Shia-Sunni row: Cops posted at shehnai legend's grave

Varanasi, Aug 19 (UNI) Shehnai legend Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan, who during his lifetime never cherished being provided state security, now finds policemen safeguarding his grave at the Karbala Fatimaan graveyard here just two days ahead of his first death anniversary.

Two police constables have been deployed at the graveyard to ensure that nothing untoward takes place at the grave of the shehnai legend, following a land ownership row between the Shia and Sunni sects of the Muslim community in the city, official sources said.

For the last few days, people from the Sunni community had been raising a demand for shifting the grave of the Bharat Ratna from the graveyard, claiming the place where Khan Sahib was buried on August 21, 2006 evening is a Sunni Wakf Board property.

''The place where Khan Sahib was buried does not house any grave of Shias. It is part of a 15-decimal property of Sunnis, ranging from the gate of the graveyard to the Hayatun Bibi Makbara-Masjid and has been duly registered as Sunni Central Board of Wakfs property at Lucknow on February 3, 1982,'' Nasir Ahmed, claiming to be the member secretary of the Mosque mangement Committee said here today.

His claims, however, have been negated by the leaders of the Shia community to which the music icon also belonged. ''The land belongs to the Shia community and even the courts in the past have upheld our right on the graveyard,'' said Kamar Hussaini, 86-year-old Mutwalli (caretaker) of the graveyard.

''The entire land was donated to a Shia cleric 300 years ago by the then Maharaja of Banaras and hence the land is only owned by the Shia community,'' he added.

Further questioning the authenticity of the Sunni claims, Mr Hussaini said ''Why in the first place did the Sunnis permit the shehnai king to be buried at that place.'' MORE UNI