NEW DELHI: The Delhi Waqf Board to look into ‘mishandling of funds’ of Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah after receiving mismanagement and irregularities complaints at the famous Sufi shrine.
According to reports published in The New Indian Express, Delhi Waqf Board chairman Amanatullah Khan has decided to form a committee and therefore invited applications from eminent citizens that will keep a record and ensure proper maintenance.
“There was no record of the donations received at the dargah, which is a waqf property, over the years. We will soon form the committee that will ensure proper maintenance of the dargah and audit of the ‘nazrana’ (donations) received there,” Khan said.
The famous Sufi shrine attracts a large number of visitors since it has several Mazars including Sufi saint and Amir Khusrau, the greatest disciple and the royal poet of the Delhi Sultanate.
Nearly 400 ‘pirzadas’ collected offering from devotees under ‘baridari’ system. Pirzadas– custodians of Sufi mausoleums and descendants of those buried at a dargah.
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The Sufi management rejected allegations of irregularities in the collection of donation.
“As per a 1970 gazette notification of the Waqf Board, ‘pirzadas’ are managers who have the right over the offerings at the dargah,” said Farid Ahamad Nizami of the Anjuman Peerzadan Nizamiyan Khusravi, a coordination committee of the dargah.
“Pirzadas have been managing the dargah for centuries with the help of offerings of the devotees, without any interference of the Waqf board. A portion of the offering is divided among the pirzadas and the rest of it is used in the maintenance of the dargah. Sometimes, when expenditure is more than the offerings, we pay from our pockets,” Nizami added.