Maulana Zafar Ali Khan’s ‘Daily Zamindar’ played a vital role in cementing the bond between the Muslims of the Subcontinent and their Turkish brethren. Between 1911 and 1913, the Turkish Muslims had to face the brutalities of Italy, France and Greece. The battle of Tripoli and the Balkans created a stir among the Muslims of the entire Subcontinent. They felt as if they were being attacked. Maulana Zafar Ali Khan left no stone unturned to help the Ottoman Empire. The Muslims sent a medical mission to Turkey under the supervision of Dr MA Ansari. A fundraising campaign — popularly known as the Tayara Fund — was launched to collect money for an aeroplane. The daily Zamindar published the list of persons who donated huge sums of money to the fund. Maulana Zafar Ali Khan also established the Turkish Relief Fund.
During the Tripoli war, the fund sent a sum of Rs 61,000. The Ottoman Empire thanked Maulana through Jaffar Bay, the then Turkish consulate general at Bombay.Maulana also sent 1,600 pounds (equivalent to Rs 24,000 at that time) to the Ottoman Empire through a French Bank. Maulana also asked the Orient Bank, Lahore to establish its branch at the Lahore office of Daily Zamindar to facilitate the collection of Zamindar Turkish Relief Fund. This branch was inaugurated on December 10, 1912. On November 30, 1912, the Muslims of Lahore held a meeting at the venue where Allama Iqbal recited his famous poem Jawab-e-Shikva. On this occasion, 5,000 copies of the epic poem were published for fundraising. Maulana addressed the meeting and asked the people to buy the poem at a price of four annas. Maulana Inshallah Khan purchased two pages for Rs 100. In 1922, Angura fund was established to collect money to help the Turkish brothers. The Zamindar published details of funds collected from various parts of the Subcontinent. In February 1922, Seth Chotani announced that 20,000 pounds had been sent to the Otttoman Empire from the Angura Turk funds. The enthusiasm of the Muslims in fundraising was impressive. The students of MAO school, Amritsar, collected Rs 1,420, while the widow of a Muslim, Rahim Bux, donated corn worth Rs 100. A recently converted Muslim from Jammu donated his house at Jehlum worth Rs 800, and Haji Abdullah Haroon donated Rs 500 to the Angura fund. The Muslim women also donated their ornaments, the details of which are available in Zamindar editions from 1921 to 1922. Maulana Zafar Ali Khan wrote several hundred articles and poems on the Ottoman Empire. Mustafa Kamal Ataturk also acknowledged and appreciated the contribution made by Zamindar and the Subcontinent Muslims by sending a letter of thanks bearing his signatures.
The writer is Secretary, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan Trust
