Mumbai Burning

Heart goes out for the innocent victims. What is afflicting humanity? What do these crazed individuals want? Let us live in peace will ya! Someones interests are death blows for the others. Unfortunate.

Safest Place

The safest place, where nothing bad could touch me, nothing could hurt me, was the lap of my father or when I used to lie with him with my back against his chest.

Religious Quacks On-Line - Part 2

You guys should have seen Aalim Online last night. It was Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) hate-specific special. The 9 members of the CII were certified as 'not pure muslims'.

A certain scholar from Jamia Binoria termed that the recommendations would result in 'increase of divorce rate'. Our Mufti Muneeb said that even when 'khula' is mentioned in nikah nama, still this does not mean that the wife gets the right of divorce rather the court decides on her behalf. Its ok if a man divorces her without court.

The most striking thing - was this. Unfortunately when you are a reader of Quran you get a lot of lovely statements from people who claim to be the guardians of faith. Both of the gentlemen guests and a scholar on-line told audiences that 2 witnesses are not a requirement at the time of Divorce, its only a requirement at Nikah. And my jaws dropped. Check this verse.

Sura Talaq 65:2 - Thus when they fulfil their term appointed, either take them back on equitable terms or part with them on equitable terms; and take for witness two persons from among you, endued with justice, and establish the evidence (as) before Allah....

Please tell me 'I' am wrong and these learned scholars are not! How on earth can they lie in front of the whole world?! But then its no surprise. Evey sort of quack is available as I had mentioned in this post.

They even threatened the Government of dire consequences if if went with the implementation of these recommendations.

Recommendations of Council of Islamic Ideology

(Source The News Editorial, 18th November 08)

- divorce will come into effect 90 days after a woman has filed for separation. Till now, even though family courts have over the past few years granted women seeking divorce their right to annul a marriage more often than before, the long drawn-out procedure for 'khula' has meant repeated visits to courts and the airing of all kinds of messy matters in public. In some cases, omen have been pressurized by judges to return to husbands they wish to leave. The CII's suggestion will make the matter a much simpler one for women

- An application for divorce be registered the same way as a 'nikahnama',
- a husband must register the 'first divorce' rather than sending his wife three simultaneous notices of 'talaq'.
- he should declare his assets at the time of marriage avoiding controversy over what a wife can claim if she files for divorce.
- The inclusion of a clause in the nikahnama granting women the right to divorce has also been recommended. At present, even the clause that allows a man to grant this right to his wife is in practice often struck out by 'nikah khawans'.

There are lot of problems women face when it comes to Divorce related matters in Pakistan. CCI recommendations are a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, the clergy will not allow that as it encroaches upon their domain - their territory. There are some very valuable guidelines in Quran in matters relate to divorce (link below) which can be adopted to stop the mistreatment of women in Pakistan.

Related Posts:

- Divorce in Islam - The Quranic Perspective

- Quacks On Air - Religious Ones

Job Application

The killer line...

".. balls of my life are in your court now."

PostMan's Law of Office Privacy

There is always a colleague in office who stares at your computer screen.

NAB drops all corruption cases against politicians

"The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has dropped all corruption cases against politicians, both the government and the opposition, ... corruption cases involving over Rs 500 billion were dumped under the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO)" - The News

No matter how smart, able or intelligent Musharraf was or whether he committed no financial embezzlement for his own profit motives - when a dictator keeps holding on to power, this is the way that country suffers.

Yes the politicians are and will be corrupt, yes there is no accountability of people who have committed wrongs but when a dictator comes along, may be all sincere does not leave quick, he brings just another plate for corrupt to eat from.

Thats where Musharraf lost it big time. So did the country.

Baby 10 Commandments

(from the perspective of baby - the lord)

1 - Thou shall giveth everything to me.
2 - Thou shall not taketh (it) back from me.
3 - I shall throweth wherever I wanteth.
4 - Thou shall not covet my stuff.
5 - Thou shall feed me.
6 - Thou shall clean me.
7 - If you will - I wont.
8 - If you wont - I will.
9 - If you insist - hell will be the abode.
10 - The night is mine, the day is mine, you are at the servitude.

