Latest news with #Hamida
India.com
01-06-2025
- Sport
- India.com
Meet Hamida Banu, India's first female wrestler whose name evoked fear among top male wrestlers, her opponents would..., The Great Gama...
New Delhi: Hamida Banu is considered India's first female wrestler. She was a wrestler who, upon entering the arena, would make even the most renowned wrestlers raise their hands in surrender. Not only female wrestlers, but even male wrestlers would sweat in her presence. Just hearing her name would lead many prominent wrestlers to withdraw from matches. Amazon of Aligarh When Hamida Banu reached Baroda, Gujarat, to compete after defeating two male wrestlers, the wrestler who was supposed to fight her had already withdrawn his name and fled the arena. She was the first woman wrestler in India who could make even international-level wrestlers, like Baba Pehlwan, unable to last more than 2 minutes against her. After that, she retired from wrestling and announced that she would no longer participate in any wrestling matches. Hamida Banu was often compared to a highly famous American wrestler known as Amazon. That's why she was called 'Amazon of Aligarh.' Hamida Banu established her prowess not only in India but also abroad. She achieved victories in over 300 matches throughout her life, including those against both female and male wrestlers. In 2024, a Google Doodle was created in memory of Hamida Banu. Hamida Banu, a rebel Hamida Banu was born into a Muslim family with a long tradition of wrestling. According to reports, her father Nader was a famous wrestler. From a young age, Hamida had an interest in wrestling. Her father was the first to teach her martial arts at the age of 10. However, when Hamida, born in the 1900s, expressed her desire to enter wrestling, she faced a lot of criticism. At that time, wrestling was considered a men's sport. Therefore, it was not acceptable to her family for a girl from a Muslim family to step onto the mat. But Hamida Banu rebelled and began wrestling against her family's wishes for her career. She then moved to Aligarh and started training with a local wrestler, Salam Pehlwan. Initially, she participated in small competitions, but her aspiration had always been to achieve something great. Wrestlers used to leave the arena in fear. Her daring challenge for marriage Reports have indicated that initially, when Hamida entered the arena, male wrestlers would make fun of her. Many times, the male wrestlers would refuse to fight her, claiming that she was not worthy of competing against them. However, as time passed, Hamida proved herself. Then came a time when male wrestlers would leave the arena out of fear of Hamida Banu. She gained fame in just a few years and her reputation spread from Aligarh to Punjab. She started participating in wrestling matches not only in India but also abroad. Hamida Banu gained most attention when in 1954 she announced, 'Whoever defeats me in wrestling, I will marry him'. This announcement caused quite a commotion. Fight with The Great Gama People were very excited about the match between Hamida Banu and Gama Pehlwan. For the first time, there was going to be a match at such a large level between a male and a female wrestler. Posters were printed for this match like a film, and it was promoted like a film as well. However, at that time, people were struggling to accept that a woman could defeat a male wrestler. The wrestling ring was prepared for the match between Gama Pehlwan and Hamida Banu. A large crowd gathered to watch the match. The stadium was packed. The match was about to begin, but just shortly before that, Gama Pehlwan withdrew his name from the competition. The next day, it was reported in the news that Gama Pehlwan withdrew his name out of fear from Hamida Banu. After this, Baba Pehlwan fought her but he lost to her in just 1 minute and 34 seconds and announced his retirement from wrestling. Hamida Banu's unbelievable daily diet Hamida had become so famous that her lifestyle also began to make headlines. According to reports, Hamida wrestled just like male wrestlers. She weighed 105 kilograms and had a very strong diet. She would drink more than 5 kilos of milk and over 2 kilograms of soup, along with more than 2 liters of fruit juice every day. Additionally, in terms of food, she consumed one chicken, one kilogram of mutton, half a kilogram of butter, 6 eggs, one kilogram of almonds, 2 large rotis, and 2 plates of biryani. This was her daily diet. She stood over 5 feet tall. Vera Chistilin was a Russian female wrestler, known as 'Russia's female bear' who was defeated by Hamida Banu in less than a minute. She impressed Vera Chistilin so much that she wanted to take her to Europe. After that, Hamida Banu decided to go to Europe.
