Suicide Bombers “Married to Death”

The two female suicide bombers who were responsible for the metro attacks in Moscow, were the widows of former terrorists. It is believed that about 30, “black widows” were trained by the Russian Bin Laden to carry more of such attacks in future.

The presence of suicide bombers has become a matter of grave concern through out the world. Suicide attackers are not driven by the motivation to die but  by the zeal to kill others.

These fearless  terrorists are often misconceived to be mentally retarded or abnormal, but the psychological studies have proved that they are perfectly normal people who are determined to do things differently.

In the modern era, suicide bombings were initiated in the Second World War by Japanese troops. The “Kamikaze” was used as a strategy to instill terror in the minds of the terror. Takijiro Onishi, who was leading the air force in Manila, used the technique of intentional crashing of aircraft by the inexperienced pilots.

1970’s witnessed the resurrection of suicide bomb attacks in Islamic Terror groups.  Hizb’allah used suicide bombings against  Israel.  Ayottah Khomeini (Iranian Spiritual Leader) re-interpreted the Shia Cult of martyrdom. And hence propagated the concept of suicide committed for religious causes. Hamas is another group operative in Palestine which has carried out numerous attacks including Gaza strip attack and Christmas Day Attack in Jerusalem.

Religion may not be the sole purpose of carrying out such attacks. L.T.T.E which was operative in Sri Lanka used the suicide attacks for accomplishing its political motives.

Reasons for becoming Suicide Bombers:

1. Poverty

2. Conditioning done by the terrorist groups that starts from the very early age of an individual.

3. The myth of martyrdom and the posthumous acclamation associated with it.

4. The manipulation jihad and other religious beliefs (like it would open the doors of heaven).

5. The assurance of the terrorist groups to support their families and promise to reward them with both cash and honor.

6. The internalization of terrorist ideology in the minds of the bombers.

7. Values of the cultural societies (in Lebanon and Palestine the suicide bombers are treated with the stature of martyrs). It is estimated that more than 30% of Palestinians support suicide bombers.

8. Revenge ( eg. Black Widows)

9. To bring attention to the demands of the terrorist groups.

10. The urge to follow the footsteps of a charismatic leader, friend or family member.

How is it carried out?

In Gaza, a game “shuhada” is staged by children on streets to offer mock funeral offerings to the suicide bombers (identified as martyrs by them). The children identify with them as their heros and ideals. Usually vulnerable children like them are carefully selected by a terrorist organization.

They are then divided into small groups which is presided by a teacher. Gradually the youngsters are transformed in to weapons of destruction. They are left with no sense of individualism and identity. The ultimate motive is to be an asset to the group. During their training, the candidates have to observe complete abstinence from women and sex. They are taught only selected religious texts from the Arabic Quran. No one; not even the parents of a bomber are informed about his missions.

Suicide Terrorism requires a very few means and little preparation. A determined perpetrator and an effective explosive is all that is needed. It is both cost-effective and more impact-oriented.

Impact of Suicide Terrorism:-

Places like embassies, shopping malls, railway stations, restaurants, buses, parks and posh streets are the most common targets of such attacks. It serves three purposes of the terrorists i.e.

1. Greater chances of causing more damage and causalities.

2. The probability of being caught is comparatively less.

3. A much greater impact of the general public. The terrorized people usually think, “If I’m not safe here, then where can I expect security?”

A terror attack is generally accompanied with two counter-responses by the masses. Most of the people express patriotic sentiments on the advent of such grave happening. Contrary to this, people also doubt the ability of their governments to protect them. Russia and Israel face suicide terrorism on continuous basis. The people in these countries not only possess hostile feelings for the minorities but also advocate stringent governmental action against the terrorists.

The mass public response after such heinous attacks has often empowered the government to take harsh steps. The American Patriot Act being one such example. Sri Lanka also enacted a legislation in 1979 through which it could hold any person under arrest  for 18 months without trial.

One of the major problems with regard to suicide bombers is that since they target civilians, in most of the western countries they are tackled by the police and not by the military. To prevent such attacks more and more public places must be guarded. The victims and their families must be provided with immediate medical help. The reconstruction of normal life is very important. The government must take initiatives to regain the trust of the masses.

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The Legal Controversy surrounding Sania-Shoaib’s marriage

The Controversy

When the two sports stars (Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik) would tie the knot, it is believed that the two countries India and Pakistan would also share a common-bond. But the marriage between the Indian tennis star and former Pakistani Cricket Captain, scheduled on April 15, 2010 has already witnessed a lot of controversies. After Shiv Sena’s threat to Sania and her family with the performance of marriage. It is now alleged that the prospective groom, Shoaib Malik has been already married to Ayesha Siddhiqui alias Maha Siddhiqui since June, 2002.

