Mohammed Aziz Haji Dossa (Alex London)

My Papa, Haji bhai Esmail Dossa, HAJI SAHIB, as he respectfully came to be known, among the Khoja communities of Karachi, Bombay, London, Toronto and the United States during the part of his life, was in Berlin between October 1933 and June 1934. Papa addressed his father’s business of export of carpet wool from Bombay. Noble House of my grandfather was styled Esmail Dossa & Company, Bombay.

MOHAMMED NISSAR

Elder brother Mohammed Nissar was born in Bombay, on the night of March 20, 1934, when my Papa was away in Berlin. Hindu-Muslims riots were on the agenda, anvil and page, in the Manakia Building, Darga Molla sector of Bombay. Seth Esmail Dossa resided on the upper three stories of Manakia Edifice, with his wife, Fiza bai, four sons, five daughters, and grandchildren in a joint family system that emphasized and stressed togetherness. At a recent gathering, of my brothers and their children, our eldest brother Mamibhai, in his late octogenarian years, recalled the event of March 20, 1934, some eight decades after the happening. Night of March 20, 1934, Mamibhai related, he had to go with a lantern in the blackout, strictly controlled and monitored by British Tomes (soldiers) to fetch the mid-wife Lal Bibi, when my Mama went in labour. Lal Bibi had to be called, hastily summoned, in the night to deliver the babe. Mama was attended in the pregnancy phase of my elder brother Mohammed Nissar, by our teenaged aunt, Shah Sultana, Mama’s sister-in-law Khatija Bhabi and, mother-in-law, our maternal grand-mother Fiza bai (Fiji bai).

In pre-partition, twenties and thirties, British dominated era, World of Business, Commerce and Finance, direct sales of Carpet Wool, could not be made by exporters, for the respective Carpet Woolen Mills in Lancashire Yorkshire and Scotland. Wool consignments shipped from Bombay and Karachi to England, by Esmail Dossa & Company and competing firms represented in Bombay Wool Merchants Association, had to be mandatorily, could only be marketed and routed, at the monthly Liverpool Wool, Auctions. Again finance to Wool Merchants in India, was a monopoly of British firms headquartered in Liverpool Street of London, such as Bombay Company, Ralli Brothers, Shaw Wallace, Anglo Thai, David Sassoon, Thames Rice, E. Sooren, etc. While positioned, stationed in Berlin, Papa routinely took the train from his head office in Berlin, crossed the Channel, to attend, participate in the monthly Carpet Wool Auctions in Liverpool, in which Esmail Dossa & Company participated through their agents of W. A. Hammond of Liverpool. Second week of March, Carpet Wool Auctions concluded, Papa was in London, vacationing for a week with his childhood friend, the Muslim Leaguer Sulieman bhai (Sir Sulieman) Jetha and his wife Ida, at their residence in Putney, before returning to his base in Berlin. Papa was an avid Cricket Player, representing the Batting side of Islam Gymkhana of Bombay. Islam Gymkhana is best known for having nurtured the legendary opening batsman Khan Mohammed Cassambhoy Ibrahim or K. C. Ibrahim of the Muslim side in the Pentangular, Matches played at the Braborne Stadium of Bombay. K.C. as was referred by his initials in abbreviated form won the celebrated victory for the Muslims, in the finals of Hindu’s versus Muslim’s 1947. While in London, living with the Jetha’s, Papa very fond of Cricket, naturally followed the ongoing test series and County matches between the British versus India, teams that were played out at Lords and Oval in London and Old Trafford, in Nottingham.

India’s Lahore bred, Mohammed Nissar, the fastest bowler the sub continent has ever produced, ironically trained by the British at Lawrence Garden, was the rage among the community of Indian expatriates, residing in England and Europe, during the thirties. Opening bowler, Mohammed Nissar teamed up with Amar Singh, had won the laurels and ashes in matches against England for the Indian side. Mohammed Nissar was a dread to the British batsmen. Papa had returned to his base in Berlin in the third week of March with memories of hospitality of the Jetha’s, particularly of bowler Mohammed Nissar very, much on his mind. From Bombay, Papa was conveyed the happy news of the birth of a son, in Berlin by a telegram forwarded by our grandfather, Seth Esmail bhai Dossa. In his patriotic zeal, Papa promptly replied that his new born son be given the nomenclature of Mohammed Nissar. So, my elder brother, came to be known, was endowed the name Mohammed Nissar after the sub-continents, erstwhile greatest and fastest Test Bowler. Papa had witnessed Mohammed Nissar in action, personally, at his very best, in full form at the Lord’s, when he bowled at a record, pace, to skittle and demolish, into oblivion the English side Later, when Papa returned to his base in Bombay, he came to know Mohammed Nissar personally in Lahore, at his forays in Punjab, for purchases of raw Wool, and subsequent, cleaning and exporting to Liverpool from Karachi. While in Lahore, Papa was wont to reside at Lahore Gymkhana, the training grounds of Mohammed Nissar.