Time of India
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Before Meena Kumari or Hema Malini, Dharmendra's heart belonged to someone else: A tale of innocent love lost to 1947 India- Pakistan partition
Before Dharmendra became Bollywood's macho man and heartthrob of millions, he was just a shy schoolboy nursing a silent crush. And no, it wasn't Meena Kumari or Hema Malini who first stole his heart. It was a girl named Hamida — a name not found in gossip columns or film magazines, but one that left a lasting impression on the young Dharam Singh Deol. This forgotten tale of love came to light when the veteran actor appeared on the show Dus Ka Dum . Amidst the glitz and glamour, Dharmendra took a nostalgic detour into his childhood and opened up about his first-ever love story, one that began in the narrow lanes of Punjab and ended with the painful Partition of 1947. Hamida was no film star. She was his senior in school and the daughter of one of his teachers. Their interactions were innocent — she helped him with his studies, he handed over his notebook with trembling hands, and in those fleeting moments, a bond began to form. For Dharmendra, she was the embodiment of grace and charm, someone who unknowingly taught him the meaning of first love. In true filmy style, Dharmendra once proposed to Hamida with a heartfelt shayari, a poetic confession of love. Though he didn't share the exact couplet, the twinkle in his eye and softness in his voice spoke volumes about what she meant to him. But fate, as dramatic as any Bollywood script, had other plans. The Partition turned his love story into a memory. Hamida and her family moved to Pakistan, leaving behind a heartbroken Dharmendra. He never saw her again, but her memory stayed with him — untouched by time, wrapped in nostalgia. Over the years, Dharmendra would go on to become a superstar, romancing leading ladies on-screen and making headlines for his relationships off it — especially his marriages to Prakash Kaur and later, Hema Malini. Yet, Hamida's name remains special, not because she was a celebrity, but because she was his first love — pure, unspoken, and unforgettable. In a world obsessed with starry romances, this lesser-known story reminds us that even legends have a soft, sentimental side — and sometimes, their greatest love stories are the ones that never made it to the big screen. Best Hindi Movies | Best Tamil Movies | Best Telugu Movies | Best english Movies | Best Malayalam Movies |
India.com
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- India.com
Not Prakash Kaur, Meena Kumari or Hema Malini, this girl was Dharmendra's first love, proposed her with..., she is...
Hindi cinema's He-Man Dharmendra is 89 years old, but his handsomeness has not diminished today. There was a time in the actor's film career when many actresses from Hema Malini to Jaya Bachchan were crazy about him. Many actresses had even expressed their heartfelt desire for Dharmendra, but do you know who Dharmendra's first love was? Dharmendra had narrated the story of his first innocent love in a TV reality show with Salman Khan, which we will show you in this video. In this story, Dharmendra recited a Shayari of his innocent love, reminding of his childhood. Dharamendra's first love went to Pakistan Dharmendra said in his Shayari in the show, 'I don't know what she was, the one with whom I wanted to go near, sit with whom, I used to study in sixth class, she was the daughter of our school teacher, her name was Hamida, she would smile just like that, I would go near her, she would remain silent, I would bow my head, she would ask something else, I would say something else, I would become silent again, she would say, don't be sad Dharam, it is the time of your exam, everything will be fine, if you would go away, I would keep looking, you would disappear, I would keep thinking, I said what is this question, Pakistan was formed, Hamida went away and I understood the meaning of my question, now and then when her memory gives a sweet prick, then I laugh at myself saying Dharam that was the first innocent step of your love mood and you will not forget that innocent step for the rest of your life'. Take a look below: View this post on Instagram A post shared by up87shorts (@up87shorts) Even today, whenever Dharmendra appears on a TV reality show, he recites one or the other Shayari. Not only on TV shows, but Dharam Paji has also scattered the golden words of his shayari in his social media posts many times. Talking about Dharmendra's work front, he was seen in the film Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani in the year 2023.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
They Were Promised Flights to the U.S. Now They're Stuck and in Danger
