Bilquis Edhi

Bilquis Bano Edhi Hilal-e-Imtiaz, (Urdu: بلقیس ایدھی‎, born August 14, 1947), wife of Abdul Sattar Edhi, is a professional nurse and one of the most active philanthropists in Pakistan. She has been nicknamed, The Mother of Pakistan.^[1] She was born in 1947 in Karachi. She heads the Bilquis Edhi Foundation, and with her husband received the 1986 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service.^[2][3] Her charity runs many services in Pakistan including a hospital and emergency service in Karachi. Together with her husband their

Biography

bilques Edhi was born in Karachi on August 14, 1947. When she was a teenager she was not enjoying school and managed to join a small expanding dispensary as a nurse in 1965. At the time the Edhi home was in the old city area of Karachi known as Mithadar where it had been founded in 1951.^[4] The small number of Christian and Hindu nurses who worked there had just reduced in number. The founder, Abdul Sattar Edhi, recruited a number of nurses including Bilquis who, unusually, was from a Muslim background.^[2]

Her future husband proposed to her after recognising her talents and allowing her to lead the small nursing department. He had recognised her enthusiasm and interest during her six month training program where she had learnt basic midwifery and healthcare. They were married when she was seventeen^[2] and her husband was nearly twenty years older. Their honeymoon was unusual in that the newlyweds discovered a young girl with head injuries at their dispensary just after their wedding ceremony. Edhi said in 1989 that she did not regret the time lost in consoling the twelve year old’s concerned relatives or supervising blood transfusions as now “… that girl is married with children; that’s what is really important.”^[4] The Edhi Foundation’s unofficial website uses the line “Making a difference and changing lives forever”.^[5]

Edhi took over the management of the jhoolas project, the first of which had been built by her husband in 1952. These 300 cradles are available throughout Pakistan where parents can abandon unwanted children, or those that cannot be raised. They carry the message in English and Urdu “Do not kill, leave the baby to live in the cradle.” A small minority of abandoned children are disabled but over 90% are female. This alternative is thought to have reduced the number of dead babies who are killed by their own parents given the alternative provided by the Edhi Foundation to leave the unwanted babies in the cradles. The Edhi project is also responsible for burying dead babies found by the police.^[1]
The couple have four children who are involved with the Edhi Foundation and the management of the Edhi village, the fleet of ambulances, the mental home, the schools and the offices in Pakistan and London.

Recognition

Edhi and her husband have received a number of awards in recognition of their work. In July 2007 they were publicly recognised for their work by President Pervez Musharraf who made a contribution of 100,000 rupees (from his own pocket) and he particularly noted that their work provided social services to the poor of Pakistan without any discrimination.^[6] This contribution contrasts sharply with another offered by President Zia ul-Haq which was turned down because of the strings that were attached. It also contrasts with the 100,000 dollars that her husband gave to Pakistani workers in the USA affected by the 9/11 bombing. Despite her husband being received by Presidents and her own appearance on Pakistani television^[7] the couple still live modestly in a two room apartment which is part of one of their orphanages.^[1]charity has saved over 16,000 unwanted babies.^[1]

Early life

Ansar Burney (Urdu: انصار برنی‎; born 14 August 1956) is a leading Pakistani human rights and civil rights activist. He is a graduate of Masters and Law from Karachi University and honorary recipient of a PhD. in Philosophy. He is widely accredited as being the first man to introduce the concept of human rights in Pakistan nearly

Ansar Burney was a prominent student leader with the People’s Student Federation in his youth during the 1970s and was known to raise his voice for justice, human dignity and civil rights. His efforts and movement landed him in trouble with the military government of the time and in 1977, Ansar Burney, then aged 20, was arrested on charges of delivering speeches against martial law and in favour of democracy; and was sentenced to eight months rigorous imprisonment by the Martial Law Court.Upon release in 1978, the Martial Law Authorities once again arrested Ansar Burney and sentenced him to prison for 2 further months of detention and in 1979, Burney was again arrested for a third time and detained for a month.

During the periods of his detention in different prisons in Pakistan, Ansar Burney witnessed firsthand the miserable conditions of prisons and met countless prisoners whom were imprisoned without crime or charge; some in detention for over 40 years without ever appearing in court.

It was then upon his release and completion of his law degree that Ansar Burney set up the ‘Prisoners Aid Society’ and the ‘Bureau of Missing and Kidnapped Children’ in Karachi (Pakistan in 1980; and eventually formed the Ansar Burney Trust International with offices in Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Mirpur, Quetta, Washington D.C. and London.

The Ansar Burney Trust is a non-governmental, non-political and non-profitable organisation which initially worked for the welfare of prisoners, reforms in prisons and mental asylums and to trace missing and kidnapped children; however then widened its scope to cover all areas of human rights and worked against human trafficking.

Positions held

Chairman: Ansar Burney Trust International

Established in 1980, initially as the ‘Prisoners Aid Society’ and the ‘Bureau of Missing and Kidnapped Children’ by Ansar Burney, Advocate in the Pakistani port city of Karachi; the Ansar Burney Trust International (as it is known now) was the first Pakistani organization to fight for the concept of human rights in Pakistan.

With a mission to work as a non-political, non-governmental and non-profitable organization, it started its fight against all forms of injustices, cruel inhuman and degrading treatment, child abuse, cruelty to women and other more subtle forms of human and civil rights violations without any discrimination or affiliation.

The Ansar Burney Trust headed by Mr. Ansar Burney is a network of human rights organisations and volunteers working for the deliverance of justice, better treatment of human beings and for the rights and freedoms of civil liberties. It works to raise awareness, provide free legal advice and services and humanitarian assistance where needed.

Since its inception in 1980, it has been involved in bringing reforms in Police Stations, Prisons and Mental Institutions; and worked for the aid, advice, release, rehabilitation and welfare of the illegally and unlawfully detained prisoners and mental patients.

It also works for the rehabilitation and welfare of the families of these unfortunate human beings purely on humanitarian grounds in the greater interest of justice and humanity without any affiliation or consideration for any political party, group or activities.

Since its inception in 1980, the Ansar Burney Trust has shown a marked and steady progress in achieving the vowed objectives and has started a number of centers for various projects in Pakistan and abroad.

The Trust also publishes newsletters and human rights reports with the purpose of spreading awareness of issues and to try and get more and more people involved.

Federal Minister for Human Rights (Pakistan)

On 16 November 2007, Ansar Burney was sworn in as Pakistan’s caretaker Federal Minister for Human Rights. He was the first man to head the newly established Human Rights ministry of Pakistan and was placed in charge of establishing the ministry, creation of a national commission on human rights and oversight of general elections in Pakistan.

During his term as a Federal Minister, Ansar Burney visited 25 prisons and mental asylums throughout Pakistan, resulting in the release of several hundred innocent persons including children as young as 7. He also strived for further prison reforms and reforms to government controlled orphanages and shelter homes for women.

Expert advisor to the United Nations Human Rights Council

On 27 March 2008, Ansar Burney was elected for a term of three years as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council Advisory Committee and due to “his recognized experience in the field of human rights and acknowledged competence and impartiality, Burney received wide support from all regional groups of the Council”.^[2]

Humanitarian activities

Prison reforms and prisoner rights

As Chairman of the Ansar Burney Trust International, Ansar Burney has been working for the cause of justice for over three decades and in this time has been successful in securing the release of around 700,000 confined persons from various sites around the world. As such, he is perhaps best known for his work for the release of illegally or wrongfully confined persons.

These have included persons locked up for up for over 45 years on false charges or those confined in mental institutions to rot their entire lives away even though they are perfectly sane.

Having been locked away in prison himself, Ansar Burney witnessed the miserable conditions in which prisoners were living and set about immediately to help them. He began by visiting the many prisons and mental institutions in Pakistan to find persons confined on false charges, locked away without charge or persons who had been framed. He also began to raise his voice for reforms in Prisons and Mental Institutions; and as a result, he has made great progress over the last three decades.

