Malala Yousafzai calls for more support for girls in education in literature festival speech

Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai has always been a staunch advocate for womens’ right to education. The activist, who has been campaigning for equal schooling opportunities since the age of 11, was ambushed and shot by the Taliban in 2012 while on her way home.

Fortunately, she survived and did not falter in her mission to promote access to education. Yousafzai has since traveled the world to give inspirational speeches, written a best-selling book and become the youngest person to win a Nobel Peace Prize at just 17.

She has continued to use her influence to enact change via the non-profit Malala Fund, that advocates for girls’ education through helping build schools in rural areas, offering programs to advance secondary education and providing school supplies for those who need them most.

The activist, 23, took the opportunity to speak at the 2021 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature over the weekend to discuss why we should prioritize the right to education and to highlight the current issues making it difficult for females around the world to attend school.

Speaking virtually, the Oxford University graduate said: “Every girl should have the right to complete 12 years of education.”

She also touched on the effects that the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had on schooling.

“Millions of girls are being taken out of schools, which is a serious cause of concern,” Yousafzai said.

“I really hope that governments, teachers, civil society and education activists are giving their full attention to this, ensuring that girls are learning from home, at this time,” she said.

Citing research from the Malala Fund, Yousafzai revealed that it is estimated that 20 million more girls will be dropping out of school for issues like “girls being pushed into forced marriages or having to become the financial supporters of their families and added responsibilities, leaving no time for their education.”

She added: “There is a gender disparity when we look at how COVID-19 has impacted education, not only while the pandemic is ongoing but also once it is over and many children start returning to school. Several girls might be held back for these reasons and will not be able to return to school.”

Yousafzai pointed out that the Malala Fund has initiated a series of initiatives to make sure girls can continue learning during the pandemic and return to school as soon as it is safe. “One of the activists that we support in Nigeria started radio lessons during the pandemic, to keep children engaged in education and learn from home. In Pakistan, the activists have worked on coming up with mobile apps and providing educational lessons through national television,” said the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

She concluded her empowering speech by stating that while “there are millions of more girls who are at risk of losing their education, the Malala Fund will continue to work hard and ensure that as many girls are able to return to school once this is over.”

https://www.arabnews.com/node/1805766/lifestyle

A grim year for Pakistan's persecuted religious minorities

Kamran Chaudhry

Human Rights Watch accuses government of failing to provide adequate protection or hold perpetrators to account.

Rights activists in Pakistan have endorsed the findings of a leading advocacy group that reported a grim situation for religious minorities last year.Attacks by Islamist militants targeting law enforcement officials and religious minorities killed dozens of people in 2020, according to the recently released World Report 2021 of Human Rights Watch (HRW).

“Women, religious minorities and transgender people continued to face violence, discrimination and persecution, with authorities often failing to provide adequate protection or hold perpetrators to account,” the report states.

“The Pakistani government did not amend or repeal blasphemy law provisions that have provided a pretext for violence against religious minorities and have left them vulnerable to arbitrary arrest and prosecution. The death penalty is mandatory for blasphemy, and 40 people remained on death row as of late 2020. “Child marriage remains a serious problem in Pakistan, with 21 percent of girls marrying before age 18 and 3 percent marrying before 15. Women from religious minority communities remain particularly vulnerable to forced marriage. The government has done little to stop such forced marriages.”

Saroop Ijaz, senior counsel for HRW’s Asia Division, accused Pakistan’s government of a direct violation of human rights.

“We saw a continuation of the negative trends of attacks on minorities and civil society as well as shackles on freedom of expression since 2018. The challenges became acute last year. There was an increase in attacks on non-Muslims and a failure to stem them,” he said in a recent talk show.

According to I.A. Rehman, spokesperson for the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, 15,000 Pakistani journalists became jobless last year.

“This is extraordinary. This government is bent upon violence. It is sadistic. For the first time in history, castration was in Pakistan’s Penal Code. This is inhuman,” he said.

