Source of Inspiration; Late Abdur Razzaque Ansari

Late Mr Abdur Razzaque Ansari  A Freedom Fighter, Procreator of Weavers’ Movement, Organizer & Former Cabinet minister of Erstwhile  Bihar and Founder Member of The All India Momin Conference, He spent most of his childhood making handloom products and selling them. He would travel over 15 Kilometers on foot to Ranchi to sell his goods in the local market. His hand made clothes would sell out well because he always focused on ensuring the quality of his work. After selling his goods, he would while away his time outside the gates of a school run by Khan Bahadur Habibur Rahman, a respected leader in the Muslim community. One day, Khan Bahadur himself noticed the boy, and asked him why he visited the school every day. Late Mr. Ansari revealed his desire to attend school and acquire an education. The magnanimous Khan Bahadur fulfilled his wish, and allowed him to attend classes whenever he could. Late Mr. Ansari received some primary education from the school. Later, he travelled to Balsokra village – over 60 Kilometers away from Village Irba, Ranchi to try and gain a secondary education from the school there. He was first denied admission because he was older than the children there, and because he had no money to pay. However, Late Mr. Ansari managed to negotiate a deal with the management. He offered to cook all the meals for the school children in exchange for lessons. Late  Mr. Ansari’s perseverance was rewarded when he graduated from secondary school with distinction.

 Late Mr. Ansari then sought to change the fate of his family and people by taking on all challenges as they came. After he returned home, he took action to open a secondary school in Irba, Ranchi to educate the members of his community. Soon, children from all across Jharkhand began attending classes at the institution. Late Mr. Ansari’s commitment towards educating his community was so strong that even government agencies had begun to notice and applaud his involvement. Late Mr. Ansari encouraged his wife to gain an education. She mirrored her husband’s dedication by completing her secondary school education and becoming the Head Mistress in a Government Primary school for girls in Irba, Ranchi. Late Mr. Ansari and his wife assisted in open a number of schools in the Area of Ranchi helping to break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy in the region.

Late Mr. Ansari did not stop there. He worked towards bringing the Momin weavers’ communities together, and organized them into a primary cooperative society that would help ensure employment and living wages for the poverty-stricken people of the region. He helped establish a number of cooperative societies for weavers’, and build the apex body that helps them live their own lives comfortably by relying on their own hands. Late Mr.Ansari once said that his deeds were inspired by a couplet recited by Ali Sikander, a famous Urdu poet fondly called Jigar Moradabadi.

 !! अपना जमाना आप बनाते हैं अहले-दिल,
       हम वो नहीं है जिसको जमाना बना गया  !!

He had promised the late Mr. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and the late Mr. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to win all six parliamentary seats in the Chotanagpur region for the Indian National Congress. He fulfilled all of his commitments and received compliments from both the late Mr. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and the late Mr. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He was specially invited to the Indian National Congress preliminary session in Ahmedabad.

He collaborated closely with the late Mr. Abdul Qaiyum Ansari, a distinguished freedom fighter. In order to promote Urdu literature, the late Mr. Ansari also worked with the well-known Urdu scholar and novelist, the late Mr. Sohail Azeemabadi.