Danyalism: Spiritual Healing in Gilgit

Dear Friends,

A study on Danyal of Gilgit has been carried out in 1989 and the summary of the research has been posted on Mountain Forum Online Library in 1998. Please visit the following link and let me know of your comments and suggestions for further research on the topic.

http://www.mtnforum.org/rs/ol/browse.cfm?tp=vd&docid=95
OR
DANYALISM

Regards,

Altaf Hussain

Nostalgic Video

Traveling to UK via Dubai

Dear Friends,

Yesterday only I  came to know of a case from a friend which is very scary. One of his friends was traveling to UK via Dubai . Unfortunately he was carrying a packet of Khas Khas(Poppy Seed) which is a commonly used spice in some Indian curries and sweets. Khas Khas is also known as poppy seed which can be sprouted to grow narcotics (afeem etc.). 

This innocent person did not know that recently the laws in UAE and other Gulf countries have been revised and carrying Khas Khas is punishable with minimum 20 years of imprisonment or even worse with death penalty. Currently, the person is in a jail in Dubai for the last two weeks. His friends are frantically trying hard for his release but are finding that this has become a very very serious case. Lawyers are asking huge fees amounting to AED 100,000 even to appear in the court to plead for his innocence.

Please forward this email to all you know specially in Pakistan . They should know the seriousness of this matter and should never ever carry even minutest quantities of the following items when traveling to Gulf countries:

1. Khas Khas whether raw, roasted or cooked.

2. Paan

3. Beetle nut (supari and its products, e.g. Paan Parag etc.)

The penalties are very severe and it could destroy the life of an innocent person. 

I appeal you to create the awareness by forwarding this email to all you know.

Thanks and Best Regards

THE GILGIT REBELLION 1947 By William A. Brown

  I have posted this book because it is an important source from the point of view of giving a true state of events and the persons relevant to the freedom of Gilgit and Baltistan in 1947-48.
GILGIT SCOUTS, NEW EDITION

GOOGLE SEARCH

PREFACE

[William Alexander Brown, 1922-1984]

William Alexander Brown, Willie to his friends, was born in Melrose in the Scottish Borders on 22 December 1922. His father, William Neilson Brown, had served with distinction in the Gordon Highlanders during World War I, and had been awarded the Military Cross. His grandfather, Alexander Laing Brown, had been Liberal MP for the Border Burghs from 1886 to 1892. The Brown family had played a prominent part in the development of the woollen trade in the Borders: they were responsible for building some of the first mills in Selkirk, Galashiels and Hawick.

William Brown was educated at St Mary’s Preparatory School, Melrose, and George Watsons College, Edinburgh. In April 194l, on leaving school, he enlisted in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.

In December 1941 he sailed for India. Here, he attended the Officer Cadet training unit at Bangalore and was then commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant into the 10/12 Frontier Force Regiment.  He transferred almost at once to the Frontier Corps of Scouts and Militia, serving initially in the South Waziristan Scouts on the Afghan border of the North Western Frontier Province. He soon became proficient in Pushto, the language of the Pathans.

In early 1943 William Brown was posted to the Gilgit Agency where he spent the next three years, for a time serving as Assistant Political Agent in Chilas (when he was responsible for the construction of the Chilas Polo Ground still in use today). He travelled widely throughout the Gilgit Agency in Hunza, Nagir, Yasin, Ishkoman, Punial and Guh Khizr, gaining experience which was to stand him in good stead when he had to face the Gilgit crisis of 1947 which is described in detail in this book. While in the Gilgit Agency during this time he learnt Shina the lingua franca of the region, as well as some Burushaski, the language of Hunza. Some impression of his first time in the Gilgit Agency is conveyed in Chapter 1 of this book.

In 1946, after Gilgit, William Brown served briefly in the Tochi Scouts, based in North Waziristan, and then in June 1947 he was posted to Chitral as Acting Commandant Scouts there.

