The first flood of the weddings of this season is gone. Almost all my relatives live in England, and almost al of them are here in Pakistan for the shadi season and also to spend their winter holidays here. I've never been so much busy with my family before. I spent last part of the December in Jhelum, my hometown. My mamou and my cousin got married. My cousin's wedding was the most highly rated wedding of the year, as his father is one of the most important men of the city. I met many famous and important people on the wedding. Renowned singer Hamid Ali Khan also performed at the wedding. Listening to "Honton Pay Kbhi Un Kay Mayra Naam Hi Aey" live and by Ustad Hamid was great. The silence in the hall was pindrop and the feeling was magical. Nazim of the city was also there. It lasted ten days and each day was full of fun. I had a couple of fresh experiences which will surely be enough for the next few months to ponder on.

Husn Aur Ishq Donon Main Tafreeq Hay
Kia Kroon Mera Donon Pay Eeman Hay

After a gap of two years, I finally saw an Indian movie. It's very hard no to be addicted to Indian movies if you are living in Pakistan because the language is almost similar, and their movies are far better than our's.(Yeah thats me saying). Also because of the songs. Anyways I guess the reason behind watching Don was long continous boredom, non availability of English movies, and of course the rumours about Don being the last hope for the Great King Khan. I always have to regret after watching an Indian movie, because I am basically addicted to Hollywood, and I literally start yawning after or during watching a three hours movie. Anyways, Don would have surely made my views change, if I hadn't fortunately brought Casino Royale with it. I don't think I need to say anything else about Don now.
Daniel Craig is simply superb, as is Casino Royale in its making, action, story and all the typical Bond specialities. I remember Daniel from Tomb Raider, I really liked his acting even in that charachter, which was not more than just a side role. But he did leave an impression on me. I just realized that now because when I saw Tomb Raider again I was surprised to see that I still remember all of his dialogues.
Honestly speaking, I don't think Daniel is a very good looing man. But what I love about Hollywood is that those people realize that there is a hell of a difference between a good looking person, and a person who is looking good, and they cash it. Daniel not only looks goods, he looks hot. Even when I saw the trailer, I thought how could a skinny girl like Eva look sexy. But she looks stuning really, except for the scene in plane.
Daniel's acting is amazing. I can never forget his smile when all the cops are holding him on the airport and the bomb blasts........ BOOM, and he doesn't even blink. And also in another scene in the end which you should see for yourself. The music is absolutely amazing.
Casino Royale includes everything a Bond movie needs to have. Style, cars, guns, babes, luck...... everything. DO check it out if you haven't already. It's a treat really.

I think love
Is like a flower,
And you are
Its only seed.









Rose----Westlife.

Women protection bill was passed a few days back by the National Assembly, and then by the Senate. Govt. members and Senators have been highly enthusiastic about this particular bill. The opposition on the other hand has been equally repulsive, and has threatened to resign from the national assembly. It has also been a hot topic for press and print media. I’ve always favored Musharraf’s idea of enlightened and moderate Islam. Even in this case initially I thought the opposition was just wasting time, as it has done on most of the previous occasions. But when I saw in papers that their point was that the bill is against the Quran and Sunnah, I got curious and tried to find more and more about the bill. I heard the President’s speech, which went on air at 11 o’clock pm. I saw all the papers, all the TV shows, but failed to come to a conclusion. In the end I asked my Dad, and well how I dared that is a different story.
My Dad is Session Judge, and I thought he would know exactly what the bill was all about. He spent an hour explaining all of it, and here is what I understood.

