From CNN

Girl held in Pakistan, accused of burning Quran pages

By Katie Hunt and Nasir Habib, CNN

updated 5:39 PM EDT, Mon August 20, 2012

CNN) -- An 11-year-old Christian girl has been arrested after being accused of blasphemy by burning pages of the Quran in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad.

According to a statement released by the president's office Sunday, the girl, identified as Ramsha, was accused by a local resident of burning pages of the Muslim holy text after she gathered paper as fuel for cooking.

Local media reports said the girl has Down syndrome. CNN was unable to confirm these reports, and a local police official said they are not true. Qasim Niazi, the police officer in charge of the station near where the incident took place, said the girl does not have a mental disorder but is illiterate and has not attended school.

The accused girl had told him she had no idea there were pages of the Quran inside the documents she burned, he added. Niazi said that 150 people had gathered on Friday where the neighborhood's Christian population lives and threatened to burn down their houses.

"The mob wanted to burn the girl to give her a lesson," he told CNN. Other Christian families living in the area have fled fearing a backlash, he added.

The statement from President Asif Ali Zardari said he has called for an urgent report on the incident and added that vulnerable sections of society must be protected "from any misuse of the blasphemy law."

"Blasphemy by anyone cannot be condoned but no one will be allowed to misuse blasphemy law for settling personal scores," said the president's spokesman, Farhatullah Babar.

Critics of the controversial law say it is being used to persecute religious minorities.

Politician and former international cricketer Imran Khan tweeted: "Shameful! Sending an 11yr old girl to prison is against the very spirit of Islam which is all about being Just and Compassionate.

"Poor child is already suffering from Down Syndrome. State should care for its children not torment them. We demand her immed release," said Khan, who now leads the political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.

The legislation makes it a crime punishable by death to insult Islam, the Quran or the Prophet Mohammed.

Pakistan is home to about 2 million Christians, who make up more than 1% of Islamic nation's population, according to government statistics. [Soon, there will be none.]

Proud of Triple Honor Killing

A sick religion, an even sicker culture that condones this behavior.

From CNN

'Honor' murderer boasts of triple killing

By Reza Sayah, CNN

updated 4:35 PM EDT, Mon August 20, 2012

Kot Chutta, Pakistan (CNN) -- From behind the steel bars of his jail cell, Muhammad Ismail described with uncanny ease how he shot and killed his wife, his mother-in-law, and sister-in-law.

"The first shot hit the side of her body," Ismail said. "I left her there and went next door and killed my wife's mother and sister. I made sure they were all dead. Then I locked the door and left the house."

Without any apparent regret, Ismail said he would do it again. "I am proud of what I did. That's why I turned myself over to the police."

Ismail's confession to the triple-murder that took place last February in a village in central Pakistan is a rare and chilling first-hand account of a so-called 'honor' killing -- the murder of women who are usually accused of dishonoring their families by being unfaithful or disobedient.

Ismail accused his wife of eight months of repeatedly flirting with other men and spending long hours away from home.

"My wife never made me happy," said the 20-year-old who played drums in a traditional Pakistani wedding band before his arrest. "She was like a prostitute. She never took care of me."

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported 943 women were "killed in the name of honor" in Pakistan last year, an increase of more than 100 from 2010.

Rights groups blame the increase in 'honor' murders partly on what they call an ineffective justice system in Pakistan that too often allows killers to go unpunished.

Despite his videotaped confession to CNN and an earlier confession to police, prosecutors say Ismail can soon be a free man if his victims' family agrees to accept compensation for the killings. Receiving blood money is an option for victims in many conservative Muslim societies under the Islamic principal that mercy is more noble than revenge. But women's rights activists complain that in patriarchal societies like Pakistan, 'honor' killers regularly bully and threaten the female victim's family into accepting blood money.

"When it comes to the crime we have a natural reaction of shock and horror, but when we see the justice system not work, our heart breaks," said legal advisor and rights activist Bushra Syed.

