Private Family Graveyard

Some of my ancestors are buried in a private family graveyard in Pakistan. The graveyard is on privately owned land which belongs to our family. Unfortunately, I have not visited this place even though I have been to Pakistan many times. I know that my maternal grandma often visits the graveyard and is often the one who takes along visiting relatives to pay respects to the departed souls as she is one of the very few people who knows who is buried in which place. However, as she is getting older she is beginning to forget and therefore there is a need for grave markers or gravestones which identify the person that is buried there. So its been decided that indicators should be put down for the graves and money has been set aside for this purpose and hopefully my uncles in Pakistan will make sure the work is done.

But how many other Pakistanis are taking care of their private graveyards? Who should be in charge of the upkeep? Or should relatives co-operate and fund the maintenance of the graveyards so the responsibility is shared?

Here is a picture of the Bhutto family mausoleum:



It is situated in a village called Garhi Khuda Baksh in Sindh.

Topic questions:
Do you have a private family cemetery in Pakistan? Who takes care of it? Is there a sign at the entrance? Are the graves marked or unmarked? Is there a record of who is buried there?

If you have something to say on the topic, please do comment.

100th Member for My Pakistani Ancestry

Just a celebratory blog post to announce that 'My Pakistani Ancestry' (my Facebook group) has just reached a milestone - that is, it's welcomed it's 100th member. Yes, this is just to promote the group further but what the heck!

Reasons to join the group:

• You can find genealogical information, news and chat

• Share research problems and techniques

• Interact with other family historians by using the discussion boards

Thanks to everyone that has joined and let's hope there are more to come. It's easy to join. Click on the link here which takes you to the group's page. If you're logged on to your Facebook account you will be able to see the page otherwise log in. Near the top of the page you will be able to see the title of the group: 'My Pakistani Ancestry'. Click on the 'join' button next to it and you're done!

Remembering our shaheed .. 9

I'm posting more announcements of our shaheed (martyred) who are fighting for our country, our people and our freedom.

Sunday April 4th 2010

'At least 30 militants and six soldiers were killed in fierce clashes in different parts of Orakzai Agency on Saturday.' (Dawn)

Saturday April 10th 2010

'Three soldiers and 10 militants were killed in clashes in the South Waziristan tribal region on Saturday.' (Dawn)

Note: I can only provide you with names if I find them in the news articles I browse. If you think something needs correcting, please do leave me a message. I try my best.

We should all pray for these men and their families and recognise their courage and sacrifice for their country.

Are you related to a soldier? Do you have memories of a loved one dying in a war? Do you have a message for the soldiers fighting? Leave me a comment.

Happy Birthday anyone?

My Pakistani Ancestry blog is officially 1 yrs old as of yesterday. Yay!

I started this blog in the hope it would attract other Pakistanis to the world of genealogy and as such I have tried to produce content that tailors to the Pakistani and that links with family history. I posted about the census, social networking, Mughals and then I became slightly serious with memorial posts for Pakistani soldiers who had lost their lives. I'm still figuring out what to do with the Urdu posts as I feel they are not very effective but I'm open to suggestions.

I am still in search for another Pakistani genealogy blogger (or geneablogger), let's hope this year I find not only him/her but more avid readers who like to comment. (hint hint!)

Lastly, thanks for reading :)

Census this year?

I've been following news of when the Pakistan Census would take place and have written about it in previous posts. See 'Census and Yr2051' and 'Pakistan National Census'.

It had been planned to be taken in 2009 and then postponed to the end of 2009.. which seems to be a list of delays.

Now, The Dawn reports that the census will (hopefully) be taking place in April 2010:

"Chairing the meeting of first task force on census, Mr Khizar Hayat Khan said that in the first phase house listing operation would be held in April 2010, whereas in the second phase population census would be carried in October 2010."

Across the border, news of a census taking place in India have also been reported:

"India began a yearlong census of its billion-plus population Thursday in which it plans to photograph and fingerprints every citizen over the age of 15 to create a national database and then issue its first national identity cards."

And if you're wondering when the UK will hold its census, you have one more year to wait..

The tome of Ghazi Khan Mirani

S.A.J Shirazi points out more historical landmarks that are being neglected by the Pakistan government. This time it's the tome of Ghazi Khan Mirani. He goes on to mention the awful condition of the tomb in Dera Ghazi Khan, a city in Pakistan. It 'lacks sensitivity to its heritage.'

On the positive side, there are people out there who care. Hashim Sher Khan, a social activist, has been writing to agencies to protect the historical sites.

Read more about DG Khan, here.

What more can be done to protect historical sites?