A book of hate not love
Is beating your wife approved? Read This…
It has been a matter of great debate that whether the society which has always remained a male dominated and have only consider about the desires of a man.
Since time unknown women have faced the suppression at the hands of their male counterparts.
The world has always wondered whether it is justified to act violently against women. Recently a book sparked a new row of outrage in the entire international community especially in the conservative Muslim society. This 160 page guide book written on Islamic marriage by Maulavi Ashraf Ali Thanvi who is a prominent Islamic scholar based in India.
The book titled as ‘A Gift For Muslim Couple’ have come under the huge controversy among the various faction of the Muslim society itself. There are some paras where the writer has actually come out openly with writings to encourage husbands to beat their wives. It is evident enough that in the book’s opening pages it states that ‘it might be necessary to restrain her (wife) with strength or even to threaten her’.
“The husband should treat the wife with kindness and love, even if she tends to be stupid and slow sometimes,” the book says. The book says that the wife must ‘fulfill his (husband’s) desires’ and ‘not allow herself to be untidy… but should beautify herself for him.’
Maulavi Ashraf Ali Thanvi, advises that a husband shouldn’t beat his wife too hard, but pulling her ears and hitting her with a hand or a stick is all right for discipline.
According to the report, the book, which came to light after going on sale in Canada, has faced a backlash from moderate Muslims who claim that it encourages domestic violence,
“I wouldn’t say it’s hate, but it is inciting men to hit women,” Canadian political campaigner Tarek Fatah told the Canadian Media. “This is new to you, but the Muslim community knows that this is widespread, that a woman can be beaten. Muslim leaders will deny this,” he added.
As said above in one of the statements that domestic violence is widespread in Muslim community which is to very extent is true to the fact and the book is just out of several reasons of encouragement which has now created a new definition to the already victimized feminine gender in the world of so called modernity.
Women are not subject of comfort or luxury. They too are human beings and have equal rights as the man himself has. These kinds of thoughtless attempts to bring false in society not only ruin the efforts of those who have been struggling to maintain the social order on equality framework but also motivate those who are already being violent against the being of nobility and humanity.
The writing and views of raging society along with the respected Maulavi Ashraf Ali Thanvi are the slap on the face of every woman and on those who are working to maintain a better equal and positive society at large. It is the slap on the believers of all faiths who have thought their religions to be unbiased and equal rights in gender terms. It is a certificate of authenticity for those who have been inhuman and love to crush their women desires and her choice and her rights.
The humans are born equal and women in particular must be respected at all cost. Their choice and acceptance must be given top priorities against the personal priorities or preferences. It is the woman who plays the multiple roles in the society and thus it is she who nourishes the entire humanity with her grace and modesty. If women are respected and will regularly be treated as slaves of desires than how can a society would be called as civilized, it is the time now that we all irrespective of any believes of faiths must come together should have unified thought on the issues pertaining to woman. It is the responsibility of each and every body to respect women and their rights. It is our duty to protect her presence and to provide her a equal status in the society.
If radicals say whatever is being done to women is in the name of religion and on the order it has put for its believers than it means that they are cheating on society while making not only fool to the people but also cooking their own meal of the day through these kinds of falsehood preaching.
These kinds of writings or content must not be encourage by media and promoted by the publishing community for retail or any kind of publication. The writers or publishers who are publishing these kinds of anti social stuff which provoke domestic violence in the silent corners of the society behind the close doors of personal lives should be punished and perpetrators who support this kind of acts must bring to trail in the court for inciting negative sentiments against the entire feminine society.
Maulavi Ashraf Ali Thanvi who is the writer of “A Gift for a Muslim Couple.” It was published in India and distributed in Canada by Idara Impex must be brought to trail and the publisher must be charged with severe penalties. Even the title is very well misleading, how can a book be gift for couple which encourages domestic violence. Is “A Gift for a Muslim Couple” protected by free speech and the exercise of free religion or does it go too far?
Let’s see what the world would gives out of modernity and civilized communities, may be something like this which has no meaning or sense in it but has now became a source of contention between the two already divided worlds of human genders.
India on Cross roads of Corruption
India when today this word comes to our mind we feel the great economic advancements but it comes with a cost of countless and unaccounted money which have been lost by the government in scams.
These scams have blackened the image of this country and now the investors are starting to lose their confidence in the economy. It is the scams which are one of the reasons that the country who used to receive more than 29 billion dollars of foreign direct investments is struggling now to even achieve a meager amount of 1 billion dollar this year. Corruption has survived in this country not from decades but from centuries.
It has now become a day to day part of once life and sometimes when a person like Anna Hazare speaks against it people even though support his voice but from inside everybody started to worry that what will happen if the bribe taking ritual is finished in the country. What will happen to the smoothness of the work which is being carried out through the corrupt forms of practices?
When a system becomes engraved in a society like its growth pillar it becomes extremely impossible task to eradicate a habit which had survived every legendary force and figure who voiced against it. As India moves forward on the horse of development the ratio of corruption also takes strides to fulfill the greedy surviving minds of gigantic corporate who just want the extra share in the growth story of a country without even concerning about the effect their bribes would cost to the lives of those who still live their life less than a dollar a day.
India is considered and has been an inspiration as a leader to the world as a largest running democracy but when it comes to work in a transparent accountable environment of politics it loses its sheen.
The scams which rocked this vibrant country were just peanuts in the mouth of a camel that now has got a lion’s share which has never been heard or have done before in any country. This scam has been titled as the mother of all scams in the world 210bn Dollars which is an amount sufficient enough to feed many crisis ridden countries of Europe pleading for bailout packages. With this amount billions of striving mouths can be fed. But the nature of scam is something like which is of a foolish nature done by government under the wrong asset valuation of national wealth.