President Arif Alvi last month approved the Anti-Rape Ordinance 2020 that sanctions chemical castration for convicted rapists.

Speaking to UCA News, Cecil Chaudhry, executive director of the National Commission of Justice and Peace, agreed that 2020 saw a rise in incidents of forced conversions and marriages, hate speech against religious and sectarian minorities, and killings in the name of religion.According to Washington-based International Christian Concern, 24 Christians are imprisoned in Pakistan on blasphemy charges and face 21 different cases at various stages.

On Dec. 30, hundreds of villagers led by local clerics stormed Krishna Dwara temple in Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and set it on fire. The mob also attacked an under-construction house allegedly occupied by a Hindu man. According to reports, clerics made provocative speeches against the alleged expansion of the Hindu temple, leading to the attack.

This year got off to a bad start when 11 Shia Hazara miners were killed in a brutal attack claimed by Islamic State gunmen in Balochistan province on Jan. 3.

The miners from the persecuted Muslim minority were kidnapped near a coal mine in Mach close to Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.

https://www.ucanews.com/news/a-grim-year-for-pakistans-persecuted-religious-minorities/91029#

Has corruption increased in Pakistan?

Rustam Shah Mohmand

Govt must realise that in face of such a terrible picture chances for foreign investment would remain hopelessly low.

In its report on the state of corruption in Pakistan, Transparency International (TI) has ranked Pakistan at 124 out of 180 countries. In other words, the country has lost four more points or corruption has significantly increased in the last two years during Imran Khan’s tenure.

The country has also scored less than last year in two categories: Rule of Law Index and Varieties of Democracy due to which Pakistan’s score in CPI 2020 has reduced by one.

The report of the highly respected organisation is a damning indictment of a government that has made elimination of corruption the centrepiece of its policy. Never before in Pakistan’s history has a government so vociferously made elimination of corruption its top priority. As soon as the report was published, the ministers rushed to rebuke the contents of the report alleging that the statistics on the basis of which the report was prepared related to the periods of previous governments — wholly ridiculous assertions that no one would accept.

Despite tall claims of rooting out the menace of corruption, why has there been an upward spike in graft in the last two years?

TI has however acknowledged that the National Accountability Bureau has, according to its claims, recovered Rs363 billion since 2018 from those found to have been involved in corruption. Additionally, the Public Accounts Committee also claims to have recovered Rs300 billion. But TI has noted that despite these successes, corruption registered a spike. What could be the reasons for this?

The reasons are not difficult to ascertain. Firstly, there has been an overdue emphasis on rhetoric with very little attention to a whole complex picture of eradication of corruption. The task would involve identifying the reasons, examining systems closely, introducing reforms where needed, institutionalising the system of accountability, removing existing deficiencies in the systems, dealing with inequalities, etc. These are fundamental issues that require to be incorporated into the governance system in order to make them transparent. The government regrettably has not been able to pay attention to the whole issue in its true perspective. Speeches — no holds barred — do not provide remedies or solutions. The evil of corruption is rooted in the psyche of many and cannot be dealt with by making statements alone.

The other reason is that the government at the top is obsessed with punishing its political rivals — mainly those in the PML-N and to an extent, in the PPP. This being the priority, all other echelons of bureaucracy feel comfortable because they are not on the government’s radar. This is the time to engage quietly in receiving graft as the government is awfully preoccupied with just a few politicians. Eradication of corruption cannot be pursued in a climate of political vendetta. An expediency-driven approach that is premised on punishing political opponents cannot help in creating the right ambience for dealing with malpractices.

Dealing with corruption would require an even-handed approach. Sparing some and targeting others would create suspicions and destroy the notion of fair accountability. Chasing those who pose a political challenge would taint the whole process, and shatter people’s confidence in the ability of the government to cleanse the system. That is what is happening in Pakistan. The report has brought to light the not so visible factors that have contributed to an increase in the extent and level of corruption in the country.

