Tony Hemming resigns as Pakistan Cricket Board’s chief curator

KARACHI: Seven-month-old Mayur Sunil experienced his first Raksha Bandhan festival when his older sister Nomisha and cousin Jaya Ramesh tied the sacred thread around his little wrist with the flowing waters of Chinna Creek as witness at the Shri Lakshmi Narayan temple here on Saturday.

It was a memorable moment for the children’s mother and aunts, who were beaming with a glint of joy in their eyes. Earlier, Mayur’s older cousin Nikhil Ramesh, who held the baby while his sisters tied the red rakhi on his wrist, also got his rakhifrom his younger sister Jaya.

Meanwhile, Faqira Vikash got a rakhi from Radhika Parmar. They were not real brother and sister but Radhika said that she saw Vikash as her protector and wanted to honour him by making him her brother.

Raksha Bandhan, the bond of love and protection between sisters and brothers, is celebrated annually on purnima, a full moon, in the Hindu month of Shravana, which is also commonly known as Sawan in North India. It is the fifth month of the Hindu lunar calendar.

Hindus celebrate the festival of siblings on the full moon of Sawan

There are many myths and legends attributed to Raksha Bandhan, one of which is about Lord Krishna injuring his hand which was quickly bandaged by Daupadi who tore off a strip of cloth from her saree pallu to do the needful and stop the bleeding. She always looked up to him as a brother.

Later, when she was harassed by some rascals who pulled her saree pallu, Krishna came to her rescue. With his extraordinary powers, the pallu kept unwinding as the men pulled without any end to it.

The rakhis used in this sweet ritual were available in abundance in an extensive variety from right outside the temple. You could buy 12 Pakistani rakhis for a hundred rupees and Indian rakhis, brought here in personal baggage, for double the price.

All the vendors were surprisingly Muslim. But then it was also not surprising to find Muslim women also coming to buy the rakhis for friends whom they look up to as brothers.

“In Pakistan, the festival may carry religious significance for Hindus but for Muslims, it is also a cultural festival. I’m going to tie a rakhi around my friend in college, who is always looking out for me,” said Ayesha Mahmood, a customer buying several threads from a stall.

Asked how many were she going to tie around one person’s wrist, she laughed and shared that many of her female friends had also requested her to get a rakhi or two for them as they also wanted to honour someone special.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2025

Armed with a trunkful of outdoor gear, we hit the beach to source the best trolley for your next family vacation.

Amid a spate of terrorist and quadcopter attacks, police on Friday carried out a search and targeted operation alongside security forces in Hoveed and Wazirabad areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu, arresting “14 terrorist facilitators and destroying three hideouts”.

Over the past few months, multiple areas of KP — including Bannu, Peshawar, Karak, Lakki Marwat and Bajaur — have seen a series of attacks, particularly targeting police personnel in Bannu in July.

Bannu police spokesperson Khanzala Quraishi said in a statement: “Pakistan Army and police conducted a joint operation in Hoveed and Wazirabad areas based on intelligence inputs and arrested 14 facilitators of the banned organisation, while 3 hideouts of terrorists were demolished.”

Quraishi added that the operation was carried out on information about the presence of terrorists in Wazirabad and Tudonar along the Tuchi River, where five suspected targets were cleared. Security forces also seized three vehicles, which included two motorcycles and a rickshaw.

“Joint patrols were also conducted in Hoveed Bazaar and its surroundings to ensure the presence of security forces in the area,” the police spokesperson added.

In a statement issued earlier today, Quraishi had said: “This operation has been launched on the basis of intelligence reports, the main objective of which is to cleanse the area from the scourge of terrorism and establish lasting peace.”

The operation began at 5am on Friday, according to Quraishi, and was launched on the instructions of Regional Police Officer Sajjad Khan under the supervision of District Police Officer Saleem Abbasi Kalachi.

“During the operation, security forces and police personnel have completely surrounded the area and house-to-house searches are ongoing,” the statement said.

“In case of any suspicious activity or resistance, immediate and effective action is being taken so that the terrorists do not get any chance to escape or hide.”

A curfew was imposed in the area during the duration of the operation for the sake of public safety, and citizens were advised to cooperate with security agencies and stay indoors.

“Immediately report any suspicious person or activity to the relevant authorities,” the statement read.

“Authorities have warned that providing any kind of facility or assistance to terrorists is a serious crime, and strict legal action will be taken against such elements.”

Last week, a police constable was martyred in a terrorist attack on a checkpoint in Bannu, where an exchange of fire also left three terrorists dead and three policemen injured.

In July, ter­rorists used a quadcopter to attack a police station in Miryan, Bannu, making it the fifth such attack at the installation in a month.

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