PKKH Exclusive | Mahru Khaled

On the night of 1st July, 2010, a place in Pakistan was attacked that is considered to be the country’s most revered Sufi shrine. Data Darbar in Lahore is Hazrat Abul Hassan Ali Hajweri’s (popularly known as Hazrat Data Ganj Baksh) last resting place, a man held in high esteem in the hearts and minds of the entire Paksitani nation, for being one of the greatest Sufis, a Persian saint, one of the leading Aulia who carried the torch of Islam into the Subcontinent. He preached a message of peace, tolerance and harmony, and his spititual presence is felt to this day at his mausoleum, the Data Darbar.

The Darbar, over the course of history, has become a place where devotees from far and wide, come everyday in scores, to pay their respects to the esteemed Sufi, to fill their drained spirits with the Remembrance of Allah, to send salaam and durood to the beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW), and to hope. It is a place where not a single minute goes by when the Quran is not being recited, and Allah’s Name and Words reverberate around the walls of the shrine every second. It is a place where Pakistanis feel secure, safe, and contented. For many, the shrine of Data is home.

But on that Thursday night, this center of Sufi reverence was savagely attacked. Killing 45, and injuring many more, this attack is nothing less than shocking for the entire Pakistani nation, the people consider it an assault on their emotions, on their hearts and minds, and on the sanctity of a place that is so close to their feelings, passion and ardor.

Pakistanis are angry, angry at the foreign hand that continues to wreak havoc on their lives, and their emotions, angry at the insensitivity, ineptitude, and cowardice of the powers-that-be who fail to highlight this hand. The foreign hand, this time, has struck a raw nerve. The hand that is ruthless, brutal, and unforgiving, and is the enemy of Islam, of Pakistan, and of the message of peace, kindness, and brotherhood, that Islam preaches. The hand that had the audacity to color the walls of a revered Sufi’s shrine with blood.

The Pakistani nation wants the enemy to know that such naked attempts at dividing the country on sectarian grounds will fail miserably. They may cause loss of innocent and precious lives, but they will only serve to unite the nation, and will never break the spirit of Pakistan!