Dehradun: Uttarakhand Waqf Board chairman and BJP state spokesperson Shadab Shams has come under fire from opposition parties for his controversial comments on Piran Kaliyar — home to the holy Muslim shrine, Piran Kaliyar Sharif Dargah — which draws visitors from across religious communities in the country and abroad.
Speaking to select representatives of the media at the BJP office in Dehradun earlier this week, Shams — who was elected unopposed as the new state waqf board chief last week —had said, “Known as the sixth dham of Uttarakhand (a reference to the four holy Hindu sites of Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath, and the Sikh pilgrimage site of Shri Hemkunt Sahib in Chamoli district), Piran Kaliyar Sharif has today become the biggest centre of human trafficking and drug activities.”
However, he clarified that his statement was targeted at hotels and residential areas in Piran Kaliyar where such activities were rampant.
Congress MLA from Piran Kaliyar, Furqan Ahmed, accused Shams of making baseless allegations against Kaliyar Sharif.
“Lakhs of devotees come here every year and the BJP leader’s statement is an attempt to demean the image of Kaliyar Sharif. There may have been some isolated incidents of the kind alleged by him, but that doesn’t allow anyone to paint the entire community or region with the same brush,” he told ThePrint.
Other leaders accused Shams of maligning his own religion for political gain.
The dargah of Hazrat Makhdoom Alauddin Ali Ahmed ‘Sabir’ in Piran Kaliyar is located on the outskirts of Roorkee, to the south of Haridwar and is considered a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity in Uttarakhand.
While speaking at the BJP office, Shams had also said: “It’s a hub of sex racket and prostitution. Such immoral acts will not be tolerated in Piran Kaliyar. We have decided to cleanse all such activities under the ‘Swachh Bharat‘ campaign of Modi ji. We will not allow any wrongdoers who consider it as their shelter home to stay in Piran Kaliyar.”
He also claimed that the Pushkar Singh Dhami government will be launching a “cleansing drive against these people and bulldoze all places of flesh trade and druggies (drug abuse) in Kaliyar”.
Talking further about the holy site of the Muslims, Shams said, “Piran Kaliyar is a centre of international pilgrims. Childless people who lose hope in medical science come here to seek the blessings of ‘Baba’ (Alauddin Ali Ahmed Sabir Kalyari also known as Sarkar Sabir Pak and Sabir Kaliyari) and their wishes are fulfilled.”
The waqf board chief claimed that “some people are trying to tarnish its image”.
“Several incidents of human trafficking and prostitution have also come to the light. Pushkar Singh Dhami government will do everything to wipe out the mess.”
Criticising Shams’ statement, Congress MLA Ahmed said: “They (the BJP) are in power for more than five years. Why didn’t they take action if situation was as bad here as he claims. Waqf board chairman is lying. He must apologise to the people of Piran Kaliyar.”
Shams meanwhile told ThePrint that he stands by what he said. “I am flooded with complaints from maulvis and maulanas of Piran Kaliyar. They all want the government to act against immoral activities in the area. Congress party leaders are trying to politicise the issue, diverting my statement as it was not targeted at the holy Kaliyar Sharif dargah.”
He further said that he was talking about “the entire assembly segment, especially hotels and residential areas, where drugs, flesh trade and human trafficking are routine activities”.
“Congress must know that its own leaders from Piran Kaliyar assembly constituency have supported me,” added Shams.
ThePrint reached Haridwar Superintendent of Police (rural) Parmendra Singh Dobhal for a comment on the controversy, but he said, “We are only aware of the waqf board chief’s statement on Piran Kaliyar from what appeared in the media. Police has no role in the matter until there is a formal complaint.”
Earlier this week, the waqf board chairman had told ThePrint in an interview that he wants the Dhami government to follow Uttar Pradesh’s example and conduct a survey of the state’s unregistered madrasas.
He had also said that madrasas and mosques under the state waqf board will be fitted with security cameras, “with remote control at local police stations”.
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‘Trying to get political mileage’
Responding to the BJP leader’s comment on Piran Kaliyar, Shah Ali Ejaz Sabri, head of the dargah trust, said that the “waqf board chairman should not have made false allegations against the renowned pilgrimage site, where lakhs of devotees visit every year”.
“He should prove where are the hubs of flesh trade or drug peddlers in Kaliyar, or else he should withdraw his statement,” he told ThePrint.
Three-time Congress MLA Qazi Mohammad Nizamuddin alleged meanwhile that Shams had defamed Kaliyar Sharif to push his own political career.
“If Kaliyar Sharif is a hotbed of drug abuse, human trafficking and prostitution, did the BJP spokesperson come to know of it only after becoming chairman of the state’s waqf board?” Nizamuddin asked.
The MLA added: “A large number of additional police forces are deployed here during the annual urs fair, while offices of senior police officers are hardly 10 minutes away (from the dargah). No one ever complained about the charges levelled by Shadab Shams. Shams is trying to raise his political stature in the eyes of BJP leadership.”
Senior Congress MLA and former Pradesh Congress Committee chief Pritam Singh too criticised Shams and dismissed the comments as a “political stunt of the BJP and move to to divert public attention from scams and corruption charges against the state government”.
“Shadab Shams should desist from maligning Piran Kaliyar. where lakhs of devotees from across the world visit every year. He should first answer what the BJP government has been doing for the past six years in power,” he told ThePrint.
Meanwhile, independent MLA from Haridwar’s Khanpur constituency, Umesh Kumar, demanded that the BJP expel the waqf board chief from the party.
“What do we call someone who is trying to malign and insult his own religion for the sake of politics. BJP must apologise and expel Shadab Shams from the party,” he said.
Sarwat Kareem Ansari, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA from Manglaur, however, refused to comment on the controversy: “I haven’t seen the waqf board chief’s statement on Piran Kaliyar. However, if what he claims is true then government must take requisite action. Why have they delayed it.”
Shams on his part told ThePrint that “Muslims in general want cleansing of sex rackets, drug traffickers and their networks in the (Piran Kaliyar) area. These things have maligned the name of holy Kaliyar Sharif dargah”.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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