5 shehnais of Ustad Bismillah Khan stolen from son’s home
VARANASI: Five shehnais and some other memorabilia of late Bharat Ratna Utsad Bismillah Khan were stolen from his son’s residence when the family was out of town, police said on Monday.
Kazim Hussain lodged a police complaint Sunday night when they returned after four days and found several of his famous father’s presents, including the five silver shehnais, missing from their Dalmandi area house.
“One of these shehnais was very special. My father used to play it on the fifth and seventh days of Muharram,” Hussain said.
Other than being shehnai’s best known exponents, Bismillah Khan, a Shia Muslim, also represented what came to be known as the Ganga-Jamuni Sanskriti (harmony between Hindus and Muslims).
The lock of the main gate was broken. Forensic experts and a dog squad visited the house.
“It is true that the shehnais were stolen... We are investigating the matter,” SSP Nitin Tiwari said. The shehnais were gifts from former prime minister Narasimha Rao, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, senior Congress leader and former union minister Kapil Sibal and a former disciple.
Kazim had shifted his father’s gifts from his ancestral house in Hadha Sarai, police said.
The family has been demanding a museum to preserve his memorabilia since his death in 2006. They were now left with Bismillah Khan’s Bharat Ratna medal and Padma Shree, news agency PTI quoted his grandson Razi Hassan as saying.