Mumbai: An old, unidentified grave at Khilafat House in Byculla—which had served as a hub of the nationalist movement in pre-Independence India—is at the centre of a controversy even as the iconic compound is undergoing redevelopment.
While some, including senior Urdu journalist Saeed Hameed, claimed that the grave is of Amjadi Bano Begum, freedom fighter and wife of Khilafat movement leader Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar, the Khilafat committee, which manages the property, insisted it has no records to prove this. Hameed flagged that the committee planned to shift Begum’s grave. That plan has now been shelved.
“Before Amjadi Begum’s death on March 28, 1947, she was seriously ill at Karol Bagh in Delhi. It is unlikely that she travelled to Mumbai in that fragile condition. In any case, we have sought fatwas from the Deobandi and Barelvi Ulema on whether a grave can be shifted. We are not shifting the grave,” said Khikafat committee chairman Sarfraz Arzoo.
As per the redevelopment plan, a 17-storey tower is to come up on the premises. The tower will house a 125-bed hospital, offices and educational institutions of the Khilafat committee, including a BSc nursing institute, and a state-of-the-art conference hall.
“The entire building will be owned by the Khilafat committee trust. Our agreement with GHC Hospitals (which will run the hospital) is only to operate the hospital and share the revenue,” said trustee Rauf Pathan.
Former trustee of Juma Masjid Shoaib Khateeb said the trust must explain its agreement with a private entity. He claimed that Khilafat House is registered with the state waqf board and the trust should have exited the board.
“This is the collector’s land and the trust is registered with Charity Commission. We have paid the fees to the collector and secured NOC from Charity Commission. The waqf board has nothing to do with us,” said Pathan.
Through the Mahatma Gandhi-led Khilafat movement, Khilafat House had helped galvanise support for the non-cooperation movement. It also became an epicentre for Eid-e-Milad processions. Jauhar died in 1931 and was buried at Baitul Maqdas at Jerusalem. Earlier, he had attended the first Round Table Conference in London, where he famously told the British: “Give us freedom or a place for my grave here as I do not want to die in a slave country.”
