Category Archives: Pakistan

Eight-year-old becomes youngest person charged with blasphemy in Pakistan

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Hindu boy faces possible death penalty after being accused of intentionally urinating in a madrassa library

An eight-year-old Hindu boy is being held in protective police custody in east Pakistan after becoming the youngest person ever to be charged with blasphemy in the country.

The boy’s family is in hiding and many of the Hindu community in the conservative district of Rahim Yar Khan, in Punjab, have fled their homes after a Muslim crowd attacked a Hindu temple after the boy’s release on bail last week. Troops were deployed to the area to quell any further unrest.

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Pakistan reckons with its ‘gender terrorism epidemic’ after murder of Noor Mukadam

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Victims’s family speak of their heartbreak as brutal killing sparks national debate on lack of progress to end violence against women

The family of a 27-year-old woman who was allegedly tortured and beheaded by the son of a business tycoon have spoken of their devastation in a case that has pushed Pakistan to examine what has been called a “gender terrorism epidemic”.

Zahir Zakir Jaffer was arrested on suspicion of the pre-meditated murder of Noor Mukadam, the youngest daughter of a former Pakistani diplomat, after allegedly holding her captive for three days at his apartment in an upmarket area of Islamabad.

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British general’s ‘discreet’ effort to revive Afghan peace negotiations

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General Sir Nick Carter has been arranging meetings with contacts in Kabul and Pakistan to try to prevent a descent into civil war

Britain’s top general, Sir Nick Carter, has been using his personal connections with Afghan and Pakistan leaders in a behind-the-scenes effort to stop Afghanistan sliding into full-blown civil war, and help bolster stalling US-brokered peace talks in Qatar.

At the weekend a senior Afghan delegation arrived in Doha to try to restart the virtually dormant negotiations, after months which have seen the Taliban sweep across much of rural Afghanistan, although they still do not hold any cities.

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Daughter of Afghan envoy abducted and ‘severely tortured’ in Pakistan

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Silsila Alikhil, 26, was badly beaten and held for over five hours in Islamabad, according to diplomatic sources

The daughter of Afghanistan’s ambassador to Pakistan was abducted in the middle of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, held for several hours and brutally attacked, officials in both countries said on Saturday.

No one has been arrested in connection with Friday’s assault on Silsila Alikhil, 26. The Afghan foreign ministry issued a statement demanding a quick investigation, saying she was “severely tortured”.

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Marcus Rashford mural and Cuba protests: human rights this fortnight – in pictures

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A roundup of the coverage of the struggle for human rights and freedoms, from Turkey to Colombia

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Taliban claim Afghan border crossing with Pakistan in major gain

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Militants say they have made what could be their most significant advance in a nationwide offensive

The Taliban have claimed to have seized control of a crucial border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan, as their forces continue to rapidly advance in the wake of US troops pulling out, fuelling fears of the conflict spilling into Pakistan.

In one of their most strategic gains yet, on Tuesday night Taliban forces descended on the district of Spin Boldak in Afghanistan, just a few miles from the Pakistan border, and attacked several posts of Afghan troops, who reportedly surrendered immediately.

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‘There is no fear’: how a cold-war tour inspired Pakistan’s progressive jazz scene

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A US state department initiative was the unlikely catalyst for a creative explosion of Pakistani rhythm and western improv

In 1956, a new weapon was unveiled in the cold war: jazz. That year, the US introduced the Jazz Ambassadors Tour, a showcase that sent American musicians overseas to parts of the world that were perceived to be under threat of Soviet influence.

While they initially intended to send ballet dancers and symphony orchestras, the State Department were persuaded that the jazz performers who were spearheading the civil rights movement would help generate a positive image of the US to newly independent nations (between 1945 and 1960, 40 countries gained their independence, representing a quarter of the world’s population). The department saw it as a way of silencing Soviet criticism that racial inequality was a stark issue in the US. The ethics were questionable, but the musicians saw this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to share their music directly with people in countries from Asia to Africa and beyond.

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Boris Johnson urged to look into death of British woman in Pakistan

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Kelsey Devlin’s family in Burnley had concerns for her welfare and want transparency over how she died

The prime minister of Pakistan and Boris Johnson have been asked to intervene in the case of a British woman who died in Pakistan, with MPs and her family calling for transparency over the circumstances.

Kelsey Devlin, a 27-year-old carer and mother of two from Burnley in Lancashire, died on 30 June in a hospital in Rawalpindi. A death certificate says the previously healthy young woman died of sepsis, a stroke and cardiopulmonary arrest, but her family in Burnley say they were concerned about her welfare in Pakistan before her death.

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Top fashion brands face legal challenge over garment workers’ rights in Asia

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Pan-Asian labour rights group launches groundbreaking attempt to hold global labels accountable for alleged rights violations during pandemic

Legal complaints are being filed against some of the world’s largest fashion brands in major garment-producing countries across Asia in a groundbreaking attempt to hold the global fashion industry legally accountable for human rights violations in the countries where their clothing is made.

The Asia Floor Wage Alliance (AFWA), a pan-Asian labour rights group, says it is using legal challenges to argue that global clothing brands should be considered joint employers, along with their suppliers, under national laws and be held accountable for alleged wage violations during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Outrage after Pakistan PM Imran Khan blames rape crisis on women

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Khan accused of being a ‘rape apologist’ after saying rise in attacks is down to women wearing ‘very few clothes’

Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, is facing backlash after he blamed victims of rape for wearing “very few clothes”.

