UPA-appointed Ajmer Dargah panel accused of misusing funds

Colonel Mansoor Ali Khan had to end his recently started five-year tenure as the Nazim (administrator) of the Ajmer Dargah in just four months after filing multiple complaints with the Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA) against the alleged misappropriation of funds by the Dargah Committee. People at the Dargah said that the reason for his premature resignation was his “utter disappointment with the members of the Dargah Committee who did not restrain from corrupting one of the world’s most pious Sufi shrines.”

A senior member of the Chishty family (descendant of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishty) said, “Colonel Mansoor wanted to resign in April but the ministry asked him to stay until May because of the festival of Urs (death anniversary of the Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishty).”

Colonel Mansoor had filed a complaint with the MoMA against members of the Dargah Committee, who had submitted a TA/DA bill for a six-month period of over Rs 60 lakh.

A source at the Ajmer Dargah said, “There is no way that eight Dargah Committee members would have spent over Rs 60 lakh only as travelling expenses. Colonel Mansoor had complained to the committee as well and had asked the members to share their travelling details, but no action was taken.”

The Ajmer Dargah Commit- tee is the only such committee of a Sufi shrine that was constituted under a separate Act of law by the government. The nine members, including the Nazim, are nominated by the MoMA and are responsible for the management of the shrine’s donations, properties, housekeeping, maintenance, cleanliness, arrangements for the pilgrims etc. The family members, who are the descendants of Saint Chishty, possess the key of the shrine and look after all the spiritual activities and the main building of the shrine. The descendants are not allowed to interfere with the working of the Dargah Committee and vice-versa. The current Dargah Committee was appointed during the UPA rule and will be finishing its five-year tenure next year.

A source at the Ajmer Dargah said, “None of the committee members live in the Dargah. They live in different cities like Mumbai, Pune, Lucknow etc., and travel to the Dargah as and when required. This is why it is diffi- cult to believe that they could have spent over Rs 60 lakh in travel expenses.”

Other than this, the Dargah Committee has also been questioned for not sharing the details of the donations that are made to the shrine. A source said: “We do not know the exact amount of money that comes and goes. The Dargah used to have acres of property, but only a small portion of it remains because of various social and economic reasons. ” The allegation by some people in the Dargah is that the property in the vicinity of the shrine that is managed by the Dargah Committee has been rented out at prices far lower than market prices.

“Some shopkeepers are only paying Rs 2,000 per month against the market rate of Rs 10,000,” said the source.

The ministry has now published a fresh notification to invite applications for the position of Nazim of the Ajmer Dargah. According to the notification, people interested in applying for the post of Na- zim should have five years of experience in a supervisory capacity dealing with administrative, legal, revenue and financial matters and must be a Hanafi Muslim and a citizen of India.

Speaking on the subject, Syed Salman Chishty, gaddinashin at the Ajmer Dargah, said, “We know about the complaints. Since the matter is with the MoMA, it won’t be right to comment on it. But the ministry should look into the complaints and do the needful.”