[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 76 (Thursday, June 5, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1132-E1133]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CONGRATULATIONS AND GOD SPEED
______
HON. MARCY KAPTUR
of ohio
in the house of representatives
Thursday, June 5, 1997
Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I wish to commend a group of explorers from
our Ninth Congressional District who are on the verge of an
extraordinary accomplishment: becoming the first expeditionary group
ever to traverse the length of the Indus River.
Led by D.S. Amjad Hussain, professor of surgery at the Medical
College of Ohio and a writer and photographer, this expeditionary team
last year reached the headwaters of the Indus River in the Kailas
Mountain range in western Tibet.
This year, the group plans to complete the Ladakh segment of their
expedition and will then become the only expedition in history to have
covered the entire length of the Indus River.
Other members of the expedition team from Toledo included: Qarie
Hussain, a student at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London,
England; Monie Hussain, a student at the University of Michigan; and,
James Adray, a practicing attorney, along with his son, Sam, a high
school student. The team was privileged to carry the flags of the
United States, Pakistan, and the prestigious Explorers Club on their
expedition.
The Indus, one of the largest rivers in the world, arises in Tibet
and winds 2,400 miles through Tibet, India, and Pakistan before
emptying into the Arabian Sea near Karachi. It carries twice the annual
flow of the Nile and three times that of the Tigris and Euphrates
combined. Like those other great rivers, the Indus also cradled a
glorious civilization along its banks as long as 5,000 years ago.
From their base camp, the expedition team traveled on foot and by yak
to reach the river's source. Despite mountain sickness due to the
extremely high altitudes, the team also endured a blizzard while
crossing the 18,500-foot Tseti Lachen pass. They also had to cross
numerous rivers swollen with late summer rains while traveling on yaks.
The team offered prayers of thankgiving when they arrived at Senge
Kabob, 17,000 feet above sea level, a sacred site for Buddhists. Only
two previous visits to this sacred site have been recorded.
The team now has four difficult expeditions behind them, including a
photography trip on or along the Indus and its surroundings and a
2,000-mile trek in 1994 through the length of Pakistan. After
completing the Ladakh segment later this year, the group will earn its
place in the history books.
Congratulations and Godspeed.
Team Indus
Team Indus is a series of Indus river expeditions designed
to study and photograph the river and its inhabitants along
its entire length. In 1987 the team travelled on rafts from
Attock in the north to Karachi on the Arabian Sea in the
south for a distance of 1400 miles. During that expedition
the team also carried out depth survey of the river for
Planning Commission of the Government of Pakistan.
During the second expedition in 1990, the team trekked the
river from Jaglot (near Gilgit) to Tarbela for a distance of
400 miles,
[[Page E1133]]
part of it along the north-south Silk Route, now the
Karakoram Highway.
In 1994, the team trekked the remaining part of the river
in Pakistan from the line of control in Baltistan to Jaglot
for a distance of 170 miles. On that expedition the team
carried the coveted flag of the Explorers Club.
The team explored the headwaters of the river (called Senge
Kabob or the mouth of the lion in Tibetan) in the Kailas
mountain rangers in Western Tibet in July-August, 1996. The
team covered the river close to the point where it enters
Ladakh, India. On this expedition the team also carried the
flag of the Explorers club.
Team Indus V, scheduled for 1997-98, will cover the
remaining 200 miles of the river in Ladakh.
The team has already achieved a landmark in covering the
Indus River in its entirety in Pakistan and trekking to the
headwaters of the river in Tibet. With the completion of the
segment in Ladakh, Team Indus would be the first in history
to have accomplished trekking and photographing the entire
2400 miles of the Indus.
Team Indus I, Attock to Karachi, December 1987. S. Amjad
Hussain, Maj. Syed Azam, S. Waqaar Hussain, Syed Azhar Ali
Shah, S. Sardar Hussain, Najamuddin, Tony Glinke, Bahu S.
Shaikh, Shehzad Nazir, Nasim Zafar Iqbal, and Ron Euton.
Team Indus II, Jaglot To Tarbela, July 1990. S. Amjad
Hussain, Maj. Syed Azam, James Adray, S. Waqaar Hussain, S.
Osman Hussain, and Syed Azhar Ali Shah.
Team Indus III, Line of Control to Jaglot, August 1994. S.
Amjad Hussain, Lt. Col. Syed Azam, S. Waqaar Hussain, S.
Osman Hussain, and Syed Azhar Ali Shah.
Team Indus IV, Headwaters of Indus to near the Ladakh
border, July-August 1996. S. Amjad Hussain, Syed Azhar Ali
Shah, S. Waqaar Hussain, S. Osman Hussain, James Adray, and
Sam Adray.
ARTICLES AND TELEVISION PROGRAMS ABOUT TEAM INDUS EXPEDITIONS
Articles by S. Amjad Hussain:
1. Adventure on the Indus, Toledo Magazine, April 9, 1988.
(Cover Story).
2. People of Indus, Toledo Magazine, April 9, 1988.
3. The Lost Civilization of the Indus, Toledo Magazine, May
28, 1988 (Cover Story).
4. Adventure on the Indus, HUMSAFAR, November/December,
1988. (Cover Story).
5. My 1400 Mile Journey Through 5000 Years of History,
Medical Economics, February 6, 1989.
6. The Mound of the Dead, HAMSAFAR, May/June, 1990.
7. A Day in the Life of Indus Valley Inhabitants, HUMSAFAR,
July/August, 1990. (Cover Story).
8. A Journey to the roof of the World, Toledo Magazine,
January 20, 1991. (Cover Story).
9.The People of the Hindu Kush Mountains, Toledo Magazine,
January 20, 1991.
10. A Journey on the Roof of the World, The Explorers
Journal, Summer 1992. (Cover Story).
11.Pilgrimage Turns Dream into Reality, Sunday Blade, Op-Ed
section. September 8, 1996. (Column).
By Steve Pollick, Outdoors Editor, The Blade:
12. Toledo Surgeon Operates as River Explorer, Sunday
Blade, July 7, 1996.
Television Programs:
1. Pakistan Television, Islamabad, Paristan. `INDUS RIVER
EXPEDITION 1987'' (1/2 hour interview). January 1988.
2. Pakistan Television, Peshawar, Pakistan. `TEAM INDUS
EXPEDITIONS'' (1/2 hour interview). April 15, 1995.
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