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Things are getting worst day by day. Musharraf’s so called “heroic” foreign policy has put Pakistan in  enough defensive position and it seems that Pakistan has been trapped severely by players of the game.

One of the common factor among dictators is that they soon start considering themselves a “hero” after a little support of few *friends* and get ready to finger  play a lead role in every issue. See how Saddam,Osama were presented as heroes of Muslim world by Americans which later become villains.

Today Musharraf’s “Pakistan First” and “Enlighten and Moderation” policies  have made Pakistan more insecure,less trustworthy state for our neighbors. Few decades back, only India could be considered a harmful state for us but thanks to Musharraf that he produced more enemies than friends.  Even US who is considered Mush’s friend has started pressurizing Musharraf and their senators have started a war of words. They are openly saying that Dick ordered Mush to do something otherwise we would do ourselves. It’s quite obvious that Mush regime is getting frustrated and embarrassed[ infront of Pakistanis] now and they had to say something like that in reply which you can’t expect from a slave regime of Pakistan. Mush has been pushed more in defensive position when after Afghanistan, Iran also has started blaming Pakistan a hub of terrorist activities. I personally believe that it’s a very tense situation for Mush regime. He has no one around to help him. We already don’t have such good terms with China, infact we didn’t make any serious effort to take advantage of friendship and learnt nothing from this new emerging super power of future. Instead of that we kept licking toes of Americans and kept killing our own people in the name of Talibans and militants which created lots of disturbance and people of the areas reacted severely. Our govt is so down to earth that just not only allow US to violate Pakistani borders and attack and our govt say “No, we did this”. Now the picture is that Pakistan is surrounded with enemies, at one side India is not with us which is old thing ,the sensitive matter is that we have lost trust and faith of Tribal region, they consider Pakistan Army as their enemy, Talibans already consider Pakistan their biggest enemy, Iran now also against us and they have legitimate reason to react on that. Iran’s Ahmedinejad is already mad over foreign meeting in which Iran and Syria were not invited and Iranian President who is visiting Saudia these days said that he would try to find out the main reason behind the meeting of “Like Minded” countries. Sunni Majority Saudi govt has invited Shia Majority Iranian President. Offcourse this visit has direct relation with Iraq but this meeting could also send message to concerned countries about Saudia’s point of view about expected US-Iran Jang. There should be a level of ignorance, Bush regime is being opposed by their own people,top rank generals clearly said that they would resign if US even imagine to attack on Iran but our Govt is still considering doomed America as a Messiah and not willing to make any changes in policies. It’s in Today’s dawn that jurists are condemning Mush regime for the current worst situation in Pakistan. Economy is already dying slowly, a lay man suffering big time with Inflation,poverty ,law and order situation,increasing debts and poverty. I really don’t understand what good is being done?

In last September I wrote an article about Balochistan situation which is giving benefit to many states around us. Iran and India are two nations who appear to earn more than anyone else. According to that report, Iran and US were told allies, this is something which is indigestible but seems true. See in Iraq, the ruling govt is Shia and have full support of Iran. Saddam was executed on Eid’s day and people around him were chanting “Muqtada Muqtada”. Iran also has big influence in Afghanistan. Even if you see this famous map, you will find that Iran earns more rather loosing.

I don’t know what will be the outcome. Musharraf is not missing any chance to implement his *agenda*, also looting people of this country by every mean. I have no hope from current govt to do something since they are more busy to promote Soft Image of Pakistan rather taking some serious steps. Musharraf’s end will not be different than any other dictator that is, an offensive death and he would be forgotten in seconds like this nation forgot Zia in few days. The people who will actually suffer are people of Pakistan who already have been suffering for long and could suffer more if we still prefer to lead a life of a drug addict who doesn’t care whether he is being humiliated or not.

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An intresting stuff by Prof.Shahida Qazi. A sane voice which is different than lunatic Andleeb Abbas and Anjum Ayaz.

