Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

India-Pakistan

'Horrific, cold-blooded murder': Civil-military leadership deplores Sialkot mob lynching

2021-12-05

[GEO.TV] Pakistain's civil-military leadership on Friday strongly reacted to the Sialkot mob lynching, where a Sri Lankan national was tortured to death over allegations of blasphemy

...the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. Some religions consider it to be a crime. In Pakistain you can commit blasphemy by looking cross-eyed at a Koran...
.The man, identified as Priyantha Kumara, was working as a production manager at a private factory on Wazirabad Road in Sialkot. The workers also vandalised the factory premises and blocked traffic.

Authorities have been able to arrest "more than 100 people" and claim to have apprehended the main suspect behind the incident, which has drawn sharp rebuke from a wide section of society.

In response to the incident, Prime Minister Imran Khan
...aka The Great Khan, who isn't your heaviest-duty thinker, maybe not even among the top five...
said he was supervising the probe and vowed that the government would take action against the culprits.

"The horrific vigilante attack on [a] factory in Sialkot and the burning alive of [the] Sri Lankan manager is a day of shame for Pakistain," the prime minister said.
One of many. Usually they don't murder foreigners, but the dear departed probably looked like a Hindoo.
The premier said he was "overseeing the investigations and let there be no mistake all those responsible will be punished with [the] full severity of the law".

"Arrests are in progress," he added.

'DEFINITELY VERY SAD'
President Arif Alvi appreciated the "prompt action" taken by the prime minister and the government, as he termed the incident "definitely very sad and shameful, and not religious in any way whatsoever".
Just another disgrace on a disgraceful nation.
"Islam is a religion that established canons of deliberative justice rather than mob lynchings," the president noted.
That's why we never see them in other Islamic countries.
'COLD-BLOODED MURDER'
The Inter-Services Public Relations issued a statement on behalf of Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa which termed the act a "cold-blooded murder".

"The cold-blooded murder of Sri Lankan [national], Mr Priyantha Kumara, by a mob in Sialkot is extremely condemnable and shameful," the statement said.

"Such extrajudicial vigilantism cannot be condoned at any cost," it added.
Two thirds of them will be released without charges. The remainder will either skip bail or be acquitted down the road.
The ISPR said that Gen Bajwa has directed the army to extend "all-out support to civil administration to arrest perpetrators of this heinous crime and bring them to justice".

RASHEED CALLS FOR NATION'S COLLECTIVE EFFORT
Minister for Interior Sheikh Rasheed said the heartbreaking incident was condemnable and assured that federal agencies were assisting the Punjab
1.) Little Orphan Annie's bodyguard
2.) A province of Pakistain ruled by one of the Sharif brothers
3.) A province of India. It is majority (60 percent) Sikh and Hindoo (37 percent), which means it has relatively few Moslem riots....
government in apprehending the culprits.

"National Crisis Management Cell is monitoring the situation [...] we will present the culprits before the court," the interior minister said.
While you're at it, why not round up the people who killed the Christian couple at the brickyard? Remember, they were burnt alive too.
Rasheed added that the entire nation would have to work to halt "extremism in the name of religion".
This happened in Pakistain, not in the world.
'MOST REPREHENSIBLE ACT'
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan termed the incident "shameful and most reprehensible".
They don't feel shame like we do, and they never get reprehended.
"No one can take law into their own hands and kill and maim. [The Government of Pakistain] will make sure that those who did this act are arrested, brought before law and justice is delivered ASAP," he said.
Sure they will.
'HORRIFIC'
Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari said mob violence was not acceptable under any circumstances as Pakistain had laws to deal with "all" offences.
Happens all the time. Ask Mukhtaran Mai.
"Horrific and condemnable act of the mob attack on factory and murder of Sri Lankan manager in Sialkot [...] Punjab govt's action must & will be firm and unambiguous," the minister said.

'HEARTBREAKING; BRUTALITY'
PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz said the incident was heartbreaking and wondered whether "this brutality" was the country's identity.
It's the sort of thing I think of every time I think of Pakistain.
"Is this brutality our identity and the future of our coming generations? Will this country be considered a safe country? Will this state be considered safe? Whom will a person ask a question, when there is no such thing as a government?" she asked.

'TIME WE FOLLOWED PROPHET'S (PTUI!) MESSAGE'
PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif

...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab...
dubbed the incident as "utterly horrific and shocking", as he said that such actions must be condemned and discouraged.

The PML-N president said the people responsible should be held responsible in line with the law. "It is time we followed our beloved Prophet's (PTUI!) message of peace, compassion, love, and mercy for all in true letter and spirit!"

'WEAPONISING RELIGION LEADS TO MOB RULE'
PPP Senator Sherry Rehman said "weaponising religion leads to mob rule" and stressed that religion could not be used to justify unlawful acts.

"Justice lies at the heart of legitimacy and must be done by the state. [...] Sialkot is a terrible example that has to be addressed head on," the PPP senator said.

TLP DEMANDS TRANSPARENT PROBE
Tehrik-e-Labbaik Pakistain's (TLP) spokesperson said that it was a disappointment that some elements were connecting the TLP to the incident.

