NEW DELHI: As expected, the defiant Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari alleged of a conspiracy being hatched against him to take over the historic mosque during the anointment ceremony of his 19-year-old son Shaban Bukhari as his deputy on Saturday.
Bukhari called it an attempt to suppress his voice as he had always stood against injustice to his community, adding certain vested interest wants to take over control of the historic institution through Waqf Board. He said he was only following his family’s “400-year-old tradition”.
“I have been the Imam of this mosque for 14 years now, after my father and my grandfather. No force on earth has been able to stop me from talking about the injustices against Muslims. In anointing Shaban, I am only keeping up the nearly 400-year-old tradition of my family,” he said before.
Another office-bearer of the Jama Masjid Foundation Trust Mohammed Salim Qasmi said although he respected law of the land, no interference in religious acts would not be tolerated, adding he would kick any law if that interfers on his religion.
However, he did not mention about the PILs in the Delhi High Court questioning conversion of the post into a hereditary one when Jama Masjid is the property of the Delhi Wakf Board.
The matter is sub judice currently but the court did not stay the anointment ceremony saying it is a private function without any legal sanctity pending a decision on the matter.
