Chakwal: Girl shot for listening to music

25/11/2014

CHAKWAL: A sixteen-year-old girl was gunned down in Matan Kallaan village located in tehsil Kallar Kahar of Chakwal district, police sources said on Monday.

Munsib Khan told Kallar Kahar Police that he left his home early in the morning for work.

His younger brother, Muhammad Gulistan, alias Gullu, came to his house at 10am.

Gullu found his niece, Rihana Bibi, listening to music on a tape-recorder with the volume turned up. He asked the girl to switch off the tape-recorder but she refused. This led to a fight between the uncle and niece.

Enraged by the girl’s defiance Gullu shot his niece.

“Two bullets were fired at the girl. One hit her in the head while the other on her face. She died on the spot,” a police official at Kallar Kahar Police Station told Dawn. The accused fled from the village after committing the murder.

Investigation Officer Ali Akbar said the killer will be arrested soon. “We have registered a case against him and are making efforts to trace him,” he added.

Published in Dawn, November 25th , 2014

Pakistan’s Hidden Shame: Documentary reveals horrors of pedophilia in K-P

Sep4,2014

Director Mohammed Naqvi,and British producer Jamie Doran's film Pakistan’s Hidden Shame depicts the shocking reality of sexual abuse faced by small boys in the Northern areas of Pakistan.

The documentary premiered on September 1 on Britain's Channel 4 and shows the "dark reality of a society living in denial."

Set mainly in Peshawar, the film shows homeless boys of different ages recalling their experiences of sexual exploitation.

In an interview with CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour, the director of the documentary told her what puts children at risk in Pakistan and around the world.

"Pedophiles by their very nature are inadequate, it's about power over children."

"Where these individuals are able to use and abuse vulnerable children, Pakistan in particular because of the poverty. That's one of the other factors that really plays here."

n the documentary, the narrator introduces Pakistan as 'one of the most important Muslim populations, a democracy, a nuclear power and a supporter of the Western bloc.' But it soon reveals the silence and denial on one of the most taboo topics: pedophilia.

The documentary alleges that 9 out of 10 children in Peshawar have been victims of pedophilia. It also contains interviews with truck drivers who have committed such crimes.

Shockingly, one of the drivers admits, without any remorse, to having raped 11 or 12 boys. 

Doran also questions Imran Khan whose party Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) formed the government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which has Peshawar as its capital.

"It's one of the most sad and shameful aspects of our society. I am totally embarrassed by this and that we have not really been able to protect them," Khan said. 

Disturbing Rotherham child abuse report

The release of the documentary overlaps with the alarming revelations of a report released from Rotherham, the Northern English town where abuse, grooming and trafficking of 1,400 girls by predominantly Asian men over a 16-year period.

According to Reuters, the independent report last week exposed the scale and graphic nature of the crimes and raised difficult questions about whether timidity about confronting the racial aspects of the abuse had prompted authorities to turn a blind eye.

Some of the victims, mainly white girls in social care homes, were as young as 11 and were plied with drugs and alcohol before being trafficked to cities across northern England and gang-raped by groups of men, predominately of Pakistani heritage, the report said.

Those who tried to speak out were threatened with guns and made to watch brutal gang rapes. Their abusers said they would be next if they told anyone. One girl was doused with petrol, her rapist threatening to set her alight.

The report added that senior managers in social care "underplayed" the problem while police regarded many victims with contempt.

Government to legislate for the protection of children’s rights,CRM

20/11/2014

SLAMABAD: “There is no child protection system in Islamabad Capital Territory and a number of bills related to children’s right are pending at the National Assembly (NA) level,” Habiba Salman, Child Rights Movement (CRM) National Coordinator, said while speaking to participants of a conference titled ‘25 years of the UNCRC and the State of Child Rights in Pakistan’ at Quaid-i-Azam University.

The conference was jointly organised by CRM and Quaid-i-Azam University. Speakers urged the government to legislate for the protection of children’s rights. Pakistan signed and rectified United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, but is yet to make any progress towards providing protection, health and education to its children.

Ms Salman said the government needs to play a role in ensuring enactment of the national commission on Rights of Children Bill, prohibition of corporal punishment bill and child marriage restraint amendment bill. Malnutrition has become a key concern for the country, she said.

“According to Unicef, 352,000 children die every year in this country, and an estimated 35 per cent of these deaths are attributed to malnutrition,” she said.

She added that one sees no urgency, or commitment at the federal and provincial levels to respond to this situation by implementing strategies and increasing budgetary allocations.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Muhammad Zaman, QAU Department of Sociology chairman, said Pakistan’s future is linked to its children and Quaid-i-Azam University is going to include the issue of child right in its curriculum.

