“Competition is the law of the jungle, but cooperation is the law of civilization.” ~ Peter Kropotkin, Russian historian, philosopher, Scientist and activist (1842 – 1921
Tag Archives: civilisation
Who says countries are permanent?
By Ayaz Amir
Islamabad diary
We should know this more than others. The Pakistan of 1947 is not the Pakistan which exists today, one half of it having broken away to form another country. I served in Moscow in the seventies and nothing seemed more solid or permanent than the Soviet Union, a mighty power which cast a shadow far and wide. Who could have thought that in a few years’ time it would fracture, leaving a trail of small, independent republics behind?
Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall was two countries. Now it is back to being one. Czechoslovakia was one country then. Now it is two. In the UK, of all places, the Scots, or a goodly part of them, are demanding independence. A referendum is set to decide this question in 2014.
After the fall of the Soviet Union it seemed as if American pre-eminence was an assured thing, lasting for the next hundred years. Bright-eyed scholars announced not just the closing of an era but the end of history. As hubris goes, this had few equals. There were other Americans who said that reality would be what America wanted it to be. Yet American power has declined before our eyes, nothing more contributing to this than the wars President Bush ventured upon in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Clash of civilisations was another phrase current just ten years. Something of the sort has happened but not in a way that the US could have intended. Wouldn’t the Taliban, wouldn’t Al-Qaeda, define their struggle as a clash of civilisations?
Ten years ago in a Jamaat-ud-Dawaah mosque in Chakwal (not far from my house) I heard one of their leaders talking of America’s eventual but sure defeat in Afghanistan. I thought his rhetoric too fanciful then. It sounds much closer to home now.
I have just read a longish review of Norman Davies’ ‘Vanished Kingdoms: The Rise and Fall of States and Nations’. This book should be required reading for anyone concerned about the future of Pakistan. For the lesson it emphasises is that history does not promise progress. All it promises is change. Nothing is fixed, all is movement, nations rising and falling, the old disappearing to make way for the new, the new in turn becoming the old and morphing into something else – the philosophy of Heraclitus and Hegel, even of Marx.
21st February is an ‘International Mother Language Day’- MITHRI ABANI BOLI SINDHI ABANI BOLI
[“Language is as old as the Humanity and Civilisation itself. The Cradle of Civilisation which is my Motherland, Sindh, has always had its OWN sweet language and culture! Sindhi is a glorious, grand and secular sufi NATION and Sindhi is the bright, brilliant and sweet language of mother Sindh! Please ‘n kindly – I urge, I implore ye, O Sindhis, to speak, read and write in our Mother Language, SINDHI!” — Dr. Ahmed Makhdoom]
Courtesy: Sindhi e-lists/ e-groups, February 21, 2013 » YouTube
23rd March 2012 Freedom March Rally in Karachi JSQM Chairmen Bashir Qureshi’s Speech – English Version
Long live Sindh Long live Sain GM Syed − The heirs of Sindh, My dear sisters and brethren! − I welcome you all cordially who came here from nook and corner for gathering in the capital city Karachi which is not only capital city but the heart of Sindh. − − عمر يست ڪه آواز منصور ڪهن شد − من از سرنو جلوه دهم دارو رسن را − (Time has elapsed that the voice of Mansoor has been obsolete; I want to re-embellish ropes and hang) − Sons of Sindh! − Pakistan has never been a country in any episode of history but the Sindh has remained such a motherland since thousands of years and has been bestowed with bounty of natural resources including fertile agricultural lands, roaring Indus River and coastal belt. Therefore the populace of Sindh has been the custodians of civilization when it was newly evolving elsewhere. − Out of excavation of Moen-Jo-Daro it reveals that the Sindh has traversed the different periods of olden civilizations since the period of Euphrates, Samaritans and Babylons. Comparative it was more civilized and prosperous then the contemporary civilizations of that period.
