Thousands of pilgrims throng Hinglaj for Pakistan’s largest Hindu festival

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Entrance of Hinglaj Mata Mandir, a temple situated in Lasbela district of Balochistan. (AN Photo)
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Thousands attend the annual Hinglaj Mela in Hingol National Park of Lasbela Balochistan. (AN Photo)
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Hinglaj goddess at Hinglaj Mata Mandir. (AN Photo)
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Thousands of Hindus from different parts of the country walk by foot for weeks to arrive at Hinglaj as pledge to Sri Hinglaj Mata. (AN Photo)
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Pesumal Arlani, General Secretary of the Hinglaj Mata committee, speaking to Arab News. (AN Photo)
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Organizers of the Hinglaj Mela say the annual pilgrimage generates business for thousands of people from community as well as local Muslims. (AN Photo)
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Presently with few armaments for thousands of Hindus pilgrim in place, the Yatris make their own shades to spend days and nights atHinglaj Mata temple. (AN Photo)
Updated 02 May 2019
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Thousands of pilgrims throng Hinglaj for Pakistan’s largest Hindu festival

  • Cave temple of Hinglaj Mata in Balochistan province has for years been the site of a revered pilgrimage
  • The four-day festival has attracted more and more people since the Makran Coastal Highway was built

BELA, BALOCHISTAN: Thousands of Pakistani Hindus flocked last week to the cave temple of Hinglaj Mata in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province in what is considered the largest Hindu pilgrimage in Pakistan. 
The festival happens in April each year and concluded this Sunday after four days of high priests chanting mantras and beseeching Hindu gods to accept the offerings of the devotees and bestow peace and prosperity on them.
According to Hindu mythology, Lord Vishnu cut up the dead body of Sati into 50 pieces, which fell to the earth. Her head, it is believed, fell at Hinglaj and it has since been the site for a revered pilgrimage.




Maharaj Gopal, who is associated with Hinglaj Mata Mandir, for last eleven years says hundreds of Hindus from abroad, including India, visit the temple annually (AN Photo)

Pilgrims arrive from all over Pakistan, adorned in decorative red-and-gold head-scarves and saffron headbands to mark the holy colors of Hinglaj Mata.
The Hinglaj Yatra is “as significant to Hindus as is Hajj important to Muslims,” said Maharaj Gopal, a pundit in traditional orange robes. 
Most pilgrims come in buses, some on private cars and even on bicycles all the way from Karachi. Others prefer to walk. The greater the suffering, the pilgrims say, the greater the reward.
Lakshmi, 65, began her journey from the town of Matli in southern Sindh province on April 9 and walked a distance of 448 kilometers to reach the cave temple located in a narrow gorge on the mouth of the Kheerthar hills in Pakistan’s ancient Makran desert.
“The journey is long but the blessing is huge,” she said. 
Pesumal Arlani, General Secretary of the Hinglaj Mata committee who launched the four-day festival in 1988, told Arab News the number of pilgrims was increasing each year due to better arrangements and the construction of the Makran Coastal Highway, a 653 kilometer national highway that extends along Pakistan’s Arabian Sea coast from Karachi in Sindh province to Gwadar on the top of Balochistan.




Thousands attend the annual Hinglaj Mela in Hingol National Park of Lasbela Balochistan (AN Photo)

Baluchistan has long been plagued by violence and a stubborn insurgency, with several separatist groups and Islamist militants operating in a region that boasts vast gas and mineral resources.
Security has improved considerably across much of Pakistan in recent years but Balochistan is still plagued by attacks. Last month, gunmen pulled 14 members of the Pakistani armed forces off buses and shot them dead in the town of Ormara. 
Deputy Commissioner Lasbela Shabbir Ahmed Mengal said better security arrangements and ease for pilgrims was now the authorities’ priority. 
“We have plans to build resorts and provide other facilities to encourage more and more Hindus from abroad to visit the temple,” Mengal told Arab News. 
Most pilgrims come from the southern Sindh province where a majority of Pakistan’s tiny Hindu minority of around 3 million people lives. A few hundred also visit from India, the United States, the United Kingdom, France and other countries, pundit Gopal said. “When they go back, they are considered saints due to the importance of this pilgrimage.”
Devotees from Pakistan’s arch-rival and neighboring India, a Hindu majority nation, too want to visit but find it hard to get visas. 




