Saving the Female Fetus re: stuka # 43

``In fact, the best way of increasing the ``value`` of a girl child is by allowing society to skew its gender balance. As there are more men competing for a shrinking pool of women, the power equation will shift.``

Stuka,

India being a patriarchial society, women will be considered even more as property when men will have to ``buy`` women as is happening in Haryana. Brothers will share women if they cannot afford to buy one each for themselves. The scenario you described is possible only when women are empowered through education; it doesn`t hold for uneducated rural women.

Saving the Female Fetus good article Dost-Mittar ji. Have you watched the movie `Matrubhoomi`? It deals precisely with this issue and is a fair indicator of what parts of India will turn into if this evil practice is not stopped.

This evil custom I think is more common in North India than in South India though I am sure there are people in the South also who prefer boys and kill female foetuses. Having travelled both in the North and the South, I noticed that there is a lot more eve-teasing in places like Delhi and Chandigarh. I never saw such things in Bangalore and Hyderabad where I did part of my schooling. Maybe there is a connection between eve-teasing and poor male to female ratios in the sense that women are just not valued and respected in societies in Northern India.

Having said all that, with the rise in female education, it is becoming more and more common to find women taking care of old parents, a duty which used to be the domain of sons. Now with jobs in the IT and biotechnology industries women are getting well paid and treated on par with their male colleagues. A successful project is the end goal and as long as it is done properly and on schedule it doesn`t matter if the employee is a man or a woman.

regards

Finding Kashmir\'s Pain in London Dear Murtaza,

as an Indian, I am extremely ashamed of the behavior of the Indian state towards Kashmiri Muslims, people the state claims are `Indian citizens`. Nationalism has blinded my countrymen to the agony and pain of Kashmiri Muslims. An essentially peaceful, non confrontational and non violent people, Indians, today are apathetic to the killings of innocent Kashmiri Muslims caught in the crossfire between the security apparatus and Muslim militants. The heavy handedness and brutality of the military and security forces is inexcusable. The militants are not expected to adhere to UN charter of human rights because they do not speak in the name of any govt. But the military and security forces should adhere to these values because they act in the name of the Indian people. That they have failed to do so is an indication that India has failed Kashmiri Muslims. Spending billions of dollars in Kashmir on infrastructure and other carrots is not enough when Kashmiri Muslims fear for their lives and honor whenever they step out.

There is not nearly enough exposure among Indians to the atrocities perpetrated in Kashmir. Whatever there is, is skewed in the nationalist point of view. There is no trailblazing journalism of the Vietnam kind which changed attitudes in America and brought Americans in the streets and the Vietnam war to an end. Indians need to be exposed to the realities of the war in Kashmir. They need to see the gory victims of security forces` brutality, not just the victims of militants. It is only then that the Indian masses will wake up to the situation in Kashmir. The vast majority of Indians have never been to Kashmir and form their opinion of the state from the media which while free and brave in many issues, sticks to the govt. version when it comes to Kashmir. There is no independent initiative and thought when it comes to Kashmir or other insurrections elsewhere in India for that matter.

India cannot afford to delay the settlement of various grievances in Kashmir and the north-east. For its own sake, India needs to settle the Kashmir Muslim issue in a peaceful and satisfactory manner for all the parties involved, Muslim and non-Muslim. Indians should part as friends with the Islamic world and close the chapter of our long, fruitful as well as scarred relationship with our Islamic neighbors. Only then can the Indian state concentrate completely and wholeheartedly in solving the problems of the Indian people, people who are proud to be Indian and are not forced to be Indian. India needs to move on and fulfill its promise. Best regards and best of luck,

