Afzal-ul Amin

Mohammed Afzal-ul Amin alias M.A Amin was born into the Diwan family to the notable educationist of Cuttack, Sayeed Mohammed and his wife Begum Badar un nissa Akhtar. From his mother's side he was the great grandson of the famous poet and writer, Ubaidullah Al Ubaidi Suhrawardy and from his father's side he was the great grandson of the Sufi Pir Khwaja Fazal Mohammed. After finishing his schooling from Ravenshaw Collegiate School, Afzal-ul entered the field of politics where he emerged as a prominent Muslim leader in the town. Like his father, he too mobilized the Odia Muslims to join the Indian freedom struggle. During the 1942 Quit India movement, Amin worked in close association with Malati Choudhury and Ramadevi Choudhury, he organised various nationalist meetings at his place in Cuttack to gather support for the movement after Surajmal Shah and Bibhunendra Mishra were arrested in August 1942.[4][5]

Afzal-ul served as the chairman of Odisha board of Wakfs (State Muslim endowment board). He was also one of the most prominent Muslim councilors in the Cuttack municipality then. He was elected as the councilor continuously for 28 long years i.e. from 1952 to 1980, winning all the elections continuously. He had also been elected as the Vice Chairman of Cuttack Municipality.[6] Afzal-ul was a member of the Indian National Congress (Organisation). In 1961 he was appointed as the general secretary of Utkal Pradesh Congress Committee by Biren Mitra. In 1971 he ran for the Cuttack State legislative assembly elections as an MLA candidate from the Indian National Congress (O) party.[7][8] He was later appointed as the President of Odisha Mohammadan Association.[9]

Amin seated in between the former Prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi (to his left) and the former Chief minister of Orissa, Janaki Ballabh Patnaik (to his right) in the Indian National Congress delegation meeting with Odia leaders.

Afzal-ul played a major role in preserving Urdu language in Cuttack. As the chairman of Cuttack Municipality's sub-committee on education he established five Urdu lower primary and five upper primary schools in Cuttack some of which include, Maulana Azad U.P school in Qadam Rasool.

Afzal-ul Amin married his second cousin, Syeda Roshanara Akhtar, the younger daughter of Ibrahim Suhrawardy, a notable author and linguist from Balasore of the Qadiriyyah house.

Afzal-ul has two daughters, Tabassum Amin Sultana, who married the notable politician and writer Hussain Rabi Gandhi, and Farhat Amin Sultana, a journalist and a social activist who married the tribal rights activist Saleem Farook.