Desert Picnic.

For picnics I have been to many places. Sea Sides (usually go there), Mountains, parks etc. As far as I can remember, there are two places where I haven't been. Forests and Deserts.

Just went to a desert picnic arranged by my company, Agility Logistics. It was fun for both bachelors and family. Huge tents were erected and coolers and Air Conditioning was used to keep the temperature at acceptable levels. A tent was also there which contained stalls from various restaurants. Some cabins were there for toilets. And one cabin was there for showers as well. yes showers !

Then smaller tents were also there where family and friends can collect for their chit chat and relaxation, in typical Arabic style, with carpets and cushions put in the corner.

An Arabic Round table was also there. By Arabic Round Table I mean a round table without the table. With arrangements for fire in the centre and cushions in the corner. This round table is used for everything from discussions to musical entertainments.

For Games and fun, there were arrangements for volley ball, basketball, football, table football (urf patteee), billiards, dominoes, cards and some arabic board games were there as well.

Arrangements were made for Magic Shows, Circus, songs and party.

We had a few games of Billiard and then came out for a game of Volleyball and it was GREAT fun.

The only uselessness was the desert storm. But it gave us a feel of how people used to live in these places and go about their day to day lives some 100 or more years back.

But in the end it was a nice experience.

The season of camel wrestling is back

Aisa Bhee Hota hay...




By Malik Tahseen Raza

MUZAFFARGARH, Feb 12: Tens of thousands of camel wrestling fans were standing breathlessly around a ring where two camels were trying their skills to down each other at a fair held in the suburban area of the town on Sunday.

The annual camel fighting fair, also called Patwari Wala Dangal, attracted thousands of the fans wherein over a dozen brightly adorned camels with bells on their humps, mirrored blankets covering their backs and colourful pompoms woven into their tails, took part in the event. The participanting camels came from Bahawalpur, Kashmor, Rajanpur, Nawabshah (Sindh) and Deepalpur. The most interesting fight was held between Patwari Wala and Tehsildar Wala camels that continued for 40 minutes and ended when Patwari Wala kicked and trampled the Tehsildar Wala. Soon the defeated camel growled and ran out of the ring to avoid the wrath of his opponent, the roaring supporters of the Patwari Wala ran towards the winner to celebrate the win.

This was the second camel fighting fair in Muzaffargarh this year. Before it, a camel fair was held at the shrine of Muhammad Musa near the thermal power station. Two more fairs will follow the Jaalwala fair to be held at Khanpur Bagga Sher and Basti Barian.

Besides Muzaffargarh, such fairs are held in Bahawalpur, Rajanpur, Layyah, Jalalpur Pirwala, Okara, Nawabshah and Kashmor.

In the cold winter months, which is also the mating season, there is jealousy as well as anger among camels. Rival males who are trying to engage the attention of a female begin to quarrel. This is when people take advantage of the seasonal changes and encourage them to fight each other.

It seems that camel, once called the ship of desert and bred for its skin, meat and milk and for transportation, has become a wrestling and money-making object.

“Now, my camel is strong and will charge Rs200,000 for a fight,” said Ibrahim Patwari, the master of the winner camel.

Mostly, in camel sport, the owner of a well-known camel charges Rs150,000 to Rs300,000 for a fight. This money is not subject to victory but a defeat costs a well-known camel costly as the animal loses its reputation and participatory charges.

A fight between two camels continues till the time a camel roars helplessly or runs away from the ring. A trained camel knows a number of moves such as how to trip his opponent, how to force his submission, how to throw him to the ground by pushing his head between his legs, how to force him to his knees by means of head and neck power.

A referee who is also called ‘assessor’ oversees the fight. The masters of fighting camels are not allowed to step into the ring.

“In camel fighting, the masters of the camels are kept away, because it is against the game rules,” said Malik Mureed Hussain Numberdar, an expert on camel fighting. He said mostly the camel masters did not even watch their ‘pets’ fighting because a defeat would cause them a heart attack.

Zawar Kazim from Budh Basti rears a wrestler camel called Mawali. He has dedicated the income of his buffalo farm to the camel.

“Rearing a fighter camel is very costly because you have to feed it properly,” said Kazim. The diet of fighting camels is very special and a huge amount is spent on that.

“I feed my camel on one kg dates, fresh greens, five litres milk, two kg desi ghee and one dozen eggs every day,” he said.

