09082025-JTR-01.qxd 8/8/2025 11:04 PM Page 1 c m y b Jalandhar tribune PUNJAB CLINCH SUB-JUNIOR NAT’L HOCKEY C’SHIP TITLE EMPOWERING YOUNG MINDS VIA PAINTING, PHOTOGRAPHY CELEBS WHO SHARE ADORABLE BOND WITH THEIR SIBLINGS Punjab emerged victorious in the championship, defeating Jharkhand 4-3 in a thrilling final in Chennai. P2 Harinder Singh Bhatti, HoD (Fine Arts) at Army Public School, says a lifetime is not enough for painting. P3 Raksha Bandhan, also known as Rakhi, commemorates the connection of love and friendship between siblings. P4 » » » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY MAX 34°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 34°C | MIN 26°C SUNSET SATURDAY 7.16 PM SUNRISE SUNDAY 5:49 AM SATURDAY | 9 AUGUST 2025 | JALANDHAR INBRIEF WOMAN ATTACKED, SEVEN BOOKED Phagwara: The Nakodar police have booked seven persons on the charge of outraging a woman's modesty. The accused have been identified as Ajay Bhalla, a resident of Old Civil Hospital Road, Nakodar, and his six accomplices. Vandana, wife of Vikas Bhalla, a resident of the same locality, complained to the police that the accused assaulted her and her family members and used filthy language against them and issued threats. No arrests have been made and raids are being conducted to nab the absconding accused. OC POLICE FACE STAFF CRISIS AT BILGA Phagwara: The Bilga police are reeling under the acute staff shortage. There are only 29 police personnel against a sanctioned strength of 106 personnel. It has two posts of Sub-Inspectors, of which one is vacant. It has nine sanctioned posts of ASIs of which five are vacant. All 14 posts of head constables are vacant. Of the 80 posts of constables, 63 are lying vacant. SHO Palwindar Singh Ghuman said the strength is adequate as per norms set by the Jalandhar (rural) SSP for each police station. OC Randhawa replaces Thiara as JIT chief, third in a year Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Jalandhar, August 8 The Aam Aadmi Party has changed the Jalandhar Improvement Trust (JIT) chairperson for the second time in its present tenure, raising serious questions over handling of its administrative affairs. The development reflects differences in the party unit here. The party on Friday replaced chairperson Rajwinder Thiara with Ramneek Singh Lucky Randhawa, who is also the incharge of the Jalandhar constituency. A resident of Model Town in Jalandhar, he had been appointed as the Sultanpur Lodhi Improvement Trust two years ago, but he could not take over as residents of the holy town had opposed his appointment being an outsider. Ramneek Singh Lucky Randhawa, new JIT chief. Thiara too is learnt to have been removed unceremoniously. She had been made to join with much fanfare in February 25 in the presence of AAP state president Aman TWO CAUGHT TAKING DRUGS Phagwara: In two separate incidents, the police have apprehended two youths for allegedly consuming narcotic substances. Both have been booked under the NDPS Act. In the first case, the police arrested Gurpreet Singh of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar. According to SHO Usha Rani, Gurpreet was caught while consuming drugs. In a separate incident, the Rawalpindi police arrested Kamaljeet Singh, alias Kamal, of Dugga. The accused was found using drugs at the time of arrest. oc chosen to congratulate new AAP appointee Randhawa. Asked about her removal, she said, “I was not able to handle the twin charge of halqa as well as the JIT. I had met AAP leader Bibhav Kumar a few days back and told him that I wanted to give up the Trust chairmanship to focus on my constituency. I am happy with the decision as the JIT is too much embroiled in controversies.” She ruled out any disagreement with Kohli on any matter. She also posted a 19-minute video of her achievements in political career on her social media pages today. Prior to Thiara, party spokesperson Jagtar Sanghera was the JIT chairperson. He had taken the charge in November 2022 but was asked to step down in 28 months. NHRC monitor Bal Krishan Goel during his visit to Civil Hospital. NHRC monitor finds violations in K’thala hospital, Modern Jail Our Correspondent Kapurthala August 8 National Human Right Commission special monitor Bal Krishan Goyal today said the commission has found many irregularities and violations during checking of the Civil Hospital and Modern Jail. During his two-day visit to Kapurthala, the commission special monitor today visited hospital and met patients and checked the hospital and also held a meeting with the health authorities. He found shortage of staff, equipment and also took cognisance of the inordinate delay in the construction of medical college at Kapurthala. He told mediapersons that he would bring it to the notice of the