There is a big difference between rape and adultery, and the laws concerning them. If a woman is raped, she goes to the court, produces evidence which I previously thought was four witnesses, and a medical report. In fact according to the old law i.e. before the presented bill a woman only needs to have one witness “or” a medical report, proving that she has been raped. This law is pretty much in the same condition as it was before.
In case of adultery, which is sexual intercourse with consent, the man and woman who committed it would of course be seen by at least one person. The old law demands that for the punishment in case of adultery, four witnesses need to be presented before the court, and those witnesses should be known as the people who have never lied. The old law is somewhat near to what Islamic values and laws are. I know it sounds odd that two people should be seen in such a condition nowadays, and that too by four people. But that’s the way it is, and there is a good explanation for it.
Now, the amendment states that if a man and a woman commit adultery, no law can stop or punish them, provided the women says in the court of law that it was with her consent, and the man with her was not forcing her into it. So, even if four people see them together, a medical report proves that they have committed adultery, they cannot be punished.
Why this amendment has been made is because in case of rape, if a woman fails to prove in the court that she has been raped by that particular person whom she accused in the FIR, and the medical report says that she has had a sexual intercourse, the women gets punished for adultery. Meaning she did have sex, with consent, but not with the man she accused for rape. So in other words she committed adultery. Now, no medical report can prove which particular man raped a woman. I was myself shocked to hear that but my Dad made it clear that in most of the countries DNA test is not taken as a sound proof or evidence. So, she would be punished for adultery. This law has been misused a lot. In fact mostly by the brothers and fathers for property. A simple cloth around eyes and the woman does not know who is doing what. So, the case is filed against a person who was not in the city that day, the woman has of course been raped, but that comes out as adultery. The woman is thought to have committed adultery, and now accusing an innocent man to hide it. The women gets arrested, and into lock up for almost 10 years.
The government says that to eliminate such injustice they have given the woman freedom and that now she is more powerful in the society. In other words, if two people are found having sex in a car, they will be punished for vulgarity and nudity, not for having sex. That is of course if the woman says that it was with her consent. And that’s there way to empower women.
According to Islam, two people get punished for adultery if they are seen together having sexual intercourse by at least four people. And those four people are supposed to have good reputation too. Many people say that it is impossible that two people can be found in such a condition these days. But I think if two people are ready to have sex willingly, they can find such a place even in a desert. So, why does Islam emphasize on having four witnesses? The reason behind this is that Islam has basically taken care of false accusation. If only one man was necessary for the evidence of adultery, the courts would be flooded by false accusations, and consequently murders will increase. Moreover, in an Islamic society, it is almost impossible for a man and a woman to commit adultery, as Islam provides full rights to both men and women to marry whomever they like. Islam has also emphasized on early marriages. Therefore, there remains no need for illegal relationships i.e. illegal according to Islamic law.
My Dad also told me that once a man who came to the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.) and said that he has committed adultery and that he should be punished. (The punishment of adultery in Islam is stoning to death) The Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.) turned his head the other way, pretending he hadn’t heard. The man came to the other side and repeated his request. The Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.) again pretended that he hadn’t heard. The man came before him and requested again to stone him to death. The Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.) tried to ignore him again saying that he must have only touched or something. The man said it for the fourth time, and this time other people were there too, and they also heard. Only then The Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.) told them to take him and stone him to death. I asked my Dad about the authenticity of the Hades, and he had a good proof that the Hades was true.
Thus, what I have understood is that Islam has discouraged the act of peeping into other people’s life. And has tried best to ignore any such act to the possible limit. But that doesn’t mean that adultery should be given protection under the label of women’s rights. We must understand that adultery should be punished. If two innocent people make a mistake, that can be ignored. But with kind of law we are giving protection to people who are already breaking the Islamic law. The old law of course needs amendment, but surely not this kind of.
I asked my Dad that with this law aren’t they declaring red light areas legal. He chuckled and said, “Son, they are declaring it legal everywhere”. He also said he was wondering why there hasn’t been another earth quake yet. I totally agree. I think we have no escape from Islam. We got this country because of Islam. We cannot get a soft image by this kind of law. Islam itself is the best image. And if they try to scratch that image, they will only be inviting earth quakes of record magnitudes.