Last Wednesday, a local court in Rajasthan’s Ajmer issued notices to the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and the Ajmer Dargah Committee over a petition filed by Hindu Sena, which claimed that there was a Shiva temple at the widely revered Ajmer Sharif Dargah, and that a survey should be conducted there.
Over the centuries, the Ajmer Dargah has established itself as one of the most important Sufi sites in the subcontinent. Owing to its cultural, historical and spiritual relevance, it has also become important politically, with the Presidents and the Prime Ministers paying their obeisance at the shrine and sending chadars (sheets as ritual offerings) during the annual Urs festival, which commemorates the death anniversary of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, who has been among the most highly regarded Sufi saints in India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi too has been regularly sending chadars to the Ajmer Dargah during the Urs festival. In March 2016, addressing the World Sufi Forum attended by delegates from 20 countries, the PM said that for the Sufis, service of God meant service to humanity. “In the words of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, of all the worships, the worship that pleases the Almighty God the most is the grant of relief to the humble and the oppressed,” Modi had said.
Sufism is the voice of peace, co-existence, compassion and equality; a call to universal brotherhood, the PM had said, contrasting it with terrorism.
The message of Sufism, he added, is not just confined to combating terrorism, but also encompasses his creed of “sabka saath, sabka vikas”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hands over Chaadar to be offered at Dargah Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Ajmer Sharif to then-Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, in New Delhi. (ANI Photo/Express Archive)
This August, Union Minister of Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju said, “Bharat’s Sufi heritage is a testament to our centuries-old tradition of unity in diversity. Under the visionary guidance of PM Narendra Modi ji, the Sufi Corridor project will preserve this rich legacy and inspire future generations. It’s a journey to connect hearts around the world to the soul of our nation.” The proposed Sufi corridor, which is to start from Ajmer, aims to build infrastructure to support and improve Sufi shrines around the country.
The Ajmer Dargah has been part of India’s cultural diplomacy too, especially with its neighbours. While former US President Barack Obama has offered a chadar, political leaders from the neighborhood, including Pervez Musharraf, General Zia-ul-Haq, Benazir Bhutto, and Sheikh Hasina, among others, have personally visited the Dargah.
Back home, top politicians including Presidents, Chief Ministers and Union ministers, and Bollywood superstars have all paid their respects at the shrine. The Dargah is frequented so much by the celebrities that there exists a “Bollywood Duago” in Ajmer, run by Syed Qutbuddin Sakhi, who facilitates their pilgrimage.
The Dargah has also been a means for political outreach to Muslims in the country, with PM Modi sending chadars there through the BJP’s Muslim faces including former Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and former Rajasthan party leader Amin Pathan.
However, amid the fast-changing political landscape, all this seems to be changing too. The Ajmer court’s move to admit the Hindu Sena petition and issue notices has been met with surprise and disbelief from many in Ajmer who see the development as “unimaginable” and “unprecedented”.
In part, it is because the Dargah’s history has been relatively well documented over the centuries – in coming January, its 813th Urs will be commemorated – and has been revered for centuries, including by Emperor Akbar, who was known to have had a special affection for the shrine.
Pakistan’s Asif Ali Zardari and his son, Bilawal Bhutto, at Ajmer Sharif. (Express Archive)
“The Dargah has been around for 800 years… Prime Ministers beginning with Jawaharlal Nehru have sent chadars,” said AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, questioning why the lower courts aren’t abiding by the Places of Worship Act, which freezes the status of religious sites as they existed on August 15, 1947.
Former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot said, “People from across the world go there (Ajmer Dargah) to offer chadars. And Prime Ministers from (Jawaharlal) Nehru, (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee to Modi have offered chadars, which has a meaning. So, you are offering chadar and people from your party are filing cases in the court and spreading confusion. What kind of message is being sent?” He alleged that the moves of the BJP and RSS have been creating distance and hatred between communities.
Rajasthan BJP chief Madan Rathore said, “I would not like to comment on it as it in the courts but RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah ji, all have said that humein ab zyada vivad paida nahi karne hain (we don’t have to create any more controversies). There are examples across India of structures that were damaged or taken over during Mughal rule. And the courts have given their decision on them and we got some structures back.”
Ajmer North MLA and Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani said, “Everyone should follow whatever the court says. There have been other (cases) like this that have been decided through the courts. I would request everyone to not do politics over it.”
Recently, the Bhajan Lal Sharma-led government renamed Ajmer’s famed Hotel Khadim – an undertaking of Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation – as Ajaymeru. Calling for the name change, Devnani had claimed Ajmer was famous as Ajaymeru during the reign of Rajasthan’s 12th-century warrior king Prithviraj Chauhan and that it was called Ajaymeru in ancient texts and history books.
Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Bhagirath Choudhary, who is also the Ajmer BJP MP, did not respond to calls for comments.
Over the centuries, the Ajmer Dargah has established itself as one of the most important Sufi sites in the subcontinent. (FB/Ajmer Sharif Dargah) 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hands over Chaadar to be offered at Dargah Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Ajmer Sharif to then-Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, in New Delhi. (ANI Photo/Express Archive)
Pakistan’s Asif Ali Zardari and his son, Bilawal Bhutto, at Ajmer Sharif. (Express Archive)
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