By Dr. Syed Ahmed, for TwoCircles.net,
Imphal: A prominent literary body of the Manipuri Muslims, Writers’ Union, Manipur (WUM) released its Manipuri journal Pambei at a simple function organized at the Convention Hall of Sadar Bazaar Jame Masjid at Masjid Road, Imphal on February 17, 2013. The function was attended by some of the well-known Muslim writers of the State. Prominent Manipuri Muslim writer Mohd. Abdur Rahman and Imam of Jame Masjid Maulana Ziauddin released the journal.
Speaking at the function, the editor of Pambei, MM Ahmed said, “Muslim Writers’ Forum, now renamed Writers’ Union, Manipur, had launched the first issue of Pambei in September 2003. Benjamin M Shah was the editor. It was the well-known Muslim writer Kayamuddin Pukhrimayum who initiated to launch this particular journal. Sadly, he could not survive long to see the publication of this journal. He passed away a few months before the release of the journal, in 13 July 2003, in a road accident. Due to various reasons, including lack of encouragement from the public, the second issue had to be released in June 2009 after a very long break. Today we are releasing the third issue of Pambei. The journal carries write-ups on various themes. It has both prose and poetry sections. We hope the journal will be well-received by the readers. We expect the readers to promote the journal by subscribing it.”
Releasing the journal at Jama Masjid
The issue has articles on history, economy, literature and culture of the Manipuri Muslims. There is a section on poetry and short-story. Interestingly, there is an article on Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi written by Mohd. Abdur Rahman and a poem, titled Gujarat 2002, written by S. Tahir Ali.
Addressing the function, President of WUM, Rashid Ali said the union needs support, co-operation and encouragement from the Muslim community to continue the publication of the journal in time.
WUM is at present the most prominent literary body of the Manipuri Muslims. The union came into existence in June 11, 2006 after the coming together of two literary bodies of the Muslims in the State, namely Liberty Publishing Association and Muslim Writers’ Forum. The union has so far published many books on various themes. Last December the Union released Mohd. Salim’s Nahakna Mapu lei Hairabadi and M.A. Hasim’s romantic novel Loktak Kheiba Hihonba, both written in Manipuri.
Copies of the journals published by Manipuri Muslims
Muslims in Manipur started producing literary works in Manipuri from the late 1930s. A book on Islam, titled Punsiratki Pambei, written by Munshi Amanullah, was published in 1938. This is regarded as the first published work of the Manipuri Muslims. It was followed by a series of publications. Most of the early literary works deal with Islam.
Manipuri Muslims also started publishing journals from the late 1950s. The monthly Islamic journal, titled Thoudang, published in 1957 is regarded as the first journal published by the Muslims in the State. Sahabuddin Qureshi and Hamiduddin Mohd. Yahya were the editors of this journal. However, the journal stopped publishing after the release of the first issue. After a long gap, another tri-monthly journal, titled Payame Islam was released in the 1960s. It dealt with Islamic themes. Muhammad Hussain was the editor of this journal. This journal too did not survive for long.
In the late 1970s, few journals came out. In 1976, a tri-monthly journal with the title Numit Lei was published in Cachar, Assam. A Manipuri Muslim from Cachar, Muhammad Abdus Sahid Chowdhury, was the editor. The journal continued to exist for three years. Another journal Yaifa-Echel came out in 1978. Rahimuddin was the editor of the journal. Another tri-monthly journal Kumon was also launched in the same year. Abdul Hakim Shah was the editor. All these journals fail to survive for long mainly due to lack of wide readership and financial crunch.
An issue of the fortnightly journal Emaleibak
In 1979 an Islamic journal Badrul Munir was started by Maulana Azimuddin. Surprisingly, this journal survived for around 6 years. Kayamuddin Pukhrimayum’s journal, Khonthang, continued publication uninterruptedly from 1978 to 1980. After a controversy with the title, Kayamuddin had to publish the journal with the new name Pandam. However, after the change in the title, the journal stopped publishing. He started another bi-monthly journal, Mingsel. It was an acclaimed journal which carried articles on different topics, including poetry, short stories, etc. The journal survived till October 1993. Altogether, 40 issues of Mingsel were published.
In 1994 a fortnightly journal, Emaleibak, was launched with Rashid Ali as the editor. The journal continued to exist till 1997.
In November 1983 Md. Abdul Helim launched Manipuri Muslims’ first daily newspaper in Manipuri, titled Matamgi Echel. A non-Muslim, N. Modhu Singh was the editor of this daily. The newspaper stopped publishing after an unfortunate incident. The Hamida Press at Masjid Road, Imphal, which published the newspaper, was burned down by some miscreants one night.
Today there are two Islamic journals, namely Mangal and Noor which enjoy wide circulation. Mangal is a quarterly Islamic journal published by Islamic Research and Dawah Centre. Mufti Salatur Rahman is the editor. Noor is published by Jamiat-ul-Ulema Manipur. Mufti Siraj Ahmad Kashmi is the editor of this journal.