July 23, 2013 – Pakistan Gender News

July 23, 2013

Brother blames in-laws for negligence

By: MOHAMMAD ASGHAR

RAWALPINDI: The disappearance of a mother from the emergency ward of the Benazir Bhutto Hospital has turned into a conflict as the brother of the woman lodged a complaint with the police against his sister’s husband and in-laws blaming them for negligence.

On the other hand, Arshad Mehmood, the woman’s husband, and his relatives continued searching for his missing wife.

Ms Uzma 22, a resident of Dhoke Kala Khan, had delivered her first baby girl on Sunday evening at BBH but later went missing under mysterious circumstances from the hospital.

“Family and friends launched a door-to-door search in and around the hospital and also at the relatives’ houses. Yet she could not be found till late Monday night and no clues had been found either,” Arshad Mehmood told Dawn.

He said he tried to obtain the CCTV images between 5pm to 6pm of the hospital ward, but they were not available with the hospital management.

“Again, I tried to get the CCTV images today and inquired other patients in the ward about my wife, but all efforts went in vain,” Arshad said.

He added that the baby was born at around 1.30pm on Sunday and was later shifted to the child nursery.

His wife had then gone missing at approximately 5pm when her mother-in-law left the hospital to bring some tea.

“None of the hospital staff or police guards posted at the hospital has come forward to help search for my wife or provide any information which could provide us a clue about her whereabouts,” Arshad said.

The new born baby has been lying in the hospital nursery since her birth as her mother went missing soon after.

The hospital management would decide on Tuesday whether the baby would remain in the hospital or handed over to Arshad since there was nobody available to feed and care for the newborn.

Police investigating officer told Dawn that both the missing woman’s husband and brother had been searching for her but were unable to find her.

He said they had asked the police to wait for some time so that they could decide if a formal FIR (First Information Report) is to be lodged with the police and who is to be held responsible for the disappearance of the woman.

DAWN

July 23, 2013

Woman-led criminal gang busted in Sukkur

SUKKUR: A woman and her two associates were arrested in a raid on a house in the Bachal Shah Miani area within the remit of the Airport police station in Sukkur on a tip-off that the gang was involved in kidnapping for ransom, dacoities and other heinous crimes, Sukkur police claimed on Sunday evening.

They said that another member of the gang was at large and more raids were being carried out to arrest him.

The woman, Gulshan aka Guddi, wife of Mukhtiar Ali Shaikh, resident of Shikarpur, was presented to the media along with the other arrested suspects, and she admitted she headed the gang. She said she was inclined to the profession to save her husband and children from starvation. She said she was currently at large on bail in a case.

Sukkur SSP Irfan Shaikh told a press conference in his office that Guddi, Manzoor, son of Rahib Ali, and Nabi Bukhsh aka Nabboo Khurrus were arrested in the raid while Sarwar Shaikh managed to escape arrest. All the three suspects were wanted to the Hyderabad, Shikarpur and Khairpur police in several cases of heinous crimes.

Two Kalashnikovs, two TT pistols and a sizeable quantity of ammunition were seized from the arrested suspects, he claimed.

The SSP said that Guddi used to trap affluent people by contacting them by phone and offering friendship. “After making friendship, she calls her new friend to a particular place from where her associates kidnap him,” he said. The gang used to extort a heavy ransom from his family, he said, adding that many people, mainly businessmen and traders, had fallen prey to the gang.

Recently, he said, the gang had committed a robbery in the houses of a local trader, Darshan Das, and another man, Mohammad Sharif Ansari, in Rohri. Before planning the robbery, Guddi visited the houses to collect essential information, including the daily routine of the families, he added.

The SSP said that DSP Haji Masoodur Rasool led a team comprising SHO of the Abad police station Syed Mushtaq Shah, Abdul Malik Kamanger of Madadgar ‘15’ and another officer, Khalid Raza Khilji, to carry out the raid. He said that the car, believed to be used in kidnapping people and committing dacoities, was also seized from the suspects.

Replying to journalists’ questions, Guddi said her husband, Mukhtiar Shaikh, had no livelihood and the family was starving. Therefore, she said, she was compelled to adopt this profession.

She also endorsed the SSP’s claims about her and her gang’s modus operandi.

DAWN

July 23, 2013August 20, 2013

Girls fetch top two AKU-EB HSSC slots

Karachi: Girls have grabbed the top two slots in the Aga Khan University Examination Board’s (AKU-EB) higher secondary school certificate (intermediate) results this year. According to the results announced on Thursday, Maleeka Mehmood of Habib Girls School obtained the first position with 93.33 percent marks.

She was followed by Komal Zehra Zaidi of the Aga Khan Higher Secondary School who stood second with 92.67 percent marks.

Muhammad Sameer Kayani of the ETN High School secured the third position with 91.90 percent marks.

The overall passing rate in the HSSC Part-I was 76.6 percent with 22.5 percent candidates scoring an A-Grade or above. In the HSSC-Part II, the overall passing rate was 84.6 percent with 29.5 percent candidates obtaining an A-Grade or above.

