Early Days......No Business School yet Unique business system-- by Abdur Razzak Thaplawala

Mr. Sergy Levin, a Soviet Writer, writing in the book “Soviet Scholars View South Asia” has said that :

“Memons have long been famous in India as very enterprising tradesmen. Merchants from this community have engaged in trade with the most varied goods, on land and on sea. In the 16th and 17th centuries they settled throughout all of Gujarat, and set up a number of factories on the Malabar coast. The Memon merchants played a particularly important role in the trade of the city of Surat, which was at that time the leading trade center of western India.

From the end of the 18th century and the first quarter of the 19th, a mass settlement of Memons began throughout India, and a few decades later they also emigrated beyond its borders, chiefly to the countries of the Indian Ocean basin. By the end of the 19th century, rich communities of Memons were appearing in the ports of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, in Ceylon and Bruma, and in East and South Africa”.

The Memon traders or professional businessman of those days had a unique system of organization and management. Many well known Memon firms had hundred of branches spread over the entire country and when none of the present day means of communication were available, they had evolved a system which kept the head offices of these firms in constant touch with all the branches. Apparently these firms were owned by one family but they had evolved a system of what we may call a contributory and participatory management. The Manager of each branch also contributed to the capital of that particular branch. His share in the investment was nominal from half an anna to four annas in terms of currency units of those days i.e. 1/32th to 1/4 of a rupee. Most of the Managers stayed at their branches for 10 months in a year leaving their families in their ancestors’ towns. When they returned to their native places for a two months leave every year, they would find their share of profit and the salary duly worked out by Mehtaji or Accountant of the firm and which was promptly paid to them. How could they keep control of the hundreds of branches and maintain their accounts in those days, is a delima to us today but it is an example of high professional & business acumen of the community. These Memons had not gone to a business School and yet they were able to evolve a unique business system. May be some of our professionals in accounting and business management profession will do some research on the subject one day.

Some people, with their own axe to grind often try to malign the community as hoarders & profiteers but it is a matter of common knowledge about our ansertors that very often they never hesitated in doing business when the gunnymmy bag or the bardana used for packing of the commodity was the only profit left to them. They believed in high turnover and small profits for overall success of the business. Many Management Gurus of today advocate this strategy.

Thapla And Kodvav BY: ABDUR RAZZAQ THAPLAWALA

My surname is THAPLAWALA but my parents or elders had not told me the meaning of this surname. After coming to Pakistan, I looked at the maps of Gujrat and saw that Bantva was surrounded by many small villages and many families had their surname linked with these villages including Balagam, Kodvav, Pajod etc. These villages included a village named THAPLA. I had a keen desire to visit & see THAPLA. We left Bantva and started our journey towards these villages. On our way to THAPLA, we passed through Aiklaria and then the Kodvav. I was told that the population of Kodvav was 1500 persons  belonging to Patel community. After seeing Kodvav, We proceeded towards THAPLA. It is a small town with a population of 600 people. At the outside of THAPLA, there was a Mazaar or Chilla of Peer Geban Shah. It was being looked after by a Muslim couple Mr. & Mrs. Fakeer Allah Rakha Qasim. Both  the THAPLA & KODVAV have small schools. The school in THAPLA is known as Study Centre and the school in KODVAV is known as school. I have photographed both schools of THAPLA & KODVAV which may appear in this article.

 

After seeing THAPLA, we decided to start our return journey. We decided that instead of going back to Junagadh, we should dreictly proceed to Rajkot through Sardargadh & Dhoraji.

An education centre in thapla Taluka Manavadr	Dargah of Gebon shah pir in Thapla
Pir Gabon Shah's Dargah from inside at Thapla	A school in Kodvav

Quaid e Azam and Bantva Memons by Abdur Razzaq Thaplawala

From the book"The Memon Community Heritage and Identity "by Abdur Razzaq Thaplawala

 

RAJKOT by Abdur Razzaq Thaplawala

Khanji zanana school Rajkot

I left my luggage  in the office of  The Memon Educational & Welfare Society and took a small trolly bag with me which contained clothing for 3 days. The Jet Airways flight took me from Mumbai to to Rajkot. The flight time was 45 minutes and the return fair was Rs. 7,800/=. At Rajkot Airport, I was received by a friend Mr. Farooq who was requested by Mr. Adam Noor to receive me. Mr. Farooq was there at the airport to receive me. He had booked a room in Hotel Kavery, Rajkot. It took me one hour to reach my Hotel. We had arranged a Suzuki Hiroof   for our tour. Before living Rajkot next morning, I was shown the Adamjee Boarding House at Rajkot. The plaque at the Adamjee Boarding House read following in Gujrati :

