After Ram temple in Ayodhya, Sufi Circuit plan on cards? What ex-AMU VC said

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is set to inaugurate the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22, has evinced interest in a plan mooted by a Muslim delegation to develop a ‘Sufi Circuit’ across the country, including Uttar Pradesh.
After the grand event in Ayodhya, union minister for minority affairs Smriti Irani is expected to meet the delegation of Muslim scholars like former Aligarh Muslim University vice-chancellor-turned-BJP lawmaker in UP, Tariq Mansoor to discuss the subject.
“The PM reacted very positively to the proposal mooted by some members of the delegation and asked for a detailed plan. He also suggested that we sit with minority affairs minister to discuss the issue. The meeting with the union minister could take place after January 30,” Mansoor told HT in an exclusive chat over phone.
Mansoor, a general surgeon, had quit as AMU V-C in July after the BJP named him as its national vice president in July, soon making him an MLC – a year after Modi appealed to the party to focus on ‘pasmandas’ (backward) Muslims.
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Mansoor too is a ‘pasmanda’ who rose to a position of eminence. His appointment in the BJP’s national body along with being made an MLC was interpreted as the party’s outreach among backward Muslims.
“During the meeting with PM, members of the delegation broached the topic of developing a Sufi Circuit across the country and the PM evinced interest in the proposal that was made in the presence of union minorities minister Smriti Irani,” Mansoor said.
As of now, only Bihar boasts of a Sufi Circuit in the country, connecting major and most visited shrines of Islamic Sufi saints of Bihar like Hajipur Karbala in Vaishali, which houses the tomb of Muslim saint Diwan Shah Ali, or the Maner Sharif in Maner, which has a rich religious history about the birth of Sufism in India.
Interestingly, the Sufi Circuit in Bihar had come up during the previous tenure of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, currently at the forefront of an opposition alliance desperate to stop the Modi-fied BJP from scoring a hat-trick of wins at the Centre.
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“The Sufi Circuit push could help the BJP endear itself to many in the community whose women have been grateful to PM Modi for initiatives like scrapping of the triple talaq, the instant divorce practice among Muslims. Sufis have always been opposed to radicals and have always preached peace and oneness and hence this move could have an instant connect with most well minded people,” said Irshad Ilmi, a political expert.
Interestingly, the BJP’s Muslim wing is set to launch ‘Shukriya Modi Bhaijaan’ campaign to connect with Muslim women.
Explaining the idea of a Sufi Circuit, Mansoor said, “The government is coming up with many circuits like Buddhist circuit that is being developed across Bodh Gaya, Varanasi and Gorakhpur. So, during the meeting an idea was mooted about Sufi Circuit and the PM showed interest in the idea.”
He said, “There are various sacred mausoleums or tombs across the country like the one at Ajmer Sharif or the one at Nagpur or so many in Uttar Pradesh. If these were to be connected as part of a circuit, these would attract pilgrims and tourists both from the country and beyond.”
While Ajmer Sharif, the tomb of renowned Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti is globally famous, the one at Nagpur that Mansoor referred to is known for its association with another prominent Sufi saint Sayyed Tajuddin Muhammad Badruddin, also known as Tajuddin Baba. UP has many Sufi shrines, including Dewa Sharif in Barabanki, the Kichouchha Sharif in Ambedkar Nagar and Mansoor said all these shrines would attract people from across the globe.
At his meeting with the delegation, the PM also presented them with a ‘chadar’ to be placed at the Ajmer Sharif Dargah during an event to mark the death anniversary of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. “Met a Muslim community delegation. During our interaction, I presented the sacred Chadar, which will be placed during the Urs of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at the esteemed Ajmer Sharif Dargah,” the PM posted on X after the meeting.
“It was a very satisfying meeting. We told the PM that all his schemes – be it free housing for the poor scheme or free ration – all of them were truly benefitting the poor across castes and communities, sans discrimination. Schemes like PM Vishwakarma scheme have benefitted backward Muslims the most. It is also a fact that our relations with Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Oman or Iran are good and many of these nations have honoured the PM as well,” Mansoor said.