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Thursday March 28, 2024

Data Sahib’s Urs begins today

By Asim Hussain
October 28, 2018

LAHORE : The three-day celebrations of the 975th annual Urs of Hazrat Ali bin Usman Hajveri , also known as Data Ganj Bakhsh, will begin on Sunday (today) led by Provincial Minister for Auqaf and Religious Affairs Saeedul Hasan Shah.

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar will inaugurate the three-day festivities by laying a floral wreath and inaugurating the milk Sabeel at the shrine of the 10th century saint who was among the pioneers of preaching and spreading Islam in the subcontinent, particularly in Punjab.

According to the tradition, the milk sellers community will bring thousands of litres of milk as a donation for the milk Sabeel which will be distributed among the devotees and visitors. Millions of devotees and visitors from all parts of the country come to witness the Urs and offer special prayers. Besides, a large number of philanthropists provide the visitors with food.

The district administration has taken all necessary measures to maintain peace and security during the Urs.

The festivities had already begun with the two-day Seerat Conference presided over by Minister for Religious Affairs Saeedul Hasan Shah.

The minister said various seminars of preachers, spiritual gatherings, Qirat and Naat competitions, debate contests, seminars on Tasawwuf and spiritualism, lecturs of religious scholars, etc, will be held during the Urs days. He said sufficient arrangements had been made for holding the Urs with the collaboration of district administration for lodging of the devotees. He said Secretary Auqaf Zulfiqar Ahmad Ghumman and DG Auqaf Dr Tahir Raza Bukhari would oversee the the arrangements for the Urs ceremonies.

The minister said foolproof security arrangements had been made. He added a 100 close-circuit cameras had been installed there. He said 1700 police officials had been deputed while 12 walkthrough gates had be installed and metal detectors provided to the security staff.

He said woman police constables had also been deputed in the ladies’ portion of the shrine. The volunteers of different organisations will also perform duty on the occasion. He said 74 security guards had also been provided by a private security agency.

He said special arrangements had been made to check the incidents of pick-pocketing. He said bomb disposal squads would also be present there. He said special traffic plan had been made for smooth flow of traffic on the occasion.

Besides a large number of Ulema, Mashaikhs, spiritual leaders and caretakers of different shrines from all over the country will participate in the preaching congregations and meetings. These gatherings will be presided over by noted personalities like Syed Ahmad Ashraf Shah, Ghulam Qutubuddin, Nazeer Ali Shah and Baqar Ali Shah while prominent among the participants were Khwaja Abul Khair, Samsam Ali Shah, Abdul Shakoor Hazarvi, Sufi Ashraf Masoomi, Siddiq Hazarvi, Mufti Khan Muhammad Qadri, Ashraf Asif Jalali, Prof ZAfarul Haq, Abdul Tawwab Siddiqi, Fida Hussain Shah, Hafeezullah Mehrvi and Mehmood Ahmad Qadri.

They will also offer special prayers for national security and prosperity, and for the welfare of the Muslim Ummah.