May 05, 2007	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 17, 1428

KHAIRPUR, May 4: After singing songs of peace and love at Friday night’s Mehfil-i-Sama at the shrine of Adhal Shah, Faqir Mushtaq Shaikh went to sleep there. In the morning, his body was found with wounds caused by clubs and sticks.

The mysterious killing has created panic, fear and confusion at the local shrine near Pir-jo-Goth. As a result, the shrine, which is usually thronged by area people, is now presenting a deserted look.

The motive behind the murder is not clear as Mushtaq Shaikh was a harmless man who had only friends and no enemy, and his poor family has lodged no case till the filing of this report.

The people of this part of Sindh – infested with tribal feuds yet keeping the Sufi tradition alive — will miss Faqir Mushtaq for a long time. Music gatherings at shrines, Otaras and Maikhanas (abodes of mystics) will appear incomplete without him.

Faqir Mushtaq had learnt the art of music from veteran Sufi singer of upper Sindh Faqir Ghulam Hussain.

When Faqir Ghulam Hussain — known for solo, lengthy rendering of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai’s Sur Sohni and Sorath — formed a Sung (a group of Sufi singers), Faqir Mushtaq became its second leading singer and gave, with others, ecstatic songs like Ghund khol deedar karao.