This Week Rajasthan: Flight of hindus from pakistan

Flight of hindus from pakistan

In what is being considered the largest mass cross-border escape since the fencing of the India-Pakistan border,171 Pakistani Hindus arrived in Jodhpur on September 9. The group,comprising men,women and children,came on a pilgrimage and expressed a wish not to return to Pakistan. They have been accommodated in a temples precincts while the state government is mulling arrangements for their resettlement. Over the last two months,over 350 migrants are estimated to have come to Jodhpur in addition to the 1.20 lakh who are already living in Rajasthan as migrants. Representatives of Seemant Lok Sangathan,an organisation working towards the rehabilitation of such migrants,maintained that they live under humiliating and intolerable conditions across the border and that has led to this mass flight. The latest group left their homes in Pakistan about three months ago without informing anyone about their plans or bidding farewell to their relatives.

Rainfall mismatch

With heavy rainfall across the desert state,farmers are happy as they achieved 85 per cent of targeted kharif sowing. Of 150 hectares that had been targeted,127 hectares have seen sowing till September 5. Nine districts have sown beyond 100 per cent while 14 have achieved over 90 per cent. This comes after months of poor rainfall and apprehensions of a drought-like situation. Though much of those fears have been dispelled,some districts such as Jaisalmer,Barmer,Bikaner,Jodhpur and Tonk still face a rain shortage. Jaisalmer,which had 5.32 lakh hectares of land under cultivation in 2011,has been reduced to 2.09 lakh hectares in 2012. Barmer,which had 12.63 lakh hectares in 2011,has seen it come down to 7.81 lakh hectares in the current year.

Bhanwari love twist

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The Bhanwari Devi murder case took a new turn last week as Malkhan Singh Bishnois counsel told the Jodhpur bench of the High Court that Bishnoi and Bhanwari Devi had been in love and the latter had not blackmailed him. Counsel Hemant Nahata argued that the CBI had framed Bishnoi by alleging that relations between the two were strained. The counsel said Bishnoi fathered a daughter with the nurse and was also bearing the childs expenses. The court was told that Bhanwari was openly considered Bishnois second wife and when she gave birth to the girl,Gungun,he visited the hospital. Nahata said that Bhanwari went to Ajmer and offered a chadar at the dargah after Bishnoi was elected an MLA. Nahata said that there is no concrete evidence of Bishnoi hatching a conspiracy with Sahi Ram Bishnoi and Sohan Lal Bishnoi,and prayed for Malkhan Singh Bishnois immediate discharge.

Gopalgarh violence

A year after nine Meo Muslims were killed in clashes with Gurjjars in Gopalgarh in Bharatpur on September 14,a wary district administration has imposed IPC section 144 prohibiting unlawful assembly in the area. The imposition will be removed only after September 16. So far the district administration has received several requests from either community in the area to hold prayer meetings and peace marches but declined permission for both. Meanwhile political parties too tried to gain mileage by offering to support the events planned by the two communities but the imposition of section 144 has helped to keep the area peaceful. Additional police deployment has been called in from the state as well as the Centre involving the Rapid Action Force,Central Reserve Force and paramilitary.