Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

Daily Inspiration from Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

2011-06-13T20:49:00.000-07:00

By Gopinath Kumar (editor-in-chief)
Monday, June 13, 2011

(Photo : Studio photo of Anandamayi Ma, India )

Enquire: 'Who am I?' and you will find the answer. Look at a tree: from one seed arises a huge tree; from it comes numerous seeds, each one of which in its turn grows into a tree. No two fruits are alike. Yet it is one life that throbs in every particle of the tree. So, it is the same atman everywhere.
-- Sri Anandamayi Ma (1896-1982), Bengali mystic

Muslims Put Up Water Stalls During Lord Hanuman Puja, India

2011-06-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Monday, June 13, 2011

(Photo : Purana Hanumaan Mandir in Lucknow, India )

LUCKNOW, INDIA, May 25, 2011: Traditional water stalls do not discriminate between any religion. As per the traditions, Muslims set up water stalls at prominent places in the city while they also queued up to have prasad and cold drinks during this Hindu Festival. Lucknow celebrates Bada Mangal as a reverence to Lord Hanuman wherein people from all walks of life set up stalls offering water, cold drinks and sweets to the denizens. The trend continues for all the four Tuesdays in the month of Jyestha in the Hindu calendar.

Praising the spirit of Lucknow, historian Roshan Taqui opined that Muslims and Hindus have always been in forefront in celebrating and extending a helping hand in each other's festivities. "The most visible example is the Purana Hanuman Mandir in Aliganj. A crescent over its dome symbolises Hindu-Muslim unity," he said. It is believed that the temple was built after the mother of a Muslim ruler had a dream telling her to build a temple to Lord Hanuman. "Still today we can find Muslims putting up stalls of flowers used for offerings outside various temples of the city," said Taqui.

Hindus also set up stalls during Muslim festivals. "We support the water stalls on Bada Mangal and our Hindu brethren put up water stalls during Muharram. It is the spirit and tradition of Lucknow. There is no religious discrimination. Our religion also stresses on offering water to the thirsty," remarked spokesperson, All India Shia Personal Law Board, Maulana Yasoob Abbas.

Indian Government Approves First Caste Census In 80 Years

2011-06-13T20:39:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Monday, June 13, 2011

( Photo : India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh )

NEW DELHI, INDIA, May 19, 2011 (Voa News): For the first time in 80 years, India is planning a detailed survey of religious and caste affiliation. Castes in India are part of a traditional Hindu system of social categorization and are believed to have an impact on the economic fortunes of the population. Leaders say having detailed caste data can help them better target social programs.

Indian officials plan to distribute questionnaires about caste and religious affiliation during June and July, alongside efforts to count those Indians who are living below a government-set poverty line. This is the first concrete plan by the Indian government to collect caste affiliation data since 1931, prior to the country's independence from the British.

N. Bhaskara Rao is one of India's most experienced and respected demographic researchers. He says the caste survey has two well-intentioned aims. "One is to establish a more reliable estimate," he said. "The second is, those who are not represented, those who have not yet gotten on to the power structure - to bring them into the fold of power."

Ancient Hindu scripture outlines four basic social classifications, along with a fifth class of so-called "untouchables," now known as Dalits, who were at the bottom of the hierarchy and traditionally performed society's most menial jobs. The reality is far more complex, with thousands of sub-groupings weaving an intricate hierarchy of socially perceived roles.

India's post-independence constitution set a goal of eliminating caste-based discrimination. Modern Indian governments have taken a more practical approach - seeking to target job quotas, food subsidies, and other social programs at lower-caste Indians. Supporters of a caste census says the data it generates will be crucial in tailoring such programs.

Twelve Thousand Hindu Couples Tie The Knot In Mass Marriages Across Andhra Pradesh, India

2011-06-13T20:31:00.000-07:00

By Staff
Monday, June 13, 2011

(Photo : Priests perform rituals during a mass marriage of 175 couples at Lalitha Kala Thoranam in Hyderabad on Friday, India)

HYDERABAD, INDIA, May 21, 2011: The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, lauded the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) trust for organizing a mass marriage for poor people. About 12,000 couples across Andhra Pradesh entered into wedlock yesterday as part of the sixth phase of mass marriages by TTD.

Amid the chanting of Vedic hymns, the marriages were performed in various towns of the state between 9.52am and 10.04am, the auspicious time set by pundits.

TTD, which manages the affairs of the famous Tirumala temple, spent about US$155 on each couple, providing them wedding apparel, mangala sutra (chain), silver toe rings for brides, and food for 60 guests from both sides.

The temple body has so far performed marriages of 46,000 couples under Kalyanotsavam, launched four years ago, to strengthen the Hindu marriage system and to help the poor Hindu families perform marriages of their children in accordance with Hindu traditions.

Rally for Hindu leader in Hyderbad, Pakistan

2011-05-26T18:13:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Thursday, May 26, 2011

(Photo : Protest Rally Against fake Murder Case on Veerji Kolhi, Pakistan)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Abbas Kassar
Date: Wed, May 25, 2011 at 12:07 AM
Subject: rally for Hindu leader in hyd
To: Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

DEMO AGAINST FALSE CASE ON A MINORITY LEADER
BY ABBAS KASSAR
HYDERABAD, May 25, 2011: Civil society along with Hindu communities of
Kolhi, Bheel Meghwar and others took out rally in Hyderabad against
registration of false murder case on Hindu leader and noted social
worker Veerji Kolhi at Nagarparkar police station on behest of an
influential Wadera. The activists of various civil society
organizations took out rally from city gate hotel on national highway
to press club where the leaders addressed it. Hundreds of men and
women participated in rally. They were chanting slogans to withdraw
false case against Veerji Kolhi. Those who addressed the rally before
press club Hyderabad included Punhal Saryo of Sindh Hari Porhyat
Council, Zulfiqar Shah of SPO, Jabbar Bhatti, M. Parkash of Pakistan
Liberal Forum, Javed Soz Halai, Dr. Ashothama Sindh coordinator of
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Shafiq Kandhro, Abbas Khoso,
Kashif Bajiee, professor Amar Sindhu of Aurat Foundation, advocate
Bhagwandas Bheel, Pahlaj Kolhi, Veersi Kolhi and Mukesh Meghwar. They
said that Veerji Kolhi is a noted social worker who had done a
labourious struggle for human rights. He had carried an arduous
struggle last year for getting justice for the rape victim Hindu girl
Kishwari. His such activities proved thorn in eyes of Waderas who are
used to commit atrocities with the minority people men and women.
Being infuriated the influential Waderas who are involved in
atrocities against Hindus including committing rape on their women
arranged registration of false murder case against Veerji Kolhi only
to remove him from the path of right. They said that on the day FIR at
Nanagarparkar police station was lodged Veerji was in Hyderabad having
meeting with civil society.They said that the human rights activists
cannot be bowed by such false cases. They demanded judicial inquiry of
this case and demanded to punish police officers who had lodged case
on behest of Waderas. Otherwise they warned to extend the scope of
protest in whole country.
Ends

PAKISTAN: Young Hindu was abducted from police station by a religious mob and his whereabouts are unknown. Police refuse to investigate

2011-05-19T17:27:00.000-07:00

By Mohammad S.Solanki (executive editor)
Thursday, May 19, 2011

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Krishna Kumar
Date: Thu, May 19, 2011 at 2:26 PM
Subject: PAKISTAN: Young Hindu was abducted from police station by a religious mob and his whereabouts are unknown. Police refuse to investigate
To: publicmail@president.gov.pk

Dear Mr. Asif Ali Zardari,

PAKISTAN: Young Hindu was abducted from police station by a religious mob and his whereabouts are unknown. Police refuse to investigate

Name of victims:
1.Mr. Mohabat Mal (22) son of Veero Mal, resident of Darhio Colony, opposite Tahir Hotel, Ring Road Mirpurkhas, Sindh province
2. Mr. Veero Mal, father of the victim, resident of Darhio Colony, opposite Tahir Hotel, Ring Road Mirpurkhas, Sindh province
3. Mr. Pyro Mal, maternal uncle of the victim, resident of Darhio Colony, opposite Tahir Hotel, Ring Road Mirpurkhas, Sindh province
4. Mr. Parro Mal, maternal uncle of victim, resident of Darhio Colony, opposite Tahir Hotel, Ring Road Mirpurkhas, Sindh province

Names of alleged perpetrators:
1.Maulvi Ahtesham Pathan, Pesh Imam (mosque leader) of Madani Masjid, Mirpurkhas, Sindh province
2. Maulvi Iftekhar Punjabi, resident of Madani Masjid, Mirpurkhas, Sindh province
3. Maulvi Maqsood Punjabi, resident of Madani Masjid, Mirpurkhas, Sindh province
4. Inspector Javed Pathan, station House Office (SHO), Satellite town police station, Mirpurkhas, Sindh province
5. Mr. Kanwar Singh Thakur, deputy superintendent of police (DSP), Mirpurkhas, Sindh province
6. Mr. Riaz Ahmed Soomro, district police officer (DPO) Mirpurkhas district, Sindh province
Date of incident: August 13, 2010
Place of incident: Satellite Town, Mirpurkhas, Sindh province

I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the abduction and rape of a young Hindu man by a Muslim fundamentalist group and the indifferent attitude of the district police of Mirpurkhas to take legal action against the perpetrators.

I am shocked to know that a group from Madani Masjid (mosque) under the leadership of its Pesh Imam (mosque leader) abducted a young Hindu in order to force him to convert his religion. The victim was raped during his nine monthâ€™s captivity and was forced to sign plain papers that he has left the Hindu religion and converted to Islam. This practice had been common now for many years in the some areas of Sindh province bordering India where a sizable Hindu community live and are from scheduled castes.

I want to bring in your attention the case of Mr. Mohabat Mal son of Veero Mal, resident of Darhio Colony, opposite Tahir Hotel, Ring Road Mirpurkhas, Sindh province, was pursued by a group of Muslim religious leaders of the Madani mosque, Mirpurkhas, on August 13, 2010, the first day of holy month of Ramadan, to change his religion as they wanted to arrange his marriage with a girl from the Muslim community and would also provide a good social status as he was from Dalit community, a scheduled cast section of the Hindu religion. Mohabat Mal went along with Maulvi Ahtesham Patham, the leader of the mosque and his two accomplices, Maulvi Iftekhar Punjabi and Maqsood Punjabi. The victim was forced to sign the plain papers for his conversion. After some resistance from him the man was locked in the house of Ahtesham, adjacent to the mosque.

I am also informed that on April 4, 2011 he managed to run away from their custody and reached his house where he told his parents that he was abducted and sodomised by the Mosque leader and he was forced to sign plain papers and was declared as Muslim. The parents tried to file a complaint in the police station but some policemen informed the mosque leader. The mosque leader with more than 100 persons attacked his house and threatened the parents that they would face more trouble if they ever try to file the case. In the meanwhile Mohabat Mal contacted one Hindu community based human rights organization at Hyderabad, 70 kilometers from his city, the Mirpurkhas, to help him. The organization managed a lawyer who prepared a petition for Sindh High Court, Hyderabad, against his forced conversion of religion and his rape during his nine months of captivity. One day before the filing of the petition more than hundred people under the leadership of Pathan and other perpetrators attacked his house in Mirpukhas and the family was made hostage. The family was forced to contact Mohabat to surrender himself to them. The family also contacted police and police officials including the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Satellite Police Station, Mirpurkhas. Inspector Javed Pathan, assured the family that if victim surrender to the police then they will take him before the session court and record his statement. On police assurance he was contacted the next day by the parents to come to the house and present himself to the police. At this time he was at the high court to file the petition against the rapist and abductors but he left quickly to attend his family and record his statement. On the same day, May 12, he went to police station where a big mob amounting to hundreds of people were gathered outside. The police took him inside the police station to record his statement before producing him in sessionâ€™s court. Mosque leader, Ahtesham Pathan, delivered a fiery speech outside the police station and suddenly the mob entered the police station and took him out by passing overhead from hand to hand.

I am distressed to learn the police provided the lame excuse for failing to take action by saying that he is Muslim and the agitators will produce him before the sessionâ€™s court. The police once again when confronted by religious extremists remained silent spectators. The District Police Officer (DPO), Mr. Riaz Ahmed Soomro, and Mr. Kanwar Singh Thakar, the deputy superintendent of police (DSP) arrived at the scene but told the family members that they cannot stop the mob as there are chances of Hindu/Muslim riots. The police did not follow the mob when they took the victim and the mob continuously announced that the victim was their new Muslim friend when they took away him to an unknown destination. Since then his whereabouts are unknown and police stopped the investigation as the victim has become Muslim and he would be in better environment. The lawyer and activists of Hindu community have several times contacted the police high officials of the district to recover him but the police told them that they have his signed papers which claim that he has converted to Muslim so they cannot do anything in the case.

Amazingly, in order to look as if they were taking action the police arrested the victim's father, Veero Mal, his two maternal uncles, Mr. Pyaro Mal and Mr. Parro Mal on the complaint of Pathan, the mosque leader, that they had abducted victim and kept him in illegal captivity. This complaint was filed when first time Mohabat Mal ran away from the captivity of mosque leader.

I am gravely concerned that it is a common practice in Sindh province where the ruling party received the majority votes and which claims to be the custodians of the interests of religious minority groups. The constitution and Pakistan Penal Code provide all constitutional and legal protection to religious minority groups. But the government has left the minority groups without any protection and given freedom to fundamentalist groups to use force against the minorities with the connivance of police.

Pakistan has also ratified the International Covenant on the Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and its following are articles are violated through their negligence of the provincial government and police; Article 10 all persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person. Article17-1. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour and reputation 2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. Article 18- 1. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching. 2. No one shall be subject to coercion which would impair his freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice.

I hope that you will follow the constitutional and legal rights of the members of religious minority groups and would also follow the ICCPR article which was ratified by the government of Pakistan.

I urge you to take action for the recovery of Mr. Mohabat Mal who was abducted by the Muslim fundamentalist groups and would also provide protection to him and his family. I also urge to prosecute the perpetrators and police officers of the district Mirpurkhar district who covertly supporting the Muslim extremist groups of the district to forcefully converting the religion of members of the Hindu community.

I look forward to your prompt response and action in this case.

Yours sincerely,

Krishna Kumar (PHP)
Pakistan

Will Brad Pitt explore Hinduism?

2011-05-19T16:59:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Thursday, May 19, 2011

(Photo : Brad Pitt is an American actor and film producer. He has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one and he has been described as one of the world's most attractive men, a label for which he has received substantial media attention)

United States : Hindus have suggested Hollywood star Brad Pitt to explore Hinduism in view of his statement in People.com about his religious experience in childhood which he described: "I found it very stifling".

Esteemed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that Pitt would appreciate rich, diverse and long tradition of Hindu philosophy; and its interpretation of the nature of reality.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, further said that if Pitt needed any help in deeper Hinduism exploration, he or other Hindu scholars would be glad to assist.

Rajan Zed recommended Pitt to realize the Self. Ancient Hindu scripture Katha Upanishad points out that when wise realize the Self, they go beyond sorrow. Self is supreme and those who meditate on Self are freed from the cycle of birth and death. When one realizes Self, there is nothing else to be known.

Pitt was quoted in People.com dated May 16: "I got brought up being told things were God's way, and when things didn't work out it was called God's plan," he said. "I've got my issues with it. Don't get me started. I found it very stifling."

Oscar nominated William Bradley Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), 47, is an American actor and film producer. Named Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine twice, Pitt has Oscar winner Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie (Changeling) as domestic partner and both have six children. He was reportedly raised as Southern Baptist and is vegan.

Oscar winner Hollywood star Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman) joined the Hindu fold in the recent past.

Pakistani Hindus visit Sai Baba temple in India

2011-05-19T16:47:00.000-07:00

By Mohammad S.Solanki (executive editor)
Thursday, May 19, 2011

( Photo : Sai-Baba )

New Delhi (India) : A group of nearly 135 Pakistani Hindus, including women and children, today visited the famous Sai Baba temple in Shirdi and offered pooja.

The pilgrims, on a one-month long visa, are paying visits to famous Hindu temples in India.
As part of the tour, they visited the Sai Baba Temple here, one of the pilgrims said.

Pakistani Hindu families living in India seek citizenship

2011-05-19T16:28:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Thursday, May 19, 2011

(Photo : Indian passport )

Khanna, May 17 (PTI) Several Hindu families from Pakistan staying in Khanna, Rajpura and other towns of Punjab are seeking Indian citizenship, citing that they cannot go back "as atmosphere of terror prevails there." Despite being in India for several years, the government is yet to accept their pleas for citizenship, claimed many of those who moved to India. Om Lal, currently residing in New Model Town here, said he is a Pakistani Hindu, who shifted to India with his family on September 20, 1999, on the basis of Pakistan passport. He said his family has been allowed to stay in India on year to year basis. Lal said at the Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner's office in 2007 his family applied for Indian citizenship. Their application had been forwarded to Department of Home Affairs and Justice, Punjab Government, from where the case had been forwarded with positive recommendation to the Secretary, Union Home Affairs Ministry on May 26, 2010.

"We cannot go back. There is an atmosphere of terror prevailing in Pakistan. We want the Government to grant us Indian citizenship," Lal said. Around 35 members of six families from Pakistan are residing in Khanna town. Some families are also staying in Rajpura for a long time ago and are seeking citizenship. These families have rued that their world is limited to the jurisdiction of Khanna and Rajpura as they are allowed to leave the station only after police permission. "They had entered India with valid travel documents, but refused to return home citing that an atmosphere of terror prevailed there and ill treatment in Pakistan," a police official in Rajpura said. A Pakistani Hindu said: "Though I am not allowed outside Rajpura without permission, I would prefer staying here rather than going back." "In the absence of citizenship rights, we face problem related to employment, housing, health, education and others... We consider India as our motherland and this is the only and last resort available for us." Scores of Pakistani Hindu families have requested Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to listen to their grievances.

Meanwhile, BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Avinash Rai Khanna said he has taken up the issue of such families in the Rajya Sabha recently. Khanna, who is heading a three-member committee of the BJP constituted to locate and help Pakistani Hindu families, said they were forced to leave Pakistan "due to an atmosphere of terror there, especially the Taliban." PTI Cor SUN

Registration of Hindu marriages: body formed to draft law, Pakistan

2011-05-19T16:21:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Thursday, May 19, 2011

Karachi : A committee comprising Hindu representatives has been formed to propose a draft on a law pertaining to Hindu marriages, officials of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said.

The seven-member committee was formed at the third meeting of the HRCP’s “Working group on communities vulnerable because of their beliefs” at a local hotel here on Thursday.

A member of the HRCP, Amarnath Motumal, said that the committee would decide on simple method of registration, and proposed that a district judge be given the responsibility to register the marriages of Hindus.

The Secretary-General of HRCP, I. A. Rehman, said that out of the many problems, a common issue Hindu couples faced while proceeding abroad pertained to giving evidence of being married.

He said registration of marriages must be compulsory for all communities.

The working group brought to light the problems being faced by the Hindu community in the absence of a law for registering their marriages.

Pushpa Kumari, hailing from Tando Jam, said that when she wanted to go to Bangkok, officials at a Nadra office kept on asking her what proof did she have to show that she was married.

Kumari was left with no other choice but to search for one of the wedding cards sent out to the guests some 20 years ago to prove to the authorities that she was married. “My bindiya or my mangal sutar — the two traits of a married Hindu woman — were not enough. There is no law in Pakistan which can prove that I am married,” she said.

Rochi Ram, a lawyer, delved into the history of Hindu marriage laws in India and said that the neighboring country had been making amendments to deal with the changing times.

An ordinance during Ayub Khan’s rule had made registration of marriages compulsory for Muslim couples but none for Hindu couples, he said.

He said that though the Hindu religion did not allow divorce, yet keeping in line with the modern times, laws on divorce, separation and alimony must also be introduced.

Another lawyer, Rajesh Kapoor, said that the marriage law was essential as women were subjected to violence by men and hence they would not be exploited.

Mangla Sharma, chairperson of the Pak-Hindu Welfare Association, corroborated and said that the absence of a law had given a free hand to those who had been involved in forceful conversions.

The discussion on the need for a law for the Hindu marriages followed a discussion on the current situation of people belonging to the smaller communities.

An Ahmedi, Munawar Ali, said that his community neither had any religious rights nor political ones.

“Today, militants are throwing threatening pamphlets at our places of worship, warning of an attack similar to last year’s. In the parliament, we have no representative, nor are we allowed to vote,” he said.