Afghan refugees hold placards during their meeting to discuss the situation after President Donald Trump paused the U.S. refugee programs, in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Jan. 24, 2025. Credit - Anjum Naveed—AP Hamida organized rural women's health clinics and a network of midwives. Mohammad guarded detainees for the U.S. Army. Hekmatullah's brother worked on U.S. government projects. Suhrab's father was a high-level judge who presided over sensitive cases. Kheyal trained fieldworkers for an international aid organization. All of them fled Afghanistan with their families for Pakistan, sometime after the messy withdrawal of the U.S. military in 2021. They worked their way through the lengthy process of legally entering the United States as refugees. Several of them had plane tickets to America. Now they are stuck. One of the first things President Donald Trump did when he arrived in office was to suspend the Refugee Admissions Program for 90 days. This effectively meant all work stopped on processing the paperwork of people fleeing to the U.S. because of persecution. One refugee agency told TIME that more than 500 flights for more than 1,000 already vetted refugees from the region were canceled. Read More: How Christian Groups Are Responding to the Foreign-Aid Freeze Shortly after the Executive Order was signed, the government of Pakistan, which says it houses some 1.5 million refugees and asylum seekers from Afghanistan (some of whom arrived during the Soviet occupation ), announced that Afghan residents who could not find a country to take them had to leave Rawalpindi and Islamabad—the cities where most of them live because they have access to the internet and government and aid offices—by March 31. After that time they will be repatriated. According to according to Shawn VanDiver, founder of #AfghanEvac,a coalition of veterans and other groups working in the region, 15,000 or so Pakistan-based Afghan refugees were approved as ready to travel. They are now at a terrifying impasse. They cannot push forward, nor can they pull back. Their cases will not progress until at least April 25, and possibly never. They will be even more unwelcome in Pakistan beyond March 31 and nothing but poverty and jeopardy await them in Afghanistan, where recent returnees are viewed with deep suspicion or worse. One refugee says he was warned of "unknown armed men" killing returnees. "The only armed men in Afghanistan are Taliban," he adds. TIME talked to several people who were stranded by the pause, and agreed to use only one of their or their relatives' names to prevent reprisals by the Afghan authorities or discovery by the Pakistani authorities. Hamida was due to fly to Doha and then Pennsylvania on Feb. 3, with her husband and young child. On Jan. 25, she got an email from her contact at the International Organization for Migration informing her that she would not be traveling. She had left Afghanistan on the pleading of her father-in-law, who said he had been told by the local authorities that her prior work with maternal-health NGOs would mean her presence at their compound could endanger the whole family. She is terrified of returning. Once they figure out who she is, she says, "I'm 100% sure I won't be alive more than a week there." She currently lives in a one-room home. The 30-month visa process, during which her claim to refugee status was vetted and approved, has depleted their savings. To avoid being picked up by Pakistani police, they lock the door of their one-room apartment and stay hidden for most of the day. Her husband no longer goes to the laboring jobs he used to do. Their child rarely goes outside. They shop for groceries at night. Now the former project manager with a staff of 60 supports her family doing at-home tailoring work. "We will try to survive here if we can," she says. "I don't know what we will do, but I'm sure we will not go to Afghanistan." Read More: How Trump's Foreign-Aid Freeze Is 'Shaking the Whole System' In many ways Hekmatullah's brother is luckier than Hamida. Hekmatullah arrived in the U.S. a year ago on a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV), which is given to those who served alongside the U.S. Army. (This program is also currently not operating.) He can support his brother financially. But in other ways he's in the same boat. Hekmatullah was told to expect his brother to arrive in Missouri on Feb. 5, but on Jan. 25 he got an email from his local refugee resettlement agency saying the trip had been canceled. His brother, who worked for several American NGOs during the conflict is now on the move, staying at different rentals and friends' homes every few nights to avoid being caught and sent back to Afghanistan. "The Pakistan government is searching for the Afghan refugees everywhere in Pakistan to arrest them and deport them to their country," says Hekmatullah. "But in Afghanistan, you're not getting deported. They will arrest you." (The Pakistani embassy did not answer questions