Buddhist monks visit Julian Stupa

A delegation of 150 Buddhist monks recently arrived from Thailand at Julian Stupa, a world heritage site, in Pakistan where the delegation also performed several religious rituals.

Regional in-charge of Hazara Archeology Department, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Nawazuddin welcomed the delegation.

The Archaeology officer told the media that the Gandhara civilisation is considered as sacred by different religions. Therefore, the Khyber Government has taken steps to promote religious tourism in Pakistan, he said, adding that the KP government is taking steps to provide facilities to all tourists.

While addressing the visiting delegation, he emphasised that the provincial government has taken special measures to protect these sacred historical places.

On their arrival, Buddhist monks visited various religious places of Buddhist origin in Hazara as well as other districts of the province to perform religious rituals.

Previously, a 14-member delegation comprising senior Buddhist monks from Sri Lanka had arrived in Lahore to undertake a week-long religious pilgrimage to various Buddhist heritage sites in the country.

Currently, the provincial government is trying to provide all possible facilities to foreign tourists. This year, hundreds of followers of religions related to Gandhara civilization have visited Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which has promoted a softer image of the country across the continent.

Two die in separate incidents

A man was found dead in a well in Pandori village recently. On Tuesday, the police said that the deceased named Zahoor Elahi was killed by his brother-in-law over a land dispute and was thrown into the well afterwards. Raids are underway for the arrest of the accused.

On the other hand, Chaudhry Faheem son of Chaudhry Tariq Master, a resident of Essa village and an employee of Ghazi Bharotha Hydropower Project passed away in a traffic accident leading to a saddened atmosphere in the area.

According to reports, he was on his way to work when his motorbike collided with a loader rickshaw at Tarbela Road. He sustained critical injuries and was immediately shifted to the Headquarters Hospital Ghazi with the help of local people. However, since he sustained head injury, he couldn't survive.

In another occurrence, two alleged robbers named Zeeshan Alias Shani and Gibran were apprehended by Kot Najibullah Police and 27 stolen mobile phones, Rs400,000 in cash and computers worth Rs400,000, stolen from Muhammad Nadeem Sukna's store in Kot Najibullah Main Bazaar were recovered from their possession.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 12^th, 2022.