In 1889, a baby was born in Bareilly, a town in present-day Uttar Pradesh, on Janmashtami, in the house of Maulana Mohammed Hussain Ilmi, a religious scholar. The Maulana’s grandson was named Fazlur Rahman and lovingly called Chunna.
Little Chunna lost both parents at a very young age and was taken by his relatives to the village. They were living in straitened conditions but the heart and mind was rich. A burning desire to be independent led the boy back to Bareilly. Seeing a spark in him, his neighbour, Lala Gujartai Lal, whom he called Dadaji, gave him two rupees to start some venture. The boy started selling small items in a basket hanging from his neck. According to his grandson Shamsur Rahman, he sold matchsticks, beedis and candles, and was soon in a position to return the loan, though Lalaji didn’t take it back, encouraging him to aim higher.
Fazlur Rahman soon went into the beedi business himself, and went on to become a millionaire with properties all over Bareilly.
Land for refugees
Chunna, now Seth Fazlur Rahman aka Chunna Miyan, also owned a large piece of prime land in Katra Manrai, near Bara Bazar. In the wake of Partition in 1947, many refugees came to Bareilly. The Bara Bazar area is an old market and residential area. They settled there and set up a small temple on the empty land nearby.
When Chunna Miyan came to know of this, he first asked them to vacate. When those attempts failed, he filed a case against them.
Around the same time, a priest, Muni Harmilap ji Maharaj, from Haridwar held a satsang , which he attended. The Muniji emphasised, “There is only one Parmatma and every human is His santan (offspring), whether they be male or female, Hindu, Muslim, Bodh, Jain, Sikh, Christian or Jew or Shinto (Japanese).” These spiritual words found a connect with Chunna Miyan, and he had a change of heart. He not only withdrew his case, but also compensated the refugees for the cost incurred by them in litigation so far.
Along with the land, he donated ₹1,10,001 for its construction, as is enshrined in the marble tablet that has a list of donors. In fact, he leads the list with “Chacha Chunna Miyan” written in brackets next to his given name. He would come here daily to do shram dan (physical labour) and it was he who put in the first basket of mud when the foundation was dug.
Last year, I was in Bareilly for Muharram, when the world over the followers of Imam Hussain, the Prophet’s grandson, mourn his martyrdom in various ways, including by wearing black clothes. In between attending the various functions organised during the first ten days of the month of Muharram, I also visited a Lakshmi Narayan temple nearby about which I had heard much. A beautiful and colourful façade met me. A replica of the Ashoka lion capital is installed at the entrance.
I entered a serene, spacious and beautifully built hall. The garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum) housing Lord Lakshmi Narayan and his consort was closed as puja time was over, but I wandered around elsewhere till I found a priest who showed me around and told me its history.
When I told the pandit I had come from Delhi to visit the mandir (I was dressed completely in black, so easily identifiable), he asked, “Inki wajah se (because of him)?” He pointed to a photograph of an impeccably dressed man in a sherwani and a topi, carrying the idol on his head, a tilak on his forehead and garlands around his neck, which occupied pride of place in the temple. I smiled and said, “Yes.”
Panditji then told me about Chunna Miyan and how he went personally to Jaipur to get the idols of Lakshmi Narayan and his consort and brought them to the temple.
The temple was inaugurated on May 13, 1960 by the President of India, Rajendra Prasad. It is a beautiful symbol of our syncretic culture.
Chunna Miyan was, as his grandson Shamsur Rahman, tells me, “not just a charming face, but someone who had a heart full of compassion and always ready to extend a helping hand to the needy.” He went on to fund the Fazlur Rahman Islamic College and established the commerce block for Bareilly College. He also built a road in front of Asia’s first women’s hospital, Clara Swain Mission Hospital, and gave land for a gurdwara on Nainital Road when he heard the local Sikhs wanted to build one there. The Sikh community was insistent they pay for it, so he took a nominal token.
Chunna Miyan, often called ‘Bareilly’s Gandhi’, was indeed Ekta ka Prakash , as a biography on him by Dr. Nirmal, and shared with me by his grandson Shakeb Rahman, is titled.
He left the world poorer on December 23, 1968.
