Pir Syed Mardan Shah II, alias Pir Pagara, was being treated at a London hospital after being flown there a few days ago in a critical condition.
Pir Pagara was the biggest title given to the leaders of Sufi order of Hurs in Sindh. His father, Pir Syed Sibghatullah Shah, was hanged on March 20, 1943, by the British government due to his struggle against the colonial rule. The spiritual leader of ‘Hurs’ and head of his own faction of the Pakistan Muslim League, PML-Functional, Pir Mardan Shah, spent a life full of successes and earned repute of a brave leader. He was widely respected in religious and political circles. He was the seventh Pir of Hurs, who had a long history of struggle against the British Raj.
Pir Sahib was born in Pir Jo Goth in 1928. He was studying in Aligarh when his father was hanged on the charge of sedition against the British Crown. On his return to Karachi in 1946, he was put under house arrest and then shifted to Liverpool UK and admitted to Major Davis Private School, an institution set up to ‘educate’ the children of ‘Crown’s rebels’.
Pir Sahib got his graduation from England and had command on French and Latin besides English.
At the time of the creation of Pakistan, Pir Sahib was in the UK and returned to Karachi in 1949. After meeting with the then prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan, he was assured that he would be restored to the status of Pir Pagara. He was officially restored to his position on February 4, 1952, as his Dastarbandi was done. After two years of becoming the spiritual leader of Hurs, he married the daughter of Makhdoom Syed Ghulam Miran Shah in 1954, who was a religious and spiritual leader of Bahawalpur.
Throughout his life, Pir Pagara actively participated in Pakistan’s politics and was considered close to the establishment. He was a political leader who never hesitated in saying that he had links with GHQ and was a staunch supporter of the army in the country. He had many horses of high breed, which often won races in Karachi Race Club.
Pir Sahib remained member of the National Assembly and Senate. His death has ended a legend in the Pakistani politics. He will be buried in his native graveyard in Pir Jo Goth.