"The Sialkot incident must be investigated transparently keeping in mind various angles, including the context of the incident and the conspiracy factor," stated the spokesperson.

"All those who are part of the Sialkot lynching should be arrested."

The TLP spokesperson added that no one would be allowed to take the law into their hands if rule and law were established in the country.

"Our country cannot tolerate chaos and bloodshed."

'INSULT TO ISLAM AND HUMANITY': JI
Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
chief Siraj-ul-Haq condemned the Sialkot lynching in the strongest words, saying that it was an insult to Islam and humanity.

"The cold-blooded murder of the Sri Lankan factory manager has brought shame to Pakistain," he lamented. "A transparent inquiry should be held into the incident and all those found guilty should be handed exemplary punishments."

Special Assistant to the Punjab Chief Minister on Information Hasaan Khawar updated the number of arrests to 118, saying that 200 raids had been conducted and that among those detained were 13 primary suspectshttps://t.co/h8PE6eOdDn
— Dawn.com (@dawn_com) December 4, 2021

Link

India-Pakistan

Police officials summoned in DI Khan girl stripping case

2019-10-26

[DAWN] A Beautiful Downtown Peshawar

...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistain's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire...
High Court bench on Thursday expressed displeasure at the police’s failure to arrest a prime accused in a DI Khan girl stripping case for two years and summoned the deputy inspector general of police and district police officer of the area for explanation on the matter.

Justice Ikramullah Khan and Justice Mussarat Hilali fixed Nov 20 for the next hearing asking the two police officials to appear before them to explain why the prime accused, Sajawal, hasn’t been arrested.

A teenage girl was stripped and paraded naked in her village in Dera Ismail Khan
... the Pearl of Pashtunistan ...
district.

A high court bench had disposed of a petition filed by the girl on Nov 22, 2017, asking the IGP to submit the investigation progress report to the court’s Human Rights Cell on a regular basis for the examination of the chief justice.

In the petition, the girl had made several prayers to the court seeking protection, recovery of the alleged video of the incident, and the arrest of prime accused Sajawal.

From time to time, the high court heard the case but Sajawal continued to be on the lam.

An officer of DI Khan police told the court that efforts were being made to arrest Sajawal.

The relevant DSP said of the nine accused, eight had been arrested but Sajawal, the criminal mastermind of the incident, was on the lam.

He said the accused’s computerised national identity card had already been blocked by Nadra, while his name had been placed on the exit control list.

The girl had claimed that around two years ago, the prime suspect had blamed her brother for handing over a cellphone to a female member of their family and despite his denial on oath, the panchayat (jirga)had ordered her brother to pay a fine of Rs300,000 to them.

She added that despite the decision of the panchayat, the accused led by Sajawal had paraded her naked in the village on Oct 27, 2017.

In the statement recorded with the magistrate, she had claimed that she had gone in the morning to fetch water from a pond along with some women and while returning, the nine accused forcibly ripped her clothes apart and when the accompanying women tried to cover her, the accused threw it away.

She added that initially, the local police didn’t cooperate with her family and even refused to register FIR but later they did it after the residents protested.

Link

India-Pakistan

SC dismisses review appeal against acquittal of accused in Mukhtaran Mai gang-rape case

2019-06-16

[TRIBUNE.PK] The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a review appeal filed by Mukhtaran Mai against the acquittal of 13 people accused in the gang-rape case.

A three-member bench headed by Justice Gulzar Ahmed announced the decision. The court also stated that the points raised in the petition may be looked at in another case.

Justice Ahmed advised that the petition should be shortened and said: "Shorten the review petition or it will drag on for 10 years."

Mai’s lawyer, Aitizaz Ahsan, informed the court that the Lahore High Court (LHC) in its 2005 verdict had stated that no injuries resulting from a sexual assault were visible even though witness statements said otherwise.

In June 2002, Mai was gang-raped on orders of a ’panchayat’ as punishment after her younger brother was accused of illicit relations with a girl from a rival tribe.

In August 2002, an anti-terrorism court awarded death penalty

to six out of 14 identified by Mai ‐ four were sentenced for rape while two were awarded capital punishment for being part of the village council. The ATC released eight others.

In March 2005, five convicts were acquitted by a Lahore High Court bench while one’s sentence was converted into life imprisonment.

The acquittal was challenged in the apex court. A three-judge bench headed by Justice Mian Shakirullah Jan and comprising former CJPs Nasirul Mulk and Mian Saqib Nisar upheld LHC decision and rejected the appeal in its April 2011 verdict.

Mai filed a review petition against the judgment in May 2011. In her review petition, Mai has pleaded that the court should review and recall the judgment and grant relief as prayed in the appeal. She had also requested the court to constitute a larger bench to hear her petition, contending that she is aggrieved of and dissatisfied with the findings of the court.

Link

India-Pakistan

Justice delayed is justice denied

2019-03-07

[DAILYTIMES.PK] It has now been 17 years since Mukhtaran Mai survived a brutal panchayat-ordered gang rape. Despite the astounding amount of time that has passed and the grizzly nature of the crime, she still hasn’t been able to get justice. It is no wonder that she showed more faith in God than anything elsewhile speaking to Daily Times regarding the Supreme Court’s recent adjournment of her case. Forced to run from pillar to post to receive justice, Mai’s only real ally at this point seems to be her attorney Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, who is representing her pro bono.

