22 May 2020}}</ref>

Post independence, Amin met with the then [[Prime Minister of India]], [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] during his Odisha visit, [[President of India|India's President]], [[Zakir Husain (politician)|Zakir Husain]] both in Cuttack as well as in [[Delhi]], where Husain had invited Amin for high tea at his Delhi residence. Amin hosted India's first education minister, [[Abul Kalam Azad]] at Jalal mansion in Cuttack.
Afzal-ul served as the chairman of Odisha board of Wakfs (State Muslim endowment board). He was also one of the most prominent Muslim councilors in the [[Cuttack]] municipality then. He was elected as the councilor continuously for 28 long years i.e. from 1952 to 1980, winning all the [[elections]] continuously. He had also been elected as the Vice Chairman of [[Cuttack]] Municipality.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Quit India Movement in Odisha – History of Odisha|url=https://www.historyofodisha.in/the-quit-india-movement-in-odisha/|language=en-US|access-date=23 May 2020}}</ref> Afzal-ul was a member of the Indian National Congress (Organisation). In 1961 he was appointed as the general secretary of Utkal Pradesh Congress Committee by [[Biren Mitra]]. In 1971 he ran for the Cuttack State legislative assembly elections as an MLA candidate from the Indian National Congress (O) party.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gayer|first=Laurent|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qSnmSjPO6JsC&q=ma+amin+cuttack&pg=PA248|title=Muslims in Indian Cities: Trajectories of Marginalisation|date=2012|publisher=Hurst|isbn=978-1-84904-176-8|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Cuttack City Assembly Constituency Election Result - Legislative Assembly Constituency|url=https://resultuniversity.com/election/cuttackcity-odisha-assembly-constituency|website=resultuniversity.com|access-date=22 May 2020}}</ref> He was later appointed as the President of Odisha Mohammadan Association.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sethy|first=Rabindra Kumar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-2kJusgGxiQC&q=utkal+pradesh+congress+committee&pg=PA92|title=Political Crisis and President's Rule in an Indian State|date=2003|publisher=APH Publishing|isbn=978-81-7648-463-3|language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Amin seated in between Indira Gandhi and J.B Patnaik.jpg|thumb|Amin seated in between the former [[Prime Minister of India]], [[Indira Gandhi]] and the former chief minister of Odisha, [[Janaki Ballabh Patnaik]] at the [[Indian National Congress]] delegation meeting with Odia leaders. ]]

Amin amplified and made significant contributions to the [[Bhoodan movement|Bhudan movement]] in Odisha. During this time, four among the most prominent Chief ministers of Odisha, [[Biren Mitra]], [[Nandini Satpathy]], [[J.B. Patnaik]] & [[Biju Patnaik]] visited him at his residence. He served as the chairman in many emergency committees formed to help the people in the flood affected areas, during the floods in central Odisha.<ref name=":0" />

Afzal-ul played a major role in preserving Urdu language in Cuttack. As the chairman of Cuttack Municipality's sub-committee on education he established five Urdu lower primary and five upper primary schools in Cuttack some of which include, Maulana Azad U.P school in Qadam Rasool.<ref name=":1" />

==Marriage and family==

Afzal-ul Amin married his second cousin, Syeda Roshanara Akhtar, the younger daughter of [[Ibrahim Suhrawardy]], a notable author and linguist from [[Balasore]] of the [[Qadiriyyah]] house.

Afzal-ul has two daughters, Tabassum Amin Sultana, who married the notable politician and writer [[Hussain Rabi Gandhi]], and [[Farhat Amin]] Sultana, a journalist and a social activist who married the tribal rights activist [[Saleem Farook]].

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
<br />

[[Category:1915 births]]
[[Category:1983 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian Muslims]]
[[Category:Amin family]]
[[Category:Odisha politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century births]]
[[Category:20th-century deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian politicians]]
[[Category:Suhrawardy family]]

Afzal-ul Amin - Revision history

UpdateBot at 19:43, 22 June 2022