Police in Pakistan say at least four people have been killed and seven injured by a remote-controlled bomb that exploded on a railway line in southwestern Pakistan just as a passenger train was passing by.
The March 17 attack occurred in the Dera Murad Jamali area of the volatile province of Balochistan about 300 kilometers southeast of the provincial capital, Quetta.
An official from district police, Irfan Bashir, said the Jaffar Express train was traveling from Rawalpindi to Quetta when the bomb exploded, knocking three carriages off the track.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Baloch separatist groups and Islamist militants both regularly attack railways in Balochistan Province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.
https://www.rferl.org/a/four-killed-seven-injured-by-bomb-blast-on-pakistani-railway/29826200.html
Sunday, March 17, 2019
They need to stop harboring terrorists: Pompeo wants Pakistan to do more
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accused Pakistan of harboring terrorists and said that the US administration “needs Pakistan to do more”.
“We need Pakistan to do more,” Pompeo told Fox News. The US secretary of state claimed that the terrorists who “departed from Pakistan” was the reason behind the conflict between Pakistan and India.
“We saw what happened with India, the conflict that arose there as a result of terrorists that departed from Pakistan,” Pompeo said. “We need the Pakistanis to step up. They need to stop harboring terrorists.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accused Pakistan of harboring terrorists and said that the US administration “needs Pakistan to do more”.
“We need Pakistan to do more,” Pompeo told Fox News. The US secretary of state claimed that the terrorists who “departed from Pakistan” was the reason behind the conflict between Pakistan and India.
“We saw what happened with India, the conflict that arose there as a result of terrorists that departed from Pakistan,” Pompeo said. “We need the Pakistanis to step up. They need to stop harboring terrorists.
On March 5, Pakistani officials announced that they were taking action against militant groups and have arrested 44 people, including a brother and son of JeM leader Azhar.
Jamaat-ud-Dawah, a religious group led by Hafiz Saeed, was also added into the list of proscribed organizations and the seminaries and mosques affiliated with JeM and JuD were taken over by the government.
https://www.samaa.tv/global/2019/03/they-need-to-stop-harboring-terrorists-pompeo-wants-pakistan-to-do-more/
#Pakistan womens' march organizers highlight online death threats
Organisers of an International Women’s Day march in Pakistan say they have had death and rape threats on social media over the event, which prompted complaints from some conservative groups.
Nighat Daad told Reuters that the march organizers are looking into filing a complaint with Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Authority about the online harassment.“It has gone too far in terms of death and rape threats to the organizers and also to the marchers,” Daad said, adding that one of the threatening accounts had been suspended by Twitter.
The event, which attracted tens of thousands of women on March 8, was only the second of its kind in Pakistan, which a A Thomson Reuters Foundation poll found to be the sixth most dangerous country for women in 2018.
A Human Rights Watch report last year estimated that 1,000 “honor killings” — the practice of relatives murdering girls or women because they think the victim has brought shame or dishonor on the family — take place in Pakistan each year.
Another march organizer, who asked not to be identified, said the backlash “shows that this collective organization of women has threatened the patriarchal forces”.
Pakistan has experienced a surge in social media usage with more than 40 million Facebook users. The rapid growth has sparked an online debate about misogyny, with some women highlighting daily hate and pornographic messaging.
The days following the march have seen social media attacks on women, while some prominent men have complained about “obscene” signs carried by protesters.
A member of the country’s largest religious political party filed a complaint with police, seen by Reuters, in the southern city of Karachi where 7,000 women attended the march, saying the protesters “provoked religious sentiments” and spread vulgarity.
The march organizers also said the media had focused on the backlash more than the original aims of the event.
“The media played a massively negative role in this campaign ... they just looked at what trolls were saying online and picked up (on) a few placards that were provocative to try and sell their content,” Daad said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-women-march/pakistan-womens-march-organizers-highlight-online-death-threats-idUSKCN1QX0E0
Bilawal assures activists his support against any attack on women's rights campaign
The PPP leader made the assertion during a meeting with a delegation of women’s rights activists led by Sheema Kirmani. PPP Senator Sherry Rehman was also present during the meeting held at Bilawal House.
Bilawal extended his support to the members of the recently staged Aurat March and its activists, who he said are struggling for their genuine and legitimate rights as enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan.He reminded the activists of "PPP’s commitment to gender equality and empowerment", and assured them of his party's protection against any victimisation by anti-women elements.Bilawal's reassurances came days after Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) lawmaker Abdul Rasheed lashed out at the Aurat March, which was held across Pakistani cities on March 8.
In his address on the Sindh Assembly floor, he said he would complain to police to have a case registered against the organisers of the event which he alleged disrespected women and was in violation of Islamic principles.
He had also requested the Sindh government's support in registering a first information report (FIR) against the march's organisers, saying he hoped the provincial government would cooperate with him "on the basis of the ideology and laws of Pakistan".
On Wednesday, Rasheed proceeded to file a handwritten complaint at the Artillery Maidan Police Station.
