Pakistan: The “Last Chance” for Girls’ Education

By Malik Siraj Akbar

A religious extremist group that is determined to prevent girls from going to schoolin Pakistan’s Balochistan province left a bizarre warning on Tuesday outside a private school: “This is your last chance,” read a hand-written threatening letter that had been affixed outside the main entrance of the best known local school, the Oasis School. They had also left a padlock and a chain to formally shut down the school. The letter urged the school management to keep the school closed the way it was. Any attempts to unlock the institution, they warned, would lead to deadly consequences.

Mohamamd Hussain, the owner of the private school, has genuine reasons to take the threat seriously. Last week, activists belonging to the same underground religious group had almost killed him had several female students from his school not interfered and thwarted the assault. While the attackers failed to assassinate Mr. Hussain, a former major in the Oman Army and now a champion of girls’ education in his native Pakistan-Iran border town of Panjgur, they burned down his vehicle which he used for transporting girls to their school.

Political parties and civil society organizations are increasingly protesting across Balochistan against the government’s tolerance for and inaction toward the group that is forcefully preventing girls from going to school. Local residents in Panjgur district say thousand of people marched against the disruption of girls education. These protests are some of the biggest ever witnessed in the entire history of the small border town in which women and children have actively participated and denounced the closure of girls schools. In Quetta, Balochistan’s capital, according to Pakistan’sDawn newspaper, hundreds of political and social activists protested outside the local press club to demand immediate protection from the government for the endangered schools.

Why is our response to the closure of dozens of girls’ schools in Pakistan, the world’sthird largest recipient of American foreign assistance, not as loud and clear as it was after the attack on Malala Yousafzai? Apparently because the story from Balochistan does not have a strong counter-terrorism angle that could connect the issue with the war on terror. It seems that the Pakistani media and the international governments instantly reacted to the shooting of Malala Yousafzai because it provided them a wonderful opportunity to raise fingers at the Taliban and tell the world, “These are the bad guys we are fighting in Afghanistan.”.

On the contrary, lack of coverage in the media and the absolute silence of organizations working for girls’ education, including, ironically, the Malala Fund, toward the disturbing developments in Balochistan sums up the whole story: Girls’ education has also become an in-demand topic only to manipulate certain situations. Wherever there appear no signs of gaining political milage or media publicity, international organizations, including the United Nations, do not intervene. Ignoring an issue at a nascent stage when it shows symptoms of a larger crisis can cost us too much. Balochistan is one such region where the future of thousands of girls is at risk and the Pakistani government is neither willing to avert the catastrophe nor is it coming under sufficient international pressure to do something about it.

Closing the doors of education to the people of Balochistan seems to be consistent with Pakistan’s policy of suppression of the ethnic Baloch population that wants absolute control over the affairs of their province. There has been a systematic campaign to dissuade Balochistan’s children and young boys and girls from going to school or engage in any educational activities.

Besides the fresh threats to girls’ schools, Pakistan’s unabated military strikes and search operations have killed hundreds of young Baloch college students. Thousands of others have gone missing since General Musharraf unleashed force to tighten the military’s control over mineral-wealth province. University campuses in Balochistan frequently come under raids by the security forces. This has alerted politically conscious students. Many of these students do not concur with the government’s political views. Hence, they are compelled to live in hiding in order to skip extrajudicial arrest, torture and, in worse possible situations, murder in government custody. In March, the security forces abducted Zahid Baloch, the chairman of the Baloch Students Organization. No body knows his whereabouts. Few are optimistic that he would ever return home safe and sound. Baloch students who were arrested and subsequently allowed to return home are few and far between.

Going to school has also become almost impossible for the children from the minority Shia, Hazara community in Balochistan. A bloody war against the Hazaras, waged by a Sunni extremist group, the Lahskar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), has killed hundreds of innocent Shia Muslims belonging to the Hazara ethnic group. These attacks have instilled widespread fear among Hazara children. While the Hazara kids are too scared to go to school, teenagers among them are doing whatever it takes to run awayfrom Quetta or Pakistan to find safe place to get out of the radar of the murderous Sunni extremists. The Pakistani government has shown too much tolerance for the LeJ that such a behavior has given credence to speculations about the State’s complicity in the ongoing war against the Shia, Hazara population.

Likewise, the country’s security forces have forced several private schools, computer and language centers in parts of Balochistan on unsubstantiated charges that they were promoting dissenting political views among the local youth. In one such desperate attempt to create panic among the students, the Frontier Corps (F.C.), a federal paramilitary force, raided a book fair in Turbat district in January this year and confiscated thousands of books, including the biographies of prominent Indian leaders Gandhi and Nehru.

The Pakistani government, repeatedly accused of supporting the anti-education extremist groups, should understand that an educated young population asks hard but intelligent questions whereas an uneducated population will create unimaginable chaos and unrest. Pakistan already has too much internal turmoil to deal with. Opening new fronts of chaos and confusion will prove suicidal for Islamabad. Keeping Balochistan’s children in school, instead of tolerating and renting the services of freelance Islamic extremist groups to shut down these institutions, will serve Pakistan’s long-term interests.

The War Against Girls’ Education in Pakistan

By Malik Siraj Akbar

Throughout the years of turmoil and instability in Pakistan, the education sector has remained a central target of all parties engaged in armed conflicts. Enraged over the threats from an underground Islamic extremist organization that led to the forceful closure of girls’ schools in Pakistan’s largest province of Balochistan earlier this month, the public has come out on roads to expostulate over the ban.

The government’s response to the extremist group’s warnings has been totally unsatisfactory which has, in a way, sent a message of encouragement to those who want to keep girls away from education. Dozens of girls’ schools remain shut in the Pakistan-Iran border town of Panjgur simply because the government is either unwilling or unable to provide them security from armed religious fanatics. Pakistan’s federal and provincial governments’ response is inadequate to push back theopponents of girls’ education and inculcate a sense of security among the threatened young female students.

Increasing public protests in Balochistan demanding the continuity of girls’ education and elimination of extremist groups challenges Pakistan’s state-sponsored narrative about the resource-rich province. For years, Pakistan’s civil and military rulers have cleverly skirted their responsibilities with regards to educating Balochistan. Islamabad has absurdly created this impression that the people of Balochistan are not interested in sending their children to schools. Now that thousands of parents and students are marching on the roads asking for uninterrupted education for the daughters of Balochistan, the government is missing.

The Pakistani media, with the help of the central government, has promoted this perception across the board about Balochistan that the tribal chiefs of the province oppose construction of schools and the promotion of education among the people because the tribal chiefs fear losing control over the local population once everyone starts going to school. In theory, it makes a logical argument but in reality the landscape in Balochistan isn’t black and white.

The tribal chiefs, who oppose the promotion of education in Balochistan, are actually permanent members of the Pakistani ruling establishment. In spite of not enjoying ample support among the masses, these pro-Islamabad tribal chiefs have been aided by the Pakistani intelligence services from generation to generation to get elected to public office and then guard Islamabad’s interests in Balochistan. As long as Islamabad continues to patronize these tribal chiefs, Balochistan’s legislature will comprise of politicians who will refrain from imparting education among the local population. An informed population will most likely rise against the central government’s excessive exploitation of Balochistan’s mineral resources. Hence, there is a need to halt and annihilate the factory that churns out and imposes pro-establishment politicians on Balochistan.

Islamabad has numerous interests in Balochistan. One such interest is to promote Islamic fundamentalism to confront separatist tendencies among the Baloch youth who are demanding a free Baloch homeland. The popularization of one Muslim identity is seemingly the only antidote available to the Pakistani policymakers to exterminate ethnic nationalism in the gas-rich province. This is a very costly as well as a deadly strategy. Pakistan has had a consistent history of using Islamic extremist proxies but it also has a consistent history of failures and catastrophic consequences that, in resultantly, cost the lives of tens of thousands of Pakistan’s own population.

The actions of the extremist group that has successfully disrupted girls’ education are incongruous with Pakistan’s Islamist agenda. In the backdrop of this situation, the provincial government will distance itself from the assault on education because it does not have the authority to contest federal policies with regards to Islamabad’s marriage with armed religious groups. These networks have, unfortunately, become somewhat indispensable for the Pakistani state to protect its domestic and foreign interests. Just like its growing nuclear arsenal, Pakistan’s network of Islamist allies inside and outside the country is alarmingly expanding.

While extreme positions adopted by the Pakistani government and the Baloch nationalists have escalated and perpetuated the conflict in Balochistan, what is deeply worrying is how both sides have chosen to drag their battles inside educational institutions instead of fighting them in political battlegrounds.

The Baloch nationalists, mostly represented by underground armed groups, have also found the educational institutions a soft target.

In a 2010 report, Their Future is at Stake, the Human Rights Watch said at least 22 school teachers and educational personnel had been killed in Balochistan between January 2008 and October 2010.

