March 1, 2016 – Pakistan Gender News

March 1, 2016

‘Women’s education critical to creating awareness’

Special Assistant to Chief Minister for Information and Higher Education Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani Monday said the Provincial Government has strongly believed in women education which is very important for creating awareness, forming social relationships and women to take part in politics, the legal system, human resource development and other important areas that can ensure their concerns are role in the economy of the country.

Speaking as a chief guest in the inaugural ceremony of “English Access Micro scholarships program” organised by Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women University, he congratulated the university faculty and staff for playing an effective rule in opening future doors with the access key for the young females of the province.

He said that women education serves as the most powerful tool that can greatly help country to achieve its national goal while utilising women’s power, skills, knowledge and competencies. Improving female education levels will have positive results in human development areas such as child survival, health and schooling, he added. Highly appreciating the integral role of SBBWU, Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani stressed that the entire team of the university should work hard with more dedication for excellence of this historic institution and its academic endeavours.

Business Recorder

March 1, 2016

Lahore court awards two brothers death sentence over honour killing

By Babar Naveed

LAHORE: A sessions court in Lahore on Monday sentenced two brothers to death in a double murder case.

Zeeshan and Ahsan had killed their sister Saba and her husband Shafique in 2009 for ‘honour’ after the couple had married of their own free will.

Besides awarding the death sentence, Additional Sessions Judge Naveed Iqbal also imposed a fine of Rs1 million on both the accused.

Saba and Shafique, the residents of Yaki Gate Lahore, had left the area over fears of being killed by their relatives after they chose to tie the knot nearly six years ago.

However, a few months after their wedding, Ahsan and Zeeshan invited the couple to their home for a lunch and shot them dead with a gun.

Following the murder, Yaki Gate police had registered a case of double murder in 2009 against the accused. Advocate Chaudhry Mohammad Imran appeared in the court on behalf of the victims.

The judgement in the ‘honour’ killing case coincided with filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy winning her second Oscar award for the best documentary, A Girl in the River, a short film which sheds light on honour killings in the country.

In Pakistan, a loophole in the law allows perpetrators of so-called honour killings to get off scot-free if they are pardoned by their family. Sharmeen wants to change that.

Last week, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had hosted a screening of the film in Islamabad and promised to rid Pakistan of the crime by tightening up the legislation.

Express Tribune

March 1, 2016

Punjab governor signs Women’s Protection Bill

LAHORE: Punjab Governor Malik Rafique Rajwana on Monday signed the Women’s Protection Bill.

The bill approved by the Punjab Assembly on February 24 was signed by the governor after which its gazette notification was issued. After the signatures, the bill has now become a law. In the first phase, the bill will be implemented in Multan.

Moreover, the government will announce the date of implementation of the bill in every area.According to the bill, those accused of throwing acid on women, rape and other grave offences will be restrained from visiting the workplace or areas frequented by the female concerned.

The offender may also be restrained by the court from contacting the woman based on the evidence submitted by her. The accused person will have to maintain the stated distance from the woman concerned as ordered by the court in view of the events.

The bill also stated that female victims of domestic violence could not be evicted from homes without their consent and in case of such an event, the court would reinstate the position of the female concerned.

The bill further highlights that firearms or ammunition found in possession of those convicted of violence against women will also be confiscated. The court may also order relief for the female concerned as compensation for the damage suffered by her. A wrist bracelet GPS tracker will not have to be worn by the accused just on the basis of domestic violence. In case of wrongful accusation, a three-month jail sentence or a fine of Rs50,000 to Rs100,000 or both may be ordered.

Disobedience of any transitional, protection, residence or monetary order more than once will be penalised by a two-year jail sentence or a fine of Rs500,000. The District Protection Officer, on complaint of the woman concerned, will be allowed to enter the house. According to the Bill, the Punjab government will also issue a toll-free number.

Meanwhile, the provincial minister for education and sports on Monday stated that the Women’s Protection Bill must not be ridiculed.He criticised Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s opposition to the bill stating that the Maulana had a good sense of humour.

The News

March 1, 2016

Sharmeen does it again

HOLLYWOOD: A documentary about a Pakistani girl shot in the face by her family won an Oscar on Sunday, after helping persuade the government to commit it would fight “honour killings” in the country.

‘A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness’ won the Academy Award in the category of Best Documentary (Short Subject) at the star-studded ceremony in Hollywood.

The Oscar win was the second for director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, who recently called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif amid the growing global spotlight on the film.

“This is what happens when determined women get together,” Chinoy said as she accepted the golden statuette.

Chinoy praised “all the brave men out there, like my father and my husband, who push women to go to school and work and who want a more just society for women”.

The film follows 19-year-old Saba, a survivor of an attempted honour killing who was beaten up, shot and thrown into a river by her father and uncle for marrying a man without their approval. At the last moment, she tilted her head, meaning the bullet grazed her cheek instead of shattering her skull.

In a rarity for such attacks, Saba not only survived but went to police.

But under a law in Pakistan, men who kill female relatives escape punishment if they are “pardoned” by relatives through blood money.

After meeting Chinoy recently in Islamabad, Prime Minister Sharif in a statement vowed to “rid Pakistan of this evil by bringing in appropriate legislation”.

“That is the power of film,” Chinoy said at the Oscars.

She earlier had said that a victory at the Oscars would build momentum for change.

“I think if the film were to win an Academy Award, then the issue of honour killing, which doesn’t just affect women in Pakistan but affects women around the world, would really gain traction,” she said.

Chinoy in 2012 won Pakistan’s first Oscar for `Saving Face’, a 40-minute documentary on the horrors endured by women who suffer acid attacks.

It focused on two women, Zakia and Rukhsana, as they fight to rebuild their lives after being attacked by their husbands, and British Pakistani plastic surgeon Mohammad Jawad who tries to help repair their shattered faces.

President Mamnoon Hussain in a statement on Monday said that Chinoy had highlighted an important social issue in her film for which she deserved congratulation.

Prime Minister Sharif hailed the win, with activists calling for changes in laws to punish those who kill women deemed to have disgraced their families.

Mr Sharif reiterated that his government was in the process of pushing a law to stop the killings.

“Women like Ms Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy are not only a pride for the Pakistani nation but are also a significant source of contribution towards the march of civilisation in the world,” he said in a statement.

More than 500 men and women died in honour killings in 2015, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).

Most were never prosecuted.

But on Monday, after a six-year trial, a court in Lahore sentenced two brothers to death for killing their sister in 2009 for marrying a man of her choice.

“She (Chinoy) has been able to motivate the prime minister of Pakistan who until her film has not taken any step on this issue,” said Sughara Imam, who last year introduced a bill in the Senate to change the law on honour killings.

The bill did not pass, however, and it is not clear exactly how Mr Sharif proposes to change the law.

“He will have to take some bold steps… Words from the PM are really not enough,” said Zohra Yusuf, chairman of the HRCP.

The foreign ministry in a statement said Pakistan welcomed the Oscar, saying the film was a source of `national pride’.

Dawn