The report that places Pakistan lower than other countries in the region, like Afghanistan, should not be dismissed on bogus grounds. It should awaken the leadership to take stock of the grim reality of the ever-rising menace of corruption and motivate the government to chalk out a comprehensive short- and long-term plan to combat the evil. The government must realise that in the face of such a terrible picture the chances for foreign investment would remain hopelessly low. What to speak of foreign investment, even Pakistani investors would be tempted to seek other avenues for their capital to be invested.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2282390/has-corruption-increased-in-pakistan

Awaiting justice: Daniel Pearl’s gruesome murder still haunts US-Pakistan ties

Waqar Gillani

The Supreme Court of Pakistan’s order to release Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh, the main accused in the Daniel Pearl abduction and murder case, threatens to mar the ties between Pakistan and the new US administration.

On January 28, the apex court dismissed appeals filed against Sindh High Court’s earlier decision to overturn Sheikh’s murder conviction.

On April 2 last year, the SHC had overturned Sheikh’s conviction in Pearl’s murder case. However, the court had upheld his conviction on the lesser charge of abetting the kidnapping, for which he was sentenced to seven years in prison. The Sindh government and Pearl’s parents, Ruth and Judea Pearl, had then filed an appeal in the SC against the acquittal.

Pearl’s wife, parents and the US government have strongly reacted to the judgment. US authorities have expressed deep concern and outrage, demanding that Pakistan ensure justice in the case and sought Sheikh’s custody for a fresh trial in the US if one is not possible in Pakistan.

A day after the SC verdict, US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken telephoned Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi. “Secretary Blinken and Foreign Minister Qureshi discussed how to ensure accountability for the prime accused, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, and others responsible for the kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl,” a State Department statement later stated. The secretary reiterated US concern about the Supreme Court ruling and potential release of these prisoners.

Following Sheikh’s acquittal order, a separate bench of the SC hearing the matter of his continuous detention, ordered authorities to free him from the jail and keep him at a rest house giving a residential environment and allowing his family to stay with him till the disposal of the case pertaining to his post-acquittal detention by the state. “This is not dark ages; we cannot allow such malafide detentions without proper evidence.”

Pearl had been working on a story on militancy in January 2002 when, according to the prosecution, Sheikh trapped and abducted him. A video circulated later showed his gruesome beheading. His remains were later found on the outskirts of Karachi in May 2002.

An anti-terrorism court, deciding the case within three months, awarded death sentence to Sheikh and life imprisonment to three others. Appeals against the judgment were moved before Sindh High Court. After a period of 17 years, the Sindh High Court, in April 2020, decided the appeal. It acquitted three of the convicts and approved the sentence of Omar Sheikh only in the matter of abduction (a sentence of up to eight years that he had already completed).

The SHC exonerated all of them of murder charges for lack of proof. The Sindh government then appealed against the SHC judgment and asked for an enhancement in the punishment of Sheikh and against acquittal of the other three. Sheikh sought a clean acquittal as there was no proof against him. He argued that the evidence presented against them before the trial court was “flawed, fabricated, and contradictory.”

The SC, after an unusually long hearing, not only maintained the acquittal of three accused but also exonerated Omar Sheikh of abduction charges. Two judges of the three-member SC bench, acquitted Sheikh of abduction charges “by extending the benefit of doubt to him.” The SC ordered that he and the other three - Fahad Nasim Ahmed, Syed Salman Saqib and Shaikh Muhammad Adil – be released from the jail ‘forthwith.”

The third judge of the bench also acquitted Sheikh of the murder charge but enhanced his sentence for abduction to life imprisonment (practically a period of 12 years that he has also completed in jail).

The Sindh government has now filed a review petition against the SC judgment.

