KASUR: Three-day celebrations of 262nd Urs of Sufi poet Hazrat Baba Bulleh Shah concluded here on Monday.

A large number of devotees from across the country visited the shrine to seek blessings of the Sufi poet and to pay him glowing tributes. Monday was also a local holiday as notified by the Kasur deputy commissioner.

Contests of recitation of Bulleh Shah’s poetry, singing of the Heer Waris Shah and Qawalis were among the hallmarks of the Urs celebrations.

The district Auqaf and religious affairs committee and some local volunteers installed stalls of food known as Langar Khanas from where scores of devotees took eatables.

Muhammad Shahzad, one of the organisers at the Langar Khana, said feeding other fellow beings was one of the teachings of Baba Bulleh Shah.

The Majlis-i-Bulleh Shah organised Mahafil-i-Moshaira on its 29th Majlis-i-Bulleh Shah conference while poets of Punjabi as well as Urdu reached town committee hall on the night between Sunday and Monday. The Moshaira continued till dawn.

Local poet Abbas Soz said the Bulleh Shah conference provided a platform to the poets not only to pay tributes to the Sufi poet but also to present their own poetry and win applaud from the audience.

The main subjects of the poets including Prof. Munawar Ghani, Noreen Shakar, Tajamal Kaleem, Naveed Yaad, Sharif Anjum, Fartash Syed and Abbas Soz were unbridled inflation, pain caused by stereotypical social customs, political chaos, social upheavals and moral degradation in the current era. However, the poets who presented their pieces of poetry on inflation won applaud. For the last two years the Majlis-i-Bulleh Shah had been giving chance to Urdu poets [to present their verses] who were banned for the last 27 years.

Earlier, in the morning, the Majlis-i-Bulleh Shah organised research-based thesis, articles and writings in the form of prose. Scholars, teachers and students took an active part in the programme.

The speakers highlighted various facets of the life and poetry of Bulleh Shah, including Oneness of Allah and His connection with his creature.

They concluded that the poetry of Bulleh Shah promoted love and tolerance for all human beings irrespective of their colour and creed and discouraged hatred and cruelty.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2019