The H.R.W. mainly blamed the Baloch nationalists for these killings. “While individuals from all professions have been the victims of such “targeted killings”,” the H.R. W. reported, “teachers and students constitute a significant proportion of victims because militant groups view schools and educational personnel, particularly ethnic Punjabis, as representatives of the Pakistani state and symbols of perceived Punjabi military oppression of the province.”

Armed Baloch nationalists have strictly dealt with school teachers who insisted upon raising Pakistan’s national flag or making students sing the country’s anthem. After some teachers were shot dead, most schools began to play the Free Balochistan anthem and display the nationalists’ flag on school buildings. The nationalists counted this as their victory.

The Baloch nationalists are reluctant to admit that the killing of the non-Baloch, mainly Punjabi, teachers and forcing them to leave the province has negatively affected Balochistan’s education. Since the forceful explosion of non-Baloch teachers, the province faces an extraordinary dearth of math and science teachers. Whenever I inquire from Baloch nationalists about the cost of attacks on teachers, they have a quick response: “So what?” And, I reply, “”so what?” isn’t an answer to my question.” “So what” does not clearly reflect the demands of a political movement nor can it be a durable policy.

Tragically, there isn’t an organized battle for protecting the educational institutions of Balochistan. The government and the Baloch nationalists tend to only highlight one side of the picture to make each other look inferior. On the contrary, bad politics on both sides is risking the future of thousands of children in Balochistan.

The Baloch separatists should respect teachers based on their services rather than their ethnicity. They should reopen Balochistan’s doors for all those teachers who were forced to leave the province whereas the government, on its part, should immediately dismantle the religious groups that are threatening girls’ education. Those who keep girls away from education anywhere in the world, including in the conflict-stricken Balochistan, are not our allies for a better future.

Deobandi extremist and self confessed killer Malik Ishaq is let loose to kill more Shia Muslims

Malik Ishaq’s release in Rawalpindi –the seat of deep events- is a deep event and an event predictably suppressed in the media. However, that Malik Ishaq has been freed does not come as a surprise. The soft corner that some of the stalwarts of the PMLN government have for the terrorists and sectarian killers is well known to all. The fusion of the PMLN with Saudi governing interests is as much political as economic. When the interior minister of the country and the law minister of the largest province openly sympathise with the terrorists then let’s not harbour any hopes for firm prosecution, let alone justice. Unfortunately, this only encourages further violence and is reminiscent of so many past trials where justice was never served to the perpetrators responsible for sectarian violence. So, we are describing a phenomenon that occurred not just once, but consistently, almost predictably. There is a long list of SSP/AWSJ/LeJ killers who were apprehended by the police but set free by the state and then continued their activities, including spewing hatred against the minorities and killing Shias, Barelvis, and Ahmedis.

The Pakistani government’s negligence has created a climate of impunity that encourages further assaults. The government knows well that accountability could serve as a deterrent, and would demonstrate that the government is interested in addressing the issue through application of the rule of law and not just reconciliation sessions with the perpetrators of violence. But this whole episode illustrates what has become all too common in recent Pakistani history, the way in which secret Jihadist policies can take priority over the public interest, even to the point of leading to indiscriminate mass murders or targeted killing of minorities.

Past three decades of our history have witnessed an on-going cover-up of a jihadist and terrorist infrastructure.

These decades of protection for terrorists and jihadists demonstrate the power and importance of this extra dimension to the Pakistan deep state: the dark forces in our country responsible for breeding jihadists and protecting terrorists, with the collusion of the successive democratic governments institutionalized since 1988 and then –after a hiatus- after 2008. This deeper dimension of the deep state, behind its institutional manifestation in our elected governments is a far greater threat than the terrorism that pours forth from Waziristan. Although it is unsafe to define these dark forces, every Pakistani knows that they are related to the black hole at the heart of the complex Military-Jihadist connection, a complex that involves the likes of Taliban, SSP, and JuD and Pakistan’s constant sponsoring of militants in Afghanistan. It is time to consider the extent to which Pakistan’s state has developed a symbiotic relationship with the forces it is supposed to be fighting.

Whether or not that happens, for now Malik Ishaq is free to kill more Shias. If the State of Pakistan had known to detain this man hundreds of lives might have been saved.

- See more at: http://lubpak.com/archives/314195#sthash.0yFozbW5.dpuf

Pakistan: You want Geo on its knees, once, twice, three times: Asma

Human rights activist and former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association Asma Jahangir has said she supports freedom of expression and the independence of the media, and punishing any TV channel is not an act of any pillar of the state but of dictators.

Addressing a lawyers gathering at the Aiwan-e-Iqbal here on Thursday, Asma said whatever Geo did was not fair. No journalistic ethics permit putting the picture (of any official) on the TV screen for hours over mere allegations, she said, adding that there was nothing new in this, however, as “Geo as well as all other TV channels have done it to us all in the past”.

“You may fine it (Geo) for the mistake, you may force them to apologise”, but what is this attitude, she asked. “You say no pardon, you say you will bring this organisation to its knees, once, twice, thrice, and there seems to be no end to it,” she added. She said if the army rulers believe they can strangle the freedom of expression in this country, they are mistaken.

Asma said when the judiciary indulges in politics instead of providing justice, we criticise it. “We did it earlier, and we do it even today,” she added. Asma regretted that the media have started dictating even to lawyers. “They say a lawyer must ask them (the media) before taking up any case. If they will permit, you take up a case, and if they don’t want you to, you don’t go for it,” the lawyer leader said.

Asma said the government claims that their heart bleeds at the misuse of public money. “If it is public money then why have you provided six employees at government expense to the former CJ, whose son is still staying in the guest house,” the rights activist asked. She also questioned the appointment of Faqeer Hussain as the director general of the Federal Judicial Academy after his retirement as the Supreme Court registrar, and termed it in violation of merit.

US denounces 'heinous' murder of Pakistani woman

http://dunyanews.tv/

The United States Thursday condemned the "heinous" killing of a pregnant Pakistani woman beaten to death outside a courthouse, and called for her murderers to be swiftly tried. "We strongly condemn the murder of a woman outside the Lahore High Court on Tuesday," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. "We hope the perpetrators are quickly brought to justice in accordance with Pakistan s law," she told reporters. Farzana Parveen was murdered in the eastern city by more than two dozen brick-wielding attackers, including her brother and father, for marrying against her family s wishes -- while police stood by. In a bizarre twist, her husband Mohammad Iqbal later admitted to AFP that he had killed his first wife to be with Parveen. Psaki denounced "unjustifiable acts" against women around the world, especially "violence that occurs in the name of tradition and honor, such as so-called honor killings." She welcomed statements by Pakistani leaders denouncing Parveen s murder as well as new legislation protecting women s rights in the country. "We encourage the full implementation of such laws as well as greater public awareness about these laws, especially in Pakistan s rural and tribal areas," Psaki added.

Pakistan: Imran Khan's irresponsible politics

Editorial: 'Consequences of irresponsible politics'

If air attacks are taking toll of civilian life also in North Waziristan Agency, as claimed by Imran Khan, his own crusade against drones had left no option for the government but to allow the military to deal with the situation with whatever weapons it possessed. No responsible state can take terrorist attacks lying down. This would demoralise the army and spread panic among the population. The air force had to be brought into action when the terrorists beheaded 23 FC personnel and launched brazen attacks in Bannu and Rawalpindi. As someone put it the army too has the right of self defence. While the terrorists working from the shadows employ their weapons of choice, like suicide attacks and the IEDs, the military has to rely on the inventory of weapons at its disposal.

It did not require knowing rocket science to discover that air attacks cause more collateral damage than drone attacks. One fails to understand why it took Rustam Shah Mohmand so long to see what should be obvious to any intelligent newspaper reader. Mohmand was PTI’s nominee for talks with the Taliban. This indicates a prior understanding and proximity of views with Imran Khan. Why did Mohmand not point out the truth to the PTI chief when the latter directed his party to block NATO traffic to get the attacks stopped?

The US was not willing to give drones to Pakistan. It is too late now to call on the government, as Mohmand does in his interview, to launch drone attacks through collaboration with the US and after collecting authentic information about ground targets. Whatever chances of US-Pak collaboration in the field ever existed, they ended after the irresponsible sloganeering by Imran Khan.

Imran Khan has expressed the desire to meet the COAS to tell him that a conspiracy is afoot to cause NWA to break away from Pakistan and that military activity in the agency would create a kind of a situation that led to the separation of East Pakistan.

This amounts to stretching a point beyond credibility. There is simply no comparison between East Pakistan and North Waziristan. In East Pakistan a popular party which had swept the elections had not only been deprived of its rightful share in power but a military operation was let loose in the province. In NWA a group of terrorists that include foreigners and defies constitution is trying to impose its will on the rest of the country through violent means like suicide bombings and murderous attacks that have killed over 50 thousand civilians and army men. To compare the two situations to gain political mileage amounts to irresponsible politicking.

