DADU: For the last decade Amina Khatoon visits the shrine of Pir Gaji Shah every year to fulfil a promise: to dance with the jinns.

A resident of Dureji, a sub-division of Balochistan, Amina makes the trip each year to the shrine located on a scattered hill of Kheer Thar Range Mountains in Kachho belt some 65 kilometers away from Dadu. There she camps outside for the two day Urs of the saint who, according to locals, is known as the ‘King of Jinns’.

The Urs is celebrated on the 24th of Rabi-ul-Awal and culminates on the 26th. (This year it fell on January 26 to 28 of the Gregorian calendar). Individuals and families from areas near and far come to take part in the Urs.

Hailing from Khuzdar in Balochistan Sughar Mari, 20, claims that she is controlled by a jinn and she comes to the Urs each year to honour her promise of dancing to the tunes of the faqir who communicates with her jinn master. It is because she keeps her word and dances at the Urs that she ‘feels better’ for the rest of the year, she says.

A large number of people who visit the shrine are from the Seraiki belt, parts of Balochistan and Sindh and can be clinically classified as ‘mentally ill’ says intellectual and writer Saeed Ahmed Memon, more commonly known as Saeed Sindhi.

“On top of being illiterate basically these women and men need proper psychological treatment and help,” Memon says. “It is due to their illness that they believe they are dancing with jinns and that by doing so they are cured for the remainder of the year.”

There is a 100 per cent rise in people with mental disorders particularly those suffering from stress or depression in the country over the last 10 years says Dr Mohammad Ismail Lashari. “This is mainly due to issues of personal insecurity, poverty, lack of education and rising inflation.

Already handicapped with a mental disability, these men and women are easily manipulated by ‘faqirs’ of Pir Gaji Shah, wearing turbans and dressed in traditional Baloch kurta and ghairwali (gathered) shalwar, usually in white.

Sughar Mari has started her dance, her body movements show signs of hysteria as the faqir starts playing the flute and is joined by his group, one playing the violins and others on traditional instruments playing a typical but haunting tune.

Her dance ends after a few minutes and Sughar is short of breath and her body is shaking but ingrained with the strong belief that she will get better after, she continues to dance.

“Laws should be implemented by local police to stop such activities and protect these men and women from these faqirs,” Memon says.

Mohammad Juman from Multan is another faithful of Pir Gaji Shah. Speaking to Dawn.com Juman said his parents had been visiting the shrine for the last 30 years and now he is a regular since the last three. “To be free from them (the jinns) for the rest of the year I have committed to visiting the shrine every year,” Juman explains.

Former SSP Dadu Javid Ahmed Jiskani urges authorities not to neglect this issue. “It is illegal to misguide mentally ill people in such a manner,” he says adding, “Additionally it is humiliating for women and further driving them towards illiteracy. Law enforcers must keep a close watch on such activities and ensure their legitimacy.”

When asked about the legitimacy of the ‘dancing jinns’ the caretaker of the shrine Faqir Birkat Khoso defends the legacy of Pir Gaji Shah’s shrine. “This is a pious place and faqirs do not take any money from the visitors,” he says clearly annoyed by the allegations. “It is incorrect notion that people are being misguided here, only followers with the highest level of faith and belief in Pir Gaji Shah frequent his shrine.”