KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly on Tuesday paid glowing tribute to Hazrat Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai and passed a unanimous resolution to mark the 278th urs of the great Sufi saint.

The resolution, initially tabled by Pakistan Peoples Party’s Heer Soho, was later adopted and read by Mohammad Hussain Khan of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan, Nand Kumar of Grand Democratic Alliance and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Firdous Shamim Naqvi.

The resolution read: “This house pays homage to most renowned mystic Sufi and great poet Hazrat Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai on the occasion of his 278th Urs Mubarak. Bhittai was a beacon of Sufi enlightenment. The virtue of peace, patriotism and love in his poetry make him the greatest advocate of harmony and social tranquillity. He not only prayed for the prosperity and stability of Sindh but also for the well-being of whole mankind in the words.”

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BhittaiPedia app being developed

Speaking on the resolution, Culture Minister Syed Sardar Shah said that his department was working on an app, “BhittaiPedia”, from where poetry collection of Shah Latif Bhitai would be one click away.

He said that BhittaiPedia was being developed by the Abdul Majid Bhurgri Institute of Language Engineering at Hyderabad.

“The entire collection of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai’s poetry would be available at BhittaiPedia,” he said and added that would be the first application, having entire collection of any poet.

He said that the culture department would suggest to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) to declare his collection a part of intangible cultural heritage of the world.

The minister said that the culture department had already translated Bhitai’s collection in Urdu, English, Arabic and Persian, adding that translation in Chinese would also be completed soon.

He said that a ceremony to present Latif Award to those who conducted research and contributed in highlighting the message of the Sufi saint globally would be held on Sept 24 in Bhit Shah.

PPP’s Heer Soho, Tanzeela Ume Habiba, Ghazala Siyal, Parveen Qaimkhani, Imdad Pitafi, Ghulam Qadir Chandio, Munawwar Wassan and Jam Shabbir Ali, MQM-P’s Hussain, Rabia Khatoon and Mangla Sharma, GDA’s Kumar, Nusrat Sehar Abbasi and Abdul Razzaq Rahimoon, PTI’s Naqvi, Jamaluddin Siddiqui and dissident Shaharyar Shar and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s Syed Abdul Rasheed also spoke on the occasion.

Opposition’s protest

The situation took an ugly turn at the outset of the proceedings when PTI’s Khurram Sher Zaman stood, asking the chair to allow him to speak on a point of order soon as Heer Soho of the PPP rose to seek her permission for tabling the resolution.

The agitating PTI lawmaker, who was not given microphone, left the house in protest, though Deputy Speaker Rehana Leghari asked him to take his seat, assuring that he would be allowed later to speak on his point of order.

When the chair allowed Minister Sardar Shah to speak to give his policy statement, MQM-P’s Hussain stood and asked the chair to take up the business on agenda first as it was primarily a private members’ day.

Mr Shah rose to state that a minister could be allowed by the chair to make a statement before any business on agenda under the assembly rules.

“This is an important resolution and the PPP member [Heer Soho] should be allowed to present the resolution,” he said snapping that the members on the other side of the aisle neither had any love for the great Sufi saint nor for Sindh.

Energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh also came down heavily on the PTI and MQM-P members for opposing tabling of the resolution before other business and said that the opposition members always showed their hostility about any issue pertaining to Sindh and its people.

The speaker suspending the entire business allowed the PPP member to present the resolution, which was adopted unanimously.

Later, the house was adjourned to Friday.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2021