Kabuli

Turks: The Bad Part re: #48

Chauhan bhai,

people dissing Turkey are just jealous that their own countries do not enjoy the success and fair name of Turkey...by leaving their Islamic Ummah baggage, Turks have been able to better themselves without having access to oil. Turkey will probably be the only developed country in the Islamic world when the oil reserves get depleted in the middle-east. They are willing to learn from the west and all the while, from what I have read, have not forgotten their Turkish roots and culture, the operative word there being Turkish and not necessarily Islamic. In fact they seem to be very proud of it. Having said all that, Islam is in no danger of being eclipsed in Turkey as the overwhelming majority of Turks still identify themselves as Muslim. Women especially in the rural areas and migrants to cities wear the hijab and observe all the practices and rituals of traditional Islam. On the other hand women who don`t wear the hijab are allowed to wear and do what they like without a fatwa over their heads. Their family structures are very strong as evidenced by their almost reverent love for children. They are basically having the best of both worlds, traditional and modern. That is in my opinion true enlightened moderation.

regards

The Holy Falooda Jibran,

I do not know if the marble edifice you speak about is a new addition, but when I visited Baba Bulleh Shah`s shrine in 2000, it was relatively simple in a quiet and narrow street barely enough for a Toyota Hilux to fit in. There were very few people around unlike Ajmer or Data Darbar, with strings of jasmine flowers laid on the sarcophagus. The floor tiles were made of black and white granite. The shrine containing the sarcophagus was very small, just enough to hold maybe 7-8 people. The only people milling around seemed to be caretakers and a few charsis near the entrance. Maybe something has changed drastically since then. Then again I went on a weekday at around noon time.

I was surprised then that the greatest saint in India`s history (in my opinion anyway; his message is what I think true religion is about; concerned with the self as religion should be and to hell with conversions and politics) is buried almost unnoticed by the religious hordes that usually throng such places. But maybe that is how he would have wanted it, without all the tamasha, spectacle and hysteria usually attached to the graves of mystics. If the situation has changed as you describe it, it is indeed a sad state of affairs

regards

Turks: The Bad Part Fenasi,

Thank you for the article. Interesting perspective from someone who has studied there. I have been doing a lot of research on Turkey lately because my family and I are taking a vacation there this summer. I have always found Turks to be pleasant and cultured, right from the bakers in Saudi Arabia to classmates in the USA. Unfortuantely these encounters have been brief and not sustained, something I hope to rectify this summer. Having said that, I think Ataturk did a great thing by trying to westernize his country by changing the script, separating mosque and state etc. It must have taken extreme foresight and courage to change traditional Turkish society from being protector of worldwide Islam to a society for the Turks. Many fundoo Muslims are against Ataturk because reportedly he decreed that the Quran be read in Turkish instead of Arabic. I do not know if this is true, but if this is, just imagine the tremendous vision and courage of the man in going against orthodoxy. This would have enabled Turks to really understand the Quran unlike the vast majority of non-Arab Muslims and grasp the essence of Islam instead of blindly following the lead of mullahs. I think Turkey is reaping the benefits of Ataturk`s leadership and vision today.

From what I have read, their economy is not doing too badly. Though cities like Bursa are losing their quaint charm due to industrialization, I think Turkey will come through for the better. Turkish cities have been able to absorb rural migrants, avoiding the scenario in developing countries where rural labor settle and erect sprawling slums leading to increase in crime and other societal problems. Poverty of the like found in many Muslim countries is not found in Turkey. They are self sufficient in food and have a booming tourist industry. How many other 97+% Muslim majority countries have such a booming tourist industry? It is a reflection of the sense of security tourists feel in exploring Turkey. I am sure other Muslim majority countries are just as hospitable but the prevailing political situations do not inspire the same confidence among tourists. All credit to Turkey then.

regards

Muslims in Infidelistan: A Ready Reckoner Chauhan bhai,

awesome...had me in splits...reminded me of Ed Norton`s monologue in 25th hour, but your article has more bite...you should start a blog....been reading your interacts for a while and enjoy your ilogs....thank you for taking on holier than thou hypocrites on chowk...more power to you

Kabuli

Would India be a Threat to the Islamic Conference? re: Ramanujan # 14

[... but recall India has militantly tried to keep us out of many fora. ]



Which ones?


