History of Fazilka : Firozpur District Gazzette

Fazlika: - Headquarters of the tehsil/subdivisions of Fazlika are connected both by rail and road. It is a junction and terminus railway station of the Rewari-Bathinda-Fazlika Section of the metre-gauge line of the Northern Railway. It is also connected by the Fazilka-Firozpur Cantonment section of the broad-gauge line of the Northern Railway. By rail, Fazlika is 80 km from Kot Kapura, 428 km from Rewari and 99 km from Firozpur cantonment. By road, it is 87 km from Firozpur. 56 km from Malaut, 34 km from Abohar and 15 km from the international Sulemanki border with Pakistan. Its population was 3,406 in 1868, 6,651 in 1881, 10985 in 1911, 25935 in 1951, 32015 in 1961, 36,281 in 1971 and 43,548 in 1981.

When in 1844, the tract of country on the Satluj was ceded by Bahawalpur, there was no village where Fazilka now stands, but Vans Agnew, the first officer stationed there, built himself a bungalow, in which the office of the Subdivisional Officer (Civil), Fazilka, is now located. From that bungalow, the place became known as Bangla, a name still given to the town and tehsil by the people. Two years later, Oliver established a few shops there, and gave the place the name of Fazilka from Fazil, one of early Wattu settlers. Its favrouable position near the Satluj enabled it to engross almost the whole of the export trade from the great desert tract towards Sind (now in Pakistan), and made it very soon a flourishing market. A most destructive flood visited Fazlika in 1908 and practically the whole of the town collapsed and had to be rebuilt.

It is a class Ii municipality. There are a degree college (M.R. College), 3 high schools for boys and 1 higher secondary school for girls; 3 middle schools (2 for boys and 1 for girls) and 12 primary schools. There are two libraries, viz. the Sunam Rai Municipal Library and the Sadhu Ashram Library. There are three rest-houses, viz. the P.W.D. Rest-House, the Canal Rest-House and the Market Committee Rest-House, the Canal Rest-House and Market Committee Rest-House, besides one serai, viz. Aggarwal Ashram. There are a civil hospital, a maternity and child-health centre; 4 private Ayurvedic dispensaries; a veterinary hospital; a police-station and sadar police-station; and a post and telegraph office, 2 sub-post offices and a telephone exchange. There are three separate parks for men, women and children, situated adjacent to one another. There is a centrally located clock tower.

Before the partition of the country in 1947, Fazlika was the biggest wool market in India, but thereafter the trade has been hit very hard, with a major portion of the supply area going to Pakistan and the Bikaner Town gradually attracting the raw wool produced in Rajasthan. Other products, for which the town is known, are baan, moorhas and sirkis.
http://punjabrevenue.nic.in/gazfzpr22.htm#ch19

फाजिल्का के ज्योतिषियों को गोल्ड मेडल

Jan 28, 10:07 pm
Dainik Jagran
http://in.jagran.yahoo.com/news/local/punjab/4_2_4124228.html
फाजिल्क - कलकत्ता में श्रीराम कृष्ण शास्त्री द्वारा 19 से 23 जनवरी तक आयोजित 31वीं वार्षिक इंटरनेशनल एस्ट्रोलाजी एंड ओरियेंटल हेरिटेज कान्फ्रेंस 2008 में फाजिल्का के ज्योतिषियों को सम्मानित किया गया। कान्फ्रेंस में इंग्लैंड, कैनेडा, श्रीलंका, नेपाल, बांग्लादेश, मारीशस, म्यांमार, पंजाब, हरियाणा, हिमाचल प्रदेश, पश्चिम बंगाल, बिहार, मिजोरम व अनेक राज्यों के ज्योतिषाचार्यो ने भाग लिया था।
सम्मेलन का उद्घाटन भारत सरकार की मिनिस्टर आफ स्टेट फार हेल्थ एंड फैमिली वेलफेयर पाना बाका लक्ष्मी ने 31 दीपक जलाकर किया। सम्मेलन में श्रीरामकृष्ण परमहंस, मां शारदा, स्वामी विवेकानंद जी को श्रद्धांजलि भेंट की गई। फाजिल्का के ज्योतिषाचार्य पंडित मदन लाल शर्मा ने अनुभूत योग, डा. देसराज ग्रोवर ने वास्तु शास्त्र और रोग, डा. अभिमन्यु कुमार ने पंच गव्य और जलालाबाद के रतन लाल कुक्कड़ ने वास्तु शास्त्र पर अपने विचार व्यक्त किए। उन्हे अंगवस्त्र, हार पहनाकर गोल्ड मेडल और ज्योतिष विद्या रतन की उपाधि से सम्मानित किया गया। सभी ज्योतिषाचार्यो को दक्षणेश्वर काली मंदिर, 12 ज्योर्तिलिंग, विक्टोरिया हाल, सितारा विज्ञान प्लेनेटोरियम, स्वामी रामकृष्ण परमहंस, विद्यापीठ, वलूर मठ, हुगली नदी, गंगासागर स्नानक करवाकर कपिल मुनि मंदिर के दर्शन भी करवाए गए।

