Of Blurps and Blurts: Wikileaks,David Camaroon & Karzai.

Act real Mr. Camaroon.

There is a young student in Pakistan who has written a long, long blog on Wikileaks, the new "Magic- Black at that" webomania ala Pakistani-Afghan-US-Islamists hash-a-mash! Her long rants which I could not verify or understand no matter how hard I tried showed what this world is becoming , a world full of junk, far removed from reality, where each actor is on a different page. The Pentagon has started studying the 90,000 leaked documents now. It shows the names of the Afghan informers. What a shock for Mr. Karzai? Or is it? Was all this leaking business deliberate? You know pre-elimination game? Is this the reason why Mr. Karzai who seemed to be shaking hands with Pakistanis only a few days back, signing Afghan Transit Trade Agreement which all of the Pakistanis are not too happy about, suddenly asks the NATO forces as to why have'nt they attacked the Islamists inside Pakistan? Why is he thinking out or rather raving out loud?
And across the border Mr. David Camaroon, who till a few days back was speaking good of the Pakistanis, insists on his "business" visit to India (see Mr.Campbell's insightful, baring article in India times today) that Pakistanis must take action on groups like Quetta Shura, Afghan taliban???, Pakistani taliban, and of course to please the Indians Loit. How in the world Afghan taliban , if I were to ask? We are not fighting in Afghanistan and who is funding and supplying latest arms and ammunition to the forces that are destabilising Baluchistan? And what about the daily, ghastly human rights abuses in Kashmir? I hate terrorism. I bieng a female openly challenge the extremists with my writing and tv appearances, yet why am I asking Mr. Camaroon as to why is he also taking a one sided public appearance in India? I thought that Mr. Blair had done enough of dirty "lying" drama regarding the Iraq invasion (remember the "good conscience scientist committing suicide?) . I really thought Mr. Camaroon was more stable, smarter, and even "real" than well....
But  to put all his delegation in their places we have Mr. Campbell's article. I do not need to write any more.
India is smug with its recent happy signing and business with US. Now it is expanding its interests' safeguards with Myanmar( Burma). No questions about Burma's support from North Korea in building its nuclear capability, its shameful abuses of human rights, its almost genocidal extermination of political opponents and masses. So Indian military might is easily looked away from. No questions about its growing, almost nauseating regional influence, Afghanistan, Pakistani Baluchistan and all. Poverty increases in India. Pakistan has been paying the price of its Afghan war involvement thanks to the US and India's growing military might. India still keeps on expanding its strategic and foolishly military interests, perpetuating the cycle of poverty in its own regions (what do you think the Maoist insurgents are gaining popularity on?) and depriving the Pakistani people of their economic progress as the larger chunk is spent on defence budget. And Mr. Camaroon thinks that just by his foolish statements India will be impressed. He hasn't heard of the Indian "Banya" I think.

Honour Killings In Sindh.

Why am I being killed for being gang raped? Whither justice? Whither Islam?

The sad story of a 50 year old married woman from Larkana , Sindh stares at us from the newspaper, making faces at us, grimacing, sending shivers down our spines. Ms. Husna Bhutto , a married woman, was shot dead in cold blood by her son-in-law, Ishaque Bhutto, as he could not tolerate the fact that she was gang raped. This kind of beastly revenge from a woman who had even brought up the  murderer as a son shows the kind of mentality that is prevalent in Sindh even in this day and age when president Asif Zardari is talking of putting in “chips” to monitor movement of cattle and buffalos in the Benazir Waseela-e-haq programme for poor people. When he can promise to bring in “free” internet and laptops in villages and towns of Sindh , why can not he see that the poor victims of gang rapes are being forced to change evidence, or being killed to free the men who did the heinous acts?

Where is the Sindhi society on these injustices? The few NGOs do protest but where is the large majority of Sindhi people? I am asking the intellectuals, writers, teachers, lawyers, doctors, rich and affluent. Why are they just not voicing their protest while these injustices and sheer barbarism blackens our newspapers and our honor as a nation.

The criminals have disappeared reportedly in Baluchistan to avoid being arrested. Why Baluchistan? Why has Baluchistan become a safe haven for criminals from Sindh? There is so much talk of disappearances from Baluchistan and so much hue and cry of injustices by the Pakistani state on Baluchis. Then why are these criminals easily finding safe havens there?

It seems that there is an immoral camaraderie in men from Sindh and Baluchistan to help each other in cases they describe as “Honor Killings”. Kill any woman and man  , because of any reason , be it property, desire, greed, and justify it as honor.