Eight of the 14 men Mai accused of being involved in the rape continue to be on the lam. They continue to use legal loopholes in the Pak justice system to evade justice. On the case’s last hearing this past Wednesday, they showed up to the court without any legal representation, forcing the presiding judge to adjourn the case until March 27. It is unfortunate that these men have been given a rather long reprieve once again. What makes matters worse is that this is a country where members of the judiciary in the past have been seen jumping past all legal hurdles to order the construction of mega infrastructure projects etc., but a high profile rape case has taken ages to reach its logical conclusion. What causes more anguish to the victim is that the Lahore High Court had previously acquitted six of the previously convicted accused.

The Pak justice system must now prove that it is able to protect women from such brutal crimes. Apart from this, it must also prove that it is able to crack down on the parallel systems of justice that order such heinous sentences. Mai’s case must not face any more delays. The case must be expedited so justice can be served and seen to be served, once and for all.

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India-Pakistan

Jirga rape case

2017-12-31

[DAWN] AS illegal instruments that perpetuate violence against women because of their heinous ’verdicts’, jirgas (or panchayats) are gravely detrimental to women’s lives. Despite federal and provincial laws outlawing this kind of parallel adjudication system, the state has failed to clamp down on the latter, which is why jirga justice thrives. Last week, reports revealed the disturbing extent of impunity associated with the jirga system when it emerged that a married woman was raped for more than a month by three influential panchayat members in Tandlianwala in Faisalabad
...formerly known as Lyallpur, the third largest metropolis in Pakistain, the second largest in Punjab after Lahore. It is named after some Arab because the Paks didn't have anybody notable of their own to name it after...
. Her in-laws trusted the panchayat with taking the woman to her premarital home on the promise her parents would organise a rukhsati ceremony. Instead, these ’arbitrators’ allegedly kidnapped and raped her. Marrying without her father’s approval was tantamount to ’dishonouring’ her community, and so this woman was ’punished’ by the jirga members. Whatever the reason for this crime, the latter must be investigated so that the victim receives justice. Jirga members sanctioning barbaric violence in the garb of punishment must know in no uncertain terms that they will be tried as criminals and sentenced if found guilty. Although it has been more than a decade since the 2002 jirga decision that led to Mukhtaran Mai’s gang rape as retribution for her brother’s transgression, women’s bodies continue to be bartered as they pay the price for crimes committed by others; most suffer ’Dire Revenge’ rape or are killed for ’honour’.

Here, reforming judicial processes to ensure accessibility so that communities do not resort to parallel justice systems is imperative. The state must not outsource dispute management and justice to jirgas because this is akin to handing over women’s rights to regressive elements. Instead, strengthening the offices of the federal and provincial ombudsmen will preserve the sanctity of the law. Though more crimes of a sexual nature are reported because women are breaking their silence, the process to reverse the undercurrents of misogyny is agonisingly slow. Change will only come if the state becomes an enforcer of the law.

Link

India-Pakistan

School bombings fail to scare away girl students

2015-10-19

[DAWN] Though snuffies bombed their school many times, the resolve of the students of the Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Samand Khan village, to get education is not shaken.
A nation of Malalas, until they get married off to first cousins, when they become Mukhtaran Mai or get acid thrown on them.
The schoolgirls totaling over 500 have long been attending classes under the shade of trees and huts as the bombings destroyed the building of the school located in the Frontier Region Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
.

The building's only unaffected portion is a small room, which, despite having cracks, is used as a science laboratory for students.

In the absence of a building and other facilities like electricity and drinking water, enthusiasm of the students shows they're committed to getting education and that their families, especially male members, are not against girls education.

The school building was bombed repeatedly in 2008, 2011 and 2012, a teacher told Dawn.

She said snuffies targeted the school last in 2012 and destroyed it completely by detonating seven bombs planted at different points.

Link

India-Pakistan

Beyond clichés

2014-03-18

[DAWN] PAKISTAN'S doublespeak on security policies is notorious throughout the world. Last week, the government extended its practice of saying one thing while doing another into the realm of social issues.

Addressing the 58th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York, the federal law secretary reiterated Pakistain's commitment to empower women and observe international laws pertaining to women's rights. Meanwhile,
...back at the dirigible, Jack stuck the cigar in his mouth, stepped onto the gantry, and asked Got a light, Mac?
Von Schtinken stopped short, lowering the dagger and trying to control his features.
If you light that thing, Herr Armschtröng, he pointed out, his voice tense, we all die!...
back home, the state passively oversaw the regression of women's rights.

The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) pronounced laws prohibiting child marriage to be un-Islamic, and called for changes to marriage laws that require men to seek their wives' consent before taking on a new bride.

A girl fatally set herself on fire after the release on bail of men accused of gang raping her. Nurses protesting in front of the Punjab Assembly for improved job security were baton-charged by the police.

A national sporting hero received limited condemnation for voicing archaic views about women's place in society (though social media buzz forced him to clarify his comments).