It is the state when the government is being headed by Indian’s greatest economists and team of great leaders known for their financial – politics – economical knowledge. The UPA lead government from the last two consecutive terms has remained in the dock of corruption with the charge of scammed amount as huge as this latest one which has crossed all barriers of corrupt governance.
This has happened when the Honorable Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh too lead the coal ministry for some time. Now the dilemma is if the coal reserves were auctioned to mining tycoons then why the actual valuation wasn’t done and now since the leader of a country too had head the same department at that time when auction was done then along with several other ministries then who the people and who the judiciary will blame and now the question rises that how the charges of this massive fraud with the national wealth and public accounts would be put against the so called culprits.
India since has always been considered as a responsible member of a international community so government should think and review the centuries old systems of bureaucracy which is now destroying the very confidence of general public.
The nation due to these kinds of negligence and wrong governance along with serious parallel system of corruption which has made inroads in each and every corner of the Indian society already fueled major anti government revolutions like naxalism, separatism in major part of the country.
It is this corruption which has ruined half of the country at the hands of terrorism. It is the negligence of the government whose policies are great at paper but when it comes to implementation at the ground level hardly a person receives their benefits.
There is famous saying in India which even was also authenticated and approved by the ex-prime minister Late Mr. Rajiv Gandhi and also his son Mr. Rahul Gandhi in every election that “when government send Rs.100 to person he receives only Rs.1 or sometimes that too never received by the common public, so, this is the level and scenario of a country where more than billion people lives.
The government should now put a complete check and monitoring system for the accountability of each and every public department including the ministries and PMO. Government should pass the law of Jan Lokpal Bill which has been the recent subject for the heated nationwide rage and political debate.
Public has now want answers from all the elected leaders whether they are in state or in centre to put a serious check on each and every transaction made by every department or authority irrespective of its level.
India which has now excelling in economical terms must now take a step towards the reforming its political and bureaucratic system.
Karzai complaining but no American is listening
Afghanistan was already burning under the heat of the ties which got thawed when some miscreants’ irresponsible marines burnt the holy book hurting the faith of the very Afghan from the base.
The rage took 30 lives of civilians and 6 lives of soldiers but the relations of the bleeding US – Afghan partnership in the war of terrorism is yet to face another severe blow to their already strewn crumbling strategic ties. But the incident which happened in the dawn of 12th March 2012 at 3:am not only killed the innocent people but has also revealed the true insight of the cost of war which Afghanistan and its people have faced and bear in this 10 year long struggle started by US.
Whatever the positive developments which took place in Afghanistan under the leadership of ISAF and International community lead by US has now been blackened by these kinds of ruining incidents which has created major dent in the hearts of Afghans and their trust in the approach taken by these allied forces.
When Quran burning incident happened in the beginning of this 2012 the General of ISAF said that training program will be started which will teach soldiers of ISAF to identify the religious material and its believes in the Afghan society but till now the reality hasn’t changed and has remained the same with even more worsening situations being created by the insane and psychological crippled soldiers working in the intense pressurized environment of the defense services making them vulnerable to lose their sensibilities making them a killing machine which has no sight to identify between good or bad.
Even though there were reports and bases are known to have the facts about Taliban strong holds in the suffered Panjwai area but that doesn’t means that anybody will go on a hunt and will play the game with the lives of innocents. No religion, no culture taught to kill children and women but the world has witnessed always that it is the innocents who have always paid the price of senseless war started in the in the addiction of power but ended in with guilt and shame.
The killing of 16 civilians in Panjwai has made the Americans to rethink on their withdrawal timetable which was planned keeping in thought to provide the necessary stability to the under established Afghan forces.
Staff Sergeant Robert Bales who is believed to be a suspect the one who had committed this heinous massacre of the innocent civilians has been moved to an unidentified location in Kuwait when asked the American lead ISAF authorities said that they don’t have detention facilities in Afghanistan but our question is that when they knew about the situations being faced by the forced in the past during this war then why the authorities didn’t setup the facilities to handle such crisis.
This kind of irresponsible statements and misleading attitude towards the plight of Afghan people shows the casual approach of the concerned authorities.
Another statement made by Michael Waddington, an American military defense lawyer said the decision to remove the suspect was likely a security call.
“His presence in the country would put himself and other service members in jeopardy,” Waddington said.
U.S. authorities showed their Afghan counterparts the video of the surrender to prove that only one perpetrator was involved in the shootings, the official said.
Some Afghan officials and residents in the villages that were attacked have insisted there was more than one shooter. If the disagreement persists, it could deepen the distrust between the two countries.
Panetta, in a series of meetings with troops and Afghan leaders Wednesday, said the U.S. must never lose sight of its mission in the war, despite recent violence including what appeared to be an attempted attack near the runway of a military base where he was about to land.
It wasn’t clear whether it was an attempt to attack the defense chief, whose travel to southern Afghanistan was not made public before he arrived. Panetta was informed of the incident after landing.
“We will not allow individual incidents to undermine our resolve to that mission,” he told about 200 Marines at Camp Leatherneck. “We will be tested we will be challenged, we’ll be challenged by our enemy, we’ll be challenged by ourselves, we’ll be challenged by the hell of war itself. But none of that, none of that, must ever deter us from the mission that we must achieve.”
Karzai who talked and informed about the complete truth of the terror by an eyewitness named Rafiullah who got shot in his leg and was found by AP photographer lying covered in the blanket along with other 15 The tensions between the two countries had appeared to be easing as recently as Friday, when the U.S. and Afghan governments signed a memorandum of understanding about the transfer of Afghan detainees to Afghan control - a key step toward an eventual strategic partnership to govern U.S. forces in the country.
But Sunday’s shooting could push that agreement further away.
