Family protests after young servant’s death – 31 Jan 2023

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Police launch investigation after road blockade by demonstrators

TANDLIANWALA:
A young servant who worked for a landlord in Niamoana was found dead under suspicious circumstances.
His family, convinced of foul play, staged a protest by placing the body on a busy road, blocking traffic and demanding justice.
Accusing the employer of murder, they refused to move until the police took action. As the news of the incident spread, police officers arrived on the scene and engaged in negotiations with the griev-ing family.
Eventually, they persuaded the protesters to disperse and took possession of young Hasan’s body. The police launched an investigation into the mysterious death, with the employer reportedly being the prime suspect.
According to the polices, the 16-year-old employee, Hasan, son of Nazeer Ahmad, a resident of Pindi Kachhari Mandyanwala, was employed at Riaz Hussain’s house in Niamoana. Hasan’s relatives had left him to work at the house where he was later found dead. Initial reports suggested he had taken his own life by hanging himself in the outhouse. However, the family were convinced that their loved one had been murdered and staged to look like a suicide.

Our Correspondent

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Man shoots, injures wife during argument – 31 Jan 2023

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Police are conducting raids to arrest the suspect

KARACHI:
A woman was allegedly shot and injured by her husband during a heated argument at their house at DHA Phase Seven Khayaban Ittihad.

According to the Karachi Police spokesperson, the suspect, Hussain, fired two shots at his wife Amreen. A bullet hit her in the stomach and the other in the leg. Hussain fled after the incident.

Amreen was shifted to a hospital, and the operation was completed late at night.

Doctors say she will be kept under observation for the next 24 hours and be shifted to the ward when her condition improves. Police are conducting raids to arrest the suspect.

Separately, a person was injured in firing during a dispute in Lines Area AB Sinia Line Bangash neighbourhood of Brigade area.

According to the police, the injured person was identified as 26-year-old Ali Nawaz, son of Muhammad Jameel. The injured person was shifted to Civil Hospital for medical assistance.

He was shot in his left leg, and his condition is out of danger.

The incident took place during an altercation. The local police are investigating the incident.

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Starving kids’ mother ends her life – 31 Jan 2023

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Neighbours pull two children out of flames in room

DIJKOT:
A woman who, along with her children, had been afflicted by extreme poverty and starvation, set herself and two of her children on fire, police said.

The woman later died at a hospital. Zubeda Bibi, who lived in a small village, had had no means of survival. She was broke and could not find food for her children who cried for food but there was nothing Zubeda Bibi could do, people who lived in the same village said.

The situation was so grave that it pushed Zubeda Bibi into the depth of desperation. Her desperation led her to the solution that only death could bring solace to her children and herself.

Zubeda Bibi decided to end it once and for all. On the day of the incident she confined her daughter and her seven-year-old son Naveed in a room where she started a fire to burn themselves to death. The starving children began yelling as they began to feel the ire of the flames.

The children began shouting for help at the top of their voice.

Fortunately, their plea for help was responded to by their neighbours who rushed in and barged into the room and safely pulled the children out of the room.

Zubeda’s daughter miraculously escaped unhurt, but Zubeda and her son were badly burnt.

They were rushed to a hospital where Naveed survived but his mother died of her injuries.

In August last year, a man had allegedly killed his daughters and then committed suicide.

Sargodha Road Police had registered a case under the provisions of double-murder against the man on the complaint filed by Sajjad Hussain Munshi, a brother of Rana Atiqur Rehman. As per the case FIR, the complainant told the police he was informed by phone by one Noorul Iman that his brother Rana Atiqur Rahman had killed his daughters, 17-year old Alishba and 11-year old Zainab, with knives and then hung himself to death.

When the brother of the deceased reached the spot, he saw Rana Atiqur Rahman hanging from a fan in the TV lounge of his rented house.

The complainant said he found his two nieces in separate beds in in another room with their bodies soaked in blood. The funeral prayers of the three were offered at the Shahi graveyard in Islamnagar.

The deceased, Rana Atiqur Rehman, was reportedly desperate because of poverty and unable to pay his house rent. A large number of villagers gathered at the spot after the news of the murders and suicide spread in the area.

He wrote on a paper with blood that he had killed his daughters with a knife. He had to pay the rent to the owner of the house, Usman, due to which he was very worried. He was frustrated over not having a job after the death of his wife. The incident was revealed when Noor Iman visited the home of the victims. He informed the helpline 15.