India has been opposing the entry of Pakistan into Asian Economic Associations (like ASEAN where I believe India and Russia have observer status)...this is petty and probably has its roots in diplomatic scores...Pakistan and India need to get over their zero sum game attitude and look at avenues that are of mutual benefit to them...whatever reasons India might have to oppose Pakistan`s entry into these associations, it is not as if India is a saint herself...we have problems of our own and these organizations/associations are fora where Pakistan and India can resolve their problems by working together...by trying to make Pakistan a pariah, India is only strengthening the hand of the fundoos (read Mullahs and Military) in Pakistan and turning sane, reasonable people like my buddy Manto against India....India needs more Mantos and fewer Musharrafs in Pakistan if she is to have a secure and prosperous future.

Kabuli

Would India be a Threat to the Islamic Conference? The OIC is mostly a forum where dictators and despots meet on a periodic basis, eat falafel, pass meaningless resolutions and validate the status quo in their respective countries. Think about it, all the major countries in this redundant organization, are dictatorships where democracy has gone for a toss. They have the nerve to talk about human rights. For a country like India it should be embarrassing to sit in their company. One thing that has always intrigued me is this grandiose sounding organization is always mum when atrocities happen in Muslim majority countries like Sudan, Indonesia etc. Muslims grievances are genuine and non-Muslim problems are not? The OIC is an Organization of Islamic Ch00tiyas.

Temporary Marriage in Islam Yet another article for those who say this article is irrelevant

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-1219601,curpg-5.cms

One minor girl, many Arabs
Mohammed Wajihuddin
[ Sunday, September 04, 2005 11:41:50 amTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
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They are old predators with new vigour. Often bearded, invariably in flowing robes and expensive turbans. The rich, middle-aged Arabs increasingly stalk the deprived streets of Hyderabad like medieval monarchs would stalk their harems in days that we wrongly think are history. These Viagra enabled Arabs are perpetrating a blatant crime under the veneer of nikaah, the Islamic rules of marriage. Misusing the sanctioned provision which allows a Muslim man to have four wives at a time, many old Arabs are not just marrying minors in Hyderabad, but marrying more than one minor in a single sitting.

``The Arabs prefer teenage, virgin brides,`` says Jameela Nishat, who counsels and sensitises young women against the malaise. Two of her volunteers, Shahida Yasmeen and Tasneem Sultana, in their early twenties experienced the trauma of being scanned by an old Arab. A few months ago, they accompanied an undercover television reporter who was following these sham marriages. They reached a home where half a dozen other prospective brides were gathered. ``It resembled a brothel. The girls were paraded before the Arab who would lift the girls’ burqa, run his fingers through their hair, gaze at their figures and converse through an interpreter,`` says Yasmeen recalling the day.

Most girls inspected by the Arab were minors, and forced by a complex union of their parents and Islamic clerics to yield to the preliminary probes of the Arab.

Curiously, the high priests of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and the fatwa brigade of Darul Uloom Deoband, who are gearing up to defend the legality of Islamic Courts in the Supreme Court, seem to have shut their eyes to this phenomenon that is aided and abetted by Hyderabad`s Qazis or clerics.

Many Qazis prepare both marriage and divorce formalities together. While marriages require the grooms to be present, divorces are a bit different. A talaaq can be given verbally, through a letter, an email, telegraph, phone or even sms. ``Many talaaqs are coming through sms these days,`` confirms Mufti Abdul Ahad Falahi, a Qazi at a Darul Qaza in Mumbai. ``If a woman who has received an intimation of talaaq doubts its veracity, she can check with her husband. If he accepts he has sent the message, the talaaq will be valid.``

Most Qazis solemnise these sham marriages in complete violation of Islamic principles of nikaah and talaaq. A woman cannot be married off to another man unless her first husband gives her a divorce, or she has sought khula (separation) and has completed idat (a period of three menstrual cycles from the day of the talaaq).