“We are very happy with the overall performance of our candidates in the annual examinations,” said AKU-EB Associate Director Karima Kara. “We also appreciate the teachers and schools who prepared the students well for these challenging examinations by facilitating an active learning environment in their classrooms.”

Kara was thrilled about universities both in Pakistan and abroad recognising the candidates coming from the AKU-EB as well-prepared; that they grasped new ideas with ease and were particularly good at applying concepts.

“This reflects the value, popularity and currency of our qualifications, particularly in the HSSC,” said Kara.

The AKU-EB’s annual survey has also revealed a very high percentage of its alumni not only passing the university entry tests but also securing scholarships to pursue their studies at key higher education institutions.

The survey shows that 87 percent of the 2012 alumni interviewed had obtained admissions to diverse universities across Pakistan and abroad.

According to the survey, the alumni are now studying in over 160 institutions across Pakistan and around 40 universities abroad.

The complete survey results will be shared on AKU-EB’s website soon.

Abdul Rafey is one of the many alumni who have obtained admissions to renowned universities abroad.

He is anxiously waiting for his first semester of undergraduate studies at the International University of Highlands and Islands in Scotland to start.

“The AKU-EB has groomed my skills and enabled me to achieve my dream of studying abroad,” he said.

“Meeting the university’s admission requirements, writing personal statements and taking the tests became so easy and enjoyable with the training I received at the AKU-EB.”

The News

July 23, 2013

How many Malalas are out there?

By: Fakir S Ayazuddin

When I saw Tehmina’s book, I snatched it up, knowing that as she is probably the best storyteller in the country, a new jewel was on offer. I was not wrong.

Fortunately for me the Malala speech to the UN was still very fresh in my mind, and I was grateful to God that we have been blessed by a young spirit so fresh, so pure of thought, and without any malice, especially, after what she had been through. The Talib, that fired the shot that almost killed her, was forgiven by her, raising her stature even higher. The plight of the Pathan woman is brought into sharper focus by the succinct, simple language of Tehmina, no frills, coarse to the eye as the dress worn by all the children. Exquisitely penned for posterity, by Tehmina, and on the world stage by Malala. The wretchedness of all the womenfolk of the region immortalised by Tehmina’s description of the blue burqa is the true curse on the region.

Worse, it will need thousands of Malalas and Tehminas to make the change possible. We are indeed fortunate that Basrabia’s story has been so well told. But there are millions of wretched Malalas in blue burqas out there. Their plight pitiful, as it is continuing, in peacetime, makes it even more important that the story be told and retold, of the horrors of Dickens’s Europe that still exist in this 21st century in our northern areas, two hundred years later. We are indeed fortunate that we have a Tehmina to document, and a Malala to emulate the plight of all the women of the region. For there is a Basrabia in every household, and a Talib on every street corner. It is up to our society to help one overcome her plight, and to change the mindset of the other.

The news of a letter to Malala from the head of the Taliban, as reported in the press- if true, could be the indicator of the Taliban showing some remorse is a new trait, in a, till now unforgiving and bloody pattern of behaviour. They have realised that their cause has been severely damaged by the world acclaim being accorded to Malala. This will definitely hurt the cause of the Taliban, and may dent their donations, and their support. It is important that our government also step up its effort to lend tacit support to Malala’s cause. Pride alone is not enough. Tehmina’s book has eloquently described the conditions existing in these regions, and the desperate need for change.

Daily Times

July 23, 2013August 20, 2013

More mail: Malala vows to defeat terror with power of pen

By: Tahir Khan

ISLAMABAD: Malala Yousufzai has repeated her resolve to fight violence and bloodshed with education and has reiterated to carry on her effort for the improvement of Afghan and Pakistani children.

Appreciating President Karzai’s letter, Malala thanked all those who have supported her and said, “I have a new life now. They wanted to kill me but were not able to do so.”

“I will continue struggling for the improvement of Afghan and Pakistani children’s lives and education,” the Afghan foreign ministry quoted her as saying.

Earlier, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Britain, Mr Daud Yaar presented Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s letter to Malala Yousafzai on Monday, in a gathering held by the Afghan Students Association in London. President Karzai praised Malala’s speech at the United Nations, appreciated her courage and congratulated her on her sixteenth birthday wishing her health and success for her humanitarian objectives.

“Malala’s voice is the voice of all those girls and it is heard now,” the letter read. Karzai went on to say that Malala is an example for thousands of Afghan and Pakistani girls whose voices were unheard in the past. The Afghan president praised the global icon’s efforts to raise her voice against the threats from the Taliban that have prevented Afghan and Pakistani children from going to schools.

Malala’s father, Ziauddin Yousafzai, also appreciated the support of the Afghan President at the occasion saying that ‘Talib’ literally means student, but it no longer has the same meaning to the vast majority of the people of the world.

There is a negative connotation attached to this word, he said, adding “When people hear this word, they think of guns, killing, crime and calamity,” the statement from the Afghan foreign ministry quoted him as saying at the function in London. He was hopeful that the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan will, one day, come to an end and the power of the pen will ultimately usher the “ultimate victory.”

Others present at the occasion were Yousafzai’s family, Afghan students in London, Afghan, Pakistani and British community members and staff of Afghanistan’s embassy in London.

Express Tribune