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A NEW YEAR

I hope this new year marks the dawn of a new india, ready to face the reality, ready to call the bluff. No more can a nation accept threats to its sacred institutions carried out by ruthless nations created on the ideology of religious bigotry. It is time to call the bluff, assert herself as a nation that will not accept terrorist acts. It has to be year of coming of age for india, finding her place under the sun.

A GOOD DAYS WORK,

The following is a letter to the editor in todays dawn by a pakistani, mr. Ali. he is complaining that following a murder, there is no action by the police. take heart Mr Ali, in the case that you are talking about, no one knows who did it. There was a case a couple of years ago, in front of a solicitor, a young girl was murdered, every one knew who did it, but no one dared to take action, it was a honour killing, and it will be illegal to arrest a person for honour killing, it is all in a good days work for a honourable pakistani. mr. Ali if you had cared to write letters, if you had cared to organise popular action as you have done now against honour killing, may be this young man would not have been killed. Wake up Mr. Ali, if you can legalise honor killing today, it is just a matter of time when every killing become legal, as it was in the book,

Murderers not arrested

The cold-blooded murder of a newly married youth, Munawar Hussain, by a gang of robbers has not moved our police and law-enforcing agencies. In spite of tall promises by the police high-ups, nothing has been done with regard to arresting the killers.

The irony is that the killers have whipped up their notorious activities holding the whole city to ransom. The month of Ramzan, symbolizing peace and piety proved to be a month of agony for the citizens as they were emotionally and psychologically hurt. A complete strike and a big protest rally followed the murder that dispersed peacefully on the promises of arresting the culprits by the SSP.

But after the lapse of one month or so leave alone tracing down the killers, nothing has been done. It looks as if there is some secret liaison between the guardians of the law and its violators. Governor Khalid Maqbool is requested to look into the matter.

AMANAT ALI

Hujra Shah Muqueem, Okara

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Ref microencephalic #: 104

[Whoah! I`m getting confused. Was this 12 headed guy harrassing anNY? Is he the same guy who made her have the accident?]

You need some rest away from the Chowk. The 12-head is one who claims to be in the same profession as you; not psychiatry but medicine. He lives in the US and drives a Studebaker. The guy who caused anNy`s accident lives in Pakistan. Now that this info is causing your head to spin, why don`t you see a REAL shrink? He might diagnose dementia and assign you to a nice sanitarium.

re: AAmir

{Which sane person can think AAmir would choose Md benaissa as name & post shallow post as this character.}

dude, this isn`t your madrassah...you`re the 12-head retard and everyone knows it...if i remember correctly you were sending unwanted e-mails to other chowk females in the past as well...

Reply Binifer

Mills of God slowly slowly grinding, but very

small also, no...

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A PROUD CLAIM

There was a time when many on the chowk, amir, ali1, scout etc were so proud that islam is the fastes spreading religion in the world. The fact that it is spreading in the slums and prisons of the world mattered little to those proud islamists of pakistan.

reid, the shoe bomber of the US plane is a classic example. he was a petty criminal in the UK, and as usual in prison he got the call, became a muslim, went to pakistan and the rest is history, a proud islamic history, for the pakistanis to ruminate.

binifer,

Whoah! I`m getting confused. Was this 12 headed guy harrassing anNY? Is he the same guy who made her have the accident?

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

HELP TO PREVENT WAR IN SOUTH ASIA

All who value peace and human life need to intervene and stop war in South Asia. India and Pakistan are poised to engage in such a misadventure as their respective troops and missiles (possibly nuclear) face each other on their border and on the Line of Control in Kashmir. This is happening while we in the United States are busy watching the news from neighboring Afghanistan.

People of Indian and Pakistani origin especially need to wake up to the reality of what kind of misery this conflict will produce. Our armchair warmongers of South Asian origin who now make their homes outside the region, in Europe, Canada and here in the United States need to get a large dose of reality.

