Monday, May 27, 2019
#MemorialDay2019 #MemorialDay - Clintons march in Memorial Day parade
Former President Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday marched in a Memorial Day parade in their adopted hometown of Chappaqua, N.Y.
Bill Clinton tweeted about the parade, noting that they were joined by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D).
"Wonderful morning today with Hillary and Gov. Cuomo marching in the Chappaqua #MemorialDay Parade," he wrote.
"Today, we honor those who have given their lives for our country and thank them for all they made possible," he added.
According to a local ABC affiliate, thousands of people gathered to pay tribute to fallen U.S. service members, including a band from a local school as well as Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and veterans.
After the parade, there was a picnic with live music.
The Clintons have also marched in the parade in prior years.
’’میں بھی افغان ہوں‘‘ - ’’میں افغان تھا، میں افغان ہوں اور میں افغان رہوں گا‘‘۔
میں افغان تھا، میں افغان ہوں اور میں افغان رہوں گا
یہ الفاظ عوامی نیشنل پارٹی کے صدر اسفند یار ولی نے 2016میں کہے تھے جس پر کچھ محبِ وطن بھڑک اُٹھے اور اُنہوں نے اسفند یار ولی پر غداری کا الزام لگا کر اُنہیں افغانستان جانے کا حکم دیا لیکن اے این پی کے صدر نے یہ حکم نظر انداز کر دیا تھا۔ اُنہوں نے یہ الفاظ اپنی پارٹی کے سابق رکنِ صوبائی اسمبلی شعیب خان کی یاد میں منعقد کئے گئے جلسے میں کہے تھے۔ صوابی کا شعیب خان اپنے علاقے میں بابائے صوابی اور ملنگ بابا کے نام سے مشہور تھا۔ جب سوات سے شمالی وزیرستان اور بنوں سے پشاور تک ہر دوسرے دن بم دھماکے ہو رہے تھے تو یہ اے این پی تھی جو پاکستان کی سیکورٹی فورسز کے ساتھ کھڑی ہو گئی۔ بشیر بلور سے لے کر شعیب خان تک اے این پی نے سات سو سے زائد کارکن پاکستان پر قربان کر دیئے لیکن پاکستان سے محبت کے دعویداروں کو یہ قربانیاں نظر نہیں آتیں۔ وہ اسفند یار کو غدار کہتے ہیں کیونکہ اُسے اپنے افغان ہونے پر فخر ہے۔ کچھ دن پہلے اسلام آباد میں ایک دس سالہ بچی فرشتہ کو اغوا کر کے قتل کر دیا گیا۔ اغوا کے پانچ دن بعد اُس بچی کی لاش ملی تو لواحقین نے پولیس کیخلاف احتجاج کیا کیونکہ اسلام آباد پولیس کے اہلکاروں نے بچی کے والد کی شکایت پر مقدمہ درج کرنے کے بجائے مظلوم والد سے تھانے کی صفائی کا کام لینا شروع کر دیا۔ لواحقین کے احتجاج میں کچھ سیاسی جماعتیں بھی شامل ہو گئیں۔ ایک ٹی وی چینل نے دعویٰ کر دیا کہ فرشتہ کا خاندان پاکستانی نہیں بلکہ افغان ہے۔ پھر کیا تھا۔ سوشل میڈیا پر پاکستان اور اسلام کا نام لے کر گالم گلوچ کرنے والے محبِ وطن پاکستانی اور مجاہدینِ اسلام میدان میں آ گئے اور اُنہوں نے یہ نعرہ لگا دیا ’’افغانی بھگائو پاکستان بچائو‘‘۔ جواب میں فرشتہ کے لئے انصاف مانگنے والوں نے یہ کہنا شروع کر دیا ’’میں بھی افغان ہوں‘‘۔ جب بھی کوئی پختون اپنے آپ کو افغان کہتا ہے تو پنجاب سے تعلق رکھنے والے پاکستانیت کے کچھ علمبردار اُسے غدار قرار دے کر افغانستان چلے جانے کا حکم دینے لگتے ہیں۔ یہ وہ رویہ ہے جس کے باعث 1971ءمیں بنگالی پاکستان سے علیحدہ ہو گئے تھے لیکن افسوس کہ وقت گزرنے کے ساتھ ساتھ پاکستان سے محبت کے نام پر اس پاکستان دشمنی میں مزید اضافہ ہو گیا ہے۔ اس کی سب سے بڑی وجہ ہمارا نظامِ تعلیم ہے۔ ہم اپنے بچوں کو اسکولوں، کالجوں اور یونیورسٹیوں میں صحیح تاریخ نہیں پڑھاتے۔ صحیح تاریخ نہ پڑھانے کی وجہ یہ ہے کہ اگر نئی نسل کو پتہ چل گیا کہ ہمارے اصل ہیرو اور ولن کون ہیں تو پھر پاکستان پر ایک مخصوص طبقے کی اجارہ داری ختم ہو جائے گی۔
ستم ظریفی دیکھئے کہ افغان دراصل پاکستان کا حصہ ہے لیکن پاکستانیت کے علمبردار اپنے آپ کو افغان کہنے والوں کو غدار قرار دے ڈالتے ہیں۔ اس جہالت کی وجہ یہ ہے کہ ہم نے لفظ پاکستان کی تاریخ کو بھی ایمانداری سے اپنے تعلیمی نصاب میں شامل نہیں کیا۔ ہم اپنے نصاب میں یہ تو بتاتے ہیں کہ دو قومی نظریے کی ابتداء سر سید احمد خان نے کی تھی، جنہوں نے مسلمانوں اور ہندوئوں کو دو علیحدہ قومیں قرار دیا لیکن جمال الدین افغانی کو اہمیت نہیں دی جنہوں نے وسط ایشیا سے شمال مغربی ہندوستان تک ایک علیحدہ مسلم جمہوریت کی تجویز پیش کی۔ پھر 1890میں عبدالحلیم شرر نے ہندوستان کو ہندو اور مسلم اضلاع میں تقسیم کرنے کی تجویز دی۔ اکبر الٰہ آبادی، مولانا محمد علی جوہر، حسرت موہانی اور مولانا اشرف علی تھانوی نے 1905اور 1928کے درمیان بار بار علیحدہ مسلم مملکت کی تجویز پیش کی۔ 1928میں کپواڑہ کے علاقے ہندواڑہ سے تعلق رکھنے والے ایک کشمیری صحافی غلام حسن شاہ کاظمی نے ’’ہفت روزہ پاکستان‘‘ کے نام سے ڈیکلریشن کے لئے ایبٹ آباد میں درخواست دی تھی۔ علامہ اقبالؒ نے 1930میں اپنے خطبہ الٰہ آباد میں تفصیل سے پنجاب، صوبہ سرحد، سندھ اور بلوچستان کو علیحدہ ریاست بنانے کی تجویز دی۔ ہمارے تعلیمی نصاب میں لفظ پاکستان کا خالق چوہدری رحمت علی کو قرار دیا جاتا ہے۔ اُنہوں نے 1933ءمیں ایک کتابچہ NOW OR NEVER کے نام سے شائع کیا تھا جس میں لفظ پاکستان کی تشریح کی گئی۔ یہ کتابچہ ’’پاکستان موومنٹ‘‘ نامی تنظیم نے شائع کیا جس کے صدر اسلم خٹک اور سیکرٹری چوہدری رحمت علی تھے۔ اس کتابچے کے مطابق لفظ پاکستان میں پ کا تعلق پنجاب، الف کا تعلق افغان، ک کا تعلق کشمیر، س کا تعلق سندھ اور تان کا تعلق بلوچستان سے ہے۔ ’’پاکستان موومنٹ‘‘ نامی اس تنظیم میں خواجہ رحیم بھی شامل تھے اور انہوں نے اس نام کی منظوری علامہ اقبالؒ سے لی تھی۔ ڈاکٹر جہانگیر تمیمی کی تصنیف ’’اقبالؒ، صاحب حال‘‘ کے مطابق علامہ اقبالؒ نے 22نومبر 1937کو لفظ پاکستان مولانا سید ابوالحسن علی ندوی کے سامنے استعمال کیا اور کہا ’’پاکستان ہی مسلمانوں کے مسائل کا واحد حل ہے‘‘۔ علامہ اقبالؒ کو تصور پاکستان کا خالق بھی کہا جاتا ہے لیکن افسوس کہ پاکستانیت کے اکثر علمبردار افغانوں کے بارے میں شاعر مشرق کے خیالات سے نابلد ہیں۔ علامہ اقبالؒ کا افغانستان اور پشتو زبان کے بارے میں بڑا گہرا مطالعہ تھا۔ علی گڑھ مسلم یونیورسٹی کے ایک استاد شیخ عطاءاللہ نے بڑی محنت سے علامہ اقبالؒ کے ساڑھے چار سو سے زائد خطوط تلاش کئے اور ’’اقبال نامہ‘‘ کے نام سے شائع کر دیئے۔ یہ کتاب سب سے پہلے 1944میںشائع ہوئی تھی۔ اب اسے اقبال اکادمی پاکستان نے دوبارہ شائع کیا ہے۔ اس کتاب میں خالد خلیل کے نام علامہ اقبالؒ کا ایک خط شامل ہے جس میں شاعر مشرق نے پشتو بولنے والے افغان اور پٹھان کو ایک ہی قرار دیا ہے اور بتایا ہے کہ افغان دراصل یہودی النسل ہیں، اِس لئے پشتو میں عبرانی زبان کے کئی الفاظ ہیں۔ اس خط میں خوشحال خان خٹک کی بہت تعریف کی گئی ہے۔ علامہ اقبالؒ نے ’’خوشحال خان کی وصیت‘‘ کے نام سے اپنی نظم میں کہا تھا؎
قبائل ہوں ملت کی وحدت میں گم
کہ ہو نام افغانیوں کا بلند
محبت مجھے اُن جوانوں سے ہے
ستاروں پہ جو ڈالتے ہیں کمند
اور پھر ایک اور جگہ کہا کہ؎
آسیا یک پیکر آب و گل است
ملتِ افغان در آں پیکر دل است
یعنی ایشیا ایک جسم ہے تو افغان اس جسم میں دل کی حیثیت رکھتے ہیں۔ اقبال نے کہا تھا ’’افغان باقی، کہسار باقی۔ الحکم للہ، الملک للہ‘‘۔ یہ افغان صرف وہ نہیں جو افغانستان میں رہتے ہیں بلکہ یہ پاکستان میں بھی رہتے ہیں جن کو پختون اور پٹھان کہا جاتا ہے۔ ڈاکٹر محمد نواز خان محمود اپنی کتاب ’’فرنگی راج اور غیرت مند مسلمان‘‘ میں لکھتے ہیں کہ افغان، پشتون یا پٹھان کی نسل بنی اسرائیل(حضرت یعقوب علیہ السلام) سے ہے، اُنکے جدِ امجد کا نام افاغنہ تھا جو بنی اسرائیل کے بادشاہ طالوت کا پوتا تھا۔ اگر کوئی پاکستانی پشتون اپنے آپ کو افغان کہتا ہے تو کسی کو غصے میں آنے کی ضرورت نہیں یہ اُسکی پہچان ہے۔ جس طرح پنجابی بھارت میں بھی رہتے ہیں، پاکستان میں بھی رہتے ہیں، سندھی بولنے والے بھارت میں بھی ہیں، بلوچی بولنے والے افغانستان اور ایران میں رہتے ہیں، اُسی طرح پشتو بولنے والا پاکستانی اپنے آپ کو افغان کہہ دے تو مسکرا کر اُسے گلے لگایئے اور کہہ دیں میں بھی افغان ہوں کیونکہ آج کے پاکستان میں رہنے والوں کے اکثر بزرگوں کو حضرت داتا گنج بخشؒ، حضرت قطب الدین بختیار کاکیؒ، حضرت معین الدین چشتیؒ اور لال شہباز قلندرؒ نے مسلمان کیا اور یہ صوفیاء افغان تھے۔
India, Pakistan Continue to Test Weapons Systems Amid Tensions
Since the Indian parliamentary elections, India has test-fired an air launched version of the BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile, followed by Pakistan launching its surface-to-surface Shaheen-II ballistic missile. Two days later, India test fired a 500 kg guided bomb near the border with Pakistan.
