New Delhi, January 05: Sultana Begum, the great granddaughter of the last Mughal emperor of India, Bahadur Shah Zafar, has found an unusual saviour - a coffee table book on the former prime ministers of India.
The book, 'The Prime Ministers of India 1947-2009' has been compiled by journalist Shivnath Jha and his teacher wife Neena Jha to raise money for Sultana Begum's rehabilitation. Sultana Begum, a poor widow with four daughters, sells tea in a kiosk in Shibpur, a semi-urban township, 80 km southwest of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal.
When I came across her in 2008, the 56-year-old woman who lives in a slum of gold panners an impoverished community from Bihar which sifts waste water used by the goldsmiths to produce traces of the metal looked like just another squatter, Jha told IANS.
Her 8 ft by 8 ft dwelling in the slums of Cowies Ghat belied the fact that her forefathers once ruled the subcontinent. She had nothing left. I decided to help her make a better life, Jha said.
The journalist and his wife, who had earlier helped raise funds for shehnai maestro Bismillah Khan and legendary Maratha freedom fighter Tantiya Tope's descendants Vinayak Rao Tope, hit upon the idea to profile the prime ministers of India with a group of like-minded friends and politicians.
I intend to raise Rs.500,000 for her and deposit it in a bank so that she has a steady income. A school in Kolkata has also agreed to give her a job and the owner of a pharmaceutical company will donate an apartment to Sultana Begum, Jha said.
Her youngest daughter will be married in March with the money raised by the benefactors.
The book chronicles regimes of Indian prime ministers, including Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, V.P. Singh, Chandra Shekhar, P.V. Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, H.D. Deve Gowda, I.K. Gujral and Manmohan Singh, through texts and photographs.
The text throws light on the personalities of the prime ministers, their achievements and political developments during their rule.
The photographs were shot by Vijender Tyagi and several other photographers.
-IANS
kudos to ......
Hats off Shivnath Jha & Neena Jha, don't hav words to express my feeling for the work u both r doing ..... kudos
all is not lost...
I good to see people in India,who still care about moving ahead with people rather than just speeding ahead selfishly.
WHAT IS THE GOVT DOING....
It's really good to see these people helping Ms.Sultana Begum & Ustad Bismillah Khan & the descendants of Tantiya Tope. There aren't many people like that in today's world. But my question is, what is the Indian Government doing for the descendants of such great personalities. It's a shame that a pharmaceutical co. is giving accomodation to Sultana Begum & not the government. Can't the govt do even a little bit for these people? I'm sure it's not going to be hard for them to allot a monthly pension to these people & to arrange an apartment for them to live rent free in. This just shows that this govt doesn't have any regard for the freedom fighters & talented artists like Tantiya Tope and Ustad Bismillah Khan who did so much for the country, otherwise the govt would have done something for them. Cheers for Shivnath Jha & Neena Jha for taking up this cause. I hope they raise as much money as they need.
Comment
If you are not doing any thing for the people of your community, if have no right to make any comment on the Government, whether it is government of India or pakistan.Bahadur Shah Zafar was commander-in-chief on 1857 Mutiny of undevided Indian subcontinent
A thing to ponder
This is the world we live in. A family that ruled india for hundreds of years now live in absurd poverty . May Allah bless them and lessen their problems .
Great Work!!!
Thats great Job How sad we forgot the descendents of our king.
Can we send donations.
Really Appreciated. Good
Really Appreciated. Good luck
get a lesson
Dear Muslims,
this is a lesson for all of us how people from other communities are helping our people regardless of faith or caste. Actually our prophet(pbuh) has told us to do this, but we have neglegted our prophet's(pbuh) teachings and people from other communities are doing that work.
It is my request to all Muslim brothers to be a role model to other communities by changing our attitude and give them the respect and love for that will be good for us in this world and hereafter.
May Allah give me and all of us his guidance. Aameen.
Appreciable Idea
Hi friends,
Atleast now one should learn how to help poor around us stuggling for their lives. We so called civilised people abusing each other on this news paper instead of helping our own poor community around us.
Pls for god sake don't misuse this media for realising their internal anger ( i call it as desease ) by using voulger language against any other community.
Hope you all understand this.
yes sir
yes sir
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