Madina Town SP Muhammad Nabeel and other police officers collected evidence from the spot with the help of a forensics team.

A large number of people from nearby as well as other localities gathered at the spot after hearing about the incident. According to neighbours, Atiq’s 45-year-old wife Zarina had died six months ago due to lack of treatment for diabetes. He had failed to find a job despite trying for a long time.

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Schools asked to observe zero-tolerance for drugs – 31 Jan 2023

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LAHORE: School Education Department (SED) Punjab has issued new guidelines for public and private schools across the province observing that there shall be zero tolerance policy for drug use in educational institutions.

In an order issued here on Monday, the Schools Department directed the heads of schools to ensure that no consumption of any contraband/drug was carried out inside school premises. It also directed the School Management Councils to regularly hold meetings and propagate the importance of a drug free culture. The department also directed the schools to arrange special lectures regarding potential hazards of drug consumption by engaging experts in collaboration with the health department. It also directed SED’s district officers to visit schools within their jurisdiction to monitor that all SOPs were being complied with in letter and spirit.

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Man gets 17-year jail term, fine for rape – 31 Jan 2023

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CHINIOT: In a rare conviction in a rape case, Additional District and Sessions Judge Saad Salman has handed down total 17-year imprisonment and Rs125,000 fine to an accused on Monday.

According to the prosecution, `S`, a married woman of Mohallah Lahori gate, was alone at her house on March 8, 2022, as her husband had gone for grocery shopping, when accused Sarfraz, of the same area, barged in, slapped the woman and raped her.

Meanwhile, husband of `S` returned home, and on seeing him, the accused fled away brandishing a pistol.

On the complaint of the woman`s husband, city police registered the case under sections 376 and 452 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and arrested Sarfraz.

The case had been assigned to special `Gender Based Violence Court` headed by Additional sessions Judge Saad Salman.

After hearing the case, the judge sentenced the accused to seven-year imprisonment and slapped Rs100,000 fine (for being charged under section 452 of PPC) and 10-year rigorous imprisonment, along with Rs25,000 fine (under section 376 of the PPC).

The convict will have to under go an additional imprisonment for six months in case of defaulting on the payment of fine, the order said.

In most of the rape cases, the culprits escape conviction because the complainant part usually prefers reconciliation due to family pressure or withdraw the charges.

However, `S` and herhusband stood firm against all odds and after about 10 months, the case was decided against the convict.

ARRESTED: A man who was on the run allegedly after killing his exwife some two months ago, was arrested by Bhowana police from Pakpattan on Monday.

According to the police, Talib Hussain, a resident of Pakpattan area, was married to Shaista Manzoor, of Haveli Bata village of Bhowana Tehsil, a few years ago.

However, she got divorce from Talib after developing differences with him some months ago and later remarried.

On the night of Nov 21, 2022, the suspect shot his ex-wife dead with a pistol and fled away.

Bhowana police registered the FIR against the fleeing suspect under sections 302, 324 and 34 of the PPC and started investigations. He was later declared proclaimed offender of A-category and remained in hiding for two months.

The police said the suspect had allegedly killed his wife to avenge divorce and for contracting second marriage.

PRICE CONTROL: The district administration claimed to have conducted raids on 15,676 shops in January, slapped a totalfine of Rs1,652,000 on 1,440 shopkeepers found involved in overcharging the customers.

Deputy Commissioner Faisal Abbas Mangat told a press conference that 30 shopkeepers found involved in overcharging were jailed after registration of FIRs against them.

He said that price magistrates also sealed six shops during the pricecontrol drive.

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School registration suspended after it punished student for speaking in Urdu – 31 Jan 2023

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KARACHI: The Directorate of Inspection/ Registration of Private Schools Sindh on Monday suspended the registration of a private school for humiliating its student for speaking in national language Urdu.

The issue came to light after the child`s father came to pick him up from school and saw his son`s face with a blackening mark on his cheek on Friday (January 27), the last day of the week.

Ten-year-old Moosa Atif, a student of class five at the Civilizations Public School, a private English-medium school situated in Block-J of North Nazimabad, had been found talking in Urdu by his teacher Sadaf Mateen to be then taken to task by her. She drew a black ink mark on the boy`s face and told the other students to laugh at him.

