Asma Nawar — a journalist, politician departs in prime age

PESHAWAR: One of the casualties of the torrential rains on July 29 was Asma Nawar, a young journalist and Awami National Party (ANP) women wing provincial vice-president, who died when the roof of her room collapsed in her village Dag Besod in Nowshera district. The 26-year old Asma worked for several media and social organisations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. No other room in the well-to-do family’s house collapsed except Asma’s. She was destined to die young is how grieving relatives and acquaintances described her untimely death. Her father Nawar Khan said Asma was not only his daughter but was also a son. “She was courageous and brave. She also played an important role in ANP politics,” he recalled. She did her master in journalism and mass communication from the University of Peshawar and joined The Frontier Post as a trainee reporter in June 2007. The same year the National Democratic Institute (NDI) selected her for study tour to Holland. She was one of 15 reporters working for a Khyber Agency-based FM radio station. Talking to her colleagues, she once said: “It is good that we are the voice of the people and even better to be voice of the women. Like men, women should also have their say in radio programmes to attract them towards this field.” In 2009, she joined Internews Pakistan as a reporter and producer for radio programmes on the issues of tribal womenfolk. Recently she was working as a reporter with Intermedia Pakistan on issues related to tribal women. Tayyab Afridi, station head of a Fata Secretariat-run FM radio in Khyber Agency, said when their radio started bulletin and signature news programme Asma became its first female correspondent. “She covered political issues of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in an impartial manner. People in Khyber Agency had benefited from her reporting on health and education issues,” he added. Intermedia Pakistan Manager Aurangzeb Khan also paid her tributes: “People in the tribal areas do not want their women to make calls to a radio show, but Asma proved to be a bold woman who raised voice for women.” Asma was engaged to journalist Sajid Khattak. They were classmates, best friends and co-workers in the same organisation. A grieving Sajid Khattak said he was proud of Asma due to her many qualities. “She was a loving daughter, sister, colleague and a professional, with a firm trust in Almighty Allah.” He remembered Asma telling him that she would die before him. “She was right. Now she is gone. Asma was serious in pursuing her career as journalist. She was happy that we worked for the same media organisation,” he said. “Asma Nawar was a noble woman. She was hardworking and honest,” remarked executive producer of Intermedia in Peshawar, Islam Gul Afridi. “For the first time I saw a woman here who was bold and confident and worked like men. She never felt that she was a woman reporter in our male-dominated society,” he said.

Asma Nawar — a journalist, politician departs in prime age

PESHAWAR: One of the casualties of the torrential rains on July 29 was Asma Nawar, a young journalist and Awami National Party (ANP) women wing provincial vice-president, who died when the roof of her room collapsed in her village Dag Besod in Nowshera district. The 26-year old Asma worked for several media and social organisations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. No other room in the well-to-do family’s house collapsed except Asma’s. She was destined to die young is how grieving relatives and acquaintances described her untimely death. Her father Nawar Khan said Asma was not only his daughter but was also a son. “She was courageous and brave. She also played an important role in ANP politics,” he recalled. She did her master in journalism and mass communication from the University of Peshawar and joined The Frontier Post as a trainee reporter in June 2007. The same year the National Democratic Institute (NDI) selected her for study tour to Holland. She was one of 15 reporters working for a Khyber Agency-based FM radio station. Talking to her colleagues, she once said: “It is good that we are the voice of the people and even better to be voice of the women. Like men, women should also have their say in radio programmes to attract them towards this field.” In 2009, she joined Internews Pakistan as a reporter and producer for radio programmes on the issues of tribal womenfolk. Recently she was working as a reporter with Intermedia Pakistan on issues related to tribal women. Tayyab Afridi, station head of a Fata Secretariat-run FM radio in Khyber Agency, said when their radio started bulletin and signature news programme Asma became its first female correspondent. “She covered political issues of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in an impartial manner. People in Khyber Agency had benefited from her reporting on health and education issues,” he added. Intermedia Pakistan Manager Aurangzeb Khan also paid her tributes: “People in the tribal areas do not want their women to make calls to a radio show, but Asma proved to be a bold woman who raised voice for women.” Asma was engaged to journalist Sajid Khattak. They were classmates, best friends and co-workers in the same organisation. A grieving Sajid Khattak said he was proud of Asma due to her many qualities. “She was a loving daughter, sister, colleague and a professional, with a firm trust in Almighty Allah.” He remembered Asma telling him that she would die before him. “She was right. Now she is gone. Asma was serious in pursuing her career as journalist. She was happy that we worked for the same media organisation,” he said. “Asma Nawar was a noble woman. She was hardworking and honest,” remarked executive producer of Intermedia in Peshawar, Islam Gul Afridi. “For the first time I saw a woman here who was bold and confident and worked like men. She never felt that she was a woman reporter in our male-dominated society,” he said.

