KASUR: The 260th Urs celebrations of saint poet Baba Bulleh Shah will begin here today (Thursday).

The district administration has announced a public holiday on Saturday, the concluding day of the three-day celebrations.

The religious affairs committee, which manages the affairs of the celebrations, has announced the schedule of the Urs.

The celebrations will begin with recitation from the Holy Quran followed by laying of a floral sheet on the shrine, and recitation sessions of na’at and poetry.

The second day will see recitation of Darood-o-Salam, a speech contest among students, a Mehfil-i-Sama.

The 27th Bulleh Shah Conference will be held on Saturday where Kasur District Council Chairman Rana Sikandar Hayat will be the chief guest.

Sardar Kalyar Singh, Nazar Ahmad Ghazi, Athar Jamil Qazi, Akram Sheikh, Dr Asmatullah Zahid, Parveen Malik, Muhammad Iqbal Manj, Ashraf Sharif and Haroon Gul Sawati would present their articles on the life and poetry of the sufi poet.

In the evening, a mushaira will be held to be presided over by prominent poet Tajam Kaleem.

Poets Rai Muhammad Khan Nasir, Fida Bukhari, Ghulam Hussain Nadeem, Muhammad Abbas Soz, Sarwar Javi, Wajid Ameer, Younas Tehseen, Adnan Asif and Naveed Yaad would read out their poems. The Punjabi kafis of Baba Bulleh Shah will also be recited.

Godri Sharif that marks the exhibition of the relics of the saint is the hallmark of the three-day celebrations.

People from far-off areas come to see the relics of the poet.

Langar stalls have been set up inside as well outside the premises of the shrine while devotees have started arriving in Kasur in droves from different parts of the country.

Police have planned a foolproof security regime for the celebrations.

According to Kasur District Police Officer Ismail Kharak, 1,884 police officials, including one SSP, one superintendent of police (SP), eight deputy SPs and 35 inspectors, would perform their duties in three shifts. Police have set up 29 pickets in the radius of 500 meters of the shrine. Up to 60 surveillance cameras have been fixed at important points.

Parking stands have been set up far from the the shrine because of the security concerns. A police official, requesting anonymity, said the devotees would have to walk a long distance to arrive at the shrine.

According to the district administration, Rescue 1122 and doctors would remain on stand by to meet any untoward situation.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2017