A day after the leaders of India and Pakistan established their first communication as a friendly gesture towards peace since the escalation of tensions in February, the Indian military test fired a surface-to-air defence missile system — Akash 1S — fitted with a home-grown seeker on Monday.
The 1S is the new version of the Akash missile, which comes fitted with an indigenous seeker that enhanced the electronic counter counter-measures capability, and better performance against highly agile targets.
The 1S is the new version of the Akash missile, which comes fitted with an indigenous seeker that enhanced the electronic counter counter-measures capability, and better performance against highly agile targets.
The Akash can fly at supersonic speeds, ranging from Mach 2.8 to 3.5, and engage aerial targets up to a range of 30 km.
Congratulating the Indian defence scientists of the state-funded Defence Research and Development (DRDO), Dharmendra Pradhan, a senior cabinet minister of the government of India, said this version of the missile is fitted with an indigenous seeker "adding not only to missile lethality but also enhancing India's defence manufacturing capabilities".
Akash 1S retains the command guidance of the original missile for the initial part of target pursuit. The RF seeker gives the missile additional range. The Akash Mk-1S system features 360 degree coverage with a compact configuration and reduced signature.
This missile is being inducted into the Indian Army as short range surface to air missile. The system is capable of simultaneously engaging multiple targets and providing comprehensive short range missile cover to the vulnerable assets in the field force of the army. The 720 kg, 5.78-metre long missile has a diametre of 35 cm and a length of 5.78 metres. It has a 60 kg warhead. Because the missile has an integrated ram-rocket, its maneuverability is very high.
On 23 May, Pakistan too successfully launched its surface-to-surface Shaheen-II ballistic missile, "capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads up to a range of 1,500 kms".
Post-Shaheen launch, which was considered as tit-for-tat missile launch in the region, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Russia does not see any obstacles for Pakistan to develop its missile programme.
A day after the Shaheen II launch, the Indian military claimed to have successfully tested a guided 500-kg bomb, capable of destroying any moving target with steering rudders during the free-fall from an aircraft.
The testing of weapons by the two neighbouring nations started on the day Narendra Modi was announced victorious in General Elections.
Last week, Islamabad made "a rare exception" for Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, allowing her to fly directly in Pakistani airspace on her way to the SCO meeting.
On 26 May, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan called his counterpart Modi over phone and stressed the importance of creating trust and building an environment free of violence in the region.
India snubs Pakistan for Modi's swearing-in ceremony
Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan have fought three wars since both won independence from Britain in 1947, and came close to a fourth in February after a suicide attack by a Pakistan-based militant group killed at least 40 Indian police in the contested Kashmir region.
An Indian government statement on Monday said the leaders of Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal, and Bhutan - all members, with India, of the little-known Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) - have been invited to Modi’s swearing-in.“This is in line with Government’s focus on its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy,” a government spokesman said.The leaders of Kyrgyzstan and Mauritius have also been invited, but two sources in Indian’s foreign ministry said Pakistan will not be on the list, without providing further information.For the swearing-in ceremony for Modi’s first term in 2014, all nations from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), that includes Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Maldives, were invited.
In 2014 Pakistan’s then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attended the ceremony, to the anger of some of Modi’s Hindu-nationalist allies.
Modi and Khan both claimed their air forces carried out air strikes in enemy territory in March, to the alarm of world powers.
Modi, who was widely believed to have benefited politically from the stand-off, won a second term with an increased majority in a general election whose results were declared last week.
Khan called Modi on Sunday to congratulate him on his win.
Modi could still meet Khan at a Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Kyrgyzstan next month, that both leaders may attend.
A spokesman for Pakistan’s embassy in New Delhi was not immediately available for comment.
#Pakistan - She Thought She’d Married a Rich Chinese Farmer. She Hadn’t.
