NEW DELHI: It is said that Mohammad Ali Jinnah invited Brigadier Mohammad Usman to join the Pakistan Army at the time of Partition. But Usman, born in 1912 in Azamgarh, now in Uttar Pradesh, declined. The Armyman later dealt a blow to Pakistan when he led his 50th Parachute Brigade to recapture Jhangar and Nowshera in Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistani tribals in 1948.
It was in this post-Partition battle that Usman was martyred. He was buried at Batla House graveyard near Jamia Millia Islamia and the grave has been a revered site on the university campus for years. It was mass communication student Umar Ashraf who noticed recently that the grave had been damaged. “I discovered the derelict state of Brigadier Usman’s grave two days ago and published a story on the heritagetimes.in portal,” said the MA student.
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It is a matter of shame that war hero Brigadier Mohammad Usman’s grave is in a state of disrepair. Authorities should not pass the buck among themselves over matters of jurisdiction. The repairs must be conducted immediately.
Ashraf found the epitaph on the grave broken down and the graveyard itself overrun by goats and children from the nearby slums playing there. “There are many unsavoury people who gather at the graveyard to drink or to indulge in narcotic drugs at night,” Ashraf claimed. “Since the graveyard is along a busy road and close to the Jamia metro station, it offers easy access to such elements. The absence of proper security and broken walls facilitate their entry.”
Ashraf pointed out that not only has the grave of Usman been neglected, but also of freedom fighters like Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, which was vandalised a few days ago. “It’s not only a story of just this one graveyard,” added the Jamia student. “There are monuments, graves and other heritage sites across the country that are in ruins.”
He blamed the university authorities for not caring enough about the local sites. “Jamia has its own VIP section in the graveyard where the institution’s former vice-chancellors are buried. And yet the university doesn’t maintain the graves of its co-founder, M A Ansari, or of Urdu writer Qurratulain Hyder or theatre personality Ebrahim Alkazi, who passed away in August this year.”
Iqtedar Khan, the Nazim-e-Deeniyat or the person-in-charge of the upkeep of the university’s Jama Masjid and a section of the graveyard, told TOI, “We received a letter from Delhi government asking us about the grave. We will have to inform the authorities that the grave of Brigadier Usman is maintained by the Indian Army. They probably weren’t able to do much this year due to the pandemic.”
Colonel (retired) Gopal Singh of the Parachute Regiment and 3 Delhi Girls’ Battalion of NCC arrived at the graveyard on Monday to pay their respects to the martyr. “I saw the sad pictures of the grave and came here to see for myself,” said Singh. “Every year, we would get the grave repaired, but this year the pandemic affected our plans. I will inform Jamia’s registrar and reassure of repairing the grave in 15 days’ time.”