Allergy Treatment

'Drinking milk may ease milk allergy' - A news report.

Some solution! Don't fear of any allergy now! Dig in!

Tera Kya Hoga Kalia?

The Government has taken action against one of the biggest exchange companies operating in Pakistan, Khanani & Kalia. They have been accused of illegally smuggling out billions of US dollars over a period of 5 years and specifically for the last 6 months when Pakistani Rupee was stretched to its limits. The Rupee has depreciated by some 23% since July. The Forex reserves at $16 billion in July, are a mere $7 billion now. Although, majority believe that it has got more to do with the current account deficit (trade deficit ballooning to US$7.2 billion for July-Oct 08) but someone wants us to know that other facors are involved too.

State Bank has suspended the licence of Khanani & Kalia for one month due to the action of Federal Investigative Agency (FIA). It is suggested in news report that FIA had warned the government of the flight of capital through exchange companies couple of months ago but no action was taken. Now suddenly, the Govt has woken up to the 'cause' and arrested to directors of the company.

'Hundi' and 'hawala', are the two most used methods of 'unofficial' transfer of forex in and out of country. Remittances sent by oversees Pakistanis mostly find these routes because they are quick, efficient and arbitrage is good. After 911, crack down on unofficial channels and strict monitoring of financial flows somewhat hindered their network and instead more and more Pakistanis are sending their remittances through official channels. Government and central bank have been trying to bring them in to the net of official economy so to harness more available resources. For this reason State Bank started offering licences to exchange companies.

Now what role can these exchange companies play. Apart from being a secondary channel of forex inflows and outflows, they can participate in currency smuggling. Afghanistan is a good market right now for American dollar as it brings you good value so a lot of smuggling of dollars has taken place through Afghanistans border. It can also be used to transfer money out on fictitious transactions for example buying real estate in another country although there will be no transaction.

So how did Khanani & Kalia operate? No one knows for sure. FIA has seized computers and stuff so they 'know' how they operated. I just dont understand why no action was taken before and 'suddenly' the bosses of this company are in custody - keep in mind that it involved 'senior bureaucrats and politicians'. Kaalia says he'll spill the beans. I have my fingers crossed. Also keep in mind that exchange companies and unofficial channels have been doing it for a very long time and its nothing 'new'. Some even suggest that the size of this informal mode of transaction is almost 40% of the total transactions.

So what is really cooking. I guess I wrote this whole post just for the title. damn me.

My Daughter

Credit KKT at Buzzvines

Peeping in every few minutes
My precious still there
The world beckons for her
And I know she cannot remain
That bed will be empty
The room for once tidy
The rituals will have to change
Her scent, though it may linger
But it too will dissipate
Last loving glance
At sleeping beauty
Suddenly she seems changed
No longer as childlike as I recall
My child nonetheless
Who will protect her
How will I tame my instincts
Fear may engulf her heart
But mine feels torn apart
How will life go on
Who will I live for
Who will I care for
Who will I worry for
The Lord giveth
And the world taketh away

Obama Won Me An Argument

When I had written the post "Why Cant There Be A Non-Muslim Pakistani Head of State", the common response that I got was this was not possible as every country had certain 'norms' that it followed - religion being one of them. The other factors, as an argument, can be the race. For example, in US, there has never been an african american elected as the President (nor a woman) although United States claims to be the greatest democracy ever.

Even then I used to tell them that although no african american has been elected as a President, still their constitution did not bar anyone to hold that office for any reason whatsoever. In Pakistan, the prime minister and the president 'have to be' muslims. This is wrong. Members of minorities are Pakistanis too.

Now as Barack Obama has been elected as the first african american president of USA, at least this argument goes down. Hurray!

:p

Related Posts

- Why Cant There Be a Non-muslim Pakistani Head of State
- The Next President?

PostMan's Law of Electricity Loadshedding

The light goes out when you need it the most.