By Salman Masood and Amy Qin
China has one of the most heavily skewed gender ratios in the world, with 106.3 men for every 100 women as of 2017, according to the World Bank. That tilt is a product of nearly three decades of strict enforcement of China’s one-child policy and a preference for boys over girls — a combination that caused an untold number of forced abortions and female infanticides.Rabia Kanwal’s parents were sure her marriage to a wealthy Chinese Muslim she had just met would give her a comfortable future, far from the hardships of their lives in Pakistan. But she had a premonition. “I was not excited,” said Ms. Kanwal, 22, who lives in a poor neighborhood in the city of Gujranwala, in the eastern province of Punjab. “I felt something bad was going to happen.” Arranged marriages are common in Pakistan, but this one was unusual. The groom, who said he was a rich poultry farmer, met Ms. Kanwal’s family during a monthslong stay on a tourist visa. He had to use a Chinese-Urdu translation app to communicate with them, but over all, he made a favorable impression. Ms. Kanwal went through with the wedding. But upon moving to China with her new husband in February, she said, she was disappointed by what she found: He was a poor farmer, not a wealthy one. Far worse, he was not a Muslim. Within days, with the help of the Pakistani Embassy, she was back home and pursuing a divorce. Hers was a relatively happy ending, though. In recent weeks, Pakistan has been rocked by charges that at least 150 women were brought to China as brides under false pretenses — not only lied to, but in some cases forced into prostitution. Others said they were made to work in bars and clubs, an unacceptable practice in Pakistan’s conservative Muslim culture. At the same time, Ms. Kanwal’s story is not uncommon in China.
But the long-term human costs of this gender imbalance have only recently come into view — and they are having an impact far beyond China’s borders.
As the boys of the one-child policy era have begun to reach marriage age, the demand for foreign brides like Ms. Kanwal has surged, even as the Chinese government has loosened birth restrictions.
The allegations of trafficking are a disturbing aspect of China’s growing presence in Pakistan, a longtime ally drawn closer lately by expanding economic ties — including China’s Belt and Road infrastructure project.
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| Ms. Kanwal back in Gujranwala, her hometown. She said her stay in China was “horrible and beyond words.” |
More Chinese are coming to Pakistan as laborers and investors. In the capital, Islamabad, shops and other businesses have begun catering specifically to them.The Pakistani government has cracked down on brokers said to have arranged the marriages, arresting at least two dozen Chinese citizens and Pakistanis and charging them with human trafficking. The Chinese Embassy denied that Pakistani brides were being mistreated in China.But Human Rights Watch said last month that the trafficking allegations were “disturbingly similar” to past patterns in which women from other poor Asian countries — North Korea, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam — were brought to China as brides and subjected to abuse.
“Both Pakistan and China should take seriously increasing evidence that Pakistani women and girls are at risk of sexual slavery,” the rights group’s China director, Sophie Richardson, wrote on its website.
Pakistani investigators said men in China paid the brokers to arrange marriages with local women, staying in rented houses in Pakistan until the weddings were performed. The men covered the costs of the ceremonies, and in some cases they paid the women’s families the equivalent of thousands of dollars, investigators said.None of that is illegal in Pakistan. The human trafficking charges come from the allegations that women were forced into prostitution or brought to China under false pretenses. In some cases, investigators say, the men were provided with forged documents indicating that they were Muslim.
Other men sought out wives from Pakistan’s Christian minority, many of whom are impoverished and subjected to discrimination, investigators said. But virtually all of the women, Christian and Muslim alike, were drawn by the hope of better economic prospects. “My parents said that our neighbor’s girls were happy in China, so I would be, too,” Ms. Kanwal said.
She said she met her husband at the marriage broker’s office in Islamabad, where there were many other Chinese men and Pakistani women. According to Ms. Kanwal, he told her family that he was Muslim and recited the first tenet of the Muslim faith, which every follower must know: “There is no God but God, and Muhammad is his prophet.”But Ms. Kanwal never saw him pray, even when they visited the famous Faisal Mosque in Islamabad. In February after the wedding, they flew to Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang region in western China. After a brief stopover there, they flew on to Henan Province in central China.