Pakistan: There is no honour here any more

Pakistan has become a very dark place indeed. We have all heard of the term ‘honour killing’ where women have been and continue to be murdered at the whims of the men in their families — it is a blood red stain in our culture. However, the brutal and primal way in which Ferzana Iqbal, a 25-year-old woman, was murdered on Tuesday in broad daylight outside the premises of the Lahore High Court (LHC) by her brother, father and former fiancé means we have hit a new low. What was her crime? To love and marry a man of her own choice. She was first shot and when the bullets did not do the job, the ghastly men of her family swung bricks at her and pelted her with stones. She died right there, outside the citadel of justice in Lahore and the crowds stood idly by, transfixed by the violence on show. The policemen who were milling around did not budge from their spot while the spectacle was occurring, preferring to let the family ‘sort out’ the issue themselves. Her husband was there begging the police to help but they did not heed his calls. To add another heartbreaking dimension to this story, Ferzana was three months pregnant, making her killing a double murder. The brutality of this murder and the visible abundance of ‘bystander apathy’ — when folk nearby prefer to remain silent spectators instead of intervening to stop the injustice — has outraged a large portion of civil society in Pakistan and the international community.

We live in a land where conservatism, patriarchy and tradition have dictated archaic laws and venerated tribal codes. We have allowed men to barter the fate of women and to deal death blows to those they are unhappy with, particularly in cases of marriage. Many women have no say in the matter of marriage and if any dare to choose their own husbands, a fate similar to that of Ferzana’s awaits them.

Hundreds of women in Pakistan are made to pay the ultimate price annually but stoning still remains a very rare method of punishment. Ferzana’s death and the hue and cry it has generated must act as the catalyst for change in the condition and lot of women here. Too often, men accused of honour killing are let off the hook; it is very rare that they are duly punished for what is the ultimate crime of murder. This impunity must come to an end. All of Ferzana’s attackers, with the exception of her father, have escaped but this must not be allowed to happen. We cannot show the world that we are alright with the public execution of a woman and her unborn child; we cannot show them that we have stooped this far.

Pakistan: Ready to face courts; PML-N must not cross limits: Gilani

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/

Ex-PM ‘advises’ government to bring all cases against him in one go * Says he and his family being victimised by govt

ormer prime minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani on Thursday said that he was ready to face the courts in all what he said fabricated and politically motivated cases against him. “I have been facing such false cases against me in the past and I will do it now as well,” the former prime minister told Daily Times in an exclusive talk via phone.

Gilani lamented that no case in the country is thought to be ‘complete’ without implicating him in it. “Whether it is about OGRA or NICL, TADP or Hajj scandal, my name is a must,” he wondered, and added that ironically 8004 beneficiaries of the NRO had been exonerated while he was still facing the music, even being a non-beneficiary.

The former prime minister said the government had sent notices to only him and his spouse for keeping money in offshore bank accounts. “I ask the government if it’s only me and my wife in this country of 180 million people who have …if really we have… the money in offshore accounts?” he asked. “These are classic examples of selective justice in our country.” Gilani said he respects courts and will appear in the court in Karachi in TDAP case. “I will also appear in the accountability court in Islamabad on June 4 in OGRA scandal,” he said, and maintained that if only the competent appointing authority is to be held responsible for every ill then it is going to open a new Pandora’s box in the country.

The former prime minister ‘advised’ the government to bring out all what they can against him and his family in one go to spare them of the trouble of ‘double jeopardy’. “Just do your homework first and bring everything in one go.” Gilani said his sons too have been implicated in the ‘fabricated’ and ‘politically motivated’ cases. “They have not spared even my family,” he said, and added that his other son is in the custody of kidnappers for the last one year. “No one can feel the extent of torture me and my family are going through.”

The former prime minister asked the government to avoid crossing the limits of victimisation of him and his family. “Do as much as you can bear on your turn,” he cautioned. Gilani said the rulers can’t tolerate even a fraction of what he and his family is going through. “They don’t have the stomach for that.”

Pakistan: British Deputy High Commissioner called on Former President

http://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/

British Deputy High Commissioner in Karachi John A. Tucknott called on former President of Pakistan and Co-Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party at Bilawal House today. Patron-In-Chief Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was also present in the meeting. During the meeting, they discussed matters of mutual interests and role of British government in different development projects in Sindh was appreciated.

Pakistan’s most widely viewed TV station is teetering on the brink

http://www.macleans.ca/

Adnan R. Khan

How an assassination attempt and some fast and loose reporting is rocking Pakistan’s fledgling media scene

There is something approaching the surreal in the current media controversy playing out in Pakistan: Geo TV, the country’s most widely viewed station, known for its unapologetically outspoken, sometimes racy content, sits teetering on the edge of annihilation. Daggers have been drawn from all quarters: the ISI, Pakistan’s Machiavellian spy agency—angered by Geo’s top brass who accuse it of carrying out a mid-April assassination attempt on one of their star journalists—is demanding that Geo’s broadcasting licence be revoked; religious extremists, miffed again by what they perceive as an insult to Islam after Geo’s morning show aired a mock wedding, are calling for retribution; and rival media outlets, salivating over the windfall of market share available if Geo falls, have taken to publishing and airing virulent attacks on their competitor’s credibility.

Geo’s offices have beefed up security while its news vans have removed the Geo logo. Its journalists, already facing one of the most dangerous work environments in the world, must now contend with being branded traitors and blasphemers. Cable carriers have pushed the station to the bottom end of their listings, meaning many Pakistanis no longer have access to the channel.

The ongoing crisis seemed almost inevitable after more than a decade of unprecedented media freedoms in Pakistan. Since 2002, when former military dictator Pervez Musharraf liberalized the media, Pakistan has experienced an explosion of new players. According to Mazhar Abbas, former secretary-general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, there are more than 100 TV channels and somewhere around 1,000 newspapers in Pakistan. Competition is fierce.

“What we’re seeing here is growing pains,” says Irfan Raza, a senior correspondent for Dawn News, Pakistan’s oldest and most respected daily news publication. “The Pakistani media is young and inexperienced. The country has a lot of sensitivities. We’re learning how to do our jobs while at the same time respecting other people’s beliefs.” Indeed, some commentators have argued that Pakistan’s media may be too free, lacking a culture of ethics. The fourth estate often resembles little more than poorly scripted melodrama: Journalistic integrity is sacrificed for the sake of viewership and fundamental issues sensationalized to appeal to an increasingly angry and disenfranchised audience.

“Self-regulation hasn’t worked,” says Iqbal Khattak, Peshawar bureau chief for the Daily Times newspaper. “Professionalism is severely lacking among Pakistan’s media practitioners and this is a problem the industry as a whole must address.”

This latest controversy has placed Geo’s questionable tactics under public scrutiny. “It was irresponsible reporting,” says Raza, of Geo’s claim of an ISI assassination attempt. “If you are going to make serious allegations against an important institution like the military, you first need proof.” Geo has backed away from its initial stance, admitting that it might have gone “too far,” but it’s difficult to say if this is simply a response to pressure or a sincere indication of a change in the way it operates.

If it does change, how it does so will be crucial for the future of Pakistani society. There are fears that the attack on Geo could stifle the courage that Pakistan’s journalists have developed in recent years in a country overrun by sacred cows. If it’s not blasphemy or insulting the military, then covering something as seemingly newsworthy as child brides or honour killings can land a journalist on the receiving end of death threats and professional vilification.

But the “ice is thawing,” Raza contends. That Geo felt it could openly accuse the ISI of assassination is something that would have been unheard of a decade ago. The military’s response in turn was novel: it used the proper channel, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority, or PEMRA, to file a complaint. “That is a good sign for democracy in Pakistan,” says Khattak. “The military is recognizing that it must also respect Pakistan’s existing democratic structures even when they are attacked.” The danger, Khattak adds, is that the military may not allow PEMRA to come to an independent decision. Already the signs are not good: on May 20, five members of the 12-member regulatory committee announced to the media that Geo’s licence would be revoked. Hours later, the remaining members reversed that decision, saying that the five do not represent a majority on the committee and had no legal basis for their decision. “That kind of confusion undermines the entire process,” says Raza. “PEMRA needs to be reformed and empowered. That would be a first step in taming the media environment in Pakistan.”

Ultimately, Raza believes the right decision would be to slap Geo with a significant fine rather than revoke its licence. “The media right now is Pakistan’s most crucial institution,” he says. “We cannot revert to the old days when we journalists operated in a suffocating environment. We have made progress. It still may be chaotic and a little wild out there but the industry is learning. And that is a good thing.”

Sister of Pakistani woman bludgeoned to death 'also murdered by family'

By Rob Crilly

Pakistani woman murdered by family members outside Lahore high court 'learnt days before her death her sister was victim of honour killing'

The Pakistani woman bludgeoned to death in front of Lahore high court learnt days before she died that her sister was murdered by her family in an "honour killing", it was claimed on Thursday. Farzana Parveen, 25, was killed on Tuesday by more than two dozen attackers, including her brother and father, because she married the man she loved, according to police.

