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Rights Group: 461 Pakistani Women Killed Wed Dec 11, 6:45 AM ET By MUNIR AHMAD, Associated Press Writer ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan's main human rights body said Wednesday that at least 461 women have been killed by family members in so-called "honor killings" this year, an increase from the year before. In such killings, women are murdered to protect the "family honor" for immoral behavior ranging from sex outside marriage, dating, talking to men, being raped or even cooking poorly. The 2002 figure is up from about 372 honor killings the year before and demonstrates the need for increased protection for women in Pakistan, the private Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said. The group said it also shows an apparent lack of commitment to fight the practice by Pakistan\'s military government, which had made repeated promises to improve women\'s right in this poor country of 145 million people. "Crimes against women continued to rise this year, and at least 461 women were killed alone in the two provinces of Pakistan in the name of honor," Kamla Hayat, a senior official with the rights commission, told The Associated Press. Hayat said the number of honor killings could be much higher, and that her group is still in the process of compiling a report on crimes against women. Such killings also occur in some other Muslim countries. Hayat, however, said the increase in recorded honor killings might also be the results of an increased willingness by family and friends to report the crime as opposition to the practice grows in some areas. "We are mainly relying on the data collected from the two provinces Punjab and Sindh," Hayat said. The 2001 figures are based on reports from the same two provinces. She said the commission doesn't have enough resources to operate in Baluchistan and the North Western Frontier - deeply conservative provinces that share a border with Afghanistan (news - web sites), where former Taliban regime had introduced a harsher version of Islam. The fact that those conservative regions are not included in the report suggest the number of actual killings is higher. According to the commission's figures, out of 161 slain women in Punjab state, 67 were killed by their brothers, 49 by their husbands and rest of their were executed by other family members. In seven cases, sons killed their mothers. On Nov. 11, a young woman was hacked to death with an ax by close relatives in the southern city of Faisalabad on suspicion that she was having "immoral relations" with a man. The man was also killed. Also in November, a widow was killed by her brother in the industrial city of Gujranwala because the brother suspected she was living with a man outside marriage. In those two cases, the culprits surrendered to police and are awaiting trial, said Mirrat Malik, a research assistant at the commission. In June, a woman in Punjab was gang-raped on the order of a tribal council as punishment for her teenage brother having sex with a woman from another clan. In that case, six men were convicted of attacking her and sentenced to hang. But in most honor killings, the perpetrators are rarely punished. "Unfortunately, police in Pakistan either don't arrest such killers or they are not treated as murderers," Hayat said. For example, of Punjab's 161 cases, only 27 killers were arrested. No figures were available on convictions. But officials said the government has been closely monitoring such crimes against women and move swiftly whenever they are reported. "The government has recently made some changes in the laws to give more protection to the women, and it will be unfair to say that the government is quiet on the subject," said Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema, Director General at Pakistan's Interior Ministry. However, the situation may not improve soon. Pakistani religious parties who made a strong showing in the Oct. 10 parliamentary elections are also in favor of giving only "limited" independence to the women, who make up half of Pakistan's population of 140 million.

Tarun: Haribol! thanks for sharing that recipe, i have been looking for the perfect barbeque sauce mix, i hope this is it! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif keep sending those tried and tested recipes!

the acharyas and saintly persons have always reminded us the mood of this age "kali-yuga", which is tainted with quarrel, chaos, and confusion, alongside with the occurence of natural and man made catastrophies, i guess predicting the exact time and place of such event happening offers little value since we already anticipate that these things are bound to happen, the important thing to think about is how prepared are we when these events happen. Our main focus of activity should be geared towards the improvement of our spiritual life, the recommended activity to achieve the perfection of this life for this age has been revealed by Lord Chaitanya and the acharyas, which is the hearing and chanting of the holy names, its up to us to act on it and share this with others! Nitai Gauranga haribol!

watch out for more of gauracandra's exciting gluten adventures!

