ACROSS THE BORDER: Pak based Foundation remembers Dulla Bhatti on 433rd Martyrdom Day
ACROSS THE BORDER: Pak based Foundation remembers Dulla Bhatti on 433rd Martyrdom Day
Ferozepur, March 26, 2022: When singing the famous Lohri song, “Sundar mundariye, hoe! Tera kaun wichara, hoe! Dulla Bhatti walla, hoe! Dulle di dhee vyayee, hoe! Ser shakkar payee…!”, one must have encountered the word ‘Dulla Bhatti’.
Today, on 433rd Martyrdom Day, Imtiaz Rasheed Qureshi, Chairman Bhagat Singh Memorial Foundation Pakistan, along with Seth Bashir Ahmed, Dr. Shahid Naseer, Shahbaz Rasheed Qureshi, Khalid Mehmood Chaudhry, Khadim Hussain, and others, paid floral tributes and prayers at the ‘mazaar’ of Dulla Bhatti in Lahore.
The grave is situated in the historical graveyard of Miani Sahib in Lahore, the city to which Akbar moved his capital from Fatehpur Sikri during the peak of Dulla Bhatti’s rebellion against him. In Punjabi folk tradition, Dulla Bhatti’s role in rescuing innocent girls from the clutches of lecherous men is enshrined in folk poetry that is sung during the winter festival of Lohri.
Dulla Bhatti is revered as the ‘Son of Punjab’ for his unparalleled bravery. The legend goes that the rebel chieftain saved two Brahmin girls from the emperor and married them off on the day of the winter festival.
Qureshi in his message said, in pre-partition Punjab, Dulla Bhatti emerged as the ultimate symbol of the Punjabi culture – a Muslim landlord who fought for the honour of Brahmin girls, saving them from the Mughal emperor. He gave equal status to the poor and women community but it is very unfortunate that now the Pakistan government has forgotten him.