A string of revelations from family members has uncovered years of abuse and murder which had remained secret until the public attack, shining a rare spotlight on the hundreds of honour killing carried out in Pakistan each year. Her stepson Aurangzaib, who uses only one name, said on Thursday that Ms Parveen’s older sister, Rehana, was poisoned by the family four years ago.

“She was married and wanted to live with her husband,” he said. “It was an arranged marriage but later her family developed issues with in-laws of her sister and started demanding her to leave her husband. When she denied doing so, one day the family invited her at their home and poisoned her.”

In a further twist, Ms Parveen’s husband stated on Thursday that he had murdered his first wife to be with her. “I was in love with Farzana and killed my first wife because of this love,” Mohammad Iqbal, 45, told the AFP news agency, adding that he had strangled her.

He reportedly said he did not serve a prison sentence because his son forgave him and Pakistan’s controversial blood-money laws can allow kin to forgive the perpetrators of a crime. The murder of Ms Parveen took place in front of several policemen in broad daylight, but Lahore’s police chief on Thursday hit back at allegations his officers failed to prevent it.

Shafiq Ahmad, the head of Lahore city police, issued a strident defence of his officers, claiming none was present when Ms Parveen was attacked by the male relatives wielding bricks.

“There’s no doubt it was an honour killing,” he said. “She was already married to someone else when she eloped so her second marriage was illegal.”

He also defended his officers, whom he said reached the scene as quickly as possible, only to find the young woman already dead from a blow to the head.

They arrested her father, who promptly admitted killing his daughter for bringing shame on the family. Muhammad Azeem told police that he felt no regret and wanted his daughter dead because she “insulted all of our family by marrying a man without our consent”.

Zohra Yusuf, of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said it was commonplace to shift blame to the victims to enable family members to arrange blood money payments among themselves and escape prosecution. “There is rarely justice for the victims,” she said.

Nawaz Sharif, the Pakistan prime minister, on Thursday said he was “furious” over the killing and ordered a full report from the police. “This woman’s murder in presence of police is intolerable,” he said, according to a statement issued by his office.

William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, added his voice to the condemnation. “There is absolutely no honour in honour killings and I urge the government of Pakistan to do all in its power to eradicate this barbaric practice,” he said. While such “honour killings” are far from rare in Pakistan, the case of Ms Parveen has sparked outrage. No one intervened as the attackers collected bricks from a nearby building site to use as weapons. Mr Iqbal said he had agreed with her father to pay about £500 for the marriage but her father tried to extort him for money before accusing him of kidnapping. “Everything had been OK up to then,” he said.

The couple were on the way to court on Tuesday, so Ms Parveen could make a statement saying she had not been abducted and had married of her own free will, when they were ambushed.

Last year, almost 900 women died in “honour killings”, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

THE KARACHI TALIBAN – ANALYSIS

By Riffath Khaji

The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), in order to escape operations by the Pakistani military and drone strikes by the US, has gradually spread from its traditional base in the country’s Federal Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkwa (KP) to the bustling commercial hub of Karachi. Although the TTP has been doing so since 2009, the group began escalating their violent activities in June 2012. This threatens to destabilise one of the Pakistan’s key cities that is home to the country central bank and stock exchange. Today, evidence suggests that the entire Pasthun neighbourhood in Karachi is under the influence of the TTP. As early as in October 2012, reports stated that 7000 TTP militants had infiltrated Karachi.

TTP in Karachi Karachi attracts the TTP because it is Pakistan’s largest city, with a population of 20 million people, and that is home to different ethnic and linguistic groups, making it a tempting target. More significantly, about 5 million Pastuns – the ethnicity to which most Taliban militants belong to – live in Karachi and making it easy to find sanctuaries in the city. Additionally, several other militant groups – such as the Jaish-e-Muhammad, the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, the Jamaat ul-Furqan, and the Harkut-ul-Jihad Islami – operate in the city. In the early stages of the TTP’S spread towards Karachi, the group’s primary agenda was fundraising, and well as rest and recuperation. The Taliban faction in Karachi largely comprises of militants from Swat valley who are loyal to the current TTP chief, Mullah Fazlullah. The commander for the Swat militants in Karachi is unknown, but anti-Taliban elders in Swat allege that the Karachi-based group was mainly led by Ibn-e-Aqeel and Sher Muhammad. In June 2012, the TTP began targeting local Awami National Party (ANP) leaders in Karachi. In 2012, Sher Shah Khan, a parliamentarian elected from the Swat region, alleged that several Swati political and social figures had been killed in Karachi by TTP militants. Political Targets According to the ANP, the TTP has killed 70 ANP leaders in Karachi. Approximately 44 ANP party offices have been closed across the city, and several party leaders have left Karachi and moved to Islamabad due to persistent TTP threats. In addition to targeting the ANP, the TTP has also threatened the secular Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a political party that largely represents the Urdu-speaking Muslim community. The TTP militants in Karachi have also been targeting law enforcement agencies. Officials believe that the TTP has a hit list that includes police officers who have been involved in the arrests and killings of TTP commanders and militants.

In February 2014, 13 police commanders were killed and over 57 injured, when their bus was targeted by a car bomb outside the Police Training Centre in Razzaqabad. The police personnel targeted in the attack were part of the Special Security Unit (SSU), an elite group of the Sindh Police that is deployed for the security of important official buildings and personalities.

The TTP network in Karachi has thus weakened the local economy and threatens the overall security of the city. Pakistani security experts, politicians and law enforcement officers agree that the TTP wants to tighten its grip on Karachi. The government is still in a position to roll back the TTP’s threat to the city, given their insistence that the numbers of tribal militants operating in Karachi are low. If Pakistan fails to confront these developments soon, the TTP’s Karachi network will have a wider national impact.

Karachi is home to powerful liberal secular elements, as well as progressive political parties such as the MQM, Pakistan People’s Party, and the ANP.

Peace in Karachi will require an even-handed and professional approach on the part of the government, the law enforcement agencies, to target all such groups that are involved in criminal activities. The federal government of Pakistan is at the receiving end in containing the spread of the TTP in Karachi; and the future looks uncertain, given the volatility of the city.

Oil rig explodes in Oklahoma, at least one dead

An oil rig erupts in flames in Oklahoma, where at least one person on the scene is reported to have died.

China: Xi urges anti-terrorism "nets" for Xinjiang

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for "nets spread from the earth to the sky" to defend against terrorist acts in Xinjiang, stressing long-term stability as the main goal for the region.

Xi made the remarks at the second central work conference on northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, a two-day meeting which closed on Thursday.

While urging strengthened precautions and international anti-terrorism cooperation, Xi called for "walls made of copper and steel" and "nets spread from the earth to the sky" to capture terrorists.

The meeting was held in the wake of a series of bloody terrorist attacks in the region, including one in an open air market in Urumqi, the region's capital, which left 39 people dead and 94 injured on May 20.

Calling for "meticulous" religious work, Xi stressed that there should be a focus on helping religion adapt to a socialist society and ensuring the role of religious figures and believers in boosting economic and social development.

"Focus on fostering a team of patriotic clergy and boosting the general quality of people in the religious circle so as to ensure that the leadership of religious organizations is firmly in the hands of people who love the country as well as religion," he said.

According to Xi, the basic principle for easing religious tensions is to protect legal religious activities, deter illegal and extreme ones, guard against infiltration and crack down on crimes.

The president noted that people's normal religious demands should be protected in accordance with laws and regulations and their customs should be respected.

"Legal channels for religious people to accurately grasp religious knowledge should be broadened," he added.

Earlier this month, Xinjiang's regional public security department said local police had busted 23 terror and religious extremism groups and caught over 200 suspects.

Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan sign ‘epoch' Eurasian Economic Union

Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan signed the historic Eurasian Economic Union which will come into effect in January 2015. Cutting down trade barriers and comprising over 170 million people it will be the largest common market in the ex-Soviet sphere.

"The just-signed treaty is of epoch-making, historic importance," Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

The troika of countries will cooperate in energy, industry, agriculture, and transport.

"In fact, we are shaping the largest common market in the CIS, with huge production, scientific and technological potential and enormous natural resources," the President added.

Citizens of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan will have the right to work freely throughout the member states without having to be issued any special work permits, Putin said.

Over the last three years, trade within the Customs Union has increased by $23 billion, or nearly 50 percent. At the end of 2013, it stood at $66.2 billion.

Belarus and Kazakhstan are in third place in foreign trade with the Russian Federation, after the EU and China, Putin said.

The Russian leader said that the document brings Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus to a new level of integration yes lets each individual state fully retain its sovereignty.

