Sachal remembered for propagating religious tolerance

Islamabad : We can promote peace, love, and brotherhood in Pakistan and around the world by propagating the thoughts and messages of sufi poets, which will also help project the gentler image of the country to the world.

Minister for Education and Professional Training and National Heritage and Culture Shafqat Mahmood expressed these views at the International Sachal Conference held on the occasion of the 199th anniversary of sufi poet Sachal Sarmat. Organized by the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) here on Thursday, the conference was presided over by Mehtab Akbar Rashdi and attended by top government hierarchy.

“Sachal spread the message of religious tolerance through his poetry, and tolerance is more than ever needed during the days of the ongoing epidemic,” Shafqat said, reflecting on how sufis poets contributed to spiritual awakening through their poetry in the Indus Valley and throughout the region. He said, Sachal Sarmast’s is the second most prominent sufi in Sindh after Hazrat Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai.

“While we struggle to overcome the effects of this plague, it is important to recognize that the epidemic has brought Adam’s race together like the links of a chain,” Shafqat stated, adding Sachal not only attracted the Believers but also people of other religions. “Sachal’s message is relevant even today, and if followed, can help us become a great nation,” he added. Shafqat congratulated PAL for holding a successful and purposeful conference and hoped that it will continue to promote such literary dialogues in the future as well.

Mehtab Akbar Rashdi said, “The era of Sachal Sarmast was the era of Kalhora and Talpur rulers of Sindh, where extremism and religious hatred were at their peak. In such a situation, Sachal Sarmast turned Sindh into a peaceful abode for the common man through his poetry. He felt the surrounding environment intensely and accepted its impact,” she stated.

The Chairman of PAL Dr. Yousuf Khushk said, sufism is not just a theory for Sachal Sarmast, but an experience and attitude of life. “He sees the universe through the eyes of a sufi and whether the sufi is from Delhi or Deccan or Darza Sindh, the feelings are the same. Sachal Sarmast, Khwaja Mir Dard, and Wali Deccani were contemporaries but not related to one language,” he stated, remembering Sachal for his mysticism.

Dr. Mehr Khadim from Khairpur said, Sachal Sarmast’s Urdu poetry has its own accent, melody and identity; it does not imitate. Mumtaz Bukhari from Sukkur said, Sachal Sarmast experienced the same political and social environment of Sindh as was prevalent in the times of Shah Latif.

Paying tributes to Sachal, various participants highlighted amazing facets of his poetry. They praised the sufi poet and saint for his literary contributions for the country in general and the Sindh in particular.