Quotes from Holy Quran and Bhagavad Gita
Quotes from Holy Quran
Respect of other civilizations and beliefs;
“O ye who believe! Let not any nation laugh at another nation: It may be that the (latter) are better than the (former) – (Quran 49:11)
“….take not life which Allah has made sacred” (Quran, chapter 6, verse 151)
“Help ye one another in righteousness and piety, but help ye not one another in sin and transgression” – Quran 5:2
Quotes from Bhagavad Gita
“There is neither this world nor the world beyond nor happiness for the one who doubts.” – Bhagavad Gita
Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.” – Bhagavad Gita
Source – internet
An Open Letter to Prime Minister of India to Demand for DD SINDHI channel – From Sindhis of India
By Dilip Tekchandani, India
Please write a post card to the Prime Minister of India to demand for the DD SINDHI channel, the text for the letter is given below;
Dr. Man Mohan Singh,
Honorable Prime Minister of India
South Block, Raisina Hill, New Delhi, 11 00 01
Dear Sir, I am a SINDHI speaking Citizen of India. We sacrificed our motherland SINDH for the Independence of India.
Help us to preserve our Language, Culture & Identity through TV. Give us 24 Hours DD SINDHI channel to preserve our Identity.
Thank you
Sindhi Citizens of India
Sindhi Music in London
Sindhi is a very sweet and melodious language – Dr. Annemarie Schimmel
Sindhi is a very sweet and melodious language. Writes Dr. Annemarie Schimmel, Harvard professor of linguist: “Since every word in Sindhi ends in a vowel, the sound is very musical.”
Sindhi is a very rich language with a vast vocabulary; this has made it a favourite of many writers and so a lot of literature and poetry has been written in Sindhi. Writes K. R. Malkani in “THE SINDH STORY”: ‘The Sindhi language and literature reflect the rich variety and quality of Sindhi life and thought. Sindhi has 125 names for as many varieties of fish. From Hyderabad to the sea, a distance of less than one hundred miles, the Sindhu river has half a dozen names — Sahu, Sita, Mograh, Popat, Bano, and Hajamiro — to reflect its many moods. The camel has a score of names, to indicate its age, colour, gait and character.’
It is the language of Saints and Rishis of ancient Sindh. It has been the inspiration for Sindhi art, music, literature, culture and the way of life. Many great poets and literatis have been profoundly inspired by the beauty of Sindhi language.
SANAM MARVI – NA THO JO SINDH LA LARRE SO SINDH MA LADDE WANJE
Sindhis meet in Ahmedabad to instil culture among youths
By DNA Correspondent
Gujarat chief minister inaugurated the three-day International Sindhi Sammelan that began on Friday at Karnavati Club.
Sindhi personalities from the field of politics, industry, banking, arts, and education were present on the occasion. They included Sindhis from USA, Europe, Middle East and other countries. Sindh (in Pakistan) and Gujarat have been neighbours that share a 5000-year-old heritage of the Harappan Civilisation that began in the Indus Valley of Sindh and spread to sites in Gujarat like Dholavira in Kutch and Lothal in Ahmedabad. ….
Read more » DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS (DNA)
Washington Sindhis Join in “Sindhi Culture Celebration Day” Festivities
It is not only Sindhi-speaking people who are participating but also Pashto-speaking Sindhis, Urdu-speaking Sindhis, and Punjabi-speaking Sindhis, who live in Sindh are demonstrating their love for Sindh.
By Khalid Hashmani
The Sindhis who live in and around the Washington DC area joined festivities of the annual “Sindhi Culture Celebration Day”. The event was organized by Mrs. Nasreen and Mr. Iqbal Tareen at their residence in McLean suburb on the night between Saturday, November 19 and November 20, 2011. Several local Sindhis joined Tareens in this event to make it a memorable celebration of Sindhi culture, language and identity.
Continue reading Washington Sindhis Join in “Sindhi Culture Celebration Day” Festivities
Something fishy going on: Human Rights in Sindh
“I
n January 1948—about four months after the creation of Pakistan—the federal government of Pakistan sponsored pogroms by refugees against Hindu Sindhis in Karachi, then the shared capital of Sindh and Pakistan. The pogroms resulted in the massacre of over 1200 Sindhis. When the Sindh government attempted to restore public order and return looted property, Pakistan removed the duly elected Sindh government from office. Today, exiled Hindu Sindhis are denied the Right of Return.”
