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Bid to get rid of shops in Dargah premises

Mohammed Iqbal

Central Government's committee refuses to renew lease deeds of shops functioning inside the shrine

AJMER: The Central Government's Dargah Committee looking after the management of the historic Dargah of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti here has found an unusual way of removing the shops functioning inside the shrine by refusing to renew the lease deeds and throwing out the encroachers.

Of the 48 shops selling items such as flowers, garlands, chadars, perfumes and incense sticks inside the monument, the owners of 24 are legal tenants of the Dargah Committee appointed under the Dargah Khwaja Sahib Act, 1955. Despite their presence blocking the passage and causing inconvenience to pilgrims, their lease deeds were renewed every year.

Dargah Committee's Assistant Nazim, Abdul Aleem, told The Hindu here that the decision to terminate the lease of shops had been taken to improve the upkeep of the shrine and the surrounding monuments. "Besides the legal tenants, all other kiosks have been declared as encroachments and action has been initiated to remove them,'' he said.

However, the Dargah Committee's drive to physically remove encroachers on July 26 this year, before the annual Urs started, met with a strong opposition and protests. Some of the shops are owned by Khadims (workers), who claim to be the custodians of the 13th century Dargah.

Mr. Aleem said the Dargah Committee was prepared to face a long-drawn legal battle, as those evicted were likely to engage in litigation to challenge the move. "How difficult it is to remove encroachments can be gauged by the fact that the boxes illegally soliciting offerings sprang up again within a day after they were removed,'' he said.

While the Dargah has come to symbolise secular ethos of the country by attracting people from all communities, the Khadims, privately operating in the shrine, earn their livelihood from offerings made by pilgrims.

The Anjuman Khuddam Syedzadgan -- a representative body of Khadims -- holds the Dargah Committee responsible for illegal encroachments coming up during the past few years. Anjuman's secretary Syed Moin Hussain said the kiosks and shops should not have been allowed in the premises.

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