Civil society organizations have asked whether the timing of the CII's declaration on child marriage, and the Sharifs' silence on the matter, are part of a sinister plot to appease the Pak Taliban ahead of negotiations.

More likely, the government is able to engage with the TTP because so many of their barbaric views, including those about the role of women in society, are widely held.

No one needs reminding of the appalling status of women in this country. Even Pakistain's grand claim to have achieved one of the highest ratios of women parliamentarians in South Asia is half-baked -- there is no female representation in the Balochistan

...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
cabinet, and only two women are included as junior ministers in the federal cabinet.

This situation persists even though the status of women is a good indication of the country's overall trajectory. So what can be done about the regressive approaches to women's rights?

Slights to women such as those that made headlines last week do provoke histrionics amongst women's rights activists, and we are reminded that Pakistain is a nation of Benazirs and Malalas.

Since the fading of the organised women's movement in the 1980s, emancipated Pak women have increasingly relied on the following narrative to demand rights: don't mistreat us, some of us are amazing.

No doubt, there are exceptional Pak women. But these exceptions do not need more championing (even though they are attacked and labelled Western stooges and blasphemers).

The problem with exceptions is that they are easily written off by those who have the power to improve the lot of women: politicians, law-enforcing agencies, members of the judiciary, holy mans, feudal lords, journalists.

How does one convince these people that sidelining and suppressing women is in no one's interest, not even their own?

There's a strong economic argument to be made for empowering women. When women's labour force participation increases, economic productivity soars.

When women own land, agricultural productivity increases and children eat healthier. When women are educated, child malnourishment and infant mortality rates decline, leading to a stronger next-generation labour force.

Any country that empowers its women inevitably sees economic growth for several generations.

Politicians should also be threatened by the idea that an anti-woman stance could soon render them unelectable. Women cast 40pc of the votes in the last general elections.

Pakistain is also currently undergoing a transformation as its middle-class booms and rapid urbanisation makes rural values redundant. Women in cities have to be able to move freely and contribute to households that can't possibly survive on single incomes.

Today's new middle classes may have some conservative hangovers where women are concerned but will soon face up to realities and seek genuine government investment in women's literacy, health and mobility (even if they do it in segregated spaces, with headscarves on).

Pakistain's snivelling at the UN about how deeply it cares for women's rights suggests that international perceptions still matter to our placid politicians. For too long, Pakistain has gotten away with being able to claim the first female prime minister in the Mohammedan world.

The experiences of Malala Yousafzai, Mukhtaran Mai and others have received much international attention and will be highlighted in Pakistain's record when the world tries to paint us as a pariah state.

To maintain any standing in the international community, Pakistain cannot allow for regression in women's rights.

One wishes the universally held principle of respecting women's rights were enough to motivate pro-women state action. But in a country where everything is for sale, perhaps these cynical, bottom-line arguments will prove more persuasive.

Link

India-Pakistan

Rape rooted in feudal system: Mukhtaran

2014-03-15

[DAWN] "It was one of the most saddening experiences when I saw her lying on the hospital bed, most of her body burnt," says Mukhtaran Mai, in an interview with Dawn. Her voice thickens with tears but she swallows them back.

'A' was a student of first year and a resident of Meerwala as is Mukhtaran. After she had filed the FIR, she found out that one of her 'rapists' were set free on bail. Mukhtaran alleges the investigating officer was bought for Rs70,000.

"She first came to me two days after the incident, asking for help. I offered her shelter at my home for survivors of sexual harassment but she refused the offer, saying she wanted to stay with her family.

My team and I were with her throughout but after learning what the police had done, she was shocked."

Mukhtaran said her team's psychologist kept explaining to her not to lose heart because these things took time and that the case was yet to go to court. But like many other young women who are left confused, depressed and angry, 'A' was impatient.

And when she went to the cop shoppe again, the officer involved hid himself in his room, not appearing and she doused herself with a bottle of petrol and set herself on fire.

The Nishtar Hospital in Multan where she was admitted announced her to be in a precarious condition with 80pc burns and she succumbed to the burns on Friday. But was it really burn injuries that killed her or it was the level of injustice that women in the country have to face everyday?

Even the Punjab government seems to have taken its time to respond.

On Friday, women's rights activists protested in front of the Punjab Assembly to show their anger at the Muzaffargarh police and insisted that the Punjab government should itself take action and do some research as to why number of crimes against women was on the rise in the province. They demanded that the accused, including police officer involved, must be dealt with strictly.

In a press statement, Zohra Yousuf of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistain (HRCP) said it was common knowledge that only the courageous rape survivors in the country took the matter to police or court.

"It leads to only one conclusion: she had become convinced that she would not get justice. It is sad and ironic that only a week after celebrating the International Women's Day with such fanfare the state and its justice system have let a woman down so brazenly."

Meanwhile,
...back at the shouting match, the spittle had reached unprecedented levels...
Mukhtaran Mai, who herself is a rape survivor, says that problems are deep rooted and many.

"The problem starts with the government and police and ends with the judiciary but this is just the tip of the iceberg. The concept of sexual harassment does not seem to exist in Pak society. Men look at women as mere commodities."

