رام لعل نابھوی
قارئین معارف اور اردو کے شیدائیوں کو جناب رام لعل نابھوی کے انتقال کی خبر سن کر بڑا دکھ ہوگا، وہ ہندوؤں کی اس نسل سے تعلق رکھتے تھے جو اردو کو اپنی زبان اور مسلمانوں سے زیادہ اس پر اپنا حق سمجھتی تھی، وہ کہتے تھے کہ نہ زبان کا کوئی مذہب ہے اور نہ اس پر کسی قوم اور گروہ کی اجارہ داری ہے۔
پروانہ چراغِ دیر و حرم نہ داند
رام لعل صاحب بڑے زود نویس تھے مگر ان کا قلم پختہ اور منجھا ہوا تھا اور وہ موزوں طبع بھی تھے خاکہ و مزاح نگاری میں ان کو زیادہ کمال حاصل تھا لیکن ان کا اصل میدان تلاش و تحقیق تھا، پچھلے کئی برسوں سے معارف میں ان کے مضامین برابر شایع ہورہے تھے، اپنی اس کدو کاوش سے وہ یہ بتانا چاہتے تھے کہ ہندوؤں کے پُرکھوں نے اردو ہی نہیں فارسی اور عربی کی بھی مفید خدمت انجام دی ہے اور مسلمانوں کے بزرگوں کی خدمات برج بھاشا اور سنسکرت میں کم نہیں ہیں۔
ہندو مذہب میں راسخ العقیدگی کے باوجود وہ مسلمانوں سے بغض و نفرت نہیں کرتے تھے، دوسرے شریف ہندوؤں کی طرح انہیں بھی بابری مسجد مسمار کیے جانے پر بڑا دکھ تھا مگر وہ کہتے تھے کہ بعض مسلمانوں نے بھی مندر توڑے ہیں اس لیے ان واقعات کو بار بار دہرانے سے زخم ہرا ہوگا۔
دل میں درد مندی، طبیعت میں شرافت، مروت اور انکسار تھا، ایک بار لکھنؤ میں ملاقات ہوئی تو ان کی ان خوبیوں اور علم و ادب سے شغف و انہماک کا اندازہ ہوا، مجھے لے کر کئی کتب خانوں اور کتابوں کی دوکانوں پر گئے اور جلدی جلدی کچھ نوٹ تیار کیا، اس پر متاسف تھے کہ وقت کی تنگی کی وجہ سے میرے ساتھ ندوہ...
The progress of nations lies in the hands of educated youth. Presently, our Muslims youth are facing numerous challenges. This include western propaganda against Islam as a threat to peace, moral degradation, lacking spirit of inquiry, internet addiction, blind following of western norms and cultures and various kinds of social problems such as violence, gambling and pornography. Our Muslim youth is wandering in identity crises and have forgotten the true spirit of Islam and the achievements of our forefathers. Majority of youth are copying and adopting the western style of life and cultural involvement. One reason for this may be the education system that we have inherited from the colonial masters. This is also replicated by electronic media and the Western propaganda against Islam that we don’t take pride to be staunch Muslims otherwise; we will be blamed as extremists. Our education system has also failed in instilling the spirit of inquiry, critical thinking and moral judgment in our youth. In order to develop the potential of our youth to reform our society and not to be led by baseless beliefs, the role of teaching is very important. With this goal in mind, the students should be empowered through argumentation skills. This requires teaching students through argumentation method by involving/guiding students to make a claim then write justification for their claim and finally counter argument to support their claim. The essence of argumentation is not new as the Holy Qur’ān repeatedly stressed the believers to use their intellect, to critically observe their surroundings and avoid baseless information. Practice with argumentation will help in developing critical skills in our youth and in making informed decisions. They would not blindly follow western norms and would be able to answer western propaganda through solid arguments and valid justifications.