A Shia member from the Hazara community in Quetta, Muhammad Ashraf, had some more devastating accounts to share.

“My own son became a target of violence by militants. He was fired upon, and later outside the hospital where his body laid, a suicide bomber exploded himself, killing seven other people,” he said.

He said that the never-ending violence since 1999 had claimed lives of 500 men and rendered 1,000 injured.

From the Christian community, Zahid Farooq, without mentioning the word blasphemy, spoke on the law and how it was being used to settle personal scores.

“295 C is being used for enmity, and continues to pose a threat to our community. It is unfortunate that those who speak against it are silenced,” he said.

Sporting the common Sikh style, Sardar Krishan highlighted the plight of their gurdwaras, mentioning that the gurdawara in Arambagh had been sealed by the government while another in Saddar was being destroyed.

Robbers kill Hindu trader, snatch Rs3m in Pakistan

2011-05-19T15:17:00.000-07:00

By Mohammad S.Solanki (Executive Editor)
Thursday, May 19, 2011

( Photo : Map_of_Pakistan )

OSTA MOHAMMAD (INP) : A trader of Hindu community was gunned down and another person sustained injuries when robbers ambushed their car near the by-pass road on Tuesday and also snatched Rs3 million from the trader.

Police said that Hindu trader identified as Ajeet Kumar and Abdul Waheed Magsi were on the way to home when armed robbers signalled them to stop near the by-pass but they sped away their car. The robbers opened fire at the car, killing the Hindu trader at the spot and inflicting injuries on Abdul Waheed.Police arrived at the spot and shifted the body and the injured to nearby hospital from where the injured was moved to Larkana Hospital in critical condition.

The killing of Hindu trader sparked panic and rage among the Hindu community members and also among the traders community who kept the body in front of City Police Station and blocked the road in front of police station by burning the tyres over the road.

Hindu Shopkeeper Murdered in Punjab State, Minorities Protest in Pakistan

2011-05-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Thursday, May 19, 2011

( Photo : Map_of_Pakistan )

Islamabad : Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan have demanded protection for the minorities, who are living in "insecurity" across the country, as they took to the streets over the killing of a shopkeeper from the community in Punjab province's Hassanabdal town.

Hindus and Sikhs of Hassanabdal town blocked the G T Road with the body of Kanhaiya Lal, a 70-year-old shopkeeper who was shot dead on Wednesday evening while he was returning home from his shop.

Hindus and Sikhs had protested outside the hospital where his body was taken for autopsy.

The members of the two communities expressed resentment at the insecurity of minorities across Pakistan during the protest.

On Thursday morning, the body was handed over to the shopkeeper’s relatives for cremation.

As a large number of Hindus and the Sikhs led by PML-N parliamentarian Araish Kumar were taking the body to the Indus river for cremation, some people placed the body in the middle of the G T Road and blocked the traffic.

They shouted slogans against the killing of Lal and alleged that minorities were not being provided adequate security across the country.

Traffic on the Rawalpindi-Peshawar stretch of the G T Road and Hassanabdal-Hazara road was suspended due to the protest.

The protesters demanded that Lal’s killers should be arrested and Hindus and Sikhs living in the area should be provided adequate security.

Lawmaker Kumar said the murder had created fear and insecurity among minorities. The government had completely failed to protect minorities, who were being killed and abducted, he alleged.

The minorities were also being threatened by influential people of the area, he said.

Kumar said he would raise the murder in parliament.

Lal shifted to Hassanabdal from Battagram after the October 2005 earthquake.

He was a spiritual healer and a large number of Muslims and non-Muslims frequently visited him for treatment of diseases.

66-year-old Ram Singh Sodho, a prominent Hindu politician of the opposition PML-Q from southern Sindh province, moved to India to settle with relatives after tendering his resignation in January.

Muslim guards Hindus in stereotyped Pakistan

2011-05-19T14:56:00.000-07:00

By Amar Guriro (Karachi)
Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Baloch spent life maintaining Hindu burial site in Karachi,Pakistan

(Photo : A mixed gathering of Hindus on the eve of a dear ones demise. Such ceremonies can be held at home as well as at cremation ground and graveyard, Pakistan)

It may not sound unusual that Murad Bukhsh Baloch takes pride in his religion and work, both.

Baloch is a unique Muslim who serves as caretaker of Hindu cremation ground and graveyard, depicting harmonious coexistence in a heavily stereotyped country like Pakistan.

Gujjar Hindu Cremation Ground, around 150-year-old burial-and-cremation facility for Sindhi Hindus located in Pakistan’s southern-most metropolis Karachi, is significant for half-million followers of the religion here.

Just inside huge main entrance gate, Murad has been watching the dead Hindus pouring in to the ground for a quarter of his life.

(Photo : Being custodian of ashes, Baloch looks after the ashes until they are immersed in holy water of Ganges, India, Pakistan)

Located in thickly populated Lyari town, the stronghold of late Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party, which she had chosen for her wedding party, Baloch is not only looking after this 22-acre graveyard and cremation ground but also arranging woods and other items required for cremation since 1990.

He passionately cleans and maintains statues lying in small temples inside the premises. He also lights up lamps inside the temple, an important religious rites.

“It’s pleasure to serve the alive and the dead,” he says, adding, “Islam teaches me co-existence and peace.”

With 3 million population as per 1998 national census, Hindus are the biggest religious minority of Pakistan.

Majority of Pakistani Hindus are living in Karachi, Mirpurkhas and Sukkur regions of southern Sindh province. Majority of them belong to lower castes, they work as landless peasants, ironsmiths or construction labour.

Besides looking after the arrangements, Baloch guards this prime land in the heart of the city. Like other Asian urban centers, Karachi is a rapidly growing city where land grab for high-rise buildings is the biggest challenge.

‘Targeted killings’ claimed thousands in recent years, some of them fell prey to land grabbers. Sprawling land of Gujjar Hindu Cremation Ground remains seriously vulnerable.

He smilingly remarks, “The Balochs known to be warriors and even before Pakistan’s creation, we have served the Hindus for decades in Karachi.”

(Baloch looks at the ashes of those Hindus who died since 1990 but had could not be taken to the Ganges in India. - Photo by Amar Guriro, Pakistan)

Once Karachi was a Hindu dominated city and most businesses belonged to them.

In creation of Pakistan and modern day India in 1947, most of these Hindus migrated to the Hindu majority cities in Maharashtra state across the newly-carved border.

According to official data, today Karachi is home to over half a million Hindus. Except a few, Hindus mostly are poor and belong so-called lower castes. The poor ones bury their dead, while the rich and upper-caste Hindus cremate their deceased dear ones.

Besides performing a role of traditional pundit (religious leader) in the temple, guarding the land and taking care of other religious rites, Baloch also serves warden for ashes, which were kept in this graveyard.

Hindus burn their dead and preserve the ashes in a cremation ground. Each of 130 earthen pots or plastic jars here is tied with red-and-white cloth, wrapped in flower wreaths and tags carry various identification details in Sindhi, Urdu, Hindi or English language.

The facility is not exclusive to the Hindus as Buddhists, Japanese and Chinese communities also preserve ashes of their dead here.

Ironically, when family members of the deceased wanted to take their ashes to immerse them in holy water of Ganges in India, the Pakistani Hindus were denied such religious rites across the border after 1971.

After India actively patronized Pakistan’s Bengali to break from the country, bitterness soared to the highest point. Both India and Pakistan tightened visa procedures for each other.

Only recently, the Pakistani Hindus won this right from India and ashes Baloch had been guarding for the last 21 year were taken there to immerse in the holy Ganges.

While talking to this correspondent, he was continuously directing some men to keep an eye on the workers, as construction was underway in the cremation ground.

When he was a child, his family lived near the historical cremation ground where people used to spend their evening as there were not many public parks around back then.

As a child, Baloch witnessed several bodies being cremated in the ground.

“I used to wonder why Hindus burn their dead,” his elders used to tell him that it is an important rite of Hindu religion.

He still remembers image of Maharaj Durga Bharati, a Hindu pundit and caretaker of the cremation ground, who used to perform religious rituals during the funerals.

“Bharati was a nice man who distributed candies and toffees among the children and greeted everyone, even Muslims in this Hindu graveyard-cum-cremation,” recalls Baloch.

Nostalgic Baloch says those were good times when nobody discriminated on the basis of religion. People were indentified with their respective profession.

He doesn’t have any problem working here, thus he wants his son Ayaz Baloch to succeed him.

Dr Govind Ram Dheerani, secretary general of Pakistan Hindu Foundation, says, “I am happy to find Baloch as caretaker of the graveyard as only a Muslim can work properly here in a country like Pakistan.”

Though religious extremism is on the rise in Pakistan, since the partition in 1947, inter-communal relations in Sindh remained generally peaceful, and the province has never witnessed any major anti-Hindu violence. Knee-jerk reaction to extremist Hindus’ demolition of Babri Masjid in Indian city of Ayodhya in 1992 is the only incident of its kind.

The Hindus and Muslims of Sindh enjoy a shared cultural heritage besides common Sufi influences.

Though in recent years some of Pakistani Hindus migrated to different countries, but rarely Sindhi Hindus have left the country as majority of Sindhi Hindus still enjoy living in Pakistan.

(NOTE : Amar Guriro is a staff reporter for daily Pakistan Today, in Karachi, Pakistan. He is also a media fellow of the UK-based NGO Water-Aid-Pakistan’s media fellowship program since 2009. He specializes in reporting on environment, health, conflicts and religious minorities. Amar has reported for Himal South Asian (Nepal), Daily Times (Pakistan) and The News on Sunday (Pakistan). He maintains his blog at www.amarguriro.com)

Satsang at Kashmore (Sindh) organised by Hindu Sudhar Sabha Pakistan (HSSP)

2011-05-03T18:30:00.001-07:00

By Rajesh Pandit (PHP Islamabad)
Tuesday, May 03, 2011

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Kumar Randhawa
Date: Wed, Feb 2, 2011 at 5:28 AM
Subject: Report Baghti & Pictures
To: Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

(Photo : Map of Kashmore Dist. in Sindh State of Pakistan)

Namastey !

Recently Hindu Sudhar Sabha Pakistan (HSSP) which is a government registered organization and also has account in MCB Pakistan, Conducted Satsang which (Sanskrit sat = true, sanga = company) is in Hindu philosophy that involves (1) the company of the "highest truth," (2) the company of a guru, or (3) company with an assembly of persons who listen to, talk about, and assimilate the truth. A comrehensive collection of Hindu Pujas and Bhajans in Sanskrit and Hindi at Kashmore district (Urdu: ضلع کشمور) which is a district of Sindh, Pakistan. The capital city is Kashmore which has a population of 312,500. Kashmore is bordered by Ghotki and Shikarpur other district in Sindh. The district is also bordered by Rajanpur and Rahim Yar Khan in Punjab.

Below find attach pictures of 2011 Satsang at Kashmore in Sindh of Pakistan.

( Photo : Amarnath jee on 2011 Satsang at Kashmore organised by Hindu Sudhar Sabha Pakistan (HSSP)

( Photo : 2011 Satsang at Kashmore organised by Hindu Sudhar Sabha Pakistan (HSSP)

For more information write email at hssp67@yahoo.com or call us 92-321-477-2995.

Your’s faithfully,

Kumar Randhawa
HSSP Lahore Pakistan

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Amar Nath
Subject: Details About Books Printing & Our Broucher
To: Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

(Photo : Bannar of Hindu Sudhar Sabha-Pakistan also called HSSP, Pakistan)

Dear Gopinathji,

I am sending you our broucher here all deals about our address & tell numbers are present in this broucher. Whenever our new broucher come after printing I will send to you that broucher also

         Introduction : Hindu Sudhar Sabha Pakistan (HSSP) is government registered organization and also has account in MCB Pakistan. HSSP start working with anomalous speed and in very short time becomes famous in almost every department of the government. As we don’t have enough funds so now its graph decreasing day by day. It’s very difficult to run an organization without proper funding. We do not compromise in our religion and principles. My grandfather Chaudhry Tara Chand did not bend his knees in case of 22 years old graveyard’s problem. Same is the case with my father Hira Lal. Those people (Mafia) even now want to negotiate, but, we did not accept it and would not. HSSP helping itself to make it a better platform for Hindu minorities and poor Hindu families living in Punjab. Me as a president of HSSP and also my members use to go to door to door for helping these poor and helpless people.

        HSSP is trying to solve the problems relating to social issues and also providing them education and specially emphasizing religious education. For the sake of it HSSP is trying to print our religious book Eshwar Milap for free distribution in these families. For the publishing of our book we also contacted Muslims and Christian organizations but no satisfactory answer from them. If this will continue then people start converting themselves into Christians. This was already happened in 1983 when mafia occupy our graveyard in Baghbanpura and Munawar Channd leader of that time also involve in it and case was discharged from the court. At that time Hindus also converted to Christians. That leader and mafia members humiliated our forefathers but they did not bent themselves. We have all proves regarding to this problem.

       When HSSP started preaching and worshiping then Munawar Chand and their leader Bhagat Laal with his friends start interrupting. HSSP start worshiping for three months 2 days in a week. Because of this people use to visit frequently. They did not tolerate it and even start fighting. HSSP give application to Human and Basic Right Department of The Government of Punjab. They establish an inquiry commission and we have won the case. But even then Munawar Chand and Lal Bhagat also start interrupting and by using religious weapon Muslims shut down our Temple. HSSP is not ready to withdraw. Brother Gopinathji, if you faith on Bhagwan then please help us, so that in future our organization became strong and active here.

Here are some of the activities of HSSP -

Ø Preaching and working for reestablishment of temple in district Narowal.

Ø In the District Narowal we have arrange for Diwali Celebration after more than 60 years.

Ø We are also re-constructing our temple in Kundh Kot (interior Sindh) and also helping flood effected Hindu families.

Ø In the coming year we will visit to Marwari community and will arrange Preaching (Satsung) in Kundh Kot Sindh.

Ø We are distributing Fertilizer, Food and reconstruction of houses for flood victim Hindu Families in KPK & Sindh.

FUTURE PLAN of HSSP -

Ø HSSP will establish a publishing company having name Sudhar Publications for publishing religious books, calendars, and literature.

Ø To establish a trust in Lahore which start giving religious education to Hindu children’s belonging to Punjab.

Ø To start Geeta Course for metric students

Hindu Sudhar Sabha Pakistan

Shimla Street Behind Native Public High School,

Durand Road, Bibi Pak Daman, Lahore-Pakistan.

Cell: 0321-4772995, 0321-9729332

Your’s faithfully,

Amarnath Randhawa
President of HSSP Lahore Pakistan

For more information about HSSP activities visit below links :-

2011 Baisakhi Mela at Narowal by Hindu Sudhar Sabha-Pakistan (HSSP), Pakistan
http://pakistanhindupost.blogspot.com/2011/04/2011-baishakhi-mela.html

Invitation for 2011 Holi festival in Nowshera by HSSP in Pakistan
http://pakistanhindupost.blogspot.com/2011/03/invitation-for-2011-holi-festival-in_17.html

The PHP Team

Daily Inspiration from Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

2011-05-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

By Dr. Radhe Shyam Kumar (Executive Editor)
Monday, May 02, 2011

(Photo : Swami Vivekananda was the chief disciple of the 19th century mystic Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and the founder of Ramakrishna Mission. He is considered a key figure in the introduction of Hindu philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga in Europe and America and is also credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the end of the 19th century)

According to karma yoga, the action one has done cannot be destroyed until it has borne its fruit; no power in nature can stop it from yielding its results. If I do an evil action, I must suffer for it; there is no power in this universe to stop it or stay it. Similarly, if I do a good action, there is no power in the universe that can stop its bearing good results. The cause must have its effect; nothing can prevent or restrain this.
-- Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902)

Plight of Hindu temples at capital city Islamabad in Pakistan

2011-05-02T15:33:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Monday, May 02, 2011

( Photo : The last remaining ancient temple near Rawal Lake is in dire need of preservation, Pakistan)

ISLAMABAD : Those who believe Islamabad has no past should do some travelling in the city’s outskirts. They will not only find numerous historical buildings in the half-century old city, which testify to its antiquity, but also discover various artifacts such as fossils in Bagh Jogian village and ancient tools used by the early man in Rawat.

In fact, one does not necessarily have to traverse the outskirts. There are also a number of historical buildings in the main city of which the Rawal Lake temple is a prominent example.

The temple, although on its last legs, exudes presence. It is a rectangular building with two arched openings on its southern side. There are five flights of steps leading to the garbhagriha, a small unlit shrine where only priests may enter.

The first cusped archway leads to a room which was apparently used as a dharmshala. The dharmshala has one window and one blind arch. The second cusped archway leads to the garbhagriha which is square-shaped. The pyramid shaped shikhara surmounts the garbhagriha. The base of the shikhara is decorated with an inverted lotus, making it seem as if the shikhara were arising out of the lotus bud.

The garbhagriha is embellished with three blind arches. The passageway around the sanctum has two arches, one each on the northern and southern walls. There are also windows with carvings. One can easily imagine the regal culture that must have flourished here in times far gone.

( Photo : A tourist at an old Hindu temple near Islamabad city, Pakistan)

Rawal village is an ancient settlement as can be seen from the painted as well as undecorated potsherds lying at many places. A rock shelter, which is located at the temple’s north, also pays testimony to the fact that prehistoric human beings used it.

A similar shelter can be seen at the back of the National Institute of Health (NIH). Another impressive shelter is situated in G-13, which has unfortunately become a victim of development work. A portion of it has been badly damaged as the developers are unaware of its significance and the city authorities are least concerned about the preservation of such ancient sites.

Before Independence, Hindus predominately inhabited the Rawal village. There were nearly a hundred households in the village, of which only 40 belonged to Muslims. At that time, Ishar Singh was the numbardar (head) of the Rawal village. Some Muslim castes, namely Rajas, also known as Ghakkars or Kiyanis, Syeds, Bafanda, Thakyal Rajputs and Malhar lived in the village.

There were two other temples in Rawal village, one on the opposite side of the existing temple. It had two rooms and eight archways that allowed one to enter the building. After partition, Kashmiri families occupied it. The building was damaged by occupants following the construction of Rawal Dam. It was actually located where the cabins of two persons (Arshad and Sardar) now stand. Until 1980, the eight dats (arches of the temple) were intact.

( Photo : Hindu Temple in Saidpur village at Islamabad, Pakistan)

NOTE : The Saidpur model village preserves a courtyard where three religions co-existed. The gurdwara, meaning doorway to the guru, was a place of worship for Sikhs (left). The Christian church stood opposite it with a Hindu temple (mandir) in the middle at Islamabad, Pakistan.

The other temple, known as the Gurukal temple, was submerged in the Dam water. It was probably a Krishnite temple as those who worship Krishna are called Gokul, of which Gurukul is a phonetic variation. According to Baba Juri of Rawal town who is an old inhabitant of Rawal village, it was a larger building with three rooms comprising the dharmshala. The main chamber of the temple was also more spacious.

These temples now only exist in the memory of old inhabitants. Before partition, a Samadhi belonging to a Hindu ascetic of the Nath Jogi order was located near the present Rawal Chowk . It was a small, domed structure where Hindu ascetics practised rituals.

There are many other sacred places of Nath jogis, probably used for meditation, in and around Islamabad. Among these, the sacred spaces at Bagh Joghian, which incidentally means ‘orchard of jogis’, are quite prominent. Another place associated with jogis is located just two kilometres west of Bari Imam. Jogis travelling to Taxila and other places stopped there. There is also a Hindu shrine south of the Bari Imam shrine which the late Ahmad Hasan Dani believed could have been another Nath Jogi spiritual site. The area is now deserted.

According to Shah Mehboob of Rawal town, the Samadhi of the Hindu ascetic was painted from inside. Ritual baths were taken in a pond, which does not exist any more.

According to Manzoor alias Baba Juri, Hindu temples also existed in the villages of Chira, Kirpa and Mehran near Pind Beghal in Islamabad.

Today, one finds rubbish inside the main chamber of the Rawal lake temple. The outer wall of the temple has fallen. One wonders if it’s too much to ask of the authorities to save the ancient structure from further damage.

