Afzal-ul Amin

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 Muslims of Odisha 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.[4][5]

Post independence, Amin met with the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru during his Odisha visit, India's President, 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.[6] 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.[7][8] He was later appointed as the President of Odisha Mohammadan Association. Amin had also served as the secretary and chairperson of various reputed colleges in Cuttack including Indira Gandhi Women's College and Imarti Devi College.[9]

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 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.[2]

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.[4]

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 Qadriyyah house and the granddaughter of Umdatunnissa, Nawab Begum of Kharui.

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.