Referring to her own case, she says: "It takes a lot of consistent courage to face the men who have assaulted you.

Sometimes when I get out of the school, I see those men in front of it, sitting under a tree and when I go past them, they comment and whistle at me. But women cannot go on living in fear."

Link

India-Pakistan

Redefining terrorism

2013-09-30

[Dawn] There has been some talk of amending the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 (ATA) to make it more effective in its response to terrorism. It is therefore instructive to view the anti-terror mechanism envisaged by the ATA and see why, despite this law, terrorism has grown unchecked.

The ATA was enacted with a specific purpose: To provide for the prevention of terrorism, sectarian violence and for speedy trial of heinous offences. The ATA defines acts of terror under Section 6 of the said Act. This is a broad definition which covers everything from intimidation of state authorities to acts calculated to create insecurity in society. However,
nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits...
when it comes to implementation, we have seen that the law has failed to deliver because of its creative application in cases where it does not apply. For example, in what has to be a case of turning the intent on its head, this year members of the Ahmadi community in Gulshan Ravi were charged under the ATA after a group of brigands invaded their place of worship and destroyed their property. The brigands then got the police to register an FIR under the said law because during their illegal raid, they chanced upon religious material of the community which supposedly offended their religious sensibilities.

Even otherwise, the application of the law in cases unrelated to terrorism has contributed to the dilution of its legal effect. The Shahzeb murder case is one such glaring example. It was an open and shut case of murder arising out of a dispute, yet through an amazing feat of legal gymnastics it was fit into the definition of terrorism under Section 6 of the ATA. Consequently when the matter was resolved through Qisas and Diyat (Q&D) Ordinance, the ATA indictment fell through the gaps. Indeed the indictment under the ATA was most probably done in order to bypass the Q&D Ordinance. Herein lies the rub: If we are to accept the logic used in the Shahzeb case, every instance of premeditated murder can ostensibly be placed within the definition of terrorism under the ATA. But then this would defeat the original intent behind enacting the ATA in the first place, i.e. the creation of a parallel special court to deal with matters of terrorism. Similarly, in Mukhtaran Mai's rape case, the perpetrators of the heinous crime were charged under Section 7(c) and 21(1) of the ATA because it was deemed to be an act of terrorism.

There is a very logical reason why high profile murder or rape cases are put into the terrorism bucket. It is because the prosecutors just don't have sufficient faith in the primary statutes governing murder or rape. However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow...
the answer to this is not to throw everything at the accused hoping something would stick. It is to ensure that primary statutes for cases such as murder and rape under the Pakistain Penal Code are sufficiently effective in dispensing justice. This would mean fewer, and not more laws. For example, the Q&D Ordinance as well as the Hudood Ordinances are distractions from the cause of justice whether we like to admit it or not. It goes without saying that these laws are based on very selective interpretations of Islamic jurisprudence which serve the orthodoxy by elevating form over substance. This is why till the Protection of Women (Criminal Laws Amendment) Act 2006 was formulated, rape victims were being charged under the Zina Ordinance while their rapists went about scot free. Unfortunately, we do not learn from history.

The Council of Islamic Ideology under the extremely narrow leadership of Maulana Sherani has already moved to undo the many good things about the Protection of Women (Criminal Laws Amendment) Act 2006. Individuals accused of murder or rape not for ideological reasons may well object to the ATA indictments as being ultra vires Article 10-A, the right to fair trial, of the Constitution.

Then we come to terrorism. There is a great need to make the definition of terrorism narrow and focused. To begin with terrorism includes within its ambit only those acts of violence which are perpetrated against civilian populations and civil authorities. Furthermore, these should also be limited by the existence of pre-meditated as well as an ideological motive, i.e. ethnic separatism or jihadi pretensions. All other forms of violence must then be referred to the regular criminal legal stream under various laws such as incitement, rape, murder, disorder, etc.

Unless we give the special anti-terrorism courts the room to breathe, the whole exercise of amending the ATA will be futile. What is needed at this moment is a law that specifically targets violence intended to create terror in society on political grounds. Any and all acts from murder or dissemination of proscribed publications can then be brought into the ambit of the ATA provided that these actions stem from an ideological motive and the intent to carry out attacks against non-combatant civilian populations and civil authorities of the country. Reprehensible as certain crimes may be, the adequate remedy for any other crime should not lie before the ATA. To insist otherwise is a grave violation of Article 10-A of the Constitution as well as patently absurd given that the nation is at war against terrorism.

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India-Pakistan

DNA controversy: abolition of Council of Islamic Ideology demanded

2013-06-09

[Dawn] Participants in a roundtable meeting organised by civil society groups on Friday understood that there was no need of institutions such as the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), which 'does nothing but hinders other institutions -- and state at large -- in their working on progressive path'.

"We have to throw a spanner in the works of the CII, which has largely been used as a boon by the rulers to entice the religion-based political parties," said Anis Haroon, who represented Women Action Forum, which co-hosted the meeting with the Aurat Foundation at the Arts Council of Pakistain, Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
In the meeting, experts from legal and medical fields had been invited to cast light on the CII recent statement declaring the DNA evidence as supporting evidence and not the primary proof in a rape case. A former CII member, Dr Mohsin Muzaffar Naqvi, was also there to speak on the matters he tackled as an active scholar until recently.