Legislation underway: Hindus (Minorities) to have their own marriage laws, Pakistan

2011-05-02T15:12:00.000-07:00

By Sanjesh Sunny (PHP Karachi)
Monday, May 02, 2011

( Photo : New bill to adopt almost all suggestions by the Hindu community, Pakistan)

ISLAMABAD : The government has referred a draft of “Minorities Protection Bill” to the Ministry of Minority Affairs to legislate on the Marriage Act for Hindu, Sikh, Parsi and Bahai minorities. The decision has been taken in response to the pleas submitted by Hindu community representatives in the parliament secretariat last year for registration of marriages of minorities.

Sources inside the minorities’ ministry said that the new bill adopts almost all suggestions proposed by the Hindu community representatives, with only minor changes. Under the proposed bill, every marriage solemnised under the Hindu religion will be registered.

The 1998 census showed over one million Hindus in Pakistan, while currently the population has increased to over 4 million, making it the largest minority in the country. Currently, marriage registration facility is provided to Muslims in the form of a”Nikah Naama”, and to Christians in the form of “Certificate of Marriage”. All other communities are deprived of this right of registration of marriages. To pursue their demands for marriage registration bill, representatives of the Hindu community had recently threatened to hold a sit-in before the parliament to push the government to introduce the much-awaited bill in the parliament.

The Ministry of Minority Affairs, in its written reply, confirmed the development and said that efforts are being made to assist the minorities in every possible way. The ministry said during the last three years, a total of 40,387 needy individuals belonging to minorities have been granted financial assistance, while a total of 4,142 students from minorities have been granted scholarships. It said the government has approved to set up a hotline to address grievances of minorities, which will operate around the clock.

The ministry informed that for the upkeep of religious places, the government has approved 222 Small Development Schemes for the welfare and uplift of minorities since April 2008. It said that the present government has also increased the development and scholarship funds for minorities from Rs75 million to Rs172 million. Moreover, the government will construct prayer rooms for minorities in all jails of the country, while an Interfaith Complex will be established in Islamabad. It said that that remission in the punishment for minority prisoners involved in minor crimes is also under consideration.

According to the minorities’ ministry officials, ten religious festivals of minorities are celebrated officially in Pakistan.

These festivals include Christmas and Easter for Christians, Holi and Diwali for Hindus, Biasakhi and birth anniversary of Guru Nanak for Sikhs, Nauroze for Zoroastrian, Eid-e-Ridvan for Bahai’s, Festival of Lights for Buddhist community, Chelum Jhost for Kalash people.

Celebrating Babasaheb Ambedkar In Lahore, Pakistan

2011-05-02T14:59:00.000-07:00

By Dr Anand Teltumbde
Monday, May 02, 2011

(Photo : Sir Ganga Ram in Lahore, Pakistan)

Speech in the Ambedkar Day Seminar organized by Sir Ganga Ram Heritage Foundation in Pearl Continental, Lahore on 26. April, 2011

At the outset let me thank Sir Ganga Ram Heritage Foundation for inviting me to Lahore and giving this opportunity to share my thoughts with you. This is my second visit to this beautiful city, which was eulogized by the people as the must see for every human being that comes on the earth. When I received the first invitation from the Foundation in 2009, I was curiously surprised at the connection between Sir Ganga Ram and Dr Ambedkar, whom India affectionately calls Babasaheb. Sir Gangaram was a remarkable man, who contributed to undivided India in immense measure in terms of its physical infrastructure. I feel proud to belong to his biradari as an engineer, although not quite the same discipline as he practiced. Dr Ambedkar’s contributions may be rivaled by few in the spheres of socio-political and spiritual infrastructure of Indian subcontinent and in the nation building of India. There was no direct connection or commonality between Sir Ganga Ram and Dr Ambedkar except for the fact that both contributed to the betterment of people of this subcontinent without consideration of caste, creed, or community. I must complement the foundation for taking the noble initiative to commemorate Dr Ambedkar in Pakistan who notwithstanding the dividing line between the two countries, is as much revered by over 2.5 million of Dalits in Pakistan as the Dalits in India. In a symbolic manner, this initiative marks the concern of the foundation and to the extent the Government of Pakistan supports the Foundation, it’s own concerns to these teeming millions. One hopes, through this initiative and the exchanges with the people like us from other countries in the subcontinent, the government would be sensitized to appreciate the demands of Dalits in Pakistan and take a lead in the spirit of Islam to ameliorate their woes. In fact, it could set an example for other countries to emulate by completely annihilating castes from Pakistan.

This seminar is basically in celebration of the 118th birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar. Although, his birth anniversary is celebrated world over by the spreading Dalit Diaspora and even by the non-Dalits, who are impressed by the humanist import of his contributions, the people from Lahore must know that there is an important connection between this city and Dr Ambedkar. In 1936, the Jat Pat Todak Mandal of Lahore, which was an organization of the Arya Samaj, had invited him to preside over their conference. Babasaheb Ambedkar had prepared his presidential speech and sent it to the Mandal as per their request. The Mandal found the speech to be too critical of the Hindu religion and requested him to soften it. Dr Ambedkar refused to comply and instead declined the invitation. This undelivered speech in the conference that did not take place was published with an ominous title “Annihilation of Castes”, which would become a war cry of his movement. This book is likened by some scholars to the Communist Manifesto of Marx and Engels. Although Dr Ambedkar did not visit this city, it got permanently associated with his schema of Dalit emancipation.

I might indicate a few more connections between you and Dr Ambedkar, so that Pakistani people have better appreciation of his contributions. This connection spans across his deep appreciation of egalitarian and humanist spirit of Islam, sense of cordiality and fraternity in Muslim community, as well as his scholarly illumination of the idea of Pakistan, which in some degree may have contributed to making of your nation.

Islam came to India as the invaders’ religion but had catalyzed creation of emancipatory vision among the low caste people, particularly the non-caste Dalits, who were denied their humanity by the Hindu religion. It provided them the first escape route from the bondage of hindu social order. The egalitarian Islam naturally appealed to them. As a result, whosoever could manage had embraced Islam and became Muslalmans. There was an exodus of sorts of these people from Hinduism, which the right wing-Hindus attribute to the force of sword used by the Muslim rulers. Although the Islamic marauders did use sword, the conversion of Dalits, who existed only on the margins of the society, could not be their target. Their attack was basically on the Hindu temples, which were not just the abodes of gods or the places of prayer, but also the warehouses of enormous wealth. History testifies that all the warring kings, including the Hindus, often attacked Hindu temples for this wealth. As for the conversion of Hindus to Islam, none other than the great Hindu seer, Swamy Vivekanand, has written that almost one-fifth of the Hindu population was lost to Islam and not because of the force of sword as commonly believed but because of its egalitarian appeal.

This appeal had become palpable when Babasaheb Ambedkar began exploring alternate religious options after having realized that there was no possibility of reforms from within the Hindu society. As you may know, after returning from New York and London, laced with two doctoral degrees and a barristership from the prestigious universities/institutions, he began his public life by leading an epic struggle at Mahad, some 100 odd kilometers away from Mumbai. This struggle began in the form of an innocuous conference on 19 and 20 March 1927, ended with a collective march to the chavadar tank, which was hitherto proscribed for Dalits, to draw its water. The caste Hindus reacted with their cowardly attack on Dalits, who were returning to their homes. Provoked by the incidents, Dr Ambedkar decided to launch a satyagraha at the same place in the month of December, the same year, exclusively targeting the chavadar tank. However, just on the eve of the satyagraha, some caste Hindus had fraudulently obtained an injunction from the court that since the tank was a private property, sDalits could not trespass it. The case dragged on for the next 10 years, disillusioning Dr Ambedkar completely about the possibility of bringing about reforms from within. The main thrust of these struggle was to sensitize the Hindus about their evil customs and traditions so that they would be motivated to undertake due reforms. Far from this happening, the caste Hindus rather played all kinds of tricks in their store to frustrate Dalits.

Just after the Mahad satyagraha, in 1928, in a public meeting at Jalgaon, he had given an ultimatum to the Hindus that if they had not come forward for reforms the Untouchables would renounce Hinduism and become Musalmans. This might have been a passing threat but some 20 odd people from his followers took it literally and became Muslims. The appeal of egalitarian Islam in the project of Dalit emancipation would surface off and on in Ambedkar’s early considerations.

Dr Ambedkar gave up the path of satyagraha although he did not discourage his disciples from undertaking them. He shifted his attention to the opportunities opening up with the British thinking to involve the natives in the governance of the country. Already there had been Morley-Minto reforms which led to promulgation of the India Act, 1909 and Montagu-Chelmsford reforms and the Southborough Commission leading to the India Act, 1919. When the all European Simon Commission visited India, the Congress had boycotted it but Dr Ambedkar and Muslim League cooperated with it. These efforts culminated in his invitation to the three Round Table Conferences in 1930-32. He came in contention with Mahatma Gandhi in the RTC over the issue of representation of the Untouchables. Gandhi claimed that he represented all the Hindus, the Untouchables included. Dr Ambedkar successfully refuted it, and as the representative of the Untouchables, forcefully advocated separate electorates for them. When the award was declared by the Prime Minister Ramsey Macdonald conceding the demand of Dr Ambedkar for separate electorates, Gandhi went on his fast unto death protesting against it. The situation became threatening to Dalits, which impelled Ambedkar to compromise by giving up the separate electorates in exchange of increased numbers of reserved seats in joint electorates.

With the accumulated bitter experience with the caste Hindus and their leaders, he saw no hope in staying in Hinduism and declared in 1935 in Yewale (near Nashik, a prominent town in Maharashtra State) that he would renounce Hinduism. He said, it was not in his power to be born as Hindu, but it is squarely in his not to die as one. This vow created huge ripples across the country because if the 16 percent untouchables of whom Ambedkar had emerged as the sole leader followed him, the entire communal configuration of the country would change. Religious heads of various religions began hobnobbing with him with allurements. It created confusion among the Untouchables too. And hence to explain his decision to the leaders of his movement, he had called a meeting in Mumbai in 1936. The longish speech that he made in that meeting is considered very important and is aptly titled as Mukti Kon Pathe in Marathi (“Which way the Deliverance?”, in English). He started his speech with the commonplace issue of atrocities on Dalits. He asked, why the caste Hindus inflict atrocities on Dalits with impunity? The answer he himself gave was that they were weak. They lacked all the strengths: the strength of numbers, strength of finance, and strength of spirit. They were a minority in every village and thus they lacked the strength of numbers. It was obvious that they did not have any financial strength. But having internalized their inferior status in the society for a long time, they were completely sapped of even the spiritual strength. In contrast, he offered the example of Muslims in India, who also were numerical minority in most parts but no Hindu dared to raise hand on any of them. Because they knew if they did it, the entire Muslim community from Kashmir to Kanyakumari would rush in support of the victim. According to him the solution therefore lay in overcoming their weakness and the way to accomplish it was by merging with some existing religious community. The existing religious communities that existed in India with significant strength were Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs. Since he had always invoked example of the Muslim community with admiration, Islam appeared to many as his imminent choice. But when he actually implemented his vow in 1956, it was Buddhism, which did not have an existing community in India.

The main thrust of Dr Ambedkar after 1935 has been on securing rights for Dalits through politics. While doing so, he was not a wee bit sectarian. Dalits were targeted not merely because they were his own people, but because they comprised the lowliest of the lowly. Society in a systems view could be as strong as its weakest link and hence it was imperative for anyone aiming at the development of Indian society to focus his/her attention on Dalits. In fact his vision was not even bounded by national consideration; it went far beyond in imagining a human society based on the principle of liberty, equality and fraternity. Since it was known to the world that this principle emerged from the French Revolution, imbued with bourgeois aspiration, he insisted that he had taken it from Buddhism. His insistence was to have harmonious balance between these three aspects, which was not indicated by the French revolution. It was the vision of an ideal society, a veritable utopia, characterized by all those ideals in fullest measure. The real import of his ideology lay in this and not in what he did as expedient measures in those turbulent times.

In India, it is not easy to transcend caste identity, especially if you are a Dalit. Even though Dr Ambedkar had never practiced caste politics, he was identified as a caste leader. It may be appropriate just to recall his advent into politics to appreciate this point. As the British promulgated the India Act 1935, according to which it was decided to hold elections for provincial assemblies, Dr Ambedkar launched his first political party, the Independent Labour Party (ILP) in 1936. He declared it to be the workers’ party. It may be noted that this was the first left party of India, the Communist Party although founded in 1920, having operated clandestinely and then existed as a part of the socialist block of the Congress party. The historical importance of this party lies in the fact that it has for the first time demonstrated on the roads of Konkan (One of the most backward and hence caste ridden region of the present Maharashtra State) and Mumbai how a struggle can be articulated combining class and caste issues. The most obnoxious duality of caste and class, the communists created with their Brahmanist approach has been the main obstacle in radical politics today in India.

In 1942, because of the Cripps Mission report, which had met most demands of all communal parties but completely ignored the class based ILP, Dr Ambedkar had to dissolve the ILP and form a caste based party - the Scheduled Caste Federation (SCF). Almost at the same time he was inducted into the viceroy’s executive council. Even during the SCF phase, his politics often transcended the caste boundaries. When the viceroy’s council was dissolved in 1946, he found himself utterly excluded in the political parleys for the transfer of power. He was desperately aimed at entering the Constituent Assembly, which was to shape up the future of India. But there was no possibility of his getting elected to it. In such a situation, he prepared a memorandum on behalf of the SCF to the Constituent Assembly in 1946, proposing hardcoding the structure of state socialism into the Constitution of India. It was here that the Muslim League with the mediation of Jogendranath Mandal, the SCF leader, got him elected from East Bengal. After 1947, due to the partition, his membership expired and the Congress strategists got him elected from Bombay. He was made the chairman of the most important of its committees, the drafting committee. But interestingly, the radical agenda of state socialism, which he was so keen to be made as the basic structure of the Constitution even was not mentioned before the Constituent Assembly. Just to recall the contents of the ‘States and Minorities’, the title with which this memorandum was published, were so radical that if there had been a socialist revolution in India, the post revolutionary structure of the society would have not been much different than what it proposed.

Nonetheless, he could manage to incorporate comprehensive measures in favour of the oppressed sections of the society, viz., Dalits and tribals in the Constitution. They comprised protective measures, mainly the legal provisions stressing equality, abolishing the practice of untouchability and punitive provisions for transgressing those; affirmative measures in their favour in politics, education and public employment, popularly known as reservations; and the developmental measures such as many targeted schemes which would progressively bring them on par with the rest. The extension of latter has manifested from 1979 into instituting the Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP), which mandates provision of the budget in proportion equivalent to the ratio of population of Dalits to the total population to be used exclusively for the development of the Scheduled Castes. Although like any other thing, this scheme, which has been in operation in 27 states and union territories, also suffers in implementation, the positive aspect of it is that the percentage allocation has been consistently rising over the recent years: In 2004-05 the allocation of 11.06 percent had gone up to 12.05 percent in 2005-06, to 14.11 percent in 2006-07 and to 14.80 percent in 2007-08 against the mandated over 16 percent.

Indian Constitution in this regard may appear to be the beacon of social justice for the entire world. However, Ambedkar during his life time itself saw what would happen of the Constitution in practice. In his enthusiasm when the Constitution was adopted, he had advised his followers that they could shun agitational politics and adopt the constitutional methods to secure their demands. But soon he was disillusioned with the Constitution itself and variously disowned it. He famously said that although they built a beautiful temple (Constitution), before they could install gods, devils have occupied it.

Notwithstanding the implementation deficit, the Constitution has still accomplished a good deal of gain for the oppressed communities. There is no sphere and no echelon today where Dalits are not to be found. There have been president, chief justice, chief ministers, secretaries, CEOs, and scores of people in academics, frontier technologies, and professions in India. The political nexus through which huge political tribute from the ruling classes flows also have enriched a sizable political class of Dalits. And through combination of these processes, some Dalits have entered business to inspire some misinformed Dalits to coin the terms like dalit bourgeois or dalit capitalism. Taken all of these together, along with their family members, the number of upwardly mobile Dalits do not however exceed 10 percent. The 90 percent population of Dalits still languishes in villages and suffers from all kinds of discrimination and oppression. Although it may not be visible in the urban settings, the caste system operates as a system of premium and discounts and can well thrive in the most modern corporate establishments of in India.

There is a notion, carried through Dr Ambedkar’s analysis that the caste system is sourced from the Hindu religion. This notion has misled much of the Dalit movement. The modern developmental paradigm in India has probably become the major prop of the castes than religion. For example, the Shudra Castes, which used to be clubbed with the Untouchables in earlier phases of the non-Brahman struggle, have become the main tormentors of Dalits in villages. The ritualistic castes have been weakening under the thrust of capitalist development and have almost transformed the caste system to be the divide between Dalits and non-Dalits. This divide is as much rooted in the traditional prejudices as it is in the dynamics of India’s modern institution. I have explained this dynamics of political economy in my book – The Persistence of Caste, which may be available in Pakistan. To continue with the stereotype treating Hindu religion as the sole culprit would be like whipping the dead snake and letting the real snakes to sneak past.

The caste system has been a dynamic system, which has been evolving either to mould the situation to its requirements or to mould itself if the former was not possible. Therefore to search its root is methodologically futile exercise and one should rather focus on its contemporary manifestation. The contemporary caste system manifests itself through the incidence of atrocities. In India, these atrocities are neatly tabulated by an organization of the government of India, National Crime Research Bureau, which publishes its reports annually, accessible to all. (see its website ncrb.org). Going by this proxy for caste, the caste system appeared weakening through the decades of 1970s through 1980s. But from the adoption of the neoliberal economic reforms by the government, the trend has reversed. I had analyzed the time series data on atrocities and found that the post-reform period presents a clear secular increasing trend in atrocity numbers. Just taking two major categories of crime, viz., murder and rape, we can see this trend. During the decade of 1981 to 1990, the annual average of the number of murders of Dalits was 535, which went up to 546 during the 1991-2000 and rose further to 681 during the next five years, i.e., 2001-2005. The corresponding figures for the rape of Dalit women are 714, 992 and 1213. Although these figures are not normalized for the population increase, nobody will fail to note their significance. Insofar as atrocities are the product of the power asymmetry between Dalits and non-Dalits in villages, it is clear that neoliberal policies have been accentuating this asymmetry. These policies have unleashed various crises on Dalits and their condition has been certainly worsening fast vis-à-vis others.

Lastly, I would like to again congratulate Sir Ganga Ram Heritage Foundation for taking this initiative to set up a dialogue between the South Asian activists-scholars who have been working for the annihilation of the caste system in their respective countries. It is a reflection that the caste system is a pan South Asian problem and not confined to India alone. There is strong pride in Pakistan that there is no caste system followed here. They reason out that Islam does not permit any caste system. While it is very true of Islam, there should be appreciation that practice does not necessarily confirm to the ideals. You may know that even the same argument is proffered by the right-wing Hindus that caste system in its evil form is not a part of Hinduism and they coolly attribute it to the outside aggressors, particularly the Muslims and the machinations of the colonialists. The delusion into believing that caste system is not our problem, effectively shuts us from seeing the problem. This attitude has already allowed the condition of Dalits in Pakistan to worsen. It is not only the miniscule minority of Ranas (the feudal Hindu landlords), that oppress Dalits, it is also the Muslim feudality which treats them no better. When Pakistan came into existence, the Quaid-e-Azam Jinnha had assured the Dalits and other minorities that they would be given much better treatment than that in India. After the Scheduled caste Declaration Act of 1957, Dalits were given reservations of 6 percent. These reservations have been transformed into minority reservations in 1997 by the Nawaz Sharif government, resulting into strengthening the already exploitative elements in the minority community. If I may remind you, there are more than 50 organizations working for the interests of Dalits in Pakistan and they have organized themselves into Pakistan Dalit Solidarity Network. They have put forth their demand, which I think read very reasonable. For instance they demand caste wise census; reserved seats for themselves in Parliament, and provincial assemblies; setting up a national commission for the SCs; allotment of land to the landless; and some protective measures. Now such measures being extant in India for 166 million Dalits, why should Pakistan be hesitant in extending them to its 2.5 million Dalits. I would urge the Pakistan government through the minister sahib Sardar Ali Khosa, the chairman of this seminar, to consider them favourably. I would go further and say that since the size of the problem is small, 2.5 million as against India’s 166 million, Pakistan should take due steps to demonstrate to the world that they have effectively annihilated the caste system. It would prove to be the great motivator for other countries to follow suit.

I would like to end with a hope that this initiative will flourish into a better coordination between the activists and accelerate the pace of annihilation of castes. That will be the best tribute to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and also to Sir Ganga Ram.

