The tale of closed doors of Rauza Sharif shrine

Amaninder Pal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 27

With dozens of tombs and gurdwaras located within 100-m radius, the historical city of Sirhind boasts of rich syncretic traditions and religious harmony.

However, something inharmonious, laced with confusion and fear, is unfolding in this city, that too on the occasion of Shaheedi Jor Mela.

For the past few years when lakhs of people descend on Sirhind for the three-day Jor Mela to observe the martyrdom day of two younger sons of the 10th Sikh master Guru Gobind Singh, Muslim clerics of the Rauza Sharif shrine close doors of the dargah consecutively for three days.

One of the most revered shrines of Muslims, Rauza Sharif is the dargah of Shaikh Ahmad Sirhandi, who was a prominent member of the Naqshbandi sect of the Sufi tradition and lived in Sirhind during the regime of Akbar and Jehangir around 400 years ago. The dargah is visited by Muslims across the world during Urs, which is observed as death anniversary of the Sufi leader.

The reason behind the closure of the shrine’s door during the congregation is the apprehension of clerics, who fear that miscreants may attack the shrine, mistaking it for the tomb of Nawab Wazir Khan, the then Governor of Sirhind, who executed the two younger sons of the guru over three centuries ago.

Khalifa Syed Mohammad Sadiq Raza of the shrine said, “Some years ago during the Jor Mela, some youths had entered the shrine and demolished a part of it, mistaking it as the tomb of Wazir Khan. Since then, we avoid opening the shrine for three days.”

Sadiq Raza said the administration even deployed a team of policemen during these three days. They keep the shrine’s doors locked from inside.

“We really don’t know about the genesis of this confusion. The government should propagate the fact to clear the confusion prevalent among masses,” he added.

Last year, the gates of the shrine remained closed for three days. However, at that time, a delegation of Pakistanis were visiting the shrine and the administration and the shrine management claimed that the doors were locked keeping in mind the security of Pakistani citizens.