War8217;s not fair on 300-yr-old mela

CHAMLIYAL SAMBA, JUNE 25: They danced to the common beat of drums on both sides of the International Border IB but could not forget t...

CHAMLIYAL SAMBA, JUNE 25: They danced to the common beat of drums on both sides of the International Border IB but could not forget the ongoing hostilities between India and Pakistan in Kargil. As a result, there was no exchange of the usual shakkar-sharbat soil and water and the chaddar shawl between devotees on either side of the border, even though the BSF and the Pakistani Rangers had rested their guns in the area for the past three days.

The occasion was the annual Chamliyal mela when the border would seem non-existent for one day each year, with people forgetting the three wars and the accumulated bitterness of over 50 years. The 300-year-old mela had been celebrated at two spots, 600 yards apart 8212; Chamliyal India and Saidawali Pakistan 8212; since the unfortunate 1947 partition.

The annual fair, which relates to Baba Dalip Singh Manhas, is celebrated by Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs in both the countries. The legend goes that the Baba was assaulted by somecriminals while returning from the fields. He died while fighting and his body fell at Chamliyal and the head at Saidawali. His disciples constructed a shrine of the Baba at the former place.

One night, one of his disciples saw Baba in his dream, who apparently told him about the medicinal value of the land where his body had fallen. The Baba told the disciple that his skin ailment would be cured if he mixed the soil and water of that land and applied it to his affected parts.

The legend says that the next morning, the disciple applied the mud of the land near the Baba8217;s shrine on his body and got cured.

The word soon spread. And thereafter, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs started visiting the shrine and holding a mela there.

However, after the partition, Saidawali went to Pakistan and the Baba8217;s shrine came on the Indian side. But devotees from both the countries continued celebrating the annual mela on both sides of the border.

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As a result, Commandants of both the BSF and the PakistaniRangers held a meeting at the Octroi Post on June 8 to finalise arrangements for the mela on their respective sides.

The Pakistani Rangers expressed their helplessness to accept shakkar-sharbat from the Indian side, saying that it would be difficult for them to distribute it to the over 70,000 devotees participating in the mela on their side. However, they agreed to accept the prasad and send a chaddar for the shrine as usual.

As fixed, Malik along with some BSF officials carried prasad to the zero line at 12:30 pm. The Pakistani Rangers headed by their Commandant, Colonel Saleem Ashraf Malik also arrived there soon after and accepted cold drinks, sweets and prasad from the BSF.

However, they said they had not been able to bring the chaddar, saying that it had not been prepared as yet. It would be sent the next day, they assured.

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All these good-will gestures notwithstanding, the Kargil conflict appeared to have cast its shadow over the mela, withthe number of devotees on both sides of the border having decreased considerably as compared to earlier years. Only 25,000 devotees were present at the mela on the Pakistani side as compared to the over 70,000 last year. Similarly, very few devotees turned up for the mela from the Indian side.