March 31, 2014 – Pakistan Gender News

March 31, 2014April 1, 2014

Two girls from Charsadda abandoned by uncle in park

RAWALPINDI: Two girls from Charsadda were allegedly abandoned by their uncle who brought them to Rawalpindi on Friday and left them in the Ayub National Park. The Pashto-speaking girls were rescued by a taxi driver who spotted them crying and searching for their lost relative. Physically unharmed, luckily, they were dropped at Women Crisis Centre, Shamsabad, Rawalpindi, by the God-fearing cabbie.

The allegedly abandoned sisters from Charsadda — Bisraaj and Sheherbano — told this correspondent that they are without parental and family care. The father passed away years ago in a road accident and more recently the mother died due to untreated breast cancer. The girls spoke well of their immediate neighbours in Charsadda who took care of them after their mother’s death, provided them with food, did not leave them alone at night and taught them the Holy Quran.

Lala said that he was going to Rawalpindi and would take them to one of its bazaars, informed Bisraaj. Since it was the first time the adolescent was stepping out of house, she was asked to wear her mother’s ‘burqa’. The younger sister was given a black scarf. After reaching the Ayub National Park, their first stop, the uncle purchased two entry tickets, hundred rupee coupons for rides in the amusement park and a promise to be back with food.

“We were very happy and kept watching how other children were taking turns on teacup rides,” said Sheherbano in broken Urdu.

Hours passed but the uncle did not return. The anxious sisters went up to the entry gate and waited for him. There was no way of connecting with him or anyone else. Everyone around was a stranger and the girls had no money. Their father’s cell phone was taken away by the uncle on pretext that it did not have a battery. It was getting dark and rainy and the 500-acre Ayub National Park seemed endless.

The scared little girls had no option but to wait and pray for the uncle to return. They were exposed to serious risks, abduction being just one threat. Murder and physical abuse of girls is common and on the rise.

The girls were brought to the Women Crisis Centre, Shamsabad, Rawalpindi, where a case for psychological assault against the uncle has been registered. The centre’s lawyer, Saima Afzal, noted that the girls, who have no male sibling, are heirs to a modest property, their three-room home in Charsadda. Their planned disappearance from the scene could assist the relatives to take over the property. Under the law, a person under age eighteen cannot take title to real estate.

Child desertion is a crime against humanity. Those committing this crime must be tracked down and punished in accordance with law. In the case of Sheherbano and Bisraaj, the district authorities and Social Welfare Department, Charsadda, will be taken on board, said Women Crisis Centre Manager Rizvana Bashir.

Bisraaj and Sheherbano were lucky to have been rescued by a conscientious citizen and taken to safety. The state must intervene to arrest the escalating graph of abandoned children. It has to define its role in the protection of children and must not leave it at the mercy and kindness of strangers.

The News

March 31, 2014April 1, 2014

Girl’s minimum marriage age should be 18: Sethi

LAHORE: Famous political analyst Najam Sethi has said becoming a wife and a mother is a great responsibility and, therefore, girls’ minimum age for marriage should be fixed at 18 years.

He said Pakistan’s law says a person could be termed a mature and responsible person when he/she reaches the age of 18.Talking in Geo News programme, Apas Ki Baat, the analyst said the current law of the land says that a girl can be married off at 16 years of age. He said Maulana Shirani says that girls can be married off at the age of eight or nine years, though others say even 16 years is too young an age for a girl to get married.

He said it is totally wrong that a girl may become a responsible person at the age of eight or nine years. He said the United Nations has clearly defined human rights and Pakistan is also a signatory to the UN Charter on Human Rights. We believe that all human beings have rights, which should be protected, Sethi added.

He said it is normally stated that all Pakistani laws are in accordance with the tenets of Islam. Then it is strange as to why Maulana Shirani raised the issue of the age of girls’ marriage at this point in time. Our religion is very liberal, he added.

