Ajmer Sharif Dargah authorities unhappy with film stars

July 24, 2012

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The Ajmer Sharif Dargah is famous across the world as it is believed that no prayer at this dargah goes unanswered. Needless to say, people keep frequenting the shrine. More so, our film stars, whose fate changes every Friday, with every release. But the frequency of such visits by stars has left the religious heads fuming.

Mazaar pe CD rakh ke jaana galat hai

Dargah Dewan Zainul Abedin Ali Khan, the hereditary Sajjada-nashin of Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chishty, believes that "a holy place must not be used as a platform for anything that is forbidden and against Islamic law". Khan issued a statement on Sunday stating, "Dance and films are taboo in Islam. Cinema today, in general, is promoting obscenity, which is a major reason behind the rapid degradation of moral values in the society. Film stars come here repeatedly to seek blessings for their films and, in the process, promote their film through the media. Such kind of promotion of their work at the religious place is highly intolerable."

When contacted, Khan clarified his statement and said, "Film stars aayein. Dus ki jagah 100 aayein, humein usse koi matlab nahi, par apni film hit karaane ke liye woh dargah aate hain, aur mazaar pe CD rakh ke jaate hain, woh galat hai. Ab uss film mein kya hai, kya nahin, woh hamey kya pata? There could be a rape scene or other obscenity that they've shown to make the film a hit, and then they come here to seek blessings for such a movie and promote it - this is highly objectionable. Khwaja ji filmein hit karaane ke liye thodi baithe hain?"

The religious head of the dargah has called upon Islamic intellectuals and Ulemas to pay urgent attention to the issue. "It is surprising that Islamic intellectuals are quiet on this issue. They should express their views as strongly as they do in other cases," he said.

Referring to Himesh Reshammiya's visit in a burqa and Katrina Kaif donning a skirt during her visit in the past, Khan said, "Why don't these stars go to Shankarcharya Math or to a gurudwara before the release of their movie? Yahan aakar publicity ke liye woh yeh sab karte hain. Woh ashleelta ko paros rahe hain religious jagah pe."

However Qutubuddin Sakhi, the Khadim at the Dargah, disagreed with Khan. "Be it a commoner or a celebrity who is visiting the dargah to pray for his/her well being - nobody comes here for sheer publicity. Those who are announcing the ban have no authority to say so. It's their personal grudges against khadims. The Dargah Dewan's statement is nothing but a gimmick to earn publicity. Bollywood celebrities have been coming to to pray and seek blessings of Khwaja Saheb since the past 23 years and none of them came here to get publicity."

Dua se kaarobar chale, usmein kya kharabi hai?

The religious heads at an equally famous dargah, Delhi's Hazrat Nizamuddin said that the Dargah Dewan is trying to mislead people in the name of Islam. "To say that stars or directors and producers are using the holy place for commercial purposes and for degrading moral values, is completely wrong," said Nizamuddin dargah in-charge Syed Afsar Ali Nizami.

He explained, "Yeh toh Baba ka darbaar hai, yahan aane ke liye kissi ko koi manai nahi hai. Dua ke liye log yahan aate hain, aur jinki dua qubool hoti hai woh baar baar aate hain, ismein commercial angle dhoondna aur usse highlight karna galat hai. If these stars believe that after paying their regards at Ajmer Sharif or at Hazrat Nizamuddin, their wish gets fulfilled in terms of a box office success then there is nothing wrong in it. Kissi ka karobaar chal raha hai Baba ki dua se toh usme kharabi kya hai?"

"Iss sab ka Islam se koi matlab nahi. Islam alag hai, dargah alag hai. A masjid is for Muslims, but a dargah is open for all. Anyone can come and seek blessings at a dargah. Agar woh Islam ke mutabik chalenge toh uss hisaab se toh bahut cheezein hain jo nahi honi chahiye. Muslim women can't show their face, but that's no longer the case. Similarly, Islam says that music is bad, but we have qawwali nights inside the dargah," said Afsar, asking why the Ajmer Sharif religious head is objecting now, after so many years. "Kitne saalon se yeh film waale Ajmer Sharif ja rahein hain. In fact, movies like Namastey London have been shot inside the dargah. If they were so worried about the commercial misuse of the holy shrine, then how come they allowed movie shoots inside?"

Sab ko dargah jaane ka aur dua lene ka haq hai

Veena Malik, who visited the holy shrine with Ashmit Patel said, "It is wrong to discriminate like that. Actors bhi insaan hote hain, unko Ajmer Sharif aane se ban karne ka kya matlab hai? Sabko dua lene ka poora haq hai. Agar koi apni salamati ke liye dua karta hai toh ismein harz kya hai?" While Ekta Kapoor said, "We pray for various mannats, how can anyone stop people from coming to the dargah?"