Fazilka celebrates award for Dr Chopra

Hindustan Times, Region, P.no-004, 28-01-2008

Manoj Tripathi

FAZILKA WON a civilian honour this Republic Day in the Padma Bhushan for neurologist of world fame, Dr Jagjit Singh Chopra, who hails from the district. Earlier, bureaucrat S.S. Bedi and Punjabi folk singer and actor Pushpa Hans had won the honour for Fazilka.
Dr Chopra, Founder Director and former principal, Government Medical College, Chandigarh, was born in Lahore and made his medical beginnings in Patiala, where he graduated in medicine.
He has served as Head of Department, Neurology, at the PGI, Chandigarh. Dr Chopra has to his credit 235 scientific papers referred in 48 chapters of books, has submitted 89 research projects, 54 monographs and presented papers at 145 global conferences on neurology .
He holds editorial responsibilities of at least ten international journals and has published books on Tropical Neurology A . professor emeritus at PGI and at the National Academy of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, Dr Chopra was the first Indian neurologist to be honoured in the US.
Fazilka SDM Rajiv Prashar, Dr Bhupinder Singh, Umesh Chander Kukkar, patron and president, respectively, Graduate Welfare Association, Fazilka, Inder Singh Sidhu have hailed the award as well deserved

विकलांग सहायता कैंप : 600 का किया चेकअप

Jan 20, 08:52 pm
http://in.jagran.yahoo.com/news/local/punjab/4_2_4102268.html
फाजिल्का -रविवार को रोटरी क्लब द्वारा जमीदारा फार्म शोल्यूशन के सहयोग से स्थानीय डीसी डीएवी पब्लिक स्कूल में विकलांग सहायता कैंप का आयोजन किया गया। शिविर का शुभारंभ एसडीएम राजीव पराशर ने किया। क्लब के अध्यक्ष डा. अजय धवन ने बताया कि यह कैंप शहर व पास लगते गांवो के विकलांग लोगों के लिए लगाया गया। उन्होंने बताया कि बाहर से आई डा. हांडा की टीम द्वारा रविवार को विकलांगों के अंगों का माप लिए गए। इसमें करीब 600 मरीजों की जांच की गई।

बीस मार्च को कृत्रिम अंग व खराब टांगों के लिए बैसाखी आदि क्लब की ओर से मरीजों को वितरित की जाएंगी। जिन जरूरतमंदों को ट्राइसाइकिल की जरूरत होगी वे प्रशासन के सहयोग से मरीजों को मुफ्त दिए जाएंगे। इस कैंप में करीब 25 हजार का खर्च होगा जो फाजिल्का के जमीदारा फार्म सोल्यूशन की ओर से दिए जाएंगे। उन्होंने बताया कि जिन लोगों के हाथ कटे हुए है, उनको जयपुर रेफर किया जा रहा है। उनका इलाज वहां की भगवान महावीर सेवा समिति के सहयोग वहां के एसएम अस्पताल में नि:शुल्क किया जाएगा। पोलियो से जिन बच्चों के जोड़ जाम हो चुके है, उन बच्चों को उदयपुर के श्री नारायण सेवा समिति विकलांग अस्पताल में भेजा जाएगा। वहां पर उनका इलाज मुफ्त में किया जाएगा। अंबाला से अपनी टीम के साथ आए डा. हांडा ने बताया कि इस शिविर में कृत्रिम अंग उपलब्ध करवाए जा रहे है। इसके लिए माप लिए जा रहे हैं। उनको क्लब के सहयोग से वे बीस मार्च को खुद अपनी टीम के साथ आकर कृत्रिम अंग लगाएंगे। इस शिविर में उद्योगपति सुरिंद्र अहूजा, डायरेक्टर विक्रम अहूजा, प्रिंसिपल डा. बीसी जोसन, अढ़तिया एसोसिएशन के अध्यक्ष ओम प्रकाश सेतिया, संस्था के प्रोजेक्ट चेयरमैन असीम कामरा, सचिव डा. रजनीश कमरा, को-प्रोजेक्ट चेयरमैन दविंद्र अग्रवाल, प्रिंसिपल मंजुला सहगल व अन्य सदस्यों ने पूर्ण रूप से सहयोग दिया।

Community Lohri for girls

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2008/20080114/punjab1.htm
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 13
While most people are celebrating Lohri to welcome their newly born sons, a substantial number of people are celebrating Lohri for their daughters.
But one of the most welcome steps this festive season is that people of Fazilka are jointly celebrating tonight what they call “A Lohri to fight the darkness”.
Organised by Rakesh Nagpal, editor of a local newspaper “Sarhad Kesri”, the function that started earlier tonight and will go on till late in Fazilka is celebrating the birth of all girls born last year.
“It is a community Lohri and more than 100 families have registered, while the actual presence is much more”, according to Navdeep Asija, a Fazilka resident and a scientist at the IIT, Delhi.
The families of the new-born baby girls and their families are celebrating the festival with achievers and personalities of Fazilka in what has been termed as “Kanya Samman community Lohri”.
As per 2001 census, urban Fazilka has sex ratio 909:1000, which is much better than most parts of Punjab.

