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Waran Puri Temple, Sukkur

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Till the end of 19th century Hindus and Muslims of Sukkur used to collectively offer prayers at the monument of "Zinda Pir", which is situated on an island. Muslim regard it to be the sacred place of "Zinda Pir" Khwaja Khizr (an ever living saint) and Hindus as of Varan Devta Udero Lal. Upon fulfillment of wishes, the devotees used to express their gratitude by distributing offerings to the Mujawirs (people serving at sacred places-usually voluntarily).

One of the rituals was to crawl through a very narrow duct that led to specious prayer room, lit with candles and traditional oil lamps. There, the Hindu pundits used to lead prayers to the Varan Devta.

However, in the year 1880AD the Hindus claim that since there was no grave of Khwaja Khizr, it proves that tne secret place cannot be the shrine of the Muslim saint instead it is the eternal memoir (Samadi) of their great Devta. The Muslims on the other hand maintained that since Khwaja Khizr is an ever living saint (Zinda Pir), his grave cannot be made. The argument eventually escalated to such an extent that the British ruling officials in Sukkur were approached to settle the dispute. The British gave the decision in the favor of the Muslims. They led to the moving of the Hindu priests and rituals from the present Zinda Pir location to the bank of river, where they built a devri and mandir (temple) for their prayer and rituals.

Though the Muslims were justified in their re-use of the abandoned mosque, there can be no doubt that their timing was politically motivated. It worsened the already tense political atmosphere of the region with the Hindus vociferously clamouring for the building for they claimed it as a part of the Sadhoo Belo temple.

Dr. Moonji, then a veteran Congress stalwart, rushed to Sukkur and chaired a largely attended meeting of local Hindus. Soon the occupation of the humble brick-built 8x8 feet mosque became a flaring point. Several meetings between the local Congress and Muslim League leaders ensued to try to find an amicable solution of the problem but all in vain. Quite the opposite happened. A large scale crackdown against Muslim League leaders was initiated by the minority government of then Chief Minister Allah Bakhsh Soomro and the disputed site of the mosque was sealed off.

[Source: Sukkur: Nostalgia of things past by Momin Bullo | Coordinates: EFT]