Pakistan - Amid 70 years of the creation of Pakistan, Minorities still confronting challenges

By Cynthia Sohail

Amid the 70 years of the creation of Pakistan, the portion decreased from 11% to five percent and it is never again executed by the source

According to the source, the number of inhabitants in Sindh is assessed to be 5.5 million, with 91 percent of Muslims and nine minorities containing minorities, including Hindus, Christians and Persians. Nine percent of the eight percent in the Hindu populace is 50 percent of which is settled in Tharparkar.

Jagendra Nath, the main Indian law serve, presented 11 percent quantity for the welfare of the minorities, under this framework Hindus, Christians, Bahrain and Schedules cast tribes, kept six percent standard independently for the calendar for the stronghold. had gone.

In 1998, Rana Chandra Singh and Shahbaz Bhatti exhibited an alteration charge in the National Assembly, as indicated by which all minorities including Hindus, Ahmadi, Christian and Bahrain people group will be profited from five percent standard. It was an unexpected that the individuals from the minorities spoke to the correction by decreasing 11% portion to five percent.

Because of this adjustment, the diminishment in the general amount and the six portion of isolated calendars of the rank cast was additionally finished, which, from which Bhil, Koli, Megharwad, Bala, Kabotra tribes were advantageous, and later on, the entryways of government employments were shut for them. They were and they remained with the enormous landowners.

The present time is formally 5 percent share in occupations, however just a few percent is handled, it additionally gives bring down review employments, ordinarily under clean, sterile specialists or 14 to 15 grades. Are there

In a report, a minority lady has been cited as saying that five percent share on Karachi, which works in Sindh including Karachi, is confined to the employment of Kharob, despite the fact that these occupations are not likewise accessible on justify.

A political gathering in Karachi has selected specialists for clean laborers on minority amount in metropolitan administrations, while nearby lawmakers enlist other individuals in different urban communities, larger part of them have a place with Muslims. Try not to go to your employments just get pay rates.

‘A previous Hindu Member of the Assembly asked whether the legal sees five percent minority judges? None of the common divisions’ secretaries is minority, in such a way no agent magistrate of a locale is from the minorities group. Is this not a capability in the Hindu people group? Assuming this is the case, who was running the framework here before 1947? ”

This report additionally featured the explanations behind minority portion not being executed by the guidelines. Government’s non-intrigue, the duty regarding actualizing this law is not ready to pay its obligations.

‘In the event that the government declares the issue in Islamabad, how did the declaration come to Umarkot in light of the fact that there are no daily papers here, the second is the means by which a portion of the destitute individuals can reach here for interviews.

There is a sure point of view in the counsel of the report that there is a political, religious and established effect on executing minority amount, and it is additionally a fluid set which appears that the minority is for the most part abnormal and substantial occupations not qualified.

‘Hindu and Christian sterile laborers and other little employments that are indigenous to Muslims, the joblessness rate is higher in the minorities, since graduates are likewise denied of occupations since government employments are given on political premise as opposed to justify. Are there

The report has been encouraged to shape a strategy to guarantee that minority portion is being prepared. On the off chance that the demise of a representative is done, at that point his tyke ought to be utilized on parent portion.

It has additionally been suggested that political impedance ought to be halted, the six percent amount ought to be reestablished in the work of speaking to the Schedules and Dalit people group in national and commonplace gatherings.

Minor minority issues ought to be stayed up with the latest by refreshing their site, in broad daylight works of daily papers, and radio TV and in addition to screen the minorities.

Women should not live in fear, but act with courage. By Shobha Shukla

"One day, when my first child was barely 6 months old, my husband kicked away the water and food I had served him. On asking him the reason, he started pulling my hair and thrashing me. I was stunned at his sudden violent behaviour. But this was just the start of a never-ending saga of domestic violence that continues till today", said 30 years old Lakshmina. She hails from a Dalit community in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India. The only sister of four brothers, Lakshmina is illiterate. She did start her schooling, but one day, while going to school, she met with an accident and hurt herself. Her doting mother immediately stopped sending her to school, saying that she did not want to risk her daughter’s life.

At the age of 18, Lakshmina was married to a labourer. Her marital problems began soon after one year of married bliss. Her husband would come home drunk and start beating her for no apparent reason. The first time she was hit, Lakshmina went to her parent’s home. When she returned after two months, her husband pushed her in his room, held her by the neck and started thrashing her. She was saved through the intervention of her in-laws and neighbours. But the beatings continued- even after the birth of two more children. After every bout of violence, he would apologize and promise never to hit her again, only to forget it just too soon.

No excuse for abuse

He began spending more and more of his earnings on liquor. To make both ends meet, Lakshmina started working in the fields. But thinking that this would make her independent, he forbade her from stepping out of the house. When she resented, she was beaten black and blue. When she was seriously injured, her parents came and took her from one hospital to another, till she got well.

Lakshmina’s brothers wanted her to leave her husband for good and marry someone else. But she knew that no one would accept her with her three children (two sons and a daughter) in tow. She decided to stay in her husband’s home and continue to fight for justice, even though he wanted her to leave his house.

