The Ultimate Treasure For Christians

July 16th, 2009 at 12:20pm Under Appeals and Writs

The argument on whether the Bible bears witness to its divine inspirer will appeal only to those who are intimately acquainted with the Bible, and the more familiar the reader is with the Sacred Canon the more heartily will he endorse the following statements. Just as a knowledge of Latin is necessary in order to understand the technique of a treatise on pathology or physiology, or just as a certain amount of culture and academic learning is an indispensable adjunct to intelligently follow the arguments and apprehend the illustrations in a dissertation on philosophy or psychology, so a first-hand acquaintance with the Bible is necessary to appreciate the fact that its contents never become commonplace.

One of the first facts which arrests the attention of the student of God’s Word is that, like the widow’s oil and meal which nourished Elijah, the contents of the Bible are never exhausted. Unlike all other books, the Bible never acquires a sameness, and never diminishes in its power of response to the needy soul which comes to it. Just as a fresh supply of manna was given each day to the Israelites in the wilderness, so the Spirit of God ever breaks anew the Bread of Life to them who hunger after righteousness; or, just as the loaves and fishes in the hands of our Lord were more than enough to feed the famished multitude-a surplus still remaining-so the honey and milk of the Word are more than sufficient to satisfy the hunger of every human soul-the supply still remaining undiminished for new generations.

Although one may know, word for word, the entire contents of some chapter of Scripture, and although he may have taken the time to ponder thoughtfully every sentence therein, yet, on every subsequent occasion, provided one comes to it again in the spirit of humble inquiry, each fresh reading will reveal new gems never seen there before and new delights will be experienced never met with previously. The most familiar passages will yield as much refreshment at the thousandth perusal as they did at the first. The Bible has been likened to a fountain of living water: the fountain is ever the same, but the water is always fresh.

Herein the Bible differs from all other books, sacred or secular. What man has to say can be gathered from his writings at the first reading: failure to do so indicates that the writer has not succeeded in expressing himself clearly, or else the reader has failed to apprehend his meaning. Man is only able to deal with surface things, hence he cares only about surface appearances; consequently, whatever man has to say lies upon the surface of his writings, and the capable reader can exhaust them by a single perusal. Not so with the Bible. Although the Bible has been studied more microscopically than any other book (even its very letters have been counted and registered) by many of the keenest intellects for the past two thousand years, although whole libraries of works have been written as commentaries upon its teachings, and although literally millions of sermons have been preached and printed in the attempt to expound every part of Holy Writ, yet its contents have not been exhausted, and in this twentieth century new discoveries are being made in it every day!

The Bible is an inexhaustible mine of wealth: it is the El Dorado of heavenly treasure. It has veins of ore which never ‘give out’ and pockets of gold which no pick can empty; yet, like earthly treasures, the gems of God must be diligently sought if they are to be found. Potatoes lie near the surface of the ground, but diamonds require much laborious digging, so also the precious things of the Word are only revealed to the prayerful, patient and diligent student.

The Bible is like a spring of water which never runs dry. No matter how many may drink from its life-giving stream, and no matter how often they may quench their thirst at its refreshing waters, its flow continues and never fails to satisfy the needs of all who come and take of its perennial springs. The Bible has a whole continent of Truth yet to be explored. A learned scholar who died during the present year of grace had read through the Bible no fewer than five hundred times! What other book, ancient or modern, Oriental or Occidental, would repay even a fiftieth reading?

How can we account for this marvelous characteristic of the Bible? What explanation can we offer for this startling phenomenon? It is only stating a commonplace axiom when we affirm that what is finite is fathomable. What the mind of man has produced the mind of man can exhaust. If human mortals had written the Bible its contents would have been ‘mastered’ ages ago. In view of the fact that the contents of the Scriptures cannot be exhausted, that they never acquire sameness or staleness to the devout student, and that they always speak with fresh force to the quickened soul that comes to them, is it not apparent that none other than the infinite mind of God could have created such a wonderful Book as the Bible?

Work at Home UK Internet Business ?

July 16th, 2009 at 06:20am Under Appeals and Writs

After reading our article, you can impress your friends with the amazing amount of knowledge you have gained on this subject.

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succumb Your foremost Pages to the explore Engines.

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Negotiate Reciprocal family

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succumb to FFA pages.

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Last Gasp Of Black Hat SEO!

July 16th, 2009 at 12:20am Under Appeals and Writs

Yes indeedy! Judgment Day is visited unto the black hat seo brethren with a mighty vengeance that was foretold from the day the first scroll of code was writ in script!
Okay, enough with the pseudo biblical babble and down to business. Just in case you are not conversant with the term black hat seo, here’s a brief explanation:
Black hat seo methods are search engine optimization techniques and strategies that fall outside the guidelines and purview of the major search engines with the intent of manipulating the position of one’s website to a far more strategic location on those search engines’ results index.
The objective of this type of seo is to game the search engines in order to attract a ton of internet traffic in as short a time frame as possible. The opposite of black hat seo is known as white hat seo. Most cream-of-the-crop black hat seo practitioners have cloaking, coding and programming skills and employ(ed) self-designed software to game the search engines.
Black hat seo techniques by their very nature are short-lived and the black hatters are well aware of this. You see these techniques involve (or at any rate used to) capitalizing on a weakness or loophole in the search engine algorithms or manufacturing such a weakness and then aggressively exploiting that flaw before the search engines caught on. In other words black hat seo has always been a race against the search engines, with the black hat webmasters ever trying to stay one step ahead!
OLD SCHOOL BLACK HAT SEO TECHNIQUES
Being a step ahead of the search engines used to be relatively simple for the sole reason that the search engine algorithms of the day really were rather basic and crude compared to the situation of today. Some of the more pervasive and better known techniques were keyword stuffing which quite often went hand in hand with the application of invisible text.
Invisible text is merely text that is the same color as the background color of the web page on which that text is located, thus being invisible to the human eye, but readily accessible to a search engine robot. People who used such techniques would stuff their website homepage (or any page whose position on the SERPs they wished to manipulate) with their most sought after keyword, in some cases inserting that keyword hundreds of times as invisible text.
Of course the search engines got smarter, caught on and quickly fixed such loopholes.
Generally, as a rule, black-hat seo webmasters never used their main sites to pursue their shady techniques because they were well aware that the penalty if caught was death; death in the sense that any website found employing such black hat seo methods, was banned and forever removed from the universe of know search! So as mentioned previously, the black hatters never adopted such shady techniques on their main websites but instead used disposable websites with multiple back-links pointing back to their main sites.
Which naturally begs the question, since the search engines were quite capable of crawling those back links, why didn’t they then penalize the destination website huh?
Good question indeed, and here is the answer; because then it would be very simple for a competitor to get rid of their competition by getting that competitors website banned by setting up such a black-hat operation with the destination URL being that of the competition and not that of the black hatter’s website!
With that comforting piece of knowledge in mind the black hat seo webmasters were able to conduct their business, traipsing a step ahead of the search engines and making a killing. Besides when the search engines caught on the black hatters didn’t have to close shop right away for that particular black hat op; there was still plenty of money to be made from gullible marketers who believed in overnight success and riches.
All the webmaster had to do was provide evidence (screenshots and testimonials) of how much money they were making from their system, and before you could say ka-ching, more money was rolling in from that defunct system through sales from people eager to duplicate the black hatter’s success.
THE BIGGEST NAMES IN BLACK HAT SEO RESIGN THEMSELVES TO WHITE HAT TECHNIQUES!
Alas for the black-hat seo brethren, soon enough the search engines had closed the one-step-ahead gap to a half-step ahead! Fast forward to today and there is no step-ahead gap! The search engines are way too smart and getting even smarter still, so much so that there really is no profit to be had anymore from darker-than-shade-of-grey seo techniques. Perhaps that explains why so many cream-of-the-crop black hatters have finally conceded to pursuing white hat seo techniques.
But remember what I said about extra-monetization of defunct seo techniques; there are plenty of gullibles out there who are willing to shell out hefty sums in hopes of fast-tracking their internet marketing campaign. And make no mistake black hat seo software usually commands a hefty price sticker on the premise that it is going to make the purchaser a bucket load of money in next to no time at all. But you and I of course know that such will not happen!
REMEMBER TO BE FOREWARNED IS TO BE FOREARMED!
So if you stumble upon some advert that makes obviously outrageous claims yet still seems seductively appealing like the following example: “Internet Marketer Gets $67 Million In Google Pay-Per-Click Ads Free” just rein in that raging beast of temptation deep inside you that can barely restrain itself and recite the following: “A Fool And His/Her Money Are Easily Parted!”

What is the Fair Price for Attorney Services in California

July 15th, 2009 at 06:20pm Under Appeals and Writs

How much is the real cost of hiring an attorney in California? How can one know that he has been given the fair and appropriate price to a lawyer for legal services?

Attorney services in California are undoubtedly valuable, especially in a lawsuit. Knowing the difference between fair and excessive price often depends on a case. Legal fees vary according to circumstances in every case.

Moreover, the price of a legal service usually depends on the arrangement between the legal counsel and his client. However, a client has many options to take before deciding on the appropriate price to pay for an attorney’s invaluable service.

Here are a few points to know how professional fees generally work:

• Injury or Accident Cases – Most personal injury cases are charged on “contingency,” meaning that the lawyer agrees to take a certain percentage of the settlement or judgment, usually one-third. After the contingency fee has been paid, the remainder goes to the client. If the client does not win the case, the attorney will receive nothing.

On the other hand, a contingency fee may also be on a sliding scale – an attorney gets a higher or lower percentage depending on the size or amount of the settlement or judgment. If the award is large, a legal counsel may get a bigger amount and vice versa.

• Non-Injury Civil Cases – Family law, estate planning, real estate, and almost all other non-injury civil cases are billed on an hourly basis. Legal fees vary from case to case and lawyer to lawyer. Factors such as the attorney’s experience and type of case will affect hourly pricing.

While an attorney experienced in handling cases similar to yours may be more preferable, expect to pay more for any specialization. Expect to pay an initial retainer when the legal professional agrees to take the case, to secure the attorney services.

• Retainers – A retainer is an amount that “represents a certain number of the legal work hours at a set price, sometimes representing an estimate of the total cost of the lawyer’s services on the case”.

In retainer basis, a client pays his attorney in advance. By accepting the retainer, the legal advocate is agreeing not only work on your case, but also to decline any other cases that might present a conflict of interest with your case.

• Criminal Cases – For criminal cases, a flat fee paid up front, which is normal pricing practice. Because of the complexities of a criminal case, pricing like contingency fees or hourly rates may not be applied on these cases.

Such cases typically involve numerous and difficult legal procedures like preliminary hearing, jury selection, trial, motions, writs and appeals, etc. When a client is facing serious charges, one is advised to get the best legal counsel that he could afford.

One of the key things to keep in mind when seeking the right attorney services in California for your case is to avoid letting the service cost dictate your choice. The best way to choose an attorney is to meet them, discuss your case, ask questions, and have your concerns addressed directly.

At any rate, the fair price of attorney services is often the amount that you and your legal counsel agree.

For an immediate and reliable attorney services in California, log on to our website and avail of our free case evaluation services.

Presidential Pardon – Can it be Subjected to Juduicial Scrutiny

July 15th, 2009 at 12:21pm Under Appeals and Writs

Meaning of Pardon

In narrow view pardon means to excuse somebody for doing something impolite, or to excuse something impolite, but in broader terms it means, to pronounce the official release of somebody who has committed a crime or other wrongdoing from punishment, or the official forgiving of a crime or wrongdoing.

Pardon as a word is derived from old French perdun and pardun, and modern French pardonner which signify in Brittany the feast of the patron saint of a church or chapel, at which an indulgence is granted. Hence the term pardon finds its origin in the meaning as it was used in Brittany.

A pardon is the forgiveness of crime and the penalty associated with it. It is granted by a sovereign power, such as a monarch or chief of state or a competent authority like church. Clemency is an associated term, meaning the lessening of the penalty of the crime without forgiving the crime itself. Today, pardon is granted in many countries when individuals have demonstrated that they have fulfilled their debts to society, or otherwise deserve, in the opinion of the official, of a pardon. Pardon is some times offered to persons who, it is claimed, have been wrongfully convicted.

Justice Marshal of the American Supreme Court put pardon in Wilson’s case in 1833 as ‘an act of grace, proceeding from the power entrusted with the execution of the laws’.

In 1927 this approach was abandoned and Justice Oliver Holmes, one of the distinguished judges of 20th century said that ‘a pardon in our days is not a private act of grace from an individual happening to possess power. It is a part of the constitutional scheme.’

Need for the Power of Pardon

Writers on law and political science often put the fundamental question, is there need for prerogative mercy? The law commission of India, in its report on capital punishment, examined this question at great length. In its report it discuses several aspects of prerogative. It was argued that in India where death sentence is not mandatory and court is free to consider the circumstances relevant to the question of sentence, the prerogative of mercy is not needed. The commission noted that there are many matters which may not have been considered by the courts. The hands of the court are tied down by the evidence placed before it. The truth of the matter is that law is made for man. Justice is much more than mere codes and precedents. There are occasions when justice and humanity demands that mercy be shown in the matter of sentence.In the American case of Grossman, the Supreme Court pointed out that executive clemency exists to afford relief from undue harshness or evident mistake in the operation or enforcement of the criminal law.

Pardon in Indian context

The Central Executive i.e. the President of India exercises very broad and varied functions. It exercises not only executive functions but also, in a limited way, judicial functions as well. The power of pardon is one such very wide power granted to him.