Finding his son distraught, Atif Pervaiz, the father, tried complaining to the school management but to no avail. He said that he was disal-lowed to speak to the school management at the time so he took to social media. He recorded a small video of his son with his face blackened and of the school where he was humiliated. He could only include a clip of the school`s car parking as he was not permitted to go beyond it.

Then he posted it on YouTube the very next day.

Taking notice of the incident, Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah ordered an inquiry to look into the matter. After completion of the inquiry, and looking at the findings to the inquiry committee, the Directorate of Education issued the following statement: `The accusation of applying blackness on the face of student Moosa by his teacher is correct.

Indeed, the teacher in question punished the student for not speaking in English, which is quite in contradiction of the feeling of patriotism and love for the national language. The administration of the school failed to handle the situation or deal with the parents on their complaint properly.In view of this, the Directorate of Education suspended Civilizations Public School`s registration with immediate effect till further orders. A disciplinary fine amounting to Rs100,000 has also been imposed on the school. However, the school administration has accepted the resignation tendered by the teacher concerned after having issued her a show cause notice.

According to a statement issued by a member of the school`s board of directors, the Civilizations Public School takes great pride in being one the few educational institutions to promote, encourage and celebrate Urdu. Its role in promoting Urdu is unmatched in the country.

`In the last few years, the school has organised four mushairas and poets such as Iftikhar Arif, Fehmida Riaz and Amjad Islam Amjad have read their poetry to audiences in thousands which included students, faculty, staff, guests and members of the media. The coverage of these events is publicly available. Books by Urdu masters such as Mushtaq Yousufi, PatrasBukhari and Ibn-i-Insha comprise the entirety of our Urdu curriculum. Lines from Faiz, N.M.

Rashid and Majaaz often echo through the corridors and auditoriums.

`The School in no way promotes English over Urdu. The regrettable incident that took place on January 27 is against the school`s ethos, ideology, philosophy and spirit. We are a considerate and empathetic institution that does not condone or allow anyone to embarrass a student. You are welcome to come to our next Urdu event and witness the school`s culture.

`The teacher who took the wrong step is no longer part of the school and her resignation has been accepted.

`The faculty and staff are fully trained and socialised to embrace diversity and a multilingual environment.

`We hope to continue to produce the next generation of leadership and further our mission of celebrating our Urdu heritage,` the statement concluded.

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Man jailed for life in SU student Naila Rind`s `suicide` case – 31 Jan 2023

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HYDERABAD: An antiterrorism court on Monday sentenced a man to life imprisonment in the 2017 Sindh University student Naila Rind suicide case.

ATC-I Judge Nadeem Ahmed Akhund found accused Anis Khaskheli guilty of the offence punishable under Section 7-A of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997.

The court imposed a fine of Rs200,000 on him and in case of default he would have to undergo another sixmonth imprisonment.

The payment of fine shall be paid to legal heirs of deceased Naila Rind, a final year student of department of Sindhi at SU.

The court also handed down three-year imprisonment to the accused under Section 21(b)(c) (cyberstalk-ing) of the Prevention of Electronic Crime Act (Peca) 2016.

All the sentences would run concurrently.

However, the court granted him the benefit of Section 382-B (period of detention to be considered while awarding sentence of imprisonment) of the criminalprocedure code.

Khaskheli appeared in court on bail. He was taken into custody following the pronouncement of the verdict and sent to prison to serve the sentence.

According to the prosecution, the body of Naila Rind was found hanging from the ceiling fan of her room in SU`s Marvi Hostel in Jamshoro on Jan 1, 2017. She was a final-year student of the Sindhi department. Later, Anis Khaskheli, a teacher at a school in Jamshoro, was arrested in connection with the case on the basis of the victim`s cell phone records.

A judicial probe conducted by Hyderabad district and sessions judge Amjad Ali Bohio on the directives of a division bench of Sindh High Court comprising Justices Salahuddin Panhwar and Fahim Ahmed Siddiqui had earlier concluded that the student had committed suicide due to exploitation and blackmailing by a man who had befriended her on WhatsApp.

Accused Anis`s mobile phone and data including pic-tures and messages were also present before the trial courtbyprosecution.

According to then SHO Tahir Mughal, victim`s brother Nisar Rind lodged an FIR stating that Naila had reached home on the fateful day and looked disturbed. On a query from the family, she told them that she was being `harassed` and `blackmailed`. However, her family told her to just concentrate on her studies and do not get worried as family members would handle this matter.

A case was registered on the complaint of Naila`s elder brother on Jan 6, 2017 after she was found dead in her hostel`s room under mysterious circumstances.

