Introduction to Significant Pilgrimage for Hinglaj-Mata Mandir in Balochistan ,Pakistan

By Gopinath Kumar (PHP)
Thusday,April 29,2010

 (Hinglaj Mata Mandir in Baluchistan ,Pakistan)

Pakistan : Hinglaj Mata is a Hindu temple in Hinglaj, on the Makran coast in the Lyari district of Balochistan in Pakistan. Legend has it that when goddess Sati, the consort of god Shiva burnt herself in response to her father's anger at her for not inviting Shiva to a ceremony, Shiva became furious and started to create disasters, problems, violence, and sufferings in the world. In order to calm his anger, god Vishnu took the body of Sati and began to cut it into 51 pieces where they all fell at different parts of the Earth. Hindus believe that the head of Sati fell in the area of Hinglaj Mata in Baluchistan, present-day Pakistan. Thus, this area is a very significant region in the Hindu region and a revered pilgrimage site.

(The Hinglaj Goddess at Hinglajgarh in Baluchistan ,Pakistan)

This was a prime pilgrim location for Indians until the sore partition of 1947 where Indians lost access to this cultural heritage, since it was then bounded by Pakistan. Higlaj wasn’t just the only Indian site for worship, there were many such locations in Pakistan that were worship spots for Indians, but the rage of politics destroyed the cultural heritage by storming such worship spots to abandoned dilapidated ramshackle premises. Such spots were Lakhi, the Phuleli site for Jhulelal, the Prahlad-Aditya temple in Multan.

One may still wonder, if that was the case then how come Hinglaj has till continued to be a famous pilgrimage. The reason lies in humanity displayed by the Residents of Baluchistan. The handful of Hindu residents who still reside in Pakistan wouldn’t have resisted the tyrannical wave of demolition that ruined the cultural heritages, if it weren’t the Muslim residents of Baluchistan who stood firm to protect this ancient holy asset of historical glory. It would be discrimination on part of Culture, Secularism and Humanity to call Hinglaj Temple solely as a Hindu Pilgrimage. The fact is Muslims worship it as “Nani-Ka-Haj” which means “Grandmother’s Shrine”.

(Nani-Ka-Haj OR“Grandmother’s Shrine”)

Each year they organize a grand cultural-fair at this temple. Muslim residents actively take part in this celebration. They worship the Goddess with the same devotion as they do in the mosque. As for the offerings they carry mostly a Red Cloth, Attar (Perfume) and Agarbattis (Incense Sticks). Just like Hindus they too worship the temple for their cultural rites and rituals. It’s impossible to predict whether it’s a Hindu temple or a Muslim Mosque. That’s the similar situation here in India too where the people from all the religions celebrate each and every festival with a great pomp. It’s a fact that secularism and humanity can’t be restricted by self centered political stance and tyrannical rules.

We can say that apart from Indians even Pakistanis believe in the concept of Unity in Diversity. It’s the sheer politics that has developed the Distance among religions thus tampering the principles of Humanity. Remember there’s one supreme religion in the world and that’s “HUMANITY”.

For more details visit www.hinglajmatamandir.com

Pictures of 2010 Hanglaj-Mata Festival in Balochistan , Pakistan

By Ramesh Jaipal (Hare Rama Foundation)
 

Dear Gopinath ji,

          Hare Krishna Hare Rama,

    Hope you are fine, Please find an attached file of Hanglaj mata Festival in Pakistan.

 

Because I am use one of my friend Camer, it is an old like 5 magapixal and battery very low, there as such no any thing for charging, but in my cell phone video is also availble . I will send as soon posibal.

 

With regards

Ramesh Jaipal 

Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) Invites everyone to attend the programme of Daadi Janki Cheif of Brahmakumari's , Pakistan

By Dr.Ramesh Kumar Vankwani  (Pakistan Hindu Council)

 DADI JANKI KIRPLANI

Pakistan Hindu Council Welcome Daadi Janki Karplani on 26th of April 2010 at Karachi Airport &
Pakistan Hindu Council Invites you to attend the programme of Daadi Janki Cheif of Brahmakumari's
on 27th of April 2010at 6.30pm(sharp)at Beach Luxury Hotel Karachi and other programme at 28th of
April 2010at Swami Narayan Temple Karachi and on 30th April 2010 at Mumtaz Auditorium Hyderabad
at 7.00pm and on 1st May 2010again at Swami Narayan Temple at 9.pm.The Daadi will return Back on
2nd May U R Cordialy Specially Invited to attend these Programs.Thanks

Introduction to Dadi Janki 

 http://www.bkwsu.org

She joined the BKWSU as a founding member in 1937 at the age of 21. In the 1950's she established numerous BK centres throughout India. In 1974 she established the first BK centre outside of India, in London, UK. Under her guidance and inspiration, centres now exist in nearly 100 countries. She was appointed Administrative Head of the BKWSU in 2007.

True story about Pakistani Hindu boy Ramchand who strayed into India

By Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)
Wednesday,April 28,2010

Mehreen Jabbar's lyrical film Ramchand Pakistani tells the story of an 8-year-old Pakistani Hindu boy who accidentally strays across the border with India and is immediately seized by Indian soldiers.
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Based on a true story, it begins in 2002 during a period of extreme tension between Pakistan and India and explores what can happen to innocents caught up in geopolitical crossfire.

When the soldiers discover that the boy, Ramchand (Syed Fazal Hussain), is carrying a slingshot, he is accused of bringing weapons to liberate Kashmir.

He and his parents - his mother, Champa (Nandita Das), and father, Shankar (Rashid Farooqui) - belong to the "untouchable" Dalit caste.

