It was a normal day for Rizwan at his PCO in a small locality of Lahore, waiting for customers and dealing with them. Suddenly five men barged in: “Pay attention! Pir Sahib from Multan is coming.” Within moments, the pir, clad in white kurta-dhoti entered the shop along with more followers: “Your mother is a heart patient and your brother has become insane,” the pir announced in a deep voice to Rizwan who was flabbergasted as this was indeed the truth.
Rizwan had never seen this person before, ever in his life so he was inclined to believe that the pir apparently did have some supernatural powers.
On of the pir’s companions asked Rizwan to immediately buy some cardamoms and black peppercorns. A neighbouring shopkeeper, who had come to see what was happening, brought the spices which the pir held in his hands for a moment and then handed them over to another disciple. “Give a cardamom and a black pepper to your mother three times a day and her (heart) valve will open. Give the same quantity to your brother and he will soon be normal,” the disciple told a stunned Rizwan.
“Kalam Allah”, announced the pir in a deep voice and a disciple explained: “Give away two copies of the Holy Quran in the name of God.Also it would be good if you can give a goat in charity.” When Rizwan said he would find a worthy recipient for the charity, the pir’s followers turned on him angrily, “You fool! Pir Sahib himself gives charity to the right person. Hurry up, before it is too late.” Some fellow shop keepers who had gathered in Rizwan’s small shop to watch the proceedings, explained to Rizwan that it meant giving money to the pir’s men for the sacrificial goat. He gave Rs4,500 to the disciple — Rs3,000 for the goat and Rs1,500 for the Holy Quran.
It was only some days later that Rizwan realised how he had been fooled. His sister mentioned that while their mother was in hospital, a woman visiting another patient had asked her a number of questions about the family; she had even found out Rizwan’s name and where he worked under the guise of expressing concern and sympathy.
Apparently hospitals are a prime spot for such swindlers to find and trap their victims.
“Now I am convinced that the woman who met my sister in the hospital was an accomplice of the swindler in the garb of a pir,” claims Rizwan.
Jamshed had a small but profitable business which all of a sudden he seemed to have lost interest in. After several medical examinations and tests, consultations with homeopathic practitioners and hakims failed to deliver, Jamshed agreed to visit an aamil recommended by an acquaintance. This black magic practitioner told Jamshed that two of his relatives — a short man and a tall woman — had cast an evil spell on him. Since Jamshed had many male relatives who were short, he believed the aamil and paid him the required Rs20,000 to get rid of the spell. For the next six months Jamshed continued visiting the aamil, only to hear a new excuse every time followed by a demand for more money. In case of non-compliance, the aamil threatened dire consequences as the opponents were very ‘powerful.’
“I am fortunate that one day a former classmate, who had been living in the neighbourhood, saw me coming out of the pir baba’s place.”Jamshed’s friend convinced him to give up on this nonsense and consult a psychiatrist. “I could not get my money back but I managed to get out of the vicious cycle,” recalls Jamshed who is now under treatment and gradually returning to normalcy. “Ignorance proved to be a curse in my case,” says Jamshed.
“Haq Haider!” yells Pir Baba Dua Wali Sarkar as a burqa-clad woman enters his aastana at a locality in the north of Lahore along with a six or seven year-old girl. The pir opens his eyes, mutters something while looking towards the roof, puffs at something in his hands and then gives it to the woman: “Ja bacha! Dua fakiran, reham Allah… tera pehla masla hal howa, yeh bhi hoga, Haq Haider!” (Go, my child. The saint has prayed and God will have mercy. Like the previous matter, this problem will also be solved). The woman drops some currency notes in a tin box lying nearby, kisses the pir’s hand and backs out of the door keeping her face towards the pir.
“My husband loves and trusts me more now than he did previously with the blessing of Baba Sarkar,” says Bilqees bibi. “Baba Sarkar neither asks anyone to pay nor objects to the amount that we offer. We willingly pay him what we can. At times I do not have cash so I bring cooked food. Baba Sarkar has a solution to every problem on earth,” she claims. According to estimates, hundreds of fake spiritual healers have been fooling and swindling people, especially women, in slums and rural parts of Lahore. No official data is available but many have reportedly also been involved in torture of women and children, sexual harassment and even murder.
In December last, the city district government of Lahore launched a crackdown on fake spiritual healers and arrested some two dozen men on charges of duping and looting innocent people. The pirs were booked under Section 420 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) but after a fortnight or so, the majority of them secured bail and they resumed their businesses either at the same place or in another locality.
A religious scholar at the aastana of Hazrat Chan Sultan Afzal Bahoo pointed out the difference between genuine healers and charlatans. A genuine pir or murshad kamil, he said, would never ask the name of the mother or father of the person visiting him with an issue, never give amulets, threads or uses sand, earth, rock or salt for cure. They misinterpret religion and misguide people on the basis of fabricated stories for the sake of extorting money.”