Abdul Kalam was not the only Muslim who contributed towards India

Mahesh Sharma stoked controversy by opining that Abdul Kalam was “a great nationalist despite being a Muslim”.

Saad Saud October 04, 2015
Recently, Indian Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma stoked controversy by opining that former Indian president APJ Abdul Kalam was “a great nationalist despite being a Muslim”.

Politicians’ contributions:

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Badruddin Tyabji, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, Asaf Ali, Syed Mahmud, Zakir Hussain, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, APJ Abdul Kalam, Saifuddin Kitchlew, Muhammad Yunus, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan, Khwaja Abdul Hamied, MC Chagla, Mohammad Hidayatullah, Salman Khurshid, E Ahamed, Sheikh Abdullah, Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah, Sikander Bakht, Shahnawaz Hussain.



Bureaucrats’ contribution:

Ali Yavar Jung, Abid Hussain, Salman Haider, Syed Akbaruddin, SY Quraishi, Wajahat Habibullah.



Actors’ contribution:

Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Aamir Khan, Dilip Kumar, Feroz Khan, Mehmood Ali, Arshad Warsi, Madhubala, Meena Kumari, Waheeda Rehman, Shabana Azmi, Zeenat Aman, Farida Jalal, Farooq Sheikh, Naseeruddin Shah, Tabu, Farhan Akhtar, Zohra Sehgal, Habib Tanvir.



Musicians and vocalists’ contribution: 

Amjad Ali Khan, AR Rahman, Anu Malik, Naushad, Zakir Hussain, Bismillah Khan, Begum Akhtar, Lucky Ali.



Poets and lyricists’ contributions:

Akhlaq Muhammad Khan (Shahryar), Shakeel Badayuni, Jan Nisar Akhtar, Majaz Lakhnawi, Kaifi Azmi, Ali Sardar Jafri, Sahir Ludhianvi, Javed Akhtar, Nida Fazli, Bashir Badr, Rahat Indori, Salim Khan.



Filmmakers’ contribution:

Kamal Amrohi, K Asif, Muzaffar Ali, Shaad Ali, Zoya Akhtar.



Writers and academics’ contribution:

Qurratulain Hyder, Ismat Chughtai, Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, MJ Akbar, Muhibbul Hasan, Mushirul Hasan, Zoya Hasan, Mohammad Habib, Irfan Habib, Rakhshanda Jalil, Syeda Saiyidain Hameed, Asghar Ali Engineer.



Business and entrepreneurs’ contribution:  

Azim Premji, Yusuf Hamied, Shahnaz Hussain, BS Abdur Rahman.



Cricketers’ contribution:

Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, Mohammad Azharuddin, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Zaheer Khan.



Military and army contribution:

Abdul Hamid, Mohammad Usman, Idris Latif.

WRITTEN BY:
Saad Saud The writer is a subeditor for the Lahore desk of The Express Tribune
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (108)

Rajiv | 6 years ago | Reply Music, films, Art, sports are not contribution to a country. These things only exist in peaceful and prosperous nations. These are byproducts of a good society. In a nation with high level of violence these things won't exist. If you want to look at contribution look at the things which are required for nation building.
Satish Walimbe | 7 years ago | Reply Only Muslims, who blindly follow Fanatic Mullahs and 12th century curriculum of Madrasas don't progress. Stop daydreaming of Ghazwa -E-Hind. and accept that your ancestors were Hindus and not Arabs (who spit on your face). Those Muslims in India who have understood this fact have achieved success. All non-Muslim Indians treat them with respect.
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