commission regarding inordinate delay in the construction of the medical college despite the release of Central funds of several crores. Goel said he has asked for the detailed reports of the hospital and the commission team would analyse data and submit its confidential report to its chairman. The special monitor, who is on a six-day visit to Punjab, has visited Pathankot, Sangrur and Kapurthala. Tribune News Service Jalandhar, August 8 More than two months since his arrest by the Vigilance Bureau, the court of Special Judge Jaswinder Singh on Friday granted bail to Mahesh Makhija, an aide of Jalandhar Central Aam Aadmi Party MLA Raman Arora. Makhija is a commission agent in the main vegetable market at Maqsudan. A resident of the Charanjitpura locality here, he was arrested on May 30, a week after the arrest of Arora on the charge of corruption. Lawyer for Makhija Mandeep Sachdev argued in the court today that Rs 29 lakh shown to have been recovered as ill-gotten money was Makhija’s personal amount. He also pleaded that he was made to sign on several blank papers, which were later converted as his disclo- sure statements. He maintained that there was nothing on record against Makhija other than the statements and no witness had stated if he had sought any bribe amount. The prosecution, however, had made a case that he was seeking bribe from the public at Police Station Division No. 2 for getting their work done and that he was purchasing benami properties from the amount collected, for which no witness or proof was placed on record. The court granted him bail observing that there was no point in keeping him in custody for an indefinite period as the trial would take a long time. He was asked to deposit Rs 1 lakh as surety and made to give undertaking that he shall appear in the court in every hearing and shall not leave the country without the court’s prior permission. Free e-rickshaw ride to expectant mothers Phagwara, August 8 A Phagwara e-rickshaw driver has become a symbol of compassion by offering free ride to expectant mothers. For nearly a year, Lovely, son of Shastri resident Mansa Devi Nagar, Phagwara, has been operating his e-rickshaw with a unique pledge displayed on the back: “No fare will be charged from expectant mothers.” His decision, he says, was inspired by the struggles of expectant mothers from lowincome backgrounds, many of whom find it difficult to afford transportation to hospitals or clinics for essential check-ups. “Some women would miss their medical appointments simply because they didn’t have the fare,” Lovely told reporters. “If I can help them reach on time without worrying about money, it gives me peace of mind,” he says. The initiative has won him widespread appreciation from local residents. — OC Bond of love 1.23 kg heroin seized from one in K’thala VILLAGER DIES MYSTERIOUSLY Phagwara: A resident of Malsian village has died under mysterious circumstances. The deceased has been identified as Mohamad Kayum, a resident of Pati Khurampur Malsian village. Shalam Khatoon, wife of the deceased, told the police that her husband had consumed some poisonous substance and died. OC Arora and Local Bodies Minister Dr Ravjot Singh. There had been reports that she was not getting along with some AAP leaders in the party, including Jalandhar Central halqa in-charge and industrialist Nitin Kohli. A large chunk of the Jalandhar Central area, including Surya Enclave, Surya Enclave Extension, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Avenue, which remain underdeveloped, fall under the JIT. Kohli had been repeatedly seeking the upgrade of facilities in the area such the installation of streetlights failing which he is learnt to have taken up the matter with the party higher-ups. Thiara, who is also the Jalandhar Cantt halqa incharge, has not apparently shown any resentment with the change. Rather she has MLA Arora’s aide Makhija gets bail Phagwara, August 8 In a major breakthrough in the ongoing war against drugs, the Counter-Intelligence Agency (CIA) staff of the Kapurthala police apprehended a ‘drug trafficker’ and seized 1.23 kg of heroin along with a car during a patrol near village Phulewal. SSP Gaurav Toora shared details of the operation in a press briefing today. He said the action was part of a statewide crackdown on drug networks, being taken under the directives of the government. During the patrol near village Phulewal, the team intercepted a white car bearing registration number PB08 DB 0797. Upon checking the vehicle under the supervision of DSP Deepkaran Singh, the police recovered 1.230 kg of heroin. The accused has been identified as Amritpal Singh of village Khukhrain, Kapurthala. He was immediately taken into custody. A case has been registered under the NDPS Act. Police