Mohammad Hamid Engineer, founder of the Minorities Democratic Party (MDP), has had a career marked by dramatic twists and turns. Starting his journey as a government employee, Hamid Engineer later rose to prominence by leading an agitation over the control of a mosque in Nagpur, clashing with rival Islamic sects in 2002. His influence has expanded further since. However, his career has recently taken a sharp and controversial turn, culminating in his arrest on Friday by the Nagpur Police, which has accused him of inciting the violence that recently erupted in the city following a protest by right-wing outfits demanding the razing of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb. In his mid-60s, Hamid Engineer, a resident of Nagpur, started his career as an engineer in the Maharashtra government’s Public Works Department (PWD), earning him the nickname “Engineer”. A follower of the mainstream Ahle Sunnat Jamaat, which advocates for the preservation of traditional Sunni and Sufi practices, Engineer got into community activism in 2002. His influence grew when he led an agitation to reclaim control of a Sunni mosque in Nagpur, which had been taken over by members of the Tablighi Jamaat — a religious movement with whom Engineer had theological differences. “In 2002, there was a Sunni mosque in Mominpura, Nagpur, whose control was taken over by the Tablighi Jamaat. We fought to maintain the Ahle Sunnat Jamaat’s management of the mosque, but we realised that the administration often favoured those with political influence. This led to the creation of Iman Tanzim,” Engineer had said in one of his speeches. Founded by Engineer in 2002, Iman Tanzim was established as an organisation with the goal of preserving Barelvi Sunni practices and identity in India. The organisation adheres to the Barelvi school of thought, a Sunni reform movement that emerged in the late 19th century in Bareilly, the hometown of its founder, Ahmed Raza Khan. The Barelvi movement emphasises deep reverence for the Prophet and Sufis, and supports shrine-based religious practices. While the Barelvi school represents the majority of Muslims in India, it does not have the same level of political prominence as the Deobandi sects of Sunni Islam. Over the years, Engineer has been a staunch critic of prominent Muslim groups in India, particularly organisations like Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, which follows the Deobandi theological tradition, and the Tablighi Jamaat. His criticisms have often extended to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the renowned freedom fighter and India’s first Union minister of education, whom Engineer holds responsible for not doing enough to promote the Barelvi school of thought, the tradition to which he adheres. Alarmed by the declining political influence of the Ahle Sunnat Jamaat despite being the majority among Indian Muslims, Engineer founded the MDP in 2009. His goal was to provide a political platform for the adherents of the Ahle Sunnat Jamaat. The party’s slogan, “Jo Sufi santo ki baat karega, wohi Bharat par raj karega (He who speaks of Sufi saints will rule over India)”, reflects its ideological emphasis on preserving Sufi values and identity within Indian Islam. Since its formation, the MDP has organised protests, particularly calling for action against those accused of insulting the Prophet, and has contested elections across India, fielding candidates in various states. Engineer gained national attention in 2015 when he was part of the first delegation of the Muslim community leaders to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of his Sufi outreach after he assumed office. In a video from the meeting, Engineer was seen introducing other members of the delegation to the PM. During their discussion, Engineer had expressed concerns about the growing influence of the Wahhabi ideology in India as well as within key Sunni institutions, warning of its potential dangers. Wahhabism is a conservative and puritanical interpretation of Sunni Islam that originated in the 18th century. “A radical ideology has become dominant on the Sunni Waqf Board. Many Sunni institutions have been captured where extremist ideology is being promoted. If this ideology takes root in India, it will be very dangerous for the country. We have told the PM that the management of the Sunni Waqf Board should be handed over to the Ahle Sunnatul Jamaat. Let the Wahhabis have their own Wahhabi Waqf Board,” Engineer had told PM Modi. Since then, the MDP has contested elections in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh but has failed to make any significant political inroads. Engineer, however, hit the headlines again when one of his party’s mid-level functionaries, Fahim Khan, was accused and arrested by the Nagpur Police on March 19 for allegedly “masterminding” the violence that erupted in the city. Despite holding multiple press conferences in defense of Khan, Engineer was himself arrested Friday over accusations of him instigating the violence.