PM underscores need to document religious monuments, Pakistan

2011-05-02T12:14:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Monday, May 02, 2011

LAHORE (APP)- Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has felicitated the Christian community around the world, especially those living in Pakistan, on the behalf of the government and people of Pakistan on the occasion of Easter.The Prime Minister expressed these views while meeting a three-member delegation which presented a book titled “Churches of Pakistan” to him here on Sunday.Federal Minister for Information Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan was also present on the occasion.

Premier Gilani observed that common characteristics bind Christian and Muslim communities in an unbreakable relationship of mutual trust, respect and brotherhood. Believing in the prophethood of Jesus Christ and Bible as a divine Book is part of our faith as the Muslims, he added.

Pakistan remains committed to the well-being and equal status of minorities as citizens of Pakistan, as enshrined in the constitution and Quaid’s assurances in this regard are the guiding principles for harmonious relations among communities”, said the Prime Minister while speaking to the delegation.

The Prime Minister also paid tribute to Pakistani Christian community for their valuable contributions to the national development. He appreciated the contribution of the community members for vital sectors such as defence, education, health, politics, social welfare and others.

,”There is not a single walk of national life which does not have the representation and contribution of our Christian brethren.They are equal partners in the national development side by side with their other countrymen”,he added.

Commenting on the Easter Sunday, the Prime Minister said that it is a great feast day and culmination of not only Holy Week but the whole year, as on this day the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is celebrated.

The Prime Minister added that this day is considered the most important day in the Church year, as it is the day on which Jesus rose from the dead.

While lauding the efforts of the writer of the book the Prime Minister said that it truly reflects the historic perspective of the Christian community and their contributions towards the development of Pakistan.

He said that existence of worship places of all the major religions in Pakistan exhibit historical evidence of the tolerance and respect for each other’s faith. He also underscored the need to document other religious monuments and historical sites to showcase the cultural diversity of Pakistan to the world.

Earlier, Mansoor Rashid publisher of the book, Syed Javaid A.Kazi,acclaimed photographer and Dr. Safdar Ali Shah an accomplished writer presented the first copy of the book to the Prime Minister and highlighted their efforts to document an important facet of the cultural history of Pakistan.

They mentioned that the contents and quality of presentation was a befitting Easter gift for the Christian community and will add to their happiness on the occasion.It will also bring joy to many others who are or have been associated with these historical buildings, they added.

While talking to APP, Mansoor Rashid said that this is a coffee book with prolific pictorial discription of the buildings and gives all the architectural details as well.

Muslims put bus on fire, 15 Hindus burnt alive in Pakistan

2011-05-02T11:38:00.000-07:00

By Gopinath Kumar (editor-in-chief)
Monday, May 02, 2011

Quetta (Pakistan): Atleast 15 people, including women and children, were burnt alive when unidentified criminals torched a passenger bus near Sibi in Pakistan's Baluchistan province in the wee hours of today, police said. Those killed include seven children, three men belonging to the minority Hindu community who were identified as Kapil, Varsheen, and Pujamal, they said."

The incident occurred in the town of Sibi, about 160 kms from Quetta, when the bus coming from Jacobabad in Sindh province and going to Quetta had stopped at a road side restaurant for a break," Deputy Commissioner of Police Sibi, Naseer Ahmed Nasir said from Sibi. Witnesses said that four armed men, riding on two motorcycles, reached there while two of them entered the bus, sprinkled petrol and then they put it on fire. Many passengers could not flee due to severe fire, police said."The driver and the conductor of the bus fled from the scene and we are seaching for them. The frontier corps and police have cordoned off the area and are searching for the suspected criminals who set the coach on fire," Nasir said.

Police said that they were not ruling out the possibility that the driver and conductor have fled because the engine might have got fire.Police also suspects that the attack may be ethnic as dozens of non-locals were on board of the bus. Baluch seperatists have been carrying out attacks on government and security installations in the province for the last few years and have in the past targetted settlers from other provinces who reside in different parts of Baluchistan.

Nasir said that those killed in the fire included five persons of one family including three children and their grandparents."Since one door was burnt immediately there was no escape route for the passengers inside the bus. Most of the male passengers had got down to say prayers or have food," the deputy commissioner said.He said it was confirmed that the dead included three Hindus who were residents of Jacobabad who were going to Quetta for apparently some business.He said the wounded passengers were rushed to the Sibi civil hospital where they were getting treatment.

Pakistan Army Sexually Abusing Minority Women - NGO

2011-05-02T11:28:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Monday, May 02, 2011

(Photo : Pakistan Army. In its annual survey on human rights the State)

New York, (IANS) The Pakistani army is sexually assaulting minority women and using them as sex slaves, alleges the European Organization of Pakistani Minorities (EOPM), an NGO working for the rights of minorities in Pakistan.

In a prayer-cum-demonstration held at the UN, it said the Pakistani army is taking minority women away from their families, raping them and then using them as sex slaves.

Referring to the December attacks on Christians in Lahore, the organisation alleged that attacks on minorities in Pakistan were increasing.

Using a symbolic broken chair to highlight the plight of minorities in Pakistan, more than 100 women from different faiths lit candles at the prayer to highlight the plight of minority women allegedly being raped and killed by the Pakistani Army.

Expressing concern over the plight of women of Balochistan and Gilgit Baltistan, the organisers said army officials are taking them to torture camps, raping them and then using them as sex slaves.

"One such case is of that Zarina Marri who is a 23-year-old school teacher from Quetta and is being used as a sex slave by the Pakistani Army," the EOPM said in a statement.

It said international observers and the media should be allowed free access to Balochistan and Gilgit Baltistan to meet families whose women members have disappeared and yet no police cases have been registered.

The organisation demanded that the UN organise a special session on the plight of Pakistani women.

According to the EOPM, religious minorities constitute much more than five percent - as claimed in Pakistani census - of Pakistan's 160 million population.

However, the census intentionally keeps minority population low to deny them greater representation, it said.

Christians, Sikhs, Hindus and other minorities are constant targets of attacks in Pakistan, it said, citing Minority Rights Group International, a watchdog organisation, which ranked Pakistan last year as, "the world's top country for major increases in threats to minorities since 2007".

Pakistan has also been listed seventh among the 10 most dangerous countries for minorities, after Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Myanmar and Congo.

Pakistan faces pressure after Osama bin Laden (al Qaeda leader) killed near Islamabad

2011-05-02T11:12:00.000-07:00

By Mohammad S.Solanki (Executive Editor)
Monday, May 02, 2011

( Photo : Osama bin laden dead head killed photo picture image, Pakistan)

ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistan declared the killing of Osama bin Laden a "major setback" to global terrorism but it will inevitably come under pressure to explain how the al Qaeda leader was holed up in a mansion near a military facility.

Bin Laden was killed in a dramatic night-time raid by U.S. helicopters and troops on his hideout in Abbottabad, a town that is home to a military academy and that is less then two hours' drive from the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

"Osama bin Laden's death illustrates the resolve of the international community, including Pakistan, to fight and eliminate terrorism," the government said in a statement. "It constitutes a major setback to terrorist organisations around the world."

However, it was not clear whether the Pakistan military was involved in the operation and there was no official comment from the government for several hours after the news of bin Laden's, raising the possibility that Islamabad was taken by surprise.

That bin Laden, mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, was not hiding in mountains along the border but in relative comfort near a military academy will bolster those who have long argued that Pakistan has been playing a duplicitous hand.

Just 10 days ago Pakistan's army chief addressed army cadets at that very academy, saying the country's military had broken the back of militants linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban.

Washington has in the past accused Pakistan of maintaining ties to militants targeting U.S. troops in neighbouring Afghanistan. Relations have soured in recent months over U.S. drone attacks and CIA activities in the country.

Pakistan's powerful intelligence agency, the ISI, has long been suspected of links to al Qaeda's precursor, the Haqqani network, cultivated during the 1980s when Jalaluddin Haqqani was a feared battlefield commander against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.

Pakistan's arch-rival, India, was quick to comment, saying the news underlined its "concern that terrorists belonging to different organisations find sanctuary in Pakistan".

"For some time there will be a lot of tension between Washington and Islamabad because bin Laden seems to have been living here close to Islamabad," said Imtiaz Gul, a Pakistani security analyst.

"If the ISI had known, then somebody within the ISI must have leaked this information," Gul said. "Pakistan will have to do a lot of damage control because the Americans have been reporting he is in Pakistan ... this is a serious blow to the credibility of Pakistan."

FLAMES, GUNSHOTS, A BLAST

(Photo : Map of Abbottabad District in NWFP State of Pakistan)

Abbottabad is a popular summer resort, located in a valley surrounded by green hills near Pakistani Kashmir.
Islamist militants, particularly those fighting in Indian-controlled Kashmir, used to have training camps near the town.

A Reuters reporter in the town on Monday said bin Laden's single-storey residence stood fourth in a row of about a dozen houses, a satellite perched on the roof above a walled compound. A helicopter covered by a sheet sat in a nearby field.

Mohammad Idrees, who lives around 400 meters from the house, said local residents were woken in the night by the sound of a big explosion.

"We rushed to the rooftop and saw flames near that house. We also heard some gunshots," Idrees said. "Soon after the blast, we saw military vehicles rushing to the site of the blast."

Another resident, Nasir Khan, said that commandos had encircled the compound as three helicopters hovered overhead.

"All of a sudden there was firing towards the helicopters from the ground," said Khan, who had watched the drama unfold from his rooftop. "There was intense firing and then I saw one of the helicopters crash."

A Pakistani military helicopter crashed near Abbottabad on Sunday night, killing one and wounding two, according to local media. It was unclear if the crash was related to bin Laden's death, but witnesses reported gunshots and heavy firing before one of two low-flying helicopters crashed near the academy.

Sohaib Athar, whose profile says he is an IT consultant taking a break from the ratrace by hiding in the mountains, sent out a stream of live updates on Twitter about the movement of helicopters and blasts without realising it was a raid on the world's most hunted man.

Some of his early tweets were: "Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1 am (rare event); Go away helicopter - before I take out my giant swatter."

Then he reported his window rattling and a bang. "I hope it's not the start of something nasty," he tweeted.
Soon after there were blasts. There were two helicopters, one of them had gone down, Athar wrote.

When he learnt it was bin Laden killed in Abbottabad, he tweeted: "ISI has confirmed it
(Additional reporting by Rebecca Conway, Zeeshan Haider, Kamran Haider, Faisal Mehmood and Chris Allbritton; Writing by John Chalmers; Editing by Miral Fahmy)

Tamil (Hindu) Religious Lessons To Be Held In Schools Soon, Malaysia

2011-05-02T10:54:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Monday, May 02, 2011

(Photo : Malaysia Hindu Sangam (MHS) in Malaysia)

MALAYSIA (The Star): The Malaysia Hindu Sangam is taking the necessary action to ensure Tamil religious classes are held in schools and temples nationwide by next year. It quoted its president R.S. Mohan Shan as saying that the organization would have 2,500 locally-trained religious teachers to conduct the classes in the next five years.

Shan said lack of religious and moral education among the younger generation had resulted in an increase in social issues affecting the Indian community. And the Sangam would cooperate with other Indian organisations to solve social problems affecting the Indian community.

Hindus Reclaim 5,000 Years of History in Kashmir , India

2011-05-02T10:49:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Monday, May 02, 2011

( Photo : A Hindu worships in Srinagar a capital city for Kashmir, India)

KASHMIR : Though the Kashmir valley has for centuries had a Muslim majority, its Hindu population - commonly known as Pandits - were always an integral part of the community. Hindus claim their history here dates back thousands of years.

When a separatist militancy gathered pace two decades ago, up to 400,000 Hindus either fled or were driven out. But over the last couple of years, something special has been happening in Kashmir. Sanjay Tickoo and other members of the small Hindu population that remained have set about restoring the temples, shrines and other sacred places. He claims several dozen such places have been repaired or reactivated.

"After the mass exodus of the Pandits, around 98 per cent of the temples were not attended. Only 23 temples have remained in constant use," said 42-year-old Mr Tickoo, president of the Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti, an NGO."We are doing it to improve Kashmiri society. But when we say we have a 5,000-year history in Kashmir... the history belongs to me only because of my presence in the valley. My identity is directly linked to the temples. If they disappear I cannot claim we have a 5,000-year history in the valley."

The plight of Kashmir's Hindus is one of the overlooked tragedies of south Asia. While Kashmir's Muslim population has attracted international attention for its long and often violent struggle for autonomy, which has resulted in the Indian authorities dispatching hundreds of thousands of troops and paramilitaries, the Pandits are often forgotten, even in their own country. Today, it is estimated there are fewer than 4,000 still here in the valley.

Sathya Sai Baba's Passing, a Change in India's Religious Landscape

2011-05-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Monday, May 02, 2011

(Photo : Sathya Sai Baba dead on Sunday in India and death news spread quickly all over)

[Note: Although Sai Baba was born to Hindu parents, raised in a Hindu community, took a Hindu name, wore the saffron-colored vestments of a Hindu sannyasin, will be honored by Hindu funeral rites; though he quoted from Hindu scriptures and directed an overwhelmingly Hindu following to sing traditional Hindu devotional songs, even so, he did not profess to be a Hindu. Still, in the minds of countless westerners, his was the image conjured when someone spoke of Hinduism and his passing is relevant to the Hindu community.]

UK, April 25, 2011 (The Telegraph): Sathya Sai Baba, who died yesterday, probably aged 84, was India's most famous, and most controversial holy man. To his followers, Sai Baba was a living God; he would frequently liken himself to such figures as Christ, Krishna, and the Buddha, claiming that he was the avatar of the age.

Sai Baba's reputation was founded largely on claims of his miraculous powers. It was later tarnished by accusations of quackery and even pedophilia, though he was never convicted.

He is thought to have been born, as Sathya Narayana Raju, on November 23 1926, into a poor farming family in the village of Puttaparthi, in the arid state of Andhra Pradesh.

According to legend, as a child he would avoid places where animals were slaughtered and bring beggars home to be fed. At the age of 14, after apparently being bitten by a scorpion, he began to display signs of delirium and hallucinations. Convinced that he was possessed, his parents summonsed a local exorcist who shaved the boy's head, scored four X's into his scalp, and poured the juice of garlic and lime into the wounds. Shortly afterwards, he declared himself to be a reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba, one of southern India's most revered saints, who died in 1918. Challenged to prove his claim, he is said to have thrown some jasmine flowers on the floor; in falling the flowers arranged themselves to spell out the name "Sai Baba" in Telugu.

From humble beginnings, his following grew until by the end of the 20th century it was estimated to number more than three million people around the world. This made him a powerful and influential figure in Indian social and political life; he numbered many high-ranking politicians and public figures.

Sai Baba established an extensive network of schools and colleges throughout India, helping millions of people. The humanitarian projects under his name, with which he was only marginally involved, became a force paralel to the government in parts of India. The organization is estimated to have assets around US$ 8 billion, and could fall into a succession war.

Sathya Sai Baba was certainly wrong about one thing having, in 1963, announced that he would live until 2020. It remains to be seen whether another prediction is closer to the mark - that in 2028 his "third incarnation", Prema Sai, will be born in the village of Gunaparthy in Karnataka state. "With his [Prema Sai's] efforts, love, goodwill, brotherhood and peace will abound throughout the world," Sai Baba declared. "He will receive universal recognition from mankind."

Daily Inspiration from Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

2011-05-02T10:20:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Monday, May 02, 2011

(Members of the Pakistani Hindu community celebratin Holi in Karachi, Pakistan on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010)

I am a British born guy of Pakistani and Burmese descent. I’ve been to Pakistan a few times and must say that the indigenous Hindu population should be given greater respect and prominence. The Pakistani treatment of Hindu citizens should be much improved than at current as you are an amazingly dynamic component of the country. Respect to you all.

By Farid M. Khan (United Kingdom)

2011 Hindu Pilgrimage to Balochistan’s Hinglaj Temple, Pakistan

2011-04-25T17:47:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Monday, April 25, 2011

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ramesh (PHP)
Date: Sun, Apr 17, 2011 at 3:30 AM
Subject: 2011 Pilgrimage to Balochistan’s Hinglaj Temple, Pakistan
To:Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

(Photo : 2011 Hanglaj Mata Festval Bannar by Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP), HRF, Pakistan)

Namesty

Hope you will be fine there please note that 2011 Hanglaj Mata Festval has been postponed new date is now 24 to 26 April 2011 and we from Rahim Yar Khan going on 22-April.

NOTE : Every year thousands of Hindus from Pakistan and India gather to attend a four-day ritual at the Hinglaj Mata Temple in Balochistan. The temple is situated on the Makran coast in the Lyari district of Balochistan. Hindus believe that the head of goddess Sati had fallen in the area of Hinglaj Mata and since then, it has remained a revered pilgrimage site for Hindus.

(Photo : 2011 Hanglaj Mata Festval bannar by Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP), HRF, Pakistan)

We will start our yatra from Rahim Khan on 22nd April by bus. We are arrange a Bus for Yatra and our Rout is as following : -

Kalka Mata Temple Sukkur
Ram Dev Temple Tando Allah
Son of Guru Nanik (Hindu) Baba Sri chand Tample
Durga Mata Temple Thuttha
Shiv Temple Karachi
Chander Goup Liyari
Hanglaj Mata and Return back

With Regards
Ramesh Jaipal

Saraikistan Province: PML-N Falling Into Zardari’s Trap, Pakistan

2011-04-25T17:24:00.000-07:00

By Aziz Narejo (Indus Herald)
Monday, April 25, 2011

(Photo : Saraikistan demand at Larkana city, Pakistan)

Islamabad : In a glaring example of cynical, reactionary and unprincipled politics, Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif the other day demanded that Sindh be divided and Karachi be made a province. His statement justifiably created furore in Sindh and the parliamentary parties including PPP, MQM and ANP as well as other politicians and activists swiftly condemned the unimaginative and unscrupulous statement by the PML-N leader.

The PML-N government and Punjabi nationalists seem to be under considerable pressure as the demand for a separate Siraiki province is gathering momentum in southern Punjab but this was most crooked and uncalled for response that could ever come from anyone with even the slightest political wisdom. PML-N leader was obviously trying to get back with the PPP. It may be noted that PM Gilani has suggested the creation of a new province in southern Punjab and PPP manifesto committee is deliberating to make it a part of the PPP manifesto for next elections.

No Sindhi would have any objections if Shahbaz Sharif, other PML-N leaders and Punjabis as a whole turn into nationalists but all the Punjabis and others should understand that Sindh and PPP are not ONE and the same. They are two separate entities. PML-N can’t and shouldn’t get back with the PPP by hurting Sindh. It must agree or disagree with the Siraiki people’s demand for a separate province with the force of arguments and not by playing tit for tat, conspiratorial and ugly politics.
PML-N should also realize that with this kind of politics they will be completely routed out from Sindh and their aspirations to become a “national” party or to form next government will die for ever.

Do they understand that this is exactly what PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari wants the PML-N to do? Are they willingly falling into the trap set by Zardari’s PPP? Do they realize that with this kind of politics, they will forever become a Central Punjab party? Are there any sane elements in PML-N who would rein in Shahbaz Sharif and the likes of him in their party? Guess not. Good luck to them on their journey to doom.

(Photo : Proposed Map for Saraikistan province in Pakistan)

Introduction : Saraik is a term used by some Seraikis to denote the southern region of the Punjab province of Pakistan, inhabited by Saraiki-speaking people. Many people contest the status of Saraiki as a separate language.. Though, it has overwhelming influence of Punjabi and Sindhi; Seraiki can be called a separate language of Indo-Aryan Family. When compared to its sister languages: Sindhi and Punjabi, Saraiki is far smaller and much behind in literature and in many other ways..Historically speaking, Saraiki, before Independence, never created a sense of separate Saraiki identity particularly in Southern Punjab..Customs and traditions practised by the people of Southern Punjab have largely been similar to those of Punjabis and Sindhis..However, national recognition of Saraiki as a separate language, giving it an official status, a Saraiki province, a Saraiki regiment in Army, establishment of Saraiki radio and television are among primary demands of Saraiki movement.

In 2002, the Saraiki nationalists claimed that there are over 30 million Saraiki speakers in Pakistan, mostly in southern Punjab, and also in the adjacent parts of Sindh and Balochistan provinces, mainly based in the former princely state of Bahawalpur (princely state).

