New Delhi: After reports that the Old Delhi branch of the century-old Maktaba Jamia Limited publishing house has shut down over non-availability of staff, the branch has reopened, The Wire has learnt.
The bookstore is located at Urdu Bazaar, near Jama Masjid in Old Delhi.
Ali Khusro Zaidi, who as The Wire had reported, was working as a caretaker at the Old Delhi branch, said he has received calls from the houses’s managing director Shahzad Anjum, asking him to rejoin work.
Khusro had earlier told The Wire that he had to resign because his salary of Rs 10,000 a month had not been paid for a while. For the last several months, Khusro was practically the only person running this branch.
Khusro says that he has been getting calls from the publishing house’s headquarters at the Jamia Millia Islamia campus. “In response to the calls and following the advice of my well wishers, I have reopened the Maktaba,” he added.
Khusro said that he was the only one who has been asked to rejoin and there has been no discussion of a salary hike or other issues as of now.
When asked if there has been any official correspondence in this regard, Khusro said, “No, I received a call from the headquarters asking me to join. No official letter has been given yet. Once the Maktaba is back on track, other matters will also be discussed.”
Khusro further said that after the media attention to his story and support for him from across the Urdu community across India, the Maktaba Jamia headquarters was forced to take this step.
Meanwhile, senior journalist and writer Masoom Muradabadi, who was the first to raise his voice on social media and newspapers on the plight of Maktaba, told The Wire that it was a struggle of 11 days, but he is glad that the Urdu Bazaar branch has now been reopened.
However, it is not yet clear as to when the publication of the magazines which have been stalled for the past 4-5 years will be resumed. The future of various branches of Maktaba in Delhi, Aligarh and Mumbai also remains unclear.
The branches have fallen to such disrepair that some of the shops workers have been forced to work as part-time e-rickshaw drivers to make a living.
Translated from the Hindi original by Naushin Rehman.