The Article 72 of the Indian Constitution empowers the President to grant pardon, reprieve, respite or remission of punishment, or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence in all cases –

(a) where the punishment or sentence is by a court martial:

(b) where the punishment or sentence is for an offence against a law relating to a matter to which the union’s executive power extends; and

(c) of a death sentence.

This however, does not affect the power conferred by law on any officer of the Union armed forces to suspend, remit or commute a sentence passed by a court martial, as well s the power exercisable by the State Executive to suspend, remit or commute a death sentence. The president acts in this matter on the advice of Home Minister.

The Constitution of India is silent as to the manner in which the Presidential pardon is to be exercised. But it seems a reasonable view to take that this power like other powers of the president, is exercised on the advice of the Cabinet.

The exercise of power has not been free from controversy. A number of question have cropped up before the courts as for example-

1. Does the president exercise any personal discretion in the matter or does he acts merely as a constitutional head?

2. Should he give personal hearing to the convict or his lawyer before disposing of the matter?

3. Is the exercise of this power subjected to any judicial review?

The answer to the 1st question is very much known that power of pardon is exercised on the advice of the cabinet. This view was interpreted in Maru Ram’s case. Similarly in Kehar Singh’s case Supreme Court denied that there is any right in the condemned person to insist on an oral hearing before the President, through this, answer to the 2nd query is also clear.

Now remains the most important and controversial question, can pardon be subjected to judicial scrutiny? The court considered it as early as in G. Krishna Gouda v. State of A.P. In this case the President refused to commute the death sentence. They moved a writ petition in High Court and the matter ultimately came before the Supreme Court. The court pointed out that ‘all power, however, majestic the dignitary wielding it, shall be exercised in good faith, with intelligent and informed care and honesty for the public weal’. The court never shows in this case any glaring ground to consider the refusal of commutation as degraded by abuse of power.

Pardon in some European countries

In Canada the pardons are considered by the National Parole Board under the Criminal Code, Criminal Records Act and several other laws. Here once offender is pardoned, a criminal records search for that individual reveals ‘no record’.

The pardoning power in France is vested in President of France. If any one granted with the same the decree of pardon is signed by the President, Prime Minister, Minister of Justice. It can not be published in official journals. But it does not erase the condemnation from the record.

Pardon in Germany is divided between the federal and the state level. The grant of federal pardon lies with the President of Germany, which can be transferred to Chancellor or the Minister of justice. Political crimes like treason or terrorism are tried on behalf of the federal government by the highest state courts. All other pardons are in the jurisdiction of the states. In states it is granted by the respective cabinets, but in most states the state constitution vest the authority in the state prime minister.In UK the power to grant pardon is a royal prerogative of the monarch.

Pardon in United States

The pardon power of federal crimes is granted to the President by the United States Constitution, Article II, section 2, which states that the President shall have power to grant reprieve and pardons for the offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. Typically, applications for pardons are referred for review and non-binding recommendation by the office of the Pardon Attorney, an official of the Department of Justice.

Use and abuse of pardoning power

The power of pardon is controversial from the out set; many Anti-Federalist remembered examples of royal abuses of the pardon power in Europe, and warned that the same would happen in the new republic.

Many pardons have been controversial; one such pardon was granted by President Gerald Ford to former President Richard Nixon on September 8, 1974, for official misconduct which gave rise to the Watergate scandal. Majority of Americans showed disapproval and he was narrowly defeated in Presidential campaign, two years later. Other cases of such abuse include Andrew Johnson’s sweeping pardons of thousands of former Confederate officials and military personnel after the American civil war, Jimmy Carter’s grant of amnesty to Vietnam-era draft evaders, George H.W. Bush’s pardons of 75 people, including six Reagan administration officials accused in connection with the Iran-contra affair. George Bush’s commutation of I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby’s prison term.

Former President Bill Clinton granted pardon to 140 convicts in different cases on January 20, 2001, his last day in the White House. Clinton himself besieged by controversy, write an article in the New York Times in which he wrote “the vast majority of my Jan 20 pardons went to people who are not well known. Many of these were 1st time nonviolent offenders with no previous criminal records. In some cases I granted pardons because I felt the individuals had been unfairly treated and punished pursuant to the Independent Counsel statute.” More than half of Mr. Clinton’s article was devoted, however, to his pardon of Marc Rich. A billionaire Rich fled the US to escape a massive tax invasion to Switzerland in 1983. Mr. Clinton wrote that many present and former high ranking officials in Israel, as well as leaders of the Jewish community in America and Europe, urged the pardon of Rich because of his charitable contribution and services to Israeli causes, the peace process in the Middle East through education and health programs in Gaza and the West Bank. It was suggested that Rich’s wife, Denis made political contribution which comprise more than $1 million to the Democratic Party; $450000 to the Clinton library etc., whom should America believe? The oral testimony of most charismatic and successful President of America after J.F. Kennedy, or the palpable testimony of donations.This problem may be peculiarly American today but could well be Indian tomorrow, for the pardoning power under the Indian Constitution springs from the same jurisprudential foundations. And the abuse of discretionary power, even at the highest levels of the state, knows no limitation of religion, nationality or culture.

Under the Indian context though the issue of pardon has not gained that much of impetus but has been a matter of scrutiny off late. However, it is to be noted that the issue of presidential pardon had been highlighted under certain cases in the past. One of the landmark cases that brought the issue of Presidential Pardon in the lime light was Maru Ram v/s Union Of India In this case the court expressly stated that the power of pardon under article 72 cannot run riot and must keep sensibly to a steady course and that public power, “shall never be exercisable arbitrarily or malafide and, ordinarily, guidelines for fair and equal execution are guarantors of the valid play of power”. A similar opinion was presented by the court in Kehar Singh v/s Union Of India. In this case the court reiterated, “it appears to us clear that the question as to the area of president’s power under article 72, falls squarely within the judicial domain and can be examined by the court by way of judicial review”. While these two cases did not call for judicial intervention, relying on the law laid down in them, the Supreme Court invalidated the remission of sentence by the governor of Uttar Pradesh in Swaran Singh v/s State of UP, because some material facts were not brought to the knowledge of the governor. Under article 161, rejecting the argument that governor’s action under article 161 is beyond judicial scrutiny, the court held: “if such power was exercised arbitrarily, malafide or in absolute disregard of the finer canons of the constitutionalism, the by product order cannot get the approval of law and in such cases, the judicial hand must be stretched to it”.

On a concluding note, a recent case law brought forward the sorry state of affairs in the country regarding the usage of power of Pardon. Famously known as the ‘remission case’ Supreme Court’s landmark verdict somehow changed the scenario by instilling hopes of many people in the judiciary. In Gouru Venkata Reddy v/s State of AP the dramatic remittal of congress activist Gouru Venkata Reddy, who was undergoing a 10 year imprisonment sentence in connection with the killing of the two persons, raised the eyebrows of many apex authorities. Thus after an appeal to the Supreme Court by the sons of the deceased a bench consisting of Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice S.H. Kapadia overturned the pardon granted by the then governor of Andhra Pradesh Sushil Kumar Shinde, and warned that the exercise of the clemency power would be tested by the court against the maintenance of Rule of Law. Our Hon’ble Supreme Court gave the ruling that the power to grant clemency is subject to judicial review. Now it can no longer be said that prerogative power is ipso facto immune from judicial review. An undue exercise of this power is to be deplored. Considerations of religion, caste or political loyalty are irrelevant and fraught with discrimination. These are prohibited grounds. Rule of law is the basis for evaluation of all decisions.

Granting pardon is not an act of grace; rather it is something more than that. It is very much a part of the constitutional design. Pardon should be granted on the basis of public welfare and rule of law, not because of any religious, political or cultural affinity. The ultimate purpose of granting a pardon should be to create a better society to live in. It should be justified on the lines that public welfare will be better served by inflicting less than what the courts have ruled. However, at the same time it should be kept in mind that the power of pardon should fall under the concept of ‘limited freedom’ where it should also be subjected to judicial review. The power that is vested in the President or the Governor is not for the benefit of the convict rather it should be exercised for the benefit of the society at large.

International Service of Process in Europe

July 15th, 2009 at 06:20am Under Appeals and Writs

The Basics of International Service of Process

The purpose of this note is to present you arguments to convince you and invite you to employ us for service of Judicial or Extra Judicial documents, Commercial or Civil in the Jurisdictions of Europe. I intent hereto give enough legal and logical arguments about our “Hybrid System”.

International Personal Service of Process (IPSOP) is one of the services of Joseph A. de LA CUETARA, in practice, an International law Attorney providing litigation support services, as well as regular legal services on the European Union. Our services are: Service of Process, taking depositions or evidence, Legal Videographers, Collections, Judgment recovery or enforcing, Legal Research, Exequatur, Inter cultural negotiations (ADR-Mediation, Transactions, Conciliations and Arbitration), briefly, all those aspects of international private relations on the different Hague Conventions. We are registered and insured Attorneys at law, having physical offices in Spain and France and by the virtues of the treaty of Rome, creating the European Union, our legal practice is authorized in all of the European Union’s Jurisdictions.

There are two main methods to choose from when serving documents on the European Union, both methods, are proposed by the Hague Convention of 1965 and have the same legal value, no hierarchy exist between them, but one is less reliable than the other, the legal effects are basically the same. We propose a third method, a mixture of the above which we call “Hybrid”. Any other methods employed are outside the Hague Convention or irregular.

The basic legal methods of the Hague Convention are the following;

One, a public service of the “Judicial Administration” called “Centralized Authority” because it uses the “Government” to transmit documents. Is is intergovernmental, in principle a free service but submitted to economical constrains with high possibilities of no completion.

Two, by the use of a service provider, alternative method, called “decentralized”, it can use an “International private process server”, “Mail” or “Local Bailiffs”; All under the Hague Convention regulations, Art. 10. It’s applicability varies with the country’s opposition. As a Private method, it is paid, and therefore submitted to market and quality control.

International Service of Process, by either method, is ruled by two different legal systems, linked by the treaty of the Hague. The main law, called « Lex Fori, » is the law where the documents are issue and where judgment takes place, “Lex fori forum”. These rules, govern service of process validity and recognition in the “lex fori forum”, but not necessarily its effects and legality in the jurisdiction where documents where served, “Lex loci”. Recognition and enforcement by the “Lex loci forum” depend on the respect for internal laws of civil procedure and the procedure of “exequatur” It is then to each “lex fori” and their “foum” to determine their requirements for an “acceptable service” but being their powers limited in space they can not enforce it abroad, so necessarily need to keep in mind that: The act of notification is completed under a different legal system with different exigences, those of a sovereign state which must be taken in consideration, based on International treaties and for future enforcement.

Based on International Legal Principles, we can affirm that a “Lex fori forum” can not accept in a procedure a “foreign illegal procedural actuation”, an act that violates foreign laws.Oon the other hand the “Lex Loci forum” will not enforce a judgment obtained under these circumstances in. Because of this, you must act in harmony with local codes of procedure and the Hague Convention and not only with your own laws,.or, your liability will be engaged in a Criminal or Civil manner.

The Centralized method seems to be the most appropriate and reliable, but it is not, is not mandatory nor exclusive, as explained by the Hague Convention itself (visit the Department of State’s1 web pages for more information). Therefore the “Central Authority” is not the only organ proposed as available to serve documents abroad as is the general believe or as promoted by many translation companies or unscrupulous servers who have created a :”Vox Populi” that takes advantage of ignorance of the treaty, to sell Translations and Apostilles.

Luckily for the legal profession, there are a series of alternatives or decentralized channels, Art. 10 a,b and c of the Convention, often more reliable and always faster and efficient. The method to employ must be in no conflict with the laws of Civil Procedure of both jurisdictions involved and both must be signatory countries as explained in Art. 5,b.: That is a legal harmony of “Lex fori” and “Lex loci”. These laws must be applied simultaneously when serving.

All signatory countries have accepted the “Centralized” method and not all accept all the channels of the the “decentralized method”. In Europe most countries accept both entirely. The reason is that most people believe that the alternate decentralized method does nor exist. The legal text are not interpreted or applied properly as it ends as a “Fraud to International law” and service is Void or Voidable.

The liberty of method is inspired by “International Civil Procedural Liberty” Convention, as expected by the Hague of 1954 giving flexibility to the Convention of 1965. The evolution of both and their application and Interpretation by jurisprudence has given a positive empiric result. Mondialisation of process, which needed a fast way for Judicial information exchange and judgment that adapts to it. World trade, has opened the door to more efficient and fast ways of litigation and serving process, resulting in a gain of time and money by cutting “Red Tape”. Nonetheless, there are limits to this liberty that trensform into critics to the methods and which are based on the need to eliminate some absurds requirements like the risky exam of legality prior to service or the choice given to defendant to refuse service if documents are not translated and the lacunae such as no distinction between service to Individuals or Multinational Companies, Nonresistance of presumptions and many more will see later..

The Hague Convention’s Centralized method has, as said many “legal lacunae” or serious defects:, the main one is that is a free governmental service that does not uses a “fast Independent Private Process Server.”, as is requested by many courts and litigants, it is defective and often deceptive method. It promotes the use costly translation and the contents of summons is exam for legality before they can be served. These requirements makes it slow and therefore not adapted to modern international litigation. It is also contradictory because under the veil of gratuity there are a series of unnecessary expenses that result in an expensive service, more that using private channels. I consider it promotes unnecessary translations because, if documents are not translated, the defendant can refuse service and in other cases the central authority will not be able to exam their legality, Article 5..