Speaking in the programme, Allama Tahir Ashrafi said that the age of Hazrat Aysha is quoted while discussing the girls’ marriage age. However, there are different Islamic references in this regard. He said he had made it clear earlier that all other references in the Islamic history should be kept in mind in which Hazrat Aysha’s age has been reported as 11, 13, and 17 years also. In some books, it is also reported as seven years and nine years. We should not quote references of only seven years and nine years and also take into account references of 13 and 17 years.

In reply to a question, Maulana Ashrafi said that some ill-minded people are present in our research institutions and they do not want the world to see any good aspects of Islam. “Quran itself says they should be married off when they reach puberty and become wise because they have to handle many responsibilities in the post-marriage life.”

Sethi said Muslim countries around the world had fixed the age of marriage, adding that clerics, scientists and doctors should discuss the matter as the health experts argued that the lives of girls with underage marriage were at risk while giving birth to babies. Who would be responsible for the death of a girl during pregnancy if she was married at the age of 12, he posed a question. He further said the matter would not be resolved by fixing an age limit for marriage.

Sethi said the role of Constitution and Islam had again become an agenda item because of the Taliban as their associates and the negotiating committees’ members with religious outlook always appeared on TV screens. He further said the CII should keep itself within its domain and avoid controversial issues. But the media also had a role in the whole episode as it always showed contentious matters, he added. Sethi called for the government’s role so that these issues could be clarified.

Talking about the direct talks between government-Taliban talks, Sethi said the Taliban didn’t like the lecture on jihad given by Rustam Shah Mohmand during the meeting which marred the environment. Later, Major Aamir calmed down the two sides and told them that the people of Pakistan and the media were saying dialogue with them was a futile exercise.

You people are against state and constitution, therefore don’t impose conditions. Some of their points were understood, from their side people with different temperaments were there. Taliban said Ali Haider Gilani and Shahbaz Taseer belong to the PPP and they were against them and they considered them combatant prisoners. In exchange for Prof Ajmal, they demanded the release of their three men.

Najam Sethi said Taliban want the army to withdraw from their areas so they can make a base of their state and they can freely move but the army is resisting this step. The condition of withdrawing from the Mehsud areas is unacceptable to the army.

Sethi said a list by the Taliban was received 12 days ago on which work is being done and now another list has been received, so it will take another 10 to 12 days. It is likely that so-called non-combatant prisoners are released but it will take time. The government will make efforts to release some people but no big breakthrough is in sight. Within a month the state and Taliban will be at daggers drawn and the present situation is unstable. He said the Taliban committee is getting too much media coverage and their stance is being projected, where is government’s spokesman. “Where has Irfan Siddiqui gone, he used to give briefing but now there is complete silence,” he added.

The News

March 31, 2014April 1, 2014

Man kills his wife, minor son

LAHORE: A man allegedly killed his young wife and two-year-old son over ‘domestic disputes’ at his Noor Colony house in North Cantonment area on Sunday.

According to initial police investigations, the brutal killings, which terrorised the entire locality, seem to be the result of domestic disputes. However, the suspect, Javaid (34) of Khanewal district, so far was not ready to reveal what exactly prompted him to commit such an act.

Cantonment SP (Operations) Sarfraz Ahmad Khan Virk said police rushed to the crime scene on an emergency call in the morning and took the suspect in custody.

He said Javaid, after slitting throat of his wife Farzana (28) with a sharp-edged weapon, strangled his minor son Tayyab Rehman. Both were apparently murdered in their sleep, he added. After committing the crime, the suspect inflicted cuts on his own belly and throat, apparently in a bid to commit suicide, the SP said. He said the suspect, however, didn’t kill self for unexplained reason. In stead, he called Rescue 1122 and informed the officials about the death of his wife and son.

Virk said police seized the bodies and murder weapon from the crime scene. The suspect confessed to killing his family members over “domestic quarrels”.

“I killed my wife following quarrels and my son for the fear that he would be left alone,” the SP quoted the suspect as having said.

According to Farzana’s father Ghulam Shabbir, Javaid had suspicions about his wife’s character. The SP said it initially appeared that the suspect was a psycho as he kept changing statements.

