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Group shoots short film showing women's entry into Ajmer dargah sanctum sanctorum

Feroze Mithiborwala, another participant, said, "There will soon be support meetings in Delhi, and other Sufi places will be sending letters too."

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Taking the fight to the Haji Ali Dargah trustees, a group supporting women's entry into the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine recently shot and played a film showing women entering the Ajmer Sharif Dargah at the Marathi Patrakar Sangh.

The Ajmer dargah is considered to be the most revered in all of South Asia. A group with six women belonging to different faiths travelled to Ajmer and offered chaadar at the mazaar of the Sufi saint on May 16. The group said that as filming inside the sanctum sanctorum there is not allowed, a long shot showing the women going inside was taken. The women also gave a letter to the Haji Ali Dargah trustees from the trust that looks after the Ajmer dargah, which supports the entry of women into the sanctum sanctorum.

"Women and children of all ages are allowed inside. They were surprised to know that women are not allowed here. They said it is a parampara (tradition) that cannot be broken," said Varsha Vidya Vilas, one of the women who went to the Ajmer dargah.

Feroze Mithiborwala, another participant, said, "There will soon be support meetings in Delhi, and other Sufi places will be sending letters too."

The group also contradicted a trustee of the Haji Ali Dargah that they have not approached them and are interacting through media. "We are not clear what right way means. They are not willing to sit with us. The last time we sent questions to them via speed post, because their office personnel refused to take our letters and questions," said Javed Anand of Haji Ali Sabke Liye, who organised the group's tour to Ajmer.

"There are people who are allowing Wahabism to weigh down Sufism," he alleged.

However, Haji Ali dargah trustee Shailesh Khandwani said, "The very fact that they have no knowledge of the difference between Sufism and Wahabism shows that the agenda of this group is nothing but to fan the communal flames under the pretext of fighting for women's rights, and unfortunately, the media is giving them a platform to do it. It's the constitutional right of the trust being a religious domination to address concerns of security and safety of devotees in a manner it considers appropriate. No outsider can be allowed to interfere in the trust's affairs, be it the administration or anyone else."

"You cannot compare the functioning of one trust with another under the pretext of enforcement of fundamental rights. Every religious trust in law is entitled to take decisions it considers necessary for smooth and effective functioning of its affairs," he added.

"It's an absolute lie that our trust refused to meet them or to accept any letter from them. No one has ever approached us. It's time that the media exercised restraint in allowing its medium from being used as a platform to launch issues capable of promoting disharmony and insecurity amongst members of the community."

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