“At the Department of Sociology, we have designed a course on Sociology of Child Rights, currently awaiting approval, this will sensitise students to children’s rights,” he said.

QAU Acting Vice Chancellor Dr Eatzaz Ahmad highlighted academia’s role in the promotion of child rights in Pakistan. “Pakistan being party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is responsible to formulate strategies for future course for academia, society, national and international institutions and the federal and provincial governments to promote child rights in the country,” he said.

“The academicians, scholars, researchers, students and NGO activists must develop theoretical, conceptual and empirical work to analyse and understand the current state of child rights in the country,” said Prof. Dr. Aliya H. Khan, QAU Faculty of Social Sciences Dean.

Stefano Gatto, European Union Delegation Deputy Head, said the European Union welcomed Pakistan’s ratification of the most core international human rights conventions.

Barrister Zafarullah Khan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan and the chief guest, apprised participants on the steps taken by the government for the implementation of the UNCRC.

Arshad Mahmood, Save the Children, Director Advocacy and Child Rights Governance also spoke on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2014

Make prostitution legal, Indian sex workers demand

10th November 2014 
Hundreds of sex workers with their children and family members participated in a rally to demand better legal protection of sex workers, claiming that better laws will reduce human trafficking and exploitation. The rally was organized by Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee. Approximately 65,000 sex workers in West Bengal state are fighting for their rights.

Honour killing: Men kill mother and step-sisters in Lahore

11/11/2014

LAHORE: In an incident of honour killing, two brothers killed their mother and two step-sisters in Township area of Lahore on Tuesday, police said.

The brothers Shehzad and Asif used a dagger to kill their mother Sughra Bibi, and step sisters Muqaddas and Amna in the name of honour, with the investigation officer saying the accused did not trust the women and quoted them as saying they had bad character and indulged in wrong activities.

The investigation officer also said that the accused have pleaded guilty to the murder and they have been arrested. The weapon has also been taken into custody.

The bodies of the deceased have also been taken to the mortuary for postmortem investigation.

Honour killing is a common practice in Pakistan that is prevalent all over the country. Recently, capital punishment was given to a man found guilty of shooting his sister in 2011 in the Ali Mir Shah village in Sindh.

Six out of 10 Indian men admit to violence against partner: study

NEW DELHI: Six out of 10 Indian men admit they have acted violently against their wives or girlfriends, with those facing financial difficulties more likely to carry out abuse, a study released on Monday said.

Some 52 per cent of women surveyed across the country reported suffering some form of physical, emotional or sexual violence in their lifetime, including being kicked, hit, choked and burned, the study said.

The report by the UN World Population Fund and the Washington-based International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW) underscores the high rates of abuse facing women in the deeply patriarchal country.

“The study puts a spotlight on the high prevalence of intimate partner violence in India,” the study said.

“Regardless of age, men who experience economic stress were more likely to have perpetrated violence ever or in the past 12 months,” according to the study called “Masculinity, Intimate Partner Violence and Son Preference”.

“Educated men and women who were 35 years old or more were less likely to perpetrate or experience violence,” it also said.

India has faced intense scrutiny in recent years in the wake of a series of high-profile rapes that have unleashed a wave of public anger against its violent treatment of women.

The fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on a bus in Delhi in December 2012 sparked massive street protests and led to tougher laws for sexual offenders.

Despite the laws, horrific violence against women continues to hit the headlines on a daily basis, with experts stressing the need to better educate young men about the importance of sexual equality and respect.

The study is based on interviews with more than 9,000 men and 3,000 women aged 18 to 49 and conducted across seven Indian states.

“We need a holistic approach to tackling violence and deeply ingrained harmful norms,” ICRW regional director Ravi Verma said in a blog post on the centre’s website.

“It is imperative that we reach boys at the early stages of childhood to teach them healthy and non-violent forms of masculinity while their identities are being formed.”

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2014

50 villagers held over burning of Christian couple to death

04/11/2014

KASUR: Police arrested on Wednesday 50 villagers who were part of a mob which reportedly burnt alive a Christian couple in a brick kiln in Kot Radha Kishan for allegedly desecrating pages of the Holy Quran. The woman, mother of three, was pregnant.

Kasur District Police Officer Jawad Qamar confirmed the arrests and said a local religious leader had fanned the issue. But the DPO did not disclose his name.

