Three-day festivities of Bhittai’s urs begin

Rangers, police personnel deployed to ensure security of devotees

HYDRABAD:

The festivities on the occasion of 280th Urs of Sufi poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai started in Bhit Shah, Matiari district, on Friday. The three-day celebrations were formally inaugurated by the provincial ministers Muhammad Omer Soomro and  Syed Junaid Shah in the presence of the custodians of the shrine.

Tens of thousands of devotees began flocking the small rural town around 50 kilometers off Hyderabad. The SSP Matiari informed that over 2,500 cops have been deployed in addition to the Rangers personnel for security. The town is being monitored through 52 CCTV cameras while the parking arrangement has been made almost a kilometer away from the shrine.

A number of activities catering to the interests of the visiting devotees have been arranged for three days. These include musical nights, exhibitions, cattle shows, horse races, traditional wrestling and literary events. An award distribution ceremony will also be organised. Around 120 artists are expected to perform during the musical nights.

Talking to the media after the inauguration the culture minister said, the government is trying to add poetry of Bhittai in the national curriculum so that the children can be taught the values of love, peace and harmony. "Bhittai isn't just a pride of Sindh or Pakistan but the whole Islamic world," he mentioned, adding, his writings reflect the philosophies of Roomi and other well-known poets.

Later Soomro inaugurated the culture village, set up at the Shah's Garden in Bhit Shah, where the traditional handicrafts were put on display in addition to the books written in Sindhi language. A Sughar Conference, participated by the folk raconteurs and poets, took place in the town in the evening.

The law minister told the media that the government will launch an operation, headed by the Rangers, in the riverbed and forest areas of Sindh which are infested by dacoits and other criminals. However, he added, the operation will start once the stagnant rainwater is drained from those areas.

He denied that the caretaker government planned to stay in power for long, saying they will continue to work in accordance to the constitution.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd, 2023.