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Muslims and Sikhs break bread together at Dubai’s only gurdwara in Ramadan

Sikh devotees wait for their food at the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurudwara in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 26, 2022. (AN photo by Asma Ali Zain)
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Updated 30 April 2022
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Muslims and Sikhs break bread together at Dubai’s only gurdwara in Ramadan

  • Guru Nanak Darbar Gurudwara started offering iftar to Muslims in 2012
  • The ritual resumed this year after a brief pause during the coronavirus pandemic
Updated 30 April 2022
ASMA ALI ZAIN

DUBAI: As the Islamic call to prayer begins to echo inside the only Sikh temple in Dubai, Muslims are drawn to the building to break their fast with dates and rose-flavored Rooh Afza drink.

The Guru Nanak Darbar Gurudwara, located in Jebel Ali, has been serving the evening iftar meal to Muslims since 2012.

On one corner of the enormous hall at the heart of the building, tables are adorned with iftar dishes.




This picture shows the building of the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurudwara in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 26, 2022. (AN photo by Asma Ali Zain)

Mats are also rolled out on the other end to welcome hundreds of Sikh devotees who come here to perform religious rituals before cherishing quality food.

“We started the gurdwara 10 years ago,” said Rajdeep Singh, the hospitality manager, while sharing the history of the initiative. “Since then, we started hosting iftar at least once during the holy month. However, we did it on all 30 days of Ramadan in 2018-19.”

As Sikhs gather around their holy scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, in the evening, Muslims prostrate behind their prayer leader in the designated building area during Ramadan.

Speaking to Arab News, Singh said the iftar ritual at the gurdwara had resumed after a gap of two years due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“People are not aware yet that the gurudwara has reopened, so we don’t have many people this year,” he continued.

He said all religions were welcome at Sikh temples.

“We respect all religions,” Singh said. “This place was given to us by the rulers of the UAE, and we believe that this is a milestone for other religions to follow as well. Such gatherings can only happen in Dubai.”

“Every religious place can feature harmony and peace,” he added.




An iftar table can be seen at the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurudwara in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 26, 2022. (AN photo by Asma Ali Zain)

The Iftar menu offers plenty of Middle Eastern and Punjabi dishes such as kababs, pakoras, vegetable biryani and kheer.

Shoaib Khan, a project coordinator from Pakistan’s eastern Lahore city, who has been living in Dubai for the last five years, said he was visiting the place for the first time at the insistence of a Sikh friend.

“Breaking the fast here was really an amazing experience for me,” he said. “I saw that my friends, both Sikhs and Muslims, were sitting together at one place which gave the message that the biggest religion is humanity.”

Khan said he would encourage others to visit the gurudwara as well to see the generous welcome and love on display.




Indian Muslim Irshad Ali prepares to break his fast at the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurudwara in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 26, 2022. (AN photo by Asma Ali Zain)

In 2017, the Sikh temple also set a world record by hosting the highest number of people from all nationalities for a continental breakfast. A whopping 600 people from 101 different nationalities attended the event.

Irshad Ali, an Indian loader who works at the Dubai Airport, said he had been to the place at least four times to have iftar.




An Imam leads the evening prayer for Muslims after iftar is served at the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurudwara in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 26, 2022. (AN photo by Asma Ali Zain)

“It’s a different feeling coming here,” he said. “While it’s a gurudwara, we pray here behind an imam after the prayer call. The iftar meal is also readied on time, and it’s like a feast that is enjoyed not only by Muslims but also people belonging to other religions.”

Taliban criticize Pakistan’s plan to expel Afghan nationals, say refugees not causing security problems

Updated 9 sec ago
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Taliban criticize Pakistan’s plan to expel Afghan nationals, say refugees not causing security problems

  • Pakistan blamed Afghan nationals for carrying out a majority of suicide attacks in its cities, asking illegal immigrants to go
  • Zabiullah Mujahid says Pakistan should continue to ‘tolerate’ Afghan refugees until they voluntarily decide to leave the country
Updated 9 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: A senior official in Kabul on Wednesday criticized Pakistan’s decision to start expelling illegal immigrants, mostly Afghans, from next month amid mounting security concerns, saying that refugees from his country were not responsible for causing militant violence in Pakistani cities.

Pakistan has hosted a significant number of Afghan refugees for several decades, with their influx beginning in 1979 following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and continuing through various conflicts that afflicted the war-ravaged state.