officials confirmed that the accused will be presented before the court to obtain remand for further interrogation. — OC Residents shop for colourful rakhis on the eve of Raksha Bandhan in Jalandhar on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: SARABJIT SINGH Jalandhar’s Buddhist past unveiled: Untold stories of viharas and monks Aparna Banerji Tribune News Service Jalandhar, August 8 Had it not been for Dr BR Ambedkar’s bold rejection of the Hinduism and his historic embrace of Buddhism at Deekshabhoomi, Nagpur, in 1956 — sparking a wave of Buddhist revival across India, including Punjab — the region’s Buddhist heritage might have faded into obscurity, remembered only through a few overlooked texts by forgotten authors. Centuries after the countless Buddhist viharas that once flourished in the ancient spiritual hub of Jalandhar were lost — replaced by modern townships, religious sites, or reduced to mere mounds of earth — a new generation, inspired by Ambedkar’s reverence for Buddha’s ‘Dhamma’, began rediscovering the past and establishing fresh centres of Buddhist worship across the region. The first of these Buddhist viharas was set up at Sidharth Nagar in Jalandhar in 1980. Now, there are over 20 in the state. The kingdom of Trigarta, which had its capital in Jalandhar (finds mention in the Puranas), long predates Punjab. As per the writings of Chinese traveller and writer Hiuen Tsang (or Xuanzang), who visited Jalandhar in the 7th century, Jalandhar was a prolific Buddhist centre which had 50 Buddhist viharas and 2,000 monks (between 200 and 2,000 as per varied sources). The most popular of the ancient scribes having detailed Punjab’s Buddhist past, Hiuen Tsang’s travels from Patti to Sultanpur Lodhi to Jalandhar, document a region teeming with Buddhist monasteries. When Jalandhar-based Ambedkarite Buddhist Harmesh Jassal began work on a colossal (Punjabi) work OBLIVIOUS TO PAST It is sad that people and students today are oblivious to this specific history. Like Sanghol-Uccha Pind in Fatehgarh Sahib, I believe Jalandhar, too, will yield countless Buddhist treasures in excavations, if carried out. ❝ ❞ — Harmesh Jassal, a BUDDHIST A view of Dr Ambedkar Buddh Vihar in Jalandhar. PHOTO: SARABJIT SINGH documenting the Buddhist history of Punjab - it was in the works of this Chinese pilgrim (Xuanzang), a British legendary historian (Alexander Cunningham the first Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India) and a Jalandhar-based Sanskrit scholar (Pt Krishnanand Shastri) that he found answer to most of his questions. c m y b Currently working on his book ‘Punjab Da Bodhi Itihaas’ (the Buddhist history of Punjab) which comes out in October, Jassal says, “A reading of Shatri’s book ‘Trigarta Pradesh’ decades ago sent me on a trajectory from which I have never recovered. He visited, studied and documented many places which we constantly see, oblivious to their Buddhist history. When Hiuen Tsang visited India, following travels at Patti (Tarn Taran) and Sultanpur Lodhi (where he saw a 200 feet high Buddhist stupa) and at Jalandhar, he witnessed a huge centre of the Buddhism. He stayed here for 14 months. As per many Buddhist scholars, the fourth Buddhist conference was also held at Jalandhar - at a place which was then called the ‘ Tamas Ban’ (thick forest). During Hiuen Tsang’s visit, Udito, a Buddhist king contemporary to and an ally of King Harshvradhan of the Vardhan dynasty, ruled Jalandhar. Harshvardhan directed Udito to host Tsang as a state guest and ensure his safe passage across the kingdom’s borders.” Jassal adds, “Shastri documented painstakingly the places associated with Buddha in Jalandhar. He ran a book store popular as Sanskrit Bhawan at Mai Heeran Gate and I’ve had the honour of meeting him before his death. The temple of Sati Vrinda Mata at Kot Kishan Chand is actually said to be of the wife of king Jalandhara, the “daanav” (demon) king who once ruled Jalandhar. There are old tem- ples and places in Jalandhar which are said to be testimonies of the 10th century Buddhist associations with the Nath seers, including Jalandhar Nath. The popular Devi Talab Mandir had mud hills around it once, in the caves of which Buddhist monks lived and stayed. Jassal adds, “It is sad that people and students today are oblivious to this specific history. Like Sanghol-Uccha Pind in Fatehgarh Sahib, I believe Jalandhar too would yield countless Buddhist treasures in exvacations, if carried out.” Ambedkarite ideologue Prof KC Kaul says, “Be it the Ambedkar Bhawan (set up in 1972 at the site of Ambedakr’s October 1951 speech at Ramdaspura) or the first contemporary Buddhist vihara at Siddharth Nagar, Punjab’s present Buddhist revival has its roots in the Dalit emancipation triggered by Babasaheb.”