Adil Najam
Updates: here, here and here.
There is a storm brewing up–rightly–about the demolition of a Hindu Temple in Lahore: the Krishna Mandir, in Wachhoowali, Rangmahal. In India the BJP has launched a protest and we Pakistanis need to think about what this says about us as a society.
The story was first reported in The Dawn (May 28, 2006) which pointed out that (excerpts):
In violation of its own scheme for management and disposal of urban evacuee properties, the Evacuee Trust Property Board (EPTB) has allowed a jeweller to demolish a Hindu temple and construct a commercial building in its place at Wachhowali in Rang Mahal. The EPTB Scheme for Management and Disposal of Urban Evacuee Trust Properties, 1977, categorically prohibits the sale or demolition of an evacuee trust property which is ‘part of appurtenance to a shrine, a religious place or a building of historical or architectural importance’… this is for the first time since its establishment that the board has allowed demolition of a worship place and approved the construction of a commercial building in its place… The entire building, except a small portion facing the Wachhowali lane, has already been brought down by the developer.
There has been relatively little about this in the Pakistan press, but there is much in the Indian media and yesterday the Times of India (June 13, 2006) reported that the BJP is planning to “take to the streets to organise protests against this.” The paper quoted former Union minister and senior BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain as saying:
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Adil Najam
This historic Universal Newsreel on the birth of Pakistan and the ceremonies of August 14, 1947, was made for a US audiences (note how Liaquat Ali Khan’s name is mispronounced; some things never change!).
For Karachites: see if you can recognize Karachi landmarks including the Sindh Asembly Building and Elphinstone Street.
For history buffs, note the pictures of Liaquat Ali Khan and Mohammed Ali Jinnah, but even moreso recall that the Chair (Speaker) of the first session of the Pakistan Assembly was Jogindar Nath Mandal (1904-1968), a Hindu Dalit from the Bengal, who later became Pakistan’s first Law Minister (and then resigned from in protest; but more about that later).
click on the play (arrow) button on the image below:
Video from video.google.com placed by www.harappa.com which is a wealth of information and insight.
According to a news release from the Nepalese Army–as reported by The Times of India:
Pakistan has gifted ten computers to the Nepal Army for conducting training programmes for family members of armed forces personnel. The computers were handed over to the Army Officers’ Wives Association at a function …
