The Pir Zada of Furfura Sharif, Toha Siddiqui, on Sunday condemned the “jot (alliance)” meeting at the Brigade Parade Ground and 34 years of “misrule” of the Left Front government, but praised the ruling Trinamul Congress government.

The Furfura Sharif, the holy shrine, is visited by lakhs of devotees round the year. However the launch of the Indian Secular Front (ISF) by Abbas Siddiqui, one of the Pir Zadas of Furfura Sharif, has left the devotees perplexed as he entered into an alliance with the Left Front and the Congress.

Abbas Siddiqui, however, is confident that the Muslims under his leadership will vote in favour of the “Mahajot (Grand Alliance)”.

However, Toha Siddiqui the Pir Zada of Furfura Sharif, the religious teacher today lashed out at the ongoing political activities being encouraged by another Pir Zada, mixing religious faiths and politics.

Toha said, “Lakhs of devotees come to Furfura Sharif and pray. It is really sinful to drag these innocent devotees into political activities for the sake of vote bank politics. I am very confident that lakhs of devotees who visit Furfura Sharif, get enriched with the religious teachings and follow the path of righteousness. So no Muslim minority is going to vote in favour of Mahajot which favours the communal forces and the Left front government which during its 34 years of misrule never cared for the development of the holy shrine. Even the basis amminities required for lakhs of devotees in the month of March are not there.”

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has very recently allotted Rs 2.60 crore for the overall development of Furfura Sharif and the holy shrine, hours before the model of conduct came into effect with the announcement of Assembly poll schedule on Friday. A senior official of the finance department and Toha Siddiqui said, the allotted fund will be mainly used for 20 high mast and 400 LED street lights and other beautification projects of the shrine.

In the 2020-21 financial year, the finance department allotted almost Rs 20 crore for at least 60 schemes and the Furfura Sharif.

Toha Siddiqui said, “Furfura Sharif is a religious place and has nothing to do with politics or political activities. However the Muslim minority of the state are all praise for the Trinamul government for its support towards progress and development work. The current government has worked towards providing basic amenities for the lakhs of devotees; yet some more development work is left. Furfura Sharif never issues diktats to its devotees to vote in favour of any particular party. Yet most of the Muslims will extend their support to any government which aims at progress and development and puts up a strong fight against the rise of communal forces in the state,” the religious leader said.