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Pakistan's Minorities Citizens

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Rana Bhagwandas
Rana Bhagwandas, was a senior judge and former acting chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He enjoyed extremely high reputation as a judge
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The facade of St. Paul’s Church which is originally made of red bricks but was recently painted grey.

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On The Mall in Rawalpindi, St. Paul’s Church stands tall opposite the military headquarters commonly known as General Headquarters (GHQ).

Being one of the oldest churches in the area, the first brick of the church was laid in 1876 by Reverend G.J. Chree BD but the first church bell rang on January 1, 1908 to summon people for the formal start of the church services for the Scottish army men in the British Army’s Northern Command - the last outpost of the British Empire.

The church was constructed by the Church of Scotland, but after partition of the Indian subcontinent, it was handed over to the Presbyterian Church run by the American missionaries.

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The pews in the main prayer hall.


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A plaque informs that the foundation stone was laid by Reverend G.J. Chree BD.
Reverend Dr Samuel Titus told that it was traditional to donate windows or other items in the memory of people who played a significant role in their fields.


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A carved wooden panel used to divide the prayer hall and Pastor’s chamber.
 
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When Jews Found Refuge in an Unlikely Place "Pakistan"


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Instead of fleeing 1930s Europe to British-controlled Palestine like many other Jews, the Kahan family moved to Lahore on a whim
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Moving to Israel

After the war ended, the Selzers moved back to Lahore and restarted their practice. By the Six Day War in 1967, relations between Jews and Muslims had soured (Pakistan is home to the second largest Muslim population in the world). By 1971, the atmosphere had gotten so tense that the Selzers decided to move to Israel. Kahan said that her parents wanted to spend their entire life in Pakistan, and dreamt of dispensing free medical care to people throughout the Middle East after they retired.

“But being Jewish was no longer being Jewish, it was being Zionist,” Kahan said. “And that was the problem.”
read more:

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/features/1.621487
 
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Arther Nayyar, popularly known as A Nayyar, a legend with pride, love and talent. Nayyar was gifted who captivated the hearts of his fans as one of the leading playback singers of past. He served the country with all sincerity and devotion and received seven Nigar, eight Graduate, four Bolan, a National and Presidential awards. He was one of the most popular singers of our film industry in 70s and 80s. Besides he sung many ghazals and geets for Pakistan Television and earned much acclaim.

Nayyar used to live in Arifwala where his father was a government employee. He did not have access to radio, TV and even a Gramophone. All he had a Cinema close to his home from where he used to listen to songs and developed a keen interest in singing. He first sang National Anthem in Bazm-e-Adab in school performance and was highly appreciated by teachers.

Later, his family settled in Lahore where he joined St, Francis High School from where he completed his matriculation. Afterwards, he joined Fc College where he practiced singing and sang all types of song.

Nayyar did not received a proper music training but got a fine knowledge about classical singing from Samuel Mumtaz, who was a pastor with a proper know-how of classical singing. He polished his talent by listening to music maestros like Salamat Ali Khan, Amanat Ali Khan, Kishore Kumar, Mohammad Rafi, Mehdi Hassan, Noor Jahan, and Lata Mangeshkar.

After a lot of struggle to acquire an opportunity for singing in film industry, he finally got his first break in PTV through a programme Naey Fankaar produced by Rafique Warraich. The programme was meant to introduce new talent. Then he sang two songs for the movie Eik Gunah Aur Sahi with Nisar Bazmi’s compositions. Afterwards he sang a song which M Ashraf composed for him ‘Pyar tu eik din hona tha hona tha ho gya.’ It was a duet with Naheed Akhtar which became a popular street song. People started calling him the Pakistani Kishore Kumar as he used to do some yodeling in his songs.

