Bombay High Court Stays Urs Celebration At Pune Dargah, Cites Graveyard Location Dispute

The Bombay High Court has stayed the annual Urs celebrations at the Hazrat Salamati Peer Dargah in Dehu Road, Pune, which is the tomb of the father of BJP leader and former chairman of the Maharashtra State Minorities Commission, Haji Arfat Shaikh.

Sufi Saint’s Legacy and Location Dispute

The court stated that the dargah is in a graveyard where celebrations cannot be held. Salamati Peer was a Sufi preacher whose real name was Hazrat Sufi Khwaja Shaikh Alamgir Shah Qadri Al Chisti Iftekhari. Shaikh, a resident of Mumbai, said he, along with the dargah trust and the Waqf Board, will appeal against the order, stating that the facts were misrepresented before the court. He pointed out that the dargah is built on Eidgah land used for prayers and meetings, and not in the graveyard. He accused members of fundamentalist sects of targeting Sufis for adopting Hindu customs. The birthday of Hazrat Salamati Peer is on August 15.

Waqf Board’s 2018 Police Protection Order Questioned

Salamati Peer was born on August 15, 1947. Urs, the annual celebration of a Sufi saint, can be held twice in a year, including once during the Islamic holy month of Ramzan. On July 31, the court stated that the chief executive officer of the Wakf Board, the statutory body having administrative jurisdiction over Muslim religious endowments, in an order dated April 25, 2018, directed the police to provide police protection for the construction of the dargah structure. We fail to understand under what provisions of law the Wakf Board assumed such powers and issued directions for the grant of police protection, the court said.

The court bench of Justice M S Sonak and Justice Jitendra Jain asked the Wakf Board to file an affidavit in the matter in two weeks from today. The Wakf Board was also asked to inquire and find out whether permissions can be granted to individuals to construct such monuments in the burial ground. 

The court stated that the petitioners in the case have pointed out that some festivities are scheduled to be held in the structure, which, prima facie, appears to be illegal.

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Urs Halted Until Further Orders

Accordingly, pending further orders, we restrain the Respondents, including, in particular, Respondent No. 3, from holding any festivities on these monuments constructed within the kabrastan. The Wakf Board, which controls the burial ground, must ensure that this order is complied with, failing which, its chief executive officer would be held personally liable.

Haji Arfat Shaikh Vows to Appeal

Shaikh said that he has maps and documents to prove that the dargah was built after meeting all legal requirements. "It is neither in the burial ground nor in a forest area. I have been the target of extremist groups who have accused me of heresy by allowing non-Muslims into the dargah. The ground where the dargah has been built has hosted public functions and religious events. Can such events be held in a burial ground?" asked Shaikh.

"I will appeal against this order. The facts were misrepresented, and our lawyer could not present the right facts. Stopping the urs will hurt the religious feelings of lakhs of followers of the saint."