Risk of disease rises amid deadly Pakistan floods

Pakistan dispatched medical teams Monday to the deluged northwest amid fears that cholera could spread after the worst floods in the country's history that have already killed up to 1,200 people, an official said. The disaster has forced 2 million to flee their homes. Residents have railed against the government for failing to provide enough emergency assistance nearly a week after extremely heavy monsoon rains triggered raging floodwaters in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province. The government says it has deployed thousands of rescue workers who have so far saved an estimated 28,000 people and distributed basic food items. The army has also sent some 30,000 troops and dozens of helicopters, but the scale of the disaster is so vast that many residents said it seems like officials are doing nothing. Thousands more people in the province remain trapped by the floodwaters. The anger of the flood victims poses a danger to the already struggling government, now competing with Islamist movements to deliver aid in a region with strong Taliban influence. "We need tents. Just look around," said flood victim Faisal Islam, sitting on the only dry ground he could find in Nowshera district — a highway median — surrounded by hundreds of people in makeshift shelters constructed from dirty sheets and plastic tarps. Like many other residents of Pakistan's northwest, people camped out by the highway in Kamp Koroona village waded through the water to their damaged houses to salvage their remaining possessions: usually just a few mud-covered plates and chairs. "This is the only shirt I have. Everything else is buried," said Islam. The army has given them some cooking oil and sugar, but Islam complained that they needed much more. Now people in the northwest also face the threat of waterborne disease — which could kill thousands more if health workers cannot deliver enough clean drinking water and treat and isolate any patients in crowded relief camps. "To avert the looming threat of spread of waterborne diseases, especially cholera, we have dispatched dozens of mobile medical teams in the affected districts," said Sohail Altaf, the top medical official in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa. Officials have yet to receive concrete reports of cholera cases, but fear of an outbreak is high, said Altaf. Patients with stomach problems from dirty water are being treated in government medical camps, he said. The disastrous flooding comes at a time when the weak and unpopular Pakistani government is already struggling to cope with a faltering economy and a brutal war against Taliban militants that has killed thousands of people in the past few years. The death toll from the disaster has ranged from about 870 provided by the prime minister's office to 1,200 given by Bashir Ahmed Bilour, senior minister in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa, who warned that it could go even higher. More than 2 million people have been displaced, he said. Pakistan's international partners have tried to bolster the government's response by offering millions of dollars in emergency aid. The United Nations and the United States announced Saturday that they would provide $10 million dollars each in emergency assistance. The U.S. has also provided rescue boats, water filtration units, prefabricated steel bridges and thousands of packaged meals that Pakistani soldiers tossed from helicopters as flood victims scrambled to catch them. The high-profile U.S. gesture of support comes at a time when the Obama administration is trying to dampen anti-American sentiment in Pakistan and enlist the country's support to turn around the Afghan war. "The Pakistani people are friends and partners, and the United States is standing with them as the tragic human toll mounts from flooding in northwest Pakistan," said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in a statement. The U.S. provided similar emergency assistance after Pakistan experienced a catastrophic earthquake in 2005 that killed nearly 80,000 people. The aid briefly increased support for the U.S. in a country where anti-American sentiment is pervasive. But feelings have since shifted, and only 17 percent of Pakistanis now have a favorable view of the U.S., according to a recent poll by the Pew Research Center. Conducted in April 2010, the survey has a margin of error of three percentage points. The U.S. could be hoping to get a similar popularity boost from the emergency flood assistance. But like the earthquake relief effort, the U.S. must compete with aid groups run by Islamist militants who also use assistance to increase their support. Representatives from a charity allegedly linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group distributed food and offered medical services on Sunday to victims in the town of Charsada. "We are reaching people at their doorsteps and in the streets, especially women and children who are stuck in their homes," said an activist with the Falah-e-Insaniat charity who would identify himself only by his first name, Saqib. With suspected ties to al-Qaida, Lashkar-e-Taiba has been blamed for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India, that killed 166 people, and the U.S. military has said the group has stepped up activity in Afghanistan as well. Pakistani militant groups often rail against government ineffectiveness as a way to build support, a message likely to resonate with many in the northwest who have criticized the official flood response. The military has deployed at least 30,000 army troops who helped rescue more than 28,000 people, said the national government. But thousands of people in the province remained trapped Sunday and authorities said 43 military helicopters and 100 boats had been deployed to try to save them.