Police and witnesses told Dawn that announcements had been made from mosques on Tuesday asking villagers to gather at the Yousaf brick kiln where 25-year-old Shama and her husband Shahzad Masih worked as bonded labourers.

Over 1,000 charged people from three villages took out the couple from a room (where they had taken shelter) after tearing apart its roof. The mob tortured the couple before putting them into the kiln’s furnace.

The mob held hostage five policemen who tried to rescue the couple. The villagers also manhandled some media personnel and snatched their cameras.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif took notice of the incident and the latter constituted a three-member committee comprising the secretary of minority affairs, chairman of CM’s inspection team and additional IG to investigate the matter.

On instructions of the chief minister, Kasur police enhanced security of the Christian community in the village and in Klarkabad, mostly inhabited by Christians about 3km from Chak 59, the place of the incident.

Police registered a case against 660 villagers, including 60 who have been nominated in the FIR. Police also blocked all routes leading to Chak 59 and Klarkabad.

There are about 12 houses of the Christian community in Chak 59 and all the residents had left the village when this correspondent reached there on Wednesday. The local Muslim population also left the villages because police were raiding their houses. 

The village wore a deserted look and its only market comprising some makeshift shops was closed. Police were deployed at various corners of the village.

According to the FIR lodged on the complaint of Sub-Inspector Mohammad Ali of Chowki Factory Area, police received information that villagers were torturing a Christian woman and her husband. A police team comprising five personnel reached the place but about 600 charged villagers had besieged a room where Shama and Shahzad Masih had taken shelter for fear of the mob. Some villagers tore apart the roof of the room and forcibly took the couple out.

They thrashed the couple before dragging them to the kiln where 18 accused, including the kiln owner Mohammad Yousaf Gujar and his accountants Shakeel and Afzal, allegedly removed a lid from one of the openings of the furnace and threw the couple into it.

“Both Shama and Shahzad were reduced to ashes in no time,” the FIR said.

It said that 60 accused nominated in the FIR, including the kiln owner and his staff, had incited the villagers to violence by managing announcements through loudspeakers of the mosques in Chak 59, Chak 60, Chak Rossa and Chak Bhail. The accused burnt the Christian couple alive, beat up police officials and fanned a mass hysteria.

The Kot Radha Kishan police station registered the case under sections 302, 436, 201, 148, 149, 353 and 186 of the PPC and 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act.

On Wednesday, police produced 43 of the arrested people before an anti-terrorism court which remanded four of them in police custody and sent 39 others to jail on judicial remand.

Bilqees, a local Muslim resident, told Dawn that Shama, known in the village as Saima, married Shahzad Masih about eight years ago. They had three children aged between two and seven.

She said Shama was pregnant at the time of the incident. Nazir Masih, father-in-law of Shama, was a faith healer and died a few weeks ago. After his death, Shama had burnt some of his belongings, including papers. 

Answering a question, she said Shama was illiterate.

Bilqees said a vendor who had visited the brick kiln found the pages of the Holy Quran and showed them to the villagers. Later on Tuesday morning, hundreds of villagers gathered at the kiln and burnt the couple alive without even listening to Shama.

“She was screaming that she was unaware of what the papers were about, but no-one listened to her,” Bilqees said.

Abdul Shakoor, a male member of the Bilqees family, said the mob’s behaviour could not be justified and the treatment meted out to the young.couple was inhuman and brutal.

General Secretary of the All Pakistan Brick Kiln Association, Mehar Abdul Haq, told Dawn that the kiln owner had been nominated in case, although he was not present at the time of the incident. He demanded a fair inquiry into the matter. 

Meanwhile, members of the Christian community held protest demonstrations in Kot Radha Kishan on Wednesday.

Published in Dawn, November 6th , 2014

Voiceless: The unending plight of female labourers

05/11/2014

Haroon Janjua

Parveen has spent nearly a decade stitching footballs in Roras village, Sialkot at only Rs. 75 per day.

The football industry, which does a yearly business of nearly 30 million, is being run by thousands of home based workers, primarily women.

The shockingly low wage scale is not limited to the football industry alone; women labourers have faced a setback in terms of both salary and employment opportunities in other industries as well.

Muneera Bibi has been working in Kahuta-Rawalpindi as a hawker, by selling utensils in villages or bartering them in exchange for raw materials such as rubber and metallic goods that can be recycled.

“I make Rs. 200 a day and at times nothing at all. When my items don't sell I often take off the basket from my head with only one thought; how will I feed my children?” 

Tahir Manzoor, Gender Focal Person and Deputy Director Labour, Department of Labour, Punjab, said that female 'Home-Based Workers' are not recognised in the labour laws, because of this no regulations and benefits apply to them.