Some Pakistanis are arranging a peace march at a Northern California venue (exact date and place to be decided) this week and urge all from the South Asian (aka “Desi”) Diaspora and their friends to protest against the possibility of war between India and Pakistan. I hope that Americans will join us and show solidarity with the pursuit of sanity in the region. Let us have a happy, peaceful and prosperous new year in a part of the world where the misery of poverty already rules the streets. Help us stop this looming war.

Ras H. Siddiqui

Sacramento, California

shankar #96: Answers to some of your questions:

``Dunno why, but I thought your ``native village`` was in IOK! Gee.. that part of Kashmir is really free``

My family village is in Azad Kashmir. My family lived and grew up in Srinigar. But yes, according to the Indian Constitution, and all the maps in India, my family village is officially considered a part of India, by Indians. I guess that makes me an Indian. However, India still requires me to get a visa if I want to go to India. And it does not allow me to cross over the LOC, into IOK from POK, even though on the map, India considers POK a part of India.

Makes a lot of sense, I guess.

``Gang rapes CAN & DO occur in the Army...Indian or Pakistani...Kashmir & Bangladesh are prime examples``

Yes and no. Gang rapes are occuring in Kashmir. This is well documented. And Pakistanis killed a lot of people (and I assumed raped) in Bangladesh.

However, I am not going to just blame the armies of these two countries for these actions. The true blame goes on the govts. that have sent them there. And the people who support the govts. The armymen always end up holding the bag, when govt. policies go wrong (which is what is going to happen to the Indian armymen, once Indian govt. policies in Kashmir fail).

Any soldier sent in to fight civilian populations hates it, and eventually ends up going nuts. There is far too much psychological pressure. If you do your job well, you have to kill civilians. If you don`t do your job well, you are killed by some of the civilians. It is a lose-lose situation for the soldier. I doubt too many Indian soldiers covet an assignment in Kashmir, at the moment. I am sure they would much rather particiapate in a normal war.

Vietnam, Bangladesh and Kashmir are good examples. Individually, these soldiers are to be blamed. But at a policy level, it is the govts` fault.

I don`t think any rapes are carried out in Army bases within India (i.e. Indian soldier raping a poor village girl in Jaipur or something), nor are they carried out in Army bases in Pakistan. Infact, the wars between India and Pakistan, which did not involve civilians (only fought between the militaries) were quite chivalrous, i.e. Pakistani soldiers did not bomb Indian civilians in Delhi, and Indian soldiers did not bomb Pakistani civilians in Lahore. Prisoners of War were treated quite well, also. I have this from confirmed sources.

``You seem to believe that Mushy is going to eliminate the feudal grip on the country.``

Unfortunately no. I wish he would. But he didn`t, or couldn`t. I don`t know why.

Musharraf has however sidelined the top lot. And he has put many of them behind bars. And he has decentralized their executive authority down to the local level. Kind of like kissing one`s sister, but still a hell of a lot better than what anyone else did.

``Well, if only college grads can contest elections, I guess peasants wont be able to run for elections. So, he will throw out the ``old`` bum feudals & bring in newer ones.``

Yes and no. There are reserved seats for peasants and women in the local assemblies. At the national and provincial levels, peasants have zero chance of getting elected, even if they get a Ph.D. Imran Khan cannot beat a feudal, what to talk of a peasant beating one.

The college grad requirement will get rid of the old feudal lot, but will bring in their kids. So you are correct. But something is better than nothing.

``You mentioned that there is a powerful feudal-military alliance that has been made possible through bonds of marriage. So eventhough Mushy`s family maynot have married into the feudal class, a lot of his generals are.``

This alliance is not that much of an alliance any longer. Feudals have now stopped marrying into the military. They don`t send their kids into the military, any longer either. They now marry into expatriates, and foreign trained businessman. Most of the top echelon of the military now, are basically from middle class families.

And the alliances are usually built through the top person. Ayub and Zia`s families joined this alliance, and became a part of the system, and part of the problem. Musharraf`s family has not, so far.

``Mushy has now alienated the right wing religionists (by strategic U turns), the middle class (by the bogus referendum), the intelligentsia (by undemocratic amendments to the Constitution) & now the Military-feudal nexus?!``

The first part is correct. But he has made a lot of friends in Pakistan, due to his stance against the maulvi brigade.

