Government accused of having emboldened extremists after lynching of Sri Lankan in Sialkot
A mob in Pakistan tortured, killed and then set on fire a Sri Lankan man who was accused of blasphemy over some posters he had allegedly taken down.
Priyantha Diyawadana, a Sri Lankan national who worked as general manager of a factory of the industrial engineering company Rajco Industries in Sialkot, Punjab, was set upon by a violent crowd on Friday.
Continue reading...A roundup of the struggle for human rights and freedoms, from Pakistan to Poland
Continue reading...Criminalisation means survivors are vulnerable to blackmail to avoid imprisonment and stigma, but there is hope the colonial-era legislation could soon be repealed
It was when the police knocked on Aatifa Farooqui’s* door and threatened to send her to prison that she first realised suicide was illegal in Pakistan.
Farooqui’s father pleaded with the officers to be lenient, explaining that his daughter was just 19 and had made a mistake, but quickly realised the police had other motives for dropping by.
Continue reading...After a vicious beating, Fatima Ahmadi fled Afghanistan with her children for Pakistan. But her pleas for asylum in the west are met by silence
Fatima Ahmadi only stopped screaming when the Taliban held a knife to her child’s throat, and told her: “Shut up, or we will kill your son.” They had burst into the policewoman’s Kabul home one late September morning, demanding she hand over her weapons. She told the Taliban she had no guns at home, but they said she was lying, ransacked the house, then began beating her, pulling out handfuls of hair, and when she would not stop shouting, they grabbed her nine-year-old son.
The knife was pressed so violently into his throat it left a red welt, visible in photographs seen by the Observer. Ahmadi’s back was covered with bruising from an assault so vicious that she lost control of her bodily functions. The men eventually left, but with an ominous warning. “We will come back.”
Continue reading...Economic meltdown heaps pressure on Pakistani PM, with record inflation bringing threat of unrest
On Friday night, 27-year-old Asadullah, who sold old shoes on a cart, set himself on fire in the Pakistani city of Karachi.
Ghani, a relative, blamed the state of an economy where rampant inflation is hitting those least able to cope. In comments to local media, he said Asadullah used to get calls from his wife and parents asking him for money, but he could not afford to pay the rent and meet his own expenses and sending money back home was no longer possible.
Continue reading...The futuristic Ravi Riverfront City development, championed by Imran Khan’s government, has been met with determined opposition
It has been called Pakistan’s answer to Dubai, a brand new multitrillion-rupee development of towering skyscrapers, futuristic domes and floating walkways.
But Ravi Riverfront City, described as the “world’s largest riverfront modern city” also faces accusations of rampant land grabs by prime minister Imran Khan’s government, which has championed the project. Hundreds of thousands of farmers who could never afford to live in the modern urban utopia are now at risk of eviction.
Continue reading...Shortage of specialised doctors in Afghanistan means patients seek lifesaving care in Pakistan, but conventions have changed
Fareed Ullah has crossed Afghanistan’s border to Pakistan 10 times for treatment for his three-year-old son, Taha, who has thalassaemia major, an inherited blood disorder. Up until the Taliban takeover in August he had never experienced a problem, but when he tried to transit via the Torkham crossing late last month, he was stopped by the Taliban from entering.
Doctors and family members of patients say conventions at the border have changed since the Taliban takeover, which has made it more difficult for Afghan patients to seek lifesaving care in Pakistan. “There is no system, still,” said Ijaz Ali Khan, the founder and chairman of Hamza Foundation, a charity organisation in Peshawar that provides treatment for thalassaemia and other blood disorders.
Continue reading...Homes collapsed after the quake struck 100km east of Quetta in Balochistan, and officials fear the death toll could rise
A 5.7 magnitude earthquake hit southern Pakistan in the early hours of Thursday, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 200, government officials said.
The quake struck Balochistan at 3am local time and at a depth of around 20km (12 miles), the US Geological Survey said.
Continue reading...Seven years after fleeing army clashes with militants, 100 families eking out an existence on a hillside near the Afghan border are unable to return home
“Don’t talk to me about the government. They don’t help.”
Ninety-year-old Shah Mast is angry. He has been living in the cave he calls home for seven years, ever since an offensive by the Pakistan army against the Islamist militant group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) destroyed his home.