Lohri for girls receives appreciation

Anilesh S Mahajan TNN
13th January, 2008, Times of India, Chandigarh Edition
Chandigarh: Fazilka, situated near the Indo-Pak border, has put itself at the heart of the battle against female foeticide. On Friday the town celebrated a collective Lohri for more than 100 newborn girls. The folk festival of Punjab is usually celebrated for newborn boys only. While this reflects on the inherent patriarchic nature of the society in the state, the celebration for girls can be seen as an attempt to reform the mindset that works against them. The celebrations, organized by a local tabloid Sarhad Kesri have now received the appreciation of two women who hail from the town and have been successful in different spheres of life. Padmashree award winning singer Pushpa Hans and Maharashtra IG (crime) Meera Chadha Borwankar told TOI in separate communications that they were moved by the report regarding the celebration they read in the electronic version of the newspaper's Chandigarh edition. The celebration in Fazilka had the town's who's who taking part. This was a first of its kind celebration in the state organized without government help. Rakesh Nagpal, the organizer of the event said he was happy that two of the successful women from the town had appreciated the effort. Punjab has been criticized globally for its skewed sex ratio. The government has started acting against the evil of female foeticide but has not been very successful. "I still remember my days at my home there. My town has a history of supporting girls. The people there will not allow the menace of female foeticide to prevail," said Pushpa Hans. She is a noted Punjabi singer considered a living legend. She added that her area is known more for successful women than men. Be it Noorjahan, Reshma or Mandira Bedi. "I am sure that my town is proud of its girls," she said. Meanwhile, Meera Chadha Borwankar said she was proud of the efforts being made in her hometown. She stated that it was only because of her hometown's culture that both she and her sister, who is senior income tax officer had made it big. "We are ready to make any contribution needed to spread the message for saving the girl child," she said. It is high time that we wake up and stop female foeticide and killing of newborn girls, she said.

A Lohri to fight the darkness : FAZILKA AGAINST FEMALE FOETICIDE

Times of India, Chadigarh, 10th January, 2008

Anilesh S Mahajan TNN
Chandigarh: The cold, dark practice of female foeticide in Punjab is about to find resistance in the warm glow of the Lohri bonfire. In Fazilka subdivision of Ferozepur district, a local tabloid, Sarhad Kesri, is going to celebrate this festival for the girl children of the area. Lohri, which marks the last day of Paush month in the Vikrami Samvat calendar, is traditionally celebrated only for newborn boys. Fazilka is a far-flung, lessdeveloped area of Punjab. But this celebration can bring it to the forefront of spreading awareness against the killing of girl children and female foeticide. The local tabloid with it's small office here, will hold the celebrations for about 100 newborn girls. This would be the largest such programme to celebrate Lohri for girls in Punjab. That too without government support. "I have details of all the 937 girl children born this year in the sub-division, but we had limited resources, so we decided to keep it a low key affair," says Rakesh Nagpal of Sarhad Kesri. They have asked the families of the newborn girls to register themselves and they will be made part of the celebrations on a first come first serve basis. "We have already exceeded the 100 mark, but will accommodate the additional entries," said Rakesh. He said they had budget of Rs 35,000, which he was putting in from his own pocket. "I might not save every girl child in the state, but I am sure my small effort would encourage others to accept them," said Rakesh. The sex ratio of Punjab is 874 females per 1000 males, much below the national average. Ferozepur also comes low on the national district wise sex ratio chart. Punjab has also received criticism for not controlling the decline in sex ratio. Nagpal said the traditional song of the festival, 'Sunder Mundriye' also carries the message to save the girl child. Nagpal said that is what inspired him, "The whole song is based on a girl, and is sung by girls. It will be very unfair if we do not celebrate this festival for girls," he said. Wife of local MLA Surjit Jayni, Nirmala, is helping Nagpal in this effort. "The celebrations in this programme for newborn girls will be the same as they are traditionally for the boys. Every child will be given new clothes, and sweets like gachhak, rewri apart from peanuts, popcorn etc," said Nagpal. It can be added that in the recent times this area has shown improvement in sex ratio, especially infant sex ratio.