Through surprise inspections and representatives in prisons and mental institutions, Ansar Burney Trust monitors that no prisoner or patient is abused. They have successfully lobbied for better living conditions and food, separate prisons for men and women, education and training for prisoners, put a stop of tying of mental patients and children in chains and have successfully managed to remove place of birth as prison for children born in prisons.

Entertainment and a better atmosphere are created at various sites around the country when Ansar Burney Trust arranges parties and entertainment for prisoners and patients. Due to their lobbying and donations, better medical equipment and staff are now working in prisons and institutions – offering better medical service to prisoners and especially patients. Mental patients locked in prison due of lack of space in hospitals are sent back for better care. Women prisoners and patients who would before have given birth in confinement with only each other to help are now under the supervision of women nurses – after Ansar Burney presented this matter to the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Staff of the Ansar Burney Trust visited and met female prisoners and patients to investigate charges of sexual abuse – leading to a reduction of rapes in prisons. They successfully lobbied to ban female prisoners being dealt with by male staff.

Non Muslim prisoners unable to perform their religious duties are now provided what they need in order to perform their religious commitments. In the month of Ramadan, non-Muslim prisoners are now arranged food for by Ansar Burney Trust so they were not forced to fast.

The Ansar Burney Trust has appointed 84 people in various jails and mental asylums to take care of mental patients and prisoners.

One of their achievements over the years has been the collection of data they have gathered on Pakistani prisoners confined in different Jails around the world due to various misunderstandings. The Trust provides legal advice and services to many such persons and arranges for their repatriation when released.

Similarly the Trust has also been able to get release of a number of foreign nationals from Pakistani Jails and sent them to their respective home countries on Trust’s expenses.^[3]

Prominent cases

Ansar Burney has been involved in the release of thousands of prisoners from prisons across the world. The following are a fraction of the most prominent cases he had been involved in during his initial years as the head of the Prisoners Aid Society.

1985 – Syed Muzaffar Ali Shah

Syed Muzaffar Ali Shah was arrested under the Lunacy Act 37 years earlier when he had visited a police station to lodge a burglary report. He was kept in detention for 37 years without ever being charged or presented before a court. He was finally released after efforts of the Prisoners Aid Society.^[4]

1987 – Mehar Din

Arrested by police at the age of 20 on charges of murder because he had the same name as the person they were looking for, Meher Din spent the next four years behind bars until he was acquitted. Sadly however, rather than being released, he was re-arrested on another murder charge and spent the next 17 years behind bars without ever being produced in front of a court. He was eventually transferred to the mental asylum within the prison walls and had no contact with his family for 21 years. He was released after he was discovered by Ansar Burney of the Prisoners Aid Society.^[5]

1987 – Mukhtar

Mukhtar, was arrested in an attempt to murder case in 1952 in Kohat and was sentenced to seven years hard labour. After a year and a half in the D. I. Khan Jail, he was sent to the Peshawar Jail, where he remained for the next 18 years without any charge or crime. Finally, when someone noticed his continued incarceration, he was released in 1970 but was arrested in Karachi again where he remained till 1987 until he was discovered by Ansar Burney who took his matter to the Sindh High Court and he was finally released. Mukhtar had spent a total of 35 years in jail.^[6]

1988 – Mohammed Akhtar

A lady prisoner was sent to prison in 1946 where she was raped and gave birth to Mohammed Akhter in 1948. The mother then died when Akhter was 5 years old. With no one to claim him as their own, Akhter spent 40 years of his life within the same prison, never leaving its premises; until he was spotted by Ansar Burney during a visit to the prison and released.^[7]

1991 – name unknown

A girl, whose name was never known, was arrested in 1936 at the age of 15 for upsetting the British Viceroy at the time. Without any charge or ever being presented before a court, she remained in prison for the next 55 years, becoming deaf and dumb, and released at the age of 70 only after she was discovered by Ansar Burney of the Prisoners Aid Society who took up her matter with Sindh Governor, Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, who ordered her immediate release.^[8]

1992 – Ghulam Fatima

A witness to the murder of her husband during the Muslim-Hindu riots of 1947, Ghulam Fatima lost her mental balance and was arrested by the police for loitering and sent to Lahore Mental Prison where she remained for the next 45 years. She was discovered by Ansar Burney during a trip to the asylum and released.^[9]

Lobbying against death penalty in Pakistan

For many years, as a human rights lawyer and expert on the Pakistani legal system and well aware of its flaws, Burney has campaigned to both the Pakistani Supreme Court and the various Presidents of Pakistan to commute the death sentence of all condemned prisoners in Pakistan into life imprisonment.^[10]

Per investigations by Burney and his organisation, many condemned to death in Pakistan are in fact either innocent – victims of false testimonies or circumstances; or now mentally and physically disabled due to their decades long confinement in harsh and inhumane conditions within Pakistani prisons.

As a direct result of Burney’s petitions, the current President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari has instructed the various branches of the Pakistani government to provide advice on the possibility of converting all death sentences in Pakistan into life imprisonment and is expected to make a decision to the issue soon.^[11]

Anti human trafficking, false imprisonment and slavery 

Ansar Burney is a prominent internationally recognised campaigner against human trafficking and slavery; and has been working against such practices in Pakistan, the Middle East and Africa for two decades now. During this time, with assistance from the various governments and authorities, Ansar Burney through his organisation the Ansar Burney Trust has secured the release of thousands of persons from false imprisonment and slavery across the world; these have included young girls sold in the sex trade and young children used for modern day slavery. In 2005, the Ansar Burney Trust was involved in the release and repatriation of 13,967 victims from the Middle East alone.^[12]

Prominent cases

The following are some of the most prominent cases Ansar Burney has been involved in:

1990 to date – child camel jockeys

Ansar Burney is particularly widely accredited as the man whose efforts led to the end of child slavery in the shape of child camel jockeys in the Middle East; as a direct of which, thousands of children were freed from bonded labour and returned to their homes in South Asia and Africa.

Beginning his campaign against child trafficking two decades earlier, Burney had been involved in raising awareness of the issue of child camel jockeys for many years and had been involved in the rescue and repatriation of many children from the Gulf region. During 2003-04 in the UAE alone, as per reports by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor at the US State Department, Burney had managed to rescue and repatriate over 400 children.^[13]

By 2005, the use of child camel jockeys was banned in the UAE and in other neighbouring Gulf nations the year after and in recognition the Ansar Burney Trust was declared an international best practice by the US State Department in its 2005 Trafficking in Persons Report. The report stated:

‘A noted Pakistani human rights activist, Ansar Burney has worked relentlessly to bring to light the plight of thousands of South Asian and African children trafficked to Arab countries in the Persian Gulf for exploitation as camel jockeys. These abused children, some as young as two years of age, are purposely malnourished (to keep them lightweight) and denied education. As a result of Mr. Burney’s efforts, the Government of the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) established its first-ever shelter for rescued child camel jockeys, and rescued 68 such children and repatriated 43 through the shelter. Mr. Burney oversees this shelter. He is quick to point out, however, that much more needs to be done to rescue, rehabilitate, and repatriate thousands of trafficked children throughout the Gulf region.’^[14]

Burney continues on his mission to end any such existing practices across the Middle East. A documentary on his work rescuing child camel jockeys aired on the American channel HBO won both an Emmy and Alfred DuPont award.^[15]

