Tk 18 lakh, gold ornaments found in Shahjalal Shrine donation boxes

A total of Tk 17,65,549 in cash, along with 7 'anna' of gold ornaments and two 5-Saudi Riyal notes, was found after opening the sealed historical cauldrons and donation boxes at the shrine of Hazrat Shahjalal (R.) on Monday. The declaration came from the district administration in the evening following a four-hour counting process.

The counting began at 2pm, four days after the historical cauldrons (deg) and a small donation box were sealed, and four new donation boxes were installed under the initiative of the recently withdrawn Deputy Commissioner (DC) Md. Sarwar Alam to ensure transparency in the shrine's financial management on Monday.

According to the district administration and shrine authorities, devotees from across the country and abroad visit the shrine daily, with the turnout surging on weekends and holidays when large amounts of money and assets are donated. However, never before in the 700-year history of the shrine had the donations been publicly counted.

Sylhet District DC Md. Sarwar Alam visited the shrine before the counting started at 2pm and left towards the final stage of the process. The official financial breakdown was shared with journalists around 6pm.

Sylhet Waqf Officer Md. Sajal Mia informed reporters that the three cauldrons and one small box were sealed under the DC's order last Thursday at 4pm, while four new boxes were placed by the administration. He confirmed that the total cash accumulated across the eight cauldrons and boxes amounted to Tk 17,65,549, which will be deposited into the bank account maintained under the name of the Hazrat Shahjalal (R.) shrine.

The administrative action last Thursday had sparked widespread debates across Sylhet. One faction lauded the DC's move as an effective measure to bring transparency to the shrine's income and expenditure, while another faction criticized the step as an unilateral and forced intervention that conflicted with the traditional, long-standing customs of the shrine.

Amidst the brewing controversy, the Ministry of Public Administration issued a notification on Sunday, signed by Senior Assistant Secretary Jeti Pru, withdrawing Sarwar Alam from his post and attaching him as a Deputy Secretary to the ministry. The order stated the decision was made in the public interest by order of the President and would take effect immediately, though it did not specify the exact reason for his withdrawal or name a replacement.