Risking life, Kazmi rescued Hindu woman from PoK

ZAMEER HASSAN Kazmi commands great respect among citizens of Allahabad and he enjoys being loved by nationalist and intellectual people. His benevolence and generosity are lauded by those belonging to the middle and underprivileged classes.

ZAMEER HASSAN Kazmi commands great respect among citizens of Allahabad and he enjoys being loved by nationalist and intellectual people. His benevolence and generosity are lauded by those belonging to the middle and underprivileged classes.

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Born in a family of patriots, 82-year-old Kazmi is still engaged in humanitarian and social services. He was a divisional warden of the Civil Defence and the general secretary of the Afrasia Culture Centre. He is the last living founder member of the famous Yadgar-e-Husaini Inter College.In 1960, he made hectic efforts to save the college when it was ordered to vacate its building.

He is sensible and sensitive and if, once, he is convinced that he should fight for a particular cause, he doesn't care what sacrifices he has to make for his struggle. Despite his fading memory, he has been contributing articles to several leading newspapers and periodicals. He is most interested in writing on topics of secularism, communal harmony and national integrity and unity.

Noted scholars, freedom fighters and politicians have appreciated his research work, literary pursuit and social services, which include recovery of four abducted girls from Pakistan after partition of India. He even escaped death when he went to Pak-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) in 1951 to rescue an abducted Indian woman.

Recipient of several prestigious awards, including the National Integration Award, Kazmi worked as a librarian in Accountant-General's office in Allahabad from 1947 to 1982. A resident of Rani Mandi in Allahabad, he has visited several countries, including Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt. He is a heart patient and suffered from brain haemorrhage following sudden death of his promising son Hasan Asghar Kazmi alias Iqbal and was operated upon in 2004. On the basis of his meritorious services, his second son Hasan Baqar Kazmi aka Shaheen was made member of the Haj Committee and the Central Waqf Council. Later, Shaheen became vice-chairman of the Haj Committee.

The excerpts from the interview:

My colleague at the AG's office Tilak Raj Gupta performed all his duties duly but kept quiet most of the time. When I wanted to know the reason behind his "odd" silence, other colleagues told me that during partition, his wife was abducted in Pakistan and he had shifted to India alone. This agitated me very much and I resolved to rescue his wife and even pledged not to get married until I achieved this goal. This was the fourth woman I had to recover from Pakistan and rehabilitate /her/ in India.

In 1951, I went to Pakistan and met the officers concerned there. I came to know that Tilak's wife Urmila was held hostage by a tribal chief at Mirpur in POK.

I sought help from AA Rizvi, the then DIG in Pakistan, and AT Naqvi, the then chief secretary of Punjab province in Pakistan. Both of them had roots in Uttar Pradesh. However, they expressed their helplessness to do anything in the matter. But, this did not deter me and I said that I won't go back without Urmila. My resolve forced the officer duo to think in my favour. They said: "Yeh baat strategy se banegi, goli se nahi." After a long discussion they decided to hold an investiture ceremony at which the tribal chief was to be felicitated for his role in aggression in Kashmir in 1947. The same day, I, accompanied by police in two bullet-proof cars, went to the place where Urmila was lodged.

The DIG shouted her name several times. When Urmila came on the rooftop, the DIG asked "whether you want to be with your husband in India?" And when she said yes, the DIG asked her to leave the place immediately. She came running to me and I dragged her inside my car.

As soon as she occupied the front seat of the car along with me some people fired a few shots at us and one bullet hit the window-glass of my car. The expert drivers sped away towards the destination.

When I went to see the Indian diplomat in Pakistan for completing the formalities for Urmila's departure, he hugged me and yelled: "You have done a godly act, my dear." Thank God, Urmila's recovery and rehabilitation enabled me to get married. But, Urmila died of cancer a few years later after giving birth to a girl.

The other women, who were rescued earlier, used to contact me telephonically and one of them, Rubi Singh, who was rehabilitated in Punjab, even visited me when I underwent brain surgery at a private hospital in Allahabad.

After the train mishap in Hyderabad in 1956, Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then Railway Minister owned responsibility and quit the ministry. We invited him to Yadgar-e-Husaini College to felicitate him for taking this bold step. After being felicitated, Shastri enquired whose was the idea behind felicitating him. On this, the then college manager Sabir Husain Naqvi pointed his finger towards me and Shastriji was quick to embrace me.

On March 11, 1969, the day of Holi festival, the city of Allahabad witnessed communal riot, which claimed several lives. My house turned a refugee centre for several days. The then commissioner Dr JD Shukla, ICS, accompanied by district magistrate and top police officers, came to Rani Mandi and sent Dr Ram Chandra Malviya to me. He knocked at my door at 12 in the night on March 14 and said the commissioner wanted to see me immediately.

Though my family members stopped me from going to him, I went to him and sought to know what could I do. He sought my help to defuse the tension and offered that I should take PAC and police personnel for the purpose and even advise them opening fire, if necessary. I took only two-three PAC personnel along with me and visited several localities for several hours. At last, the slogan-shouting stopped after we succeeded in convincing the agitated people.