DADU: Despite tightly sealed roads and streets leading to the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine, a few of the scores of devotees who managed to reach close the almost deserted courtyard tried to hold dhamaal and perform rituals, though the officials concerned and shrine’s caretakers frustrated all their attempts on Sunday.

The Jamshoro police in coordination with the Auqaf department and district administration had sealed off the area around the shrine several days ago to avoid assembly of thousands of devotees and visitors in violation of the lockdown effected to prevent spread of Covid-19.

The Qalandar’s urs was scheduled to be held from Sunday to Tuesday (18th-20th of Sha’aban) but devotees, who usually start arriving Sehwan more than a week before the formal inauguration day, perform various rituals from 14th-20th of Sha’aban. Dhamal the main feature of the urs is performed on all the days.

Defying the strict lockdown and cordon, some devotees managed to reach the shrine from narrow lanes but as soon as they hit the entrance, the shrine caretakers and Auqaf officials turned them away.

A small group of devotees carrying a drum resorted to holding dhamaal on the main road near the entrance attracting attention of the caretakers and police. They were stopped from violating the restraining orders and made to disperse peacefully.

The Sindh government had already announced cancellation of all rituals and other activities relating to the 768th urs celebrations of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar. The main urs ceremony was restricted to the laying of a chadar and floral wreath on the grave of the great Sufi saint by Auqaf officials Munawwar Mahesar, Zubir Ahmed Baloch and Sehwan Assistant Commissioner Noor Ahmed Khuhro.

No devotee or visitor was allowed into the shrine, he added.

Jamshoro SSP Amjad Shaikh told this reporter that 12 entry/exit points around Sehwan were cordoned off to stop movement of people and vehicles. He said about a dozen devotees slipped into the area by dodging police and tried to hold dhamaal but were restrained. He said the devotees cited ‘permission’ from some Auqaf official but he got the same overruled after speaking to Mr Mahesar.

The SSP noted that some videos of full scale dhamaal at the shrine uploaded on the social media were fake or pertained to such events of the past.

Some frustrated travelers said they managed to enter Sehwan by bribing policemen deployed on the way but were finally stopped at a barrier very close to the shrine. One of them said he had been staying in a rented house for two days.

Among a large number of people prevented by police at barriers was Mohammad Shaib, a resident of Multan, who revealed that he traveled to Sehwan to take part in the urs celebrations and rented a house for Rs10,000 per night but was not being allowed to proceed ahead.

Another visitor said he had been attending the urs for 40 years but was extremely disappointed by not being allowed to do so this year.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2020