“Although it is expensive to bring up wrestling camels, I still do it because I feel indebted to this creature as it has given me recognition all over the country. Wherever Mawali goes, people come to see it,” he says proudly. Kazim has engaged two attendants to take care of the camel who feed it, take it for a five-kilometre jogging every day.

Wrestling camels arrive at the venue of a fair one month ago.

“This is an advertisement stunt as the news of the arrival of a fighting camel runs like a fire in the jungle and more and more people come to the fair,” said Makdoom Qalandar, whose camel fair will be held on Feb 17.

During their stay, the diet and expenditure of the wrestler and its coach are borne by the organiser.

Patwari said that the cost of hosting of camel’s owners was shared by other local people.

“People very proudly offer to host the camels and their masters,” he said.

Besides Mawali, other famous fighter camels are Wanwairri of Malik Baggi, Sohna of Makhdoom Qalander Sheikh, Patwariwala of Ibrahim Patwari and Rohi ka Raja of Faiz Kurai.

http://www.dawn.com

Friends Walking in Groups

Seeing a group of friends walk together can tell you a few things about their personalities.

Bossies. These guys try to walk in the front in a very serious mood, dictate where to go and what to do. Depending upon their nature they might seek advice but want to stay ahead of the pack and hence be the first one to be noticed.

Joyriders. Are happy to walk in the back. Hand in hand or hand in pocket, going wherever the group is going, have no problems whatsoever, wants to enjoy the time together with friends. Usually more bent on having fun and making the most out of their time. Also a bit relaxed in their approach and not very serious.

The Pushers. They walk with the joyriders, but when they are not satisfied with the progress or have to show the group the way forward, or take the group out of confusion, would come ahead and assume responsibility. Then after sometime when the confusion is over and things are or normal course, then these guys would just go to the back and resume from where they left off.

This applies to groups with at least 4 guys. What do you think ?

Using Laptops

Using a laptop with a wireless connection to internet. Kya baat hay. Having fun. Writing blogs, chatting, surfing internet. Really cool. Me and my friends sit in the drawing room with their laptops and surf the internet passing on things to each other.

Corporate Culture

Just recently I got a chance to see and work in a big organization, and hence witnessed the culture very closely. Everything is multipled by 100 when compared by smaller organizations.



If you relax you are gone, if you don't have a team and senior people in upper hierarchy then you are gone. Since continuously you have to prove ourselves with the work you do and also report it somehow to the upper management, so that they are aware that you have done something. Otherwise, according to them, we are just wasting our time and organizational resource. This is in complete contrast to the small organizations, you might have been working in before. Over there, you get work and you get a time frame and you have to deliver. Over here you have to create work for yourself continuously set your deadlines, go after the management for approval. You are known by the number of projects or sub projects or sub tasks that you have recently completed. It takes sometime getting used to.

Women 'Protection' Bill

A bill was passed by the Parliament of Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It was and is known as 'Women Protection Bill'. It was launched with great fanfare and after it was passed from the parliament and the senate, the 'Moderate' and 'Enlightened' president of Pakistan General Pervaiz Musharraf signed it. It was projected as the 'Victory' of moderate and enlightened forces in Pakistan. People who followed the time line of this bill and the various clauses in the bill, would definitely disagree with this notion. And if you can analyze the new bill carefully, it would just appear to be either a marketing or a Anti-Hudood campaign.

What is Hadd?
Hadd if simply defined, is the Islamic punishment, which has been set by Allah and communicated through the Glorious Quraan, and Sunnah of our Prophet (peace be upon him). e.g. In case of robbery, the hand of a robber will be cut away. In case of a large robbery, one hand and one leg of the robber will be cut, in case of Zina, if the person is married, then 'Sangsaar' (i.e. burying the body of the person except for the head, and then stoning the person to death etc).

These punishments though harsh in front of the world, but as Muslims we believe that since they are Allah's commands therefore they cannot be challenged, changed or modified. People who are unhappy/disagree with these punishments are in fact unhappy/disagree with the Quran. An act which is exactly the same as Kufr. Since Quraan and commandments of Allah and HIS prophet (peace be upon him) are to be accepted and followed in full and not in part and parcel.

Also mechanisms to prove the crimes which results in Hadd punishments are quite strict, e.g. in case of Zina. 4 witnesses of the crime are required before 'Sangsaar' can be done.

