He was a great Indian Muslim, a human-rights activist and a man of great integrity and virtue
ISLAMABAD: Some time ago, my wife and I travelled to New Delhi, India. We left our car at Chandni Chowk and took a cycle rickshaw to get to Katra Ashrafia. The rickshaw driver was a Muslim and we asked him his views on then Indian president Abdul Kalam. The driver kissed the name with the gesture of his hand and exclaimed, “Dr Kalam is an angel. He still lectures in a college despite being the president of India.” The rickshaw driver then pointed towards a middle class housing area and revealed that Dr Kalam owned just a two-bedroom-apartment in the vicinity. On a more personal note, Dr Kalam visited The Hague when I was the UN international judge there. I met him at an official reception and presented him with an English translation of the work of Sufi poet Bulleh Shah. He appreciated the gesture very much and spoke about the great poet while addressing the gathering. He invited me to India as his guest.
The former Indian president was a modest person. His book India 2020: A Vision for the New Millennium has become part of Indian national planning. As a great scientist, he preached oriental social values and lectured on the virtues of the joint family system in American universities. He was a great Indian Muslim, a human-rights activist and a man of great integrity and virtue.
Justice (retd) Ali Nawaz Chowhan
Published in The Express Tribune, August 5th, 2015.
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