In what could upset Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a widely respected religious leader among Bengal Muslims Pirzada Twaha Siddique has openly questioned the authority of Jama Masjid Shahi Imam Abdullah Bukhari to ask the Muslims to vote for the Trinamool Congress in the coming lok Sabha elections.
Reacting to Bukhari’s call to support Trinamool Congress in Bengal, Siddique said “Bukhari sahib has no business influencing voter’s personal choice and more so because he is not familiar with the situation in Bengal where the State of affairs could be far different from what it is like in Delhi.”
He also said the “Muslims and even our Hindu brothers and sisters should vote for performance and reject those who give promises only to break it.”
He said “voting is a private affair and no one has authority over that. Everyone should weigh up the performance andcredentials of the candidate concerned and then vote for him” adding “if anyone promises something and fails to implement during his five-year tenure then the people will certainly take account of his non-performance” when asked to comment on the Trinamool Congress candidate and sitting MP from Serampore Kalyan Banerjee.
BJP’s Bappi lahiri, CPI(M)’s Trithankar Roy and AICC member Abdul Mannan are contesting from there too.
Siddique the religious head of the widely acclaimed Furfura Sharief and one of the biggest electoral mainstays of Banerjee till 2011 State elections has been livid with her Government for failing to implement its promises after coming to power and had even rebuked a Bengal Minister in presence of senior party leader Mukul Roy when they wentto see him recently.
On whether his statements amounted to turning his face away from Banerjee the religious leader who arguably enjoys the allegiance of largest number of Bengali Muslims said “I may love Mamata Banerjee personally but that does not mean that I will impose my personal feelings for her on the general voters’ electoral choice” adding only performance and nothing else should be the yardstick while giving votes.
The Bengali Muslims account for about 80 percent of the total Muslim population in Bengal. The Urdu-speaking population on the other hand is led by the Shahi Imam of Tipu Sultan Mosque Noorur Rehman Barkati known for his proximity to the Chief Minister. The Furfura Sharief mosque was built by Muqlish Khan in 1375. A site for Muslim pilgrimage it attracts lakhs of pilgrims during Urs festival from all over the country. The Mosque has houses the tombs of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique and his five sons known as the Panch Huzur Keblah.
A famed social reformer and born in 1835 he was the direct descendent of first Khalif of Islam Syedana Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique. Twaha Siddique the head of Furfura Sharief is his direct descendent and holds considerable sway over the Bengali Muslim community of south Bengal.While the Chief Minister was away campaigning in Jharkhand her party colleagues refused to comment on record on Siddque’s statement insisting he only said voting was a private affair and did not ask the people not to support Trinamool Congress.