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BHITSHAH: Sindh Governor Imran Ismail formally inaugurated the 274th urs of great Sufi saint and poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai by laying a wreath on the saint’s grave here on Wednesday.
The three-day urs features recitation of mystic poetry of the saint, book launchings, agricultural and traditional exhibitions, mystic music and dance performances by famous artists, Latif Adabi conference, sughar kachehri, malakhro and various other recreational activities.
Thousands of devotees including young and old, men and women thronged the shrine and the dozens of stalls selling dry fruit, toys, clothes, imitation jewellery, agricultural equipment, books etc which were set up outside the tomb on the first day of the urs.
Talking to media persons at the shrine, Governor Ismail who was accompanied by Sindh Minister for Auqaf Faraz Dero said that it was a great honour for him to pay respects to the great Sufi saint.
“We plan to make places like Bhitshah a part of religious tourism and want to live up to peoples’ expectations with regard to our programme for Sindh,” he said.
He reiterated his desire to work in tandem with Sindh government to bring about change in the province and dismissed as routine the meeting of Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman. He did not take any questions from journalists and ended the press talk abruptly.
Sindh Minister for Education and Culture Syed Sardar Ali Shah who visited the shrine along with Sindh Minister for Livestock Abdul Bari Pitafi after the governor’s departure said that Bhitai’s poetry carried message of peace, harmony and universal brotherhood.
Mr Shah said in answer to a question that the governor could not recite any couplet of Bhitai but he “…can recite many couplets.”
About the ongoing accountability process in Sindh, he said that only PPP was facing the major brunt of accountability and it appeared NAB laws and jails had been made for the party alone while other parties were clean and transparent.
He said that he had enrolled his daughter and nieces in government school to set an example and be catalyst for change in society as it was a collective mission to revamp the educational system.
The ministers later inaugurated model of a cultural village and exhibitions of agricultural products, equipment and livestock and visited stalls.
Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2018
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