She was clear in her mind that, “Being his wife and the mother of his children, I have equal rights in his house and property. I too contribute in running the household. I am ready to be reprimanded if I do something wrong. But to be beaten without any reason, is something I will not tolerate. I will fight for my rights by staying here. Men must realize that anger and blatant show of power is not their prerogative. Marriage is all about having equal partnership.”

Some neighbours, told her to contact Hina Desai, Director of Sri Ramanand Saraswati Pustakalaya (SRSP)--an organisation that works to combat caste and gender biases in rural India. The support provided by Oxfam India has helped SRSP in advancing the fight against gender discrimination and motivating women to stand up against domestic violence.

SRSP helped Lakshmina file a police complaint, as well as a case of domestic violence against her husband. Under police duress, he promised never to misbehave with his wife again. But he did not keep his words.

He has no love even for his three children. Lakshmina recalls an incident that occurred 3 years ago: "Once, he literally snatched the food from their hands, saying that he will eat first. When my elder son (who was 12 years old at that time and was studying in Class 7 then) resented his behaviour, he hit him in the stomach. After this incident, my son refused to stay in the house. He left his studies and home and went to Chennai to make a living to help me financially. I feel very sad for him. His is an age to study and not to work. He sends money for me and for his siblings. But my husband accuses me of having earned this money by selling my body."

Earlier Lakshmina would beg for mercy from her husband when ill-treated. She would also run to SRSP for help. They would scold her husband and the police too would threaten to send him to prison if he did not mend his ways. He would say sorry and remain calm for 3-4 months, only to start his brutal behaviour all over again.

Change your mind, change your life

But long years of sufferings have made her strong and determined. She is no longer scared of her husband and does not tolerate his beatings anymore. Now if he hits her, she hits him back. She has learnt it the hard way that women should not live in fear, but act with courage. Fear is a sign of weakness. Women need to be strong from within and fight their own battles. No amount of outside interventions can alone help. The more one fears the more one is suppressed.

Belief triggers the power to do

God gave her courage and Hina Desai restored her self- confidence, feels Lakshmina. SRSP gave her INR 2000 and helped her open a bank account. She used that money to start her own business. Lakshmina shared with Citizen News Service (CNS): “We have formed a group of ten women to make and sell pickles, potato chips, ‘papads’, etc. Today I am earning myself. I am no longer financially dependent on my husband and so I am under no obligation to suffer his indignities. I will continue to fight my battle while staying in his house. I will not let him succeed in throwing me out.”

Lakshmina wants her children to marry only after they complete their education and start earning. She has also told her sons that if they ever misbehave with their wives (as their father did with her), she would stand by her daughters-in-law and would not hesitate to seek punishment for them if need be.

Lakshmina fights for the rights of other women too. She strongly believes that, “Women must raise their voices against injustice, and not take it lying low. It is human to err, but it is inhuman to become violent. Solutions to problems can be found through dialogues and discussions only. Men should be taught to respect their wives.”

Keep the promise

Let us not forget that governments of over 190 countries, including India, have promised to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, one of which is to achieve gender equality and end all forms of discrimination and violence against all women and girls. If we are to deliver on these promises of sustainable development and gender justice, lot more action is needed on the ground.

The upcoming 3rd Asia Pacific Feminist Forum (APFF 2017) to be held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, would hopefully provide a platform to mobilize stronger action for dismantling economic, social and political systems that produce obscene levels of inequality and fuel violations of women’s human rights.

Pakistan - FOUR EMPLOYEES OF CHINESE COMPANY PJP KIDNAPPED NEAR TANK

Four employees of a Chinese company were kidnapped near the boundary between the Frontier Regions (FRs) of Tank and Lakki Marwat district on Wednesday.

Although Tank tehsildar Yasir Suleman said unidentified gunmen abducted four employees of the Chinese company, PJP — which is surveying gas reserves in the area— from Kazmomai area of FR Tank, it is believed that the Deobandi terrorists of banned outfits are behind this kidnapping in a bid to damage Pak-China relations making Chinese nationals unsafe in Pakisatan.
The abducted employees were identified as supervisor Riaz, bulldozer operator Shaukat, private security guard Zaro Jan and driver Amir Mohammad.
Sources said personnel of Khasadar Force and security forces had launched a search operation in the area to track down the kidnappers and recover the employees.

http://www.shiitenews.org/index.php/pakistan/item/29987-four-employees-of-chinese-company-pjp-kidnapped-near-tank

On National Minority Day, Bilawal Bhutto vows to uphold every word of Quaid-e-Azam about non-Muslims

Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said that PPP was the true torchbearer of the ideology of Pakistan as professed by Founder of the Nation assuring that every word of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah for the protection and promotion of non-Muslims will be upheld, fulfilled and accomplished.

In his message on the National Minority Day being observed on Friday August 11, the PPP Chairman said that as per vision of the founding fathers every citizen of Pakistan is an equal partner without the discrimination of caste, creed, ethnicity or religions. “Pakistan is blessed with beautiful diversity and we all shall further nourish and nurture this diversity with equality to all,” he added.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that his Party has taken drastic steps for the rights of the non-Muslim people so that they have adequate representation in the Parliament, bureaucracy, and every sphere of life. “PPP gave representation to the non-Muslims in the Senate for the first time in 2012. It was Prime Minister Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto who established Minority Affairs Ministry. PPP has tripled the budget of Minority Affairs Department in Sindh during last four years,” he added.

