Pakistan: Gurdwara Rori Sahib in Jahman village collapses in heavy rains



International Desk, Barta24.com
Photo: Collected

Photo: Collected

  • Font increase
  • Font Decrease

The historical Gurdwara Rori Sahib in the Jahman village in Pakistan near its border with India on the Bedia Road has collapsed after the recent heavy rains, Pakistan-based Dawn reported. The Gurdwara, most likely constructed during Maharaja Ranjit Singh's era, was related to Guru Nanak as he visited this place thrice.

The concerned authorities' negligence and illegal occupation of the land left behind by the Sikhs after the partition in 1947 were most likely the reasons behind furthering its fall and the recent heavy rains proved the last nail in its coffin, according to Dawn report. The Gurdwara was once surrounded by about 500 Kanal of dedicated land in the Sikh-majority village of Jahman. The Gurdwara had a pond on its front, which still exists and is the only piece of land not occupied by land-grabbers.

Constructed with red Nanak Shahi bricks, the Gurdwara had a two-storey structure with a big golden dome on its top. Now only the back wall and a small portion of a side wall have survived while the dome, the central part and the whole front have completely collapsed, as per the Dawn report. Muhammad Sadiq, who was herding his buffaloes on the dirt road near the collapsed structure, said, "The gurdwara collapsed in the first big rain about 20 days back," the report said. He complained against the powerful land-grabber who occupied the land of Gurdwara and also stopped the way to it by digging a four feet wide ditch along the road to block the passage to the Gurdwara.

Sadiq said he does not know much about the man but only that he belongs to the village Lidhar. Iqbal Qaiser, the Punjabi writer and researcher of Sikh and Jain holy sites in Pakistan and author of two books on the subject has said that the Gurdwara is related to Guru Nanak and he had visited it many times. Speaking to Dawn, Qaiser said, "The visits are mentioned in the Janam Sakhis (biographies) of Baba Nanak. Baba Ji's maternal grandparents lived in the nearby village of Dera Chahal where his elder sister Nanki was born. It was the village of Malik Meraj Khalid (former caretaker prime minister) that's why the gurdwara there was repaired by the government but nobody took care of the main gurdwara of village Jahman," says Qaiser while talking to Dawn.

In his book, Iqbal Qaiser wrote the holy place is about 25 kilometres from Lahore and metalled roads lead to the village. He wrote, "The sacred shrine of Guru Dev Ji is located about half a kilometre outside the village. The place where Guru Dev Ji had stayed came to be known as Rori Sahib," the report said. Qaiser said that Guru Nanak Dev visited the place thrice as his maternal grandparents were settled in the nearby village called Dera Chahal. He said that there was a small pool at that time which was later expanded into a tank by one of his followers, Dawn reported.

He said that the construction of the holy site was started by Bhai Wadhawa Singh and a beautiful darbar was built. He said, "Fairs used to be held on Vaisakhi and 20th of Jaith at the site. There is an endowment of 100 bigha land in the name of the gurdwara." He wrote, "The tank has since again depleted into a small pool and the dome of Rori Sahib is in need of repairs. In case no repairs are carried out within a short time it will become a heap of dust." The book was published in 1998 and it took only 20 years for the structure to collapse since the prediction of Iqbal Qaiser.

As per the news report, Pakistani Rangers had occupied the Gurdwara after 1947 and used it as a frontier post to keep an eye on the border. Qaiser said that Pakistani Rangers kept using the Gurdwara till 1995 and left it when it developed cracks and it was risky to use it further. Abdul Sattar, an old resident of Jahman, who had seen the Gurdwara in its magnificence, said that it was a proper complete structure until about 15 years back and wondered how the building decayed so quickly, Dawn reported.

Pointing out an outhouse near the Gurdwara, Sattar said that the powerful man had built that house and taken the land surrounding the Gurdwara. He further said that the village people were not happy with the Rangers as they were needlessly suppressive and would peep into villagers' homes, mounted on top of the Gurdwara. The villagers had complained over the issue and the post was shifted near the border. However, it appears that the decision gave a free hand to land-grabbers to grab the property and quickened the decay of the site. (ANI)

   

Hamas says 'yes' to Gaza ceasefire



International Desk, Barta24.com, Dhaka
Photo: Collected

Photo: Collected

  • Font increase
  • Font Decrease

Hamas has accepted a ceasefire proposal brokered by Qatar and Egypt. But so far nothing has been reported from Israel in this regard. They are looking into the matter.

On Monday (May 6), Qatar-based media Al Jazeera reported this information.

According to a statement by Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, the head of Hamas' political wing, Ismail Haniya, called Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and informed him that Hamas had approved the proposal for a ceasefire agreement. Ismail Hania also said the same thing to the Minister of Intelligence of Egypt, Abbas Kamal.

Meanwhile, the residents of Gaza expressed joy at the news of Hamas agreeing to a ceasefire.

It should be noted that at least 34 thousand 737 people have been killed and 78 thousand 108 people have been injured in the Israeli attack on Gaza since October 7. And the number of dead in Israel is 1 thousand 139 people.

;

Campuses can be battlegrounds around graduation ceremonies in the United States



International Desk, Barta24.com,Dhaka
photo: Collected

photo: Collected

  • Font increase
  • Font Decrease

Protests against the Israeli attack on Gaza have erupted in several US universities. The student protests there have entered their second week. Last Saturday (May 4), police arrested at least 25 more pro-Palestinian protesters from the University of Virginia.