“This is a fatal hammer blow on the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan. Whatever sliver of trust and credibility we might have had following the burnings of the Quran is now gone,” said David Cortright, the director of policy studies at Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and an advocate for a quick withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“This may have been the act of a lone, deranged soldier. But the people of Afghanistan will see it for what it was, a wanton massacre of innocent civilians,” Cortright said.
“This is an assassination, an intentional killing of innocent civilians and cannot be forgiven,” Karzai said in a statement. He said he has repeatedly demanded the U.S. stop killing Afghan civilians. Nevertheless the situation becomes bad to worse now. If the pleas of nation’s President have no effect then how can other authorities are listened by those who believe that they are the boss of all societies. Karzai said he was sending a high-level delegation to investigate and deliver a full report.
Twelve of the dead were from Balandi, said Samad Khan, a farmer who lost all 11 members of his family, including women and children. Khan was away from the village when the incident occurred and returned to find his family members shot and burned. One of his neighbors was also killed, he said. It was unclear how or why the bodies were burned.
“This is an anti-human and anti-Islamic act,” said Khan. “Nobody is allowed in any religion in the world to kill children and women.”
Khan demanded that Karzai punish the American shooter.
“Otherwise we will make a decision,” said Khan. “He should be handed over to us.”
Residents in Alkozai village also demanded that Karzai punish the American or hand him over to the villagers. The four people killed in the village were all from one family, said a female relative who was shouting in anger. She did not give her name because of the conservative nature of local society.
“No Taliban were here. No gun battle was going on,” said the woman. “We don’t know why this foreign soldier came and killed our innocent family members. Either he was drunk or he was enjoying killing civilians.”
The Taliban called the shootings the latest sign that international forces are working against the Afghan people.
“The so-called American peace keepers have once again quenched their thirst with the blood of innocent Afghan civilians in Kandahar province,” the Taliban said in a statement posted on a website used by the insurgent group. U.S. forces have been implicated in other violence in the same area.
Hailing Karzai for justice is of no use as He really has no control over the foreign powers and their missions. He can only request them, plead them but cannot order them to do as needed. Until n unless the US and its allies will not feel their responsibilities in carrying their offensives in the suspected regions of this war ridden country nothing can be done.
Obama administration must think about it and should work in the complete direct coordination not only with their forces and concerned authorities but also with the local population in order to achieve the 100% success rate of their mission’s objectives. However the circumstance has now gone beyond repair when it comes to local strategic partnerships on the ground and dealing with targeted enemy.
Today Afghan society is standing on the juncture where future is favoring the rise of Taliban and demise of those who have helped in getting rid of the former (Taliban) with no proper system which they can trust and count upon for generations to come in near future.
President Barack Obama phoned Afghan President Hamid Karzai to express his shock and sadness at the killing and wounding of Afghan civilians. He offered condolences to the grieving families of those killed and to the people of Afghanistan.
In a statement released by the White House, Obama called the attack “tragic and shocking” and not representative of “the exceptional character of our military and the respect that the United States has for the people of Afghanistan.” He vowed “to get the facts as quickly as possible and to hold accountable anyone responsible.” But what is the use of making phone calls and showing the concern while making commitments which has no real meaning in the execution of the actual justice which may not even see the light of a day.
Americans are good administrators and great strategic planners and based on these natural qualities they should also give proper training to their implementers along with the security forces who operate and handle some of the worst terror scenarios across the world. Americans have always played a responsible role in making this world a better place but still there are many areas where they still need to work on especially on the psychological state of their forces as these the ones who face the worst and operate in the greatest level of stress. If they given proper look out and address to their exiting issues only then the true ground position will get improved and not only they will react in a more positive and lawful manner but also their families will also be made comfortable about their status.
The Meaty French Elections
As the elections in the French Republic approach, the topic gaining maximum momentum is not the present slowdown or the increasing unemployment. Funny as it is, this time, the outgoing French President has chosen a topic out of the blue to gravitate his election campaign.
Halal and Kosher meat, the ritual way of killing animals by Muslims and Jews for human consumption has interestingly become the latest hot topic in France with most parties laying stress on it in some way or the other.
This topic was first raised by the candidate of the extreme right anti-immigration National Front Marine Le Pen. She claimed that all the meat that was being sold in greater Paris region was killed in the Muslim ritual way while the consumers were unaware of this. This provocative statement by Le Pen raised a lot of eyebrows all over the country.
It is significant that her comments came a few days after the French meat industry was exposed on a television show. A television report focused largely on the sanitary conditions at the 275 slaughter houses of the country. It showcased that most abattoirs in the Paris city practice only halal slaughter methods as it is too expensive to slaughter animals using both methods.
Pointing at the data made available in the commentary, Le Pen demanded that as a citizen, everyone has a right to know whether the meat they are buying has been killed in horrible cruelty. However, this statement, apart from being a provocative one from Le Pen, also delved deeper into the religious issues of ritual slaughter. Although, according to a European law, animals must be made unconscious before being killed, exception prevails for religious slaughter in which animal’s throat is slit while it is alive and conscious.
In the wake of this statement by Le Pen, Sarkozy reviewed the Rungis wholesale market for food which is located just outside of Paris. After this review, he remarked countering Le Pen that only 2.5 per cent of the meat consumed in the region was halal and that was not a problem. However, he retracted his earlier statement and later proposed a law to impose transparency on the way animals were being killed for being consumed here.
Adding fuel to the fire was another statement issued by the Prime Minister Francois Fillion who suggested that both Muslim and Jewish traditions for animal slaughter were outdated. This comment left French Muslim and Jew communities infuriated. This statement by Fillion has also isolated some members of the Jew community who have supported Sarkozy since his initial days. Now, it is heard that he is meeting Rabbis and Muslim leaders to repair the damage already done.