When Shankar searches for Ramchand, he, too, crosses the border marked only by an arc of widely separated white stones and is immediately snatched by the same soldiers. The father and son are carted off to a prison, where they are kept for five years.

The film, which has six screenings at the Museum of Modern Art in New York beginning on Wednesday as part of its ContemporAsianseries, is not the prison horror story that it at first appears to be.

There is no torture or starvation in the camp, where the father and son sleep on the floor of a crowded dormitory and do menial chores. The daily diet consists of lentils and potatoes.

The movie crosscuts between scenes of the father and son in prison and of Champa struggling to survive alone without word of her family. During much of their stay in India, Ramchand and Shankar are unregistered prisoners, so that they might as well be dead.

Champa eventually gives up hope of a reunion, and late in the movie, she carries on a discreet flirtation with a man of a higher caste that brings its own kind of trouble.

At the military encampment, Ramchand becomes the servant of a female military official of a higher caste who, to the boy's chagrin, treats him disdainfully. But over the years, a bond develops between them, and she eventually bestows a peck on his cheek.

Suddenly, the story leaps ahead four years, and the pubescent Ramchand is played by a different actor (Navaid Jabbar).

Ramchand Pakistani has elements of a Bollywood film, but the short, festive musical interludes are not full-scale production numbers. The flute-based music is quietly seductive and lulling, and the cinematography lends the desert landscape a hallucinatory beauty.

The loose-jointed screenplay by Javed Jabbar and Mohammad Ahmed doesn't build up conventional dramatic tension and makes eccentric narrative leaps that undercut its continuity.

Jabbar's female perspective is palpable throughout the film, especially in the scenes in which Champa stands up to her exploitative bosses on the farm where she harvests wheat and sugar cane and demands money that is due her.

The prison environment, for its hardships, is remarkably harmonious. Fights break out, but are settled, and the punishments meted out are mild.

The co-existence of Muslims and Hindus in the same prison is for the most part peaceful, and the Hindu caste system is relaxed.

As the production notes state, Ramchand and his parents live at "the bottom of a discriminatory religious ladder and an insensitive social system, which is, nevertheless, tolerant, inclusive and pluralistic."

For all the trials its characters endure, you might almost describe Ramchand Pakistani as a happy movie: too happy to be entirely believed.

‘Disgraced’ ETPB chief throws Besakhi festival seminar for Sikhs into disarray , Pakistan

Source http://www.dailytimes.com.pk
Wednesday,April 28,2010

LAHORE: An international seminar – organised as part of Besakhi festival celebrations – was thrown into disarray on Monday when the chief guest, Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) Chairman Asif Hashmi, left the stage feeling he had been “disgraced” amid hundreds of Sikhs from Pakistan, India and several other countries.

The Dyal Singh Research and Cultural Forum had organised the seminar titled ‘Besakhi Pani Nal’. The chief guest suddenly left the stage with Pakistani and foreign speakers delivering speeches, saying, “This is a to degrade me ... the stage administration has not [yet] invited me for a speech.” Before leaving the stage, he also announced the immediate suspension of Dyal Singh Research and Cultural Forum Director Dr Zafar Cheema, who was working as stage secretary during the seminar.

Later, the ETPB chairman told the media outside the hall where the seminar had been organised, “Zafar Cheema was deliberately trying to delay my speech. The stage administration was trying to disgrace me ... they did not invite me for a speech. A group from the ETPB and the ministry is already working against me ... I’ll resign in the coming week.” Dr Zafar Cheema told Daily Times, “I am shocked at how the ETPB chairman suddenly suspended me.” He said the chairman might be in “some sort of problem”, as he had been unable to assess the situation. “His actions will deal a blow to the image of Pakistan ... because the ETPB chairman was representing Pakistan in front of Sikhs from several countries, including India.”

During the seminar, leader of Indian Sikhs Sardar Swinder Singh highlighted the importance of water, and thanked the Pakistani government for looking after his community’s shrines well. Ragbeer Singh from Germany said water theft was a crime, and “it is a stigma on the face of India”. He said water disputes between India and Pakistan must be resolved peacefully. staff report

19-year-old Christian woman abducted in Lahore , Pakistan

Source http://dvdtract.com
Wednesday,April 28,2010

Lahore,Pakistan : A 19-year-old Pakistani Christian woman, Sonia Mohan, was reportedly abducted on April 1 by a Muslim man and his friends in Nishtar Colony, Lahore. 

Sonia’s family fears the Muslim man, Ali Raza, will force her to convert to Islam and marry him. Sonia’s brother, Johnson Parvaiz, stated, “Ali Raza came to our home and told Sonia that I had asked for her, and she went out of the house with him.

They had parked a vehicle outside and left, and afterwards we never heard from her.” After two days, Johnson was able to reach his sister on her cell phone but she told him not to call her, that she was very happy and that they should not try to find her. “It was obvious from her voice that she had been forced to say that,” Johnson said. Police have delayed registering a case on behalf of Sonia’s family because, in what appears to be an attempt to delay police action, Ali’s family has filed a complaint that he was abducted by the same accomplices who allegedly helped him kidnap Sonia. (Source: Compass Direct)

Pray that Sonia will be released from her captors and returned to her family. Pray that authorities will act swiftly and justly in this case.

Buddhist Monk From India Promotes Hindu Conference In New Zealand

Source http://www.voxy.co.nz
Wednesday,April 28,2010

New Zealand : The 3rd New Zealand Hindu Conference will be held on 15th & 16th May 2010 at the Hindu Heritage Centre, Mangere, Auckland. The theme of the conference is "Sustaining New Zealand through strengthening bond amongst communities".