Beginning in the 1960s, Saraiki nationalists have sought to gain language rights and lessen,what the nationalists propagated as, "Punjabi control over the natural resources of 'Saraiki' lands". This has led to a proposed separate province Saraikistan, a region being drawn up by activists in the 1970.The 1977 coup by General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq of Pakistan, a centralist ruler, caused the movement to go underground. After his death in 1988 allowed the Saraiki movement to re-emerge openly with the goals to have a Saraiki nationality recognised, to have official documents printed in Saraiki, a Saraiki regiment in the Pakistan Army, employment quotas and more Saraiki language radio and television.

Inscription throws new light to Hindu rule in Afghanistan

2011-04-25T17:05:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Monday, April 25, 2011

(Photo : The alter at Kabul's Hashari Natha Temple (Hindu Mandir) in Afghanistan)

Kolkata (India) : A stone inscription in Sanskrit, recovered from the city of Mazar-i-Sharif of northern Afghanistan a few years ago, has thrown new light on the reign of the Hindu Shahi ruler `Veka' in that country.

The recovery and significance of the inscription, telling a story of the Hindu ruler Veka and his devotion to lord `Siva', was told by leading epigraphist and archaeologist Prof Ahmad Hasan Dani of the Quaid-E-Azam University of Islamabad at the ongoing Indian History Congress here.

If historians, preferred to revise the date of the first Hindu Shahi ruler Kallar from 843-850 AD to 821-828 AD, the date of 138 of present inscription, if it refers to the same era, should be equal to 959 AD which falls during the reign of Bhimapala'', Dani said in a paper `Mazar-i Sharif inscription of the time of the Shahi ruler Veka, dated the year 138'', submitted to the Congress.

The inscription, with eleven lines written in `western Sarada' style of Sanskrit of 10th century AD, had several spelling mistakes. ``As the stone is slightly broken at the top left corner, the first letter `OM' is missing'', he said.
According to the inscription, ``the ruler Veka occupied by eight-fold forces, the earth, the markets and the forts. It is during his reign that a temple of Siva in the embrace with Uma was built at Maityasya by Parimaha (great) Maitya for the benefit of himself and his son''.

The inscription was brought from Mazar-i-Sharif, where the tomb of Hazrat Ali, son-in-law of Prophet Mohammed is located, to Pakistan and is currently housed at the Islamabad Museum, Dani said.

Dani said ``the inscription gives the name of the king as Shahi Veka Raja and bestows on him the qualification of `Iryatumatu Ksanginanka'.... and (he) appears to be the same king who bears the name of Khingila or Khinkhila who should be accepted as a Shahi ruler''.

Dani further said ``he may be an ancestor of Veka deva. As his coins are found in Afghanistan and he is mentioned by the Arab ruler Yaqubi, he may be an immediate predecessor of Veka deva...... Both the evidences of inscription and coins suggest that Veka or Vaka should be accepted as an independent ruler of northern Afghanistan.

``Thus we find another branch of the Shahi ruler in northern part of Afghanistan beyond the Hindukush. Veka is said to have conquered the earth, the markets and the forts by his eight-fold forces, suggesting that he must have himself gained success against the Arab rulers of southern Afghanistan''.

Dani observed that going by the findings it seemed that during the rule of the Hindu Shahi ruler Bhimapala there was a break in the dynasty -- one branch, headed by Jayapala, ruled in Lamaghan and Punjab, and another branch, headed by Veka, ruled in northern part of Afghanistan.

``The northern branch must have come to an end by the conquest of Alptigin in the second half of tenth century AD'', he said.

2011 Baisakhi Mela at Narowal by Hindu Sudhar Sabha-Pakistan (HSSP), Pakistan

2011-04-25T11:55:00.000-07:00

By Dr. Radhe Shyam Kumar (Executive Editor)
Monday, April 25, 2011

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Punjab PHP
Date: Mon, Apr 25, 2011 at 8:28 AM
Subject: Baisakhi Mela report of narowal, Pakistan
To:Pakisan Hindu Post (PHP)

(Photo : 2011 Baisakhi Mela bannar by Hindu Sudhar Sabha, Pakistan (HSSP) and NCIDE, Pakistan)

Namastay

Hindu Sudhar Sabha, Pakistan (HSSP) arranged a 2011 Baisakhi Mela in Narowal city where Hindus,Sikhs, and Muslims people participated. The chief guest of this Baisakhi Mela at Narowal were Mr.Gulam hussan a general secretary for Pakistan People Party (PPP) for Punjab province of Pakistan.

Vaisakhi (Punjabi: ਵਿਸਾਖੀ visākhī, Hindi: बैसाखी baisākhī, also known as Baisakhi, Vaishakhi, or Vasakhi) is an ancient harvest festival celebrated across North India, especially in the state of Punjab.

In Sikhism, it is one of the most significant holidays in the Sikh calendar, commemorating the establishment of the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib in 1699, by the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh. This day is also observed as the beginning of the Hindu solar new year celebrated by people across Nepal and other regions of India.

Best Regards,
Amarnath Randhawa

(Exclusive Report) Culture Kalash in Pakistan

2011-04-20T20:34:00.000-07:00

By Oscar Rickett (The Observer)
Wednesday, April 20, 2011

(Photo : Set adrift: at the top of the Bumboret valley looking toward Afghanistan. Photographs: Oscar Rickett for the Observer, Pakistan)

I am standing on a roof in the mountains of the Kalash valleys. Below me hundreds of men are screaming and shouting as two small wooden balls are hit up the slopes by opposing teams of players. Women in intricately designed, brightly coloured dresses are looking on, talking and laughing. One player draws back his long wooden club and hammers the ball onward. Cries of joy fill the air.

"What just happened?" I ask the player. "We cheated," he laughs. "The ball was lost in the snow so I took a ball from my pocket and hit that one. Don't tell the other team. If they knew, we would lose this point."

The ball flies on up the four-mile-long course, over rivers and up banks. That night, the winning team will sacrifice an ox, paid for by the losers. Everyone will get drunk. It is winter and there is not much to do. The game is chikik gal.

In February this year, the Taliban assassinated Pakistan's Christian minister for minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti. He was the only politician representing the non-Muslim populations of Pakistan. His smallest ward was the Kalash, a 3,000-strong animist tribe living in the mountains of the Hindu Kush, in Pakistan's wild northwest frontier. A persistent myth tells of their descent from members of an errant division of Alexander the Great's army, which ripped through the mountains of northern Pakistan more than 2,000 years ago.

In Rudyard Kipling's time, the Kalash were known as the "black Kafirs" and their land was Kafiristan, the setting for his tale of insanity and idolatry, The Man Who Would be King. The "red Kafirs", their neighbours, the subjects of Kipling's story, were brutally converted at the end of the 19th century. They became Nuristanis, "enlightened ones", and their rugged mountain land is one of the centres of the war against the Taliban.

(Photo : The Kalash tribe is said to descend from Alexander the Great's army, but now it is fighting to preserve its traditions in a Taliban stronghold)

The Kalash live in three valleys (Bumboret, Birir and Rumbur) by the Afghan border in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In winter, flights to Chitral, the nearest town, are routinely and consistently cancelled without warning. My journey from Islamabad was by road, through Mardan and Dir up to the Lowari tunnel and then down the other side. In the winter, when the Lowari pass is blocked by snow, the tunnel is the only way of travelling to Chitral by road. Its construction began in 2005 and it is now open for a few hours every day. It is less a tunnel and more a 9km-long cave.

But in spite of the constant sense of peril it evokes, the tunnel is changing Chitral and the Kalash valleys. Previously, getting to the nearest city, Peshawar, meant a trip through Afghanistan. Now the tunnel brings supplies from the rest of the country. With access comes fear. "Extremists use the tunnel to come here," says Taj Udeen, a local police commander. "We have to make sure we know who is coming to our district."

They certainly knew we were coming. Tourism has dropped off steeply since 9/11 – in the 1990s thousands of people visited Chitral annually, now that figure is below 100 – and we were among few outsiders to visit the Kalash valleys in the past year. Desperate to make sure nothing happened to our four-strong team, 10 armed policemen accompanied us. We spent a month in the valleys. They never left our side.

For centuries, the Kalash have been fighting to preserve their traditions. People are converted to Islam every year. "Extremist Muslims prey on weak people and create internal divisions," Imran Kabir, a Kalasha polymath (he reveals that he is, variously, a butcher, teacher, writer and junkyard owner) tells me.

A policeman stands outside the Bashali, the house of menstruation and childbirth.

A local teacher, Akbal Shah, recounts the story of his father, who worked as a frontier policeman and converted to Islam because he was the only Kalash man in an all-Muslim unit. "He was not educated, so they said to him that if he didn't convert he wouldn't go to heaven. He ended up believing them because he didn't want to stand out. The Muslims are a big majority, they are pressing us everywhere." Deathbed conversions are common and people talk of being offered wives and money if they convert. When I interviewed one of the local imams, Nasir Abdul, at his newly built mosque, he spoke of the love he has for the Kalash people before going on to say that he "hopes they will convert to Islam so that they can go to paradise". He is a friendly man who does not pay people to convert, but his objective is the same: the end of the Kalasha religion.

Not all Muslims in the area feel this way. One convert who everyone calls "Mullah" tells me: "Everyone should be free to believe what they like." And while Muslims are not allowed to convert to the Kalash religion, men like Mullah participate in Kalash festivals and rituals in a way that makes you believe that if they could convert back, they would.

(Photo : Kalash Tribe in Kafiristan group of girls dancing what a beauty)

Wali Khan, the Kalash headmaster of a primary school in Bumboret valley and a charismatic and popular figure, has worked tirelessly to improve the standards of schooling in the valleys (until the 1990s, there were no official schools). His family is typical in that two of his three brothers have converted to Islam (the one who hasn't is confusingly nicknamed Mujahideen). He tells me that for "two years my brother was living like an imam. But then he got bored and now he is drinking and smoking and dancing!" Drinking means the local moonshine, tara, which tastes like schnapps, or homemade wine, which tastes like sherry. Kalash dealers routinely and illegally sell both drinks to Muslims.

The Kalasha Dur, built by a Dutch NGO.

Another source of tension is the aid that the Kalash receive from NGOs and the government. At the centre of this controversy is the Kalasha Dur – a museum, small hospital, library, hostel and school complex for the Kalash (which Muslims cannot attend), housed within an absurdly Greek-looking palace built by the NGO Greek Volunteers, with help from Greece's government body Hellenic Aid. Greek Volunteers's director, Athanasios Lerounis, a long-time champion of the Kalash and the man who raised the money to build the centre, assures me that though there are "similarities to the Ionic style", the building came from "the local architecture". The attempted olive growing that goes on is, however, more likely to be an ancient tradition of Athens.

In 2009, a Taliban unit stole into the valleys at night and kidnapped Lerounis. They had been tipped off by locals sympathetic to their cause and came to the Kalasha Dur during a night when only two security guards were posted. One guard fled while the other stood his ground and was killed. Lerounis was taken swiftly across the Afghan border to Nuristan. The Greek teacher's ransom, thought to be up to £1m, was paid and he returned to Greece. The security services will not let him return to Pakistan because they believe his presence in the country is dangerous. Lerounis, who wants to come back to the valleys, tells me he does not want to talk about the kidnapping because doing so would endanger the Kalash people. Whatever they think of the Taliban's policies, the Kalash stress their neutrality: they are too vulnerable to court trouble.

The kidnapping highlights the security risk presented by the lavish Greek building: in a small, rural community, it sticks out. Locals say that there is a Taliban plot to blow up the Kalasha Dur. The building's detractors say that the exclusion of Muslims from the school only adds to the resentment felt by those who feel that the Kalash get too much money from outsiders.

(Photo : Kalash delegation with Sarah Cheema an organizer IYCF. The IYCF was first ever international conference which was held in Islamabad at PNCA. Names of Kalash delegation who were participated in this event are Luke Rehmat, Jamal Bibi, Missro Khunza and Natija, Pakistan)

Wali Khan used to work with Lerounis compiling a Kalasha alphabet, but left because he didn't like the division the Kalasha Dur had created. "The Kalash and the Muslims have to get along; they have to live side by side," he says. "So why make a school in which only one kind of person can be taught?" Lerounis argues that the school was built in response to a need highlighted by the Kalash community: "I asked them what they wanted and they told me they needed a school… There are many Muslim schools and many madrasas. The Kalash need this. There is a division because of their tradition, not because of our building."

The Kalasha Dur's first-aid centre treats Muslims, and Greek Volunteers have also built Muslim schools and secured a clean-water supply that is used by everyone. Yet the suspicion remains that they do as much harm as good. Imran Kabir believes that Lerounis created a culture of dependence so that in the end people "treated him like a God". Instead of praying to their maker, Kabir told me, they would pray to Lerounis. Since he has been gone, the Kalash have started helping themselves again, something Lerounis would probably approve of.

Nabaig (like Prince, he has no second name) is the first Kalash lawyer. He works in Chitral and, when he is in court, wears a suit and tie that makes you think of Reservoir Dogs. Back in the valleys, in his traditional clothes, he tells me that the United Nations Development Programme money that comes to the valleys "goes in the pockets of the politicians and higher personalities". The same is said of the international money that came to the country to help relieve flooding in 2010.

"None of the money came to us," says Nabaig, who points out that food is now twice the price as a result.

Almost all accounts of the Kalash fixate on the tribe's mythological descent from Alexander the Great. The romance of Alexander's tribe is a key part of Kalash tourism, although "they did a DNA test and they found no connection" is a familiar refrain here. Lerounis calls the area an "open museum"; the valleys' reputation as a Garden of Eden, a lost land of innocent people, meant that a summer stop to see the Kalash used to be an adventurous part of the hippie trail. But another form of tourism has developed: young Muslim men from the south, deprived of contact with women their own age, come here to chat up Kalash girls and watch them dance.

A girl in Birir wearing a traditional Kalash headdress.

The government has a confused relationship with the Kalash. Wali Khan says it "protects the Kalash people very well now because we are a unique culture". But there is also worry that this kind of cultural tourism can be exploitative. Abdul Sattar, a village elder who has converted to Islam, tells me that "before, when I was Kalash, I was very happy. But the government and people from the rest of Pakistan were coming here and making us dance and perform. I became a Muslim because I couldn't enjoy performing for outsiders."

(Photo : Kalash People’s Development Network is started organizing indigenous community to organize IWSF 2012. It aims to promote and conserve traditional sports of Kalash valleys. IWSF is the first-ever designed event to work for promotion and sustainable development of winter tourism in Chitral region, Pakistan)

The government's press office in Islamabad sent out a string of mixed messages, telling me the trip was "very dangerous" yet repeatedly talking about how wonderful the Kalash were and how thrilled the government was to see journalists coming to the country to cover something other than the war with the Taliban. The constitution protects minorities and the law safeguards the customs of the Kalash. This is how Nabaig wins most of his cases, which involve Kalash alcohol and drug traffickers and disputes between Islamic and Kalash property laws. Still, the lawyer remains unconvinced by the authorities. "I am worried about what is happening because we are isolated. We are in the minority. We are worried that our traditions won't survive."

This survival is being safeguarded in interesting ways. There has been a concerted effort in recent years to reproduce as much as possible in order to bolster numbers. That way, if a couple of the children end up being converted, the pain will be less sharp. And, in the end, it is this spirit that will see the Kalash through. Free-minded and intensely aware of their "unique culture" they appear to be getting stronger rather than weaker. New roads and new technology often kill cultures such as theirs but the opposite seems to be true.

That they have had problems moving from a barter economy to a monetary one cannot be denied and that their traditional dependence on goats is becoming less valuable is also true, but the Kalash are using their increased contact with the outside world to educate others. Their language has, for the first time, been put into a written form (they use the English alphabet). Nabaig, who is 29, says that his generation is "very keen to be Kalash, to preserve our culture. With trade we are gaining facilities. We are feeding our families". One Kalash teenager told me his culture "was over". Almost all his friends contradicted him. Those who go to the big cities to work want to return to the valleys. One of the village kasis ("guardians of knowledge") told me that now "education is very good. When I was younger there were no schools, no roads and no Jeeps. We had no clothes. We had no shoes. Now it is better." The Kalash are learning about their culture in order to preserve it. As we look out over the valley and up to Afghanistan, Imran Kabir looks up and says: "The future is bright. The dark ages are gone."

To Know more about Kalash community in Pakistan , visit below link :-

Unique Kalash Community under threat in Pakistan
http://pakistanhindupost.blogspot.com/2011/03/unique-kalash-community-under-threat-in.html

The PHP Team

2011 Hinglaj Yatra by Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC), Pakistan

2011-04-20T19:59:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Wednesday, April 20, 2011

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Sanjesh (PHP)
Date: Tue, Apr 19, 2011 at 11:01 AM
Subject: HINGLAG YEARLY YATRA (PAKISTAN HINDU COUNCIL)
To: Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

(Photo : Invitation Bannar of Pakistan Hindu Council for 2011 Hinglaj Yatra, Pakistan)

Hinglaj Mata Mandir (Teerath Yatra) , Balochistan

This is sacred place of pilgrimage for Hindus in general is situated in a mountain cave "HINGLAJ" on river bank of "HINGHOL"at the tail of " KHEERTHAR" maintains called " KANRAJ" in Tehsil Lyari of Balochistan.

It is about 170 miles(250 KM) from Karachi - on the main "Karachi - Quetta" Highway upto zero Point for about 75 miles and then by road towards west through Lyari town and then to signal Fauji Camp Stop, crossing Aghore River then through Goongi River and last stop to "Asha Pura" Sarai (INN)

It is known that before partition (India-Pakistan), Rajput Kings come for pilgrimage to Hinglaj Mata from Rajasthan and Gujarat. There was no read and Yatris had to pass through jungles, sandy routes, mountains, rivers, full of danger on the back of camels, it take months in journey.

Now the journey has become easy, from Karachi is 6 to 8 hrs in a private vehicle (preferably 4 Wheel drive).

This Teerath is famous and old in human history. The devotees from all part of the world used to come for Hinglaj Mata Teerath since centuries. Even Hindus Ram Avatar. Great Saint GuruGorakh Nath, Great Saint Guru Nanak Sahib, Dada Mekhan,Avtar of Laxman, and other great Saints, Rishes and Hindu scholars paid visits to Hinglaj Teerath. In recent few years devotees from Africa and European countries have visited and performed Hinglaj Mata Teerath.

Yearly Yatra

In respect to the Hinglaj Mata Teerath Yatra, Shri Hinglaj SevaMandli every year makes arrangement of Yatra in the month of April in the form of JATHA means a huge and big group of around 50,000 people consisted of males, females, Kids from all parts of thestates of Pakistan of different languages and culture. These devoteesare dressed in red caps, flags, and banners of Hinglaj and basically it renew our past memories. This year Yatra is on 24th till 26th April 2011.

Dr. Ramesh Kumar Vanwani (Patron) Pakistan Hindu Council is giving warm welcome to all the Pakistani Hindu people for this yearly yatra.

Must Watch these Videos of Hinglag Yatra by click these links.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHoInmSTVuA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rTxpsTgKJ4

Best Regards,
Sanjesh (Karachi,Pakistan)

Hindu Nationalist stopped 50 lakh Hindus from converting in India

2011-04-20T19:11:00.000-07:00

By PHP India
Wednesday, April 20, 2011

(Photo : Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) or also known as World Hindu Council leader Mr.Pravin Bhai Togariya speaking in a press conference in India)

India (Orissa) : Viswa Hindu Parisad (VHP) said its focus was on preventing religious conversion and asked its members to protest wherever there is an attack on any Hindu.

"With its attention focused on checking conversion, VHP has succeeded in preventing about 50 lakh Hindus from switching over to other faiths in last 10 years," VHP's international general secretary Praveen Togadia said while addressing a public meeting here.

He said VHP has also brought back more than 1.5 lakh converted people into Hindu fold.

He criticised the both Centre and Orissa government accusing them of pursuing what he called a policy of 'appeasement'.

Togadia asked all Hindus to unite and fight for the cause of preventing conversion, cow slaughter and bringing back up the glorious past of the Hindus.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Gopinath Kumar (PHP)
Date: Tue, Apr 19, 2011 at 9:12 AM
Subject: Fwd: VHP stopped 50 lakh Hindus from converting:
To: Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

Namaste

Dear PHP Readers and coordinators,

We need a similar project in Islamic Republic of Pakistan, In order to save one of the most modern day persecuted/discriminated Hindu community in world.

Note : Pakistan is home to 4 to 5 Millions Hindus or 5th largest Hindu population in world.

Lets join hands !