Amidst all this controversy about halal and kosher meat in France, is it not evident to the politicians that just by creating furore over something so trivial, they are diverting the attention of the voters from the real issues that mar the country presently.
Besides, halal or no halal is a question no Frenchman is interested in. This question may have become a political hype off late but it still does not affect the general population at large. The general public in France, far away from these trivial issues, is jostling with bigger issues of life like unemployment and the public debt.
This political controversy actually does not show Sarkozy’s attachment with the general public of France or for that matter even Le Pen’s statement also came off the fly. The birth of a controversy like this just ahead of the presidential elections in France only shows how disconnected Sarkozy and other political leaders in the country are from the general public and its day-to-day problems.
This controversy not only brings to limelight Sarkozy’s ignorance but also gives a feeling of déjà vu to the French public which has seen similar issues of immigration, national identity and multi culturalism being raised during his 2007 campaign.
France is home to Western Europe’s largest Muslim minority, officially estimated at least four million and its largest Jewish community estimated at up to 700,000.
Perhaps what the French president needed was just to speak to a normal country man to find out what are the things that really bother the normal public more than the ‘no-issue’ of the religious diets.
Meat for those who can afford it even today in France lies much lower in the serious list of concerns which affect their lives.
Agreed, there may be some who would be interested in knowing whether the meat they are eating has been produced by halal, kosher or any other way of slaughter as it would affect their religious beliefs which they have preserved so well over centuries.
And as it is, these French politicians must not forget in their rat race that they should abstain from hurting any community’s religious beliefs, no matter how small, as it would create an uproar among masses.
It is perfectly all right if the Europeans want that meat should be labelled that under what slaughtering method it is being made available. All we ask for is that these political parties should not stoop down to such a level where they need to hurl stone at someone else to make things work for themselves.
Somalia - The Truth of Unclaimed Nation
Horn of Africa an old jewel left exploited and stripped has faced the non destined fortune which people have been facing since the last two decades. Somalia once used to be a great trading and immigration center for Asian and Arab merchants had lived its era of prosperity.
The greedy natures of the self discriminatory politics have crushed all hopes of this dying nation where people have been fighting for their survival every day.
The central transitional government recognized by the international community as the official representative for Somalia affairs hardly controls an area of more than few sq kms confined to the state capital Mogadishu.
Somalia saw its destruction due to four factors which intervened in its affairs since 1960s. These factors have always ruled the political environment of this once great nation. The Conference which was held in London in last month February 2012 under the leadership of David Cameroon – Prime Minister of UK and Hilary Clinton – US State Secretary has been a late but much needed attempt to draw the global attention towards Somalia.
But due to the negligence by the global community and rigid nature of terms set up by them for dialogue with various territory holders of Somalia resulted in the destruction of the lives and families of the people of Somalia and the nation at large.
Somalia and its people are fighting the war from within and with their neighbors’ who have never supported the cause of Somalia and are one of the major forces behind the destruction of the Somalia’s society and its country especially Ethiopia whose constant interference in the internal matters and policies of Somalia have damaged the entire political and national set up hence; dividing the country from all spheres of existence.
It is a surprising fact that a nation which has remained without a government and legal constitutional system from more than twenty years has existed with complete territorial integrity with no advances made by any African country with exception of Ethiopia which control a small part of Somalia’s territory however with no claim as such on it.
The second most disastrous factor which contributed in the start of Somalia Civil War and the national divide is due to the un-coordinated nature exists in the caste based system of Somalia. It is this factor which has done major destruction of Somalia’s national integrity and unacceptability of the national political system created after the independence in 1960 which ended up in the political disaster during 1991 when the President Siad Barre government was overthrown, resulted in the one of the most destructive civil wars took place in the recent history.
Millions since then have been affected by the ongoing conflict while entire Somali population suffers from pro-longed drought and famine existing conditions which they are experiencing from last 15 years which has taken toll to thousands of lives irrespective of any caste or creed of their domain.
Where people were forced to leave their homelands in search of safer abode where they can at least have one meal a day and can also live safe away from the hands of extremists who have not only ruined their country by taking large swathes of territory but has also put their livelihood on the cross-roads where they have no choice but to take up the work left for them to earn their fortune.
Billions of Dollars of international assistance have already been given and being provided by UN through various governments agencies and organizations but the matter of the fact lies the same old situation with no progress visibly telling the development story of once prosperous nation. Even though the London Conference was organized to bring out the solution to the two decades long conflict and provide a stable government with unified voices from various factions and controllers of the Somalia’s territory. The theme of addressing the causes of the Somali conflict and the need for new approach mentioned in the speech of UK PM, David Cameron seems abandoned or unarticulated while the publicly rejected Roadmap of the United Nations Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS) took the center stage.
The following seven themes hold different meanings to the Somali people as illustrated below:
1. Security: Means no professional responsible Somali national Security forces under the exclusive control of a legitimate national government and instead more foreign forces in Somalia. A local authority protected and empowered by foreign forces cannot be accountable to the Somali people.
2. Political Process: Means continuation of vassal Transitional Federal Government (TFG)’s model of IGAD, clan based regional states, letters to the Diaspora from the Special Representative of the Secretary General, and abusive threats and accusations as spoilers of peace to the critics of the inept TFG, Kenya and Ethiopian intervention in Somalia or opponents to Kampala Accord, the deceitful Roadmap or UNPOS’s wrongheaded policies.
Even the representatives of the people of Somalia (Members of Parliament) are not immune from the foreign threats for punishment in fulfilling their constitutional rights and responsibilities. IGAD’s angry letter (IGAD threatens sanctions over Somali parliament) to the MPs who ousted the ex Speaker Sharif Hassan is a frightening and appalling example of infringement of Somalia’s sovereignty and proves the falsity of the international legitimacy conferred to TFG. In clear terms, Somalia is presently under the direct control of Addis Ababa.