The focus of this conference is networking, whether it is with Maori community, general public, government agencies, Hindus from various countries, the different schools of thought of Dharma, with Hindu organisations, associations and institutions.

Ven. Dr. Bhikkhu Bodhipala, a well respected teacher of Vipassana (Buddhist Meditation) who belongs to Theravada tradition from India, is in New Zealand promoting the 3rd New Zealand Hindu conference. He has been visiting Buddhist monasteries and meditation centres around major cities and promoting meditation techniques and Hindu conference.

Lord Krishna's Month Back Again After Two and a Half Years

Source http://news.iskcon.org
Wednesday,April 28,2010

(The Vedic calendar is a combined lunar and solar calendar)

Krishna is very kind because He always presents different ways for us to surrender to Him. A nice opportunity is coming up from April 15 to May 13, 2010: the month of Purushottama Adhik Mas. To help the lunar months coincide with the solar year, an extra month, called Purushottama Adhik Mas, is inserted every 30 months, every 2 ½ years. Adhik means extra and mas means month. During Purushottama Adhik Mas certain activities should be avoided such as marriages, signing contracts, beginning new construction, griha pravesham (house warming), etc.

The origin of Purushottam Adhik Mas is explained in the Padma Purana. Every month has a presiding deity, but Adhik Mas was rejected by all the deities: it was thought to be inauspicious because there is no sankranti during this month, meaning that the Sun does not enter any new sign. So originally it was known as Mal Mas (meaning wasted month). Feeling dejected by this, the personified Adhik Mas traveled to Lord Vishnu in Vaikuntha for advice. With heartfelt prayers she requested to be delivered from this inauspicious state. Lord Vishnu blessed her, and sent her to Goloka to meet Lord Krishna, who blessed her with the boon, “I bless you as My own month. Whatever good deeds are done during your reign will outshine works done during all the other months. Works done with devotion during Adhik Mas will amass such great fruits that even the doors to Goloka will open for the devotee. Among all months, you shall reign as the supreme and shall be known by My own name, Purushottama Mas."The Lord then added, “I will forgive all the sins of those who perform penance in Purushottama Adhik Mas.”

Devotional service to be performed:

* Worship Lord Krishna by chanting His holy names: Japa.
* Bathe in a holy river
* Give in charity to the temple

Purushottama Adhik Mas is known as Lord Krishna’s month, just as Kartika is Srimati Radharani’s month. Devotees look forward to passing this month in devotion to the Lord, because bhakti is the surest means to salvation in this terrible age of Kali-yuga. The days should be devoted to listening to Krishna katha. Those observing extra devotion, bhakti, during this month gain extra blessings from Lord Krishna, and their sins are washed away.

China, India And Nepal Agree To Mt. Kailash Preservation

Source: www.2point6billion.com
Wednesday,April 28,2010

China, India, and Nepal have agreed on a framework regarding the conservation and preservation of the Mount Kailash region, a sacred area in the Himalayas that touches all three countries. The international project, titled “Mount Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation Initiative: Developing a Transboundary Framework for Conservation and Sustainable Development in the Greater Mount Kailash Region of Nepal, India and China,” is lead by the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development, but will include the Wildlife Institute of India, the Forest Department of Uttarakhand, the Nepalese Ministry of Forests, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, and the United Nations Environment Program.

Mount Kailash itself is a peak in the Gangdise Mountains considered a sacred and holy place in five of the world’s religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Ayyavazhi, and the Boen. It is particularly unique in that it remains one of the most significant peaks in the world that has yet to be stepped on by man. Considered the abode of Buddha Demchok in Buddhism and Lord Shiva in Hinduism, the summit at Mount Kailash is off limits and no attempt to climb the mountain has been recorded.

Every year, thousands of pilgrims travel to the region to circumambulate Mount Kailash; clockwise for Hindus and Buddhists, and counterclockwise for believers of Jainism, Ayyavashi, and Boen. Travelling the 32 miles around the mountain is believed to bring good fortune, but it must be done on foot, pony, or yak.

New Paris Ganesha Temple , France

Source: www.templeganesh.fr
Wednesday,April 28,2010

PARIS, FRANCE, : On April 17 and 18, 2010 the new site of the Sri Manicka Vinayakar Alayam was consecrated with Mahakumbhabhishekam ceremonies. New deity statues, carved in Mahabalipuram, and a gold plated kodimaram were blessed with an inaugural puja. Despite its tiny size the Temple de Ganesh, as it is commonly known, has become the most well known Hindu temple in the city due to its yearly chariot parade through the streets.

The new home of the temple is located at 17 rue Pajol just down the street from it’s old site on rue Philippe de Girard. Open daily from 9AM to 10:30PM. See source above for photos of the event.

Indian Malaysians Irked With New Visa Ruling

Source: business.rediff.com
Wednesday,April 28,2010

MALAYSIA,: A large-section of the diaspora in Malaysia is irked with a new visa ruling imposed by New Delhi, which bars tourist visa holders from re-entering India within two months of the last visit. The move prompted the mission Kuala Lumpur to take up the issue with the Indian government after India tightened its rules on long-term tourist visas to prevent its misuse by extremist elements.

The ruling has drawn flak from Malaysians who have been visiting friends and relatives in India without restrictions in the past. Malaysian tourists have been enjoying six-month multiple-entry visas, with many making use of the privilege to visit the family in India on holidays.