Mohammed Siddiqui, the father of Ayesha has already lodged a complaint against Shoaib Malik in Hyderabad under Sections 420 (cheating), 498-A (dowry harassment) and 506 (criminal intimidation). On the other hand Malik and his family have denied the subsistence of any such marriage.

Two sides of the same story

In their interviews, Malik and Ayesha have presented different versions of the story. Shoaib Malik contends that he had never met Ayesha in person before the alleged marriage took place. Maha, had send him the photographs of some other woman who he presumed to be Ayesha. He was deceived by her and at a tender age of 20. When he figured out the fraud in 2005 he immediately broke all his associations with Ayesha.

He said,” I walked out of my house one morning in June 2002, and went to my friend’s shop and called from there. I got a nikahnama, signed it, thinking the girl I was marrying was the one in the photographs.

In Muslim law, this arrangement doesn’t work no matter what paper may or may not be there simply because, when the proposal was made, the image in my head was the girl in the photographs, but the girl, who was accepting the proposal was someone else. That’s cheating.”

Whereas Ayesha said that they had met in Dubai in 2000 and were in constant https://www.healthsupportyou.com/cialis-tadalafil/ touch since then. The internet facilities were unavailable that time and therefore there was no question only exchanging photographs. She further said that Malik was disappointed with her being fat and thus avoided her company at public functions. The growing popularity of Malik amongst the girls led to a drift between the two. She proclaimed that a telephonic marriage in Islam was perfectly legal and valid according to the sharia. Ayesha’s family has also released a the nikahnama in public.

Main Elements of a Muslim Marriage :-

1- Free Consent of the Parties

2- Payment of dower

3- Witnesses

4- May be terminated by either of the parties any time

A telephonic marriage in Sharia is valid if witnesses are present from both the sides. In the present case, the marriage claim by the Siddhiqui’s is dubious until and unless, the witnesses from both the sides are produced. Moreover, Shoaib’s argues that the consent given by him was under the misconception that the girl he is marrying was the one in the photographs and not Maha Siddhiqui, further weakens the case. As in a Muslim marriage, free consent of the parties is a pre-requisite.

Under the Indian Muslim Act, a Muslim male can enter a second marriage while the first marriage is already subsisting. Thus, Siddhiqui would not be able to prevent Sania and Shoaib’s marriages even if the alleged marriage is legally valid.

If tried under the Indian Laws the cricketer can be punished with both imprisonment and fine. The contradictory statements issued by the cricketer time and again have also diluted the veracity of his claims. If Ayesha’s claims are valid then the victim has been harassed by her celebrity husband. Calling a wife fat or public harassment amounts to mental cruelty under the Indian Law. It would be to early to jump into any conclusions as of now, I think the truth will reveal itself in due course of time.

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Performance Enhancers can be Reputation Damagers – Increasing Doping Scenario in Sports

Today 13 out of the 29 probable Kabbadi players for the World Cup Kabbadi Punjab 2010 were tested positive of doping. The incidence once again proved that sports and drugs have a close nexus with one another. The issue of performance enhancing drugs has remained contentious throughout the globe. The primary rational behind prohibiting use of drugs is in sports was to prevent any deterioration of health. However the emphasis had later shifted to fair competition and professional ethics. The prohibition is mainly supported on two grounds i.e. moral and physical.

The doping test is conducted by detecting the presences of banned substance in the urine samples of the competitors. But it is argued that the dope test faces difficulties due to various reasons:

1. Substances like Human Growth Hormone (H.G.H) or erythropoetin (E.P.O) are also naturally produced by the Human Body. Hence even if the presence of these hormones is established it is very difficult to detect that the same were administered unnaturally.

2. The athletes usually switch drugs or consume unbanned drugs or even take help of masking agents to deceive doping tests.

3. Domestic Legislation and laws of various countries have proved contrary to the decisions of pioneer sports authorities like IOC, International Amateur Athletic Federation (I.A.A.F) and Federation of International Football Association (FIFA).

4. The credibility of testing agencies has been questioned time and again.

5. The inefficiency of developing countries to have expensive testing regimes.

Categorization of Drugs

There are two types of drugs: the prescribed and the proscribed. The former being legal whereas the latter being illegal. Prescribed Drugs are not considered bad as they are taken https://www.fertileheart.com/buy-prednisone-online/ under medical supervision and are less detrimental to health. On the other hand the banned drugs contain high health risks. However it is argued that many prescribed drugs may lead to cardiac problems, convulsions or even death in certain cases. They may have fatal consequences in the long term. It is observed that addiction may result if these drugs not carefully administered.

