Daijiworld Media Network – Lucknow

Lucknow, Aug 2: A fresh controversy has broken out within Lucknow's Shia community after senior cleric Maulana Saif Abbas accused prominent Shia leader Maulana Kalbe Jawwad of allegedly selling burial plots at the historic Ghufran Maab Imambara graveyard for exorbitant sums.

In a video that has gone viral on social media, Saif Abbas, president of the Shia Markazi Chand Committee, alleged that families were being charged up to Rs 8 lakh for a burial plot at the Waqf-managed Ghufran Maab Imambara, one of the city's largest Shia graveyards. He claimed that around 10 graves were sold every month, generating nearly Rs 9.6 crore annually. However, he did not furnish any documentary evidence to support the allegations.

Kalbe Jawwad, who serves as the mutawalli (custodian) of the Imambara, has not responded publicly to the accusations.

The allegations have reignited concerns within sections of the Shia community over the alleged sale of burial plots at major Imambaras. Similar claims had earlier been made by former Uttar Pradesh Minority Welfare Minister Mohsin Raza, who had alleged that graves at prominent burial grounds were being sold for around Rs 5 lakh.

The latest controversy comes amid an ongoing feud between Saif Abbas and Kalbe Jawwad, reportedly intensified by a recent dispute over Waqf land involving Lucknow's iconic Tunday Kababi restaurant.

Earlier, Kalbe Jawwad had accused the restaurant's historic Chowk outlet of encroaching upon the courtyard of the protected Masjid Tehsin Ali Khan. The restaurant management and the mosque's caretaker had denied the allegation, stating that the outlet has been operating from the same premises since 1905 and that only routine maintenance work had been carried out.

The latest allegations are expected to further deepen the divide between the two influential Shia clerics as the controversy continues to draw attention within the community.