Unemployment is an underlying malaise eating through the flesh and bone of the country. Every year the budget is labeled as poor-friendly, but it’s no more than a pack of lies for the impoverished class. The poor is getting poorer and the rich piling up wealth. Every Pakistani aspires to make an honest living but it’s not easy. Mostly illegal ways like robbery, theft, corruption, and prostitution are used to meet one’s basic financial needs.

Some deprived, disappointed and help-less Pakistani youth have come up with the most painful way to cope with unemployment and poverty. It’s very difficult to imagine even a very minor operation without anesthesia. But these ill-fated youth are being castrated daily without anesthesia and sterilized surgical instruments. This painful practice has been widely used nowadays in Abbotabad and other cities by poverty-stricken youth.

First these youth approach a Guru (Leader) of Hijra (Transsexual) community, and then volunteer themselves for castration. The Guru performs a simple but dangerous surgery. He simply removes the sexual organs of his disciples and then applies mustard oil and cotton to the operated organs. After this terrible maneuver they suffer the loss of their sexual power and live the rest of their lives as Hijras (transsexuals).

After castration they are ordered to wear women’s outfits and use medicines to enlarge their breasts. After the development of breast, they begin to work as prostitutes. Two thousand men have so far been castrated during the last two years and their number is mounting day by day.

“I was driven from pillar to post in search of a job, and as a last resort I decided to become a Hijra (Transsexual) prostitute”, said a Transsexual.

Majority of the transsexuals is happy with their newly-changed body and profession.”I earn Rs 2000 daily and I’m satisfied with my life”, said a freshly-shaven Hijra.”Castration is much better than living a life full of tensions”, a newly-converted Hijra unburden his self.

The term “Hijra” is an abusive word in the Indo-Pak culture and a coward, omnipotent person is referred to as Hijra or Kusra. It’s a matter of shame for our rulers that instead of becoming Scientists, Doctors, and Engineers, our young-generation is curving out its living as Hijras(Eunuchs, transsexual). The government should take tangible steps to curb the problem of unemployment.

In an effort to eradicate vulgarity and obscenity from stage dramas, the local police force has recently apprehended two female stage-artists, Anjuman Shehzadi and Hina Sheikh in Lahore. According to GEO TV, they were taken into custody over the allegation of indulgence in pornography, nude dances and other sexually-explicit activities. The media personal were taken aback when the dancers ruled out all charges terming them concocted and unjustifiable. Stage dramas full of extreme vulgarity, dirty jokes, figure-revealing clothes and indecent songs are playing hell with the future of Pakistani Stage. The government should keep a tight rein on the artists who are involved in such indecent activities in order to safeguard the future of Pakistani Stage Dramas.

Sexual abuse of children has heightened at alarming levels in Pakistan. Every year, thousand of children fall prey to sexual violence including rape, sodomy, and incest. Most of the victims are murdered by the rapists to conceal their offense. Those who survive go through different physical and psychological problems. Most recently a 6-year old child girl Anisa was molested while she was playing outside her residence.

According to Geo TV, an unidentified man abducted her near her house and then raped her. She was found lying unconscious in the fields nearby. The rape-victim is now under treatment at a local hospital. In another case a 3-year old girl was raped and then murdered in Karachi.

It is not easy to find out the real motives behind this heinous crime. Sexual-frustration, porn-addiction, the use of drugs, psychological-illness excessive use of alcohol, no fear of reprisal from the law and society are some of the common reasons.
The recent wave of child-rape is a matter of concern for every sensible citizen of Pakistan. The parents should not leave their small children unguarded and alone while playing outside.

The government should take notice of the current wave of child-rape.The Chief Justice of Pakistan should take sueo moto action into the matter and put the culprits behind the bar. The persons behind these crimes should be given exemplary punishment so that others may not repeat this sort of callous act.