Criticism

It is contended worldwide that over dose of any drug (including caffeine) may cause hazardous health consequences. Thus there must be a clear distinction between “medical treatment” and “medical abuse”. If it is possible to enhance the performance of an athlete by controlled administration of certain harmless or less harmful drugs it would definitely not amount to abuse but medication. Studies have demonstrated that medically controlled drug program would create a balance between health and sports. It would not only decrease the side-effects of steroids but would also enhance the performance of players. Moreover many people argue that Performance Enabling Drugs must be legalized as Anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), which facilitates early healing in athletes.

Most of the athletes consume high dosages of highly refined dietary aids, vitamin and carbohydrate supplements which may cause substantial harm. The safe use of performance enabling drugs is essential. It must not be detrimental to the health of the competitor. As mentioned before the credibility of various testing laboratories still remain in question. Another concern in this regard is that status of legality of many drugs varies from one country to another. This definitely hinders the harmonization of rules related to drugs on a global level.

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I’m dating you doesn’t mean you can date rape me.

Sara went to a bar to party with few of her friends. When she went to rest room one of her friends. Jacob carefully poured a colorless, odorless and tasteless powder in her drink. Coming back she consumed the drugged drink without knowing its consequences. Next morning she found herself in the bed of the accused. Under the effect of the drug she knew about nothing that had happened the previous night.  The accused possessed some photographs of the previous night, which he used to threaten and blackmail the victim. The victim was victimized for months and due to the fear and guilt she remained silent and confided in nobody. Ultimately she committed suicide to get rid of this miserable condition. This story may become a reality in life of any woman. Date rape is something we feel would never happen to us but it is a dangerous mistake to believe so.

It is unfortunate that many victims of date rape or acquaintance rape commit suicide. Recently a 15 year old girl committed suicide when she was gang raped by her boy friend and his friends. Bijal Joshi rape case which formed the headlines in 2004 was no exception. The lower court has recently awarded the five accused (Sajal Jain, Sugam Jaiswal, Ashok Jaiswal, Chandan Jaiswal and Karan Jain with life imprisonment. Bijal Joshi (24 years) was allegedly raped by her boy friend Sajal Jain and his four friends on the New Year’s Eve in a room at Hotel Ashok Palace, Ahemdabad. When the police took no notice of her complaints, she committed suicide leaving a suicide letter which mentioned the names of all the accused.

It is estimated that around 70,000 college students in the United States are victims of drug rapes or sexual assault every year. Mostly drugs like Rohynol, Ketamine and GHB are administered to commit such crimes. They are also known as predator’s drugs or club drugs. Their effects are generally permanent and a woman may not be able to conceive ever if administered such drugs.

Rohynol:

1. Its effect starts within 10 minutes of ingestion which can continue up to eight hours.

2. It may cause difficulty in walking, nausea, confusion, dizziness, muscle relaxation, slurred speech and impaired judgement.

3. However it is banned in U.S., it is legal in almost 60 countries including U.K. and Mexico as it is used as a medicine for insomnia.

Ketamine:

1. It is administered through injections in veterinary practice .

2. Causes hallucinations, numbness, aggressive behaviour, vomiting and dream-like effects.

3. It is available in both liquid and powder form.

GHB:

1. It is available in powder or liquid form and is easily slipped into a drink.

2. It causes unconsciousness, dizziness, drowsiness,sweating, nausea and respiratory problems.

3. Although the drug is odorless and colorless, it is quite salty.

How to protect yourself?

Don’t accept or share drinks. Never leave your drink unattended, even if you are going to the washroom. If you find something suspicious in your drink pour it out immediately. Have a non-drinking friend with you at a party. Don’t hesitate to take help, if you feel you have been drugged. Choose taking drinks from a closed container and not from a pitcher.

What must be done by a date-rape victim?

1. If you believe that you are a victim of date rape take medical help. A urine test within 72 hours of the administration of the drug would reveal the presence of drug in your system.

2. Inform the police. To avoid any sort of harassment by police, consult and take help of  a N.G.O .

3. Don’t hold yourself responsible for the tragedy. Counseling would definitely help you to get over your guilt.

4. Suicide is no option. It is not the victim but the perpetrator who deserves punishment.

Indian Penal Code

Although we don’t have any specific laws related to Date Rape or acquaintance rape, the section 375 of Indian Penal Code, clearly states that sexual intercourse without the consent of victim is considered to be rape. It further states that, if consent for sexual intercourse is obtained by intoxication; then also rape would be deemed to have occurred. The minimum punishment for rape as prescribed under Section 376 is seven years. Hence a victim may take the benefit of the above section.

Criticism

It is unfortunate that some people believe that rape was justified if a woman asks the male out. Some of the perpetrators claim that they had right to have sex with their victims. Both the arguments are highly flawed; a man does not own his date. It is not obligatory on a woman to have sex with her partner. A relationship does not necessarily mean sexual relationship.

