KASUR: Local leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) stand divided ahead of 262nd Urs of classical Punjabi poet Bulleh Shah that is starting from Aug 24.

The PTI office-bearers and ticket holders of the last election have cultivated differences over formation of the committee that makes arrangements of the Urs.

The former committee, comprising the PML-N leaders, was dissolved a few months after the PTI won the election last year.

The Auqaf secretary issued a list of the chairman and members of the new committee, backed by former foreign minister and the PTI leader Sardar Aseff Ahmad Ali, on Sunday.

Sardar Aseff visited the shrine of Bulleh Shah on Sunday and offered prayers where an Auqaf official gave him briefing on arrangements of the three-day Urs.

Four groups, including that of the PML-N, which was part of the former committee, had submitted applications with the secretary Auqaf for being nominated for the managing committee.

Sardar Aseff supported Mehar Muhammad Yaseen, Maqsood Sabir, a ticket holder for the MPA in general election, favoured Ehsan Sabri while overseas Pakistanis chairman Qaisar Ayub backed Muhammad Saeed for the chairmanship of the committee. Eventually, the names for chairman and members’ slots, supported by Sardar Aseff, were nominated on Sunday.

The other two groups of the PTI whose nominees were ignored have rejected the new committee. There are apprehensions among the stakeholders that the differences among the groups of the PTI involved in the tussle for managing the event could create tensions during the Urs of Baba Bulleh Shah that might mar its peace and sanctity.

This tussle among the aspirant groups has been going on for the last six months. Being a part of the committee or being involved in it carries significance in Kasur. It allows the committee members to control the funds and expenses incurred on the managing the Urs. But the bigger allure is political-motivated. As the Urs is the biggest public event of the city and district and Bulleh Shah has devotees in every nook and corner of the region.

Anybody who holds an important position during the Urs gets a chance to reach out to the devotees and rub shoulders with the high-ups in the district management. That’s why political circles of the city and the district want to get involved in managing the Urs.

SUICIDE: A man allegedly committed suicide in his rented shop in a furniture market outside Kot Usman Khan on Sunday.

Muhammad Tariq, a father of four, hanged himself inside his hardware shop as the creditors were demanding their money back, shopkeepers in the neighbourhood claimed.

They also claimed that Tariq’s business was not doing well. Police shifted the body to DHQ hospital for autopsy and to ascertain the cause of death. Police were looking into the matter.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2019