Ishrat Ali Siddiqui (1919-2014) was an Indian

gandhian The followers of Mahatma Gandhi,one of the prominent figure of the Indian independence movement, are called Gandhians. Gandhi's legacy includes a wide range of ideas ranging from his dream of ideal India (or ''Rama Rajya)'', economics, environ ...

, poet of

Urdu literature Urdu literature (, ) comprises the literary works, written in the Urdu language. While it tends to be dominated by poetry, especially the verse forms of the ''ghazal'' () and '' nazm'' (), it has expanded into other styles of writing, includin ...

and a former editor of the Urdu daily, ''Quami Awaz''. He was known for his protest against the press censorship imposed by the then prime minister of India,

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

in the mid 1970s. The

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

awarded him the fourth highest Indian civilian award of

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

in 1974.

Biography

Ishrat Ali Siddiqui was born in 1919 in

Hardoi Hardoi is a city and municipal board in Hardoi district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Hardoi district. It is also known as Prahalad Nagari. Hardoi is about 110 km from the state capital Lucknow ...

, a small town on the banks of

River Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary riv ...

in the Indian state of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

. After completing his education in the state capital of

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

, he moved to

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

where he worked as the editor of the Urdu daily, ''Payam'', and ''Hindustan'' during which period his articles on nationalism earned him the wrath of the ruler of Hyderabad,

Nizam Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the ruler of Hyderabad State ( part of the Indian state of Telangana, and the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka). ''Nizam'' is a shortened form of (; ), and was the title bestowed upon Asaf Jah I ...

Osman Ali. Later, Siddiqui joined

Sevagram Sevagram (meaning "A town for/of service") is a town in the state of Maharashtra, India. It was the place of Mahatma Gandhi's ashram and his residence from 1936 to his death in 1948. After Sabarmati, Sevagram Ashram holds immense importance d ...

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

, and spent many years at the Ashram. He is known to have involved with the

Indian freedom movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic movement to ...

and at the time of the

partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...

, he protested against it. After the Indian independence, he joined the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

sponsored ''Quami Awaz'', a sister publication of

The National Herald ''The National Herald'' is an English-language weekly newspaper, based in New York City, focusing on the Greek-American community. It was founded in 1997 and added a website in 2004. Its headquarters are in the Long Island City neighborhood of th ...

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

, as its editor. During the emergency period, he protested against the press censorship imposed by

, then prime minister of India, while his colleagues maintained silence. In 1980, when Indira Gandhi returned to power after remaining out of office for three years (1977-1980) for her third term as the prime minister, Siddiqui was appointed as a member of the Second Press Commission. The commission, reportedly on Siddiqui's advice, submitted proposals for the modernization of ''Kitabat'' (Urdu

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

) and Urdu journalism. He also served the president of the Uttar Pradesh Working Journalists' Union and Uttar Pradesh Press Club and was a councilor of the Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ). Siddiqui was awarded the civilian honour of

in 1974. He died on the New Year day of 2014, at Balrampur hospital, where he had been admitted following a domestic accident occurred at his residence in Jamboorkhana. He is survived by his son and daughter, his wife preceding him in death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siddiqui, Ishrat Ali Date of birth missing 1919 births 2014 deaths 20th-century Indian journalists 20th-century Indian male writers 20th-century Indian poets 21st-century Indian journalists 21st-century Indian male writers 21st-century Indian poets Gandhians Indian male journalists Indian male poets Journalists from Telangana Journalists from Uttar Pradesh People from Hardoi Poets from Telangana Poets from Uttar Pradesh Urdu-language journalists Urdu-language poets from India Writers from Hyderabad, India

Biography

See also

References