Come Haj season and the issue of Nizam’s Rubats crops up. The row between the Nizam Awqaf Committee (NAC) and the Rubat caretaker at Makkah, Hasan Mohd Al Shareef, deprived pilgrims of free accommodation last year. This year too there is no solution in sight yet. On the contrary there is a new twist to the tale with one Saleh Sayeed (Babu Jaberi) claiming to be the real GPA holder of the Nizam’s Rubat.
The Rubats or guest houses were built by the fifth Nizam, Afzal-ud-Daula, for free stay of pilgrims going for Haj and Umrah from the erstwhile State of Hyderabad. The problem arose with both the NAC and Mr. Shareef selecting pilgrims separately and insisting on their accommodation. As a result of the dispute 408 pilgrims selected for free of charge stay in the Rubats could not avail the benefit last year.
Mr. Jaberi, a businessman, approached the Minorities Welfare Department (MWD) on Tuesday claiming to be the authorised GPA appointed by Prince Mukkaram Jah Bahadur, grandson of the seventh Nizam, to look after the Rubats in Saudi Arabia. He produced the GPA document issued in 2006 empowering him to administer the properties acquired by the Nizam in Saudi Arabia. The NAC representatives Qasim Raza, M.A. Basith and Vikhar Ahmed maintained that the Committee was the authorised body and held the GPA issued in 2012 by Prince Mukkaram Jah.
The MWD special secretary, Syed Omer Jaleel, asked the two contenders to sort out the matter among themselves and inform the Haj Committee of India as to which is the rightful administrator of the Rubats. “The Haj Committee has nothing to do with the ownership dispute but it has to intervene in the interest of the pilgrims”, said its special officer, Prof. S.A. Shukoor.
The NAC is said to be the sole authorised body to conduct the draw and it is approved by both the Central and State Haj Committees. But Mr. Shareef, who stays in Saudi Arabia, calls himself the “Nazir” (administrator) of the Rubat. With the dispute between the two remaining unresolved, last year none of the selected pilgrims could avail free accommodation which would have saved them Rs. 31,450 each.
Mr. Jaleel has written to the Haj Committee of India and the Counsel General of India in Jeddah to intervene in the matter and do justice to the pilgrims.