According to human rights lawyer Zia Ahmed Awan, victims' families in Pakistan are also at a disadvantage because 'honor' killings often take place in male-dominated communities where women are often viewed as property with few rights to defend themselves and little access to legal aid.

"In parts of the country there is hardly any legal help for women," Awan said. "This crime is growing because the courts and laws are not responding to the cries for help."

Awan said police, lawmakers and judges in these communities are too often either corrupt or lack the proper resources and power to investigate and prosecute crimes. Instead they regularly defer to a traditional system of justice where powerful tribal leaders and male heads of families rule on disputes, he said. [In other words, Sharia justice is NO JUSTICE.  And they have the gall to point their fingers at the West and call us corrupt?  Remove the beam from your own eye, Islam, before accusing us of having a mote in ours.]

In 1999 Awan set up Pakistan's first hotline for female victims of abuse and families who lost loved ones to 'honor' murders. He called it the Madadgar Help Center. Today Awan has help centers in four cities, providing thousands of victims and families shelter, legal advice, and medical care, often free of charge.

Hamida Bibi called Awan's help center in Karachi after her newlywed daughter's husband allegedly killed her for having an affair.

"Somebody told us to come here because they could help us," Bibi said. "They said they would listen."

Awan said the fight against "murders for honor" is slowly paying off; that police are making more arrests, the courts are prosecuting more cases, and the media is paying attention.

But rights groups agree the steady increase in such deaths and the possibility that confessed killers like Muhammad Ismail are often set free are stark signs that the fight is far from over.

Acid Attack Victims May Become Targets Again

Pakistan acid women fear backlash over Oscar film

By Jennie Matthew | AFP – Wed, May 23, 2012

 

Survivors of acid attacks whose plight became the focus of an Oscar-winning documentary now fear ostracism and reprisals if the film is broadcast in Pakistan.

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy made history earlier this year when she won Pakistan's first Oscar, feted across the country for exposing the horrors endured by women whose faces are obliterated in devastating acid attacks.

Her 40-minute film focuses on Zakia and Rukhsana as they fight to rebuild their lives after being attacked by their husbands, and British Pakistani plastic surgeon Mohammad Jawad who tries to help repair their shattered looks.

When "Saving Face" scooped a coveted gold statuette in the documentary category in Hollywood in February, campaigners were initially jubilant.

The Acid Survivors Foundation Pakistan (ASF) had cooperated on the film but some survivors now fear a backlash in a deeply conservative society -- and are taking legal action against the producers.

"We had no idea it would be a hit and win an Oscar. It's completely wrong. We never allowed them to show this film in Pakistan," said Naila Farhat, 22, who features fleetingly in the documentary.

She was 13 when the man she refused to marry threw acid in her face as she walked home from Independence Day celebrations. She lost an eye and her attacker was jailed for 12 years.  After a long, painful recovery, she is training as a nurse.

"This is disrespect to my family, to my relatives and they'll make an issue of it. You know what it's like in Pakistan. They gossip all the time if they see a woman in a film," said Farhat, taut skin where her left eye dissolved.

"We may be in more danger and we're scared that, God forbid, we could face the same type of incident again. We do not want to show our faces to the world."

Lawyer Naveed Muzaffar Khan, whom ASF hired to represent the victims, said legal notices were sent to Obaid-Chinoy and fellow producer Daniel Junge on Friday. The survivors, he said, "have not consented for it to be publicly released in Pakistan", adding that such agreement was required for all the women who featured in the film, no matter how fleetingly. Khan said the producers had seven days to agree not to release the film publicly in the country, or he would go to court to seek a formal injunction.

"They (survivors) were absolutely clear in their mind in not allowing any public screening as that would jeopardise their life in Pakistan and make it difficult for them to continue to live in their villages," he told AFP.

But Obaid-Chinoy insisted the women signed legal documents allowing the film to be shown anywhere in the world, including Pakistan. She told AFP that Rukhsana had been edited out of the version to be shown in the country out of respect for her concerns, adding she was "unclear about the allegations" and would respond to the legal complaints "when a court orders us".