Please also note that a very popular clause of Pakistani Constitution is 'No law, which is contrary to Holy Quraan and Sunnah can be passed in Pakistan. Nor can such a law exist in Pakistan'. Therefore any such law is also against the constitution of Pakistan.

Hudood Ordinance
In the times of Zia Ul Haq. A committee of Ulema was formed to incorporate Islamic Mode of Punishments into Pakistani Law. These laws were written down and were known as Hudood Ordinance. It was mentioned in Hudood Ordinance, that crimes which cannot be proved through evidence mentioned in the Holy Quraan cannot get the Hadd Punishment. e.g. if for the crime of Adultery, there are no 4 witnesses, then the Islamic Punishment of 'Sangsaar' cannot be awarded to the criminal. In such a case, if other kinds of Circumstantial Evidences e.g. 1,2,3 witnesses, DNA tests etc, are present, then the judge can award other kinds of lesser punishments, as he deems fit. The law for this lesser punishment is known as 'Tazeer' and the law for the Islamic Punishment is known as 'Hadd'.

History of Women Protection Bill
It would be prudent to mention the history of the propoganda mechanism employed before the passing of this bill. About 4-5 months back, GEO News (a local news channel), started a massive campaign. Putting up sign boards and dedicating precious air time in challenging and asking people to think whether Hudood Ordinance can be changed or not. On their website the comments (edited I am sure) of various Islamic Scholars were present. Most of the credentials of the 'Islamic Scholars' were dubious but those Scholars who were renowned for their knowledge and not-for-sale personalities, were of the opinion that only those portions of Hudood Ordinance can be changed which were created by man i.e. Tazeer.

Various talk shows were arranged in which Islamic and not so Islamic scholars were invited to comment on these laws and somehow the one single purpose of the whole show was to make the renowned and conventional scholars to just say that the Hadd laws can be changed. Needless to say no recognized Aalim or Islamic Scholar agreed to changing of Hadd laws. And if for sake of argument someone accepted as well, then it can be assumed that he went against the Quran and Sunnah and therefore the dubiousness of such a scholar can be ascertained.

After some time a bill was prepared and submitted in the parliament by Chaudary Shujaat Hussain. The writers of this bill are not known till today. The religious alliance (MMA) rejected the bill immediately, since it was making some very crucial changes in the Hadd punishments and hence was against the Quraan and Sunnah. The ruling party, PML (Q) could not think of passing the bill since the ruling coalition required votes. The help came from another secular party PPP, which once was the sworn enemy of Musharraf, but lately have become the apple of his eyes.

The media projected this event as the Mullah going against the Protection of Women and started a massive hate campaign against them. The headlines of Daily Dawn were shocking to say the least. The news items presented in Dawn contained sledging journalism rather than objective journalism. People were confused since the media completely blacked out the clauses which the religious alliance was shouting against. Nobody knew the contents of the 'Women Protection Bill' either. Hence the General Public did not know the clauses of the bill which were under argument.

People in the ruling PML(Q) who had an iota of faith inside them, agreed to consult the non-political Ulema. The names of two, based on their unbiasedness and knowledge were suggested and agreed upon immediately (by all concerned parties, except for PPP). The two were Mufti Muneeb Ur Rahman and Mufti Taqi Usmani. The latter being a retired judge is quite experienced in Pakistani Law as well.

The two studied the major clauses of the bill and presented some changes in the Bill. It was agreed by all concerned parties that these clauses will be incorporated in the bill. The signatories, besides the Ulema, included Chaudary Pervaiz Elahi and Chaudary Shujaat Hussain and some key members of MMA.

The two Ulema also noted that the Bill even after the changes will be useless and it does not do anything to guarantee protection of Women against crimes which are prevalent in the rural areas of Pakistan. The lands of land lords from Punjab and Sindh.

Therefore the Ulema recommended some more areas to be covered. e.g. Marraige of Women to Holy Quraan should be banned. Karo Kari should be banned etc.

All was settled. But it seemed that the 'Moderate' president of Pakistan was against any changes in the bill. Why ? No one knows. PML(Q) probably fearing losing Musharraf's vote of confidence and PPP wanting to gain his confidence formed an alliance to gaurantee the passge of the bill. The Ulema asked for appointment from the President to tell him of the gravity of going against the commandments of Allah, but they were not given time.

Eventually the bill without the recommendations of the Ulema was forced on the parliament. The 'Moderate' president of Pakistan asked all 'Moderate' and 'Enlightened' forces of Pakistan to unite and ensure that this bill is passed.