I don`t think the second part is correct. Most urban parties, on the whole, still support him. And I haven`t seen a single demonstration against him. Or any uprising etc. I think the people like him better than NS and Bhutto. Or the people just don`t care anymore. The main PPP and PML politicians are however against him. But I don`t think they always represent the wishes of the people.

The intelligensia of Pakistan is somewhat cynical and criticizes everyone. Being critical of the govt. in Pakistan is considered patriotic. The criteria to use here is that they dislike Musharraf less than they dislike NS and BB etc. I think, on the whole, they do realize that Pakistan now has more press freedom than ever before, and is now in a progressive mode. And even Musharraf`s harshest impartial critics have accepted that he is honest, sincere and forward looking, though undemocratic.

``So the only thing thats holding him in office is his friend Bushy & the Indians``

I don`t think this is correct. What is holding him in power is the incompotence of the status quo tried and tested politicians. People may not like Musharraf`s dictatorship, but they are sick and tired of the old politicians also. That is why, cry as they might, the PPP and PML have not been able to move too many common Pakistanis to join them in their protests.

And the fact that the international lending institutions are happy with the direction the Pakistan economy is taking (even before Sep 11).

``Are Pakistani peasants so naieve (or am I)? Why cant they vote for a non-feudal? (I guess every feudal has an opponent running for election too--or is that not so, as well?)``

Pakistani peasants aren`t naive. They are completely powerless and enslaved (in some cases literally in feudal jails) by feudals.

I don`t know much about Indian politics, but I think it cannot be compared with Pakistani feudal politics. Poverty isn`t the main problem in feudal Pakistan, politically. There are urban poor also, in Pakistan. Neither is illiteracy. Both of these are no doubt huge problems, but not the main.

The main problem is land ownership.

The feudal owns all the land that is tilled by the peasants. In that sense, he completely owns the peasants` livelihood, their villages etc. He can legally kick him/her off the land. Over decades and centuries, a system has been put into place, where the feudal (the big ones) even gives judicial judgements in conflicts. They are basically kings.

So the peasants are not only poor, they are powerless. If someone can get kicked off the land, with no skills, can get his daughter abducted, etc., how can they even think of not voting for the feudal. They could all unite, but the feudals ensure that stage never reaches. And the feudals are in the Assemblies, and make all the laws. They will make sure that their lands remain feudal (which in turn means Pakistan remains backwards). Why else do you think all these feudals want elections, and are politicians? Shouldn`t they be into agriculture and not politics?

I think the problem of illiteracy and poverty exists in rural India, but not the problem of massive absentee landlordism. So urban Indian politics can be compared to urban Pakistani politics, but rural Indian politics cannot be compared to rural Pakistani politics. And over 60% of Pakistan is still rural.

In non-feudal villages, like mine, peasants can and have become leaders and politicians. Many of their second generations are now educated.

In some feudal areas (most maybe), there is an opposition. But it is also the local opposing feudal. If you look at the rural wing of PPP and PML, it is nothing but opposing feudals. Leghari was in PPP and Khosas (opposing feudal in same area) are in PML. Abida Hussein and her husband are in PML, while Faisal Hayat (opposing feudal, and one-time candidate as Benazir`s husband) is in PPP. So on and so forth. In many cases, these guys are related (Faisal is the nephew of Abida). In some areas, like Benazir`s Larkana etc., only one feudal dominates. So he/she gets elected unopposed.

Invariably, there are two things common in these feudal areas:

1. The more powerful the feudal/tribal leader, the more backwards the area. My family village, in Kashmir, like I stated, is now decades ahead of Leghari`s feudal areas outside Dera Ghazi Khan, Benazir`s feudal areas outside Larkana, and Abida`s feudal areas outside Jhang (I have lived close to these areas, not counting Larkana, so I know first hand). Even though my family village really has no political significance. It has only sent a few senior leaders into the local Kashmiri beaurecracy. Nothing at the Pakistan level.