YET again, we are going to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8. There will be a series of seminars; women activists will take out rallies; women from the rural areas will be asked to put their handicrafts on display; plays will be performed and motivational songs will be sung; government functionaries will rattle off statistics related to women’s education, health and employment; ministers and members of parliament will speak about new legislation(s) intended to ‘protect’ women — and so another day will come to and end.

We will all congratulate each other; the NGOs will send glowing reports to their sponsors; and the movers and shakers in the government will be satisfied that they have done their duty for the cause of women’s freedom.
Meanwhile, here are a few examples of newspaper headlines published in the last month alone:

“Girl raped, paraded naked in Obaro.”
“Lovers stoned to death in Multan village.”
“Women gang-raped, sold.”
“Four-year-old married to 45-year-old man on orders of Jirga.”
“Teenaged girls trafficked to Middle East.”
“Trade of underage girls by loan sharks in Sindh.”

“Tribal chief orders parents of his daughter-in-law to sell their daughter to arrange money for second marriage of his son.” “Housemaid raped, killed.”

Add to these the routine reports of rapes, killings, burnings, abductions and suicides comitted by women — reports that we take for granted and hardly give a second thought to.

What is happening in our country? What has the status of women been reduced to? Are they living beings or just a commodity to be used (or misused) by men?

The statistics, as usual, present a bright picture. They say the literacy rate, as far as women are concerned, has improved. There are more girls in educational institutions than ever before. Separate women universities have been opened. Women are being inducted into the armed forces. The women’s quota has been reserved for government jobs, including for the Superior Civil Services. Women have 17 per cent members in parliament and 33 per cent in the local bodies. Impressive, indeed!

But there’s another side to it, and it is not at all rosy. A Human Rights Commission of Pakistan report says, at least 565 women and girls were killed in the country in 2006 for the sake of ‘honour’. It is nearly double the number compared to the previous year (287). The report acknowledges that many such killings go unreported and the actual figure may be more than 1,000 — a horrific number indeed. According to another report released by lawyers for the Human Rights and Legal Aid, there were more than 7,500 cases of violence, physical assault and torture against women during the year. Most of these women were victims of domestic violence or honour-related atrocities, and the perpetrators were their close relatives, such as husbands, fathers and brothers.

Again, these figures may be considered as inaccurate as most of the cases go unreported and the real situation is probably far worse.

The report goes on to say the shocking part is that women were victimised more in areas where the so-called educated people reside than in backward localities. The vast majority of such cases took place in Punjab, while Sindh was placed second, and quite a few incidents took place in Karachi.

No matter how shocking they are, figures do not tell the true story. Every few years, a harrowing event takes place that makes our otherwise somnolent society get up end take notice. Screaming and sensational headlines grace the newspapers; a series of letters in the press gets published; statements of condemnation are issued; rallies and sit-ins are held; demands for exemplary punishment are raised; and assurances of quick justice are given. Every NGO jumps onto the bandwagon and wants to make its voice heard. It happened with Mukhtaran Mai; it happened with Dr Shazia, with Samia Sarwar, with Sonia Naz and a score of other victims, and now the latest case is of Nasima or Obaro. But after being discussed in the newspapers for a couple of weeks, the case was conveniently swept under the carpet, the name of the victim all but forgotten, and the protestors went back to their somnolent state.

Instead of labelling these incidents ‘aberrations’ or ‘once-in-a-while-happenings’, we should try to look at them in their proper perspective and understand why they happen. For unless the root cause is understood and removed, no act of condemnation, protest or punishment will help eliminate them and ensure that they do not happen again.

Here I will come back to my earlier question: what is the position of women in our society? Are they living beings or just a commodity to be used by men? This is a crucial question which I think all of us, especially the educated ones, should try and seek an answer to.

The situation is very clear in our rural areas, which are still ruled under the feudal system or the tribal system. There are no two opinions on the fact that here a girl is considered a commodity, an economic asset, an object to be used to settle scores, to cement ties, to pay off loans, to return favours, and to make deals with the enemy.

