Govt Continues To Succumb To The Bully Imam Of Delhi’s Jama Masjid The Imam of India’s biggest mosque, Delhi’s Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari has announced his 19-year old youngest son Shaban as his successor. A grand function to formally anoint Shaban as the Naib Imam (deputy Imam) is scheduled to be held in Delhi on November 22. About 1,000 Muslim religious leaders from across the world are being invited. During the week thereafter, the Bukhari family will host at least three dinners: one for the religious leaders; another for about 3,000 “namazis” in Delhi; and the biggest, on November 29, for top diplomats and politicians from within India and abroad. In 2005, the Delhi High Court in its verdict regarding the dispute between the Delhi Waqf Boad and Imam Bukhari on the ownership of the Jama Masjid, had not only stated that the Jama Masjid is the property of the Waqf Board but also had ruled that Imam Bukhari is an employee of the Waqf Board. The Court had also directed Imam Bukhari not to interfere in Jama Masjid’s historical shape, affairs, building structure etc without the Waqf Board’s approval. About Waqf Board’s question regarding Jama Masjid’s income, the court had also directed Imam Bukhari to submit a statement of his income and expenditure of the past 30 years to the Waqf Board. The compliance of this order is uncertain. In Islam, the Imam has the limited function of leading the prayers, and the priestly class has almost no other role. During the Emergency days, General Shahnawaz Khan, a Congress leader made attempts to remove encroachments on the historical building on behalf of the Waqf Board. The father of the present Imam, who prefers to be addressed as the Shahi Imam was antagonized and threw his weight behind the newly formed Janata Dal which succeeded in unseating Mrs. Indira Gandhi. Since then, the Shahi Imam assumed undue airs and politicians of all hues and colours, barring the BJP and the left parties started making beelines for his political support. Even in the last Lok Sabha elections, the Imam endorsed the Congress party. Earlier, Shahi Imam had supported Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav and corned a berth in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council for his son-in-law. Family sources said the 12th Imam, Syed Abdullah Bukhari, while announcing the next in line had also declared that his son Syed Ahmed Bukhari would be succeeded by his eldest son from his first marriage, Arif Bukhari, continuing a tradition that has been in place since the time of Shahjahan, who built the Jama Masjid and conferred the title of “Shahi Imam” on Syed Ghafoor Shah Bukhari in 1656.But Arif Bukhari has been disowned by Imam Bukhari. Interestingly Shaban studied at St. Xavier’s School in Nainital instead of a madrasa. When this mosque was completed in 1656, it is said that Emperor Shahjahan was very delighted but at the same time he was also worried because he could not decide as to who should be appointed as the Imam of this magnificent mosque. It was his sincere wish that the Imam of this unique mosque should also be unique, a person who should be a religious scholar competent in all respects. The king of Uzbekistan had told Shahjahan about such a person. Subsequently, Maulana Syed Abdul Ghafoor who, on Shahjahan’s invitation had come from Bukhara, was appointed as the first Imam of this Jama Masjid and given the title of “Imamul Haq”. The present Imam Syed Ahmad Bukhari is the 13th Imam of Jama Masjid from the same dynasty.” In 1975, the Waqf Board declined to accept Abdullah Bukhari, father of the present Imam as the Imam who had claimed that the Shah Jahan’s will explicitly stated that the Shahi Imam’s position should be passed down the family of the then Imam. The Waqf Board refused to acknowledge this saying that it did not have no such will or document that prohibited non-members of the family of the then Imam to hold the position. The Jama Masjid has retained its grandeur after all these years but the Bukhari lineage, which continues to administer the mosque, has fallen into disrepute. A waqf, also spelled wakf, is, under the context of ‘sadaqah‘, an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically donating a building or plot of land or even cash for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. As per the Waqf Act 1954 (later the Waqf Act 1995 ) enacted by Government of India, waqfs are categorized as (a) Waqf by user such as Graveyards, Musafir Khanas (Sarai) and Chowltries etc., (b) Waqf under Mashrutul-khidmat (Service Inam) such as Khazi service, Nirkhi service, Pesh Imam service and Khateeb service etc., and (c) Waqf Alal-aulad is dedicated by the Donor (Waqif) for the benefit of their kith and kin and for any purpose recognised by Muslim law as pious, religious or charitable. After the enactment of the Waqf Act 1954, the Union government directed to all the states governments to implement the Act for administering the waqf institutions like mosques, dargah, ashurkhanas, graveyards, takhiyas, iddgahs, imambaras, anjumans and various religious and charitable institutions. The management of waqf is undertaken by the Central Waqf Council, India, a statutory body, which also oversees State Waqf Boards As per the report of Sachar Committee (2006) there are about 500,000 registered waqfs with 600,000 acres (2,400 km2) land in India, and Rs. 60 billion book value. As per a recent