“Their work is not organised and they don’t have any union to present their issue at the government level,” said Manzoor adding that, “Female vendors have no wage standard. The social welfare department needs to support them financially. They don’t get any assistance in case of sexual harassment either.”

Hurmat Bibi has spent her entire life as a labourer, but her experiences in the past were comparatively better than the working conditions now.

“In the past, it was much better; there was warmth, affection and sympathy in the society.” She expressed contentment and satisfaction during her time vending and said, "Now, to venture out for earning one’s livelihood is becoming difficult for our young vending women. They get abused, pestered and frequently manhandled and sadly this has become an attitude of the general public too.”

Apart from the attitude of the employees and society, women are often forced to work by their unemployed husbands. 

Zahida, 45, is a brick kiln labourer who works with a group of eight women and girls. Her husband, a drug addict, would often beat her. She asked him for a divorce and found employment in a brick kiln factory in Kasur and has been doing it for the last six years.

“My employer gives me Rs. 100 per day but he sometimes doesn't pay me at all. He provides food and shelter but there is no fixed pay,” said Zahida.

In major cities, there are colonies of slums and shanty towns that co-exist at the peripheries of affluent neighborhoods with their posh concrete houses presenting a stark image of class divide.

United Nations Development Programme estimates that nearly 35 per cent of the urban population in Pakistan exists in slums, and squatter settlements.

The living conditions in these squatter settlements speak appalling stories of deprivation, which do not conform to the most basic requirements for a healthy human existence.

According to United Nations Agency for Human Settlement (UN-HABITAT), the global slum population may grow to two billion by 2030 with increasing livelihood and labour issues, particularly for women.

The World Bank and UN-HABITAT have estimated that over 80 per cent of the new jobs in urban parts of the developing countries will likely be low-paying jobs in the informal and unorganized sectors given that no significant economic reforms are taken. If all factors remain same, a high growth in the informal sector will be accompanied by a rapid growth of slums.

In the absence of skills and little to no education, unemployment rates will continue to rise for slum dwellers, and particularly for the women. 

The close proximity to factories and industrial waste put slum dwellers in danger of developing respiratory diseases such as whooping and chronic cough. The treatment that is opted is usually self-medication with no consultation from doctors.

Nutritional deficiencies are also common which contribute to the high infant mortality rate.

Muneera Bibi, who is also a brick kin labourer spoke about her sick child, "My five-year-old son was malnourished since childhood, he now has polio. I can’t give him all of my time because of my work; I can neither earn money for his treatment or be on his side."

Africa Union troops 'raped' girls in Mogadishu, Somalia

08/09/14

African Union (AU) troops raped women and girls seeking medical aid or water from their bases in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, a rights group says.

The troops had "misused" their power over women fleeing violence and poverty, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
One Muslim girl, aged 15, reportedly had her headscarf ripped off before being raped.
The AU, which has some 22,000 troops fighting militant Islamists in Somalia, says it will investigate the claims.
In 2012, the UN recorded 1,700 rapes in camps for displaced people in Somalia.
Many were thought to have been carried out by members of the Somali security forces.
'Raped girl paid' Last year, there was a huge public outcry following claims that AU and government soldiers had gang-raped a woman in Mogadishu.
A joint investigation by the AU and government dismissed the allegation as unfounded, even though neither the woman nor independent witnesses had been interviewed.
Most of the women who were abused lived in camps for displaced people after fleeing violence and the 2011 famine, HRW said.
"The AU can no longer turn a blind eye to the abuses on Amisom [AU Mission in Somalia] bases, as it's undermining the very credibility of the mission," said Liesl Gerntholtz, HRW's women's rights director.
It interviewed 21 women and girls, some as young as 12, who described being raped or sexually exploited by Ugandan or Burundian soldiers in the AU force, HRW said.
Only one rape case, in which the victim was a child, is before Uganda's military court in Kampala, it added.
"Some Amisom soldiers have used humanitarian assistance, provided by the mission, to coerce vulnerable women and girls into sexual activity," HRW said.
"A number of the women and girls interviewed for this report said that they were initially approached for sex in return for money or raped while seeking medical assistance and water on the Amisom bases, particularly the Burundian contingent's base."
A Burundian soldier gave a 15-year-old girl $10 (£6) after raping her, HRW said.
"First he ripped off my hijab [headscarf] and then he attacked me," it quoted her as saying.
The girl had gone to an AU base of Burundian soldiers to collect medicine for her mother who was ill, HRW said.
Somalia has been hit by instability since the overthrow of long-serving ruler Siad Barre in 1991.
The AU force was deployed in 2007, with most of its troops coming from Uganda and Burundi.

