|
Born in
1890, going for Haj in 2010: India's Munni Begum ready for
pilgrimage
Friday November 12, 2010 08:24:00 PM,
Agencies
|
|
 |
Jaipur:
Munni Begum is 120 year old and is all set to go for Haj, after
special permission as her name didn't figure in the draw of lots.
The old woman who gave birth to eight sons and daughters, heads a
huge family that lives in Kho Nagorian locality of Jaipur.
Family members say that Munni Begum was born in August 1890. She
has 52 grandsons and granddaughters apart from 96-odd great
grandsons and great granddaughters other than two dozen
great-great-grandchildren [and even their kids].
The elderly woman has seen three centuries. And now she is all set
for the pilgrimage she has waited for all her life. On Saturday
she reached the office of Haj Committee to fill the form. The
Central Haj Committee officials from Delhi gave her special
permission.
The Rajasthan Haj Welfare Society has requested the Saudia Arabia
government that special attention should be paid to her because of
Munni's age.
Munni Begum is perhaps the oldest woman on record to embark for
the holy journey. She says that she had the wish to go for Haj
ever since she was married in her teenage, and thus her wish is
going to be fulfilled after over a century.
One wonders if there is a tendency among the Rajasthanis,
particularly, the Jaipur residents to live longer.
Earlier, Habib Miyan had gone for Haj at the age of 134. He had
suddenly drawn international attention after it was found that he
had been drawing pension for over 65 years.
Habib Miyan had retired in 1938. He went for Haj in 2004 when he
was 134. Though birth certificates were unknown in the olden days,
the bank records proved his age.
As per the pension papers, Habib Miyan was drawing pension since
1938. The documents clearly showed him as born in 1878 and this
made him the world's oldest man alive until his death at the age
of 138 in 2008. The bank officers delivered his pension at his
home.
Now it's Munni Begum's turn though she is not a 'Munni' in the
literary sense. [Munni means little in Urdu] In India, it was the
tradition that mostly older persons went for Haj, after they had
fulfilled their worldly responsibilities.
In recent years the pilgrims have begun going at a comparatively
younger age, still a large number of Indians who go to Hejaz
[Arabia] are over sixty. And Munni Begum clearly beats them as
well. One hopes that along with other Hajis, she also manages to
perform the Haj and returns safely.
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page |
|
 |
|
Comment on this article |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 News Pick |
|
Former
Israeli premier Sharon returns home five years after stroke
Former Israeli premier Ariel Sharon
was Friday transferred to his home, Israel radio reported, nearly five
years after he suffered a massive stroke and went into a coma in the
midst of a re-election
» |
 Ishrat
Jahan Case: Supreme court upholds special probe team
The Supreme Court Friday dismissed an appeal by the Gujarat
government challenging the setting up of a Special Investigation
Team (SIT) to probe the killings of Ishrat Jahan and three
» |
|
‘Non-Muslims outnumber Muslims in terror plots’
A new report on violent
extremists in the United States finds that terrorism plots by
non-Muslims greatly outnumber those attempted by Muslims, and that
Muslim-American communities helped foil close to a third of
» |
Congress
criticises former RSS chief over anti-Sonia remarks
The Congress Thursday hit out at former Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS) chief K.S. Sudarshan for his "uncivilised language"
against party president Sonia Gandhi even as both the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) and the
» |
|
Four
students guilty of ragging to death Aman Kachru
A
fast track court here Thursday convicted four medical students for
ragging to death their junior Aman Kachru in 2009.
Aman, 19, died March 8 last year after he was ragged by four
seniors - Ajay Verma, Naveen
» |
'SS'
blast aimed at disrupting BJP leader Diwali function'
The Diwali-eve improvised explosive device (IED) blast carried out
by members of Hindu rightwing group Sanatan Sanstha (SS) targeted
a popular festive gathering organised by a BJP memeber outfit, a
youth leader of the party
»
|
|
Two
Pakistani kids killed, stuffed into box
A seven-year-old girl and her brother, 5, were strangled and then
crammed into an iron box used for storing wheat in this Pakistani
city. The police suspect that the girl was raped. Medical
examiners have concluded that the
»
|
Parliament adjourned for week over 2G spectrum scam, Raja
The deadlock between the
government and opposition over alleged corruption in 2G spectrum
allocation and IT Minister A. Raja worsened Thursday with both
houses of parliament adjourned for the week without
»
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Quick links