The Imam's many games

In June 1974 Syed Hamid appointed Abdullah Bukhari as the new Shahi Imam and Ahmad Bukhari, the elder son of Abdullah Bukhari as the new Naib Imam of Jama Masjid. The Delhi Wakf Board (DWB) did not endorse the Dastar Bandi ceremony and refused to authorise these new appointments. The Board insisted that the selection of the new Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid was a legal prerogative of the Wakf Board.  

At this point, Abdullah Bukhari changed his political strategy. He openly repudiated the authority of the Wakf Board by delivering inflammatory speeches before the congregational prayers, particularly on every Friday… In his speeches, Bukhari attempted to establish a link between the DWB and other government institutions by symbolically representing his battle against the Board as the ultimate struggle of the Muslims in India for justice. He finally decided to launch a ‘direct action’ against the Wakf Board. On January 31, 1975, just before the Friday congregational prayer, Abdullah Bukhari delivered a highly provocative speech against the DWB. In this speech, he warned the DWB that he and his supporters would protest against the Board’s Area Advisory Committee meeting that was scheduled to be held on February 2, 1975. 

On February 2, 1975, a high profile meeting of the Wakf Board Area Advisory Committee was held at the Bachchon ka Ghar, Darya Ganj, the central office of the DWB. The then Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Shah Nawaz Khan, also the Chairman of Delhi Wakf Board, was presiding over the meeting. Around 11am, Abdullah Bukhari, with 50-60 supporters entered the premises of the office and started shouting slogans against the minister. Within a few minutes, the crowd forcibly tried to open the gate of Wakf Board office. They pulled down the shamiyana (tent) and broke the furniture. When the police, as the official news reports claimed, tried to stop this vandalism, the crowd attacked the police.  The police, finally, arrested the Imam and his supporters.  

….After the arrest of the Imam, his son and the newly appointed Naib Imam, Ahmad Bukhari, along with a few supporters decided to proceed back to the Jama Masjid. In a highly dramatic way, Ahmad Bukhari opened the public address system (PAS) of the mosque and announced that the Shahi Imam Abdullah Bukhari…had been assassinated by the police. Ahmad Bukhari also delivered a short emotional speech  and pleaded with the Muslims to strike back. 

…The call given by Ahmad Bukhari ignited the anti-government feelings among the local Muslims. The crowd gradually started assembling at the northern stairs of Jama Masjid. According to an eye witness of this event, Raissuddin Hashmi, they began shouting slogan ‘Nara-e-Takbir Allah-hu-Akabar’ (the call-Allah is great) and 'Imam sahib Zindabad' (long live the Imam), as well as 'Delhi police hai hai' (Delhi police down down). 

There is a small police post opposite the northern gate of the mosque, which is locally called the Jama Masjid Police Chowki. This police post is an annexe of the main Jama Masjid Police Station, which is situated between the eastern and the southern gates of the mosque. This police post suddenly became a target for this irritated crowd. They started throwing stones and soda water bottles at the police post. This violent attack on the police almost immediately turned into a riot. The crowd burnt a Delhi Transport Corporation Bus (DTC) and a few police vehicles. In retaliation, the police opened indiscriminate fire to disperse the crowd. The firing continued for at least two hours. Many bullets were fired targeting the gates of Jama Masjid (JMD3). 

Around 12 people were supposedly killed and around 100 people were wounded in this violence. Moreover, according to the official news, 16 shops, two cars and two scooters were also reportedly burnt. The Imam was arrested under the Maintenance of the Internal Security Act (MISA) and an indefinite curfew was imposed on the same day.

The next two days of curfew heightened the communal tension in the Jama Masjid locality. The news of Imam’s arrest under the MISA further demoralised the local community….At this point of time, when the riot-affected area was under curfew and anti-government feelings were very high, the Friday prayer at Jama Masjid was the perfect opportunity for the Imam’s elder son, Ahmad Bukhari, to capitalise upon these advantages. Syed Hamid Bukhari released a press statement requesting the government to lift the curfew for the Friday congregational prayer. However, it was Ahmad Bukhari who issued a very ‘calculated’ and ‘aggressive’ statement. He informed the press that his father had not been treated fairly in jail. He also told that if the electricity was not restored till Friday prayer, the PAS would be run with the help of dry batteries. 

….The arrest of the Imam transformed him into a national leader. He had become a very important ‘person’ for the Muslim political parties and groups. In fact, the Muslim League and the All India Muslim Majlis started a campaign in favour of Bukhari and decided to observe February 14 1975, the very next Friday, as anti-repression day.  They also demanded that senior Muslim leaders and the family members of the Imam should be allowed to visit him in jail. This demand was accepted and on February 11, 1975, the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi granted permission to Syed Hamid Bukhari and others Muslim leaders to meet the Imam in jail.

It provided an opportunity for the Muslim leaders to use this event for their own political interests. However, they could not realise that the Imam was well aware of his elevated political status. In fact, Abdullah Bukhari very intelligently used this jail ‘meeting’… He requested these Muslim politicians to pursue the famous Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdullah to mediate between him and the DWB…Abdullah Bukhari also issued a press statement from the Tihar Jail. In this well-drafted written statement, Bukhari called upon all the citizens of the country, particularly the residents of Delhi (not old Delhi) to adopt a peaceful and orderly way. This statement was published in all the national newspapers. He wrote: The Prophet of Islam has always abhorred violence. Therefore, in order to achieve our fundamental rights and to achieve our purpose, I have issued this appeal to all the citizens of the motherland and particularly of Delhi. I appeal that they should adopt a peaceful and orderly way which will help our national cause. I am praying to God for all of you.

Interestingly, this statement does not criticise the Wakf Board or mention anything related to the events of February 2, 1975. On the contrary, he speaks to all the citizens of India, stresses upon the given ‘fundamental rights’ and talks about a ‘national cause’ by citing the ideals of the Prophet Mohammad and praying to God! 

Sheikh Abdullah refused to intervene in this matter. However, the then Minister for State for Railways, Shafi Qureshi, came forward to solve this stalemate. He arbitrated between the Imam, DWB and the government and requested the government to release the Imam immediately. This request was accepted and the detention order under MISA against the Imam was revoked. Keeping all legal formalities aside, the Imam was finally released on February 18, 1975. He was brought straight to the house of the Minister to attend a press conference. The Imam issued the following written statement to the press: …to serve humanity without taking political advantages would be exactly in keeping with the service of the country and the service of the people. This is the path I am following now and am determined to continue to follow it in future. 

Talking to the media, he denied that the speeches he made in the past were political. He asserted that he was a religious man and whatever he did was in accordance to the basic principles of Islam.                             
 
In a few months’ time, a new committee, the Jama Masjid Trust, was formed by the Imam for the management of the mosque. Interestingly, a white notice board was also installed at the northern entrance of the mosque to describe the events of February 2, 1975, and the ‘heroic struggles of the Imam’. Meanwhile, in the old records of the DWB, Jama Masjid is still shown as a Wakf property. 

Excerpts from the author’s book, Muslim Political Discourse in Postcolonial India: Monuments, Memory, Contestation, Routledge, 2014, pp. 145-159

This is the concluding part of the two-part series