Bohra succession row: 'How can you claim to be a Dawoodi Bohra?'

Ramzan looks set to end with a flutter, with the already divided Bohra community set to cleave further as the long-running succession row intensifies.

Taher Fakhruddin makes a point

Taher Fakhruddin, successor to Syedna Qutbuddin, has written a hard-hitting four-page letter and addressed it to ‘Shehzada Mufaddal Saifuddin', urging him to "relinquish false claims" to be successor and leader of the community.

Fakhruddin's letter is a long one, with the second page citing the history of the division that began in 2011, a watershed moment for the community. He recaps that making a number of points.

In the third page, Fakhruddin levies a serious and rather astonishing accusation, that Syed Mohammed Burhanuddin was left without food or liquid for 48 hours before he was admitted to a London hospital. He calls this "abuse".

The letter further says that after Fakhruddin's father, Syedna Khazaima Qutbuddin had passed away, his effigies were burnt publicly at a function presided over by Mufaddal's brothers.

In the letter, which, he claims, was sent on email and by registered post, states: "I have filed a Chamber summons in the Hon'ble High Court of Bombay to be substituted as plaintiff in the suit filed by Syedna Qutbuddin to continue the fight for truth and righteousness, which are hallmarks of the faith."

Fakhruddin ends his letter asking how Mufaddal can even claim to be a Dawoodi Bohra. "I challenge your credentials to be a spiritual leader of our community; I challenge your claim to be a Dawoodi Bohra," writes Fakhruddin, as he signs off saying he will walk the path of truth.

Mufaddal Saifuddin did not respond to the letter or attempts to contact him for a response.