In Peshawar, enroute for Chitral, he was told by Lt.—Colonel Roger Bacon, then Political Agent in Gilgit, that the Viceroy Lord Mountbatten, had decided (for reasons which were not clear to Bacon and which are still not clear) that the 1935 British lease of the Gilgit Agency fiom the Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir (a lease which still had 49 years to run) was going to be terminated and that the Agency, with a 99% Muslim population, was going to be returned to the Hindu rule of the Dogra Maharaja Sir Hari Singh. The actual transfer would take place, Colonel Bacon told him, on 1 August 1947 two weeks before the recently announced end of the British Indian Empire on 15 August. It was put to him that he would be a suitable candidate for the position of the Commandant of the Gilgit Scouts during and after this period of transition. William Brown while fully appreciating the difficulties and dangers involved, and angry that the British could so callously return without any preparation or warning the Muslim people of the Gilgit Agency to by no means congenial Hindu rule, volunteered for the task even though it meant leaving the British service and become in effect a mercenary employed by the Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir.

After a very brief period in Chitral the position of Commandant of the Gilgit Scouts was indeed offered to him. He accepted at once. He was given the acting rank of Major. On 29 July 1947 he arrived in Gilgit just in time to witness the formal handover on 1 August, when the British flag was lowered and that of Jammu & Kashmir raised in its place. Colonel Bacon, the last British Political Agent, departed: his place was taken by Brigadier Ghansara Singh the representative of the Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir.

What followed between August 1947 and January 1948, when William Brown was finally withdrawn from Gilgit (now part of Pakistan), is described in considerable detail in Chapters II to V of this book. One must always remember that when these events took place William Brown was only 24 or 25 years old (he celebrated his 25th birthday in Gilgit). One must also remember that once William Brown had embarked upon the process which resulted in the Gilgit Agency declaring for Pakistan he was technically in a state of mutiny against the Government of State of Jammu & Kashmir.  Had he been captured by the Maharaja’s forces, he would almost certainly have been put to death, as he well knew.

After his return from Gilgit in 1948, William Brown was transferred to the Frontier Constabulary, the police force of the North Western Frontier Province (by now, of course,  of Pakistan) in which he served in various capacities for the next two years.

In July 1948 William Brown was awarded the MBE (Military) with a citation so unspecific that it was not clear what lay behind this acknowledgement of his merits. He assumed that somewhere within the British military establishment there were those who approved of what he had done in Gilgit to ensure that this region went to Pakistan rather than to India. He was only too aware that there were other leading British figures, not least Lord Mountbatten, who were far from pleased by his intervention in the affairs of the post British Subcontinent.

William Brown felt deeply attached to Pakistan and did not wish to leave the country. He sought therefore, some position there in commerce after leaving the Frontier Constabulary. Sir George Cunningham, formerly Governor of the North West Frontier Province (and who figures in this book, as the reader will see), obtained for him a position in Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) as a Sales Executive. Unfortunately, in this capacity his first posting was for Calcutta in India. During his time in Gilgit William Brown had evidently made a number of determined enemies among the Sikhs, perhaps because of his involvement (described in the book) in the destruction of the Sikh component of the 6th Kashmir Infantry in Bunji. In Calcutta he was set upon by Sikhs and left for dead in the street. Miraculously he was found by a doctor and he recovered. He was then posted to Karachi in Pakistan.

In early 1957 William Brown met Margaret Rosemary Cooksley, who was serving with the UK High Commission in Karachi. They married. In 1958 a son, William, was born.

William Brown was a keen sportsman. While at school he had become a good marksman, having shot at Bisley where he captained the school team. When; with the War, cartridges became scarce, he became interested in falconry. While in Gilgit, the local national game of polo captured his enthusiasm and he became very skilled at it: he had already become a superb horseman. In later years in Karachi he played polo using at times Gilgit tactics which did not always win universal approval. Also in Karachi William Brown took up racing as an armature jockey and as a trainer, in both capacities with some success.

During these Karachi years he did not lose touch with the mountains of the old Gilgit Agency. He became the local secretary for Pakistan of the Himalayan Society and helped many expeditions coming to Pakistan to climb in the Karakorum, Hindu Kush, Pamir’s and Himalaya.

