Bid adieu to the Pir for all seasons

As many cities and towns in Sindh came to a standstill mourning the death of Pir Pagara, the spiritual leader of the Hur Jamaat, the Sindh government announced three days of official morning and a holiday on Thursday (today). The body of Shah Mardan Shah Rashidi would be brought to the country for burial in a graveyard in his hometown, Pir Jo Goth, in the Khairpur district.
Late Tuesday night, after the news spread of the demise of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) chief in London, a cloud of mourning engulfed the province and many towns in Sanghar, Khairpur, Umerkot, Benazirabad, Naushero Feroze and Sukkur were shut down.
The body of the veteran politician is expected to reach Karachi from London on Wednesday night or Thursday morning and will be then sent to Sukkur through a special flight and from there, it will be taken to Pagara’s hometown by road.
Two sons of Pir Pagara, Sibghatullah Rashidi and Pir Sadruddin Shah Rashidi, and PML-F leader and Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister Imtiaz Shaikh, who had accompanied the ailing politician to London, are also expected to return with the body of Pagara.
A large number of Hur Jamaat disciples and PML-F workers reached the residence of Pagara in Karachi – the Kingri House – and in his native village to participate in the funeral prayer of the seventh Pir of Pagaro.
Born on December 22, 1928 in Pir jo Goth, Mardan Shah was traumatised in his youth by the execution in 1943 of his father, Syed Sibghatullah Shah Rashdi, who was hanged for his struggle against the British rule.
From 1943 to 1946, after his father’s execution, Mardan stayed in Aligarh and along with his younger brother and family members, was kept under house arrest in Karachi in 1946.
Mardan and his brother were shifted by sea to Liverpool, England by his father’s executioners in 1946, where he was admitted to the Major Davis School as a virtual prisoner and forced to study with only 12 to 13 students, belonging to families who had rebelled against the British in their countries.
In this school, he had no choice of subjects but to study whatever the administration said and was made to learn French and Latin.
After the partition, in 1949 Pakistan’s first prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan met Mardan in England and assured to restore his status of the Pir of Pagaro, as it is the tradition of the Hur Jamaat that the head of the tribe is replaced by someone within the Pagaro family, selected by Hur Jamaat on the basis of merit.
Mardan’s status as ‘Pir Pagara’ was officially restored on February 4, 1952 with the Dastarbandi – a ceremony marking the formal assumption of the spiritual office as Pir Pagara.
As a spiritual leader, the seventh Pir of Pagaro was an enlightened person. In his yearly sermons to his followers at Pir Jo Goth, he always asked them to give formal education to their daughters and allow them to choose their life partners of choice. He also asked his people not to marry educated women with uneducated men and keep away from extremism.
The moderate Pagara always kept the religio-political parties at distance and his relations with heads of religious parties were not as strong as compared to the leaders of political parties. He openly condemned religious extremism and sectarianism and usually criticised religio-political parties in his press conferences.
Fond of hunting, horses and horse racings, Pagara’s political career was highly controversial.
While many people, originally affiliated with the General Head Quarters (GHQ), preferred to keep their relations with the army undisclosed, Pagara used to openly say that “he was the man of GHQ” and always supported dictatorships in the country.
His support to army dictatorships severely dented his popularity, particularly in Sindh, and he lost his seat in the 1988 general elections to Pervez Shah – a Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) worker.
Mardan was also famous for making predictions for the political changes in the country and was among the favourites of journalists. The media always gathered around him and fondly listened to his humorous replies.
Another of his specialty was directly attending his phone. He did not allow any operators and it was easy to talk with Pagara for his comments on any news or occasion.
Since Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s death, Pagara’s party has always remained in power to date.
On the political front, Mardan was known as the “King Maker”, as many people who gained his ‘blessings’ came into power – most notably his Hur disciple Mohammed Khan Junejo, who became a prime minister, and Ghous Ali Shah and Muzzafar Hussain Shah who served as chief ministers of Sindh.
While Pagara spent his childhood in London and also breathed his last there, he will be remembered as an ally of dictators but a progressive and enlightened spiritual leader of the region in the years to come.