Hundreds of thousands of Afghans also traveled to Pakistan since the US-led international forces left the neighboring country and the Taliban took over Kabul in 2021. While Pakistan hosts some 1.5 million registered refugees, more than a million others are estimated to be residing in the country unregistered.

Pakistan’s interim interior minister said on Tuesday Afghan nationals were involved in 14 out of 24 suicide bombings that took place in Pakistan since the beginning of this year, asking all foreigners residing illegally in the country to leave by the end of the month.

“The behavior of Pakistan against Afghan refugees is unacceptable,” Zabiullah Mujahid, Afghan government’s official spokesman, said in a social media post. “The Pakistani side should reconsider its plan.”

“Afghan refugees are not involved in Pakistan’s security problems,” he continued. “As long as they leave Pakistan voluntarily, that country should tolerate them.”

Pakistan witnessed a surge in extremist attacks, particularly in its two western provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, following the 2021 Taliban return to power in Kabul.

The recent spike in violence also owed to the breakdown of a fragile truce between the government and the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant network, whose leadership is said to be based in Afghanistan, last November.

Pakistan lost over 60 people in two suicide bombings that targeted a mosque and a religious congregation on Friday, prompting the government to ask all illegal immigrants to leave by November 1 or face forced expulsion.
 

Topics: Pakistan Pakistan Afghan Ties Afghan refugees Afghan Refugees in pakistan Afghanistan Zabiullah Mujahid

US defense secretary holds call with Pakistan army chief to discuss regional developments

Updated 57 min 46 sec ago
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US defense secretary holds call with Pakistan army chief to discuss regional developments

  • A statement issued in Washington says the two officials ‘discussed areas of mutual interest’
  • The Pakistan army’s media wing has not issued a statement to share details of conversation
Updated 57 min 46 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin held a phone call with Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir, a brief statement issued in Washington announced on Tuesday night.

The US statement did not share details of the conversation between the two officials, though their exchange comes at a time when both countries are trying to rebuild relations that came under strain during the government of former prime minister Imran Khan.

The ex-premier accused the administration in Washington of orchestrating his downfall in a no-trust vote since he was trying to pursue an independent foreign policy. The US official have, however, repeatedly denied the claim.

“Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke by phone today with Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Gen. Asim Munir,” Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a brief statement. “Secretary Austin and Gen. Munir discussed areas of mutual interest as well as recent regional developments.”

Pakistan army media wing, ISPR, is yet to issue a statement about the phone call.

However, the caretaker administration gave a deadline to all illegal immigrants, mostly Afghan nationals, to leave the country by the end of the month.

The decision was announced after two militant attacks on a mosque and a religious procession left more than 60 people dead in the country’s western provinces bordering Afghanistan.

Officials in Islamabad have frequently blamed the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), whose leadership is said to be based in the neighboring state, for launching such attacks.

The country’s caretaker interior minister Sarfaraz Bugti also blamed Afghan nationals for their involvement in several militant attacks during a media briefing.

“From January till now, there have been 24 suicide bombings [in Pakistan],” he said. “Of those 24, 14 suicide bombings were carried out by Afghan nationals. They were Afghans who attacked us.

Topics: Pakistan US Ties Pakistan US Lloyd Austin Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin General Asim Munir Pakistan army chief

Pakistan imposes 10 percent fee on Afghan transit trade items

Updated 04 October 2023
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Pakistan imposes 10 percent fee on Afghan transit trade items

  • The decision comes amid an intense crackdown against smugglers and hoarders to bolster the weakening economy
  • Officials say the move will prevent items destined for Afghanistan to be brought into Pakistani markets by traders
Updated 04 October 2023
REHMAT MEHSUD

PESHAWAR: Pakistan announced on Tuesday to impose a 10 percent processing fee on several items imported from Afghanistan under a transit trade agreement in a step that has been viewed as an attempt to stop illegal entry of goods into the country from the neighboring state.
The government launched an intense crackdown against smugglers and black marketers last month to bolster the country’s weakening economy and bring down the prices of essential items in the market.
The counter smuggling operation prevented the flight of foreign currencies from Pakistan, leading to the stabilization of its value somewhat subsiding the inflationary pressure in the economy.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 18D of the Customs Act, 1969 (IV of 1969), the Federal Government is pleased to impose processing fee at the rate of 10 percent ad valorem on the following Afghan transit Commercial goods imported into Afghanistan in transit via Pakistan,” said a customs department notification while listing down the items.
These included confectionaries and chocolates, footwear, mechanical and electrical machinery, blankets and home textiles, and garments.
Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported customs officials “suspect that certain goods, though destined for Afghanistan, are clandestinely rerouted back into Pakistan, prompting this latest measure.”
However, the official notification said goods declarations filed prior to the decision on Tuesday would be exempt from the processing fee.
Pakistan has also announced to crack down on illegal immigrants, mostly Afghans, residing in the country, asking them to leave before the end of the month.