3. Local stability: Means expansion of the Dual Track Policy which expedites Somalia’s fragmentation and conflict for resource and power competition.
4. Counter-Terrorism: Means insecurity, loss of dignity, freedom, death of innocent people in the hunt of terrorists, and deprivation of vulnerable Somalis from foreign remittances incomes and denial of humanitarian assistance in addition to Al Shabab’s cruel bans. Banks have been pressured to stop transfers of money to Somalia for counter-terrorism reasons.
5. Piracy: Means restriction of the Somali territorial water and utilization of marine resources, imposition of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), continuation of illegal fishing and dumping toxic waste.
6. Humanitarian: Means intensification of the current Somalia’s depopulation by increasing the refugees, the displaced and impoverished population due to the massive military interventions and actions in Somalia.
7. International Coordination: Means increased support for the disintegration, polarization and division of Somalia rather than increased support for Somali driven peace, reconciliation and nation building.
The UK led London Conference on Somalia, which has started with the hope of state building in Somalia but now it recycles the roadmap themes. The plan introduces a new element which is called a Joint Financial Management Board. The High Level Political Committee and the Joint Security Committee established in Djibouti, and the Joint Financial Management Board expected to be established in London will constitute the instruments (institutions) of illegal International Trusteeship Administration on Somalia.
In the context of London Conference, it has been circulated an Italian proposal which advocates a 16 months of UN/AU Trusteeship or what it is called Transitional Administration on Somalia. The Italian proposal has formally documented the total failure of the TFG and international efforts. Theoretically, the proposal is far better than the current situation of TFG’s vassal model or what Prof Afyare Elmi called “stealth trusteeship” on Somalia under disparate actors.
President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya is asking PM Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia to leave the areas liberated by Kenyan forces after massacring Al Shabab and civilians. But PM Meles Zenawi refused and responded by saying, “you don’t know anything. I have been manipulating this country in the past 20 years.” Therefore, PM Meles relaxes on the bleeding Somalia.
The entire situation on Somalia is alarming where on one hand the UK backed Transitional Government seated in Mogadishu is exploiting and misusing the funds collected for Somalia’s welfare where leaders have been found involved in corrupt practices where out of $54 million only one million dollars were spent for welfare while neighbours of Somalia making every possible effort to crush the growing hope of stable and united Somalia where Ethiopia lies at the centre of Somalia’s politics.
While its own people have now been involved into illegal and anti social activities of extremism and have now become the major threat to global shipping by indulging into piracy. With people have no choice to earn their livelihood, with no government to rule and with no serious initiative by international community has left Somalia lying with uncertainties and at the mercy of terrorist which has transformed Somalia into a hub for global terrorism where organizations are finding secure shelters and grounds to work up on their projects of disasters making poor and innocents their target and even their recruits. Its now high time that world should take a note of the situation and invite all the representatives from Somalia irrespective of their agenda, their activities and control including Al Shabab and other organizations and communities not only from Somaliland but also from Puntland in order to come to a common terms and settle on a point of peace and stability for making Somalia and better and prosperous nation ruled by great leaders with accountable system of governance. Ethiopia and other who are creating nuisance along with Transitional government and its leaders must be made accountable and should be dragged in the ICJ.
Quran burning – A Fatal Ignorance by the West
Saturday 19th 2012 another day in the Afghan war history and an addition to the decade old Quran burning series; after 9/11 the global viewpoint has changed 360 degree against the various cultures and religions especially Islam which has faced the maximum wrath of entire world.
The launch of war on terror campaign which has claimed thousands of lives and has made millions homeless had never given a sight of peace in the hearts of those who have suffered from it the most. The uncultured and discriminatory behavior of the US armed forces and their ministers has never focused on how to train their forces and officers culturally instead of this they just no how to pull the trigger of their guns.
Thousands have soldiers have been targeted because of these silly mistakes done by few insane and careless. These incidents which has been witnessed from Guantanamo to US and from Iraq to Afghanistan has not only brought down the trust in the respectable American policies and their vision to the world but has also blackened the global image of the USA, US President Barack Obama and Gen. John Allen, commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force had also offered their apologies and issued directives that all coalition forces in Afghanistan will undergo training no later than March 3 so they can identify religious materials and handle them correctly.
These kinds of irresponsible apologies and statements given by such a responsible persons and authorities would not only highlight the ignorant behavior but also lack of cultural knowledge and disrespect towards other religions, cultures and societies.
The scenes from toilets flushing of Qurans to Burning it by Churches / People and Soldiers defines the growing stress and negativism among the US Marines and authorities who from the very start had kept at bay from the cultural training in which they can identify various cultures existing in the environments of their specific operations. It is necessary for a nation who has set great examples and has been playing a leadership in diplomatic and economic / social circles of this world to give at least a basic know-how of the global civilizations and about their beliefs.
The world where these operation of so called ‘War on Terror’ are going on requires special purpose vehicle which can take initiatives to improve the curriculum of the armed forces being sent and operating in these regions like Iraq and Afghanistan. These kinds of incidents of Quran burning or any acts of disrespect widens the fault line which has already deepening between West and the Muslim world even it affects the opinions of those nations which are secular or non-aligned.
These acts increase hatred in already vulnerable and affected corners of the globe hence; heightening the level of risks and uncertainties to the operations and peace efforts which the respective nations are making to bring normalcy and prosperity in the region.
There are three things in Afghanistan which the forces should keep in their mind while doing / committing any such acts which are:
1.) Afghan people top priority and belief is their faith, their religion which is the stream of their life which includes Quran, their customs, and their religions duties.
2.) Afghan people are very patriotic and they can die for their land. The feeling of nationalism is very high.