Maulana Hameeduddin Aqil, head of a prominent Muslim body Millat-e-Islamia, dismisses such marriages as sinful. ``They are committing a sin. It`s not nikaah, it`s prostitution by another name,`` says the frail, seventy five year old.

Impoverished and easily lured by the promise of a better future, many Muslim parents are increasingly pushing their daughters into this flesh trade that has a convenient respectability of an Islamic marriage. The Arabs, in collusion with the greedy Qazis, marry girls for a short period. In some cases, for a night.

On the first of August, forty five year old Al Rahman Ismail Mirza Abdul Jabbar, a Sheikh from the UAE, approached a broker in these matters, seventy year old Zainab Bi in the walled city, near the historic Char Minar. The broker procured Farheen Sultana and Hina Sultana, aged between thirteen and fifteen, for twenty thousand rupees. Then he hired Qazi Mohammed Abdul Waheed Qureshi to solemnise the marriage. The Qazi, taking advantage of an Islamic provision, married the girls off to the Arab. After the wedding night with the girls, the Arab left at dawn.

The girls’ parents were promised their share of the booty by the broker but when it didn’t, they went to the media. The girls are not too disturbed by the whole episode. ``The Arab would have given us money. We can’t marry an Indian because our parents are too poor to pay dowry,`` the girls told Noorjahan Sidddiqui, a co-ordinator with Confederation of Voluntary Association, a Hyderabad-based NGO.


Muslim families that cannot afford to match the dowry demands of Indian grooms, are the first preys of old Arab grooms who not only give them the sanctity of marriage but also thousands of rupees. Unlike in India, in the Arab countries, it`s the boys who pay girls the dowry. While rich Arabs go West to get white brides, transitory or otherwise, those with modest revenue streams look towards the East, especially Hyderabad where it seems, a well-oiled machinery is in place.

Hyderabad has a long history with Arabs. During their heydays, the Nizams (1724-1948) recruited many Arabs in their army. Subsequently, some of them guarded the Nizams’ coffers and their harems too. Many Arabs married local girls and settled in the Barkas area of Hyderabad (it resembles an Arab street even today).

Muslim politicians in the city never took the issue seriously. ``It’s not on the poll agenda of any politician,`` says Mazhar Hussain, director of Confederation of Voluntary Associations, a social welfare outfit. Even Majlis-e-Ittihadul Muslameen, the party that Hyderabad’s Muslims have voted repeatedly has done nothing about it.

``You cannot deny that the fortunes of many families have changed through such marriages,`` a r g u e s MIM’s seventy three year old president Sultan Salahuddin O w a i s i , seated at his palatial bu n g a l ow situated at a distance from the filthy slums of his faithful voters. Not politicians, not Islamic clerics, not even a majority of citizens, it appears, are too angered by the issue.

In the middle of this small world that looks part victimised and part practical, is a local mosque where a Friday sermon is coming to an end. A lanky imam reads out an ``important`` announcement: A Muslim body invites the faithful to discuss the evil effects of Television.

Temporary Marriage in Islam Manipulating religion

http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/jun202004/sl2.asp

Fly-by-night bridegrooms

The practice of minor Muslim girls being married off to rich and old Arab men continues. A look at dowry practices.


The long-winding narrow lanes in the desperately poor areas of Hyderabad; the dark, claustrophobic, one-room houses; the deadened souls and the emotionally-drained hearts know it all and yet won’t speak. In fact, they will deny it. Because, if they accept the truth, then they would be forced to confront the bitter truth: that their girl children are available for as little as Rs 5,000 to satisfy the lust of doddering old Arab men.