Thousands attend the annual Hinglaj Mela in Hingol National Park of Lasbela Balochistan (AN Photo)

“Strained relations is a big hurdle,” said Preeti Sompura, a Mumbai based journalist associated with India TV. “If relations between the two neighbors normalize it will allow people from India to go to Pakistan for this important pilgrimage.”
In the past, many prominent Indians, including former external affairs minister, Jaswant Singh, have visited Hinglaj for the pilgrimage. A large number of the Muslims also visit each year. 
“Chief Minister Balochistan Jam Kamal has announced Rs200 million for the master plan of the Hinglaj Mandir and Rs100million for making the road” that leads up to the temple, said Danish Kumar, Balochistan’s parliamentary secretary for religious affairs. 
“Our government is making efforts to turn the festival into a religious tourist gathering. In the future, it will be an international festival.”


Pakistan parliament approves bills to extend tenure of services chiefs to five years

Updated 04 November 2024
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Pakistan parliament approves bills to extend tenure of services chiefs to five years

  • Extension in services of army, navy and air force chiefs follows controversial amendments to the constitution last month
  • The opposition PTI party condemns the amendments for changing Pakistan “from a democracy into a monarchy”

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Assembly and Senate on Monday approved bills to extend the tenure of the army, navy, and air force chiefs from three to five years, amid protests by the opposition benches. 

The office of the army chief is considered to be the most powerful in the country, with the army having ruled Pakistan for almost half of its 75-year history. Even when not directly in power, the army is considered to be the invisible guiding hand in politics and holds considerable sway in internal security, foreign policy, and economic affairs, among other domains. 

Six bills were passed by the upper and lower houses on Monday evening, including one to increase the term of the services chiefs.

“In the said Act, in section 8A, in sub-section (1), for the expression “three (03)” the word “five (05)” shall be substituted,” read the bill, seeking to amend the Pakistan Army Act, 1952.

Similar bills were passed to increase the duration of the country’s naval and air force chiefs to five years also. 

“The purpose of these amendments are to make consistent the Pakistan Army Act, 1952 (XXXIX of 1952) The Pakistan Navy Ordinance, 1961 (Ordinance No. XXXV of 1961) and The Pakistan Air Force Act, 1953 (VI of 1953) with the maximum tenure of the Chief of the Army Staff, the Chief of the Naval Staff and the Chief of the Air Staff and to make consequential amendments for uniformity in the aforementioned laws.” 

Speaking outside parliament, the chairman of the opposition PTI party, Gohar Ali Khan, said:

“Today, democracy has been changed into a monarchy.”

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub Khan, said “modifying the service chiefs’ tenure is not a good thing for the country and the armed forces.”

The passage of the new bills follows controversial amendments made to the constitution last month, granting lawmakers the authority to nominate the chief justice of Pakistan, who previously used to be automatically appointed according to the principle of seniority.

The amendments allowed the government to bypass the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, and appoint Justice Yahya Afridi as the country’s top judge, replacing former chief justice Qazi Faez Isa. 

The opposition and the legal fraternity had opposed the amendments, arguing that they were aimed at granting more power to the executive in making judicial appointments and curtailing the independence of the judiciary. The government denies this.


Pakistani forces kill six militants in shootouts near border with Afghanistan — military

Updated 04 November 2024
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Pakistani forces kill six militants in shootouts near border with Afghanistan — military

  • Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan, has witnessed a number of attacks recently
  • Pakistan blames the surge in militancy on militants operating out of Afghanistan, Kabul denies the allegations

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces have killed six militants in two separate engagements in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the Pakistani military said on Monday.
A militant was killed in an exchange of fire during an intelligence-based operation in North Waziristan’s Dosali area, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.
In the second incident, Pakistani forces intercepted a group of militants while infiltrating the country’s border with Afghanistan in the South Waziristan district. Five militants were killed as a result.
“Pakistan has consistently been asking Interim Afghan Government to ensure effective border management on their side of the border,” the ISPR said in a statement.
“Interim Afghan Government is expected to fulfil its obligations and deny the use of Afghan soil by Khwarij [militants] for perpetuating acts of terrorism against Pakistan.”
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan, has witnessed a number of attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups that targeted security forces convoys and check posts, besides targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials in recent months.
Pakistan has frequently accused neighboring Afghanistan of sheltering and supporting militant groups, urging the Taliban administration in Kabul to prevent its territory from being used by armed factions to launch cross-border attacks.
Afghan officials, however, deny involvement, insisting Pakistan’s security issues are an internal matter of Islamabad.
 


