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This is an archive article published on May 10, 2007
Diwan wants share in Ajmer Sharif earnings
With less than three months to go for the elections to the committees that manage the Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti8217;s Dargah in Ajmer, the dargah diwan today kicked up a storm.
Written by Palaknandi
Jaipur | May 10, 2007 12:00 AM IST
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With less than three months to go for the elections to the committees that manage the Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti8217;s Dargah in Ajmer, the dargah diwan today kicked up a storm. His demand for a share in the earnings of the holy shrine has not gone down well with the committee members.
Zainal Abedin, the diwan at the dargah for over 15 years now, said, 8220;We he and his family are very much a part of the dargah committees and, officially, we have every right to stake a claim. The administrators, out of greed, are not ready to give me my share.8221;
As the diwan, Abedin is responsible for organising qawwalis at the shrine every Thursday and during the annual Urs. Committee members claim Abedin gets paid for this. Abedin denies it. 8220;The authorities are not ready to part with the hefty earnings of the dargah. This is why they refuse to accept me as a part of the committees,8221; he said. Abedin accused the committee members of misusing the donations. The dargah collects about Rs 200 crores every year, he said.
Abedin has filed a court case regarding the same, which is pending.
Committee members claim it to be dirty politics before the elections. They claim that the figure of Rs 200 crore that Abedin quotes is wrong. 8220;If he is saying Rs 200 crore, let him prove it. Abedin is only trying to malign our image before the forthcoming elections,8221; said Hassan Chishty, legal advisor of the Khadims Association at the dargah.
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