Sanatan Dharma And Arya Samaj Conference Held In New Delhi , India

Source http://www.hinduismtoday.com
Wednesday,April 28,2010 

NEW DELHI, INDIA, April 18, 2010, By Rajiv Malik: In a unique, significant and unprecedented move a large number of leaders, religious and political activists, intellectuals and scholars of Sanatan Dharma and Arya Samaj from all over India gathered together in New Delhi’s prestigious FICCI auditorium on Saturday, April 17th, 2010 with the aim of strengthening Hinduism and discussing some of the challenges and issues that face Hindu society in present times. These delegates had assembled to participate in the day long 29th National Sanatan Dharma Mahasammelan organized by Akhil Bhartiya Sanatan Dharma Pratinidhi Sammelan, an organisation founded by veteran Hindu leader and freedom fighter Late Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya.

Over one thousand delegates seated in the jam packed auditorium, including a large number of women and youth passed the following resolutions with the raising of their hands, voice vote and clapping of hands.

Among to the resolutions, there was a proposal for the Delhi Government should create a board on the lines of Vaishno Devi Board to manage some of the ancient temples of Delhi which were in a bad shape, the first resolution proposed by Goswami ji. Others included: holy rivers like the Ganga and the Yamuna should be cleaned with the participation of people; women should be allowed to study the Vedas and participate in Yagnas; India’s Supreme Court’s decision on construction of unauthorized places of religion should be followed in letter and spirit; Sadhus who bring a bad name to the Hindu religion by their misdeeds should be boycotted by the Hindu masses; holy men appearing on television offering miraculous remedies for diseases just by the touch of their hands should be exposed as they were mostly trying to misguide the devotees; Hindus should go to temples more often with their children so that they can get good samskars.

A Penance for World Peace through ‘Maha Kumbh Mela’ India

Source: sify.com
Wednesday,April 28,2010

HARIDWAR, INDIA, : As millions of religious-minded are visiting the ongoing ‘Maha Kumbh Mela’ or, the biggest religious bathing fair in Haridwar city of Uttarakhand, many holy men have drawn the devotee’s attention.

One of such holy men is Swami Vijayananda. Everyday he hangs himself upside-down for eight hours on bonfire, his way of performing penance for world peace. He says he will continue meditating in this manner for 21 days. “This (tapas position) is a throne on which I am meditating remembering the Lord which might help to create world peace and also protect human emotions,” Vijayananda Maharaj said.

The Kumbh Mela began on January 14 and will continue untill April 28 this year.

Pakistani Hindus and Sikhs families demand for Visa-free-Zone between India and Pakistan

Source http://www.hindustantimes.com
Tuesday,April 27,2010

AMRITSAR : Pakistan based hundreds of  Hindu and Sikh families want visa free zone between India and Pakistan so that people living on both sides could visit their nears and dears frequently.

"Hundreds of Hindu and Sikh families, living in Pakistan for more than seven decades, approached me and expressed the desire to visit their relatives frequently in India. But visa problem restrain them all the time," Ramesh Singh, founder chairman of Pakistan Sikh Council, said.

Singh, who is presently leading a delegation of 150 Hindus and Sikhs, is staying at the guesthouse of the Golden Temple.

"Majority of Hindu and Sikh families are settled in Karachi. It is nearly 1,000 km away from Islamabad where one has to travel for visa. Pilgrim visa fee for India is just Rs 15 but travel expenses from Karachi to Islamabad and hotel stay is highly expensive," he said.

It is also not assured that one will get visa in a single visit as two or three visits are sometimes required due to want of mandatory documents in the Indian embassy.

"Most of the families marry their children in India and that is why every Hindu and Sikh family in Pakistan desire visa-free visit to India and similarly for the people living across the border on Indian side," Singh said.

The Attari land transit route near the Indo-Pakistan border was best suited for the creation of such a visa-free zone, he said.

Champa, a female member of the delegation, said: "My birth place is Pakistan but most of my relatives are settled in India. We want both Indian and Pakistan governments should allow people like us (to) be given a visa-free zone or provided lifetime visa."

Other members of the delegation also held similar views that a visa-free zone will help them reconnect with their Indian relatives.

Pakistani Hindus take holy dip, immerse ashes of kin in Ganga at Maha Kumbh , India

Source http://www.tribuneindia.com
Tuesday,April 27,2010

(Surendra Kumar Billa, national head of the Hindu Rashtriya Sewa Samiti, and Pakistani Hindu delegation representative Govind Ram Makhija in Haridwar.)

Haridwar,India : While the alliance of tennis star Sania Mirza with Pakistani international cricketer Shoaib Malik is on everyone’s lips nowadays, in the Maha Kumbh, another Indian-Pakistani connection is hogging the limelight bridging the gap between the two neighbours.

A 240-odd pilgrim group of Pakistani Hindus has come to take a holy dip in the Ganga besides visiting several other shrines.

The pilgrim entourage was organised by the Shadadi Sewa Mandal, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, which comprised Pakistani Hindus led by Sevadar Bhai Jayram Das and 300 Indian pilgrims from Chhattisgarh led by Sant Yudhistarlal.

From Punjab, Sindh and Baluchistan, the Hindu delegation performed rituals during their visit. They have a month-long visa starting from March 5 and will be visiting religious places across India during this period.

Spiritually satisfied with their Indian visit, the pilgrims from across the border were quite impressed by the warmth and hospitality shown to them by people at all places they visited in India.

But a singular problem nagged them at all places. Many dharamshalas and rest houses did not accommodate them as they were from Pakistan, but some after police verification did welcome them.

Govind Ram Makhija, chief representative of the group, said that a Pakistani Hindu is as religiously committed as an Indian Hindu and asked how could a religious Hindu betray his brothers.

“Relations only foster with trust and that is true for both nations. Just being a citizen of Pakistan or India shouldn’t make one a traitor. Both governments should take steps to ensure that this discrimination doesn’t happen again,” said a sad Govind.