Where is the religious lobby, whose responsibility is most important? Where is the judiciary on this? When will we do any thing to bring these injustices to court? Is there any more serious situation than is prevalent in Sindh now? Will the blood of Husna Bhutto not rise up and drown all of us in shame as that of  Sassui did.

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa Child Protection Ordinance. Why it is important for similar laws in all four provinces.

http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/624/protecting-our-children/

Press release by War Against Rape on student nurse at JPMC, Karachi.

PRESS RELEASE
War Against Rape (WAR), Karachi

Gang-rape of Nursing Student at JPMC, Karachi

19 July, 2010, Karachi: War Against Rape is outraged at the gang-rape of a Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Centre’s nursing student on July 13, 2010, at the hospital by a group of doctors, one of whom is an ex- medico-legal officer.
WAR sees this incident as an act of sheer barbarism where the accused in order to cover their tracks attempted to take the life of the survivor by pushing her off the building, due to which she suffered serious injuries.  The fact that the main accused is an ex-medico-legal officer is a matter of deep concern. The audacity, with which the perpetrators committed this act inside the hospital, brings to light the utter failure of monitoring systems and the failure to provide a safe working environment to women.
Reports of sexual assault of nursing students in hospitals by senior doctors are made every year across Pakistan. Cases of sexual harassment are even more common in these settings. They typically demonstrate the abuse of power by those in influential positions by committing human rights violations apparently without fear of accountability and punishment.  The survivor and her family in this case have recently expressed that they are under immense pressure to withdraw charges. WAR demands that the Government ensures complete protection for the survivor and her family, conduct an impartial investigation, and not only arrest the remaining perpetrators of this heinous crime, but also take the case to its logical end.
WAR also urges the Government, especially the Social Welfare and Women’s Development departments to take every measure for the quick recovery of the survivor and her family and to make sincere efforts for their rehabilitation.
WAR  also demands that policies are put in place that prescribe penalties for those abusing authority by harassing students and other staff members. The Government, especially the Health Department, should conduct an inquiry into existing power structures in hospital settings that cause a perpetuation of such crimes,  what kind of mechanisms are there for those being harassed or assaulted to report and what actions have been taken so far to stem out this problem.

Sexual Harassment In the Workplace: The case of rape of student nurse in Karachi..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auQlbRyBd3Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auQlbRyBd3Q

The sexual harassment in the workplace bill was passed by the national assembly recently and most women and people were happy that this issue will not be just become a vague scandal mongering issue. Millions of women in Pakistan are now in the workforce in urban areas in fields as varied as schools to hospitals to media. The bill which emphasizes the organisations to implement procedures and mechanisms so that a complaint can be lodged against the harasser in the work place.(  See my previous post on sexual harassment .http://meer-mehernewspappar.blogspot.com/search?q=sexual+harassment+in+the+workplace&updated-max=2010-01-24T01:56:00-08:00&max-results=20 ).
The sad and eye-opening rape, violence and assault of the young nurse in Jinnah hospital, Karachi is indeed a very painful reality that nurses in Pakistan have to face since ages. Here, the almost "Angelic" profession is degraded and the girls as usual are considered objects. This is true for almost all professions in Pakistan. And the main reason is lack of implementation of laws and procedures to make the workplace environment safe. The repressive and criminal mentality of most men is apparent, whenever a woman especially a younger woman comes in the work force. Even young  lady doctors are not spared, even when they are relatively better off than the nurses. I have been a doctor for thirty years now and am saddened to see that even after much academic improvement in nursing with institutes such as the Aga Khan Nursing School , the JPMC Nursing School and other big nursing schools in Karachi, there exists a mindset especially of male doctors from towns and villages , who because of their posting and power as a medico-legal officer, resort to such violent and criminal acts.The conditions have not improved because the laws of sexual harassment were not implemented. Had they been implemented long time ago , the conditions of sexual harassment and sexual assault would not be so worst as is seen nowadays.
 The sad part is till today a rape survivor is not examined in a dedicated place. We are fighting for strengthening the medico legal evidence still (http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/580/strengthening-medico-legal-evidence/ ). The nurse survivor has told Ms. Humera Alwani, an MPA from Sindh, who is also a member of the Pakistan Nursing Council, that she was forced to go into the room where she was gang raped. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/dr-jabbar-dismissed-on-nurse-rape-charge-jd-04(Dawn).  This shows the total disregard by the male doctors and collusion of the lower male staff with these men , of the sanctity of the hospital premises. It seems that these acts have continued in the past and only because this girl jumped out the window, this has come to attention. There have been hundreds of instances where the survivors have not even reported sexual harassment as they think that even their families will withdraw them from education. Girls in Pakistan , especially from low socio-economic class have to fight against all odds such as taboos, primitive cultural norms, tribal and feudal mindsets, lack of availability of opportunities to education, early marriages and childbearing etc to enter any professional field. The profession of nursing because of it's close contact with males is even considered disrespectful by the suppressive mindset people in Pakistan.
 Pakistan faces this dilemma today. It needs an educated, progressive workforce in order to develop and grow and the women population is almost 51%..As it is there is shortage of nursing and other paramedical staff. We really need women in medical and its related fields. A free and fair work environment is the need of the times. The dismissal from service of the barbaric doctor,  by insistence of Mr. Altaf Hussain of the MQM shows how important it is to give institutional and legal cover to work place environment. Only  mechanisms of justice when in place for employees and workers to avail of, will ensure a fair and free society.
A more proactive role by the Sindh government now of improving services for collection of evidence, providing helpline 24 hours all over Sindh ,implementing policy decisions on rape and sexual assault with the help of organisations like WAR, Aahung, HRCP, which have the recommendations ready, implementing the sexual harassment in the workplace bill in letter and spirit in all hospitals, private and governmental institutions, all academic institutions, offices and media workplaces , has to be taken seriously.
It is imperative for the political parties in government and opposition to work for implementing  these laws so as to make the workplace and institutions of learning and philanthropy like hospitals and nursing schools safe.