In 1959 William Brown and his family returned to the United Kingdom. He felt that the day of the expatriate in the commerce of the subcontinent was passing and that it was time to head for home. As by this time he could not imagine a life without horses, in 1960 he established livery yard and riding school, Glenside Stables, in the village of St Boswells in the Duke of Buccleuch’s Hunt country. Here he remained respected as teacher and judge of horses for the next twenty-four years. During this time there were four more children Frances, Timothy Katy and Helen.

On 5 December 1984 a week before his 62nd birthday, William Brown died after a sudden heart attack. Few of his wide circle of friends had appreciated quite what an impact on the history of South Asia he had had during his time in Gilgit in 1947 and early 1948 since he never spoke of his adventures in those days they were surprised when accounts of the Gilgit Rebellion the subject of this book, appeared in obituaries in The Times, The Daily Telegraph and various local Border newspapers. Indeed it was only after his death that the full truth about what he had achieved in Gilgit made his enormous contribution to the future success of Pakistan began to come to light. Hitherto for a variety of reasons, which need not concern us here, there had been a tendency to minimise, if not ignore entirely, his part in the great events of 1947 which are the subject of this book. In the end, justice to his memory was to some measure,  done with the awarding, on Independence Day 1993, of the medal Sitara-i-Pakistan as a posthumous recognition by Pakistan of his great contribution. His widow Margaret received the medal in Islamabad from the hands of President Leghari on Pakistan Day, 23 March 1994.

William Brown is buried in Benrig churchyard, in the heart of the Border country, which he had loved so much. On his gravestone is engraved the Ibex head badge of the Gilgit Scouts and the legend, DATA KHEL. 31.10.47 (the significance of which will become apparent to the readers of this book).

A word about this book. William Brown kept a diary until at least until his return from Gilgit in January 1948. The actual diary has been lost (apparently it was stolen) but at some point before 1950, probably as early as 1948, William Brown wrote it up in narrative form, perhaps intending to publish it. In the end it was not published and the top copy was lost. A carbon copy however, survived. This is what is reproduced below. There has been the absolute minimum of editorial interference. A few pages have been omitted, mainly because they digress from the main thrust of the narrative. Spelling has, we hope, been standardised and there have been minor alterations in schemes of punctuation. Otherwise, this is what William Brown wrote when the events described were still fresh in his mind after the passage of no more than a year or so and with his diary before him. In many ways it is a unique document, the story of an adventure of a kind which William Brown may well have been the last Briton to experience in the Indian Subcontinent with the passing of the British Raj. It was an adventure, moreover, which changed the course of history to an extent that few other individuals can have achieved. Without William Brown it is more than likely that in the end the Gilgit region would have passed into the hands of India. Pakistan would have been cut off for ever from Central Asia. India would have been in direct contact with Afghanistan, in many respects at least, is hostile to Pakistan as ever India has been. What would the fate of Pakistan have been in I best, circumstances?

Many people helped in the preparation of this memoir for the press. We would particularly like to thank Shah Khan for his assistance in the verification of material relating to the Gilgit region in the years 1947-48. Crown copyright material from the British Library (India office Records) is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationary Office.

Click this LINK , also INDEPENDANCE DAY KEYNOTE SPEECH

I am Emma Brown, daughter in law of Margaret Brown, who thanks you for your response and who also sends on her regards. Indeed she has frequented Hunza on many occasions and has always spoken so dearly of the place and the people. I am glad to hear that it has been a genuine misunderstanding and it is also nice to see that you have the same passion about the book as we do. We are however in the process of designing a website and having the book available to be downloaded as well as hopefully a reprint in hard copy. We would therefore ask if you could please remove the book from your blog - Margaret is happy for you to keep the preface, but not the rest of the contents online. We are hoping to re-publish the book in the near future with extra content - as since the first publication there have been so many friends of 'Willies' who have come forward with more information, which we are in the process of compiling. Obviously, with your passion we would welcome any thoughts you have, as ultimately our aim is to bring the story to a new generation. I shall keep you posted as we get everything up and running. Kind Regards Emma

BACK REFERENCE TO THIS POST:   COMMENTS BY A READER, A BLOGPOST, STATUS OF GB, GILGIT SCOUTS, MEESAQ 1947: Proposed and Penned by Safiullah Beg during the first meeting in July at our property in Sonikot Gilgit.

