Krishna pays homage to Bahadur Shah Zafar

Yangon - 21 June 2011: On a three-day visit to Myanmar to interact with the new civilian government, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna paid homage Monday at the mausoleum of Bahadur Shah Zafar, India's last Mughal emperor who died here in 1862 after being exiled by the British Raj.

Bahadur Shah Zafar, who is believed to have turned a saint during his stay here, was the figurehead of India's first War of independence in 1857. In 1858, he was exiled to Myanmar, then Burma, along with his wife and some family members after the revolt against British was crushed.

"The memory of this great patriot has been kept alive by the careful preservation and upkeep of this monument. The government of India will continue to keep alive its active association with this important monument," Krishna wrote in the visitors book at the tomb.

Krishna was accompanied by Foreign Secretry Nirupama Rao and India's ambassador to Myanmar V.S. Seshadri. The three paid floral tributes to the last Mughal emperor.

Bahadur Shah Zafar died Nov 7, 1862, at age 87. His departure from India marked the end of three centuries of Mughal rule in the country.

He is buried near the 2,600-year-old Shwedagon pagoda in Dagon township. The site is known as Bahadur Shah Zafar Dargah and attracts a large number of Myanmar's Muslims who believe their wishes will be fulfilled if they pray at the tomb.

Muslims, from both Myanmarese and Tamil groups, form four percent of the 60 million strong Myanmar population, 89 percent of whom are Buddhists. Christians form four percent and Hindus one percent of the population.

Bahadur Shah Zafar's tomb, constructed several decades after his death, is also home to the graves of his wife Zeenat Mahal and grand-daughter Raunaq Zamani.

It is managed by a government-appointed committee with representatives from the Muslim community and Myanmar's ministry of home affairs.

In 1991, the committee found another tomb just about 10 metres away from the existing one when a vacant plot within the compound was dug up to construct a prayer hall.

Now, another tomb of Bahadur Shah Zafar stands at the site where it is believed he was originally buried by the British as per Islamic traditions.

source: IANS