Abid Khan and Ayyub Khan, who have been temple trust employees at the Maa Sharda temple in Madhya Pradesh’s Maihar for the past three decades, face an uncertain future after a government order said that Muslim employees should not be appointed there should go.
Both the men are in their fifties and are the sole earners of their families.
The state’s Religious Trusts and Endowments Department directed the Satna district collector, who is also the chairman of the temple trust, to remove Muslim employees from the trust’s rolls.
Maihar, a town within Satna district, is famous for the Maa Sharda Temple and the Maihar Gharana founded by music maestro Baba Alauddin Khan.
The order issued by Pushpa Kulshrestha, deputy secretary of the state’s Religious Trusts and Endowments Department, asked the temple authorities to follow the earlier directive. [issued on January 17] Asked to remove Muslim employees and submit its action taken report within three days. A copy of the letter went viral on social media earlier this week but the date of the letter has not been mentioned.
Abid Khan, 54, who works in the temple’s legal department, says he is yet to receive an official order, but the media reports worry him. “I have two children who are studying and receive around ₹40,000 as monthly remuneration. If I lose my job, making ends meet will become a big challenge,” he told The Hindu over phone.
Mr Abid Khan has been working at the temple since 1993 and says his record is impeccable. “In the past, many people have lost their jobs after allegations of corruption, but this has not happened to me. I have never even received a show-cause notice in my career,” he says.
He said that both Ayub Khan and he are among the regular employees of the total 250-300 employees of the temple management.
Ayub Khan – who works as a technical assistant in the temple’s water supply management – was not available for comment, but his family members said he too was distraught after receiving the news. He had joined the temple in 1988.
The latest order is said to be a follow-up to a complaint made by supporters of the right-wing Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal to Usha Singh Thakur, the Minister for Culture, Religious Trusts and Endowments in Madhya Pradesh. Mr. Abid Khan says that while he has never faced discrimination in the temple for the past three decades, some people wanted to create trouble.
Despite repeated attempts to contact him, Satna Collector Anurag Verma was not available for comment.