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Lakshmi Puja
Can anyone tell on what are the requirements on performing a Lakshmi Puja?
Namely, what are necessary as far as what is needed to perform the puja
and any details required on performing it. Thanks.
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Date: Thu, 22 Sep 94 10:13 EDT
From: "Dinesh Agrawal" <DXA4@PSUVM.PSU.EDU>
Subject: ISI devises new ways to blow temples
To: editor@rbhatnagar.ececs.uc.edu
Cc: r.kumar@PSUVM.PSU.EDU, ar@PSUVM.PSU.EDU, sheffield.ac.uk@PSUVM.PSU.EDU
Status: OR
NEW ISI DEVICES TO BLOW UP TEMPLES
Source: Indian Express, September 1, 1994
Jammu: With a view to creating communal disturbances in the country, Pakistan's
ISI has of late started coming up with new ideas.
Recently, the security agencies discovered to their astonishment a bomb
planted in a coconut at Poonch. The bomb which weighed three kg was neatly
concealed.
The device was recovered from Mohammed Aslam, 'deputy chief commander' of
Hizbul Mujahideen of Poonch area, who was arrested on August 17, 1994. One
AK-47 rifle was recovered from him at the time of his arrest.
Later during interrogation, Aslam confessed to having in his possession
a bomb. Aslam revealed that ISI had given him the bomb to be planted in a
temple to create communal disturbances in the Jammu region.
Intelligence officials said that the ISI after failing to arouse communal
passions by several bomb blasts in Jammu and linking Hazrathal issue with
Amarnath yatra has devised the method to blow up temples.
Already in anticipation of such a scenario following intelligence reports
of mischief by Pakistan, coconuts for offering at the Vaishnodevi temple are
not allowed inside the cave shrine.
Security officials are worried that it was possible that such devices may
be planted in some other temples.
These devices are designed and made by the weapons design cell of the ISI.
Earlier, the cell had improvised air-to-surface rockets fitting them with
solar batteries.
More than 200 such solar-powered-rockets were fired by ISI operatives
in the border districts of Poonch, Rajouri and Jammu.
These rockets which were tied on trees or placed on some podiums were aimed
at hitting large military target such as camps. But fortunately, no harm has
been done by these rockets.
In view of the discovery of coconut-type bombs, security around religious
places has been beefed up.
--0-1328828120-780280554:#18139--
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Date: Thu, 22 Sep 1994 14:11:35 -0500 (CDT)
From: Rajiv Varma <rvarma@ccaix.jsums.edu>
Subject: Plight of Hindus in Sindh, Pakistan
To: editor <editor@rbhatnagar.ececs.uc.edu>
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Status: O
NEWS: PLIGHT OF HINDUS IN SINDH, PAKISTAN
Source - Monthly Indus-Vani, New York
August 1994 issue.
Author - Hasan Mujtaba (A Muslim Journalist from Sindh)
Title - Brides of Contention
Photos - Picture of a girl,with caption- Easy Targets- A young Hindu girl
- Another picture showing a 3 story abandoned building,with
caption - An abandoned Hindu residence: For many Hindus
migration to India is the only hope.
Byline - A spate of controversial conversions of Hindu girls and their
marriages to Muslims have compounded the trials of the Hindus in Sindh
(Abbreviated for network readers)
On January 19, a Hindu girl named Daya Bai disappeared from her house
in Daharki, district Ghotki (Sindh, Pakistan). She surfaced ten days
later outside the deputy commissioner's office, wearing bridal clothes,
and accompanied by several hundred strong gathering (MANY OF WHOM WERE
ARMED WITH AUTOMATIC WEAPONS) led by pirs of Bharchundi chanting allah
o - akbar. During the nikah (wedding) that followed, Daya Bai's mother
wept inconsolably, repeatedly striking her head on the floor in anguish.
"let me meet my daughter even if she is getting married' she implored
but her pleas fell on deaf ears.
