DADU: While thousands of devotees and other visitors continued to take part in dhamal and various other activities at the shrine of Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in a peaceful atmosphere on the second day of his three-day 765th Urs on Tuesday, six persons were reported dead due to different reasons at and near the shrine, taking the death toll of devotees in the past two days to 11.

According to the local Edhi Foundation ambulance centre, two cousins, Abdul Rehman, 12, son of Mohammed Nazar, and Azhar Abbas, 11, son of Mulazim Hussain, drowned in Sapna Lake while cooling themselves off amidst the sizzling weather conditions in the town. The bodies of the victims, who were said to be residents of Mardan, were fished out by some other devotees present there.

The bodies of two other persons, Nazeer Ahmed, 60, son of Mehtabuddin, a resident of Sahiwal, and a 40-year-old man were brought to the Sehwan Taluka Hospital. They were believed to have suffered heatstroke. Another man, Mohammed Welayat, 50, son of Soba Khan, a resident of Hafizabad, died after falling off a bridge near the Govt Degree College for Boys in the city. A woman, Bashiran Bibi, 45, wife of Ghulam Hussain, a resident of Kasur (Punjab), suffered a fatal stroke near the shrine.

Literary events

As part of the Urs celebrations, a literary sitting, Sugharan ji katchehry, was held at the Shahbaz auditorium in Sehwan late on Monday evening and continued till the next morning.

Two books, Sartajul Aulia Qalandar Lal Shahbaz authored by Azad Anwar Kandhro and Sare bazaar me raqsam were launched during the deliberations. The launch was performed by Jamshoro Deputy Commissioner Munawwar Ali Mahesar, who heads the Qalandar mela committee.

‘Shahbaz Awards’ were given away to meritorious literary figures at the end of the programme.

The lifetime achievement award was given to Ustad Mohammed Malook Abbasi and the Sughar Awards for three top intellectuals went to Hajan Faqir, Mohammed Jumman and Sobharo Faqir.

Participants in the programme sang mystic poetry and danced to the tunes of flute played by Nawaz Ghous Bux Brohi and Jay Ram during Dhamal-i-Qalandar.

At a separate musical programme held nearby, mystic poetry was sung and played while a large number of devotees danced to perform Dhamal-i-Qalandar. The vocalists included Sanam Marvi, Hina Marvi, Farah Shaheen, Iqrar Waheed Ali, Tahir Mithoo, Bakht­awar Marvi, Hubdar Sakhirani and Ghulam Shabbir Shahani.

Traditional wrestling

A number of pahelwans (wrestlers) took part in the traditional wrestling called malakhro held in the playground of Sehwan on Tuesday. The contestants came from different parts of Sindh and received applause from thousands of keen malakhro buffs packing the ground.

The guests of honour included Jamshoro DC Munawwar Mahe­sar, SSP Tanveer Alam Odho, Sehwan ASP Dr Sami Malik and Assistant Commissioner Moham­med Musa Rind.

The Urs celebrations will draw to an end on Wednesday with a concluding ceremony expected to be presided over by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and attended by several of his cabinet members.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2017