Vivek Shukla, New Delhi: That day was 4th November 2004. It was Eid after two days. The happiness of Eid could be felt in the atmosphere. The month of Ramadan was coming to an end. That day, Pakistan’s superstar Imran Khan had also reached the Buland Jama Masjid to offer Maghrib prayers. As soon as the Namaz was over, when hundreds of people present there came to know that Imran Khan was among them, everyone, big or small, moved towards him to give dates, fruits etc. Imran Khan remained there among everyone for some time.
Imran Khan also made a short speech from Jama Masjid. He kept looking at hundreds of fasting people sitting together in Jama Masjid for a few moments. This kind of scene can be seen there every day during Ramzan. After spending some time with his loved ones, he went to Imam Ahmed Bukhari of Jama Masjid and said to this Khaksar – ‘Today I came to this Buland Masjid and got to know India.’ Imran Khan started asking- ‘Who looks after the maintenance of Jama Masjid?’ We told that Archaeological Survey of India. ‘Very well maintained.’ He said.
Imran Khan’s visit to Delhi
Now the month of Ramadan is starting from today. It has been 22 years since Imran Khan came to Jama Masjid. He was the biggest superstar of South Asia at that time. In those days, he had come to participate in the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, along with him was Mohammad Iqbal’s grandson Iqbal.
And now Imran is imprisoned within the walls of the jail and the most painful news is that the vision in his right eye is gradually fading. Heart trembles to hear that she has lost 85 percent of her vision. The man who once used to resound with thunderous applause in the stadium, is today struggling in darkness. This is not just a matter of one eye, this is an attack on the dreams of an entire era.
Today I remember when on November 4, 2004, Imran Khan told this Khaksar that he wanted to offer Maghrib Namaz in Jama Masjid. We were attached to him during that conference. As soon as Imran Khan expressed his desire to visit Jama Masjid, we immediately spoke to Imam Ahmed Bukhari of Jama Masjid. He said:
Imran Khan should come to Jama Masjid. We will wait for them and welcome them.
We took him to Jama Masjid. Writer and grandson of Maulana Azad Firoz Bakht Ahmed was also with us. Khaksar and Firoz Bakht Ahmed Maurya left Sheraton Hotel with Imran Khan for Jama Masjid in Contessa car. The car was moving towards its destination and they were looking at Delhi.
Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly is worried about Pakistan’s World Cup winning captain Imran Khan.
There are many mosques in Delhi…
While going to Jama Masjid, Imran Khan was seeing mosques at many places on the way. When our car turned from Connaught Place towards Minto Road, he started saying, ‘Man, there are many mosques in Delhi.’ We replied- ‘It will be more than Islamabad.’ Then he said in Punjabi, ‘I find many Punjabi speaking people here. There is no difference visible between Lahore and Delhi. We replied, ‘There are more Lahoris in Delhi than in Lahore.’ He asked, ‘How?’ The answer was that after partition, thousands of Hindu-Sikh families from Lahore had come and settled here, hence there is an influence of Lahoris on Delhi. He was definitely surprised after getting this information. The conversation was still going on when we left the Red Fort behind and reached Jama Masjid.
It is being claimed that Imran Khan is being kept in inhuman conditions in jail (AI)
Jalandhar and mother of Imran Khan
Imran Khan was in Delhi for three-four days during that time. We were continuously talking to him. On November 2, 2004, Maura was sitting and chatting in the luxurious room of Sheraton. We told him that we will not talk to you about cricket and politics. He was a bit surprised and asked – ‘Then what do you want to talk about?’ We replied- ‘We will talk to you about your mother Shaukat Khanum’s city Jalandhar, the Pathans there and your Basti Nau mansion. Hearing all this his facial expressions started changing. Looking at the traffic of Delhi from his room, he started saying in Punjabi – ‘Tainnu kinj ilm hoya in galan da (When did you come to know about all this?). How did you know so much about me? We replied, ‘We knew.’ Now he started telling – ‘My maternal grandfather Ahmed Hasan Khan Saheb had opened Islamia College in Jalandhar. My maternal grandfather’s father’s name was Ahmed Hasan Khan. He was also an influential personality of Jalandhar. It was there that my mother Shaukat Khanum was born. She remained there till 1947. She had many friends there, whom she would mention later. There was a big mansion in our colony nine. My mother stayed there. My mother’s family lived around Jalandhar for the last 500 years. When I visited India in 1983, I went to my maternal home, Basti.
feeling contempt for Jiya
When Imran Khan completed his answer, we took the conversation forward and said, ‘Sir, Zia Ul Haq and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan were also from Jalandhar.’ As soon as Imran Khan heard the name of Zia ul Khan, he said – ‘Jia Hauri Arai Si (Zia was from the Arai family). In Punjab, people associated with vegetable business are called Aranai. He took Jiya’s name with great contempt. It seemed as if Jalandhar had come to the center of our conversation. He was saying, ‘Pakistan is incomplete without Jalandhar. The people who have settled there from Jalandhar are influential.
Young Imran Khan with parents (AI)
And Jalandhar resides in the heart
While talking to Imran Khan, we were surprised that he knows so much about his maternal home Jalandhar. They were telling us. ‘Jalandhar is a historical city of Punjab. There are many settlements in different parts of Jalandhar, among which is ‘Basti Nau’. The name of Basti Nau is probably derived from the local numerical naming convention, which is seen in many settlements of Jalandhar, such as Basti Shaikh, Basti Gujan, Basti Danishmandan etc. The word ‘Nau’ means ‘ninth’ in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi. Imran Khan was a student of history at Oxford University, hence his interest in history is natural. He started telling – ‘The history of Jalandhar is considered to be more than 7,000 years old, which is proved by the remains of the Indus Valley Civilization. Basti Nau probably developed during the medieval and colonial periods, when Jalandhar became an important trading and administrative centre. During the Mughal period, the city was a major city between the Sutlej and Beas rivers, and was plundered by invaders like Mahmud Ghaznavi. Imran Khan had told that most of his relatives used to live in Basti Nau and Basti Danishmanda. After partition, the family moved to Pakistan and settled in Lahore. Imran Khan has mentioned his family’s Jalandhar connection in his autobiography “Pakistan: A Personal History”, in which he told that the roots of his ancestors were linked to Jalandhar city of Punjab.
compatriots far and wide
Altaf Hussain, the founder and prominent leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), who fought for the rights of Urdu speaking people in Pakistan, was also present in that summit. Although both our countries were far away from each other. Imran Khan told us that Altaf Hussain is a murderer. It fights Sindhis and Muhajirs in Karachi. Well, Altaf Hussain had said in his powerful statement given in the summit that no one benefited from the creation of Pakistan. He had spoken openly on the condition of UP and Bihari Muslims in Pakistan, due to which Imran Khan was somewhat embarrassed. Imran Khan started saying- ‘Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) is very cruel, they have destroyed Karachi. They keep killing decent people.
Meanwhile, Delhi-6 social worker Mohammad Taqi was in Jama Masjid on the day when Imran Khan had come there. They are also saddened by the news coming about Imran Khan’s health. Started saying- I will pray for them. He is a very sweet enemy.