Harsh struggle for Hindu minority in Pakistan

Author : Anonymous

Talking about minority; Hindus come first to our minds because of their larger number in all of the minorities in existence in Pakistan. Patriotic Hindus who preferred to live in Pakistan during partition instead of migrating to India are now in great threat to practice their beliefs in our ‘land of pure’ and so does minorities belonging to different beliefs.

Feudalism, class system, religious discrimination, forced conversion and marriages and poor law and order situation of Pakistan has taken their right to breathe. Around 7,000 to 10,000 Pakistani Hindus (around 1,600 families) had migrated to India in the last two years; a report by English daily reveals this. And only in last four months, around 450 families comprising of more than 3,000 members have migrated to India following conversion cases of one after another Hindu girl in Sindh, report further states.

Statistics tells us that around 3.2 million Hindus are living in Sindh, seven million are settled in Punjab, Around 30,000 to 50,000 are living in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other northern areas of the country. A large majority of Hindu population belongs to the working class, has poor agricultural background and is not financially stable.

It’s in the Jeans

Author : Irfan Moeen Khan

During the mid 19th century, the sheer necessity to provide comfort and durability in a pair of pants for gold miners during the California Gold rush has today become a fashion definition.
A trader from New York moved to California for better prospects, partnered with a local tailor and started manufacturing “Waist Overalls” to provide for the immediate need of the gold miners.
Rivets of saddles were used on pockets for reinforcement and the material used was duck fabric usually used in making ship sails. Since the manufacturing process was unique they got it patented and the pants became very popular not only among gold miners but also among farmers and others.
During the same period France developed a fabric called “serge de Nimes” as it was made in the French city of Nimes and soon the name was shortened to Denim. This was a traditionally durable twill woven fabric dyed in indigo blue colour. During the same period exports of indigo (commonly known as neel in the Indian sub continent) dye stuff from Sindh via the port of Bhambore and then all the way through the port of Alexandria to the modern Europe substantially increased. (Plants and Drugs of Sindh by James A. Murray 1881, courtesy Sindh Archives Complex, Karachi).