Ajmer Dargah committee violating appointment rules: Hereditary staff

The Ajmer Sharif Dargah's Mausari Amla has accused the shrine's committee of overruling hiring practices for hereditary staff, claiming the procedures existed since the Sultanate period.
The Mausari Amla (hereditary staff) has also threatened to boycott the Urs of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti next month.
The committee of the centuries old shrine comes under the Ministry of Minority Affairs and is responsible for administering affairs as per provisions of the Dargah Khawaja Saheb Act, 1955.
In a letter to the ministry, Muzaffar Bharti, a member of the hereditary staff, accused officials of the committee of not following the rules set by emperors for granting appointments to them.

In case of death of a position holder, the position goes to the eldest son and the appointment procedure of primogeniture was set during the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar, Bharti claimed.
In the letter, he alleged that the committee was overruling hiring practices which is in violation of Section 15 of the Act.

The section makes it obligatory for the committee to exercise its powers and discharge its duties, follow the rules of Muslim Law applicable to Hanafi Muslims in the country, Bharti said.
It also pertains to conduct of all the ceremonies in the dargah in accordance with the tenets of the Chishti, he said.

"Documents say that Mughal Emperor Akbar had granted villages for bearing the expense of the shrine which also includes salaries of the hereditary staff.
"The appointment procedure of primogeniture was set during the reign of the emperors and the tradition was followed by the Britishers, and the Government of India till 2014 without any change," Bharti told PTI.
He alleged that the committee was violating the Act and disrespecting Sufi traditions and legal rules.
"Amlas discharge their duties without even a single day off and we never treat our duties as jobs but rather consider it as religious duty. If the DC will not give us an assurance that they will follow the set rules in appointments, the Amla will boycott its duties during the annual Urs," said Bharti.

The Amlas carry out several rituals in the shrine from preparing and distribution of langer, arrangements for the mehfil-e-sama and Quwallis.
The spiritual head of the shrine, Zainul Abedin Ali Khan, who presides over the religious functions, said that the Urs cannot be complete without religious activities.
It is the Amla who carry out the religious activities at the dargah. "The issue is serious and the committee should sort out the matter, Khan said.
The Nazin or the chief executive officer of the government-appointed Dargah committee, I B Peerzada, admitted that there were several cases of appointment of hereditary staff pending with the committee for different reasons.

There is no violation in appointments and procedures are followed properly. Few cases may be pending and we are looking into it as and when it comes, Peerzada said.
The Ajmer Dargah Urs this year is scheduled to be observed from March 19-24 and is expected to be attended by lakhs of people.