By IANS
Kolkata : A Muslim man is paying a unique tribute to India on the occasion of its 60th Independence Day by inscribing excerpts from the Quran on an aluminium map of the country.
“It is my small tribute to the people of the country on such a momentous occasion,” Shiraz Hussain, a 38-year-old resident of Garden Reach in south Kolkata, told IANS.
Hussain has inscribed verses from the Quran on a 20-inch x 24-inch aluminium map.
He has made five copies, to present them to former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Railway minister Lalu Prasad and another “important personality” whom he doesn’t wish to name.
“Actually, Hazrat Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed, wanted to come to India in the 60th Hijri as per Islamic calendar when the army of Yazeed stopped him in Iraq. And after his martydom at the beginning of the 61st Hijri, his followers used to recite ‘Sura-e-Kahaf’, volume 15-16, from Quran,” he said.
“Hazrat Imam Hussain started his journey from Medina in Saudi Arabia in the 60th Hijri and got martyrdom at the beginning of the 61st Hijri. Our country is going to complete the 60th year of independence this year on August 15, 2007 and will enter the 61st year,” Shiraz said, explaining the significance of his effort.
Shiraz said he went to New Delhi twice, in April and July, to hand over the map to the prime minister before Independence Day but failed to meet him.
On Aug 9, he said, he received a call from the prime minister’s office, asking him to come to New Delhi to present the map to Manmohan Singh.
“But I could not go there (Aug 11) due to some problems at home. I hope to meet him soon and present the map to him,” he said.
In 2006, Shiraz entered the Limca Book of Records for engraving the full text of the Quran on an aluminium sheet. He wants to make another bid for an entry in the record books for being the first to engrave verses from the holy book on the map of India.