THE revival of the Sheedi mela at the Manghopir shrine in Karachi after seven years ignites two strains of thought. While it is welcome that an effort is on to restore to a community an occasion of indigenous expression, it is a little sad that this is still a partial restoration. That it was thought prudent to curtail the duration of the festival from one week to one day must surely have evoked nostalgic feelings for a richer cultural past. The usual questions are being asked. Where have all our melas gone? What have they done to these fairs? Have we done enough to resist the marauders of culture? A one-day reprieve — this is the measure of just how much ground has been conceded to those bent upon imposing a strict code on Pakistanis. This is true for the Sheedi festival and this is what has been happening in every province of this country. The life and culture around the shrine have been a prime target of the militants, be it Bari Imam in Islamabad or Data Sahab in Lahore — there are so many events that have been brutally erased from the Pakistani cultural calendar. All these occasions rooted in the land have to be rebuilt with active state participation.

At its peak, militancy in the country threatened a whole lifestyle evolved since the birth of civilisation. The civilisation was endangered and it is essential that what was forcibly shut is revived. An enabling environment has to be created for the various shades of Pakistanis to reclaim what has been snatched away from them by the agents of intolerance. The popular desire for a renewal of tradition is visible whenever there is an opening in the long-existing layers of fear — an opening that is to a great extent dependent upon protection by the government of the time. This desire has to be complemented by an equally visible will of the state to ensure cultural freedoms for all.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2017