The Delhi high court on Friday issued a notice to the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid for his failure to comply with its order for removal of encroachments within the vicinity of the hostoric mosque in Delhi.
Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the shahi imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, on Monday accused the ruling Samajawadi Party in Uttar Pradesh of taking late action in the Kosi Kalan communal riots and said he will give a second thought on supporting the party in the forthcoming municipal elections and 2014 general polls.
The Jama Masjid on Thursday withdrew a controversial order restricting the entry of women in the mosque, after an outrage over the issue prompted Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena to intervene.
A red alert has been sounded across New Delhi after the incident in which the two bikers are said to have fired 7-8 rounds on the stationary vehicle adjacent to gate number three of the mosque and 100 metres away from the house of Shahi Imam Ahmed Bukhari at around 11.30 am.
The Shahi Imam also said he will soon seek an appointment to meet Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, saying the meeting was necessary in order to safeguard Hindus, Muslims, democracy and secularism in the country.
Mohd Nadeem Zaid, 45, a resident of the Jama Masjid area, and Mohd Faheem Khan, 37, a resident of the Turkman Gate area, were arrested on Saturday night.
After a protest erupted outside Jama Masjid after the Friday prayers against the controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammed, Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari distanced himself from the demonstration saying "nobody knows who the protesters are" and demanded action against them.
In Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir, however, Eid will be celebrated on Wednesday.
Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav is caught in an escalating spat between Delhi's Jama Masjid Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari and Uttar Pradesh Minorities Minister Mohammad Azam Khan, both baying for each other.
The Delhi High Court on Friday said the ceremony by Jama Masjid Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari to annoint his son as his successor has no legal sanctity.
Bukhari had expressed strong resentment and sought to know why Hazare and his campaign managers had not done more to involve Muslims in their anti-graft movement.
Certain religious leaders on Thursday strongly disapproved of the Delhi High Court judgment which legalised gay sex among consenting adults."It is absolutely wrong to legalise homosexuality. We will not accept any such law," said Jama Masjid Imam Ahmed Bukhari. He also critcised the government for trying to amend the Indian Penal Code to scrap Section 377 that criminalises homosexuality.
Journalists from Uttar Pradesh have urged Chief Minister Mayawati to take stringent action and arrest the Shahi Imam of the Delhi's Jama Masjid, Maulana Syed Ahmed Bukhari, for assaulting a scribe at a press conference convened by him on Thursday in Lucknow.
Syed Ahmed Bukhari, now on the side of two leading ladies -- Mamata Banerjee and Mayawati -- thinks Anna Hazare ditched the Bengal chief minister, resulting in the poor turnout at Didi's Delhi rally on Wednesday.
Shahi Imam of the Delhi Jama Masjid, Maulana Syed Ahmed Bukhari, on Thursday lost his cool when a journalist questioned him regarding the Ayodhya verdict during a press conference, following which he was thrashed by supporters of the cleric.
His claim at the press conference that vested interests were trying to divide Hindus and Muslims in Nandigram drew an angry response from the BUPC.
Prominent maulanas and Islamic scholars of Uttar Pradesh have reacted strongly to Delhi Jama Masjid Shahi Imam Ahmed Bukhari's diktat to Muslims to keep off Anna Hazare's anti-corruption campaign because his supporters were chanting 'vande mataram'.
He said that Taslima should tender a written apology for all her 'anti-Islamic publications as per the traditions of the Holy Prophet'. He also sought an assurance from the writer that in the future, she will desist from writing 'blasphemous' material.
Terming the Batla House encounter "totally fake", the Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid Ahmed Bukhari has accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre of harassing Muslims.
Delhi's Jama Masjid Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari was stopped in Deoria, Uttar Pradesh on Monday afternoon for nearly two hours while he was on way to the native village of DSP Zia-ul-Haq who was killed by a mob last Saturday.
The Imam has convened a National Conference of Muslims in New Delhi on Saturday, which is being attended by over 300 top Muslim clerics, scholars and religious heads.
Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari on Thursday triggered a controversy by inviting Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif among other political bigwigs but did not invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the anointment ceremony of his son on November 22.
A red alert has been sounded across New Delhi after the incident in which the two bikers are said to have fired 7-8 rounds on the stationary vehicle adjacent to gate number three of the mosque and 100 metres away from the house of Shahi Imam Ahmed Bukhari at around 11.30 am.
The Centre and the Wakf Board on Thursday submitted before the Delhi High Court that the ceremony by Jama Masjid Shahi Imam anointing his son as his deputy and successor has no legal sanctity.
Syed Ahmed Bukhari, whose status as Imam of Jama Masjid was questioned by the Delhi Wakf Board, was on Thursday directed by the Delhi High Court to submit a statement of accounts of the last 30 years to the Board.
Contending that communalism was a bigger a threat to India than corruption, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, on Monday asked Anna Hazare why he and his campaign managers did not do more to involve Muslims in their anti-graft movement.
"If somebody sings Vande Mataram voluntarily, I have no objections. But if people are forced to do so, it will meet with resistance," Bukhari said.
Sahim Salim spoke to Muslims in the national capital to get a sense of what they think about Anna Hazare's anti-corruption campaign.
A prominent Muslim cleric on Wednesday asked the government to order a high-level inquiry into the activities of the saffron outfits, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, accusing them 'of playing a role in the recent terror attacks' in the country.Syed Ahmed Bukhari, Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid in New Delhi, raised the demand during a meeting he had with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday morning.
Maulana Syed Ahmed Bukhari asked Muslims to stop supporting the so-called secular parties and form a separate party to protect the interests of the community.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Monday received a shot in the arm when Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari on Monday lauded her work for the minorities in West Bengal, and said she would make a better prime minister for secular India than others.
This will be perhaps the first time that there will no mass namaz at mosques and idgahs across the country as the government has prohibited all kinds of religious gatherings to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Eid-ul-Fitr, which marks the culmination of the fasting month of Ramzan, will be celebrated across the country on Saturday.
A delegation of Muslim leaders led by Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari met Congress President Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi during which she asked them to ensure that secular votes did not split in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari on Friday declared his support to Congress saying it will "strengthen" secularism and termed communalism as "bigger threat" to the country than corruption.
Bukhari also backs Trinamool Congress but says no support to SP and BSP. Kavita Chowdhury reports.