It is advisable not to have the documents translated unless you do it properly with the right qualified professional. As a preventive measure, if you do a translation to avoid “possible” future problems, the translation itself can be easily “questioned” in court during enforcement because European courts only accept as valid translations from tindividuals that give the necessary legal guarantees, either by Certification and/or Registration. Is is considered that only those listed each year by the different Courts or the Foreign Affairs Ministries. do reliable translations. There are other “glitches” that appear at the home Jurisdiction but these can be kept at home.

On the other hand, an essential defect of using the Centralized, is the requirement of an exact address of defendant. A problem, because there is no possibility of “locating a defendant” or “Skip tracing” The Central Authority does not “searches” for Individuals or Corporations. If a defendant changes address or the address is not correct , if he is a tourist or illegal, service is paralyzed and returned, waisting your time and money, sending you back to square one while court time is running. Interesting to mention is the situation of corporations which can change the address of the registered headquarters and do not have an immediate obligation to notify this changes to the Mercantile registry. The central authority will not pay tfor any expenses such as access to a mercantile regustry.

Another defect, is in the requirement for “Personal Private Service”, concept that is understood in different ways in different countries: Bailiffs or Local Judicial Officers apply the local Code of Civil Procedure and not the special instructions received from foreign jurisdictions.

In practice, what is understood in Common law as “Personal” is understood in Europe as “Substitute” and the problem increases if we distinguish between service to corporations from service to individuals. When servicing corporations, this must be completed in the person of those individuals who have the power to represent the corporation, that is to say the “officers” publicly listed in the mercantile registry. Therefore service to the front desk, secretary, gardener or any employee of a corporation, is “Substitute service”. For individuals, most local laws allow officers to leave documents at the address specified or leave a note in the door as equivalent of service. These officers, do not need to understand the hierarchy of the Hague Convention in this sense and what are the “Lex fori Forums” needs . Instructions for service to the central authority, transform into let’s do it our legal which is not necessarily valid on the other jurisdiction.

Remark therefore, that the use of “insistence and perseverance” is not possible by the “Centralized method”, its efficiency is not good and it is only, by the use of a private personal server that you can achive the best results, have more legal security on service and what is the most relevant, you will be courteous to your adversary and sure of your case.

These above reasons explain why most Common Law Attorneys have used as many many “tricks” as possible or patches to remove these obstacles of the “Central” method, I do not blame them. Sometimes by the use of “an agent” which often is, their local process server, their friendly “tacky” translation company or their neighborhood’s Private Investigators. The reality is, that on the long run, not only they have waisted time and money but they are liable of fraud to international law, defamation, Ilegal practice of law,Revelation of Secrets… and to complete the apocalypse, if not prosecuted or challenged, the judgment obtained will not pass “Exequatur”.(Enforcement).

No doubt then, that ignoring European laws, rights of image and privacy amongst other can happen and can have undesired consequences. Jurisprudence has considered that services completed this ways as irregular and have engage the liability of the plaintiff.

The “Lex fori forum” and “Plaintiff’s Attorney” are obliged ex-lege to respect the lex-loci or the legal requirements of the jurisdiction where documents will be served and these starts at home with confidentiality, secrecy and a proper translation of documents as the basic right of defendant.

Service of Process must protect the defendant abroad. It is my understanding that “Lex fori” process servers, Non Certified Translations Companies, even with offices in Europe and other intruders in the chain of International litigation can severely contaminate a case.

There are, a series of channels in an “alternatives or decentralized method” , more reliable and with more efficient ways to serve, these are replacing the anachronistic central method.

Centralized Service of Process has the following characteristics:

Translations, High Cost and Unnecessary

Service Speed: Slow and can paralize eassily

Prior Exam of legality Slows down

Contradictions and exact Address required

Non Personal Service, No Courtesy and No Confidentiality

The Hague’s Alternative method of International Service of Process

The Alternative method is composed by channels , using them has the same legal value and effects as the “Centralized” method, if the country of “Lex Loci” has presented no express opposition to them,.there is no hierarchy between “Centralized” and “Decentralized” methods.

Art. 10 a, Service by a Currier, UPS, Fedex, DHL, Postal, fax, internet (email or messenger), as confirmed by different jurisprudence are not reliable, even if they are contemplated and accepted in some countries. The reason is that they lack of “legal guarantees of delivery of contents” violating the Principle of Contradiction,and Equality in a fair Judgement. These channels can bring the defendant into “defenseless”. Therefore they are mostly considered by jurisprudence as “evidence of an address” more than evidence of a Legal Notification. The Hague Convention permits these in Article 10, but they require some logical complements to be “Legally binding” even if the Convention does not indicates those. Indeed, one can serve blanc pages by mail or fax since nobody will check the contents and thereto obtain a judgment by default. Because of this, I recommend a “Certification of Contents” necessary either on the sending Jurisdictions or in the receiving Jurisdiction by a qualified, but done by a qualified professional that has “Public trust” The postal of fax receipt are not an affidavit.

Understand that the objective of service of process abroad is transmitting information, a legal notification to a defendant, inform him of a “cause” in which he is part and which could have serious consequences in his patrimony, rights and obligations as they will in your own jurisdiction.

These rights must be respected and protected by the rules of the legal art in order to avoid Arbitrary application of law and fraud to International law. To avoid this, the Hague Convention canalizes these notifications by taking in consideration internal laws Art. 5 but without providing a way to control it or a procedure for appeal..It imposes the protection of defendant’s rights and obligations as well as those of the plaintiff but does not says exactly how this could be materialized. Please determine, not if the notification was done but if it was “properly done. Service by mail, fax or email are very fragile channels that must be avoided..

These alternate channels are symbol of the “Liberty of Transmittal” but have enter into excesses, for exqample the email, reason why the decentralized method, has been wrongly understood by many Common law Attorneys,. Translators and Private Agents. This happened because the “mechanism of service” applied and employed has been the “known one” the one that sound logical, unconsciously applied in violation of foreign laws. Professionals have use what they know, as a reflex, they have used the same manners as for their state notifications and have sent abroad a joke. This has resulted, in failure to enforce, impossibility of judgment recovery or simply a challenged of service. A distinction must be made between a banal Service of Process and an International Service of Process and to honor international justice even if the effects of your judgment will remain in your jurisdiction do that international service properly, is just a matter of International legal courtesy.

The philosophy behind and the rational explanation, is that the concept of “Public trust” is very different to each culture and their legal order. Think about that opposite to Europe,- No Governmental Identification Card exist in common law countries, there is no central land and/or property registry, sometimes Notaries are simple individuals, Process Server and/or Translators have minimal requirements. In old and experienced Europe, everything is “suspicious” and therefore surrounded by the maximum guarantees of legal security enforced by the state at “Felony or Criminal level” to avoid any possible “misunderstanding”, “fraud”,”deviation” or “Abuse”.

In Europe. service of process, either for internal purposes, European Purposes or for International foreign courts, is considered as a penetration of “Jurisdictional Power”, when completed it is actually a “delegation of powers” to the server. In Europe. the monopoly of legal representation, actuation and consultation, has been given, traditionally and since middle ages, to the different “Legal Corporations”. Private agents are excluded of these basic requirements.

The legal professional associations are those of “Huissiers de Justice”,”Procuradores”, “Ufficiali Judiciario”,”Abogados”,”Avocats”,”Advogados”…. Unlike common law countries where almost anyone mentaly capable can perform these “legal contents and jurisdictional acts”. Please, know that only qualified legal professionals can serve properly and legally in most of Europe since are the only professionals, who can offer “Ex-lege” the required and necessary legal guarantees. Service by a “Agent” as known in common law does not exist in Europe nor in the Hague Convention, it has been used but this usage does not rises service by agents to a legal stage.

Logically explained: If any country’s laws of Civil Procedure establishes for internal service of process, a procedure that requires guarantees of public trust; given only by the use qualified professionals, how come, for International Service, you can expect to use anyone? An agent? In conclusion: When in Rome, do as the Romans!

We must distinguish between communications to the Central authority or with the Server and notification or service of process to the defendant. One is an organ and the other a defendant. Communication with the Central Authority of to the server can be by any means, even e-mail

Also note that the Hague Convention obliges service of process to have two explicit and implicit

requirements for acceptance: voluntarily and knowingly. These can be compared to a “bilateral obligation in Civil Law” (See Article 5 (b) alinea of the Hague Convention). Therefore, if the defendant

is not ”capable to understand” what he is receiving, service is viced and the “Defendant can refuse

service”. If documents are not translated he is not “capable to understand”. The defendant is not sense to know foreign laws or could be economically challenged, but some presumption exist: If the defendant is not served multilingual Attorney at law and advise at the moment of Service or if the documents contain No Legal Notice and etceteras, the defendant is in “Procedural defenseless”.and therefore service of process is not valid and useless.

Service to Corporations doing International Business, those under the Hague of 1956 for “Company recognition” it must be presumed that they speak the language of the Jurisdiction in which the carry business and know their laws. The Hague Convention does not distinguishes between services according to defendant; Individual or Corporations. Therefore, I consider the Hague as placing an obstacle in service to corporations, since the plaintiff is oblige to translate the documents. Logically Corporations should never use the central authority, they do not need it.

The Hague Convention indicates “voluntary acceptance” as a condition of service, this does not mean “Refusal at all times and systematically to get civil or commercial impunity”. In this sense, service by Certified Mail, email, fax and other unilateral acts of service, which we can be consider as “Adherence” from defendant to service, have the common denominator that the defendant is not accepting voluntarily, since he is receiving something with unknown contents. The contents will discover later and he is accepting first, therefore contradicting the Hague convention confirming this way that these channels as good for a verification of an address but not of service.

In conclusion, Certified Mail, email and fax are not proper ways of serving and a Court accepting this kind of service are refusing rights to the defendant except if they are back up by a qualified professional’s Affidavit of service.

“Service by Agent” as understood in common law, is not contemplated in the Hague Convention on Service of Process, it is another automatic reflex and has been used by many common law Attorneys. These agent services have required translations of documents because the Agent used, in most cases speaks the language of the Attorney requiring service. Often he is a foreign national in the country of service, sometimes illegal, but in any case not qualify to do this kind of Job. They provide “Shaky” services based on the fact that they speaks the language of the Attorney requiring service and dare to violate all kinds of laws, anyways most of them have nothing to loose..

These “Merchants of Process serving” use translations to increase profit and to reduce the possibility of future challenge of service. In most European countries, it is considered. that “Legal Guarantees”, are only given to, and are given by ”registered and insured professionals, recognized and controlled by the governments and grouped in special associations or corporations submitted to strict ethics control: These agents are an insult to law and order. The law and confirmed Jurisprudence protects “defendant’s rights” against poor « qualities and qualifications » of a “dummy server” or anyone from here or there, an intruder, who for a “fist full of dollars” will issue an affidavit. Therefore service by “Agent” is possible if and only if the Agent to be used is a qualified legal professional in the country of service.

It is a interesting anecdote, that I found an “International service of process company in Spain” that also does “plumbing” services from the same office, a business run by a felon issuing affidavits even to service completed to non existing address or people he never saw..

It is a shame that Justices and Attorneys in North America often, accept, for international service of process, affidavits of persons that do not offer any guarantees or have the essential “Public trust”, looking down and with disrespect the rights of defendants and the laws of procedure of a foreign country. Indeed, employing anyone for international service of process, is a disregard on justice and disrespect for International and local law. To serve properly you must respect foreign laws of procedure! You must understand the European concepts involved in a “Procedural Notification” and respect for “Justice”.

Finally, art. 10 c, considers as “Agent” a Judicial officer or bailiff. Service by these agent depend on the kind of person to served: Physical or Juridical. In some jurisdictions, serving a corporation must be to a “Registered Officer” as it appears on the mercantile registry of their country or to their legal department or representative and the place of service has to be the registered headquarters otherwise it will be a substitute service (Individuals or Corporations can be served at their Attorney’s office). If Individuals, an agent can served them at their home or place of work., but not in a public place.

One excess of the Hague Convention is the requirement for an exact address for service, meaning that the requester must have the exact information. This requirement reduces the rights of the plaintiff since a qualified legal professional acting as agent can complete service to two addresses to avoid impunity of defendants, that is to say, serve the address in the writ of summons and the legal or present address.

Service can be completed by directly instructing a Judicial officer of a Bailiff, article 10 c of the Convention, employing them as organ and as server, but they will issue am “Act” or document in the official language of the country, you will have to pay for a supplent for translation into English language and eventually the legalization of signature. Our Hydrid service take’s care of everything.

Please remember, the principle in Europe is the “Protection of the rights and obligations of litigants” by due diligence completed with integrity and by qualified and reliable professional not an “affidavit” obtained in obscure circumstances at any judicial cause price or at justice expense.

Summarizing: The two main methods both have the same legal value within the Hague Convention and no “Hierarchy”exist amongst them, one is bad and the other is worse, they are equally poor, but combining them is possible and results into a more reliable international service:

WARNING: Translations and Apostilles (Legalizations) are not necessary but if you use them remember that the Translator must be “Certified” by the “Foreign Affairs department” or the “Local Appellate or Superior Court”. The use of a local Notary Public to certify the signature in a translation does not corrects the errors of “tacky” translations. The use of a non registered “Attorneys at Law” under most jurisdictions of the European Union for acts reserved to the legal profession causes “contamination of your case”, engaging your liability: Protecting the rights of litigants is your obligation. Do not use simply anyone willing to issue a statement of service affidavit if not qualified.

