The Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, on Thursday invited Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for his son’s anointment, but excluded Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the guest list, Times of India reported.
"We have invited the prime minister of Pakistan as we have had relations with him since my father's time, unlike with Modi, whom we have not invited," Bukhari said, referring to the guest list for his son's anointment as the next chief cleric.
Four Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including two ministers, have also been invited to the ceremony.
The anointment of Bukhari's son, 19-year-old Shaban, will take place on November 22 and guests have been invited for dinner on November 29.
"Modi has not done anything for Indian Muslims even after coming to power. Indian Muslims have not forgiven him for the 2002 Gujarat riots," Bukhari said, referring to the 2002 communal clashes in Gujarat in which around 1,000 Muslims were killed.
"Modi has not even apologised (for the riots) and reached out to the Muslims," he added.
"We have also invited Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi along with Vice President Hamid Ansari," Bukhari added.
Earlier, on May 27 during his visit to attend Modi's swearing-in ceremony, Nawaz paid a visit to the historic mosque and met Bukhari.
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@Jor El: You are right that the quotes are from the book.Source of the quotes are from an interview with Samna, from the TV program Seedhi Baat with P.Chawla and and Gaurav Yatra speeches in 2002.My intention was to prove that Modi is anti Muslim and not neutral as claimed by @GP65.Now that he has achieved his aim of becoming PM he makes statements on development to carry the Muslim vote,while his colleagues like Amit Shah make anti Muslim statements.The BJP has polarized Gujarat and UP for electoral gains.Its not unsurprising that our paid news channels did not bring this up before the elections or analyze the Gujarat model of development.In the US when a judge is selected for the Supreme Court,his past judgements come under the scanner for any bias.
@Jamor: All ur quotes is from a "soon-to-be-published" The Little Saffron Book. The soon to be published was is 2006. Till that there has been no publication nor any mention of the book. I wonder why. Just to give an example, one of the so called quotes is: "As far as the massacre of Hindus by terrorists in Kashmir is concerned, those Islamic militants, in spite of belonging to the enemy civilization, are like our brothers-in-arms. They provide us an opportunity, reason, and excuse to kill the Maulavis of Ahmedabad." ----- Talk with the Harvard University Proffessor Samuel Phillips Huntington (August 1946), Foreign Affairs Magazine"
Modi gave this speech in August 1946 ???
When Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan built the majestic Jama Masjid in 1650s in Delhi, he bestowed on Bukhara Imam the title of Shahi Imam. After the end of Mughal rule, Imam family have simply bestowed this title on themselves. The government of India never created or sanctioned this title, and rightly so. So Shahi Imam doesn't mean anything today. Mr Bukhari thinks unto state in himself & can invite PM of another state. But of course he can do it as he is living in a free democratic country & has full liberty to invite his guest but he forgot that no external guest can enter without permission of Indian govt.
He thinks himself as the caretaker and leader of Indian Muslims. And it has been proven time and again that Mr Bukhari holds no sway over the Muslim population of the country. Mr. Modi got all Muslims votes. This is a clear proof that all Indian Muslims support Mr Modi. So it is just political gimmick & promote his son. Now that the congress is gone, he will now pay for any political gimmicks using religion
@Gp65: Your claim that Modi is not anti Muslim.This is a quote from Modi's election campaign speech ""Hindus of Gujarat, unite and defeat the Mussalmaan Mullahs and all their four wives! Hindus of Gujarat, be courageous, and dare to fight, be brave, and defy decency and humanity; advance wave upon wave like Ravan's rakshasas. Then the whole Gujarat will belong to Hindus. Mussalmaans of all kinds shall be destroyed." Another quote "The communal riot is a war of the Hindus; it can be successfully waged only after enlisting the support of the police force and relying on them to wage it." "The secularists are bullying us in such a way that we will have to deal with them seriously. Not only must we have a powerful, regular and a more violent Bajrang Dal, we must also organize contingents of the ladies-only Durga Vahini on a big scale. This will make it difficult for the secularists to move a single inch in our Gujarat in case of an anti-Mussalmaan genocide, an event which is not very far." "Without preparedness, a communal riot is not a real pogrom and there can be no final solution either. Having grasped this point, it is good to remember that while making a list of Mians and their Begums in their across-the-'border' Pakistani mohallas, care must be taken to accomplish the task without attracting much notice. The dogs must not be warned of their terrible ends." Are these quotes enough to prove Modi;s bias
Can somebody explain why "Imam of Jama Masjid" is a hereditary job?
@Abdul Malik: Muslims are a minority in India, Hindus are majority. Hindus are minority in Pakistan, Muslims are majority. India professes to be secular but the anti-muslim campaign of Modi suggests the truth is vastly different. It's not just Pakistanis are saying but Indian muslims are also saying the same thing, and the remarks of the Imam of Dehli Masjid is just one glaring example.
