KASUR: Provincial Auqaf Minister Saeedul Hassan Shah on Saturday performed the ghusal ceremony at the shrine of Sufi poet Abdullah Shah -- widely known as Baba Bulleh Shah -- to kick start the three-day celebrations of his 262nd Urs.

Auqaf Secretary Zulfiqar Ahmed Ghumman, Religious Affairs Director General Dr Tahir Raza Bukhari, District Police Officer Abdul Ghaffar Qaisrani and Deputy Commissioner Azhar Hayat were also present on the occasion.

Two rival groups of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, headed by Mehr Yaseen and Qaisar Ayub Sheikh, along with their supporters were also present on the occasion to perform the ghusal at the shrine. Each group gave the impression of heading the local religious affairs committee that managed the Urs. Ayub claimed that the previous committee had been dissolved and he was heading the new one.

The Urs began with a recitation of the holy Quran and offering of fateha. A large number of devotees from various cities visited the shrine on the first day of the Urs. Various stalls of juice and a langar had been established near and around the shrine to serve the devotees.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2019