A dharamshala manager, on condition of anonymity, said that they didn’t have any bias towards the delegation, but even normally, police verification was essential for Pakistani or American nationals. “Otherwise, we could be roughed up later,” he said.

“To make sure we don’t get entangled in police investigation, specially during Maha Kumbh, we initially didn’t allow them admittance, but after getting clarification from the administration, we provided them with extra rooms so that they didn’t have further problems,” said the manager.

Darshan Nihal of the organising Shadadi Mandal said the Pakistani Hindu delegation had come to take a holy dip at the Maha Kumbh and were elated on being in the Kumbh city.

Apart from visiting religious places, the delegation had also brought ashes of 25 deceased relatives to immerse in the Ganga. This aspect again highlights the religious significance of the Ganga in Hinduism and the following of this custom by Pakistani Hindus proved their devotion towards their religion.

They also said that contrary to the common perception, the situation of Hindus in Pakistan was improving and Hindus were getting their due in society. In Pakistani Parliament, Hindus had 12-odd parliamentary representatives and recently, they had boycotted the proceedings of Parliament when a Pakistani judge questioned the integrity of Pakistani Hindus towards Pakistan.

Also in defence and government services, Hindus were being given representation. There were several temples in Pakistan and many were being built with no one raising any objections.

Jay Prakash Dolimal, a visitor, said the Haridwar-Rishikesh visit gave them solace and such trips did bring the two nations closer.

Pakistani Hindus carve a niche in jutti manufacturing in Rajasthan , India

Source http://www.tribuneindia.com
Tuesday,April 27,2010

(Suresh Kumar at work in his shop)

Rajasthan : When Harchand Ram, along with a number of Hindu families descended on this sleepy village situated on Sriganganagar-Hindumalkot road, from Pakistan about 18 years ago, they faced huge problems pertaining to social and economic aspects.

For a few months, they had to survive on the help extended to them by 35 Hindu families, which migrated to this place in 1971from Pakistan.

Today, Harchand Ram and members of families of his brothers are not only famous in this region of Rajasthan but in other parts of India and in countries like Canada, England and the United States (US).

“People come to buy juttis, from places like the US, Canada, England, Australia and New Zealand whenever they come to India on vacation or other occasions,” said Harchand Ram adding that they had been manufacturing juttis with embroidery over its upper area with Jari, Tilla and silk thread.

“Even senior civil and police officials of Northern India have become our permanent customers. We have manufactured juttis for the chief ministers of Rajasthan, leading politicians of the country and for a section of Bollywood stars,” he claimed.

However, they are disappointed as they think they are being treated as second class citizens despite the fact that they have been granted Indian citizenship many years ago.

2007 Samjauta Express Blast , Pakistani Hindus victims shift to Delhi for cure , India

Source http://www.siasat.com
Monday,April 26,2010

New Delhi, April 26: The Capital has become the new home for two Pakistani Hindus whose lives went off track after the blast on the Samjhauta Express in 2007.

Wounded in the blast, Ramesh Kumar ( 42) and his nephew Ashok ( 30) have moved to Delhi along with their families.

The two, who hail from Sialkot in Pakistan, are seeking treatment in the Capital’s Safdarjung Hospital.

Ashok has been undergoing treatment for burns for the past one and a half years at the hospital’s burns, plastic and maxillofacial surgery department.

“ We were admitted to the Safdarjung Hospital after the Samjhauta blast. We were given first aid. Then I was sent to Pakistan in an unconscious state. When I regained consciousness, I realised I was in Lahore,” Ashok said.

For more than a year after the incident, Ashok approached government hospitals in Pakistan for treatment.

“ Some doctors and relatives suggested I move to India as the quality of medical facilities here is better,” he said. Ashok decided to return to the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi.

“ In the past one year, the doctors here have performed two surgeries on my right hand. I can finally move it,” he said. The doctors may perform a third surgery, on his left hand, in October.

“ Ashok needs a graft and a complex surgery on his left hand to help it function normally,” said Dr Sujata Sarabhai, senior plastic surgeon at the Safdarjung Hospital.

Ashok has come across strangers who have donated money and food, and facilitated his treatment in the city. But life has not been easy. “ My siblings study in a school in Tughlaqabad while my mother stays at home. My father abandoned us after the tragedy,” he said.

Eking out a living is difficult for Ashok, who was a web designer in Sialkot, because his hands got burnt in the blast. “ I cannot work on a computer now,” he said.

Ramesh followed his nephew to Delhi six months ago.

He underwent a tissue expansion surgery at New Hospital, Lahore. “ But there was no streamlined treatment in Pakistan.

So I came here,” said Ramesh, who lives on the compensation given by the Indian government to the blast victims.

Both Ashok and Ramesh have acquired five- year visas from the Indian government for medical treatment.

---Agencies

15 year Hindu girl kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam in Punjab , Pakistan

Source http://www.expressindia.com
Source http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com
Monday,April 26,2010

 (Rahimyar Khan, Punjab, Pakistan)

PAKISTAN : Islamabad A Hindu girl from Punjab province was kidnapped and forced to convert to Islam and is currently being held in a madrassa, leading Pakistani rights activist Ansar Burney said today.

Burney said his rights organisation, the Ansar Burney Trust International, had learnt that 15-year-old Gajri, the daughter of Mengha Ram, was abducted by a Muslim neighbour from her home at Katchi Mandi, Liaquatpur, in Rahim Yar Khan district on December 21, 2009.

Gajri's parents later found out that she was beingheld captive in a madrassa or seminary in southern Punjab and that she had been married and converted to Islam, Burney said.

The local administration is "refusing to respond to the abduction" of the girl, who is not being allowed to leave the madrassa or to speak to her parents, he said.

