Bahraich,

31 May (HS): Meanwhile, the one-day annual fair at the shrine of Lakkarh Shah

Baba, located in the heart of the Katarniaghat forest in Uttar Pradesh's

Bahraich district, could not be held this year, Forest Department officials

announced on Saturday.

B

Shivshankar, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), stated that Lakkarh Shah's mazar

(mausoleum) is located in the Murtiha Range in the Katarniaghat Wildlife

Division. The one-day fair conducted

here during the (Hindu) month of 'Jyeshth' draws a large attendance. This location is in the heart of the forest,

thus gatherings have been forbidden here for the past four years. We have delegated crowd control to the

Special Tiger Protection Force, Sashastra Seema Bal, police, and the Forest

Department in order to prevent crowds and occurrences such as human-wildlife conflict.

To

discourage crowds in the region, Shivshankar noted that moving cars and cooking

meals over an open fire have been restricted, as has overnight stay. He also stated that the shrine's management

had filed a claim with the Forest Department, referring to this location as

Waqf land, but they were unable to show any paperwork proving ownership of the

area.

Consequently,

their claims were denied. Raees Ahmed, head of the Lakkarh Shah Mazar

Management Committee, stated that both Hindus and Muslims believe in this

dargah and consider it a symbol of Hindu-Muslim brotherhood. He stated that of the devotees that visit the

dargah, 40% are Muslims and 60% are Hindus.

Fairs

have taken place here for generations. For the first time, people are being

driven away with sticks, and water has been poured on the pilgrims' cooking

stoves. The Forest Department, which

previously awarded contracts through auction and issued work orders, is now

labeling it an intrusion, he stated.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi