By Faisal Fareed, TwoCircles.net,
Lucknow: Thousands of Shia Muslims took out a rally in the posh Hazratganj area of the state capital on Sunday to register their protest against the demolition of Al-Baqi cemetery popularly known as Jannat-ul-Baqi in Madina, Saudi Arabia in 1926 by the then king of Saudi Arabia Ibn Saud.
Lead by eminent Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad, the rally started from Sibtainabad Imambara in Hazratganj and culminated at Shah Najaf Imambara. The protest took anti-US and Israel overtone with clerics blaming the Saudi Arabian government as a stooge of Zionist forces. With youths performing matam on road, the busy Sahara Ganj was closed for few hours with visitors confined inside. As it was Sunday many family members who were on their way to the mall changed their programme and returned.
The cemetery for which the protest was organised houses the mausoleums of family members of Prophet Mohammad and other religious heads termed as Imams. In 1926, on April 21, (08 Shawwal, as per lunar calendar), the mausoleums in Jannat-ul-Baqi in Medinah (Saudi Arabia) were demolished by King Ibn Saud– the then king of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In the same year, he also demolished the tombs at Jannat al-Mualla in Mekkah-another city in the Arab country where the Prophet Mohammad’s mother, wife, grandfather and other ancestors are buried.
This year the day falls on September 7 (Wednesday). However, the protest was organised ahead also reflected the issue of upmanship among the community. Another Shia cleric and spokesperson of All India Shia Personal Law Board (AISPLB), Maulana Yasoob Abbas has given a call for protest on Wednesday. However the protest on Sunday was organised by Maulana Kalbe Jawwad who is not at good terms with Abbas. The city will thus witness another protest on the same issue at Shaheed Smarak by Yasoob Abbas on Wednesday.
Earlier, responding to the protest call by Shia cleric Maulana Jawwad to mark the demolition, people started assembling at the Sibtainabad Imambara in large groups since morning to express solidarity. Several hordes of people comprising men, women and children came from old city areas in buses. A special prayer was organised in the Imambara premises before the rally took off. “It is the matter of shame for royal family that they live in their Palaces and the graves of progeny of Prophet are under open sky,” Maulana Jawad said while addressing the gathering. The rally kicked off from Sibtainabad Imambara at 12 noon amidst slogans like ‘Down with Saudi’ reverberating in air. Carrying black flags, the protestors demanded that the administration in Saudi Arabia either rebuild the shrines or give permission to Muslims from India to rebuild them. A large number of youth expressed their angst by sporting black ribbons and wearing black cloths. Placards reading anti America and anti Israel slogans were also seen during the protest. Shia Muslims feel that the Saudi Government demolished the shrines under the patronage of the US and Israel.
Another notable feature during the protest was that couple of prominent Sunni clerics too joined the protest and marched on the road. The clerics who participated in the rally were Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, president All India Imam Organisation, and Maulana Ayub Ashraf, president All India Mohammadia Mission. “The act has been protested by Shias, Sunnis and Sufi Muslims. The Saudi Government should reconstruct these shrines respecting the sentiments of crores of Muslims,” said Maulana Jawad. He stated that several protests in the past have been held outside Saudi Arabia embassy in New Delhi but the regime has failed to act. “We will demonstrate every year till our demands are fulfilled and the mausoleums are reconstructed,” said Jawwad.