Sehwan is silent! Unease and discomfort are discernible. Hustle and bustle came to unfortunate halt. Usual flurry of lively activities of people at the bank of River Indus passing by Sehwan, to enjoy the fresh flowing stream, have ebbed away. Gloom appears to have encircled the ruins of the nearby located least heard fortress known as ‘Alexander’s fort’. The spike-tipped ridges of high-rising Khirthar mountain range overlooking both Sehwan Sharif and the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar’s mausoleum stand pale. The recent horrific suicide blast sounded more terrible than the furious march of the Alexander, the great who had passed by this area. People in the streets of Sehwan township are not yet out of shock and horror. Suppressed anger is pronouncedly written on the faces of people and their silence is more eloquent than words. Sehwan is mourning!
On that fateful day devotees hailing from different segments of society travelled to shrine to find ease and spiritual peace. Ecstasy driven disciples of Qalandar were engrossed in traditional Dua and Dhamal when the suicide bomb blasted the ecstatic environment causing menacing sadness. Locals helped the fallen devotees to hospitals, removed the dead bodies of the martyrs and collected the severed human limbs. Every structure of the shrine got dented and badly shaken. The floor of shrine streaked with human blood. Belongings of victims got strewn on the floor. Blood soaked baby feeders and toys seen lying hither-thither uncontrollably added to the sorrow and sadness. Slippers of blast victims lying on the blood drenched floor of shrine would certainly never find the feet to wear these again. Words fall short to narrate the sombrely bleak emptiness telling a harrowing tale of loss of ninety precious lives. Disconsolateness of the heirs of victims is certainly understandable. Sehwan stands saddened!
This time Sindh province, the bastion of peace and tolerance bore the brunt of the extremism. The land of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, the Sufi saint whose mystical verses teach people ‘love and affection’ has been attacked. The peace propagated by Sachal Sarmast, an icon of sufi cult has been hurt. Public bliss promoted by Sufi Shah Inayat of Jhok Sharif, district Shujjawal; has been challenged. The lower stratum of populace visits the shrines of sages and saints in order to achieve spiritual peace and dispel the worldly worries. The seekers of truth have their peculiar way to eulogize the saints and pay respect to them. The Dua and rhythmic Dhamal sends the devotees into a spiritual spell but this time the blast rent asunder everything.
When awareness about Islam was quite thin in this part of the world Syed Mohammad Usman Marwandi alias Lal Shahbaz Qalandar and several other Sufis came to subcontinent and had done a preacher’s job without any mundane desire. These wandering preachers convinced people with their own behaviour signifying non-violence. The coercion was not even heard of. Then pastoral society living scattered at every nook and corner of the vast expanse of Sindh was reached everywhere even when there was no modern day conveyance. These Sufis touched the spirit of pacifism irrespective of caste, creed and colour. Their pacifist and all-loving behaviour had attracted people in large number and achieved public acceptance. This is the reason that on that fateful day a few non-Muslim devotees (from Mirpurkas) were also there inside the shrine and died in the blast. This is how these sages had convinced the non-Muslims during their life time and even after their death their shrines are revered by them.
In fact convincing people by resorting to coercive measures like bombs and bangs is out of question in Sufi cult. The extremists themes will not be able to find public space through brutal tactics. Whether the bloodshed wreaked at Lal’s shrine has won accolades from any sane human being. Certainly not! Breaking all the eerie silence Qalandris (devotees) yelled back and gathered on the next evening to hold the Dhamal. The resilience of Qalandris brings back the memories of undeterred resolve of Makhdom Bilal, a fifteenth century sufi saint, against the atrocities of Argun rulers of then Sindh. Makhdom Bilal preferred death over surrender. It is not the attack on a shrine but in fact on a Sufi cult which advocates the motto: ‘Peace with all and peace for all’. Sindh has witnessed tyrannies of various hues but always fought back and brought discomfiture to its detractors.
Mystic convictions are working as bulwark against the scourge smelling religious bigotry. The poetic work of Sufis on mysticism, promoting diversity and pluralism, is the real wealth invested centuries back still flourishing in abundance. Mystic and cultural singers are singing around these sonnets and couplets. Shah Abdul Latif’s poetry collection popularly known ‘Shah jo Rasalo’ is quintessence of Sufism. Mysticism underscores the value of humanity. Conceit and indulgence damaging to humanity is abhorred. With coercion, threats, and sabre-rattling howsoever be lethal the widespread aura of mysticism and peace are hard to be vanquished. The beauty of Sindh conquered by the mysticism of the yore is unconquerable with these dastardly attacks.
Though Sufism is the rampart against extremism yet government should address the root cause of this menace. Military operations, courts and punitive actions against the militants are few of the corrective steps but there is need to initiate a comprehensive ‘socio-economic vision’ to constructively engage the youth. Jobless and disenchanted youth bulge must not be allowed to go erratic. This will only be possible when government desists from indulging in self-aggrandizement and corruption episodes and devotes it’s time to religiously pursue such a programme.
On the other hand government of Sindh must learn a lesson from the glaring security lapse at shrine but its worst response after the blast multiplied the agony of the victims. Insufficient hospital facilities, absence of doctors and hospital staff, shortage of ambulances, no arrangements to overnight shift victims to better equipped hospitals in cities like Hyderabad, Karachi etc put provincial government at untenable situation. Human limbs were callously swept to a nearby heap of trash where these were spotted by the people. Although every living soul has a rendezvous with death yet to sweep and consign human limbs to heap of rubbish is agonizing. But more agonizing is the media reported statement of Syed Khurshid Ahmed Shah who in an effort to minimise the embarrassment of Sindh government; led by the party he is affiliated with, in which he argued that the human limbs and flesh flew out of shrine premises fell on the heap of trash due to the blast impact. Distance involved between the spot of blast and the garbage dump belies his argument. Inefficiency on part of the local administration compounded the grief of people and rendered ‘silence’ of Lal’s Sehwan gloomier.
Writer is freelance and presently working on a paper researching rural crime and causes. He can be reached on twitter @M_ABaloch