Then, after a four-hour drive past fields of wheat and corn, they arrived at Dongzhang village in Shandong Province, where she saw her husband’s duck farm. It was not the sprawling operation of a wealthy man that she had envisioned, but a modest family farm where he lived with his parents and two brothers.“They were not even Muslim and he had faked it all along,” she said. “There weren’t even proper washrooms in their house. I got agitated and started crying.” Her husband, Zhang Shuchen, 33, tells a different story.
Over a meal of cold-tossed pig liver and stir-fried tomato and egg near his family home in Dongzhang, the boyish farmer acknowledged that he had traveled to Pakistan late last year and paid around $14,500 to a Chinese broker in the hopes of bringing home a Pakistani bride.
It was his first visit to Pakistan, he said, and the poverty there reminded him of China in the 1980s and ’90s. When he first met Ms. Kanwal, he said, he liked her. But he said he was upfront with her that while he had converted to Islam on paper, he was not a true believer.
“I told her I wasn’t a Muslim,” Mr. Zhang said in an interview. He added that Ms. Kanwal had taught him the first principle of the Muslim faith.
Ms. Kanwal later stood by her insistence that she did not know Mr. Zhang was not Muslim, and denied she had taught him the first principle. Previously a logistics warehouse worker in southern China, Mr. Zhang said he now earned about $2,900 a month farming ducks, far more than the $180 or so that the average Chinese farmer made per month in 2018, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics. The New York Times was unable to independently verify Mr. Zhang’s income. But on a recent visit to the Zhang family home, a Times reporter found a newly built housing compound with multiple bedrooms and shiny tile floors.
Outside the family home, Mr. Zhang’s mother, who is in her 60s, recalled being puzzled by Ms. Kanwal’s reactions.
“She is religious, so when she came here I went out of my way not to give her any pork,” she said, as a small guard dog barked nearby. “I stir-fried chicken and made egg omelets for her. But no matter what I served her, she just refused to eat.”Ms. Kanwal said the family locked her in a room for two days, trying to pressure her to stay. (Mr. Zhang denied the accusation.) She managed to email the Pakistani Embassy, whose staff connected her through to the Chinese police, who took her away and made arrangements with the embassy for her return to Pakistan.
Her stay in China lasted eight days. She said it was “horrible and beyond words.”
“I prayed daily for hours, asking God to take me safely back to my country, to my people,” Ms. Kanwal said. This month, she filed for divorce at a family court in Gujranwala, saying in her application that Mr. Zhang forced her into “immoral activities” and that she “would prefer to die instead of living with him.”
After news outlets in Pakistan reported the raids and the trafficking charges, the Chinese Embassy there said it supported the government’s efforts to combat crime. But it denied that Pakistani wives in China had been forced into prostitution or that their organs had been harvested, allegations in some Pakistani news reports that investigators said had not been substantiated.
Around the same time that Ms. Kanwal returned to Pakistan, the local marriage agency that many local men in the Dongzhang area had consulted for help in finding Pakistani wives was shuttered. But according to Mr. Zhang and other villagers in Dongzhang, there are still a number of Pakistani women in the area. Two Pakistani wives in a neighboring village are said to be pregnant.
“There are no girls here,” said Mr. Zhang’s mother, when asked why so many local men had gone to Pakistan to find wives. “We weren’t allowed to have more children, so everyone wanted boys.”
#Balochistan: Drought is taking girls out of school, out of scene
By: Munir Faraz
The backwardness of Balochistan province of Pakistan is such a visible fact that no one can either deny or ignore it. Among the reasons constituting this backwardness, the low literacy rate stands on the top and in case of women backwardness, the low literacy rate is declared the root cause of it. This spoils women welfare massively as the dropout of girls always results in early marriage which is in fact a heap of countless social and health problems which is resulting in the high death ratio of girls forced to be mother in an early age.
One of the major reason of girl’s high dropout and early marriage is the drought which extremely devastated people’s major income sources; livestock and agricultural lands for last two years. The drought created economic and survival issues for the people of Balochistan. The WHO in it’s a recent report pointed out that 4.4 million people are drought affected out of 12.3 million population of Balochistan and also mentioned that 35% population of the Balochistan province suffering from the drought. As result of drought, many girls are now missing out on continuing their education because they are forcing to marry in an early age. Worryingly, a premature end to school is associated with the prevalence of child marriage and exposure to rape. One out of four girls are married before 18 and thousands of girls are at risk of early marriage in Balochistan. The parent’s do not give priority educational expenses of girls and not realizing their right to life, education and health and solemnizing their marriages mostly with old men just against PKR 100,000 – 250,000.