Burney, a former human rights minister, condemned the forceful conversion of the Hindu girl and demanded her immediate release.

"Pakistan is a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which oblige authorities to protect religious minorities under international law," he said.

According to Ansar Burney Trust, on 21 December 2009 Gajri disappeared from the home of her Hindu parents in southern Punjab.

On December 26 last year, the local police station in Gajri’s hometown received a letter with an affidavit from madrassa that said she had "embraced Islam and had married her neighbour Mohammad Salim", Burney said.

The letter did not enclose a marriage certificate, he said.

Police did not immediately inform Gajri's parents about the letter even though they had tried to file a First Information Report after she had gone missing.

The parents were discouraged from doing so by police, Burney said.

Mengha Ram and his wife then contacted the vice president of the National Peace Committee for Interfaith Harmony, Ramesh Jay Pal.

With his help, the parents met the priest in charge of Darul-Uloom Madrassa in Khanpur, Maulana Abdul Hafeez.

Hafeez reportedly told the parents that Gajri had "embraced Islam and was not allowed to meet her parents".

In January this year, the parents of Gajri again tried to file a case of abduction against their neighbour and the madrassa but their application was refused by district police chief Imtiaz Gul.

He allegedly told them that he had no power to intervene in matters of religious conversion and that their daughter was now the "property of the madrassa", Burney said.

Burney said Gajri is a minor and "cannot arbitrarily be removed from the custody of her parents".

He urged President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Punjab Governor Salman Taseer to intervene to ensure Gajri's released.

NOTE From EDITOR - Gopinath Kumar (PHP) Where is the so-called equality in pakistan, when one person is being forced to convert to Islam against their will.

There is "no compulsion in religion" (Qur'an 2:256), as Islamic apologists in the West forever remind us. Yet when manifestations of Islamic supremacism such as the kidnapping and brutalizing of Gajri become public, those apologists are curiously silent. "'Hindu girl forced to convert to Islam,'" from ExpressIndia, April 23 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Daily Inspiration from Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

By Gopinath Kumar (PHP)
Monday,April 26,2010

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountaintop, then you shall begin to climb. And when the Earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance. Should we all confess our sins to one another, we would all laugh at one another for our lack of originality. Should we all reveal our virtues, we would also laugh for the same cause.

Saint Kabir (1440-1518)

Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus) demand their inclusion in Kashmir talks , India

Source http://www.ptinews.com
Monday,April 26,2010

Srinagar,  (PTI) Kashmiri Pandits today demanded that they be included as constituents in the Centre-proposed political dialogue on resolving Kashmir issue.

"Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) must receive equal consideration as full-fledged constituents in the political dialogue that the Centre plans to hold with various Kashmir entities," a spokesman of the community told PTI after its delegation met a visiting team of the European Union here.

It also accused Centre and state governments of neglecting both the non-migrant and migrant groups of the community in the process.

KPs leaders like M L Bhat of Hindu Welfare Society, Vinod Pandit of All Party Migrant Coordination Committee and Sanjay K Tickoo of Kashmir Pandit Sangarsh Samiti told the EU team to persuade the Centre to resolve the Kashmir issue through dialogue, the spokesman said.

Daily Inspiration from Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

By Gopinath Kumar (PHP)
Monday,April 26,2010

Source: www.hinduismtoday.com
Alas for me, I cannot rest. This floating bubble, Earth. Its hollow form, its hollow name, its hollow death and birth. For me is nothing. How I long to get beyond the crust of name and form! Ah, open the gates; to me they open must. Open the gates of Light, O Mother to me, Thy tired son. I long, oh, long to return home! Mother, my play is done. My play is done.
 Swami Vivekananda, 20th century monk who brought Hinduism to the West

Hindu (Dalits) demand their rights in Sindh , Pakistan

Source http://www.centralasiaonline.com
Tuesday,April 20,2010

Pakistan has nearly 4m Hindus, 75% of whom are Dalits. About 70 Dalit families have moved from Aakli to the plains near Mithi, where they are protesting the abduction of their women and demanding security.

THARPARKAR, Pakistan – Long accustomed to discrimination, Pakistan's Hindu Dalits are fighting a new form of harassment that is driving them from their ancestral villages in the Tharparkar District of Sindh.

About 70 Dalit families have left to protest the growing incidence of kidnapping of their young women. The kidnapping typically leads to rape or forced conversion to Islam and marriage.

That fate befell a 15-year-old Dalit girl, Daya, recently, the Dalits say. Kidnappers snatched and forcibly converted her, after which a local Muslim landlord, Mumtaz Hangorio, married her, said Arjan Meghawar, a Dalit.

"Daya ... was kidnapped when the entire family was asleep", he told Central Asia Online. "They were told that she converted to Islam in a local madrassa".

Her family have been unable to see her, he said, calling that situation typical for the families of such kidnapping victims.

"The kidnappers have ordered the Dalit community to stay quiet; otherwise, they will abduct more girls", Meghawar said.

He rejected the claim that the girl converted voluntarily.

"First, Daya is only 15", he said, "which means she is not legally eligible to marry; second, she was not produced in any court to record her statement in this regard". The minimum age for marriage in Pakistan is 16.

Daya was the second Dalit girl victimised by men from the majority community, according to the Dalits. Local men kidnapped and gang-raped Kasturi, 17, on January 24, said Veerjee, head of the Kohli Association.

The abductors are "local bigwigs belonging to the ruling Pakistan People's Party, who are now issuing threats to keep the Dalit community silent", he said.

Kasturi's parents have paid a price for disregarding such threats and complaining to the police, he said; even the police are now harassing them.

