Ajmer dargah Deewan declares son successor

Jaipur: The deewan of the Ajmer dargah, Zainul Abedin Ali Khan, has declared his son Nasiruddin Chisti as his successor, amid objections from some caretakers of the 12th-century shrine in Rajasthan. He made the declaration on Saturday night at a traditional ceremony during the urs of Sufi saint Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, which ends on Monday.

The deewan is the spiritual head of the shrine. However, some of the khadims (caretakers) raised objections to Khan’s decision and did not allow the father and son to enter the dargah’s sanctum sanctorum together to perform a ritual on Saturday night, the police said.

“Khan wanted to enter the sanctum sanctorum with his son but was not allowed by the caretakers. The police had to intervene,” a police officer said on Sunday. After a discussion on Sunday, the khadims opened the gates and the father and son were allowed to enter the sanctum sanctorum, police said. Other rituals and functions were not affected, Superintendent of Police (Ajmer) Rajendra Singh said.