Bibi Amatus Salam

BIBI AMATUS SALAM

Date of Birth: 1907 and Date of Death: 29^th October, 1985

            Bibi Amatus Salam, who strongly believed that freedom could be achieved from the slavery of British, through the Gandhian way methods only, was born in 1907 in Patiala of Punjab in Rajputhana family.  Her father was Colonel Abdul Hamid and her mother Amatur Rehaman.  Amatus Salam was the younger sister of six elder brothers.  Her health was very delicate since her childhood.  She was inspired by her eldest brother, freedom fighter Mohammad Abdur Rashid Khan.  Following the footsteps of her brother, she decided to serve the people of the country in his footsteps.  Amatus Salam participated in the Khadi Movement and attended the meetings of the Indian National Movement along with her brother.  She was attracted towards the Non-Violence theory of Mahatma Gandhi and Sevagram Ashram.  She decided to join in Sevagram Ashram, and went there in 1931.  She joined Ashram and followed the strict principles of the Ashram.  With herself less service she became very close to Gandhi couple.  They considered Amatus Salam as their beloved daughter.  During the Indian National Movement, she went to jail along with other women in 1932 despite her illness with the permission of Gandhi.  After being released from Jail, she reached Sevagram and took over the responsibilities as Personal Assistant of Gandhi.  She said that besides with achieving independence, harmony between the Hindus and Muslims, Welfare of the Harijans and Women were her life ambitions.  When communal riots erupted, she toured North-West Frontier, Sindh and Noukhali areas as an ambassador of Gandhi.  She held Satyagraha for 20 days to normalise the situation in those areas.  After Independence, she rededicated herself to the Public Service.  She published an Urdu Magazine called ‘Hindustan’ to promote national integration and communal harmony.  When Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan toured in India in 1961, she travelled with him as his personal assistant.  When India was at war with China in 1962 and with Pakistan in 1965, she took all the pains in reaching the mountains or war area along with her adopted son Sunil Kumar to encourage our soldiers and to serve them.  Bibi Amatus Salam, who spent all her life following the Gandhian ideology, breathed her last on 29^th October, 1985.