3.) Afghan families and their society which comes among the most and forms their world. It includes many things such as following of ancient tribal code of hospitality, self respect, dignity, culture, their traditions, their norms which define their persona and their horizons.
The US and International Security Alliance Force must learn from the history and the past experiences of the Communist forces too had did the same mistakes and remained ignorant towards their occupants land, their traditions, their faith and enforced their misconceptions which neither do good nor spread positivity instead it did more harm and damage the repo of the repute.
Because of these irresponsible and ignorance acts Barack Obama who took over the seat of a global leader by storm has lost his legitimacy among the Muslim world in specific where his constant failures and slow implementation of key policies has ruined his image and efforts on which he has came to the power.
He and the world must take lessons from the past instances that if anyone who so ever it was had tried to enforce their system and had shown the ignorance of once civilization, culture and its beliefs then either he had lost his power or in some cases the ruling nation had suffered the huge setbacks to its own missions and purposes.
Earlier the same things were done by Communists in their invaded territories and even in other countries where they used facilitate the government or had influence but what everyone had saw and known to the fact that they never got successful in making their image clean and their system acceptable because they had enforced their own perceptions and had never respected the local faith and traditions, if Obama or his authorities are serious enough to bring peace and prosperity to the disturbed regions like Afghanistan then they must first make their forces trained in moral and ethical values, they must lessen down the kind of command pressures on the existing forces involved in the various operations in these regions like Iraq and Afghanistan which is taking toll on them psychologically.
If US say it promotes and protects human rights and their values then it must first start showing signs of acceptance of traditional beliefs and the values which exist in the lives of people of these so called disturbed countries like Afghanistan. Even if they are criminals or even they are using the good for bad but in order to keep maintain your efforts of peace and global unity with democratic values you need to handle the matter with due respect when it involves something sensitive like Quran.
People accept others systems and shows acceptance to it with their full adherence to its norms when the enforcing party shows its acceptance towards their values and beliefs they have with due respect and care in handling even at times of investigation or proceedings if something unlawful has been found.
Then only one can promise a more stable and neutral community with full acceptance to the global norms otherwise it becomes the much needed boon for the extremists who look out for these kinds of matters and take the advantage of the situation against those who are doing good and want to do good for the people and countries like Afghanistan where just because of foolishness of few irresponsible’s the entire nation has turned against which has so far not only claimed lives of innocents but has also threatened the presence of the personnel’s working on the peace missions.
Active volcano Steams up the Middle Eastern Politics
A fear is taking over the international communities these days. A fear that Israel may attack Iran anytime soon is not unthinkable given the fact that Iran continues to demonstrate a desire and capability to attain nuclear weapons. Some time back, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was also heard saying that the country’s patience with this Islamic nation is growing thin and the diplomacy may soon come to an end. He was also quoted as saying that he could summarize the situation which may be there in this region by using two words, instability and uncertainity.
On the other hand, Iran’s take on this issue is that as a signatory of Nuclear non-proliferation treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the country is entitled to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
Israel strongly believes that with nuclear power, Iran is going to pose a terrible threat on the Middle East and on the entire world. The United States, Israel and some of their allies have accused Iran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program and have used this pretext to enforce international and unilateral sanctions on this Islamic Republic and also to call for a military strike against Tehran.
The United States have imposed new sanctions against Iran aiming at preventing other countries from importing oil from Iran and doing transactions with its central bank. Even European Union foreign ministers also approved sanctions against this country on January 23 that include bans on Iranian oil imports, a freeze on the assets of the country’s Central Bank within the EU states, and a ban on selling grains, diamonds, gold and other precious metals to Iran.
In its bid to pressurize Iran further, Israel has ramped up its war rhetoric over the past few weeks and is threatening Iran with military strikes in case the international sanctions fail to insist Iran in abandoning its nuclear program.
This pressure from Israel is sending alarms to the international community. The US is now asking Israel to postpone the attack on Iran for some time to wait and see whether the existing sanctions work for them or not. What now remains a main concern among the international leaders is that whether the region will have to face a war or not.
According to the experts, if Israel actually attacks on Iran, the kind of effect it will have on Middle Eastern region is unclear. However, whatever the effect be, it is for sure that the region would be highly unstable and may call for a cold war which would implicate the entire Middle East.
There is no doubt that Israel would regard any expansion of nuclear weapons capability within its region as an intolerable threat to its survival. Although, the country is in no hurry to call it a war and would certainly not disrupt its relation with the US. However, if it perceives an immediate threat in the form of Nuclear Iran, it will not think twice before making it a ferocious war that may negatively impact the position of both the countries and may also pose a challenge in front of the world in terms of the oil supplies and also strategically.
It is time that Israel should think and act as the international community wants it to. The Islamic country should definitely be given some more time to rethink and clearly define to the world what its real intention with the nuclear development is.
Who can forget how badly Israel was implicated during the Second World War. A nation which has still not recovered from the aftermath of the Second World War should not come out with such ordeals for someone else. Besides, the country has always been into conflict with its neighbours like Palestine and Iran.
Israel should work for developing peace in the region and not implicate the situation more. It is high time that Israel should stop guarding others and should focus more on its internal matters. Perhaps it will help the nation more in ensuring prosperity.
Human Trafficking: An Ancient Curse on Mankind
In the present world where mankind has moved out to other celestial bodies and is inventing something new every day, there still are some who are not bothered about this progress and are just trying to pull the civilisation back to those times where humanity and courtesy were not even invented. It is very sad to see that even in the most developed nations, there are some who do not want to look up to modern ways of progress and are just exploiting humanity in every way for their petty vested interests.
