By Siddhant Mohan, TwoCircles.net
In a rather strange move, authorities at Hussainabad Trust, the body which manages Bara and Chota Imambara, are trying to stop the ritual of Tabarrukh distribution during Muharram this year.
The Tabarrukh includes Roti, Sheermal and potato curry which is distributed among the poor irrespective of their sect and beliefs.
The ritual was started when Nawab Mohammad Ali Shah formed Hussainabad and Allied Trust in 1858. Since then, according to the will of Mohammad Ali Shah, the Chota Imambara mosque has been distributing Tabarrukh on all the nine days of Muharram to the poor and needy.
Along with the distribution, the Tabarrukh would also be sent to the houses of Nawabs, a practice which various people objected upon.
But this year, Lucknow district administration which governs the Hussainabad and Allied Trust is planning to stop the Tabarrukh distribution.
According to sources, Lucknow district administration including District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma, Additional District Magistrate Santosh Kumar Vaish, and Officer on Special Duty Nasir Husain Naqvi held a meeting during the last days of August to discuss this issue.
These officials along with Additional City Magistrate Chandan Kumar Patel are the governing body of Hussainabad and allied trust. The meeting used to be held in presence of the royal family members, but this year the royal family members were not made aware of the meeting.
In the meeting, allegedly, a decision was passed that the trust will not distribute Tabarrukh since this year. But as a gesture, it will only distribute Sheermal.
As a result of the meeting, the tenders for Wheat, Pulses, meat and other food items have not been issued yet, unlike earlier when this would be done several weeks before Muharram.
Rather, the governing authority of the trust has issued a tender only for Sheermal – the bread – and has claimed that tender will be provided to the one who could provide the bread at the lowest rate.
The family of the erstwhile Nawab is not happy with the decision and is planning an end-to-end fight with the administration. Farhana Maliki, the national president of Begumat Royal Family of Awadh, told TwoCircles.net, “It is simply out of my understanding that on what ground DM, ADM and OSD took this decision? Do they have to bear the cost of Tabarrukh? No. Mohammad Ali Shah left enough for this Tabarrukh and it is the Nawabs who bear this cost.”
ADM Santosh Kumar Vaish told TwoCircles.net, “We are of the opinion that food should not go to the houses of wealthy and powerful people. And we want to stop that. But as far as the question of distribution is concerned, we are yet to take some decision on that.”
Regarding the Sheermal tender, Vaish said, “It is too much work to gather raw items and cook them. To avoid that, we issued tender directly for the bread. The lower rate bidder caterer will serve the Sheermal.”
Maliki objected to the order and said, “Why are they bothered as if are feeding people from their own pockets? They are creating differences among Shias and Sunnis. But they don’t know that disturbing the community thread will come as a backlash to them.”
Since Yogi Adityanath came as a Chief Minister in the state, there is a general trend among several Shia bodies and leaders extending support to BJP’s core agenda. Be it the minister Mohsin Raza, or the Ram-temple-batting Shia Central Waqf Board chairman Waseem Rizvi, the Shia bodies seem to be favouring the BJP.
But the turmoil at Hussainabad and allied trust seem a step taken against Shia Muslims. But Maliki refuses it to connect with Yogi, as she said, “This is not the government, but the administration.” Even with this claim, the decision looks controversial as Kaushal Raj Sharma took this decision who stopped the camel sacrifice on Bakrid this year. Sharma was soon appointed in Lucknow as soon Yogi took charge in the state.
On September 5, a meeting took place in which Farhana Maliki, Nawab Qayam Mehandi, Maulana Aqeel Hassan and Prince Amir Nawab were present. The meeting was held to find a way to fight the decision. Farhana Maliki accused OSD Nasir Naqvi of steering this decision.
The royal family stresses that if the revenue of the trust is increasing by the Imambaras and mosques, why the authorities are taking the decision to divide the community.
Maliki said, “If the decision is not pulled back soon, we will launch an agitation and no one will be able to take a penny from the trust.”
For the locals, these steps imply towards no Tabarrukh this year.
Local resident Shakeel Rizvi said, “If they are planning to stop the food delivery to houses of wealthy and Nawabi people, that is a fair argument. But they have not issued the tender for the rest at all. One can infer the intentions from it.”