2002 – framing and murder of 7 immigrations in Macedonia

Six Pakistani and an Indian immigrant attempting to cross illegally into Europe were arrested by Macedonian authorities in March 2002. A plan was hatched and the men were taken near to the US Embassy in Macedonia, where they were murdered and framed as terrorists in an attempt to prove Macedonia’s credentials as a frontline US ally in the war on terror. It was stated by the Macedonian authorities at the time that the men had travelled from Pakistan in an attempt to attack the US Embassy in Macedonia and the plan had been foiled by actions of the Macedonian police. The pre-planned incident and framing was masterminded by the then Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski. Details of this heinous incident came to light upon Ansar Burney’s intervention in the matter, who visited Macedonia to seek arrest of Boskovski (who fled the country), compensation for the families and to return the bodies of the victims to their homes.^{[16][17][18][19][20][21]}

2003 – 10 Pakistani Taekwondo players falsely accused of terrorism

Ten Pakistani taekwondo players, who were representing their country in games being held in Latvia, were arrested in 2003 on charges of Terrorism. The families of the players contacted Ansar Burney who in turn contacted the Latvian authorities to seek the men’s release. After an investigation, it was revealed that the players’ only crime was that they had booked a connecting flight to Pakistan via Russia; a flight on which an Israeli Basketball team was also travelling. The men were arrested without any evidence, purely due to the fact that they were Pakistani and Muslim. Burney ensured the players’ release and repatriation to Pakistan. ^{[22] [23]}

2005 – 60 Pakistanis sold into slavery in Sudan

In March 2005, 60 Pakistanis arrived legally in Khartoum, Sudan in search of a better future and to work a job they were promised by an agency in an oil company. However, to their shock and dismay, they found themselves to have been sold into slavery at a labour camp in Bageer (near Khartoum). Surrounded by armed guards and with no escape, the men spent 5 months in the private prison, working as slave labourers and feeding mostly on boiled rice and dirty water.

When they finally managed to contact the Pakistani Embassy in Sudan they were given full support – until it was revealed that the company that arranged their travel and sold them into slavery was actually owned by a senior minister in Pakistan. The men were abandoned and left to suffer even longer. The Ansar Burney Trust was informed through volunteers and launched a campaign for the return of the men; who were finally returned a few months later.^{[24][25][26][27][28]}

2011 – release of 22 hostages from Somali pirates

MV Suez, a Panamanian flag cargo vessel with 22 crew members was hijacked by Somali pirates on 2 August 2010. The crew consisted of 11 Egyptians, 6 Indians, 4 Pakistanis and a Sri Lankan. The pirates demanded a ransom of $20 million from the ship’s owner; however they could only manage $1 million. In desperation, the pirates allowed the crew members to contact their homes. Unable to raise the large sum of money to pay the ransom, the families contacted Ansar Burney, whom along with Governor of Sindh Dr. Israt Ibab launched a national campaign to raise the funds. Burney travelled to the UAE, Egypt, Somalia and India in a bid to secure the release of the crew members and finally succeeded and the vessel was released on 13 June 2011. An operation was then launched by the Pakistan Navy entitled Operation Umeed-e-Nuh to escort the ship and its sailors to Karachi, Pakistan.^[29][30]

2012 – Offer to bring back the body of Ajmal Kasab

In November 2012, after the Government of India stated that Pakistan had refused to claim the body of slain Lashkar-e-Taiba Terrorist Ajmal Kasab,^[31] Burney offered to bring back the body to Pakistan citing humanitarian causes..^[32][33]

Anti-corruption movement

On Aug 22, 2011, Ansar Buney announced that following the Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations at the end of Ramadan, he would initiate an anti-corruption movement in Pakistan based on the popular movement of Anna Hazare in India.^[34]

Allegations

While working for release of Indian prisoner in Pakitan Sarabjit Singh‘s sister has alleged that Ansar Burney had asked her for being paid 250 million rupees for bringing Sarabjit Singh back to India.^[35][36][35]

Awards and recognition

Due to his prominent work, Ansar Burney is widely recognised as the first man to introduce the concept of human rights in Pakistan.^[37]

In 1991, due to his extraordinary work and achievements in the field of human rights at a young age, particularly his efforts for prison reforms and release of innocent prisoners, he was awarded the Outstanding Young Person of the World Award by the Junior Chamber International (JCI).

Due to his outstanding achievements in the field of human and civil rights, Ansar Burney was the first man to receive the Pakistani National Civil Award Sitara-i-Imtiaz on 23 March 2002. This was the first occasion in the history of Pakistan that such an award was awarded in the field of human rights.^[38]

In recognition of his two decade long international campaign against human trafficking and to end child slavery in the Middle East in the form of child camel jockeys, Ansar Burney was declared an ‘Anti-Human Trafficking Hero’ by the then US Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and in the 2005 Trafficking in Persons Report by the US State Department.^[39]

In 2008, due to his outstanding humanitarian work and efforts to improve people to people relations between Pakistan and India, Burney was awarded the Mother Teresa Memorial (International) Award by the Harmony Foundation in the field of Social Justice.^[40]

In 2011, due to his untiring efforts for the release of MV Suez and its crew from Somali Pirates and his great achievements in the field of human rights for the last three decades, Burney was awarded the prestigious MKRF award by the Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman Foundation.^[41]

In 2012, in recognition of his humanitarian work in Pakistan and abroad, Burney was awarded the ‘Diamond’ award by the UK’s Secretary of State Rt. Hon. Cheryl Gillan MP on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II.

Ten years after receiving the civil award Sitar-i-Imtiaz, on 14 August 2012 the President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari announced the civil award Hilal-i-Imtiaz for Ansar Burney. He will receive this honour on 23 March 2013 at the Presidency in Islamabad.

Additionally, Ansar Burney has been the recipient of over 250 national and international awards over the last three decades.

Private life

Syed Ansar Ahmed Burney is the son of Syed Mukhtar Ahmed Burney. He has two sons, a daughter and a grandchild. He is a resident of Karachi, however spends most of his time travelling in Pakistan and worldwide in relation to his humanitarian work^{[citation needed]}.

Ansar Burney is a Sunni Muslim^{[citation needed]}.30 years ago.^[1]

Abdul Qadeer Khan

Abdul Qadeer Khan   ڈاکٹر عبد القدیر خان‎; b. 1 April 1936); DEngr, NI (twice), HI, FPAS; also respectfully known by some in Pakistan as Mohsin-e-Pakistan (in Urdu: محسن پاکِستان; lit: Savior of Pakistan), more popularly known as Dr. A. Q. Khan, is a Pakistani nuclear scientist and a metallurgical engineer, colloquially regarded as the founder of HEU based Gas-centrifuge uranium enrichment program for Pakistan’s integrated atomic bomb project.^[2] Founded and established the Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) in 1976, he was both its senior scientist and the director-general until his retirement in 2001, and was an early and vital figure in other science projects. Apart from participating in atomic bomb project, he made major contributions in molecular morphology, physical martensite, and its integrated applications in condensed and material physics.