 

 

          “Sir Adamjee Haji Dawood constructed this Boarding House at a cost of Rs. 14,050 on the occasion of the wedding ceremony of his son. The foundation stone was laid on 2^nd February, 1941 by the State Resident Major G.B. Williams. The Boarding House was completed and declared open on 19^th Janaury, 1942 by Janab Haji Abdul Shakoor Baig Muhammad Subasha.”  

A street of Rajkot

The Boarding House is a beautiful building constructed on a plot measuring 12,500 sq.yards. When I visited the Boarding House, the building was in good shape but it was rented out to a Government department and two private firms. There were 15 boarders who were living in kitchen and dining room of the Boarding House. Out of these 15 students only 5 students were from Memon community. The Boarding House is located at the prime locality of Rajkot. Unfortunately, the Memon community of Rajkot does not appear to have taken care of  the Boarding House and thus the wishes of Sir Adamjee Haji Dawood to accommodate Memon students did not materialize. This was a very sorry state of affairs. I explained this state of affairs to the community elders at one of the meeting of Board of Management of World Memon Organization held at Mumbai on 27^th March, 2005. I was told by some Indian dignitories that they are trying to revive the Boarding House. According to a conservative estimate, the present value of land and building of Boarding House is about Rs. 25 crores.

Rajkot & Junagadh road showing Gondal & Jetpur mile stone	Return journey to Rajkot road through Dhoraji - mile stone

Rajkot has a population of about 1.1 Million people out of  which 100,000 people belong to Muslim community and there are about 5000 persons who belong to Memon community.

The Occupation of Bantva and Kutiyana By Abdur Razzaq Thaplawala

Bantva and Kutiyana – presently part of Indian province of Gujrat were the home towns of the big business magnets of the Memon community in the sub-continent before its partition. When Muslim League decided to launch its own English Daily and constituted a Press Fund in 1940, Quaid-e-Azam visited Kathiawar which included Junagadh and Manavadar States to collect money for Press Fund. Bantva was a small town with a population about 20,000 peoples at that time but Quaid-e-Azam not only visited this town but stayed there for three days to collect funds from individual business magnets. It is said that the 90% of Muslim League Press Fund was contributed by Memon community of Kathiawar.

Old Karachi port,many Memons Migrated to Pakistan Via Karachi Port

At the time of partition, Bantva was part of the princely state of Manavadar. The rulers of Manavadar were indecisive about joining either of the two newly created dominions. The Muslim residents of Bantva, who mainly belonged to Memon community organized a big public meeting in early September, 1947, demanding accession of Manavadar including Bantva with Pakistan and formed a delegation to meet the rulers of Bantva & Manavadar. The delegation consisting of dignitaries of Memon community met darbars of Bantva & Khan of Manavadar on 9^th September, 1947.

On the persuasion of the subjects of the state, Manavadar accounced its accession to Pakistan on 25^th September, 1947. This was naturally not acceptable to Indian Government which sent two companies of its armed forces to Bantva under the command of Col. Himmayat Singhjee on 3^rd October, 1947. The invading forces took over all government offices and declared Bantva as a part of Indian union. Army pickets were established at various places in Bantva. On the same day Sardargadh a , neighboring town of Bantva was also occupied. Manavadar was occupied on 23^rd October, 1947, and the rulers were arrested and taken away first to Jamnagar and then to Rajkot.

Night time curfew was imposed in Bantva immediately after its takeover. In the meantime, more army enforcement kept arriving to strengthen the occupation forces. Muslims were prevented from sacrificing cows  on Idul Zoha and also from saying Id prayers in main Idgah.

Before the occupation of Junagadh State on 9^th November, 1947, the 8^th Sikh regiment reached Kutiyana on 7^th November, 1947. More forces  consisting of 40 trucks and 50 jeeps also joined the Sikh regiment on 8^th November, 1947 to occupy Kutiyana. Many Muslims of Kutiyana laid their lives.