The Pakistan Education Statistics 2016-17 report has uncovered many alarming facts about education in the biggest (area-wise) province of Pakistan by figuring the dropout as 22.84 million children with a proportion of 70 percent from Balochistan. The outwards evidences also rectify that the actual figures could be real or near to real. The poverty ratio in Pakistan is although undeniable but the extreme clutch of poverty in Balochistan is a pinching fact which demands for a quick and calculated attention. The recent pasts endorse the fact that Balochistan has taken much time to create tendency among the people for girl’s education but now the negligence of this section is overweighing this tendency. Primary education is the first pillar to progress and prosperity and if it is kept weak then the whole edifice is apprehended to shutter into debris any time. Unfortunately, the primary education claims or enjoys no importance in our society, particularly in the rural areas.
The prevailing tribal system offers little about girl’s education in Balochistan. The self-created religious dogmas, outdated tribal system and the poverty ridden society of Balochistan have already reduced the chances of girl’s education in the province. A glimpse of this fact is fully depicted from the present position of women and girls which is precarious in all respects. Even if the report of PSLM survey 2014-15 conducted by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, is considered fully accurate by accepting literacy rate of Balochistan as 43%, even then the ratio of girl’s education contains only 25% which offers very nominal chances for a prosperous future for women. According to a survey the literacy rate among women in Baloch areas is about two per cent which is perhaps lowest one in the world. This figure cannot be ignored because of its repercussions and draws vehemently our attention to attend it. The girls out of school or dropout from school is not only an educational or a national problem but it is a humanitarian tragedy. Education is a right and state is responsible to impart quality education to all its citizens but this responsibility is not being fulfilled properly in Balochistan.
The planning for the development of education and the increasing of literacy rate mostly focuses the urban areas whereas more than 75% of the population of Balochistan lives in rural areas. The weak monitoring of schools has also been recorded in the rural areas due to the long distances, absence of the required wherewithal and other administrative factors. The dropout among girls in rural areas is extremely high which has hijacked the rural mental and material development. The pondering point is the deterioration going higher and higher on each passing day.
The absence of education of education among the girls is not only the absence of literacy but it gives some virulent problems for them. Marrying a girl after attaining the age of 13 years is considered a tribal obligation and the delaying of it is considered a disgraceful act which brings a filthy blot on the honor of the family whereas early marriage itself is the mother of immense social and health problems. The unintended pregnancies are mostly due to early marriages which mostly lead to increase the MMR ratio.
The natural calamity hitting the area as drought is striking the last stroke to spread this backwardness. The natural geographical formation of Balochistan is destined to floods as well as droughts that is why the very dream of the prosperity of Balochistan calls for an immediate, solid and fully workable plan to tackle it. Generally, drought is devastating every sphere of life but the heavy burden of it is affecting the girl’s education in Balochistan.
Although we have lost much but still there is time to act now by arresting the ever increasing dropout rate of girls. It must not be considered as a step to promote literacy but as a step to save life of millions of innocent and helpless girls for countless impending problems.
#StateAttackedPTM #WhereIsAliWazir - Bilawal Bhutto slams ‘violence’ in Waziristan
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Sunday condemned the ‘violence’ in North Waziristan.
“How can Mohsin Dawar attack a checkpost? I don’t think an elected representative can conduct such an attack. And, if violence has taken place, we surely condemn it. But, violence should also not take place against peaceful citizens and political workers, who enjoy right to hold a peaceful protest,” the PPP chief said while speaking to reporters in Larkana. “I have been saying since day one that you may disagree with them [PTM], you can disagree with their point of view 100 per cent, you can argue with them. But, if you will not engage with the young politicians who come from a place such as FATA, if you will not attempt to reduce their grievances or justify their misperceptions, then we have all seen what used to happen during the Musharraf era in Balochistan. We have all seen what happened with Bangladesh, with East Pakistan, following Ayub Khan’s dictatorship. And now, if we will label our own citizens, our own children, our own politicians as traitors when they talk about rights, democracy, rule of law, then we will set ourselves on a very dangerous path,” he warned.