He pointed out that PPP was the only Party which gave representation to the non-Muslims in its organizational structure besides inducted them in Sindh cabinet.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari further pointed out that National Minority Day observance was approved by President Asif Ali Zardari during previous PPP government with the purpose to further highlight their problems and pave the way for their solutions.

PPP Chairman said that speech made by the Father of the Nation Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah on August 11, 1947 was part of his ideology and the PPP will uphold his every word assured to the non-Muslims.

Bilawal Bhutto grieved over Dr Ruth Pfau’s death

Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has paid tributes to Dr. Ruth Katherina Martha Pfau, the German-Pakistani lady for her life-long battle against leprosy since 1960 and expressed deep grief and sorrow over her demise today.

In his condolence message, the PPP Chairman said that Dr Ruth Pfau spent her life in serving the leprosy patients in Pakistan.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that Pakistani nation is grateful Dr Pfau for dedicating her services to the people of this country adding she would be remembered by every Pakistani and our entire nation was her heir.

https://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/2017/08/10/bilawal-bhutto-grieved-over-dr-ruth-pfaus-death/

Pakistan's Candle of hope - A TRUE PROPHET - Dr Ruth Pfau

Being an atheist, If god and prophets were not false and man made, then Dr Ruth Pfau is definitely a Prophet who served and loved humanity, what a shame a Muslim Pakistani doctor refused to touch a Christian sanitary worker who was brought to the hospital in critical condition.
MWAQAR

By Shagufta Gul

WHEN you start to despair — and we have too many occasions for that — go get the light of hope from someone who holds the candle. So I went to see Dr Ruth Pfau, who has been an inspiration for many, especially the most stigmatised of segments — her leprosy patients.

Even in her poor state of health in her hospital bed, Dr Pfau continues to be the candle of hope she has epitomised. She was hospitalised recently but is now in her own apartment in her neat and prim clinic. Of course, she is happy to be back home, she told me.

As I held her hand I could feel the “enrichment flow from her into me” to use her words. That is the role she has been playing since she arrived as a young woman of 31 in Karachi from Germany in 1960 and made Pakistan her home. It was chance that took her to the Lepers’ Colony behind the commercial offices on McLeod Road (now I.I. Chundrigar Road). The squalor and subhuman conditions did not deter her. Within three years, she had set up a proper leprosy clinic, now an eight-storey hospital on Shahrah-i-Liaquat, and the hub of 157 leprosy centres all over the country. There followed an arduous journey of over five decades devoted to “serving the unserved”. At no stage has her commitment slackened.

In her forthcoming autobiography, quoting an axiom, she writes, “It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness” and, better still, “to keep it burning”.

Leprosy, according to Dr Pfau, ‘is not just a sickness’.

What I find striking about Dr Ruth Pfau is her holistic approach to the people she works for and whom she loves unconditionally.

Thus leprosy, the disease she focused on, is, according to her, “not just a sickness” with specific medical conditions, but also a monstrosity due to society’s attitude towards the person who is suffering from it. He or she is dubbed a sinner, a victim of the scourge of the divine.

It is this stigma that robs patients of their dignity and deprives them of their basic birthright that Dr Pfau finds disquieting. Hence in her scheme of things the cure is a process which not only treats the physical ailment but continues until the patient has been rehabilitated and has access to his right to food and clothing, shelter, education, health, equal job opportunities and, above all, social acceptance. With the risk of relapse ever present, leprosy workers have to establish lifelong associations with their patients who are monitored for early signs of any recurrence of the disease.

This sounds so idealistic in Pakistan’s context. But it has actually worked because Dr Pfau’s strategy from the initial years has been to focus on community development as well. She took healthcare to the patients right to their doorstep, personally visiting families to convince them that leprosy, a grossly misunderstood disease, was treatable.

After studying Dr Pfau’s approach, I feel that is the only one which can work in a Third World society. To be effective, a four-pronged strategy is needed: a) adopt preventive measures; b) educate communities to lower the incidence of diseases; c) provide curative treatment to those who still fall ill; d) monitor and detect early cases that recur to nip the damage in the bud.

Dr Pfau made an impact on the leprosy scene in Pakistan and in 1996; WHO declared that leprosy had been controlled in the country. Dr Pfau then set her sights on leprosy elimination, a bigger challenge as the incubation period can last from two to 40 years. In 2016, the number of patients under treatment in Pakistan were only 531 — a far cry from 19,398 in the early 1980s.

To use fully the capacity, it had created, the Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre (MALC) bran­ched out into tuberculosis and blindness prevention programmes in support of the government. Why TB? The TB bacterium is related to the leprosy bacillus. Why blindness? For the leprosy patient, blindness enhances his helplessness since he is robbed of his tactile ability as well. You need a lot of compassion to understand the feelings of those suffering from either of the two.

TB and blindness programmes require similar community efforts. With the socio-medical infrastructure in place for leprosy, the MALC could include these in its sphere of work.

Dr Ruth Pfau saw a rat nibbling the decayed foot of a leprosy patient who had lost sensation in his legs. That prompted her to “care for such patients” as she puts it.