assessment by the Central Government, value of waqf properties in six metros – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore -alone is pegged at Rs. 1.5 lakh crore as per conservative estimates. Uttar Pradesh with half of the total waqf properties in the country failed to convey its assessment to the Union Government. Interestingly, there are as many as 86 waqf properties in Delhi whose rent ranges from Re one to Rs. 11 per month. In a long article last year the Tehelka magazine has written about the political use of Jama Masjid’s pulpit and the use of the mosque and its properties for the personal benefit of the Bukhari family. About Bukhari family’s occupation of Jama Masjid and its associated properties, illegal constructions inside Jama Masjid etc, a number of people have made complaints and have even gone to courts. Their contention is that the Jama Masjid is the property of the Muslim community, of Waqf Board, but the Imam and his brothers have turned it into their personal fief. Bukhari is the Imam of Jama Masjid, i.e. leader of prayers, but he has become owner of the Jama Masjid. Moreover, the institution of Imam is not a hereditary one. Anyone in the congregation can lead the prayers and assume the role of Imam (a preacher). In 2006, the Saudi Arabia prince Abdullah nearly got conned by Shahi Imam who had asked him for funds to repair the historic monument. When government learnt of this unsolicited offer of the Prince Abdullah and refused the financial offer with thinks, Shahi Imam categorically denied having asked the prince for any financial help. Subsequently the then Saudi ambassador in India Saleh Muhammad Al Ghamdi said in a press release that Jama Masjid’s Imam Bukhari had requested the Saudi government for financial help. Probably the Imam had assumed that the funds from the Saudi prince would directly flow into his coffers without the Government of India coming to know about it. Some years ago posters were seen in Jama Masjid area in which some questions asked and their answers were sought, such as: In whose account/s incomes from sale of tickets for entry in Masjid’s minarets, fees for permission for bringing in camera and videography equipment, are estimated at Rs 20,000 daily or about Rs 6 lakhs monthly, go? Where does the income from parkings at Jama Masjid’s VIP gate, which is about Rs 4500 daily or about Rs 1,35,000 monthly, for which no tender is ever invited, go? With whose permission you built your personal residence on the DDA Park which is part of the Jama Masjid which itself is a historical heritage and a trust of the nation? Shahi Imam’s writ runs large in and around Jama Masjid. Since he extends support to the “secular” political forces, it is worth taking a look at his shenanigans. For example, there is this guest house inside the Jama Masjid built with government’s money which he is using as his personal rest house. He has even constructed a big house for his son next to this guest house. When the issue came to light, he dismissed the allegation stating it as a mere bathroom. Apart from all this, Shahi Imam’s various flip-flops on his political posturing are only too well-known. He had spawned venom at the Congress in the past. He has subjected the Samajvadi party too to the same treatment. He had even endorsed the BJP once in the past. His shifting political preferences are testimony to the fact that his endorsement is easy to come by if the party is ready to quote the right price. But is the Muslim community interested in following his advice or suggestion? The Bukharis have amassed many movable and immovable assets during the last three decades. In 1976, the then Imam Abdullah Bukhari had requested the Waqf Board for enhancement in his monthly salary from Rs. 130 to Rs. 840 per month. “A family that was fighting for a salary’s revision – a fact that establishes that the Imam is a waqf Board employee – has now become the Jama Masjid’s owner”, lamented Syed Sahabuddin. On 3 September 2001, when local officials tried to demolish encroachments in Lodhi Colony in New Delhi, Bukhari had allegedly led a mob that attached them. But the police refused to arrest the Imam on the pretext that it could have aggravated the situation. In the chargesheet, filed by the police, Bukhari was named as one of the accused. In January 2004, the court ordered the matter to be reinvestigated, on which the police said that Bukhari cannot be arrested because doing so could incite communal riots. A court statement made in July 2012 stated, “Seeing the records, it can be said that even an officer of the rank of commissioner does not have the guts to comply with the warrant against Imam Bukhari.” Imam Bukhari has often been accused of compromising on Muslims’ interests. Yet, why is he so inextricably linked with Muslims and their politics? Every ordinary Muslim, once aware that he has no say in the working of the system, feels amused when he sees the government shake every time Imam Bukhari raises his voice, “ remarks journalist Sajid. “ That is what makes him a hero in their eyes.” Will the Delhi Waqf Board, headed by a retired IPS officer Qamar Ahmed overlook the developments? When the present Imam was appointed, the Waqf Board had refused to recognize his appointment. His application lay pending in the Waqf Board office for about five years.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 17:11:47 +0000
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