Abdul Qadeer Khan was one of Pakistan’s top scientists,^[3] and was involved in the country’s various scientific programs until his dismissal.^[3] In January 2004, Khan was officially summoned for a debriefing on his suspicious activities in other countries after the United States provided evidence to the Pakistan Government, and confessed it a month later.^[3] Some have alleged that these activities were sanctioned by the authorities, though the Pakistan government sharply dismissed the claims.^[4][5] After years of nominal house arrest, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on 6 February 2009 declared Abdul Qadeer Khan to be a free citizen of Pakistan, allowing him free movement inside the country. The verdict was rendered by Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Aslam.^[6] In September 2009, expressing concerns over the Islamabad High Court‘s decision to end all security restrictions on Khan, the United States warned that Khan still remains a “serious proliferation risk”.^[7]

Early life

Khan was born in Bhopal, India (then British Indian Empire) into a Urdu-speaking family in 1936. His father Dr. Abdul Ghafoor Khan was an academic who served in the Education ministry of the British Indian Government and after retirement in 1935, settled permanently in Bhopal State.^[8] After the partition in 1947, the family emigrated from India to Pakistan, and settled in West-Pakistan.^[9] Khan studied in Saint Anthony’s High School of Lahore, and then enrolled at the D.J. Science College of Karachi to study physics and mathematics.^[9] After making a transfer in 1956, he attended Karachi University, obtaining BSc in Metallurgy in 1960; subsequently he got the internship at the Siemens Engineering.^[9]

After the internship, he was employed by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation and worked as an city inspector of weight and measures in Karachi.^[9] In 1961, he went to West Berlin to study Metallurgical engineering at the Technical University Berlin.^[9] Qadeer Khan obtained an engineer’s degree in technology from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, and a doctorate engineering in Metallurgical engineering under the supervision of Martin Brabers from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, in 1972.^[9] Qadeer Khan’s doctoral dissertations were written in German.^[9] His doctoral thesis dealt and contained fundamental work on martensite, and its extended industrial applications to the field of Morphology, a field that studies the shape, size, texture and phase distribution of physical objects.^[9][10]

Research in Europe

Main articles: Nuclear power in the Netherlands and Netherlands and weapons of mass destruction

In 1972, the year he received his doctorate, Abdul Qadeer Khan through a former university classmate, and a recommendation from his old professor and mentor, Martin J. Brabers, joined the senior staff of the Physics Dynamics Research Laboratory in Amsterdam.^[11] There, he began his studies on the high-strength metals to be used for the development of gas centrifuges.^[12] The gas centrifuges were first studied by Jesse Beams during the Manhattan Project in 1940s but research was discontinued in 1944. The Physics Laboratory was a subcontractor for URENCO Group, the uranium enrichment research facility at Almelo, Netherlands, which was established in 1970 by the Netherlands to assure a supply of enriched uranium for nuclear power plants in the Netherlands.^[11] Soon when the URENCO Group offered him to join the senior scientific staff there, Qadeer Khan left the Physics Laboratories.^[11] There, he was tasked to perform physics experiments on uranium metallurgy,^[11] to produce commercial-grade uranium metals usable for light water reactors.^[11]

In the meantime, the URENCO Group handed him the drawings of centrifuges for the mathematical solution of the physics problems in the gas centrifuges.^[11] Uranium enrichment is a difficult physical process, as ²³⁵U exists in natural uranium at a concentration of only 0.7%; URENCO used Zippe-type centrifuges for that purpose to separate the isotopes ²³⁵U from non-fissile ²³⁸U by spinning UF₆ gas at up to 100,000RPM.^[11] Abdul Qadeer Khan’s academic and leading-edge research in metallurgy brought laurels to the URENCO Group.^[11]

 URENCO enjoyed a good academic relationship with him, and had him as one of its most senior scientists at the facility where he researched and studied.^[11] At URENCO, Abdul Qadeer Khan pioneering research to improve the efficiency of the centrifuges greatly contributed to the technological advancement of the Zippe centrifuges, a method that was developed by mechanical engineer Gernot Zippe in the Soviet Union during the 1940s.^[11] URENCO granted Qadeer Khan access to the most restricted areas of its facility as well as to highly classified documentation on gas centrifuge technology.^[11]

1971 war and return to Pakistan

Main articles: Operation Smiling Buddha, Project-706, and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto#Father of the Nuclear weapons program

The clandestine and highly secretive atomic bomb project of Pakistan was given a start on 20 January 1972, when President (later Prime minister) Zulfikar Ali Bhutto chaired a secret meeting of academic scientists at Multan.^[13] The winter planning seminar known as Multan meeting, the atomic bomb project was launched under the administrative control of Bhutto, and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (or PAEC) under its chairman, Munir Ahmad Khan.^[13] Earlier efforts were directed towards the implosion-type bomb with exploration of the Plutonium route.^[13] Prior to 1974, Khan had no knowledge of existence of country’s integrated atomic development, a controversy that highly doubts Abdul Qadeer Khan’s “father-of” claim.

It was only on 18 May 1974, when he was alerted after India surprised the world with its first nuclear test (codename: Smiling Buddha), near Pakistan’s eastern border under the secret directives of Indian Premier Indira Gandhi.^[13] Conducted by the Indian Army, it was only three years since Pakistan’s humiliating defeat in the 1971 Winter war and the outcomes of the war had put Pakistan’s strategic position in great danger.^[14] The nuclear test greatly alarmed the Government of Pakistan and the people.^[13] Prime minister Zulfikar Bhutto squeezed the time limit of the atomic bomb project from five years to three years, in a vision to evolve and derived the country’s scientific atomic project as from the “atomic capability to sustainable nuclear power”.^[13] Sensing the importance of this test, Munir Ahmad Khan secretly launched the Project-706, a codename of a secret uranium enrichment program under the domain of the atomic project.^[13]

Following the news about Pakistan, Khan wanted to contribute to the post-war military posture and approached the Pakistan government officials, offering to assist in Pakistan’s secret atomic bomb project through his knowledge acquired at URENCO.^[15] He insisted in joining the atomic bomb project^[16] but was disuated by the military scientists who considered as “hard to find” a job in PAEC as a “metallurgist”.^[15]

Undaunted, he wrote to Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, highlighting his specific experience and encouraged Prime Minister Bhutto to work on an atomic bomb using uranium.^[15] According to Kuldip Nayyar, although the letter was received by Prime minister Secretariat, Qadeer Khan was still unknown to the Government, leading Bhutto to ask the ISI to run a complete background check on Khan and prepare an assessment report on him.^[17] The ISI declared him as “incompetent” in the field of nuclear technology based on his academic discipline.^[17] Unsatisfied with ISI’s report, Bhutto was eager to know more about him, and asked Munir Ahmad Khan to dispatch a team of PAEC’s scientists to meet him.^[18] The PAEC team including Sultan Mahmood travelled to Amsterdam and arrived at his family home at night. Discussions were held until the next day.^[18] After the team’s return to Pakistan, Bhutto decided to meet with Khan, and directed a confidential letter to him. Soon after, Abdul Qadeer Khan took a leave from URENCO Group, and departed for Pakistan in 1974.^[18]

Initiation and atomic bomb project

Main article: Project-706

In December 1974, Abdul Qadeer Khan went to Pakistan and took a taxi straight to the Prime minister Secretariat.^[19] The session with Bhutto was held at midnight and remained under extreme secrecy.^[19] There, Qadeer Khan met with Zulfikar Bhutto, Munir Khan, and Dr. Mübaschir Hassan, government Science Adviser.^[19] At this session, he enlightened the importance of uranium as opposed to plutonium, but Bhutto remain unconvinced to adopt uranium instead of plutonium for the development of an atomic bomb.^[19] Although Bhutto ended the session quickly he remarked to his friends that: “He seems to make sense.”^[19]

Early morning the next day another session was held where he focussed the discussion on uranium against plutonium, with other PAEC officials presented.^[16] Even though he explained to Bhutto why he thought the idea of “plutonium” would not work, Qadeer Khan was fascinated by the possibility of atomic bomb.^[16] Many of the theorists at that time, including Munir Khan maintained that “plutonium and the nuclear fuel cycle has its significance”,^[14] and Munir Khan insisted that with the “French extraction plant in the offing, Pakistan should stick with its original plan.”^[14] Bhutto did not disagree, but saw the advantage of mounting a parallel effort toward acquiring HEU fuel.^[14][20] At the last session with Zulfikar Bhutto, Khan also advocated for the development of a fused design to compress the single fission element in the metalized gun-type atomic device, which many of his fellow theorists said would be unlikely to work.^[16][21]

