My name is Roshni and I am currently studying Masters in Psychology at Leeds Trinity University, looking at the attitudes of Indians towards mental health services.
As part of my thesis, I am asking Indian Britons (irrespective of gender or religion) to fill out a quick questionnaire on their attitudes toward mental health services. I have translated the survey into Hindi too. I have worked very, very hard with the help of doctors, psychiatrists, and professionals to translate the various surveys. Please could I ask you to complete the survey and then request that you pass it on to at least three friends who are of Indian descent? I need at least 350 people to gain meaningful data. The survey is open and will close on 10th September.
It would be very much appreciated if you could promote this study through your website and social media accounts (such as Facebook and Twitter) as well as in the building itself.
Shamsuddin Ismail Agha, President of the Indian Muslim Federation (UK) was born in Bombay (now Mumbai) India. He received his B.A. (Hon) and M.A. from Bombay University and theatre training in Bombay and London. He was a lecturer of classical Persian and English in India. He came to England in 1964 and after working in different jobs and living for a short period in Bolton he worked as a teacher in London. He was a linguist and worked as a curator at Leyton Library and later retired from London Borough of Newham as Head of the Translation Unit 25 years ago.
He was a founder member and trustee of the Indian Muslim Federation (UK) established in 1969, the largest and oldest organisation of Indian Muslims in the UK which has NGO status with the United Nations. The Indian Muslim Federation has its offices and a community center in east London. Under Agha’s leadership, IMF has organised many seminars and meetings on the plight of Indian Muslims and has held the protest marches against anti-Muslim pogroms in India.
After being accredited as with Non-Governmental Organisation status by the United Nations in 1999, the IMF delegation under Agha’s leadership attended many UN conferences and meetings in Geneva, New York and South Africa to raise the plight of Indian Muslims at the international level and published papers and booklets on the plight and suffering of Muslims in India.
Agha was a linguist, writer, academic and above all a community person. He has written and acted in many plays in India and Britain. He was responsible for the production and direction of a series of one-act plays in Urdu, Gujarati, Marathi and English. His books of plays in Urdu “Wahshat Hi Sahi” (Madness Rules Okay) and plays “Mirza Ghalib in London”; “Tipu Sultan” and “Flight Delayed” were published in India and the UK and were well received in the academic circle.
His burial was held on Thursday, 22 June 2021 at Muslim Burial Trust Cemetery, Waltham Forest, London, and was attended by many leaders across the community. Condolence messages were received from many organisations with whom Agha worked closely including cabinet members and councillors of Waltham Forest Council and Newham Council, General Secretary of Muslim Council of Britain and Minister Co-ordination of Indian High Commission, London. Agha is survived by his daughter, son and one granddaughter.
Shakeb together with Vasanth Kumar Bawa, setup the first-ever Hyderabad Urban Development Authority which is now referred to as Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority. In 1962, he was appointed as an archivist at the State Archives of Andhra Pradesh in Hyderabad. Whilst here he created the Mughal Record Room. His publications include Mughal Archives Vol I: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Documents Pertaining to the Reign of Shah Jahan, in 1977 which remains critical reading for those seeking to learn how to read administrative documents in Indo-Persian. He went on to write many publications for The British Library, State Archives Andhra Pradeshand other repositories, universities, and auction houses.
From 1980 to 1987, Shakeb taught Indian history and the history of Indo-Islamic art and culture in the Department of Indology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He later on worked as a consultant for Christie’s in their department of Islamic and Indian Art as their leading expert on Persian and Arabic manuscripts for 30 years.
He also continued to work on Indo-Persian manuscripts and Mughal documents and catalogued such manuscripts in the British Library, such as the Batala Collection of Mughal Documents 1527-1757 in 1990. Throughout this time he supervised many doctoral researchers in the fields of Mughal history, Deccan studies and Urdu and Persian literature.
Shakeb was also the Director of Urdu teachers training at Middlesex University up until 1998.
He also played a key role in setting up the Haroon Khan Sherwani Center for Deccan Studies at Maulana Azad National Urdu University and had been a member of the center’s first advisory board. He was considered a pioneer, having helped lay the foundations of Deccan Studies
Shakeb was an authority on various poets from the Indian subcontinent and Persia, writing books and organising and speaking at conferences on Bedil, Amir Khusrau, Iqbal, Ghalib and Rumi
Shakeb died in London on 20 January 2021, aged 87. He is survived by his wife, Farhat Ahmed, two daughters, a son and nine grandchildren
Recently we have been speaking to Queen Mary University of London who are working on a project that tries to understand how diverse communities are getting on with life, and how people are connecting during Covid-19. They are focusing on people in the Brazilian, Somali and Indian community examining people’s changing experiences of life in the UK. They are looking at if/how any remittance and care activities link people with their contacts ‘back home’; and whether this has changed during the pandemic.
This research aims to identify key challenges facing Indian communities during the Covid-19 pandemic, to raise awareness and advise policy makers and institutions on responses that meet the needs of our communities.
It is a great way for us to be involved and help raise awareness on the key issues facing our community members. So, I would like to share with you their online questionnaire: [SURVEY IS CLOSED]. I would urge you to complete it with honest answers and share it with your networks. Please note everything is confidential, and your response will be helpful for understanding Indian communities and building our voice.
This is an online questionnaire in English – if you would like to complete it in another language (e.g. Hindi, Gujarati or Gurmukhi) [NOTE SURVEY IS CLOSED]
Your help is most appreciated.
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Kind regards,
Saliha Majeed-Hajaj
Research Assistant
School of Geography
Queen Mary University of London | Mile End Road | London | E1 4NS | UK