What would you say about the case of a doctor in Umerkot who, reportedly, refused to touch a sanitary worker who was brought to the hospital in critical condition after inhaling gas in the gutter he was cleaning? The reason that was supposedly given was, “The man was covered with filth and I was fasting.”

Pakistan - Suharwardy and Bhutto

In utter desperation, the ruling PML-N is quoting the names of political heavyweights and former prime ministers (PMs) of Pakistan. Hussain Shaheed Suharwardy was the most popular leader of East Pakistan and was also Chief Minister of undivided Bengal. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto entered the political arena as a cabinet member of Iskander Mirza’s government and remained a part of the Ayub regime. Both PMs were barristers, orators and populist leaders who earned their political wings through struggle and sacrifice.

Ayub Khan’s EBDO (Elected Bodies Disqualification Ordinance) could not knock him out. He presented his own defence in the Military Tribunal and prevailed as no impropriety could be proven against him. Before he opened his defence he warned the nation with the following words, “A country cannot survive in which a Lt. Col. presides over the trial of a Prime Minister”. Thirteen years later Pakistan was dismembered. Suharwardy, after his exoneration, went into self-exile and started living in Beirut. Till his last breath, he remained the greatest threat to the establishment as he was upright, popular and able. His death remains a mystery till today. One morning he was found dead in a hotel where he was staying in the capital city of Lebanon.

Bhutto emerged from the shadows of the establishment, but like Suharwardy, he too launched an anti-establishment political party. He launched a movement against Ayub Khan which eventually toppled his government. Initially, he was not taken seriously by the establishment politicos. The progressives rallied around his socialist manifesto. In the first free and fair elections held in 1970, his Pakistan People’s Party won 81 out of 138 seats in West Pakistan while Suharwady’s Awami League under Mujib-ur-Rehman won 160 out of 162 seats in the Eastern Wing.

After the fall of the Bhutto government in 1977, General Zia targeted his party. Three individuals were shortlisted in Punjab. Mian Nawaz Sharif was one of them. While Pir Pagaro succeeded in getting the Prime Minister’s slot for his nominee Muhammad Khan Junejo, Zia managed to bag the Chief Minister Punjab’s position for Mian Sahib. There was no turning back. A Lahore based establishment goon had been launched. When Junejo tried to be his own man, Mian Sahib conspired with the dictator to topple him.

Then came the infamous IJI (Islami Jamahoori Ittehad) the brainchild of Lt Gen Hamid Gul, to knock out Benazir Bhutto in the 1990 elections. The Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP) has already ordered to punish the culprits, the decision remains un-implemented. Ishaq Khan, the ‘Baboo’ President promised the interim PM Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi continuation in office if elected, but Mian Sahib turned the tables and managed to take control of the government. By 1992, Mian Sahib had assumed complete control of the country and its largest province. Massive infrastructure projects were launched. While the large kickbacks were for the Sharif family, smaller benefits were left for the party and its workers at the cost of plunder of the nation’s resources. Today, PML-N has become a party of interests, it is no longer a political outfit as it claims.

Justice Asif Khosa has rightly mentioned the famous novel ‘The Godfather’ to describe the corruption of the Sharif clan. In Government College Lahore, Asif Khosa was a great debater. As a judge he has to listen more and speak less but when he talks the sparks still fly. Justice Gulzar is not too far behind in his assertions about the corruption of the royal family. From Gawalmandi to Model Town to Jatti Umra, the trail is evident. Both Suharwardy and Bhutto emerged through free and fair elections. They were backed by the power of the masses. Mian Sahib was launched through manipulated ballots and continues to win elections through questionable methods. Electoral reforms are crucial to determine the will of the people and to diffuse the unholy influence of PML-N over the administrative machinery. Biometric identification is vital and can be carried out with the assistance of NADRA and mobile telephone service providers. CCTV cameras can also be installed in all polling stations to record the entire electoral process.

After 1970, ten elections have been manipulated for desired results with 2013 being the latest. Elections in 2018 will be equally disputed unless massive electoral reforms are carried out. Only a leader who emerges with the power of the ballot can take on the establishment, Mian Sahib does not enjoy that grassroots support. Most PML-N workers are either paid employees of the party or the beneficiary of its policies of plunder. Politics of resistance is not their forte as was seen during the Musharraf era when Mian Sahib and his family were unable to force their homecoming.

The judicial murder of Bhutto was only possible after the Quaid-e-Awan had surrounded himself with status-quo politicians who were willing to jump the ship when it landed in troubled waters. Mian Sahib and his party of interests is not equipped to face the brewing storm. At best, he can gain time or appoint an interim PM to complete the term till next elections in 2018. There are trade-offs in both approaches. Time will allow them the opportunity to increase their loot but will also force electoral reforms which does not suit parties like PML-N. The nation still mourns the loss of leaders like Suharwardy and Bhutto. Suharwady could have saved Quaid’s Pakistan whose breakup he had predicted during his defence. Bhutto, during his mock trial wrote that Himalayas will cry if I am assassinated. It is interesting, the individuals who attacked him hiding behind the same mountains are now crying. Once they are knocked out of the political arena, there will be a sigh of relief. They will be remembered as an establishment nightmare that finally ended in the highest court of the country after tormenting the people of Pakistan for over three decades. More than ever before, the nation awaits the emergence of leaders like Hussain Shaheed Suharwardy and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto whose legacies are everlasting while it will be better off by getting rid of rulers like Nawaz Sharif and his brother.