One in 10 girls sexually abused, says UN report

05/08/2014

About 120 million girls around the world - slightly more than one in 10 - have been raped or sexually assaulted by the age of 20, a UN report says.

The children's agency Unicef also says 95,000 children and teenagers - most of them in Latin America and the Caribbean - were murdered in 2012 alone.

It notes that children around the globe are routinely exposed to violence, including bullying.

The document draws on data from 190 countries.

'Lifelong repercussions'

The violence "cuts across boundaries of age, geography, religion, ethnicity and income brackets,'' Unicef executive director Anthony Lake said.

Violence against children

• 120m girls - one in 10 - are raped or sexually attacked by age of 20
• Boys also report experiences of sexual violence, but to a lesser extent than girls
• The most common form of sexual violence for both genders is cyber-victimisation
• 95,000 children and teenagers were murdered in 2012
• Slightly over one in three students aged 13-15 experience regular bullying in school
• Six out of 10 children aged between two and 14 are physically punished by carers

 Source: Unicef report

"It occurs in places where children should be safe, their homes, schools and communities.

"Increasingly, it happens over the internet, and it's perpetrated by family members and teachers, neighbours and strangers and other children.''

The study revealed that about six out of 10 children aged between two and 14 were subjected to physical punishment from their carers on a regular basis.

One in three girls, aged between 15 and 19, who had at some time been in cohabiting relationships, had been victims of emotional, physical or sexual violence committed by their husbands or partners, the report said.

Partner violence appeared to be particularly prevalent in countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, the report said.

Of the countries surveyed, nearly half of all girls aged 15-19 believed that a husband was justified in hitting his wife under certain circumstances, the study added.

Grim audit

Meanwhile, homicide was reported as the leading cause of death in boys and men aged 10-19 in many Latin American countries, such as Venezuela, Panama, Brazil and Colombia.

Nigeria had the highest number of child homicides - 13,000, while the US had the highest homicide rate among countries in Western Europe and North America.

Research showed that violence was "detrimental to all aspects of a child's growth... with sometimes lifelong repercussions," the report said.

It noted that while there had been growing recognition in recent years about the impact of violence against children, it largely remained underreported and undocumented.

The report stressed that violence against children in some countries remained socially accepted or tacitly condoned, and quite often victims were too afraid to report the abuse.

Never before have so many statistics been gathered from so many different countries, and together they have produced a grim global audit of violence against children, the BBC's Nick Bryant at the UN says.

Toxic ship paints affect female snails at Gadani: study

04/08/2014

KARACHI: Female snails at the Gadani Ship-breaking Yard have been found to have developed male sex organs due to exposure to a highly toxic chemical used in ship paints, a recent study of Karachi University’s Centre of Excellence in Marine Biology has showed.

Scientists have warned that the chemical contamination might have been introduced in the food chain and affecting human population.

Titled ‘Study of imposex in coastal waters of Pakistan: TBT toxicity at Gadani Ship-breaking Yard’, the research has been carried out by Safia Hassan under the supervision of Prof Ghazala Siddiqui.

According the study, two bio-indicator species of gastropods (snails), Thais bufo and T. rudolphi, collected from the Gadani Ship-breaking Yard in Balochistan showed 100 per cent imposex (masculinisation of female snails in response to exposure to certain marine pollutants).

“Tributyltin (TBT) presence and elevated levels of testosterone were recorded in the species’ examination. This indicates that the ship-breaking yard is contributing to organotin (chemical compounds) contamination in marine environment and affects the aquatic organisms despite global ban on their usage in antifouling paints,” the study says.

(An antifouling paint is a specialised coating that is applied to the hull of a vessel to slow down the growth of marine organisms that attach to the hull and can affect performance and durability of the boat or ship)

Imposex in gastropods, according to the study, is induced mainly by TBT and also by its sister compound triphenyltin (TPhT), both considered the most toxic biocide ever introduced in the sea.

“TBT disturbs the normal homeostatic relationship between free and esterified testosterone and increases the free testosterone levels as the species is more exposed to the chemical. TBT exposed imposex snails have elevated levels of testosterone, which is an endocrine dysfunction and is responsible for imposex,” it says.

The compounds of TBT and TPhT, according to the study, can be degraded by solar radiation, bacterial biodegradation or biological decomposition to their metabolites, such as, dibutyltin (DBT), monobutyltin (MBT), diphenyltin (DPT), and monophenyltin (MPT).