Khaskheli was tried under sections 315 (gatl shibh-iamd), 316 (Punishment for gatl shibh-i-amd), 509 (insulting modesty or causing sexual harassment) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

He was also charged with Section 6/7 of the ATA 1997 and Sections 3 (unauthorised access to information system or data) and 9 (glorification of an offence) of the Prevention of Electronic Crime Act.

The report of a post-mortem examination had said that the death was caused by constriction of neck, leading to asphyxia and was sufficient to cause death in ordinary course of nature resulting from antimortemhanging (suicidal). It mentioned that no sign of sexual assault was found during the autopsy.

A seven-member fact-finding committee of the SU had also submitted its report to the registrar. It pointed out several issues considered as `deficiencies` and `flaws` in SU`s girls hostel management systems.

WAF hails verdict The Women Action Forum (WAF) hailed the verdict in the Naila Rind case.

In a press release issued on Monday, the WAF said that the verdict would increase trust of parents and female students who were forced to commit suicide to save their honour.

It demanded that investigation into suicide cases of Dr Nimrta Kumari and Nausheen Kazmi also be made public.

WAF emphasised the need for speedy disposal of blackmailing and harassment cases for protection of students. `These students often decide to commit suicide due to family and social pressure instead of reporting harassment and blackmailing.

It said that the judgement would encourage students to adopt legal course against blackmailers.

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Peshawar blast – 31 Jan 2023

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Pakistan continues to bleed at the hands of terrorists — strategically aided by hostile foreign conspirators

Pakistan continues to bleed at the hands of terrorists — strategically aided by hostile foreign conspirators. The agenda is to push the country — already reeling from a serious economic crisis — further down the morass of terrorism, extremism and lawlessness. The latest — in the nefarious plan to cripple the country in multiple ways — has come in the form of a suicide blast inside a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines neighbourhood. The terrorist attack — claimed by the outlawed TTP — has rendered at least 32 people, including security personnel, dead and nearly 157 injured. Since many of the injured are in a critical condition, the death toll is feared to rise.

The recent terror timeline suggests that the TTP insurgents have been on a rampage, especially after November last year when they announced the end of the ceasefire they had agreed with the government in June last year. The months of December and January have seen around a dozen serious terrorist attacks, causing the deaths of at least 27 security personnel alone. These attacks are apart from a number of those that resulted in lesser consequences.

These back-to-back terror attacks on armed forces as well as civilian targets across the country are quite unnerving — especially in view of the fact that the terrorist elements had been nearly wiped out from their safe havens through military operations, including Zarb-e-Azb and Radd-ul-Fasaad. But a lack of follow-up, coupled with the rise of a Taliban regime in Afghanistan, has seen the terrorists elements re-emerge. And now they are operating with impunity in the northwest and southwest of the country, in particular.

The state has tried its best to tame the terrorists through talks under the aegis of the Afghan Taliban. It about time to bury the policy of appeasement for good, and take action. There is need to first build a consensus against the terrorists — like the one we had in the wake of the APS attack — and then operate against them with full force of the state until the dismantling of the terror infrastructure from the country.

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The process of elimination in climate war – 31 Jan 2023

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Demand for lithium used in these EV batteries will create a variety of problems including environmental degradation

A new report has entered the market this week. It’s called ‘Achieving Zero Emissions with More Mobility and Less Mining’. Here’s what it says in a nutshell: that the chronic American habit and dependence of automobiles must change and people must walk more and cities and towns must be redesigned so that commute changes. It also says that since American cars are transitioning from being run by oil to being run by electrically charged batteries, the demand for lithium that is used in these EV batteries is going to skyrocket tremendously. And then the report says that that is going to create a variety of problems such as environmental degradation resulting from mining, possible conflicts emerging from land rights, social inequality, and so forth. And then the report unleashed the big bomb: the world would not be able to achieve the global warming target of 1.5 Celsius as agreed to in the ambitious Paris Climate Agreement.

At the outset, it smells of fossil fuel paid propaganda. Usually, the first impressions are right. It’s the later nuances and twisted logics and arguments, which create another scenario in the minds of the readers and can even result in convincing the people that EVs are going to destroy the world. The fossil fuel industry has spent decades in denying, distracting, deflecting, debating, doubting and discrediting climate change as resulting from human activity and the use of fossil fuel to be more specific. The transportation sector is the biggest factor for the carbon emissions resulting from the burning of fossil fuel.