Nawaz roadshow aimed at derailing system: Kaira

PPP Central Punjab President Qamar Zaman Kaira has said former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s road show is aimed at derailing the system, vowing his party will foil his attempt with the support of the masses.

Addressing media persons here yesterday, Kaira said Nawaz Sharif like a stubborn child wished to roll back the system in a situation when he had been caught red-handed before the apex court and the JIT in the Panama leaks case. “The former premier is severely criticising the Supreme Court, saying the decision against him was pre-planned and that the five men ousted a prime minister elected by millions of people. This attitude on the part of Nawaz Sharif is intolerable and amounts to sheer contempt of court,” he said, adding a prime minister had no right to use public mandate to commit corruption, forge documents, record false statements in a court and loot the public money.

The PPP leader heavily grilled Nawaz Sharif on his claim that his ouster from power was a conspiracy. He asked the former prime minister to come out with the name who conspired against him to get him out of power. “Whom are you showing street power? Have you still not learnt that you yourself are responsible for what has happened to you? You also moved similar cases against Imran Khan. Was it also not a conspiracy if the case against you was a conspiracy?” he questioned. He said Nawaz Sharif and his children were given the fullest opportunity before the Supreme Court and the JIT to defend the allegations, but they miserably failed as they did not have any proof and what they brought forth were fake, forged and fabricated documents. He asserted the upcoming NAB references were terrifying Nawaz Sharif as the real story was being disclosed through the same and the Sharifs wanted to prevent the NAB courts from doing anything against them. He said unlike the PPP leaders, the court had treated Nawaz Sharif leniently otherwise he and his children as well as relatives would have been in jail on the charges of committing forgery and recording false statements.

Kaira observed Nawaz Sharif’s road rally had failed to attract more than several thousand people. He alleged public funds had extravagantly been spent on the rally while this money would be shown as used for the preparations of the Independence Day celebrations. It was gross misuse of public funds and would be accounted for, he added. He also mentioned the chairmanship of Nawaz Sharif in the company of his son and said millions of pounds and dollars were transacted abroad to purchase scores of properties. “It is not a small offence which you committed,” he said addressing Nawaz Sharif.

Kaira strongly questioned the democratic credentials of Nawaz Sharif and said democracy for him meant his personal rule and use of state institutions as per his wishes as well as in his personal interest. It was, in fact, the PPP which always struggled for democracy while Nawaz Sharif had left the country along with his family after signing an agreement with the military dictator, he said, adding today when his theft had been traced out, he was crying for democracy and implementation of the Charter of Democracy. He asked the former prime minister why he had ignored the CoD and at whose behest he had moved the court on Memogate and got PPP Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani out of power. “You must realise your mistakes and apologise to the nation for all before seeking implementation of the CoD,” he advised Nawaz Sharif. Kaira said Nawaz Sharif was reaping what he sowed for others. He reminded Sharif that he was responsible for ousting a president, a chief justice and Benazir Bhutto in league with judges in his second stint in power.


http://nation.com.pk/newspaper-picks/10-Aug-2017/nawaz-roadshow-aimed-at-derailing-system-kaira

Bilawal Bhutto grieved over Dr Ruth Pfau’s death

Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has paid tributes to Dr. Ruth Katherina Martha Pfau, the German-Pakistani lady for her life-long battle against leprosy since 1960 and expressed deep grief and sorrow over her demise today.

In his condolence message, the PPP Chairman said that Dr Ruth Pfau spent her life in serving the leprosy patients in Pakistan.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that Pakistani nation is grateful Dr Pfau for dedicating her services to the people of this country adding she would be remembered by every Pakistani and our entire nation was her heir.

https://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/2017/08/10/bilawal-bhutto-grieved-over-dr-ruth-pfaus-death/

Katy Perry - Chained To The Rhythm (Official) ft. Skip Marley

Ravages of Saudis Criminal War: A Million Children in Yemen Trapped to Die

VIJAY PRASHAD

Last Thursday, the head of the UN Children’s Agency (UNICEF), Anthony Lake, arrived in Amman, Jordan after a heart-wrenching tour of war-ravaged Yemen. ‘Stop the war,’ said Lake. It was a clear message.

No subtlety was needed. ‘All of us,' he said, 'should feel ‘immense pity, even agony, for all of those children and others who are suffering, and they should feel anger, anger that this, our generation, is scarred by the irresponsibility of governments and others to allow these things to be happening.’

Lake’s message has gone unheeded. As is the voice of all those who have tried to raise discussion of the atrocity done to Yemen. Last night, the charity group Save the Children raised the alarm once more. In a brief report, Save the Children said that more than a million children who suffer from acute malnutrition live in the areas where cholera has swept the country.

‘After two years of armed conflict,’ said Tamer Kirolos, Save the Children’s country director for Yemen, ‘children are trapped in a brutal cycle of starvation and sickness. And it’s simply unacceptable.’ Kirolos’ teams in the hardest hit areas find ‘a horrific scenario of babies and young children who are not only malnourished but also infected with cholera.’ The combination is deadly. What lies ahead is apocalyptic: mass deaths of children from a combination of hunger and disease.

