Voice of Gender News From Pakistan
BANNU: A state-run girls’ primary school in Shahsawar Mandio area was damaged as an explosive device planted near the boundary wall went off, official sources said on Monday.
They said that suspected militants had planted the explosives near the boundary wall of the school. They said that main entrance and boundary wall of the school were partially damaged in the blast. However, sources said the blast caused no causality.
The News
SUKKUR: A man shot dead his daughter-in-law and her acquaintance upon seeing them together in Sheedi Mohallah of Jacobabad on Sunday night.
The man, Mohammad Hayat Langho, surrendered himself to police claiming that he shot dead his son’s wife and her friend upon seeing them in an objectionable position.
He led the police to his house where police took the two bodies in custody.
The victims were identified as Gul Bano, 40, wife of Mohammad Ali Langho, and Sikandar Ali, 39, son of Khabbar Khan Dashti.
A post-mortem examination of the two bodies was performed at the Jacobabad Civil Hospital.
Sikhandar Ali’s paternal cousin Ghulam Abbas Dashti lodged a murder FIR (20/2014) at the Airport police station against Hayat Langho and his sons, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Arif, Nabi Dad, Meharullah and Mohammad Younus. He alleged that the suspects killed Sikandar and the woman after inviting him to the house for some money transaction.
Dawn
WAH CANTT: A candlelight vigil was held at the ancient Buddhist site of Dharmarjika Stupa near Taxila on Monday for the early and safe recovery of hundreds of schoolgirls abducted by a terror group Boko Haram in Nigeria.
The people from different walks of life including representatives of different NGOs, students, politicians, journalists and social workers joined the global outcry and organised a candlelight vigil to condemn the abduction of over 200 Nigerian schoolgirls by militants and demand their safe and early rescue.
The candlelight was organised by The Voice, an NGO. Asim Meer, president of the NGO, said that this is the place where revival of Buddhism was initiated by Great Ashoka. He called for taking necessary action to bring back the girls, either through diplomatic or military channels. He said that the kidnapped girls are brilliant teens in the final year of their schooling who are expected to be “leaders of tomorrow.”
He said the site was selected for the offering prayer because Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan dynasty has selected this place for revival of peace and tolerance, and other reason was that the victims also include Buddhists.
The Stupa was a source of inspiration and a place of attraction from the beginning of the Buddhist religion and was later reconstructed during the time of King Kanisha in the 5th Century AD.
KARACHI: As the child marriage restraint bill has been approved in Sindh Assembly, the most important step now will be its implementation in the society.
This was discussed by the speakers during a seminar on Saturday organised by Rutgers-WPF to commemorate the International Mother’s Day. At the seminar, MPA Sharmila Faruqi said that the bill prohibits the marriage of children below the age of 18 and the perpetrators found guilty of violating the bill can be fined upto Rs45,000 and jailed for two years.
“Now the most important step is to implement this bill and people from the civil society need to inform the police whenever they see a violation of the bill,” she said. Faruqi also said that child marriages violate a young girls’ right to education and substantially reduce their economic opportunities. “These girls are more likely to be victims of domestic abuse since they lack decision-making and negotiating
skills.”
During the event, Karachi commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui launched the ‘Dikho-Bolo-Roko’ campaign, which will aim to eliminate early marriages in the country.
Religious scholar, Mohsin Naqvi also highlighted the implications of early marriages and its negative impact on a family and society at large. “The biggest problem the child marriage restraint bill faces is from the religious sector,” he admitted. “A marriage is about nurturing the family rather than being a tragedy.”
Justice (retd) Shaiq Usmani, who first drafted the child marriage bill, said the marriage contract is a legal document, which requires both the parties to be mature and to understand the responsibilities of each individual. Praising the efforts of politicians, media, and the civil society Rutgers WPF Country Representative Qadeer Baig said, “When we celebrate Mother’s Day in Pakistan, we commemorate safe motherhood.”
CHARSADDA: The police arrested six persons for the marriage of a teenage girl to settle a feud between two Afghan families, official sources said on Monday.
The sources said that two Afghan families have had enmity for the last 17 years. Afzal Khan, Amin Khan and Khanzada Khan were accused of killing one Mazara. A Jirga decided that three girls from the family of the accused would be given in ‘Swara’ to the victim’s family.
At the time of the Jirga’s decision, there were only two girls in the family of the accused. Therefore, the Jirga decided that after the birth of the third girl in the family, one would be given to the victim family.
The official said four years after the Jirga decision, Memona was born to the accused family who was married into the victim’s family when she was 13. Memona was being taken to Afghanistan in a car when she started shouting near a police checkpost in Bochay in Tangi Tehsil. The police stopped the car and the girl informed them that she was married against her will. The police arrested the brothers of the girl and Jirga members and registered a case against them.