Risk of disease rises amid deadly Pakistan floods

Pakistan dispatched medical teams Monday to the deluged northwest amid fears that cholera could spread after the worst floods in the country's history that have already killed up to 1,200 people, an official said. The disaster has forced 2 million to flee their homes. Residents have railed against the government for failing to provide enough emergency assistance nearly a week after extremely heavy monsoon rains triggered raging floodwaters in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province. The government says it has deployed thousands of rescue workers who have so far saved an estimated 28,000 people and distributed basic food items. The army has also sent some 30,000 troops and dozens of helicopters, but the scale of the disaster is so vast that many residents said it seems like officials are doing nothing. Thousands more people in the province remain trapped by the floodwaters. The anger of the flood victims poses a danger to the already struggling government, now competing with Islamist movements to deliver aid in a region with strong Taliban influence. "We need tents. Just look around," said flood victim Faisal Islam, sitting on the only dry ground he could find in Nowshera district — a highway median — surrounded by hundreds of people in makeshift shelters constructed from dirty sheets and plastic tarps. Like many other residents of Pakistan's northwest, people camped out by the highway in Kamp Koroona village waded through the water to their damaged houses to salvage their remaining possessions: usually just a few mud-covered plates and chairs. "This is the only shirt I have. Everything else is buried," said Islam. The army has given them some cooking oil and sugar, but Islam complained that they needed much more. Now people in the northwest also face the threat of waterborne disease — which could kill thousands more if health workers cannot deliver enough clean drinking water and treat and isolate any patients in crowded relief camps. "To avert the looming threat of spread of waterborne diseases, especially cholera, we have dispatched dozens of mobile medical teams in the affected districts," said Sohail Altaf, the top medical official in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa. Officials have yet to receive concrete reports of cholera cases, but fear of an outbreak is high, said Altaf. Patients with stomach problems from dirty water are being treated in government medical camps, he said. The disastrous flooding comes at a time when the weak and unpopular Pakistani government is already struggling to cope with a faltering economy and a brutal war against Taliban militants that has killed thousands of people in the past few years. The death toll from the disaster has ranged from about 870 provided by the prime minister's office to 1,200 given by Bashir Ahmed Bilour, senior minister in Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa, who warned that it could go even higher. More than 2 million people have been displaced, he said. Pakistan's international partners have tried to bolster the government's response by offering millions of dollars in emergency aid. The United Nations and the United States announced Saturday that they would provide $10 million dollars each in emergency assistance. The U.S. has also provided rescue boats, water filtration units, prefabricated steel bridges and thousands of packaged meals that Pakistani soldiers tossed from helicopters as flood victims scrambled to catch them. The high-profile U.S. gesture of support comes at a time when the Obama administration is trying to dampen anti-American sentiment in Pakistan and enlist the country's support to turn around the Afghan war. "The Pakistani people are friends and partners, and the United States is standing with them as the tragic human toll mounts from flooding in northwest Pakistan," said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in a statement. The U.S. provided similar emergency assistance after Pakistan experienced a catastrophic earthquake in 2005 that killed nearly 80,000 people. The aid briefly increased support for the U.S. in a country where anti-American sentiment is pervasive. But feelings have since shifted, and only 17 percent of Pakistanis now have a favorable view of the U.S., according to a recent poll by the Pew Research Center. Conducted in April 2010, the survey has a margin of error of three percentage points. The U.S. could be hoping to get a similar popularity boost from the emergency flood assistance. But like the earthquake relief effort, the U.S. must compete with aid groups run by Islamist militants who also use assistance to increase their support. Representatives from a charity allegedly linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group distributed food and offered medical services on Sunday to victims in the town of Charsada. "We are reaching people at their doorsteps and in the streets, especially women and children who are stuck in their homes," said an activist with the Falah-e-Insaniat charity who would identify himself only by his first name, Saqib. With suspected ties to al-Qaida, Lashkar-e-Taiba has been blamed for the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India, that killed 166 people, and the U.S. military has said the group has stepped up activity in Afghanistan as well. Pakistani militant groups often rail against government ineffectiveness as a way to build support, a message likely to resonate with many in the northwest who have criticized the official flood response. The military has deployed at least 30,000 army troops who helped rescue more than 28,000 people, said the national government. But thousands of people in the province remained trapped Sunday and authorities said 43 military helicopters and 100 boats had been deployed to try to save them.

