The Tribune – SGPC nod to Operation Bluestar memorial; The memorial will come up near Gurdwara Thara Sahib in the Golden Temple complex

Perneet Singh, Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 3. Twenty-eight years after the Army stormed into the Golden Temple complex to evict Sikh hardliners led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the SGPC executive at a meeting in Anandpur Sahib today approved Operation Bluestar Memorial.

The memorial will come up near Gurdwara Thara Sahib in the Golden Temple complex. The SGPC House had given the green signal to the memorial a decade back and the matter had been hanging fire since then. It was decided to hand over the ‘kar sewa’ of the memorial to Damdami Taksal chief Baba Harnam Singh. Buildings which suffered damage and a ‘bir’ with a bullet mark will also be preserved to commemorate Operation Bluestar.

Former Akal Takht Jathedar Bhai Jasbir Singh Rode said ‘kar sewa’ for the memorial would start on May 20. Avtar Singh Makkar, SGPC chief, had set the ball rolling on June 6 last by announcing a five member-committee to prepare a blueprint for the memorial. The panel, comprising Damdami Taksal chief Baba Harnam Singh, SGPC senior vice-president Raghujit Singh Virk, Punjabi University VC Dr Jaspal Singh, SGPC executive member Rajinder Singh Mehta and former Pro VC of GNDU Prof Prithipal Singh Kapoor, submitted its report to the SGPC today.

Sikh scholar Bhai Ashok Singh Bagrian said the memorial should be built in front of Teja Singh Samundari Hall from where the Army had entered into the complex. Dal Khalsa leader Kanwar Pal Singh said Panthic outfits had suggested that Maharaja Sher Singh Deori, that still bore bullet marks, was the ideal place for the memorial.

The SGPC House had passed a resolution to raise the memorial at its meeting on February 20, 2002. A special executive meeting held at Anandpur Sahib on May 27, 2005, under the then SGPC chief, Bibi Jagir Kaur, unanimously resolved to build the memorial. Interestingly, the proposal was virtually shelved in 2008.

Operation Bluestar was ordered by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on June 3-6, 1984, to remove Sikh hardliners from the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar. The Central Sikh Museum has on display a list of 743 persons killed during Operation Bluestar.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120504/punjab.htm#5

The Tribune – Bibi challenges conviction

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 3. Bibi Jagir Kaur has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging her conviction in an abduction case. Her appeal is expected to come up for hearing next week.

Already, her personal security officer and relative Nishan Singh has sought suspension of sentence on medical grounds and a notice has been issued on his plea to the Central Bureau of Investigation for May 29.

Bibi, Nishan Singh and others were sentenced to five years’ jail for offences ranging from “causing miscarriage without the woman’s consent” to criminal conspiracy.

Her petition comes about a month after a trial court held: “The prosecution has been able to prove that accused Dalwinder Kaur Dhesi, Paramjit Singh Raipur and Nishan Singh abducted Harpreet Kaur, who was a major, by deceitful means….”

Dhesi was Bibi’s “trusted friend” and related to Paramjit Singh Raipur, Bibi’s political confidant.

The court had also held: “A conspiracy was hatched with accused Bibi Jagir Kaur for terminating Harpreet’s pregnancy. However, because Bibi’s status was to be safeguarded at all costs, the latter distanced herself from the process of executing the conspiracy and accused Dalwinder Kaur Dhesi, Paramjit Singh Raipur and Nishan Singh, along with approver Dr Balwinder Singh Sohal, took upon themselves to accomplish the object of conspiracy, keeping Bibi Jagir Kaur informed of the developments from time to time”.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120504/punjab.htm#20

The Asian Age – BJP wants Rajya Sabha to discuss plight of Hindus in Pakistan

Asian Age Correspondent

New Delhi, 4 May 2012. he BJP parliamentary party on Thursday discussed the issue of the plight of the Hindus in Pakistan. The party has decided to demand a detailed discussion on this issue and a notice in this regard has been submitted before the Rajya Sabha chairman.

Sources said, BJP MP from Bhagalpur Shahnawaz Hussain raised the issue during the meeting. He said Hindus living in Pakistan are not only facing undue harassment, their cultural, religious and human rights are also being openly violated.

