Thursday, September 23, 1999
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REGIONAL BRIEFS | Thursday, September 23, 1999 |
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A jawan from every home here Suliali village is located on the left bank of the Chakki river, which constitutes the natural boundary between Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. It is one of the biggest villages of Nurpur tehsil in Kangra district. It is the abode of Pathania Rajputs. Yet the habitation here is a happy heterogeneous community, comprising almost all castes. Almost every household of Suliali has at least one son, if not more, in the armed forces and the paramilitary forces. Some of the families are a martial race having done soldiering — generation after generation. Most of the soldiers of Suliali and adjoining villages are deployed on the north-western front, including the Kargil-Dras-Siachen sector. Old soldiers come to Suliali to spend their post-retirement days in their ancestral homesteads. The love for the peaceful environment here has a lot of attraction. But where is the peace in today's era of a variety of idiosyncrasies among the new generation of people, especially government employees? There are a few good points as well hardships, specially affecting the elderly people in Suliali. The main hardships, are lack of water in taps and defective telephone exchange. In the matter of water supply, decades ago the IPH Department had installed a 15 horsepower electric motor for lifting potable water from a perennial stream. That supply was meant for some 50 households only. Now hundreds of connections have been given from this petty arrangement, not only in Suliali but in adjoining villages as well. The consumers, therefore, hardly get a trickle of the elixir of life. Harassment is manifest, especially for the elderly people who have no one to look after them in general and fetch water from other sources like handpumps etc. in particular. Senior citizens, especially old soldiers, whose sons are on war front, are the worst sufferers. As regards the telephone exchanges it is said that the Telecommunication Department has provided telephones on substantial rent. But the instruments remain dead most of the time. Lonely soldiers need the facility badly, not only for calling a doctor in case of emergencies — not uncommon — but also to remain in touch with their wards deployed on the far-flung border. Officials manning these public facilities appear to be hardly bothered about the people's hardship. The sarpanch of the village, Ms Krishna Devi, a young educated person, claims to be taking a lot of interest in public good, but her lack of experience and shyness are serious hurdles to her being really effective. War veteran Col Surjan Singh Pathania, who was Director of Sainik Welfare Department for a considerable time, opines that if the government servants posted in the area work for the public good, take adequate interest in the performance of their duties, the hardships of the people can be mitigated to a great extent. PAU honours scientist Dr Amrik Singh Sidhu, scientist, working as Senior Vegetable Breeder at Regional Research Station in Bathinda has been given Harpal Memorial Award and Hans Raj Pahwa Memorial Award by the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, for outstanding contribution to vegetable research. Dr Sidhu, who had already won the Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Memorial Award of the Indian Council of Agriculture Research in 1995, was presented these awards comprising cash and a citation by the Chief Election Commissioner, Mr Manohar Singh Gill, at a function organised at PAU recently. Dr Sidhu, who became a scientist at the Regional Research Centre located outside the PAU, has devised 10 improved varieties of vegetable and three hybrids. His research has also led to the development of fruit borer and purple blotch tolerant varieties of brinjal and onion. He has also improved cultivation technology for growing onions in the kharif season and seeds of this variety are in great demand. In the span of two decades of his research, four varieties of vegetable have been recognised at the national level. Most of these varieties has been notified by the Ministry of Agriculture. Dr Sidhu has visited London and Rome for doing research and was also selected for overseas fellowship by the Ministry of Science and Technology. BSF naturopathy centre The Border Security Force deployed at the Chamliyal border out post (BOP) in Samba tehsil of Jammu district in J&K state has been performing a unique job for the past 50 years. This force is running a naturopathy centre inside the 'Chamliyal' BOP located on Indo-Pak border. Besides, it has also been organising an annual fair in memory of Baba Dalip Singh Manhas, popularly known as "Baba Chamliyal" whose shrine is located inside the border outpost. The shrine has come to be known as a place having miraculous powers to heal all skin diseases. The soil and water of the place called "shakar" and "sharbat" respectively when mixed and made into thin paste, provides a cure for all types of skin disease. Patients suffering from various kinds of skin ailments like eczema, vitiligo luecoderma and inflammation, apply this paste all over the body. Even people suffering from chronic skin ailments have returned home after getting completely cured. The minimum time for treatment is 21 days, but it may take more time depending upon the gravity of the ailment. Though the chemical examination of the mud and water has not been conducted, it is said to cure skin ailments. Before Indo-Pak hostilities broke out, people living on border areas of Pakistan used to collect "shakar" and "sharbat" for treating patients on their side through their Rangers, who would accept 10 trollies each of soil and water from BSF officials. But for the past three to four years, the Pakistan Rangers have stopped this practice. The BSF is running this naturopathy centre for the past 50 years with lodging and boarding facilities. The naturopathy centre is the first of its kind in the country to be run by a paramilitary body. Every year around 40 to 50 patients come and stay at this centre and return home after being cured. The accommodation for devotees are allocated within the BOP's premises along with heavy security arrangements for both shrine workers and devotees. The devotees are given ration, which is cooked by women coming for treatment. The daily routine of the devotees is prayer in the morning, application of mud and water on the body in the forenoon, sitting in the open for about two hours followed by bath and lunch. Drill is done in the afternoon. Old-timers say that over 100 years ago, a sage, Baba Dalip Singh Manhas, lived at Chamliyal village. One day, while he was returning from his fields, criminals assaulted and beheaded him. His body fell in Saidanwali village (now in Sialkot district) while his head fell in Chamliyal village. The villagers of both areas started worshipping him. One of his disciples was suffering from a skin disease which could not be cured even after taking various medicines. Finally, he remembered the Baba, who appeared in his dream and told him that the soil at the place where his head had fallen, had some medicinal value. He advised him to mix the soil with the water there and apply it over the affected part of his body. Next morning, the disciple did the same as he was told by the Baba and within a few days he was completely cured. This incident gained enormous publicity and alter this place turned into a holy shrine. —
Contributed by K.L. Noatay, Chander Parkash and Kavita
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