On 10^th November, 1947, the population of Kutiyana was attacked by the personnel. They broke in the houses and took away all currency, jewellery, valuables clothing etc.

In the meanwhile, uneasy calm prevailed in Bantva whose residents knew that they were the next target. Mr. Valabh Bhai Patel, the then interior Minister of India & others made inflammatory speeches while addressing a public meeting in Junagadh on 13^thNovember, 1974 against Muslims in general and Memon community of Bantva in particular which had made handsome contribution to the Press Fund of Muslim League when Quaid-e-Azam visited Bantva in 1940. These speeches added fuel to fire and the population of bantva was attacked in the midnight of 15^th November, 1947. The attackers mainly consisted of farm labour of adjoining villages. They broke open the doors of houses with their axes and took away everything which they could lay hand on including. No Muslim could help his follow Muslims because Muslims were not allowed to come out of their homes to help their fellow brothers by the curfew enforcing army. The cries of help from men and women raised by the residents whose houses were being attacked are still remembered by this writer inspite of his young age at that time.

The entire population of Bantva was in a state of shock and helplessness. They left their houses and shops with all their belongings, and migrated to Pakistan by ships through Okha port or Bombay. About 90pc of population of Bantva & Kutiyana had left their birth place within next 15 days.

As a result of atrocities committed on the members of community in Bantva and Kutiyana, the Memons from other towns and cities including Dhoraji, Jetpur, Gondal, Upleta, Mangrol, Jamnagar etc realized that it was no longer safe for them to continue living is their home towns. Majority of them, therefore, migrated to Pakistan. They were helped to settle in Karachi and other towns of Sindh by Memon Relief Committee formed in Karachi.

The migration of Memon community from Kathiawar proved to be a blessing in disguise for Pakistan’s Economy. Using the capital brought by them from India and blending it with their business acumen and entrepreneur skills the Memons started working for the development of Pakistan. The beginning was made with establishment of trading firms with branches in various places in East & West Pakistan. Then they moved into industry. A journey started towards setting of up industries in different fields and making Pakistan a viable economy.

Immediately after partition two books were written one by Dr. Rajindra Parshad, the first President of India and Dr. Ambedkar, the author of Indian Constitution. Both the authors predicted the non viability of Pakistan. Even Mr. Naheru, had predicted that Pakistan would never be economically viable and will ultimately seek re-union with India. It was this thinking which led India to withhold Rs. 55 crores which was Pakistani share in the assets of British India.

What role did the Memons play to prove that these predications of Indian leaders were nothing but false hopes can be judge by the following quotation from Mr. Stephen R. Lewis who wrote as follows in his book ‘Pakistan’s Industrial and Trade Policies’.

“It is wonder that Pakistan’s economy survived at all in the early years. Why did it survive ? it was because of the entrepreneur skills of Muslim community who had migrated to Pakistan from their original homeland in India and prominent among them were Memons. If Pakistan beat the economic odds, then a great deal of credit goes to the Memons."

Last Days of Junagadh By Abdur Razzaq Thaplawala

Sardar Valabh bhai gate Junagadh

The month of November, 1947 was a month of tragedy for newly born Pakistan as India occupied two states which had legally and formally acceded to Pakistan as part of the scheme of partition. These states are located in the present Gujrat provinces. The Junagadh State was surrounded by Indian Territory but it has a long coast line with a well developed part for easy access to Karachi. The month will be particularly remembered by the Memon community as a month in which they faced one of the worst tragedy in the community’s life time.

The community in general and the members of community from Bantva, Kutiyana and Junagadh had to abandon their birth places and migrate to Pakistan in November, 1947. It is unfortunate that the month of November, 2003 passed without anybody remembering this tragedy.

Mr. Yusuf Abdul Gani Mandvia, a bold Memon journalist of high caliber and writer of many books on pre-partition Indian Politics was present in Junagadh during the last days of the occupation of Junagadh. He had first hand information about these happenings. The following chronological account of these days is based on one of his books in Gujrati published in Karachi after he migrated to Pakistan after serving a three years imprisonment in Junagadh imposed on him by Indian occupation forces of the occupation of Junagadh. The following information is based on Mr. Mandvia’s Gujrati books publish in sixteen and the information about happenings in Bantva and Kutiyana – the home of some of big business magnets of the Memon community. This information is based on “Tarikh-e-Bantva” by Mr. Aziz Kaya.

