LAHORE:
Amidst tight security, the three-day 968th annual urs of Hazrat Ali Hajveri, widely known as Data Ganj Bakhsh, began on Friday after Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif laid a chaddar at the shrine.
Sharif was joined by Senator Ishaq Dar, the chairman of Religious Affairs Committee of Data Darbar, before Friday prayers. Thousands of people from all over the country have arrived for the urs. Security checking at the gates meant that all four gates had long queues before the prayers began.
The Auqaf Department has allocated around Rs7.1 million for the three day urs. More than 80 CCTV cameras have been installed at the shrine. Traffic police have cordoned off areas around the shrine to avoid congestion. Around 10 walk-through gates were placed around the shrine on Friday. At the shrine complex, 315 police officials along with 60 Auqaf Department Security and 200 volunteers were on duty. Every person was checked two or three times before entering the shrine where he was checked once again by a volunteer.
People distributed food amongst the devotees. Pre-made 6kg cauldrons of pilao and zarda were on sale for Rs600 to Rs1,000 according to the quality of the food.
According to the Auqaf Department there was a session of recitation of the Holy Quran followed by a mehfil-i-naat. The concluding prayers would be led by Mufti Ramazan Sialvi at 1:30 pm on Saturday.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 14th, 2012.
COMMENTS (3)
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@Aamir: To each his own. Remembering god and his goodness is important, be it in any way. Its your kind of ideology that is deterring your nation and all other Islamic countries from attaining peace. Why cant you just let people be the way they want?
We spend tons of money for something that has no connection with a clean religion sent to us. Encouraging and funding such events in the name of Islam is absolute deviation from the teachings of Quran. May Allah show all of us the right path.
If taliban and deobandi and jamat-e-Islami types are controlled by the state, these urs type events can be a good tourist attractions and can bring lots of foreign exchange. Just like in Turkey.