Hazro: A small Pakistani town of mandirs and gurdwaras

By ZULFIQAR ALI KALHORO

Archeologist Dr Ahmad Hasan Dani, in one of my frequent meetings with him, remarked that Potohar is an open-air museum of history. The entire landscape, stretching from Rawat to Taxila and Katas, is dotted with remarkable monuments.

Dani’s remark inspired me to explore the Potohar region. It was during one of my expeditions that I traveled to a small town named Hazro – a tehsil of the Attock district, Punjab, and was instantly smitten.

Formerly a fortified town with four gates, Hazro is home to many temples,gurdwaras and havelis believed to have been built during the Sikh and British era.

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The Muslim populace, not America, is under siege

BY S. AMJAD HUSSAIN

Most Americans reacted with disgust and revulsion when a white supremacist opened fire in a Sikh gurdwara and killed six innocent people in suburban Milwaukee this month.

It is heartwarming that all segments of society condemned this wanton act of terrorism, and the bizarre philosophy that underpins such acts. But we seldom reflect on why such things happen. What compels a man such as Wade Michael Page to go on a rampage?

Perhaps the same reasons compelled U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, a psychologist, and Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik, each of whom faces charges in mass shootings, to kill innocent people in the cause of something they hold dear.

The incident in Milwaukee could have been a case of mistaken identity. Perhaps the gunman thought he was avenging the 9/11 attacks on America. Most likely, he did not know the difference between a Sikh and a Muslim.

The media and its talking heads have a tendency to dismiss such an incident as the work of a lone, crazy man. But how could we not think that the xenophobic hatemongering that emanates from some Protestant pulpits and the ranting of right-wing radio shock jocks and born-again patriots might have something to do with it?

Since 9/11, foreigners in general and Muslims in particular have been under scrutiny in our country. A certain brand of Christianity has played a devilish role in creating an atmosphere that provides oxygen to the ruthless and the mindless.

US gurdwara shooting: Why racism, ignorance are to blame

By: Seema Sirohi

Washington: It is tragic and there is no right way to say it — Sikhs in Oak Creek were targeted because the gunman probably thought they were Muslims. You can’t call it a mistake because a crime against Muslims would be just as heinous.

Six men are dead, including a granthi who had recently brought his wife and daughter to Wisconsin from India. The president of the gurdwara lies injured in a hospital in Milwaukee as does a policeman who faced down the gunman. The details so far show the attacker to be a white male of about 40 years, 6 feet in height wearing a white T-shirt and black pants. He reportedly had a tattoo on his arm about 9/11. ….

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Sikhs kept out of their own temple for Shab-e-Barat

By Abdul Manan

LAHORE: The Sikh community in Lahore have been prevented from observing a religious celebration at a gurdwara, their musical equipment thrown out and their entry barred, after a religious group persuaded the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) that celebrating the Muslim holy day of Shab-e-Barat was more important than the Sikh religious festival.

Police have been deployed outside the temple to prevent the Sikhs from conducting their religious ceremonies until the end of Shab-e-Barat, which falls on July 18 this year. The Sikh community wanted to commemorate an eighteenth-century saint on July 16.

The Gurdwara Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh, in Naulakha Bazaar, Lahore, is built to honour the memory of a Sikh saint who was executed in 1745 on the orders of the Mughal governor of Punjab, Zakaria Khan. Every July, the Sikh community has held religious ceremonies to commemorate his sacrifice in the service of humanity.

While the temple was taken over by the ETPB after Partition, the Sikh community had been allowed to continue using it with relatively few restrictions. …

Read more → THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE

The Sindhi Hindu community helping to their Muslim flood effected brothers

Courtesy: GeoTV

via >> Siasat

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Guru Arjan Dev Gurdwara, Karumpur, Jacobabad, Sindh provides shelter to Muslim flood victims

Guru Arjan Dev Gurdwara Saheb and an other Hindu temple of Karumpur, Jacobabad, Sindh provide shelter to Muslim flood victims in their Gurdwara and Mander (temple).

Courtesy: DunyaTV

via>> ZemTV

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