To all those Indians here making excuses for Modi stating how irrelevant the Imam is, you are compleltely missing the point. The Dehli masjid is a historical symbol and thus it's Imam is a huge symbol of muslims in India. The fact that this Indian muslim of huge symbolical significance feels Modi is anti-muslim says it all. Secondly, no matter how much you try to ignore it, it's also a fact that Modi is responsible for muslims massacre in his state as chief minister. His speeches from the time prove he encouraged it and looked the other way when it was happening, upon which the USA held him responsible and refused visa entry for him. You can tell us until you are blue in the face that Modi in not anti-muslim but facts say otherwise. If any muslim who opposes Modi is called anti-state then you have a huge problem on your hands. We Pakistanis see the rift in India increasing with the election of Modi. Not just us saying it but hear it more and more from Indian muslims.
this guy asked muslims to vote for congress,even at chandini chowk congress ended up at no 3....now in delhi elections will be held shortly,let's see congress gets a single seat
@Rawalpindi Kid: What is the definition of 'Minority' ?
Seems to me an effort by Imam Sahib to stay relevant in Indian politics. Whether Prime Minister Modi is perceived as anti-Muslim or not by the Indian Muslims, this is just a cheap publicity stunt to exacerbate communal tensions. Hinduism has been historically and traditionally a secular faith welcoming all other faiths. Great bulk of Indians are committed to secularism and it saddens me to see Imam Bukhari engage in such counter-productive shenanigan.
@truthbetold: what do you mean by saying "they never accepted being an Indian?" Most of them are more Indian than you can ever be. Belonging to Dravidian groups, their claim to India supersedes those of Aryan's who transplanted much later. Most of the Muslims who chose to stay in India were against the partition of the country. Read your history.
@M:
He (@Sun Tzu) probably does not waste his invitations for people who have 0 chances of accepting it - unlike the Imam. I cannot imagine anyone in India besides the Imam himself would feel Modi should care about this. Most people in India could not care about who the Imam invites but would find his rant childish.
@Rawalpindi Kid:
Certainly Congress and its supporters in mainstream media gave Modi a reputation of being anti-Muslim. The reality is that he governed Gujarat even handedly without favoring people of any religion or discrimnating against people of another religion. As Gujarat CM he always spoke about all 6 crore Gujaratis and hence Modi led BJP won in many Muslim led constituencies in Gujarat, Now as PM he talks about all 125 crore Indians.
@Duude:
Why do you suppose it matters to Modi if he was invited at a family event of the Imam? He can invite whoever he wants to invite. It should be no skin of Modi's back.
@Jor El:
It is the state / institution which can be secular or theological not individuals. Individuals can be accepting of diversity or intolerant of it. Of course I agree with you that India is mostly secular. It cannot be fully secular unless UCC is implemented because then all people will be equal before law regardless of their religion.
@haha: Actually while Modi did not wear the cap, he did accept a shawl with Quranic verses at that very same venue. Modi is not against Muslims , regardless of what Pakistanis think.
@Sun Tzu: But you did invite his rival Putin, right?
I invited all my friends and neighbours, to my daughter's birthday last month, but I deliberately didnot invite Mr Barack Obama because of his policies - he must be feeling so "snubbed"!
Modi will be relieved that he was not invited. And even Pakistanis don't care about Nawaz.
Nawaz should go as to show his support for religious dynasty as he is product of political dynasty, however it should be a private visit not a state visit so govt of India should not offer him state security.
Hate breeds hatred and love begets love. Respect is commanded and not demanded. Any true believer cannot show any hate to a human being, this is the first sign of belief.
Well, I m glad Modi has not targetted any particular community for doing favours. That gimmick is now sunk with the demise of last govt who did to make Muslims into vote bank. Even so favoured by Bukhari, the Congress and Mrs Sonia Gandhi has not done anything for Muslims. They only have benefitted by making them a vote bank.
What makes him think that Modi who didn't even give muslims the pleasure of wearing their funny cap, would've shown up even if he had invited?
Muslims..
This imam is one of those in UP, Hydeerabad and a few other places in India who feel they are Pakistanis. They never accepted being Indian but chose to keep living in India. These anti-nationals have been causing trouble for patriotic Indian Muslims.
Modi will never attend such ceremonies even if Bukhari fall on his feet and weep. This Bukhari is most hated man among Delhi muslims. Wherever he propagated for votes, that parties lost deposits in elections.
But the Next time Modi ignores this Guy he is going to cry victim in the true islamic fashion
@Last Word: LOL at you people...
Nawaz would be well advised to politely decline.
The Imam has no Muslim following in India and he has been highly criticised by many prominent Muslim leaders and scholars for showing disrespect to the Indian PM.
@Rawalpindi Kid: "Secularism of India is a myth only in the minds of the blind." I am a secular guy, my secularism is neither a myth nor am i blind ...
Modi is well known anti-muslim, has been, will always be, and campaigned on that track. So he should not be surprised getting the snub. Amazing how a prime minister could be so hateful of the largest minority of his country when that country professes to be secular. Secularism of India is a myth only in the minds of the blind.
Verry Guud. Serves Moody right.
Well its a religious ceremony so he is free to call people of his own religion from any part of this world . Its not a political function to call any minister ( of whichever religion ) . Why make mountains out of molehills ?