“Of the approximately 30 million Sindhis living in Sindh today, approximately 3 million are Hindus and suffer particularly under Pakistan’s oppressive laws and dis-criminatory practices. Pakistan imposes the death penalty for blasphemy or apostasy.”
“With the connivance of the Pakistani authori-ties, tens of thousands of Sindhis, including a disproportionately large number of Hindu and Christian Sindhis, are held in virtual slavery as bonded laborers.”
“The last census systematically undercounted the number of Sindhis. The census forms in Sindhi were simply printed in insufficient quantities so data could not be collected in many remote villages. In addition, Hindu Sindhis were intimidated by Pakistani authorities who ac-companied the census takers in Sindh.”
“The Pakistani government has designated homes and businesses of Hindu Sindhis in this area as ‘Enemy Evacuee Property’ and seized the legal deeds to their properties.”
“Religious Studies has been made a compulsory subject for Muslims in all government and private schools. The officially mandated textbooks preach a fundamentalist and militant ideology, contravening the indigenous universalist Sufi beliefs of the Sindhis.”
“Pakistan controls all public and private advertising in newspapers through a government body called the Pakistan Information Board. In 2003, the government ordered a cut in Sindhi newspapers’ advertisement ‘quota’ by an additional 50%. Although Sindhi speakers account for about 20% of Pakistan’s population, Sindhi newspapers now receive less than 1% of the total advertising revenue.”
“In 1999, the largest circulation Sindhi monthly magazine Subhu Theendo (‘A New Day will Dawn’) was banned for spreading disaffection against the ‘ideology of Pakistan.’ The magazine focused on sustainable development and environmental protection.”
“A majority of the officials and government employees appointed in Sindh do not speak the Sindhi language. Pakistan refuses to allow the use of Sindhi in University entrance examinations or in job interviews for government employees in Sindh, and severely limits radio and television broadcasts in the language.”
“Pakistan has built several mega-dams and barrages up-stream that have impeded the flow of the Indus (Sindhu) River and its tributaries to Sindh. As a consequence, the floodplains that fed Sindh’s forests are gone, resulting in massive deforestation: less than 20% of the original 600,000 acres of forest land is now being regenerated. ”
“Water no longer flows to the sea; as a consequence, the mangrove forests have experienced a 90% decline—from 2400 square kilometers to 200 square kilometers. With-out protection from the mangrove forests, seawater has encroached—inundating 1.2 million acres of agricultural land and uprooting residents of 159 villages. The once plentiful seafood catch has been drastically reduced. The net result is that throughout Sindh, poverty levels, malnutrition and disease now match those in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
“The Sindhi national poet, Shaikh Ayaz (d. 1999) was charged with treason—a crime punishable by death—for advocating peace with India.”
Courtesy » Sonething fishy’s going on
Those Who Reconcile Every Thing For Their Personal Interests, Have Finally truncated Their Motherland
– By Dr. Ahmed H. Makhdoom, Singapore
– When the world was still to be born
When Adam was still to receive his form
Then my relationship began
When I heard the Lord’s Voice
A voice sweet and clear
I said “Yes” with all my heart
And Formed a bond with the land (Sindh) I love
When all of us were one, My bond then began.
– Sufi (mystic) poet of peace, Shah Abdul Latif
There are Protests and Rallies being organised by caring, concerned, loving and valiant children of Motherland against the threats to mother Sindh, throughout the length and breadth.
My apologies for not being able to attend the Protest Rally. However, in spirit, I shall be there with you all. My full and comprehensive support and prayers shall be there for my kindred folks of my Motherland.
Mother Sindh is wounded – by our own traitors! Capitulation, Surrender and Submission! This is the first step towards the annihilation of Sindh – the Cradle of Civilisation. This is the step towards the extinction of Sindh as a glorious Nation, as cultured citizens of earth and as gregarious people living in Love, Peace and Harmony on the surface of this Planet.
STAND UP and BE COUNTED! Fight against the partitionist forces & threats to the integrity of mother Sindh from barbarians now! Peace-loving, people of Sindh CANNOT tolerate threats to mother Sindh.
