by A. J. PHILIP
Assistant advocate-general of Haryana Anuradha Bali (left) went missing in November 2008 with former Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Chandra Mohan, who had left his wife and children. In December they showed up as husband and wife after converting to Islam. Their Muslim names were Chand Mohammed and Fiza Mohammed. In March 2009, he divorced her with a telephone call and an SMS. She remained Muslim till her death in mysterious circumstances on August 6, 2012. He returned back to Hinduism. INFO/Times of India
A few days later, the whole of India woke up to the sensational news that the Deputy Chief Minister was traceless like the Shankaracharya of Kanchi, who went missing, leaving his dandam (staff), a symbol of his spiritual authority, at his mutt. It took just a couple of days to trace the pontiff to Thalacauvery in Karnataka. In the case of Mohan, son of the late Bhajan Lal, who is notorious for introducing the concept of “aaya Ram, gaya Ram” in politics, it took a little longer to unfold the mystery.
Mohan who was married with two children, one of whom needed special care, had left Panchkula with the younger and beautiful assistant advocate-general of Haryana Anuradha Bali. Even The New York Times found the story of his escapade and conversion to Islam intriguing enough to run as a bottom-spread on the front page.
Little by little the details of their marriage and the bride money of Rs 5 lakh he paid to her came out in the Press. The whole fraternity of Press photographers in Chandigarh was present when the newly-married couple went to an Islamic shrine on the road that leads to Shimla to offer prayers. He had become Chand Mohammed and she Fiza Mohammed.
Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda who was compelled to induct Mohan as his deputy did not bat an eyelid when he sacked him from the Cabinet moments after the news of his marriage reached him.
The whole world seemed to condemn him for what he did. How could he do this to his dutiful wife and loving children? He has brought disgrace to the whole Bhajan Lal clan. He has exploited a legal loophole to marry again. Thus went the charges against him. But to be fair, I had some admiration for the man, though I kept it to myself.
I compared him to Edward VIII who shocked the world in 1936 when he gave up his throne to marry an American divorcee, Wallis Simpson. My friend, theologian and counsellor J.K. John had given me a DVD of the Oscar-winning movie “The King’s Speech” in which the King tells the whole world: “I have found it impossible to carry on the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge the duties of King as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love.”
His abdication, 326 days after his reign, was, perhaps, the greatest price a man paid for his lady love. What Mohan did might not have been acceptable to civilized society but at least he had the courage of conviction to institutionalise his relationship with Fiza, a divorcee.
How mistaken I was became clear in a few days when Chand Mohammed renounced his new faith, but not before divorcing her with a triple talaq, reinforced by a SMS message sent from London. He went back to his wife and children, almost proclaiming Aaya Hindu, gaya Muslim.
I realised Mohan was the pits when he made fun of Bali and said disparagingly of her: “Woh kya cheez hai!” (What a material she is!) I used this peg to hang a column on the couple, who a fortnight into their wedded bliss fought like cats and dogs and that too in public. I had no respect for Bali who, from all accounts, was a social climber, who would not have become what she was without the patronage of a powerful politician like Mohan. She did not crown herself with glory when she punctured all the tyres of a neighbour’s car, fought with the children of the neighbourhood and used abusive language that kept everyone afar.
However, Fiza was worldly-wise, as could be inferred from the discovery of Rs 93 lakh in cash, 1.5 kg of gold worth at least Rs 45 lakh and an equally impressive quantity of silver. How could she have amassed this fortune on a salary that could not have been more than Rs 60,000, given her luxurious lifestyle and the large house she had to maintain? She had a collection of CDs on which were stored SMSs and other messages she had exchanged with Mohan and others. Was she the “Bibi of blackmail”?
Yet, for all her wealth, glamour and fame, only a handful of people were present when her maggot-infested body was cremated. Unlike Mohan, she did not renounce her new faith and even observed the Ramadan fast when death visited her. Alas, she was not even accorded an Islamic burial, which she should have received, though I am not sure how she would have accounted for the smell of alcohol when she met the Creator like Mohammed Atta, who piloted the first 9/11 aircraft and had beer and fried pork the evening before.
When a similar issue cropped up about the last rites of Madhavikutty alias Kamala Das alias Kamala Suraiyya, her children, who are staunch upper caste Hindus, decided to fullfil her wish, which was to be buried according to the Islamic tradition. But no such grace was shown to Fiza. Now that the details of her wealth are in the public domain, one can expect a lot more relatives than were present at the crematorium to demand a share of the “booty”.
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