A 'pir' party makes waves in Punjab

Under around 43 degree temperature, villagers in Jaman Shah village in Pakpattan district gathered in a school ground on a recent day. A white luxury vehicle arrived a little later and stopped at some distance from the school so that it did not blow any dust upon the villagers. The audience was eager to get a glimpse of the man inside but none among the crowd was pushing and shoving: they all maintained discipline and decorum. Syed Salman Mohsin Gillani, a pir and the head of Pakistan Human Party, got down from the vehicle, got to the ground and started delivering a speech. One of his devotees was fanning him all the while during his speech with a traditional hand fan while everyone in the audience was listening reverentially.

Pakistan Human Party has fielded five candidates for the National Assembly and 11 for Punjab Assembly in three districts, Pakpattan, Vehari and Bahawalnagar. Many of the party’s candidates have blood relations with Gillani. Two of them are his maternal uncles and one of them is his cousin. Many local political observers say its candidates have the potential to produce surprising results on the polling day.

Although the Election Commission of Pakistan’s web site shows one Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah as the party’s chairman but the main spirit behind it is Gillani whose Sufi ancestor migrated from Kaithal, in Haryana, India, before Partition and settled at Qaboola Sharif in Pakpattan district. The family was not associated with politics until the custodian of another shrine in Pakpattan introduced Gillani’s father to Mian Nawaz Sharif who later awarded Gillani a party ticket for 2008 polls which he won. He, however, was barred in 2013 from contesting for possessing a fake educational degree. His father-in-law Syed Ather Husain, instead, fought the election and won.

Many locals say that most people in the constituency have not seen the face of the party’s official head, who is running for the National Assembly constituency where Jaman Shah is located, but he will get many thousand votes.

“Since his nomination came from Salman Mohsin Gillani, this is enough reason for me to vote him”, says a young supporter in the playground. The party is fighting election with “sun” as its symbol and Rashid Minhas, its information secretary, says it has four principles: equality for all citizens, shifting of development narrative from urban to rural areas, strengthening democracy, and eradication of corruption from all state institutions.

Devotees of Qaboola Sharif shrine have strong presence in more than 100 villages in the area and include people from different classes and segments of society. The custodians of the shrine supported Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) till recently. “I decided to launch the party in 2013 but, because of internal consultation, the decision was deferred till 2018”, Gillani says. By reaching the parliament, he says the party hopes to “grab funds for the development of its rural localities ignored by major political parties leaders”.

The writer is associated with Punjab Lok Sujag, a development organisation focusing on governance. He also works as Dawn's correspondent in Sahiwal.