Sixteen-year-old Haseena who was married to a 75-year-old Arab, Jorani, for Rs 10,000 now forms a sordid chapter in the social history of Hyderabad. She made history when she ran away from him, traumatised. When her parents took her back after two days, Jorani refused to accept her and harassed the family to return his money (of the Rs 10,000 he paid, the broker had taken away Rs 5,000). Haseena lodged a police complaint and for the first time in the 30-odd years during which countless, short-term marriages of impoverished Muslim girls to rich old Arab men took place every other day, police booked a case, arrested Jorani who had married two girls in two weeks, and jailed him.

Terrified by the publicity, Haseena’s family fled the city and their angry neighbours chased away the media. Assistant Commissioner of Police A K Khan said last year they had picked up two Arabs, aged 80 and 67, for marrying girls for short terms, but could not proceed as the girls’ families refused to cooperate. Haseena’s complaint came as god-send. Police investigation revealed a well-oiled racket that was run by a “partnership” of religious leaders or qazis and a network of brokers, travel agents and hotels owners who look around, identify and convince parents of young girls. One of the three qazis identified as culprits by police, was even was running a “home” with “five-star” facilities to house the Arab men and their brides. “The community should step in a big way to deal with the issue,” said Mr Khan.

Dr Sunita Krishnan, who heads an anti human-trafficking NGO Prajwala, said the community refuses to accept that a large number of girls who marry “outside the country” end up in the red-light areas of Mumbai and Pune. Parents are gullible enough to marry off their daughters on phone, hand them the nikahnama, and send them off with the broker to start a new life “abroad”. A few months later, the parents get a cassette in which the girl says she is well and the parents rest happy that all is well.

Abbasi was 14 when she was married off. She was rescued from Kamatipura, Mumbai’s red-light area and subsequently rehabilitated by Prajwala. She recounts her story: “Someone abroad had a marriage proposal for me. The nikah was the phone. I said kubool (accept) on the phone. The next day I was sent off to Mumbai. After three days I was sent to wrong places… I told them I will not do what they say… they started beating and torturing me… I wanted to make a phone call but they did not allow me... They kept on beating me... I tried to run away but they caught me... There were many girls like me who were also tortured similarly by the sethanis (madams)…”

Prajwala began to investigate these marriages. Supported by the Confederation of Voluntary Agencies, a Hyderabad-based NGO that works with the Muslim community in several states, it brought out a study after examining 75 cases of “outside” marriages. Of these, as many as 40 families did not know for three years where or how their daughters were; 20 marriages lasted between three days and three months; only 15 had evidence such as photos, showing the girl living with her husband in a foreign country. These are the “culprits” who encourage a bahar ki shaadi. Activists believe a few thousand girls have “disappeared” after such marriages and the parents are too poor even to trace them.

Wretched poverty, the spread of the dowry system and increasing “commercialisation” of marriages in the Muslim community are some factors that have encouraged short-term contract marriages, says Gazanfar Ali Khan, assistant editor with the Urdu newspaper Rehnuma-e-Deccan. “A contract marriage has no sanctity in Islam. These are efforts to legitimise debauchery. I understand the newly married girl not only signs the nikah paper but also the divorce paper…this is haram (illegitimate) since there is no iddat period (40 days)... this is the worst possible exploitation of a Muslim girl,” he says. He believes qazis are the main culprits as they take advantage of a person’s poverty and commit a fraud rather than perform a marriage.

Sunita identifies yet another factor, that is the religious and social acceptance of talaq. Above all, Sunita says, the girl child is not valued. “If a girl child is sold or her life ruined, it is not a national loss, that’s why this is a non-issue, both for community and to society,” she says.

This culture of silence, which is the main reason for the perpetuation of the exploitation and abuse of the Muslim girl child (as in other communities) has to be stopped. Only community activism can be effective, she says.

