Within the fortified grounds of the vice-president’s official residence in New Delhi, a small mosque eagerly awaits the arrival of the new occupant.
After a long interval of 23 years, the muezzin’s call for prayer will once again be heard at the vice-presidential mansion in New Delhi
NEW DELHI: Within the fortified grounds of the vice-president’s official residence in New Delhi, a small mosque eagerly awaits the arrival of the new occupant.
After nearly 23 years, the muezzin’s call for prayer will be heard there again.
Irrespective of who among the three candidates is chosen vice-president, things are bound to look up for this little corner of faith. The vice-presidential contest will be fought between three Muslims – Najma Heptullah (NDA), Hamid Ansari (UPA), and Rashid Masood (Third Front).
According to the bungalow’s custodian, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), renovation will begin at 6, Maulana Azad Road, New Delhi, after former vice-president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat vacates it on August 25. The mosque will be also be spruced up.
No one remembers who built the mosque, but the bungalow had once been occupied by former railway minister Rafi Ahmad Kidwai, said a CPWD source. Later, it was converted into the vice-president’s residence. Initially, the mosque was not a part of Kidwai’s bungalow, but lay adjacent to it and he visited it regularly to offer prayers.
The structure was brought within the compound of the vice-president’s residence during a later expansion when Dr Zakir Hussain took over in 1962. It is learnt that Hussain and his family regularly offered prayers and a maulvi visited on Fridays. The maulvi continued his visits even after Hussain moved out to Rashtrapati Bhavan, which, incidentally, has its own mosque.
After an interval of a few years, prayers began to be offered at the mosque again when M Hidayatullah took the post in 1979. However, it fell into disuse when he moved out in 1984, and the maulvi ended his visits. The bungalow has not had a Muslim occupant since then.
Though the mosque did not receive visitors for over two decades, it suddenly had company when Shankar Dayal Sharma added a temple near it. Since all V-Ps after Sharma were also Hindus, the temple came into its own.
Interestingly, when Bhairaon Singh Shekhawat moved into this bungalow, his staff toyed with the idea of converting the mosque into a library. The seasoned politician that he was, Shekhawat realised the potential controversy the matter may kindle and turned down the idea. Instead, the former vice-president ordered his staff to have the mosque painted, cleaned, and maintained.
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