Dr Meher Zaidi.Writer.

The State of the Sindhi Woman.

The State of the Sindhi Woman.
By Dr Meher Zaidi.

Hafeezan Bhutto (Dawn image).

Sindh is a major province in Pakistan and comprises cities like Karachi (a port city), Hyderabad, Sukkur, Nawabshah, and smaller towns like Larkana, Thatta, Hala etc. There are large rural/agricultural areas  spread over Mirprkhas and all area along which the river Indus flows. My inclusion into the definition of the Sindhi woman will be for this purpose the women residing in all towns of Sindh except Karachi. Due to the complex socio-cultural milieu and the relatively cosmopolitan makeup of Karachi, many issues have a slightly better and different projection.
The most devastating picture emerges as that of Hafeezan Bhutto, a 30 year old BA pass, woman who made a dramatic entry into our lives when she was shown on Sindh TV with her husband Hajjan Bhutto and brother Zahid Bhutto, apparently well dressed young men, pulling her by her hair, beating her and pushing her for drowning into the Larkana Rice Canal. Due to the timely response of people and police she was saved from being killed ruthlessly. Her story is typical of what is happening to the innocent and beautiful Sindhi woman everyday. She is declared a “Kari”, an adultress and then killed in cold blood by various means such as guns, poisoning, throwing in canals and rivers, suffocating, burning or strangulation. This maybe done with collusion of police or the powerful “Wadera” of the area. Often a “jirga” a communal court of sorts grants the death wish. In this case it was the sheer cruel, blatant disregard for all norms of civilized behavior and the utmost macho-male worship status of husband or brother in the “Sindhi” family that showed this horrible injustice to us thanks to the media. Hafeezan Bhutto rises like a brave goddess, in her sheer desperation to defy death she jumped out of a moving car and called for help. This is not her story alone. In my work, I come across several young   , educated Sindhi women who are working and contributing both to the family and the country but are totally at the disposal of the males in their families. They can be declared “Kari” anytime and killed. They cannot choose life partners. The marriages outside biradaris, caste or even for love are totally out of bounds. In this day and age   , the Sindhi woman is kept like cattle or an asset. She dare not exercise her right or use her wisdom in choice of matters such as marriage, choice of way of life etc. The perpetrators of violence in her case were her husband who is allegedly in police and her brother who is also young. She has now requested the minister of Women development, Ms. Tauqeer Fatima Bhutto who rang to help her, to get her employment in the police department This will be good as such people who have suffered become more sensitive to women’s issues and help other persons. The question asked by similar victims many a times is “when will I be able to freely chose my life on the basis of education?”, “when will my parents accept me as a human being with a mind?”, “when will I be able to laugh and enjoy life freely as a daughter, a mother, a wife?”. These questions are asked several times and every time I have no real answer. I dream of a day when our Sindhi daughters will be loved for the sheer presence of their selves. I dream of a day when no Sindhi woman will be declared a Kari and killed. When all girls will be freely educated in Sindh and go to their jobs. I dream of a day when the Sindhi woman will be accepted and cherished for her education and wisdom.
As usual the government functionaries have promised some help like lawyers for her to obtain divorce and fight the case against the violent perpetrators and protection to Ms.Hafeezan on an adhoc basis. This maybe some consolation but this is not the permanent solution. It is high time that the women ministers and other political men and women of Sindh push towards egalitarian judicial mechanisms in place. The whole mindset of the Sindhi man has to be changed. For this mass campaigns of awareness raising like the issue of child marriage being a cognizable offence, Karo-kari deaths being declared murders, freedom to choose life partner for adult women need to be undertaken. If this kind of social injustice is allowed to flourish in Sindh, there will be no progress, no development. A very large Sindhi population is of women. In rural areas they are contributing a good percentage of income to the economy. They should be given their due rights as agricultural workers.