In the thirties, Papa became very fond of Berlin and the disciplined, honest, methodical, ways of German living. He would have stayed on in Germany, but all the same he was very keen to be back, return to Bombay, particularly, to see his new born son Mohammed Nissar. Besides, another factor, the collapse, insolvency of the family establishment, Esmail Dossa & Company compelled Papa to get back to Bombay.

The Wall Street Crash of Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929, witnessed and left in its wake, the bankruptcy and toll of many a leading Khoja, Hindu business houses and entrepreneurs in Bombay including the formidable Sir Mohammed Currimbhoy Baronet group, owners of fourteen textile mills in India, then the largest textile unit in the World. My grandfather’s establishment Esmail Dossa & Company also went into insolvency.

The firm of Esmail Dossa came under the hammer of Black Tuesday, October 29, 1929. Company was caught, on the wrong foot, holding massive, inventories, consignments of Wool in Bombay and Fazilka when the commodities markets crashed in England, Europe and America. In the twenties and thirties, Carpet Wool, could not be sold on forward basis to buyers abroad, because of constraints legislated by the British Customs that insisted all sales of Carpet Wool from India be made through and via, the monthly Liverpool Wool Auctions, on as is where is basis. Grandfather was declared insolvent in Bombay. To come out from the woods, a new beginning had to be made from scratch by my grandfather and his four sons. The tarnished designation of Esmail Dossa could not be restituted and had to be substituted with the name of my paternal uncle Kassim Ali Esmail. Office address of the partnership Kassim Ali Esmail was changed from Bombay and made out to Karachi and Rajkot (Kathiawar). Head of the family Hussain (Hussain Bapa) wanted his very hard working youngest brother, namely my father Haji bhai back in Bombay, so my father was recalled from Berlin and his elder brother Kassim Ali bhai and Hussain Uncle’s second son Hassan Ali bhai were placed in charge of the European organization. Due to changed circumstances, to present a new identity, offices of Kassim Ali Esmail were based in Antwerp, instead of Berlin.

GHAZI AHMED

ABDUL QAYOOM

Kassim Ali Esmail’s wool consignments duly financed by Bombay Company were prepared in Fazilka (East Punjab) and sent to Karachi and not to Bombay. Shipments were made through British vessels that were under the agency of Gokul Shipping and Cowasjee & Company. Gokul Shipping was under the management of Papa’s friends, Seth Abdul Hussain Jetha bhai Gokul and his elder brother Kassim Ali bhai Jetha bhai Gokul. The cable address of Gokul Shipping described in Gujarati was Vanwati meaning Shipping. While in Karachi, my father stayed at the Gokul Guest House in Khori Garden that is adjacent to the District Court where he received daily reports of the ongoing trial of Abdul Qayyum that was conducted for the murder of Nattu Ram, author of the blasphemous, notorious Book “Rangeela Rasool.” Book was published in Hyderabad, Sindh, in the beginning of 1933, by Nattu Ram, Secretary of the Hyderabad, Chapter of “Arya Samaj.” Sindh was then an Administrative Unit of Bombay Presidency. A student of history, Papa was present with Abdul Hussain Jetha bhai Gokul in the first week of September 1934, at the proceedings for the Appeal against the earlier rendered Judgment that was partial to Nathu Ram for which the accused had been given a nominal, reduced sentence. Criminal Appeal proceedings were conducted before the Bench of the Zoroastrian Judge, Justice Dadibametha. Ahmed Abdul Qayyum, a resident of Hazara, etched out his profession in Karachi as a horse carriage driver. Incident took place, in the first week of September, 1934, in the premises of what is known as the District Courts, Karachi, Ahmed Abdul Qayuum had then pulled out a knife and struck twice at the neck of Nattu Ram, who was seated next to him, in the packed to capacity Court House that caused the instantaneous death of Nattu Ram. At the subsequent murder trial of Ghazi Abdul Qayoom, that was again conducted by the Senior Judge, Justice Dadibametha, in Karachi district courts, the accused Abdul Qayoom confessed and made no bones about his action and on the basis of his statement and affidavit, the Judge went by the Book of the British Government to subject Abdul Qayoom the maximum penalty of death by hanging, in Karachi’s Central Jail where the convict was incarcerated between September 1933 and March 19, 1934. Clemency petitions for Ahmed Abdul Qayyum under the plea that he acted under aggravation moved and submitted by Karachi’s Muslim luminaries Hatim Alvi, Rahim Ali Chagla and senior citizens in India, for commuting the death penalty into a life sentence, for Ahmed Abdul Qayyum were summarily turned down by the Governor of Bombay, Lord Braborne and the Viceroy in New Delhi Lord Willington. But the Petition to spare Abdul Qayoom’s life, in itself deserved little merit, was termed redundant, before his Judges, namely the Governor Lord Braborne, and the Viceroy Lord Willington because the convict Ahmed Abdul Qayoom testified in an affidavit: “I have bought martyrdom (shahadat). Do not try to save me from the gallows board!” Be that it may be, law was strictly applied in the British Administration. There was no compromise for willful murder that was admitted by Ahmed Abdul Qayoom. Murderers, for what ever reasons, were arrested, promptly tried and sentenced for their crime to the gallows. March 19, 1935, Ahmed Abdul Qayoom mortal remains were brought from Karachi’s Central Jail in an ambulance, to the Bara Imambargh, Kharadhar for washing, in the rooms that overlook the aloft Battle Flag of the Alumdar Hazrat Abbas (RA). My Papa recounted to me that he and Abdul Hussain Jetha bhai Gokul were present at the funeral of the martyr on February 19, 1934. Papa said, day was declared a public holiday in Karachi and elsewhere in Sindh, and at least twenty five thousand citizens of Karachi, representing Hindus, Zoroastrians, Muslims, Jews, Christians, participated in the funeral of Ghazi Abdul Qayoom which took off from Bara Imambargh in Kharadhar.