On the other hand, the opposite gender has a totally different view. Most of them defend their act. “There is nothing wrong in appreciating the beauty by just having a glimpse of it”, said a university student. A 45 years old taxi driver supported the student by saying, “I don’t cross my limits,but sometimes I stare at them with the help of the front mirror”.

Though women/girls are no match for men/boys in staring, yet there are some who can give though time for their male counterparts in the eye-balling competition. “I not only stare at men, but also allow them to have an eye contact with me”, said a teenaged girl in a hilarious way. “I’m fond of gawking at handsome men”, a highly fashionable lady said.

Eye-balling at each other, is a common problem around the globe, but the reasons behind this act is as clear as mud. Some people think that men do it because women seem very beautiful to them.
In addition to that provocative dresses also play an equal role in drawing men’s attention towards the opposite gender. Striking and sexy dresses raise erotic thoughts in men. Scientific experiments have proved that men’s blood testosterone level increases when exposed to sexually explicit pictures.

Factors like provocative costumes, gorgeousness, exchange of smile etc can be held responsible for eye-balling, yet the riddle remains un-solved. Even in the absence of the above-mentioned factors, most of the men don’t try to keep their eyes away from women/girls. Saima Khan, a Public Relationship Officer, at a local bank complained, “Although I always wear Hijaab (Veil) and cover myself from head to toe, yet most of my male colleagues and by-passers blatantly gape at me”.

There are many reasons and justifications for eye-balling, but it’s considered disrespectful in almost all the societies of the world. Staring is a long debatable issue, which always leave many questions answered i.e. what is the satisfaction in this useless activity? Why do men stare? Why women dislike it? How to protect oneself from these filthy eyes?It’s a cry of the day that If Pakistani men can’t give real freedom and equality to women, atleast they shouldn’t add to their miseries by undressing them with their eyes.

According to details, the Iranian weightlifters procured 6 gold and 3 bronze medals to crown the event. Sohrab Moradi shined as Iran won. The crowd cheered at him, when he won three gold medals at the event and was placed first in the 85-kg category. The powerful guy lifted a total of 367-kg, 168-kg in snatch and 199-kg in clean and jerk.

In the 77-kg category, another Iranian star Rasoul Taqian came to the front by taking a bronze medal in the 77-kg category. He succeeded in lifting a total of 339-kg, 152-kg in snatch and 187-kg in clean and jerk.

Ehsan Darabeigi, another team member, grasped 5th position with 149-kg in snatch and 182-kg in clean and jerk for a 331-kg total. Rashid Sharifi in +105 kg group grabbed three additional gold medals in snatch (200 kg), clean and jerk (240 kg) and total lift (440 kg).
Furthermore six silver medals were secured by Behdad Salimi in +105 kg and Asghar Ebrahimi in 105 kg.
In addition to that three other Iranian Competitors Mohsen Beiranvand (105 kg), Navab Nasir Shelal (94 kg) and Rasoul Taghian (77 kg) maintained the reputation of their country with bronze medals at the event.
In overall performance Iran was at the top with 583 points and earning fifteen medals,while Kazakhstan and China stood second and third.

At the crack of dawn, a squad can be seen on the avenues of Abbotabad, Pakistan. Numbering up to three hundred it troops across, and plays havoc in the lanes. Its members are well organized, and punctual in their duty.

Uniform doesn’t carry importance to them,they always wear the same shabby clothes and worn-out shoes for several days, and perhaps several months. They get their basic training from their houses and weapons as well. Their most deadly weapon is a sack, which they always carry on their shoulders.

This is not the story of a terrorist gang, but of an army of street children. These poor-souls have to labour from dawn to dusk, in harsh weather conditions. To bring in few bucks, they do almost all sorts of labour including scavenging for scraps in rubbish, collecting paper and metal from garbage dumps,and begging etc.

The fruit of their whole day’s labor is less than 3 dollars. Their job is not an easy one, they have to face my challenges during their self-imposed working hours. Many of them fall victim to rape, abduction, sexual servitude, sodomy, HIV, STDs, and beatings.