On the issue of HIV outbreak in Larkana, Bilawal said the federal government is giving the impression that Sindh has become ‘Aidistan’. “HIV positive cases are more in Punjab than any other province, but nobody is talking about that. Federal government is raising the issue of HIV cases and conspiring against the people of Sindh,” he said. “Sindh’s institution are being snatched, NFC share is not being given, Sindh is being weakened economically. Gas is produced in Sindh but it is denied to the province … water is also not being given as per 1991 accord,” Bilawal said. “They are putting Centre in danger by snatching institutions from Sindh. Khan Sahab wants to make Lady Reading Hospital a model hospital but he has handed over it to one of his relatives who has ruined it,” he said, and warned Imran Khan to withdraw notification of taking over three major hospitals of Sindh.
#WhereIsAliWazir - #Pakistan - Opp urges for dialogue, says internal discord will harm country
Opposition leaders have condemned the clash between Pakistan Army and protesters in North Waziristan, saying the state should opt for dialogue if there’s disagreement instead of resorting to violence.
In a series of tweets on Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) official handle, party president Shehbaz Sharif condemned the incident and said all facts should be presented before parliament. He said political dialogue should be utilised if there’s disagreement as guns can’t resolve issues.
He said these internal discord will benefit the enemies of Pakistan. He also prayed for the wounded and “martyrs”.
اپنے گھر میں لڑائی، فساد اور افراتفری کا دشمنوں کو فائدہ ہوگا، خدارا پاکستان کے لئے اختلاف رائے کو دشمنی نہ بنایا جائے
بندوقوں سے مسئلے حل نہیں ہوسکتے، سیاسی رہنمائی میں مذاکرات کے ذریعے مسائل کو حل کیاجائے
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PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz said lives of all Pakistani citizens and all facts should be presented before the nation if someone’s blood is spilt [in the name of security].
Referring to the reported clash between the army and protesters, she said there were Pakistani citizens on both sides, urging all stakeholders –media, politicians and state institutions– to act responsibly for the sake of the country. She also echoed her party president’s words that the country could not afford internal conflict at present.
She said the use of force was not an option and asked hadn’t Pakistan already paid a huge price for suppressing dissent.
پاکستان اندرونی طور پر کشیدگی کا متحمل نہیں ہوسکتا ۔
دونوں طرف اگر پاکستان کے بیٹے ہیں تو سیاسی ،صحافتی حلقوں سمیت ریاست کے تمام اداروں کو ذمہ دارانہ کردار ادا کرنا ہوگا ورنہ ایک بار پھر پاکستان کو ناقابلِ تلافی نقصان پہنچ سکتا ہے۔
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Meanwhile, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari raised doubts on the ISPR version of the incident, saying it was beyond understanding why an elected lawmaker would lead an attack on an army checkpost.
Addressing a press conference in Larkana, he condemned the violence that led to the loss of lives.
“How can Mohsin Dawar attack a check post? He is an elected representative! It would not make sense for an elected representative to initiate such an attack. While I condemn the attack, I must also add that peaceful protesting is every citizen’s right,” he said.
“I have been saying since day one that you may disagree with them [PTM], you can diagree with their point of view 100 per cent, you can argue with them. But, if you will not engage with the young politicians who come from a place such as Fata, if you will not attempt to reduce their grievances or justify their misperceptions, then we have all seen what used to happen during the Musharraf era in Balochistan. We have all seen what happened with Bangladesh, with East Pakistan, following Ayub Khan’s dictatorship. And now, if we will label our own citizens, our own children, our own politicians traitors when they talk about rights, democracy, civil rule of law, then we will set ourselves on a very dangerous path,” warned Bilawal.
Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP) chief Akhtar Mengal condemned the attack on his twitter handle.
“[I] strongly condemn the attack on #PTM workers today. Attacking a peaceful demonstration is in no way acceptable. Violence should not be used to scare those who use peaceful ways to protest,” he said.
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