COPY OF COMMUNICATION WITH PIA

To: Maj Gen. Mir Hyder Ali HI(M) MOD. Rawalpindi

Subject: REPLY FROM PIAC - Irregularities at PIA Counters Islamabad Air port- Gilgit and Baltistan Flights

My Dear General,

Thank you for taking up this issue of public interest with PIA. Ms. Nusrat Irfan Rathor Senior Office Customer Relations responded on 24 Dec 2010. The response in effect says that “all is well” rather than giving an indication of any positive steps in hand to improve the situation. I am appending below copy of my response in case you have been given a different picture:

From: hisamullah7@msn.com
To: nusrat.rathor@piac.aero
Subject: REPLY FROM PIAC

Date: Fri, 24 Dec 2010 21:35:36 +0500
What about the answers to the specific questions in my mail. How long would you continue to misguide rather than bringing about passenger facilitation?
I am reproducing the questions and the communication dated 15 Jul 2010 with PIA on my observations with the flights to GB:
“I would request you to please share following information:
• Bookings (Names) for 15 Jul as recorded on the central data base on 01 Jul 2010.
• Names of passengers who actually traveled on PK-605 and PK-607 (Passenger list) on 15th Jul 2010.
• Names on the waiting list for two flights on 15th Jul in the order in which they were recorded and
• Those who actually managed to get on the flight from this list.

NOTE: I do not need the list of Justifications for the variance. I have seen and met many wailing kids and mothers.”

Dear Brig ® Hisamulah Beg,

This refers to your Oct 20, 2010 complaint which has been sent tt MD PIAC through Maj Gen. Mir Hyder Ali.
We had referred your case to the concerned section and it has been established that on 3rd October 2010, a booking was created in your favor through PIA Call Center for sector GIL-ISB on PK-606/13 Oct and PK-608/16 Oct on waitlist status for PNR HXKYNC. As per PIA policy, since fights for Northern Areas are subject to weather therefore you were booked on waitlist basis.
On 16th October you were waitlisted for PK-606/17 Oct and PK-608/17 Oct. Then on 17th October you were confirmed for PK-608/18 Oct against the backlog bookings and on 17th October our Call Center called on your given number but was unable to reach you due due to no response. Therefore on the same day the Call Center as per procedure cancelled PK-608/18 Oct due to no response from your contact number.
As for your daughter, a booking was created on 11th October through our Call Center for Ms. Uzma Beg on PK-608/18 Oct for sector GIL-ISB on waitlist status with PNR LOSHYN.
Further it has been established that status of your bookings remained on waitlist status till date. The call recording of your conversion with Contact Center indicates that no confirmation was given regarding your booking.
As for the payment of PKR 1000 for confirmation of seats through some stated mobile account in Karachi is concerned, we can only presume that it was due to some misunderstanding. Also, we feel that no-show charges which amount to PKR 1000 may have been misinterpreted as payment for seat confirmation.
With best regards,

Sincerely,

Ms. Nusrat Irfan Rathor
Senior Office
Customer Relations
Ph: 99044943



My dear Capt Qasim Hayat,

Further to the mails exchanged on the topic, I would request you to please share following information:

    * Bookings (Names) for 15 Jul  as recorded on the central data base on 01 Jul 2010.

    * Names of passengers who actually traveled on PK-605 and PK-607 (Passenger list -Manifest) on 15th Jul 2010..

    * Names on the waiting list for two flights on 15th Jul in the order in which they were recorded and

    * those who actually managed to get on the flight from this list.

