I reproduce below an article written by me on 14th Feb 2014 (Almost 1 year back), the substance of which has become the MAIN issue in this court case. This is to refresh the memories of old members and provide an insight to the new members :-
The "Fitnah" Behind The Present Turmoil In Bohra Community.
It is imperative to know the CAUSE of the ongoing war between factions of the 2 camps of Saifee Mahal which has created unprecedented chaos, mayhem and confusion in the once peaceful Bohra community. This has not happened all of a sudden but it is the result of a careful and systemic planning which started many years ago, this is the result of a great “Fitnah” created by Late Yusuf Najmuddin (YN) decades ago. YN was the son of Taher Saifuddin saab (ST) (He had 4 wives and 24 children) and the half brother of Burhanuddin saab (MB) as well as Khuzema Qutbuddin saab (KQ). He was the MOST arrogant, ruthless, cunning and calculative man who played his cards extremely well, he was also the MOST powerful man in Saifee Mahal during Burhanuddin saab’s era. It was a known fact that all major decisions were taken by him and Burhanuddin saab was just like a rubber stamp who endorsed all his decisions as no one had the might to take him head on. He was also responsible for once slapping MB, a matter which had then become the talk of the town.
YN was always eyeing for the post of ‘Mazoon’ which was denied to him as per instructions of his father, ST who had endorsed KQ’s name for the same. This angered YN no end and he made it his mission to teach KQ a lesson and at the same time settle scores with MB for denying him what he felt was his birth right. He took control of virtually all the main lucrative branches of Kothar and gained undue importance. He was also responsible for siphoning off a large sum of money collected for some fanciful scheme (Scam) from rich bohras staying in Lahore/Karachi which was then a part of the Indian state. It so happened that India got independence in 1947 due to which bohras living in parts which then became Pakistan were in no position to claim the amount as it was under the control of the Indian part of dawat headed by YN. He also became the rector of jamea Saifiyah which trained the future amils who were totally under his control.
The Mohurrum tamashas are the brainchild of YN who first “experimented” it in the 80s when he organised Mohurrum vayez in Cairo, Egypt. This was the first overseas vayez ever held by any Dai. The response to this scheme was overwhelming as thousands of bohras flocked to Cairo and seeing this, YN and other Saifee Mahal mafias sensed a very lucrative business in Mohurrum tamashas which then became a routine affair. YN was a very smart businessman who too wanted to encash upon this business and for which he planned to make Cairo another major hub of Bohraism and planned to settle bohras there and for which he wanted to construct huge housing complexes in Cairo. He entered into business deals with Egyptian land mafias which turned sour and due to which he was ultimately murdered although Kothar managed to hush up the whole incident and claimed that he died a natural death. His death was under suspicious circumstances which was also reported in local newspapers. His body was not brought back to India but was ultimately buried in Cairo.
As part of his hidden agenda, YN also saw to it that the sons (Shehzadas) of MB didn’t pursue much education, especially Islamic and for which he engaged them in all sorts of luxuries like outings at various countries, Shikars and other ayyashis which were the prerogative of maharajas. The sons enjoyed these activities and also helped YN in keeping them away from day to day affairs and taking full control over dawat. He himself was the co-owner of Hotel Ambassador at Churchgate, Mumbai which had a full fledged bar which was then sold to the famous antique smuggler Manu Narang. He used to visit the hotel often for “Relaxing” and had a permanent suite booked in which he had his share of rendezvous.
To penetrate further into the workings of dawat and to keep a hold over its treasures, he got his daughter Jawharat u sharaf married to MB’s son Mufaddal Saifuddin. His daughter has inherited her father’s genes as she too is known for her arrogance and high handedness just like her brothers Syedul Kher and Badrul Jamali who are ace extortionists and very powerful even now. MB was actually very keen in getting his son Mufaddal Saifuddin married to KQ’s daughter which he finally did but only after Mufaddal Saifuddin was already married to YN’s daughter. This irked YN’s family no end as they realised that KQ could now become more powerful and their evil plans would be jeorpardised so Jawharat u sharaf saw to it that her husband divorced Safia, daughter of KQ within just 3 to 4 months of their marriage. This also helped YN and his family in straining the ties between KQ and MB’s family which resulted in KQ and MB’s sons slowly drifting apart.