In June, UNICEF reported that a Yemeni child dies every 10 minutes. These deaths are not tragedies. They are crimes.

The war in Yemen, prosecuted by Saudi Arabia and its allies and backed with weaponry from the West, has destroyed the country’s food, water and health infrastructure. In January 2016, Saudi aircraft bombed a water desalination plant north of al-Mocha. This bombing run, which lasted minutes, left the million residents of the Yemeni city of Taiz without water.

Piped water is no longer an option for most Yemenis. They rely upon water tankers; this water has become more expensive as fuel prices have skyrocketed. Last month, Gabriel Sánchez of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Yemen said that in one district, ‘our teams are seeing an extremely poor sanitation situation and insufficient access to clean drinking water.’ Absence of clean drinking water has helped fuel the cholera epidemic which broke out this March.

Aid groups, from the UN and elsewhere, as well as citizens groups across Yemen have tried to address the crisis, but the scale of this human-made disaster is enormous. Four out of five children in Yemen need some humanitarian aid. No aid agency can solve this crisis if the war continues - particularly if the fragile infrastructure continues to be bombed and if repair of this infrastructure continues to be prevented.

Saudi Arabia has blockaded this country and bombed its main port. This has not only hampered the work of charity groups, but it has also meant much needed supplies for repair have cannot reach Yemen. The country is being isolated into desolation.

On Tuesday, the country director for Yemen of the UN Development Agency (UNDP) Auke Lootsma said that 60 per cent of Yemen’s population does not know where their next meal will come from. Lootsma, who is based in Sanaa (Yemen), spoke to reporters via a videoconference. Save the Children said that a million children are near death by cholera. Lootsma offered double the figure.

‘We expect the cholera outbreak to continue to wreak havoc despite the best efforts of the UN agencies’, he said. Over 90 per cent of Yemen’s food is imported. With a combination of Saudi Arabia’s blockade, depleted foreign exchange reserves and poverty in the country, food is out of the reach of families. Yemen, Lootsma said chillingly, ‘is like a bus racing towards the end of a cliff.’

Terrible stories come from the edge of the cliff, including that desperate Yemeni families have begun to sell their children for food. When the UN’s coordinator for emergency aid, Stephen O’Brien, came to brief the UN Security Council in May, he said, ‘Families are increasingly marrying off their young daughters to have someone else care for them, and often use the dowry to pay for necessities.’ Such survival tactics, on the backs of children, will have a long-term impact on Yemeni society. This war is driving people to great barbarity.

Saudi Arabia’s war aims can never be met in Yemen. That is now clear. It simply cannot bomb the country into submission and it does not have the ground forces to enter Yemen and defeat the various rebel groups that defy it. An attempt to get the Pakistani military to enter the conflict on its side failed in 2015 when the Pakistani parliament took a neutral position on the war. In March of this year, the Pakistanis sent a brigade to defend Saudi Arabia’s southern border.

This shows that Saudi Arabia, by far the best equipped military power in this conflict, now fears the war will move northward into its own territory. Yemeni rebels have fired crude scud missiles into Saudi Arabia and at both Saudi and Emirati ships that enter Yemen’s coastal waters. These attacks—one against an Emirati ship yesterday—show that defeat of Yemen’s resistance to Saudi Arabia is not on the cards.

Meanwhile in the Hadhramawt region of Yemen, al-Qaeda in the Arabia Peninsula (AQAP) continues to make gains. In February, the International Crisis Group released a report that said that AQAP ‘is stronger than it has ever been.’ AQAP and its allies have become indispensable to the Saudi air war, providing crucial ground troops in Aden and elsewhere.

Fighting units such as Humat al-Qidah and al-Hassam Brigade are well-supplied by the UAE and Saudi Arabia to protect Aden. They are direct beneficiaries of this war. The Crisis Group suggests that AQAP ‘is thriving in an environment of state collapse, growing sectarianism, shifting alliances, security vacuums and a burgeoning war economy. Reversing this trend requires ending this conflict that set it in motion.’ The point about state collapse is important. 1.2 million Yemeni civil servants have not been paid since September 2016.

Meanwhile, the West continues to sell arms to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, offering these arms sales as a way to sanctify the war. The West with these sales is utterly complicit in the Saudi-led war.

The West’s complicity extends to the manner in which it has allowed Saudi Arabia to yoke this obscene war with its paranoia about Iran. Saudi Arabia argues that the rebel Houthi group in Yemen is a proxy of Iran and that Houthi capture of Yemen cannot be permitted. It is the impetus for this war. What is needed, however, is not a war to destroy Yemen, but the opening of a serious process for Saudi Arabia and Iran to talk about their broad disagreements.

In Istanbul, during an emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation around Israel’s actions in Jerusalem, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Iran shook hands and spoke for a few minutes. Adel al-Jubeir (Saudi Arabia) and Javad Zarif (Iran) later offered warm words about their meeting.

These are little gestures. But they need to be magnified. Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran not only fuel the war on Yemen, but also the war on Syria. They will certainly be a major factor in October when US President Trump has to offer his recertification of the nuclear deal with Iran. If the US goes to war against Iran, it will partly be because of Saudi pressure to do so.

