Day: August 27, 2012

ISLAMABAD: The government has allocated an amount of Rs 30 million for the construction of two new working women hostels in sector G 6/2 and G 7/3 in federal budget 2012-13 to address the grievances of working women facing acute problems in finding a secure accommodation at affordable rates.

An official of ministry of human rights said that construction of women hostels made vital part of the budget released for this year. He informed that the ministry plans to hold a competition among architecture departments of different universities to come up with a design that is most suitable for accommodating more and more girls, offering a comfortable environment to the aesthetically designed buildings of the capital.

Working women hostels is a long standing demand as private hostels are not only over saturated but also very expensive and living condition is far from ideal.

A large number of working women and students come from far-flung villages in search of jobs and for studying in better educational institutions but the first problem they faced is to find a suitable shelter for living.

Away from solace of family members these students and working women face multiple problems ranging from accommodation to cultural adjustments. Afshan who works at a cellular company and hail from Rahim Yar Khan sharing her views said, it was a gigantic task especially for girls to find a comfortable place for living, adding that away from home working women face many physiological, cultural and social problems and lack of hostels aggravate these issues for them.

Salma who works with a Non Government Organisation said, “I have been living in capital for last five years but still did not find a satisfactory and comfortable place to live”. There is only government hostel for women for private sector employees which is not enough to cater needs of girls searching for reasonable residence.

Business Recorder

We may as well be living in a different time and age. It seems that life has not moved forward at all. We continue to carry out acts so gory it is hard to believe that human beings in this day and age would be capable of even considering them.

The latest such incident has taken place in a village near Chakwal in Punjab, where a couple was murdered for marrying of their own free will. In our country, many such stories have been heard of before. In this case, Almas Khan, an employee of Mazhar Hussain, eloped with his employer’s daughter Shamim Akhter and fled to Khan’s native Nowshera. Clearly, differences in class, perceived ‘status’ and Khan’s situation as a servant in the house left them convinced they would never get the consent of Shamim’s parents to marry. A kidnapping case was lodged against Khan. However, before anything came of it, the couple was lured back to Chakwal on Eidul Fitr on the pretext that they had been forgiven and then murdered. Sole responsibility for this act has been claimed by Shamim’s brother.

Courts have, of course, given repeated rulings permitting adults free choice in marriage. A landmark judgment in this respect came in the 1990s from the Supreme Court. But more than a decade on, people remain unwilling to accept such rulings. Further complications stem from the Qisas and Diyat laws, which allow the heirs of a victim to accept blood money rather than seek punishment for murder.

This factor explains why, in the case of women killed for ‘honour’, their brothers so often take the blame, permitting fathers to accept a ‘payment’ to compensate for physical hurt. The money never actually changes hands, allowing the perpetrators of the crime to, in fact, go scot free. As human rights groups have pointed out, this flaw needs to be plugged. But we also need a change in social attitudes so that such incidents do not occur and the kind of tragedy that was witnessed in Chakwal can be averted.

The Express Tribune

BAHAWALPUR: A woman and her alleged paramour were drowned in the canal near Abbas Nagar on Sunday after they were thrown in by her family. The woman’s father, husband and three brothers are suspected. Rasheeda Bibi, mother of the deceased woman, told The Express Tribune that her husband had called her father on Sunday and told him he had found her daughter in a compromising position with another man.

She said she went with her husband and three sons to her son-in-law’s house where the men tied up the woman and her alleged paramour. “They tied him to his motorcycle and threw them into the canal,” she said. Abbas Nagar SHO Shamas Khan told The Tribune the girl’s father, husband and a brother had been arrested. He said two of her brothers were still at large. Rescue official Asif Channar said they were looking for the bodies. “We have so far recovered a motorcycle and a woman’s dopatta,” he said

The Express Tribune

By: Riaz Ahmad

PESHAWAR: A woman was strangulated allegedly by her husband in Mohallah Kumaran on Sunday, in the jurisdiction of Kutwali Police Station.