KQ was systematically sidelined by MB’s sons under the guidance and pressure of YN’s daughter Jawharat u sharaf and her brothers Kher and Badrul Jamali. Their vice like grip over MB’s sons and their abuse of power can be seen from the fact that when Kher was the amil of Surat he even went to the extent of orchestrating a physical attack on KQ in Surat. Although a person holding the second highest rutba (Mazun) was physically attacked by a local amil but NO action was taken against him, such is the hold and grip of YN’s family over the sons of MB. Even as soon as MB became indisposed, his sons saw to it that KQ was not given any importance as all amils were instructed to neglect him which can be observed from the recent visits of KQ to various cities when no sooner did KQ express his desire to visit a city, the local amil made it a point to disappear to Mumbai 2/3 days prior to the visit.
Hence, YN atlast succeeded in his evil designs of creating an unending rift between the 2 factions, the brunt of which is now borne by average bohras who are standing at crossroads as everyday some new crap is served to them highlighting the alleged good of MS and the alleged evils of KQ. The brain washing sessions have helped Muffy in erasing from the memory of Bohras, especially the elders, the Fitnah created by his father-in-law Yusuf Najmuddin, which is the MAIN cause of the sad present day state of affairs in the community. They even refuse to analyse a simple fact that the late MB had personally solemnised the marriages of not only one but 4 daughters of KQ who were married to his own sons and grandchildren. If at all KQ was an evil as is made out by Muffy gang and YN family then why would the 52nd Dai get his own siblings married to KQ’s daughters ? The fact remains that there was NEVER any enmity between KQ and MB but the seeds of hatred were sown by YN and his family over a period of time and Muffy and gang fell prey to its evil designs coupled with the fact that tonnes of money were also at stake !!
Excerpts of some comments made by Mr.S.Insaf on various threads with regard to YN's arrogance and manipulations :-
1) In June 1966 he (SMB) went to Karachi and sent his men to kill Mulla Abbas Aurangabadi who entered his house, tied him with a chair and burnt him alive by pouring petrol on his body in broad day light.
Mulla Abass died in the Karachi's Civil Hospital next day after giving his dying declaration naming Burhanuddin Maula and his brother Yusuf Najmuddin as conspirators.
2) His younger brother and political advertiser, Yusuf Najmuddin took charge of the affairs of Dawat in his name. Yusuf Najmuddin was ruthless and cruel.
In June 1966 Mulla Abbas Aurangabadi was burnt alive in Karachi in day light by goons of Yusuf Najmuddin. Sympathy for Pragati Mandal reached to the Bohras of Pakistan.
In 1967 Yusuf Najmuddin in the name of Syedna Burhanuddin Saheb forcefully imposed an authoritarian constitution on the East Africa Jamats. A large number of Bohras from East Africa Jamats joined the reformist movement.
3) In 1973 when innocent young and old Bohra women were attacked in front of Syedna Saheb and the resentment turned in mass rebellion in Udaipur. In the same year four senior ustads of Jamiya Saifia Surat were thoroughly beaten and one Shaikh Sajjad Husain was killed by the goons of Yusuf Najmuddin.
In the same year 1980, in order to rebuild Syedna Saheb's tarnished image Yusuf Najmuddin for the first time in the Dawoodi Bohra history organised a big Tamasha of show of strength in Egypt in the name of Syedna Saheb's Moharram vaiz in Cairo. For the first time in the Dawoodi Bohra history local vaiz were banned and the Amils were asked to bring as much Bohra to Cairo as possible. A false propaganda was made that Imamuz-Zaman is going to appear in Egypt and it will be big 'Sharaf' to be with your Daiz-Zaman.
After the success of that Tamasha in Cairo, every occasion was turned in to big Tamasha and every act related to Syedna Saheb a 'Sharaf'.
Both the President of Egypt, Anwar Sadat and Yusuf Najmuddin later met with tragic death in Egypt and no one remembers them.
4) Mr. Shashi Bhushan visited Surat to address a party meeting the Bohras were instigated not to allow him to enter the city. A large crowd went on a rampage and the situation became so tense that the police imposed section 144 to control it. Yusuf Najmuddin the rector of Jamia Saifia rushed to Surat and instigated a large crowd of Jamia’s students to teach a lesson to their “munafik” (hypocrite) teachers. Thereafter four senior ustads (eminent scholars), Shaikh Sajjad Husain, Shaikh Hasan Ali, Shaikh Ali Ahmed and Shaikh Ahmed Ali Raj were haunted and assaulted mercilessly by their own students under pressure from the rector.