In the annals of history every act of treachery, betrayal, and treason, is punishable! What is our duty? Are we going to be a witness to the destruction, and drowning of our Motherland by traitors??????
Are we going to watch and see our Motherland being truncated, tormented and finally annihilated? Are we going to sit on our haunches seeing the extinction of the Cradle of Civilisation, Sindh?
Enough is enough! Time for silly talks is gone! Now, is the time to DELIVER! STAND UP and BE COUNTED! FIRST UNITE! AND THEN FIGHT AGAINST HATE AND FASCISTS GROUPS. We have to STAND UP against tyranny for Survival!
Courtesy: Sindhi e-groups/ e-lists, August 8, 2011
All parties of Sindh including Altaf Hussain/ MQM Oppose Division of Sindh then why a private channel conspiring against the unity of Sindh!?
To read a column of writer, journalist and intellectual Nazir Laghari on the unity of Sindh in urdu daily Jang, click → Arz-e-Haal.
Courtesy: → urdu daily Jang, Wednesday, July 27, 2011
via → Revolution Reader blog
Sindh: Condemnation of Massacre During Recent Riots
– In a press statement issued today [July 16, 2011], World Sindhi Congress (WSC) strongly condemned the barbaric massacre of innocent people in recent clashes in the major cities of Sindh including Karachi and Hyderabad.
The killings started when Sindh Assembly withdrawn the so-called Local Government system and restored Commissionerate system in Sindh. The local government system was imposed by force by the military dictator General Musharaf against the popular wishes, demands and struggle of Sindhi people. The system completely undermined the historical, political, social, economic and educational rights of Sindhi people. Under the patronage of this system the complete control of the urban centres was handed over to Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). The historical Hyderabad district was divided in four districts, five districts of Karachi were amalgamated in one, other districts were also divided. Most districts were handed over to criminal feudals to punish Sindhi people and suffocate their social and economic progress. As a result of this system the entry to educational institutions and jobs in the urban areas, particularly in Karachi was systematically denied to Sindhi people, Sindhi villages in Karachi were bulldozed and Sindhis were forced to live and suffer one of the worst apartheid in their own land.
The first thing that all Sindhi people hoped and demanded from Peoples Party was to abandon the draconian local government system when they came in power on the almost unanimous vote of Sindhi people. Unfortunately Peoples Party failed to deliver for three and half years on this issue of utmost significance for Sindhi people resulting from their compromise with MQM to remain in power at the any cost. MQM was and is the strongest supporter of this system as it provided them a disproportionate and complete hegemony over Karachi and Hyderabad.
The withdrawal of the local government system was completed in all other parts of Pakistan almost a year ago. It was kept only in Sindh at the sole insistence of MQM. It was withdrawn from Sindh by an over-whelming majority of Sindh Assembly. All parties in the Sindh Assembly except MQM supported the changes. In all the democratic sprits and norms MQM should have accepted this verdict as it was a unanimous demand of Sindhi people and democratically passed by an overwhelming majority of Sindh Assembly. However, it is really unfortunate to see how MQM has reacted violently and undemocratically. Consequently the situation is very sad as it has resulted in the massacre of scores of innocent men, women and children.
WSC condemn the irresponsible statements of Zulfiqar Mirza which were divisive and aimed to flame the riots among people of Sindh. ….
Sindhis have thousands year old traditions and civilisation of tolerance and peace and have demonstrated this times and time again. Sadly MQM in spite of their proclamations that they are sons of Sindh, have demonstrated through their actions that they only represent the narrow and many-times anti-Sindh ethnic interests ….
Read more → UNPO
Emir of the barking
by Hakim Hazik
Hundreds of women who would have spent their days in quiet comfort in our serene district jails, because they could not produce four adult, sane, pious, male, Muslim witnesses, will now be dragged through the courts and will have to bear the full brunt of the cross examination of the prurient defense counsel. Any faithful Muslim women would rather die than bear this humiliation.
Ours is a religion which for the first time in human history has given the women the right to be raped with dignity. This is a great civilizational achievement. Empires have come and gone but the condition of the women did not change. ….
