Munawwar Rana (1952-2024) was a world-famous Indian poet who wrote in Hindi, Urdu and Awadhi. He is best known for his poetry collection Maa, a collection of couplets describing the virtues of motherhood. Munawar died of cardiac arrest in January 2024.
Wiki/Biography
Munawwar Rana was born Sayed Munawwar Ali on Wednesday, November 26, 1952, in Rae Bareli (age 71; at the time of death), Uttar Pradesh. His zodiac sign is Sagittarius. After the partition of India, most of his relatives migrated to Pakistan, but his father decided to stay in India. Thereafter, his family moved to Kolkata, West Bengal, where he received his education and spent most of his life.
Old photos of Munawwar Rana
Later, he started living in Lucknow. After the government abolished the Zamindari system, his father started working in the transport business. In Kolkata, Munawar became friends with some Naxalites. When his father discovered that he had Naxalite tendencies, he kicked Munawar out of the house. For the next two years, Munawar became a refugee, wandering around without any purpose in life. He once said that those two years were a learning period for him, allowing him to learn a lot about human values and life.
Old photos of Munawar Rana
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′7″
Hair color: gray (semi-bald)
Eye color: light brown
family
He comes from a Muslim family.
Parents and siblings
His father Anwar Ali (late) was a Zamindar of British India. However, when the government abolished the Zamindari system, his father started working in the transport business. His mother’s name is Ayesha Kathun. Munawar has 6 siblings, 5 of whom are brothers, Ismail Rana, Aditya Rana (deceased), Rav Rana, Shakeel Rana and Jamil Rana , and 1 sister Shaheen Rana. Ismail Rana is a theater artist.
Munawar Rana and his mother
Ismail Rana, brother of Munawwar Rana
wife and children
His son Tabrez Rana was booked in 2021 for allegedly implicating his uncle by pretending to attack him during a property dispute in Rae Bareli district.
Munawar Rana and his wife
Old photos of Munawwar Rana and his children
Tabrez Rana, son of Munawwar Rana
His daughter Uroosa Imran Rana is a politician and the editor-in-chief of Sindhu Times. She joined the Indian National Congress (INC) in 2021 and soon after, she was nominated as the vice-president of the UP Mahila Congress Party. She ran for a parliamentary seat in Poix in 2022 but lost.
Munawwar Rana’s daughter Uroosa Imran Rana
His daughter Sumaiya Rana is also a politician and joined the Samajwadi Party in 2020. Saumaiya hit the headlines after the police filed a case against her during the anti-CAA protests in Lucknow.
Munawwar Rana’s daughter Sumaiya Rana poses with Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav
His daughter Fauzia Rana is a politician and a member of INC.
Fauzia Rana, daughter of Munawwar Rana
religion
He believes in Islam.
address
He lives in Apartment No. 1, Fi Dingra Apartment, Lalkuan Road, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (22600).
Profession
He writes in Hindi, Urdu and Awadhi. One of his famous works includes the book Maa, a collection of short poems in the ghazal genre that celebrates the virtues of motherhood. There is a couplet in the article that says:
किसी को घर मिल हिस्से में यर कोई दुकँ आईमैं “
(Kisi ko ghar mila hisse mein, ya koi dukaan aayi, main ghar mein sab se chhota tha, mere hisse mein maa aayi)
Cover of the book Maa by Munawwar Rana
In 2014, he won the Sahitya Akademi Award for his poetry collection Shahdaba, which contains 30 ghazal poems, 40 nazim poems and one song. The first ghazal of the book is read,
आँखों को इंतज़री दिये को आँधी की मर्ज़ी पे रख दियरअहबब की सुलूक भी कितनअजीब थनहलर धुलर के मिट्टी को मिट्टी पे रख दिया”
Cover of Munawwar Rana’s poetry collection Shahdaba
Some of his other works include poetry collections Muhajirnama, Ghar Akela Ho Gaya and Pipal Chhaon. Rana’s poetry has also been translated and published in Gurumurhi and Bengali.
Cover of the book Muhajirnama by Munawwar Rana
political stance
Munawwar Rana is generally associated with the Indian National Congress (INC). He also wrote a poem for Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, which was included in his Sahitya Award-winning book Shahdaba. Rana came under intense public scrutiny for siding with political parties through poetry. However, Rana has clarified many times that he has no interest in politics. In 2022, the Congress fielded his daughter Uroosa Imran Rana from the Puwa Assembly constituency but she failed.
dispute
Return to Sahitya Akademi Awards
In 2015, Rana made headlines for returning the Sahitya Academic Award and a cash prize of Rs one lakh, and vowed not to accept any government awards in future. He announced the decision during a televised debate in New Delhi, citing his disappointment with current developments in the country. He accused the country of communism and said,
I am a Muslim and some may label me as Pakistani. Many parts of the country don’t have electricity connections, but Muslims here have connections with Daoud Ibrahim.”
Offensive comments against CJI Ranjan Gogoi
In 2020, Rana made highly objectionable comments about former Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi while commenting on the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case. Rana said, “This is not justice, this is an order.” Rana also questioned Gogoi’s nomination to the Federal House after his retirement, while accusing Gogoi of allegedly “selling himself at a lower price than a prostitute” in order to make a decision. Judgment in Ayodhya.