On April 2, 2020, the Sindh High Court overturned Sheikh’s conviction in the Pearl murder case. However, the court upheld his conviction on the lesser charge of abetting the kidnapping, for which he was sentenced to seven years in prison. The Sindh government and Pearl’s parents then filed an appeal in the SC. The judgment points out that the evidence relied on for the conviction and sentencing was circumstantial, flawed and contradictory. Some of the key persons involved in this case including Fazle Karim, Atta-ur-Rehman alias Naeem Bukhari (a leader of the sectarian outfit Lashkar-i-Jhangvi who later joined the ranks of the Taliban) and Saud Memon, were never made part of the case. Some legal experts say that this would have called for fresh investigations amid a strong pressure from the US to ensure justice. Fazle Karim, according to some media reports, was identifiable in the video of Pearl’s killing. The murder weapon was recovered from a compound “owned by Memon”.

In 2019, in a letter written from jail to the SHC, Sheikh had urged the court to investigate Naeem Bukhari, who, according to him, was the key person in abduction and killing of Pearl. Sheikh had claimed that he was made a “scapegoat” and had only a minor role in the plot. Bukhari was in state custody at that time. According to Sheikh’s counsel, the letter was never officially acknowledged and never delivered to the SHC. Another flaw in the process was that the accused was taken into custody on February 4, 2002, but his formal arrest was shown a week later.

Sheikh, a British-born dual national, has had a checkered past. While studying in London School of Economics in 1992, he quit in the middle of his degree and went to Bosnia to help Muslims. He never went back and allegedly developed links with the militant group Harkatul Mujahideen (HuM).

He went to India in 1994 where he was arrested for his alleged involvement in the abduction of a group of foreign tourists. Six years later, he was released in exchange for the passengers of a hijacked Indian airliner.

His family acknowledges his sympathy for his coreligionists in Bosnia. However, they have denied his links to militant groups, and insist that they would go to any lengths to prove him innocent and secure his release.

Such acquittals in terrorism cases are not unprecedented. In the past, courts have acquitted many people accused of suicide attacks and bomb blasts on account of poor prosecution and lack of evidence. This case is different in that the victim in this case is an American citizen. Pearl’s abduction has been described as one of the earliest violent responses of the Al Qaeda-linked Pakistani militant groups to the American invasion of Afghanistan. Sheikh’s release may cause serious and deep concerns for Washington and severe challenges for Islamabad as the authorities are running out of options to keep Sheikh behind bars.

“It is a very difficult case for the state/government to prove. The accused get relief over lack of evidence, faulty investigation and poor prosecution all the time. The courts are independent and if they acquit Sheikh, we will have no other but choice to accept their final order,” a senior federal government official told The News on Sunday. In legal terms, he says, the prosecution case was a very weak one.

Pakistan may detain Sheikh on other charges but not for a long time. The scope of the review petition is very narrow. Pakistan may also bring some reforms in its criminal justice system in future to ensure that people involved in heinous crime do not escape justice but those would not have retrospective effect. The real question for the government now appears to be: how to satisfy the US government in this case if Islamabad loses the review in the top court. A key Al Qaeda member, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, who was handed over to the United States, earlier, also confessed to his role in killing Pearl.

Even after the passage of two decades, the case continues to resonate in the US-Pakistan diplomatic relations.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/785516-awaiting-justice

Pakistan: Why is the military taking over civilian posts? Is Khan returning the favor?

Experts say that under Prime Minister Imran Khan's government, the Pakistani military is increasingly encroaching on the civilian sphere, with many generals now heading administrative and executive institutions.

The number of military officials leading civilian institutions has dramatically increased since Prime Minister Imran Khan came to power in 2018.

The recent appointment of Brigadier (retired) Bilal Saeedullah Khan as director general of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has sparked uproar in the country. On Thursday, the Islamabad High Court issued notices to the Interior Ministry and NADRA regarding Khan's appointment.

In the past two years, several other military officials have grabbed important government positions, which have traditionally been under the civilian domain.