Coffin was lifted on its extended poles, by sturdy pall bearers, taking turns, who carried the mortal remains by foot, in a procession to his eternal abode, to be buried next to the grave of divine Meva Shah Bava. So vehement was the outcry against the execution of Ghazi Abdul Qayoom that Lord Braborne, Governor of Bombay Presidency, instructed that the Judge Dadibametha be forthwith put on a cargo ship of B.I. Line, sailing from Karachi to Liverpool. Reaching England, Justice Dadibametha, was transferred, from the sub-continent Bench to be enrolled and inducted as a Judge, as per his rank in India, in the British Legal Establishment in Old Bailey Criminal Courts, of London. Justice Dadibametha, never came back to India. The Judge was apprehensive for his life.

MEVA SHAH’S MOSQUE

Legend has it, in 1900, Meva Shah, donated the land he inherited from his father, as the burial ground for the demised of Karachi. There were spaces for graveyards allocated by Meva Shah for Hindus and Jews, since only Christians had their Gora Kabristan in the vicinity of the city. At the turn of last century, burial ground for other communities, were distant in Malir. Area has come to be known as the Meva Shah Cemeteries of Karachi. My Mama passed away in Room 165, of the Holy Family Hospital in the early hours of Sunday, December 9, 1979. In conformity with Shiite rituals for forty days, thereafter, my Papa and I reached our Mama’s graveside in Khurasan Bagh, to read in English, a Chapter from the Holy Quran as translated by Seth Mahomed Ali Habib. New Year’s Day, January 1, 1980, following the culmination of our prayers at Khurasan Bagh, my father, on the spur instructed his chauffeur Ahmed to drive the car to the adjacent tomb of Meva Shah, Bava, instead of the taking the routine road to our residence Falak Numa. Ghazi Abdul Qayoom is buried in the courtyard, precinct of the mosque of Meva Shah. There is a canopy over his grave. And it was here that my father related to me and his chauffeur Ahmed, the story of Ahmed Ahmed Qayoom who is nowadays, posthumously, referred to as Ghazi Ahmed Abdul Qayoom with murids, disciples, flocking, reaching his grave in droves for the ritual dhammal on Thursday evenings, with their offerings and their specific mantas (wishes).

