Shafiq Ur Rahman Khan

In the beautiful state of Himachal Pradesh, there is a handful of tribal communities who have resided in every hook and corner of the region. Due to this reason, very naturally, the famous anthropologists of the Indian subcontinent have thronged the state in order to study various aspects of the life style and tradition of the tribes of Himachal Pradesh. Just like any other tribal communities of the Indian subcontinent, these tribes of Himachal Pradesh too have showed the cultural exuberance. Dancing, musical melodies, festivals, fairs etc bore evidence to it. By nature, these tribes of Himachal Pradesh too are extremely social and love to make friends with other tribal communities. Majority of these tribes of Himachal Pradesh state belong to the famous Indo - Aryan family group. As far as the physical appearances are concerned, these tribes of Himachal Pradesh also have got identifiable features of that of an Indo - Aryan or Mongoloid. As far as the occupations are concerned, these ...

Question :- What does Islam say about honor killings? Does Islam really have a concept of honor killings, most of the victims here are females; so does Islam really order to kill females in the name of honor? Fatwa : - In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. Dear brother and sisters in Islam, we do really appreciate your question, which shows how far you are interested in getting yourself well-acquainted with the sound teachings of Islam. May Allah bless your efforts in pursuit of knowledge and may He keep us all firm in the straight path! Sister, it’s a well-known fact that Islam maintains the protection of life and does not sanction any violation against it. In the Glorious Qur’an, Allah, Most High, says, “Whoso slayeth a believer of set purpose, his reward is Hell for ever. Allah is wroth against him and He hath cursed him and prepared for him an awful doom.” (An-Nisa’: 93) `Abdull...

A case of exploitation of migrant labourers from Madhya Pradesh at an upcoming power project in Kinnaur has come to the fore. Labour officer, Kinnaur, Munish Sood has rescued 21 labourers, residents of Bara village in Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh, from the 1,000-MW JP power project coming up at Karchamangtu, in Kinnaur district. Sources said the labourers were beaten and forced to work for more than 12 hours a day in tunnels of the project without any proper facility. They had injury marks and one of the labourers Kailash had to be hospitalised. In their written statements before the administration, they alleged that they were brought from their village on a plea that they would be employed in Delhi. A middleman, Umesh, brought 26 labourers to the project about a month ago. At the JP power project, the labourers were working for contractor Ravinder Negi. They were made to work in extreme harsh conditions at the site and were beaten in case they protested against the maltreatmen...

--> PUNJAB SCENARIO Economic prosperity isn't always a sign of social progress. The Social fabric of Punjab consists of hierarchy based on caste, class and community. Another significant characteristic of the Status of Women in the State is the absence of a homogeneous social, cultural and economic structure that makes any generalizations about the conditions of women impossible. There are huge regional differences to contend with. The obvious diversities in women’s situation in the different regions of the State extend to health, literacy, education and sex ratio of mortality, employment, incidence of poverty, political participation and so forth. Such diversities can be attributed to the pre-existing levels of development, availability or otherwise of natural resources, policies of the State Government and regional socio-cultural norms and beliefs. A new study using gender disaggregated statistical indicators has highlighted disparities in gender development across...

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on 29 July 2009, ruled out enactment of a new law to deal with honour killings but said the government was ready to consider whether the crime should be defined. He said caste panchayats, which aid and abet such killings, are equally guilty and should be treated as murder accomplices. His statement came after several MPs in the Rajya Sabha demanded enactment of a special law to deal with honour killings after several such incidents were reported recently. Speaking on a calling attention motion moved by CPM’s Brinda Karat, members also sought action against caste panchayats which often pronounce verdicts on inter-caste and inter-community marriages. While observing that “we should hang our heads in shame when such incidents take place in India in the 21st century”, the Home Minister said honour killings “would have to be dealt with as murder”. The answer to honour killings is not to make another law, he said. “Whatever law we make, honour killing is mur...

Migration is understood simply as a process of movement by people from one place to another, with an objective in mind. It is however, a process of some complexity. M.S.A. Rao states, “…it is a shift in the place of residence for some length of time…” (Rao 1986: 19) and is rooted in the economic, socio-cultural, ecological and political realities of a society. It is while examining trafficking in all its dimensions, that one’s attention shifts to migration. The concern of this focus is mainly a search for more effective strategies, to combat trafficking, especially in the area of prevention, without violating the rights of migrants. Radhika Coomarswamy’s report provides important indicators for the possible intersections between trafficking and migration (United Nations 2000) . The two recent reports published by Raymond and Blanchet have made this relationship the basis of their studies. The relationship is stated to be important because an understanding of migration trends and pa...