Continue reading...The US photographer’s image of Sharbat Gula captured the story of a country, its people and refugees across the world. Thirty six years on, another picture tells a similar tale – but also one of hope
On 1 September, a young Afghan girl stood in line with her family at a US base in Sicily waiting to board a flight to Philadelphia. She is about nine years old and is one of more than 100,000 people evacuated from Kabul by allied forces after the Taliban took control of the country in August.
Her photo, taken for the Guardian by Italian photojournalist Alessio Mamo and featured on the front page of the UK print edition, resembles the Afghan Girl by American photographer Steve McCurry. McCurry’s portrait, of a Pashtun child, Sharbat Gula, which appeared on the June 1985 cover of National Geographic, became the symbol, not only of Afghanistan, but of displaced refugees across the world.
Continue reading...Gulf states are having to reconsider their alliances and especially whether they can still trust the US, says senior source
The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan is a shattering earthquake that will shape the Middle East for many years, a senior Gulf official has said, warning that – despite the group’s promises of moderation – the militant group is “essentially the same” as last time it was in power.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the official also said that the rapid and chaotic US withdrawal also raises serious questions for Gulf states about the value of US promises of security over the next 20 years.
Continue reading...Son of Syed Ali Shah Geelani alleges police in Indian-controlled area snatched body and carried out burial without family present
Police in Indian-controlled Kashmir have charged family members of the late resistance leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani under an anti-terrorism law for wrapping his body in the Pakistani flag and raising anti-India slogans, officials said on Sunday.
Geelani, who died on Wednesday at the age of 91, was a leading figure in Kashmir’s defiance against New Delhi and had been under house arrest for years.
Continue reading...Bordering states such as Pakistan urged to temporarily take in Afghans bound for Europe and the US
Countries neighbouring Afghanistan have been offered millions in aid if they are prepared to temporarily harbour tens of thousands of refugees, prior to security checks clearing them for transit to Europe and the US, but Pakistan and other bordering states have warned they will not take more refugees permanently.
Iran could see a large influx of refugees – mainly Hazara Shias – reaching the country overland. Refugee specialists inside Iran have suggested as many as 7,000 people were crossing the border illegally a day, with no serious control over the entire 980km (608-mile) border, and very little international aid.
Continue reading...A roundup of the struggle for human rights and freedoms, from Afghanistan to Greece
Continue reading...Data analysis highlights the human cost if thousands of overseas projects lose funding
Experts have warned of “devastating” consequences of the UK’s foreign aid cuts after Guardian analysis revealed the UK is cutting funding at a time when major recipient countries are at risk of becoming more politically unstable.
Thousands of activities providing life-saving support are being cut due to the government’s decision to reduce aid spending to 0.5% of gross national income.
Continue reading...Demonstrations shut down Gwadar, where Chinese are blamed for lack of water and electricity and threat to local fishing
Protests have erupted in Pakistan’s port city Gwadar against a severe shortage of water and electricity and threats to livelihoods, part of a growing backlash against China’s multibillion-dollar belt and road projects in the country.
This week, demonstrators including fishers and other local workers blocked the roads in Gwadar, a coastal town in Balochistan. They burned tyres, chanted slogans and largely shut down the city, to demand water and electricity and a stop to Chinese trawlers illegally fishing in the nearby waters and then taking the fish to China. Two people were injured when the authorities cracked down on the protesters.
Continue reading...Analysis: three countries have all signalled a readiness to engage with Taliban authorities to some degree
Regional powers will see their influence increase dramatically in Afghanistan as the US executes a hasty, haphazard withdrawal and the Taliban return to power after 20 years.
Russia, Pakistan and China have all signalled a readiness to transition smoothly into engaging with Taliban authorities with varying levels of enthusiasm.
Continue reading...Return to power of movement’s co-founder embodies Afghanistan’s inability to escape history of conflict
Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban leader freed from a Pakistani jail on the request of the US less than three years ago, has emerged as an undisputed victor of the 20-year war.
While Haibatullah Akhundzada is the Taliban’s overall leader, Baradar is its political chief and its most public face. He was said to be on his way from his office in Doha to Kabul on Sunday evening. In a televised statement on the fall of Kabul, he said the Taliban’s real test was only just beginning and that they had to serve the nation.
Continue reading...Hindu boy, accused of urinating in madrassa library, was youngest Pakistani to be charged for the crime
Police in Pakistan have dropped blasphemy charges against an eight-year-old Hindu boy after media and government pressure over his arrest.
The boy, the youngest Pakistani ever to be charged with the crime, was accused of intentionally urinating on a carpet in the library of a madrassa, where religious books were kept, in July.
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