February 2012.indd - World Memon Organization Pakistan Chapter

IMMORTAL PERSONALITIESknown for his philanthropy. He constructeda good number of residential flats andhouses for the poor of the community andgave them away free of cost and for thatreason he was awarded the title of THEFATHER OF REHABILITATION.He was well known industrialist but moreknown among the community masses forhis generous nature and charities. He servedDhoraji Association for several years whileremained Managing Director of DhorajiHousing and Relief Trust till he breathedhis last. His services as the President of theMemon Educational Board will remain as livingmemories in the minds of the community.GENERAL ABUBAKAROSMAIN MITHAGeneral Abubakar Osman Mitha, whopassed away recently at the age of 76, wasthe first member of the Memon Communityto have joined the armed forces. He wasa grandson of Sardar Sir Suleman QasemMitha. Born in Bombay in 1923, GeneralMitha served in Burma during World WarII while he was only 19 years old. In 1947,he came over to Pakistan and raised theSpecial Service Group and also commandedPMA. He also served in former East Pakistan.He was retired in 1971.Though, a temperamental person knownfor his harsh disciplinary measures, GeneralMitha cared a lot for his soldiers. He also hadthe courage and the ability to apologize for hisstern actions. The hall mark of his characterwas his honesty and integrity. He had immensedislike for hypocrisy and any displayof pomp and show. A large number of SSCs,for whom he was a father figure, attended hisfuneral from all over the country.ALI MUHAMMADUMAR GHAZIPURA(NAZ) MANGROLIHe was the first ever Memon Mayor, a man ofrefined culture a social worker, history writer,author, poet, journalist, a good orator and thebest compere. He died on 19th March 1995at Bombay. He started his public life as poet,became a qualified doctor in Homeopathy. In1951 he took out a Gujrati magazine “Memon”.He was fluent in Urdu, Gujrati, English,Hindi, Marathi and Memon languages.He became the Mayor of Bombay in 1981before that he was elected in Bombay MunicipalCorporation in 1977 at the age of 30. Hevisited Karachi in his capacity as Mayor ofBombay on special invitation from Mr. AbdulSattar Afghani, the then Mayor of Karachi.He was associated with the Memon Educational& Welfare Society (India) for four decadesand worked as its Honorary Secretary for18two decades. He also served as high-rankingofficer of Chhotani Memon Jamat as well asHalai Memon Association. He was affiliatedwith a number of organizations such as theSociety, Memon Financial & Investment,Co-ordination Committee, World MemonFoundation, All India Memon Jamati Federation,Hajj committee etc.He was awarded a handsome amountrunning in lacs of rupees as mark of hisservices by the Memon Samman Committee,which he donated to the welfare society.JIWANI KAKAHe was better known for the long life heenjoyed in compassion to his services to thecommunity. He died at Hyderabad at theage of 103 years. Moreover, he was secondstalwart of the community who was giventhe title KAKA after KAKA Bawany. Hisname was Ismail Saleh Mohammad Jivani.He passed his early days at Mauritius andcame back to India at the age of 15 where hestarted business in partnership with his maternaluncle with the capital of 1000 rupees givenby his father at Rampur in the year 1900. In1906 he started his own business.He again shifted with family to Tanuji in1930 where he began running a shop whichwas later destroyed by the shelling duringSecond World War. He returned back to hisnative town Jetpur in 1947 and from theremigrated to Pakistan where he permanentlysettled in Hyderabad. He took active interestin the formation of Memon Khidmati Jamat,its schools and hospital. He also served JetpurMemon Association, Hyderabad from 1962 to1982. He left this post at the age of 97.The jetpur Memon Association alsocelebrated his living centenary in 1985. Hewas healthy even at the age and could movefreely and recite Holy Quran without anyhitch or difficulty. But after all, life onceagain moved itself mortal.MST. KHADIJA HAJIANITHE LADY WHO INITIATEDEDUCATION FOR THE COMMUNITYThe lady who made effort for women in thecommunity died on 18.5.90 at the age of 90.She was dedicated to the education of womenthough she herself was not so educated. Sheestablished a number of schools and a collegefor girls. Born in 1900 in the family of HajiAhmed Bilwani (Akuli), she got married at atiny age of only 12. She became the motherof two sons and four daughters out of thatwedlock and became widow at the age of 22.She made a mission to educate the girls ofthe society. In those days when male educationwas taken as no less than sin she daredto motivate girls of the community to acquiremodern education.In view of her zeal toward this mission,in 1922, administration of Madarassah-e-Nizamul Islam was handed over to her. HajiSuleman Dewan was much impressed withthe success of Madarassah and gifted to herhis plot of land measuring 3000 yards. Shecollected a donation of Rs. 28,000 and startedconstruction of a school building over thatplot of land but before completion of the construction,the sub-continent was divided.She came to Pakistan with all the documentsrelating to that plot of land and demanded anyevacuee property for running a school therein.Madr-e-Millat Fatima Jinnah came to her helpand she got a building in Nanakwada where shestarted Raunaq-e-Islam Girls School. Thereafterthe caravan of knowledge and learning marchedon day and night. She established more schoolsin Kharadar and Federal B Area. At NawabMahabat Khanji Road, she established a girlscollege under the auspices of her newly formedorganization Pakistan Women EducationalSociety. The result was that a good majority ofcommunity girls ware able to acquire education.The credit goes to Mohtarma Khadija Jiwani.Khadija Hajiani was awarded a goldmedal weighing 10 totals along with a purseof two lac rupees and many other gifts at afunction of the Bantva Memon Community.WALI MUHAMMADHAJI YAQOOBHe passed his whole life serving the OkhaiMemon community of Karachi. He startedhis public life by establishing Young MenOkhai Memon Association in the year1921. He was elected its Founder President.In 1930 he established Okhai MemonHousing Society with the aim to get all thecommunity members scattered in differentareas of the city settled in one singleplace. It was first ever housing society of itsstandard among the community. In 1933,he established Memon Co-operative CreditSociety and was elected its president andserved as such for three years. In 1940, hewas elected Honorary Secretary of OkhaiMemon Madressah Association and keptbeing elected on the same post continuouslyfor ten years. In 1948, Karachi Memon CooperativeHousing Society was establishedand he was elected its Honorary Secretary.He served on that post for fifteen years.In 1934, he was elected Councilor of theKarachi Municipal Corporation and keptbeing elected constantly on the same posttill 1954. In 1940, he was selected as Trusteeof the Karachi Port trust. He held thatresponsibility for about ten years. In 1960,he was elected in West Pakistan Assembly.In addition to all that he also served in theRailway Advisory Board, Sindh MadressahBoard and rendered valuable services as theGovernor of the Lady Dufferin Hospital.MEMON ALAM FEBRUARY 2012