Here, every girl has her price. A 60-year-old man can get a 12-year-old virgin if he can afford to pay enough; he can exchange his five-year-old daughter for the 16-year-old daughter of a friend; he can give three of his daughters to get a 14-year-old exceptionally beautiful girl.

In fact, the laws governing ‘bride prices’ and ‘watta satta’ are very much part of the rural tradition in all parts of our country. They are so deeply embedded that no cosmetic law or any kind of lip service can change the mindset of the people who have sworn to protect the traditions of their ancestors. These traditions also include the customs of vani and swara, under which girls are offered as compensation and peace offering to the enemy. Such decisions are usually taken by the jirgas comprising elders of the tribe; of course, women are not included in them. And the girls, who may be as young as one-year-olds, have no say in the matter.

Once given to the enemy, they have no further contact with their own families. They may be kept as concubines, as slaves, tortured or put to death — no one cares. The law has been complied with, the tradition upheld.

Forced marriages are another fact of life in the rural areas. The girl’s opinion is not sought or considered. If she protests or wants to exercise her free will, she is promptly labelled a ‘kari’ and is legally put to death, sentenced by the all important jirga. For very kari there should be a ‘karo’. But in most cases, the karo may be non-existent. Or if he exists, he can safely buy his freedom by paying a hefty price, again with the blessing of the jirga. Or the kari might not be put to death. She will be sold to the highest bidder. In fact, a report says, “Karis are in great demand and command a higher price than the so-called good girls.”

While the landlords keep their own wives and daughters secluded (and in the purdah) the daughters and wives of the peasants, the serfs or the ‘kammis’ are considered fair game. They are treated as their own property and the serfs, already in landlords’ control and under heavy debt, are in no position to protest. Who says slavery is a thing of the past?

As the whole world knows by now, thanks to Mukhtaran Mai, women are also a convenient scapegoat to teach a lesson to the men of low caste families. If a boy from such a family exceeds his limits and dares to look at a woman belonging to a higher caste, the jirga has no problem with him. Select a girl from his family, order her to be gang-raped, and parade her naked in the streets, and he will never do such a thing again.

What a wonderful solution to a thorny problem!

In the urban areas of the country, of course, things are a lot different. Urban girls acquire the same education as boys. In many cases, they step out of their homes to do jobs. They can adopt different professions. Many enlightened parents allow their daughters to select their own mates. Girls get to use mobile phones, computers, the Internet and cable TV, eat out, and hang out with friends.

But are things really that different? Can girls really do what they want? Can they achieve self-realisation or self-actualisation?

From the day she is born, a girl in our society in expected to behave in a certain manner. It is drilled into her mind that her primary aim in life is to get married — everything else is secondary. She is given the right education, according to her parents’ means and resources, dressed in the proper manner, taught the proper rules of conduct, guided to choose the right career, and ultimately the right husband. The rule is to conform; to do, wear and be what is expected of her, not what she herself wants. God help the rebel, the non-conformist, the girl who doesn’t play according to the rules.

As soon as a girl grows up to be a teenager, her parents’ worries start taking shape. “Will her marriage be a successful one? How soon will she get married?” These are followed by things like the visits of complete strangers to have a look at her and consider her as worthy of getting married to; the tea trolleys that she pushes into the drawing room for strangers to have a look at her; the skin whiteners that she applies to her not-so-fair complexion; the crash diets that she has to opt for to reduce her weight; and finally the proposal from the boy’s family comes.

The joy of her parents, and of the girl herself, knows no bounds, when the boy’s family says that they want the girl to get married into their family. She has scored one up on her friends and on her cousins. In most cases, it is goodbye to further studies, goodbye to all career hopes. Welcome to a new life – the husband, the children, the in-laws, and the kitchen. And so she opts for a new routine, the routine she will follow the rest of her life, as she sets out to become the perfect wife and mother.

