SHRINES: FOR THE GREATER GOOD OR A BIT OF EVIL???

The city of Lahore is full of mausoleums all around it. The shrines of these great people, The Data Durbar for Hazrat Ali Hajveri, the Shah Jamal for, well Hazrat Shah Jamal and the Modhe Lal Husain, to name just a few have all been built for a reason, it maybe for the greater good of humanity and more importantly to honour these great people for the great work that they have done and devoted themselves to doing all their lives. But they hardly fulfil this purpose. Taking a look at these shrines ‘mazarz’ as they are locally known show us quiet a different picture today. Today they seem to be spreading more evil than doing good for the people. This is the purpose of creating this blog to claw out what is hidden beneath the surface of such untouched subjects, call them untouchables if u will and put the realities in front. The fact still remains, that such issues do exist and need to be taken under discussion. Questions arise. For me I wondered if these shrines were doing more good for people or creating more evil. Our country seem to be bent upon taking a negative role in anything good that comes their way and turning it around to evil destroying themselves and their societies in the process. These shrines, these Holy places were not built for such a purpose. If anything they were built to honour these great people and to inspire the others to try and take a leaf out of their book and apply to our daily lives. But we took something that is good and pure and turned it into pure evil, which brings me back to my original point. I personally am new to this concept of shrines and mazarz but I would respect it just the same. My respect, however remains for the people and their work and goes no further.

From what I saw or gathered form my first visit to these places or heard about them shocked me and lead me to question if these shrines are really the root that accelerates certain evils of this society. I saw in these holy places all kinds of people in one day that I would be hard put to find on anywhere else on an ordinary day in Lahore. I saw druggies, I saw prostitutes, I saw abandoned and very possibly illegitimate children, homeless women and the list goes on. Why is it that the haul of all these people gather at these mausoleums of all other places. For all these people these Shrines seem like a refuge from their problems or in most cases from the police or a place to carry out their illegal operations in secrecy. It has become more of a sanctuary for them. Why? Because here you will find many a destitute vulnerable people in need of desperate help. And these shrines have become somewhat of a platform for them to carry out their operations. These holy places hardly seem to be there for a holy purpose now. So the question still remains, shrines: what are they here for? What’s their role in all this? Do they allow more good or evil to flourish? You decide!

Data Darbar: A Holy place or Haven for Runaways?

What happens on such a staggering magnitude in lahore’s Data Darbar, occurs daily on a smaller scale elsewhere without outraged editorials being written or inquiry committees being formed. We as a society are simply not prepared to concede that sexual and mental frustration regularly leads to deviant acts among both sexes. Indeed, the whole subject of underground social evils is practically taboo: very little scholarly work has been done in this area, and journalists tend to tread warily around the whole question.

As Lahore is known as “Data ki Nagri” in laymen’s term. People form all over the country belonging from all sects of society come to Data Darbar to pay ‘Salam’ to the great saint. The act has been part of their traditions and has been present since generations. Commonly the belief makes the runaway children and adults think that they will be protected and sheltered by the grace of ‘Data Sahib’. These runaway people stay at Data Darbar not with the motive of religious practice; instead, they find ways of hiding from their respective families and any official authority that are in search of them.

“People come to Data Darbar because they get food, secondly they have a place to live, and people outside Lahore have only one thing in mind that Lahore has Data Darbar where everything is available.”(Kashif, an official from the Child promotion bureau)

Why do they end up in Data Darbar, why not in any other place? Most runaway children and even adults come from cities that include Sheikhupura (sharakpur), Kohat, Rahim Yar Khan, Multan and Rawalpindi. When entering Lahore through the Ravi River, Data Darbar is the very first place that attracts them because of its lush socio-economic culture in their minds.

Almost everybody in rural areas knows about the importance of Data Darbar’s presence in Lahore. Men, women and even children living presently at Data Darbar are so content with their lives there, that unconsciously they attract others of their area and convince them through peer pressure to accompany them to the Darbar’s so called extravagant life. Lungar is considered to be source of food for the devotees and residents sheltering at Data Darbar.

The boys, most aged between eight and fifteen, sleep close together for safety and comfort as night falls and the dinner of lentils and roti from the data darbar huge lungar is eaten. (Mean streets – Lahore’s runaway children, (Monday, September 20, 2004), Daily Times)

If we talk about the causes of people running away or even leaving homes they can be uncountable. Few causes are huge family concept; that makes them feel neglected, poverty (they may be sent by families to work in urban areas and send money back home), and freedom of living.

‘I left home when I was ten, says hafeez, now nearly twenty. He has never since visited his parents, who live in a village near Sheikhupura, around hundred kilometers from Lahore. Hafeez says his father is a drug addict and he just couldn’t take the constant beating anymore. (Mean streets – Lahore’s runaway children, (Monday, September 20, 2004), Daily Times)

Is it just our ignorance, government’s inefficiency or any other factor behind the menace?

Most of the visitors are not interested in knowing about the happenings around Data Darbar because they don’t feel that they are being victims. Even if somebody witnesses such acts they are turning a blind eye and are doing nothing to eradicate such evils from Darbar and its adjacent area.

‘We offer our prayers there; recite from the Quran all night (Thursday) and replenish ourselves from the daily lungar and return home the next day after dawn.’ Says Akram Shah, a clerk. (Mir. A. (July, 10^th 2006) , Data Ganj Shrine a big draw in Lahore, World India.)

Police is usually blamed by the media and visitors for making the social crimes flourish at Data Darbar. Usually they are seen eating at one of the hotel nearby, or drinking lemonade at a stall, in total oblivion of whatever is happening around them.

According to the observation during the visits to Data Darbar , I noticed from the attitude of police officials that they have given up hope of improving the situation regarding masses indulged in social evils due to adjoining social crime hubs such as Heera Mandi, porno- mini cinemas, Minar-e-Pakistan, etc.