Abdul Malik Choudhury. Moloi

My uncle, Abdul Malik Choudhury (1891-1967), had built two houses in Jaiaw. The upper, larger house was named "Bhadeswar Lodge" and the lower, smaller one "Bhadeswar Villa". Bhadeswar is our village in Sylhet. The Villa was re-structured in the early 1990's. The houses were built probably in the late 1920's.

AMC graduated from M.C. College, Sylhet, in 1914 and did a Pleadership course from Ripon College, Calcutta, in 1915. He came to Shillong in 1916 and joined the Secretariat as an Assistant (clerk). He retired on 15 September 1947 while serving as Officiating Registrar in the PWD. We have lost a group photo of all PWD staff, with my father Abdul Matin Choudhury sitting in front as Minister, PWD & Post War Reconstruction, and elder brother AMC standing in the last row. Before returning to his village home he is known to have sold his property to one Khan, who later sold it to DD Lapang.

During his time in Shillong, AMC was a social worker, organiser, Islamic missionary and author. In 1921 he revived the Shillong Muslim Union, which had been established by Nawab Sir Salimullah of Dhaka, and through it established Syed Tayebullah Orphanage with financial assistance from Sir Syed Mohammad Saadullah. In 1927 he set up Shillong Islam Mission, which published The Messenger. In the same year he established the Crescent Bank. He also established Shillong Muslim Library and Laban Literary Institute, a library for all communities. In recent times, the only glass mosque in India, the Madina Mosque in Laban was built by the same Shillong Muslim Union.

He co-authored a book titled Calcutta Mohammedan Sporting Club, and authored three others. His novel, Shopner Ghore, an inter-racial love story, was published from Calcutta in 1922. It was republished as Pardeshi in 1957, The 3rd edition as Pardeshi was launched in 2008 at a ceremony in Sylhet where Prof J. B. Bhattacharjee attended as Chief Guest, along with Prof Shah Noorur Rahman of History Dept., NEHU. The book depicts the simple life style of the then Khasis, and also the cordial relationship that existed between them and outsiders. .
Juned, 28 February 2023