A matter of faith,or just publicity?

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Actress Veena Malik tying a holy thread at Nizamuddin dargah

Recently, when actress Veena Malik stepped inside Nizamuddin dargah, it was quite a photo-op — a camera crew was already present there waiting for Veena to flash her smile while offering prayers at the holy shrine. While most visit the dargah answering the call of faith, several celebrities have started turning their visit into a publicity event — inviting the media to click them in their religious mode.
“I had been to Nizamuddin dargah in private many times. But this time I decided to show my spiritual side to others, which I have never done earlier. I decided to tell people about the Veena who goes to dargah during the holy month of Ramzan and prays for peace, prosperity, career and family,” says Veena.
The Nizamuddin dargah is becoming a popular destination for celebrities to get photographed and promote their work. Mika and Honey Singh, actor Emraan Hashmi and Ali Zafar visited the dargah to pray for the success of their projects, with the visits widely photographed. Besides them, there are also those celebs who keep uploading selfies when at the shrine.
NGO head and a frequent visitor to Nizamuddin, Aseem Asha Usman does not approve of the commercialisation of the place. “I am not against filmstars going to the dargah, but it becomes objectionable when they go there purely for publicity. People like Imtiaz Ali and Rahman Saab come here out of devotion unlike someone like Mika and Yo Yo Honey Singh who promote their songs at the dargah. At times you find someone standing there with CDs or with books they have written and the photographers clicking away,” he says.
One with a balanced opinion, writer Rakhshanda Jalil says that if the place is used for promotions, the onus lies on the management. “You can’t say that these actors should not be allowed inside the dargah, as it is one place which is traditionally open for all. If there is so much fuss about actors getting clicked there, they are not to be solely blamed, management is equally responsible for this because they let them do what they want,” she says.
Dargah official Syed Afsar Ali Nizami says they just carry out their duties. “It is our duty to welcome people inside and make them perform the correct rituals. People like Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor and the whole Kapoor family would mostly give us a call before coming so that proper arrangements could be made to maintain their privacy. But the trend has changed in recent times. If the actors want to come with their private photographers or invite the media, we can’t discourage them. They are allowed to seek blessings the way they want,” he ends.