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Showing posts with label Ant-Islam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ant-Islam. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Muslim guards Hindus in stereotyped Pakistan

By Amar Guriro in Karachi, Pakistan, for Silent Heroes, Invisible Bridges.

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.

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. – Photo by Amar Guriro

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.”

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.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

After Blair's conversion to Catholicism, his sister in law says: I'm a Muslim

Conversion: Lauren booth chose to become a Muslim after a holy experience at a shrine in Iran
By David Wilkes
London : It could certainly make family get-togethers interesting. Tony Blair’s sister-in-law Lauren Booth has converted to Islam. The former prime minister is also a religious convert – he became a Roman Catholic after leaving office in 2007.

Miss Booth, who is Cherie Blair’s half sister, decided to adopt her new faith after what she described as a holy experience in Iran.

She now covers her head with a hijab when she leaves home, has given up alcohol and visits a mosque ‘when she can’.

The 43-year-old mother of two, who has long sympathised with the Muslim cause, described how she had a religious awakening six weeks ago on a visit to a shrine in the Iranian holy city of Qom.

‘I sat down and felt this shot of spiritual morphine, just absolute bliss and joy,’ she said. The former reality TV contestant decided to convert immediately on her return to Britain.

‘I always felt that the ummah [Muslim community] is a very loving, peaceful place and I am proud to be a member of it,’ she said.

Miss Booth, also a journalist and human rights campaigner, has stopped eating pork, reads the Koran every day and has not ruled out wearing a burka in the future.

‘I also haven’t had a drink in 45 days, the longest period in 25 years,’ she said. ‘The strange thing is that since I decided to convert I haven’t wanted to touch alcohol, and I was someone who craved a glass of wine or two at the end of a day.’

Miss Booth works for Press TV, the English-language Iranian news channel, and has worn a head scarf on screen. She announced her conversion at the Global Peace and Unity Event in London on Saturday. To cheers, she said: ‘What I wanted to share with you today is that I am Lauren Booth and I am a Muslim.’

Miss Booth’s conversion follows a turbulent time in her personal life, during which her marriage to actor Craig Darby hit the rocks. She described publicly how she had fallen on hard times and was being forced to return to Britain after six years in rural France with her family.

Miss Booth was a vocal opponent of the Iraq war and recently criticised Mr Blair, accusing him of bias towards Israel.

She said: ‘Your world view is that Muslims, are mad, bad, dangerous to know. A contagion to be contained.’Her conversion was welcomed on Muslim internet forums. One post read: ‘Now a war criminal has an innocent sister in law! God bless her!’

But not all the comments were so favourable. Another read: ‘Lauren Booth craves attention, that’s all.’

Monday, September 6, 2010

Death toll 79 : 4 more innocent youth martyred in occupied Kashmir

Srinagar, Sep. 06 :  Indian troops and police personnel in their fresh acts of state terrorism martyred four more innocent Kashmiri youth in Kupwara and Pattan areas.

The troops martyred three youth at Afroda in Handwara area of Kupwara during a siege and search operation, which continued till last reports came in. A 15-year-old boy was martyred when the police personnel fired on a group of youth at Palhalan in Pattan.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of All Parties Hurriyet Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq in a statement issued in Srinagar urged India to release all the illegally detained innocent Kashmiris before Eid-ul Fitr. He appealed to the world human rights organisations to send their teams to take cognisance of the miserable plight of the detainees at different jails in and outside the territory.

Senior Hurriyet leaders, Syed Ali Gilani and Agha Syed Hassan Al-Moosvi, in their separate statements in Srinagar strongly condemning the recent suicide attacks in Pakistan expressed deep grief and shock at the loss of life in these attacks and sympathy with the families of the victims. They said that the suicide bombings were the handiwork of the forces that wanted to destabilize the country.

The Chairman of JKLF-R, Farooq Ahmed Dar, in his statement said that India would not be able to suppress Kashmiris’ liberation struggle by resorting to brute force.

A delegation of Al-Ghani Welfare Educational Trust visited different hospitals in Srinagar and enquired about the health of the people who were injured by Indian police and troops during the ongoing uprising in the territory. 

Friday, July 2, 2010

All Hindus Wake up!

All Hindus Wake up! (or should it be Muslims?).......
(((Of course Muslims, not Hindus, because it's not the Hindus who're sleeping but the Muslims))))

While Muslims and Arabs are sleeping and unable to solve the problem of Palestine, Hindus working in the Gulf and Arab countries are encouraged to go pro-Israel, and anti-Muslims.

Protocol of Hindus
This book was introduced into the London book market for 5 days before it was withdrawn due to the fear of harassment and discrimination against Hindus in the Arab world.

The source of this information comes from the U.A.E Sharjah broadcasting Channel presented by Ra'ad Aman; the program name: "Foreign writings".

Book Title:" All Hindus Wake up"

Subheadings: "The protocols for Hindu leaders"
The Author: Dr. R. Singh



Only 13 of these protocols are mentioned; there're more to it.....

1. Hindus must consider the state of Israel as its most friendly ally due to its negative attitude towards Muslims.
2.. Spread sinful acts and values within Muslim communities.
3. Hindu temples must be built in all places possible (there are many these days) and be visited every day. Also the statue of "Ram" be placed in the work place.
4. . Regular meetings be held to plan ways for working against Islam.
5. Distribution of drugs, and prostitution to be carried out within Muslim countries and communities.
6. Sexual relationships with Muslim women is encouraged to ensure the production of Hindu babies within Muslim communities.
7. If you are a pharmacist or doctor, try at all costs to enduce congenital defects in the feteous.
8. If you are a nurse or doctor, whisper "Ohm" into the newborn's ear.
9. Try to spoil or damage goods in Muslim shops, if you are employed by them.
10. Become their friends, gain their trust and stab them in the back.
11. Turn others against them.
12. If you work in their homes, try to influence their children or wives, and the way of their thinking.
13. Wear a black string around your wrist. (what's the reason after that?)
By: Nasim Hajazi
Saudi Arabia