The meeting was attended by various civil rights groups, activists, local politicians and educationists.

When a brief resolution was tabled at the meeting asking the participants if they wanted the CII remained a constitutional body, most of the participants opposed it demanding that it should be abolished in the 'larger interest of a progressive and tolerant society'.

Barrister Zain Sheikh, who was invited as a legal expert and Dr Naqvi, however, said the CII should remain a constitutional body with improved scholarly shape or, they said, religious matters without its existence could stir more controversies and predicaments.

"The participants have unanimously demanded abolishment of the CII," said Uzma Noorani, who moderated the meeting. She made it clear that the experts' difference of opinion fell in the ambit of guests who had been invited to talk about the complications relating to the issue.

Ms Haroon said the composition of the CII had been changing in different regimes at the convenience of the rulers and political environment and its chair and memberships had been used for political gains.

"Right now the CII's office is virtually working as an office of the Jamaat-e-Ulema Islam of Fazl, older and even wider than he used to be...

Fazl, older and even wider than he used to be...

Maulana Fazlur Rehman
Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ...
," she said.

She said the organizations such as the CII, instead of creating harmony in the society, antagonised women and religious minorities and instigated sectarianism.

She added that religion-based parties had got delayed the sexual harassment bill in the senate, which denied it to become a law.

"Fortunately, after the 18th Constitutional Amendment that matter came to the province and this law has been passed at least in Sindh," she said.

Referring to the Mukhtaran Mai rape case, she said the Supreme Court, while disposing of the case, said there was no DNA tests confirming the rape.

She said in a rape case of a 13-year-old girl in Rawalpindi against the Punjab government, the Supreme Court laid down procedures, which directed for DNA testing, early registration of FIR etc.

"The CII recommendation is against the very order of the Supreme Court," she said.

Dr Rubina Hasan said the first 12 hours after a rape were very important for investigation of the case. She said a victim should come to a hospital for DNA instead of a cop shoppe so that her DNA samples could be taken in time to bring the perpetrators to the book.

"The time is very important. The rape victim should not wash her body or clothes before coming to us. She should be brought to hospital within 12 hours or not beyond 48 hours. It gets difficult for us if a victim is brought to us after 48 hours," she said.

She said DNA testing was the best justice one could impart to a victim -- and even a suspect.

"DNA is very important and a 100 per cent reliable method to bring about quick justice. It supports both victims and the accused as well. It is the best way to provide justice," she said.

Dr Naqvi said the CII had been established in 1971 as an advisory body. He explained that the council's composition had been changing from time to time and one set of individuals composing the body could reverse a decision taken by its predecessors.

He said the council's recommendations were sent to the parliament, which could accept or reject them. He said the council preferred the directions implicitly given in Holy Koran or Hadith over manmade laws or technology.

'CII acts as filter'

Barrister Sheikh said the CII was to comprise a minimum of eight or not more than 20 members. He said the council should not be abolished, as it was a filter to tackle the religious matters, which, otherwise could generate more controversy.

"Steps should be taken to improve its scholarly strength instead of calling for its abolition," he said.

Some participants criticised the holy mans who 'exploit the religion for their own benefit' and added that in certain parts of the country 'religious zealots punish women without complying the Islamic injunctions'.

Link

India-Pakistan

Nuggets From The Urdu Press

2012-11-25

These nuggets are culled from the Urdu press. They are summarised here without comment. Absurd or ridiculous, tft takes no responsibility for them

Drones behind Malala tragedy!

Drones are the answer to every question, dear Reader.

Writing in Dunya Rauf Klasra stated that some TV anchors and columnists were busy connecting the attack on Malala to America and to the rise of cursed secularism in Pakistain.

This is the other answer to all questions, unless it is the Dread Hinjoos or Mossad.

Some commentators have raised the cry that after the attempt on Malala it had become more urgent to start talking to the Taliban. What kind talks can we hold with the Taliban? Should we concede if they demand that Pakistain be handed over to them just as Swat

...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat...
was?

Qazi Sahib's argument
Writing in Jang ex-Amir Jamaat Islami Qazi Hussain Ahmad
... third president (1987--2009) of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. Qazi was also head of the Muttahidah Majlis-e-Amal until his ego became bigger than the organization. Qazi is what is known as a fiery preacher, which means he has lots of volume, a good delivery, and not a lot of reverence for coherence. He was the patron of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Rasool Sayyaf and Osama bin Laden during the war against the Soviets. He used to recommend drining camel's urine to maintain good health before his kidneys started to go...
opined that we often complain about Taliban elements attacking Pakistain Army and doing other terror activities in the country, but it is difficult to explain to the Taliban that if fighting America in Afghanistan was jihad then how can we say that attacking the allies of America in Pakistain was terrorism?

Qazi Sahib on Malala
Quoted by Dunya ex-Jamaat Amir Qazi Hussain Ahmad stated that Malala has been attacked to facilitate attack on North

Wazoo. Qazi Sahib said that girl Malala had once said that President B.O. was her hero. And the NGOs were active on cue after Malala had been built up.

