The Hindu : National : Lost in minutes: 800 years of history

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 09, 2005

National

National

Lost in minutes: 800 years of history

By Mandira Nayar

The tomb of poet Amir Khusro in south Delhi, which was vandalised on Tuesday. A man who appeared to be mentally disturbed has been detained. He broke some light fixtures and fencing of the tomb in the Hazrat Nizamuddin area. - Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

NEW DELHI, FEB.8. The tomb of Delhi's foremost poet, Amir Khusro, at the Nizamuddin dargah in South Delhi was vandalised early morning today, allegedly by a man from West Bengal. Wreaking havoc at the tomb, he single-handedly broke the intricately carved marble "jaalis'' adorning the poet's grave and vandalised more than three finials. While the police suspect he is mentally unstable, over 800 years of history has been lost forever. The accused, identified by the police as Mohammad Bukhal Khan, has been arrested.

Protected as it is by the Archaeological Survey of India, the tomb was visited by ASI officials soon after the incident to assess the damage. "We have sent a photographer as well as an engineer to the site to take pictures so that we have a record of the extent of damage. It is impossible to believe that one man can do so much damage. We had just replaced some of the finials on the tombs. Now we will have to do it again,'' said an official.

While the officials were shocked to see the extent of the damage caused by one person, local residents seemed dazed. "We were reading the Namaaz in the morning when the incident happened.

It was over in a matter of minutes. This man locked himself up in the room and started destroying the grave. When we managed to get him out, he jumped on top of the roof and broke the finials,'' said one local resident.

Amir Khusro, Nizammudin Auliya's most faithful disciple who has come to symbolise India's plural heritage, chose to be buried in the same complex as the Saint. Tucked away in the bustling lanes of Nizammudin, the dargah is one of India's most sacred ancient shrines.

For their part, the police said that the accused seemed mentally unstable.

"He is not coherent. He seems depressed and was probably on some sort of medicine which he ran out of during the trip. He was travelling with his family by bus and the long journey could have added to his stress. We got a call at about 7 in the morning and acted immediately,'' said a police officer.

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