Rukhsana was not reachable for comment.

Many of the women are routinely threatened by their husbands or relatives and it is a television broadcast that they particularly fear.

"The accessibility is so wide scale, the chances are their lives are going to be threatened," said the lawyer, Khan.

The producers promised that profits from screenings in Pakistan would go to Zakia and Rukhsana, but the row also hints at deeper differences between film-makers trying to tell a story and charity workers on the ground. Some medical personnel, for example, believe it was wrong to focus on an expatriate doctor at the expense of countless local surgeons who have treated dozens of victims. Others believe the film was too sensational and question whether it really will make a difference to the survivors struggling to live in Pakistan, where there are scores of such attacks each year.

Pakistani Fashionistas Thumb Their Noses at Taliban

Article from Associated Press (AP): Pakistan's fashionistas defy Taliban By CHRIS BRUMMITT, Associated Press Writer Chris Brummitt, Associated Press Writer – Sat Nov 7, 7:36 am ET KARACHI, Pakistan – Some women strode the catwalk in vicious spiked bracelets and body armor. Others had their heads covered, burqa-style, but with shoulders — and tattoos — exposed. Male models wore long, Islamic robes as well as shorts and sequined T-shirts. As surging militant violence grabs headlines around the world, Pakistan's top designers and models are taking part in the country's first-ever fashion week. While the mix of couture and high-street fashions would not have been out of place in Milan or New York, many designers reflected the turmoil, contradictions and tensions coursing through the society. The four-day event, which was postponed twice due to security fears and amid unease at hosting such a gathering amid an army offensive in the northwest, is aimed at showing the world there is more to Pakistan than violence and helping boost an industry that employs hundreds of thousands of people, organizers said. Many of the models, designers and well-heeled fashionistas packing out each night said the gathering was a symbolic blow to the Taliban and their vision of society, where women are largely confined to the house and must wear a sack-like covering known as a burqa. "This is our gesture of defiance to the Taliban," said Ayesha Tammy Haq, the CEO of Fashion Pakistan Week. "There is a terrible problem of militancy and political upheaval ... but that doesn't mean that the country shuts down. That doesn't mean that business comes to a halt." Rest of article.

Pakistani Rape Victim: Update on Assiya Fighting Back

Prior post. I meant to post this last night but ran out of steam and opted for sleep instead. July 28, 2009, 1:15 pm — Updated: 1:15 pm --> An Update on Assiya By Nicholas Kristof After my Sunday column on Assiya Rafiq, the teenage girl who is trying to prosecute the police in Pakistan who raped her, an update. First, many, many of you donated money through Mercy Corps to the Mukhtar Mai fund (a total of $75,000 so far), and some of that was stipulated for Assiya. (The way to make the stipulation is in the comment screen toward the end of the checkout procedure.) Rest of update.

Honor Killings Rage Unchecked in Pakistan

Here is jus a sampling from the Daily Times, which reports news from Pakistan. In almost all incidents, the victims are female: Monday, July 06, 2009 ‘Honour’ killings remain unchecked By Rana Tanveer LAHORE: ‘Honour’ killing seems to go unchecked in the city as it claimed three lives in two incidents during the last week. On July 2, a newly married couple was killed in the name of ‘honour’ in Barki police precincts. Ramazan shot dead Khalid and his wife Shamim, who had eloped and married without the consent of their families. Ramazan was Shamim’s cousin and both had been engaged. The other incident took place on July 5, when a boy, Irfan, killed his uncle Shahadat Ali for marrying his mother after the death of his father in Kahna police precincts. Reportedly, Irfan considered the marriage a matter of ‘honour’. In 10 weeks, nine people were killed in the name of ‘honour’ in the city. Among these incidents, on June 18, in Sabzazar police precincts, Iqbal killed his sister Adeeba (22) for having an alleged affair with a boy. The accused tried to hide the incident by shifting the body to some other city, but the police recovered the body after chasing the accused. On June 2, Nawaz of Ferozewala killed his sister Shehnaz Bibi, who was a mother of two, for having an affair with a man. On May 26, Ahsan Elahi gunned down his wife Shazia in Liaquatabad police precincts. On April 20, Zulfiqar Khokhar of Green Town killed his sister Shahnaz (35) and niece Farah (18) for honour. In Kahna, on April 16, a woman was killed by her in-laws in the name of ‘honour’.