NOTE: I do not need the list of Justifications for the variance. I have seen and met many wailing kids and mothers

From: "Hisamullah Beg SI\(M\)" hisamullah7@msn.com
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2010 01:30:12 +0500
To: <khinzpk@piac.aero>
Cc: <mdpiac@piac.aero>
Subject: Irregularities at PIA Counters Islamabad Air port- Gilgit and Baltistan Flights
My dear visionary Leadership with Corporate Social responsibility,
Please let me know if anyone in PIA feels responsible to correct the brazen irregularities and very obvious dishonesty prevailing at PIA counters at Islamabad air port dealing with Gilgit and Baltistan Flights. Instances:
'NO show' for confirmed passengers (standing in QUE within the 35 Min limit) and entertaining those interested in getting a flight out of turn (Resourceful individuals willing to dispense some resources are routed through Rawal lounge lest the hoard of chance passengers know – money makes the mare go)
NO respect for honouring 'first come first serve' for Chance passengers
NO priority for Awards Plus card holders
NO announcements about status or flight at the counters You don't know if your name has been entered on the computer (silent out of turn dealings)
Cancellations not conveyed to central record
WILL IT CONTINUE THIS WAY?

 
Brig Retd Hisamullah Beg SI(M) – 106096255

 
Subject: Fw: Irregularities at PIA Counters IslamabadAir port- Gilgit and Baltistan Flights
To: hisamullah7@msn.com
From: ISBOPPK@piac.aero
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:57:42 +0500
Reference your E-Mail on the above subject addressed to G.M. PHS and copy
to Managing Director PIAC.
Please let us know your landline phone number and mobile number.
Best Regards.
Capt. Qasim Hayat
General Manager
North Operations
Tele:+92-51-9280951
+92-51-902-4301
Fax: +92-51-9280962
Email: isboppk@piac.aero

RE: Irregularities at PIA Counters IslamabadAir port- Gilgit and Baltistan Flights‏

From:	Hisamullah Beg (hisamullah7@msn.com)
Sent:	Wednesday, July 14, 2010 7:09:41 PM
To:	isboppk@piac.aero

My Dear Capt Qasim Hayat
I am impressed with quick response. The required information is:
Tel: 051 5952895     Mob: 0345 5326255
Thanks

The surprising benefits of lemon!

Institute of Health Sciences, 819 N. L.L.C. Charles Street Baltimore , MD 1201.
This is the latest in medicine, effective for cancer!
Lemon (Citrus) is a miraculous product to kill cancer cells. It is 10,000 times stronger than chemotherapy.

Why do we not know about that? Because there are laboratories interested in making a synthetic version that will bring them huge profits. You can now help a friend in need by letting him/her know that lemon juice is beneficial in preventing the disease. Its taste is pleasant and it does not produce the horrific effects of chemotherapy. How many people will die while this closely guarded secret is kept, so as not to jeopardize the beneficial multimillionaires large corporations? As you know, the lemon tree is known for its varieties of lemons and limes. You can eat the fruit in different ways: you can eat the pulp, juice press, prepare drinks, sorbets, pastries, etc... It is credited with many virtues, but the most interesting is the effect it produces on cysts and tumors. This plant is a proven remedy against cancers of all types. Some say it is very useful in all variants of cancer. It is considered also as an anti microbial spectrum against bacterial infections and fungi, effective against internal parasites and worms, it regulates blood pressure which is too high and an antidepressant, combats stress and nervous disorders.

The source of this information is fascinating: it comes from one of the largest drug manufacturers in the world, says that after more than 20 laboratory tests since 1970, the extracts revealed that: It destroys the malignant cells in 12 cancers, including colon, breast, prostate, lung and pancreas ... The compounds of this tree showed 10,000 times better than the product Adriamycin, a drug normally used chemotherapeutic in the world, slowing the growth of cancer cells. And what is even more astonishing: this type of therapy with lemon extract only destroys malignant cancer cells and it does not affect healthy cells.

Institute of Health Sciences, 819 N. L.L.C. Cause Street, Baltimore, MD1201
Share this information with others!

Regards
Khalid Masaud