HORSES TREAD AS THE DEAD SLEEP
Land grabbers have encroached burial grounds setting up stalls and building homes
The dead are not granted peace even in their final abode. People have encroached upon burial grounds and set up workshops, houses, and shops, while the Telangana State Wakf Board (TSWB) has limited itself to issuing warnings.
In the Oontwadi graveyard, a Wakf burial ground spread over 3,300 square yards in Jummerat Bazaar, one can find nearly 50 horses and camels tied to the graves. Osman Al Hajri from the Deccan Wakf Protection Society says that they have approached the State Wakf Board as well as the GHMC several times, asking for the graveyards to be cleared up. “The High Court has directed the GHMC to evict the encroachers, but nothing has happened so far. Now, land grabbers have broken a portion of the compound wall to create an access route for themselves. Several other graveyards in Jiyaguda and Karwan have also been encroached upon,” he says.
A few kilometers away, at the Dargah Hazratha Saidani-Ma-Saheba, a similar situation prevails. Workshops and godowns have been set up within the burial ground. Syed Inayath, a carpenter who works at one of the workshops there, says that the workshop has been operational for several years. “We don’t tamper with the graves; we only work in the spaces between the graves,” he says.
Shrines across the city are also not spared encroachment. Several stalls have been set up on the graves at the Yousufian Darga in Nampally. A few days ago, the Wakf Board, under the chairmanship of Mohammed Saleemuddin, asked encroachers to move away from the graves. The encroachers then approached the court seeking an alternate site for their businesses. They said that they were paying rent to the Mutawalli (caretaker).
“The Wakf Board also filed a counter claim. It has been trying to evict them,” said the Mutawalli of the Darga Syed Hussain Shabbir Hussaini.
At Bodh Ali Shah in Dabeerpura, many houses have been constructed over a period of time. Former corporator Amjadullah Khan says that originally there was only one room. Gradually, more rooms began to be added, and then multiple houses came up. A similar situation prevails at the Goddeki-Khabaar graveyards near Aghapura. The graveyards at Lal Darwaza, Gowlipura and Chatrinaka have gradually descended into a state of complete neglect.
Mohammed Saleemuddin, the chairman of the Telangana State Wakf Board, admits that several graveyards have been encroached upon. “Our intentions are clear. All encroachments will be removed with help from the GHMC and the police,” he says.
Abid Rasool Khan, former chairman of the State Minorities Commission, believes that these things are easier said than done. “The mafia is organised. I recommend that the board be granted judicial powers immediately, so that it may act independently to remove encroachers,” he says.
New graveyards are needed in the city. The existing space has shrunk due to encroachments. Several new colonies have come up and the population is multiplying — ABID RASOOL KHAN, The former Chairman of the State Minorities Commission. We have discussed the allotment of Wakf lands for new graveyards, at Board meetings. We have given a representation to the government — MOAZZAM KHAN Bahadurpura MLA and a member of the Wakf Board. Our intentions are clear. All encroachments will be removed with help from the GHMC and the police — MOHAMMED SALEEMUDDIN, Chairman of the Wakf Board.