On Friday, 29th November, the spiritual head of the Ajmer Sharif Dargah in Rajasthan, Syed Zainul Abedin Ali Khan condemned the claim regarding the Dargah that the Rajasthan Court has agreed to hear. A couple of days ago, the Hindu Sena claimed that the mausoleum of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti is made on the top of a Shiva temple. Khan criticizing the claim stated that the petition had been filed for publicity and personal interest.
He said that even the Prime Minister and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leaders like Mohan Bhagwat and Indresh Kumar have faith in the Dargah and offer prayers here.
“Anyone can go to the court, but a decision can be made only after hearings and evidence production. Anyone can do this (file a petition) for cheap publicity,” Syed Zainul Abedin Ali Khan said. He further indicated that the Dargah and places of worship belonging to specific religions were deliberately being targeted.
“RSS’ Mohan Bhagwat had himself said that people should not find Shivalays under every Dargah. The same thing happened in Sambhal. What happened then? 5 innocents lost their lives unnecessarily. This is such a big setback but nobody is thinking about this,” he added.
#WATCH | Rajasthan: On a suit claiming Shiva temple within Ajmer Sharif Dargah, the Spiritual Head of the dargah, Syed Zainul Abedin Ali Khan says, "Anyone can go to the court, but only after hearings and production of evidence anything can be decided…Anyone can do this (file… pic.twitter.com/xBY0rN6AEI
— ANI (@ANI) November 29, 2024
He reiterated meanwhile that many government authorities like the Prime Minister, Governor, Chief Ministers, etc have been offering ‘chadars’ to the Dargah. He stated that every person who has faith in this Dargah, be it of any religion has been offering prayers here. “Many Hindus also come here to offer prayers and they get hope that all their problems and ailments will be solved if they pray here. Whatever all this is happening, this temple controversy under the Dargah is just for publicity,” he said.
On 27th November, the court in Rajasthan Ajmer agreed to hear a petition claiming that Ajmer Sharif Dargah is a Hindu temple.
The Hindu Sena in September filed a petition at the Ajmer civil court demanding that the Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Dargah be declared ‘Bhagwan Shri Sankatmochan Mahadev Virajman Temple’. The plea asserted that the Dargah was built on the site of a Shiva temple. The petition said that it is based on facts derived from authentic sources, and demanded that the Sufi shrine be removed from the premises.
Hindu Sena is also seeking direction from the Archaeological Survey of India to survey the site, on the lines of the Gyanvapi survey in Varanasi, and then the reconstruction of a Shiva temple at the site.
The petition says that Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti came to Ajmer with Mohammad Ghori and that Ghori destroyed a large number of Hindu temples, including the Sankat Mochan Mahadev temple in Ajmer, after killing Prithviraj Chauhan. Hindu Sena claims that the design of the main entrance gate of the Ajmer shrine resembled a Hindu structure, and historical records suggested the existence of a Shiva temple at the site.
