Mumbai News: Historic Khilafat House To Be Redeveloped; Concerns Raised Over Loss Of Independence-Era Monument

Plans to redevelop the historic Khilafat House in Byculla have raised concerns about the fate of structures, including a grave reportedly that of the wife of Maulana Muhammad Jauhar Ali, an important figure in the independence movement and a member of the Congress and the Muslim League.

The Khilafat Movement was a campaign started in 1919 to restore the office of the Khalifa, or the Islamic Caliph, after its abolition at the end World War I and the defeat of the Ottoman emperor who held the rank. The movement was incorporated into the Indian independence struggle under Mahatma Gandhi's leadership.

The Khilafat House compound, redeveloped after independence, has a prayer hall, an institute to train teachers, and offices of the All India Khilafat Committee. The committee is planning a multi storey building for a CBSE school, apart from the BEd college. The trust said it is in the process of preparing a plan and finishing legal work for the reconstruction.

The plans, however, have caused worries in some quarters of the Muslim community about the destruction of a structure and a tomb associated with the freedom struggle. Urdu journalist and writer, Saeed Hameed, who has written on the history of the Khilafat Movement, said he has reliable information that the grave is that of Amjadi Begum, the wife of Mohammad Johar Ali, who was a Congress president before he joined the Muslim League. Amjadi, who was the first woman member in Muslim League's working committee and a newspaper publisher, died in March 1947 and was reportedly buried in the compound of Khilafat House where the family stayed. 

Ali, who died in 1931 in London, is buried in Jerusalem. Mohammad Ali Road, an arterial street in central Mumbai, is named after him. Together with Maulana Shaukat Ali, the two were known as the Ali brothers. They were educated at Aligarh Muslim University and the title of 'Maulana' was an honorary title bestowed on them.

Hameed alleged that the grave's headstone has disappeared and the flattened space has been enclosed within metal grilles. "It is disrespectful to the dead. Without any markers, there is a possibility that the grave will disappear under the new construction," said Hameed who was of the opinion that since the place is associated with the independence movement, it deserves protection. "It is not an ordinary grave. It is the tomb of the wife of a freedom fighter. That he later associated himself with the Pakistan movement is another thing."

Shuaib Khatib, trustee of Jama Masjid, said that Khilafat House is listed in the inventory of Waqf or Muslim religious endowment. "My question is why the Waqf Board is not investigating the redevelopment plans," said Khatib. The Khilafat property is one of the several Muslim trusts that are contesting their inclusion in the Waqf list.

The identity of the person buried in the grave is contested. Sarfaraz Arzoo, chairman of the Khilafat Committee, said, "There is a grave and it is well protected. However, there is no proof that it is the grave of Amjadi Begum. We do not know who is interred there," said Arzoo. "The grave is not in a secluded place. We have retained it."

Former Bandra corporator Asif Zakaria, who is a member of the Khilafat Committee, said he was not aware of the presence of a grave in the compound. He added that the redevelopment plan plans to optimise the space for educational facilities. "The structure is old and is in a precarious condition," said Zakaria.

Arzoo dismissed concerns that the historical significance of the place will be lost during the redevelopment. "We want a fine monument. Everything will be taken care of," said Arzoo.

Javed Siddiqui, playwright and screenplay writer, and a relative of the Ali brothers, contests the claim that the grave is that of an unknown person. "I have lived in Khilafat House and the grave had an inscription that identified it as that of Amjadi Begum. The inscription and the land around the grave had been taken away," said Siddiqui.

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