Although life has moved a lot ahead, still issues like human trafficking appal us. Not only the under-developed countries, this demon has even engulfed a huge number of people, especially women and children, hailing even from the most developed nations of the world. Human trafficking can be better defined as the illegal trade of human beings for the purpose of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labour, or modern day slavery in different industries and also for household work.
Human trafficking has been identified, world over, as the fastest growing criminal industry in the world. This comes second only to drug trafficking. This is substantially different from people smuggling as in smuggling, people voluntarily request to be hired for services. On the other hand, human trafficking involves forced ways like kidnaping and buying and selling of people.
The majority of trafficking victims all over the world are between 18 and 24 years of age. Besides, an estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked from 127 countries and are sent across to different geographies to be sold and used for different requirements by the buyers.
The main reason that can be attributed to the growth of this industry is lack of education and financial disparity among different sections in each economy. Most of the victims of this human evil are bought or kidnapped from weaker economies or regions like north-east part of India, Nepal, Malaysia, Indonesia, Afghanistan and several other countries in Africa like Nigeria and Sudan and are sold to the well offs in developing and developed economies for a whopping amount of money. In totality, as many as 161 countries are reported to be affected by human trafficking by being either a source, transit or a destination point.
The statistics revealed by different agencies related to human trafficking are rather alarming. According to different surveys, 95% of the victims of human trafficking experience physical or sexual violence during the transportation or after being sold. Most of these victims, even if bought for household chores, are subjected to inhuman conditions and are often raped and killed at some point of time or the other.
The nexus of human trafficking is growing and is already worth US $31.6 billion. Out of this, 49% is generated from industrialised economies, 30.6% from Asia and Pacific, 4.1% generated from Latin America and the Caribbean, and 4.7% is generated in the Middle East and North America. Such is this nexus that even the most prominent people of several regions are a part of it. The people who profit by victimising the children and women into this sex trade are only 50% of the problem. The other half is constituted by the ones who patronise this exploitative industry. This whole system is being run under the protective shelter of several important and effective people of different regions.
The traffickers who are also known as pimps when sex trade is the main reason for trafficking exploit vulnerability and lack of opportunities in remote areas. They offer promises of marriage, employment, education, and an overall better life and finally sell the victims to the effluent.
The story does not end here. The buyers who buy these ‘commodities’ put these victims into difficult conditions and often make them live without food and minimum requirements for days. They often beat them up, bruise them black and blue, give them electric shocks, and even give them scars that do not go away for their entire lives. There also have been instances when a victim has even died after being put to such tough physical and unacceptable sexual tyranny.
Even as the society wakes up to a new age wherein progress of technology and mankind is the key, the evil of human trafficking has stricken and has bled many a lives. When women are matching steps with men and are getting advantageous position in different industries, it is extremely depressing to see more and more women being pushed into this exploitation that often claims their lives and many a times leave them with diseased bodies for the rest of their lives.
The worst part about all this is that all governments worldwide recognise this human trafficking as the most heinous crime against humanity, still not much has been done till now to eradicate this evil from the surface of earth. The governments and administrations all over the world are just neglecting this major crime against humanity. Although, several regulations and laws cover this issue, but not of much avail. Nothing significant is actually happening in this direction that can protect the victims from being trafficked in the first place.
It needs to be understood by the people as well as the governments that human trafficking cannot be abolished by putting things into place proper regulations and laws. The need today is that the people should be more active and aware about their fundamental rights and the administration should ensure proper protection to the under privileged sections of the society.
On behalf of the team of The Oslo Times, I want to send out this message to the people in different geographies that this evil can only be abolished when we all join hands and determine to free our society of this evil. We strongly condemn this ill practice and want that the administrations take some firm steps to improve the situation.
The Darker Side of Afghan Media
Someone has rightly said that a nation is what its media portrays to the world. The better the media system in that nation, the better would be image of that nation in global perspective. Usually, media is considered to be a platform which provides us support to voice our emotions and sentiments.
However, with the entrance of corporate sector in this noble profession, things have changed a lot. An apt example of media being corrupted due to vested interests can be seen in Afghanistan. Media in this nation has played an extremely negative role in portraying the nation’s image in front of the global community.
When communists lost control over this war-stricken country, media which always remained under their full control and influence took a sigh of relief as it was free to bring out only the truth to the people. However, before too long, the nation again entered another difficult phase wherein the divide in the society and hunger for power pushed the entire nation into the early ages and media which sought a better future after the departure of the communist came directly on the target of the fundamental powers which ruled the nation.
This was a time when all media operations were stripped off and journalism became a toy to those who did not even know the meaning of expression and freedom. Situation became more and bleaker with each passing day. The glimpse of media’s presence only lived in the name of extremist radio which played the only programs according to the propaganda of the extremists from the only surviving radio station at that time. The situation remained grim and very exploitative in nature for the entire fabric of media which should support the nation by all means. Freedom only remained in terms of saying yes to the fundamentalist leaders. Nonetheless, this was also a time when media in Afghanistan got an opportunity to make its presence felt in the ravaged nation where lives were vandalised by discrimination.
When American forces attacked Afghanistan, everyone thought that this would turn out to be another systematic invasion carried out by another power which had earlier supported Afghanistan in its struggle against the communist forces. However, things changed quite differently and what happened next was quite intriguing for the people of this country.
As this war reached its conclusion, the nation got a new leader in the form of Hamid Karzai and entered a new phase in which the much awaited democracy was implemented in the country. The Karzai government started to bring together the shattered society of Afghanistan’s natives who had been fighting with their unwritten destinies for several decades.
When Karzai took charge of his country, there was no development. There was hardly a kilometre of highway which remained in good condition. There was no infrastructure of power, energy, connectivity, education, communication and broadcasting which was destroyed during the civil war and later by the extremist Taliban.
The work done by Karzai in bringing together a nation which was fighting its own people within its own borders is commendable. He has done what no earlier leader in his governance could do for the country.