Opiate of the masses..Building illegal Mosques

EDITORIAL:Daily Times The news of a band of clerics from a religious party constructing an illegal mosque on government property in Green Town, Lahore, served as a reminder to our authorities that their writ was being challenged. It was good to see that the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) took quick action late night after Daily Times’ exclusive reportage and demolished the illegal building. A case has also been registered against 50 people and so far seven people have been arrested. Since the clerics in Green Town had threatened to kill people on blasphemy charges if the illegal construction is stopped, they should be locked up behind bars. More such illegal encroachments should be identified and demolished. When religion is used as a tool to create fear amongst the masses, it is time to think logically and aim for a secular state instead of letting the state be a tool in the hands of vested interests. Building illegal mosques is not a new phenomenon in this land of the pure. In the not-so-distant past, the notorious Lal Masjid issue started with the demolition of illegal constructions by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in Islamabad. Mosques built illegally were razed but the Musharraf government acquiesced in the demands of the Lal Masjid clerics to rebuild them after they terrorised the citizens of Islamabad. This only made things worse as the fanatics, high on their ‘religious’ power, started making demands that bordered on absurdity. If there is a lesson to be learnt from that whole fiasco, it is that the state should never give in to the demands of religious zealots. Islam does not teach us to occupy land illegally to build mosques or seminaries. These so-called religious clergy have to be taken to task for maligning the true meaning of our religion. Pakistan should take a leaf out of its old wing, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), where its Supreme Court has struck down the bulk of the controversial 5th Amendment by reinstating a ban on Islamic political parties. Bangladesh’s original constitution was secular in nature but following a coup in 1975, the constitution was amended and given a religious tinge. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that she was “not in favour of banning any political party”. This may have more to do with the fact that the Jamaat-e-Islami is a large political party with some clout. Earlier, the Bangladesh High Court had outlawed punishments handed down in fatwas (religious edicts), after a series of cases of Muslim women being beaten and caned. Not only that, the Bangladesh government has also banned books by Maulana Maududi because they “encourage terrorism and militancy”. It is time that Pakistan follows in the footsteps of Bangladesh, also a Muslim country but which is paving a path towards the traditions laid down by its founding fathers. Mr Jinnah had also visualised a secular Pakistan but this was not to be. Soon after his death the Objectives Resolution inseminated the seeds of religious intolerance into our body politic. The religious parties in the Indian subcontinent were the most vocal in their opposition to the new state, but as soon as Pakistan came into being, they became its ‘guardians’. Appeasement of religious fundamentalists has led to an intolerant society where hate-literature is sold freely and religious minorities are persecuted. The state’s role has been far from ideal. State support to militant and sectarian outfits has bloodied our soil while our history textbooks have adopted a religious colour. John Locke introduced the idea of separating the church from the state back in the 17th century and since then many countries have adopted this secular, democratic model. In Pakistan, there is a misconception about secularism being ‘anti-religion’ when it is actually ‘religion-neutral’. If we are to make this country a progressive state, we must get rid of obscurantist and reactionary ideas so as to imbibe religious tolerance amongst our ranks and make Pakistan a state that can hold its head up high in today’s world. *