Read more→ ViewPoint
SINDHIS OF KURDISTAN
– The Aryan Period
People in the ancient world that came from the region of India were known as ‘Sindhi. There are people recorded in Turkey and also North of the Black Sea who were referred to as Sindi.It was like people nowadays that are in Canada or the UK are referred to as Indians.This fact is also the source of the theory that the Kurds of the SE Greece, Turkey, NW Iraq and Northern Syria are believed to have had their origin in India as the tribal name ‘Sindi’ is big amongst the Kurds.
As early as 2000 BC, the vanguards of the Indo-European speaking tribal immigrants, such as the Hittites and the Mittanis (Sindis), had arrived in southwestern Asia. While the Hittites only marginally affected the mountain communities in Kurdistan, the Mittanis settled inside Kurdistan around modern Diyarbakir, and influenced the natives in several fields worthy of note, in particular the introduction of knotted rug weaving. Even rug designs introduced by the Mittanis and recognized by the replication in the Assyrian floor carvings, remain the hallmark of the Kurdish rugs and kelims. The modern mina khâni and chwar such styles are basically the same today as those the Assyrians copied and depicted nearly 3000 years ago.
The name ‘Mittani’ survives today in the Kurdish clans of Mattini and Millani/Milli who inhabit the exact same geographical areas of Kurdistan as the ancient Mittani. The name “Mittan,” however, is a Hurrian name rather than Aryan. At the onset of Aryan immigration into Kurdistan, only the aristocracy of the high-ranking warrior groups were Aryans, while the bulk of the people were still Hurrian in all manners. The Mittani aristocratic house almost certainly was from the immigrant Sindis, who survive today in the populous Kurdish clan of Sindi—again—in the same area where the Mittani kingdom once existed. These ancient Sindi seem to have been an Indic, and not Iranic group of people, and in fact a branch of the better known Sindhis of India–Pakistan, that has imparted its name to the River Indus and in fact, India itself. (footnote 8) While the bulk of the Sindis moved on to India, some wondered into Kurdistan to give rise to the Mitanni royal house and the modern Sindi Kurds. …
Courtesy: http://oldenhistory.blogspot.com/2009/12/sindhi-people.html
Bringing Punjabiyat Back
BY: SCHONA JOLLY
“PUNJABI IS MY MOTHER TONGUE, my blood, my soul, my language. I think, dream and feel in it. I will also die in it,” proclaims Amarjit Chandan, an acclaimed poet born in Kenya. “In pardes (abroad),” he explains of his adult life spent in London, “I invented the Punjabiland.”
For a land that has been home to some of the world’s richest civilisations, modern Punjabi culture remains remarkably little known outside the noisy clichés of Bollywood and music videos. As the Indian state of Punjab grapples with complex social and economic issues, the Pakistani province of Punjab collapses due to political woes, and a large diaspora stays settled all over the globe, Punjabi poets and storytellers of old seem to be disappearing along with the water levels in the land of the five rivers. But Punjabis are nothing if not adept at handling change—it is the legacy of their own turbulent history, after all—and there are small but significant signs, that this vibrant melting-pot culture is on the verge of reemergence.
History has not been kind to the people of Punjab. The brutal division of the state during Partition led to both carnage and to one of the biggest mass population movements during the 20th century. Amidst the riots, butchery, rape and devastation, Punjabis of all religious persuasions suddenly found that they had to create new identities. In Pakistan, those identities had to be established through a new, Urdu-speaking nationalist ethos that sought to reimagine the country’s history and culture by severing ties with its neighbour. In India, those identities had to be reshaped by millions of refugees whose culture, possessions, love and longing belonged to another place. In the decades after Partition, hundreds of thousands of Punjabis from both East Punjab, in India, and West Punjab, in Pakistan, left their homelands to seek sanctuary and a new life abroad. For all of these people, the historical and cultural ties to their motherland had to be reforged. The multi-hued complexion of both states had become altered radically overnight.
