Thirty years on, cousins still fighting over saint’s resting place

SHC Sukkur bench directs district and sessions court to decide matter within a month.

SUKKUR: The dargah of sufi poet, Fakir Qadir Bux Bedil, has been a bone of contention between two Qureshi families since 1975 - both claiming that they are the legal and rightful caretakers of the shrine.

The legal battle has dragged on since 1981 but in an effort to settle the matter once and for all, the Sindh High Court Sukkur bench has sent the case to a subordinate court with the direction to hear both the parties and decide the case within one month.

The feud between the two Qureshi families over the right to be the caretaker of Dargah Bedil has reportedly been going on for several decades but it escalated in 1975 and the district administration was forced to seal the dargah to avoid bloodshed.

Later, through mediation of the elders, both parties decided that they would take turns taking care of the shrine for a month - giving each half a year to perform their duties.

Legal battle

The arrangement, however, did not remain peaceful for long especially when the time of the Urs came around - in 1981, one of the caretakers Mohammad Mohsin Qureshi filed a suit in the civil court, claiming sole rights as the caretaker of the dargah. The petitioner claimed that the family of his cousin, Ghulam Najaf Qureshi, had nothing to do with the Dargah.

The proceedings continued in the civil court till 1987 and then the verdict of the civil court was challenged in the district and sessions court, which decided the case in favour of Mohammad Mohsin Qureshi in the year 1992.



Ghulam Najaf Qureshi, however, was not satisfied with the verdict and filed a review petition in the Sindh High Court Sukkur bench in 1992.

The case which remained pending for 21 years and was finally brought up on March 14, 2013 when lawyers from both side presented their arguments. On March 21, the SHC bench declared the verdict of the district and sessions court as null and void, remanding the case back to the subordinate court with directions to hear both the parties, properly examine documentary evidences and decide the case within one month.

The caretakers

Talking to The Express Tribune, the caretaker for March, Ghulam Najaf Qureshi, claimed that his family members are the legitimate heirs of Dargah Fakir Qadir Bux Bedil and was hopeful that the court would decide the case in thier favour.

Our forefathers took very good care of the dargah and everybody in the town knows that we are the real caretakers, said Ghulam.

According to him, his rival Mohammad Mohsin had no knowledge about the saint and his life. “We make arrangements for the annual Urs and also organise Mehfil-e-Samaa every Friday at the dargah,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Mohsin said that he didn’t want to share information with the media. “Certain regional television channels have been spreading propaganda against me. But I am the real caretaker of the dargah and the court will now decide who gets to look after the shrine.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 26^th, 2013.