MUMBAI: Mumbai has emerged as a big centre of this racket where old Arabs as well as people belonging to other nationalities, like Algerians and blacks, come for “some fun”. Mohammed Ali Road, Nagpada, Mahim and some other areas have many guest houses. Such alliances are backed a small group of unscrupulous Kazis and agents. In one place in the Nagpada area a kazi receives groups of people, mostly Arabs and Algerians who are very old. He prepares a nikahnama and talaqnama simultaneously, marrying the old Arab to the victim, who is always a minor. The fee is from Rs 10,000 to to Rs 1 lakh or more, depending on the girl’s beauty. The client then spends one or two nights with the girl and then goes away. The girl’s parents are paid half the amount and the balance is pocketed by the agents.

A leading Muslim social activist Shahajadi Hakim says: “The police can easily keep track of the movements of visiting foreigners, but they are not doing enough.” The involvement of mafia gangs in this racket are not ruled out.
Dowry is prevalent in Marathwada while in Mumbai, it is prevalent among UP Muslims.

LUCKNOW: Jamina Ahmed, a research scholar who is studying gloabalisation and social change among the Muslim community does not believe that only Muslim girls from the lower socio-economic strata are married off to affluent middle-aged men. “Even among the well-off you will see a preference for men who are affluent. The Middle East holds a special fascination. So the convergence of economics and religion becomes very potent. The trend is marked in those regions which have had a tradition of men going to the region to seek their fortunes.”

On why such cases are not so prevalent among Muslims in places like Lucknow, school principal Mrs Ayesha Khan, believes the community is tradition-bound.

R AKHILESHWARI

in Hyderabad

with inputs from Parag Rabade (Mumbai) and Pujaa Awastthi (Lucknow)


THIRTEEN YEARS LATER...

Nothing much has changed for Ameena

Ameena made headlines in 1991 and was the first public face of the exploitation and abuse of young Muslim girls from impoverished homes.

The 11-year-old had been married off to a 50-something Arab and was flying out of the country when she was rescued by an alert air-hostess.

Thirteen long years later Ameena’s situation is hardly any better. She married Abdul Majid last year, an autorickshaw driver, who is at least 20 years her senior, and has a three-month-old baby girl Husna. She lives in a dingy two-room house in a slum in the Mushirabad locality in Hyderabad. She recollects the past unwillingly. Her father, a rickshaw-puller with eight children was “misled” by some neighbours, into marrying her off. The subsequent glare of publicity forced him to leave the Old City with his family.

“He would have been living,” says Ameena softly, apparently carrying yet another burden of guilt that she was the cause of his apart from notoriety and unwanted publicity. Ameena slipped out of public memory as also that of the state. The Supreme Court had ordered the state to get Ameena educated, monitor her progress regularly and ensure some economic benefits for the family. She was enrolled into a government school. She dropped out. Neither did any official visit her nor was any assistance given to the family. She was forgotten till yet another old Arab came to Hyderabad looking for a young virgin.

Ameena was once again forced to live her nightmare as she was tracked down by the media. There is no escape for Ameena as long as poor girls continue to be preyed upon, with the consent of the family, the community, the society and the state.

R A





ARABI KALYANAMS AND MYSORE MARRIAGES



Arabi kalyanams (Arab marriages) and Mysore kalyanams (grooms from Mysore) were once synonymous with the backward Muslim communities of mostly Kozhikode, Malappuram and Wayanad districts in north Kerala. With the collapse of active trade links between Arabs and Malabar, the infamous Arabi kalyanam is believed to have ended though some of its critics say that Arabs still come and go and the practice continues on the sly. Arayadan Shoukath, writer and producer of last year’s state government award-winning Malayalam film Paatom Onnu Oru Vilaapom (Lesson one: A wail) says that ‘Mysore marriages’ are still on especially among Sunnis who largely constitute the uneducated lower middle-class strata of the community. “The impression is that young men from Mysore charge less dowry. They come to Malappuram and Wayanad with a letter of authorisation purportedly from their mosque committee and marry teenage girls. Many of them abandoned their wives once they became mothers,” he says. But there are many views. According to a lawyer and councillor of the Kozhikode municipal corporation, Noorbeena Rasheed, Arabs have helped many families by taking them back to the Gulf and giving them jobs. “In our community, women cannot remain unmarried. For an ordinary lower class family it’s difficult to arrange for a dowry. So they fall prey to these rich Arabs.’’ Norbeena, who has fought cases for such women, told Deccan Herald that many have also ditched these hapless girls. “However, now an awareness has grown in the community, especially now that women’s organisations have taken up the issue,’’ she claims.

