Day: July 18, 2012

NANKANA SAHIB: Though a court has ordered the registration of a case against nine seven people, including Nikkah registrar, over the coerced marriage of a nine-year-old girl with a 50-year-old man at a Panchayt, the Barah Ghar police have not made any arrest.

Seema, the sister of Allah Ditta was engaged forcibly by her father with 50-year-old Muhammad Hussein. But, she tied the knot with Rustam Ali, infuriating her and Hussein’s family who reached a Panchayt – a village council.

The council, comprising its head Yasin and Sarfraz, Intizar and Shahdat decided to engage the nine-year-old daughter of Allah Ditta, Mehwish, with Hussein. Mehwish was brought to the council where Moulvi Munir Ahmed led the Nikkah and she was sent with Hussein.

The police wake up to the report and secured the release of Mehwish. She was sent to Daraul Amman of Sheikhupura following the directives of a magistrate. No arrest was made though the court had ordered registration of a case.

The Nation

By: Kazim Alam

KARACHI: Some blame it on the alleged covert opposition from mainstream chambers of commerce and industry while others point a finger at the lack of enthusiasm on the part of women entrepreneurs, but the fact remains that the two women’s chambers of commerce and industry established in Sindh side by side about five years ago have remained ‘dormant’ for many years now.

One of them – the Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sindh (WCCIS) — has no permanent office address now. Its online presence is limited to a single-page website that gives no contact information and does not state the chamber’s mission, names of committees, office-bearers or general members.

The other chamber that exists in Sindh alongside the WCCIS – Sindh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SWCCI) – has a seemingly inactive website that displays a members’ list of 57 businesses only. The most recent ‘mission’ that the “Special Missions Achieved” section of its website lists was accomplished in 2007.

Background

Women entrepreneurs did not have the right to establish gender-based chambers of commerce until the mid-2000s, as the Trade Organisations Ordinance, 1961, which governed the formation and operations of chambers, had no such provision.

The current Trade Organisations Ordinance was enacted by a presidential order on December 31, 2006, permitting the creation of women’s chambers of commerce and industry and mandating transparent elections on a regular basis.

The result was the establishment of eight autonomous women’s chambers of commerce and industry throughout Pakistan, including two in Sindh.

According to Hammad Siddiqui, deputy country director of the Centre for International Private Enterprise Pakistan (CIPE), instrumental in capacity building of women’s chambers in the country, old regulations required that each member of the chamber must possess a national tax number.

“The updated law allows women entrepreneurs to become members of the chambers on the basis of their national identity card alone,” he said.

Why two chambers?

“As a matter of principle, the establishment of two parallel chambers of commerce and industry in Sindh was wrong,” said Salma Ahmed, founding president of the WCCIS, while talking to The Express Tribune.

“In fact, I was in favour of setting up only one chamber at the national level, with its branches all over the country. But like everything else in Pakistan, this process also became politicised, and we ended up with two parallel chambers in Sindh,” she said.

“They (SWCCI) haven’t really been working. More or less, their chamber has remained dormant over the years, although the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) provided full support,” Ahmed said, adding that her chamber had roughly 1,000 members.

When contacted, SWCCI President Rukhsana Jahangir promised to get back to The Express Tribune in 24 hours. She was unavailable for comment later on despite many attempts to reach her.

Ahmed continues to be president of the WCCIS, as no election has taken place since the chamber’s inception in the wake of the 2006 presidential order. “We plan to hold the election in September this year,” she said.

In contrast, the Central and North Punjab Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CNPWCCI) have had two elections since its creation, CNPWCCI President Kokab Parveen told The Express Tribune over the phone.

Opposition

Ahmed also criticised the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) for not providing the WCCIS with logistical and moral support. She added that the FPCCI and KCCI should have dissolved their women entrepreneurs’ committees after the establishment of the WCCIS.

Responding to her statement, KCCI’s Women Entrepreneurs’ Sub-Committee Chairman Younus Bashir called Ahmed’s demands ‘unreasonable’. “Who is she to ask for the dissolution of the KCCI’s women entrepreneurs’ sub-committee? We are ready to help them in resolving any legal issues. But they are a separate entity. Therefore, we cannot let WCCIS use our premises as its office,” he said.

“We have a large number of female members at the KCCI. If they wished, they could have joined the women’s chamber of commerce and industry on their own.”

The Express Tribune

By: Owais Jafri

MULTAN: The post-mortem report of a two-day-old girl has confirmed that she was buried alive and died five or more minutes later due to suffocation. The autopsy was conducted by Dr Muhammad Tariq and Dr Rubeena from the Kacha Khu rural health centre.

The grave of the child had been dug on the orders of the Khanewal magistrate and civil judge Justice Rehman Elahi, with the permission of the victim’s mother and in the presence of the residents of the area and the police.

The grave itself was identified by the infant’s father, who buried her alive last week claiming he did not like her looks.

Dr Tariq told The Express Tribune that the initial medical report confirmed the death was a result of the seven kilogrammes of mud which was thrown upon her. Dr Rubeena confirmed that she was physically healthy and had no impairments. The only thing unusual about the child was that her face was large. Samples have been taken from the child’s body and sent to Lahore to a forensic laboratory for a detailed autopsy report.

Earlier, the perpetrator of the horrific crime justified his act, saying that “It was my will because she was my child and every person has the right to do anything with their children.”

The man, who is in the custody of the police, has been threatened by residents who angrily demanded from the area magistrate that he be buried alive in the same grave where he buried his daughter.

The Express Tribune

SUKKUR: A girl was killed while a boy critically injured as a couple in love attempted suicide in Shikarpur on Tuesday. Reports said that Raheel Phulpoto and Umaya Pathan were in love and but parents of the girl were against their marriage as the boy belonged to a poor family.

On Tuesday, both the lovers during their conversation on phone decided to commit suicide and first the boy shot himself and on hearing the sound of gun the girl also shot herself. The girl died instantly while the boy was shifted to a hospital where his condition was said to be critical. Police said the investigation into the incident was underway.

The News

LAHORE: The condition of the murderer, who attempted to shoot himself to death after killing his wife in a local bank in the Township area yesterday, went critical.

Irfan Zaman shot dead his banker wife in a bank a day back and later attempted to end his life by shooting himself. He was admitted to Jinnah hospital where his condition was stated to be precarious.

Meanwhile, Tibbi City police handed over the body of a nine-year-old Usman to his family after completing legal formalities on Tuesday. Usman, who was taken to a local hospital for circumcision, allegedly died through doctors’ negligence. The family of Usman protested against the ‘negligence of doctors’.

The News