"Even though (rape) is a nonbailable offence", Veerjee said, "the local court granted bail to the accused". Kasturi and her family had to flee their village because the suspects threatened them, he added.

Section 365-B of the penal code allows only higher courts, not local ones, to grant bail to those suspected of "kidnapping ... any woman" with forced marriage or sexual intercourse in mind, Arshad Malah, a legal scholar, told Central Asia Online.

Fed up with injustice and fearful for their safety, the fleeing Dalit families (about 400 individuals) have abandoned the village of Aakli and relocated to the plains near Mithi, said Hot Chand Toghani, a social activist with the Thardeep Rural Development Programme.

The government could do more to help them, he said. It has only "distributed 100 application forms for the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP)", he told Central Asia Online.

The government is doing its best to protect the Dalits, replied Shaarjeel Memon, a member of parliament representing Tharparkar from the ruling party.

"The district government has been directed to establish houses for them and provide food and water", he told Central Asia Online. "They'll be receiving aid money from the BISP very soon. We are trying to convince them to end their protest and return to their villages".

That idea doesn't sit well with some aggrieved Dalits.

"No one can imagine how difficult it is to leave one's ancestral village", said 70-year-old Mehendero Meghawar. "But we've decided not to go back".

Kidnapping brides from the Dalits and forcibly converting them are common abuses, said Sono Khangharani, a Dalit social worker who pins the blame for such acts on local landlords and other influential residents.

"The Dalits are the poorest of the poor and are discriminated against daily, even though the Pakistani constitution promises equal rights to all", he said.

Khangharani is the first Dalit to receive a governmental award. President Asif Ali Zardari named him a recipient of the Thamgha-e-Imtiaz civilian honour in August 2009.

Pakistan has nearly 4m Hindus, 75% of whom are Dalits.

Dalits encounter discrimination from both Muslims and higher-caste Hindus, Khangharani told Central Asia Online. The Dalits' "untouchability" bars them from accessing public places.

"Neither Hindu nor Muslim barbers will shave Dalits or give them a haircut", he said. "Hindus and Muslims won't eat food prepared by the Dalits, either. Such practises concerning untouchability are very common in Sindh".

Islam not only forbids forced conversion and forced marriage, it mandates equal treatment of all religious minorities, said Mufti Wali Khan Almuzaffar, a prominent Islamic scholar. Islam has no concept of untouchability and the idea of an untouchable social class comes entirely from tradition and myth, he added.

172 Sikhs shrines to be opened for pilgrims in Pakistan

Source http://www.zeenews.com
Tuesday,April 20,2010

This a picture of Gurdwara in Nankana Sahib,PAKISTAN

Moga: Pakistan government has, in principle, agreed to open almost all the 172 gurdwaras in the country in a phased manner for pilgrims, a religious organisation claimed today.

The Pakistan Government has also agreed to get vacated 34 gurdwaras encroached by the locals, Sohan Singh, vice president of the Bhai Mardana Yadgari Kirtan Darbar Society who is currently on a pilgrimage of Sikh shrines in Pakistan with a delegation, told PTI over phone.

Singh said he had talks with Pakistan's Chief Parliamentary Secretary Ramesh Lal, Pakistan Wakf Board Chairman Aasai Hasmi and Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee chief Sham Singh.

After their renovation, these Sikh shrines will be handed over to the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee, he said.

About 50 ft wide and two km long corridor from Gurdwara Kartapur Sahib to Dera Baba Nanak has already been completed and the remaining one kilometre stretch upto border would be completed within three month, Singh said.

PTI

Ramanavami+Hanuman Jayanti Books Distribution Karachi Hanuman Mandir/Temple , Pakistan

From: Sanjesh (PHP Reportor of Karachi Division)
Date: 2010/4/10
Subject: Ramanavami+Hanuman Jayanti Books Distribution Karachi Hanuman Mandir/Temple , Pakistan
To: Gopinatha Kumar (PHP Editor)

Dear Gopinath Bhai,

These are he new pics of BOOK

Regards,

SANJESH

Ramanavami+Hanuman Jayanti Books Title Design !!! , For Pakistan

By Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)
Tuesday,April 20,2010

Introduction to Rama Navami (Devanāgarī: राम नवमी) also known as Sri Rama Navami (IAST SriRāma-navamī) is a Hindu festival, celebrating the birth of Lord Rama to King Dasharatha and Queen Kausalya of Ayodhya. Rama is the 7th incarnation of the Dashavatara of Vishnu. The festival falls in the Shukla Paksha on the Navami, the ninth day of the month of Chaitra in the Hindu calendar. Thus it is also known as Chaitra Masa Suklapaksha Navami, and marks the end of the nine-day Chaitra-Navratri celebrations.

Introduction to Hanuman Jayanti is celebrated to commemorate the birth of Hanuman, the Vanara god, widely venerated throughout World. It is celebrated during the month of Chaitra.

Hanuman is an ardent devotee of Lord Rama, and is worshipped for his unflinching devotion to the God. From early morning, devotees flock Hanuman temples to worship him.

Bangladesh Hindus allege land grabbing by ruling party members

Source http://www.zeenews.com
Tuesday,April 20,2010

Dhaka: Minority Hindus in a Bangladeshi district have alleged that some ruling Awami League leaders are trying to grab their land, even as a judicial investigation is underway to examine identical complaints during the previous regime of Khaleda Zia.

"Since the incumbent government assumed office (after December 29, 2008 elections), ruling party lawmaker Anwar Hossain is trying to grab our lands," one of the victims Subhash Chandra Debnath told agency today.