“The chemicals released from the paint enter the water column and are finally accumulated in sediments present in and around harbours and along shipping lanes. These chemicals in the water column or sediments are taken up by marine organisms and finally enters the food chain,” it points out.

TBT-based paints, the study says, have been in use as antifouling agents for a long time as they are inexpensive and effective as compared to other antifouling agents. Their use became widespread in the 1970s with the development of self-polishing copolymer paints.

However, as researches highlighted their toxic effects, their application was banned in the late 1980s in many countries.

“Despite the ban, many countries have been experiencing decades of unrestricted use of TBT. To overcome this problem a global ban on the use of TBT from 2003 onwards was introduced which included the removal of all existing coatings of paints containing TBT by 2008.

“The decision was taken by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in 2001 and was implemented in many countries. However, there is no check on organotins released by recycling of old ships at ship-breaking yards,” it says.

On ship-breaking yards, the study highlights that the world’s largest ship-breaking yards are situated in China, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Turkey, which account for 95pc of the global ship-recycling industry over the last three decades.

The ship-breaking industries in these countries dispose of large quantities of hazardous materials, including organotin, into the marine environment without any pre-treatment.

In Pakistan, it says, Gadani Ship-breaking Yard has been in operation even before the country’s independence in 1947. “Although Gadani ranks as the world’s third largest ship-breaking yard, it ranks first due to its efficiency in terms of duration required to break a ship. There is a paucity of information on the environmental contamination due to ship recycling at Gadani and the studies are mostly focused on grease, oil, and bacterial contamination with very little attention on contamination due to chemical compounds and heavy metals,” it says.

Speaking to Dawn, Prof Ghazala Siddiqui said that the phenomenon of imposex had been earlier documented in nine species of gastropods by a team of KU marine experts in 1993 in the Manora Channel.

“There was a gradual decline in the incidence of imposex in the following years as countries started rejecting TBT use following the IMO ban. No case of imposex was recorded in the Manora Channel in 2008,” she said.

Explaining how the chemical contamination might be affecting marine biodiversity and the food chain, she said: “There is evidence that extreme cases of imposex have led to a decline in the snail’s population as females are unable to lay eggs. When one species starts disappearing or completely disappear from the ecosystem, the number of other species they feed on starts increasing, thus causing harm to biodiversity. Similarly, humans are also exposed to the imposex risk through the food chain and exposure to contaminated water. The scale and nature of the problem can be determined by examining the testosterone levels in women,” she said.

According to Prof Siddiqui, gastropods are eaten in many countries and the species was chosen for the specific research because it shows visible structural (imposex) changes when they are exposed to TBT even in low concentration.

“There is a need for more studies to understand ecological issues in play at ship-breaking yards and industries.

Second, the government should take notice of TBT contamination and implement ways to tackle it as it carries huge risks for the people employed at places where old ships are handled and dismantled,” she concluded.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2014

School set on fire in Kech district

03/08/2014

QUETTA/GWADAR: Some armed religious fanatics of a hitherto unknown Al Jihad organisation set a private English medium school on fire in Turbat area of the Kech district on Tuesday.

They also left pamphlets with the name of Al Jihad in the school and in the area, warning the people of Balnigore to desist from sending their children to English medium schools to study English or risk unspecified repercussions.

“People should not send their children to schools or English language centres for studying English,” warned the pamphlet. It asked people to send their children only to madressahs to get religious education.

Chief Minister Dr Malik Baloch ordered officials concerned to take steps to ensure security to all schools, language centres, students, their parents and teachers.

Official sources told Dawn that the incident took place in Balnigore area of the district on Monday night when these terrorists barged into the school premises, overpowered the watchman and set the building on fire.

The principal, Jamal Ahmed, told Dawn that 200 girls and boys study in the school

“I had been receiving threats from unknown people for the past eight months, but despite these threats we continued classes,” he said.

He said that all books in a library, furniture and computers were gutted, forcing the administration to close the school for the time being.

“A portion of the school, books, furniture and computers were gutted in the huge fire,” Abdullah Khoso, Assistant Commissioner of Turbat, told Dawn, adding that the school building was also damaged in the fire.

“It was the first incident of burning of any private English medium school in Kech district,” Mr Khoso said.

Several private English medium schools and language centres were attacked in Panjgur district In May this year, by unknown armed men and an organisation, known as Al Furqan Al Islami, had claimed responsibility for these attacks.

Owners and the administration of these private schools had been asked by the organisation to stop educating girls in their institutions. Parents were also warned against sending their daughters to private schools and English language centres.