Taliban Whips 17-Year Old Girl for Refusing to Marry a Dirty Old Man

Article from the Hindu.com: India's Muslims denounce Taliban whipping of girl as un-Islamic April 4, 2009 New Delhi (IANS): After video clips of a 17-year-old girl being flogged in public by Taliban fighters in Pakistan's Swat valley were shown on TV, India's Islamic scholars denounced it as "un-Islamic" and "satanic" and condemned it as "gross violation" of Quranic codes. Renowned Islamic scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan spoke out strongly against the incident and added that if anything, the act was absolutely "un-Islamic - even satanic". "This kind of treatment is neither Islamic nor human. In fact, not only is it un-Islamic and inhuman, but also satanic," Khan, who has authored over 200 books on Islam, told IANS. "The first thing that should be done is to educate people, develop ethical values, sensitivity towards women and treat them equally. Society can be reformed through education - punishment (of the perpetrators) can never be the starting point for any kind of reform or change," he added. Similarly, Mushirul Hasan, vice chancellor of the Jamia Millia Islamia university, condemned the incident saying that it was a wrong portrayal of Islam, which preaches exactly opposite of what the Taliban were seen doing to the hapless young girl. "I am horrified. This (incident) is a gross violation of Islamic and Quranic injunctions which teaches humanity, love, peace and magnanimity," Hasan told IANS. The dangers of imposing Sharia laws in Pakistan's restive Swat Valley were brought into sharp focus Friday with the airing of a two-minute video showing a 17-year-old screaming, burqa-clad girl being whipped by Taliban fighters for coming "out of her house with another man who was not her husband". [That's the charge, but it's a lie. See the link to the Los Angeles Times article below for the real scoop - she refused to marry a much older icky man, and so charges were trumped up against her and she was whipped as a punishment for her faked-up "crimes against Islam."] The grainy video, shot on a mobile phone, showed the girl face down on the ground. Two men held her arms and feet while a third, a black-turbaned man with a flowing beard, whipped her repeatedly. Salima Khan, a student doing her PhD in Delhi University, said that she literally boiled in anger after seeing the video clip on YouTube, the popular video sharing website and then again on TV. "I can't believe how anybody can humiliate and beat up an innocent young girl in the name of religion. And what was her fault - that she was seen with a man who was not her husband! Who in their right state of mind would ever dare to do such a dastardly act? "Such acts just show how Islam has been grossly misinterpreted by a handful of people who are using it as a tool to serve their own cause," Salima said angrily. On YouTube, the video received thousands of hits overnight and a barrage of comments. One of the comments read: "These people (Taliban) should be given a taste of their own medicine. They should be whipped in public for maligning the name of Islam and inflicting torture on poor, helpless women". Another comment from an Indian woman read: "Thank God I was born in India and not there (Swat valley). There they treat women like animals - no, even worse. To live a life like that seems like sheer hell." However, the authorities of Darul Uloom, one of the most renowned seminaries in the Deoband town of western Uttar Pradesh, chose to keep mum. Maulana Abdul Khaleeq Madrasi, pro vice chancellor of the seminary, told IANS: "We cannot give any statement on the matter from the institution as we don't know the details at the moment". India has an estimated 140 million Muslims, the third largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia and Pakistan.

