In the absence of regular supervision by the Telangana State Wakf Board (TSWB), the private people and beggars found ruling the roost at Dargah Jahangir Peeran in Kothur Mandal of Rangareddy District. While the private people are fleecing the visitors inside the sanctorum, the beggars were found terrorising them outside the premises giving no hoot to the sanctity of the shrine.
It is said atleast 1500-2000 devotes irrespective of religion visits the shrine and offer nazaranas. Although the TSWB fixed an amount of Rs.500 as ‘nazarana’ for the audience, the private people are said to have been collecting extra amount from the devotees and simply putting inside their pockets instead of dropping into the hundies fixed inside the premises by the wakf board.
Apart from dropping the fixed amount of Rs.500 in the collection box after getting an audience, many devotees also found offering nazrana to the people at the helm of affairs at different points inside the sanctum. Seizing the opportunity, the private people were found putting the same into their pockets which obviously may not go to the wakf board as only the money collected through the boxes will be accounted for later.
Apart from this unwholesome situation, the beggars standing at the main entrance of the shrine too are terrorising the devotees visiting the dargah as they found jumping on and snatching the alms from the hands of the visiting devotees.
“The unwholesome state is created due to the absence of proper supervision of Dargah by the management and the TSWB. There is no Superintendent of dargah for one-and-a-half year while the office of the wakf board adjacent to the dargah left abandoned for years which is now wallowing in a deserted look,” bemoaned Mohd Pasha, a local shopkeeper.
Lashing out at Chief Minister K.Chandrashakher Rao, the firebrand Congress leader Rashed Khan said, “Contrary to the tall claims made by the Chief Minister K.Chandrashekher Rao, no development measures were found on the ground at Dargah premises and its surrounding. It was in the year 2017 when the KCR promised to release Rs.50 crores fund for the development of the dargah. The promise is not yet fulfilled even after five years.”
The Dargah premises, he said, turned into a pond during the rainy season while a trench filled with filth is also found close to the mosque abutting the sanctum. “Neither the proper basic amenities nor the sanitary arrangements were provided at the dargah while the water stagnation inside the premises also damaged the floor tiles as no proper drainage system was available to drain out the rainwater,” he rued.