How to prevent the atrocity that is taking place in Yemen? The war must end. That is now a consensus position among the humanitarian community. Arms sales by the West must be stopped. Pressure for a grand bargain between Saudi Arabia and Iran must increase. A million to two million Yemeni children’s lives are stake.

Explosives sent to Saudi may be used against Yemen civilians, says Greenpeace

Madrid has handed over to Saudi Arabia more than 300 containers of explosives, according to Greenpeace, who have expressed concern that the explosives will be used to commit war crimes in Yemen.

“We have raised this issue with the Spanish government, and the latter has assured us that the documents accompanying the issuance of licenses for the sale of these weapons clearly emphasise their non-use,” the organisation’s spokesman Alberto Stevens, told Al Jazeera.

Read: Arms sales to Saudi Arabia can continue despite fears of war crimes

“But we have real doubts that the Saudi authorities will not meet this commitment, especially given the record of Riyadh in particular,” he added.

Stevens called on the Spanish authorities “to stop arms sales to Saudi Arabia because of the risk that they will be used to commit atrocities and war crimes in Yemen”.

According to the organisation, Spain is the third largest arms exporter to Saudi Arabia after America and Britain.

These weapons include fighter jets, mortars and various other types of ammunition. Stevens referred to a recent report by an NGO which contained documents proving the use of Spanish weapons by both Saudi Arabia and the Houthis in the war in Yemen.


https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170809-explosives-sent-to-saudi-may-be-used-against-yemen-civilians-says-greenpeace/

Pakistan - 7 ARRESTED IN RAID ON DEOBANDI SEMINARY FOR FACILITATING TALIBAN TERRORISTS

Sindh Police's Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) on Wednesday conducted a search operation in a Karachi seminary allegedly linked with the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and detained seven persons for interrogation, CTD Senior Superintendent Police Omar Shahid Hamid said Tuesday.

“Mufti Shakir is responsible for a number of police murders in District Central and West in 2013-14, and is suspected of involvement in the murder of Police Superintendent Chaudhry Aslam,” added the officer.
Mufti Shakir was revealed to be the mastermind behind a group that was "neutralised" by the CTD on August 7 after three suspected militants were killed in an encounter in the Machhar Colony area of the city.
“The killed militants had been planning large-scale attacks in Karachi,” Hamid claimed.
“He [Mufti Shakir] is also suspected to be behind at least one group that is involved in police killings in Karachi,” he said.
Four policemen were gunned down in an attack in the SITE area in June, while July also saw at least two deadly attacks on police in the metropolis.

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Speaking to the press, the CTD official said that a team, along with district administration and district police, had conducted a search operation in the Al-Kareem Islamic Academy located in Karachi's SITE area.
Shahid claimed that the seminary had been established by Mufti Shakir, a “dangerous terrorist and TTP commander".
“Mufti Shakir is responsible for a number of police murders in District Central and West in 2013-14, and is suspected of involvement in the murder of Police Superintendent Chaudhry Aslam,” added the officer.
Mufti Shakir was revealed to be the mastermind behind a group that was "neutralised" by the CTD on August 7 after three suspected militants were killed in an encounter in the Machhar Colony area of the city.
“The killed militants had been planning large-scale attacks in Karachi,” Hamid claimed.
“He [Mufti Shakir] is also suspected to be behind at least one group that is involved in police killings in Karachi,” he said.
Four policemen were gunned down in an attack in the SITE area in June, while July also saw at least two deadly attacks on police in the metropolis.

http://www.shiitenews.org/index.php/pakistan/item/29986-7-arrested-in-raid-on-deobandi-seminary-for-facilitating-taliban-terrorists

ن لیگ آئینی اداروں میں طوفان برپا کرنا چاہتی ہے: بلاول بھٹو زرداری

چیئرمین پیپلزپارٹی بلاول بھٹو زرداری کا کہنا ہے کہ ن لیگ آئینی اداروں میں طوفان برپا کرنا چاہتی ہے، جبکہ اعتزاز احسن کہتے ہیں ن لیگ نے سپریم کورٹ میں ہنگامہ آرائی کا منصوبہ بنا رکھا ہے۔

چیئرمین پیپلزپارٹی بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا کہ مسلم لیگ نون اور تحریک انصاف ایک ہی سکے کے دو رخ ہیں۔ دونوں جماعتیں اسٹیبلشمنٹ کی پیداوار ہیں۔ پیپلزپارٹی ہی عوام کی واحد نمائندہ اور نظریاتی جماعت ہے۔

بلاول بھٹو نے کہا کہ ن لیگ آئینی اداروں میں طوفان برپا کرنا چاہتی ہے۔ ناکام خارجہ پالیسی کا یہ عالم ہے کہ پاکستان کی تینوں ہمسایہ ممالک کی سرحدوں پر کشیدگی ہے۔

انہوں نے کہا کہ یہ حکمران ہیں کہ بلوچستان کے مسائل سمجھ ہی نہیں سکے، پیپلزپارٹی بلوچستان سمیت خارجی اور اندرونی مسائل کو حل کرنا جانتی ہے۔

