March, 26 2005	Saturday	15 Safar 1426

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HYDERABAD, March 25: The 261st Urs of Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai was inaugurated by the Sindh Minister for Auqaf, Zakat, Ushr and Religious and Minority Affairs, Sardar Manzoor Ali Panhwar, and Minister for Culture and Tourism Shabbir Ahmed Qaimkhani on Friday. They laid a chadar on the Mazar of Shah Latif and offered fateha. They also visited Mazar of Shah Habib, the father of Shah Latif, and offered fateha. It may be mentioned that the inaugural ceremony of Urs was to be performed by Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad but according to Mr Panhwar he was summoned to Islamabad along with Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim to attend an urgent meeting.

Additional chief secretary Anwar Haider, secretary for Auqaf Nasir Ali Markhani, director-general culture N.D. Jatoi, MPA Aslam Parvez, chief administrator of Auqaf, Mr Ahmed Bux Khokhar, DCO Mohammad Hussain Syed and others were also present on the occasion.

District Nazim Makhdoom Rafiquzzaman, Sajjada Nasheen of the shrine, Syed Nisar Shah, and UC Bhitshah Nazim Ghulam Raza Shah, for inexplicable reasons, were not present on the occasion. The district nazim, when contacted on telephone, said he was officially on leave for three days.

Syed Raza Shah said it was good that the Sindh governor had not come otherwise roads would have been blocked for hours creating a host of problems for devotees. The ministers also distributed clothes on behalf the Auqaf department among destitute women.

After inaugurating Urs they listened to Shah-jo-Kalam performed by Fakirs of the shrine. Later, the ministers visited the livestock show and agricultural and industrial exhibition.

Meanwhile, speaking at a news conference after inaugurating the Urs celebrations, the two ministers said the government was striving hard to disseminate the message of Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai throughout the world.

Mr Panhwar said Shah Latif was the messenger of love, peace and universal brotherhood and added there was a dire need of peace today than ever before. He said the government was doing its best to improve the condition of shrines of saints which were in dilapidated condition.

The minister said the federal government had allocated huge funds for repair, renovation and development of shrine of Qalandar Lal Shahbaz. When his attention was drawn to neglect of Bhitai’s shrine for which huge funds were announced but nothing was done, Mr Panhwar said it was due to non-appointment of a consultant. He said the consultant had now been appointed and pre-qualification tenders had been floated which would be opened on April 6.