04-29-2005, 04:03 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Jammed Masjid </b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
The reservation of the Prime Minister's Office regarding Jama Masjid being declared a protected monument beats sound reason. First, the Culture Ministry wrote to the PMO expressing its disapproval of the historical site slipping out of the hands of the Delhi Wakf Board. Then, the PMO assured Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari that the monument will remain Wakf property. Footprints of history such as Jama Masjid are heritage sites that need to be protected from time and tide. Indeed, the Archaeological Survey of India has been gainfully engaged in precisely such preservation, and has wide experience of this.
The ASI's direct involvement has ensured the longevity of numerous national and world heritage sites through the country. With such a time-honoured convention on the ownership of historical sites already in place, the PMO's letter to the Imam is baffling. In fact, it lays bare the Government's propensity to propitiate the so-called guardians of the Muslim community. What the Government fails to comprehend is that the Jama Masjid, just like the Taj Mahal or other historic places of religious worship, cenotaph or mausoleum, constitute national heritage. They need to be reclaimed from various Wakf or other boards and new claims on such monuments deserve to be rebuffed.
It is as a result of this laxity by the authorities that successive Shahi Imams have been able to commercialise various parts of the Jama Masjid's sprawling premises with impunity. Today, even the plinth area stands sold out to pavement squatters. The refuse left behind by vendors and visitors after the day's business is already giving the place the look of a massive dumpyard. To divert people's attention from this gross neglect for which it is itself responsible, the Wakf has time and again accused the Government of neglecting national heritage! Thus<b>, the monument is being alternately defined as "heritage" and "private property" to suit the Wakf's convenience. </b>
Besides, <b>complaints of misappropriation of the Wakf's funds and other financial irregularities too have arisen</b>. Over the years these have become so rampant that it is time the Government took measures to subject the religious body to periodic audits as is the practice in the West. <b>In no other country can a private body claim ownership of a part of the nation's cultural history</b>.
The Wakf needs to realise that the Jama Masjid's status as a "protected monument" is not intended to prevent the faithful from offering prayers there. In that sense, the High Court's proposal that the Wakf continue to discharge its function within the inner periphery of the Jama Masjid, while giving ASI the right to maintain the surrounding areas, makes eminent sense. Such an arrangement, if formalised, will only increase tourist interest in the monument and add significantly to the local economy. The Wakf ought to shed its minority complex and instead be seen as a participant in the preservation of a national heritage in all its glory. <b>The Congress-led UPA Government too, instead of further increasing this sense of insecurity in pursuit of crass vote-bank politics, must make the necessary correctives.</b> <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The Pioneer Edit Desk
The reservation of the Prime Minister's Office regarding Jama Masjid being declared a protected monument beats sound reason. First, the Culture Ministry wrote to the PMO expressing its disapproval of the historical site slipping out of the hands of the Delhi Wakf Board. Then, the PMO assured Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari that the monument will remain Wakf property. Footprints of history such as Jama Masjid are heritage sites that need to be protected from time and tide. Indeed, the Archaeological Survey of India has been gainfully engaged in precisely such preservation, and has wide experience of this.
The ASI's direct involvement has ensured the longevity of numerous national and world heritage sites through the country. With such a time-honoured convention on the ownership of historical sites already in place, the PMO's letter to the Imam is baffling. In fact, it lays bare the Government's propensity to propitiate the so-called guardians of the Muslim community. What the Government fails to comprehend is that the Jama Masjid, just like the Taj Mahal or other historic places of religious worship, cenotaph or mausoleum, constitute national heritage. They need to be reclaimed from various Wakf or other boards and new claims on such monuments deserve to be rebuffed.
It is as a result of this laxity by the authorities that successive Shahi Imams have been able to commercialise various parts of the Jama Masjid's sprawling premises with impunity. Today, even the plinth area stands sold out to pavement squatters. The refuse left behind by vendors and visitors after the day's business is already giving the place the look of a massive dumpyard. To divert people's attention from this gross neglect for which it is itself responsible, the Wakf has time and again accused the Government of neglecting national heritage! Thus<b>, the monument is being alternately defined as "heritage" and "private property" to suit the Wakf's convenience. </b>
Besides, <b>complaints of misappropriation of the Wakf's funds and other financial irregularities too have arisen</b>. Over the years these have become so rampant that it is time the Government took measures to subject the religious body to periodic audits as is the practice in the West. <b>In no other country can a private body claim ownership of a part of the nation's cultural history</b>.
The Wakf needs to realise that the Jama Masjid's status as a "protected monument" is not intended to prevent the faithful from offering prayers there. In that sense, the High Court's proposal that the Wakf continue to discharge its function within the inner periphery of the Jama Masjid, while giving ASI the right to maintain the surrounding areas, makes eminent sense. Such an arrangement, if formalised, will only increase tourist interest in the monument and add significantly to the local economy. The Wakf ought to shed its minority complex and instead be seen as a participant in the preservation of a national heritage in all its glory. <b>The Congress-led UPA Government too, instead of further increasing this sense of insecurity in pursuit of crass vote-bank politics, must make the necessary correctives.</b> <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->