Security in Rabwah has been tightened as the general public gears up for the 24th International Khatme Nabuwat conference which is set to take place tomorrow on 7^th September 2011. Hundreds of posters publicizing the conference have been put up all along the route from Chiniot to Chenab Nagar (Rabwah).

The International Khatme Nabuwat Movement was setup by Molana Manzoor Chinioti and Abdul Hafeez Makki in 1985. This year’s conference will be held at Jamia Usmania in Muslim Colony, Rabwah.

According to reports leader of banned militant organization S.S.P ( Sipahe Sahaba Pakistan ) Muhammad Ahmad Ludhyanvi would also attend the conference.

Ahmadi residents who make up 95% of Rabwah’s population see it as a threat to law and order of the town. In the past conferences like these have been used take out processions in public and hurl insults against Ahmadi leaders by using loud speakers.

In the past clerics attending the conference has demanded Ahmadis to be banned and to dismissed from all Government and Armed services effectively asking for religious discrimination against Ahmadis.

At the same time the town’s Ahmadis are not allowed to hold any kind of annual conferences, public meetings or community functions.

Whilst preparations for the conference were underway Aaamir Liaquat a renowned Islamic Scholar took to Twitter to show his extreme dislike for ahmadis. He has gained a lot of public attention in the past few weeks after he was seem swearing and mocking rape in a leaked video which later went viral. The Former Minister of Religious Affairs tweeted updates such as :

Remnants of a 4th century AD Buddhist stupa and monastery have been found on the foothills of Rabwah in area once knows as ‘Punj Peer’. The discovery was made by Chiniot based a local NGO called Lok Baithak.

The remains which include graves, walls of rooms, animal bones, pottery and meditation cells built out of stones and terracotta bricks are spread over an area of nine acres.
According to archaeologists these may be the remains of the lost OJAN or OJAIAN Buddhist University. A gold coin ranging from Kushana King 2nd’s period was also discovered.

The 700ft high hills that surround Rabwah are part of The Kirana Hills which are 10million years old, Historians have discovered pre-historic rock carvings on several of these hills.

Punjab Archeology Department Deputy Director Afzal Khan, commenting on this discovery said:

“We appreciate Lok Baithak for their sincere and dedicated efforts. These newly-reported ruins, especially the stupa, are a significant discovery in this area.”

For decades The Kirana hills have been a targeted by contractors crushing stones and selling them commercially which has led to the destruction of several archeological sites in the process. Only last year a blast destroyed a historic cave which had ancient Buddhist statues.

The blast at Yameen factory in Chiniot on 2^nd June wasn’t anything out of the ordinary and could have easily passed off as an accident but the timing of this blast made it very peculiar, as on the same day officers from the FIA were paying a visit to the factory.

The factory used to manufacture explosives which were later used in mountain blasting.

But according to confidential sources recent investigations carried out by the FIA have shown that the factory owners were actively supplying explosives to banned militant organizations, It’s also believed that explosives used in the PNS Mehran base attack also came from the very same factory.

According to the local residents who were close to the factory owners there was an increase in business in the past few years.

The government needs to take action to stop stone crushing machines eating up the ancient mountains along the River Chenab in Chiniot/Rabwah.

The chain of mountains is going to be diminished as mountain stones have been consumed unchecked for commercial purposes for the last many decades.

In 2007, a blast in such a mountain resulted in the appearance of a cave from a mountain. The cave, local residents say, had ancient stone statues and other items. Before archaeologists could study them, a big stone rolled down and capped the cave entrance.

In 2007, the Punjab Information, Culture and Youth Affairs Department declared these hill historical sites under the Special Premises under Punjab Special Premises (Preservation) Ordinance, 1985.

A landlord, Col Asim Ali Shah (retired), offered his adjacent land to establish a museum and Archaeological Department offices. Mines Department contractors, however, continue to crush stones.

Seeing inaction of the Punjab government, some residents wrote to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani seeking his help to stop contractors from crushing the stones.

The Prime Minister’s Secretariat issued a directive on May 9, 2010, to the culture division secretary with subject ‘Chiniot rock art at the mercy of stone crushers’ directing him to take necessary action to safeguard the visual heritage of the country. No action, however, has been taken.

Recently, the Lahore High Court, on a writ petition, stayed the stone crushing ordering the administration to ensure halt of blasting and preserve the cultural heritage.

Ahmad Ali, a resident of the mountainous range, said he had seen some statues inside the cave.

DCO Dr Irshad Ahmad says he had asked the police and revenue authorities to stop this stone crushing work.

The announcement was made at a meeting of WAPDA, NESPAK and the Irrigation Department lead by senior Minister Raja Riaz Ahmad in Chiniot on Thursday. This will produce up to 256 giga watt hours (GWH) of hydropower electricity and it will be able to store water for cultivation of around 26.4 thousand tons of wheat. The water in the dam would have a value of around Rs 2.92 billion and the power generated will have a round about value of Rs 0.92 billion. The project report of Rabwah Dam (Chiniot Dam) is ready to be submitted to the federal government.

It is said that the dam would have a barrage capacity of 1 million cusecs and a storage capacity of 1.29 million acre feet (MAF). The total length of the dykes will be 44 miles with a height of 39 feet. The ‘environment and rehabilitation cost’ of the dam has been estimated at Rs 5.2 billion, but we wonder if they will actually be applied for this purpose ! while Rs 5.1 billion would be spent on setting up a powerhouse.

Irrigation Department experts said Chenab River’s embankments would be reinforced up to Pindi Bhattian for protection against floods.

Source : Chiniot Dam (Rabwah Dam)