Shrines; the other invisible power in Pakistani politics

Devotees of the Sufi saint offer prayers and pay homage inside the Bari Imam shrine in Islamabad. (AN photo by Aamir Shah)

Police guard the shrine to Bari Imam shrine to17th century saint Shah Abdul Latif, in Islamabad, visited by thousands of devotees and tourists each day from across Pakistan. (AN photo by Aamir Shah)

Devotees bring flower bouquets to Bari Imam shrine to be placed alongside to honor the Sufi saint. (AN photo by Aamir Shah)

The shrine is cordoned off by barbed wire. Security personnel frisk people before letting them enter the shrine. (AN photo by Aamir Shah)

• According to research, around 64 shrines in Punjab alone have political connections
• Political analysts say pirs change their political loyalties before elections to retain political influence and a keep a hold on followers

ISLAMABAD: Custodians of shrines, commonly known as pirs (spiritual leaders), are considered as vital part of Pakistani politics.
They enjoy a vast support of their followers both in rural and urban areas of the country that makes them power players in electoral politics.
The shrines of spiritual leaders are spread across Pakistan, especially in Punjab and Sindh provinces, besides the country’s federal capital – Islamabad.
The custodians of these shrines either contest elections from platforms of different political parties or announce their support for a particular candidate or a political party.
Their influence over the thousands of devotees make them a power players in electoral politics as devotees look to the pirs for guidance during the elections. Leaders of the key political parties visit them to seek their support.
“Basically, we are a conservative society and people still consider the pirs as their spiritual guide and take pride in becoming their devotees,” Professor Tahir Malik, political analyst and academic, told Arab News.
He said that in Punjab and Sindh provinces some pirs not only contest the elections, but are elected to the Parliament with ease as well. “They are electable candidates in their respective constituencies and change their political loyalties to remain in power and keep hold on their devotees-cum-constituents,” he said.
He added that shrine guardians participated in 1937 and 1946 elections of the subcontinent (partitioned into the two separate countries of India and Pakistan in 1947), emerging as a formidable force on the basis of their strong religious following.
“The pirs and their politics will keep thriving in Pakistan while superstitions and illiteracy persist,” he said, adding that control over the devotees is, however, waning with the increasing sway of the Internet and social media.
According to a research by Dr. Adeel Malik, a professor of development economics at the University of Oxford, there are around 64 shrines in Punjab province with direct political connections.
Multan district in Pakistan’s Punjab province has the highest number of shrine families in politics followed by Jhang, Rahim Yar Khan, Okara, Taunsa Sharif and Chishtian.
This research found that around 16 percent of the 342 members of the National Assembly that completed its five-year term in May belonged to shrine families.
For the 2018 elections, many shrine families are contesting the election from South Punjab while others support candidates and political parties of their choice.
Punjab remains the major battlefield for political parties for its number of seats in the National Assembly.
The province has 141 seats in the Lower House of the Parliament out of the 272 in which candidates contest direct elections.
It is said that the party to win Punjab can easily form a government in the center. This increases importance of the pirs and landlords in the province who emerge as the electable candidates for every political party.
The pirs, besides being guardians of the shrines, own vast extracts of agricultural land in their respective areas and collect donations from followers. This makes them virtually invincible in their constituencies.
Fayyaz Raja, a political analyst at a private television channel, said that the pirs and their followers traditionally supported two major political parties – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party – in the polls.
“This time the majority of them have switched to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf due to the Khatam-e-Nabuwat issue,” he told Arab News.
An amendment in Khatam-e-Nabuwat (finality of Prophethood) clause, now withdrawn, prompted a row in November last year and will cost the outgoing ruling party, PML-N, in this election, Raja believes.
Custodians of some shrines are contesting elections as independent candidates, he said, adding they would become part of a political wheeling and dealing after the elections to form the government and get ministries of their choice.
Raja said that in the past couple of months, PTI chairman Imran Khan has been exploiting the issue of Khatam-e-Nabuwat and has succeeded in getting support of different shrines.
“It is quite normal for these pirs to switch political loyalties ahead of the elections,” he said, “this time they have used Khatam-e-Nabuwat as the pretext and switched to PTI to become part of the power game.”