Pakistan Navy test-fires ship-launched ballistic missile ranging 350 kilometers

Updated 04 November 2024
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Pakistan Navy test-fires ship-launched ballistic missile ranging 350 kilometers

  • The missile is capable of striking land and sea targets with ‘high precision’
  • Pakistan, India consider their missile programs as deterrent against each other

KARACHI: Pakistan Navy has successfully test-fired a ship-launched ballistic missile having a range of 350 km and capable of striking both land and sea targets, it said on Monday.
Pakistan sees its missile development as a deterrent against nuclear-armed arch-foe India. Both countries have fought multiple wars since their independence from Britain in 1947.
The two South Asian neighbors have long been developing missiles of varying ranges in a bid to ensure deterrence against possible attacks from each other, with analysts often warning these developments could push the region into an arms race.
“Pakistan Navy conducted a successful flight test of an indigenously developed ship-launched ballistic missile,” the Directorate General of Public Relations (DGPR) of Pakistan Navy said in a statement.
“The weapon system with 350km range is capable of engaging land and sea targets with high precision.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikldB3jieWo
The flight test of the weapon system, equipped with a state-of-the-art navigation system and maneuverability features, was witnessed by Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf, senior naval officers, scientists and engineers.
President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir and Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu congratulated the participating navy units and scientists on the development.
 
 


Qatar investment team due in Pakistan this month, PM Sharif says after Doha visit

Updated 04 November 2024
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Qatar investment team due in Pakistan this month, PM Sharif says after Doha visit

  • The statement comes days after Sharif visited Qatar seeking to bolster economic cooperation between both nations
  • Before arriving in Doha, Sharif attended the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh and met the Saudi Crown Prince

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday a team of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) will visit Pakistan this month to set up an information technology (IT) park in the South Asian country.
The statement came days after Sharif visited Qatar while seeking to bolster economic cooperation amid Pakistan’s efforts to boost foreign investment to stabilize its frail $350 billion economy.
Before arriving in Doha, Sharif attended the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he discussed trade and investment with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Speaking at a meeting of his cabinet, Sharif said a QIA team will visit Pakistan this month, while its chief of Asia-Pacific & Africa Investments, Faisal Bin Thani Al Thani, will also arrive in Islamabad by the end of this month.
“Qatar emir said the same thing. They also suggested setting up an IT park here [in Pakistan],” Sharif told his cabinet members in televised comments.
During his visit, Sharif led delegation-level talks with the Qatari emir before holding a separate meeting with him to discuss a wide array of issues.
“The leaders reviewed the entire spectrum of Pakistan-Qatar relations, exploring potential avenues for enhanced cooperation in trade, potential areas of investment, energy, and culture,” Sharif’s office said last week.
He also met a delegation of the Qatar Businessmen Association (QBA) and invited them to invest in Pakistan’s energy, infrastructure and technology sectors.
The developments came amid Pakistan’s attempts to increase trade and foreign investment after it narrowly escaped a default last year by securing a last-gasp $3 billion financial assistance package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The South Asian country has since sought to promote closer economic ties with regional and international allies to bolster its fragile economy, which has been suffering from a prolonged macroeconomic crisis.
 


Pakistan central bank cuts key rate by 250 bps to 15%

Updated 04 November 2024
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Pakistan central bank cuts key rate by 250 bps to 15%

  • Monday’s move follows cuts of 150 bps in June, 100 in July and 200 in September
  • It takes the total policy rate cuts in the country to 700 bps in under five months

KARACHI: Pakistan’s central bank cut its key policy rate by 250 basis points to 15 percent on Monday, it said in a statement, for a fourth straight reduction since June, as the country keeps up efforts to revive a sluggish economy with inflation easing.
Most respondents in a Reuters poll last week expected a cut of 200 bps after inflation moved down sharply from a multi-decade high of nearly 40 percent in May 2023, saying reductions were needed to bolster growth.
Average consumer price index inflation in the South Asian country is 8.7 percent in the current financial year, which started in July, the statistics bureau says. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects inflation to average 9.5 percent for the year ending June.
Monday’s move follows cuts of 150 bps in June, 100 bps in July, and 200 in September that have taken the rate from an all-time high of 22 percent, set in June 2023 and left unchanged for a year. It takes the total cuts to 700 bps in under five months.
October inflation came in at 7.2 percent, slightly above the government’s expectation of 6 percent to 7 percent. The finance ministry expects inflation to slow further to 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent in November.
However, inflation could pick up again in 2025, driven by electricity and gas price increases after a new $7-billion IMF bailout, and the potential impact of taxes on the retail, wholesale and the farm sector announced in the June budget to take effect in January 2025, some analysts say.