Shahi Imam Ahmed Bukhari and controversies go hand in hand. INN tracks the life of the man who allegedly serves only his clan’s interests.
In 1656, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan was a pleased but worried man. After erecting the magnificent Taj Mahal in Agra, he had built an equally majestic Jama Masjid in Delhi. For such a stately mosque, he wanted a Shahi Imam who could match its stature; someone who was pious, knowledgeable and inspiring in every aspect. But his search was bearing no fruit. Finally, on the prudent advice of the Shah of Bukhara in Uzbekistan, Shah Jahan discovered the man he was looking for: Syed Abdul Ghafoor Shah Bukhari from the Central Asian kingdom.
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. The Jama Masjid has become a hotbed of controversy with the current Shahi Imam, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, 62, facing a plethora of allegations ranging from shirking duty by engaging in political activity, to misusing his post and ignoring the law.
The latest chapter in Imam Bukhari’s sordid saga was written on 18 May when a Delhi court ordered his arrest for his role in the attack on the house of social activist Arshad Ali Fahmi in 2004. However, this was nothing new to Bukhari, who has been summoned many times by the court. But every time, he has failed to show up.
The controversy surrounding the Bukhari clan started more than three decades ago. The Bukharis’ political face was first unveiled in the 1977 Lok Sabha polls, when the current Imam’s father, Abdullah Bukhari, issued a fatwa against the Congress and urged Muslims to vote for the Janata Party (JP). It created a big stir and the Jama Masjid became a hub of political activity. Soon, the political fervour of the Imam’s Friday sermons rose.
With the JP coming to power in 1977, Abdullah Bukhari’s obsession with political power increased. Experts believe that the Imam declared fatwas after assessing the political mood. “The people were angry with the Congress for the atrocities committed during the Emergency in 1977,” says human rights activist Salim Akhtar Siddiqui. “The Muslims were particularly upset by the forced sterilisations. They would have revolted had Abdullah Bukhari asked them to vote for Indira Gandhi. A similar situation arose in 1980. The Shah Commission constituted to probe the Emergency had interrogated Indira Gandhi and the nation’s sympathy was with her. Abdullah Bukhari was astute enough to assess the situation and asked Muslims to vote for the Congress.”
The election results, one after the other, established and reinforced the Imam’s political weight and leaders of all parties started gathering at the Jama Masjid.
“From here started the abuse of the Jama Masjid for political interests,” says former All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat president Syed Shahabuddin. “When Prime Minister Indira Gandhi addressed the nation from the Red Fort on 15 August, Abdullah Bukhari too started giving a counter speech from the Jama Masjid. After Abdullah Bukhari, his son Ahmed not only added to this negative legacy but further strengthened it.”
Seeing political leaders flocking to the Jama Masjid and seeking blessings from his father, Ahmed Bukhari too realised the political and religious significance of the Shahi Imam’s post. In 1980, he entered the political fray by forming the Adam Sena. It was publicised as an organisation that would protect Muslims from every danger, especially during communal riots. But despite all his efforts, it failed to win popular support. “The Sena was not welcomed by the Muslim community and seeing no support, Ahmed Bukhari shut down the organisation,” says senior journalist Wadood Sajid.
In 2000, Ahmed Bukhari became the Shahi Imam. There were allegations that he had forced his father’s hand. “He was in a hurry because he feared that if his father died before anointing him, his brother might put a spanner in the works,” says an insider on the condition of anonymity. Witnesses to the ceremony say that bade imam (Abdullah Bukhari) was brought to the Jama Masjid in an ambulance and taken inside the mosque on a stretcher.
After his elevation, Bukhari announced his intentions of forming a political party. “We are not in this country only to vote and then be victimised for the next five years. We will make a separate political party for Muslims,” he said. A politician says, “At the time of bade imam, too, politicians used to visit and ask for votes, but in lieu, he would propose plans for the progress of the Muslim community. But with Imam Bukhari, material demands were discussed while trading votes.”
Soon, tales of Bukhari’s involvement in politics became more controversial. People alleged that he could support any political party for his vested interest. Pay the right price and any party could gain a favourable fatwa from Bukhari.
Bukhari’s role was evident in the 2012 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, in which he backed the Samajwadi Party (SP). It’s noteworthy that Bukhari had opposed the SP in the 2007 Assembly election and the 2009 Lok Sabha election. So people started speculating about his motive. Soon, the news came out that his son-in-law Umar Ali Khan had been given an SP ticket.