To prevent date rape a woman must be vigilant and careful. “Betrayal occurs only where there is presence of trust.” Both young males and females must be taught about sexuality in educational institutions. The risk factors and legal consequences related to rape must be discussed with students. It is the moral responsibility of every individual to inform police, if he or she feels that a woman is administered a club drug.

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Legal Drift welcomes Wazhma Frogh

Hillary Clinton And Michelle Obama Announce Int'l Women of Courage Award(Wazhma Frogh) Hillary Clinton And Michelle Obama Announce Int’l Women of Courage Award(Wazhma Frogh)

Wazhma Frogh needs no introduction. She has been awarded 2009 US State Department’s International Women of Courage Award by Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton. Wazhma is presently pursuing her masters in international development law and human rights at Warwick University, U.K. She writes on her blog wazhmafrogh.blogspot.com – and has written for newspapers, including the Washington Post and The Guardian.

She has made difference in lives of many. Her work has been recognized worldwide.  She   has   devoted   the   last   decade  of  her  life  to  mobilization  for  social  change  to  benefit  women’s  rights  in  Afghanistan,  focusing  on  such  issues  as  women  and  security,  legislative  reform  including  the  recent  Elimination  of  Violence  a participation.

She  is  a  leading  expert  on  the  issues  of  gender-based  violence  and  has  worked  tirelessly  on  the  elimination  of  violence  against  women  in  Afghanistan.    Frogh  started  her  career  at  the  age  of  17,  working  with  the  most  vulnerable  women  and  children  in  refugee  camps  in  Peshawar,  Pakistan,  bringing  the  voices  of  the  camps  to  the  national  and  international  arenas  though  her  media  reporting.

Later   on,   she   stepped   into   women   empowerment   through   community-based   approaches,   and mobilized   women’s   development   projects   during   the   Taliban   regime.   While   these   efforts   were organized   in   Peshawar,   Pakistan,   Frogh   traveled frequently   back   to   Afghanistan’s   most   insecure provinces  to  carry  out  her  work.

She has also been associated with development projects with the UN and international organizations. She  has  also participated  in  the  Women  and  Public  Policy  Program  at  Harvard  University  and  the  Law  and  Leadership  Program  at  George  Washington  University,  both  in  the  United  States.

A  frequent  representative  and  spokesperson  to  the  regional  and  international  arenas,  Ms.  Frogh  is  an  outspoken   advocate   on   improving   women’s   participation   in   the   peace   processes   and   conflict  resolution  mechanisms  in  Afghanistan  and  recently  has  been  selected  to  participate  in  a  series  of  regional  peace  dialogues  between  Afghan  and  Pakistan  women  to  discuss  common  areas  of  concern  and  activism  for  regional  security  and  stability.

It is an honor to be associated with Wazhma. She would contribute to legal drift whenever possible. Her posts would help our readers to understand the socio-legal situations in Afghanistan.

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Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in Afghanistan:

An Insight Story

“We had a land problem with another villager and it was the 5th year that due to the dispute we weren’t able to work on the field, this dispute had taken the life of my elder niece as well. We spoke to woloswal (district attorney) many times and he said that take the case to Kabul – and sometimes said talk amongst yourselves and reach to some conclusions, we are busy with the ongoing insurgency don’t have the means to settle your disputes.

One day he sent someone maybe a judge to find out about our dispute and he also asked for so many papers and we said we don’t have any papers for this land, its our ancestors lands and we have lived here our whole lives. He said you couldn’t get use this land because you don’t have any documents. No one has documents for their lands in our village, its our lands from forefathers, we don’t need papers to prove this for us.

This year my brothers and I decided that we will seek the assistance of a Talib commander – so we went towards Ghazni and late in the evening located a well known commander near Qarabagh district and asked him to come and help us. He was such a generous man. He came and listened to our situation and then called the villager with whom we had the dispute and put the gun on his head and asked him to say the truth.

The man scared for his life, said that this piece of land doesn’t belong to him at all but he wanted to take advantage of having his land just next to us and especially that the canal comes directly to our fields. He even called in the witness who had witnessed that his father had sold that piece of land to my grand father many years ago. He asked for forgiveness and we all forgave him and the issue was closed. Since then we started planting back in our fields.  The Talib commander solved a 5 yearlong dispute in one day. This is what we need”.

A family from a village in Jalrez, Wardak Province. ( December 2009)

Conflict

Disputes, such as the one described above,  are typical in Afghanistan, but the mode of resolving the conflict is unique to Afghanistan. If one goes  back historically to Afghanistan’s traditional roots, civil and even criminal matters have been resolved through community based structures, called Jirga’s and Shura’s.  This has much to do with the absence of a central responsive government more than any other reasons. The past 30 years or more conflict has paralyzed the formal mechanisms of dispute resolution in Afghanistan. In any case, they were fragile and ineffective structures and were not even fair to the people of Afghanistan.

