Adibah Anam's Remarkable Feat

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 30 April 2025 Adibah Anam, daughter of a rickshaw driver from Yavatmal, Maharashtra, has achieved an extraordinary feat by securing All India Rank 142 in the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2024. Adibah Anam, Rickshaw Driver’s Daughter Who Is Set To Become First Muslim Woman IAS Officer From Maharashtra, Adibah Anam (Photo Credits: LatestLY) ---- With this, she becomes the first Muslim woman from her state to join the prestigious Indian Administrative Service (IAS), according to Clarion India. Also Read at: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/kashmiri-muslim-women-sexual-violence/d/135345 Hearty congratulations to her. It's all the more commendable as she hails from a humble background. That she's the first Muslim woman from the state of Maharashtra to crack the UPSC Civil Services Examination is admirable as well as deplorable; deplorable in the sense that Maharashtra being such a huge state with a sizeable population of Muslims, she's the first Muslim girl to clear the UPSC exams! This shows the state's apathy and also the extreme indifference of average Muslim parents who don't encourage their daughters to go for higher studies and elite administrative services. There're many bright and brilliant girls and young Muslim women in Maharashtra who're capable of cracking the toughest exams. But lack of guidance, encouragement and direction always proved to be their undoing. Let's hope Adibah Anam's stupendous performance will usher in a new dawn and other Muslim parents will also be encouraged to emulate the example of this girl and educate their daughters. There's no dearth of talent. But it often goes abegging. There must be many girls like Adibah in not just Maharashtra but across the country. Alas, their talents go unnoticed. This reminds me of Thomas Gray's immortal lines from his poem, 'Elegy written in a country churchyard': “Full many a gem of purest ray serene The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear: Full many a flower is born to blush unseen And waste its sweetness on the desert air" A good many flowers bloom and fade away in deserted places, seen by no one. In its context in Thomas Gray's "Elegy" it is actually a metaphor for common folk who do heroic things that are never reported in the news or recorded in history. Like a precious stone unmined at the bottom of the ocean or a beautiful flower blooming in the deep woods, their work may not be seen or known, but it is nevertheless heroic. Rubies and roses are beautiful, Gray would say, whether anyone ever sees them or not. The government of Maharashtra should also felicitate this girl and help poor Muslim girls to realise their dreams. The state has been indulging in Hindu-Muslim politics for a long time. Now is the time to focus its attention on the marginalised community and its welfare. Bright students like Adibah Anam must be cherry-picked and honed. They're rough diamonds, in need of polishing and finishing. "Main Woh Moti Hoon Jo Bik Jaaoonga Haathon-Haath/ Aankh Wala Koi Mitti Se Utha Le Mujh Ko" (I'm a pearl much in demand / All I need is a connoisseur to know my real worth). Who'll assess the worth of such hidden gems? ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://www.newageislam.com/current-affairs/adibah-anam-remarkable-feat/d/135370 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism