Preventing an outbreak: Sindh’s famed shrines closed to visitors

Scheduled events at religious sites have been cancelled

HYDERABAD: With the government’s three-week ban on all public gatherings in efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Sindh’s famed shrines, including those of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan and Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai in Bhit Shah, have been closed to visitors.

Scheduled events at other religious venues have also been cancelled.

Pir Pagara Sibghatullah Shah, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional, who also heads the spiritual Hurr Jamaat, cancelled a spiritual gathering that was to be held at Pir Jo Goth, Khairpur, on March 22. Hundreds of thousands of people gather at the annual event, which takes place on Rajab 27.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Ulema Mashaikh Council, led by Syed Waqar Hussain Shah Latifi, who is also the custodian of Bhitai’s shrine, announced the suspension of all activities involving public gatherings for the next four weeks.

However, Sindh’s ruling party held a political gathering in Tharparkar district, while another large gathering by Jamaat-e-Islami is scheduled to be held in Matiari district today (Sunday).

Pakistan Peoples Party’s Sindh president Nisar Khuhro chaired a crowded meeting in Mithi, Tharparkar, to discuss preparations for the April 4 commemorations of former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s death in Larkana.

Meanwhile, Sindh Information and Religious Affairs Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah held a meeting with ulema (religious scholars) in Karachi, as per the Sindh chief minister’s directives.

He took them into confidence regarding restrictions on public gatherings in the province and asked them to support the decision. The clerics lauded the provincial government’s efforts to deal with coronavirus and assured him of their support.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 15^th, 2020.