Hamid Dalwai

Hamid Umar Dalwai (Marathi: हमीद उमर दलवाई; Urdu: حمید عمر دلوای; 29 September 1932 – 3 May 1977) was an Indian journalist, social reformer, thinker, activist, author, writer and the founder of Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal and Indian Secular Society. Despite being an atheist, he attempted and advocated for several modernistic and liberal reforms within the Indian Muslim community, most notably being his futile agitation against the practice of triple talaq and polygyny during the 1960s. He has also authored several books, including Muslim Politics in Secular India (1968). Dalwai was born to a Marathi-speaking Muslim family on September 29, 1932 in Mirjoli village of Bombay Presidency (now Maharashtra) during the British Raj. He received secondary education at Chiplun. After his matriculation in 1951, he attended Ismail Yusuf College and Ruparel College in Mumbai. Between mid-1950s and early 1960s, he was introduced to the Samajwadi Party's political and cultural wing, Rashtra Seva Dal. He began writing short stories in magazines like Mauj, Satyakatha, and Vasudha.