Hunger strike by Muslim followers after Hindus change Ahmedabad Sufi shrine's name

Days after Hindu followers renamed the five-century-old Sufi shrine of Pir Imam Shah Bawa after "Sadguru Hanstej Maharaj" with huge posters and banners hanging at the entrance of the shrine, a group of Muslim followers sat on hunger strike on Friday against the move.

Once portrayed as a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity, the Sufi shrine located on the outskirts of Ahmedabad has become a major flashpoint between the two communities. The shrine is managed by a trust which has seven elected Hindu trustees and three Muslims known as Saiyed or Sadat, who are the descendants of the Sufi saint Imam Shah Bawa. The Hindu followers are called "satpanthis".

The Muslim trustees have been alleging "saffronisation" of this religious site with the majority of Hindu trustees taking decisions of changing Islamic symbols of the shrine to Hindu ones. In the past two decades, Muslim followers have alleged that the shrine has been converted to a "Hindu place of worship". Many litigations have been filed including a PIL in the Gujarat High Court where the matter is pending.

On August 13, 15 and 16, huge posters and banners appeared at the shrine declaring the renaming of the place after "Sadguru Hanstej Maharaj". Earlier, the name of Pir Imam Shah Bawa was converted to “Shree Nishkalanki Maharaj” and the "Pir Imam Shah Bawa Roja" was changed to "Shree Nishkalanki Narayan Tirthdhaam Prernatirth".

Azhar Saiyed, a protestor, told DH that they broke the hunger strike on Friday evening after police removed the posters and banners.

Last year, another controversy erupted after the construction of a wall in the place of barbed wire fencing which had first appeared in 2003 following a clash between Hindu and Muslim trustees of the shrine. The fencing segregated the entire campus into two major parts controlled by Hindus and Muslim followers.a clash between