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Suffering Of Belief

The attack on Engineer is linked to the fight over Bohra reforms

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Suffering Of Belief
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Al fitmuto afhaddo minal katal. Social mischief is worse than killing someone," says Qureish Raghib, spokesman for Dawoodi Bohra high priest Dr Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin. Perhaps, Raghib, like some other Syedna followers, believe the violence against noted social activist Dr Asghar Ali Engineer, who’s long been fighting the Syedna’s stranglehold over the Bohra community, is more forgivable than the "social mischief" that provoked it.

On February 13, a flight delay triggered off a new round in the struggle between two reputed arch enemies. Engineer was on board Alliance Air flight 134 from Bhopal to Mumbai. A half-hour scheduled stop at Indore stretched into an hour’s wait before the pilot announced the plane was waiting for the Syedna. What followed is based on hearsay. Many passengers protested and Engineer says he merely joined in: "Two priests, after consulting the Syedna, started abusing me on the flight. Before getting off, they said, ‘You shaitan (devil), get down and see what happens to you’."

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What transpired when Engineer went to collect his bags is confirmed by the police report. Three men hit him for about five minutes, until the police whisked a bleeding Engineer away to hospital. While Engineer was admitted to Nanavati Hospital, his house and office were ransacked. According to Gautam Ghoderao, senior inspector at the airport police station, the three men involved in the attack (later bailed out) were the Syedna’s followers. One was travelling with the high priest; the other two had come to receive him. But Ghoderao adds the police has no proof implicating the Syedna in the attack. "This happened after the Syedna’s departure," he says.

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"The real instigator is the Bohra high priest," alleges Engineer. "He should be interrogated." Engineer made this request when he led a delegation to the CM’s office on February 15. A delegation of Syedna representatives had, in turn, demanded that Engineer be held accountable for attacking the high priest. "How can such a respected person order his men to attack?" asks a Syedna spokesman. "It was the natural feelings of his followers that broke out into violence. If someone abuses our father, how can we tolerate it?" But tolerance is something Engineer hasn’t had much of from the Bohra priests. The million strong Bohras are primarily traders. Though sharing principal Muslim beliefs of Allah being the only god and Prophet Muhammad being his messenger, they also have an immediate figure-head in the 85-year-old Syedna. The Bohras believe the Imam, who’s in hiding, governs Allah’s earthly mission. The Syedna is the Imam’s agent and the spiritual leader of the community.

Engineer’s 30-year-old fight against "persecution in the name of religion" has provoked five attacks: two in ‘77 (Hyderabad and Calcutta), in ‘81 (Hyderabad), the fourth in Cairo, ‘83. According to Engineer, he has 20,000 open supporters as well as sympathisers who’re silent due to their fear of the Syedna. "I’m fighting for accountability, dignity and democratisation," he says. The Syedna’s authority extends to economical matters too. A Bohra pays seven taxes. Zakat and fitra are for the poor, sabil goes towards the repair of mosques, nazar mukam is vow money, salaam is paid to get permission for something from the Syedna, sila is an offering to the hidden Imam, haqqun nafs is death duty. Not paying can mean a denial to enter Bohra places of worship. A ruku chitthi, or a letter from the Syedna after death, recommending a place in Paradise, could also be refused. Or there might be a social boycott like against Engineer, who’s no longer considered a community member. "Even my mother and sister can’t talk to me," he says.

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Last week’s attack highlights the rift in the community. But how did the violence resurface after an uneasy silence of nearly 20 years? Engineer says the bad press generated by past attacks forced the Syedna to restrain himself. Others speculate the attack was timed to abort a national conference Engineer was planning for March 4. The conference will go on, Engineer says. The topic: 21st Century and the Bohra Reformist Movement. Meanwhile, a bodyguard has been provided to Engineer and a police van is parked outside his house. Grim reminders that his ideas could harm him if his "social mischief" irks too many sensitive souls.

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