AJMER (Online) - The religious head of the Ajmer Dargah on Sunday announced to boycott President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to the shrine to protest the move of district authorities not allowing him to go inside the shrine on arrival of the visiting delegation there.
Terming it a violation of traditional customs, Dewan Syedzainul Abedin Ali, the Sajjadanashin of the Dargah, said earlier he had been giving company to all the VVIP guests who arrived to pay respect to the Sufi saint and authorities had ‘no right’ to stop him, PTI reported. “My ancestors have been receiving the nation heads. I have been accompanying VVIP guest like Indira Gandhi, KR Narayanan, Pervez Musharraf, Ziaul Haq among others,” he said.
Ali claimed that being the religious head of the shrine, it was his ‘prerogative’ to join the visiting delegations. The district administration, on the other hand, said the move was taken on the basis of police reports, keeping in mind the dispute between the Dewan and the Khadims. “There is a dispute between the Dewan and Khadims in Dargarh. To avoid any unwanted situation and ugly scene during the visit of the Pakistani president, it was suggested by the police that he should not be allowed beyond Nizam Gate,” district collector Manju Rajpal said.