May 30, 2013 – Pakistan Gender News

May 30, 2013

A thousand cuts: Young polio worker puts life at risk for Rs500 per day

PESHAWAR: The members of Sumbal’s family are sitting outside the Neurosurgery Intensive Care Unit in the Lady Reading Hospital, waiting for doctors to tell them their injured loved one was stable.

Sumbal and her colleague Sharafata Bibi were administering polio drops to children in Kaga Wala, Badhaber when they were attacked by two unidentified motorcyclists on Tuesday. Sharafata succumbed to her injuries, but Sumbal survived the attack. She did, however, sustain severe wounds to her neck.

Her injuries were critical, but as her family kept watch, Sumbal slowly came out of a 16-hour-long coma. While she can use her hands, her legs show no signs of movement.

Sumbal, 18, has been part of the vaccination campaign for at least a year. A resident of Sheikh Mohammadi and a student of class eight, she works a job which is known to get people killed or injured in a city prone to doing the same, risking her life for a mere Rs500 per day.

Born the sixth of nine siblings, Sumbal’s father Gul Muhammad is a sub inspector and her elder sister is a lady health worker in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) health department. Yet, the job was not forced on her by her family in an effort to increase their income.

“We did not tell her to take part in the polio drive. She was ambitious about serving the community and saving the lives of innocent children. I suppose, in our conservative society, people may be disdainful behind her back but I don’t care. If I think my daughters can do better, let them to do it,” said Gul Muhammad.“Although our family is broken up over the incident, my elder daughter – the health worker – still believes they will continue to participate in such activities, come what may.”

“She would buy clothes and other odds and ends with her income. Sumbal never complained about any threats posed to her,” shared Amir, a cousin.

He added Sumbal’s mother was being treated for spinal cord and blood pressure problems for many years. “Ever since she heard about the attack on her daughter, she has not been in stable condition.”

Source: The Express Tribune

May 30, 2013

In the name of Honour: Karo kari claims two lives in Sukkur

SUKKUR: A young woman and a man were shot dead on the pretext of karo kari in Khamiso Badani Jatoi village near Khanpur sistrict, Shikarpur on Wednesday morning.

According to reports, the assailant, Mehboob Badani Jatoi, had suspected that his wife, Mai Jamul, was involved in an illicit affair with his cousin, Mir Mohammad aka Miroo Badani Jatoi.

On Wednesday morning, Mehboob shot his wife and cousin and escaped. On receiving information about the incident, police reached the site and shifted the bodies of the deceased to Khanpur taluka hospital for autopsy. No case was registered till the filing of this report.

Source: The Express Tribune

May 30, 2013August 20, 2013

Educated, qualified women enter NA, thanks to PML-N

ISLAMABAD: The PML-N has chosen well-qualified and highly educated females for nine additional reserved women seats that it got in the National Assembly., writes Tariq Butt.

Begum Tehmina Daultana, who was defeated in the May elections from her traditional constituency of NA-169 Vehari by independent candidate Tahir Iqbal, has made it to the National Assembly from a special seat.

By selecting her, the PML-N has honoured her for her unwavering dedication and commitment to it for decades. She had always been a very aggressive member of the National Assembly. She secured 72,956 votes while the winner got 89,673 ballots. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) contestant bagged 27,226 votes.

Mrs Zahra Wadood, wife of former ambassador Tariq Fatemi, who advises Nawaz Sharif on foreign affairs and often flanks him during his meetings with foreign dignitaries, has also been accommodated. She is a known social worker and is currently chairperson of an NGO, which is engaged in a comprehensive integrated programme. She is running a school health center and a vocational centre for children.

Dr Asma Mamdot, daughter of late Nawabzada Zulfiqar Ali Mamdot and Begum Afifa Mamdot, has also been elected on the special seat by the PML-N. Her paternal grandfather Nawab Sir Shahnawaz Khan Mamdot was President of the Muslim League Punjab in 1938 and also chaired the historical political gathering of March 23, 1940 at Minto Park Lahore. Her paternal uncle Nawab Iftikhar Husain Mamdot was the first chief minister of Punjab after the creation of Pakistan. Later he was appointed as the Sindh Governor.

Amra Khan has post-Master’s Diploma in Clinical Psychology and MSc in Applied Psychology and possesses a wide experience in her field in and out of Pakistan. Maryam Aurangzeb holds MSc degree in environment and development from King’s College London, London University and Master’s degree in Economics from Pakistan. She specializes in strategic thinking and planning and development for environmental conservation, development and international agreements and Millennium Development Goals implementation.

At present, she is working as senior manager, corporate relations and communication and fund-raising at WWF-Pakistan. She has a comprehensive experience in her field.

Christian Phyllis Azeem, wife of Dr Nelson Azeem has done masters in political science. She is a nursing specialist and is principal of School of Nursing and Midwifery, Christian Hospital, Sialkot.

Sabiha Nazir has done masters in social work. Shaza Fatima Khawaja has done masters in international relations. She taught at LUMS (Lahore University of Management Sciences) from 2006 to 2010.

Before the May 11 elections, like other contesting political parties the PML-N provided to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) the names of its 23 representatives for the reserved women seats, who were to be automatically elected if it got so many seats in the National Assembly.

However, as the results were announced and the PML-N bagged more than what it had predicted in addition to the joining of a large battalion of independent winners, the number of its nominees fell short of what it was to get, given its final numerical strength. Therefore, it handed over to the ECP additional names and secured nine more special seats. A PML-N source said that an intense scanning was carried out before picking up these names. He said that educational qualification of the aspirants was particularly taken into consideration.

Source: The News

May 30, 2013

Murder of two sisters shrouded in mystery

LARKANA: Mystery shrouds murder of two sisters allegedly by their brother-in-law and their burial without proper funeral rites near Dhing village on the outskirts of Sujawal Junejo town.

Syed Bashir Ahmed Shah, husband of one of the deceased sisters, told journalists on Wednesday that his brother Syed Ghulam Abbas Shah had strangled to death his wife Sughran, 37, and her sister Fatima, 35, a widow, in their family house in Bero Chandio village, 10 kilometres from the town, for reasons best known to the killer.

He said that Ghulam Abbas had taken the two sisters to Bhag Nari in Balochistan on May 13 to attend a family function. On the fifth day since their departure he received a phone call from his brother who told him he had killed both the sisters and buried them, he said.

He said that he and his wife’s relatives rushed to Bagh Nari to trace the killer who contacted them through one Faiz Mohammad Jamali, an influential of the area, and disclosed he had buried the sisters near Dhing village.

They returned to the area and dug out the corpses which were wrapped in blankets with their head scarves tightened round their necks, he said.

The corpses were brought to Bero Chandio village and police were informed about the murders who shifted the bodies later to the Chandka Medical College Hospital morgue on Tuesday. Their autopsy was performed on Wednesday by Dr Hameeda Shaikh.

Preliminary findings showed the sisters were stranguled to death. There were no other signs of torture on the bodies.

Syed Bashir said that he had three sons and a daughter while the issueless widow was residing with his family. His brother had absconded since committing the crime and he failed to comprehend the motive for such a brutal step, he said.

Fida Hussain Langah, SHO of the taluka police station, said that he had informed the Gandakha police about the murder. Dhing village is on a convergence point of the limits of Sujawal Junejo, Shahdadkot and Sanjar Bhatti police stations.

Source: Dawn