H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

The decline of Jawalamukhi
JAWALAMUKHI: Hundreds of years ago the town was a seat of trade and business. Now it is known as a religious sanctuary. Ruins of massive buildings still remain.

Truck, house set on fire
MANDI, Oct 27 — A truck carrying resin, a Fiat car, a health sub-centre and a house were set on fire allegedly by hooligans on Tuesday night at Nasloh village 9 km from here. The loss has been estimated at Rs 10 lakh.

Oldest McLeodganj resident dead
KANGRA, Oct 27 — Mr N.N. Nowrojee, the oldest resident of McLeodganj and a social activist, died here on Tuesday. 

Chandigarh youths detained in HP
KASAULI, Oct 27 —Four youths and a girl were detained by the Kasauli police last night at Garkhal, 4 km form here. They were travelling in a white Contessa having an unauthorised red light and a hooter.

Phone moved after all!
SUNDERNAGAR, Oct 27 — In a significant judgement, the Mandi Bench of the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum headed by Mr L.N. Sharma, president, has awarded Rs 3,000 as damages and Rs 500 as litigation expenses in a case against the Telephone Department for delaying the transfer of a telephone.

Deputation of HAS officer resented
MANDI, Oct 27 — The Himachal Pradesh Medical Officers Association has resented the appointment of an HAS officer as Additional Director, Health Services, and demanded his immediate removal from the post.

Job demanded for SC engineer
KANGRA, Oct 27 — The state president of the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, Mr Nalinder Ghautam, and a former Congress MLA, Mr Dalip Singh, in separate letters to Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal, have urged him to provide a job to Mr A.B. Rajbansh, an engineer belonging to a Scheduled Caste family covered under the IRDP. He belongs to Ansoli village.

The decline of Jawalamukhi
From Bijender Sharma

JAWALAMUKHI: Hundreds of years ago the town was a seat of trade and business. Now it is known as a religious sanctuary. Ruins of massive buildings still remain.

The town was part of the Nadaun kingdom. Raja Amar Chand succeeded his father, Raja Sir Jodhbir Chand. He lived at Amtar on the left bank of the Beas and close to Nadaun.

The town was established by the Gosains, the principal caste of the town. Though still a thriving and opulent class, they have of late declined on account of their extravagance. This class of traders gives a certain commercial importance to the town. The principal export was opium, collected from Kulu, and passed to the plains. “Rolia”, a drug prepared from the fruit of “anila”, and extensively used as a medicine and for dyeing, was also exported in considerable quantity. The town traded goods, with Samarkand and Yarkand in Central Asia.

The presiding duty of Jawalamukhi is Dhumra Devi. It is recognised and acclaimed as the highest seat of power amongst the 51 “shaktipeeths”. It is said that the tongue of goddess Mahasati fell here. In this abode of God, devi is seen in the form of a celestial flame.

The temple of Jawalamukhi is built against one side of a ravine. The interior of the temple consists of a square pit about three feet deep with a pathway all round. The flame escapes at other points from the crevices of walls.

There is no idol of any kind. The flaming fissure is considered as the fiery mouth of the goddess, whose headless body is said to be in the temple bhavan.

The income of the temple belongs to the Bhojki community of priests. Earlier the temple was controlled by Gosians, and all religious duties performed by them.

At one time the Katoch Rajas appear to have taken over control of the entire income. Under Muslim rule, a tax of one anna was levied on all pilgrims coming to the shrine.

When Maharaja Sansar Chand II of the Katoch dynasty was defeated by the Gurkha troops of Nepal under the command of Amar Singh Thapa, the area was ruled by them for three years. Raja Sansar Chand II took military assistance of the Sikh monarch, Ranjit Singh. The Sikh monarch entered the area and fought the Gurkhas in August 1809.

The Gurkha army, exposed to malaria, suffered from sickness. Fever decimated their ranks and reduced the strength of the survivors. Yet the battle was long and fought furiously. At last fortune smiled on the Sikhs. Maharaja Ranjit Singh went to Jawalamukhi and at the temple, the emperor signed an agreement under the ruler, which reserved for himself the fort of Kangra.

The Katoch king of Nadaun at that time had magisterial and judicial powers within the limits of his jagir. His father’s mother was a Gaddan, and famous for her beauty and charm. Jodhbir Chand had two sisters, whom he gave in marriage to the maharaja.

With the passage of time, the religious city become part of Kangra district. Jawalamukhi shrine is the most popular pilgrimage centre for millions of devotees from all over the world. Navratra is celebrated all over the country but it has assumed special significance here with 10 days of celebrations.

Truck, house set on fire
From Our Correspondent

MANDI, Oct 27 — A truck carrying resin, a Fiat car, a health sub-centre and a house were set on fire allegedly by hooligans on Tuesday night at Nasloh village 9 km from here. The loss has been estimated at Rs 10 lakh.

The truck (HID-2436) and Fiat car HPM-555 were destroyed in the fire while the house and the health sub-centre buildings were damaged partially.

Eye-witnesses said miscreants had blocked the road by parking a truck (HP-34-A-470) in the middle of it. Later they set the resin on fire which not only reduced the truck into ashes but also destroyed the car parked nearby besides damaging the health sub-centre and the adjoining house.

Fire engines stopped the fire from spreading.

The driver of the burnt truck, chowkidar and guard of the Forest Corporation were also attacked by hooligans.

Mr O.C. Thakur, Superintendent of Police said two persons — Hans Raj and Lal Singh, the driver who had blocked the road, had been arrested while the remaining persons were likely to be rounded up soon.

A case has been registered under Sections 436, 341 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

Oldest McLeodganj resident dead
From Our Correspondent

KANGRA, Oct 27 — Mr N.N. Nowrojee, the oldest resident of McLeodganj and a social activist, died here on Tuesday. The locals, visitors — a lot of them foreigners — fondly remembered him and paid tributes to him.

With tears trickling down her cheeks, Tenzin Yangzona,a waitress, who had been a frequent visitor to the departmental store owned by Mr Nowrojee, described him as an affectionate man. “We feel some thing is missing here after his death,” she said.

Mr Rana Raghuvir Singh, resident of Farshaytganz and a friend of Mr Nowrojee, remembered him saying that he was a promising man whose death had created a vacuum. “He was not a businessman but a perfect gentleman”, Mr Rana said.

He would help the poor and lepers, a local shopkeeper said. A leper, Madhukar, was in a shock when he visited the departmental store today and found it closed. When told about Mr Nowrojee’s death, he broke down, saying that “Nowrojee was our masiah” who served the lepers.

Mr Nowrojee was an honest, straightforward man, said Mr B.L. Choudary.

Mr Nowrojee’s ancestors came to McLeodganj in 1860 along with the British army and would supply essential commodities to it.

After India’s Independence, Mr Nowrojee decided to stay back at McLeodganj. His maternal uncle R.K. Sidhwa was Minister of State for Home Affairs with the Patel government.

Mr Nowrojee, who received the Dalai Lama when he reached McLeodganj in 1960, walked towards his residence on Monday to have a glimpse of the Dalai Lama who had returned from a foreign tour. Both shook hands and Mr Nowrojee bid goodbye.

The Dalai Lama said Mr Nowrojee received him for the first time in 1960 and was a frequent visitor to his house. “We have lost not only a good friend but a right-thinking individual too,” he said.

Chandigarh youths detained in HP
From Our Correspondent

KASAULI, Oct 27 —Four youths and a girl were detained by the Kasauli police last night at Garkhal, 4 km form here. They were travelling in a white Contessa having an unauthorised red light and a hooter.

The accused were allegedly drunk and were misbehaving with the petrol station staff at Dharampur and later at Camper Resort, near here. The youths are residents of Chandigarh, SAS Nagar and Mani Majra.

A case under sections 41 (2) and 109, CrPC, has been registered against them. They were produced in the court of Tehsildaar J.C. Sharma today and were let off following a bail of Rs 2,000 each.

The car belonging to a retired Colonel has been impounded.

Phone moved after all!
From Our Correspondent

SUNDERNAGAR, Oct 27 — In a significant judgement, the Mandi Bench of the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum headed by Mr L.N. Sharma, president, has awarded Rs 3,000 as damages and Rs 500 as litigation expenses in a case against the Telephone Department for delaying the transfer of a telephone.

Mr Hukam Chand Sharma, an advocate of Pungh here had filed a complaint before the forum saying that he had applied for the transfer of his telephone to his new residence, which was about 200 metres away from the old one, in February, 1999, but the officials concerned unduly delayed the transfer.

However, the Telephone Department stated that it had transferred the telephone on June 5, 1999, and the delay was caused due to non-availability of cable pairs. It was not technically feasible to shift the telephone earlier.

The forum accepted the plea of the complainant that the telephone was transferred only when the respondent department received a notice from the forum and he, being an advocate, had suffered much due to the delay.

Deputation of HAS officer resented
From Our Correspondent

MANDI, Oct 27 — The Himachal Pradesh Medical Officers Association has resented the appointment of an HAS officer as Additional Director, Health Services, and demanded his immediate removal from the post.

Dr Jiwanand Chauhan, state general secretary of the association, told mediapersons today that medical officers had taken a serious exception to the practice of granting extension or appointments to retired officers and demanded that it should be stopped forthwith.

The association stressed the urgency of opening a casualty department and library at least in the district hospitals to begin with. It also highlighted the futility of posting Ayurveda doctors in allopathic institutions.

Medical officers expressed distress that the government had been evading the acceptance of their demands for a long time. It called upon the government to accept its demands of the removal of anomalies in recently released time scales, restoration of 10 per cent house rent allowance, release of post-graduate increment and the NPA at revised rates.

Mr Chauhan said a delegation of the association also met the Chief Minister in Shimla last week and sought a solution for their longstanding grievances.

Job demanded for SC engineer
From Our Correspondent

KANGRA, Oct 27 — The state president of the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, Mr Nalinder Ghautam, and a former Congress MLA, Mr Dalip Singh, in separate letters to Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal, have urged him to provide a job to Mr A.B. Rajbansh, an engineer belonging to a Scheduled Caste family covered under the IRDP. He belongs to Ansoli village.

Both leaders also met Mr Dhumal and urged him to consider Mr Rajbansh for a job in any department of the state government. They also annexed with their letters a copy of The Tribune report of October 9 under the headline: “Family threatens self-immolation”. They told Mr Dhumal that while persons with lesser merit were appointed in various departments, Mr Rajbansh was denied a job.

Mr Rajbansh (40) is a matriculate (first division). He also holds a diploma in engineering. he had threatened to immolate himself along with his wife and two minor children at Rashtrapati Bhavan on January 26, 2001, if he was not given a job by that time.