Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Gujarat Dargah in Controversy

The Times of India - India
Monday, October 22, 2007

Ahmedabad: The 500-year-old historical dargah of Sufi Saint Pir Sheikh Makhdum Rahmatullah in Mithakhali area of Ahmedabad has become a matter of dispute between two parties and the issue is pending in the courts.

Controversy surrounds this supposed tomb built in 1472 AD on the grave of Sufi Makhdum Sheikh, constructed by the then ruler of Gujarat, Gazi Mehmud Begda.

The petitioner, Gujarati poet Jalan Matri, has claimed before the high court that the disputed dargah is in Navjeevan Kalyan Society in Mithakali area.

Every year, followers of Sufi Rahmatullah gathered at the dargah on his death anniversary. Jalan contended that in 1998, residents of the society reportedly denied the followers access to the shrine.

Navjeevan society in 1998 filed a civil suit against Matri and two others and it was prayed before the court to deny the poet entry into the dargah. Consequently, Matri filed an appeal in the Gujarat High Court in July 1998.

Sanjay Mehta, advocate for Navjeenvan Kalyan society, in a counter-affidavit denied the existence of the shrine saying, "The matter is sub-judice and the court is yet to pronounce its judgment. There is no grave inside the tomb and the structure is the sole property of the society".

"Both, the housing society and the dargah are on the ‘Wakf land’*. This has been proved through various documentary evidences and the same has been mentioned in our letter to the Supreme Court seeking speedy justice," Matri said.

The high court in 1998 had directed the lower court to dispose of the case within three months from the date of court’s order, however, the hearing pertaining to the matter concluded in 2006.

The case has been adjourned for now. Matri came to know about this dargah in 1995 through historical books while he was writing on the forgotten shrines of Ahmedabad.

[For Wakf or Waqf: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waqf].

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Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Gujarat Dargah in Controversy
The Times of India - India
Monday, October 22, 2007

Ahmedabad: The 500-year-old historical dargah of Sufi Saint Pir Sheikh Makhdum Rahmatullah in Mithakhali area of Ahmedabad has become a matter of dispute between two parties and the issue is pending in the courts.

Controversy surrounds this supposed tomb built in 1472 AD on the grave of Sufi Makhdum Sheikh, constructed by the then ruler of Gujarat, Gazi Mehmud Begda.

The petitioner, Gujarati poet Jalan Matri, has claimed before the high court that the disputed dargah is in Navjeevan Kalyan Society in Mithakali area.

Every year, followers of Sufi Rahmatullah gathered at the dargah on his death anniversary. Jalan contended that in 1998, residents of the society reportedly denied the followers access to the shrine.

Navjeevan society in 1998 filed a civil suit against Matri and two others and it was prayed before the court to deny the poet entry into the dargah. Consequently, Matri filed an appeal in the Gujarat High Court in July 1998.

Sanjay Mehta, advocate for Navjeenvan Kalyan society, in a counter-affidavit denied the existence of the shrine saying, "The matter is sub-judice and the court is yet to pronounce its judgment. There is no grave inside the tomb and the structure is the sole property of the society".

"Both, the housing society and the dargah are on the ‘Wakf land’*. This has been proved through various documentary evidences and the same has been mentioned in our letter to the Supreme Court seeking speedy justice," Matri said.

The high court in 1998 had directed the lower court to dispose of the case within three months from the date of court’s order, however, the hearing pertaining to the matter concluded in 2006.

The case has been adjourned for now. Matri came to know about this dargah in 1995 through historical books while he was writing on the forgotten shrines of Ahmedabad.

[For Wakf or Waqf: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waqf].

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