Finally in 1976, he joined the atomic bomb project, and became a member of the enrichment division at PAEC.^[19] Calculations performed by him were valuable contributions to centrifuges and vital link to nuclear weapon research.^[13] He continued to push his ideas for uranium methods even though they had a low priority, with most efforts still aimed to produce military-grade plutonium.^[19] Because of his interest in uranium, and his frustration at having been passed over for director of the uranium division (the job was instead given to Bashiruddin Mahmood), Qadeer Khan refused to engage in further research and caused tensions with other researchers.^[19] He became highly unsatisfied and bored with the research led by Mahmood; finally, he submitted a critical report to Bhutto, in which he explained that the “enrichment program” was nowhere near success.^[19]

Kahuta Research Laboratories

Main articles: Engineering Research Laboratories and Kahuta Test

Bhutto sensed great danger as the scientists were split between uranium and plutonium routes.^[19] Therefore, he called Khan for a meeting, which was held at the prime minister secretariat. With the backing of Bhutto, Qadeer Khan took over the enrichment program and renamed the project to Engineering Research Laboratories (ERL).^[19] Abdul Qadeer Khan insisted to work with the Corps of Engineers to lead the construction of the suitable operational enrichment site, which was granted. The E-in-C directed Brigadier Zahid Ali Akbar of Corps of Engineers to work with Qadeer Khan in Project-706.^[19] The Corps of Engineers and Brigadier Akbar quickly acquired the lands of the village of Kahuta for the project.^[22]

The military realized the dangers of atomic experiments being performed in populated areas and thus remote Kahuta was considered an ideal location for reearch.^[22] Bhutto would subsequently promote Brigadier Zahid Akbar to Major-General and handed over the directorship of the Project-706, with Qadeer Khan being its senior scientist.^[23]

On the other hand, the PAEC did not forgo the electromagnetic isotope separation research and a parallel program was conducted by theoretical physicist Dr. G.D. Allam at Air Research Laboratories (ARL) located at Chaklala PAF base, though G.D. Allam had not seen a centrifuge, but only had a rudimentary knowledge of the Manhattan Project.^[24]

At first, the ERL suffered many setbacks, and relied heavily on the knowledge from URENCO brought by Qadeer Khan.^[24] Meanwhile in April 1976, theorist Ghulam Dastigar Alam accomplished a great feat by successfully rotating the first generation centrifuges to ~30,000 RPM.^[24] When the news reached Qadeer Khan, he immediately requested to Bhutto for G.D. Alam’s assistance which was granted by the PAEC, dispatching a team of scientists including G.D. Alam to ERL.^[24] At ERL, Qadeer Khan joined the team of theoretical physicists headed by theorist dr. GD Allam, working on the physics problems involving the differential equations in the centripetal forces and angular momentum calculations in the ultra-centrifuges.^[24] On 4 June 1978, the enrichment program became fully functional after Dr. G.D. Alam succeeded in separated the ²³⁵U and ²³⁸U isotopes in an important experiment in which Dr. A.Q Khan also took part.^[24][25] Contrary to his expectation, the military approved to the appointment of Major-General Zahid Ali as the scientific director of entire uranium division

Legacy

During his time in the atomic bomb project, he pioneered research in the thermal quantum field and the condensed physics, while co-authored articles on chemical reactions of the highly unstable isotopic particles in the controlled physical system.^[55] He maintains his stance to use of controversial technological solutions to both military and civilian problems, including the use of military technologies for the civilian welfare. Khan also remained a vigorous advocate for a nuclear testing program and defence strength through nuclear weapons. He has justified the Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence program as sparing his country the fate of Iraq or Libya.^[56] In his recent interview, Abdul Qadeer Khan maintained that he has no regrets for what he did and maintained that:

[P]akistan’s motivation for nuclear weapons arose from a need to prevent “nuclear blackmail” by India. Had Iraq and Libya been nuclear powers, they wouldn’t have been destroyed in the way we have seen recently…. If (Pakistan) had an [atomic] capability before 1971, we [Pakistanis] would not have lost half of our country after a disgraceful defeat.

—Abdul Qadeer Khan, statement on 16 May 2011, published the Newsweek, ^[57]

Abdul Qadeer Khan faced heated and intense criticism from his fellow theorists whom he had worked with in the atomic bomb project, most notably theorist Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy.^[58] In addition, Qadeer Khan’s false claims that he was the “father” of the atomic bomb project since its inception and his personal attacks on Munir Khan caused even greater animosity by his fellow theorists, and most particularly, within the general physics community towards Qadeer Khan.^[2][58] Due to public promotion by the Pakistan media, he remains one of the best known but also most controversial scientists in the country.^[3] He has been depicted in the media as Pakistan’s own Dr. Strangelove (commonly referred to Edward Teller) in Stanley Kubrick‘s 1964 satirical film of the same name.^[59]

He is the recipient of the following honors:

Nishan-e-Imtiaz (1999) Nishan-e-Imtiaz (1996) Hilal-e-Imtiaz (1989) Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology[53] 60 Gold medal from universities in the country.[53]

University of Karachi[53] Baqai Medical University[60] Hamdard University[53] Gomal University[53] University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore[53]

Publications

Selected research papers and patents

Nuclear and Material physics

• Dilation investigation of metallic phase transformation in 18% Ni maraging steels, Proceedings of The International Conf. on Martensitie Transformations (1986), The Japan Institute of Metals, pp. 560–565.
• The spread of Nuclear weapons among nations: Militarization or Development, pp. 417–430. (Ref. Nuclear War Nuclear Proliferation and their consequences “Proceedings of the 5th International Colloquium organized by the Group De Bellerive Geneva 27–29 June 1985, Edited by: Sadruddin Aga Khan, Published by Clarendon Press-Oxford 1986).
• Flow induced vibrations in Gas-tube assembly of centrifuges. Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, 23(9), (September 1986), pp. 819–827.
• Dimensional anisotropy in 18% of maraging steel,^[61] Seven National Symposium on Frontiers in Physics, written with Anwar-ul-Haq, Mohammad Farooq, S. Qaisar, published at the Pakistan Physics Society (1998).
• Thermodynamics of Non-equilibrium phases in Electron-beam rapid solidification,^[55] Proceedings of the Second National Symposium on Frontiers in Physics, written with A. Tauqeer, Fakhar Hashmi, publisher Pakistan Physics Society (1988).

Books

• Khan, Abdul Qadeer (1972). Advances in Physical Metallurgy (in English, German and Dutch). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier Press. ISBN 969-8500-00-6. 

• Khan, Abdul Qadeer (1983). Metallurgical Thermodynamics and Kinetics (in English, German and Dutch). Islamabad, Pakistan: The Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences. ISBN 978-969-35-0821-5. 
• Khan, Abdul Qadeer; Syed Shabbir Hussain, Mujahid Kamran (1997). Dr. A.Q. Khan on science and education. Islamabad, Pakistan: Sang-e-Meel Publications. ISBN 978-969-35-0821-5..^[24]

Abdul Sattar Edhi

Founder of Edhi.

Dr. Abdul Sattar Edhi, NI, LPP, RMA, IBP, GPA, MSP (Memoni, Urdu: عبدالستار ایدھی‎, Gujarati: અબ્દુલ સત્તાર ઇદી), or Maulana Edhi, is a prominent Pakistani philanthropist, social activist, public figure and an humanitarian. He is the founder and head of the Edhi Foundation, a non-profit social welfare organization in Pakistan. Together with his wife, Bilquis Edhi, he received the 1986 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service. He is also the recipient of the Lenin Peace Prize and the Balzan Prize. In 2006, Institute of Business Administration Pakistan conferred an honoris causa degree of Doctor of Social Service Management for his services. In September 2010, Edhi was also awarded an honorary degree of Doctorate by the University of Bedfordshire.^[1]In 1985 Edhi received the Nishan-e-Imtiaz from the Government of Pakistan.^[2]

 

He was born in 1928, in the city of Bantva in what is now western India. Edhi’s first interaction with human suffering occurred at the age of eleven, when his mother was physically paralyzed and later suffered from mental illness. Edhi spent his waking hours caring for her, and her worsening health and eventual death left a lasting impact on his life. In 1947, at the age of 19, Mr. Edhi’s family was forced to flee their hometown and relocate to Karachi. Finding himself in a new city without any resources, Edhi resolved to dedicate his life to aiding the poor, and over the last sixty years, he has single handedly changed the face of welfare in Pakistan.