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For the REAL REASON for this supposed "punishment", see the Los Angeles Times April 4, 2009 article (includes link to video) by Mubashir Zaidi and Laura King, with contribution from Special Correspondent Zulfiqar Ali in the city of Peshawar: "This is intolerable," prominent human rights activist Asma Jahangir told journalists in the eastern city of Lahore. Jahangir said the girl was believed to have been punished after refusing to marry a Taliban commander in the Swat Valley, where the government in February struck a truce with Islamic militants to stem violence. The militants then accused her of immoral behavior and ordered 34 lashes, Pakistani news reports said. The video, shot with a cellphone, initially shows the girl, clad in an all-enveloping black burka, being held by men while another begins striking her. She can be heard shouting for help in the Pashto language, spoken by most people in Swat. She is then dragged to another location, held down and flogged. Several dozen people can be seen watching. "For God's sake, please stop, stop it," the girl pleads as the whip falls. "I am dying." Off-camera, another militant gives orders: "Hold her feet tightly. Lift her burka a bit."

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You can bet your bippy that there were no women in that circle of spectators savoring every single delicious lash and the girl's screams, heh. Now the Taliban is saying the video was FAKE, created by its enemies to discredit it. Yeah right. The assholes who blew up the Swat Valley Buddha would not hesitate for a second to whip a defenseless teenage girl for refusing to marry a man she doesn't want. How many of them held her down? How many men were tightly packed in that circle around the girl and her tormentors, no doubt salivating over every single lash and scream of the helpless victim? PERVERTS! A pox on them all. I hope they all die a horrible death, but not before their penises falling off from a dread disease, and that they all rot in Hell for ever.

Chess Politics in Pakistan

When it comes to disfunctional chess federations, the USCF has plenty of company. Here's an interesting article about the Pakistan Chess Federation and the Sindh Chess Federation (a member federation of CFP). I'm happy to read that Pakistan selected teams for the Olympiad - I hope they raise enough money to actually get there! Sindh chess body media briefing turns sour Friday, November 07, 2008 By Syed Khalid Mahmood KARACHI: The media briefing of the Sindh Chess Association (SCA) meant to introduce the members of the national men and women squad for the 38th Chess Olympiad, to be held later this month in Dresden, Germany, turned sour on more than one count. The fiery speech of one of the officials, Mohammad Wasif, in which he openly ridiculed the policies of the Chess Federation of Pakistan (CFP) caught the media by surprise because the SCA was itself one of the affiliated units of the federation. The men squad comprises National Masters Wahid Hussain (Hyderabad), Aamir Karim (Lahore), Mohammad Waqar (Karachi), Khalil-ur-Rahman Butt (Lahore) and Hasib Ahmed (Karachi). All the five members of the women team, Zenobia, Nida Shiraz, Sharjeela Kiran, Arsalana Tanvir and Sabica Shiraz, belong to Karachi. The SCA office-bearers could not give a convincing answer when questioned if the provincial body was sending the national men and women squad for the 38th Chess Olympiad on behalf of the federation. It was revealed that the SCA, after having failed to get any kind of assistance from the CFP, had approached various government and private organisations for financial support by means of sponsorship.“We have been assured financial support from the Government of Sindh, the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) as well as a few commercial establishments. Their support will enable us to cover a part of the costs to be incurred in sending the men and women squads for the Olympiad,” Mohammad Aslam, Secretary SCA, stated. He did not disclose the amount they were expected to raise for this event through sponsorship. Neither did he deem it proper to reveal the total amount needed to send the squads to Germany. When asked specifically, he said around Rupees one lac would be needed for each participant. Aslam, who is also the Vice President of the CFP, clarified that the SCA had differences with the federation only in the matter pertaining to the women squad while all was well as far as the selection of the men team was concerned. He added that the reigning national champion Mahmood Ahmed Lodhi, an International Master, had declared himself unavailable for the Olympiad due to personal reasons.

