Muhammad Afzal, the ex-owner of the mini-truck used in the suicide attack on FIA building at Temple Road, Lahore, was found dead in the Sabzazar police lock-up on March 26. He had been arrested by police for being the owner of the truck according to the registration records available with the provincial excise and taxation department.

Initial autopsy report suggests that he died due to anoxia -- a condition caused by disruption in supply of oxygen. However, police sources have revealed that he was subjected to inhumane torture for days. During investigations, Afzal told the police that he had purchased the vehicle from Abbot Road but sold it to someone else whose whereabouts he did not know.

Afzal's fault was that he had not ensured that the buyer of his truck had transferred it into his name. Apparently it seems to be an act of lethargy on his part but the sad side of the story is that he had to pay for it with his life.

If we look around us we can find countless people buying and selling vehicles on open transfer letters and retaining them for indefinite periods. Sometimes a single vehicle changes hands several times as well as the open transfer letter issued by the person who sold it for the first time. In case such vehicle is misused the lives of all who comprise this chain are made miserable. Similarly, if a vehicle is snatched or stolen the incident must be reported to police instantly. In case this is not done and the vehicle is used in execution of a crime in the meanwhile, the owner of the vehicle will become the prime suspect.

It's something that exactly happened with the one-time owner of the motorcycle used in suicide bombing at Naval War College in Lahore on March 4 this year. The motorcycle had changed six hands by then but it was still registered in the name of the person who issued the open transfer letter. A police official, who is handling this case, tells TNS that this person was arrested and asked to identify the buyer of his motorcycle. "Every time we traced a person he would say he had sold the bike to another person on the open transfer letter," he adds.

These people had to go through great ordeal but they were lucky enough to save their lives. But these incidents hint at the fact that a lot of us face similar risks just for the reason that we do not take the matter seriously. Some avoid transferring the vehicle to their names to save money while others do that to save time and hassle.

Mukhtar Ahmed, a second-hand motorcycle dealer, tells TNS that many a time the owners of the vehicles leave them with the dealers along with signed and undated open transfer letters. This is done to facilitate the dealers who can sell the vehicle to walk-in customers at the spur of the moment, he says. But the proper way is to bring buyers and customers face to face and make them complete all the formalities there and then.

Mukhtar says certain dealers prefer to adopt the first method as it can ensure them a good profit margin whereas in the second case he only gets a fixed commission as the seller knows the exact sale price. Another reason why sales are made on open letters is that the buyers and sellers do not have much time to wait for each other and spend hours on price negotiations. Besides, the dealers are also in a position to tell prospective buyers that the vehicle brought for sale has remained in the possession of one person and not changed many hands.

According to the rules in place, the seller of a vehicle has to give it to the buyer in writing that the said vehicle is free from all encumbrances, liabilities and litigations. Copies of identity cards of the seller/purchaser, transfer letter, an affidavit on non-judicial stamp paper saying that the vehicle is not stolen or involved in any criminal case and a transfer deed also have to be produced at the time of the deal. The transfer deed has to be signed in the presence of witnesses but this is never done.

Muhammad Afzal, an official at the Excise and Taxation Office, Lahore tells TNS that as per the law in place the transfer letter expires after 30 days of registration of vehicle sale deed. A person is supposed to get the vehicle registered in his name during this time period. This happens only in cases in which transfer deeds are brought on record and not those where the parties to the deal refrain from documenting it.

A look at the transfer fees fixed for different vehicles by the department shows that great risks are taken to avoid small sums of money. For example, transfer fee for a motorcycle or scooter is Rs 150, for vehicles with engine capacity up to 1000 cc it is Rs 1200, for those with engine capacity exceeding 1000 cc but not exceeding 1800 cc it is Rs 2000, for 1800 cc and above the amount is Rs 3000 and for heavy transport vehicle the transfer fee is Rs 4000.

Inspector Babar Ali, posted at crime record office, Lahore tells TNS that it's pity that people do not bother to verify that the vehicle sold by them has been transferred to the buyer's name. He says it's as important as ensuring that a particular mobile number is in the possession of the person in whose name the sim is registered.

About stolen vehicles he says these are often used to execute other crimes like dacoities, abductions, carrying illegal arms, drugs and bombs and so on. That's why it is suggested that whenever a vehicle is stolen or snatched the deprived owner must immediately report its theft to police emergency service, he says.

The menace is so big that even the Interpol General Secretariat has developed an Automated Search Facility -- Stolen Motor Vehicle (ASF-SMV) database to support fight against international vehicle theft and trafficking. At the end of 2007, the Interpol database held more than 4.2 million records of reported stolen motor vehicles.

•5th Workshop of the EU Fashion Cycle

-- Supply Chain Management for the Garment Industry

from Sat, April 5 to Mon, April 7 from 8:30am to 5:30pm

at Pearl Continental Hotel.

• An exclusive evening with the finest and most distinguished humour writer of our times Mushtaq Ahmed Yusufi at Lahore University of Management Sciences on Friday, April 11 at 6pm.

• A.R. Rehman's Famous Musical Play 'Bombay Dreams' at Alhamra Hall I, The Mall till Sunday, April 20, 2008.