Party MP from Varanasi and PAC chairperson M.M. Joshi had raised this issue in the Lok Sabha earlier this week.

http://www.asianage.com/india/bjp-wants-rajya-sabha-discuss-plight-hindus-pak-797

8 April 2012 Easter Sunday walk

Diestervest – Stadspark – Horse Chestnut

Diestervest – Stadspark

Diestervest – Stadspark

Diestervest – Stadspark

To see more Belgium (mostly Limburg) pictures :    

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12445197@N05/sets/72157622046344528/

More Belgium pictures to follow
Harjinder Singh
Man in Blue

The Tribune – Talks on Sir Creek from May 14; India, Pakistan to discuss counter-terrorism on May 24, 25

Tribune News Service

Islamabad, May 3. India and Pakistan are set to hold talks on two key issues later this month as part of the resumed dialogue process. Top officials will discuss the Sir Creek issue on May 14-16 in New Delhi while the Home/Interior secretaries will meet to discuss counter-terrorism in Islamabad on May 24-25, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Moazzam Khan said in Islamabad. This was subsequently confirmed by MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin here.

Indications are that both countries consider the Sir Creek issue as one which can be resolved if there is political will on both sides. Even at their meeting in New Delhi earlier this month, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari had expressed the hope that the Sir Creek and Siachen issues were doable.

The Home/Interior secretaries are expected to sign the liberalised visa agreement between the two countries. The accord is likely to ease restrictions on travel and promote trade and economic relations.

India and Pakistan revived their peace process in February last year after a gap of over two years following the 26/11 Mumbai attack.

The two sides are said to be in touch with regard to dates for talks on the Siachen issue. Once they have completed talks on oustanding issues at the official level, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna will visit Islamabad in July to review the progress in the dialogue process.

Islamabad is hoping PM Singh will be able to visit Pakistan before the year end. Zardari had renewed Pakistan’s invitation to Singh during his recent visit to India. The Indian leader was born at Gah village (now in Pakistan).

India has hardened its stance on Siachen, says Kayani

Islamabad: Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani contended on Thursday that India had hardened its position on the Siachen issue as compared to the 1989 stance it had adopted, saying that it “takes two hands to clap”. Speaking to the media during a visit to a high-altitude army camp in Siachen sector that was hit by an avalanche on April 7, Kayani said India had “toughened its stance” on the issue. India had earlier been demanding the approval of the boundary but now it had begun asking for the re-determination of positions, Kayani said. (PTI)

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120504/nation.htm#1

BBC News – India: Rare Buddhist manuscript Lotus Sutra to be released

Thursday 3 May 2012. A rare Buddhist manuscript, discovered by cattle grazers in 1931, is set to be released in a book form in India on Thursday.

The Lotus Sutra was found in Gilgit, now in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

The document, which dates back to 5th century, is perhaps the only Buddhist manuscript discovered in India.

Believed to be one of the most revered Buddhist scriptures, it represents the discourse delivered by Buddha towards the end of his life.

The Gilgit Lotus Sutra is kept at the National Archives of India in the capital, Delhi.

‘Important find’

The book – a facsimile edition which is the exact replica of the manuscripts – will be launched by the National Archives jointly with the Institute of Oriental Philosophy and Soka Gakkai, Japan-based UN-recognised non-governmental organisation.

“This will help greatly to preserve the rare documents for posterity and make them available for future research,” Professor Mushir-ul Hasan, Director General of National Archives of India, said.

The manuscripts were discovered in a wooden box in a circular chamber inside a Buddhist stupa by cattle grazers who brought the box to the Wazir of Gilgit.

The Wazir of Gilgit sent it to the Maharaja of Kashmir in Srinagar.

The document was studied by Hungarian-British archaeologist Sir Aurel Stein who announced the important find to the world.

Officials at the National Archives say the ancient manuscripts managed to survive for centuries because they were written on the bark of bhoj (birch) tree which does not decay and the freezing sub-zero temperatures of the Gilgit region.

The Lotus Sutra is one of the most sacred scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism which is strongest in Tibet, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Mongolia.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-17935041