UMERKOT: Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarians (PPP) information secretary Maula Bux Chandio and several other senior leaders on Sunday reacted angrily to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s remarks holding the PPP responsible for Thari people’s plight.

They were speaking at a Diwali function organised by the PPP minority wing at the historical Umerkot fort which was attended by a large number of party activists and members of the Hindu community.

Chandio said that Qureshi in his sermon to followers of his Ghosia Jamat a couple of days back in Umerkot held the PPP responsible for all woes of Tharis and the poor condition of their district but he would not exempt any of his poor Thari disciples from daan, the fee to come across the spiritual leader or join the feast organised by his representatives.

“The Pir Sahib never misses an opportunity to charge hefty daan from his visitors,” Chandio claimed, and alleged that personal attacks and use of filthy language had become the hallmark of PTI leaders. He advised PTI chief Imran Khan and other leaders including Qureshi to stop such things and come out with some political vision. “They should suggest ways to steer the country out of crises, improve its dwindling economy, rid its citizens of terrorism, curb unemployment and have friendly relations with all other countries,” said Chandio.

He said the Pir was acting like a juggler, and said: “I tell Sindhis that such people calling themselves spiritual leaders want to enslave them in the name of spiritualism ... their motive is to make political gains.”

Senator Aajiz Damrah told the audience that if the ‘Multani Pir’ was at all worried about Tharis’ poor condition, he should have mercy on his followers and exempt his drought-hit followers from daan. He said Qureshi kept changing loyalties in the past and was, as such, unreliable a person. He recalled that he was with military coup leader General Ziaul Haq, then he joined the PPP and now defected to the PTI. He alleged that Qureshi had been doing so in his greed for ministry.

Sindh Minister for Culture Syed Sardar Shah said Sufism would continue to flourish and the dream of ‘Taliban Khan’ to stop dhamal (mystic dance) once and for all would never come true. “Ram spent 14 years in exile and finally fought against Rawan with an arrow to defeat him. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto also stood against the evil of his time, a dictator, and his daughter Benazir Bhutto spent many years in exile in her struggle against another dictator, Gen Mushraff,” he told the Hindu audience. Both the Bhuttos emerged victorious in their fight with arrows, he remarked.

Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2017