A solid gold crown for the scion of an Hindu-Rajput-Empire (Umerkot) long gone in Pakistan

By Dr.Radhe Shyam Kumar (PHP Karachi)
Thursday,June 03,2010

(Rana Hameer Singh is crowned the Rano of Dhat in Thari colourful ceremony in Pakistan)

KARACHI: Rose petals drifted down on him all the way to the stage, where the gold crown awaited amid a bright-hued crowd of turbans and lungis. Rana Hameer Singh was crowned the Rano of Dhat at a ceremony on Sunday.

And while the post has become near obsolete with no legal weight anymore, the crown he received in reverence to history and tradition was made of real gold. Hameer Singh was nominated as the 26th Rano of Dhat after his father, Rana Chandar Singh, chieftain of the Pakistan Hindu Sodha Thakur Rajput clan, passed away a few months ago. The process of nomination involves all the tribal elders who gather to decide on a successor. Around 36 tribes of the Sodha Rajput went to Mithi to crown their Rano of Dhat, one of the Rajput chieftains, Noor Singh Sodho, told The Express Tribune. “It has been our tradition for centuries,” he said.

The ceremony was held in the grounds of the Mithi High School, Thar, which was abuzz with families dressed in their best and wearing deep red or blue turbans. The Rano of Dhat is a post from the subcontinent’s past, when the Maharaja of a state would select his representatives in different parts of his constituency. These men would be elected by a legislative body and had supreme authority in their areas, or dhats as they were called. More often than not, the elder son of the predecessor would be crowned the next Rano.

It used to be a grave, royal affair. The burden of responsibility would be felt in the weight of the sword that was handed over to the chieftain’s successor and the significance of history and lineage would be felt as the new Rano’s forehead was anointed with drops of the predecessor’s blood. The Rano received all taxes and oversaw crime and punishment in his area. He was the problem solver and supreme arbiter as well. However, even though the Rajputs continue to select their next Ranos, the title barely has any practical significance anymore. “Now every tribe has its own chief and the influence of the Rano is shrinking with each passing day,” said Arbab Naik Mohammed, a noted writer of Thar.

According to Aakasha Santori, a local journalist, the Rano family still feels that they are superior to others and cannot help but discriminate against people of lower castes. “They cannot shake hands with them [people of lower Hindu castes] and they avoid looking at them in the morning,” Santori said. The Rajputs also keep their women to themselves. “I have not seen any Rajput women at the hospital,” he said, “They prefer to keep them in the houses even if they fall ill.” On the other hand, Naik Mohammed said that the rule of the Ranos has had its positive impacts.

Rano Ratan Singh, grandfather of Rana Chander Singh, fought against the British in 1943. He was arrested and later impaled. Although the British decided to pardon him at the last minute, Singh chose to be killed rather than take a favour from them. Hameer Singh’s father, Rana Chander Singh, was a close friend of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He was also one of the founding members of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). He was elected a member of the provincial assembly six times and served as a minister for several portfolios.

In 1990, he left the PPP and formed his own political party called the Pakistan Hindu Party. Rano Hameer Singh has also been elected a member of the provincial assembly and has enjoyed the status of a minister as well. In the last local district government, he was the naib nazim of Umerkot District.

Published in the Express Tribune, May 24th, 2010.

Low Caste Hindu Women, Kids Being Sexploited in Pakistan

Source http://www.medindia.net/news
Tuesday,March23,2010

Thar Hindu Womens in Sindh (Pakistan)

A new study has found that the Hindus belonging to lower castes are unofficially declared as “untouchables” and are given a second-grade-citizen treatment. Their kids are made to clean the school premises and are forced to sit on back benches.

The study also found that Hindu women belonging to scheduled castes were the most vulnerable and considered “sexually available by men” of Muslim-dominated communities. Since the SC Hindus are economically weaker with no social support or political leverage in the community, their young women/ girls were lured into matrimony or abducted and wed through forced conversions.

“The abduction of young scheduled caste women is frequent and often reported in regional newspapers. And they are kidnapped or lured and then used sexually and sometimes abandoned after being kept in custody,” found the study.

According to the study findings, the “untouchable” Hindus were denied barber services and offered food and drink in separate crockery.

The report of the research carried out by the ‘Long Behind Schedule’ on caste-based discrimination in Pakistan, was released at the Karachi Press Club last evening.

“In schools, scheduled caste students are obliged to sit on back seats
, leaving the front seats for students from non-scheduled castes. Though they are not asked to do it on a regular basis, the practice has been in place for so long that it has become a custom. Scheduled caste students are also made to clean the schools,” the Daily Times quoted the study findings as saying.

The study was conducted in two districts of Sindh - Tharparkar and Umerkot - and two district of the Punjab - Rahimyar Khan and Bahawalpur - for one year. Besides, a survey was also conducted on 750 households.

The study was conducted on behalf of the International Solidarity Network (ISDN) and Indian Institute of Dalit Studies (IIDS) in collaboration with the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) and Thardeep Rural Development Programme (TRDP).

An overwhelming majority (79 percent) of the scheduled caste population said in reply to the survey’s questionnaire that they faced discriminatory treatment of one kind or another and the situation is the worst in southern Punjab. And, 69 percent of those surveyed said that their upper caste Hindu and Muslim neighbours either did not invite them to their social gatherings such as weddings, or if invited, they were served food separately.

This attitude was relatively more prevalent in Rahimyar Khan (87 percent) than in Tharparkar (60 percent), found the survey.

Tactless remarks on Pakistani Hindus

Source http://www.dawn.com
Thusday,March18,2010

Such remarks warrant criticism but what makes them worse is the position of the person who makes them. –Photo by APP

BARELY days after the Punjab chief minister was caught playing to the Taliban gallery, another high official from the province is in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. This time, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khawaja Mohammad Sharif has sparked outrage for reportedly saying that Hindus were responsible for financing acts of terrorism in Pakistan. The remarks came while the judge was hearing two identical petitions against the possible extradition of Afghan Taliban suspects. It may well have been a slip of the tongue by Mr Sharif, who might have mistakenly said ‘Hindu’ instead of ‘India’ — nevertheless it was a tasteless remark to say the least.

Although such remarks warrant criticism what makes them worse is the position of the person who makes them. These sort of comments are the last thing one expects to hear from a judge, that too the chief justice of a provincial high court. What sort of message are we sending to our minorities, as well as to the world, when the holder of such a respected public office makes comments that come across as thoughtless? The Hindu members of the National Assembly walked out of the house on Tuesday to protest the remarks. The members said the comments had hurt the feelings of Pakistani Hindus — and there is no doubt that they had.

As it is, Pakistan scores quite poorly when it comes to treating minorities fairly. Remarks such as these put our already marginalised minorities in an even tougher spot, as the patriotic credentials of non-Muslims living in this country are put into question. Though foreign elements may be involved in terrorist activities within Pakistan, maligning a whole community based on its faith is totally unacceptable. Before making such tactless remarks, our public figures should consider how much they dislike it when others equate Muslims with terrorism. A member of the National Assembly quite correctly advised our judges to concentrate on the dispensation of justice in Tuesday’s session. In the meantime, one hopes that Justice Sharif explains his comments.