Welfare Institutions

ALL PAKISTAN MEMON FEDERATION

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND FORMATION

In 1947, after the independence of Pakistan, thousands of Memon families migrated to this newly born state from Kathiawar, Gujrat and other parts of the sub-continent. The majority of them settled in the province of Sindh, particularly in Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur and established their own Jamats after the names of their native towns and villages which they left in India, with a view to preserve their identity as well as to be helpful to their less fortunate brethren.

In 1951, some leading Memon personalities including, Mr. Muhammad Ali Rangoonwala, Mr. Suleman Bhura, Mr. Umer Fazil Farooq, Mr. Haji Abdul Shakoor Tumbi, Mr. Abdul Aziz Sagar, Mr. Muhammad Siddiq Kukaswadia, Mr. Haji Abdul latif Dhedhi and others with solidarity, welfare and development of the community as a whole in mind got together and considered the possibilities of uniting the entire community on one single platform by forming a central and federal parent body of the Memon Jamats to represent them all at national level and raise their voice in government.

It took about a year to prepare and finalize the preliminary draft of the Federation which was later approved in a meting held on 27^th December, 1952 attended by the representatives of six big Memon Jamats namely Jetpur Memon Association, Dhoraji Association, Kutyana Memon Association, Bantva Memon Jmat, Halari Memon General Jamat and Okhai Memon Jamat.

FIRST ALL PAKISTAN MEMON CONVENTION (1953)

Mr. Abdul Wahid Adamjee who was elected as the President of the Federation in his absence as he was abroad at that time and therefore, Mr. Haji Umer Bandhani the Vice President took the chair as President of the convention.

The convention was inaugurated by Seth Hussain Kassim Dada, an elderly community leader. In his speech he identified the foundation of Memon Federation as a milestone in the Memon history. Other speakers who presented their views on the problems and resources of community were Mr. Haji Umer Bandhani, Mr. Muhammad Ali Rangoonwala, Mr. Suleman Adamjee, Mr. Jan Muhammad Dawood, Mr. Haji Abdul Shakoor Tumbi, Mr. Umer Fazil Farooq, Mr. M. A. Sozer, Mr. Kassam Usman Kandawala, Mr. Rafique Hamidani, Mr. Wali Muhammed maskatya and       Mr. Ebrahim Dawood Gulzar from Hyderabad.

SOCIAL ORDERS FOR REFORMS OF CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS

The following six basic social rules and regulations were framed and imposed by the Federation, which were to be strictly preached and practiced by all members of the community :-

1)       Nikah must be solemnized in mosques only and not elsewhere.

2)       The dowry given to bride must not be exhibited in any form.

3)       Any gathering or ceremony must not be held at the time of Khatna.  

4)       The marriage invitation cards must be simply printed, without any kind of decoration or plastic coating.

5)       At the time of engagement, marriage, mehandi and on other such occasions, big and lavishly arranged lunch and dinner as well as musical and variety programmes are strictly prohibited. Such events are also not allowed to hold at hotels and clubs etc.

6)       Ziarat, soyen or Quran Khwani for gents should be held at a mosque and for ladies at the house of the bereaved family.

Unfortunately, with passage of time these social rules and orders are being largely ignored and the Federation has not formed any machinery to persuade the members of the community to follow them.

PRESIDENTS OF ALL PAKISTAN MEMON FEDERATION FROM 1953 TO DATE

(Extracts from a book on the History of Memon Federation by Mr. Usman Batliwala)

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