Munawwar Hasan on Malala
Talking to Ausaf Jamaat Islami chief Munawwar Hasan stated that those who tried to kill Malala were the very people who had supported attack on South Waziristan. He referred to a video tape that showed a girl being flogged by Taliban in 2009 and said that it was a fake video. He said youths will have to unite to stop America from interfering inside Pakistain.

Infidelity of journalists
Columnist-anchor Nusrat Javeed wrote in Express that after the Supreme Court let the PM off the hook in the NRO case many journalists praised law minister Farooq Naek for winning in the case and denigrated the former law minister Babar Awan for not winning. Nusrat remembered that when Babar Awan was pleading the case the journalists used to praise him too.

Malala attackers were from Orakzai
Reporting in Jang Tahir Khalil stated that the faceless myrmidons who tried to assassinate Malala Yousafzai in Swat were from Orakzai tribal agency and had headed back to Orakzai after shooting her. According to sources there were differences of opinion among those in charge. One source wanted to attribute it to America by saying that the attackers had come from Afghanistan. KP said they did not know who the attackers were and had therefore set a reward for their identification.

Khairpur killer found in South Punjab
According to Ausaf the killer who killed 6 and maimed 18 at a political rally of the PPP under MNA Nafisa Shah - also daughter of Sindh CM - was found and placed in durance vile
Please don't kill me!
in Bahawalpur. He was a professional religious killer called Azizullah alias Kafan (shroud) who carried a head money of Rs 25 lakh. Bahawalpur is the centre of a famous jihadi ally of Al Qaeda.

Story of two Malalas
Writing in Jang Saleem Safi stated that Pakistain's Malala Yousafzai had become famous because of her bravery but there was Malala Joya of Afghanistan too who secretly educated thousands of girls while the Taliban ruling the country were busy destroying girls' schools. She was influenced by Shola Javed liberal movement but was soon critical of the post-Taliban government dominated by warlords. She attacked a warlord in parliament and was thrown out by Afghan parliament. Under attack, she finally left Afghanistan and had recently published a book about warlordism.

Greater Taliban alliance
Columnist Amir Khakwani wrote in Dunya that among Taliban leaders - apart from Baitullah Mehsud - no one fought in Afghanistan. The Mehsuds gave shelter to the fleeing Al Qaeda Arabs plus Chechen and Uzbek warriors. Later Fazlullah of Swat and Punjabi jihadi elements joined them. All together they started attacking Pakistain Army on the directions of Al Qaeda. Tehrik Taliban was given the fatwa that fighting Pakistain Army was first priority. Later a lot of criminal gangs too joined the Taliban forming a network of arms smuggling with money looted from banks and ransom collected from kidnappings.

General Beg's pearls of wisdom
Famous former army chief General Aslam Beg
...occasionally incoherent retired four-star general who was the Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army, succeeding the creepy General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, after the latter ~~was rubbed out~~ died in an air crash in 1988. The general was involved up to his hairy ears in the Mehran bank scandal, shuffling millions in public money to buy or lease politicians, and is believed one of the prime movers in the sale of Pak nuclear technology to Iran. He ranks second only to Hamid Gul in the volume and flavor of his anti-Western vitriol..
facing charges of extortion and embezzlement told Dunya that people who recommend attacking North Wazoo are implementing the American agenda in Pakistain. No one including the US and NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
can defeat the Haqqani network. Zardari has been told by Americans that he is of no use and the next turn is

Nawaz Sharif
... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
's to serve the Americans. He added Imran Khan

... aka Taliban Khan, who is the lightweight's lightweight...
was now lifeless and could win only two to four seats in parliament.

Lal Masjid holy man attacks chief justice
Daily Jinnah quoted Lal Masjid naib khateeb Maulana Amir Siddiq as saying that chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was busy putting the state structure at risk to save the skin of his son. First the judge swore that he would be honest in dealing with his son's case then he withdrew from his oath. Now he must get Arslan's accounts investigated by such neutral personalities as Aitzaz, Asma Jehangir and Aleem Akbar.

'I will shoot myself!'
Quoted in Jinnah PPP leader Senator Faisal Raza Abidi told the Senate that if he was stopped by anyone from speaking out against the Supreme Court he would shoot himself on 10 November 2012. He said there was a judicial martial law in the country and he was within rights to criticise it. He said he was a citizen and had the right to speak about the judiciary and yet was wrongly taken to a cop shoppe. He said if he was a liar there should be contempt proceedings against him. He would neither appeal nor ask for review of punishment if he is awarded one.

Pak women not safe
Columnist and TV anchor Javed Chaudhry wrote in Express that no woman was safe in Pakistain and only those who were paid attention became Mukhtaran Mai after the outrage. He said Pakistain did not care for its women until they became Mukhtaran Mai and were supported by foreign NGOs. He favoured honest treatment of girls like Malala who was targeted by the Taliban but the other girls who were maimed with her were not cared for to the same extent.