Inventing International Service of Process: The Hybrid system

Our “Hybrid system of international personal private service of process” combines, not only “methods”, but also the different channels or options of the convention, applied by steps and in less time that the “centralized”. The result is a better service that takes the positive side of each method in order to obtain the best legal guarantees: We consider it as “System” , more than a method, please consult us so we can discuss your case service in detail and how our system applies.

The hybrid system for International Service of Process, heals the disadvantages of the Hague Conference’s centralized method and the abuses in the use and application of the decentralized alternate method. It is a non complicated service of process having the characteristics of Legality, reliability and fast. On the other hand, the “system” applies the principles of the Hague Convention combined to each jurisdiction, incoming and outgoing, and their respective laws of procedure. The “legal order” is to obtain with the maximum legality and protection of litigants, its main characteristic is that: Service is double, a preliminary International service and an Euro service.

The system provides that the rights of the plaintiff and defendants are guarantee and protected by registered and insured multilingual Attorneys at Law in the country of service. Documents are delivered personally in all confidentiality by a legal professional who will give advise in the language of the defendant, making it comprehensive by giving complete legal notice and explaining how to proceed. All services are completed with mandatory secrecy and neutrality, Courtesy and professionalism under the respect for internal laws of Civil procedure.

The defendant does not have an option to refuse service, or claim to be “unprotected” there is no “a priori” exam of contents or delay, no translation’s cost or apostilles, no promises of service but a “Jurisdictional act completed according to local law by a qualified legal professional”, Note the advantages;

a. The defendant does not have an option to refuse service, or claim to be “unprotected”

b. Liberty to choose process server within the legal profession market value.

c. There is no “a priori” exam of contents or delay in exams

d. No translation’s cost Nor apostilles, stapples,stamps or clips!

e. No doubt on delivery of Contents

e. Service with “Professional Integrity”

f. Customer service and Affidavit in English

g. Une of Bailiff when required

h. Service is guaranteed in delivery

i. Service is guaranteed in court

…..and much more

Our price list, reflect the need of taking in consideration many legal and practical aspects of service in Europe, specially to avoid incidents and possible cchallenge, appellate “quash” proceeding”, we provide services that are cheaper than the “Centralized” method and with the same value.

The different classes of service we proposed vary according to the required time for service: Urgent, and each has different protections. We always start by a “Skip Trace or Locate” in order to obtain an exact address as per mandatory requirement of the Hague Convention and to avoid you unnecessary expenses, then we mail a preliminary service of process to verify the address of delivery and physical existence. Our letter, asking for an appointment or an interview and placing ourselves as neutral Attorneys at Law available as required by law to avoid defenseless by counseling the defendant. During the interview, in presence of a local Judicial Officer or Bailiff when required, we verify the identity of the receiver, his knowledge of the language in which documents are written and explain in detail their rights and obligations. All of this procedure is condensed in a Custom made affidavit that is legalized by the Notary Public of the diplomatic representation of the lex fori (That is to say: the Consul)..

We hope we will count with you amongst our clients, please visit our website for forms, and do not hesitate to contact us by telephone, from U.S. dial 011 33 4 93 16 27 38 or by email if you have any questions or need written legal advise.

Thanking you in advance for your time and consideration, I am,

Joseph A. de LA CUETARA

http://servefast.eu/

1Please note that the U.S. Department of State website misguides persons requiring service of process abroad The U.S. Consulates are prohibited from serving or recommending Servers or Attorneys , therefore the list of Attorneys they maintain in each city has “obscure” origins..

Habbakathoon- the poetess queen of kashmir

July 14th, 2009 at 06:19pm Under Appeals and Writs

The cultural heritage of Kashmir is as rich as it is varied. This mental child of ‘Kashyapa’ has been the recipient of fondest love and bountiful benevolence from Nature and has consequently enthralled the whole world by its superb physical charm from times immemorial. To crown all, this physical grandeur has been very usefully groomed by Kashmiris in weaving the rainbow. Coloured texture of mental and spiritual attainments. In many respects they have been pioneers in evolving a cult of philosophy in tune with their environment and called it as ‘Shaivism’. A galaxy of rhetoricians have taken pains in prescribing norms and standards for making the literature in general and poetry in particular more acceptable and representative. To say squarely, not a single branch of literature has been left out by these savants without their impress and alchemic touch.

Not only this, Kashmir has been the testing-ground of three universal religions of the world-Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. The traits of all these religions have fused into the attitude of a Kashmiri like milk and candy; and it is no surprise that though bearing Hindu or Muslim or even Buddhist names, a Kashmiti even to-day in actual practice is a living embodiment of Buddhist compassion, Hindu tolerance and Muslim zest for life. Therefore with such a Catholic background, secularism to a Kashiniri is not a political expedient but an article of faith ingrained in his blood from the hoary times to the present day. ‘Kalhana’ in his monumental History of Kashmir ‘River of Kings’ has not mentioned even one Communal trouble between the Buddhists and the Hindus when a voracious race was in progress between their respective adherents to make theire own tenets popular and thus steal march over other faiths. In contrast to this, Buddhist Kings have donated large sums for the erection of Hindu temples and shrines and vice versa. Religious battles have always been fought here on paper, in a more rational way, or through dialogues which never left bad taste in the mouths. During the Islamic period Sultan Zain-ul-ab-Din Badshah in an admirable way and forsooth like a Kashmiri to his marrow renovated demolished Hindu places of worship and even started ‘Langars’ at Places of pilgrimages for feeding the hungry and the devout. ‘ShriVara’ in his ‘ZainaTarangini’ has mentioned such ‘Satr’ or Langars, one of which was located at the foot of Mahadeva mountain.

In this way, when in the 14th-15th century an alien culture knocked at the mountain-doors of Kashmir for being shown in, the values cherished by Kashmiris all along had already prepared a hospitable ground for its happy welcome. The puritanic prosletyzing tenacity of Islam in the absence of any mentionable reaction on the part of Kashmiris compellingly changed to more logical and rational methods. In this political and religious upheaval, long-cherished secular outlook of the faith of the people would have received a jolt, but at this juncture literature came to our succour.

At the confluence of Hindu and Muslim cultures ‘Laileshwari’ or ‘Lalla- Deda’ stands like a collossus beckoning people to eschew differences of colour, creed or faith and yoke themselves to attain Identity with Him– the All-pervasive Transcendental Force called God as such, Therein all are equal, the worldly appellations drop down like slough from a snake. The pursuit of mundane is an exercise in futility; Therefore the goal should be beyond mundane-materiality; It is no use counting mile-posts of material gains or losses and getting lost in its maze; the eye should be on the destination– the real and permanent.

For reasons obvious, the social fibre of the Kashmiris was also undergoing transformation at that time and the present could not have been in any way palatable to the denizens of Kashmir at large; so like an awake artist ‘Lalla’ dismissed the present as trash and ushered in spirituality in its all shades ‘Being’ was replaced by ‘to be’. By borrowing sweetness from the ‘unknown’ ‘Lalla’ virtually transformed the frustration or people into the hope to live with ever -appetising gusto. ‘Lalla’ could not help striking a happy compromise between Kashmiri shaivism and Islamic sufism. It was in tune with the times. To quote Dr. Sufi ‘Even long before the formal conversion to Islam, Islamic sufism had already entered tho valley.” Cultural conquest is always a pre-requisite to any other kind of conquest. A Kashmiri by nature tolerant and catholic kept his windows open for inhaling the fresh air of sufism. He even assimilated and owned much of it what was good and rejuvenvating.

But, by the time Habba Khatoon’s inebriating imagination began to find words, this climate of spirituality and mental drill had become suffocating and even stale in the context of fast changing economic conditions and human values; emphasis on individnal instead of on the society had become the accepted norm of public relations and thinking. The extrovert attitude yielded place to introspection. So, the poet in these changed environs harnessed his imaginative faculty to interpret his or her own feelings; Hence, Habba at the very outset of her poetic career rebelled against the prevalent standards of poetry-writing. Textbook idealism is not found in the dictionary of her pulsating emotions. She did not also try to bridge the distance between the ideal and the real. Her substantial contribution in this domain is to interpret her life as it was and not what it should be. Total absence of didactic content in her poetry (what ever is available to us) lends support to our belief, that she always believed in translating her feelings without any redundant appendages of ideal, faithfully and with sincerity of purpose. Her poetry consequently is a happy blend of sweetness and pathos. She has preferred to live in the present, past was beyond her reach and future out of her comprehension.

Kashmiri nation at that time was groaning under internal exploitation and external aggression. The last indigenous ruler of Kashmir Yusaf Shah Chak personified in himself levity and depravation in every sense of the word. “His own Subjects being fed up with his way-ward conduct had to invite the mughals to get rid of such an incapable and debauche ruler,” Writes Dr. Sufi in his ‘Kasheer’. His regal writ could not run outside his palace where passion and carnality were reigning supreme. This trait of inviting aliens to redress their troubles is not new to Kashmiri character at all. Kalhana has alluded to this many times when the natives falling foul with their rulers invited the neighboring Kings of Lohara (Lorin) and Parantosa (Poonch) to sit on the throne of Kashmir. The great queen ‘Dida’ herself belonged to Lorin and installed her brother Jayasimha as the king of Kashmir just before her death. So, the Mughals who had vulturous eyes on Kashmir already, but their incursions bad been thwarted by Kashmiri twice before, exploited such a situation to their fill. This was a welcome addition to their diplomatic bag of conquests. Yusuf Shah at last awoke to find his own people arrayed against him. The Mughals arrested him and forced him to live a life of solitary confinement at a remote village in Bihar outside Kashmir, where he ate his heart away in sole distress and breathed his last. It has been contended by some overzealous Kashmiris lately that uprising of Yusuf Shah against the Mughals symbolized the urge of Kashmiris to fight external domination. Unfortunately, the contemporary historical evidence of this period does not, in any way, confirm this view, however laudable it may seem to be.

Moreover, the famine of 1576 A.D. due to the untimely snowfall multiplied the miseries of the people. The devastating effects of this unprecedented famine persisted for full three years and Kashmiris passed their days on starvation level more or less. To this injury insult in the shape of ‘Shia-Sunni’ troubles was added. Sectarianism became pronounced and it let loose all the evils which nurture and sustain it. In such a disappoioting state of affairs, the poet naturally has to close his eyes against all that is happening around and in self-deceit revels in the fanciful panorama of his heart. Habba could not afford to be an exception to this Universal truth. Hence her love-poems do breathe an atmosphere of total self-absorption being blind and deaf to the environmental vissicitudes. These may well be labelled as throbbing vibrations of self-immersion but not self forgetfulness. Her ego is always pronounced in each line of her verse.

Unfortunately for us we are actually at sea about the life of this Nightingale of Kashmir. No authoritative contemporary record has been unearthed so far to test the veracity of the popular tradition which associates Habba with Yusuf Shah Chak. Moreover, we have no hesitation in doubting the credence of the contemporary records as the History writing even to-day is not free from strings of pressures and pulls. During the rule of the English the events of 1857 have been mentioned as Mutiny, and those very events under the Indian rule have been treated as war of Independence; A dispassionate account of historical events devoid of personal projections is rare even to-day when every man proclaims that he is free and has been given every opportunity for independent thinking and expression of opinion thereof. In those hoary days, when history was compiled at the behest of the king, perhaps in proportion to the munificence the ruler lavished on such mercenaries, distortion of historical facts has always come in handy for the rating clique and its sycophants. In the same way, there is a thin line between aggression and liberation; In such a dilemma the verdict of people should have been the guiding principle for us all, but wherefrom it is to be made available?

Moreover, the evidence of the historical data which is still in manuscript form and has not undergone the acid test of public opinion cannot be relied upon. In Kashmir even to-day people who enjoy leisure and have aptitude are given to record their own experiences in which casual references to rulers have also been made in Sanskrit, Persian or Urdu; but for reasons obvious these cannot be termed as histories as such. Perhaps every Kashmiri house-hold having mentionable literary background of any order can boast of such perional record. By no stretch of imagination these can be treated as historical evidence worth quoting. Therefore, the chronicles written to order or as a product of personal caprice have no place in literary or purely historical criticism, Kalhana has not mentioned the great Shaiva philosopher Abhinavagupta even once. Does it follow from it that Abhinavagupta was not a historical personality at all?

In the face of such scanty historical material at our disposal, we have perforee to fall back upon the popular tradition which in unequivocal and unambiguous terms has all long associated Habba with Yusuf Shah. In the reconstruction of histories of literature the tradition has played no mean part. This kind of unbroken evidence casnot be dismissed as cheap and unreliable altogether. The tradition passes from generation to generation by word of mouth. If in literary criticism this had not been taken cognizance of, then the religious lore of entire humanity would pass on as forged; Actually the case is reverse of it. Tradition has all along held the vedas, the Bible and the Koran as the most respected and the most genuine of all the available literature that has come down to us by the word of mouth. Tradition embraces in its ambit the force of public opinion which cannot be disregarded at any cost. Public opinion in its turn breeds sentimental attachment, and this sort of living testimony is far superior to other media of evidence. Perhaps this irresistible public opinion forced the later Persian chroniclers to make a mention of Habba though two centuries or more after her death. The reasons for maintaining Sphinx-like silence regarding ‘Habba’ by the contemporary chronilcers may be attributed to the aversion Sunni scholars bad for the wayward behaviour of a sunni girl in consenting to become a ‘Keep” to Shia Yusuf Shah. The Shias on the contrary did not like to tarnish the image of the shia king Yusuf by making a mention of his licentious disposition towards Habba. The Hindu Historian could not afford to offend these both sects hence sat on the fence. Therefore, instead of adopting an iconoclastic attitude a critic should own a positive outlook and respect the tradition and the sentiments of people from which he cannot alienate himself. Later skt chroniclers i.e JonaRaja or Shrivara have not mentioned ‘Lalla’ at all though being her contemporaries, yet the popular tradition has had her day in as much as ‘Lalla’ lives before our mental eyes even to-day. Historicity in ordinary and unsophisticated parlance connotes systematisation of facts, values, tradition and outlook. Therefore, the role of tradition can in no way be under estimated.

