SUKKUR: The 201st urs of great Sufi Saint Sachal Sarmast — the poet of seven languages — was inaugurated by former Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah along with CM’s Advisor on Auqat Fayyaz Ali Butt at Daraza Sharif in Khairpur district on Saturday.
They laid a floral wreath on the grave of Sachal Sarmast and offered fateha to formally inaugurate the three-day urs celebrations, according to a handout issued by the department of auqaf, zakat and ushr.
Speaking at the ceremony, Syed Qaim Ali Shah said that Sufis preached and promoted religious harmony. Their teachings and messages are not confined to a particular society but beyond the geographical boundaries, he said.
Sachal Sarmast rendered great services to the humanity through his poetry, he said, and pointed out that a huge number of devotees attended his urs every year to learn how to promote harmony in society and to follow his teachings. He described Sachal’s poetry as ‘ocean of knowledge’ that guided people how to strengthen relationship among different segments of society.
The former CM expressed his concern over crumbling structures of the Sachal Sarmast’s shrine and stressed that it should be rebuilt. He said he would speak to CM Syed Murad Ali Shah in this regard.
Pir Khawaja Nazar-ul-Haq Farooqi, brother of the shrine’s custodian (Sajjada Nasheen), MPA Munawwar Wassan, Auqaf department’s chief administrator Zahid Hussain Shar and its secretary Javed Sibghatullah Mahar, Sukkur Commissioner Ghulam Mustafa Phull, Deputy Commissioner and chairman of the Sachal Yaadgaar Committee Saifullah Abro and SSP Zafar Iqbal Malik were among the others who attended the inauguration ceremony.
As a permanent feature of the urs, a Sughar conference was held during the programme.
Later, Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Fayyaz Butt distributed awards and shields among the best performers at an event held in the Mehfil-i-Sama Hall at the shrine.
The award recipients included Khushboo Leghari, artist Faqir Imtiaz Ali, Muhammad Ali Pathan, Abdul Jabbar Phull (Mulh wrestler), Bahadur Ali Badruddin Kehar (singer), Additional DC Iqbal Hussain Jundan and SP Khairpur Zafar Iqbal Malik.
Special shields were given away to meritorious officers, journalists, poets, writers and workers.
The award ceremony was moderated by Mukhtiar Malik, a known broadcaster and secretary of the Sachal Memorial Committee.
Earlier, Pir Khawaja Nazar-ul-Haq Farooqi presented honorary shields to Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Fayyaz Ali Butt.
Fayyaz Butt appreciated Mr Shah for the record development works carried out at the shrine during his tenure as the CM and pledged that more uplift works would be done in future.
DC Saifullah Abro in his welcome address said that Sachal Sarmast through his poetry strongly opposed religious extremism and intolerance. His poetry carried and spread the message of love and harmony. The Sufi saint also opposed the class system and identified social evils to eradicate them from society, he added.
The Sachal Memorial Committee, he said, had been playing an active role in spreading Sachal’s message through its magazine being published since 1981.
Prominent among those who attended the programme were former MPA Pir Syed Bachal Shah, Director of the Pir Abdul Qadir Shah Jilani Institute of Medical Sciences Dr Rahim Bakhsh Bhatti, Vice Chancellor of the Shah Abdul Latif University Dr Prof Khalil Ahmed Ibupoto and DHO Dr Rehmatullah Solangi.
Strict security measures were taken to maintain law and order at the huge gathering. Walkthrough gates and CCTV cameras were installed to keep a close eye on miscreants. More than 5,000 police officers and personnel were deployed at and around the shrine to ensure safety and security of devotees and other visitors.
Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2022
