Bhitai’s haveli at the heart of property dispute

12th custodian and former chief khalifa took their quarrel to court in 2015

HYDERABAD: For more than two centuries the four-acre haveli of Hazrat Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai in Bhit Shah, Matiari district, was known as a place for ‘raag, rung and langar’ [music, devotion and free meals]. But events in early 2015 shattered that image of pacifism, as violence blatantly snuck in after Bhitai’s and his disciples’ descendants allegedly attempted to acquire forceful possession of the haveli.

Syed Waqar Hussain Shah, the 12th sajjda nashin [custodian] of the shrine, sworn in on January 1, 2015, and Faqir Ali Dino Tamrani, a former chief khalifa, were at the heart of the dispute. The former, after removing Tamrani from his status of khalifa, asked him to vacate the haveli. Tamrani resisted both the actions, arguing that they were without precedent since the death of Bhitai in 1752 - a claim rebutted by Shah.

A police picket was set up in the haveli to prevent quarrels. The dispute landed in court in April, 2015, and fury simmered down.

However, after a lapse of around 21 months, Thursday brought a straw in the wind signaling a revival of hostilities in Bhit Shah. The dramatic efforts to get and thwart taking possession of the haveli played out on judicial orders.

A civil judge and judicial magistrate in Matiari district ordered the police to hand over possession of the haveli to Tamrani, who was petitioner in the case. “We removed the picket and gave the haveli’s keys to Tamrani on the judicial magistrate’s order,” Bhit Shah police station SHO Muhammad Taqi Liskani told local media. Tamrani, who has been supported by Shah’s uncle Syed Mazhar Ali Shah alias Nazan Shah in this dispute, along with his companions reentered the place.

But, the joy of this achievement lasted for only a few hours as the sajjada nashin challenged the order in the district and sessions court. The court granted a stay order on his plea and the police was directed to have the haveli vacated and take back its possession.

“We have taken back the keys and the picket has been set up again,” said the SHO. Talking to the media, Shah said he respects the judiciary and will accept the court’s order after his petition is heard.

Tamrani said he is hopeful that the district court will also give a decision in his favour. “The two-and-a-half centuries-long tradition will be a witness in our favour,” he told the local media.

The haveli was handed over to fakirs by Bhitai in his lifetime. Tamrani was also banned from singing at shrine of Shah Bhitai where a choir of six or seven fakirs sing Bhitai’s waees and play dambur, a six-stringed musical instrument.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th, 2017.