When the dust of such controvercy had settled down, Birbal Kachru and Hassan Khohyami, the first chroniclers in this field, thought it fit to mention her by name. Both these historians have given an account of ‘Habba’ though in a slip-shod manner; but piecing the incidents together we can build her personality without any fear of contradiction or historical irrelevance. According to them “Habba” was the scion of a well-to-do peasant family living at Chandrahara, a village near the famous Saffron fields of Pampur. She had been married to Aziz Lone one of her collaterals. The proverbial animosity between the mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law dampened the marital relations between Habba and her spouse. She was forced to live with her parents. ‘Habba’ at such a tender and impressionably age could not recover from the rebuff she received at the very threshold of her conjugal life. Her despondency flowed out in the form of poetry pulsating with unartificial fusion of sound and sense. He fame reached the amorous ears of Yusuf Shah, who admitted her to his harem as a ‘Keep’, and did not allow her the status of a queen. Both the chroniclers are punctillious about using the phrase “sharing the same bed,” about her.

Further, Mohammed Din ‘Fauq’ and Abdul Ahad Azad have provided us with her actual name ‘Zoon’, as faultless as the moon. Mahjoor has also accepted this name without a murmur. ‘Habba Khatoon’ presumably a more respectable mode of address than ‘Zoon’ must have been bestowed upon her when she joined the harem of Yusuf Sbab in keeping with the royal ettiquette. There should be no surprise, or eybrows need not be raised when a Kashmiri lady is supposed to have two names. In olden days, Kashmiri girls after their wedlock earned a new name in their inlaw’s house. This custom has persisted with Kashmiri Pandits even now.

A section of popular belief ascribes her home to Gurez where a contiguous mountain and a spring are named after her.

Internal evidence as culled from her verses confirms the first view:-

“My parental home is situated at the tableland of Chandra Hara.”

Her another name can be inferred from this:-

“I am bemoaning my lot in Plaintive cries, the Moon (Kashmiri Zoon) has been devoured by an eclipse.”

Shri Amin Kamil’s well-edited booklet containing only twenty songs is the only authentic source material available to us for commenting upon Habba- Khatoon’s poetry; however, in addition to these, Kashmiris ascribe many more poems to her and these have been printed. As long as an anthology of all her available songs is not compiled and given the seal of an authoritative edition, we have to confine our comments to these twenty songs only. Interpolations will be there, more essentially so, her extraordinary popularity has been a bane for the original texts composed by her. The more popular a poet, the more danger is there of interpolations creeping into his compositions and after the mischief has been done it seems very dificult to distinguish gold from dross, and often dross passes on for gold.

‘Habba’ is very proud of her lineage:-

“My parents brought me up with fondest possible care; A host of maid- servants was at my beck and call. I could not fore-see that the dreams nourished by me would be shattered to the ground. No body’s youth with childlike innocence should go unrewarded like that of mine.”

‘Habba’ testifies to her being very well-read:-

“My parents sent me to a distant school for receiving tuition. The teacher there beat me with a tender stick mercilessly and ignited a fire within me; No body’s youth with child- like innocence should go unrewarded like that of mine.”

She did not ignore the religious education also:-

“I committed thirty ‘Siparas’ of the Holy Quran to memory in a single sitting, faithfully adhering to the diacritical intonations; yet the valentine punctuated with love could not be read with such facile speed. What will you gain by my passing away.”

She has woven the scene of her marriage in these words:

“My parents blessed me as a fortunate daughter, and beckoned to me that the in law’s were waiting in the compound for taking me away. My silver- studded palanquin had golden ear-rings hangingdown on all sides. Alas ! innocent youth of any body, with child-like innocence should not go unrewarded as that of mine.”

But all this pomp and splendour could not pacify the wrath of her mother-in-law :-

“The mother-in law grabbed me by my hair, which stung me more than the pangs of death. I fell asleep on the supporting plank of the spinning wheel, and in this way, the circular wheel got damaged. I cannot reconcile myself with the atrocities of the inlaws, O! my parents, please come to my rescue.”

Habba unfolds her love for her husband like this:-

“I have been waiting for long with extreme patience for you – O! my love (or Aziz) do not be cross with your moon (zoon)! I have adorned myself lusciously from top to toe; so enjoy my youth as lively and inviting as a pomegranate flower.”

But Aziz did not relent and Habba bad to experience the pangs of forced widowbood:-

“I am on pin-pricks for want of an avid response to my love; my bubbling youth is on its ebb. My awake parents, do read in to the hint I have dropped.”

The stings of separation from her husband in her prime-youth can better be imagined than described. Perhaps her beiog on the brink of human patience can justify her consenting to give company to Yusuf Shah Chak. She could not wait for legal or other formalities involved in sharing his bed. This might seem not very laudable, yet it is true of every maiden who is a slave to her senses and whose warmth of love has all along remained unrequitted, moreso, it is all the more pronounced in the case of a lady who would like to wreak venegance on tbe callous society not reciprocating her sentiments, no matter if she loses ber identity in this bargain.

For the span of years in which Habba lived, no cogent authority is available. Mohd Din ‘Fauq’ and in his foot- steps Abdul Ahad Azad have given her life span from 1641 to 1552 A.D. on the authority of ‘Tarikh Baharistan Shahi.’ But on close examination Shri Amin Kamil refutes this and says that these dates are nowhere found in this chronicle. However, her association with Yusuf Shah can give us a clue as to the years in which she was still alive. The reign of Yusuf Shah has been determined as 1579-1585 A.D.; so we can safely assume that during these years at least Habba was living. Akbar annexed Kashmir in 1585 A.D. imprisoned Yusuf Shah and externed him to Bihar; so, when her paramour Yusuf tell on bad stars, Habba must have eaten her heart away in disgust and dismay. This was the second rebuff she received at the bands of the Destiny, and this impulsive Lady unresponsive in love, unaccepted by the society still did not own defeat. She created an exuberant world of her own, punctuated it with her emotions resonant with the dirge of what she had got and what she lost. She lived in her thoughts, so to say.

Such a state of mind is a fertile ground for the induction of Romanticism. Habba deliberately ignoring the less pleasant side of her life indulged in dreamy habit of mind. Romanticism is the acme of poet’s independence of feelings; under its spell he refuses to be bound by conventional restraints. A romantic poet has either the nerve to rebel nor the will to compromise with his environment. Unmindful of what is happening around him, he delves deep into the inner most recesses of his heart and without fear or malice pours out his felings as they ooze forth. Such a poet is incapable of clothing his emotions with artificial adorations. Romanticism may thus he called the highest water-mark of poet’s individual thinking.

Habba may be called the harbinger of such kind of poetry in Kashmiri. She is the originator of popular love-lyrics in Kashmiri literature. However, her love is earthly; she could not rise above it; Her passionate love has its source in the enjoyment or senses and not their denial in any case. She does not feel fed-up with sensual pleasures, but at times would like to revert to these with ever-increasing appetite. She cannot reconcile herself with the sour-truth of being a widow who has perforce to abjure sensuality. She would not like to show herself off as a pious lady either, under the cover of so-called piety myriad sins do thrive when a woman is not mentally ready to own a salutary course of life for herself. Her poetry, therefore, is a candid expression of her feelings which has immenseley contributed to her popularity. She does not like to play hide and seek. Her appeal is straight and unsophisticated.

Habba’s forte is love-in-separation. She has not sung even a single verse eulogizing the munificence of Yusuf Shah when she was in her company. In the words of Kalidasa ‘Separation chastenes love,’ Hence, Habba like a born-poet selected ’separation’ for her treatment of love. Her verses throughout waft an air of restlessness and not contentment; Calm Composure and resignation to be in turmoil to fate are absent in her poetry. She seems sit cross-legged, She believes in winning love by bodily excellence alone:-

“I will apply on my body of spotless silvery sheen, the greasy whiteness of milky creams; I am imnmensely enamoured of thee; I will anoint myself with scented sandal-water. MY love! I will relish to be your slave.”

Even though Habba has repeatedly and even lustily made a call to flesh only, yet her songs reverberate an aroma of lasting flavour; though these songs may sound as sensual to a moralist, yet ‘Habba’ has made no secret of her sensuous attitude to life. She has all along wanted to drink deep at the fountain of life without any saintly pretensions. Therein her moral-courage shines the best. Her voracious hunger in this respect seems unsatiated. To her present holds the mirror to what she lost and what she had gained. Her songs are a lament in every sense of the term. She is firm-footed in her convictions and does not vacillate. This is perhaps the most glaring trait of her poetry. She has no concern for morality or ethics in the sense that she would not elect to be a preacher: She revels in being always loud. She revels in being immersed in her imagination only, yet her ego is always loud. She is not shy of parading her beauty and is rather conscious of it also. Even though she has paid a heavy price for it, still she has no regrets in this behalf.

Habba’s refrain is love wedded to pathos; consequently she has kept the windows of her mind shut and her heart is only wide-awake in emitting and receiving images from her fancied dreams. The pathetic content of her poetery is all the more aggravated by the elusive nature of her ideal which has consequently earned for her the epithet ‘Nightingale’ of Kashmir most squarely. She does not subscribe to the view that “It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” In the absence of any appropriate and meaningful response to her simmering emotions, she has opted for self- suffering, telling beads of her tear-drops. Be it Heemal, Arnimaal or Habba Khatoon, it is the Kashmiri woman bemoaning her lot in pathetic plaintives, the common subject with all these, the victims of the conspiracy of circumstances. Habba Khatoon essentially is a typical example of such a woman who cannot make any kind of compromise with life. In this predicament she could have turned a rebel, but, she instead of it, becomes a martyr by consent. This is exactly the most salient feature of Kashmiri womanhood. Towards the closing years of her life, Habba does express her remorse for not compromising with the life as it is, but fashioning it according to her imagination; none the less in the same breath she admits that missed opportunities need not be recalled. She does indicate the ‘Achilles Heel’ of her personality-to rule only and not to get ruled:-

“I, Habba Khatoon, is definitely sorry for not adapting myself submissively to the moonish caprices or my lover. I do recapitulate those missed opportunities, but it is now too late to atone for these; therefore, You, my lover! should not be cross with me.”

A sense of guilt seems to haunt this love-lorn lady, but at the same time her self-willed nature dismisses this weight on her heart by taking refuge under the excuse that race is already run. This subdued expression of penitence does portray her loud thinking in unguarded moments, but like a wakeful artist, she cancels it in the second breath. She does not flop, as the idiom goes.

Habba’s songs are musical in essence and pathetic in spirit. She has also been acclaimed as a melody-queen of Kashmiri poetry. Her popularity is also due to the fact that her songs are not only a replica of Kashmiri sentiments but also a potent vehicle of Kashmiri music. Her originality in this sphere is undisputed. Even though she has appropriated a sizable chunk of Persian words and Persian similes, yet she has refrained from owning Persian code on metres. She has in their place introduced home-spun Kashmiri melodies pertaining to rhyme and rhythm in her quatrains.

Therefore, her songs self-contained in each quartrain can be more profitably compared with the ‘Vaks’ of Lalleshwari or ‘Shruks’ of Nund- Reshi from the style-point of view only. These cannot be classed under ‘Gazal’ or ‘Nazam’ of Persian metrics, despite the fact that Habba has a tendency to repeat refrains.

Therefore, it is not without reason that ‘Mahjoor’- the doyen of Kashmiri romantic poets, has dealt a dig at one of his celebrated predecessors- Rasul Mir in this pregnent verse, for not paying well-deserved compliment to Habba Khatoon:-

“Rasul Mir of Shahabad has profusely alluded to the moon of Qandhar; Why has he been averse to the moon (Zoon, Kashmiri) of Chandrahar?”