Arabs often reach Thiruvananthapuram with the help of local Malayalis employed in the Gulf. “It often depends on the intentions of the local people employed there who bring them,’’ she says. As it turns out, many Arabs use the opportunity for pleasure and abandon them once these girls lose their sex appeal. Subair, a young trader in Malappuram, says “the high priests of the commmunity can halt this system if they wish. But they ask: who is going to marry these girls?’’

Shoukath, whose film threw some troubling questions at the community chiefs, says “the system has spawned several ills. Some of the local boys keep on marrying using this dowry. He uses the dowry from a prospective bride to settle dues with his old wife’s family. I am happy that my film has been well received by my people and the world outside. I wish there is a speedy end to this social malady.``

R GOPAKUMAR

in Thiruvanthapuram

Temporary Marriage in Islam My professor who taught religion used to say ``Proof of the pudding is in its eating``...practitioners of a faith need to take responsibility for the situation that their religion finds itself in...if the conscience says that something doesn`t seem right, man should make an effort to rectify it rather than try to find excuses to legitimize it...many Muslims, when confronted with discomforting issues, try to sweep the problems under the rug by saying ``oh but this isn`t real Islam, it is just pre-Islamic tribal practices``...but then, isn`t a lot of Islam based on Arab tribal customs?...The proof of the pudding is indeed in its eating...how can one separate culture from religion?...religion is part and parcel of culture...honor killing for example is often explained away by saying that it has nothing to do with Islam...this maybe so...however how shall one explain the occurence of this practice throughout Muslim lands from North Africa to South east Asia?...is something engendered by religion that leads to honor killing, even if there is nothing within Islam itself that supports the practice?

This desire to hide things away from public view, without bringing attention to evil practices is not a monopoly of Islam alone...female infanticide for example is a terrible custom practiced by Hindus and Sikhs of North India...there are many states in North India were the ratio of men vs women is terribly skewed...there is not a single stanza in neither religion that says female babies should be murdered...but still it happens...Hindus and Sikhs cannot shy and turn away by saying, ``oh, but this isn`t real Hinduism or Sikhism``...maybe so, but it is THEIR problem.

The proof of a religion`s noble intentions is in the following of a noble path by its practitioners...it is not difficult to find what a noble path is...adult human beings have an innate understanding of right and wrong...for example the war captives who were doled out to Muslim soldiers for sexual gratification surely wouldn`t have gone to them willingly...their misery and unwillingness would surely have been written large on their faces and noticed by the soldier before he forced himself on her...his conscience must have told him that what he is doing is wrong, even if it is granted by his religion because of the woman`s obvious misery...his natural empathy must have told him not to do it...but if he did go ahead and rape the woman, he will then try to assuage his guilt by justifying that his religion allows rape of war captives...this is the logic employed by apologists of religion ( any religion, nut just Islam) because inspite knowing that what they are apologizing for is wrong, they still go ahead and try to find excuses in order to cover up the truth...people have called Mr. Gill names and insulted him for trying to be candid about an issue within his religion...Mr. Gill has listened to his conscience and tried to speak out against an evil, his detractors on the other hand are committing another crime on the women victimized by the issue in question by trying to apologize for it.

