Hamid Umar Dalwai (; ; 29 September 1932
– 3 May 1977) was an Indian journalist, social reformer, thinker, activist, author, writer
and the founder of Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal and Indian Secular Society. Despite being an
atheist, he attempted and advocated for several
modernistic and
liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
reforms within the
Indian Muslim community, most notably being his futile agitation against the practice of
triple talaq
Divorce in Islam can take a variety of forms, some initiated by the husband and some initiated by the wife. The main traditional legal categories are ''talaq'' ( repudiation), ''khulʿ'' (mutual divorce or ransom divorce) Historically, the rules ...
and
polygyny
Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women.
Incidence
Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any ...
during the 1960s. He has also authored several books, including ''Muslim Politics in Secular India'' (1968).
Early life and education
Dalwai was born to a Marathi-speaking
Muslim family on September 29, 1932 in
Mirjoli village of
Bombay Presidency (now
Maharashtra) during the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was him ...
.
He received secondary education at
Chiplun
Chiplun ( ͡ʃipɭuːɳ is a city in Ratnagiri district in the state of Maharashtra, India. It is the financial and commercial Hub of Ratnagiri, and the headquarters of Chiplun taluka. It is about 320 km south of Mumbai in the Konkan ...
. After his matriculation in 1951, he attended
Ismail Yusuf College
Ismail Yusuf College, is the fourth oldest college of Mumbai, India. ''"I Y college"'', as it is popularly known, is managed by Government of Maharashtra. It is the oldest college in North Mumbai. It was established in 1930 with a large donati ...
and
Ruparel College in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
. Between mid-1950s and early 1960s, he was introduced to the
Samajwadi Party's political and cultural wing, Rashtra Seva Dal. He began writing short stories in magazines like ''Mauj'', ''Satyakatha'', and ''Vasudha''.
Career
Dalwai joined the
Indian Socialist Party
The Indian Socialist Party was a political party in the Indian state of Kerala. ISP was founded in May 1969, by the majority of the erstwhile Kerala Samyukta Socialist Party (a splinter group of the Samyukta Socialist Party). The two KSSP ministe ...
of
Jai Prakash Narayan
Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for le ...
in his early adulthood, but left it to devote himself to social reforms in the Muslim community, especially regarding women's rights. Despite living in a period when most people were staunchly religious and orthodox, Hamid Dalwai was one among the few religiously secular people. He strove towards a
uniform civil code rather than religion specific laws, and fought to abolish
Triple talaq in India
'' Triple talaq'' (instant divorce) and ''talaq-e-mughallazah'' (irrevocable divorce) are now banned means of Islamic divorce previously available to Muslims in India, especially adherents of Hanafi Sunni Islamic schools of jurisprudence. A Mus ...
.
To create a platform for his views and work, he established the ''Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal'' (Muslim Truth Seeking Society) in Pune on 22 March 1970. Through the medium of this Society, Hamid worked towards reforming bad practices in the Muslim community especially towards women. He helped many Muslim women who were victimised to get justice. He campaigned for encouraging Muslims in acquiring education in the State language rather than Urdu, their mother tongue. He also tried to make adoption an acceptable practice in the Indian Muslim community.
He also established the Muslim Secular Society. He organised many public meetings, gatherings, conventions and conferences to campaign for better social practices. He was also a great Marathi litterateur. He wrote Indhan (Fuel) - a novel, Laat (Wave) - a collection of short stories and Muslim Politics in Secular India - a thought provoking book. He used the medium of his writing for social reform.
An unprecedented event in his social work was the Muslim women’s march that he organised on the Mantralaya (the administrative headquarters of Maharashtra in South Mumbai, built in 1955) to fight for their rights. Hamid Dalwai dealt with opposition with tremendous equanimity and worked towards social reform without getting discouraged at the slow rate of success. It is because of these traits that the great Marathi genius P. L. Aka
PuLa Deshpande described him as a great social reformer and put him in the same bracket as the great Indian leaders Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Ambedkar.
He died of progressive
kidney failure
Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...
on 3 May 1977, at the age of 44.
Literary works
Dalwai worked as a journalist. His works include ''Lat'' (The Wave) and ''Indhan'' (Fuel) in Marathi, and ''Muslim Politics In Secular India'' in English, ''Islamche Bhartiya Chitra'' (Islam's Indian story) in Marathi, ''Rashtriya Ekatmata aani Bhartiya Musalman'' (National Unity and Indian Muslim) in Marathi.He also has written a short story namely "10 rupayachi goshta" which was later published in "Dhanurdhara" magazine.
Family
Dalwai's brother
Husain Dalwai is a Congress leader in Maharashtra. He is currently a member of Parliament upper house - Rajya Sabha. He also served as a Congress spokesperson in Maharashtra.
Works
*''Muslim politics in India''. Nachiketa Publications, 1969
In popular culture
In 2017 a documentary about Hamid Dalwai was made by actress
Jyoti Subhash
Jyoti Subhash is an Indian actress who works in Marathi film, television and theatre industry. She is best known for her works in Marathi films like '' Valu'' (2008), ''Gabhricha Paus'' (2009) and Bollywood films like ''Phoonk'' (2008) and ''Ai ...
.
Legacy
Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal continue to organize various social events in Maharashtra, to propagate the ideas of Hamid Dalwai and create awareness amongst masses about equality, women empowerment and Hindu-Muslim brotherhood. The trust also felicitates eminent personalities with Satyshodak Award. In 2019, noted humanist Ms Zeenat Shaukat Ali and acclaimed
Lavani writer- poet Lokshahir
Bashir Momin Kavathekar
Bashir Kamruddin Momin (1 March 1947 – 12 November 2021), popularly known by his pen name, Momin Kavathekar, also known as 'Lokshahir B. K. Momin Kavathekar', was a popular Marathi language poet, writer who promoted sanitation, literacy, and s ...
were conferred with 'Satyshodak Award'.
["दारू पिऊन ‘तिहेरी तलाक’ उच्चारणे कसे काय चालते]
''Lokamt'', Published on 23-March-2019
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalwai, Hamid
Marathi-language writers
20th-century Indian journalists
20th-century Indian Muslims
Indian women's rights activists
Muslim reformers
1932 births
1977 deaths
Scholars from Maharashtra
Indian socialists
Male feminists
Socialist feminists
Indian social reformers
Indian feminists
Proponents of Islamic feminism
Indian secularists
People from Ratnagiri district
Activists from Maharashtra
20th-century Indian historians