Pak woman artist barred from singing at Dargah Sharif

Ajmer, June 23 (UNI) The row over women presence in Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti's Dargah took a new turn when a woman artist from Pakistan was stopped midway during her performance at the Dargah.

A group of Pakistani-Sindhi artists were here to perform in the Indo-Pak Mahotsav. The group performed their ziyarat at the Dargah.

The Dargah Anjuman welcomed the team and had scheduled a qawaali programme in their honour. The Anjuman invited the Pakistani artists for performing. Two male singers responded after which Maria Balos from Karachi started her programme with a famous Sindhi nazm but was stopped midway by Anjuman officials as women are not allowed to sing in the dargah. The welcome ceremony was also wound up abruptly.

Mahmud Hasan Chisti, the joint-secretary of Anjuman said Maria was stopped from singing as women are barred from singing in the inner courts of the Dargah.

It is to be noted that a controversy erupted over the presence of women during the Friday prayers in the Dargah recently when a Khadim said a man's jumma prayers becomes futile if he sees a woman praying during the same time and that women should be stopped from entering the Begami dalan (courtyard).

Seeing the outrage over the row, the dargah anjuman suspended the khadim for a month.

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