For the Hindu community in Sukkur and Larkana, Daya Bai's disappear-
ance, conversion to Islam and subsequent marriage with a Muslim in
suspicious circumstances is not unpresedented occurance. Between January
and February at least 3 Hindu girls, Daya bai from Daharki, Shakuntala
from Pano Aquil, and Bhagawanti, the daughter of a Larkana professor
were allegedly kidnapped from from their homes at the gunpoint. Of the
three, Daya Bai and Bahgawanti converted to Islam and married muslim men
where as Shakunatala's whereabouts are not known. Shakuntala, allegedly
kidnapped from her home by a man named Kalhoro, she embraced Islam and
married to someone other than her abductor. Speculation abounds that
she may have been sold. The story of the daughter of Koro Mal, Hindu
trader from Larkana, is similar. THERE ARE SEVERAL SUCH INSTANCES IN
WHICH GIRLS BELIEVED TO HAVE ELOPED WITH THEIR MUSLIM LOVERS ARE NOT
MARRIED TO THEM BUT WERE EITHER MARRIED OFF TO SOMEONE ELSE OR KILLED.
The increasing incidence of forcible conversions and marriages of
Hindu girls have compelled some Hindus to migrate to India to protect
their daughters and family honor. 'The parents of girls who have met
this fate are like the living dead' says Ghanshyam Das a social worker
in Kashmore. ...
Similarly, as Mukhi Nihalchand, a Hindu community leader in Rohri
points out forcible conversion of Hindu men continues unreported and
unabated. The concversion at Bharchundi of a Hindu boy from a wealthy
Umerkot family sometime back is a case in point. After a while, the
boy reconverted to Hinduism and migrated to India with his family.
The history of forcible conversion of Hindus dates back to PRE
TALPUR PERIOD WHEN A HINDU WAS CONSIDERED CONVERTED TO ISLAM ON THE
FLIMSIEST OF PRETEXTS: for instance if he pronounced the word 'raso'
(string), bystanders would swear that he had said Rasool (prophet)
and had become a Muslim. Excesses against Hindus increased during
Talpur era. Any Hindus seen riding a horse would be immediately
converted by force because it was believed that the horse was an
Islamic means of transportation. Naunmal, one time loyalist of the
Talpurs and a traitor in the eyes of the Sindhis, encouraged British to
attack Sindh because he and some of his relatives had been forcibly
circumcised by the Muslims. The first British spy, James Burnes in fact
wrote in 'The Court of Mirs' an account of his travels in Sindh: " I
fail to understand how Hindus still prefer living in Sindh despite
all kinds of atrocities perpetrated against them"
Some shrines in Sindh such as those of Makhdoom Muhammed Hashim
and Hafiz Mohammed Siddiqui, Mosques in Thanvi and Madrassas in Matiari
and Amrot have acquired reputation as centers for forcible conversion.
The pirs of Bharchundi have continued to patronise excesses committed
against Hindus by the majority Muslim populance. In the early '70s A
MAN WHO MURDERED 7 HINDUS IN A TEMPLE IN SUKKUR WAS ACCLAIMED AS A HERO
BY THE RELIGIO-POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE AREA.
Communist activist Sobho Gyanchandani recalls an incident during
the early '50s when he was summoned by an intellegence officer for his
political views. "The officer told me: YOU HAVE COMMITTED 3 CRIMES. YOU
ARE a Sindhi, a communist and ABOVE ALL, A HINDU. AND THERE IS NO PLACE
FOR HINDUS HERE". Sobho was jailed along with faiz Ahmed Faiz and others
in the famouse Rawalpindi conspiracy case.
During the '65 and '71 wars, Hindu governement servants living or
posted along the Pak-Indian border in Sindh were transferred to far
flung areas.
The darkest period for Sindhi Hindus in recent history, however
was when dacoits held the province to ransom and forces of religious
ethnicity and religious fanticism predominated. Vitriolic tirades against
Hindus such as those by Dr.Israr Ahmed published in leading daily, helped
to spread message of hate. General Zia's patronage of mullahs encouraged
Jamaat-i-Islami to launch organised campaign against Hindus in Sindh.
