Saturday, January 15, 2011

Bukhari leads prayer at razed mosque - By Geeta Gupta - The Indian Express

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bukhari-leads-prayer-at-razed-mosque/737653/0


Sat, 15 Jan 2011

Bukhari leads prayer at razed mosque


By Geeta Gupta

Tags : religious, chief minister meets shahi imam, mosque


Posted: Sat Jan 15 2011, 03:57 hrs
Religious

Police stop Muslims from going to the site of a mosque, which was demolished by the DDA on Wednesday, to offer Friday prayers. Praveen Khanna


New Delhi:

Chief Minister meets Shahi Imam to soothe frayed tempers, says Muslims can pray at masjid site
 
Two days since violence broke out at Nizamuddin and Jangpura, the situation remained tense as religious and political leaders held Friday prayers at the same spot where a mosque was razed by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Wednesday.


Rajya Sabha MP Ram Vilas Paswan, while addressing the crowd outside the Hazrat Nizamuddin Police Station at about 4.30 pm, said: “It is unpardonable that the DDA razed a mosque on the pretext of carrying out a High Court order. I am pleased that Hindus and Muslims are together in this fight. There is no doubt that the land belongs to the Wakf Board, and the mosque should be rebuilt right here. I am going to speak to the Lieutenant-Governor and the Police Commissioner, and I assure you that we are all united in this battle.”


Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Lieutenant-Governor Tejendra Khanna met Home Minister P Chidambaram to apprise him of the situation. Around 9.30 am, Dikshit also met the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, and asked him to help bring the situation under control. She also assured him that members of the Muslim community would be allowed to pray at the site of the demolished mosque.

The day witnessed anxious moments at Nizamuddin and Jangpura as a large crowd awaited the arrival of Bukhari, who was reportedly stopped by the police because they felt his presence could result in further tension. The Imam reached the spot around 2.30 pm and initiated the Friday prayers at the razed mosque. Protesters, stationed at the main Mathura Road between Neela Gumbad and Ashram, broke through four layers of police barricades and followed Bukhari to the mosque site to offer prayers. The Shahi Imam has been mobilising Muslims across the city since Wednesday to ensure that Friday prayers are offered at the razed site itself.


“The Delhi Gazette clearly states that the land on which the mosque stood belongs to the Wakf Board. Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy and Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit have assured that proof would be presented in court, and the land given back to the Wakf Board. Otherwise, the government will buy the land and give it to the Wakf Board for the mosque to be rebuilt,” Bukhari told Newsline.


Stating that it was the constitutional right of Muslims to pray at the mosque, he accused the Congress government of committing atrocities against the minority community. “I mobilised the crowds by informing them about their constitutional rights and the atrocities committed by the Congress government over the last 60 years. We are happy that the government has lived up to its promise of allowing us to offer jumma namaz at the site. We are waiting for the government to fulfill its second promise of rebuilding the mosque here. There will be more unrest if justice is not done,” Bukhari said.


Okhla MLA Asif Mohammed said the community will not let up “unless a written assurance is given by the Delhi government that the land will be allotted to Muslims”.
 
Buildup to a controversy

March-April 2006: Jangpura RWA files a civil writ petition, alleging illegal encroachment in a section of the area, against the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), and the Delhi government, in the Delhi High Court.

May 2006: High Court issues showcause notices to the three entities.


November 2006: DDA demolishes illegal hutments in the area, leaving the Noor Masjid and Valmiki Temple intact, and forwards the case to the Delhi government’s special Religious Committee for further directions.


January 2007: The Division Bench of the High Court directs the MCD and DDA to take “appropriate steps” for development of the area.


February 2007: Counsel for the respondents tell the court that they would hold a meeting and submit a consolidated proposal with regard to development of the area.


July 2008: Jangpura RWA files another petition, asking the court to direct the respondents to remove all illegal structures at the site, including the mosque. Court directs respondents to take action as per the petition.


June 2009: Religious Committee recommends removal of the masjid and asks DDA to consider re-allotting land to the Valmiki Temple.


August 2009-September 2010: DDA claims it made six attempts during this period to demolish the Noor Masjid, but did not receive adequate cooperation from the Delhi Police.


October 2010: Jangpura RWA files a contempt petition against the DDA, MCD and L-G, asking why the demolition hasn’t been carried out so far despite the court’s directive.


January 12, 2011: DDA demolishes the masjid. Violence breaks out.


January 14, 2011: DDA asks court to drop contempt proceedings against it.

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Does Nehru Congress secularism condones Masjid demolitions?
I have a 16-page Urdu booklet written by Ilyas Aazmi (2 times Lok Sabha MP from BSP) who writes:

"Now it is proved that in the night of 22nd September, 1949, Faizabad's south Indian collector, K. K. Nayar at the instance of Jawahar Lal Nehru, got Abhay Ram Das, Ram Sukul and Sudarshan Das, to place idols in the Masjid.

Swami Akshay Brahmchari, who was Secretary of Faizabad Zilla Congress at that time, and had been my neighbour for years Chinhat area of Lucknow, told me so many times, that after hearing the news, he reached Ayodhya in the morning, where the 3 accused were present. There were other people outside of the Masjid. All were most worried. I was able to convince them to take out the idol and they agreed for it. At that moment the Collector reach the spot. I told the Collector that there is nothing to worry; as these people have agreed to take away the idols. Collector took me aside and told me that this is all organised on instructions from above and that I should not interfere. And those idols that have been by that time moved out of the 'mimbar' of the Masjid were once again placed back.

On the same day, Central Home Minister Sardar Patel sent a radiogram to UP's Home Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri advising that since we have adopted secularism on our own volition, we should be faithful to our choice. Since UP government agrees that these idols were surreptitiously placed into the Masjid, UP government should remove them through police.

However, as soon as Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru learnt to Sardar Patel's radiogramm, he sent another very long radiogram to UP's then Chief Minister, Govind Vallabh Pant, praising secularism as well as rule of law. He advised the CM to follow the rule of law and the rule of law demands that the matter should be turned over to law.

Due to Congress negligence/oversight/ overconfidence, both these radiograms had remained in official files of UP state government and were released to the public during the time of Janata Party's rule.

Nehru family was much disturbed by the publication of these radiograms as they felt it will be difficult for Nehru secularism to justify itself. They got secret agencies to follow it up.

A clerk named Subash was carrying the files to present them to Librahan Commission. He was pushed down from behind at Tilak Railway bridge and seriously injured and the files were stolen. Father of Subash, travelled from Kanpur to Delhi Hospital. Subash told his father that I may not last another few hours. My murderer has snatched the files. Please try to retrieve them. Subash died. Even in as recently as end 2010, Subash's father has once again reiterated what his son had advised him in his last moments."

This shows how Nehru personally and later his family was involved in the eventual demolition of Babri Masjid.

And it is amazing how Nehru's rule of law and judicial justice priorities time and again become convenient route to impose political expediencies. ( Zionists have coined a new word - legal terrorism - to describe how judiciary can be used to achieve extra-judicial results.)

Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
<ghulammuhammed3@gmail.com>
<http://www.ghulammuhammed.blogspot.com/>