2. The feudal or his/her next generation (if the feudal himself is not highly educated) is in big-time Western universities, and live in the poshest areas of urban Pakistan. Leghari is Oxford. Benazir is Harvard/Oxford. Abida`s kids are in Harvard etc.

``Are you suggesting that a non-feudal doesnt even DARE to oppose a Bhutto candidate in Larkhana? Or if he does, the polls are so blatantly rigged that its a waste of time to even run an election?``

The polls are not really rigged. They don`t need to be. But a non-feudal cannot challenge a feudal. He/she will never win. Look what happen to this girl, whose little brother allegedly was seen walking with a girl from another trible. And this incident did not even involve any of the super-feudal families. Do you think, this girl`s family could ever think of voting for someone other than the powerful feudal.

The are historically hardly any cases in Pakistan, in which a fedual has been defeated by a non-feudal. As I stated even Imran Khan has zero shot of defeating local feudals in their areas. So much so, that his (our) party doesn`t even compete in those areas.

anNy #70: Waah ji, kya aqal ki baatein ki hein. Good going :)

lve

Kiran

MdBenaissa cum Aaamir

Betae, aap kee good muslim anNy might have been nice enough to not spill your beans on chowk when she wanted to (and was having conscience attacks gods help us all)- It just so happens that I had complete access to her mail box when she was in the hospital and have been through all the `anNy you are just like my chotti behna` sh1t asss mails you kept flooding her mailbox with. I am also aware of the confession mail (without any provoking of one, strangely) wherein you informed her that you were all the 12 heads and more, some 5 months ago and this was to only `fool the indians exaaaapt for nice indian shankar and eklavya`. Also, I am aware of her not exchanging mails with you and you persisting like a case of loose sh1t.

Pls be mindful of the fact that I am not even going into all the cards that u flooded her mailbox with since i was responsible for cleaning out the trash from the mailbox when she was out of action and you know, you were very annoying with 25 cards every day for one whole friggin month. And you ask that i dont have a life. Now thats what i call a choot piece. Be very careful Mr.Masood or was it Maqsood? - I am now out to screw you over

Beware of all kafirs, barbarians, false worshippers like Hindus, Shias, Buddhists, Ahmedis, Zorostrians -

An impossible marriage

Edited By Adil Salahi, Arab News Staff

http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=11577

Q. A friend of mine, who until recently was a Hindu, embraced Islam and began, with God’s help, to attend to all his religious duties. However, he just discovered that Islam forbids marriage with one’s niece. As he is already married to his niece, he is at a loss what to do, considering that he has young children. What is the status of his marriage? If he divorces his wife, it will certainly affect his relations with his present wife and children, as they will inevitably feel that Islam is responsible for the break-up of their family. Please comment.

S. Habibullah, Riyadh

A. This man has adopted Islam because he realized that it is the truth. When one adopts a new religion on the basis of conviction, he must abide by what that religion dictates. Such dictates are part of the truth he has come to accept. It is not possible for a person to accept a religion and then say that he wants one or two of its teachings modified in order to suit his circumstances. Some people made such requests to the Prophet, but he did not accept any such conditions. It was not for him to do so, because the religion of Islam is given to us by God, and no one can alter what God makes lawful or forbidden.

This man has recognized the truth of Islam and accepted it. He then discovered that his marriage cannot be accepted by Islam. No one can alter God’s prohibition of a marriage between a man and his niece. This is a permanent prohibition which will not be relaxed in any circumstances. Therefore, he has no way other than to abide by what God has ordered and to refrain from what He has prohibited. His marriage cannot continue, because it is invalid. He must divorce his wife.

Now, when this marriage is over, relations between the man and the woman may continue as one between uncle and niece. However, because of the marriage between them, they should not stay alone in any private situation. They may make any suitable arrangements so that their children are brought up normally, cared for by both their parents, but the separation must take place. There is no way out.

anNy #70,

are you an `in the closet` bimbo ;)

cute post by the way, you make me smile sweets

http://www3.sympatico.ca/gul.khan/main1.jpg

http://www3.sympatico.ca/gul.khan/main1.jpg