Meat off the menu at Bareilly Sufi festival as dates coincide with Kanwar Yatra

On August 10, a Monday, Bareilly will see a particularly large turnout of returning Kanwar pilgrims and local devotees, making their final water offerings in the last Sawan stretch.

“The decision to change the dates was taken keeping in mind the presence of large numbers of Kanwariyas in the city on the following day, as well as a request made by the district administration and police,” said Nasir Qureshi, media in-charge of the Ala Hazrat Dargah.

Though the Urs was originally scheduled for August 7-9, the day on which the concluding Kul Sharif ceremony was to be held — August 9 — coincided with major Kanwar processions passing through the city, said Qureshi, adding that the dates were changed over crowd management and public order concerns.

“Following a directive from Dargah chief Maulana Subhan Raza Khan (Subhani Miyan), an eight-member panel of Islamic scholars was constituted to examine the issue and recommend whether the dates ought to be changed. Senior police and administration officials also visited and met with the Dargah leadership, requesting that the event be rescheduled in the interest of public order and security,” he said.

“Following consultations with the scholars, and taking the administration’s request into account, it was decided that the 108th Urs-e-Razvi would instead be held from August 6 to 8 — Thursday, Friday and Saturday.”

The revised schedule, Qureshi said, was being communicated to devotees across India and abroad through social media, so that pilgrims who had planned their travel around the previously announced dates of August 7-9 could adjust their arrangements accordingly.

When contacted, Bareilly Superintendent of Police Manush Pareek said that he, along with a team from the district administration, had met the Dargah chief to request a shift in the Urs dates, keeping in mind the anticipated heavy traffic on Monday, August 10, the day on which a large number of Kanwar pilgrims were expected to be present in the city.

“We also asked the Dargah administration to instruct all langar committees and groups organising community meals for pilgrims to serve only vegetarian food this year. Following our request, the Dargah chief agreed to both our demands,” he added.

Every year the Urs platform is used to convey key religious and social messages to Sunni, Sufi and Barelvi Muslims from across the world.

The Dargah administration said it expected at least 10 lakh people to visit Bareilly this year to take part in the Urs, arriving not only from different parts of the country but also from abroad, including Australia, South Africa, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Bangladesh, the United States, Mauritius and Sri Lanka, among others.

Asked about the meat-related restrictions, Qureshi said that since this year’s Urs-e-Ala Hazrat fell in the month of Sawan, during which meat-related restrictions were also observed, the Dargah had appealed to all langar committees and those organising community meals to arrange meat-free, vegetarian dishes for pilgrims this year, in place of the customary meat-based fare.

Urs organisers have also urged devotees to steer clear of DJ sound systems during the traditional chadar processions. “We have urged people not to use DJ sound systems, as they encourage unnecessary noise and extravagant spending,” Qureshi said.

Organisers have also appealed to pilgrims to offer flower baskets in place of cloth chadars and to donate whatever money they save to charitable causes.

To manage the event where several lakh people are expected to come, the Dargah committee has constituted a team of 1,500 volunteers who will remain on duty round the clock throughout the Urs. The volunteers will be issued cards and work in three eight-hour shifts, providing assistance to pilgrims and overseeing the arrangements 24 hours a day.

The volunteers will also be deployed at the Dargah complex and Islamia College ground, where the main event will take place, as well as at various other locations across the city to assist pilgrims. Teams have already been formed, with specific responsibilities assigned to them.

At the event, religious discourses will be delivered by Islamic scholars and spiritual leaders from both India and abroad. On the other hand, the traditional offering of ceremonial chadars at the Dargah has already begun.