Best Regards,
Gopinath Kumar

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Amar Guriro (Karachi City)
Date: Tue, Apr 19, 2011 at 10:41 AM
Subject: Re: VHP stopped 50 lakh Hindus from converting:
To: "Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)"

Dear Gopinath, Well said, National Census 1998 states 2.7 million Hindus, the biggest religous minority of Pakistan, however, Pakistan Hindu Foundation (PHF) claims that there after 14 years its has reached to 4.7 million.

regards
-amar

2011 Rama Navami and Hindu wedding organize by PHP and HRF, Pakistan

2011-04-20T17:50:00.000-07:00

By Mohammad S.Solanki (Executive Editor)
Wednesday, April 20, 2011

(Photo : Ram Navami (RamNomi) - April 12th 2011)

Karachi – Ram Navami (RamNomi) is the birthday of Lord Ram. This year (2011) Ram Navami will be celebrated on April 12th. It is the 9th day of the Hindu calender and coincides with the last day of Navaratras.

The day begins with the prayers dedictated to Sun. It is celebrated with the procession of Ram Nomi, in which people are dressed as Lord Ram, Sita, Laxman and Hanuman whereas others follow them dressed like Ram’s soldiers. Lord Ram is seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu and is known as the God of peace and prosperity.

Many known figures in India are giving their greetings on RamNavami. Amitabh Bachchan aka Big B blogged his greeting: “Ram Navmi ke paavan avsar pe aap sab ko hardik shubhkamanayein .. sneh, shraddha, samriddhi aur mangalmay jeevan ..!”

Lord Ram was born to the King Dasharatha and Queen Kausalya of Ayodhya. Sri Ram Navami also marks the beginning of summer because the sun starts moving nearer to the northern Hemisphere. Ram is also known as Raghupati, Raghunatha and the prefix ‘Raghu’ refers to Sun.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ramesh (PHP)
Date: Tue, Apr 12, 2011 at 5:33 AM
Subject: Event of Happy Ram Nomi and Wedding of Hindu poor Girl org.By: PHPh-HAF
To: Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

Namesty All

Hope you will be fine there, please find an attached files.... please tell me about Hanglaj Yatra what are you Final......and please call me.
Regards
Ramesh (PHP)

(Photo : Event of Happy Ram Nomi and Wedding of Hindu poor Girl org by PHP and HRF, Pakistan)

(NOTE : Hindus have celebrated Rama Navami all over the world in honor of the birthday of Lord Rama, a traditional festival that this year fell on April 13)

(Photo : 2011 bannar of Lord Rama Navami organize by PHP and HRF, Pakistan)

The PHP Team

Hindus and other minorities may face worse times in future: HRCP report, Pakistan

2011-04-20T17:12:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Wednesday, April 20, 2011

(Photo : 2010 QUETTA, A prominent Hindu rice trader was shot dead and his son was kidnapped by armed bandits wearing uniform of the Balochistan Levies Force in Quetta on Tuesday night, Pakistan)

Islamabad : The previous year was a bad one for Pakistan's minority communities including Muslims of various sects, Sikhs and Hindus due to threat to their lives by militants, according to a new report which suggested even worse times ahead.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan's report said 418 Muslims of various sects were killed in terror attacks and about 25 per cent of Sikh families in the Orakzai tribal area were forced to leave their homes due to threats from Taliban.

It said 500 Hindu families from Balochistan province migrated to India due to threats to their lives and security.

The "State of Human Rights in 2010" report, which detailed attacks on the minorities, said: "All indications suggest that there are even worse times ahead."

The report said 418 people were killed in violence against different minority Muslim sects while suicide attacks on Muslims injured 628 people, including Shias.

Sikhs living in Pakistan's northwestern areas for centuries had to face trying times after the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan asked them to pay 'jiziya' (a religious tax) or leave the area.

Around 25 of the 102 Sikh families living in Orakzai Agency were forced to flee their homes.

They were able to return after the military carried out an operation against the militants.

A total of 500 Hindu families from Balochistan in southwest Pakistan migrated to India because of threats to their lives and security, the report said.

(Photo : Hindu Priests in Balochistan during Hinglaj Mela at 2008 and Insecurity envelops Balochi Hindus after a series of abductions. Many are emigrating from Pakistan)

According to Balochistan's director of the Federal Human Rights Ministry, at least 27 Hindu families from the province had sought asylum in India because of threats, It added.

The minority Ahmedi sect, which was declared non-Muslim through a constitutional amendment in 1974, lost 99 members to faith-based violence, the report said.

The report further said 64 people were charged under the controversial blasphemy law in 2010 and many of them were imprisoned.

A Muslim and two Christian men accused of blasphemy were killed in police custody, it said.

Highlighting the abuses of the rights of minority communities, the report said there had been few positive developments with regard to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

"Extremist views grew more vociferous as voices for basic human rights and tolerance became more isolated in face of violence and intimidation," the report noted.

It said police were not doing enough to protect minorities from attacks and had even been accused of harassing or being complicit in framing false charges against them.

Presenting the report, HRCP chairman Mehdi Hassan claimed most human rights abuses were being conducted by government functionaries, including police.

"Under such conditions, who will ensure that the laws are being implemented?" he asked.

The report said prejudices of law enforcement personnel were believed to be a hurdle in effective protection of religious minorities in serious danger from the Taliban and sectarian militant groups.

HRCP secretary general I A Rehman said in most religion-based killings, the federal and provincial governments failed to even express sympathy with victims.

The report also highlighted the growing spread of hate literature and said even mainstream Urdu newspapers featured 1,468 news articles and editorials that promoted hate, intolerance and discrimination against Ahmedis.

Rehman contended that political parties had failed to contribute towards improving human rights conditions.

"They cannot even speak clearly on the issue because they are not true political parties, these are just brokers and rubber-stamps," he alleged.

The report further highlighted the government's weak response to misuse of the controversial blasphemy law and its flip¿flop on calls to reform the law to prevent its misuse.

Observers have said that the PPP-led government had apparently shelved plans to review the law following the assassination this year of Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer and Minority Affairs Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, who were gunned down for challenging the law.

The report also detailed the law and order situation, saying about 12,580 people were murdered and 581 kidnapped for ransom in 2010.

A total of 16,977 cases of kidnapping were reported.

The HRCP held US drones strikes responsible for 957 extra-legal killings and said another 338 people were killed in police "encounters" or fake shootouts.

A total of 1,159 people, included 1,041 civilians, were killed in 67 suicide attacks, the report said. Overall, a total of 2,542 people were killed and 5,062 injured in terrorist attacks.

Target killings in Karachi claimed the lives of 237 political activists and 301 civilians, the report said.

Another 118 people were killed and 40 injured in 117 incidents of target killing in Balochistan. The figures included 29 non-Baloch settlers and 17 members of the Shia Hazara community.

The bodies of 59 "missing persons"- people detained without charge by security and intelligence agencies - were found in Balochistan.

The report said there were 163 attacks on educational institutions while militants killed 22 teachers in Balochistan between January 2008 and October 2010.

A total of 791 women were killed in the name of honour while 2,903 were sexually assaulted, with the maximum number of cases reported from Punjab province.

Holi Festival in Multan By Pakistan Hindu Post and HRF, Pakistan

2011-04-16T18:23:00.000-07:00

By Mohammad S.Solanki (executive Editor)
Saturday, April 16, 2011

--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ramesh Jaipal
Date: Thu, Mar 24, 2011 at 6:16 AM
Subject: Holi Festival in Multan By Pakistan Hindu Post and HRF
To: Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

Dear Director of Pakistan Hindu Post
Hope you will be fine there Please see an attached file of Multan Holi Festival which was organized by SCRM Coordinator Ms Shokantala Devi

Regards
RJ

(Photo : 2011 Holi Celebration at Multan with background bannar of PHP and HRF, Pakistan)

(Photo : 2011 Holi Festival in Multan By Pakistan Hindu Post and HRF, Pakistan)

Haroon Khalid participates in a Hindu celebration of the ancient spring festival in Multan, Pakistan

(Photo : 2011 Holi celebration at Multan, Pakistan)

"Bolo Durga Mata ki,” and the crowd responded in a loud uniform shout of “Jai”. “Bolo Sheran wali ki,” “Jai”. I had been warned of getting my clothes spoiled on Holi, but nobody had told me that I would be made to take part in the traditional sport of matka breaking too. Because I was a first-timer, I got the (not so) easy job of forming the human base. Six of us stood with our hands on each other’s shoulders; we bent, our heads joined, and our right legs were brought into the center. I don’t know how many people climbed, but it felt like an entire army every time. The ones who were not participating threw water and color at us, some of it entering my lungs, some my eyes. The dhol played in the background. There were four matkas to be broken, and every one of them required many failed attempts. The pot was filled with color and water. Traditionally, butter and milk are used, as this is supposed to re-enact the young Lord Krishna’s stealing of butter.

At one point in the ritual, a young man standing next to me couldn’t take the pressure anymore and backed out, causing the entire pyramid to fall. I know of no other sport that requires greater team coordination.

Holi marks the advent of spring and is the most colorful festival of South Asia. The celebrations, which start the night before, are attended by young and old, men and women alike, and zealously. Near midnight, an effigy of Holka is burned to commemorate her death while she was trying to kill Prahlad Bhagat, an avatar of the Lord. According to folklore, many thousands of years ago Multan was ruled by a tyrant called Hiranyakashipu. As a result of his devotion he had been given special powers by Lord Vishnu, one of the gods of the Hindu trinity. In his arrogance Hiranyakashipu made the people of Multan worship him instead of Lord Vishnu. But his son Prahlad Bhagat remained a devotee of the Lord. Many attempts were made on his life, but he escaped them every time. Holka was the sister of Hiranyakashipu. She had a magical shawl which prevented her from being burned by fire. She offered to take Prahlad in her lap and enter fire. This way Prahlad would be burned, whereas Holka would remain protected by her shawl. Legend has it that when she entered the fire, a strong wind blew and the protective shawl covered Prahlad instead of Holka. Holi in Punjab begins with the symbolic burning of an effigy of Holka.

(Photo : Remains of a Hindu temple and Muslim shrine, in the citadel of Multan, Pakistan)

Multan, which once boasted a huge Hindu population, now only has 1200 Hindu voters. All of them belong to the Balmiki group, followers of Lord Balmik the Shudra. The Balmikis too are Shudras or “untouchables”. They are divided into various clusters within the city, the largest of which is near the railway station. Here there are about 10-12 Hindu houses. However, despite being registered as Hindus, it is not always possible to identify them within a society. The men no longer wear the vermillion on their persons, nor the women their mangal suttree or sari . Most of them have dual names, e.g. Barkat Ali and Tara Chand. Others openly practice Christian tenants, but revert to Hindu practices at the time of a festival or a grand pooja (prayer).

One such Hindu woman living in Multan is Shakuntala Devi. Her name is inspired by a character in the Mahabharata, one of the holiest Hindu books. Shakuntala Devi is a classically trained singer who has been regularly appearing on radio and television shows since the late 1980s. Things changed for her after the destruction of the Babri Mosque in 1992. In retaliation the Muslim zealots of Multan destroyed the ancient Prahlad Temple near the mausoleum of Bahauddin Zakariya. Shakuntala Devi says that after the destruction she heard that the mob was now coming towards her, as she was a famous face. “They wanted to burn me,” she says. She escaped with her sister and an old, blind mother. She also adopted a Muslim name after this, which according to her she hates using. She also complains of discrimination at radio and the television stations. This wasn’t the case in the late and early 1990s.

Despite all of these setbacks, the Hindu community in Multan celebrates the event of Holi every year. Waqas Falak, President of the Neengar society, a non-profit organization from Multan, working with the youth of religious and sexual minorities, says that Multan is the home of Holi, and the Hindus of Multan are determined to keep the tradition alive. This is the reason why, despite such a backlash from the religious right in recent years, including the murders of Governor Salmaan Taseer and Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, hundreds of Hindus gathered at the Christian colony near the WAPDA office for Holi. In Punjab, it doesn’t matter if one is a Hindu or a Christian, as long as one is an “Untouchable”. Falak feels that the growing conversion trend among Hindus in Pakistan is likely to give a major blow to the community in the coming years. Neengar society has filed a case in the Multan High Court to restore the Prahlad Temple and restart pooja here, since it is said to be the birthplace of Holi. On the 22nd of January 2010, they held a prayer outside the Multan Press Club to raise awareness for their cause, but Falak feels that they didn’t get the kind of response they were expecting. “The media portrayed a different message than the one intended by us,” says Falak. Every year for Holi, Falak invites his Muslim friends to participate with Christians and Hindus for Holi. Media representatives also are not spared from the heady mix of color and water.

This year Holi was celebrated on the 18th and 19th of March in Multan, whereas in the rest of the province it was celebrated on the 19th and 20th. It was a success: untoward incidents were avoided, not counting the severe bruises and a few minor fractures that were suffered after a fall from the human pyramid. Young men and women threw colors and water on each other all day. They danced to the dhol and traveled between different temples. Muslims from the neighborhood stared at them, while their children got scared. But the devotees and their friends continued to walk on the streets, reveling. However, given the sharp rise in fundamentalism in Pakistani society, and especially in Punjab, it is likely that festivals like these, which are deeply rooted in the cultural life of this area, will disappear, and the small freedom to celebrate these events that these people enjoy at the moment will be taken away.

Haroon Khalid is the Coordinator for the Minority Project of ‘The Citizens Archive of Pakistan’ (CAP)

Photos: Courtesy The Citizens Archive of Pakistan (CAP). Taken by Maryam Altaf and Samra Noori

‘Jinnah’s Pakistan’ has no room for Hindus

2011-04-16T17:53:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Saturday, April 16, 2011

(Photo : Hindu women's celebrating Holi at Swami Narayan Temple at Karachi and The persecution of Hindus has become common in Pakistan)

Hindus and Muslims may have similar wedding celebrations, but there is no registration system for Hindu marriages in Pakistan.

The Indian parliament passed the Hindu Marriage Act in 1955 which made it mandatory for Hindu marriages to be registered in India. In Pakistan, the Hindu community has been demanding the same rights for decades, but to no avail.

Members of the Hindu community gave a two-month deadline to the government and threatened to hold a sit-in in front of the Parliament House in June if these demands were not met. They urged the media and concerned citizens to participate in a petition campaign as a token of support for the cause of poor Hindu women. But all to no avail.

Despite the Supreme Court’s suo motu ruling of November 23, 2010, no measure has been taken to introduce legal provisions for Hindu marriage rights by the Parliament. The assurances made by the Prime Minister have also not produced any results.

The assassination of minority affairs minister Shahbaz Bhatti further worsened the situation, especially for Hindus. Anita Vadhani, an O-Level student from Rahim Yar Khan says:

“Shahbaz was our last hope but his tragic end forced us to think seriously. We should either leave or migrate to another country.”

Shami Mai, a poor Hindu woman said:

“In case of separation or domestic violence, a Hindu woman cannot register a complaint in the government departments because she has no legal document to establish that the perpetrator was her husband.”

The shocking news about a Hindu MPA from Sindh migrating to India is another sign that the situation is worsening. PPP MNA Palwasha Behram blasted her own government in the National Assembly for the deafening silence of her fellow parliamentarians over the unfortunate fleeing of minorities from Pakistan.

But the injustice persists.

Sadly, many followers of the Hindu faith have left the country as a result of the injustices perpetrated towards them by those in power.

An Islamabad based journalist hailing from Sindh, Kapil Dev, says:

“Our community members are migrating to other countries because they think that no one accepts them in Pakistani society.”

The persecution of Hindus has become a regular feature in Pakistan, especially in Sindh. The Sikh community in Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa (KP) is also suffering from insecurity despite the power the progressive Awami National Party in that region.

Minorities’ rights are being denied and our parliamentarians and citizens are not concerned about their demands even though they have the power to change things.

Was this Jinnah’s dream for Pakistan?

Hindus and other minorities 'under attack' : 2010 HRCP reports, Pakistan

2011-04-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

By Mohammad S.Solanki (Executive Editor)
Saturday, April 16, 2011

(Photo : The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan launched its annual report, State of Human Rights in 2010 at a press conference in Islamabad on April 14, 2011)

Islamabad : Stating that about 25 percent of Sikhs in Orakzai Agency were forced to leave their homes and 27 Hindu families sought asylum in India due to security threats, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has called 2010 a particularly bad year for minorities.

The report released on Thursday said that about 25 percent of the 102 Sikh families in Orakzai Agency had to leave after Taliban asked them to pay Jaziya or leave the area. The Sikhs could return only after a major military operation.

It also said that at least 27 Hindu families had sought asylum in India due to security threats.

HRCP has said the government did not extend sympathies to the victims of faith-related killings, Dawn reported on Friday.

The report "State of Human Rights in 2010" said there were few positive developments in Pakistan with regard to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

It stated that there had been a string of faith-based attacks in which not only were minorities targeted but 418 Muslims belonging to various sects were also killed.

"All indications suggest that there are even worse times ahead.”

"Extremist views grew more vociferous as voices for basic human rights and tolerance became more isolated in face of violence and intimidation," the report said.

Criticising the police, the report stated that it was not doing enough to protect the minorities from attacks and had also been accused of harassing or being complicit in framing false charges.

(Photo : Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Working for the ratification and implementation by Pakistan of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

HRCP chairman Mehdi Hassan was quoted as saying that most of the human rights violations were by government functionaries.

"Under such conditions, who will ensure that the laws are being implemented?"

The report said that as many as 64 people were charged under the blasphemy law last year and many of them were imprisoned.

A Muslim and two Christian men accused of blasphemy were killed in police custody, the media report said.

Mentioning the law and order situation, it said about 12,580 people were murdered and 581 kidnapped for ransom. At least 16,977 abduction cases were reported.

As many as 1,159 people, included 1,041 civilians, were killed in 67 suicide attacks.

For more information about Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) visit :-
http://www.hrcp-web.org/default.asp

Pakistan Islamic militants killed 2,500 peoples in 2010, HRCP report says

http://pakistanhindupost.blogspot.com/2011/04/pakistan-islamic-militants-killed-2500.html

The PHP Team

Pakistan Islamic militants killed 2,500 peoples in 2010, HRCP report says

2011-04-16T16:20:00.000-07:00

By Dr.Radhe Shyam Kumar (Executive Editor)
Saturday, April 16, 2011

(Photo : The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan launched its annual report, State of Human Rights in 2010 at a press conference in Islamabad on April 14, 2011)

Islamabad : More than 2,500 people were killed in militant attacks in Pakistan in 2010, according to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).

Nearly half of victims were civilians killed in suicide blasts. There were 67 such attacks last year, the group said.

The report also said at least 900 people had been killed in US drone strikes during the same period.

The number of people killed by the army is not mentioned, but it estimated to be in the region of 600-700.
Pakistani troops are battling insurgents across the north-west. Many of those it has killed are believed to be militants, but civilian lives have been lost too.

The HRCP is the main human rights watchdog in the country. Its findings are often disputed by the authorities, the BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan in Karachi says.

The group's findings show a rise in the numbers being killed in Pakistan's conflict.

BBC research published last July suggested 1,713 people had been killed by militants over the preceding 18 months, while 746 people had died in drone attacks during the same period.

'Increasing intolerance'

The HRCP released its data in its annual report on the state of human rights and security in Pakistan between January and December 2010.

"Pakistan's biggest problem continues to be violence carried out militants," HRCP chairman Mehdi Hasan said.

"In 2010, 67 suicide attacks were carried out across the country in which 1,169 people were killed," he said. "At least 1,000 of those were civilians."

Dr Hasan said that in all 2,542 people had been killed in militant attacks in the country last year.

He said the most glaring example of government oversight had been in Balochistan province, where targeted killings shot up rapidly with 118 people being killed in 2010.

Dr Hasan said the figure was set to increase in 2011, as the government seemed unconcerned about the unravelling of the law and order situation in Balochistan.

The HRCP report also spoke about increasing intolerance against religious minorities in the country.

It said 99 members of the Ahmedi (Qadiani) sect had been killed in attacks in 2010, while 64 people had been charged under the country's blasphemy law.

There was no immediate response to the report from the Pakistani authorities, nor was there any word from militant groups.

Daily Inspiration from Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

2011-04-16T16:11:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Saturday, April 16, 2011

O God of mercy who performs the dance of illimitable happiness in the hall of inconceivable intelligence! The Rig and the other Vedas are thundering forth in words, announcing to us that all are thy slaves, all things belong to thee, all actions are thine, that thou pervades everywhere, that this is thy nature. Such is the teaching of those who, though they never speak, broke silence for our sake.
-- Tayumanavar

Note : Tayumanavar (1705–1742), pronounced Tāyum-ānavar, is one of the spiritual giants of Tamil Nadu, India.