The bill was passed through a majority vote. In doing so, the parliament went against the constitution of Pakistan. And brought a useless law into place which didn't guarantee anything for the women.

Clauses Against Quraan and Sunnah.

I would like to present some of the clauses which are against the Quran and sunnah.

1. A person who has committed Zina Bil Jabr (rape) cannot be awarded the Islamic Punishment of 'Sangsaar' or 70 lashes even when the complainant has brought 4 witnesses with him/her.

2. Islamic law does not allow changing of Hadd Punishment, once awarded, even by the Prophet (peace be upon him). But now Hadd punishments can be over ruled by the Provincial Governments.

Some links are presented below, where one can go and find the details of the clauses which violate the Quraan and Sunnah.

Interview of Mufti Taqi Usmani Saheb on the topic of Women Protection Bill
http://www.darsequran.com/scholarsbayaan/taqi-interview.php

Detailed Article of Mufti Taqi Usmani Saheb
http://www.darsequran.com/articles/urdu/muntakhab_htmls/hudood-taqi.php

Conclusion
It can be easily ascertained that since the 'Women Protection Law' does not cover some of the gross inadequacies which are being committed against women in the interiors of Punjab and Sindh, not by Mullahs and Ulema but by Land Lords who maintain their strangle-hold on Pakistan, therefore it has nothing to do with 'Women Protection' and has been presented for some other hedious reasons, amongst which can be, distribution of combined opposition, fight against Hudood Ordinance, bowing to the whimps of Europe and America.

The forces which are announcing their loyalties to 'Moderate', 'Enlightened' and 'Sub Say Pehlay Pakistan' camp are forces which are prepared to go against Quran and Sunnah. These camps have been created by President Musharraf and wants people to forget about religion or keep religion as a personal rather than a collective agenda.

These forces, by using Negative Propoganda and For Sale Media and Journalists, are leaving no stone unturned to malign Islamic Principles, Islamic Law and Islamic Scholars.

These are very hard times for all of us. Already news of people getting fired from Air Force, PIA and other government runned institutions because of having beards.

It is required for all of us to unite on Quraan and Sunnah. Make every effort to understand it from people who have knowledge of Quraan and Sunnah. And protect our Imaan, since these forces will do everything to take our Imaan and Jazba from us.

Meanwhile a committee of Non-Political Islamic Scholars have been formed by the name of 'Tahaffuz-e-Hudood Allah' committee.

May Allah protect us all from such a propoganda. Who knows what this has in store for us in the future.

Organized Bribe Collection System

A very funny thing happened today. I had parked my car near Electronics Market, Karachi. Eventually it turned out to be a no parking zone. Especially for my car, since all the other cars, remained untouched and mine was towed away.

So we (me, Mohsin and Faraz) went to Preedy Station. There the guy said that two charges would have to be paid for. One is the towing charges which has to be deposited here and the other one is the challan which would have to be deposited in the bank. He said that since we look as reasonable people therefore he will waive off the Bank Challan for us. And would just take the towing charges, which were 300 rupees.

Faraz started negotiating with him but the guy said that he cannot decrease this amount at all. So we said okay, we will pay 300 but give us the receipt for it. He said that if you want receipt then you would have to pay 550 rupees. 300 for towing and 250 for the challan. We made out that if he is not giving the receipt it means that he is going to put 300 in his pocket which would be a bribe and therefore we should avoid it. Therefore we said that okay give us the challan of 550.

Well to cut a long story short. The Challan (i.e. Challan for no Parking) was of 100 rupees (earlier he said that it was for 250), and the best of all the towing charges were of 100 rupees (earlier he said that it was for 300 and he cannot decrease even a single penny). So we took the challan, they could not do anything since it was written on the challan that how much is the challan for no parking and how much are the charges for towing. Therefore they looked in a very bad mood. And said 'Hum aap ka khayal kartay hain, aap ko humara khayal bhee karna chaheay'. (We take care of you you should take care of us as well).

Khair my friend Faraz would go to National Bank to deposit the Challan tomorrow, Insha Allah, and get my papers as well from the station. May Allah bless him for his efforts.

The sad thing was that this heinous crime was going on in broad day light. And no one was there to stop it ! People say that by following religion we cannot progress in this world. Surely if taking bribes in broad day light in such an organized way, is the sign of progress then let the glorious Islam stop us from such progress.