Judicial Reform Projects Afghanistan

Since 2001, millions of dollars were poured into various judicial reform projects. Although access to formal structures have improved a bit, still the system is not responsive nor effective, therefore communities especially in the rural areas prefer their original, quick and effective dispute resolution mechanisms.

Current Scenario

However, while analyzing the long-standing conflict of Afghanistan, one  can see that the power dynamics of the actors in the communities has changed so that warlords hold the power. This power dynamic fueled by community power brokers enjoying a feudal culture, has contaminated these traditional structures with other features of conflict, from drugs to Taliban control. Local Jirga’s and Shuras are mostly dominated and driven by political factions, warlords, guns and money. Therefore, these structures cannot be called people’s structures for resolving disputes, but most of these, are platform for exercise of non-state actors monopoly over rural communities. Although there are a number of studies carried out in various provinces in Afghanistan to prove the effectiveness of these structures, there credibility as people’s consented decision making bodies still remain a valid question.

Understandably, after the national elections and establishment of an elected central government, such parallel structures need to be either abolished or merged into the formal judiciary system of the country. However, unless the insurgency and ongoing armed militancy is stopped it is hard to imagine that rural communities will get access to government judicial structures. In the cases that they do get to court it is unclear whether they will  get proper resolutions from these government judicial systems. Since those systems are corrupt, ineffective and time consuming nature.

The government of Afghanistan attempted establishing connecting frameworks between the Traditional Dispute Resolution mechanisms and the formal judicial system since last year, calling for a National Policy on Traditional Dispute Resolution Mechanisms. But the fate of this policy is now unclear since there is a new Minister of Justice who is not in favour  of bolstering the informal justice system.

In the past few years, debates around supporting and strengthening the Traditional Dispute Resolution mechanisms have dominated the rhetoric for justice in Afghanistan, especially by the international experts of the subject. Some of them disqualify any efforts to promote formal judiciary while others are advocating for linking both systems and increase the formal system’s efficiency. This discussion isn’t only about solving national or communal disputes but is about legitimacy of an Afghan state; promoting any parallel structures mean creating other state regimes eventually.

To solve the problem, the  discussions on Traditional Dispute Resolution Mechanisms should not be categorized as a  ‘rights issue’ only but as a structural challenge.  While the biggest challenge of these structures that violate basic human rights of every individual remains much of concern. There have been a lot of studies that portray how women and children are sacrificed and oppressed by these structures. Just adding women into the Jirga’s system or providing them with trainings on human rights issues cannot alter such oppression.

Any rapid generalized analysis of Traditional Dispute Resolution mechanisms will reveal the fragility and inconsistence of these structures as well.  The members are not the same every time in any village, nor they are trained in any of legal or investigative skills, or hardly a literate member can be found in the Jirga’s that can read and write.  There are no set rules but decisions are taken contextual however, they do refer to previous decisions from the same place or other places if that meets the conditions of the context.  The decision is usually made by the most powerful individual present in the Jirga and easily accepted by the rest and the victim at times the accused person has no voice in most of the instances but is considered to be embarrassed and silent in order to be forgiven.

What must be done?

Afghanistan needs institutions before any rights are promised to its citizens. Having a progressive constitution does not resolve community disputes and issues when even the parliament isn’t able to interpret the constitution objectively.  Rule of law requires enforcing mechanisms that people can trust and only then state judiciary can be trusted by the local population. If the formal judiciary system is responsive enough, no other culture can prevent people from seeking justice, because it is the victim can understand the value and definition of justice.

The efforts should also be directed towards integrating the Traditional mechanisms into the state judiciary system with the paradigm of state being constitutionally precedent on the customary laws.  However, no matter how ineffective the state judiciary, it should not be equally juxtaposed with the Traditional Dispute Resolution mechanisms, as the latter will easily replace the former.

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An Insight on Travel Laws in India – Do They Really Exist?

Mumbai Recovers Following Terror Attacks

India is a land of culture, diversity and tradition. Athithi Devo Bhava which means “guest is god” has been one of the ideologies of the nation. But unfortunately some people have brought disgrace to the country on the world forum. There are dozens of cases in which foreigners are harassed, raped, deceived and abused.

The government and the administration always tries to suppress the news related to ill treatment of foreigners. It is done in order to save the country from insult and global pressure. But all efforts have turned out to be futile. The perpetrators usually think that they are free to harass foreigners on following grounds a) they are alien to the country b) they are unaware of any laws c) no one recognizes them c) they carry foreign currency d) their liberal attitude.

