Popular Pashto Sufi poet Rahman Baba, who lived in the early 17th century, is the symbol of humility, tolerance and peace. His mausoleum located in the Hazarkhwani village near Peshawar was bombed by militants on March 5, 2009, which sent a wave of shock and anguish among his devotees, fans and followers.
President Asif Ali Zardari and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai promptly responded to reconstruct the shrine. Rahman Baba’s staunch devotees and visitors waited to visit the Sufi poet’s shrine till it was reconstructed at a cost of Rs39 million and reopened on September 30, 2012. Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ameer Haider Khan Hoti reopened the shrine at a ceremony which was even kept away from the eyes of the media owing to security reasons.
Keeping in view the threat from militants, a police checkpost was also set up adjacent to the mausoleum where nine policemen were posted to keep an eye on suspected people. However, members of the Raman Baba Adabi Jirga, local residents, devotees and fans of Rahman Baba and even the police constables have reservations regarding the protective wall around the complex.They also say the mushaira hall, cafeteria, library and mosque on the premises should also be renovated.
Bazm-i-Adab, the first ever Pashto literary society formed in 1937 under the patronage of Sufi saint Pir Syed Abdul Sattar Shah with noted writer Rahat Zakhale as its president and Baba-i-Pashto ghazal Amir Hamza Khan Shinwari as its vice-president had started holding annual Pashto mushairas at the grave of Rahman Baba in 1940. The annual poetry recital gained widespread fame and soon turned into annual Urs. It gave rise to another literary body ‘Rahman Baba Adabi Jirga’ in 1962. In the early 70s, the then Afghan king Zahir Shah gifted a precious stone-made Taweez (tablet) to cover the grave of the great Sufi poet.
Since its inception, Rahman Baba Adabi Jirga has been organising annual mushairas, Urs and weekly seminars and also publishing two literary magasines - Ghurga and Rahman Puhanah containing selected articles and research theses by distinguished writers on the life and works of Rahman Baba without any government support.
Spread over a covered area of 16,500 square feet, the Rahman Baba Complex was built in 1992 at a cost of Rs20 million. It used to run under a trust but was devolved to the KP directorate of Archives and Libraries in 2005 along with eight of its employees.According to local residents and members of the Rahman Baba Adabi Jirga, the complex is still unprotected as the threat of blowing it up once again by militants is growing because police constables do not perform duty at the mausoleum at night for fear of being attacked by militants as the complex has only thin grills around it.
It has been learnt that Rs0.6 million are still with the authorities concerned who have not spent it for the reconstruction of the mausoleum. The employees of Rahman Baba Complex have not been paid salaries for the last more than six months. “It is very difficult to stay here during night as we fear militants can scale the grilled boundary from behind and attack us. There should be a cemented wall around the complex,” a police constable told this writer requesting anonymity.
Malik Wazir Khan, the president of Rahman Baba Adabi Jirga, added that the Jirga members had held several meetings with high-ups of the directorate of Archives and Libraries to divert the remaining amount towards renovation of the mushaira hall having a capacity of 600 persons, the cafeteria, library and the mosque which are all in shambles as they were built 22 years back.
“There is an urgent need for the renovation of the mushaira hall which is currently without any sound system and chairs. The cafeteria, library and mosque too are in very bad shape. There should be at least six-foot-high cemented iron-grilled wall around the complex,” he added.
Senior librarian at the complex Safdar Ali Shah said that according to a survey conducted before the explosion, the Sufi’s shrine received about 1,500 visitors daily.
However, following the incident the number of visitors has reduced to 800 per day. He said only 6,000 books were lying in the library while its public membership had gradually increased from just 200 to 600 in the last few months.
“Students and general public, mostly local residents, daily visit the library and take great interest in the books. The empty hall upstairs will soon get new shelves and rakes that will be filled with new books,” Mr Shah said.
Wajid Ali Bacha, a local resident, however, appreciated a move initiated by the Khakrob (volunteers) union at the shrine to scare away addicts and drug users who earlier used to take refuge inside the complex. “Now it’s good to see that addicts havebeen scared away and police on duty enter names of the non-local visitors. But still Rahman Baba Complex needs a strong protective wall around it and complete renovation,” Mr Bacha added.
Saida Gul and Shahid Khan, students from a religious seminary in Peshawar, who were enjoying (lungar) free food, said: “Rahman Baba was not only an eminent Pashto poet but also a great religious scholar and spiritual figure. We condemn bombing of shrines of such pious people by militants.”
When contacted, a senior official at the Archives and Libraries told Dawn: “We have already taken up the issue of diverting the rest of the funds to renovating the Rahman Baba Complex along with recommendation for regularising its eight employees.Once they come on the track, they will get their salaries soon along with arrears.
A team of nine police constables perform duties in three shifts. As far as the cemented wall around the complex is concerned, no such demand has come up from any quarters. I think in its present condition the complex is well protected from all sides.”