NEW DELHI: The Delhi Waqf Board has decided to form a committee to look into complaints of mismanagement of funds received by the Board of the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah. Complaints of mismanagement in donations at famous Sufi Shrine have been cropping up over recent months and now the Waqf Board has moved to intervene, said an official familiar with the matter. According to officials, Delhi Waqf Board chairman Amanatullah Khan has invited applications from eminent citizens to form a new committee that will keep record of the donations and ensure its use in public welfare.
“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 dargah of Nizamuddin Aulia has several mazars — including those of the Sufi saint and his disciple Amir Khusrau.
The offerings from the devotees are collected under the ‘baridari’ system through nearly 400 ‘pirzadas’ -- custodians of Sufi mausoleums and descendants of those buried at a dargah. However, the Sufi shrine management has rejected all the allegations of irregularities going on at the famous shrine.
“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,” said Farid Ahamad Nizami, of the Anjuman Peerzadan Nizamiyan Khusravi, a coordination committee of the dargah.