After a downfall of film industry, and death of Waheed Murad and Nadeem’s departure from Lahore for Karachi, the urdu film quality demised. He afterwards sang many duet Punjabi songs with Noor Johan but never compromised on the lyrics of songs. He refused the offers to sing songs copying Indian tunes. His continuous refusal to sing such songs offended film makers and hence he ultimately stopped getting anymore offers. He strongly believed that lyrics should not fall beyond the line of decency.

Nayyar passed away on Friday after a prolonged illness.

 
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Swat Valley was once the cradle of Buddhism and is still littered with important Buddhist monuments and relics. The Taliban invaded in 2009 and did their best to destroy the statues in the brief period they occupied the valley. They were kicked out after six months with a huge loss of life to both Pakistani and Taliban forces, the area now has a very heavy military presence but is largely considered safe, I encountered no problems.*The most impressive of the Buddhist monuments is the towering Jehanabad Statue, try to catch it for sunset.

Will Hatton meditating ..............................

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Surya - Found in the ruin of temple in Multan. Now at Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England



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Temples in old parts of Multan
 
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Sikhs unburden themselves at Guru Nanak’s birthplace


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Lahore: Sikh pilgrims from different parts of the world on Monday attend the religious rituals at the gurdwara at Nankana Sahib, where the founder of the Sikh faith was born in 1469.—AFP
While sermons at the 547th birth anniversary celebration of Guru Nanak at Gurdwara Janamsthan Nankana Sahib asked people to reflect and ensure kindness under any circumstances, creation of Khalistan, a separate homeland for Sikhs, remained the main topic of discussion among the Sikh representatives.

Thousands of Sikh pilgrims from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Malaysia, Iran and Kenya seemed overwhelmed by the prospect of visiting Nankana — the birthplace of Sikhism’s founding father.

Inside the Gurdwara, most people from the older generation were busy listening to Sikh representatives. One after the other, the speakers, largely belonging to Pakistan’s Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, spoke of injustices against the Sikhs, human rights violations and the increasing drug menace in India’s Punjab state.

Others went on an anti-India vitriol, but at the same time called upon the Pakistani authorities to set up more Gurdwaras for the 20,000-strong Sikh community living in this country. Banners near the pilgrims’ sleeping quarters reminded them about the riots and killings of Sikhs that rocked India in 1984.

Even before the celebrations began on Monday, there was talk at the Gurdwara for the inclusion of two issues in the religious sermons. One relates to the water dispute between the Indian states of Punjab and Haryana and the other to the cancellation of a meeting of Sikh religious representatives that was to be held in both Pakistan and India on Nov 10. It was cancelled after some delegates were arrested in Amritsar. They intended to discuss the Sikh freedom movement and the increasing trend of suicide among farmers in East Punjab and other Indian states.

“These problems faced by our community in India won’t go away until we do something about it. We need to separate if we want to remain relevant,” said a member of the Gurdwara committee, Gopal Singh Chawla.

As majority of pilgrims listening to him remained hesitant and didn’t seem as emotional when he raised slogans of a separate homeland for Sikhs in India, Chawla decided to announce his resignation from the post and left the podium amid blank stares.

Parminder Kaur, 76, a national of the United Kingdom, is visiting Pakistan for the second time to attend the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak at Gurdwara Janamsthan. Sitting at the back in the same veranda, she shakes her head from time to time. “What’s the point of using a religious platform for your own political aims?”

Armed with pictures of her ancestral home in Faisalabad Chak 106, she says that there is “no need to listen to those who don’t have to face the consequences of their speech. Vulnerable communities in both countries continue to face trouble because of well-timed speeches”.

With tensions rising between India and Pakistan, this year the number of pilgrims coming from India is fewer than last year, says Joga Singh, a representative of the Pakistan Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee in Britain .

“There’s been a considerable difference due to tensions. There are always other reasons. For instance, people still use passport of their place of birth while being a UK national. And their visas get rejected as a result of it. But the absence of direct flights from India and a general fear of being mistreated kept people away this time around,” he added.