Before she was married she’s told, “This is not your real home. Your real home is your husband’s home. Here you have to follow our rules. There you can do what you want.”

But once she becomes the mistress of her new home, the truth sinks in. She has merely exchanged one kind of bondage for another. Now what she can do or cannot do depends entirely on her husband’s whims. Her wishes and dreams become completely subservient to those of her husband’s and in-laws’. As a result, another talent goes unrealised as the girl settles down and starts doing not what she wants, but what others expect her to do.

As a teacher I have seen many cases of brilliant and promising students pushed into marriage during their studies. “Of course, I will complete my honours and obtain the degree,” says a girl naively as she hands out her wedding invitation to me. But later the story takes a different turn. Her mother-in-law doesn’t like her going to the university; or her husband shifts to another town; or, in most cases, she becomes pregnant and the doctor asks her to have some rest.

Many girls, when they come to seek admission to the university, claim they will work after obtaining the degree if allowed by their parents or in-laws. They don’t seem to decide on their own what they themselves want to do or why they have chosen to study a particular subject. Responses like “my uncle thought it was a good subject so I took it” or “my friend was taking it so I also decided to take it” are often heard.

It is sad how much talent gets wasted because of this phenomenon. Girls are not allowed to follow their dreams or to decide on their own what they really want to do. Do they really have to drift half-heartedly into studying subjects they have no interest in and have no plans to pursue further?

In fact, the right to decide is a basic one, which should be exercised by every human being. But it is one right which is non-existent for girls in our society. Be it education, career or marriage, it is not the girl student, but others who usually decide for her.

Like little boys, little girls also have their dreams. “I want to become a pilot; I want to become a scientist; I want to play cricket for my country; I want to play the piano; I want to …” But, “You should go for medicine,” say the parents. Or, “A simple BA is good enough for you. You don’t have to do a job.”

Therefore, the dream is pushed somewhere down into the subconscious, dismissed as a piece of childish thought, never to be talked about any more.

In fact, the need for social approval is a thing that is drummed into girls’ ears from early childhood. “Good girls don’t do this” or “good girls don’t do that” is a refrain that is drilled into her mind from an early age. Or “if you do this, you will make your mother and father very unhappy” … and worst of all “the honour of our family depends on you. If you do this or that, people will throw stones at us.”

Largely because of the process of conditioning to get parental or social approval, somewhere down the line the girl loses her identity and becomes a mere puppet. She remains no more a person in her own right and turns into a commodity, a thing, who comfortably sits back and lets others make the big decisions for her. “They love me, so they will do what is best for me,” she tells herself and goes with the flow. Of course, there exist rebels and non-conformists too in our society. There are many women who have reached the top of their chosen professions and have made themselves and their families proud. There are great women scientists, writers, artists, and mountain climbers. But there have also been doctors and computer science graduates who lost their lives for ‘honour’ or labelled ‘karis’.

There are women who have chosen to remain unmarried and become top civil servants, economists, physicians and professors. But there are also thousands of others, whose husbands have systematically destroyed their egos.

One of my favourite books is Veronika decides to die by Paulo Coelho. In the book, the heroine, Veronika, a young girl who seems to have everything — good looks, a steady job, loving parents and lots of friends — one day decides to kill herself. Why? Because she suddenly realises that her existence has no meaning and that every day is the same. She decides to end accepting what life has imposed on her. Because she has spent her whole life doing not what she herself wanted to do, but what others expected of her.

How many Veronikas are there amongst us who do not consciously decide to die, but are dying anyway? They’re dying because they have lost their zest for life. They have settled down into a routine life which appears complete from the outside but has nothing inside.

Yes, our Veronikas do not decide to die, they are dying anyway.

So this Women’s Day, all of us should ask ourselves: are women human beings?