The SP had enlisted Bukhari’s support in the hope that Muslims would then vote for them. However, Khan lost despite being the only Muslim candidate from Behat, which had an 80 percent Muslim population. But Bukhari was nonplussed. He got Khan a seat in the Legislative Council. Later, when Bukhari asked Mulayam Singh Yadav to get his brother a Rajya Sabha seat and make Khan a minister, Yadav refused. Conflict ensued. This brought an end to their association and Khan resigned from the Legislative Council. When the media asked the Imam the reason for this split, he said that the SP government was deceiving Muslims.
Sometime after his row, Bukhari organised a rally in Etawah, Yadav’s backyard. Bukhari, who until then, had seen only flaws in BSP’s Mayawati, was found to be eulogising her. He was quoted saying that if there’s anyone who can rule India, it is Mayawati. He claimed she would work for the Muslims, just like she had worked for the development of Dalits.
Though people had grown accustomed to his political dabbling, in the 2004 Lok Sabha election, Bukhari created an uproar by appealing to Muslims to support the BJP. His appeal came in stark contrast to his post-2002 Gujarat riots speeches.
When asked about his new-found love for the BJP, his tone was unmistakably political. “We support BJP’s new thinking. Babri Masjid was demolished during the Congress rule, but did they ever apologise for that? Has the Congress done anything for the rehabilitation of riot-affected Muslims in Gujarat? The BJP has at least expressed sorrow over the incident and are taking the legal route on Ayodhya. For every Gujarat, the Congress has a Muradabad, where Muslims were killed on the auspicious day of Eid,” he said.
It was later revealed that it was not the interests of the Muslims that were responsible for Bukhari’s U-turn, but pressure from his younger brother Yahya.
When Bukhari was anointed, Yahya exuded ambitions of becoming the Naib Imam, a post the former had been holding until then. Bukhari cited the Mughal tradition in his defence, according to which only the son of the Imam could become the Naib Imam. Sources say that Yahya had argued that his elder brother had two wives, and the son from his second wife was not worthy of the post so he should be anointed as the Naib Imam.
Differences between the brothers deepened. To allay them, Bukhari proposed giving a big share of the family property to Yahya and also accepted his demand for a bigger role in the Jama Masjid’s administration. Bukhari was leaving no stone unturned to negotiate a compromise when Yahya, who had a decade-long association with the BJP, demanded that the Imam should lend his support to the saffron party. After a lot of contemplation, Bukhari relented and backed the BJP.
The Imam’s influence over Muslim voters has for long been fodder for debate. It’s a common perception that his clout would be the strongest in the Jama Masjid area, but he has suffered humiliation in almost every election held here. Bukhari has overtly opposed Shoaib Iqbal, the MLA of Matiya Mahal constituency, in the past three Assembly elections and given fatwas against him, but with each election, Iqbal has won with bigger margins.
There is a growing clamour that Bukhari is abusing the Imam’s post. People allege that he is using the Jama Masjid as his private property. “The whole mosque has been occupied by Imam Bukhari and his brothers,” says Fahmi. “Bukhari is using the mosque as his private property. His job is only to lead the congregational prayers but he has become the owner.”
These controversies started when Bukhari occupied a guesthouse inside the Jama Masjid. “The guesthouse built with government funds is being used as his personal rest house,” says Suhail Ahmed Khan, who has contested many cases against Bukhari. “He also erected a big house for his son adjacent to the guest house. When the issue came to light, Bukhari claimed it was just a bathroom.”
There are more cases of misappropriation. “The DDA built a meeting hall in the mosque campus near Gate No 5. After some time, Yahya Bukhari occupied the hall and this continues till date. Similarly, a government dispensary situated near Gate No 9 has been occupied by Bukhari’s younger brother Hasan,” he says.
In 2012, Khan moved the Delhi High Court against the Bukharis, alleging that they had carried out illegal construction in the Jama Masjid and were responsible for the illegal occupancy of property. The HC formed a team to probe the allegations and the report presented by the team validated the claim of illegal construction.
A shop owner in Meena Bazaar says on the condition of anonymity, “All the street vendors and hawkers from Gate No 2 to Red Fort and from Gate No 2 to Urdu Bazaar flourish under the Imam’s patronage. He even gets a share of their earnings.”
In 2006, Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdullah offered monetary help for repairing the Jama Masjid. Officials in New Delhi were dumbfounded and told the prince that the Indian government could take care of the repairs. It soon transpired that it was Bukhari who had asked the Saudis for money. When he was asked about this, he denied having made any such request. Later, the Saudi ambassador said that Bukhari had indeed asked for monetary help. Sources say that Bukhari had expected that the funds would reach him without the government’s knowledge.