The Junagadh government conveyed its consent to acceed to Pakistan as early as on 12th August, 1947. This decision was published in Dasturul Amal of Junagadh State on 15th August, 1947.The instrument of accession was however formally signed by Quaid-e-Azam on 15th September, 1947 and accordingly the accession was notified in Gazette of Pakistan and Dastrul Amal of Junagadh State on that date. Mr. V.P. Menon, the secretary of States department of Government of India rushed to Junagadh on 17th September, 1947 and met Mr. Shah Nawaz Bhutto, the Chief Minister of Junagadh. Mr. Memon insisted that he had brought a message of Indian Government and will like to deliver the message to Nawab Saheb only. Mr. Shah Nawaz Bhutto showed his inability to arrange a meeting with Nawab Saheb as he was not feeling well. Mr. Menon expressed his displeasure over this refusal but finally conveyed the message of Indian Government to Mr. Bhutto insisting that Junagadh should withdraw its accession to Pakistan. Mr. Bhutto told Mr. Menon that the accession was now complete and according to international law only the Government of Pakistan can talk on the subject. Mr. Menon left after the threats of dire consequences.

Mr. Menon immediately went to Bombay and called a meeting of Mr. Saamar Das Gandhi a journalist of Rajkot and his accomplices who were already present in Bombay according to a pre arranged scheme. He unfolded the scheme of Arzi Hukumat (Provisional Government) to them.

On 25th September, 1947, a meeting was held in Madhav Garden of Bombay where formal announcement of the formation of Arzee Hukumat or Provisional Government of Junagarh was made. Mr. Samal Das Gandhi was nominated as President of the Provisional Government. Mr. Saamar Das Gandhi and some of his colleagues who were declared as ministers with various portfolios took oath of their respective offices. Saamar Das Gandhi was son of Mr. Lakshami Das Karamch Gandhi brother of Mr. Mohan Das Karamchand, the father of Mahatma Gandhi. He was not a resident of Junagadh State.

Immediately after announcement of the Provisional Government, the ministers of provisional government proceeded to Rajkot and occupied Junagadh House there on 27th September, 2003. The Indian Government acted as a silent spectator.

As a part of preparation for occupation of the Junagadh a “Kathiawar Defence Force” was formed by the Government of Indian with Brigadier Guru Dayal Singh as Commanding Officer and head quarter in Rajkot. Three war ships were anchored at the port of Porbandar. A squadron consisting of eight Tempest air crafts was stationed at Rajkot and additional companies of Armed Forces were deployed at Rajkot. The Indian aircrafts started to fly over Junagadh territory at very low heights to harass the public.

On 8th November, 1947, Mr. Shah Nawaz Bhutto sent a letter to Mr. Nilam Butch, the Provincial Head of Indian Government in Rajkot requesting him to help him in restoring the law & order situation in Junagadh to stop the blood shade of the innocent citizens. Mr. Harvey Johnson took the message to Rajkot. The head of Indian Administration immediately rang up Mr. V.P. Menon in Delhi and read out the letter of Mr. Shah Nawaz Bhutto to him. Mr. Menon immediately rushed to the residence of Pandil Jawahir Lal Nehru and explained the situation. After consultation with various ministers and Mr. Valabh Bhai Patel, the home minister in particular, a formal order was immediately drafted and a notification was issued announcing the take over of Junagadh at the request of the Chief Minister of Junagadh. The notification promised a referendum in due course.

Mr. Shah Nawaz Bhutto left Junagadh for Karachi on the night of 8th November, 1947. On 9th November, 1947, the Indian Air force sent several sorties to fly at a low height on the Junagadh. Soon thereafter columns of Indian tanks, Armour Vehicles and Jeeps carrying Indian solders entered Junagadh State. At 6:00 P.M. on 9th November, 1947, Captain Harvey Johnson and Chief Secretary Mr. Gheewala, a civil servant of Junagadh State, formally handed over the charge of the State to the India.

The Junagadh was occupied on 9th November, 1947 but two days before this occupation, the 8th Sikh regiment reached Kutiyana on 7th November, 1947. More forces consisting of 40 trucks and 50 jeeps also joined the Sikh regiment on 8th November, 1947 to occupy Kutiyana.