“We ensure a close and coherent economic collaboration and cooperation. Today we have created a powerful and attractive center of economic development, a large regional market that brings together more than 170 people. Our union has huge reserves of natural resources, including energy, which accounts for one fifth of the world’s gas reserves and 15 percent of oil reserves,” Putin said.

A new geopolitical reality of the 21st century is born,” Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said shortly after the final treaty was signed by the three leaders.

“We see this as an open space and a new bridge between the growing economies of Europe and Asia,” Nazarbayev added.

David Gray, head of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Russia, said he hoped improving trade will help boost investment, as in the EU.

“If you look at the EU, for example, the reduction of trade barriers within the EU had a significant impact in terms of doing business, which does encourage investment. And I’m looking forward to similar results in terms of the Eurasia deal,” Gray said while speaking to RT at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum on May 24.

However, Kazakh President Nazarbayev warned members to try and avoid repeating the mistakes of the European Union, which is still facing grave economic consequences from the continent-wide recession.

“The point is that none of the participating countries were subject to de-industrialization, and traditional industries did not suffer. Lessons from the European recession are in this,” Nazarbayev said.

Belarusian President Lukashenko hailed the signing, but said there was still major work to be done in areas of bilateral trade.

“We believe the Economic Union will be the foundation for the future of political, military, and humanitarian unity,” he said.

The Customs Union is a project to gather ex-Soviet states into a free trade zone to rival the European Union. The three member states of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan only comprise 2.5 percent to the Earth’s population, but account for 15 percent of the total land.

"The geographical position permits us to create transport, logistic routes of not only regional, but also global importance that permits attracting massive trade flows in Europe and Asia," Putin said ahead of the signing ceremony in Astana, Kazakhstan on Thursday.

All member states will retain full state sovereignty. Russia is financing the lion’s share of the administration, but each state will have a one-third voting status.

“The Eurasian Economic Union will operate on universal transparent principles understood by all, including standards and principles of the WTO,” Putin said.

The idea of creating a regional trading bloc was first suggested by President Nursultan Nazabayev of Kazakhstan back in 1994, when he gave a speech at Moscow State University. The Customs Union began on January 1, 2010, and started operating under a comprehensive customs code in July 2011. Commonwealth Independent States (CIS) like Armenia, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan may be brought into the free trade zone later.

Kyrgyzstan plans to join the Customs Union by the end of 2014, President Almazbek Atambayev said at the meeting.

A decision on Armenia's membership will have to be made by July 2014, Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazabayev said.

Commenting on the fact Ukraine once wanted to join, Lukashenko said sooner or later, the country’s leadership will realize “where their happiness lies”, and what is “right for the Ukrainian people.”

“We lost some [potential member states] along the way. Ukraine started this hard work with us, but it was very difficult for Ukraine,” the Belarusian president said. Neighboring oil-rich Azerbaijan hasn’t made a decisive move towards either the Customs Union or European Union integration.

Obama calls for more research into youth concussions

U.S. President Barack Obama called for more robust research into youth concussions, saying ''we don't have solid'' numbers on the scope of the problem.

Video: Pakistani protesters outraged by brutal 'honour killing'

Pakistan's Shia Genocide: Takfiri Taliban Terrorists Kill 4 Shias In Lower Orakzai Agency

http://en.smnetwork.com.pk/

At least four Shia Muslims including a Levies official were martyred and several were injured by Takfiri Taliban terrorists in Sepoy village of Lower Orakzai Agency, the most under reported sectarian conflict zone in FATA, The SM NETWORK reported on Thursday.

According to SM correspondent, the terrorists in Army Uniform opened the fire on Shia mourners, who were returning from a funeral of a woman in the Kharkhosha area of the agency. The martyrs Safdar Hussain, Hareer Husain, Gul Ali and Shah Nawaz including injured were shifted to Kohat and Kalaya hospitals. After the incident exchange of fires were continued two hours, a terrorist Taliban was also killed. Four persons were also killed at the same spot a month ago after armed persons launched an attack during a jirga proceeding. Hidden Saudi gift 1.5 billion dollars exposing hidden agenda of shia genocide and takfirism promotion day by day Taliban and Pro-Taliban terrorists have killed thousands of innocent Shiite Muslims across the country, but government, judiciary and law enforcement agencies have failed to protect the citizens and have taken no step to stop ongoing genocide of Shiite Muslims in Pakistan.

The terrorist groups have launched a violent campaign against Shia Muslims and appear to have widened their terror campaign in major Pakistani cities. According to local sources, militants affiliated to Taliban and al-Qaeda terrorist groups have killed thousands of Shia Muslims in the country. The killing of Shias in Pakistan has caused international outrage, with rights groups and regional countries expressing concern over the ongoing deadly violence against the Shia community, which reportedly makes up about a third of Pakistan’s population of over 180 million. Shia parties and leaders have condemned the targeted murder of Shia notable. They demanded public hanging of the terrorists. They demanded military operation to eliminate the terrorists.

- See more at: http://en.smnetwork.com.pk/?p=4427#sthash.PRUhib7n.dpuf

Turkey sentences Twitter user to jail for blasphemy

https://now.mmedia.me

A Turkish court on Thursday handed a 15-month jail term to a teacher over Twitter posts deemed religiously offensive, local media reported on Thursday.

The court in the eastern city of Mus ruled that the man, identified as Ertan P., insulted Islamic values with his Twitter handle -- @allah (cc) -- and a series of tweets he posted, Hurriyet newspaper reported on its website.

The defendant claimed his account had been hacked and appealed against the sentence, Hurriyet said.

Pretending to tweet as God, he wrote: "In my present state of mind, I would not have created the little finger of human beings.”

"Here [heaven] is very safe because there is no police," he tweeted in reference to police crackdown on protesters during mass anti-government demonstrations in June last year.

The Islamic-rooted government banned Twitter in March after the micro-blogging site was used to spread corruption allegations against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his inner circle. The ban, which earned Turkey a strong rebuke from rights groups and its Western allies, was lifted two weeks later after the country's top court ruled that it violated rights.

Citing the same reason, the Constitutional Court on Thursday lifted a similar ban on Youtube, also imposed in March after the website was used to spread damaging leaked audio files from a state security meeting debating possible military action in Syria.

Bassera exit poll: Sisi is Egypt new president

The presidential candidate Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has won the presidential race with 95.3 percent of the vote, according to exit polls by the Egyptian Center for Public Opinion Research, or "Baseera".

The poll also showed that Sisi received the highest percentage of votes in Sohag governorate.

Many political analysts had already predicting Sisi's win due to his massive popularity following his ouster of former president Mohamed Morsy.

The poll also showed the other presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi had received a meager 4.7 percent of the vote, and saw the highest percentage of votes in Al-Qalyoubia governorate.

Almost 96.7 percent voted for Sisi in Cairo, while Sabbahi received 2.4 percent. Meanwhile 0.9 percent of the votes were considered invalid.

Although, the Egyptian women played a pivotal role in casting their votes, the results of the exit poll showed that only 44 percent compared to 56 percent males.

The Egyptian youth aged from 18 to 30 represented 27 percent of the voters while voters aged 31 to 50 reached 45 percent and those aged 51 and higher reached 28 percent.

The Egyptian Center for Public Opinion Research "Baseera" conducted an exit poll for the 2014 presidential elections that took place from 26 May to 28 May 2014, exclusive to the privately owned MBC Masr TV channel.

The exit poll was carried out on a sample of 12,900 voters distributed over 182 polling stations in all Egyptian governorates, except for frontier governorates.

Sisi heads for crushing win in Egypt elections

Bahrain: A System of Injustice

Bahrain’s criminal justice system fails to deliver basic accountability and impartial justice, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

The 64-page report, “Criminalizing Dissent, Entrenching Impunity: Persistent Failures of the Bahraini Justice System Since the BICI Report,” found that more than two years after King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa accepted recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) to free peaceful dissenters and hold abusive officials accountable, Bahrain’s courts play a key role in maintaining the country’s highly repressive political order, routinely sentencing peaceful protesters to long prison terms. But members of security forces are rarely prosecuted for unlawful killings, including in detention, and the few convictions have carried extremely light sentences.

“A police officer in Bahrain who kills a protester in cold blood or beats a detainee to death might face a sentence of six months or maybe two years, while peacefully calling for the country to become a republic will get you life in prison,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Bahrain’s problem is not a dysfunctional justice system, but rather a highly functional injustice system.”

The report, based on written verdicts and other court documents, reveals the stark contrast between prosecutions of serious human rights violations by security personnel on the one hand and prosecutions for “crimes” based on speech and peaceful assembly-related activities on the other.

The report sharply contests UK Foreign Office claims that Bahrain has implemented the Commission of Inquiry’s key recommendations and is moving forward on judicial reform.

The Commission of Inquiry report, the work of five respected international jurists, found that security forces were responsible for more than a dozen unlawful killings and routine excessive use of force in suppressing pro-democracy demonstrations in February through April 2011. It also found that detainees were subjected to “a deliberate practice of mistreatment” that led to at least five deaths in detention.

