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The Sufi Factor

April 18, 2019 |

Ever since the time of National Conference founder Sheikh Abdullah and perhaps earlier as well, politicians of all hues and colours have been thronging the Sufi shrines that are located in abundance across the nook and cranny of Kashmir. While these shrine serve as places of peace and solitude where devotees come to seek forgiveness from the divine and also His intervention in taking care of their problems, politicians have different reasons. Since we are in the election season, mainstream politicians who are in the polling fray have been lately seen thronging the shrines to seek the blessings of Sufi saints ahead of the electoral battles. National Conference patron and former chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah was recently seen at the shrine of Dastgeer Saheb in Khanyar locality of Srinagar where he offered special prayers for his victory. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti was returning from a shrine in south Kashmir earlier this week when her cavalcade was pelted with stones by agitated youngsters. The incident left a driver injured and a car was damaged in stone pelting as well. Talk about divine justice! The BJP candidate for Srinagar and former journalist, Khalid Jehangir, was also spotted at the shrine of Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Noorani in Chrari Sharief. In a video of the visit, a khadim (helper) at the shrine is heard invoking the blessings of the Sufi saint to help the BJP candidate in winning! Another facet of these politically-motivated visits is the dastaarbandi, the mandatory ceremony where a white turban is woven on the head of the visitor, a politician in this case. Never mind whether the politicians or other visitors are practising Muslims, whether they offer the mandatory five-time prayers a day or whether they have been kind and judicial in their approach with their constituents, dastaarbandi is done without discrimination and the saint is expected to be equitable in his mercy for all of them. This tradition of wedding politics with religion has been going on since the time of Sheikh Abdullah who used to address the devotees from the pulpit of Hazratbal shrine. He was catapulted to power because he used his religious card to propagate his brand of politics. Since then, the tradition has continued till this day. Not only mainstreamers, even the separatists are known to use these spaces of solitude to propagate their brand of politics. In this day and age, it may seem naive but such practices underline the strong belief of people of Kashmir in their saints. The tradition must live on!

The Sufi Factor

April 18, 2019 |

Ever since the time of National Conference founder Sheikh Abdullah and perhaps earlier as well, politicians of all hues and colours have been thronging the Sufi shrines that are located in abundance across the nook and cranny of Kashmir. While these shrine serve as places of peace and solitude where devotees come to seek forgiveness from the divine and also His intervention in taking care of their problems, politicians have different reasons. Since we are in the election season, mainstream politicians who are in the polling fray have been lately seen thronging the shrines to seek the blessings of Sufi saints ahead of the electoral battles. National Conference patron and former chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah was recently seen at the shrine of Dastgeer Saheb in Khanyar locality of Srinagar where he offered special prayers for his victory. PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti was returning from a shrine in south Kashmir earlier this week when her cavalcade was pelted with stones by agitated youngsters. The incident left a driver injured and a car was damaged in stone pelting as well. Talk about divine justice! The BJP candidate for Srinagar and former journalist, Khalid Jehangir, was also spotted at the shrine of Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Noorani in Chrari Sharief. In a video of the visit, a khadim (helper) at the shrine is heard invoking the blessings of the Sufi saint to help the BJP candidate in winning! Another facet of these politically-motivated visits is the dastaarbandi, the mandatory ceremony where a white turban is woven on the head of the visitor, a politician in this case. Never mind whether the politicians or other visitors are practising Muslims, whether they offer the mandatory five-time prayers a day or whether they have been kind and judicial in their approach with their constituents, dastaarbandi is done without discrimination and the saint is expected to be equitable in his mercy for all of them. This tradition of wedding politics with religion has been going on since the time of Sheikh Abdullah who used to address the devotees from the pulpit of Hazratbal shrine. He was catapulted to power because he used his religious card to propagate his brand of politics. Since then, the tradition has continued till this day. Not only mainstreamers, even the separatists are known to use these spaces of solitude to propagate their brand of politics. In this day and age, it may seem naive but such practices underline the strong belief of people of Kashmir in their saints. The tradition must live on!


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