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Dargah authorities disappointed

Basharat Peer in Ajmer

As the news of Musharraf's visit to Moinuddin Chisti's shrine at Ajmer reached here, crowds of impatient devotees rushed towards the dargah to pay homage to their revered saint.

The police initially stopped them but the moment they got the official confirmation of the visit standing cancelled, the dargah doors were opened. And crowds rushed into the dargah.

The police men posted outside, stiff from the rigorous duty of last some days, heaved a sigh of relief and marched leisurely back to the barracks following the orders of their superiors.

Refusing to react to the cancellation of the visit a senior superintendent of police posted at the dargah gate said, "The police does not have to react to it. We are here to perform our duty and as long our orders stand we are going to be here. We are not bothered about whether anyone comes or not."

However, the dargah bazaar traders who had earlier given a call to wash the market after Musharraf's visit but had to cancel that due to pressure from the authorities were a picture of joy.

"It is good that Musharraf is not coming. We cannot forget that he is the villain of Kargil. Vajpayee only is making him a hero. We are relieved that he is not coming here. For the last four days we have been bothered like hell, by the police and administration," said Bhagwan Das, a shopkeeper

The cancellation of the visit has left the dargah administration disillusioned.

"Naturally, we are disillusioned with the cancellation of the visit. We had been preparing for the visit and were hopeful that he would get the blessings of the Khwaja. Anyway, we would still pray for the reconciliation between the two countries," the secretary of Khadim Anjuman Syed Sarwar Chisti said.

However, a moment later he added that it does not matter whether Musharraf comes to the dargah or not. "Ultimately he is just another devotee," he added.

Khadim Anjuman looks after the affairs of the dargah.

Indo-Pak Summit 2001: The Complete Coverage

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