KARACHI: The Muslim saints are an important part of the Subcontinent’s culture. With their messages of universal love and humanity, they were cherished not only by Muslims but also by adherents of other religions. Like in the case of Ishwar Das, a grocery shop owner belonging to the Hindu community in Bhit Shah.
According to local media reports, Das, a devotee of Hazrat Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, is often seen at his shrine, trying to facilitate visitors in whatever manner possible. This includes either collecting shoes outside the shrine or giving the visitors glasses of water to quench their thirst.
Khuda Dino, a Hala resident who visits Bhittai’s shrine on a regular basis, said “There is no better sight than seeing a Hindu devotee of the great Sufi serving visitors at his shrine.”
According to Dino, it is Das’s spiritual relationship with Bhittai that has compelled him to serve at his shrine for the past 20 years at least.
Before entering the shrine, the devotees have to remove their shoes at the main entrance. While previously the visitors had to pay Rs10 for the safekeeping of their shoes, now they just leave their shoes without payment because Das has taken care of the costs after paying the government Rs700,000 for taking care of shoes at the shrine.
After depositing the shoes, one enters the compound to a find a make-shift stall (sabeel) where a few workers are filling glasses with cold water and offering them to visitors. The sabeel not only offers water at the shrine, impoverished residents of Bhit Shah also take cold water for their houses from it.
Abdul Ghani, a worker who was busy filling glasses with water from a big tub that had large chunks of ice, revealed that the sabeel, managed by Das, had been serving visitors at the shrine for the past 20 years.
Das has set up an ice manufacturing factory specifically for the sabeel, Ghani explained, adding that around 4,000 kilogrammes (kg) of ice are consumed daily at the sabeel, which come from Das’s factory. The remaining ice is sold at Rs100 per 40kg.
According to Ghani, 23 workers are working in shifts 24 hours at the sabeel and shoe depositing facility, who are being paid between Rs9,000 and Rs12,000 per month.
When Das was asked how he had been managing the facilities at the shrine, he said: “I’m no one to do all this,” he said. “I have no power to pay all these workers and spend money for arranging all this but my faith in Sarkar [Bhittai] enables me [to do so].”
According to him, he still does not know how he has funds available at the end of each month to pay salaries to his employees.
He has been managing the sabeel for the past 20 years, whereas, three years have passed since he started the shoe storage facility. On learning that Das was not earning any money through the shoe facility, the Sindh government offered a discount of Rs300,000 to him this time and handed over the contract to him for Rs700,000 instead of Rs1 million.
“Sarkar is giving me and in return, I’m giving it to his devotees. This act of mine has to do with my God, Sarkar and me,” said Das softly.