ادھر پیپلزپارٹی کے سینئر رہنما اعتزاز احسن نے ن لیگ کے متوقع بڑے منصوبے کو بھی بے نقاب کردیا۔ ان کا کہنا تھا کہ ن لیگ بے گناہی ثابت نہیں کر پائی تو سپریم کورٹ میں ہنگامہ کھڑا کرنے کا منصوبہ بنا لیا ہے۔

عتزاز احسن نے انکشاف کیا کہ حسین نواز کی تین بیویاں اور آٹھ بچے ہیں۔

http://urdu.channel24.pk/top-stories/2017/06/09/pml-n-create-mess-constitutional-institutions-bilawal-bhutto-zardari/

Video Report - پر جنسي ځورونو چپ مه پاتې کېږي

#Pakistan - 8th Anniversary of Gojra incident

Cynthia Sohail

Gojra Situated in Province Punjab of Pakistan where on 1st August, 2009, 9 innocent people including women and Children were burnt alive. The mob leads by extremist who attacked on a village of Christian community in Tehsil Gojra District Toba Tek Singh.

8th Anniversary of Gojra where 9 innocent Christians torched and many looted.

In this attack many people were looted and injured, hundreds of people run from their homes but Women and Children whom failed to run due to lack of time and transportations will burnt them alive. They also torched the expanses household. The cause of this attack was due to an allegation that Christan had desecrated the Holy Quran. More than 40 houses and Church was completely damaged.

The government sent Punjab Rangers and heavy police forces to bring back peace in that area. Rana Sanna Ulla Punjab Law Minister of that time announced that a primary investigation showed there was no desecration of the Holy Quran, it was just rumor which was used by anti-state agencies to create chaos.

Federal Minister for Minorities (Late) Shahbaz Bhatti , Fathers , sisters and pastors condemned this attack and helped the looted people. May all the departed souls in this incident rest in peace.

Feminists Insist The Internet Is Not A Safe Space In Pakistan, Where Women Still Get Stoned To Death

Ian Miles Cheong

Cyber harassment is one of the most urgent topics for feminists in the United States and Europe.

Displaying ignorance of the dangers of living as a woman in Pakistan, The Guardian has penned a piece celebrating the launch of a cyber harassment hotline in the South Asian country — including a quote from someone who claims she fears online harassment more than offline harassment.

Prominent feminists and “cyberviolence survivors” Zoe Quinn and Anita Sarkeesian told a United Nations Women panel hosted by the Broadband Commission Working Group in September 2015 that the harassment they dealt with went beyond threats, and also included the “day to day grind of ‘you’re a liar,’ ‘you suck’, making all these ate videos to attack us on a regular basis, and the mobs that come from those hate videos, et cetera.”

While the United Nations has yet to act on the proposals raised by the commission, the labor of their complaints have finally started to bear fruit. A Lahore-based organization called the Digital Rights Foundation has created the country’s first cyber harassment hotline, which is designed to give women who deal with stalkers, blackmailers and harassers a way for them to feel safe.

Nighat Dad, a female Pakistani lawyer who founded DRF, told The Guardian that the hotline was launched following the death of social media icon Quandeel Baloch, who was targeted in an “honor killing” by her brother for posting sexually suggestive photos online in 2016. Her social commentary on the country’s backwards attitudes towards sexuality angered traditional Pakistani Muslims, including her brother, who strangled her to death.

Despite the brutality of Baloch’s slaying, the traditional Muslim country was divided on whether he did the right thing, igniting a debate over honor killings. According to the Human Rights Commission in Pakistan, a thousand such cases are reported each year.

“After Baloch’s murder and the victim-blaming that followed, I became convinced that there was an urgent need to empower women and other vulnerable groups in the online space,” said Dad in the interview, adding that the hotline gave women across the country a way to receive assistance and support in dealing with online predators.

In Pakistan, women who lodge reports with the country’s Federal Investigation Agency for cyberstalking are required to disclose personal information, including their national card number, phone number, and father’s name. Many traditional families do not permit their daughters from traveling unaccompanied without a male older sibling or father, so they can’t even make a trip to the local police station if family members are involved.

However, women living in cosmopolitan cities like Lahore tend to experience cyber harassment of a different sort. A feminist activist, Eman Suleman, told the Guardian that she started a “period protest” by writing messages on sanitary napkins to fight against the stigmatization of menstruation. In response, men inundated her with both threats and lewd messages on social media, forcing her to go offline.

“I’m more scared of online harassment than offline harassment,” she said. “When there are three to four people harassing you in a public space, it’s easier to handle them. When there are thousands of people harassing you online – people you can’t see – you don’t know what they’re like, you don’t know if their threats are empty or real, and it becomes really frightening.”

Strange words coming from someone who lives in a country where husbands are permitted to physically abuse their wives.

According to Acid Survivors Trust International, an estimated 400 women suffer from acid attacks every year in Pakistan, but many of these crimes go unreported due to the perpetrators involved. An estimated 1,000 women die in honor killings each year, many of whom are stoned to death over slights as small as adultery or marrying someone their family does not approve of.

For women who deal with online abuse, the cyber harassment hotline may offer solace and a place for them to find solidarity, but it does little to improve life for women without free access to the Internet.

Harassment — whether online or offline — is unacceptable, but perhaps feminists in the U.S. could use a bit of perspective.