He added, "We have strong reasons to believe that ruling party lawmaker Anwar Hossain and local municipal chairman Rafiuddin Ahmed Ferdous, also an influential Awami League leader, and the party?s student front leader Ashrafur Rahman are behind the attempts of land grabbing."

Debnath's comments came as the mass circulation Jugantor newspaper and several other dailies today carried statements of the victims saying some 100 Hindu families at the Mathbaria sub-district of Pirozpur were passing days in fright as the politically influential quarters created a "reign of terror" to uproot them from the area.

Debnath and another local journalist Gautam Saha said during the past one and half years the "politically influential terrorists" set ablaze a shop owned by a Hindu resident, critically injured another member of the community, harassed several women and threatened several others if the pieces of lands were not handed over to them.

"An unholy quarter is involved in the process. They are very influential," Debnath said, adding that several Hindu families were planning to leave the country to take refuge in India while at least one Hindu family already migrated to the neighbouring country.

The allegations came as a judicial enquiry committee headed by a senior judge was recording statements of the particularly the minority people in the southwestern districts as they were exposed to identical repressions during the past Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led four party government with fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami being its key partner.

The repression on minority Hindus at that time sparked wide protests while the ruling Awami League of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had promised to expose the culprits of communal repression to justice in her election manifesto.

Economist and general secretary of Bangladesh Economic Association Abul Barakat in a study in 2007 found politically powerful people grabbed most of the land during the BNP-led regime from 2001 to 2006.

Hindus Celebrate Women’s Day 2010 in the UK

Source: www.mandir.org
Tuesday,April 20,2010

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Europe’s first traditional Hindu temple (London)

UNITED KINGDOM, April 11, 2010: BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) observed International Women’s Day 2010 in the UK with a month-long initiative, culminating on the weekend of 10-11 April with an inspirational conference entitled Celebrating Women: Past, Present & Future.

The key objective of the conference was to celebrate the achievements of women and inspire them to fulfill their potential in all aspects of life, especially related to their family, career and faith. Specifically, the conference celebrated the achievements of women in the past, drew inspiration from outstanding women in the present, and encouraged them to build an even brighter future for everyone.

One of the notable features of the conference was Haridarshan, a theatrical musical production introducing the inspirational Hindu characters of Maitreyi, Shabri, Draupadi, Mirabai, and female devotees of Bhagwan Swaminarayan. It was flawlessly delivered by a cast and crew of over 180.

Palestinians Test Out Gandhi-Style Protest

Source http://news.bbc.co.uk
Tuesday,April 20,2010

UNITED KINGDOM: About 40 mainly Palestinian protesters face off with a line of armed Israeli soldiers over coils of razor wire. They calmly explain they want access to land Israel has confiscated to build its West Bank barrier. Chanting begins, followed by impassioned speeches in Hebrew, English and Arabic. “You soldiers standing here, blocking Palestinians from walking on their own land, you need to think about what you’re doing,” lectures one young woman. “What will you tell your children?” asks an older man.

Beit Jala is one of a growing number of Palestinian villages holding regular protests against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. But organizers in Beit Jala, such as Ahmad Lazza of the Holy Land Trust who trains protesters in non-violent tactics, are determined to keep things peaceful. This is partly out of personal belief, and partly about avoiding escalation with Israeli soldiers.

In the past, Mr Lazza says, Palestinians had a “bad impression” of non-violent resistance, which had become associated with pacifism and concessions to Israel. But recently, he has seen “a big change”.

Palestinian Authority (PA) officials have started attending protests, holding up regular demonstrations in the villages of Bilin and Naalin as models of “popular resistance”, and calling on Palestinians to boycott goods produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Martin Luther King III, the eldest son of the American civil rights activist, is visiting Ramallah on Wednesday, a week after one of the grandsons of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi. Rajmohan Gandhi spoke passionately about his grandfather’s belief in non-violent struggle to a packed hall, urging Palestinians to appeal to the principles of justice in Judaism. “Never, never, never, never lose your patience,” he entreated. “Never lose your faith in ultimate victory.”

Ex-Hindus Believer harassed,abused and beaten by Muslims in Pakistan

Source http://www.persecution.com
Monday,April 19,2010

PAKISTAN : Christians who have left Hinduism and accepted Christ have been harassed, verbally abused and beaten by Muslims in Pakistan, according to VOM contacts. 

On Sept. 11, 2009, “Mahir,” a VOM contact in Pakistan, distributed 200 VOM Action Packs, 200 Triumphant Church books and 55 New Testaments to Hindu tribal people in Pakistan. That day, five Hindus were baptized in a water tube that supplies water to nearby fields. “On the same evening, 15 fanatic Muslims, including Muhammad Akram Muhammad Aslam, Muhammad Nadeem and their fellows came to Mahir and verbally abused her and stopped her visiting this village,” VOM contacts said. [The Muslims] said, “You used our water supply system to give a bath to your Christians. Now that water is unholy; our crops and fields will be destroyed.”

Later that night, the Muslims visited Kishan, a Hindu background Christian, and threatened him. They said, “If you want to convert, you should choose Islam. This way you could get some gifts as well, but why did you convert to Christianity?”

Kishan shared his testimony with the Muslim men and told them the wonderful changes Christ had brought to his life. “For four years my daughter Aster was demon possessed; everybody knows that many times she was in a critical situation,” he told them. “I met with Mahir for three months, from June to August 2009. She prayed for my daughter Aster, and she received healing.

The men did not harm Kishan, but Muslim extremists later attacked and beat Kishan’s son “Hassan.” The Muslims threatened Hassan, saying, “Islam is the only option you have to convert. Why did you choose to accept Christianity? Get lost from here; otherwise we will burn you and your house.”

VOM contacts said.