• 5th Workshop of the EU Fashion Cycle -- Supply Chain Management for the Garment Industry till Mon, April 7 from 8:30am to 5:30pm at Pearl Continental Hotel.

• 8th Biennial Conference on Chest Diseases and Tuberculosis at Pearl Continental Hotel on Thursday, April 10 to Sunday April 13.

• LPC Tournament at Lahore Polo Club from Monday, April 7 to Sunday, April 13. Handicap limit: 2-6 goals.

• Film: Salam Bombay (1988) at Punjab Lok Rahs on Friday, April 11 at 7pm. It will be shown on Sunday as well which is April 13 at 5pm.

•Puppet Show for Children every Sunday at Alhamra, The Mall at 11am. Fee: Rs. 5/10.

•Puppet Shows for everyone every Sunday at Peerus Cafe at 3pm.

Lahore is at once ancient and modern, rural and urban. It is a city with character. The people of Lahore are affable and gregarious. They toil hard and enjoy life's every precious moment. The Lahore city is also rich in cultural activities like festivals/ fairs, and such events are beauty of a culture. Mela Chiraghan or Mela Shalamar is a famous and the biggest festival of Lahore. It started with much enthusiasm at the shrine of Shah Hussain in Baghbanpura on Saturday 29th March and continued for three days.

Auqaf Department had arranged various programmes for the occasion -- a Mehfil-e-Naat, Mehfil-e-Samaa, recitations of the Holy Quran, spiritual gatherings, and a Husn-e-Qirat session. During the festival, people from all walks of life gather from all over the province to actively participate in the festival. Saturday was a local holiday. The second day of the festival was reserved for women who came in large numbers to the shrine. The mela provides entertainment to all sorts of people.

If we look back at history we find lesson of love with Allah and message of friendship. Shah Hussain was born in 1538. At the age of 10 years, Shah Hussain was sent to Hafiz Abu Bakar at the local mosque for formal and religious education. According to tradition, he memorised the Quran at very early age. Shah Hussain's life changed when Sufi, Hazart Sheikh Behlol, visited Lahore to guide Shah Hussain on the order of a religious elder. Hazart Sheikh Behlol asked Shah Hussain to bring water to perform ablution from river. So Shah Hussain fetched water from River Ravi for him. The saint then prayed to Allah to bless Hussain with a broad vision and accepted him as his disciple. Shah Hussain spent 26 years in worship of Allah and reading verses of the Holy Quran. Although Hussain was a celebrated seasoned poet with a large following and Madho a Hindu Brahmin boy who later accepted Islam -- he was a close friend and companion of Shah Hussain. One day Madho said to his friend, "you are well known but what will become of me when you are no longer there. No one will ever know about me." That moment to immortalise the friendship Shah Hussain said people will call your name first, then mine and he decided to call himself Madho Lal Hussain.

Hussain's poetry consists entirely of short poems known as 'Kafis', usually four to ten lines. The main theme of the saint's poetry is knowing Allah by knowing ourselves. He passed away at the age of 63 in 1599. He was initially buried in Shahdara but 13 years later the body was exhumed and reburied at Baghbanpura. One of his famous Kafi is

Main wi janan dhok Ranjhan di, naal mare

koi challey

Pairan paindi, mintan kardi, jaanan tan peya

ukkaley

Neen wi dhoonghi, tilla purana, sheehan ney

pattan malley

Ranjhan yaar tabeeb

sadhendha, main tan dard

awalley

Kahe Husain faqeer namana, sain senhurray

ghalley

The grandeur of Mela Chiraghan is still intact with people swarming to the mela every year in ever greater number. The ambience of the mela is such that everybody who goes there becomes part of the festivity. During the festival, pilgrims toss candles into a large bonfire as legend has it that anyone doing this would be granted their wish by Allah. The festival include the burning of hashish, singing of saint's kafis and qawwalis. Another attraction at the urs is the dancing transvestites and eunuchs on the beat of drum.

The road approaching the tomb is decorated with colourful stalls of toys, pots, decoration pieces and so on. Circus and entertaining points like maut ka kunwan (well), maut ka golla, snake girl and baby with four hands also attracted people in huge number. All sort of traditional food was on sale like gol gappas, fruit chats, dahi bhallays, qatlamas, andrassas and others.

A young girl with her siblings and cousins swinging there said, "our family comes to this mela every year because this is good entertainment. Moreover, they wear new clothes on mela and get money from their parents just like eidi. Many of their relatives come to their home on this mela. Asma (her cousin) further said, this festival gives them opportunity to get-together.

The popularity of this mela can be guaged from what Nadeem, a visitor to the mela shares with TNS. He says villages surround this area and villagers enjoy this mela very much after harvesting the crops.

In the past this festival was held inside Shalamar Bagh. Theatre presented programmes on roads like songs and dance. Now there is no such activity. Mela is also held outside the garden on main road and on the streets which lead to the mazar of the sufi poet.

Though life is busier now, for many people this festival is entertaining and a sale point. Despite all the changes which time has brought, the spirit of Mela Chiraghan is still alive. It is not just a mela but a tradition close to the hearts of the people. A tradition that says if Madho Lal and Shah Hussain could co-exist in the 16th Century then why not in the 21st century?