The march's manifesto demands economic justice, including implementation of labour rights, the Sexual Harassment Against Women in the Workplace Act 2010, recognition of women’s input to the ‘care economy’ as unpaid labour, and provision of maternity leaves and day care centres to ensure women’s inclusion in the labour force.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1470018/bilawal-assures-activists-his-support-against-any-attack-on-womens-rights-campaign
ملک اس وقت سنگین سیاسی، معاشی، سفارتی اور انسانی حقوق کے بحران کا شکار ہے، غریب عوام مہنگائی کی سونامی میں ڈوب چکی، جبکہ خان صاحب کے تمام واعدے جھوٹ ثابت ہورہے ہیں۔ بلاول بھٹو زرداری
پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی کے چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا ہے کہ ملک اس وقت سنگین سیاسی، معاشی، سفارتی اور انسانی
بھارتی پائیلٹ کو تو این آر او کرکے بھیج دیا گیا لیکن ملک کی حزبِ اختلاف کے خلاف جھوٹے مقدمات چلائے جا رہے ہیں۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ ایک طرف بھارت، ایران، افغانستان اور دیگر ممالک سے تعلقات کشیدہ ہیں، تو دوسری جانب ملک کے داخلی معاملات بد سے بدترین ہو رہے ہیں۔ سلیکٹڈ حکومت کی جانب سے سیاست، اظہار رائے اور صحافت کی آزادی اور سویلین بالادستی پر حملے کیئے جا رہے ہیں۔ بجلی اور گیس سمیت بنیادی ضروریات کی اشیاء کی قیمتو٘ میں مسلسل اضافہ ہو رہا ہے۔ تحریک انصاف کی حکموت کو تاحال معلوم نہیں کہ اسے آئی ایم ایف سے کیا بات کرنی چاہیئے۔ بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا کہ ملک میں انسانی حقوق کا بحران بھی شدید ہے۔ جن اداروں کو انسانی حقوق کا تحفظ کرنا تھا، وہ ادارے ہی ناانصافی پر تلے ہئے ہیں۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ 2018ع کے عام انتخابات میں بدرترین دھاندھلی کی گئی۔ مجھے لیاری اور مالاکنڈ سے ہرایا گیا، جبکہ لاڑکانہ کی عوام ان قوتوں کی سازش ناکام بنا دی، جو مجھے پارلیامینٹ میں دیکھنا نہیں چاہتی تھیں۔ مجھے آج تک الیکشن کمیشن کی جانب سے فارم 45 اور فارم 47 نہیں دیئے گئے۔ پی پی پی چیئرمین نے مزید کہا کہ سندھ کی عوام کو سلام
کرتا ہوں، جنہوں نے صوبے میں دھاندھلی کی سازش ناکام بنائی۔
انہوں نے کہا کہ عمران خان نے سندھ کی عوام کے 120 ارب روپے روک کر ڈاکہ زنی کی ہے۔ یہ وہ پیسے تھے جو صوبے میں تعلیم، صحت اور انفرا اسٹرکچر پر خرچ ہونے تھے۔ پی پی پی چیئرمین نے کہا کہ تحریک انصاف طالبان اور دیگر انتھاپسندوں کو بھتہ دیتی رہی۔ گذشتہ انتخابات میں کالعدم تنظیموں کو اس لیئے لایا گیا تاکہ خان صاحب کو جتوایا جائے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ چند روز قبل انہوں نے وفاقی حکومت سے نیشنل ایکشن پلان پر عملدرآمد کو یقینی بنانے کے لیئے مشترکہ پارلیمانی کمیٹی بنانے اور کالعدم تنظیموں سے تعلقات رکھنے والے تین وزراء کو ہٹانے کا مطالبہ کیا تھا۔ اگر میرے مطالبے پورے نہ کیئے گئے تو ہم حکومت کے کسی ایکشن کی حمایت نہیں کریں گے۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ قانون اگر طاقتور ہے تو طالبان اور شہید
محترمہ بینظیر بھٹو کے قاتلوں کو کیوں گرفتار نہیں کرتا۔
شہید محترمہ بینظیر بھٹو اور صدر آصف علی زرداری کو ایک فون کال پر سزا سنانے والی قوتیں دنیا کو کیسے اپنا چہرہ دکھائیں گے؟۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ ہمارے ارکانِ اسمبلی، وزراء اور رہنماوَں کو ہراساں کرکے دباوَ ڈالا جا رہا ہے۔ اسپیکر سندھ اسمبلی آغا سراج درانی کو اسلام آباد سے گرفتار کیا گیا اور ان کے گھر پر چھاپے کے نام پر چادر و چودیواری کا تقدس پائمال کیا گیا۔ انہوں نے کہا کہ اس طرح کی تمام انتقامی کاروایوں کے باوجود پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی 1973ع کے دستور اور 18ویں ترمیم پر کسی مصلحت کا شکار نہیں ہوگی۔ پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی نے ضیاء کی آمریت، انتھاپسندوں کی دہشتگردی اور جنرل مشرف کے جبر کا سامنا کیا اور اب بھی عوام دشمن سازشوں کا مقابلہ کرنے کے لیئے تیار ہے۔
https://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/