CHARLIE HEBDO

Cartoons and caricatures, printed by the Paris Magazine Charlie Hebdo, against our Holy Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him and his revered children) and Books like Rushdie’s Satanic Verses are abhorred, resented, by Muslims from all walks of life, where ever they may be living. The placard “Je suis Charlie” carried by political leaders in Paris was just not appreciated by Muslims at large. Very definitely profanity against our Holy Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) upsets Muslims be they subscribing to Shiite or Sunni sects or for that matter any of the seventy two, plus hopelessly divided, jarring sects of Islam. Yet Muslims tend to react differently. We condemn the wanton attacks on innocent lives that took place in Paris, that manifested, there is no control over aggravations of emotions of the Muslim multitudes, be they Muslims living in Pakistan or secular societies of India, France, Europe, United States, Canada, Australia, etc. The issue should be in order, and restraints be imposed on publications against our Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his revered children). It is a criminal offence in France, Germany and England to preach or write against the Holocaust. Seventieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz was observed with due ceremony by BBC and CNN on Thursday, January 29, 2015.

Why should Muslims be treated differently when it comes to our Prophet? Above all, disrespecting the sinless image of our Holy Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) incites the profoundly hurt feelings of some over sensitive souls of Muslims who take recourse to violence. Legislation should be passed, put in place by the European Parliament to ensure incidents, such as the ones at Charlie Hebdo are not repeated by bankrupt papers, to agitate and pick on the Muslims, to increase their circulation.

PARIS

One must appreciate that Paris is no longer, a society ascribing solitarily to the Catholic or Protestant, Christian religion. France is cosmopolitan and homogeneous, a cross between the Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, Vietnamese, Lebanese and other Arab races. Fully 20% of Parisians are represented by Shiites from Iran, Iraq, sub continent. Sunnis are there from Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania, Tunisia, Turkey, Libya, Wahabbis from Saudi Arabia and Middle East. Demographic statistics affirm that by 2040, Muslims in France, Germany and else where in Western Europe, will be in the majority.

There is no way to prevent or stop the influx of one way traffic, the flood gate of the very wealthy Muslims from the Middle East who own the famous, prestigious Ritz Hotel, the largest Hotel of Paris, the scene of the death of Princess Diana and her Egyptian, Muslim lover Dodi Fayed. Migrant, French speaking blue collar workers of former French African Muslim colonies are in demand in France, because they do the menial work. Even the rightwing French politician La Pen has stated he cannot undo the trend, because it would mean the collapse of French economy in agriculture, industry and tourism. “No religion in history has spread so rapidly as Islam,” testifies, the writer James Michener. In 1954, President Charles de Gaulle was confronted with a rebellion from the Generals of the elite French Foreign Legion, because he refused to stand by and defied their watchword Algerie/ Francais.

A Tunisian family, called Benyeder, residing in Paris and Tunis, I got to know intimately, during my visits to France, spoke the language perfectly, better, than the colloquial, gutter French of the indigenous Parisians. Nowadays, the term Algerie/ Francais has become, obsolete, reversed. Algerians have taken over France and for all purposes quite a number are die hard Muslims, from the Hanafi school of thought, and holding fanatical beliefs, as demonstrated by the events at Charlie Hebco.

Sunday, October 14, 1990, I met Monsieur Dominique La Pierre, author of “Freedom at Midnight” in Nice, South of France. Very kindly, he invited me for lunch to this expensive restaurant “Le Charoliais” on the Promenade des Anglais. La Pierre was a regular client. He knew the Management. Service was provided by an Algerian Waitress

Farida. Informed by La Pierre that I was a Muslim from Pakistan Farida the pretty Algerian mademoiselle, gave our table special attention. French delight in choicest Nectars. To insure the temperance of a good Muslim, Farida put me on alert that chocolates on the table were flavored with liquor.

Culmination of the lunch, under the watchful eye of the Algerian waitress, Mademoiselle, Farida, on her own impulse, did not serve me Crepe de Suisse that was on the Menu, because it had contents of potent Brandy.

Instead for desert Farida provided me Ice Cream, while La Pierre enjoyed his Crepe. Presently, most of the restaurants on Paris, boulevard Champs Elysees, are owned by Algerians, bought out by the ruling class in Algiers because of the uncertain political situation and prevalent civil wars. Neon signs, in Arabic and French advertise the nomenclature of the Restaurant on Champs Elysees, with Algerian Muslim garcons (waiters) and waitresses to attend to the guests. To enjoy a top class French meal at the Champs Elysees, one has to only step in an Algerian place and state that one is a Muslim from Pakistan.

He will be promptly given a table even if the restaurant is packed, as it is generally filled with tourists and Parisians who like to eat outside their homes. Hot Onion Soup, delicious Oysters, a prime beef stake with choice salad, beautiful Ice Cream and Coffee at most reasonable charges will be provided if the attendants recognize you as a Muslim. Al hamdolilah will be the catchword, when the Algerians waiters and waitresses see a Muslim. “C’est la vie” as they say in Paris.