Delhi Waqf Board chief urges top cop to prevent demolition of dargah

NEW DELHI: The AAP leader and Chairperson of the Delhi Waqf Board , Amantullah Khan on Saturday wrote a letter to Delhi Police Commissioner asking him not to allow the demolition of Dargah Hazrat Khwaja Qutub Shah Chishti, located near the Election Commission office in New Delhi. Khan said that he received the information that there is a plan to demolish the said Dargah which has been located there for centuries.

He said that Dargah is a matter of faith of innumerable persons and hundreds of people take blessings of the saint buried there.

The dargah of Syed Abdullah urf Bhure Shah, located on a plot near the Sabz Burj — a 16th-century double-domed Mughal-era monument, is “centuries-old” and the saint is revered by people from both Muslim and Hindu communities, said Yusuf Beg, caretaker of the dargah. “There are seven graves near the roadside, including that of Baba Bhure Shah and his kin.

Now, the graves have all become exposed to the elements, they have ‘chadar’ over them, and in gusty wind or rain, the graves may get affected,” he said.

Mentioning the significance of the Dargah, Khan wrote,“ Dargah is of a saint belonging to Chishti Order of Sufism, which is one of the four main orders of Sufism in India, the others being Qadiriya, Suhrawrdi and Naqshbandi.”

Khan added that demolishing a dargah in the name of an encroachment drive is nothing but another action aiming at antagonizing Delhi Mulims.

Khan also noted that the sovereign function of the State is to ensure that religious properties and endowments are safeguarded and maintained appropriately which is also acknowledged by Entry No. 28 in the Concurrent List of the 7th Schedule of the Constitution.