In order to gain credibility in its report, which The Guardian has titled with words such as “Revealed”, as if it’s the unquestionable finding, the report targets the fossil fuel industry indirectly as well. It says that the solution their model presents includes completely getting rid of the use of fossil fuel.

But it just reminded me of a childhood riddle. There is a tiger, a goat, and some grass. The goal is to transfer them all to the other side of the river in a boat without any party eating the other. But the maximum passengers that can travel are 3 including you being the manager of all this safe journey project. If you take the tiger and the goat on board, the tiger will eat the goat. If you take the goat and the grass onboard, the grass gets eaten. If you take the grass alone, the tiger eats the goat on the river bank. If you take the tiger alone, the goat eats the grass. But here’s the solution: you take the tiger and the grass onboard first. Park them on the other side of the river. Come back and pick up the goat. Problem solved.

What the purpose of such reports I believe is that it leaves the tiger with the goat alone. We are the goat and the fossil fuel industry is the tiger. Once we’re convinced that the EVs are actually destructive toward the planet in the form of mining, social inequalities, the crazy global demand for more lithium, supply bottlenecks, logistical disasters, and the planetary heating of over 1.5 Celsius, then we might not transition toward the EVs fully. And we just might focus more on, as the report recommends, walkable towns, reduced battery size, city density, more use of cycle, mass transit, fewer car ownership, and so forth.

The report argues that this would lower the demand for lithium. However, this doesn’t take into account the fact that some new invention might change the battery storage method. Therefore, changing the course of this EV transition would be a bad idea. It also doesn’t take into account the fact that people wouldn’t just start walking and biking to work and abandon the idea of favorite car ownership. Regardless, what the report just might do is to get rid of the grass (EVs) and leave us (goats) with the fossil fuel (tiger).

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Terror strikes again – 31 Jan 2023

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A city that has seen bloodshed to last a hundred lifetimes seems to be back in the middle of a terror onslaught. At least 44 people were martyred and 157 injured in a suicide attack inside a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines area yesterday. There are fears that the number of casualties may increase. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for what seems to have been a suicide attack, one of the deadliest this year. It is no secret that ever since the fall of Kabul in August 2021, there has been a sharp increase in terrorist attacks in the country. From Chaman to Bannu to Islamabad to Peshawar, the TTP has brazenly carried out attacks against Pakistan’s security forces – the police, the military or other security personnel. At a time when Pakistan is facing political and economic uncertainty, an increase in terrorism can lead to serious repercussions for a country that has bravely fought a long and hard battle to eliminate terrorism, losing thousands of lives in the war on terror.

And yet our Taliban policy has been confusing for a long time. This is why the first step must be a consensus that there are no good or bad Taliban; and an acknowledgment that some parties and politicians may have been far too quick to celebrate the return of the Afghan Taliban – who till now have not proven the ‘allies’ they were being seen as. In fact, Af-Pak experts have been consistently saying that the Afghan Taliban will not take action against the TTP. It is thus imperative for Pakistan to make it clear to the Afghan government that cross-border terror activities will not be tolerated. The state also needs to clarify how and why it had been ‘talking’ to the TTP and whether and how TTP members have been resettled here, as well as what steps are being taken to make sure they don’t take up arms against the state and the people.

In all this, let us not forget that the people of Swat as well as those of the former tribal areas have been raising their voice to demand the elimination of anti-peace and anti-state elements from these areas. The people of Swat have borne the brunt of Taliban rule and fought bravely against them. Their coming out on the streets to demand that the state protect them should have raised alarm bells. It is also imperative that the National Action Plan (NAP) be finally implemented in letter and spirit. If we keep appeasing the Afghan Taliban and TTP, we will continue to suffer. There should be no confusion on this issue. Politicians of all stripes and our security forces need to sit together and build a joint plan to defeat the terrorists before they cause further destruction and death in Pakistan. There is no doubt that there is a national crisis of security. If ever the state needed a national policy regarding security that was jointly owned and implemented at the federal and provincial levels, the time is now. It cannot be a security policy that differs from province to province other than in minor details to accommodate local conditions, and there has to be ownership of that policy right down to the individual. Now is the time for inspired leadership, and for bold and difficult decisions that get implemented. As things are, there is a sense of drift, of uncertainty and an unwillingness to grapple with uncomfortable realities. That needs to change – now.

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