gauracandra, haribol! juz want to share with u 2 ez gluten recipes which you may find handy one of these days: AFRITADA- this recipe is a famous dish in our country, the philippines, has its spanish flavor to it, originally this recipe uses chicken, but we are saving more chicken here by replacing the meat with gluten! ½ kg gluten, sliced ¾” 6 pc medium potatoes, diced ¾ 2 pc. Carrots, diced ¾” 4 pc small green and red sweet bell pepper, sliced in squares 1/3 cup celery, sliced small vinegar salt black pepper brown sugar soy sauce olive oil (optional) cooking oil (for frying) tomato sauce Fry sliced gluten chunks that have been seasoned with salt and pepper, until light golden brown and crispy. Drain. Set aside. Slightly fry the potatoes and carrots. Set aside. Saute celery, add bell pepper, add tomato sauce, salt, pepper, brown sugar, and vinegar. Bring to a boil. Add prefried potatoes, carrots, and gluten. Add 1-2 cups of water to make saucy. Bring to boil, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add olive oil if desired. Serve. GLUTEN ALA KING-this recipe needs no introduction ½ k gluten 1 pc each green and red bell pepper 1 cup evaporated milk 1 cup quickmelt cheese (grated) 1 tsp black pepper 1 can pimiento (diced) ½ k potatoes 1 cup sweet peas 1 cup cream of mushrooms leeks (optional) Cut gluten in cubes and fry until golden brown. Set aside. Cut potatoes in cubes and fry until golden brown. Set aside. Saute green and red bell pepper and leeks. Stir in evaporated milk, cream of mushroom and grated cheese and a little amount of water. Season with salt and pimiento. Boil stirring constantly, then add fried gluten, potatoes and sweet peas. Serve. Let me know how it turns out! Haribol!

bebot, haribol! for the meantime you might want to check out mantra meditation 101, you can visit the articles page there where you can read some of siddhaswarupanada's writings, hope you visit the site soon! www.mantra101.ionichost.com

Haribol! juz posted 2 new articles on the mantra meditation 101 website hope you guys check it out after reading this post! thanks! namaste.

theist, Haribol! no harm done pal, just let me know if you got some audio tapes or booklets there, don't forget to sign in the guestbook, and recommend your friends to visit the site! thanks! Namaste.

mahak, Haribol! thanks for visiting the site and signing in the guestbook, hope you'll visit mantra meditation 101 again soon! appreciate your support! Namaste.

Babhru das, Haribol! forgot to thank you for visiting the site, pls. do come back again and don't forget to sign in the guestbook or recommend the site to your friends, so we can encourage other spirit souls to chant God's Names! i'll be adding two (2) more articles which also came from the life force series booklets, the lotus pond article is udpdated weekly as usual. Namaste.

avinash, Thanks for visiting mantra101 and reading the articles, i plan to add two more articles which i got from the life force series booklets, so i can help promote in my own little way the life force publication here. Please do visit the site again. Namaste.

theist, Haribol! I dont have any contact person yet at Transcendental Sound, try giving them a call, their phone number is located at the mantra101 site under the link "learn more", if you have any difficulties, let me know and let's see what we can do here. Thanks! pls. dont forget to sign in the guestbook, ok?

avinash, Haribol, plz. dont forget to visit Mantra Meditation 101 and sign in the guestbook so we can help encourage others especially to chant the Holy Names of God! Thanks! Namaste.

shashi, Haribol! dont forget to visit Mantra Meditation 101 and sign in the guestbook to encourage others to chant the Holy Names! check it out www.mantra101.ionichost.com thanks!

ram, Haribol, The bible verse i mentioned was taken from John 6:17, the Jewish authorities were questioning Jesus' authority in preaching, Jesus replied "Whoever is willing to do what God wants will know whether what I teach comes from God or whether I speak from on my own authority." Regarding your first question what is the need for Jesus if a person is already doing God's will, If that person is already doing God's will the more he will seek a bonafide representative of God, receive instruction from him, and become his servant. On your second question, "what is the use of Jesus to a sinner who doesn't follow God's will?" a bonafide representative of God is the external manifestation of God's mercy, he gives every living entity the opportunity even the most sinful person, to revive his eternal relationship with God. Namaste.

