Barelvis seek separate Waqf board, dargah heads back cause

NAGPUR: A few days after it was formed, members of the Ahle-Sunnat Waqf Protection Council (ASWPC) met Prime Minsiter Narendra Modi on April 6 and expressed that Muslim religious places were being fast taken over by radical elements. It demanded a separate Waqf Board for Sunnis or the Barelvi sect, parting ways with Wahhabis, who endorse the Deobandi school of thought, alleging them to be fundamentalist.
On Saturday, ASWPC held its third national executive meeting at Haj House in the city. As rest of the Mominpura locality preferred to remain indifferent, over 50 persons, including heads of prominent dargahs (mausoleum), huddled in a room at Haj House to draw their plans. Heads of the dargahs at Ajmer in Rajasthan, and Bareilly and Kichocha in Uttar Pradesh passed a resolution pledging their support to the demand for having a separate Wakf board.
Both, Barelvis and Deobandi sects are traditionally known to be rivals. The board is a government body which acts a custodian of Muslim religious properties. Each state has a Waqf board.
Addressing newspersons, ASWPC’s general secretary Mohammed Hamid, who is from the city, openly called the Deobandi thought to be the root of Islamic terror. “All Jihadi groups follow this philosophy. Barelvis are known to be more liberal, following Sufism which attracts other communities too,” said Hamid, as he dubbed most of the local Congress leaders to be Wahhabi.
“As Waqf boards are controlled by government, during the UPA regime members from the Wahhabi sect were appointed as trustees for most of the religious places including dargahs which Wahhabis do not believe in. Fundamentalists had their way through political clout, who are now spreading their philosophy through the mosques and dargahs,” said Hamid.
A separate board can bring at least dargahs in the hands of Barelvis, he said.
With almost 99% of the places gone to Wahhabi, it was finally decided to form ASWPC. Soon after it was formed, top brass of the country’s security agencies were met and apprised of the situation, before having an appointment with the PM, he said.
Hamid claimed that Modi agreed to their stance. A PMO statement reported in the print media after the meeting said the PM has assured the delegation full support in meeting grievances of all sections of Muslim society.
Meanwhile, other social outfits in Mominpura dubbed Hamid and his allies to be close to RSS and BJP, which he denied. “Of course, Indresh Kumar of Muslim Rashtriya Manch, an RSS outfit, had met me along with other leaders of the community over 4 years ago. They wanted our support but we insisted on crackdown on the fundamentalists’ Madarsas first. The talks did not materialize,” he said.
Some also dismissed the AWPSC to be linked with a local feud of Mominpura when Hamid and his supporters were not were not allowed to set up a mausoleum of a local godman Mustafa baba, who died there.
In a nutshell:
Mohammed Hamid, a retired engineer from water resources department, is known to be a strong critic of Deodandis.
Barelvi and Wahhabis are traditional rivals.
He is also linked with Indian Muslim Association Noori (IMAN), claimed to be a moderate sect.
Two months before the Jaipur blasts of 2008, IMAN ki Awaz a journal published by Hamid reported that the city may become a hub of terrorism.
Other social outfits at Mominpura dubbed him as BJP ally and ASWPC as a vested interest group.
In 2011, when local godman Mustafa Baba of Mominpura died, Hamid insisted on building a dargah on the street where he lived.
This had led to a law and order situation.