Armed men had attacked four private schools and set fire to vehicles carrying girls to these institutions.

Around two dozen private English medium schools and language centres had remained closed for three months in Panjgur district and reopened only last month after the government assured private school managements of full security.

A school was attacked and set on fire in Panjgur a few days ago by unknown armed men. However, the school administration and the private school association refused to close their institutions.

Official sources in Turbat said that it was the first incident of burning of any private school in the Kech district.

“All possible efforts will be made to provide security to all private schools in Kech district. Around a dozen private schools are in the district,” an official said, adding that the private school association had announced that they would not close their schools and resist these elements’ conspiracy to keep the people ignorant and uneducated.

The principal of the school, Jamal Ahmed, told Dawn that 200 girls and boys were studying in the school

“I had been receiving threats from unknown people for the past eight months but despite these threats we continued classes,” he said.

He said that all books in a library, furniture and computers were gutted, forcing the administration to close the school for the time being.

Published in Dawn, September 3rd, 2014

Landlord chops off minor’s arms

25/07/2014

GUJRAT(Pakistan)
A 10-year-old boy from Chak Bhola village was left grievously injured on Thursday when his arms were chopped off, reported a private TV channel.
The son of an influential landowner allegedly pushed the minor onto a machine in the village on the outskirts of Gujrat over a minor altercation, which left his limbs severed from his body.
The boy was shifted to District Headquarters Hospital Gujrat for treatment.
On the other hand, the police claimed to have arrested the 24-year-old suspect and started investigation into the incident.

Pakistan ranked at the bottom in South Asia in UN Human Development Report 2014

25/07/2014

Tokyo- Pakistan retained its last year's position at number 146 in the category of 'low development countries' in the UN Human Development Report (HDR)  2014 'Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Enhancing Resilience' released at the UN University Headquarters today. The country's human development index (HDI), a measure derived from life expectancy, education levels and incomes, did not grow when compared with 2013. Pakistan, an atomic power and population of around 180 million, is thus ranked at bottom in the South Asian region as even small countries like
Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal are ahead of it in human development. India is ranked at 135, among the 'medium development' countries like Egypt, South Africa, Mongolia, Philippines and Indonesia. Among other South Asian countries Bhutan and Bangladesh too figure in this category. Pakistan (ranked 146) and Nepal (145) are in the 'low development' category, while Sri Lanka (73) is in the 'high development' category. The HDR covers 187 countries across the world and is published annually by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). In the current report, the
top five countries ranked in terms of the HDI are Norway, Australia, Switzerland, Netherlands and the US. The bottom five in this ranking are Niger, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Chad and Sierra Leone. The HDR notes that over 200 million people are affected by natural disasters
and 45 million, the largest number in 18 years, were displaced by conflicts at the end of 2012. These factors also contributed to denting the improvement in human development.

Woman ‘poisoned to death’ by in-laws

25/07/2014

LAHORE

A married woman was allegedly poisoned to death by her in-laws in Wahdat Colony area on Thursday.

The deceased was identified as Shazia, wife of Nasir Masih, of Clifton Colony. Shazia hailed from Youhanabad and contracted love marriage with Nasir Masih a few years back. Nasir told the police that Shazia had died of some medical complications while Shazia’s parents claimed that she was poisoned to death. Police shifted the body to morgue for autopsy. No case was registered till filing of this report.

WOMAN DROWNS: A 50-year-old woman drowned in Ravi River. Police said the woman yet to be identified was washing clothes on the bank of the river when she fell into it and drowned. Police shifted the body to morgue.

SHOT DEAD: A man was shot dead in Baghbanpura area. Police said two brothers Khalid Bhatti and Sheraz Bhatti of Darogawala had an old property dispute. On the day of incident, both Khalid and Sheraz came to the place of Hussain Gujar who had arranged their meeting for reconciliation. Meanwhile, Khalid Bhatti got infuriated and opened fire. As a result, Hussain Gujar died while his son and three nephews received injuries. Police have registered a case and sent the body to morgue.

18 OUTLAWS ARRESTED: Sadar Division Investigation police arrested 18 criminals involved in robberies, car thefts and other crimes. Police claimed to have recovered cattle, vehicles and other valuables worth Rs 700,000 from their possession. Sattukatla Investigation police arrested Babar and Ghulam Mustafa and recovered five cars. A special team of Sadar Division Investigation police arrested 16 robbers and recovered 13 bikes, a tractor, a rickshaw, cattle and illicit weapons.