Criticized for supporting murder of Samuel Patty
On October 16, 2020, French middle school teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded by Islamic terrorists in Éragny-sur-Oise, a suburb of Paris. Paty allegedly showed students a 2012 Charlie Hebdo cartoon depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad naked with his genitals exposed during a class on the topic of “free speech.” Following the incident, a video of Rana allegedly supporting the murder of Samuel Paty for showing two caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad from the pages of Charlie Hebdo went viral on the Internet. A day after the video went viral on the internet, the Uttar Pradesh government filed an FIR against Rana at the Hazratganj police station, charging him with multiple charges, including inciting enmity between groups and deliberately inciting religious sentiments.
Criticized for supporting Taliban
In 2021, he caused controversy by refusing to recognize the Taliban as a terrorist organization. He said,
India has no reason to worry about the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Taliban are not terrorists, they can be called aggressive. “
Asked about the Taliban’s destruction of Buddhist statues in Bamiyan, Rana said:
Yahan Ram Mandir banane ke liye masjid tod diya…usko kya kahiega…koi pak nahi hai (What do you have to say about a mosque being destroyed to build a Ram temple. No one is holy enough).
Accused of stealing verses from poet Alok Srivastava
In 2020, Rana was accused of stealing lines from Vidisha poet Alok Srivastava’s famous couplet “Mere Hisse Main Maa Aayi”. Senior Doordarshan journalist Ashok Srivastav shared a letter on his Twitter account, which was reportedly written by poet Alok Srivastav to Maunnawar Rana in 2003. In the letter, poet Alok Srivastav elaborated on how Rana used her lines despite being reminded of the plagiarism multiple times.
The letter shared by Doordarshan Senior Correspondent Ashok Srivastav is said to have been written by poet Alok Srivastav to Maunnawar Rana in 2003
Booked for comparing Maharishi Valmiki to Taliban
In 2021, a case was registered in Guna, Madhya Pradesh, accusing Rana of comparing the militant group Taliban to Maharishi Valmiki, the author of the epic Ramayana. He was booked under IPC Section 505 (2) (Public mischief) and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act at Hazratganj police station in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Rana said on a TV channel,
Valmiki became a god after writing Ramayana, before that he was a bandit. A person’s personality can be changed. Likewise, the Taliban are currently terrorists, but the characters and personalities have changed. When you talk about Valmiki, you have to talk about his past. In your religion you make anyone a god. But he is a writer, he wrote Ramayana, but we are not competing here. “
Rana’s remarks hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus. Later, Rana’s lawyers tried to convince the judge that he meant no offense because it was his free speech.
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- Raebareli Rice Amrovi Award (1993)
- Salim Jafri Award (1997)
- Saraswati Samaj Award (2004)
- Kavita ka Kabir Samman Upadhi, Indore (2006)
- West Bengal Urdu Academy Maulana Abdul Razzaq Malihabadi Award (2011)
- Maati Ratan Samman (2012) by Shaheed Shodha Sansthan for his contribution to Urdu literature
- Recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award (2014) for his collection of poems “Shahdaba” (He returned the award on live television on 18 October 2015 and vowed not to accept any government awards in the future.)
Munawwar Rana wins Sahitya Akademi Award (2014)
die
Munawwar Rana died of cardiac arrest on January 14, 2024, at the SGPGI Hospital in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. He had been battling throat cancer for a long time and was being treated in hospital. However, some sources claim that he died of multiple organ failure.
Favorites
- Shayar(s): Wali Aasi, Rahat Indori
Facts/Trivia
- In 2019, news about Munawar Rana’s death went viral on social media. He was admitted to the Sanjay Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) after he collapsed due to chest pain. During a mushaira, when he recovered, he spoke about his deteriorating health and hospital visits and introduced Shayari,
ऐसर ऊढू के जल नरआए खुदर करे आए खुद करेअब उससे दोस्ती है तो फिर दोस्ती ही “
(Aise uddu, ke jaal na aaye khuda kre, raste mein hasptaal naa aaye khuda kre, abb uss’se dosti hai toh phir dosti rahe, sheeshe mein koyi baal naa aaye khuda kre.)
- The famous poet actively participated in the anti-CAA protests. At the time, he often made headlines for his bold stance on controversial issues such as the Babri Masjid case and central and state government policies.
- He was enchanted by the city on his first visit to Lucknow and it has become his favorite city. There he met Ghazal Shayar Wali Aasi and began studying poetry under his guidance. Rana attributed his poetic skills to Wali Assi.
- In 2020, Munawar Rana wrote to Prime Minister Modi, expressing his willingness to donate his ancestral 5.5 acres of land on the banks of the Rei Bareli Sai River for the construction of a magnificent Babri Mosque. He said the five acres of land approved by the government in Dannypur village in place of Babri Masjid should be used to build a hospital in the name of Lord Ram’s father King Dashrat.
- His hobbies include flying kites and listening to Indian classical music.
- Munawar Rana smokes occasionally.
Screenshot of Munawwar Rana’s Facebook post in which he is holding a cigarette
- He has said that he will leave the state if the Yogi Adityanath government comes to power again in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections. He issued a statement saying,
If Yogi becomes the chief minister again, then I will think this country is no longer suitable for Muslims and I will have to migrate somewhere else. “
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education