In 2019, General Asim Saleem Bajwa was appointed as the chairman of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority. Air Marshal Arshad Malik has been serving as the chief executive of the state-run Pakistan International Airlines since April 2019. Major General Amer Nadeem was appointed the chairman of SUPARCO, the national space agency, in 2018.

Even diplomatic positions, which have largely been held by civilians since Pakistan's independence from British rule in 1947, have been taken over by the generals. In January, Khan's government appointed General Bilal Akbar to the post of Pakistan's Saudi Arabia envoy.

"Besides the mission in Riyadh going back to a general, ambassadors in Brunei, Jordan, Syria, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, the Maldives, Nigeria and Libya are retired armed forces officers," wrote Pakistan's Dawn newspaper.

Is Khan returning the favor?

Opposition parties criticize Khan for being a "puppet" of the army. Liberal analysts in the South Asian country say that the powerful military rigged the 2018 general election to bring Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to power, a claim both the military and Khan deny.

Critics say the military enjoys a free hand under Khan's government, and that it is consolidating the power that it somewhat lost under Khan's predecessor, Nawaz Sharif.

Khan, they allege, is returning the favor to the military by allowing generals a bigger role in the country's governance, foreign policy and economy.

"Imran Khan is the civilian face of a military state," Tauseef Ahmed Khan, a Karachi-based political analyst, told DW, adding that Khan is just trying to appease the military establishment to stay in power.

The analyst says that these military appointments are creating resentment and frustration among civilian bureaucrats, who see their progress being hindered by the army.

The military, which has collectively ruled Pakistan for half of the time since its independence, has always had an upper hand in the country's affairs, but prior to Khan's ascent to power its role was largely limited to defense and foreign policy affairs. Tauseef Ahmed Khan says it is the first time in the country's history that the generals are encroaching on civilian areas with such ferocity.

"They are now either heading civilian institutions or holding key posts there. It seems to me that the military is now trying to control the country's domestic policies too," Khan said. The analyst said that the generals do not favor the country's two major opposition parties – the Pakistan People's Party and the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz – because they, to an extent, tried to resist the army's increasing dominance in civilian affairs. Other experts deny this claim, pointing to several military appointments under previous governments also. They, however, admit that the number of these appointments has increased manifold in the past two years.

Corruption and incompetence: reality and perception

Prime Minister Khan justifies the military appointments, saying they are being done on merit. There is a widespread perception in the country that politicians and civilian bureaucracy are incompetent and corrupt, whereas the military is efficient and well-organized.

Many politicians and civilian bureaucrats are currently facing corruption charges, which are being probed by the country's National Accountability Bureau.

"Army officers manage state-run institutions in an efficient way. The Water and Power Development Authority is headed by a military official and has accomplished many important tasks, including construction of dams and several energy projects," Amjad Shoaib, a retired military general and defense analyst, told DW.

Shoaib rejected the criticism of military appointments as an "anti-army propaganda."

"Nawaz Sharif's party is behind this nefarious propaganda, which is aimed at defaming the army. It is a dangerous trend to blame the military for the country's problems. It must stop," he added.Politicians, on the other hand, say the incompetence perception is part of the military propaganda. They also say that the military considers itself above the law and is not answerable to anyone."When we summon civilian bureaucrats, they show up and pay heed to our recommendations. When we call upon the military officials, who are heading civilian departments, they don't care to respond," Usman Kakar, an opposition lawmaker, told DW.Kakar also says that military-run institutions see more malpractices than the civilian ones. "The department responsible for dealing with the coronavirus pandemic told us that it spent rupees 2.5 million (€13,000, $16,000) on a single COVID patient. When we called the military officials working in that department to come to our parliamentary committee and explain why such a huge amount was spent, they didn't care to respond," Kakar alleged.

https://www.dw.com/en/pakistan-why-is-the-military-taking-over-civilian-posts/a-56473442