In Pakistan, LOVE is a RISKY Business.

The media has been abuzz the past few weeks with different stories of women / ladies who have been shot, beaten, stoned or even murdered for the same crime. Their crime in their country is one that is taken for granted in other countries and isn't even considered a crime at all.  Their crime was marrying the men they loved instead of marrying men that were chosen for them.

Last month in Pakistan, a woman by the name Farzana Iqbal was attacked and killed by her own family members for marrying the man she loved. The case drew international attention and was even condemned by the UN "because it happened in broad daylight" in the center of the city of  Lahore. Makes me wonder if the time and the venue is the reason for the UN condemnation of the act or the very act itself is the reason the UN spoke against it.

An 18 year old woman Saba Maqsood, has survived being shot and thrown into a canal by her family and this is just weeks after the death of Farzana Iqbal. One would tend to wonder "since she has survived this dastardly act from her family, she can or should be presumed dead to her family, is she therefore free to go back home to her husband when she has fully recuperated without her former family interfering with her life considering that they have more or less killed her once already?

This so-called honor killings, has me wondering if it has it's roots in tradition or in Islam. Did the Prophet Mohammed (pbuh) actually prescribe the killing of daughters for the crime of loving and choosing a man to be their lawful husband?

Mind you, please note that this is not the same as adultery because the ladies or women involved in these issues actually marry the men of the own choosing, men that they know and love.

Does the Quran say that it is a sin for women to happy?
Does the Quran forbid women from marrying the men that they love?
Does the Quran forbid women from being happy marrying the man the love?

It seems to be, that if it does then the Quran and the Prophet (pbuh) would be accused of hypocrisy because the  Prophet (pbuh) married the wife of his late boss. She clearly chose him and not him her. She certainly could have married someone else.

I do not know if the people involved in this honor killings actually read the Quran but I strongly doubt that they do.

We are one family; Japan & China.

Now it's been about 70 something years after the Sino-Japan and world war II. A lot of the nations that were involved in the wars have moved on. A lot have forgotten about the war(s) but have taken from the war(s) and the aftermath, the crucial lessons that needed to be learned (and still need to be learned because history has a very cunning way of repeating itself because the next generation most of the times are too hard headed and bent on revenge that they do not learn anything. They just can't see that there is no point to violence regardless of how you may justify it. 

The nations that learnt a thing or two from the wars understand that it just comes down to killing your distant cousins (considering that the whole planet is made of individuals who have somehow intermarried (probably not on a large enough scale) to a point where even if we want to disregard the biblical origin of man, we are still somehow bound together regardless of race or creed.

Now imagine on the Asian front where everyone looks like everyone to the untrained foreign eye. You would most definitely wonder why the begrudge one another considering that they probably have the same ancient ancestors. 

I have always wondered who God would support if and when a Christian nation (if there really is any) goes to war against another Christian nation. or who would the Buddha support when these Asian nations get at one another's jugulars or who does the prophet Mohammed (pbuh) support when the Islamic nations begin to destroy one another with suicide bombers et. al. all for the hope of a Lascivious afterlife.

China and Japan have had their bilateral relations on ice for a while now. Most of this because Japan seeks to be a truly self governing nation and not just a colony of another. Is this a bad thing? 

Japan seeks the right to protect or defend itself from or against external aggression and aggressors. Is this a bad thing? 

Japan seeks to be able to contribute to the defense of it's allies if and when needed. Is this a bad thing? 

Japan is the most anti-war nation on earth as of today but does that mean that Japan should allow itself to be intimidated by nations that have their heads buried in the past? 

People make mistakes, communities make mistakes, nations make mistakes but they do not have to sit down there at the spot where the mistake was made. The mistakes were made so that following generations would not fall into the traps that caused or produced such mistakes. Mistakes are a part of life. 

No one here is a professional at life, we all are learning as we go. It is wrong for the previous generation(s) to keep sowing the seeds of hatred and distrust in the minds of the future generations. It is the responsibility of the previous generation to ensure that the future generations get it right where they (the previous generation) got it wrong.

In Japan, it is clearly understood that "an eye for an eye makes the world go blind". The devastating effects of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused an awakening of a consciousness that "Nothing good comes out of war". 

Japan had made it clear that it wasn't interested in wars, weapons or unnecessary disputes however, the Prime minister can not go to a Buddhist temple or shrine to offer prayers because, China or Korea would make a fuss about it. Just because some there are some folks you do not consider to be worth been remembered interred there should that be a reason for the hundreds or thousands of others who are also interred there to have their memory swept into oblivion?

China's attitude and stance is and can be seen as that of a bully or of a younger brother who would not let his elder brother forget he ever wronged him. It really amazes me because the folks who were originally involved in the war dance have mostly passed away and the remnants are already advanced in age. 

China is in the news most of the time now and it has mostly been for the wrong reasons. Reasons like land grab and intimidation, air pollution (PM 2.5) destruction of nature and natural habitats etc. I am still very open minded to China. I believe that China needs to be helped to heal so that China can contribute on a more meaningful scale to the furtherance of peace on earth.

Rather than China spending precious time on monitoring issues that are Japan's business, like Yasukuni shrine visitation or non visitation, rewriting or revising of the Japanese constitution, laying claims to ALL the islands  around China and her neighbors, Japan's ground self defense force (GSDF) amidst others. China clearly needs to heal internally and then externally and then contribute to a more peaceful Asia and the world in general.