Galiakot incident made Surat’s Jamiah Saifia a hotbed of discussion. In order to frighten the teachers and students Jamias rector and Sayedna Saheb’s brother Yusuf Najmuddin rushed to Surat and incited a mob which attacked the houses of four senior teachers of Jamiah on 23 November 1974. The attack resulted in the death of Shaikh Sajjad Husain Sarangpoorwala.
5) Sayedna Taher Saifuddin Saheb organized a one-day Convention on 5th June 1961 at Saifee Masjid Bombay. Noman Contractor and other reformists were not invited. Various schemes for welfare and economic upliftment of the community were put forward and sanctioned. Then Yusuf Najmuddin raised a question “For materializing these welfare schemes through out the community ‘large fund’ will be required, who is going to foot the finance?” Then after some close consultation with Sayedna Saheb he after quoting from Quran at length he said “Allah helps those who help themselves” and with blessings and foresight of Aqa Maula he announced a new Tax “Sabil" saying that the quantum of the tax would be decided by our Bawa Shafeeq.
6) There were two persons among many other who were hired by Yusuf Najmuddin to oppose Asghar Ali Engineer and Bohra reform movement when seatings of Nathwani Commission of Inquiry were announced in Bombay, Ahmedabad, Udaipur and Delhi. It was first time in the Bohra history that the inhuman atrocities committed, and large scale infringement of human and civil rights of Dawoodi Bohras at the hands of Sayedna Taher Saifuddin and his son Sayedna Burhanuddin were going to be recorded in black and white.
One was Maulana Atiqur-Rehman Usmai and another was Salamat Ali Mehdi. Both tried their best through their speeches, statements and writings to prove that Asghar Ali is an enemy of Islam, Russian agent to destroy Islam and another Salman Rishdi etc.
7) The word "Baraat" based on Quranic Sura "Baraat" was coined by Yusuf Najmuddin and an a practice of verbal announcement was started to avoid legal complications.
During 3rd World Dawoodi Bohra Conference held in Bombay in Feb. 1981, the opposition from Kothar was at its peak and was headed by Yusuf Najmuddin. It was then that he came out with two very strange logics to defend his side in the newspaper. One, that a Dawoodi Bohras is not Dawoodi Bohra by birth, but becomes one only by giving misaq to Sayedna. Second that Dawoodi Bohra community is a Club and one who agrees with the rules and regulations of the Club can only remain in the Club.
On these self-claimed strange logics the Reformist asked him through newspaper:
If a Dawoodi Bohra is not by birth why the tax on Hamal (child in mother’s womb) charged and collected, and why the kids in "birth register" and "schools" are written as Dawoodi Bohras?
Secondly every club has a constitution. Where is the constitution of the Bohra Community? Again in every Club the office-bearers are elected and the members have the right to dissent.
These hard questions were never answered by YN but since then the Kothar has taken the back seat and has stopped opposing the reformist Conferences and meetings.
THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH/MURDER OF YUSUF NAJMUDDIN AS REPORTED BY VARIOUS EGYPTIAN NEWSPAPERS, COMPILED BY MR.S.INSAF :-
Daily newspaper Al-Shaabi, reported on 04-22-1987 as under:
“Deal resulting in Death
On ill-faith 20th morning at around 6am,
a crushed body was spotted by a Sudanian Arab visitor, lying in front of Hotel Conrad. It was hurriedly collected by Hotel management and handed over.
Brother of Daudi head was here in Cairo since 13th Feb visiting and throwing parties to several government officials. Unconfirmed reports point to some Land-deal. He also had an audience with the President.
No official comments so far.”
Al-Heddaf Daily
"The Prince’s death concealed
The dead body found on 20th April in front of a luxurious hotel said to be that of Naib Sultan Yusuf Najmuddin from India. It was in “broken” condition unable to fly to his native country. Hence buried here. The Prince was seen having some meeting at last night with some land-dealers on the 4th floor room. It is suspected that he fell down from there. The investigations by police are going on.
The Prince brother Sultan Mohammad is in London.
News in brief had also appeared in Akhbarul-Hawadis and Weekly Jaridatul-Fajar.
But News-Magazine Rosal-Yusuf wrote a detailed article describing the “strange practices of tiny sect of Shiite”, the story of harassment of the followers quoting from the report of Nathwani commission, damage done to the Egypt heritage by the desirous person of Fatimid glory and finally questioning the secrecy about the death and a complete silence on the part of the government. And why the body was buried outside the general cemetery?
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