"Every human seeks God's blessings for some or the other reason. Tell me one person who selflessly goes to him and does not ask for his blessings? If someone visits a dargah with or without any reason, it's because of his belief in the divine authority. It's unfair to impose a ban on celebrities. I will request the dargah authorities to withdraw such a ban, which is absolutely unfair," added Esha Koppikhar.

Recently, actress Divya Dutta had also visited the dargah while she was shooting for a movie in Jodhpur, but the actor chose not to comment on the objection by the dargah officials. She said, "I have never gone to the dargah for movie promotions. I haven't even read the news so I cannot comment, but all I can say is that I have always visited the dargah for only personal reasons."



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News Network
April 8,2020

Washington, Apr 8: Choosing stethoscope over the crown, Miss England 2019, Bhasha Mukherjee, has returned to work as a doctor as the world battles with coronavirus pandemic.

According to CNN, she was a junior doctor with a specialisation in respiratory medicine, before being crowned as Miss England in August last year. The beauty queen, who has her roots in India's Kolkata city, had taken a career break from the medical field.

She had paused her medical career for some humanitarian work that she was offered by several charities and was on a tour to different countries including India.

"I was invited to Africa, to Turkey, then to India, Pakistan and several other Asian countries to be an ambassador for various charity work," CNN quoted her as saying.

She had been in India at the beginning of March for four weeks. During her stay as an ambassador of the Coventry Mercia Lions Club, the 24-year-old had visited several schools and had donated stationery and other items to the needy.

Mukherjee then returned back UK as the situation worsened there with the coronavirus spreading at a fast rate. She then contacted the hospital and asked them that she wanted to rejoin.

According to CNN, the Miss England beauty pageant winner said that she felt wrong to be wearing the crown while people around the world were dying from the virus.

"When you are doing all this humanitarian work abroad, you're still expected to put the crown on, get ready... look pretty. I wanted to come back home. I wanted to come and go straight to work," CNN quoted her as saying.

"I felt a sense of this is what I'd got this degree for and what better time to be part of this particular sector than now. It was incredible the way the whole world was celebrating all key workers, and I wanted to be one of those, and I knew I could help," she added.

As the beauty queen has a recent travel history, she is currently in self-isolation and will return to work once her quarantine period is over.
She was crowned as Miss England 2019 in August last year.

According to World Health Organisation, 13,53,361people have been affected by coronavirus and over 80,000 people have lost their lives to it.

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News Network
May 30,2020

Mumbai, May 30: Actor Vaani Kapoor on Saturday said she will go on a virtual date with five people as part of an initiative to raise money for daily wage earners, who have been affected due to the nationwide lockdown implemented to rein in coronavirus.

Vaani has teamed up with actor Arjun Kapoor's sister Anshula Kapoor’s online fundraising platform, Fankind, to raise funds for daily wage workers.

Vaani and Fankind have come together to provide five of her fans a chance to go on a virtual date with her - by donating to provide food to daily wage workers.

“As human beings, we will need to come forward and support as many people as possible in need due to the coronavirus pandemic in our country. I’m doing my bit to support the daily wage earners of our country and their families who are in dire situations given the lockdown.

“My activity, in which five lucky winners can have a virtual date with me, will see us collect funds to help feed them and their families across the country," Vaani said in a statement.

Earlier, Arjun too supported the initiative to help daily wage earners.

According to the press release, the funds will go to GiveIndia, a non-profit organisation, which will provide hot cooked meals to wage earners and their families. Each meal costs Rs 30 and will be delivered in various areas of Maharashtra, Bangalore, and Chennai.

A.T.E. Chandra Foundation has also come on board and will be adding 25 percent of the total donation value collected as a matching amount, thereby multiplying the impact, the release said.

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News Network
April 2,2020

New Delhi, Apr 2: After donating to UNICEF to combat COVID-19, actor Kareena Kapoor Khan on Thursday announced that she will also contribute to PM-CARES Fund and Maharashtra's CM Relief Fund along with her husband Saif Ali Khan and son Taimur Ali Khan.

Kareena made the announcement through an Instagram post and also urged others to do their bit by doing whatever is possible.

"We extend our support to the PM CARES Fund and the Chief Minister's Relief Fund (Maharashtra)," read an official statement post by Kareena on Instagram.

"In times like these, every helping hand and every rupee raised matters. Do Help wherever possible," the statement further read.

However, the amount of donation hasn't been revealed in the post.

The star couple has joined a list of celebrities including Akshay Kumar, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal and others who too have extended support to PM CARES Fund to fight against coronavirus.

Earlier on March 31, the 'Jab We Met' actor had announced their contribution to UNICEF, GIVE INDIA and the International Association of Human Values (IAHV).

There are 1764 active coronavirus cases in the country, while 150 people have been cured and 50 have died, as per the Union Health Ministry. 

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