Kabuli

Temporary Marriage in Islam Mutah is not a dead issue...it exists even today in areas of conflict such as Kashmir...foreign militants are known to forge mutah relationships with Kashmiri women...when I brought this up in a Kashmiri discussion group attended by Kashmiris, Indians and Pakistanis in college, I was asked to keep quiet by the fundoos because it is a religious issue and we had gathered that day to discuss the political situation in Kashmir

Digital Desis or Giant Managers? To all my Pakistani friends here,

why do you get all khujlee in the you know where because India is finally on the move?...doesn`t Pakistan provide soldiers for hire to various Arab countries to protect their despots and dictators?...in recent years, Pakistan`s export has been of a more terror inspiring variety...A.Q. Khan anyone?...please deny it if it is not true...it is all very simple...comparative advantage...Indians are willing to provide a service which is deemed of satisfactory quality and there is a hungry market for these services...whatever they maybe...if you can, compete...else do whatever you feel is your comparative advantage when you find one...I met the chair of computer science dept. at LUMS (Lahore University of Management Sciences, a premier institution in your country, in Gulberg, Lahore) in 2000 and he told our group (he did not know I was Indian, I went there with my Pakistani friends) that India did the right thing by investing in science and technology and was now reaping the benefits

So my friends , please don`t grudge us our success...the employes of MNCs may be getting pittance when compared to their Western colleagues, but the purchasing power of whatever they earn is quite high...for example, Rs. 50,000 per monthmight only be around $1000 when converted, but can bring a life comparable to $50 k per annum in the US...however little or petty Indian success may seem to you, we are not causing bodily harm to anyone...it is simple economics...if people abroad are losing jobs because they can`t compete, then tough...the same happened to weavers and other craftsmen in India during British rule, because they couldn`t compete with cheap Manchester cloth...now it is India`s turn...one word of advice...you must have heard of North Korea and South Korea...a situation not unlike Pakistan and India...similar culture but at odds with each other...one ruled by a dictator and the other, a democracy with its myraid problems...still South Korea is one of the biggest economies of the world...North Korea today cannot feed its own people...please wake up before you share the same fate as North Korea...it will be a sad day if that should ever happen.

regards,

Kabuli

Shivaji -- Portrait of the King as Barbarian This article is extremely mediocre not the least due to wikipedia being one of the sources cited. There is nothing new here and the intention of the author seems to be to just rile some Maharashtrian and nationalist egos into retaliation while the author pretends to be some sort of quack historian. So Shivaji was not of Kshatriya stock. Big deal. Many if not most dynasties did not come from Kshatriya stock. Chandragupta Maurya anyone? Was Asoka, his grandson irreligious then? or how about Hoysalas, Vijayanagara empire? Were they all irreligious? Many Rajput, Gujar and Jat kings have ruled India, tribes which initially came from further north. Were they all irreligious? Even if they were, so what? What is the point the author is trying to prove? The Brahmins being great opportunists, quickly switched parties in favor of whoever the winners were and proclaimed them as Kshatriyas/Rajans. This served both the Brahmins and the nouveau kings. The Brahmins got to keep getting fat and the new kings were accorded legitimacy. Why attack Shivaji then? He was only following what had been going on for millenia. The barbaric punishments the author talks about was nothing strange in that day and age. The West which the author is in so awe of went through far worse. If you dont believe me, ask the victims of the Inquisition. Shivaji is cited as being strict but just as well. This is not just some Brahmin hangerson bull, but the scribes of Shivaji`s enemies have written of his respect for women, all women. The same scribes describe him as cunning, a hill rat. Is that so wrong? Wasn`t Ranjit Singh cunning? The pathans?

What in the hell was the point of this article? Why does shite like this get on the front page of chowk?

Fauzia’s Rejection While the situation described here does occur, is it always the men who are jerks? Don`t desi women want partners who are settled abroad, with a big bank balance, big house and a great car? Are you saying women (especially the desi variety) aren`t superficial? I agree with the author in that desis should go after Johns and Janes. Janes are hardworking, usually have a career and moreover, make an effort to stay attractive instead of letting go.