“I always come here, under the protection of my younger brothers, otherwise people chase me, and try to do bad things with me”, said a girl.

“My sister was abducted three years back while returning home in the evening, and is still missing”, a sad-looking boy bared his heart.

These young ones haven’t chosen this profession by choice; numerous factors enforced them into it. Extreme poverty, lack of education, sudden death in the family, domestic violence, meagre sources of income, are notable in this regard.

A young boy who resides in a nearby slum remarked,
“Iam the only bread-winner for my family, my father has died and there is no one to support us financially.”

Whatever be the reasons, this small but oppressed class of the society, needs our support and consideration.
Continuous apathy on our side will not only add to the miseries of these broods, but also bring about dire effects on the overall situation of the country.

These un-armed, innocent kids will turn into merciless assassins, voracious terrorists, sentimental suicide bombers, and voluptuous prostitutes, if not provided with the basic necessities of life.
The government and the NGOs should pay heed to the deplorable condition of the street children, before it’s too late.

We are sanguine that the local NGOs will give a helping hand to these needy children, and put an end to their miseries.

The Iranian leadership always takes tough stance on its national and international policies and never takes U turns easily. Stance on Palestinian Issue and its Nuclear Programme are noticeable in this regard. Most recently Iran has cancelled the Islamic Solidarity Games on the issue of re naming the Persian Gulf.
According to details, the event was canceled when Saudi Arabia and other Arab states asked Iran to remove the term Persian Gulf from the medals and brochures. The Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation’s team conveyed the Arab demands to their Iranian counterparts in Tehran on Tuesday. However the Iranian officials have rebuffed their proposal and talked back that it would never accept alternative names for the Persian Gulf.

Iran obviously will never retreat from its stance on the name of the Persian Gulf, “said Hasan Mirza Aghabeigi, executive secretary of the event.

Furthermore, the moderate leader and former President Muhammad Khatami said, “The Persian Gulf’s name has been deeply ingrained in the culture of every Iranian and is unalterable”. On the other hand, most Arab states have been insisting on using “The Arabian Gulf” for the water way in the Games.

The event was to be held in October this year in Iran, sports like football, volleyball, basketball, handball, swimming, water polo, archery, fencing, weightlifting and table tennis were included in it. Whatever be the name, the sports lovers from Iran and the Arab states would not be able to enjoy the event this year.

THE CONTROVERSIAL MOSQUE

Projects funded by the Saudi government always been looked askance at in Pakistan, especially the construction of mosques and Madrassas (Seminaries). A recent case is with an under constructed mosque at Hazara University, Mansehra.

The University has recently received the Kingdom’s financial aid for the construction of a mosque, and other buildings, but the local population seems not pleased with this generosity.

Most of the people are of the view that the mosque would be used for the propagation of Wahabid ideology and in spreading hatred towards the Muslims of other sects. A local resident expressed his views in these words ”Atai masjid di tameer firqawarana tasadum da bais bun si’’, construction of the mosque will flare up sectarian conflict in the area.

A local Barelvi Muslim voiced his concerns in a similar way, “Saudis have no right to use the educational institute as a hub of their brand of Islam, we will resist and raise our voices against it”.

On the other hand the university administration has a different story to tell.”Some elements don’t want development in the area therefore they give sectarian colour to the construction project”, said a staff member at the University.

Hazara University has been passing through turbulent times since its inception, at first it was turned into ruins by a catastrophic earthquake, then frequent strikes paralyzed it, afterwards it caught media attention for the notorious Pushtoon-Hazarawal clashes, now a controversial mosque has become the bone of contention.

It is the collective responsibility of the administration and the local community to reflect upon the matter, and sought out a possible solution in order to avoid a conflict in the near future.

We hope that the problem will be solved peacefully and the institute will continue its academic activities without further disturbance.