A few years ago, a series of posters went up next to the Jama Masjid, which highlighted Bukhari’s corruption and posed a number of questions…
• Where does the money collected from minaret tickets, camera tax, videography tax, etc, which amounts to Rs 20,000 daily or Rs 6 lakh monthly go?
• The income from the VIP gate parking amounts to Rs 4,500 daily or Rs 1.35 lakh monthly, the tender for which has never been opened and is not managed by the MCD. What happens to this money?
• With whose permission have you built your house on the Muqim DDA Park, which is a community space?
• You uprooted 2,000 shops in Meena Bazaar and set up seven shops under the pretext of community service. Is such service limited only to serving your kin?
Recently, it came to light that the Jama Masjid owes Rs 4 crore in electricity bill dues. Bukhari says that the Waqf Board should foot the bill. “Paying bills is the Waqf’s responsibility,” he says. “If they want me to pay, they will have to make me the property owner.” But the Waqf begs to differ. “Imam Bukhari looks after the Jama Masjid’s administration. All the income generated goes to him,” says Delhi Waqf Board president Mateen Ahmed.
This is not the first time that there is a conflict between the Imam and the Waqf Board. When Bukhari became the Imam, the Waqf refused to recognise his appointment. His application lay pending in the Waqf office for nearly five years.
In the ensuing fight between the Waqf and Bukhari on the claim to the Jama Masjid, the Delhi High Court ruled in favour of the Waqf in 2005. The verdict said that the Jama Masjid was a Waqf property and Bukhari was a Waqf employee. It also directed that no changes must be done to the structure without the Waqf’s permission. In the same HC order, Bukhari was asked to submit the detailed accounts of income and expenditures of the Jama Masjid for the past 30 years to the Waqf.
Suhail says that the Bukharis have amassed many movable and immovable assets in the past 30 years. In 1976, Abdullah Bukhari had protested against the Waqf saying that his monthly salary be raised from Rs 130 to Rs 840. “A family that was fighting the Waqf for a salary revision — a fact that establishes that the Imam is a Waqf employee — has now become the Jama Masjid’s owner,” says Shahabuddin.
There are allegations that illegal activities around Jama Masjid are thriving under the Imam’s protection. Citing an example, social activist Sheeba Aslam Fahmi says, “Four months ago, the police raided seven factories in the Choodiwalan area of Jama Masjid and freed 33 child labourers. The police had just sealed the factories and arrested their owners when Imam Bukhari slammed the rescue act from the Jama Masjid’s loudspeakers.” Rakesh Sengar, a member of Bachpan Bachao Andolan, which was involved in the rescue operation, says, “Imam Bukhari went to the sealed factories and broke open the seals.”
This wasn’t the first time that Bukhari had intervened. Acting on a report published by INN in 2010 on child trafficking happening via madrassas, the police, along with Bachpan Bachao Andolan, raided some factories in Geeta Colony. According to Sengar, 22 children were rescued. As the team was leaving with the rescued kids, a group of men attacked them. After the incident, Imam Bukhari said that the operation was a conspiracy to malign the Muslim community.
On 3 September 2001, when local officials tried to demolish encroachments in Lodhi Colony, Bukhari allegedly led a mob that attacked them. But the police refused to arrest the Imam on the pretext that it could have aggravated the situation. In the chargesheet, 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 can’t 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 doesn’t have the guts to comply with the warrant against Imam Bukhari.”
Bukhari’s influence can be explained by the fact that the police don’t even register cases against him, let alone take any action. “Bukhari’s supporters attacked my house in 2004, but the police refused to file an FIR,” says Arshad Fahmi. “When I asked them for the reason, they replied that they would register a case if I removed Bukhari’s name from my complaint.” The police didn’t register the case and Fahmi had to move the court. In May, the court ordered that Bukhari be arrested and produced before it. But Fahmi remains sceptical. “I don’t know if the cops will be able to arrest him because he has said many times that he would not appear in any court of this country,” he says.
People are questioning why 13 generations of the same family are holding the Shahi Imam’s position. When every mosque has been declared a property of the Waqf Board and the Imam merely its employee, why do the Bukharis regard themselves as owners of the mosque?
“In 1975, the issue was brought up when the Waqf declined to accept Abdullah Bukhari as the Imam,” says journalist Qari Muhammad Mazhari. “However, Shah Jahan’s will explicitly states that the Shahi Imam’s position shall be passed down the family of the then Imam.”
But the Waqf Board refuses to acknowledge this. “We have no such will or document that prohibits non-members of the family of the then Imam to hold the position,” says Mateen Ahmed. “Should any member of the family prove unworthy of the position at any time in future, it can be opened to any competent person.”
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.”
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