 

Edhi founded the Edhi Foundation, with an initial sum of a mere five thousand rupees. Regarded as a guardian for the poor, Edhi began receiving numerous donations, which allowed him to expand his services. To this day, the Edhi Foundation continues to grow in both size and service, and is currently the largest welfare organization in Pakistan. Since its inception, the Edhi Foundation has rescued over 20,000 abandoned infants, rehabilitated over 50,000 orphans and has trained over 40,000 nurses. It also runs over three hundred and thirty welfare centers in rural and urban Pakistan which operate as food kitchens, rehabilitation homes, shelters for abandoned women and children and clinics for the mentally handicapped.^[3]

 

Edhi has remained a simple and humble man. To this day, he owns two pairs of clothes, has never taken a salary from his organization and lives in a small two bedroom apartment over his clinic in Karachi.^[4][5] He has been recommended for a Nobel Peace prize by the Prime Minister of Pakistan. On June 25, 2013 Edhi’s kidneys failed and it was announced that he will be on dialysis for the rest of his life

Early life

Edhi was born in 1928 in Bantva in the Gujarat, India.^[7] When he was eleven, his mother became paralyzed and later grew mentally ill and died when he was 19. His personal experiences caused him to develop a system of services for old, mentally ill and challenged people. Edhi and his family migrated to Pakistan in 1947. He initially started as a pedlar, later became a commission agent selling cloth in the wholesale market in Karachi. After a few years, he established a free dispensary with the help from his community. He later established a welfare trust, “Edhi Trust”.^[8]

 

Abdul Sattar Edhi was married in 1965 to Bilquis, a nurse who worked at the Edhi dispensary.^[9] The couple have four children, two daughters and two sons. Bilquis runs the free maternity home at the headquarter in Karachi and organizes the adoption of illegitimate and abandoned babies..

Charity work

Edhi Foundation runs the world’s largest ambulance service and operates free nursing homes, orphanages, clinics, women’s shelters, and rehab centers for drug addicts and mentally ill individuals.^[10] It has run relief operations in Africa, Middle East, the Caucasus region, eastern Europe and US where it provided aid following the New Orleans hurricane of 2005. In November 2011, Edhi was recommended for a Nobel Peace prize by the Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani.^[11] Abdul Sattar Edhi suffers Renal Failure as announced on 26 June 2013 at SIUT and needs kidney donation.^[12]

Travel issues

In the early 1980s he was arrested by Israeli troops while entering Lebanon. In 2006, he was detained in Toronto, Canada, for 16 hours. In January 2008, US immigration officials interrogated Edhi at the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York for over eight hours, and seized his passport and other documents. When asked about the frequent detention, Edhi said “The only explanation I can think of is my beard and my dress.”^[13] In January 2009, Edhi was refused entry to Gaza by Egyptian authorities.^[14]

Honors and awards

International awards

• Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service (1986)^[15]
• Lenin Peace Prize (1988)^[16]
• Paul Harris Fellow from Rotatory International Foundation, (1993)^[16]
• Peace Prize from (USSR former) for services in the American earthquake disaster, (1998)
• Largest Voluntary Ambulance Organization of the World – Guinness Book of World Records (2000)^[16]
• Hamdan Award for volunteers in Humanitarian Medical Services (2000) UAE^[16]
• International Balzan Prize (2000) for Humanity, Peace and Brotherhood, Italy^[16]
• Peace and Harmony Award (Delhi), 2001
• Peace Award (Mumbai), 2004
• Peace Award (Hyderabad Deccan), 2005
• Wolf of Bhogio Peace Award (Italy), 2005
• Gandhi Peace Award (Delhi),2007
• UNESCO Madan jeet sing Peace Award (Paris),2007
• Peace Award Seoul (South Korea), 2008
• Honorary Doctorate degree from the Institute of Business Administration Karachi (2006).^[7]
• UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize (2009)^[17][18]
• Ahmadiyya Muslim Peace Prize (2010)^[19]
• Peace Award (London), 2011

National awards

• Silver Jubilee Shield by College of Physicians and Surgeons, Pakistan, (1962–1987)^[16]
• The Social Worker of Sub-Continent by Government of Sind, Pakistan, (1989)^[16]
• Nishan-e-Imtiaz, civil decoration from Government of Pakistan (1989)^[16]
• Recognition of meritorious services to oppressed humanity during eighties by Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Government of Pakistan, (1989)^[16]
• Pakistan Civic Award from the Pakistan Civic Society (1992)^[16]
• Shield of Honor by Pakistan Army (E & C)^[16]
• Khidmat Award by Pakistan Academy of Medical Sciences^[16]
• Human Rights Award by Pakistan Human Rights Society^[16].^[6]

 

D. J. Sindh Govt. Science College

D. J. Sindh Govt. Science College (Diwan Dayaram Jethamal Sindh Govt. Science College) is an educational institute located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. The institute celebrated 125 years of service in 2012.

History

Inaugurated as Sindh Arts College by Lord Reay, Governor of Bombay, on January 17, 1882, the college was renamed D. J. Science College upon completion of the present structure in 1887. Located in the heart of old Karachi, the foundation stone for this college was laid in 1882, by Lord Dufferin, Viceroy of India. The college is named after Diwan Dayaram Jethmal, its main benefactor. The cost of construction is reported to have been Rs.186,514 out of which the government contributed Rs. 97,193, the balance being raised through public donations.

Principals

Pre-Independence

• Muhammad Fazal Rehmani 1845-87 – founder
• Dr Mullineux R Walmsley 1887-8
• Dr Moses John Jackson 1888-1907
• HP Ferrell 1908-16
• AC Miller 1917-18
• SC Shahanni 1918-27
• NB Bhutani 1927-43
• HM Gorbkhshani 1943-44
• JV Lakhani 1944-47
• Mariwalla, Dharamdas Tekchand, 1947

Post Independence

• Professor AL Sheikh 1948-1955
• Professor LA deSouza 1955-61
• Professor JB Sidhwa 1961-67
• Professor Iftekhar Ahmed Ansari 1967-72
• Professor SH Zubairi 1972-84
• Professor Obaidur Rehman 1984-85
• Professor Abul Samad 1985-86
• Professor Naseem Sheikh 1986 Apr-Jun
• Professor Ziauddin Ahmed 1986 Jul-Sep
• Professor Anwarul Haq Hashmi 1986-87
• Professor Zaheer Ahmed 1987-88
• Professor Naseem Ahmed Sheikh 1988-90
• Professor Sabzwari 1990 Aug-Sep
• Professor M Qasim Siddiqui 1990-91
• Professor Abul Wakeel Qureshi 1991
• Professor M Qasim Siddiqui 1991-93
• Dr Kamalud Din 1993-95
• Professor Mazharul Haq 1995-96
• Dr Shareef Memon 1996-97
• Dr Ravi Shankar 1997 (as In-charge)
• Dr Asif 1997-99
• Dr Ravi Shankar 1999-2006
• Professor Hakeemullah Baig Chughtai 2006
• Professor Rizwan haider 2009
• Professor Syed Kamil Shere 2010-2012
• Professor Afzal Hussain 2012-present

Notable graduates

• Abdul Qadeer Khan (Nuclear Scientist)
• Ashraf Habibullah (President & CEO of Computers and Structures, Inc.)
• Ziaur Rahman (President of Bangladesh )
• Pirzada Qasim (ex-Vice Chancellor Karachi University, Vice Chancellor Ziauddin University)
• Adeebul Hasan Rizvi (founder SIUT)
• Shahid Masood (journalist)
• Kamran Ashraf (National hockey player)
• Shahid Ali Khan (National hockey player)
• Sohail Rana (composer)
• Bashir Syed (Solar Physicist, Research Scientist, NASA)
• Ardeshir Cowasjee (columnist)

Government College for Men, Nazimabad

Government College for Men, Nazimabad is an all-male degree college located in Karachi, Pakistan adjacent to the flyover located in Nazimabad town.