AS A RESULT RECENT YEARS SAW THE LARGEST MIGRATION OF HINDUS TO INDIA
SINCE THE EXODUS AT PARTITION.
(Comment- This is during Zia's rule, i.e. even before Advani's Rath Yatra
-comment added by the poster)
Hindus were also primarily on the receiving end from dacoit gangs
infesting Sindh at this time. The first victim of kidnapping was a Hindu
trader from Daharki. Hindus were easy prey because they had no access to
state machinary' Says a Sindhi feudal who is suspected patharidar.
Wealthy Hindus had to pay protection money to the dacoit gangs and their
patrons to avoid being kidnapped."Some Sindhi nationalist organizations
were also hand in glove in kidnapping them or receiving protection money"
says a bitter young Hindu whose father was kidnapped.
Recently, in the backlash to the Babri incident, MQM processionist
led by Shabbir Hashmi attacked a temple at Pucca Qila and looted a
considerable quantity of gold from their. "There is irrefutable evidence
of abetment by religious and ethnic organizations, intellegence agencies
, and local influentials of those who attacked the lives, properties and
temples of Hindus" states Sobho Gyanchandani.
Unlike other parts of Sindh, Hindus living in Sukkur and Larkana
dominate grain and agriculture market. Until partition many of the Hindus
lived in surrounding rural areas. Those who did not migrate to India
relocated to the urban centers. Their uneasy relationship with Muslim
neighbors is manifested by the fact that instead of residing in
individual residences scattered over a large area, they usually live in
sprawling havelis comprising of a hundred or more dwellings. "We feel
isolated and insecure" says Darshan Lal, a young businessman in Ghotki.
Even young Boys are rarely seen walking alone.
IN FRIDAY SERMONS IN MANY TOWNS ACROSS SINDH JEHAD IS OFTEN DECLARED
AGAINST HINDUS, AND MUSLIMS ARE EXHORTED TO CONVERT HINDU WOMEN TO ISLAM
BY MARRYING THEM. " Such words influence the thinking of even simple
Sindhi Muslims" says Rochiram, a senior lawyer and human rights activist
in Mirpukhas.
Haresh Kumar, a Hindu Economist maintains that "this is an entirely
new phenomena which never existed during my schooldays." He says his
8 year old daughter Kalpana and 10 YEAR OLD nephew Mohan COMPLAIN THAT
THEY ARE ASKED BY THEIR CLASSMATES WHY THEY DON'T BECOME MUSLIMS.
"MOHAN'S CLASSMATES DON'T EVEN LET HIM DRINK WATER FROM THE SAME GLASS".
For the common Hindu of Sindh, there is no light at the end of the
tunnel. In Tharparkar and Mirpurkhas districts where more than 90 pct
of Pakistan's Hindus live, they are prime targets of the intellegence
officials. All the mail from Hindus between India and Pakistan is
censored. Intellegence officials extrort mothly bribes from Hindus who
regualrly communicate with their relatives in India.
Confronted with sustained harassment, humiliation and victimisation,
many Hindu families in Sindh have migrated to India and continue to
do so. "Among those applying for visas at Indian consulate in Karachi
are a considerable numebr of Hindus from interior Sindh who plan to
permanently settle in India" says a Hindu in Tharpakar/ "in a crowd of
700 at least 300 are Hindus of whom 75 percent have no intention of
returning to Pakistan".
" Many of us have not even seen India nor do we have any relatives
there" Says Pyare Lal from Sukkur. Another Hindu from Larkana points out:
"NOT A SINGLE HINDU HAS EVER BEEN PROVEN GUILTY OF BEING INDIAN AGENT IN
ANY COURT OF LAW" and still the persecution continues.
End of the article.
--0-776207028-780280539:#18139--