Via Dawn Magazine

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I just feel sick after reading this. After infinite claims by women right’s activist Mr.Musharraf, our women are still suffering, even suffering more. According to Today’s DAWN:

KARACHI, March 4: When she was one, Rasheeda Begum’s late father promised to marry her off to a relative to settle a poker debt. Fifteen years later, the man came to collect his winnings

Her mother Nooran Begum said her late husband Rahib was a gambler and lost Rasheeda in the game with his friend Lal Haider in 1992. He promised to give his daughter to Haider in lieu of Rs10,000. She said she paid off the debt several years ago, following her husband’s death.

Oh my God!!! How can a father sell his daughter?  am I living in 2007 or pre-Islamic Arab where people used to gamble,kill their daughters? I feel more sick because the guy would claim to be a Muslim as well.

Can some govt official tell me how their friggin WPB going to help this poor woman? Which clause can help her? All I know that a girl raped in Obaro still demanding justice. I see how our secular class going to help this poor girl.

Welcome to Women’s Day 2007

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     ____       Hey, are you on MySpace?                     ///         |
|    /         /                         Um...no, what is    |      |         |
|   | | ^ ^                                MySpace anyways?  (^)(^)--3         |
|   | |    |  -  Well, like, it's a website                  |      |         |
|    __v/     where you write down all of                   | --   |         |
|      |    the things you like, take a                     ____/          |
|               picture of yourself, then                        | |           |
|              make a list of who your friends                                 |
|             are and write notes to each other.             /                 |
|                                                 That's the stupidest         |
|                                                  shit I ever heard.

via killnine

How True!

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Image Credit: The Daily Express

Technorati tags: India, fun, President

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BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — 3GSM World Congress 2007 — Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today announced that it has deployed Wateen Telecom’s WiMAX network in 17 major cities across Pakistan, including Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. The two companies have also carried out end- to-end voice and data calls over the network.

Just nine months after the contract was awarded, Motorola has designed, supplied and deployed its WiMAX infrastructure, utilising IMS core technology in preparation for Wateen to offer voice, data, Internet and multimedia services to its subscribers.

“Wateen Telecom provides a great example of how the cost effectiveness and speed of deployment offered by WiMAX allows a competitive carrier to quickly build a wireless broadband network,” says Jose Figueroa, corporate vice president, Motorola Networks & Enterprise. “It also demonstrates how an emerging country can leapfrog directly to innovative next-generation technology, and smoothly deploy a cutting edge communications infrastructure.

Source

Let’s see how cost effective would it be for home users.

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I am starting a new series named ROSHNI[light] in which I will post/upload an image containing some lesson or advice from a hadith or quranic verse. The continuation of series depend on the images of hadith and quranic verse I get from my friend. So here it is the first post of this series.

Technorati tags: hadith, quran, islam, advice, life, personal

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I just lauhged  when I read here in the reply of the translation of one of my post regarding Basant on boriat.com

پیر طریقت و مفتئ اعظم پاکستان حضرت پرویز بشرف صاحب جو کہ قطب زماں حضرت جارج ڈبل ایل بش سے سلسلئہ ڈالریہ میں بیعت بھی ہیں نے فرمایا ہے کہ بسنت پر پتنگ اڑانا ، گردنیں کاٹنا ، شراب و کباب میں نہانا اور “دیگر اقسام کے ہلے گلے” کی اسلام میں کوئی ممانعت نہیں ہے اگر ہے تو کوئی قرآن میں پتنگ یا بسنت کا ذکر لاکر دکھائے۔ اس موقع پر حضرت نے یہ بھی فرمایا کہ میں سید ہوں اور 7 مرتبہ خانہ کعبہ کے اندر گیا ہوں۔
حضرت نے مرنے والے 18 افراد کے بارے میں فرمایا ہے کہ ان کی موت کا وقت بسنت کے بابرکت دن ہی لکھا تھا اس سعادت پر لواحقین کو اللہ کا شکر ادا کرنا چاہیئے اور اس معاملےمیں کسی پر الزام تراشی کرنا عذاب الٰہی کو دعوت دینا ہے

Tagged:urdu,اردو

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