I would like to further elaborate on the last point. It is true that the lifestyle of the west is quite different from ours but it doesn’t mean that anyone has a license to harass their ladies. People who see vulgarity and nudity would not even spare a woman in sari.

Shantaram Naik, (a congress M.P. from Goa) while commenting on alleged rape of 25-year-old Russian woman in Goa said “Rape is a heinous crime but an alleged rape of a lady who moves with strangers for days together even beyond the middle of the night is to be treated on different footings.” The statement is absolutely absurd and disgusting which holds no water.

The law definitely protects the tourists but here I would like to focus on the preventive steps that can be taken by them to avoid such harassment.

1. Try to contact a Authorized Travel Operator who would ensure your bookings at safe places.

2. Do not roam around on streets late at night.

3. Try to avoid staying at deserted guest houses or hotels.

4. Don’t go for a very cheap hotel. It may not turn out to be a safe place.

5. Try not to expose bare bodies as it might attract unnecessary attention.

6. Always take a prepaid taxi or auto.

7. If you decide to lodge a complaint inform your embassy about it as well.

The Indian Government must also take vital steps to prevent such harassment and molestation. The only law in the country which remotely concerns molestation is Section 354 of Indian Penal Code under which if a person outrages the modesty of a woman he is punished.  It is very difficult for the courts to construe what amounts to modesty of a woman. Therefore most of the times the offender is acquitted in such cases. The offender can be charged for rape under Section 375.

The government must definitely come up with the legislation to criminalize molestation and sexual harassment. The tourists must be provided with a helpline number which they can call at times of emergency. Moreover the government must discourage tourist agencies which do not have government authorization. Citizens must also take active part in preserving the image of the country.

Please find a real life incident which happened with a lady from Norway in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. This was received by one of my friend who himself is a tour operator. I just published it so that people can read and feel how the foreigners are ill-treated in our country. I would suggest all my readers to just go through it once..

“Dear Sir/ Madam

I’m writing to you because of an unpleasant incident I hope you can help me with. I was involved in an accident during a camel- safari in Jaisalmer, Rajhastan, this week.

I was supposed to take part in a 2 days- 1 night camel- trek into the desert, but shortly after the start of the camel ride the strapping holding my seat to the camel broke and the entire contents, including myself, fell off. The accident took place because the equipment (the saddle) clearly was not in a good condition, and therefor putting the rider at risk.

The seat slid off the camels back, with me falling the same way, hitting hard ground with my lower back first and then my head. It caused enormous pain, and I could not sit up. Thankfully we had a nurse with us on the trip, and she made sure nothing was broken. I insisted on returning back to town, as the pain was too much to handle for further riding. The camel drivers wanted me to continue, obviously trying to ignore the seriousness of the situation, but I refused to do so because I did not want to put myself in any danger of worsening the injury.

An hour later I was picked up by the company’s jeep so I could return home. Upon my return I was met by an ignorant staff of owners who tried to laugh away the whole episode by claiming that this happens all the time. (Like that would make the situation better?)

As is common in Jaisalmer, it is the different hotels who also run the camel- safaris. I was surprised with the amount of resistance and denial of responsibility I was met with. Not only did the owners refuse to apologize for the incident, they also said that an equipment failure was not their responsibility at all. At one point they tried to blame the camel drivers, but I think it’s important to underline that these people treated me nothing but well, and that the full responsibility belongs to the owners of the equipment.

I had a doctor visiting the same afternoon, who confirmed that I had a slight concussion and a heavily bruised lower spine. I was very lucky, but it scares me to think what could have happened if I wasn’t. It’s a 2 meter fall, and others might not be that lucky. This episode caused some further problems.. I had to stay in bed for 3 days, luckily not longer, but this also caused a total change in my travel plans. I contacted the management and claimed a refund of the organized camel trek, which seemed more than fair as I only took part of the trek for an hour, and on top of that caused me an injury. The management still refused that this was really their responsibility, and first only wanted to refund half of the amount. After a lot of back and forth we got the whole sum returned, but only by arguing that we also had paid a lot of money during our lengthened hotel stay in terms of food and payment for our room.

All the time I was treated with ignorance, either being told that “they had fallen of many times-take a pill and you’ll be better” obviously claiming that this is not serious. Or just refusing to say that they have any responsibility for the tours they arrange, and the safety of the people they bring on these tours. This is the thing that frightens me the most; that a whole town- where not one safari company is officially registered, everyone refuses to take any responsibility for what might happen to innocent tourist when they go into the dessert on their arranged tours.

During our stay in Jaisalmer we contacted the local tourism force, who barely spoke any english, and basically said there was nothing we could do. And we also went to the local police station who said that the desert was outside their jurisdiction, and therefore they could not help us. You feel very helpless as a tourist in a place where family bonds stand stronger than the official law, and no one is willing to help.

