Rafiq Zakaria (5 April 1920 – 9 July 2005) was an Indian politician and Islamic religious cleric. He was closely associated with the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

and

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

party. He was known for his advocacy of traditional Islam.

Early life and education

Zakaria, a Konkani Muslim from Maharashtra, was an alumnus of Ismail Yusuf College,

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 ...

. He won the Chancellor's Gold Medal in the MA examination of

University of Mumbai The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed h ...

and in 1948 received a PhD from the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury a ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. His doctoral thesis was titled ''Muslims in India: a political analysis (from 1885–1906)''. He was called to the bar from Lincoln's Inn in England.

Career

Zakaria practised law in Mumbai, where he was appointed Chief Public Prosecutor. He spent over 25 years in public service, including some time as a cabinet minister in state government of Maharashtra and later as a Member of the Indian parliament. He served as deputy to Indira Gandhi, the leader of the Congress Party, in the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...

. Zakaria represented India abroad, including at the United Nations in 1965, 1990 and 1996. He was Chancellor of th
Jamia Urdu

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the cap ...

(Uttar Pradesh), and President of Maharashtra College in Mumbai.

Aurangabad

Zakaria contested the first election of the newly created Maharashtra state in 1962, from

Aurangabad Aurangabad ( is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a hilly upland terrain in the Deccan Traps, Aurangabad is the ...

, and was elected to Maharashtra assembly. He was made Minister for Urban Development in the new ministry. It was under his guidance that planning for New Aurangabad was initiated. The responsibility for the new city was given to

CIDCO The City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) is an Indian city planning agency and richest government authority in India which is formed and controlled by the Government of Maharashtra. CIDCO was formed on 17 March 197 ...

which started development in the 1970s. He founded a number of schools and colleges in his constituency. These included a women's college of arts and sciences and the Indian Institute of Hotel Management, which is now known as the

Institute of Hotel Management, Aurangabad Institute of Hotel Management, Aurangabad is a hotel management school located in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India. It was established in 1989 by The Maulana Azad Education Trust Aurangabad in association with Taj Group and is situated in Dr. Raf ...

(IHM-A). The Maulana Azad Education Trust Aurangabad operates multiple educational institutions.

Works

His many books include ''A Study of Nehru'' (ed.), ''The Struggle Within Islam'', ''Muhammed and the Quran'', ''The Price of Partition'', and ''Communal Rage in Secular India''. Zakaria mostly wrote on Indian affairs, Islam and British imperialism. His works include: Tomb rafiq zakaria

*''A Study of Nehru'' *''The Man Who Divided India'' *''Razia: Queen of India'' *''The Widening Divide'' *''Discovery of God'' *''Muhammad and the Quran'' *''Rise of Muslims in Indian Politics'' *''The Struggle Within Islam'' *''Conflict Between Religion and Politics'' *''Iqbal, the Poet and the Politician'' (1993) *''The Price of Partition'' *''Gandhi and the Break-up of India'' *''Indian Muslims: Where Have They Gone Wrong?'' *''

Sardar Patel Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (; ; 31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950), commonly known as Sardar, was an Indian lawyer, influential political leader, barrister and statesman who served as the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of I ...

and Indian Muslims'' *''Communal Rage in Secular India'' (On the aftermath of the Godhra Riots) *''The Trial of Benazir'' (1989) He had earlier worked for the ''

News Chronicle The ''News Chronicle'' was a British daily newspaper. Formed by the merger of '' The Daily News'' and the ''Daily Chronicle'' in 1930, it ceased publication on 17 October 1960,''Liberal Democrat News'' 15 October 2010, accessed 15 October 2010 be ...

'' and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' in London, United Kingdom. Zakaria also penned a bi-weekly column for the ''

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest se ...

'' newspaper.

Personal life

Zakaria was married twice. He was the father of four children by his two wives: * Mansoor Zakaria and Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, the art historian who works with

INTACH The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) is a non-profit charitable organisation registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. In 2007, the United Nations awarded INTACH a special consultative status with Unit ...

in Mumbai, by his first wife, Shehnaz Khan, the daughter of a

Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

i aristocrat. * Arshad Zakaria and

Fareed Zakaria Fareed Rafiq Zakaria (; born 20 January 1964) is an Indian-American journalist, political commentator, and author. He is the host of CNN's '' Fareed Zakaria GPS'' and writes a weekly paid column for ''The Washington Post.'' He has been a columni ...

, the American journalist, by his second wife,

Fatima Zakaria Fatima Zakaria (17 February 1936 – 6 April 2021) was the editor of the ''Mumbai Times'', and later the Sunday editor of ''The Times of India''. She also served as the editor of the ''Taj'' magazine of the Taj Hotels. Career In 1958, she estab ...

, who was for a time the editor of the Sunday ''

'' and was in 2008 the editor of the Taj magazine of the

Taj Hotels Taj Hotels is a chain of luxury hotels and a subsidiary of the Indian Hotels Company Limited, headquartered in Mumbai, India. Incorporated by Jamsetji Tata in 1902, the company is a part of the Tata Group, one of India's largest business cong ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zakaria, Rafiq 1920 births 2005 deaths Indian diplomats 20th-century Muslim scholars of Islam University of Mumbai alumni Alumni of SOAS University of London People from Aurangabad, Maharashtra Rajya Sabha members from Maharashtra Maharashtra MLAs 1962–1967 Founders of Indian schools and colleges English-language writers from India Urdu-language writers from India Indian male journalists 20th-century Indian educational theorists Writers from Mumbai Konkani Muslims People from Marathwada Indian political writers 20th-century Indian journalists Journalists from Maharashtra