NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD: India and Pakistan are quarreling over reports of an alleged kidnapping and religious conversion of two Hindu girls in mostly Muslim Pakistan last week.
The spat began on Sunday when India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted that she had asked the country’s high commissioner in Islamabad to send a report on a news article on the allegations, a rare public intervention by a top Indian official in the neighbor’s domestic affairs.
Pakistani police said they had registered a complaint of kidnapping and robbery by the teenagers’ parents and that arrests could be made on Monday.
Pakistan’s Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry said the country was “totally behind the girls,” but asked Hindu-majority India to look after its own minority Muslims.
“Madam Minister, I am happy that in the Indian administration we have people who care for minority rights in other countries,” Chaudhry replied to Swaraj’s tweet.
“I sincerely hope that your conscience will allow you to stand up for minorities at home as well. Gujarat and Jammu must weigh heavily on your soul.”
Later in a press conference on Sunday, he referred to religious riots in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat in 2002 during which more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed. In Jammu and Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority state, Pakistan accuses India of human rights violations, a charge New Delhi denies.
An Indian foreign ministry source cited three more instances of forceful marriages of Hindu or Sikh women in Pakistan in the past two years and said that the government had raised “intimidation of Sikhs, Hindus, and desecration of their places of worship” with Pakistan on various occasions.
The Indian government run by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party will seek a second term in a general election starting next month. Modi has taken a tougher stand toward Pakistan in the past five years.
India, Pakistan spar over alleged religious conversion of Hindu girls
India, Pakistan spar over alleged religious conversion of Hindu girls
- In Jammu and Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority state, Pakistan accuses India of human rights violations
- Narendra Modi has taken a tougher stand toward Pakistan in the past five years
From round fruits to lucky charms: How Filipinos invite prosperous New Year
- Lights are lit, doors and windows open to allow good spirits in
- Sticky rice dishes are served to keep family sticking together
MANILA: With the dining table set with symbolic foods, a bit of noise and rituals to invite good luck, Filipinos are ready to welcome the New Year, carefully observing every tradition and superstition to bring prosperity.
Media noche or the midnight dinner on New Year’s Eve is central to the celebration. Besides traditional meats, there will be sticky rice dishes to keep the family sticking together, and pancit or long rice noodles to represent long life.
There should also be 13 round fruits prepared specifically for the occasion, with 12 representing each month of the year, and the 13th adding extra luck. Because they are round like coins, they are believed to invite abundance, wealth and prosperity.
“We cook bilo-bilo (sticky rice balls) with coconut milk and palitaw (sweet rice cakes). It’s something we simply grew up with,” said Cel Reyes from Mabini in Batangas province, south of Manila.
“It’s sticky, so it symbolizes togetherness, and it is also round. Anything that’s round is prepared also as a symbol of prosperity.”
In Malabon, a coastal city in the northern part of Metro Manila, Priam Nepomuceno’s 86-year-old mother-in-law sets unhulled rice on the table.
“Because of the gold color, it’s believed to bring luck and abundance,” he said. “Grapes are also hung on the door. They’re not meant to be eaten and are kept hanging for the whole year as a symbol of prosperity.”
Some people also jump when the clock strikes 12, believing it will help them grow taller.
In many households, all lights are lit before midnight, with doors and windows open to allow good spirits to enter, while noise from firecrackers and party horns keeps the bad ones at bay.
“By nature, Filipinos are superstitious. We believe in good luck, deities. We give in to faith and luck, and it’s tied to deep spirituality,” said Juanita Galang-Trinidad, an 80-year-old editor from Bulacan province north of Manila.
“We also put 12 coins in varying amounts in our pockets and wear polka dot clothing. Rice, cereal, and salt containers should be full.”
New Year’s celebrations, like Christmas, bring families together, but with extra traditions for good luck. Beyond the midnight feast and keeping round objects on the table and at hand, Filipinos try to pay off debts to avoid financial trouble in the coming year.
On New Year’s Eve, they also avoid serving chicken, as chickens are believed to scratch backward when they eat, symbolically scratching away good fortune.
“We hold on to our traditions despite these growing changes, modernity, in our environment,” Trinidad said.
“We still hold on to our traditions and customs because they identify us as a people, as Filipinos.”
