Day: August 8, 2012

SUKKUR: A teenage girl who was reportedly kidnapped on late Monday night in Noor Abad village near Sukkur was rescued on Tuesday. Armed men broke into Bhittai Dino’s house, which is located within the jurisdiction of the Salehpat police station, on Monday night and held its occupants hostage at gunpoint.

The culprits fled from the house with Bhittai Dino’s 18-year-old daughter, Zameeran. While talking to journalists, Bhittai Dino accused some members of the Brohi clan.

When the Salehpat police got to know about this, they raided the houses of the Brohi clansmen and rescued the girl. However, the culprits had fled from the village before the police arrived.

The residents of the village said that a few years ago, members from the Katpar clan, which Bhittai Dino belongs to, had kidnapped a Brohi girl. She was returned to her family after elders intervened.

The Express Tribune

By: Tazeen Javed

Sometime back, I conducted part of a gender sensitisation workshop, organised for government officials. I had the most diversified group because it had representation from all across Pakistan. We had people from big cities as well as smaller towns and villages such as Khushab, Noshki, Dadu, Dera Ismail Khan and Ghotki.

During a session on gender and leadership, I asked everyone to name a leader they liked and admired. It could have been a community leader, a politician or a sportsman. I also specified that the person had to be alive (otherwise, I knew, I would have gotten a lot of Allama Iqbals and Mohammad Ali Jinnahs as most admired leaders), someone who worked to bring change to his/her community, challenged the status quo and had managed to inspire at least one person. All 25 participants came up with a man’s name, including the usual suspects, such as Imran Khan and Shahbaz Sharif to some really off beat choices such as Mushahid Hussain Syed.

We discussed each and every name and why they admired them. People came up with some really odd reasons. One guy, who had worked with Mushahid Hussain Syed, liked him because of his superior English-language skills.

I asked the participants if they had any female leaders around them and the only leader they could think of was Speaker National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza. When I asked them why they thought she was a leader and what kind of changes had she brought, either in her community or workplace, they could not think of any reason other than stating her office and the fact that she is the first female speaker.

I then decided to throw in a couple of names, who I thought would generate debate about types of leadership roles. I suggested Bilquis Edhi, the woman, who started the first adoption service in Pakistan and gave home to thousands of unwanted babies. I then took the name of Mukhtaran Mai, a gang-rape victim, who challenged every patriarchal and misogynist person, the system and law of the land, opened up the first ever girls school in her village and has been battling the perpetrators of her crime for over a decade.

Participants grudgingly agreed that Bilquis Edhi is a leader but also mentioned that she could not have done it all had she not been married to the most dedicated and well-known social worker of the country. The reaction on Mukhtaran Mai was anything but civil. With the sole exception of two women, everyone said that she is not a leader despite evidence to the contrary. She was called everything from a gold-digger to a publicity whore to just plain old whore and a bad example for other women. When asked to give reasons for their repugnance, they failed to come up with a solid reason other than her bringing shame to Pakistan in the international community.

The reaction of the participants was reflective of the society we live in. People, who are threatened by a woman, who is not a direct threat to them and is only challenging misogynist laws and the system by asking for a fair trial, stand no hope of living in a more gender-friendly society, which will remain a distant dream for such people. All gender sensitisation workshops will fail if we do not make an effort to radically alter the stereotype images of women and girls in our textbooks, popular media and homes. Presenting an alternative, more gender-neutral environment is our only hope of providing a safer society to our daughters.

The Express Tribune

By: Imtiaz Ali

A rare sight was witnessed during the Sindh Assembly session on Tuesday, when all provincial stood up in unison, demanding that “exemplary punishment” should be meted out to the policemen, who allegedly paraded a man and a woman naked in Gambat city, Khairpur district a few days ago.

“The incident has tarnished the image of the country in the world, as its protectors of law were seen parading a woman in naked on the streets,” Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) MPA Nusrat Abbasi told other lawmakers.

The female legislator from Khairpur said in the video clip of that incident, the woman was seen trying to cover her body with clothes, but a policeman was using a stick to hit her on her hands.

Six policemen, including Gambat SHO Khair Muhammad Samejo, the central character of the shameful episode, were suspended and arrested for publicly humiliating the couple.

The Gambat police had registered cases against them on the orders of Sukkur DIG Dr Ameer Ahmed Shaikh. Though Samejo denied the charges, he has a history of using brutal and humiliating tactics against suspects.

“How did Samejo, who remained suspended for eight years, managed to get reinstated and posted as an SHO?” asked Abbasi.

Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza stood up and said she condemned the atrocity committed by the policemen of Gambat. She asked other legislators to stand up as well and lodge their protest in unison, following which the provincial lawmakers all stood up and demanded action against the guilty policemen.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) legislator Heer Soho said media reports suggested that the suspended Gambat SHO was enjoying special treatment inside the police lock-up.