Humanitarian crisis looms in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

PESHAWAR: Even though six days have passed since the devastating floods hit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, thousands of people are crying for food, shelter and drinking water as a food crisis is looming in the flood-hit districts. The UN has estimated that some one million people have been affected by the floods, but only a few hundreds have received relief from the government and the remaining are in need of immediate food assistance. Swat, Shangla, Charsadda and Nowshera districts of KP were the worst-hit areas, where thousands of people were marooned in flooded villages, and needed immediate evacuation and food supply. During a visit to a few devastated localities in Peshawar the affected people said, “Our women and children have been swept away, and people are dying of hunger and thirst, while ministers are flying in helicopters, just as an eyewash.” Camp Korona, a village of about 400 houses situated near the Peshawar Motorway, was almost completely destroyed in the torrential rains and flash floods. Few houses were in good condition, while the majority had been completely destroyed. The people had taken refuge on the motorway, and have been sleeping outdoors, without any government relief. Similarly, about 500 houses had been completely destroyed in Momin Ghari, a suburb area of Peshawar. Question: Mohammad Awais, sitting along with his 11-member family on the motorway told Daily Times that he had rescued his family members. “Now like a beggar, I am asking people to provide food for my family,” Awais said. Strongly condemning the government, he said, like him, no one was getting any government relief. He said their destroyed houses are still full of floodwater. Awais questioned the relief activities of the government, saying that if they were without any relief near Peshawar, what would be the condition of the other thousands in places like Charsadda and Nowshera. Little: Similarly, people in Larama, another flood-hit area of Peshawar, strongly criticised the government for not providing any relief to them even after six days. Residents of the Larama area included Shabir, Ibrahim and Luqman, all of whose houses were destroyed, and who said that they had been receiving relief from philanthropists and charity organisations, but the residents have not received any relief from the government so far. A majority of the flood-affected people in Peshawar, have been shifted to government schools, but even there the people were complaining of a shortage of food and health facilities. People were seen evacuating luggage from their destroyed houses in Peshawar, as the government has not provided them basic necessities, including water coolers and tents, to name a few. The province is facing the worst natural calamity in its history, and the situation could turn into a humanitarian disaster if the government and the international community does not extend immediate help. Thousands of people, including women and children, have taken shelter on rooftops and nearby mountains in Nowshera. Most parts of the Nowshera district have been inundated and thousands of people are still marooned. Stranded: Anger is growing, due to the slow pace of relief work and delays in evacuation. Demonstrations were held in Pabbi and Taro Jabba with protesters demanding food, drinking water and shelter. Swat is the worst-hit district, and according to reports, thousands are still stranded, and waiting for their evacuation to safer places. “I am stranded with my other 20 fellows including females in the Kanju area of Swat. We are waiting for evacuation and have nothing to eat and drink,” Ziaullah, a worker of a non-government organisation (NGO) informed through his cell phone. All link bridges have been washed away, and about 233 people have died in Swat. Only a single helicopter was being used in Swat for rescue operations. Interestingly, though the devastating flood has nearly made one million people homeless, the KP government has distributed only 200 tents each in Tank, Lakki Marwat and Bannu, and 40 in Peshawar. The government had only distributed food items among 4,950 families in Charsadda, 1,000 in Tank, 2,000 in DI Khan, 300 in Bannu, and among 600 families in Peshawar.