Sehresh Fayaz was found dead in her house, while her husband, Saeed Awan, a bank employee, escaped. Fayaz Ahmad, the victim’s father, told The Express Tribune he was certain that his daughter was killed by her husband. “They had been having many arguments over the past few months,” he said.

“I phoned my daughter on Saturday to tell her she had to go to her brother’s wife’s house to attend a function,” said Ahmad. He said when she returned on Sunday, her husband made a point to argue with her about not being invited as well. “Traditionally,” he said, “only women are invited to this event.”

“She called me and told me that her husband was threatening to kill her, but we never took it seriously,” he said. In the morning, neighbours found her dead and told Ahmad that his daughter had been killed by her husband.

Kutwali police said that an FIR has been registered and that the body has been sent for a postmortem examination. Police are investigating the case.

The Express Tribune

By: Rabia Ali

KARACHI: Once upon a time a young girl left her family and religion for the man she loved. After getting married, her husband flew her off to his land. This land, however, was not far, far away and there was definitely no happily ever after: she, now, lives in Landhi, Karachi, locked away in a small room on the top floor of a house for the past 13 years.

All the terrible things that happen in fairy tales seem to be Shabnam Gul Khan’s reality.

Previously named Shirley Ann Hodges, she met Gul Muhammad Khan, a Pakistani money lender, in Ahmedabad, India, in the summer of 1997. They fell in love and got married. Three years later, Gul flew Shabnam and their newborn daughter to meet his family in Pakistan, assuring her that they would return to India within six months.

However, as soon as Shabnam landed in Karachi, she was abruptly introduced to the nightmare her life would become: she was introduced to Gul’s first wife and six children; her Indian passport was seized; she was gifted a burqa and locked away on the top floor of her in-laws’ house.

Thirteen years since, Shabnam remains confined at the top floor of the house, and is not allowed any visitors. Her only contact with the outside world is through the internet and her mobile phone.

“I am a prisoner and this is a hell. For years, I have not gone out from my room. I want to go back to my family in India,” she said in a hushed voice.

Meanwhile, inside the five-story house in Landhi, Shabnam’s sister-in-law dodges questions, saying simply, “Shabnam observes purdah. She cannot meet anyone.”

“I don’t know why my husband did this to me; why he fooled me. What was my fault?” Shabnam told The Express Tribune by telephone. “My daughters are not allowed to go to school. We are beaten with sticks and hurled abuses. Our life is very suffocating.”

For years, Shabnam was forced to hide her husband’s cruelty from her family as she could only speak to them in front of him. But a few months ago, she managed to get through to her family independently via Skype.

Speaking from Ahmedabad, Shabnam’s brother Noel Hodges said he was shocked when he saw her after all these years. “She weighs 100kg now. She keeps crying all the time. We are very worried for her.” Since then, Shabnam’s family has made frantic efforts for her “release”. Letters have been written to the Indian home secretary, the Indian high commissioner in Pakistan and human rights campaigner Asma Jahangir.

In Karachi, Abdul Hai of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan says they have also received letters and are seeking legal help.

Meanwhile, when the Quaidabad police questioned Gul about his wife, he filed a petition in the Sindh High Court last month, accusing them of harassment.

“We observe strict purdah in our family, which is why Shabnam is not allowed to go out,” said Gul, a man of Afghan origin, who owns an electronics shop. He further claimed that he had done a “great deed” by converting a non-Muslim to Islam.

“I am a heart patient. When I become alright, I will take her to India but for now she has to take care of me,” he added. Shabnam, however, knows well that her husband is not her knight in shining armour and his promises to take her back to India will be broken once again.

“I regret marrying him, and the day I come out, I will file a case against him and make him suffer the same way,” she said right before hanging up the phone, as the clock in her room chimed: it was time for her husband’s return and for her to get back to her less-than-a-fairytale life.

The Express Tribune