Donation boxes at the shrine of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) in Sylhet have been opened for a public count for only the second time in the shrine’s 700-year history, yielding four sacks of cash. The boxes were opened around 11 a.m. on Saturday (July 11) in the presence of members of the shrine’s management committee.
Of the four sacks recovered, red-colored notes were the most numerous, according to those present. Students of the shrine’s madrasa are taking part in the counting. Sylhet Development Authority chairman Rezaul Hasan Kayes Lodi, district administration officials and members of the newly formed committee were present during the count.
The count follows a series of steps to bring transparency to the shrine’s finances. On June 12, the then deputy commissioner, Sarwar Alam, visited the shrine, and on his initiative four new donation boxes were installed and three historic collection chests sealed on June 18. In a first round on June 22, some 1,765,549 taka collected over four days was counted and deposited in a special Sonali Bank account, with 1,000- and 500-taka notes predominating. Ansar members were later deployed to guard the boxes and chests, and CCTV cameras were installed for round-the-clock monitoring under the district administration.
The deputy commissioner’s initiative had drawn considerable discussion and criticism in Sylhet after the first opening, and Sarwar Alam was subsequently withdrawn as deputy commissioner. On June 26, the government formed an 11-member high-level committee, headed by Commerce, Industry, Textiles and Jute Minister Khondkar Abdul Muktadir, to draw up modern recommendations for the shrine’s financial management within a month.
Other members of the committee include Sylhet City Corporation administrator Abdul Kaiyum Chowdhury, Sylhet Development Authority administrator Rezaul Hasan Kayes Lodi, Sylhet divisional commissioner Mashiur Rahman, district council administrator Abul Kaher Shamim, the Sylhet deputy inspector general of police, the metropolitan police commissioner, two members of the shrine’s motawalli (custodian) family, and two representatives of the shrine’s madrasa and mosque. The deputy commissioner is serving as the committee’s secretary.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report