The report recommended that the government release from prison and void the convictions of “all persons charged with offences involving political expression, not consisting of advocacy of violence.” The report also recommended criminal investigations into the wrongful deaths of at least 18 demonstrators and detainees with a view to holding senior officials accountable for rights violations.

Two years after the report was issued, however, leaders of the 2011 protests remain in prison, some sentenced for life, and judges are convicting new defendants of “crimes” based solely on the expression of dissenting political views or the exercise of the right to peaceful assembly, Human Rights Watch said. To justify its decision upholding the terrorism convictions of the protest leaders, the Supreme Appellate Court held in September 2012 that terrorism need not involve the use or threat of violence but can be the result of “moral pressure.”

In another case, the Court of Cassation upheld a conviction of one protester for “inciting hatred and contempt for a certain class of people,” a charge Bahraini authorities regularly use to prosecute peaceful political speech. The Court of Cassation concluded in yet another case that advocating “changing the state’s political system” constitutes “the commission of a crime.” In a third case the Court of Cassation upheld a “destroying public property” conviction for a protester who had stepped on the prime minister’s photograph.

The few prosecutions of security personnel implicated in serious abuses have focused almost exclusively on low-ranking officers, and even those have resulted in acquittals or disproportionately light sentences. The officers responsible for beating suspected protester Ali Saqer to death were convicted of the lesser charge of assault rather than murder although a medical report submitted at the trial stated that Saqer had “blunt-force contusions” all over his body. An appeals court subsequently reduced the ten-year prison terms to two years, finding somewhat incredibly that the defendants deserved “clemency” on the ground that they had been “preserving the life of detainees, among them the victim.”

In another case, a trial court concluded that a police officer had shot Hani Abd al-Aziz Juma from a meter away, leaving him fatally wounded. But it found the officer guilty only of assault, stating that he had not acted with intent to kill. An appeals court subsequently reduced the seven-year prison sentence to six months.

Bahrain’s allies in London, Washington, and Brussels have failed to press the government of Bahrain to take serious steps to hold security forces accountable for abuse, or to call openly for the release of high-profile political prisoners. The UK Foreign Office, in its annual report on human rights published in April, highlighted judicial reform in Bahrain as an area where “the overall trajectory on human rights will be positive.”

“Something is seriously amiss when calling for a republic gets you a life sentence while shooting and killing an unarmed protester gets you six months,” Stork said. “Stability and reform will remain out of reach in Bahrain as long as its allies, notably the UK, offer uncritical support in the face of mounting evidence of abuses.”

Pakistan: Asia Bibi’s Appeal against Death Sentence Cancelled for Fifth Time

It is the fifth time that Asia Bibi’s appeal against death sentence cancelled, which was scheduled on Tuesday 27th May, 2014, an unfortunate mother of five, has been on death row since 2010 for allegedly committing blasphemy.

Shahid Khan, vice-chairperson of the Glasgow-based Global Minorities Alliance, told extremists “sometimes march into their prison cell and kill them while the guards turn a blind eye.” Khan worries Bibi’s life is “hanging in the balance.” He noted that one cleric has put forward a reward of 500,000 Pakistani Rupees, (£3,700, $5,800) for anyone who ends her life.

Khan is concerned that the hearing scheduled for Tuesday should not have failed like all the others previous four hearings. However, the courts are under pressure of extremist and fundamentalist groups. There has been a series of campaigns by human rights groups and advocacy organizations worldwide for the release of Ms. Bibi which held protests demonstrations from London to Brussels, from Geneva to New York appealing to end the misuse of Pakistan blasphemy laws which are often being manipulated to target the members of minorities to settle personal scores and quarrels. In spite of the international calls for a pardon for Asia Bibi, the Pakistan Government has not reacted, moved a muscle or made any suggestion to end the misery faced by this unfortunate mother. For Asia Bibi hence the chronology of torture goes on in many shapes and forms to this day.

- See more at: http://www.christiansinpakistan.com/asia-bibis-appeal-against-death-sentence-cancelled-for-fifth-time/#sthash.0GMYuAzQ.dpuf

UN slams killing of pregnant Pakistani woman

The United Nations has taken serious notice of the killing of a 25-year-old pregnant Pakistani woman, who was stoned to death by her family as she approached a court on Tuesday, and called on the government to do much more to prevent such killings. “I am deeply shocked by the death of Farzana Parveen, who, as in the case of so many other women in Pakistan, was brutally murdered by members of her own family simply because she married a man of her own choice,” High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said. “I do not even wish to use the phrase ‘honour killing’: there is not the faintest vestige of honour in killing a woman in this way,” she added in a news release, which also noted that Pakistan has one of the highest rates of violence against women globally. According to reports, some 20 members of Ms Parveen’s family, including her father and two brothers, attacked her and her husband when they were on their way to the Lahore High Court, where they were due to contest her father’s allegations that she had been kidnapped by her husband and that their marriage was invalid. “Every year, hundreds of women are killed in Pakistan as a punishment for marrying a man their families have not chosen or for refusing an arranged marriage,” Ms. Pillay said.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, 869 women were murdered in so-called ‘honour killings’ in the country last year, but the real figure could be much higher, with many such killings believed to be disguised as accidents, or not reported at all. “The Pakistani Government must take urgent and strong measures to put an end to the continuous stream of so-called ‘honour killings’ and other forms of violence against women,” Ms Pillay said.

“They must also make a much greater effort to protect women like Farzana Parveen. The fact that she was killed on her way to court, shows a serious failure by the State to provide security for someone who - given how common such killings are in Pakistan - was obviously at risk.” The UN General Assembly, in three separate resolutions in 2001, 2003 and 2005, called on Member States to intensify legislative, educational, social and other efforts to prevent and eliminate “honour”-based crimes and to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Pakistan: Nothing can be more barbaric

The call for a 'New Pakistan' is not a new one; we have heard it before. But Pakistan remains the same old Pakistan, unchanged and mired deep in the sea of obscurantism a telling sample of which was put on display on Tuesday - not very far from the precincts of the Lahore High Court. On a busy road a clutch of barbarians pounced upon a young woman, Farzana Iqbal, beating life out of her with repeated hits of broken bricks. As if bereft of humanity scores of people watched the spectacle unconcerned and detached, as none of the brave sons of Lahore gathered enough courage to intervene and save a human life. Farzana was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital because of excessive bleeding. As if this was not enough to suggest how heartless we the people of Pakistan are, it was the identity of killers that brings home the enormity of this failing. The killers included Farzana's father, her two brothers and her former fiance. In defiance of her family she had married a man of her choice earning the verdict of death in compliance with the so-called 'code of honour', enforced by the custodians of our sociocultural moorings. The murder was premeditated. The killers were waiting outside the office of her counsel who was to take her to the court to defend her husband against charge of having kidnapped her by her family members. She was required to testify whether she was kidnapped or that she had married him exercising her right of free will as an adult.

Marrying out of her own choice is a taboo in most of Pakistan, not only because the law against this is inadequate, it is there because the so-called elders of society want this curse to stay and flourish. Remember, how barbarically two girls in Shikarpur, Sindh, were accused of 'karo-kari' and murdered as dictated by a Jirga presided by a powerful feudal lord. Such inquisitional 'courts' exist all over the country, and function with absolute impunity from the prevalent legal system, as its proponents are quite often part of the political elite and cannot be denied the liberty they enjoy in terms of licence to play with the lives of ordinary people in their areas. Except for the expulsion of late Senator Ajmal Khattak from Awami National Party (ANP) by the party leadership - during a discussion in the house on a high-profile murder case he had condoned the crime saying it was called for by Pushtun culture - no other political party in Pakistan has moved against known offenders in its ranks. How despicable indeed, instead of political leaderships setting an example, it is the higher judiciary that takes cognisance of media-reported incidents of honour-killings and initiates suo motu proceedings.

All of this should change if we are really committed to build a 'New Pakistan'. And for that not only the general masses have to be educated by highlighting the cruelty that honour-killings precipitate and for that to happen there have to be some concrete legal and administrative reforms. Most critical is the degree of access to the court of law that is quite restricted presently. Then there is the need to evolve standardised format for registering First Information Report (FIR) in cases of honour-killings. Ironically, very often those convicted on charge of honour-killing walk free soon enough, because according to the law the victim's family can forgive the killer. As a general practice the victim's family would commit the murder, then nominate someone of its choice and thereafter forgive for whatever consideration. And so the curse of honour-killings remains alive. In Pakistan, no less than 1000 women are killed every year by their families, says the Aurat Foundation. The actual figure may be much more given that the foundation compiles only the figures based on reports in the newspapers. This is a huge human tragedy. No decent people can countenance such a barbaric custom, a challenge for all, irrespective of their desire to live in old Pakistan or 'New Pakistan'.

