HYDERABAD: Speakers at a literary conference held in Sehwan have called for research on the life of Qalandar Lal Shahbaz and the historic importance of Sehwan.

There was still much room for quality research work on Qalandar and Sehwan, they regretted while addressing the event held under the aegis of the Sindh culture department the other night. They proposed use of modern methods and means to conduct research for the purpose, which, they said, would yield positive results.

Presiding over the conference, Dr Anwar Figar Hakro appreciated the papers presented by different scholars on the occasion. He called for more research on the history of Sehwan Sharif.

He said that quality work left Sehwan with the result that the desired results could not be achieved. He said that Sehwan had an important history.

He said researchers had proved that the geography of those areas was very old and spiritual orders there were also quite older ones. The culture department should assist the researchers, he added.

Pointing out that mysticism’s history traced back to Sindh, he said teaching of spiritualism started from Sindh. He said Rigveda might be a sacred scripture and revealed to some angle, but nothing could be said with certainty about it due to missing links of history.

He said that it was indeed a pride that mysticism started from Karachi. Research was indeed needed on spiritual personalities of the pre-and-post Islamic eras, he added.

Taj Joyo said Lakki Shah Saddar, Jalaluddin Rumi and others were contemporaries of Qalandar, which was indeed a blessing.

Disagreeing with the view that Qalandar stayed briefly in Sindh, he said his stay could be verified from the number of his devotees in the province. He said a comprehensive research was needed on Qalandar Lal Shahbaz.

A teacher of Karachi University, Prof Sher Mehranvi, discussed Qalandar’s era in his paper, saying that economic, political and social conditions were not good at that time.

He said that according to one research, Qalandar had arrived in Sindh when he was nonagenarian.

He reached there after performing pilgrimage to sacred places and travelling through different countries, he said, adding that he was known as “Sindhri ka Shahbaz”.

Akhtar Dargahi said Lal Shahbaz was a revolutionary mystic and he was lost in spiritual trance and the colours of nature.

Dr Ramzan Bamri said the poetry of Lal Shahbaz was of spiritualism, reflecting the divine love. His message was of knowledge. He urged people to follow his message to promote peace. He said Qalandar’s dhamal was evident of the “state of spirituality”.

Dr Sakina Samoon said Sehwan had served as seat of power under different dynasties and arrival of Qalandar there was a blessing. She said that his shrine was a source of light in Sehwan.

Khair Mohammad Buriro said Qalandar’s message clearly evinced the point of oneness. He promoted the message of God. He said he (Qalandar) was a learned man and followed divine teachings to achieve His love.

Calling for research on different aspects of the life of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, Dr Makhmoor Bukhari said the knowledge should be compiled for better understanding of people about the role he played.

He said history had a proof that Qalandar belonged to Marwand, an area in Azerbaijan. That point should form basis for research on him, he said.

Nazar Hayat Sehwani, Agha Zafar and others said Qalandar was a poet, but research on him was still needed direly.

They said that whenever tyranny ruled the roost, God sent people to eliminate the evil for the welfare of the mankind. He said that Qalandar was one such personality.

Artists including Fateh Ali Khan, Ameer Ali Khan, Javed Abbasi, Shahina Ali, Tufail Sanjrani, Taj Mastani and others performed on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2022