Khalid Awan a Innocent Man Like Arar

July 14th, 2009 at 12:20pm Under Appeals and Writs

Dear Sir / Madam
I am 46 years old, Canadian citizen and native of Pakistan (muslim). I was an immigration consultant in Canada and also member of Canadian Bar Association as part of my business , I had an office in New York.
During 2001 immediately after the Sept 11, event the US govt arrested me on Oct 25, 2001 on anonymous call, as a material witness for the 9/11 world trade centre terrorist attack. A detail investigation by the FBI and USA Naval intelligence dept was conducted and I was cleared, but even then govt put me in front of Grand jury , and I was cleared and the case was dismissed by the Grand jury of the US Federal Court .
Approximately after 2 weeks , before I was released from custody the US Govt imposed a new charges of Fraud and money laundering , under the advice of my attorney , I pleaded guilty and I was sentenced to prison for five years (which was four years more, what I pleaded). In which I had already spent 3 years in Detention jail, during the case , I had about 14 months left to finishing my sentence ,(instead of appealing, I preferred to applied for Treaty Transfer to Canada, because if the case is in the appeal, defendant is not eligible for transfer back to his home country).
While at prison, I learned from the case manager Miss Hause, that my citizen was incorrect in the FBOP’s (Federal Bureau of Prison) computer system as Pakistani instead of Canadian.
Its important to note , that all of my Canadian identifications (passport , citizenship card , S.I.N , Health card , Driving license etc) were under FBI’s possession, with a great deal of concern, I wrote a letter to the Canadian Consulate in Buffalo, N.Y to notify such mistake and requested them to fix this problem. This is especially important for Treaty Transfer back to Canada.
The Canadian Consulate official sent a letter to the jail to correct my citizenship status, however FBOP ignored the request and the citizenship status in the FBOP computer still reflect Pakistani instead of Canadian (Note:- I would be required to obtain visa to visit Pakistan) .In contrast , the deportation letter received from US Immigration dept, Contained the correct citizenship status of Canada.
At the hindsight, I believe that the FBOP intentionally left the citizenship as Pakistani, so that they could retained me at their facility, while the govt is planning to file new charges against me 3rd time.
Approximately six weeks before my released date on Jan 30 ,2006 I was notified by the FBOP that I was being transferred from Allenwood , PA to MDC (Metropolitan Detention Centre) in Brooklyn N.Y, it was explained to me, that the purpose of this transfer was in preparation for deportation back to Canada, (after few days, I signed the immigration deportation papers, with my consular Miss Chen).
But immediately after my arriving to MDC Brooklyn, I discovered during a phone call with my family in Montreal, that RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) official had contacted my sister and brother-in-law regarding the whereabouts of my wife and my current situation, there was no explanation given by the RCMP official to the purpose of the call and he left his phone number and asked my wife to call him back immediately, my wife called the RCMP official and left messages in his voice mail. Then the official contacted my brother-in-law again and had asked him to tell my wife not to call again, because there is nothing good nor anything bad.
Meanwhile the AUSA ( Astt United States Attorney) office Investigator and FBI brought me to their office to be interrogated without an attorney present, even AUSA told in the court to the judge on March 16, 2006 that he arranged attorney for me before my arrival from Allenwood PA to MDC Brooklyn, N.Y, on Transcript; page 11, Transcript line No: 14 to 23.
AUSA:-
He (Khalid Awan) was writ in the cause of a grand jury investigation. He clearly had criminal exposure. So to protect his interest I made an application to the duty magistrate for counsel to be appointed.
THE COURT:-
Initially he was brought here by a Court to testify before the grand jury?
AUSA:-
That is correct, Your Honour.
THE COURT:-
When he arrived here, you made arrangements for an attorney to be pointed to request him?
AUSA:-
Yes, Your Honour.
This interrogation started with the AUSA office Investigator stating that my family will be arrested in Canada if I refused to answer their questions.
At this point I am certain that my family is in great danger for reasons that I am not aware of. I was scared that my family would be harassed by these people along with the Canadian RCMP official, I strongly believe that the RCMP is doing this intentionally in collaboration with FBI official to further harass me to admit charges, that I never committed.
Without knowledge of the reasons why the Canadian RCMP agency was involved. I was surprised that RCMP official directly approached my family instead of me without proper explanation, and its also shocked for me, that how RCMP got the phone number of my family (because before my arrest, I don’t have any single record in any police dept, of any country).
I was intimated and pushed to the edge during this interrogation, I was determined to provide anything these USA officials wanted to make them happy even is the questions made no sense, because I want them to stop the harassment to my family.
On March 15, 2006 I completed the term of my imprisonment and was to be released from American Custody and deported back to Canada. Before that I was arrested again 3rd time, and charged with providing “material support to a foreign terrorist?? and money laundering (to a organization and person, which are not designated by the USA govt and belongs to Sikh religion) , and with whom, I don’t have any single common interest, because we both are from different countries and different religions.
These charges emerged while I was still in prison and without the capability of providing any type of support. It was even difficult for me to get enough financial assistance to pay legal fees. I could not have provided any material support while I was in prison for five years and I could not launder any money because I did not have any.
AUSA filed three counts of indictment against me.
Conspiracy to provide material support.
Provide a material support to the foreign terrorist.
Money laundering to support terrorism.
(Please note, that in my previous case govt charged me for money laundering and fraud from Jan 1999 to 2002 and “its mentioned in the plea-agreement by the AUSA that no further money laundering charges will be brought against defendant from Jan 1999 to April 2002?? even then govt indict me for money laundering from 1998 to Nov 2001 (Which is double Jeopardy and violation of 5th Amendment of U.S Constitution.)
In Oct 2006, during pre-trial hearing on the motion’s filed by my attorney the first two counts of my indictment were dismissed by the judge, stating that there is a lack of facts and figures.
After two weeks AUSA re-indicted me again. I believe this is a desperate act of the AUSA to cover up a huge embarrassment . Further this hastily drawn indictment was full of factual errors and creative legal theories.
Since I was first arrested by the American govt, I believe that I have been singled out, isolated `and discriminated against primarily because of my race and religion, in addition to the fact that I don’t know any information that the American govt is trying to pressure out of me.
I do not understand the American laws and this is what led to my pleading guilty in the first case. I have difficulty understanding the new charges also.
I have been charged under, section 2339(a) of Title 18 of the United States code, which makes it illegal to provide material support to a foreign terrorist.
Please understand, I am not a terrorist, I do not know any terrorist and I have had no connections with or to any known or unknown terrorist. I have been incarcerated for last 5 years and I had no money to provide or launder.
The law enforcement have in America is pressuring me to provide information to them that I really do not have or know. I am a Canadian Citizen and nearly all of my family is in Canada, including my wife and kids. I don’t know any information to tell them to help their investigation.
Because of this , I am being treated unfairly and my rights under the American constitution are being violated. I am being held here in further detention against my will for crimes which I could have never committed, because I was in prison.
I believe, that I am a victim of the discrimination that was outlined in the July 3, 2006 issue of Time magazine (Page 29, column
3). In this article section 2339(a) & (b) are discussed and criticized “as most suspects are charged under these two sections. However, the justice dept here in America admits that of the more than 218 guilty pleas that it has obtained, most are for minor investigation issues that are uncovered deeding the course of their terrorism investigation. This suggest, according to the article that the Attorney General’s office have is not concerned about the rights or fairness or the manner in which it achieves convictions for the people they arrest. Furthermore, criticizes have noted that one of the patterns to emerge from these domestic prosecutions is that suspect seen too incompetent to carry out the deeds they are accused of. The Deputy Attorney General acknowledges that the Dept of Justice’s goal is “ preventions through prosecution’s?? and this is done with no regard for an individual’s rights.
I agree that these guilty of terrorism should be prosecuted . But as the above mentioned article suggest , innocent people should not be targeted because of their race or religion.
I am not a terrorist and I should not be targeted and treated unfairly and unjustly.
I need your assistance desperately in my case, as I believe that I am being treated unjustly here. I would like to send you my attorney’s contact information and provide you with legal documents related to my case, so that you may become more familiar with my situation.
Please also note, that I appeared in the court , for no guilty of my 2nd superseding indictment on Aug 02, 2006 and on Aug 03, 2006 FBOP officials placed me in the SHU (Segregation Housing Unit) out of these months, I placed in the SHU isolation from Jan 03, 2007 to March 6, 2007 for unknown “Pending Investigation?? in these 215 days of my segregation and isolation, I don’t have a single phone call access to my family, no legal calls to my attorney and Canadian Council, my legal mail opened in my absence, no medical treatment for my injured shoulder (even I went for hunger strike for 3 and half day) I harassed by the various jail officials and lot of other problems too which already been submitted in the attention of the FBOP higher authorities, but no action taken on them, after writing the court, instead of receiving the response or any action on my complaints, jail officials removed /moved me from MDC federal facility to Nassau County Jail .
My suffering has gone on for far too long, and I need your help to bring my suffering to an end. I want to return home to my family, because my imprisonment was injustice and will remain a great injustice forever.
May God bless you and be with you in your efforts to champion the cause of human rights, and the suffering of innocent prisoners and restore hope, faith and love to peoples all over the world.

Wrongly Convicted Khalid Awan by Fbi ,rcmp ?

July 14th, 2009 at 06:19am Under Appeals and Writs

Dear Sir / Madam

I am 46 years old, Canadian citizen and native of Pakistan (Muslim). I was an immigration consultant in Canada and as part of my business , I had an office in New York.

During 2001 immediately after the Sept 11, event the US govt arrested me on Oct 25, 2001 on anonymous call, as a material witness for the 9/11 world trade centre terrorist attack. A detail investigation by the FBI and USA Naval intelligence dept was conducted and I was cleared, but even then govt put me in front of Grand jury , and I was cleared and the case was dismissed by the Grand jury of the US Federal Court .

Approximately after 2 weeks , before I was released from custody the US Govt imposed a new charges of Fraud and money laundering , under the advice of my attorney , I pleaded guilty and I was sentenced to prison for five years (which was four years more, what I pleaded). In which I had already spent 3 years in Detention jail, during the case , I had about 14 months left to finishing my sentence ,(instead of appealing, I preferred to applied for Treaty Transfer to Canada, because if the case is in the appeal, defendant is not eligible for transfer back to his home country).

While at prison, I learned from the case manager Miss Mause, that my citizen was incorrect in the FBOP’s (Federal Bureau of Prison) computer system as Pakistani instead of Canadian.

Its important to note , that all of my Canadian identifications (passport , citizenship card , S.I.N , Health card Driving license etc) were under FBI’s possession, with a great deal of concern, I wrote a letter to the Canadian Consulate in Buffalo, N.Y to notify such mistake and requested them to fix this problem. This is especially important for Treaty Transfer back to Canada.

The Canadian Consulate official sent a letter to the jail to correct my citizenship status, however FBOP ignored the request and the citizenship status in the FBOP computer still reflect Pakistani instead of Canadian (Note:- I would be required to obtain visa to visit Pakistan) .In contrast , the deportation letter received from US Immigration dept, Contained the correct citizenship status of Canada.

At the hindsight, I believe that the FBOP intentionally left the citizenship as Pakistani, so that they could retained me at their facility, while the govt is planning to file new charges against me 3rd time.

Approximately six weeks before my released date on Jan 30 ,2006 I was notified by the FBOP that I was being transferred from Ellenwood , PA to MDC (Metropolitan Detention Centre) in Brooklyn N.Y, it was explained to me, that the purpose of this transfer was in preparation for deportation back to Canada, (after few days, I signed the immigration deportation papers, with my consular Miss Chen).

But immediately after my arriving to MDC Brooklyn, I discovered during a phone call with my family in Montreal, that RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) official had contacted my sister and brother-in-law regarding the whereabouts of my wife and my current situation, there was no explanation given by the RCMP official to the purpose of the call and he left his phone number and asked my wife to call him back immediately, my wife called the RCMP official and left messages in his voice mail. Then the official contacted my brother-in-law again and had asked him to tell my wife not to call again, because there is nothing good nor anything bad.

Meanwhile the AUSA ( United States Attorney) office Investigator and FBI brought me to their office to be interrogated without an attorney present, even AUSA told in the court to the judge on March 16, 2006 that he arranged attorney for me before my arrival from Ellenwood PA to MDC Brooklyn, N.Y, on Transcript; page 11, Transcript line No: 14 to 23.

AUSA:- He (Khalid Awan) was writ in the cause of a grand jury investigation. He clearly had criminal exposure. So to protect his interest I made an application to the duty magistrate for counsel to be appointed.

THE COURT:- Initially he was brought here by a Court to testify before the grand jury?

AUSA:- That is correct, Your Honour.

THE COURT:- When he arrived here, you made arrangements for an attorney to be pointed to request him?

AUSA:- Yes, Your Honour.

This interrogation started with the AUSA office Investigator stating that my family will be arrested in Canada if I refused to answer their questions.

At this point I am certain that my family is in great danger for reasons that I am not aware of. I was scared that my family would be harassed by these people along with the Canadian RCMP official, I strongly believe that the RCMP is doing this intentionally in collaboration with FBI official to further harass me to admit charges, that I never committed.

Without knowledge of the reasons why the Canadian RCMP agency was involved. I was surprised that RCMP official directly approached my family instead of me without proper explanation, and its also shocked for me, that how RCMP got the phone number of my family (because before my arrest, I don’t have any single record in any police dept, of any country).

I was intimated and pushed to the edge during this interrogation, I was determined to provide anything these USA officials wanted to make them happy even is the questions made no sense, because I want them to stop the harassment to my family.

On March 15, 2006 I completed the term of my imprisonment and was to be released from American Custody and deported back to Canada. Before that I was arrested again 3rd time, and charged with providing “material support to a foreign terrorist” and money laundering (to a organization and person, which are not designated by the USA govt and belongs to Sikh religion).

These charges emerged while I was still in prison and without the capability of providing any type of support. It was even difficult for me to get enough financial assistance to pay legal fees. I could not have provided any material support while I was in prison for five years and I could not launder any money because I did not have any.

AUSA filed three counts of indictment against me.

Conspiracy to provide material support.

Provide a material support to the foreign terrorist.

Money laundering to support terrorism.

(Please note, that in my previous case govt charged me for money laundering and fraud from Jan 1999 to 2002 and “its mentioned in the plea-agreement by the AUSA that no further money laundering charges will be brought against defendant from Jan 1999 to April 2002” even then govt indict me for money laundering from 1998 to Nov 2001 (Which is double Jeopardy and violation of 5th Amendment of U.S Constitution.)