Pakistan: Marriage & murder

We have turned into a nation of brutalized beings unmoved by death. Family members of the ill-fated Farzana Iqbal may have been guilty of stoning her to death outside the Lahore High Court Tuesday. Her unborn child died with her. But the fact also is that many people in the crowded LHC area stood and watched as she was pelted with stones by over a dozen persons linked to her family, including her brothers and her father, who has handed himself in to police. No one, it appears, attempted to intervene as a helpless woman was first fired upon and then hit with bricks as she fell to the ground. Farzana Iqbal’s ‘crime’ was no different to that of many other women across the country. Engaged to a cousin, the young woman from Faisalabad, had instead chosen to marry a man of her own choice. Her father had filed a case of abduction against Iqbal. This was being contested before the court by the couple when Farzana was torn away from her husband – and publicly put to death. While at least 1,000 women die each year on the grounds of ‘honour’ according to women’s rights organizations, stoning to death in this fashion is uncommon.

The end result though is the same. Another woman is dead, there is every possibility that the murderers may escape scot free. The law in use in our land allows family members of a victim to accept blood money and allow the perpetrators to walk away free. Since ‘honour’ killings are often planned within families, the law comes in very useful when a woman is killed. This must be prevented in Farzana’s case. A horrific crime took place in the middle of one of our biggest cities. Scores witnessed it at close hand. If those who hurled one brick after another at Farzana, inflicting fatal head injuries, are able to get away with what they did, a terrible precedent will be set. The lives of other women will be endangered. This can simply not be permitted. The barbaric act that took place outside the LHC must lead to safeguards being set up to protect women. It is the duty of all of us as citizens to prevent our enfeebled hold on what is left of civilization in our country from totally slipping away and instead attempt to create an order where greater justice can prevail and the weak are not simply beaten to death on the streets, with no one attempting to protect them, as happened to Farzana Iqbal even as she sought to seek protection from the law.

Pakistan: Insecurity grows in Peshawar as extortionists have a field day

he incidents of bombing of houses in the provincial capital have increased to the extent that every individual is now feeling insecure even inside their homes.

Most of the cases are that of extortion in which the rings target the houses of those who refuse to pay the extortion money. Two houses were bombed on Wednesday while two more were targetted with explosives on Tuesday. Bombs and hand-grenades explode outside houses so frequently that it is no more a piece of news for the people of the city.

On Wednesday, the house of a schoolteacher, Naeem, was bombed in Sarband village. Police said the family had received calls from the extortionists and when they failed to pay up, the callers lobbed explosives into the house. Though no casualty was caused, the house was slightly damaged due to the impact of the blast.

Another bomb went off outside the residence of a former nazim, Tariq Mateen, in Bostanabad area in the limits of the Phandu Police Station. On Tuesday, the house of a former naib nazim, Yousuf, was targetted in Tor Baba while the house of a trader was targetted in Duranpur village in Chamkani. Both the families had received calls for payment of extortion.

The house of Yousuf had come under a similar attack a couple of months back. On Monday, houses were targetted in two different parts of the provincial capital. Hundreds of well-off people from the provincial capital have received calls for payment of extortion. Many of them are well-off people, but a large number are those who are either running small businesses or have earned a few hundred thousands in recent years.

Hundreds of families in the provincial capital are spending sleepless nights following calls for extortion or for fear of receiving similar calls since the menace is spreading to almost all parts of the city now.

Several families, who could afford, have already shifted to Islamabad, safer cities in Punjab and abroad to avoid further stress and threats to their families, businesses and properties. Apart from Peshawar, the menace of extortion has spread in many parts of the Mardan division, especially Mardan and Swabi districts.

The police find it hard to provide security to those receiving the calls or to bust the gangs. The number of victims of the groups is fast increasing with each passing day as the government is doing nothing to provide relief to them. Police officials argue they have busted a number of gangs and efforts were being made to tighten the noose around others, but most of them are operating from the tribal areas and Afghanistan.

The police sent a detailed report to the ministry of interior for setting up a taskforce to go after the gangs of extortionists in the tribal areas and make efforts to counter others operating from across the border. The force is looking for the technology to locate the callers without any delay and provide relief to those who receive threatening calls.

Edhi and I are ambassadors for human rights: Veena Malik

The Express Tribune

Pakistani starlet Veena Malik met with philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi at his headquarters on Wednesday following reports that he had fallen ill.

“I have wanted to meet you for ages now. Philanthropists like you are the need of the hour for this country,” Veena said. The famous actor also jokingly offered to donate her kidney to Edhi, who needs dialysis twice a week. “My family members and I have been regularly been praying for your speedy recovery. It’s a big thing that you have done for the suffering humanity of this world,” she added.

Edhi replied to Veena by saying that she should continue to pray for him, so that he can work towards helping other people. “Do pray to the Almighty to allow me to do more work for the others,” Edhi said. “Me and Edhi are the ambassadors for human rights,” she said. “Even if Pakistanis do 0.1% of good for humanity, the country will be a better place to live in,” the actor said.

Veena added that she was in talks with the International Human Rights Commissioner regarding the role that she would like to play in helping the country towards improving health and education.

Karachi visit

During her five-day visit to Karachi, the actor also paid tribute to Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s tomb in Clifton. She said that she would also like to visit Quaid-e-Azam’s final resting place during her trip.

When questioned if she had hopes of meeting political leadership residing in the city, she said, “No, that’s not in the schedule.” However, with the budget fast approaching she hoped that the government would make some incentive for an artists’ welfare fund.

The Stoning of Farzana: ‘Dishonourable’ love – You should be stoned to death

By Bina Shah

This story about a pregnant 25-year-old woman, Farzana Parveen, being bashed to death with bricks by her brothers and uncles because she dared to marry of her own choice, is the kind of news that makes your heart drop and your stomach churn. It’s being called an ‘honour killing’ in the press but it is murder – in fact, we should call it an execution.

Farzana was going to court in Lahore to testify that she had married her husband out of choice, in response to a fake kidnapping case brought about by her family who were enraged that she chose to marry him instead of the cousin they’d picked out for her. 30 people stood and watched as Farzana was shot at and attacked with bricks, but nobody did anything.

It reminds me of the famous case of Saima Sarwar of Peshawar who sought legal help from famed human rights lawyer Asma Jahangir, in fighting her own case against her family to divorce her chosen husband and marry a man of her own choice. Saima’s mother and uncle showed up in Asma’s office while Saima was there and her uncle shot her in the head. Saima died, and the uncle was never prosecuted because Saima’s family ‘forgave’ him for the crime.

People in Pakistan get away with these kinds of executions of women because of weak laws, contradictory legislation and the overarching power of jirgas or extra-judicial tribal court systems which reserve the harshest punishments for women exercising their free will.

We have a Protection of Women ordinance, enacted in 2006, which amended the Hudood Ordinances, making rape a crime under the Pakistan Penal Code and also made it illegal to force a woman to marry, kidnap or sell her into prostitution, and accuse her falsely of adultery or extramarital sex. We also have a bill, enacted in 2004, which makes ‘honour killing’ a crime. A Punjab law minister called for the crime to be tried in anti-terrorism courts in 2011, but I’m unsure whether this was ever enacted.

However, the 2004 law against ‘honour killing’ is contradicted directly by the Islamic law of Qisas and Diyat, which allows a family of a victim to ‘forgive’ the criminal and lessen the punishment or forgo it altogether. Most criminals use this loophole to get away with their crime.

Worse is that attitudes towards women who marry of their own free choice as having stained the honour of the family still persists. Even the policemen at police stations often won’t register a crime against a woman in this case because they agree with or sympathise with the angry family who wanted her dead. Combine this with a still-strong jirga system where men get together and condemn a woman (and sometimes her husband or partner, but he is almost never met with the same fate) to death for having acted out of her own free will.

They ignore the tenet of Islam that states any marriage must be enacted out of free will and that a woman has the right to choose her own husband. This law in Islam is set in stone and cannot be argued with. But the tribal system, which is steeped in patriarchy, ignores this basic fact and still seeks to control the lives and bodies of women by forcing them into marriages they don’t always want.

I’ve often heard activists try to make the phrases ‘there is no honour in honour killing’ and ‘dishonour killing’ stick. It will take more than a few catchphrases to undo centuries of regressive, misogynistic thinking and attitudes, dearly adhered to because it suits the power structure that is already in existence. To get people to understand that an honour killing is murder, plain and simple, is the first step. For a man to understand that his honour doesn’t lie in a woman’s body may be the second step, but to get him to accept that she has her own autonomy and independence and control over her own body is a final phase in the evolution of Pakistani society that may take generations to achieve.

In the meantime, we’ll have people like Farzana and her unborn child beaten to death with bricks grabbed from a construction site outside a court in Lahore, while onlookers do nothing but watch and take photographs on their cell phones. We will have a nation where the laws do not protect women. We will have a country that people look at in disgust and horror, grimace at and thank God they do not have to raise their daughters there.