Lahore, the united Punjab’s former capital, had long been considered the jewel in the crown of North India and had been developed as a cultural capital under both the Mughals and Maharaja Ranjit singh. “Jisne Lahore nahi dekhya, woh janmia nahi (Those who have not seen Lahore, have not lived),” proclaimed popular lore at the time. …
Read more : Wichaar
In the US, where 45 per cent of young African Americans have no jobs and the top hedge-fund managers are paid $1bn a year on average, mass protests against cuts in services & jobs have spread to heartland states such as Wisconsin
– Behind the Arab revolt lurks a word we dare not speak
BY John Pilger
The people of Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, Algeria, Yemen, Jordan and Libya are rising up not only against their leaders, but also western economic tyranny. …
Read more : NewStatesman
Hundreds of Sindhi-Americans Gathered in Houston to Pay Tribute to Their National Leader
– Condemned the religious intolerance and human rights violations in Pakistan
HOUSTON, TX, USA. Tens of hundreds of Sindhi-Americans gathered in Houston on Saturday, January 15, 2011 to commemorate the 107th birthday of Mr. G. M. Syed, a national leader of the Sindh who waged a nonviolent struggle against religious fundamentalism and for freedom.
Sindh is home to the ancient Indus (Sindhu) Valley civilization and is now a unit of Pakistan. A vibrant Sindhi-American community numbering in the tens of thousands lives in various U.S. cities. More than 30 million Sindhis live in Sindh today. Sindhis are supportive of democracy and secularism and have been marginalized by security establishment of the country and its religious extremist reactionary ideology.
Article about Sindhi Hindus
The forgotten prayers of a people
By Sadef A. Kully
KARACHI: The legend is almost as old as the Indus River, Lord Shiva and his consort Sati, daughter of King Dakhsha, were vexed by Sati’s father for not inviting them for a ceremony. Sati went to the ceremony uninvited and in return was ignored. She was hurt by the behavior that she sacrificed herself in the fires and was burnt alive. Upon hearing the fate of his love, Lord Shiva went mad and began chaos on earth.
In order to help Lord Shiva deal with his grief, Lord Vishnu cut Sati’s body in 12 pieces and scattered them across the earth where her head fell upon Hingol. Wherever the pieces of Sati’s body fell became Shakti Peethas, holy places of cosmic power, for all gods and worshippers.
Hingol is not a legend – as a matter of fact – today it is known as Hingol National Park and lies almost 170 km outside of Karachi in Balochistan. Sati’s head fell by Hinglaj Matajee Temple located inside a natural cave of a hill which is a holy pilgrimage site for the 2.5 million Hindus in Pakistan, although many feel the numbers have doubled in the last decade, and more than 90 per cent of them live in the Sindh province.
Hindus are the third religious group, after Muslim and Christians, and Hinduism is considered the indigenous religion of the sub-continent by local and international historians, which is not far from the truth.
There are over 40 Hindu temples across Pakistan, and in Sindh alone there are almost 30 temples in Karachi and interior Sindh. …
Read more : DAWN
THE UNIQUE FIVE MILLIONS SINDHIS : WITHOUT A MILIMETER OF LAND … STATELESS!?
They were the people, Who were denied their ancient land 5000 years old Civilization. Moen Jo Daro. They paid supreme price for FREEDOM OF INDIA. They were the people, Who dwelled on the banks of river Sindhu, Where Rig Veda was evolved, Then Upanishads took shape, Who believed in peace and tranquility and in universal brotherhood. But in the year 1947, were forced to migrate. They came empty handed, many with only clothes on their back. Assigned in dilapidated barracks, leaking roofs and missing privacy and had to stand in line for free rations. But, instead of whining or moaning, they stood proud and erect. They took, not arms, but creative intelligence, they believed in knowledge and education and went forward.
Next 50 years, they traversed many lands and oceans by hard work and perseverance. They spread prosperity everywhere. They built new houses. They built new hospitals. They built new schools and colleges. Gave free aid and scholarships and advanced trade and industry.
The Original Unique five Million Sindhis of Sindhu-Sarswati Civilization, the peaceful people, the hospitable people, the generous people, the proud and independent people, the self-reliant people without a millimeter of their land. They survived, they are survivors,they are tough, they are SINDHIS LIVING IN INDIA.