History

The college was established in 1956 under the name of Central Government College for Men to provide higher education to the newly settled and prominent area of Nazimabad in Karachi. The college was taken over by the Government of Sindh in 1961, and since then named as Government College for Men, Nazimabad.^[1]

Library

The college library is situated in front of the main entrance of the college building. Today, the college library has a collection of over 18,500 reference books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, manuals, atlases, etc.^[2]

The Jheel Park

The Jheel Park or Society Jheel Park (Urdu: جھیل پارک یا سوسائٹی جھیل پارک ‎), is situated near Tariq Road in P.E.C.H Society, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.

The park is constructed on 25 acres (100,000 m²) of land.^[1] There is a natural pond of water in the park where in olden days people used to come to hunt migratory birds.

Merewether Clock Tower

Merewether Clock Tower or Merewether Tower^[1] is located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan

Memorial

It was raised by public subscription as a memorial for Sir William L. Merewether.^[1]

Construction and opening

Designed by James Strachan, the Municipal Engineer, the foundation stone was laid by the Governor of Bombay, Sir James Fergusson in 1884.^[1] It was formally opened to the public in 1892 by the Commissioner in Sind, Sir Evan James.^[1]

Description

The Tower stands on a base of 44 feet square and rises to a height of 102 feet.^[1] Strachan designed the tower in the Gothic Revival style popular in Victorian England, to evoke the architecture of Medieval England (11th to 15th century A.D.). The structure is built in buff colored Gizri stone and shows a heightened sensitivity to detailing and emphasis on carving and decoration. The architecture takes the form of an Eleanor cross. Eleanor crosses were a series of 12 monuments erected in England by King Edward I between 1291 and 1294, in memory of his wife, Eleanor of Castile. Three of the original Eleanor Crosses still exist in England. Many similar neo-Gothic style structures were built in Victorian England, and impressive clock towers are found all over Pakistan.^[2] The Star of David on its faces often attracts anti-Jewish graffiti including the derisive Urdu term “Yehudi”.

The Chaukhandi tombs

Tombs and graves at Chaukundi.

The Chaukhandi (Urdu: چوکنڈی‎) tombs form an early Islamic cemetery situated 29 km (18 mi) east of Karachi, close to the N-5 National Highway near Landhi Town in Pakistan. The tombs are remarkable for their elaborate and exquisite sandstone carvings.

The style of architecture is typical to the region of Sindh. Generally, the tombs are attributed to the Jokhio (also spelt Jokhiya) and known as the family graveyard of the Jokhio tribe (including a modern cupola tomb of a Jokhio leader, dated 2008) , although other, mainly Baluch, tribes have also been buried over there. They were mainly built during Mughal rule sometime in the 15th and 18th centuries when Islam became do

Description

This type of graveyard in Sindh and Baluchistan is remarkable because of its main north-south orientation. The more elaborate graves are constructed with a buff-colored sandstone. Their carved decoration presents exquisite craftsmanship and has often kept remarkably well over time. Tombs were constructed either as single graves or as groups of up to eight graves, raised on a common platform.

A typical sarcophagus consists of six vertical slabs, with two long slabs on each side of the grave indicating the length of the body and the remaining two vertical slabs on the head and foot side. These six slabs are covered by a second sarcophagus consisting of six more similar vertical slabs but smaller in size, giving the grave a pyramid shape. The upper box is further covered with four or five horizontal slabs and the topmost construction is set vertically with its northern end often carved into a knob known as a crown or a turban. The tombs are embellished with geometrical designs and motifs, including figural representations such as mounted horsemen, hunting scenes, arms, and jewelry.minant.

The earliest -passing- reference of the Chaukhandi tombs (a.k.a. Jokundee) is in a letter of J. Macleod, addressed to H. B. E. Frere in 1851^{[citation needed]}. The tombs, however, were given more serious attention for the first time by H. D. Baskerville, the Assistant Collector of Thatta in Karachi district in 1917. The tombs near Landhi were included in the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904 in 1922^{[clarification needed]}.

Dr. Salome Zajadacz-Hastenrath summarizes earlier research on these and similar tombs in Sindh as follows:^[1]

A cemetery of this type was discovered at the turn of the 20th century in Hinidan by Major M. A. Tighe, Political Agent in southern Baluchistan. J. P. Vogel^[2] was the first to investigate this and other cemeteries – including Karpasan (a plateau south of Hinidan), Gundar (a village near Dinga, south of Hinidan), and Manghopir – and he drew attention to another cemetery discovered by Captain Showers, Political Agent in Kalat, lying between the Hub River and Sonmiani. Vogel recognized that the tombs were Islamic, as indicated by the use of the Arabic script and the alignment of the monuments. According to Islamic custom, the dead are laid to rest in such a way that they are facing Mecca, resting on their right shoulder. Mecca lies approximately to the west of Sindh; the longitudinal axis of the tombs accordingly lies more or less in a north-south direction, with the head always lying in the north.

In (…) 1910, Sir Thomas Holdich described a similar cemetery near Malir and also referred to several other cemeteries. He stated that local tradition ascribed these to the ‘Kalmati‘ Baluchis, and he linked this name to the town of Kalmat on the Makran Coast.

In 1917, H. D. Baskerville discovered a similar cemetery in the vicinity of the village of Chaukhandi, near Karachi. Baskerville’s published report raised the question of a possible above-ground burial – but he dismissed this after a careful investigation of one of the stone chambers in the cemetery, which did not contain any remains. A number of tomb inscriptions were found at the Chaukhandi cemetery, consisting of names and/or sayings from the Quran. Some of the named dead were said to belong to the Jokhiya tribe, still resident in the vicinity. Only one of the tombs was dated – the date of death being inscribed on it with the numbers in reverse order – as AH 1169 (AD 1756).

Jokhio, Jokhia or Jokhiya (Urdu:جوکھيو) are said to be descendants of the Samma (tribe) of Sindh.

In 1925, Henry Cousens devoted a chapter of his book on the antiquities of Sindh to ‘Baluch tombs’.^[3] He studied the tombs in Jarak (now spelt Jerruck), Sonda and Kharkharo, which were of the same type as Chaukhandi. Referring to the studies by G. E. L. Carter, he noted that more than twenty such cemeteries had been identified, and rejected the theory regarding above-ground burials, pointing to the frequent occurrence of arcade-like perforations in the lower casket. Cousens was the first to draw comparisons with other architectural monuments in Sindh, and he refers to similarities between the decoration of a tomb in Sonda and the tombs of Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro (Shah Wardi Khan) (d. 1772) in Hyderabad as well as the tomb of the Samma king, Jam Nizamuddin II (reigned 1461–1509), an impressive square structure built of sandstone and decorated with floral and geometric medallions. Comparable is also the mausoleum of Isa Khan Tarkhan the Younger (d. 1644) in the necropolis of Makli Hill. Regarding the covering of the tombs with chattris (cupola’s or pavilions), he points to similar tombs in the same Makli necropolis and to the tomb of Mir Masum in Sukkur. He considered the tombs to be of approximately the same date as the tombs of Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro – i.e. the second half of the 18th century. Cousens pointed out that depictions of riders, as seen on some of the tombs, are also found on sati (shrine) stones in Kathiawar and Kutch.