Balochistan: Girl killed in name of ‘honour’

DERA MURAD JAMALI: A girl was shot dead allegedly by her father in the name of ‘honour’ in Akhundani village in Jhal Magsi district on Thursday.
According to Levies sources, Mohammad Omar opened fire at his daughter and fled. The girl suffered serious bullet wounds and died.
No details were immediately available about the matter that led to the girl’s death. The Levies Force have registered a case against Mohammad Omar.

Taliban survivor Malala, in Nigeria, pledges to help free girls

14/07/2014

ABUJA (Reuters) - Pakistani rights activist Malala Yousafzai, who survived being shot in the head by the Taliban for campaigning for girls' education, pledged while on a trip to Nigeria to help free a group of schoolgirls abducted by Islamist militants.On Sunday, Malala met parents of the more than 200 girls who were kidnapped by the militant group Boko Haram from a school in the northeastern village of Chibok in April.

Boko Haram, inspired by the Taliban, say they are fighting to establish an Islamic state in religiously mixed Nigeria. The group, whose name means "Western education is sinful", has killed thousands and abducted hundreds since launching an uprising in 2009.

Some of the parents broke down in tears as Malala spoke at a hotel in the capital Abuja on Sunday.

"I can see those girls as my sisters ... and I'm going to speak up for them until they are released," said Malala, who was due to meet President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday, her 17th birthday.

"I'm going to participate actively in the 'Bring back our girls' campaign, to make sure that they return safely and they continue their education."The girls' abduction drew unprecedented international attention to the war in Nigeria's northeast and the growing security risk that Boko Haram poses to Nigeria, Africa's leading energy producer.

A #BringBackOurGirls Twitter campaign supported by Michelle Obama and Angelina Jolie heaped pressure on authorities to act, and Jonathan pledged to save the girls, drawing promises of Western help to do so.

"I can feel ... the circumstances under which you are suffering," Malala said. "It's quite difficult for a parent to know that their daughter is in great danger. My birthday wish this year is ... bring back our girls now, and alive."

ABUJA PROTEST

Several weeks on, the hostages have not been freed and media interest has waned. Around 200 Nigerians gathered in the Unity Fountain park in central Abuja on Sunday to call on authorities to explain what they are doing to get the girls out.

"Nobody has told us anything about where the girls could be, what they are doing to try to rescue them. In three months, we've heard nothing," said Haruna Fetima, one of the parents at the gathering. "We live in Chibok, and we haven't seen any soldiers or police in the area since the attack."

Boko Haram, now considered the main security threat to Nigeria, is growing bolder. Police said on Saturday they had uncovered a plot to bomb the Abuja transport network using suicide bombers and devices concealed in luggage at major bus stations.

Pakistani Taliban militants shot Malala for her passionate advocacy of women's right to education. She survived after being airlifted to Britain for treatment, and has since become a symbol of defiance against the militants operating in the tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

She has won the European Union's prestigious human rights award and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize last year.

Some see Nigeria's local #BringBackOurGirls campaign as a rare, albeit small, piece of civil activism in a nation famous for its shoulder-shrugging indifference in the face of atrocities or bad governance.

"The negative side of our resilience ... is that things that would compel other citizens to demand accountability, demand answers, wouldn't move the Nigerian," said Oby Ezekwesili, a chartered accountant who has spearheaded the campaign to get the girls freed.

"That has been broken ... People are saying 'We can't leave 219 girls and just get on with our lives'."

Ten-year-old 'raped for revenge on orders of village chief in India'

Yahoo7 and Agencies July 11, 2014, 1:23 pm 

A ten-year-old girl has been raped at the orders of a village chief in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, after her husband beat up a man who tried to molest the child’s mother, it has been reported.

 

It is the latest shocking sex crime to hit India and further highlights the country’s severe problem of violence against women, says The Times of India.

Police have said that the rape followed a confrontation where an intoxicated 25-year-old man entered the victim’s house and tried to molest the child’s mother before her husband apprehended the attacker and threw him out of the house.

The following morning, the attacker complained of being assaulted to the chief of the Bokaro district village, police say. An assembly of elders was then convene to determine the husband’s punishment for his violence. The families of the victims and attackers alike were then summoned to a meeting where the village chief allegedly ruled that the attacker rape the ten-year-old girl to avenge his beating.

The man is then alleged to have dragged the girl into bushes and raped the girl to the chorus of her mother’s cries. An hour later the mother retrieved her daughter from the bushes where she lay blood-soaked.

Despite the horrific nature of this incident it is merely one in an estimated 25,000 yearly rape cases which are reported in India.