Khar 'in trubbel'
Reported in Express Mrs Nilofar Khar went to court asking for her Haq Meher from Mr Ghulam Mustafa Khar, renowned politician and ex-CM of Punjab. She said she was driven out of home after a beating (maar-peet) after which she was sent a talaq in writing. She said she still had the right to haq meher (bride money).

Wait till Justice Chaudhry retires!
Quoted in his own newspaper Jinnah property tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain stated that till the retirement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in 2013 he would get no justice. He said it was his constitutional right to get a fair trial and the Chief Justice knew that he would not get it as long as Justice Chaudhry was in the court. Mr Hussain had petitioned the Court that he should be given a fair trial in a contempt case and that it was not possible at the present time.

Link

India-Pakistan

A world without the West

2012-10-18

[Dawn] A LITTLE over a week ago, Pak youth activist Malala Yousufzai was shot in the head by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain. The country, already bearing the burden of daily barbarities, stood stunned.

And then, the world found out -- the Western world with its generalities and reductions, a world intent on insisting that all Pak women are hapless and miserable and all Pak men are brutes. There were paeans to Malala in the New York Times
...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
and in the Washington Post.

In Pakistain, this made some squirm, including those genuinely affected by Malala's plight. What is Western, after all, is unequivocally bad. Some made excuses, saying that they didn't agree with the mass outpouring of emotion; others made up conspiracies or pointed fingers.

Paks, especially those of the urban educated middle class, are the most recent conscripts of the anti-Western rampage that was until recent years only a staple of Islamist politics on the Pak far right.

Many would argue they have good reason for joining the ranks. The decade after 9/11 has seen a slow, steady throttle -- leaving Pakistain's technical exports, its doctors, computer engineers, software programmers, without a route to the jobs abroad that sustained their educational aspirations.

The United States, for example, has denied visas to Pak doctors often even those with the highest scores possible on the US medical licence exams. The fate of those bound for Canada, the UK or Australia has not been markedly better.

As those degree-toting individuals, rejected by foreign consulates, will gladly tell you, the skilled Pak worker, the computer scientist from Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, the doctor from Lahore or the engineer from Quetta is not in demand in the world.

Labels have been indiscriminately, even cruelly, applied to those who never had even the barest sprinkling of terrorist sympathy and spent their lives condemning extremism but who have now been left suddenly with the burden of those whose acts condemn them to global isolation.

Understandably then, if the West rejected Pakistain without logic, so too must they reject the West with an equal irrationality.

The rejected workers are not the backbone of anti-Western sentiment in Pakistain but they add a crucial element to the argument of those with no hope of participation in a globalised world.

With their joining together, the illogicality of isolationism has burgeoned from something on the margins to a national fungus, its tentacles cast into a variety of issues, treating each with an alarming superficiality.

One of these has been the recent debate in parliament and the Supreme Court on the issue of dual nationality and political office. The avowed intent of restrictions on dual nationality is to ensure that only the most loyal, interpreted as those holding only a Pak citizenship, can have the opportunity to serve the country.

However,
a woman is only as old as she admits...
in the tradition of what is illogic, the mechanisms have been shoddy. At the core of the relevant constitutional provision's failure is its blindness to the fact that the wealthiest Paks, each holding more than $2m in foreign bank accounts, can easily purchase in a short time citizenship to a variety of Western nations through investor programmes.

In this way, the dual nationality provision would enable action only for the culprits easiest to catch.

Instead of including in this ambit those hiding their money abroad while merrily being patriotic Paks with a single passport (for the moment) it would penalise those who may have run off with medical degrees, made a few pennies abroad and then returned to Pakistain under the misguided impression that their skills would be welcomed at home.

Because the logic of anti-Western sentiment targets those easiest to catch or those already hated, Pak women have borne an inordinate share of accusing fingers.

Whether they are gang-rape survivors like Mukhtaran Mai or Oscar winners such as Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy or now activists like Malala Yousufzai their patriotism, achievements and courage are all open to question once they are unfortunate enough to be the subject of global attention.

Those Paks infected by the feverish irrationality of the most superficial anti-Westernism will judge them then not for their bravery, honesty or capacity for aspiring to a vision. Their words will be weighed not for their truth but always against some invisible standard of loyalty, one that crucifies every success and stubbornly demands the correction of centuries of each and every western wrong.

Sitting in the path of convoys for wars they did not start, dealing with debts taken by politicians they do not represent, plagued by poverty and terrorism and unemployment, an energy crisis and a revenue crisis, Paks can certainly claim the position of the world's most disgruntled nation.

Anti-Westernism is a useful panacea in this regard, allowing for vast stores of helpless hatred to be directed somewhere outward at those who have options or escapes.

Arguing for some doses of logic to break this fever of hating the West is much like trying to rehabilitate the most unwilling of addicts. Nevertheless, the distinction may be instructive for those who can take out a moment to consider its implications.

While redemptive for the moment, the all-consuming wish for a West-less world also represents a suspension of ethics and morality. In a Pakistain where acts of bravery and service are judged not on the basis of their own value, it is not religion or ideology that determines whether something is good or bad. What determines the latter is the single, crucial test of whether or not it is tainted by the corrosive, impure influence of the West.

Link

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