In Oct 2006, during pre-trial hearing on the motion’s filed by my attorney the first two counts of my indictment were dismissed by the judge, stating that there is a lack of facts and figures.

After two weeks AUSA re-indicted me again. I believe this is a desperate act of the AUSA to cover up a huge embarrassment . Further this hastily drawn indictment was full of factual errors and creative legal theories.

Since I was first arrested by the American govt, I believe that I have been singled out, isolated and discriminated against primarily because of my race and religion, in addition to the fact that I don’t know any information that the American govt is trying to pressure out of me.

I do not understand the American laws and this is what led to my pleading guilty in the first case. I have difficulty understanding the new charges also.

I have been charged under, section 2339(a) of Title 18 of the United States code, which makes it illegal to provide material support to a foreign terrorist.

Please understand, I am not a terrorist, I do not know any terrorist and I have had no connections with or to any known or unknown terrorist. I have been incarcerated for last 5 years and I had no money to provide or launder.

The law enforcement have in America is pressuring me to provide information to them that I really do not have or know. I am a Canadian Citizen and nearly all of my family is in Canada, including my wife and kids. I don’t know any information to tell them to help their investigation.

Because of this , I am being treated unfairly and my rights under the American constitution are being violated. I am being held here in further detention against my will for crimes which I could have never committed, because I was in prison.

I believe, that I am a victim of the discrimination that was outlined in the July 3, 2006 issue of Time magazine (Page 29, column 3). In this article section 2339(a) & (b) are discussed and criticized “as most suspects are charged under these two sections. However, the justice dept here in America admits that of the more than 218 guilty pleas that it has obtained, most are for minor investigation issues that are uncovered deeding the course of their terrorism investigation. This suggest, according to the article that the Attorney General’s office have is not concerned about the rights or fairness or the manner in which it achieves convictions for the people they arrest. Furthermore, criticizes have noted that one of the patterns to emerge from these domestic prosecutions is that suspect seen too incompetent to carry out the deeds they are accused of. The Deputy Attorney General acknowledges that the Dept of Justice’s goal is “ preventions through prosecution’s” and this is done with no regard for an individual’s rights.

I agree that these guilty of terrorism should be prosecuted . But as the above mentioned article suggest , innocent people should not be targeted because of their race or religion.

I am not a terrorist and I should not be targeted and treated unfairly and unjustly.

I need your assistance desperately in my case, as I believe that I am being treated unjustly here. I would like to send you my attorney’s contact information and provide you with legal documents related to my case, so that you may become more familiar with my situation.

Please also note, that I appeared in the court , for no guilty of my 2nd superseding indictment on Aug 02, 2006 and on Aug 03, 2006 FBOP officials placed me in the SHU (Segregation Housing Unit) out of these months, I placed in the SHU isolation from Aug 03, 2006 to March 6, 2007 for unknown “Pending Investigation” in these 215 days of my segregation and isolation, I don’t have a single phone call access to my family, no legal calls to my attorney and Canadian Council, my legal mail opened in my absence, no medical treatment for my injured shoulder (even I went for hunger strike for 3 and half day) I harassed by the various jail officials and lot of other problems too which already been submitted in the attention of the FBOP higher authorities, but no action taken on them, after writing the court, instead of receiving the response or any action on my complaints, jail officials removed /moved me from MDC federal facility to Nassau County Jail .

My suffering has gone on for far too long, and I need your help to bring my suffering to an end. I want to return home to my family, because my imprisonment was injustice and will remain a great injustice forever.

May God bless you and be with you in your efforts to champion the cause of human rights, and the suffering of innocent prisoners and restore hope, faith and love to peoples all over the world.

Sincerely,

KHALID AWAN

FBOP NO. 50959-054

http://www.indymedia.org/en/2007/10/893910.shtml

http://www.nysun.com/article/37251

www.nysun.com/article/37251

Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons in Pakistan

July 13th, 2009 at 06:20pm Under Appeals and Writs

The Post Second World War period has witnessed an unprecedented proliferation of lethal and non-lethal weapons. The frequent usage of these sources of human destruction has resulted in hundreds of causalities. Unlike the weapons of Mass Destruction, these weapons constitute the primary instruments of violence in any internal or low-intensity conflict and are responsible for a large number of deaths. They are increasingly being acquired by criminals, cartels and irregular forces and in certain cases by influential citizens and politicians as a show of strength and  political might. As a result, militarization of crime and political conflict are emerging as serious and potentially irreversible threats.

In recent years, there has been a growing tendency within the activist and scholarly communities to treat major conventional weapons and small arms as well as light weapons as distinct areas of policy formulation and study. An estimate of the global value of small arms production in 2002 is $7.4 billion. Well over 1,000 companies manufacture light weapons and ammunition in nearly hundred countries. Controlling production of both light and major conventional weapons has historically been very difficult, because of lack of political will and economic pressures from manufacturers.

The main focus with respect to illegal weapons proliferation in Pakistan remains in the unorganized private enterprise at Darra and Landi Kotal  where the arms trade continues without any state hindrance. Besides this, the organized sector manufacturers are also bound to sell their products to licensed gun owners is not more than approximately 80,000-90,000 in the country. This makes the legal market a very small one, which is adequately served by the private producers.    However, recent trends indicate that the estimated number of weapons in circulation is much higher than tabulated. The rising ethno-sectarian strife, civil war in Afghanistan, and an enhanced sense of insecurity arising out of factors such as poor economic conditions, bad governance and the deteriorating law-and-order situation have raised the level of frustration and discontent. It is witnessed that the rising sense of apathy and social injustice has strengthened the appeal of small arms and light weapons. Darra and its cheaper rates attracts not only NSAs who purchase these weapons in bulk, but also a second category of buyers, such as officials, low-enforcing agents, influential politicians, and feudal and tribal lords who regard the posses session of light weapons as a status symbol. Moreover, the various governments too have exacerbated this situation by giving licenses for prohibited bore weapons to politicians and influentional people to win political favour, or in pursuit of their vested interests in arming one (ethnic/sectarian) group against another from time to time.

The principal source of weapons proliferation and supply to arms of regional and domestic conflict, the unorganized sector, has a minimal manufacturing capacity of a hundred weapons per day. With the very sudden and dramatic termination of the Afghan conflict, the governments following Zia Ulaq’s proved to be ineffective in solving this menace. Although attempts were made in the past, and are being made presently, too, to curb the proliferation and the indiscriminate use of small arms, they are very much an indicator of a dysfunctional state apparatus.

In Pakistan, the failure of governance-especially with regard to narcotics production and smuggling-and the country’s proximity to Afghanistan and its involvement in the attempts to end Soviet occupation of the country have combined to intensity an already dire law-and-order situation. In many cases, access to light weapons has facilitated or intensified conflicts, often by emboldening the protagonists. Consequently, the ability the increased firepower enjoyed by the forces pitched against them.

Second in line are the private manufacturers who operate and produce certain non-prohibited bore are limited in number and are concentrated mainly in the province of Punjab and Karachi. These private entrepreneurs are forced to continue with the production of the same items, whether or not they have market demand, because of the licensing requirements. This proves to be extremely cost-intensive efforts, and in a bid to cover production costs as well as maintain a reasonable profit level, these manufactures not only use substandard material, but are also involved in unauthorized manufacturing.

With respect to the scope of the term ‘illicit trade’, one should consider the illicit manufacture, acquisition, possession, use, and storage of small arms and light weapons, since these are closely linked to transfers of such weapons. The illicit trade in small arms and light weapons is closely related to the excessive and destabilizing accumulation and transfer of such arms and should, therefore, not be limited to criminal breaches of existing arms legislation and export/import controls, but consideration should be to all relevant factors. With regard to the manufacture, production, and sale of light weapons, we can divide the domestic producers of SA/LW in Pakistan into three broad categories:

1.                  The state-owned or public sector enterprise

2.                  Private manufacturers(operating under state license and regulation)

3.                  The Darra Bara/gun cottage industry (which is not under any state            supervision).

State-Owned/ Public Enterprise: This primarily constitutes about 14 public sector manufacturing enterprise at the Pak .Ordanance   Factories (POF), Wah. The variety of weapons manufactured in these factories includes Heckler and Koch MP-5, G-3, A-3, MPSA-2 guns, Anti-tank light weapons, ammunition and anti-personnel land mines. All of these items are produced under license with a very stringent control mechanism and maintenance of complete record. The items thus produced are not only ISO9001 certified, but also come under strict export regulations under the government’s Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO-123/124 OF February 1998). Carrying out correct marketing procedure and purchase enumeration both at the receiving and purchasing end is also properly overseen. Besides the POF, items such as anti-tank systems and ammunition, anti-personnel and anti-tank landmines, explosive devices, multi-barrel rocket launchers etc. are manufactured at the Kahuta Research Lab (KRL), an independent entity under state control.

The POF was made a public-sector enterprise in the early 1980’s by redesigning the Head of POF as “Chairman” and instituting a “Board of Directors”, As part of its new states the POF has also been given the authority to engage in profit-making activities, but in spite of that, its principal and largest client remains the Pakistan military with new weapons, these ordanance factories hold reserve stocks and repair facilities for the normal wear and tear.

From the entire gun manufacturing facilities, POF remains the only outfit, which is allowed to export its products. These exports include anti-tank ammunition as well as infantry equipment and the sales also cater to the domestic market but in a very limited manner. Although very stringent regulations are in place on the production and scale of weapons to state actors alone, there are reported incidents where weapons seized from low-intensity zones could be traced back to the POF.

Thus as mentioned above, the revenue generation criterion does not find much relevance in this case. The point to be noted here is that due to a limited demand, the POF’s full production capacity is not being properly utilized. Thus the factories end up producing only what is required by the principal client, the Pakistani military, and this of course is quite restricted in scope given the annual optimum ammunition production capacity which is not less than US$ 70 million.

Private Manufacturers: Second in line are the private manufacturers who operate and produce certain non-prohibited bore weapons under license. The organized legal arms manufacturers are limited in number, and are concentrated mainly in the province of Punjab and Karachi. Although the licensing requirements restrict the manufacturers from producing anything other than the exact configurations of the armaments, the main incentive or motivate or motivation  for the private enterprises is to generate profit task that has become increasingly difficult in the restricted business environment where the one hand these guns manufacturers are constrained by license regulations and on the other they are provided with no incentives and are also heavily taxed by the government

These private entrepreneurs are forced to continue with the production of the same items whether or not they have any market demand, because of the licensing requirements. This proves to be extremely cost-intensive effort and in a bid to cover production cost as well as to maintain a proportionate profit level, these manufacturers not only use sub-standard material but they are also involved in unauthorized manufacturing. Accordingly, in many cities there are few or no licensed manufacturers, but there can be found many dealership and repair license holders, for it has a better money generation scope. The end-users in this regard are usually sub-state sectors or outfits which purchase these items for coercive activities.

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The Darra Bara or Gun-Making Industry: The arms bazaars of Darra Adamhel and Landi Kotal in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan are famous for the production of light weapons for centuries. Both are colonial as well as Cold War legacy, these traditional grey areas gained increased salience, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. However, the illicit gunsmiths of India are poor cousins when compared to those of DAK. Darra is the heart of Pakistan’s notorious arms bazaar, and it is here that one can acquire practically any small arm at a low cost: Kalashnikovs, M-16S, Uzis, and even guns hidden in walking sticks and ballpoint pens. Some are originals left over from the war in Afghanistan; others are copies made in back-alley workshops, repaired originals, or copies made from cannibalized parts. Often the only difference between the original and are made from inferior quality metal. Original AK-47s sell for about US $320, but an identical copy starts at US $50.

The Darra gunsmiths are famous for their skills and expertise,                                                    which have been passed down from father to son for generations, and they are known for their ability to produce any kind of weapon in Spartan conditions. Although these artisans do not have any formal technical training, they have inherited the skills and have the ability to copy and make almost any kind of light weapon. Before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979, they produced mainly rifles and shotguns in addition to a wide range of pistols. Now they are adept at producing exact copies of any light weapon desired in a matter of days. They have been known to make imitation Chinese laser-sight pistols and Japanese pen pistols down to the finest detail.Some of Darra’s older craftsmen have also invented their own designs; for example a shotgun that works like a revolver, with a chamber holding six shells. Unlike the previous two categories of gun manufacturers, the Darra gunsmiths base their business on demand and supply and are acutely aware of the prevalent market trends and demand factors.

At one time they supplied the Afghan mujahideen in their struggle against Soviet occupation. Now they are the main suppliers of guns to Kashmir and to Pakistan’s troubled provinces of Punjab and Sind. Darra ’s shops and factories offer home delivery any where in the country, and are known to have also sold arms to guerrillas from Northern Ireland and the Middle East.

. Both a colonial as well as   Cold War legacy, these traditional grey areas gained increased salience after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. This brought a new dimension to light weapons manufacture and production in this area-the unabated and immeasurable proliferation and inflow of illicit and illegal arms. Before the Soviet incursion, Darra used to produce mainly 9mm. rifles, shotguns and pistols ranging from 0.22 to 0.32 caliber, etc. The Darra manufacturers are now adept at producing very exact copies of kalashnikovs, bazookas, and even rocket launchers.

