Fraudsters rule the roost at Dargah Jahangir Peeran

Ranga Reddy: With no proper backing from the State government nor a proper supervision from the Telangana State Wakf Board, the Dargah Hazrat Jahangir Peeran at Kothur mandal has been left completely to the tender mercies of fraudsters and beggars, found resorting to devious tactics to extract money much to the chagrin of the visitors.

Apart from rudimentary infrastructure, basic amenities like proper sewage lines and sanitary arrangements was missing at the shrine, which earns lakhs of rupees on a daily basis in the form of Nazrana (offertory), collected through hundies fixed inside the sanctum, later taken away by the Wakf Board. Moreover, the Wakf board office, which is close to the shrine, too was wearing a deserted look.

At least 1500 to 2000 devotees, irrespective of their religion, visit the shrine and offer Nazaranas of Rs 500, each fixed by the Wakf Board. Though the caution boards, affixed at least at two different places inside the shrine area, clearly states that Rs 500 has been fixed for the devotees visiting the Dargah, the visitors complain that an excess amount is being charged by the people deployed inside the sanctorum. Those deployed inside the shrine are treacherously swindling the Wakf board by dropping the extra amount in their pockets, instead of dropping the same in the hundies. "We often find people stationed inside the shrine dropping the amount collected from the devotees in their pockets instead of the collection boxes," said Mohd. Asif, a visitor.

Lashing out at Chief Minister K Chandrashekher Rao for leaving the shrine to the pitilessness of adversity, Congress leader Rashed Khan, said, "It is in the year 2017, when Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao promised to a release fund of Rs 50 crore for an overall development of the Dargah premises. However, not a single rupee has been released during the last five years."

Ironically, he said that the abandoned Wakf Board office, beside the shrine, was having a deserted look because it was not operational for one-and-a-half-year and because there is no Wakf supervisor available to supervise the day-to-day affairs at the shrine. "The premises of the shrine turns into a pond when it rains, while the lack of sanitary arrangements and sewage system around the dome forms a complete unwholesome picture of the area," rued Rashed Khan.