Present research work is based on nutritional, biological and antimicrobial investigation of wild edible plants of Hazara region of Pakistan. Ethnobotanical information was obtained from available literature and inhabitant of Mansehra, Abbottabad and Haripur district. The plants samples were analysed for nutritional components (carbohydrates, fats, proteins, fibers, ash and energy vale), selected metals (Ca, Mn, Fe Mg, K and Na), phytochemical constituents (phenolics, flavonoids, flavonols and ascorbic acid) and antioxidant activity (DPPH scavenging activity) by using standard analytical methods. A total of 3 wild edible plant species including Malva neglecta, Pimpenela stewartii and Viola odorata were investigated in this study. Elemental analysis (mg/kg, dry weight) indicated that Ca exhibited highest average levels, followed by K, Mg and Na while lowest levels were observed for Mn and Fe in the Pimpenella stewartii, Malva neglecta and Viola odorata samples. Their concentrations were varying to different samples. The plants found rich in phytochemical contents and had good antioxidant activities. Significantly higher phenolics, flavonoids, ascorbic acid contents and antioxidant activities were observed in Pimpenella stewartii. The higher concentration of alkaloids was found in Pimpenella stewartii than Viola odorata. The Pimpenella stewartii and Malva neglecta have higher concentration of flavonoids than Viola odorata. The phenolic compounds were found in Pimpenella stewartii and Viola odorata in higher concentration than Malva neglecta. Malva neglecta has relatively low amount of saponins than Pimpenella stewartii and Viola odorata. The Diterpenoids and Triterpenoids were present in all the extracts of Pimpenella stewartii, Malva neglecta and Viola odorata in considerable amounts. Glycosides and Cardiac glycosides were found only in Malva neglecta in low quanitity. Coumarins were also present in Malva neglecta in good quantity but absent in other two plants whereas, tanins were not present in any of three selected plant species. The moisture content was highest in Pimpenella steawartii (9%) and lowest in Viola odorata (6.9 %) and Malva neglecta (6.5%). The ash content was highest in Malva neglecta (17.5%) followed by Viola odorata (13.2%) and Pimpenella stewartii (10.4%). The crude protein content was 5.51%, 4.37%, 3.31% in Pimpenella stewartii, Malva neglecta and Viola odorata vii respectively. Crude fiber content was found highest in Viola odorata (23.20%) followed by Malva neglecta (21.5%) and lowest in Pimpenella stewartii (12.19%). Lipid content was highest in Viola odorata (12.10%), low in Pimpenella stewartii (3.20%) and lowest in Malva neglecta (2.65%). Carbohydrate content was highest in Pimpenella stewartii (61.9%) and lowest in Malva neglecta (28.70%) and Viola odorata (28.30). The free radical scavenging activity of all the extracts and standard ascorbic acid at lowest concentration of 62.5 ppm and highest 1000 ppm concentrations follows the general order of Ascorbic acid> Pimpenella stewartii> Viola odorata>Malva neglecta. Minimum IC50 value for antioxidant activity was demonstrated by ascorbic acid (< 10 ppm) followed by Malva neglecta (157 ppm), Pimpenella stewartii (205 pmm) and Viola odorata (260 ppm) respectively.The comparative efficacy of the crude, methanolic, ethanolic and phenolic extracts of Pimpenella stewartii was investigated against E.coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subitilis, Kleibshiela spp., Clostridium tetani and Mycobacterium spp. Ethanolic extract of Pimpenella stewartii showed highest zone of inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus (16.67mm) and lowest was found in methanolic extract against Kleibshiela spp (6.7 mm) as compared to control (19mm). The crude extract of Malva neglecta showed highest activity (18.3) against E.coli and lowest (7mm) against B.subtilis as compared to control (21.33). Crude extract of Viola odorata showed highest zone of inhibition (18.67mm) against Mycobacterium and lowest (7.3mm) against Kleibshiela spp as compared to control (20.33). The antimicrobial activity of Viola odorata was also compared with Balsamodendron myrrha against Klesbella pneumonia, E.coli, Pseudomonas, Salmonella typhi, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Enterococcus. The highest antifungal activity (18.60mm) was showed by Viola odorata in ethanolic extract against Aspergillus niger and lowest activity of Viola odorata was found in crude extract (11.00mm) against Mucor hiemalis. The Malava neglecta showed highest antifungal activity (18.00mm) in crude extract against Aspergillus niger and lowest activity in crude extract (6.00mm) against Mucor hiemalis. Pimpenella stewartii showed highest antifungal activity (16.67mm) in methanolic extract against Aspergillous flavus and ethanolic extract against Aspergillus niger, whereas lowest activity of Pimpenella stewartii was found in methanolic extract (6.7mm) against viii Mucor hiemalis. The Viola odorata exhibited alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity (upto 72.0%), and alpha-amylase enzyme (upto 45.7%) at concentration of 1mg/ml followed by Malva neglecta extract which showed inhibitory effect on alpha-glucosidase enzyme (upto 58.50.0%), and alpha-amylase enzyme (upto 38.30%) at concentration of 1mg/ml. The minimum antidiabetic activity was observed in Pimpenella stewartii which showed inhibitory effect on alpha-glucosidase enzyme (upto 16.76.0%), and alpha-amylase enzyme (upto 32.9%) at concentration of 1mg/ml. All the three plants Pimpenella stewartii, Malva neglecta and Viola odorata showed good brine shrimp larvicidal activity. Maximum mortalities (76.6%) were observed at a concentration of 1 ppm in Malva neglecta followed by 63.66 % at a concentration of 100 ppm in the same plant. The lowest value was found 36.66% at a concentration of 100 ppm of Viola odorata. Among the three plants extracts, Malva neglecta showed the highest growth inhibition of lemna minor followed by Viola odorata at the same dose whereas Pimpenella stewartii showed the lowest mortality of Lemna minor.