sent via email.) Kheyal's family completed the paperwork and their travel documents were requested in December. He, his wife, and children were expecting their flight details any day. "Until 20 January, we were really hopeful every day," he says. They are surviving on savings from his previous job, which he quit partly because he was expecting to move to the U.S. Recently the Pakistani government started requiring monthly rather than six-month extensions on visas. Each one, with what might euphemistically be called "handling fees," costs $200. The police visit his apartment building frequently. It is 3 a.m. where he is when he speaks to TIME, but Kheyal says nobody in his house is sleeping. "Once we heard that the process is suspended, then we cannot sleep, we cannot eat," he says. "My children are depressed. They have access to social media. They hear everything. I cannot hide anything from them." He's hoping to wait out the pause in Pakistan. Read More: Inside the Chaos, Confusion, and Heartbreak of Trump's Foreign-Aid Freeze Suhrab's family cannot wait. His father was a judge who had to hide in relatives' homes when the Taliban took power, as people he sentenced came to take revenge. The judge and his family arrived in Pakistan in January 2022. Their resettlement was being handled by Welcome Corps, a Biden-era program in which a group of U.S. citizens—in this case, a church in East Tennessee—can sponsor a refugee. That program is suspended. From the safety of the west, Suhrab sometimes works double shifts to support them. His brother, who has also left the region, sends money too. The family and the church group in Tennessee are looking for another country to take them, although very few nations give visas to Afghan passport holders. "I'm super scared," says Suhrab, sitting in his car during a lunch break at work. "What if they catch them and they force them to get out from Pakistan? I don't know what will happen to them." The church group is also taken aback. "It does surprise me that our American government is doing that, especially against refugees," says Melva McGinnis, who coordinated the Welcome Corps program at the church, which has previously sponsored another Afghan family. "The previous government—it was like anyone and their brother can come in, legal or illegal. It isn't fair that people that are trying to come to the States the legal way shouldn't be allowed to come. I think they should." President Trump's move was not unexpected, however. He massively reduced the number of refugees allowed into the country last time he was in office, even before the arrival of COVID-19-related restrictions. Generally surveys show a wide swath of Americans on both sides of the political spectrum support America accepting refugees, and even higher numbers support accepting refugees from Afghanistan who were allied to the American cause. Under President Biden, the number of refugees admitted per year went from a historic low of 11,400 in 2021 to a 30-year high of more than 100,000 in 2024—although the total number during his term is dwarfed by how many refugees were admitted by both President Carter (375,000) and President Reagan (660,000 over two terms). More surprising perhaps is the abandonment of Afghan military personnel who fought alongside the U.S. forces. Mohammad helped guard detainees at a U.S. air base. He has gone through the process of applying to come to America twice. After waiting 18 months for his SIV, he also applied for a refugee visa, but the processing was not finished before the three-month pause began. He, his wife, two brothers, and sister-in-law are living in a shack in a slum. "My situation is no good," he says. "We have no money for food or medicine." He and his family eat once a day, with help from sympathetic locals. VanDiver, of #AfghanEvac, says his bipartisan group is reaching out to Republicans in Congress to see if a carve-out can be made for already-approved refugees stranded in Pakistan or Afghanistan, which he estimates at about 65,000 people, including 50,000 still in Afghanistan. "We have a broad cross section of America that's represented in our ecosystem," he says. "Ninety percent of the American public supports this effort. It is not something that is unpopular." Eric Lebo, a former Navy Reservist, served with Mohammed at the air base. "We couldn't do our job if it wasn't for him and his soldiers," says Lebo, now a truck driver in California. "There's all kinds of refugee and immigration stuff going on," he adds. "But I mean, people like Mohammed are soldiers who served alongside the U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Their lives are in danger." Mohammed's brother and parents still live in Afghanistan. Recently, he says—and texts a gruesome photo—his brother was shot in the face. Mohammed thinks the assailants mistook his brother for him. Contact us at letters@