Horror Stalks Women in Baluchistan

Legislators indifferent to sorry end of women buried alive Wednesday, August 27, 2008 By Rauf Klasra ISLAMABAD: As the government remained indifferent towards the sorry end of the five women who were buried alive in a desert of Balochistan last month, it has been revealed that the influential man who had killed the women is a "serial killer" and loves to kill women. The alleged serial killer had reportedly killed three persons, including one girl, before killing the five women. But he has never been captured or punished for his acts against humanity. Even parliamentarians who had raised hue and cry over the issue of Dr Aafia Siddiqui and passed a joint resolution in this regard remained silent on the sorry fate of the five women. The women were killed in a remote village Baba Kot, some 80 kilometres from Usta Mohammad, Jafferabad. It is believed that a PPP minister used his influence and position to hush up the matter. Information Minister Sherry Rehman only issued a one-line statement that the killers would be arrested, which never happened. The five women include Fatima, Jannat Bibi, Fauzia and two others girls, aged between 16 to 18 years. They were living at the house of one Chandio at Baba Kot village and were set to leave for a civil court at Usta Mohammad, so that three of them could marry the men of their choice. But news of their plan leaked out and Abdul Sattar Umrani, the brother of the PPP minister, came with more than six persons and abducted them at gun point. They were taken in a Land Cruiser jeep, bearing a registration number plate of the Balochistan government, to Nau Abadi, in the vicinity of Baba Kot. Abdul Sattar Umrani and his companions took the three girls out of the jeep and thrashed them before allegedly spraying them with bullets. The girls were seriously injured but still alive when they were buried. The two older women — one was an aunt of Fauzia while the other was the mother of one of the girls — were later buried along with the three girls when they resisted. After completing the burial, they fired several shots in the air. When The News contacted Sadiq Umrani, a provincial minister, he confirmed the incident, saying only three women were killed by unknown persons. He denied his or brother's involvement. He went on to say that the police would not disclose any information on the case as it would implicate them. There are reports that the alleged perpetrator, Abdul Sattar Umrani, was also involved in murder of three other persons, including one young woman, in January 2006. A school teacher, Mohammad Aslam, was going with his would-be wife in a taxi to a civil court to marry. They were intercepted at Manjo Shori, Tumboo, Naseerabad. The accused reportedly killed the two along with the taxi driver, Jabal Aidee. The police did not institute a murder case until the intervention of Iftikhar Chaudhry, the deposed chief justice, and also that of the deputy speaker of the Senate. But only one person was arrested and the accused Abdul Sattar Umrani remained at large. *************************** From The International Herald TribunePakistani lawmaker defends honor killings Associated Press August 30, 2008 ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: A Pakistani lawmaker defended a decision by southwestern tribesmen to bury five women alive because they wanted to choose their own husbands, telling stunned members of Parliament this week to spare him their outrage. "These are centuries-old traditions and I will continue to defend them," Israr Ullah Zehri, who represents Baluchistan province, said Saturday. "Only those who indulge in immoral acts should be afraid."

The women, three of whom were teenagers, were first shot and then thrown into a ditch. They were still breathing as their bodies were covered with rocks and mud, according media reports and human rights activists, who said their only "crime" was that they wished to marry men of their own choosing. Zehri told a packed and flabbergasted Parliament on Friday that Baluch tribal traditions helped stop obscenity and then asked fellow lawmakers not to make a big fuss about it. Many stood up in protest, saying the executions were "barbaric" and demanding that discussions continue Monday. But a handful said it was an internal matter of the deeply conservative province. "I was shocked," said lawmaker Nilofar Bakhtiar, who pushed for legislation calling for perpetrators of so-called honor killings to be punished when she served as minister of women's affairs under the last government. "I feel that we've gone back to the starting point again," she said. "It's really sad for me." The incident allegedly occurred one month ago in Baba Kot, a remote village in Jafferabad district, after the women decided to defy tribal elders and arrange marriages in a civil court, according to the Asian Human Rights Commission. They were said to have been abducted at gunpoint by six men, forced into a vehicle and taken to a remote field, where they were beaten, shot and then buried alive, it said, accusing local authorities of trying to hush up the killings. One of perpetrators was allegedly related to a top provincial official, it said. Accounts about the killings have varied, largely because police in the tribal region have been uncooperative. Activists and lawmakers said a more thorough investigation needed to be carried out. The Asian Human Rights Commission, however, said the two older women may have been related to some of the teenage girls and were apparently murdered because they were sympathetic to their wishes. ___ Associated Press reporter Munir Ahmad contributed to this report.