After the diplomatic stopover in Delhi, President Asif Ali Zardari visited the 13th century Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Dargah in Ajmer, where he spent around 20 minutes and offered flowers and a chaadar. Zardari also donated one million dollars to the Dargah. “The soulful happiness that I have experienced at this holy place is beyond explanation. I pray to Allah to make life easy for the entire humanity,” Zardari wrote in a diary at the Dargah. He landed in the city in a chopper soon after 4pm on Sunday after having lunch with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and several other leaders in New Delhi. Accompanying the president in his Ajmer visit was his 23-year-old son Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. During Zardaris’ visit, the Dargah was closed to all other visitors. About 1,500 policemen had been posted in and around the Dargah; the security arrangements included rapid response teams and counter-terrorism units. Security inspections were on until late last night in Ajmer. Mr Zardari last visited Ajmer in 2005 with his wife Benazir Bhutto.
Benazir had also visited the Dargah in 2003 and prayed to Khawaja “Gharib Nawaz” for the release of her husband, who was in prison then. After he was released, both visited the shrine two years later.
Religious head of Ajmer shrine boycotts Zardari’s visit
The religious head of the shrine of Ajmer Sharif on Sunday announced boycotting the visit of President Asif Ali Zardari to protest the move of district authorities of not allowing him to go inside the shrine beyond the main gate when the visiting delegation arrives here. Terming it a violation of traditional customs, Dewan Syedzainul Abedin Ali, the Sajjadanish of the Dargah, said he had earlier been accompanying all VVIP guests who arrived to pay obeisance and authorities have “no right” to stop him, PTI reported. “My ancestors have been receiving the nation heads… I have been accompanying VVIP guest like Indira Gandhi, KR Narayanan, Pervez Musharraf, Ziaul Haq among others,” he said. Ali claimed that being the religious head of the shrine, it was his “prerogative” to join the visiting delegations. The district administration, on the other hand, had said the move was taken on the basis of police reports, keeping in mind the dispute between the Dewan and the Khadims. “There is a dispute between the Dewan and Khadims in Dargarh. To avoid any unwanted situation and ugly scene during the visit of the Pakistan president, it was suggested by the police to now allow him beyond Nizam Gate,” district collector Manju Rajpal said.