Topics: Pakistan afghan trade afghan trade items Afghanistan

Pakistani cybersecurity expert leads King Saud University in winning US AI-based biometrics patent

Updated 04 October 2023
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Pakistani cybersecurity expert leads King Saud University in winning US AI-based biometrics patent

  • The university says it such research projects can help transform the kingdom into a knowledge-based economy
  • Muhammad Khurram Khan, who led the research team, has set up a cybersecurity think tank in the United States
Updated 04 October 2023
KHURSHID AHMED   

KARACHI: King Saud University has won a patent from the United States by developing a biometrics-based iris recognition system after carrying out a project led by an accomplished Pakistani expert who is also the founded of an independent and non-partisan cybersecurity think-tank in Washington.
According to a post shared on the university’s website, the new system uses artificial intelligence and employs deep learning-based methods for extracting discriminant features from biometric traits obtained from eyeball images.
Muhammad Khurram Khan, who carried out and supervised the research, is a distinguished professor of cybersecurity from the Center of Excellence in Information Assurance and the founding CEO of the US think tank, Global Foundation for Cyber Studies and Research.
“The invention provides an innovative method based on multi-algorithm, multi-biometric, and multi-instance approaches to a single biometric source that enhances security and performance of the identification process at significant level,” the Saudi university announced.
“The invented technology has widespread applications, which are not only limited to areas such as immigration and border control, health care, banking and finance, consumer electronics, smart mobility, and military and defense, etc.,” it added.
The university website also proclaimed that Khan and his research team held a number of US patents in cybersecurity and had also published numerous high-impact research papers in flagship journals.
It also highlighted its own commitment to such research and development projects to transform the kingdom into a knowledge-based economy under Vision 2030.

Topics: cybersecurity expert AI-based biometrics King Saud University

Pakistan’s cotton production bounces back after last year’s losses, records 71 percent growth

Updated 04 October 2023
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Pakistan’s cotton production bounces back after last year’s losses, records 71 percent growth

  • The country witnessed a massive decline of 34 percent in cotton production last year due to the floods
  • The government calls this year’s production level ‘momentous,’ expects a bumper crop of 12 million bales
Updated 04 October 2023
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s cotton producers have made a remarkable comeback after suffering massive losses due to last year’s monsoon floods, with the commerce ministry announcing a 71 percent year-on-year growth in the ongoing year by issuing a brief statement on Tuesday.
Cotton is the main raw material of Pakistan’s textile sector which contributes about 60 percent to the overall exports of the country.
Torrential rains during monsoon last year triggered flash flood, destroying people’s houses and farmlands across much of the country.
The situation caused a huge setback to cotton production sector that experienced a 34 percent year-on-year decline, according to the official figures.
However, the ministry said in its statement that the “astounding 71 percent year-on-year growth” had “not only surpassed the previous year’s figures but also exceeded expectations.”
“Cotton arrivals crossing the 5 million bales mark on October 1, 2023, is a momentous achievement for Pakistan,” Dr. Gohar Ejaz, the interim commerce minister, said while commenting on the development. “Last year, our total crop was 5 million bales, and this year, we are anticipating a bumper crop of 12 million bales.”
“This remarkable growth showcases the dedication and hard work of our farmers and the resilience of our cotton industry,” he added.
The minister also promised to support and promote the cotton sector of the country, saying it had always played an “indispensable role” in Pakistan’s economic development and global competitiveness.
According to the textile industry stakeholders, the country’s cotton production has been shrinking in recent years.
“The cotton output in Pakistan is declining mainly due to the climate change-related issues and reduction in the cultivation area,” Chaudhry Waheed Arshad, a top official of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association, told Arab News earlier this year in January.

Topics: cotton Pakistan Cotton Crop Agriculture

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