SINDHIS HAVE BUILT MORE COLLEGES AND HOSPITALS IN INDIA AND HAVE ALWAYS BEEN PEACE LOVING & HARD WORKING COMMUNITY… BELIEVE IN BROTHERHOOD IS STATELESS.
Courtesy: Sindi e-lists/ e-groups, Sat, September 11, 2010.
Indus : The “Great Mother”
Will the Pakistan floods strike again?
By Howard Falcon-Lang
The recent floods in Pakistan’s Indus Valley are of truly Biblical proportions. …
…
The “Great Mother”
The Indus is one of the world’s great rivers.
From its headwaters in the Himalayas of Tibet, it flows north-west through India before turning sharply south across Pakistan. It finally discharges into the Arabian Sea, a journey of some 3,200km (2,000 miles). ….
… ..During a warm period 6,000 years ago, the Indus was a monster river, more powerful and more prone to flooding than today.
Then, 4,000 years ago, as the climate cooled, a large part of it simply dried up. Deserts appeared whether mighty torrents once flowed.
Professor Clift believes that this failure of the Indus may have triggered the collapse of the great Harappan civilisation.
The city ruins of Mohenjo-daro, a relict of this lost culture, date from the time when the rivers ran dry. …
To read full article >> BBC Science & Environment
International Conference on The Sindhu-Sarasvati Civilization
by Manzoor Chandio, Karachi, Sindh
An international conference on the Sindhu-Sarasvati Valley Civilization will be held in Los Angeles, at Loyola Marymount University, Feb. 21 and 22, 2009. Prominent scholars in the field will present their findings regarding the people and culture of ancient..
The aim of the conference is to discuss, reconsider and reconstruct a shared identity of the Sindhu (Indus) and Saraswati cultures using archaeological and other scientific evidences as well as Vedic literature.
Discussion Themes:
1. Time: Chronology of Indus Valley and Vedic Cultures.
2. People: Linguistic Relationship
3 Place: Geographical location: The Saraswati and the Indus cultural habitats
4. Patterns of Cultural Interactions: Trade, Religion, Polity.
5. Origins: Homeland, Migration.
6. Continuities: Biological, Ethnological
Individual talks for 30 minutes, with 15 minute Q&A time.
Time: 9.00 am to 6.00 pm – Feb 21, 2009
9.00 am to 2.00 pm-Feb 22, 2009
Participants:
Jonathan Mark Kenoyer ( University of Wisconsin)
B.B. Lal (Former DG, Archaeological Survey of India)
Jim G. Shaffer ( Case Western Reserve University)
Carl C. Lamberg-Karlovsky ( Harvard University)
S.R.Rao (Archaeological Survey of India and NIO)
Edwin Bryant ( Rutgers University)
Vijendra Kumar Kashyap (National Institute of Biologicals, India)
Maurizio Tosi ( University of Bologna , Italy )
Ashok Aklujkar ( University of British Columbia)
R.S. Bisht (Archaeological Survey of India)
Louis Flam ( City University of New York)
Dennys Frenez ( University of Bologna)
Shiva Bajpai (California State University, Northridge)
Nicholas Kazanas ( Omilos Meleton Cultural Institute , Athens )
Subhash Kak ( Oklahama State University)
The papers presented at the conference will be made available to the people at the venue and later published as a volume about the origins, people and culture of the Indus/Sindhu Valley and Saraswati Valley civilizations.
Sponsors:
Doshi Bridgebuilder Endowment, Loyola Marymount University
Nalanda International
Soka University of America
Classics and Archaeology, Loyola Marymount University.
College of Liberal Arts, Loyola Marymount University
Advisory Committee:
Damodar Sardesai (Professor Emeritus of History, UCLA)
Navin Doshi (President, Nalanda International)
Nalini Rao (Professor of Art History, Soka University of America/ Director of Sindhu-Saraswati Conference)
Christopher Key Chapple (Doshi Professor of Indic and Comparative Theology, LMU),
Debashish Banerji (Art Historian, Executive Director, Nalanda International)
Indus Asia Online Journal (Click here to go to home page) 