Al-Jazeera reported that more than two and a half thousand students have been arrested from campuses across the United States. In the meantime, graduation ceremony in universities is approaching.

It is feared that various university campuses in the United States may turn into battlefields around graduation ceremonies in the coming days.

At 47 US universities, students are protesting against Israeli aggression and genocide in Gaza. This protest has been going on since April 17. Since the beginning, the police have used excessive force to suppress this peaceful protest.

In this way, the rights activists protested the suppression of the protest and the arrest of the protesting students. They demanded to ensure the freedom of expression of the students.

Graduation ceremonies are scheduled for the end of this week at four universities hit by protests. The event is scheduled to take place this month or next June at several other universities, including New York's Columbia University, the epicenter of the protests.

The university authorities fear that the protesting students may disrupt the graduation ceremony. For this reason, the authorities are taking initiatives to strengthen the security system.

The protesting students have threatened that if their demands are not met, they are thinking of alternative programs including boycotting these events and walking out of the venue. In such circumstances, some universities have canceled these programs. Some are procrastinating.

The peaceful protests at the University of Virginia continued until Saturday morning. At that time a video spread among the students. In the video, police are seen detaining some protesting students from the campus lawn.

Apart from this, the police are using chemical sprays to quell the protests. After that the protest turned into a riot.

In a statement, University President Jim Ryan said that the protesters were detained when campus security informed the police that they would be protesting in tents last Friday night. However, it is not clear how many university students are among those detained.

Pro-Palestinians protest in front of the stage at the graduation ceremony at the University of Michigan. But this protest was peaceful. Campus police quickly surrounded the protesters and escorted them to the back of the stadium. But dozens of students dressed in flags, kaffiahs and graduation caps staged a university graduation ceremony.

A day later, Northeastern University and Ohio State University were supposed to hold the closing ceremony on Sunday, but the commencement ceremony was disrupted.

Meanwhile, apart from the United States, this protest has now spread to new countries. Students from France, UK, Italy, Australia, Canada, Japan, India, Lebanon, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland and Mexico have come to protest for the Palestinians.

;

Israel launched a ground attack in Rafah amid ceasefire talks



International Desk, Barta24.com, Dhaka
Photo: Collected

Photo: Collected

  • Font increase
  • Font Decrease

Israel launched a ground attack in Rafah in the midst of Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks in Gaza.

A delegation from the Palestinian group Hamas is in the Egyptian capital for ceasefire and prisoner-release talks. Sources said Ceasefire talks have progressed.

International media Al Jazeera reported in a report that despite the negotiations, Israel continued its ground attack on Rafah, the southernmost city of Gaza.

A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Saturday to meet with mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the United States to negotiate a 40-day ceasefire, according to reports published by the United Kingdom.

The talks are at a critical stage, sources told Al Jazeera, as a Qatari technical team is working out the details of a potential deal with the Egyptians.

As technical teams indicate, we are moving into the operational side of a deal. They are monitoring the issues in detail in this agreement.

A senior Hamas spokesman, Osama Hamdan, told Al Jazeera, "It is clear that we are moving forward. There are some good points.

"So far we are still talking about the main issue, which is a complete ceasefire and a complete withdrawal from Gaza," he said. We hope to find some good and positive answers today.

Israel said it will continue to attack Rafah despite talk of a possible deal with Hamas. UN agencies and aid groups have long warned that the ground operation would spell disaster for the 15 lakh people taking refuge there.

Hamdan said, "Unfortunately, Netanyahu has made a clear statement that no matter what happens, if there is a ceasefire or not, he will continue to attack." That means there will be no ceasefire, and that means that the offensive will continue.

Al Jazeera's Ahlbara said the talks were focused on convincing Hamas that it should refrain from demanding a permanent ceasefire from Israel during the first phase of the deal because it is unlikely to happen.

On October 7, Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel, killing more than 1,100 people. During this time, more than 240 people were captured by Hamas.

Later, more than 34,600 Palestinians have died in Israel's attack on Gaza. More than 70 percent of Palestinian territory has been reduced to rubble, pushing the region toward famine.

;

Attacks on environmental journalists are on the rise worldwide: UN



News Desk, Barta24.com
Pic: Collected

Pic: Collected

  • Font increase
  • Font Decrease

According to a recently published report by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO, 44 environmental journalists from 15 countries around the world lost their lives in violent attacks from 2009 to 2023; And 24 people managed to return alive.

This information was reported in the report of the news agency Reuters on Friday (May 3).

According to the report, attacks on environmental journalists are increasing around the world. UNESCO representatives interviewed 905 environmental journalists from 129 countries to prepare the report.

In the interview, 749 out of 905 journalists (more than 70 percent) said that they had to face physical attacks or intimidation, threats, and pressure at some point in their lives to perform their professional duties. Many have also had to deal with the legal problems of detention and defamation cases.

Analyzing the cases of assault-harassment, it has been found that the cases of physical assault have occurred more among male journalists. On the other hand, women journalists are more victims of harassment.

Journalists have been attacked and harassed while reporting on various environmental issues. These issues include various mining irregularities, land tenure conflicts, deforestation, extreme weather related disasters, pollution and environmental damage, fossil fuel sector and its trade etc.

All of these attacks and harassment have come from individuals and groups associated with the power structure of the state. In this context, the UNESCO report said, 'Police, army, government officials and employees, people of local government authorities are responsible for these attacks and harassment. 

;