The government on Thursday raised concerns over the unexplained disappearance of two Sufi clerics from Delhi’s Nizamuddin Dargah, with the Indian High Commission in Islamabad urging the Pakistan government to investigate the matter, while sources said the matter was taken up with the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi as well
Officials said that India has “strongly raised the matter” of the disappearance of the two senior clerics: 80 year old ‘Sajjadnashin’ (Head Priest) Syed Asif Ali Nizami and his nephew Nazim Ali Nizami for the past two days. Both had landed in Karachi on March 8th and travelled to Lahore to visit the famous Data Darbar shrine there.
“One was stopped and went missing at Lahore airport while returning to Karachi. The other went missing from Karachi after he arrived from Lahore by air,” a senior High Commission diplomat told The Hindu. Reports suggested that Mr. Nizami’s relative in Karachi had received a phone call informing him that there was a problem with the two clerics’ papers and that Mr. Nazim Ali Nizami was being “detained” inside the Lahore airport, indicating that he may have been taken into "official" custody.
According to details available with The Hindu, the elder cleric flew to Karachi but airline officials said he was “taken away” before he could leave the airport, suggesting he may have been detained by officials.
Mr. Nizami and his nephew had reportedly travelled to Lahore by private airlines Shaheen Air, to visit the famous Data Darbar Sufi Shrine earlier this week. As the Nizamuddin Auliya shrine of Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin has very close links with the Data Darbar shrine of Gharib Nawaz or Moinuddin Chisti, ‘khadims’ or custodians exchange visits every year.
At the Nizamuddin Dargah in Delhi, relatives and other custodians of the famous shrine said that they had not heard from either of the two men since Wednesday, and that their families had even visited the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi, as worries about them grew, to little avail so far. Pakistan High Commission officials contacted would not comment on the matter.