Farzana must not die in vain. We must use her death as a turning point in how we prosecute the executioners of women who exercise their free will. They are braver than all the men who sit in judgment over a woman like Farzana, condemning her to a death she does not deserve.

But do not rest complacent, even those of you who live in so-called civilised societies. All over the world, there is a war going on against women. In Pakistan, it takes the form of Farzana Parveen’s body, prone and covered by a sheet, battered and broken in the ambulance with her bewildered husband sitting next to her. In Nigeria, it takes the form of 200 schoolgirls kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery by Boko Haram. In the United States, we have three women and three men dead because of the revenge fantasies of a spoilt, rich boy who thought that he was owed sex by “blonde sl**s”.

We’re already in the middle of the third world war. It is the war for women’s rights, safety and dignity. We are not winning this war yet. I wonder if we ever will.

In Pakistan, 1,000 women die in ‘honor killings’ annually. Why is this happening?

On Tuesday, a pregnant 25-year-old woman was stoned to death by her family for marrying a man she loved. The stoning took place in the middle of the day, outside a courthouse, beside a busy thoroughfare. The woman and her husband had been “in love,” her husband said, and they’d gone to a courthouse to sign the paperwork. Outside, the woman’s father, brothers and extended family waited. When the couple emerged, the family reportedly tried to snatch her, then murdered her.

“I killed my daughter as she had insulted all of our family by marrying a man without our consent, and I have no regret over it,” her father told police, adding that it had been an “honor killing.”

The anecdote is horrifying. But even more horrifying is the regularity with which honor killings and stonings occur in Pakistan. Despite creeping modernity, secular condemnation and the fact there’s no reference to stoning in the Koran, honor killings claim the lives of more than 1,000 Pakistani women every year, according to a Pakistani rights group. They have widespread appeal. Eighty-three percent of Pakistanis support stonings for adultery according to a Pew survey, and only 8 percent oppose it. Even those who chose modernity over Islamic fundamentalism overwhelmingly favor stonings, according to Pew research.

It’s the year 2014. Why is this still happening?

Some Islamic fundamentalists think that only through the murder of an offending family member can honor be restored to the rest of the family. Honor killings predominantly affect women — 943 women were killed under such circumstances in 2011 and another 869 in 2013, though not all of them were stoned. Some were just gunned down in cold blood.

One man in Punjab province suspected his teenage nieces of having “inappropriate relations” with two boys. So on Jan. 11, he killed both girls, confessed and said he did it for “honor.” Another teenage girl, living in Sukkur, was allegedly shot dead by her brother while she was doing homework because her brother thought she was sleeping with a man.

One mom and dad allegedly killed their 15-year-old daughter with acid because they said she looked at a boy and they ”feared dishonor.”

“There was a boy who came by on a motorcycle,” her father told BBC. My daughter “turned to look at him twice. I told her before not to do that; it’s wrong. People talk about us.” The mother added: “She said ‘I didn’t do it on purpose. I won’t look again.’ By then I had already thrown the acid. It was her destiny to die this way.”

Those who are stoned in an honor killing are oftentimes accused of committing adultery. Both genders face stonings in Pakistan and across 14 Muslim countries, but women are more frequently the targets. The reason is rooted in sexual inequality in such countries, where the punishment has survived through some interpretations of sharia, or Islamic law, that say adultery is punishable by stoning. In countries such as Iran, where stonings are legal and widespread, men often have significantly more agency than women. If accused of adultery, they may have the means to either hire lawyers or flee. But those options are frequently closed to women.

One 13-year-old girl named Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow faced such a fate. The Somali child claimed she had been raped by three men and told the authorities what had happened. But her report did not spur an investigation into her allegations. Instead, the girl was accused of adultery, buried up to her neck inside a stadium and stoned to death before 1,000 people.

Can anything stop the stonings?

It’s unclear. A petition circulated last year that netted 12,000 signatures called on the United Nations to enact international laws against stonings. But regardless of international pressure, rights activists say the number of stonings and honor killings have continued to climb in Pakistan.

“Stoning is a cruel and hideous punishment,” a spokesman for Women Living Under Muslim Laws told the Independent. “It is a form of torturing someone to death. It is one of the most brutal forms of violence perpetrated against women in order to control and punish their sexuality and basic freedoms.”

Pakistan stoning victim's husband condemns police

The husband of a Pakistani woman stoned to death in broad daylight outside a Lahore court says police stood by and did nothing to stop the attack.

Farzana Parveen, who was three months pregnant, was killed by her family on Tuesday for marrying a man she loved. "We were shouting for help; nobody listened," her husband, Muhammad Iqbal, told the BBC. Correspondents say there are hundreds of so-called "honour killings" of women in Pakistan each year. UN human rights chief Navi Pillay said she was "deeply shocked" and urged Pakistan's government to take "urgent and strong measures".

"I do not even wish to use the phrase 'honour killing': there is not the faintest vestige of honour in killing a woman in this way."

Mr Iqbal described the police as "shameful" and "inhuman" for their failure to stop the attack. "We were shouting for help, but nobody listened. One of my relatives took off his clothes to capture police attention but they didn't intervene.

"They watched Farzana being killed and did nothing."

Arranged marriages are the norm in Pakistan and to marry against the wishes of the family is unthinkable in many deeply conservative communities.

Ms Parveen's father later surrendered to police but other relatives who took part in the attack are still free. Mr Iqbal said they were threatening him and his family. "Yesterday they said they would snatch the dead body," he said. "We came here with a police escort". "We arrested a few of them and others are currently being investigated," local police chief Mujahid Hussain said. Dragged to floor

Ms Parveen's parents had accused Mr Iqbal of kidnapping her and had filed a case against him at the High Court. She testified to police that she had married him of her own free will. Mr Iqbal told the BBC that when the couple arrived at the court on Tuesday to contest the case, his wife's relatives were waiting and tried to take her away. As she struggled to free herself they dragged her to the floor, pelted her with bricks and then smashed her head. She died on the pavement.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan says 869 women were murdered in "honour killings" in the country last year, although it is believed that the real figure could be higher.

UN urges Pakistan to take action against ‘honour killers’ of Farzana

The Express Tribune News

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Wednesday strongly deplored the cold blooded murder of Farzana Iqbal, a 25 year old pregnant woman, who was stoned to death by her family in front of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday. In a statement released on Wednesday, Pillay said that it was government’s neglect that led to her death.

“I am deeply shocked by the death of Farzana Iqbal, who, as in the case of so many other women in Pakistan, was brutally murdered by members of her own family simply because she married a man of her own choice,” stated Pillay. While deploring the way the woman was murdered she said, “I do not even wish to use the phrase ‘honour killing’: there is not the faintest vestige of honour in killing a woman in this way.”

Farzana of Chak 167, Jaranwala, was going to testify that she intentionally married her husband and that her family had wrongly accused her husband of kidnapping her.

While she was waiting outside LHC, near a mosque, members of her family opened fire, which narrowly she escaped. However, following which, her father, brother and dozen other men started pelting her with stones and bricks, as revealed by SP Civil Lines SP Umar Riaz Cheema.

A dozen security officials were present at the LHC at the time of the incident. Pillay said that hundreds of women are killed in Pakistan as retribution for marrying the man of their choice, or denying arranged marriage.

According to Human Rights Commission of Pakistan around 869 women were ‘honour killed’ last year in Pakistan. However accurate figure could me much higher as many deaths are not reported at all.

The High Commissioner exhorted that, “The government must take urgent and strong measures to put an end to the continuous stream of so-called ‘honour killings’ and other forms of violence against women”

While emphasising that, “the government must make measures to protect women like Farzana Iqbal,” she said that it was the neglect of the government in saving a women, who was murdered, while she was on her way to court. “The fact that she was killed on her way to court, shows a serious failure by the State to provide security for someone who – given how common such killings are in Pakistan – was obviously at risk.”

Pillay also criticised the Diyat and Qisas laws of the country, “People who carry out ‘honour crimes’ are rarely prosecuted, and even when they are, they often receive absurdly light sentences, considering they have committed pre-meditated murder.” “Such provisions are particularly pernicious when members of the same family that conducted the killing are given the right to pardon the killers.”

The committee on the elimination of Discrimination against women (CEDAW) that reviewed the Pakistan’s record on women rights previous year, articulated that despite amended criminal law act of 2004 that punishes offenses in the name of honour killing, two ordinances Qisas and Diyat continue to be used to pardon the perpetrators by the members of the same family who carry out the disgraced act.

The UN Committee called on Pakistan to attend to the limitations of the criminal law and abolish all requirements under which the perpetrators of Honour killing are are allowed to escape the penalty.

The UN general assembly had previously urged the member states through three separate resolutions 2001, 2003 and 2005 to increase governmental, educational, social efforts to prevent “honour killings”. It had also pushed for prompt investigations and immediate prosecutions of the perpetrators.