1963 Hazratbal Shrine theft

1963 incident in Jammu and Kashmir, India June 2022 On 27 December 1963, Moi-e-Muqqadas, a relic believed by many to be strand from the beard of Prophet Muhammad, went missing the from the Hazratbal Shrine in Jammu and Kashmir, leading to widespread protests across the Indian subcontinent. The relic was recovered on 4January 1964. History of the relic thumb|The Hazratbal Shrine in 2010 The Blessed Relic was brought to Indian city of Bijapur in 1635 by Syed Abdullah Madani. It was then passed through his son Syed Hamid to a Kashmiri businessman named Nooruddin. In the late 17th century, the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb imprisoned Nooruddin and seized the relic, moving it to the Sufi tomb in Ajmer. Aurangzeb returned the relic in 1700 after Nooruddin had died. The relic was preserved by his descendants and kept in a place that later became the Hazratbal Shrine.Mīr Qāsim Sayyid My life and times 1992 Allied Publishers 81-7023-355-0 New Delhi 95–96 27815766 Theft On 27 December 1963, news broke out that the holy relic was stolen from the shrine. Around 50,000 people carrying black flags demonstrated in front of the shrine. According to The Times of India, the Srinagar superintendent of police said that he believed that the theft had occurred around 2am when the custodians of the shrine were sleeping.Hanging By The Relic 7 July 2014 http://www.kashmirlife.net/hanging-by-the-relic-issue18-vol06-61615/ Kashmir Life 23 January 2017 The next day, the Chief Minister of the state, Khwaja Shams-ud-Din, reached the shrine and announced an award of 100,000 inr for providing information regarding the theft. On 29December, a curfew was imposed and police arrested the Congress leader Mohammad Shafi Qureshi. To investigate the theft, on 31December, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru sent the head of the Central Bureau of Investigation, Bhola Nath Mullik, to Kashmir. Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq set up the Sacred Relic Action Committee, of which he was the president.The mystery of Moi-e-Muqqadas theft http://www.risingkashmir.in/news/the-mystery-of-moiemuqqadas-theft Rising Kashmir 23 January 2017 On 4 January 1964, the relic was recovered, and the Sadr-i-Riyasat Karan Singh organised prayers at a Hindu temple to help dispel communal tension.Schofield Victoria Kashmir in conflict : India, Pakistan and the unending war 2003 I.B. Tauris 1-4175-6080-0 London 103 57182067 The relic was inspected and identified by Sayyid Meerak Shah Kashani as being genuine. Shah Kashani said he had seen the relic many times and could easily identify it.Ahmad Khalid Bashir Kashmir: The Sacrilege And The Turmoil Countercurrents https://countercurrents.org/2018/12/kashmir-the-sacrilege-and-the-turmoil/ countercurrents.org 19 January 2023 27 December 2018 Sayyid Meerak recited a poem: The Garden is bright with the light of Muhammad The light of Muhammad is reflected in every flower and every plant. yes Sayyid Meerak When Mullick informed Nehru about the recovery, Nehru said to Mullick that "you have saved Kashmir for India". In his memoirs, Mullick claims that the information about the investigation was not disclosed. The Home Minister of India, Gulzarilal Nanda, also said in the parliament that the thieves "shall be identified".September 2025 On 17 January 1964, Nanda publicly identified the suspects, all three of whom were Kashmiri Muslims: the shrine's mujawar (caretaker) Abdul Rahim Bandey, local villager Abdul Rashid (who was caught while returning the relic), and "an important person who we believe has some affiliation with Pakistan" giving his name as Kadir Butt.1964-02-18 3 Kashmiri Moslems Held In Theft of Prophet's Hair The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/1964/02/18/archives/3-kashmiri-moslems-held-in-theft-of-prophets-hair.html 2022-06-17 https://archive.today/20250923211052/https://www.nytimes.com/1964/02/18/archives/3-kashmiri-moslems-held-in-theft-of-prophets-hair.html 2025-09-23 0362-4331 (The third's name was briefly reported in Parliament as "Ghulam Mohd. Mohammed Butt,"Statement re Theft of Sacred Relic from Hazratbal 1964-02-17 Digital Sansad https://eparlib.sansad.in/bitstream/123456789/873760/1/03_VII_17-02-1964_p50_p50_PII.pdf 2025-09-23 but was corrected later the same day.) Aftermath Identification by its caretakers and other investigation made by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir (law and order), special identification team says its authenticity is indeed original. Post identification, a public deedar ("viewing") of the relic was organized on 6 February coinciding with the anniversary of martyrdom of the fourth Caliph of Islam, Ali bin Abu Talib.https://countercurrents.org/2018/12/kashmir-the-sacrilege-and-the-turmoil/ Kashmir: The Sacrilege And The Turmoil| Countercurrents 27 December 2018 countercurrents.orghttps://www.awazthevoice.in/india-news/hazratbal-shrine-with-holy-relic-has-a-tumultuous-history-16384.html Hazratbal shrine with holy relic has a tumultuous history Awaz The Voice The incident triggered riots and ethnic cleansing of Hindus in East Pakistan.25 July 1964 Widespread Communal Riots in India and Pakistan 1 Keesing's Contemporary Archives http://web.stanford.edu/group/tomzgroup/pmwiki/uploads/1310-1962-xx-xx-KS-a-JZW.pdf Hundreds of thousands of Hindu refugees poured into India between December 1963 and February 1964 as a result of the violence.Das Mayurakshi Title: Calcutta Cauldron: City-life during the January 1964 Riots https://www.academia.edu/43473655 Indian History Congress Proceedings January 2018 en The stories of atrocities told by these refugees caused violence and rioting against Muslims in Calcutta in the Indian state of West Bengal. Thousands of Christian tribals were also evicted later from East Pakistan and arrived in India as refugees. A fictionalized version of the incident is the subject of Salman Rushdie's short story "The Prophet's Hair" (1981). References 2 Category:Individual thefts Category:Relics Category:Religious controversies in India Category:1960s in Jammu and Kashmir Category:1963 crimes in India Category:Crime in Jammu and Kashmir Category:1960s in Islam Category:1963 in religion Category:1964 in religion Category:Islam in Jammu and Kashmir