By: Asifa Absul Rasool Khowaja
[ The writer is a law student and a social activist based in Karachi]
Umarkot, regarded as a city of peace, located in the province of Sindh. It names on the name of a king Umar somoro which rules over there, his story with marvi is encoded in the book “Shah jo Risalo”. The old name of umarkot was amarkot on the name of Maharaja Amar Singh. Umarkot is the birth place of Mughal emperor AKBAR. Umarkot is considered among the largest cities of Pakistan. The local language of umarkot is Dhatki, which is one of the Rajasthani languages of the Indo-Aryan language family. It is most closely related to Marwari. Sindhi, Urdu and Punjabi are also understood by the citizens. Umarkot has many sites of historical significance such as Akbar’s birthplace, Umerkot Fort and Momal Ji Mari. There is an ancient temple, Shiv Mandir, as well as a Kali Mata Temple, Krishna Mandir at old Amarkot. The city has more than 100 schools, 20 colleges, and one polytechnic college. The literacy rate is comparatively high from other neighboring cities.
The example of pluralism is perfectly pictorialized by the people of umarkot by living peacefully all together in spite of cultural, social and religious differences. Hindus and Muslims are peacefully living together without any conflict among them, both respect and willingly participate in all occasions of another. Hospitality of the people of umarkot is meritorious, they host their guests as if he/she is part of their family, the concept of mehman nawazi customs of sindhi’s is highly applicable in this city. This city is indeed a piece of historical heritage. People of umarkot preserve their cultural and religious customs more than their lives. Youth of umarkot is very enthusiastic in nature. They welcome all types of innovative ideas in their territory for the upliftment of their city. People are very welcoming; they never hesitate to welcome guests in their city.