New Delhi: A group of former bureaucrats and diplomats has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and stop what they describe as “illegal and harmful” activities, which they believe are undermining India’s civilisational heritage and threatening its inclusive identity. The appeal comes just days after a local court ordered a survey of the Ajmer Sharif dargah.
In their letter, the group said that only Modi could halt these actions, which they argue constitute an ideological assault on the nation’s values. They reminded the prime minister of his own gesture of sending “chadars” to honour the 12th-century Sufi saint, Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti, during the annual Urs, symbolising his commitment to peace and harmony.
Who are the former bureaucrats?
The group, which includes prominent figures such as former Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, ex-Indian High Commissioner to the UK Shiv Mukherjee, former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi, retired Lieutenant General Zameeruddin Shah and ex-RBI Deputy Governor Ravi Vira Gupta, wrote to the prime minister on November 29. They expressed concern about fringe groups, claiming to represent Hindu interests, that are demanding archaeological surveys of historic mosques and dargahs to assert the existence of temples at these sites.
Group raises concern
In a letter sent to the Prime Minister on November 29, the group said that some unknown groups are claiming to represent Hindu interests and are demanding archaeological surveys of medieval mosques and dargahs to prove that these sites used to be temples earlier. The group said that despite clear provisions of the Places of Worship Act, the courts also seem to react to such demands with undue promptness and haste.
“It appears unimaginable, for example, that a local court should order a survey on the 12th-century dargah of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti — one of the most sacred Sufi sites in Asia not just for Muslims but for all Indians who are proud of our syncretic and pluralist traditions” the group wrote in a statement
It added, ‘The very idea that a mendicant saint, a fakir, who was an integral part of the unique Sufi-bhakti movement of the Indian subcontinent and a symbol of compassion, tolerance and harmony, could destroy any temple to assert his rights is ridiculous.’
On November 27, an Ajmer civil court had issued notices to the Ajmer Dargah Committee, the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) after Hindu Sena national president Vishnu Gupta claimed that the dargah was originally a Shiva temple.