This was not the only problem though. When I fell of I also had a Digital SLR camera on my neck, with a value of £700. When I fell, this smashed in the ground with me and the lens was broken. I found out about this after my return to the hotel, and the first thing I did was to contact my travel insurance, explaining the situation. They said that this was the responsibility of the tour arranger, as it was broken while I was in their care, due to third part responsibility. When bringing this up with the management it caused more denials of responsibility, and they actually said something in the lines of; “get your money back from your travel insurance, and be happy, this is your fault, not ours.” I tried to make them understand that they had to contact the insurance company they had for their travel company, but it soon became clear that they only had an insurance on their hotel and not the safari tours. Thereby they kept denying any responsibility, as they otherwise had to pay for this themselves.

Now I find myself in a hopeless situation. It is personally very frustrating to be handled with such ignorance,but also a total denial of all responsibility is unacceptable. They didn’t seem to care at all, and would continue running the same way, meaning that other travelers might be put in unforeseen danger. The company pointed out countless times that they did not see the point in having a third part insurance, as, according to them, any incidence should be covered by the travelers own insurance. As this is not the case, I don’t have much choice than to cover the cost of my broken lens myself.

This has been a very unpleasant episode, and it has also taken a lot of energy in a situation where I didn’t have any. I’m writing this to you mostly because I hope I can help to prevent other travelers to end up in the same situation. But also because I wonder what one should do in such a case. When neither the police, local tourist force or the tour operator wants to cooperate, who do you turn to?

Who should cover the damage of goods when its a third parts responsibility? I would be grateful for a reply if you have any suggestions to how I should handle this. I found myself in a very helpless situation, any advice on how to act in such a case would be an enormous help.

PS. I know that this might not help me any further on, but please know that I more than anything wanted to inform you about this because I hope that an awareness of the irresponsible tour arrangements in Jaisalmer might result in a safer and more regulated industry for other travelers.”

Gosh… This certainly happened in India…

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Taliban Leader Captured !!

Suspect In Attempted Airplane Terror Bombing Arraigned In Detroit

Taliban: This originally means students; has become a synonym of terror. The Shariat law prevails in the reign of the Taliban. They forbid pork, wine, music, lobster, cameras, pool tables, masks, chess, nail polish and many other things.  Taliban laws were not only draconian and inhuman in nature but were found sometimes contrasting to Shariat. They encouraged the production of opium (for export reasons) but opposed the production and consumption of hasheesh or alcohol.

It is alleged that Pakistan was one of the major sponsor of Taliban. It had not only provided arms and finance to the same but had also provide them military equipment, recruiting assistance, training and tactical advice. However Pakistan had always denied such relations. Recently United States had threatened Pakistan that its financial aid would be ceased if it continued supporting Taliban.

Today Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the group’s No. 2 leader behind Afghan Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, who is a close associate of Osama bin Laden, was captured in Karachi. His arrest is certainly the great victory for the Americans. The tussle between U.S.A and Taliban had gained momentum after the 9/11 attacks. Although the mastermind behind the attacks Osama Bin Laden was never caught, the United States had declared a war against terror. It is believed that his arrest would cease the Taliban operations for some time. America is grateful for the support of Pakistani intelligence agency but still believes that the same could be arrested much earlier. They believe that Pakistan had given covert support to Taliban Leaders in past. The U.S. warning and the situation faced in Swat valley are probably the reasons for I.S.I support to America. Taliban has denied the news by saying it’s a rumour spread by “foreigners”. Even if the same is true, the position is still unclear under which law would be Baradar tried. Whether he would be tried under the law of Pakistan or United States? In past Taliban leaders have been tried under the U.S. law probably the same would be done in this case too.

While it is proclaimed that Baradar confession may lead to arrest of other Taliban leaders. It is also true that his capture would not damage Taliban’s working. He was a member of Taliban Shura. He performed mainly political work. This would definitely affect the organization on psychological level but would not affect it in totality. Obaidullah Akhund, a leader of same stature was also caught in 2007 with the help of Pakistani agencies. The other reason which supports the argument is that in Afghanistan if a leader dies or is captured it is a setback to the whole tribe. Baradar belonged to Popalzai Durrani tribe (which was against Taliban).

Taliban has been a growing force which is becoming powerful day by day. They have their allies all over the world. They not only misguide youth on basis of religion but also buy children for these purposes. The youth is conditioned such that they become human bombs. It is manipulate the pious term  “Jihad” and transform it into “terror”.

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A Raging Cold War between China and United States – Two of World’s Biggest Diplomats

China US Cold War - World's DiplomatsThe prospective meeting of two Nobel peace prize laureate has threatened the China’s peace of mind. Where the meeting of US president Obama and Dalai Lama has brought a ray of hope for Tibetians, the Chinese have taken it as a sign of interference. U.S. has been warned that their association with the Buddhist monk would “seriously undermine the political foundation of Sino-US relations” and “it will certainly threaten trust and cooperation between China and the United States”.