Britain's Changing Ethnic Map: Thriving Hindus in British Suburbia

2011-04-16T16:06:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Saturday, April 16, 2011

(Photo : Great-Britain-Map)

UNITED KINGDOM : Any visitor to the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir could not fail to be awed. Everyone from Princess Diana to Jimmy Carter has paid a visit. On 27 October 2000 it broke a world record by serving 1,247 vegetarian dishes to mark the start of the Hindu new year.

The temple is in suburban north-west London, in Neasden, where it nestles incongruously near rows of Edwardian terraces. The site was chosen partly because of the region's large number of Hindus, many of whom arrived from Uganda after being expelled by Idi Amin in the 1970s.

As Yogesh Patel, a spokesman for the temple, acknowledges, the suburb was attractive to Hindu migrants because of "better employment prospects ... the choice of good schools and business opportunities".

The temple, which has a highly successful independent school, is testimony to something significant happening in Britain, a shift that has been occurring largely without notice. Second- and third-generation migrant communities are on the move, driven by increasing affluence and aspiration. "We are seeing an emerging segment of dynamic young professionals, successful entrepreneurs and ambitious, resourceful wealth creators, all giving back to our country, enriching it economically, socially, culturally," Patel said.

Hindu Chaplain Programs In US Department of Defense

2011-04-16T15:57:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Saturday, April 16, 2011

(Photo : State Sen. Satveer Chaudhary left, Steven Spielberg, and Col. Ravi Chaudhary at last week's state dinner in 2009, USA)

UNITED STATES, April 2011, (by Lt. Col. Ravi Chaudhary): The tremendous growth of South Asians in the Department of Defense has brought about the need build the first Dharmic/Hindu Military Chaplain Programs in DoD. I have been working with a team of action officers here in the Pentagon to make this diversity program a reality. The Office of the Secretary of Defense has officially approved the first Hindu Chaplain endorsing agency, and we are now looking for recruits, as well as follow-on programs for more Indic faith participation. See this testimonial for some background here.

The goal of our team is simple: to meet the spiritual needs of military members and families who are sacrificing so much for our nation. We have received several notes and testimonials from military members, and I'm told the President was recently briefed on this endeavor by White House staff; so momentum is building! As we continue to move forward, I would like to reach out to you for your support, awareness, and involvement. We need to recruit candidates to serve as the first Dharmic military chaplains!

Contact:

Army
http://www.chaplain.goarmy.com
POC is Chaplain Manning (502) 626-4014
Sgt Cantu (502)-626-1082

Navy
http://www.chaplain.navy.mil
CAPT Henry Nixon

Air Force
http://www.usafhc.af.mil
POC is Chaplain Giannone
1-800-803-2452.

Government has closed its eyes to the plight of Hindus in Pakistan

2011-04-15T18:31:00.000-07:00

By Anuradha Dutt
Friday, April 15, 2011

(Photo: Hindus women's in Karachi City, Sindh State of Pakistan during Laxmi Puja on Diwali Festival)

New Delhi : After being carved out of the Indian sub-continent, Pakistan is just 63-year old. Its raison d’etre is to act as an Islamic counter-force to a predominantly Hindu India, which encompasses all variations of religious beliefs, including the Islamic, within a secular framework. Religious freedom is the fulcrum of our secular ideal. It is quite the opposite in Pakistan, created as the land of the pure by politicos, fundamentalists and a vengeful colonial power on its last legs. But even after the partition and the exchange of peoples between India and Pakistan, a large number of Muslims opted to stay back because India as a secular democracy seemed a safer option, while a much smaller number of Hindus chose to brave it out in the Islamic republic.

(Photo : A tourist at an old Hindu temple near Islamabad city, Pakistan)

As a result, India today has the third largest Muslim population of over 100 million, after Indonesia and Pakistan. Hindus in Pakistan are about 3.9 million. Judging by current reports of Hindus’ persecution in Pakistan, with some of their important places of worship being forcibly turned into hotels and tourist spots, and with no possibility of justice, they may well be ruing their decision to stay back in their ancestral homes. The Congress-led ruling coalition’s indifference to their plight compounds the problem. Its hostility to the Allahabad High Court judgement, which allotted two-thirds of the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi site in Ayodhya to Hindu litigants and one-third to the Sunni Waqf Board, is in sharp contrast to the Pakistan authorities complicity in the seizure of Hindu shrines and pilgrimages for commercial purposes.

To cite an instance, the 700-year-old Kali Bari in Dera Ismail Khan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province is reported to have been taken over by a business group and turned into a hotel. Sources reveal that the operators pay the Government a small amount of money in exchange. Some idols have disappeared from the shrine. They point out that the historic site could attract Hindus from all over the world. This would generate more revenue. However, despite local Hindus having brought the violation to the attention of the Governor in April 2009, he failed to initiate any remedial action. One just needs to compare this with the earnest assurances given by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav to an incensed group of Muslims at Jangpura, who gathered to protest against the demolition of an unauthorised mosque some weeks ago. The matter is being heard by Delhi High Court.

(Photo : The last remaining ancient Hindu temple near Rawal Lake at Islamabad City is in dire need of preservation, Pakistan)

In another shocking violation, the sacred Raam Kunday Mandir in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, is reported to have been converted into a picnic spot. It is preposterous even to imagine a heritage mosque being turned into a recreation hub in India’s capital. Not just politicos, who nurture minority vote-banks, but the supposedly secular brigade, consisting of the literati and glitterati, would go into over-drive to abort such a possibility. It is, of course, a different matter altogether when Hindus demand restoration of important pilgrimages in India, usurped by Islamic adventurers some centuries ago. The secular brigade then trashes Hindu concerns as a prime example of religious bigotry and revivalism. It has also consistently ignored seizure and desecration of temples in Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as atrocities committed against individuals. True votaries of the secular ideal would be non-partisan in their actions. Their fervent advocacy of sectarian Muslim concerns in particular — the community’s right to follow its personal law based on sharia, and retain control of usurped shrines, as symbols of the dominion of Islam — actually serves to negate the secular ideal and render it irrelevant. But they remain blind to this fact, just like an ostrich that chooses to shut out reality by hiding its head in the sand.

Examples of misuse of shrines in Pakistan abound. Araya Mandir in Abbotabad has been appropriated for running a school. Several dilapidated old temples in Eminabad in Gujranwala are being used as stables for horses, donkeys and the like. Hindu’s demand for restoring to them the Kali temple in Peshawar, which has been taken over by local traders, has been ignored by the authorities.

(Photo : A famous Lord Hanuman temple in Chakwal (punjab state) is being used by the workers of salt mines as their office, Pakistan)

The Hanuman mandir in Chakwal has become the office of salt mines workers while the Sheeranwali Mandir in Punjab’s Bakkar town hosts a madarsa for clerics. The deplorable neglect of Jogi Tala Jhelum, sacred both for Sikhs and Hindus, and Laho Maharaj Mandir, situated on the Badshahi Masjid premises, are also sore points.

(Photo : Hindus and other Non-Muslim citizens of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan are treated as separate and unequal citizens in a form of religious apartheid)

There are an estimated 360 sites, revered by Hindus, in Pakistan. Many are under the control of the Evacuee Trust Property Board, which also reportedly controls 1,35,000 acres of land that belongs to Hindu farmers. But all persuasion to hand over the pilgrimages and land to the lawful claimants has failed despite the Preamble to the Constitution of Pakistan assuring that “adequate provision shall be made for the minorities to freely profess and practise their religions and develop their cultures” and “to safeguard the legitimate interests of the minorities and backward and depressed classes”. Indian Muslims need to honestly answer whether they have got a raw deal, as professed by some, when their condition is compared to that of victimised Hindus and other minorities in Pakistan.

Hindu Temples Getting Occupied In Pakistan

2011-04-15T17:48:00.000-07:00

By Dr.Radhe Shyam Kumar (Executive Editor)
Friday, April 15, 2011

(Photo : Humaira Alwani a member of provincial assembly or MPN in Sindh from Pakistan People's Party speaking during Sindhi Language Authority (SLA) at Hyderbad, Pakistan)

Karachi : As many as 29 temples had been occupied in Thatta district, Humaira Alwani told the Sindh Assembly on Thursday.

“It’s a blatant violation of the Constitution,” she told The News.

“The temples that have been occupied include Dayal Mandir in Palangparo in Thatta district, Shiv Mandir in Barani Goth in Thatta, Ashram in Ward 3, also called “Khooni Talla” (bloody pool, because crocodiles use to live there), Police Chaweree, and Shiv Mandir in Cashiganpara,” she said.

Alwani said she visited the area after receiving complaints and some people became “furious” as to why she was taking interest in those temples.

She said on February 25, 2011, the culture minister, Sassui Palijo, herself admitted in the assembly that many temples had been occupied in Thatta district.

“This is a fact that the ancient temple in Nihaldarya in Thatta has been occupied by one police official named Yaqoob Shah and his family who have no legal documents,” Alwani said, quoting Palijo.

The department of culture directed the concerned officials to take necessary action against the illegal occupants, but it had not been vacated yet, Alwani said.

“Thatta has immense historical and heritage value,” Alwani said, adding it was sad that activities contrary to the Constitution were going on there. It may be pointed out that in his historic speech in the Constituent Assembly on August 11, 1948, the Founder of the Nation, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, had made it clear that Pakistan would not be a theocratic state, and that the rights of the minorities would be protected.

Daily Inspiration from Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

2011-04-15T17:37:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Friday, April 15, 2011

Whatever defect I have in my sight, in my heart or mind, may God amend! May He, the Protector of the world, bless us!
-- Yajur Veda 36.2

(The Yajurveda (Sanskrit यजुर्वेदः yajurveda, a tatpurusha compound of yajus "sacrificial formula', + veda "knowledge") is the third of the four canonical texts of Hinduism, the Vedas. By some, it is estimated to have been composed between 1,400 and 1000 BC, the Yajurveda 'Samhita', or 'compilation', contains the liturgy (mantras) needed to perform the sacrifices of the religion of the Vedic period, and the added Brahmana and Shrautasutra add information on the interpretation and on the details of their performance)

Sikhs celebrating Baisakhi in Pakistan

2011-04-14T18:55:00.000-07:00

By Mohammad S.Solanki (Executive Editor)
Thursday, April 14, 2011

(Photo : A view of Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Punjab, Pakistan)

TAXILA: The Gurdwara Punja Sahib in Hassanabdal on Tuesday echoed with “Wahe guru Ji Ka Khalsa, Wahe guru Ji Ki Fateh” and “Jo bolay so nihal”, marking the beginning of Besakhi festival.

Over 1,400 Sikh yatrees from India and over a thousand from Fata and rural Sindh have reached Hassanabdal to celebrate the 312th three-day festival.

On early Tuesday morning Indian Sikh pilgrims led by Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) member Gurwinder Singh Shampura arrived through two special trains from Lahore via Wagah border. It may be mentioned here that 341 devotees were denied permission to accompany the Jatha.

Much enthusiasm was observed at the Punja Sahib which was giving a festive look as women and children were wearing colorful dress and men with yellow and blue turbans.

Hundreds of the devotees, including men and women, were seen reciting the verses from the Guru Grunth, the holy book of the Sikh religion.

According to the Sikh religion, the Besakhi festival is celebrated only at the holy city of Hassanabdal, where lies the Gurdwara Punja Sahib. In 1921, it was decided by the Gurus (elders) of the Sikh religion to celebrate the event on the first day of Sunsikrat month of Besakh in memory of the day of the first Besakh in the year 1699 when the 10th Guru of the Sikh religion awarded Punj Kaaf slot and symbol to Guru Goband at the city of Anandpur Sahib (India).

The festival would be concluded on April 14 and the pilgrims will go to Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, and return to Dera Sahib, Lahore, on April 17. They will also visit Dera Rohri Sahib, Aimanabad, and Kartarpur in Narowal, before they return to India on April 20.

Moreover, Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) with the help of Pakistan Sikh Gurdawara Prabandhak Committee had made arrangements of boarding and food for pilgrims.

Meanwhile, leader of Indian Sikh pilgrims and Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) member Gurwinder Singh Shampur talking to newsmen said Sikhs living both sides of the border wanted peace and better relations between India and Pakistan.He said that the Sikh yatrees consider Pakistan as their second home because some of the holiest places of the Sikh religion situated here. He said that the Indian Sikh community considered Pakistan as their holy land and its people as their brethren.

The Sikh pilgrims’ leader said that Pakistani government always accorded warm welcome to them. He said that the both Punjabs culture, taboos, language, dresses and living style were same and they were living in the same environment for decades that was the reason that they considered both Punjabs as brothers.

He said that said Pakistan was very important for Sikhs because Guru Nanak Dev was born and died here.

Were we really tolerant before the jihadis? —Dr Manzur Ejaz

2011-04-14T18:49:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Thursday, April 14, 2011

Whether led by mature middle-class people or otherwise, the extremist religious movements draw most of their following from the new urbanite classes. In most cases, they have become the source of religious violence

Pakistanis must ask a central

question: were we really tolerant people before Zia’s Islamisation or we were only naively indolent, prone to be violent at any moment? It is a common belief in Pakistan that when Zia, alongside the US, created violent jihadi organisations, they created hysteria in the public with narrow-mindedness ruling and people killing for frivolous reasons. Two questions come to mind about this explanation. One, were we really consciously ever a tolerant society for the jihadis to destroy? And two, how can we use this explanation to explain the parallel rise of extremist political Hinduism in India?

While talking about the killing fields that jihadis have created, we forget that the carnage of 1947 in Punjab cost more lives than the total number of people killed by jihadi violence in the last 20 years in Pakistan. Everyone blames the people of ‘other religions’ for the 1947 tragedy but, wherever Muslims were in overwhelming majority, they killed Sikhs and Hindus. Conversely, they faced the same treatment in areas where they were a minority. Amrita Pritam rightly said, “Aaj sabhay Kaidoo hu gaiy, husan ishaq de chor” (Today, everyone has turned into a villain, enemy of love). What happened in 1947 is closely linked to what is happening now and what occurred in east Punjab’s Khalistan Movement, which claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

Most of the 1947 killings were concentrated in the rural areas; there were some in urban centres but they were limited. Most of the stories I have heard from Punjabi Hindus and Sikhs migrating from Pakistan indicate that the urban non-Muslims did not lose their family members while the stories from the rural areas are horror tales. One of my maternal uncles was killed in a village in Gurdaspur but at the same time none of the two neighbouring village’s Sikhs were spared — entire villages were murdered. How can so-called innocent rural people become murderous?

It can be argued that from the second to third centuries, the way the Gupta dynasty established self-sufficient but desolate and isolated village communities contributed to the religious violence of 1947, and even presently. When the Maurya Dynasty’s state ownership of entire land and manufacturing became unsustainable, it was replaced by self-sufficient village communities. Every community was required by the king’s law to have all kinds of artisans who were given a little land, residential and agricultural, and fixed shares of peasant produce. Consequently, the village communities had no need or desire to interact with other communities or reach beyond their own. Only a few traders and vendors were the link between the village and the rest of the world. The vendor, or vanjara in Punjabi, became a hero in folk songs because he was the only link with the outside world.

Due to the total absence of interaction and exchange of thought with the rest of the world, the village communities became lonesome entities. Mental horizons shrank and one generation of people was replaced with an identical next one. The village was considered a homeland or country whose honour was to be protected. This is why, during inter-village festivals, people would carry weapons as the possibility of war between the people of different villages was very real.

In eastern Punjab, some village communities were comprised of people of all religions but, when the British colonised western Punjab through an irrigation system, the village communities were established exclusively on religious basis. Therefore, another layer of separation was put in place where people of one religion became aliens for the other. The British education system did not mitigate such a separation because of the imposition of Urdu and denial of Punjabi identity. As a result, Sikhs limited themselves to the Gurmukhi script and Muslims to the Persian script. This was another fundamental divide created by the British. In Sindh, where Sindhi was made the official language and everyone used the same script, inter-religious hostility was a little less and did not lead to carnage in 1947. In the urban centres of Punjab where, despite furious religious political divides, the interaction between people was much better and the level of violence was also lower in 1947.

After the creation of India and Pakistan, the isolation of village communities continued. However, communal violence remained contained. It was tolerance by default and not a conscious decision made by the communities. However, when in 1970, mechanised farming, radio, TV and telephone made their way to village communities, 2,000 years of isolation were broken. A massive migration towards the urban areas started and in no time the cities swelled with the first generation of rural people. However, their thinking process, coming from thousands of years of isolation remained static, little altered or subverted. The contemporary cities of north India, including Pakistan, are overwhelmed by new urbanites who lack urban civic sensibility, and every town is entrapped in the worst kind of anarchy.

The old ideological mindset of the new urbanites was not sustainable in the changed environment. A vacuum of ideology emerged, which was readily filled with fundamentalist religious ideologies that were seemingly more rational than their semi-superstitious rural belief system. Whether led by mature middle-class people or otherwise, the extremist religious movements draw most of their following from the new urbanite classes. In most cases, they have become the source of religious violence.

It can be concluded that we were neither a consciously tolerant nor violent people — we were indifferent and isolated and therefore appeared to be tolerant of different faiths. As rural isolation ended and phenomenal urbanisation got underway, extremist religious movements emerged. The rise of the Khalistan Movement and the Hindu Saffron Movement along with the jihadi upsurge in Pakistan are interlined with a common cause. It is true that Ziaul Haq and the US used this emerging trend and turned it into a lethal force, but that is only one scene in a several acts stage play. Furthermore, Ziaul Haq was also a product of changing circumstances — we should not forget that Islamisation was initiated by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who himself was a staunch secular person. His embracing of Islamisation shows that the socio-economic conditions were too powerful to be resisted even by him.

The degenerative process could have been contained by good governance and an intellectually mature ruling class but that was not the case. It can still be done if the ruling elites understand what is going on and find ways to harness the energy of new urbanites.

The writer can be reached at manzurejaz@yahoo.com

Nauka Yatra ( Boat Festival ) by ISKCON Pakistan Devotees

2011-04-14T18:27:00.000-07:00

By Iskcon Pakistan
Thursday, April 14, 2011

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Sandeep Kumar Maheshwary
Date: Wed, Apr 13, 2011 at 11:26 PM
Subject: Nauka Yatra ( Boat Festival ) by ISKCON Pakistan Devotees
To:Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

Note : Sukkur, or Sakharu (Urdu: سکھر , Sindhi: سکر), formerly Aror (Urdu: اروڑ , is the third largest city of Sindh province, situated on the west bank of Indus River in Pakistan in Sukkur District. One conjecture is that when Arabs invaded Sukkur (Sindh) in the 8th century, they found an extreme climate (hot and cold), and called it Saqar, which means intense.However, the word Sakharu in Sindhi means "superior", which the spelling of the city's name in Sindhi suggests is the origin of the name. Sukkur is nicknamed Darya Dino (درياءَ ڏنو, meaning the gift of river), as without the Indus the city would be a desert. People of Sukkur speak Sindhi (70%), Urdu (17.5%), Punjabi (8%), Pashto (1.5%), Balochi (1%), and others 2%.

(Photo : Inside Sadh Belo temple in Sindh, Pakistan)

Sadh Belo (Sindhi: ساڌ ٻلو), or Sat, is an island downstream of Bukkur island and separated from it by a short stretch of river. On it is a Hindu religious establishment founded in 1823 by Swami Bakhandi Maharaj Udasi; the gaily-painted buildings are, however, more or less modern. The place is held in high esteem by Hindus throughout Sindh and even in India. Occasionally attracting pilgrims from across the border. The island with its two inlets, Sadh Belo and Din Belo, is shown on the official map of 1893-4; in 1912 it was accurately surveyed on the orders of the Collector. Sadhu Belo is the Temple situated at the centre of the Indus River Near Rohri Bridge.

