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The lament of the last of the proud Mughal emperors, Bahadur Shah Zafar, remains ever alive in the collective consciousness of the subcontinent in which the emperor who was also a poet cried out of his misfortune at not being able to avail of the two yards of land in his beloved country: Kitna hai badnaseeb Zafar dafn ke liye/Do gaz zameen bhi na mili koo-e-yaar mein. These two lines are embedded in the Indian psyche are indeed a part of popular culture. This couplet still has the power to sadden the human heart to let out a helpless grieved sigh. This summer a campaign of sorts is being built to bring back the mortal remains of the emperor back from Rangoon (now Yangon) in Myanmar. The campaigners of this very just although somewhat delayed demand are a handful of liberals and Leftists who see in Zafar a symbol of the composite culture of pro-colonial India. These include the old guard like journalists Kuldip Nayar and Saeed Naqvi, lawyer Rajinder Sachar, historian Mushirul Hasan, Left-wing theatre artiste Shamsul Islam, Prem Singh, general secretary, of the near-forgotten Socialist Party of India.
In 2006, an initiative had come from the government itself in this direction, a year before the 150th anniversary of the War of Independence. A high-level meeting was held at 7 Race Course Road, residence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, attended by the who's who of Indian politicians, academics, artists, writers and journalists. The Prime Minister raised the issue, describing Zafar as the man who defined India's diversity, liberalism, integrity and the national movement. All were in unison that the remains of the emperor who suffered great tragedy should be brought back and it would be poetic justice if these could be buried in the two yards at a dargah in Mehrauli. The grave is still waiting to be claimed for Zafar over a century and a half after he chose it. Zafar's wish was to be buried in the dargah of Qutubuddin Bakhtiar Kaki in Mehrauli and had earmarked two yards of land there. Dargah caretakers have kept an empty grave to honour wishes of the star-crossed emperor. The Last Mughal
William Dalrymple in his famed book, The Last Mughal describes the journey to the sad exile thus: "At 4 am on October 7, 332 years after Babur first conquered the city, the last Mughal Emperor left Delhi on a bullock cart. Along with him went his wives, his two remaining children, concubines and servants —a party of 31 in all... the journey had been kept secret, even from Zafar himself, and the old man knew nothing of his departure before being woken up at 3 am, and told to get ready." There was no one to bid farewell to the emperor at pre-dawn as he left his beloved Dilli forever. "Will people succeed where the Government failed", asks Naqvi. He recalls the 2006 meeting, "Noted Gandhian, late Nirmala Deshpande's idea was particularly well received. She suggested that soil should be brought from Bahadur Shah Zafar's mazaar in Yangon for a memorial in the Mehrauli dargah." Time and again the issue of bringing back the remains is raised, it has not been followed up. Shamsul Islam, founder of Nishant Natya Manch, who has started a signature campaign, questions: "How long will Bahadur Shah Zafar's exile continue?" He adds, "It is unfortunate that this commander of India’s First War of Independence remains buried in a foreign land. It is high time steps are taken to bring his remains to India so that we and coming generations have the opportunity to emulate Zafar's deeds for a free and secular India". Burmese king
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After a Press conference
in early May in New Delhi, a public meeting was held at the Law
Institute in the Capital but the old guard is rather surprised that
but for stray reporting, the media has not highlighted the campaign
with the emphasis that it required.
Meanwhile, at the time
of his hasty burial in Yangon in November 1862, a bamboo fence
surrounded his grave and with grass growing over the precise spot was
lost for a long time and only in a restoration exercise as late as
1991 was the original brick-lined grave discovered. The Burmese
Muslims then built a shrine and Zafar is worshipped there as a Saint
to whom devotees go for wish fulfillment. Ironically, Zafar's own wish
remains unfulfilled. The sad chapters of colonial history tell that
while Zafar was exiled to Myanmar, King Thibaw of Burma (1859-1916)
was exiled to India and died pining for his land in Ratnagiri in
Maharashtra. Of late, Myanmar has been wanting the tomb of the King to
be relocated in his native country. Political dignitaries have not
responded to this civil-society demand that has yet to gather popular
momentum. Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj is the perhaps the
only one who has warmly supported this campaign. The responses to her
statement on Twitter show that not many are interested setting the
wrongs of the faraway 1857 in present times. One response smirks at
concern for what happened over a 150 years ago, while another asks
about the ‘mortal remains’ of the BJP in Karnataka. The British
had showed callousness to the last Mughal and now it is indifference.
So is there a hope for the lost cause unless some smart Bollywood
director brings him back into public domain like Aamir Khan did to
Mangal Pandey, the rebel soldier who led the 1857 revolt?