The former cricket captain was questioned by the Axios journalist Jonathan Swan about the ongoing “rape epidemic” in Pakistan and responded by saying: “If a woman is wearing very few clothes it will have an impact on the man unless they are robots. It’s common sense.”

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‘A haven for free-thinkers’: Pakistan creatives mourn loss of progressive arts space

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‘Tragic’ closure of Sabeen Mahmud’s community venue T2F in Karachi comes as PM Imran Khan accused of fostering censorship and intolerance

Danial Shah turned to Sabeen Mahmud, for help with his first photo exhibition when all other organisations refused to show his work. Shah’s photographs cover political and cultural issues, such as local elections and women’s rights. Some refused to work with him on political grounds, while others did not reply at all.

After a meeting at Mahmud’s community space, T2F, in Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city, she agreed to host his exhibition. But Mahmud, a 40-year-old human rights activist who oversaw a programme of progressive arts at T2F, did not get to see Shah’s first exhibition. She was murdered a few months after their meeting.

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Deadly traffic: the fuel drivers caught up in Pakistan-Iran border tensions

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As the two countries crack down on smuggling, those forced to cross the border ‘for survival’ face a perilous journey

Karim Jan* spent the festival of Eid al-Fitr sitting in the scorching May sun as he had spent the previous five days, waiting in a long queue of traffic to get into Iran. Like hundreds of other drivers, Jan came to this desolate town of Mand, on the Pakistan border with Iran, from across Balochistan.

As they waited, some drivers slept in their Iranian pickup trucks , known as Zamyads, while others slept out under the open sky.

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‘Where should we go?’: thousands left homeless as Karachi clears waterways

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As Pakistan’s supreme court backs bulldozing of homes blamed for floods, critics say government has no proper plans for residents

Maqsooda Bibi, 62, did not know the house she had lived in all her life would be demolished, forcing her whole family to become homeless. But on Monday, Pakistan’s supreme court backed the Sindh government in bulldozing her home and hundreds of others, legalising the eviction of thousands who live along narrow waterways – nullahs – that crisscross Karachi.

The verdict came as Bibi and hundreds of others held a protest outside the court. “We hoped that the court would ask the government not to make us homeless, but it did the opposite. Our children also protested on Sunday and urged the supreme court to stop demolition. It seems no one here cares for the future of the poor.”

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Eradicating polio is finally within reach. Why is the UK taking its foot off the pedal? | Anne Wafula Strike

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Instead of cutting the aid budget – including 95% from the plan to stamp out the disease – Britain should take a global lead

Despite the Covid pandemic, there have been just two recorded cases of wild polio in 2021 – in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the two remaining hiding places for the disease. But eradication is not guaranteed. Polio is virulent and spreads quickly. Even one case poses a threat to unvaccinated children everywhere, which is why a new strategy launched last week by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) outlines a plan to utilise this small window of opportunity for the world to end polio for good.

A 99.9% fall in polio cases globally in recent decades is thanks in large part to the GPEI and its supporters. The British government’s recent announcement that it will slash its contributions to the GPEI by more than 95% has been a body blow. The funding cut amounts to almost a quarter of the annual World Health Organization polio eradication budget.

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Dozens killed after two trains collide in Pakistan – video report

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Two express trains have collided in southern Pakistan, killing at least 38 passengers, as rescuers and villagers worked to pull the dead and injured from the wreckage. The incident occurred early on Monday when the Millat Express derailed and was hit by the Sir Syed Express train soon afterwards. Mobile phone footage from the site in Ghotki district showed mangled wreckage, with several railway carriages lying on their side. It is not clear what caused the derailment

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Pakistan train crash: dozens killed as express services collide

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At least 38 people killed and up to 20 passengers trapped in wreckage of derailed Millat Express

Two express trains have collided in southern Pakistan, killing at least 38 passengers, as rescuers and villagers worked to pull the dead and injured from the wreckage.

Up to 20 passengers were still trapped in the wreckage of the Millat Express train, said Umar Tufail, a police chief in Ghotki district in Sindh province, where the collision occurred before dawn.

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‘They stormed the ICU and beat the doctor’: health workers under attack

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From Brazil to Myanmar, five doctors and nurses treating coronavirus patients share their experiences

Since the pandemic began, healthcare workers have been venerated for treating patients with Covid-19, but they have also been attacked for doing their job.

Five doctors and nurses treating coronavirus patients, some of whom asked to be kept anonymous, recount their experiences.

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Spat at, abused, attacked: healthcare staff face rising violence during Covid

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Data shows increased danger for those on the frontline in the pandemic, with misinformation, scarce vaccines and fragile health systems blamed

Hundreds of healthcare workers treating Covid patients around the world have experienced verbal, physical, and sometimes life-threatening attacks during the pandemic, prompting calls for immediate action from human rights campaigners.

Covid-related attacks on healthcare workers are expected to rise as new variants cause havoc in countries such as India and rollouts of vaccination programmes belatedly get under way in some countries, according to the UN special rapporteur on the right to health.

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Myanmar school strikes and a plane diverted to Minsk: human rights this fortnight – in pictures

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A roundup of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms, from Colombia to China

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