The starting of 2010 also witnessed the Google controversy in China. Google declared that it was no longer willing to continue censoring its results on Google.cn. It was also alleged that the Chinese government might have used Google to spy on human rights activist.  China responded to the controversy saying that the acquisitions are baseless and the foreign companies are required to follow the local laws. Whether or not Google would cease to operate in China is not yet decided but it surely strained the relation between the two countries.

Like Tibet, Taiwan has also been declared an autonomous entity within China itself. However, the independence enjoyed by them is only nominal. Japan and US support complete independence of Taiwan which is considered a threat to national integrity and sovereignty by China.

In 2008 US expected to sale Taiwan Black Hawk helicopters and anti-missile batteries which had created tension between the two. Moreover USA support to Human Rights in China is also considered interference in the internal affairs of the country by the latter. Not only this the trade and economic relationship is also strained between the two. There have been disputes related to tires, steel pipes and even over valuation of Chinese currency.

US owes nearly a trillion-dollar debt to China. One of the major reasons for the Copenhagen deal failure was that a junior official was send to a meeting with Obama in place of Hu Jintao, China’s president. The conflict is not only on political front but also ideological, where one is a strong protagonist of communism the other supports consumerism. In one country the press is given absolute freedom but in other media censorship laws are very stringent.

But in spite of these differences both are diplomatic friends on the world forum. USA is being continuously pressurized by its Asian partner. Its not only because of debt but also because a majority of its population is dependent on cheap Chinese goods. China has emerged a strong nation in due course of time and USA’s current economic condition would make it difficult for US to wage a war against it.

Ironically all prospective candidates for presidents post in the country wanted to be ‘tough on China’ on election but rather it is seen that both Helary Clinton and Obama both have amenable attitude towards China. Not only this Obama was also criticized for avoiding a meeting with Dalai Lama on his China visit. Now if Obama meets his holiness in spite of China’s warning the rift between the two nations would widen. Where his holiness expects support from US in his middle way approach, Chinese want non-interference

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Swiss Minaret Ban – Multiculturalism : The Never Ending Issue

The Minaret Ban in Switzerland has raised a religious controversy all over the world. There are voices from all over the world criticising the decision.  Where Pakistani religious groups name it as ISLAMOPHOBIA, Mufti of Egypt take a moderate approach in this regard. Where the Dutch Politician Geert Wilders overwhelmly support the decision, France, Indonesia, Vatican and amnesty international criticize it.

There are various political and religious reasons behind the decision. Austria’s Kurier suggests that one of the major reason for such a decision is the ongoing dispute with Libya. Some voters might have taken out their frustration with Moammar Gaddafi by voting to ban a symbol of the Muslim faith. The Britain’s Guardian newspaper writes of “an Alpine distrust of outsiders which lapsed into racism”.

Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung describes  the vote as one of “anger and frustration”, coming after the bank secrecy affair and the crisis with Libya. Other reasons that are suggested for the decision is the threat of dominance of the Muslims in the country.

Some people have supported the decision saying that IF ARABIA DOESN’T ALLOW US TO BUILD CHURCHES WHY SHOULD WE ALLOW MOSQUES? and WE WANT ASIANS TO ASSIMILATE IN OUR EUROPEAN CULTURE NOT VICE-VERSA.

Whereas the opponents criticize the very basis of the decision. They question the legitimacy of it. They argue that the decision is against the principles of multiculturalism and the state cannot act in a biased way. The controversy is not an alien one.

There have been issues of multiculturalism all through out the globe. The issue of L.T.T.E , the issue of Australia, allowing Sikhs to wear turban, the H1 Visa  and many others. The outlook of people is shrinking with the shrinking world. Everyone wants to preserve the best for themselves whether it is labour or resources.

The National Laws are made in a way to benefit the ethinic groups. The nations are no longer fighting with arms on the border areas but by framing laws on their own land. They supress the cultural rights of minority groups to their fulfill political ulterior motives. Most evident example is that of the Shiv Sena and its anti non-maharashtran campaign.

The plea that the islamic laws are draconian does not give power to the Swizz to infringe the rights of their citizens. It is not islam that governs the muslims of Switzerland but it is the State Law that guarantees them protection. The state cannot discriminate amongst its citizens just because they have different views. If this is done then the claim of being a civilized democratic republic nation stands abrogated.

Society is never stagnant. If it would have been I’m sure we would have never got Taj Mahal, Stupas, Pyramids and Monastries. The beauty of culture is it assimilates everything and still retains its identity.

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