Lack of education, lack of entry into job markets by the Sindhi man has resulted in this vicious cycle of  un-natural dominance by power and force as was the epitome of “Wadera” power. Lack of devolution to the tiller also resulted in the strength and dominance of the “Wadera” mentality. This vested interest has protected its growth and dominance even at political level. The mechanism of adult franchise has not resulted in true representation of Sindhi man or woman as her economic dependence on unequal and unjust social class dominates the scene. The Sindhi woman is not free in rural and urban Sindh because she is not economically independent. The repressive customs of her bounding by the males of the family, her subjugation to decisions of “jirga” will keep her bound for life.
The socio-economic conditions will only improve with more education and complete capping on corruption. The department of education is the most corrupt department in the entire country. Its complete overhauling with the goals of free, demand oriented education to all is the need of the times. This has to be undertaken on a war-footing. When education is free and compulsory to all boys and girls, gradually a shift in mindset will also occur. The crises centers that the present government is undertaking should be increased to cover all towns and villages in Sindh. These facilities should be made self sufficient with vocational and other educational training facilities. There should be scholarships available to all deserving students at all levels. The practice of granting scholarships only to the well endowed and influential should be at once abolished. All educational scholarships and endowments should be advertised for all. As has been seen in the matriculation and Inter results girls take more scores and pass in greater numbers. Maybe the good change in Sindh will come through the Sindhi woman as she is more likely to be fair and just, more likely to be  un-corrupt. The primary education should be improved and all basic subjects except mathematics should be taught in Sindhi if needed by choice. The books and syllabi should be made up to date and in line with the education policy.
Only through these basic reforms can the plight of the Sindhi woman addressed. Only through empowerment can the fate and direction of Sindh change.
The Karo-kari program by the Sindh police with the help of USAID had given a phone line help number. Where is it? The media should advertise it frequently for the benefit of the women .Next time a woman should be able to pick up a phone and call for help, before being assaulted or killed.

Jessica Stern ..A Brave Admission of Denial of Sexual Abuse.

The brave girl who made a life for herself and now exposes how the society due to ignorance and sense of false security denies what children have to say about bieng raped even in US is the expert Jessica Stern. Her interview sheds light on the continuous humiliation,  a rape and sexual assault  survivor has to face in a society be it a country like the US or like Pakistan. Hearing her recall, questions arise as to how a society by denial,  as the civilised US with many systems in place makes the child's suffering worse and how difficult it must be for children especially the girl child in countries like Pakistan where systems ,even for justice are not in place, where children and women are violated for power and macho dominance and to teach the enemy a lesson. Where incest is pushed under the rug, where collection of evidence as for a crime is disfavored in the name of religion.Where tribal and fuedal mindset people have started residing in urban posh areas like Defence and Clifton and testing their raping and humiliation skills amongst urban schoolkids especially girls, where even middle class salaried people cannot have safety  and justice for their kids because there is no system. Where women domestic workers are raped, humiliated, abused and eventually killed as so often reported in Punjab's major towns and cities.  This also opens many questions as to why and how a society that is governed by higher principles of religion and morality becomes so unjust and cruel.This also opens up the question as to what is terrorism,and what is poverty linked crime? Is poverty the drive for some forms of violence?  or lack of moral and social control as in case of the tribals and fuedals of Sindh which drives them to rape and karo-kari murders is the driving force.So many issues to be researched and addressed and yet the Pakistani society continues it's state of "Denial".http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/books/excerpt-denial.pdf