The Carve Karachi, Pakistan

2011-04-14T18:20:00.000-07:00

By Mohammad S.Solanki (Executive Editor)
Thursday, April 14, 2011

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: TheCarve . <thecarve@live.com>
Date: Wed, Apr 13, 2011 at 2:52 AM
Subject: The Carve Karachi, Pakistan
To: Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

( Photo : Differant carve including Hindu sign in Karachi, Pakistan)

A Cure for the Corruption in India (Stephen Knapp)

2011-04-14T18:14:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Thursday, April 14, 2011

(Photo : Alarming level of corruption in India)

Martin Luther King once said that he had a dream of when men would be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. But I say it is up to the individual to put some content in his character. Otherwise a man will be judged by whatever traits are perceived by others. And corruption in the activities of a person is a sign of a lack of proper content. And if there are numerous individuals, especially in high places, involved in crime and corruption, so goes the character and reputation of the country.

            Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the state or government provides the means and education for its citizens to develop the right content in their character. This is the importance of character development with nation building.

            Throughout my travels in India, while lecturing at so many cities and venues, it is not unusual for businessmen, industrialists, or even professors to ask me what I think should be done about all the corruption in India, which exists on every level. We all hear about the corruption in politics, and what intrigue goes on amongst the politicians, but it goes on in so many small enterprises, too. Like paying the bribes to get a phone line in your house. Innocent people have to bribe bureaucrats, police and even judicial officials to get anything done. Or how, as one friend told me, he took a test for his driving license three times, and they never even looked at the test but denied him each time, until he realized he had to pay a bribe for it. After he paid the clerk an extra Rs. 2000, he then took the test a fourth time and they still never looked at it, but this time he got his license.

            Another example of corruption that a friend told me about was when he was riding on a train and met a government inspector who told him the story of how the military men were getting sick from all kinds of digestive problems. They narrowed down the cause to the cooking oil that was being used in preparing the food served to the men in the military. They identified a possible source for the oil, and the inspector went to the company that was producing the oil and discovered that the owner of the company was adding all kinds of polluted oil to the regular oil he was making, which is what was causing the men to get sick. The inspector told the owner of what had been found, and the owner asked how much the inspector wanted in order for him to write a positive report for the military. So the company owner paid a large bribe to the inspector who took the money and gave a good report about the company and the oil it was producing. So the military went on purchasing this contaminated oil that is probably still making the military men sick at several bases.

            One more example is that some years ago the Japanese had offered to help with cleaning the Yamuna River, which is so contaminated around the Delhi area that it cannot support any life. It is a dead river there. So, the Japanese offered $20,000,000 to build a cleaning plant to help clean the water before it continued on its way. By the time all the bribes had been taken out, all that was left was $1,000,000. So, you can still see the small cleaning plant that had been built in the Vrindavana area, but a far bigger plant should have and could have been built to actually help the country and the people that depend on the water of the Yamuna River.

            No doubt, much of what is wrong with India in this sense can be found everywhere. It is not only India. And I have often said that if you could see the corruption that goes on behind closed doors amongst politicians in America, you would be shocked. Or maybe not, depending on how aware you have been of what really goes on. But things have to change.

            The British also helped jump start this corruption by two things: First the bureaucracy they established in their managerial system which they used against the Indians, most of which was adopted by the Indians in the form of a Parliamentary government and which allows for the loopholes and cracks in the system for the continuation of so much corruption. Secondly, while under the British, the citizens of India were forced to struggle so hard to exist that it forced them to think in terms of the survival of their own immediate family while giving up the consideration of the whole community. After so many years of that conditioning, this need for self-preservation and the desire to fulfill selfish concerns went from one generation to the next until it became a general trend to get whatever you need regardless of the consequences or how it affects others.

            The Indian constitution itself, under the guise of freedom and fairness for the minority religions, fuels corruption and inequality by favoring the few at the expense of the majority Vedic or Hindu population. How can this inspire a united vision?

Furthermore, dishonesty and fraud in India has reached even the Supreme Court Chief Justices and several High Court Justices, which have been involved in prominent levels of corruption. We also have seen the reports about those presently in power (March, 2011) who are looting millions of rupees from India, and depositing it into secret accounts abroad. And they only pave the way for more of their own kind to be elected in order to make things easier for themselves.

We all know that a politician or person of influence is not to amass wealth dishonestly, and then indulge in extravagance or ostentatious living. Nor is he or she meant to give favors to their relatives, or their supporters or business associates by conferring special privileges or kickbacks to them. This is nothing but the misuse of the power and position of the office, a misappropriation of public funds, and the abuse of power, as well as the root cause of the rampant corruption that has become so noticeable throughout India.

We have also seen the wealthy spend millions of dollars on nothing more than a marriage ceremony for their children, just for the sake of mainly creating a spectacle to be noted in the press, or to outdo some other wealthy person’s wedding. This kind of thing is but a huge black spot of selfishness on the character of the persons who make such arrangements when certainly the ceremony could have been limited in its expense, and the money that was saved could have been used for something far more practical or beneficial. That would have been worth noting in the media. In fact, people should make an example of spending less on their momentary weddings and then giving more money to a worthy cause.

            So, obviously, the kind of corruption we are pointing out goes on because of a lack of morals in the content of one’s character. This is what has to change. India is obviously progressing economically and technologically, but this corruption really slows down the amount and speed of the progress that, otherwise, could be made for the benefit of everyone in the country at a much faster pace. Therefore, it hinders the well-being of everyone, and many countries outside of India hesitate to put full confidence in their business dealings with India when this corruption is so obvious.

As Shahroz Raza said in his article “Corruption Bigger Factor Than Secularism” (Pioneer, January 8, 2011), India’s economy is “growing” at over 9%, yet every second child in India is malnourished. Less than one-fourth of the rural population has access to proper toilets. Eighty percent of India’s population lives on $2 a day or less. And what is most shameful is that only four of every 10 girls who enroll for schooling complete eight years of formal education. So, as anyone should question, is that real progress? Is that real growth?

Let’s put this into perspective. Corruption has secular implications. The money looted by the rulers of India becomes food that is snatched away from the mouth of the newborn and the hungry; or the death that is caused for want of care in a ramshackle hospital; or the unemployment for an adult. This should be avoided by proper adjustments by India’s leaders. But the problem is that politics has simply become a business, which means they use the position and perks that come with it to look out for themselves and family and friends, and collect large amounts of property and money in whatever way necessary at the expense of the masses.

            As long as this corruption is allowed to continue, which lends to the reason why certain sections of society remain poor and hungry, then India, and the world, actually is not truly civilized. Swami Vivekananda has also explained, “So long as millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold educated man a traitor who, having been educated at their expense, pays not the least heed to them.”

A civilized society does not mean merely technological advancement or economic progress. It means that society has a unified civil code and unified vision of everyone having the right to the same basic facilities as everyone else, meaning food, shelter, clothing, and the means to an education so they can maintain themselves, however simple or sophisticated that may be. In other words, a starving sector of society means that society is uncivilized due to the wealthier section of society hoarding or profiting from the loss of others.

            This goes back to the point that there is no real lack of anything in this world in regard to resources needed to survive. The only real lack is God-consciousness and the higher vision to see that spiritually we are all the same and that we are only barrowing things from the Supreme during the short duration of the life we are given. Thus, the world’s resources need to be distributed in a way so everyone benefits, and that it is not monopolized by greedy people in prominent positions.

            Even Mahatma Gandhi once said that the deadliest form of violence is poverty. It is poverty, whether it is planned, arranged, or merely allowed, that kills more people than all the wars that take place. In fact, all the money used for military spending could otherwise be used for solving many of the world’s problems. It is poverty which also causes much of the behavioral violence and criminality that affects us all. The problem is that as poverty expands, it becomes more difficult for the people who are affected by it to do anything about it.

            If corruption increases, the general well-being of everyone will decline, and the poor are the ones to feel it first, and feel it the most. But from there, it trickles up and affects everyone. As the people suffer, with poor people becoming poorer, farmers committing suicide, businessmen wasting or ruining the environment, we see the money launderers, smugglers, the land mafia, and others continue to plunder and loot money. Experts warn that if the existing state of severe corruption continues the way it is, then it will lead to greater national and international instability, economic failure, increased poverty, and environmental collapse. In other words, this is simply not sustainable. Things must change soon or all that will bring things back to some semblance of sanity is a people’s revolution to demand the removal of all corrupt politicians, judges, military personnel, bankers, etc.

However, the citizens of India cannot be apathetic and remain blind or tolerant to this, if they ever expect to put an end to it. And, fortunately, they are starting to realize that if anything is going to change, it is up to them to do something about it because the corrupt elitists will only do whatever it takes, and in whatever way they know, to perpetuate their kind and their ways, which has not been to the good of the people or the planet. Not all, but many of these politicians and wealthy elitists, criminals actually, are really but demons in human form, living a pampered life at the expense of the many, and driving the uplifting spiritual culture of India into extinction. They care little for anyone but themselves and have no feelings of compassion or the propensity to uphold justice towards the people they are cheating. In that way, they are like insensitive reptiles while portraying themselves to be good and qualified public leaders.

            Those in poverty in India often face a life and death struggle, where they have to make such decisions as whether to buy either medicine or food because there is not enough money for both. And even now those in poverty cannot afford certain foods, like dals, pulses, various fruits, and other foods that can provide necessary protein. The cost is too high for them. And, thus, malnutrition begins to affect an increasingly larger section of the population. So what does that say about the future potential of India?

The latest government statistics on food inflation in India says it went up by 18.3% in the Christmas week of 2010. Even a common Indian knows the relationship between corruption and food inflation. And presently the Agriculture Minister and his cohorts are making plenty of money through their speculation in food prices, bidding on them while knowing prices are going up, or even working with those who manipulate the fundamentals to make sure the prices go up. Plus, they are allowing essential commodities to be hoarded and exported while the vast majority of India’s children are going hungry every night. This is nothing but a repeat of the same crimes that the British did to the Indian population in the late 1800s, when they exported so much food back to Britain, or used it for their own military while the people in India starved. Because of this profit-making tactic of the thoughtless British, it is estimated that between one-third and one-half of the entire population of India at the time—at least 10 to 15 million people—died from the famine. If there was ever a crime against India and its people, this was one. And now, to whatever degree, it is being repeated by the elitist Indians against their own people.

            At present, India has many multi-generational politicians who have become a caste unto themselves, making rules, or ignoring existing laws, in whatever way they choose in order to fill their own coffers at the expense of everyone else’s well-being. These politicians and similar people suffer from a value disorder, which is the addiction to the rush or thrill of acquiring more power, more money, more property. They are addicted to it and cannot control their mind or senses. If this disease cannot be cured, then they should be put out of office and forced to serve prison time for their crimes against humanity.

            Such a disease can only be cured or purged in society by having the proper training, especially while young and still growing up, in order to add the appropriate character building traits necessary to know what is a decent and balanced human being and how to be one.

For more information visit :-

http://www.stephen-knapp.com/

Introduction : Stephen Knapp grew up in a Christian family, during which time he seriously studied the Bible to understand its teachings. In his late teenage years, however, he sought answers to questions not easily explained in Christian theology. So, he began to search through other religions and philosophies from around the world and started to find the answers for which he was looking. He also studied a variety of occult sciences, ancient mythology, mysticism, yoga, and the spiritual teachings of the East. Finally, after his first reading of the Bhagavad-gita, the classic summary of Vedic philosophy known as The Song of God, he felt he had found the last piece of the puzzle he had been putting together through all of his research. This increased his understanding of everything else he had been studying. Therefore, he continued to research all of the major Vedic texts of India to gain a better understanding of the Vedic science, until he became a full-fledged follower and practitioner of Sanatana-dharma. Now he also tirelessly works to protect, preserve and promote the deep spiritual knowledge of Vedic philosophy and its traditions. An introduction to his research, writing and projects can be found at his website: www.stephen-knapp.com.

PHC welcomes and Government steps up security for Baisakhi festival in Pakistan

2011-04-12T18:17:00.000-07:00

By Sanjesh Sunny (PHP Karachi)
Tuesday, April 12, 2011

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC)
Date: Tue, Apr 12, 2011 at 9:04 AM
Subject: BAISAKHI FESTIVAL
To : Pakistan Hindu Post (PHP)

PAKISTAN HINDU COUNCIL

Dr.Ramesh Kumar Vankwani Patron of Hindu Council welcomes to all Sikh pilgrims on the specious occasion of Baisakhi Festival in Pakistan.

To mark the celebrations, devotees, irrespective of Sikh religion, attend the gurdwara, a Sikh place of worship. The celebrations start early as devotees, with flowers and offerings in their hands, proceed towards the gurdwara before dawn. Processions through towns are also common. Baisakhi is the day on which the Khalsa (The Pure Ones) was born and Sikhs were given a clear identity and a code of conduct to live by. The momentous occasion was led by the last living Sikh spiritual teacher, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, who baptized the first Sikhs using sweet nectar called Amrit. Around the world at Baisakhi time, Sikhs and individuals of Punjabi descent reflect on the values taught to them by their gurus and celebrate the birth of the Khalsa.

Punjab,Pakistan

Baisakhi is widely celebrated by Sikhs in Punjab, with festivities centered on the Panja Sahib complex in Hassan Abdal, numerous shrines in Nanakana Sahib, and in various historical sites in Lahore. It is culturally and traditionally regarded as an important and significant Punjabi festival, and this is further exemplified by the thousands of Sikh pilgrims from India arriving each year to commemorate the day at the sacred Sikh sites of Nankana Sahib and Hasan Abdal in the country. Further, local Muslims and Hindus also partake in celebrations, albeit with secular intentions, rather than religious conviction.

http://tribune.com.pk/multimedia/slideshows/147600/

Regards,
Sanjesh Sunny
Coordinator
PHC
www.pakistanhinducouncil.org

Pakistan Government steps up security for Baisakhi festival

Lahore : ETPB chairman Asif Hashmi said his organisation will ensure that the festival passes off peacefully."We have asked police and other law enforcement agencies to make all efforts to maintain peace when the Sikh pilgrims visit various districts and places, including Lahore, Nankana Sahib, Narowal and Hassanabdal," he said.

Hindu Welfare Council chairman Manohar Chand said the Sikh community felt secure in Pakistan."We are thankful to the government for holding all religious events of the Sikh community in a peaceful atmosphere," he said.

Around 3,000 Sikhs, including pilgrims from India, are expected to visit Gurdwara Panja Sahib to participate in religious rituals during the Besakhi festival, ETPB official Syed Faraz Abbas told the media at Hassanabdal."We have finalised security and other necessary arrangements, including food and accommodation, at Gurdwara Panja Sahib for the pilgrims," he said.

After the religious rituals in Gurdwara Panja Sahib, the Sikh pilgrims will travel to Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, on April 14.The pilgrims will go Gurdwara Dera Sahib in Lahore on April 17. Sikhs and Hindus from across Pakistan, including the tribal areas, Peshawar, Swat, Tando Adam, Larkana, Sukkur, Badin, Umar Kot, Karachi and Lahore will also join the Besakhi celebrations.

The Vedic Way of Knowing God

2011-04-12T17:44:00.000-07:00

By PHP Staff
Tuesday, April 12, 2011

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dharmacentral <dharmacentral@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, Apr 5, 2011 at 11:11 PM
Subject: [Dharmacentral.com] New Video - The Vedic Way of Knowing God
To: Pakistan Hindu Post

New Video - The Vedic Way of Knowing God

In this powerful half-hour video, Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya (Dr. Frank Morales, Ph.D.) explains how the finite can know the Infinite, how we can directly experience and know God, according to the teachings of the ancient Vedic tradition. He also discusses his new best-selling book: "The Vedic Way of Knowing God".

WATCH THE FULL VIDEO HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ti-wz05ljd8

Please share this message will everyone you know.

Aum Hari Aum

Cricket: Victory, defeat, and nationhood, Pakistan

2011-04-12T16:54:00.000-07:00

By PHP Islamabad
Tuesday, April 12, 2011

(Photo : Indians not as large hearted as Pakistanis: Shahid Afridi)

NOTE : Shahid Afridi, the losing Pakistani cricket captain is in the news again. In an interview, he said “In my opinion, if I have to tell the truth, they (Indians) will never have hearts like Muslims and Pakistanis”

Islamabad : Whenever these two archrivals meet, it generates great excitement for the 1.5 billion people of the subcontinent. The pre and post game mood and activities on both sides of the border provided some insight into each country’s progress towards nationhood.

The shadow of religion looms large in all aspects of life on both sides of the border — whether politics, culture or even sport. Even India's division into two nations was based on this. It is not surprising therefore that there is a tendency among the masses to use the prism of religion in reflecting on all sorts of matters. This sadly is taken to the extreme by religious zealots on both sides.

Days prior to the game, the media and people in both countries were talking of nothing else but the great encounter. Young and old, men and women, sport fans or not, all was consumed by anticipatory excitement preparing for parties to watch the game also to participate in the post-game celebrations. Firecrackers, national flags and paint to face national colors on their faces were being bought and sold. The media put aside Libya and any other major event happening in the world to give an overdose of pre-game analysis and anecdotes by erstwhile cricketers and pundits.

This was however not enough; there had to be a call by the fans for divine intervention on behalf of their team.

In Pakistan there were prayers being offered in mosques, religious leaders were reassuring the masses that victory would belong to them. How could God not intervene on the side of a Muslim nation which was playing against the Hindus?

The "Televangelists", the Muslim religion talk show hosts offered prayer for victory with great emotions on camera deserving of Academy award.

In India the same thing was even more intense. Along with astrologers every temple and every holyman was kept busy offering prayers to the gods of victory and collecting temple offerings from devoted fans. What was even more striking was that these prayers were not confined to the Hindu temples but the churches, the synagogues, the Gurduwaras, even Muslim mosques and shrines, all buzzing with supplications. As if the whole of India had come together as one nation regardless of who was Hindu, Muslim, Parsi, or Sikh; the grievances of the minorities in India, Muslims Sikhs and others against the Hindu nationalists/extremists did not stand in the way. India was one nation.

An exciting game ended by Pakistan losing .The Pakistanis who had prepared so much for victory celebrations were left with great disappointment and remorse. There has been so little for the people of Pakistan to celebrate in recent years that the only chance of recovering some of the pride as Pakistanis for them was squandered. In recent memory there has only been one street celebration that was shown on TV when the lawyers and others in Pakistan were throwing rose petals at the murders of the Governor of Punjab Salman Taseer!

In the post defeat period analysis and speculations go on. There has been the usual recital in Pakistan's media and gossip circles of how the match was fixed and how Pakistani players sold out to the bookies. Gambling and betting incidentally is entrenched in a big way in cricket.

As expected, in India the scene has been festive and jubilant. Endless parties have been going on since India's victory. Several post-game interviews and events were insightful and reaffirming not only India's evolution as a nation and its progress toward democracy but also its culture.

The families of players were interviewed for their reaction. A remarkable piece was the interview with a Muslim player’s family in which his burqa-clad mother and other members of the family expressed their thanks to Almighty for India's success and their son’s contributions to it as a proud Indian. The bearded father was no less hesitant in expressing his pride as an Indian national celebrating his nation’s triumph against a country that professes to be an Islamic republic.

The interviews with team members were also insightful into the subcontinent’s culture. Every member of the team said that they did this for their country but they also added that this was for a senior member of their team who was a source of inspiration and strength for all the team members. He had made a huge contribution in putting Indian cricket on the world map as he has shattered one record after another. The team’s expression of genuine affection and admiration for this person was moving and made me pause and reflect how performance, consistency and character inspire and generate genuine respect for a leader from his colleagues and adulation from the public. There is a lesson in this for the political leadership in both countries.

Victory parades in every big city were held. The victory parade in Delhi showed Sonia Gandhi riding on top of an open car in a motorcade! How remarkable, I thought. In Pakistan if there were a victory celebration, not many present leaders including President Zardari would dare to step out. Without being cynical, Zardari and other leaders must be breathing a sigh of relief that they could avoid personal risk in their teams defeat. Besides the danger to the lives of politicians and leaders that such occasions present, the danger to the lives of celebrating fans from suicide bombers would be enormous.

The people in Pakistan can take some comfort out of this! It should reaffirm for them that God indeed is infinitely wise!

But seriously in the chronic state of depression and hopelessness that prevails among the masses in Pakistan today due mainly to total failure of leadership, the loss on the cricket field is yet again an opportunity to reflect and think. The institutional weaknesses created by power- hungry and corrupt leadership remains a major cause for Pakistan's lack of progress toward nationhood. The national identity remains fragmented along ethnic, provincial, sectarian and religious lines; the Pakistanis need to rethink beyond these lines. They must find different ways of forging and strengthening their national identity and not remain confused or manipulated by corrupt politician/leaders. Then only the Pakistanis can hope to celebrate victory and their slogan "jeethay ga bhai jeethay aga" resonate.