Javaid, a rickshaw driver, contracted love marriage with his relative Farzana around three years ago after divorcing his first wife (who was also his relative). His first wife got separated from him because of his ‘strange behaviour’. The couple had been living in a two-room rented property.

Farzana’s brother Tanveer said Javaid used to beat his sister over petty issues and she would come to her parents and complain about her husband’s attitude.

Meanwhile, police shifted the bodies for autopsy and registered a murder case against the suspect.

The suspect will be produced before a magistrate for getting his physical remand on Monday (today).

Dawn

March 31, 2014April 1, 2014

WBDC organises exposure visit of Punjab for women entrepreneurs

PESHAWAR: Women Business Development Centre (WBDC) Peshawar in collaboration with Pakistan Transition Initiative (PTI) and part of its business development initiatives has organised two-week exposure visit of 20 women entrepreneurs of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to four big cities of Punjab.

The main purpose for organising the exposure visit to Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan and Bahawalpur was the establishment of linkages of the women entrepreneurs with stakeholders from other markets including business people, skilled craftsmen, raw material suppliers, whole sellers and retailers.

During the visit, the women entrepreneurs were provided opportunity for linkages meeting in these cities, market survey, meeting with skilled artisans, graining on business sustainability, training on trends in handicraft sector and training on traditions with innovation.

The participants of the visit had appreciated the visit as highly fruitful and meaningful for the women entrepreneurs of the province, saying they had learnt a lot from the visit.

Talking to this scribe, Faiza, who manufactured handmade domestic items said during the visit they had got a lot of information regarding introducing of new goods, colouring, raw material and range of businesses. She said that she is in the business of embroidery, whose cost of production was very high. She said the purchase of raw material from big markets and working on them could increase the margin of our profit.

Sana Nazir, a fashion designer said she is new comer in the entrepreneurship and the visit very beneficial for me. She said during the visit they identified cloths and interactions provided information regarding procedure for the strengthening of businesses. She called for arranging such visits for more women through WBDC.

Rohi Bano, a manufacturer of the tradition Burqa for women said the visit was of dire need for the women entrepreneurs of the province. She said she is in the business for last three years, but was lacking resources for conducting such visit, which prove highly beneficial for them.

She said the visit has helped them in getting knowledge about the promotion of businesses and particularly the purchase of raw material. She said it will prove helpful for their businesses and bringing increase in the margin of their profits.

Business Recorder

March 31, 2014April 1, 2014

Shikarpur jirga: Grave site of girls slain for honour found

SUKKUR: The investigating officer has finally found the spot where two girls, belonging to the Mahar tribe, were buried after they were killed for ‘honour’ in Shikarpur.

On Saturday, the investigating officer – Crime Branch Sukkur DSP Abdul Qudoos Kalwar – found the spot where the two girls were dumped after being killed on March 2. A letter has been written to the district and sessions judge in Shikarpur to order the formation of a medical board and appoint a judicial magistrate to exhume the bodies.

The victims, Shani and Reema, both daughters of a schoolteacher, Abdullah Mahar, were residents of Qasim Mahar village. After their murder, a jirga allegedly presided over by MNA Ghous Bux Mahar was held at Mahar House in Wazirabad. The jirga imposed a fine of Rs2.4 million on two men of the Jagirani tribe for kidnapping the girls and keeping them in illegal detention. It did not, however, include the murder charges in the verdict.

Later, a case was registered against 13 men including, MNA Ghous Bux, the girls’ father Abdullah Mahar and his cousin Sanaullah Mahar and others. Abdullah and Sanaullah were arrested by the police and handed over to DSP Kalwar, who was appointed as the investigation officer by the apex court after Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jilani took suo motu notice.

During the interrogation, the accused informed the police that both the girls have been buried in an agricultural land belonging to Rehmatullah Mahar near the Kamil Mahar village situated in Jehan Khan police limits. Once the grave was spotted, the police set up a checkpoint at the site and are waiting for the court’s permission before they exhume the bodies for post-mortem, DSP Kalwar told The Express Tribune.

Express Tribune