GIVEN the inflation and poverty prevailing in the country, the lavish spending at religious fairs — called urs or mela in the vernacular — boggles one’s mind. Devotional donations are offered to the pirs by wealthy businessmen and politicians in the presence of poor people who need those donations more than anybody else.

Costly silk palls embellished with gilded embroidery, golden sequins and gemstones are spread over the graves of saintly figures. The palls are carried in full fanfare of devotees dancing, singing and reciting devotional songs and hymns in praise of the saints and holy figures.

All this while, the poor devotees and their children wander in search of money or something to eat. The boy’s eyes in the accompanying picture implore vociferously, “Please, someone give me a few rupees. I need them more than anybody else.”

The way he stares at the donated money can easily move a touching heart. Such scenes are common in our society, and equally common is our apathy towards the needy and deserving people at such events, which are held to nurture moral values in the attendees. The child, not well aware of the ways of the world, must have been curious why the people were not giving him money.

It can be argued that we have probably more tombs and shrines than schools. The visitors to these places outnumber the parents who attend parent-teacher meetings or visit the schools to enquire about the progress of their children.

Mystical philosophers and theologians assert that in a society with warped doctrinal priorities, when people create the burgeoning chasm between their beliefs and actions, they hanker after proxies and mediations — like Geoffrey Chaucer’s ‘pardoner’ and ‘parson’ — between their Sustainer and themselves. They shy away from direct communication with their Creator.

Such ill-aimed practices stand in stark contrast to the actual teachings of Sufism and the lives of genuine saintly figures. The likes of Baba Bulleh Shah, Data Ganj Bakhsh, Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai and Fareedud Din Attar stressed through their poetry and philosophy empathy for the poor, the heartbroken and the untended.

M. Nadeem Nadir
Kasur

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2025