THATTA, March 8: Devoid of official patronage which marred the opening ceremonies of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai’s Urs, the three-day 298th Urs of warrior-saint Sufi Shah Inayat Shaheed concluded in Jhoke on Thursday evening.

The Urs of the 18th century socialist Sufi, who was killed with a large number of his disciples in a war to protect a commune they had established in the Jhoke area, is entirely different from other such events. It is a solemn event offering little to the common man, which creates a spiritual ambience rarely found at other shrines during a Urs.

The only attraction at Shah Inayat’s Urs is unending sessions of Sufi singing held here and there on the premises of the vast shrine for three days and nights. Sufi Waris, a follower the Shah Inayat tradition of Sufism, told this correspondent that 372 groups (Baryoon) of Sufi singers paid homage to Shah Inayat during the Urs.

The difference of caste, colour and creed vanishes at the shrine as Muslims mingle with schedule-caste Hindus and Bhajans of Bhagat Kabir and Mira Bai echo with Vayees of Shah Latif and Kafis of Sachal Sarmast.

Unlike other shrines where the custodians are seldom seen among the ordinary folk, the Sajjada Nashin of Jhok, Sufi Attaullah Sattari, attired in traditional conical white cap and saffron-coloured clothes, regularly appears among the masses and attends major concerts called Mehfil-Sama.

Talking to this correspondent, Sufi Sattari said that as the world had been infested with wars, materialism and hypocrisy, a great number of people were finding solace in Sufism.

He said that religious extremism had tarnished the image of Islam and today's politics was nothing but efforts to achieve one's personal goals at the cost of the interests of common men.

On the background of Shah Inayat’s philosophy, he said that great Sufi mystic Mansoor Hallaj’s visit to Sindh had radicalised local Sufis for centuries to come.

Sufi Attaullah criticised the local administration for not providing facilities of potable water etc on the occasion of the Urs.

Some pilgrims, who had come to Jhok after attending Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai’s Urs in Bhit Shah, deplored that hundreds of pilgrims were pushed out of Bhitai’s shrine during the visit of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim.