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Monday,
June 23, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Upkeep of Pak gurdwaras commendable: Sikh jatha Saddam, sons alive, says captured Lieut
Sikh youths’ plea for help Aziz Khan to reach India on June 30 |
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Blair’s sister-in-law leaves UK sick of crime
Kailash yatra to resume on July 8
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Upkeep of Pak gurdwaras commendable: Sikh jatha Lahore, June 22 The nine-day odyssey ended today at Lahore, where it had actually begun. This probably was the first time in history when uncertainty marked the departure of the jatha. Those members who had got the visas had started assembling at Amritsar on June 12 but even till the next day, it was not clear whether this time the jatha would be able to undertake the journey. The SGPC personnel were camping in Delhi awaiting the word from the Ministry of External Affairs. Though the Pakistani Embassy had allowed the journey from June 13, the passports of those allowed reached Amritsar on the morning of June 14, on which day the jatha also left for Pakistan. It must also be said it was worth the wait, for it was one of the most fascinating journeys the jatha undertook and visited all gurdwaras, old as well as new, to see first-hand what the condition of gurdwaras in Pakistan was, without bothering about the official propaganda. It was a surprise for some jatha members to realise that there indeed was improvement in the upkeep of the gurdwaras in Pakistan. The government there had taken special care to make the surroundings beautiful around some of the lesser-known gurdwaras. In this category fell Gurdwara Roari Sahib in Eminabad and Sacha Sauda in Churkana. One has not seen such landscaping around gurdwaras even in India, what to talk of other countries. Therefore, give the devil the due, for some gurdwaras in Pakistan were really in ruins. Some gurdwaras are connected with the visits of the fifth Guru, Guru Arjan Dev, and the sixth Guru, Guru Hargobind. The authorities involved in the upkeep of the gurdwaras promised the jatha that after the next jatha left after observing the death anniversary of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, work would start on these two gurdwaras in Nankana Sahib. In all fairness, it must be said that the Pakistan Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has certainly improved the
conditions of the gurdwaras. It must also be remembered that even the leader of the Sikh jatha, Mr S.S. Sabherwal, complimented officials of the Department of Shrines at a function held at Sacha Sauda on June 21. It would however, be better if Pakistan takes care to address Sikh grievances. For instance, at Nankana Sahib, Liaqat Ali is the caretaker, at Panja Sahib it is Abdul Rehman, both Muslims. These are government posts. It would be better if the Pakistan Government appoints Sikhs as caretakers. Afterall, there are about 70-80 Sikh families in Nankana Sahib. Its Councillor is also a Sikh, Mastan Singh, who can be entrusted with the responsibility of arranging a suitable candidate for the post. This will also absolve the Pakistan Government of the charge that proper maryada is not maintained at the gurdwaras. When a Sikh is in charge, it will be his duty to perform the duty according to the maryada. Thus on this count, the government will no longer draw flak. Though the jatha left a day late, it did not affect the schedule. In a clock work precision, Sikh pilgrims visited all historic gurdwaras which were on the itinerary. From Dera Sahib in Lahore, the jatha went to Panja Sahib, then to Nankana Sahib and finally to Sacha Sauda. At all the gurdwaras, Mr Sabherwal took the stage and spoke on relevant subjects, mainly on Guru Nanak Dev’s Udasis (long missionery tours). He made an impact as a good orator. With Mr Balwant Singh Patti as his deputy, it must also be said that Mr Sabherwal had a good team to support him in Prof Roop Singh and Mr Ram Singh. The whole team gave a good account of itself. So, it was Prof Kirpal Singh Badungar’s good choice. Thus it remained a successful yatra from all practical purposes. It would have been better if the programme of the jatha was approved in advance to spare the Sikh yatris tension and anxiety. One hopes better sense will prevail in future. |
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Saddam, sons alive, says captured Lieut Washington, June 22 Abid Hamad Mahmoud al-Tikriti, who was arrested by the US forces in Iraq earlier this week, has told them that he himself fled to Syria with Uday and Qusay, New York Times quoted unnamed defence officials as saying. Mahmoud has said he was forced to return to Iraq but the sons of Saddam, and perhaps Saddam himself, are in Syria, according to Pentagon officials. The officials said they would try to check out whether the report was true. The Times said the accuracy of the claims made by Abid Hamad Mahmoud, who was arrested in Iraq last Monday, had not been assessed yet. But they said the USA regarded the information as having huge potential significance, and that clandestine US military activity aimed at capturing Saddam and his sons, had increased sharply, the paper wrote. If Mahmoud’s account is true, it would be “the most authoritative confirmation that neither Saddam nor his sons were killed in the US attacks in March and April,” it added. Mahmoud, who ranked behind only Saddam and his sons in importance in the Iraqi Government, has told the interrogators that during the weeks after the war with the USA that he spent time in hiding with the former Iraqi leader himself and then fled to Syria with Uday and Qusay. —
PTI |
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Sikh youths’ plea for help Lahore, June 22 According to Jagminder Singh, one of the three youths, they went to Lebanon on legal documents but from there they wanted to enter Germany illegally. They were caught by the Turkish authorities who deported them to Iran, which in turn pushed them into Pakistan. All three, Jagminder Singh, Avtar Singh and Balbir Singh, are in the custody of Pakistan. Talking to this reporter at Dera Sahib Gurdwara in Lahore this afternoon, they said they wanted to return to Punjab. According to reports, some influential Sikh leaders in Pakistan have promised them help in this connection. |
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Aziz Khan to reach India on June 30 Islamabad, June 22 His counterpart, Mr Shivshankar Menon was expected to take over his posting here in the second week of July. Mr Menon, who will shortly relinquish his present post as India’s Ambassador to China is currently tied up with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s visit to Beijing. He was expected to wind up his stay in Beijing towards the end of the month and begin preparations to reach here by second week, Indian diplomats here said. Earlier, Mr Khan had hinted that he planned to go by the first bus to India if the two countries managed to restore the bus service by that time. —
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Blair’s sister-in-law leaves UK sick of crime London, June 22 Lauren, sister of Cherie Blair, said she had been driven from the country by drug-pushers and muggers who plagued the streets around her London home. “I’ve been a Londoner all my life, but now I’m moving to France, driven out by the grime and the crime that have made so much of this city
unlivable in.” The final straw came last month when she witnessed a terrifying fight between two crazed crack addicts at her doorstep. She describes how, last month, her daughter began screaming when two drug addicts from a nearby house began a street fight. “Everyone around here is familiar with how crack addicts behave. They have sole use of the phone boxes on the corner night and day. They get loud and violent. If you interfere in a fight like this your car, your home, your kids can be next. —
PTI |
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Benazir turns poetic at 50 London, June 22 She read out her 338-line poem, an account of a life that has no shortage of material, at a party she hosted for her 50th birthday in Dubai, where she lives in exile with three children, a media report said here today. The poem was read out to tearful friends and party leaders who had flown from Pakistan and London, ‘The Times’ reported. Much of the poem is about her endless waiting for news from Pakistan and Benazir reveals that she has received offers to free her husband Asif Ali Zardari if she agrees to quit politics, but has turned those down. “They thought it generous to offer freedom for abandonment,” she writes, adding: “The abandonment of a people, of a land, of a struggle, of a dream. I thought it wrong.” She lays much of the blame for her downfall at the feet of Pakistan’s Islamic extremists. —
PTI |
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Kailash yatra to resume on July 8 Beijing, June 22 “Tibet autonomous region will resume tourism activities from July 1, and begin to receive domestic and overseas tourists,” official Xinhua news agency reported from Lhasa quoting regional tourism bureau officials. China had halted tourism activities to the Himalayan region from April 25. —
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