Information about a single tomb of this type in the vicinity of the village of Baghwana, south-west of the Las Bela (princely state), was published in 1931 by Sir Aurel Stein.^[4] According to local tradition the tomb was that of Mai Masura, a saintly beggar women; legend had it that the stone slabs had miraculously flown through the air from Kandahar. Stein considered it to date from the end of the 15th century.

In 1934, in a publication concerning monuments of Sindh, Nani Gopala Majumdar described a funerary enclosure on Tharro Hill near Gujjo.^[5] He believed that that cemetery enclosure dated from the 14th century, being therefore older than the monuments on Makli Hill; he also found some additional tombs of lesser significance in the vicinity of the nearby mausoleum of Sheikh Turabi.

Later research

After the Second World War the Chaukhandi tombs did not receive any attention from the Pakistan authorities until Dr. I. H. Qureshi, a renowned historian and the then education minister (later Chancellor of Karachi University), drew the attention of the Department of Archeology and Museums to them, having received a letter on the subject from Zahid Hussain, Governor of State Bank of Pakistan^{[citation needed]}.

The then Director General of the Department of Archeology and Museums, Shaikh Khurshid Hasan, confessed that at first his department did not even realize that the tombs were protected under the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904. Soon the department realized its mistake and started taking some measures for the protection of the necropolis^[when?].

In the post-independence era a first serious study was undertaken by Mumtaz Hassan; he described Chaukhandi tombs as Baluch tombs.^[6] Subsequently, many articles appeared in the national newspapers but the mystery as to their origin could not be solved.

Ms. E-J.W. Bunting, along with Dr. F. A. Khan, Justice Feroz Nana and S. A. Naqvi started preparing rubbings of stone carvings and provided further publicity by exhibitions abroad of these rubbings. The exhibition in the USA in particular aroused great interest amongst the scholars in the studies of various aspects of the Chaukhandi tombs.^[7]

In his first paper based on epigraphical-cum-historical studies, Shaikh Khurshid Hasan observed that the Chaukhandi graveyard near Landhi was predominantly a graveyard of the Jokhio tribe, although some tombs of the Burfat and Sheikh tribes could also been found.^[8] In a 1984 article on the Chaukhandi tombs Shaikh Khurshid Hasan mainly dealt with the decorative elements of the stone carving.^[9] In the following years he continued to publish on the gravestones^[10] and inscriptions.^[11] For further reading see also Shaikh Khurshid Hasan’s comprehensive study.^[12]

Dr. Zajadacz-Hastenrath

In 1978 the German scholar Dr. Salome Zajadacz-Hastenrath published a book (in German),^[13] in which she mainly dealt with the stylistic evolution of Chaukhandi tombs. Comparing Chaukhandi tombs (tombs of particular types and forms thereof) among each other, a typological framework was established and consequently a relative chronology. By comparing this framework with dated structures, mainly of Makli Hill but also of other sites, the study arrived at dates for the various stages of evolution of the Chaukhandi tombs. Beside the Chaukhandi tombs strictly speaking, the study also dealt with specific aspects such as the ‘Form of the tombstones’, ‘Riders, weapons, and other depictions on men’s graves’, ‘Jewellery depictions on women’s graves’, articles which all show the richness of the Chaukhandi funerary art. The documentary part of the book included a list of dated stonemasonry patterns on Chaukhandi tombs.

Her study was mainly based on photographs taken of a total of 50 cemeteries and tombs; the book includes a representative selection of 112 photographs. A catalogue of the cemeteries visited provides details on their locations, and the number, types and conditions of individual tombs. It covered an area reaching from the Hub River in the west up to the region of Tando Muhammad Khan and of Shah Kapur in the east.

Salome Zajadacz-Hastenrath concluded that the Chaukhandi tombs had developed far beyond a kind of folkloristic specialty; they evolved from traditional forms of tombs widely spread in the Lower Sindh ( e.g. on Makli Hill, but there with richer forms, Kathiawar and Gujarat) to graves with a monumental quality, achieved by their unusual height, coupled with strong sculptural decorations. The apex of this development was reached during the first half of the 17th century of which fine examples were shown in figures 34, 35 and 36 of the study (the author called these ‘Tombs with projecting surfaces’). Unique in the Islamic architectural tradition, the author considered the Chaukhandi tombs a most original and independent contribution to Islamic sepulchral architecture and ornamental sculpture.

The notable character of her study was underlined in the Encyclopedia of Islam.^[14] While dealing with the various types of sepulchral structures on the Indian Subcontinent and referring to the study of Salome Zajadacz-Hastenrath, the author of that article stressed that it was only in the case of the Chaukhandi tombs that such a systematic research had been done. In 2003 (i.e. after the author’s decease in 1998), an English translation of the book was published in Pakistan.^[1]

Latest research

Italian Professor Gian Giuseppe Filippi visited Sindh at the end of the 20th century and examined some of the tombs. He pointed out to Rajput influences in the Chaukhandi necropolis.^[15] He mentioned that it is well known that many Munda warrior groups have family ties with the so-called Rajput tribes of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Some Rajput tribes, namely the Jokhio, the Numeri, the Burfat and the Lashari emigrated from Kutch (Gujarat) and Rajputana towards the Sindh and Makran regions during the Samma Dynasty. These tribes had close relations among each other, including matrimonial ties, both within their own group as well as with the Baluch tribe of the Kalmatis. His hypothesis suggested a tribal Rajput origin in the utilization not only of the monolithic slabs and pedestals in the step-shaped graves, but also in the naive decoration of some tombs, resembling a house facade, or a human face as if drawn by a child. The decoration of the tombs (mostly with geometric motifs) seems derived from wood sculpture. With a few exceptions human figures are avoided, in accordance with Islamic beliefs.

Further articles on the structural development of stone-carved graves were written by Dr. Kaleem Lashari.^[16][17][18] Later, Lashari highlighted the Bhawani Serai and the Tutai Chaukhandi graveyards^{[citation needed]}, and called for urgent conservation^[citation

 

 

The Empress Market

Karachi’s oldest market, Empress Market is located in Saddar Town of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Empress Market was built in 1889 and was named in honour of Queen Victoria, Empress of British Empire in South Asia. Empress Market is the central shopping centre of Karachi.

The Empress Market (Urdu: ایمپریس مارکیٹ‎) is a famous marketplace situated in the Saddar Town locality of Karachi, Pakistan. The market traces its origins to the British Raj era, when it was first constructed.^[1] Today, it is amongst the most popular and busy places for shopping in Karachi and reflects as one of the few historical spots of the city. Commodities sold in the Empress Market range from condiments, fruit, vegetables and meat to stationary material, textiles and pet shops.

The Empress Market was constructed between 1884 and 1889 and was named to commemorate Queen Victoria, Empress of India.

 

The market was constructed at a well-chosen site that was clearly visible from a great distance. The site of the market had historical significance as it was situated on the grounds where a number of native sepoys were executed in a ruthless fashion after the Indian Rising of 1857 (The Ghaddar). Accounts mention that the sepoys had their heads blown off by canon balls in an attempt to suppress any mutinous feelings among the locals.

 

The foundation stone of the Empress Market was laid by Bombay’s Governor, James Ferguson in 1884, who also laid the foundation of the Merewether Memorial Tower. It was designed by James Strachan, the foundations were completed by the English firm of A.J. Attfield, and the building was constructed by the local firm of ‘Mahoomed Niwan and Dulloo Khejoo’. The building was arranged around a courtyard, 130 ft by 100 ft, with four galleries each 46 ft wide. The galleries provided accommodation for 280 shops and stall keepers; at the time of its construction it was one of only seven markets in Karachi.^[2] a recreational park also exists nearby.

In 2011, a fire of unknown cause destroyed at least 46 and damaged 62 shops in the market near Jahangir Park, causing potentially billions of Rupees in damage to traders.^[3]