Unfortunate Mohsin Ali, 12 year old insane child, resident of Chandar Kot, a village in district Nankana Sahib told his parents one afternoon that he was going to roof top to fly kite on March 1, 2008. For his parents it was a routine matter so they did not stop him but after an hour they heard that their child crying.

"I thought that he might have fallen down on the ground while flying kite and rushed to the roof but I did not find him anywhere on the roof or street. Suddenly, I found that the cry of my son was coming from the drawing room (baithak) of our neighbour master Majeed," his mother Ghafooran Bibi tells TNS. She informed her husband Ashiq Ali about the situation and he along with two sons went to Majeed's house to find out what had happened to Mohsin.

Mohsin's father Ashiq Ali says, "We knocked at the door but nobody opened it so we got inside forcefully and found Munna, brother-in-law of Majeed, molesting my insane child. He, with the help of his pistol, managed to escape from the scene. My child was in real bad condition at that time. He was bleeding from the anus and crying with pain," says the father. The family took the child to District Headquarter (DHQ) Hospital Nankana Sahib where doctors also confirmed Mohsin's molestation. The medical report clearly reads 'redness, swelling present around the anus of Mohsin on March 2, 2008 at 7:30 in the morning".

On March 3, 2008 Sadar police station Nankana Sahib registered a case against Munna on application of Mohsin's father under section 377 but so far the person alleged for sodomising Mohsin has not been arrested by the police. TNS contacted Inspector Mansab Dogar, in charge of Sadar Police Station and Sub-inspector Ashraf, in charge investigation officer of the case but both told TNS that as they have to handle hundreds of cases they do not know much about this one. Both bought some time but after two hours their mobile numbers were found switched off while according to thana Muharrar Mansab Dogar had gone to meet district police officer while Ashraf to the court.

Legal experts believe that police is being unlawful by not arresting the accused. They think that the case is very strong against the accused as the medical report has already mentioned that the child has been sodomised. Advocate in the Lahore High Court, Rana Mehboob says that Section 377 deals with carnal intercourse that is considered unnatural and the accused has this charge on him. There is 14 years' imprisonment for it upon conviction. "Though a medico-legal report is important in a case, a witness from the side of the victim is enough to get the accused penalised," Rana says.

Child molestation is a real big problem. According to Sahil, leading NGO working on children's sexual abuse in Pakistan, the data in 2006 shows 2447, including 1794 females and 653 males were sexually assaulted while according to HRCP in 2007 258 children were raped/gang-raped in Pakistan with so many other cases of sexual abuse. Adil Ahmed, a senior official of Sahil tells TNS that many of the cases regarding children sexual abuse are not reported. If a family shows courage to report such a case they are discouraged. They face many social pressures to withdraw the case, even police authorities in many cases force victim's family for reconciliation," says the lawyer.

The situation is also similar in this case. Mohsin's family tells TNS that four brothers of Munna are employees of police (namely Zahid, Sakhawat, Sajjad and Tariq. All four brothers are constables in district Sheikhupura and that is the reason why police is not arresting him.

"The family of the accused who lives in Farooqabad, a town in Sheikhupura district, has submitted an application in Farooqabad police station where one of his brothers is also employed that we have kidnapped Munna. Police has been threatening us that a case of kidnapping Munna can be registered against us on the basis of that application if we do not forgive Munna," says Ashiq Ali, the little boy's father.

He also tells TNS, "police authorities are telling us that the case we have registered against the accused, is fake and now we should withdraw the case against him. I have spent more than 40,000 rupees so far during the process of registration of case and believe me that to arrange that much money I had to sell my cattle and some land as well," says Mohsin's father. According to him he just wants justice for his child.

Mohsin's mother tells TNS that after that incident the child is very upset. He looks very frightened and does not get out of the house. He has also left flying kites which was his favourite hobby before that incident. I am really feeling sorry for him and feeling very bad that I am unable to get even justice for my kid," she says. The other residents of the village also know the incident very well. According to Hanif Jutt, a resident of the same village, though he did not see anyone molesting the child but "the condition of the child was so very bad on that day that it clearly showed that somebody had sodomised the boy," he says.

Tariq Malik, a 30 years old resident of the same village tells TNS the case registered against Munna is true. "On March 1, after Mohsin was molested a panchayat was held in the village where brother-in-law of the accused, master Majeed admitted publicly that he (Munna) had molested Mohsin and he was sorry for his act and requested Mohsin's family to forgive him for this crime but the family refused to forgive. At that the panchayat which mostly consisted of the baradari of master Majeed, threatened Ashiq Ali and his family," he says. According to him every body knows that Mohsin has been molested by Munna but as the family of Munna is influential and the victim's is poor, people are not helping the victim's family properly. Even the police authorities instead of helping the victim, are trying to save the molester," he says.

1. Balsam

2. Photolacca

3.Zenia

4. Motia

5. Raat ki Rani

6. Tube Roses

7. Chambeli

8. Din ka Raja

9. Kalgha

10. Cosmos

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