“The SHO was seen using a cell phone inside the lock-up, and was also sitting in the front seat of a police van in which he was being taken to the court.”

Soho said merely suspending the policemen involved in the act was insufficient punishment.

Law Minister Ayaz Soomro and Information Minister Sharjeel Memon tried to speak about the case on behalf of the government, but some female legislators interrupted them and inquired as why the SHO was being provided with “protocol” inside the lock-up.

The law minister said barring one or two, all policemen involved in the incident had been arrested and booked.

He said the chief minister, currently in-charge of the home department, would be asked to take appropriate action against the policemen. Soomro also promised to present a detailed report about the incident to the House on Wednesday (today).

The information minister said the government had taken action against six policemen and now it was the responsibility of the court to award them punishment. In a related development, religious groups held a demonstration in Gambat city on Monday to express support for the suspended SHO.

They claimed that the SHO was being “punished” for trying to curb “immoral activities” in Gambat.

Water shortage in Badin

On a point of order, Pakistan People Party’s (PPP) Dr Sikandar Mandhro drew the attention of the House towards an acute shortage of water in Badin, terming it a result of mismanagement. Elaborating further, he said 8,000 cusecs of water had been released from Kotri downstream, but three talukas of Badin still remained deprived of drinking water.

“Last year, floods had destroyed crops, but this year, as per officials, only 10 percent of the area could be cultivated due to the water shortage.” Mandhro said he had brought the problem to the notice of the irrigation minister and secretary, but there was no response.

Another PPP legislator, Munawar Abbasi said there was a shortage of water in the Rice Canal and for the first time, the process of rotation had been adopted for the canal of Ghar Wah. Like Mandhro, he blamed mismanagement for the water shortage. Responding to their concerns, Irrigation Minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo admitted there was a shortage of water in Rice and Dadu canals.

“This year, Kharif crop was sown around two months late, as there was a 50 percent shortage of water. This year, there were no rains and that also compounded the water problem.”

Dharejo said the situation in Indus River had improved now and the process of rotation was adopted to ensure fair distribution of water.

The News

ISLAMABAD: Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (FBISE) on Tuesday announced result of Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC) (Intermediate) Annual Examination, 2012, in which girls outshined boys.

According to FBISE spokesman, 35,860 regular students appeared in exams out of which 27,590 were declared successful. Besides, 10,830 private and ex-candidates also appeared in exams out of which 5,307 were declared successful.

The examination was held in April to June. Overall 70.46 per cent candidates obtained passing marks. Fiza Fatima of Army Public School and College, Multan stood at top position by seeking 1,034 marks in Pre-medical Group.

In the same group Sheza Malik of OPF College F-8/2 obtained 1,029 marks and stood second while Hafsah Ahmed of Islamabad Model College for Girls F-6/2 obtained 1,021 marks to bag the third position.

In Pre-engineering Group Nida Maryam of Punjab College F-8/4 Islamabad stood first by scoring 1,030 marks. Mohammad Ilyas Zafar of Bahria College E-8 Islamabad obtained 1,028 marks to be ranked second while Abdullah Ahmed of the same college stood third securing 1,021 marks.

In General Science Group Hafiz Ahmed Ali topped with 978 marks, Kinza Behram obtained 970 marks to stand second and Salma Kalsoom obtained 967 marks to rank third.

In Commerce Group Afshan Zahra, Amna Imtiaz and Altaf Khan stood first, second and third by obtaining 963, 913 and 910 marks, respectively.

In humanities Group Hafiz Asad Ullah Khan got first position by obtaining 919 marks, Jawairia Naseer, a private student, obtained 902 marks to rank second whereas Hafiz Ghulam Mujtaba with 898 marks remained third.

Fiza Fatima while talking to Dawn said that although power outages disturbed her a lot but still she managed to work hard and pass the exam in flying colours.

Dawn

THATTA: The human rights cell of police has taken into protective custody an 11-year-old girl sold into marriage and arrested her 54-year-old ‘husband’ and her mother.

Police, on information, raided a house in Hashim Machhi Village near Sujawal on Tuesday. They took Amina, daughter of Alloo Machhi into custody and arrested her ‘husband’ Qadir Bux Hingoro and mother Muradi who had allegedly sold the girl only for Rs35,000.

SSP of Sujawal, Usman Ghani Siddiqui, ordered registration of an FIR against Muradi, her son Hanif, maulvi Yousuf Lodho, maulvi Ibrahim, oath commissioner Faiz Mohammad Jhirko and four witnesses of the nikah on behalf of the state on Monday.

The in-charge of the human rights cell, Rafiq Soomro, told journalists that raids were being conducted to arrest the remaining accused.

Dawn