Pakistan's personalities influence Rajasthan voters

A political tussle between two powerful politico-religious families of Pakistan’s Sindh province is casting a shadow on the border districts of Rajasthan, which will vote a new assembly on December 1.

The 19 assembly seats from the border districts, primarily from Bikaner, Barmer, Jaisalmer and Jalore, have a population of over 500,000 Muslims, mostly Sindhis. Their allegiance is a matter of influence of two Pakistani figures; on one hand is the spiritual leader, the Pir of Pagara, who is the custodian of Pakistan’s Sakhar (Sukkur) shrine and on the other end is Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who is the custodian of a shrine in Multan. While the Pir of Pagara, Syed Mardan Shah, played the role of kingmaker in Sindh and Pakistan’s federal politics, Qureshi has served as Pakistan’s foreign minister.

Mardan Shah died last year, but his dissidents enjoy control over the Pir’s disciples in the border region through the aged khalifa, or lieutenant, Ghazi Faqeer. Incidentally, Ghazi’s son, Saleh Mohammad is a sitting MLA, and the Congress candidate from Pokhran in the December 1 elections. He is up against the BJP’s Shaitan Singh. Qureshi’s wand of influence is being held in this region by Maulana Taj Mohammad.

Both the khaleefas collect local donations or nazrana every year to send to their respective peers in Pakistan. There is no upper limit for donation but every household contributes Rs 100 per head after the bajra harvest every year. Even the Jaisalmer royal family contributes to the nazrana sent to the Pir of Pagara.

Ghazi has not issued a direct appeal to his disciples to vote for any particular candidate. But the disciples’ support for the Congress is a foregone conclusion since his son is the Congress candidate. Meanwhile, the followers of Taj Mohammad are largely supporting BJP candidates in the region.

That the Pir of Pagara is popular is apparent by Ghazi’s contemporary version of a royal darbar; aides sit behind his throne, followers supplicate and a stenographer is always at hand. Ghazi is born deaf. He lip reads to understand the spoken word. If he misses a word, the aide, a perfect steno, passes him a slip of paper. Ghazi also needs support to be able to stand, but his pride is apparent when he mentions his association with the Pirs of Pagara. He rejects reports of taking political guidance from across the border. “We take decisions on the basis of candidates, who can serve the minority community in this region better,” Ghazi tells dna in a rare interaction with the media.

His aide, Ali Meher, says candidates from across political parties are making a beeline or sending messages to seek Ghazi’s support. They have no preference for any political party, except for in Pokhran, from where Ghazi’s son Saleh is contesting, says Meher. Locals, however, point out that Ghazi used his influence to seek a mandate for Congress candidate Rupa Ram Meghwal, a former bureaucrat, who is contesting from Jaisalmer.

Detractors contend that the influence of Pirs is on the wane as literacy increases and a network of madrassas grows; the region has some 250 madrassas. “People here do respect Pagaras and Qureshis, but it is unlikely that the people will adhere to their political dictats,” Pokhran’s former sarpanch Manzoor Ahmed tells dna. Ahmed is the only person in town to own a Pajero.

That the madrassas are silently biting into space of Pirs of Pakistan by changing the community’s spiritual direction is made evident by Qari Mohamamd Amin. Amin is the rector of the historic, century-old Madrassa Islamia Darul-Uloom, in the heart of Pokhran. Amin is quick to point out that his institution got computers during the tenure of the previous BJP government led by Vasundhara Raje. He is equally quick to acknowledge the contribution of the current Congress chief minister, Ashok Gehlot, who appointed teachers in the madrassas to teach Math and English.

Yet, Pakistan-related issues figure in the lexicon of candidates when they interact with the public. The BJP candidate, journalist-turned politician Manvendra Singh, tells dna that one can deny history and identity, but not geography. “In the 2004 Lok Sabha election, in which I contested, I promised to open up the Khokrapar-Munabo route for train traffic between India and Pakistan and I accomplished the task,” he tells dna in Barmer district’s Bahala village.

In the 2004 general elections, Manvendra won the election by a margin of 272,000 votes. The victory was attributed to his father, Jaswant Singh’s meeting with the Pir Pagaras during his Pakistan visit. But Manvender brushes this aside. “We respect Ghazi Faqeer and other spiritual leaders. But we don’t seek political guidance and support from them,” says Manvendra.

Manvendra says the state’s border region has more divided families than Kashmir, and these are from across communities – Muslims, Rajputs, Meghwals etc. “Their relations in Pakistan, who want to come here, are not allowed to travel beyond National Highway-15. Even if they arrive after a cumbersome process, they cannot come to villages,” he says while promising a waiting crowd that he will look into this matter with the caveat that since only the Central government can resolve this issue, he will do so after the Lok Sabha elections when Narendra Modi becomes the Prime Minister.