In such times, it is very sad to see how media has taken up the task to bring out the darkest facts of his governance. Media even blames the government and authorities for indulging in corrupt practices and its large scale acceptability. Instead of playing the role of a responsible pillar of a democracy, all that media is doing is defaming Karzai government through all possible means. Media has never highlighted and took the responsibility to show the world what good and positive things Karzai and his government has done after the fall of Taliban.
Today, what media propagates about him and against his role as a President of Afghanistan is far from reality and is also based on hypocrisy of those who are running a mouth piece of their own tribe or who pays good amount of money to the sold out media of Afghanistan. Whatever activities the media is able to do in Afghanistan and to what level is only due to the good policies of the Karzai government and its vision for a better future of the country.
Now that media has tasted it and is enjoying a good level of freedom of speech, it is crucial that it should also understand what its duties are in this country which is waking to a new dawn. Rather than just being a criticising agency, it should play the pivotal role of finding solution to different issues and communicating with the government.
Afghan media now enjoys the country wide access and coverage through more than 75 channels and establishments. It is time that this fourth pillar of democracy should sit back and think what they are contributing to the growth of this nation. They need to understand that they are just creating a state of confusion among the authorities who have helped them in the past and even now to get free from the clutches of extremists and invaders who had no vision for their community and country.
Afghanistan is standing on the crossroads of prosperity and failure and even a single wrong move is enough to push the entire country and its communities backwards into the dark times. In such crucial times, it is so disheartening to see Afghan media doing coverage of false realities just to support a few power hungry political frenzy people without even caring to know the truth behind their support. The media perhaps does not know or does not want to acknowledge the fact that they have evil backing from the foreign lands who want the country to suffer and surrender to them.
It is true that Karzai government has not been successful on a number of fronts, but then we cannot out rightly forget what they have contributed to the growth of the nation. It was Karzai only who brought Pakistan, Iran and other neighbours to one table to support his country for stabilizing further. How can we forget that he is the only leader in the last 40 years who has served the purpose of Afghan traditions and unity on political and cultural terms?
There is no denial that media is very important and its freedom is crucial for a nation which has struggled to survive with its identity and values. Its existence and presence plays an important role to form a unified society which is aware and relates to all human beings living in the boundaries of a nation. It is the mirror of a nation which if becomes corrupt may destroy the image of a country and also the mind sets of others who see their country as great.
Propaganda is acceptable only to some extent. It cannot cross its limits to defame the authority and governance of a country which is working hard to make its nation prosper. For a healthy nation and stable society, a responsible media and its agencies doing coverage on ethical grounds are needed. The corporates who only work for their own interests cannot bring the much needed change in a new nation like Afghanistan.
We demand that media in this country should stop being a mouth piece for unethical propaganda which just operates to earn money and does not stand for truth and appreciating positive developments taking place in the surroundings.
Burmese Gandhi – Aung San Suu Kyi! Storm of Burmese democracy
A Lady with an angelic fist has spent almost 20 years of her life in some or the other form of detention just to bring democracy in her country Burma. Overtime she has become an example of being Burmese Gandhi behind whom the entire nation is following on her footsteps.
The 65 year old lady who has left no stone unturned to make Burma a democratic country and lift the people lives by protecting their human rights and their freedom has suffered a lot in her personal life.
“It is a famous saying that when you work for your country you lose your family”. The sacrifices made by Aung San Suu Kyi are un-matched and incomparable. She was not allowed to see her two sons or her husband, who died of cancer in March 1999.
The military authorities offered to allow her to travel to the UK to see him when he was gravely ill, but she felt compelled to refuse for fear she would not be allowed back into the country.
She has grandchildren she has never met. She has now become a symbol of peace and nobility to the world whose actions has spoken louder than her words. Her campaigns and her presence have always troubled the dictators of Burma and their subjects.
In 1991, a year after her National League for Democracy won an overwhelming victory in an election the junta later nullified, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
The committee chairman, Francis Sejested, called her “an outstanding example of the power of the powerless”. She was sidelined for Burma’s first elections in two decades on 7 November 2010 but released from house arrest six days later.
Thousands of supporters gathered to hear her issue a call for Burmese people to work together for change.
She is the daughter of General Aung San who was the country’s independence hero and was assassinated during the transition period in July 1947, just six months before independence. However assassinator didn’t knew that time that one day the legacy of Gen; Aung San would lived for ever and be carried by her daughter who have taken it on new level giving a new meaning of peace to it.
Her visit to India and later on to UK transformed her into a completely different person who became an inspiration to millions of suppressed people waiting to see a ray of democratic freedom in their lives.
Her inspirations of Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi transformed her into an inspiration to the world that now has brought several changes in lives of Burmese people and have highlighted the issue of her people to the world hence making the whole international community think for Burma.
Dictatorships neither have any future nor does it have any legitimacy for long term. People have their say and their voice should not be crushed at any cost.
Banning Aung San Suu Kyi from running for premiership of the country is completely unjustified even though the government has indirectly pointed out on her but still it has cleared its intentions against the lady who wants to work for her people, for her country.
A lady who has cared for others whereas the leaders who have ruled Burma from decades have never cared even for a single citizen. Democracy is the light of freedom, a system where people rule, where their rights flourish un-regulated.
This century is belonged to people not the rulers, the world has risen from suppression now and its storm will only hold when it will sweep the pillars of dictators from every corner of this great world of civilizations.
The support shown by the International community and the efforts made by Burmese people and the respected Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi has started to bear the fruits of change which will for sure bring the enormous prosperity in the lives of the people there.
It is our fundamental responsibility to support such people like Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi who have not only bring change in the lives of Burmese people but also has given a hope to others in the nations suffering from the epidemic of tyrant regimes.