Joga Singh himself has not been to India since leaving for Britain in 1981. In addition, his constant campaigning for a separate Sikh homeland ensured that he never gets an Indian visa. “This is how it is everywhere in the world. People like me have to look for places where we can speak our mind. The world is quite similar that way,” he added.

A mile away from the Gurdwara, at the sleeping quarters meant for Indian Sikhs coming from the UK, Canada and the US, Manmohan Singh Johal, said Pakistan was his home.

“I don’t care what is said at the event. I heard these people give the same speech every year. It depends on us what we want. I told my children back in the UK that I will visit Pakistan for Baba’s jayanti (birthday) this time. This makes it my first visit to Pakistan in about 40 years,” he added calmly.

Johal’s father, a resident of Faisalabad’s Chak 101, left Pakistan for Jalandhar, India, in 1947. Later he left India for the UK during the 1960s in search of a job and stayed there.

“There’s so much fear-mongering on both sides, especially the media, that one feels overwhelmed. For the first time in years, I took a round of Lahore’s inner city on a whim on Saturday. I cried later. There’s so much I missed all these years,” he said as hymns echoed from the main hall of the Gurdwara.
 
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Cultural bonds attract Sikh pilgrims to Peshawar


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Sikh yatrees visit Peshawar Museum on Friday. —Photo by Shahbaz Butt
PESHAWAR: Sikh yatrees on their visit to the Peshawar Museum on Friday were teary eyed as they looked upon portraits that reminded them of their glorious past and historic connections with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“We consider this land as sacred as Saudi Arabia is for Muslims. I am very happy to be here,” said Navdeep, a pleasant young lady of Indian-origin from California during her first visit to Peshawar. She said that she had got a 15-day visa and wished she could come here again.

“I am not sure about countries but I know for sure that friendship of Muslims and Sikhs is very old one,” she said while answering a question regarding people-to-people contacts to build good relations between countries.

An elderly man Awtaar Singh Jawinda who has been living for the last 42 years in California said around 26 Sikh yatrees were in Pakistan on a 12-day visit. During this visit, they would be going to various temples (Gurdwara) and attending a religious festival too.

They would be observing and celebrating the birthday of Baba Guru Nanak on Nov 15.

“This is the second time that I have come to Pakistan. I am here for the second time because we received love from people here,” said Awtaar Singh, thanking the Tourism Corporation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for hosting a reception and arranging the visit to the historic Peshawar Museum having rare portraits of Sikh rulers.

Mohammad Ali Sayed, manager TCKP, said that Sikh yatrees were visiting Pakistan to attend their religious festival. It was a good opportunity to invite them to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which the Sikh guests happily accepted.

“Such visits strengthen religious connections with other countries and also help in projecting the historic and cultural heritage of this province,” said Mr Sayed who received the yatrees along with senior officials, and presented them bouquets. Secretary tourism Tariq Khan and managing director Mushtaq Khan welcomed the visitors warmly.

“Under the religious tourism initiative, first monks from Sri Lanka and South Korea visited the Buddhist sites here in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and now Sikh yatrees are coming to Peshawar,” said Tariq Khan.

Director Archaeology and Museums of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Cultural bonds attract Sikh pilgrims to Peshawar Dr Abdul Samad said that 90 per cent of the Sikh history, including monuments, temples and archaeological sites, was here in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Sikhs have strong cultural and religious links with this area, he said.

The Sikh yatrees, including men and women, looked very impressed with the historic building of Peshawar Museum. They also looked happy at the warm reception and many who were visiting for the first time said they hoped they could easily get visa so they could come every year.

“My uncle has Muslim friends. We feel strong connection with this land. Many Sikh friends breathed their last while still wishing to come to visit our sacred places here in Pakistan,” said Awtaar Singh with tears in his eyes.

Rajesh Singh Tony, a resident of Peshawar, who was also present at the reception, felt happy that Sikh yatrees could come to Peshawar. “Such visits prove to the world that this is a peaceful place and tourists should come here,” he said.
 
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