theist, Haribol! that's an interesting point, i remember a verse in the gospel where a person asked Jesus how will he be able to know if Jesus is really the messiah, Jesus replied that if a person is doing his Father's will, that person will recognize that he is the one who is sent by God. The Lord in the heart knows our desires, if we are sincere and serious in our spiritual life, Krishna will arrange our situation in such a way that we will have the opportunity of meeting His bonafide representative, in the same way if we want to seek mediocre gurus, Krishna will also make arrangements to meet bogus gurus, man proposes God disposes as the saying goes. In the Bhagavad Gita 4.11 Krishna told Arjuna: "As all surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Prtha." Namaste.

ecclesiastical guru refers to a person who became a guru by either appointment or election

abhi, Haribol! thanks for the suggestion, I still have no recent pics of Srila Siddhaswarupananda, but will get one soon. Please do visit the site again and don't forget to sign in the guestbook so we can help encourage people to chant the Holy Names of God! Namaste.

Gauracandra, Haribol! thanks for visiting the site, each life force booklet has an average of 30 pages, Siddhaswarupa also wrote two books which is available here in the Philippines: "Who are you?" Discovering Your Real Identity & Reincarnation Explained. Hope you'll visit the site again and sign in the guestbook there, so we could encourage more people to start hearing and chanting God's Holy Names! Thanks again!

Haribol! thanks to the folks here who visited mantra meditation 101, please do visit again and don't forget to sign in the guestbook and let others know how mantra meditation made a difference in your life, the guestbook is located on the link called "mantra meditation works" and I hope you could recommend the website to people who are interested in meditation, thanks so much! really appreciate the assistance and support

ghari, thanks for the suggestion, will do that as soon as i get back to my pc. Haribol!

theist, Haribol! thanks for visiting the site again, hope you can sign on the guestbook on your next visit and also recommend the site to your friends who would like to know about meditation.

Namaste! thanks for the correction on the grammar, the guestbook is found on the left side of the page, there's a link there called "Mantra Meditation Works!", by clicking this link you'll be directed to the guestbook page. I hope you'll visit and try it again! All the information on the website were taken from Siddhaswarupa's Life Force Series Publication, my hats off to the folks there, I believe Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad is well represented in the website, as you read the contents, the essence of Bkativedanta Swami's teaching is always present, since Siddhaswarupa never deviates from the teaching of his Spiritual Master, the message they are sharing to us spirit souls are one in the same. Haribol! hope you can help promote the site!

theist, namaste, thanks for the concern, please try logging again to the site, the site is powered by a free web hosting co. they don't put banners or frames on the site, they just open a simple window which will be on the background of the surfer's main browser window, so he (she) will not see it until he actually leaves the site. Please do visit the webiste again here's the url: www.mantra101.ionichost.com My apologies for any inconvenience. Haribol!

Haribol! I had the opportunity to study bhakti-yoga from Chaitanya Mission Center in Manila, Philippines founded by Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa. I just designed a simple website called Mantra Meditation 101, the main purpose of the site is to provide the spirit souls who usually spend most of their time on the net to have an idea on the real meaning of meditation and understand what is mantra meditation and also encourage them to study and learn more of bhakti-yoga and read the life-force booklet series written by Siddhaswarupa. I humbly ask the forumers here to visit the website and also seek for your kind assistance in helping promote the site, there is a page where you can recommend the site to your friends, and also a guestbook called “mantra meditation works!”, where you can share your personal experience and testimony on how chanting the holy names of God made a difference in your life, so we can bring inspiration and encouragement to people. Please check it out www.mantra101.ionichost.com Thanks so much! Haribol! All the best wishes to jndas and staff and all the folks in this forum!