An important characteristic of Darra and its various manufacturing units is that it is an unorganized enterprise, free from any state licensing, regulation and tax requirements. It is a part of the NWFP’ s tribal belt where no formal state law has been accepted or applied, and the tribal authority, better known as the jirga ,mediates and enforces justice, law and order .The government also cannot do much about the production sale of weapons here, because the state laws do not have jurisdiction over the tribal areas-even the British couldn’t establish their writ here. The government can only check the in-country movement of arms from this area, which is indeed a very challenging task.

Arms purchasers are attracted to the Darra because the manufacturing cost of weapons made here is relatively low compared to the state-regulated gun making sectors and the ready availability of a wide variety of weapons with so much pilferage taking place across the border. There is also found in this primitive gun-making cottage industry gunsmiths carrying out innovative changes which are not possible without a certain level of expertise.These arms bazaars of Pakistan are perhaps the best-known example of small-scale production of small arms .Hundreds of one-room operation manufacture copies of AK-47s and other rifles and pistols. Individual craftsmen manufacture small numbers of weapons, with a pistol taking three days to produce and an AK-47 between seven and ten days .But because there are many hundreds of such arms sellers, the overall production figures run into thousands of weapons

Small Arms Trade and Manufacture in Pakistan:

In the case of South Asia and more specifically Pakistan, some very interesting aspects come forth. The source of weapons supply and acquisition has been myriad: ranging from illicit influx, transfer or trade to the local production facilities. Several countries in the region produce SA/LW in the government-owned or public sector enterprise, which is licitly regulated, with India and Pakistan possessing the most developed weapon manufacturing capabilities. But as such the predominant from of acquisition of LW by the state security forces continues to be the import or foreign technology transfer.

Although LW have somewhat always been available in the arms bazaars within the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, such as Darra Adamkhel and Landi Kotal, the major impetus and free flow of modern light weapons has increased manifold after the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The December 1979 Soviet invasion resulted in Pakistan’s proactive support to various Mujahideen outfits engaged in fighting the occupationist forces. This effort was practically driven by its own security interest but mainly on behalf of the US, which provided material and financial assistance to these Afghan guerrillas though Pakistan. The failure or ignorance of the incumbent government of the time to pay adequate attention to this dangerously spiraling trend of weapons accumulation and free flow in the hands of non-state actors aggravated this problem. In spite of the cessation of Soviet occupation, Afghanistan to date remains bitterly embroiled in a civil war, which has cast very severe shadows on the Pakistani civil society.

Before moving further the point to be stressed that when studying weapons proliferation, an important aspect is to keep in perspective the demand and supply factor. The motives for which suppliers and recipients engage in weapons transaction may be mixed. Suppliers may have political or commercial incentives or a combination of both. For this reason, excessive and destabilizing accumulation and transfer of small arms are closely related to the increased incidence of conflicts and high level of crime and violence. It is observed that sub-state or non-state forces make extensive use of such arsenal due to its merits of easy accessibility, storage and handling. Insurgent forces, irregular troops and freedom fighters, criminal groups and sub-state actors harbouring ethnic, religious and sectarian agenda use SA/LW for their particular motives with impunity. Generally speaking the most perturbing aspect of these conflicts is that more than 80% of the causalities are civilian, non-combatants-mostly women and children.

Market Trends and Origins of Arms Proliferation in Pakistan: The main focus with respect to weapons proliferation in Pakistan remains on the unorganized private enterprise at the Landi Kotal, where arms trade continues without any state supervision. In comparison to this, the POF as mentioned earlier creates mainly the military-specific ammunition, the production cost of is relatively expensive. Secondly, the POF manufactured ammunition has a very limited and restricted clientele. Another contributing factor is that POF sells only through designated distributors.

Secondly, the organized sector manufacturers are also bound to sell their products only to licensed buyers. This again limits their sale capacity. The overall number of licensed gun owners is not more than 80,000-90,000 people of the entire country’s population. This makes the legal market a very small one, which is adequately served by the private producers

But recent trends indicate that the estimated number of weapons in circulation is much higher than tabulated. The rising ethno-sectarian strife, civil war in Afghanistan, and an enhanced sense of insecurity arising out of factors such as poor economic conditions, bad governance and deteriorating law and order situation, have given rise to a level of frustration and discontent. It is witnessed that this rising sense of apathy and social injustice has strengthened the appeal of SA/LW. Darra and its cheaper rates attract not only non-state actors, who purchase these weapons in bulk, but also a second category of buyers, such as officials, aw enforcing agents, influential politicians,  feudal and tribal lords who regard possession of light weapons as a status symbol. Moreover the various governments too have contributed to exacerbating this situation by giving licenses for prohibited bore weapons to politicians and influential interest arming one (ethnic/sectarian) group against another from time to time.

A principal source of weapons proliferation and supply to areas of regional and domestic conflict, the unorganized sector has a minimal manufacturing capacity of producing per unit a hundred weapons per day .With a very sudden and dramatic termination of the Afghan conflict, the political governments after Zia’s military rule proved to be ineffective in solving this menace. Although attempts were made in the past and present to curb the proliferation and indiscriminate usage of small arms, they are very much an indicator of a dysfunctional state apparatus.

In Pakistan, the failure of governance-especially with regard to narcotics production and smuggling-coupled with the country’s proximity to Afghanistan and involvement in the attempts to end the Soviet occupation of the country, has aggravated an already dire law-and-order situation. In many cases, access to light weapons has facilitated or intensified conflicts, often by emboldening the protagonists. Consequently, the ability of security forces has declined corresponding with the increased firepower enjoyed by the forces pitted against them. As regards the leakage of these illicit arms, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan unshared in a new era in the light weapons trade in South Asia,   with millions of tons of military material including SA/LW, being imported into the region.

Other countries also contributed in one way or indirect assistance in both material and finances. For example, China wary of Soviet designs contributed weaponary, while Saudi Arabia came forth with financial assistance. As a front line ally, Pakistan became the main conduit for this massive military assistance programme, with its top intelligence outfit, inter-services intelligence (ISI), managing the receipt and distribution and the American CIA coordinating the supply of weapons. With a bitter Vietnam experience still fresh in memory, the United States, at least initially, did not want to be seen as providing direct military assistance for the Mujahideen, and for these reason massive amounts of arms were purchased from the Chinese government. Interesting trends could be witnessed in this undercover arms pipeline; the CIA would procure through Egypt large amounts of antipersonnel mines originally produced in Italy. During this period, weapons even of Israeli and as Indian makes could also be found in circulation. The CIA would then arrange for the arms to be either flown to Islamabad or shipped, via Oman, to Karachi.

The US-orchestrated arms shipments had a fundamental impact on the war in Afghanistan. Moreover, the autonomy given to the Pakistan intelligence services in controlling the distribution of weapons was to have a profound effect on subsequent security conditions in the region. Washington’s “hand-off” policy of allowing the ISI to control the arms pipeline was largely the product of Oakley’s belief that the United States had failed in Vietnam because of excessive governmental interference and mismanagement.

One factor contributing to the availability of small arms and light weapons in many areas (of conflict) is their earlier supply by Cold War opponents. Much of the supply and acquisitions of arms in the regions of conflict dealt with by the UN has been conducted by Governments or by legal entities authorized by the Governments. Some states have exercised insufficient control and restraint over transfers and holdings of small arms and light weapons. Moreover, arms supplies associated with foreign interference in areas of conflict are still a feature of current realities. In general, the lines of supply often are complex and difficult to monitor, facilitated by the relative ease with which small arms and light weapons can be concealed.

Not surprisingly, the arms pipeline to the Mujahideen leaked significantly. By the time the weapons reached Mujahideen field commanders, they had been loaded and off-loaded at least fifteen times while transported over the distance of several thousand kilometers by trucks, ships, trains, and pack animals. How many weapons leaked out of the pipeline is unknown, but the estimates run into millions of unaccounted for weapons. One glaring proof of this is the April1988 Ojhri camp blast in the Rawalpindi metropolis, which claimed not less than 100 civilan lives. Although no official version of the inquiry conducted came out, it is generally speculated that the blast was engineered to cover-up for the undelivered and hoarded weapons, and there is also a major link between this incident and the Iran Contra scandal.

Another contributing factor, however diminutive is that Afghans returning to their country after months or years in the refugee camps in the North West Frontier Province have left their weapons behind in Pakistan. This again forms a cause for weapons proliferation. Under the Geneva Accord, it was agreed that any surplus weapons that were left off the pipeline would be handed over to the Afghans, and interestingly there was a frantic arms transfer to Afghanistan, before the agreement came into effect. Most of these were smuggled back into Pakistan and sold in arms bazaars of the tribal area.

Besides, Afghanistan has a significant number of small arms manufacturing units. The trade of these arms is a ready source of income for the war-ravaged Afghan population. With a long porous border that stretches the entire Pakistan-Afghanistan belt, coupled with corrupt and inefficient border control forces, the mechanism fails miserably in effectively checking and curbing the inflow of not only weapons but other forms of smuggling as well. This has made the availability of arms in the commercial market considerably high and in some cases prices have fallen, attracting buyers from all over the country and region to purchase unlicensed weapons. The various weapons on sale in this regard, can be grouped in to four categories;

1.      Weapons that lecked from the US-supported arms pipelines.

2.      The stocks of Soviet weapons captured by the Mujahideen during the conflict.

3.      The third category of weapons is those manufactured by small-scale producers within the region.

4.      Finally, the arms bazaars of the NWFP are full of miscellaneous weapons that must have arrived in the region though extremely circuitous and unpredictable routes-from Vietnam or the Middle East. For instance, G-3s have appeared from Iran, given that border controls between Iran and Pakistan were relaxed after the fall of the shah.

Though there is clear evidence that light weapons are proliferating at an alarming rate from the North to the South, there are also south-to-north movements from Sri Lanka, Singapore, and other starting points in Southeast Asia. There are also discernible east-to west and west-to east movements.

In Pakistan, it is not only the Afghan crisis alone that was instrumental in introducing the Gun Culture. Another very important but relatively ignored aspect was the Baluchistan insurgency of the 1970s, that witnessed a massive inflow of weaponry from the traditional leakage points

There is a dire need for the government to take control of the drug trade and prevent the proliferation and flow of weapons, domestically, regionally and particularly with the help of the international community. What will be difficult, if not impossible to implement is an effective gun control agenda-such as the present regime’s Seven-Stage De-Weaponization Programmes.  This 7- stage formula includes a ban on arms license, and a proliferation on carrying weapons in the first stage, which became effective from March 1, 2000. The other proposals or possibilities under the same action plan were to recover illicit/unlicensed arms, canceling of the prohibited arms licenses and also to regulate and bring under state control arms manufacturing units in the tribal areas. The problem is so acute that there is a need to implement such policies and reforms in their true spirit. Bringing Darra under the state umbrella is an issue that the governments past and present have seriously deliberated upon. As a necessary first step the tribal areas were awarded with the right to Adult Franchise as well, but the possibility of Darra manufacturers agreeing to any state supervision or taxation seems impossible an evidence of which is reaction faced by the government over its attempt to document and evaluate the economy. The government needs to stick to a given time frame and implement the necessary reforms, otherwise the situation could be one as identified by Pamela Constable, in one of her recent Washington post articles, “Pakistani Retreats in Battle for Reform”- that there is found a tendency on part of the Pakistani government to announce bold reforms, only to backtrack later when opposition surfaces.

At the practical level, this new de-weaponisation policy will face many problems, especially in the NWFP and tribal areas where it is part of local culture and tradition to carry a weapon and in fact it also forms a part of their attire. This plan will definitely discourage open display of weapons in major urban centers, but again this will not be able to redress the problem fully.

Efforts made by the past governments were inadequate for either they were not properly articulated or they failed to deal with the real root cause of the problem that is the illicit trafficking of weapons. Whatever measures enforced affected only the manufacturers, thus giving the illegal trading cartels a free hand to conduct their business with impunity.

Although light weapons have always circulated within Pakistan, the impact of the American-sponsored arms pipeline to the Afghan Mujahideen stands head and shoulders above any other adverse development in recent years. The flood of weaponry into the region has clearly played a major part in the erosion of low and order over the past decade. The growing proliferation of and access to small arms are increasing both the communal polarization and the incidence of violence. The very availability of weapons is providing a short-term solution for a long-term problem. At the very point when political discourse and sound governance are required to overcome these problems, the need is to harness our efforts together to combat this menace.

References

“Light Weapons, Small Arms and Landmines: An Identification Manual”, Centre for Defense Studies, King’s college London.Dec.1997.

Ayesha S. Agha , ‘Light Weapons Manufacture ’,in project on Light Weapons, BASIC Working Paper No.2.

Michael T.Klare, “ Light Weapons Diffusions and Global Violence in Post-Cold War Era”, in Jasjit Singh(ed) Light Weapons  and International Security, Delhi, 1995.

Chris Smith, Light Weapons and Ethnic Conflict in South Asia”, in Jeffery Bout well (ed), Lethal Commerce, Cambridge, 1995,pp.

India Arms and Abuses in Indian Punjab and Kashmir”, Human Rights Watch Arms Project6 (10), Washington,1994,pp..

Ayesha S. Agha, “Light Weapons Manufacture in the Public and Private Sectors: A View from Pakistan”, Project on Light Weapons Working Paper no.2, British American Security Information Council, p.3.

Tara Kartha, ‘South Asia; A Rising Spiral of Proliferation’, Background Paper, Geneva: Small Arms Survey, 2000.

The 1999 Report of the UN Group of Government Experts on Small Arms,  August1999.

O Roy, “The Lessons of the Soviet/Afghan War”, A Delhi                                                                                                                   paper no.259,[London International Institute of Strategic Studies,1991].