Pakistan flood Survivors lash out after Pakistan floods kill 1,100

Survivors crammed into inadequate shelters expressed anger over inaction from the Pakistani government on Monday as the death toll from the country's worst floods in generations topped 1,100. UN chief Ban Ki-moon pledged extra aid of up to 10 million dollars to help in the crisis, which local officials say has affected more than 1.5 million people in Pakistan's northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. "I had built a two-room house on the outskirts of Peshawar with my hard-earned money but I lost it in the floods," said labourer Ejaz Khan, one of several hundred people who demonstrated in the northwestern city of Peshawar. "The government is not helping us... the school building where I sheltered is packed with people, with no adequate arrangement for food and medicine," the 53-year-old told AFP. The floods and landslides triggered by monsoon rains capped a devastating week in Pakistan, where 152 people were killed when an Airblue passenger jet slammed into hills overlooking the capital in the country's worst plane crash. Ban said he was "deeply saddened" by the losses incurred in the worst floods in Pakistan for 80 years, reiterating a full commitment to "meeting the humanitarian needs" of those affected. Pakistani television footage and photographs taken from helicopters showed people clinging to the walls and rooftops of damaged houses as water rushed through villages, with waterborne diseases emerging as a threat to survivors. Thousands of homes and vast swathes of farmland have been destroyed in a region of Pakistan reeling from years of extremist bloodshed. "The floods have killed more than 1,100 people in different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and affected over 1.5 million," said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the northwest province's information minister. "We are receiving information about the loss of life and property caused by the floods all over the province," he told AFP, adding that he feared the death toll could rise. A senior official at the provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) confirmed the toll. Hussain said more than 3,700 homes had been swept away and the number of people made homeless was mounting. Hundreds of survivors sought shelter in schools in Peshawar, the main city in northwest Pakistan, and in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, after escaping the floods with children on their backs. Pakistan's meterological office said the northwest had been hit by an "unprecedented" 312 millimetres (12 inches) of rain in 36 hours. The US government announced an initial 10-million-dollar aid pledge and has rushed helicopters and boats to Pakistan. China, which has also been hit by severe flooding, announced a 10 million yuan (1.5 million dollar) donation, according to the official Xinhua news agency, which cited a government website. Hussain said rescue teams were trying to reach 1,500 tourists stranded in Swat district, the scene of a major anti-Taliban military offensive last year. "We are also getting confirmation of reports about an outbreak of cholera in some areas of Swat," he said. The Pakistan Air Force said it had airlifted more than 500 stranded people, including six foreigners, as part of relief operations and was carrying out reconnaissance missions to assess the damage to infrastructure. President Asif Ali Zardari is due in Paris Monday for a two-day visit, and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner expressed France's "solidarity" with Pakistan in the face of the floods. Floods also ravaged parts of Afghanistan, killing at least 65 people and affecting more than 1,000 families, officials said.

BlackBerry Users in UAE and Saudi May Have Services Cut...SHAME SHAME SHAME!!!!

More than a million BlackBerry users may have key services in Saudi Arabia and the UAE cut off after authorities stepped up demands on smartphone maker Research In Motion for access to encrypted messages sent over the device. BlackBerry's Messenger application has spread rapidly in the Gulf Arab region but because the data is encrypted and sent to offshore servers, it cannot be tracked locally. "Certain BlackBerry services allow users to act without any legal accountability, causing judicial, social and national security concerns," the United Arab Emirates' Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said in a statement. The UAE said it would suspend BlackBerry Messenger, email and Web browser services from October 11 until a fix was found, while industry sources said Saudi Arabia had ordered local telecom companies to freeze Messenger this month. Sunday's moves cap wrangling with regulators over the issue, which first surfaced in 2007. India raised similar security concerns last week, and Bahrain in April warned against using BlackBerry Messenger to distribute local news. As far back as 2007, France cautioned officials about using the services. Indian security officials were concerned that BlackBerry's encrypted data could be used to coordinate acts against the state. They have clamped down on mobile phone operators in the wake of 2008 attacks that killed 166 people in Mumbai. The UAE, home to Gulf financial hub Dubai, said it would halt BlackBerry services until an "acceptable solution" was developed and applied. Users of the device said that could mean disruptions for companies and individuals who rely on the services, including almost 700,000 in Saudi Arabia and some 500,000 in the UAE. "It's a final decision but we are continuing discussions with them," Mohammed Al Ghanem, director general of the UAE's TRA, told Reuters.