A Hindu outfit has demanded that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) undertake a survey of the tomb of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, saying that the Shrine was once a temple, adding to a series of accusations that Muslim monuments were once Hindu temples.
Rajvardhan Singh Parmar, who belongs to the Maharana Pratap Sena alleged that Hindu symbols were present on the dargah’s walls and windows.
“The dargah of Khwaja Gareeb Nawaz was an ancient Hindu temple earlier. The symbols of Swastika are there on the walls and windows. We demand that ASI conduct a survey of the dargah,” Parmar claimed.
This claim has however been rejected by the body of Khadims. According to Moin Chisti, president of Anjuman Saiyad Zadgan, the Khadims’ body, there is no such symbol at the mausoleum.
“I am saying this with full responsibility that the symbol of Swastika is nowhere in the dargah. The dargah has been there for 850 years. No such question ever arose. There is a certain kind of atmosphere in the country today which was never there,” he said.
He claimed that raising doubts about Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti’s tomb hurts the sentiments of crores of people who come to pray there regardless of their religion. It is up to the government, according to Chisti, to respond to such claims.
