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SC
Takes Notice of Mianwali Pardon Deal
By Our Staff Reporter
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slamabad,
July 24: The Supreme Court on Wednesday took notice of
the reported compromise between two parties in Mianwali
about the pardoning of four convicts, and directed the
sessions judge to submit a report in this regard within
three days. Chief Justice Shaikh Riaz Ahmad, in his order,
ruled: "The compromise deal as reported in the press,
prima facie, appears to have been reached in violation
of the law of the land and against the norms of the civilized
world". The chief justice took the suo motu notice
after reading a news item in Dawn's issue of July 24 headlined
"Girls & gold save four from gallows". The
report said the family of Sardar Khan, Mohammad Akram
Khan, Mohammad Ashraf Khan and Asmatullah Khan, who were
awarded death in a double murder case by the sessions
judge of Mianwali, had struck a deal.
It said that after the rejection of the appeals by the
superior courts, and the mercy petition of the convicts
by the president of Pakistan, the parties entered into
a compromise deal with the help of prominent people of
the area, like Malik Asad of Kalabagh, whereby the accused
party agreed to pay Rs8 million as compensation, besides
giving the hands of eight unmarried girls to the men of
the complainant side.
One of the girls, 18, would be married to an 80-year-old
man.
The Chief Justice directed the office to register it as
a suo motu case and called report from the sessions judge
of Mianwali within three days. Reuters adds: The apex
court, in a statement, told the police to investigate
the deal. |
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Girl
wants Wani custom abolished
By Khursheed Anwar
Niazi |
Mianwali, July 26: The 18-year-old student, one
of the six girls of Abbakhel village rescued by the administration
from the age-old 'Wani' tradition, demanded on Friday eradication
of this social malaise. Talking to provincial law minister Rana
Ijaz Ahmad, Waziraan Khatoon, the FA student, said she had agreed
to marry Ata Muhammad, nearly 80, just to save the life of her
father and other accused. Hailing the role of the government,
she said the Punjab governor had intervened timely and set a
precedence by saving the girls from becoming scapegoats. The
girl was all praise for the press which, she said, played its
best role in giving the issue its due. The girl requested the
minister to help reduce the Diyat of Rs8 million as the family
had become pauper after selling their lands and valuables. The
law minister expressed his inability to resolve the monetary
strife, claiming the matter had already been settled. When contacted,
the girl's mother Sardaran Khatoon, lying on bed due to paralysis,
told this correspondent that she was elated at seeing her daughter
rescued. She said she made the decision with a heavy heart only
to save lives of her husband and others. "After all, no
mother could take such a decision willingly," said the
relieved mother.
Meanwhile, the Abbakhel village, some 12km from here on the
Mianwali-Talagang Road, wore a happy look on Friday. The government
high-ups, rights activists and newsmen came in hordes and smelt
an air of relief. Later talking to newsmen, the law minister
said the government was mulling over making a law for the eradication
of the 'Wani' tradition. Grooms, Ata Mohammad Khan, 80, and
Mehr Khan, 55, were found missing when the newsmen tried to
take their version. This correspondent interviewed one of the
convicts' brother, whose two minor daughters, Iqra and Ifra,
were among the girls to be handed over as compensation. "Although,
I dislike the tradition, I took the decision to save my dear
ones," he said. Complainant Abdullah Khan, son of slain
Noor Khan, told this correspondent that he had confirmed the
pardon of the four accused after getting Rs8 million Diyat.
He said his camp had forgiven the six girls. To a question,
he said his uncle Ata Muhammad Khan was a 'strict man' and he
made such demands (for girls) to make life tough for the arbitrators.
On the accused party's request, he claimed they accepted Rs8
million and 12 girls as 'Wani.' He claimed he forgave his share
of six girls but his uncle insisted on getting girls. On the
demand and then getting high compensation which is against the
tradition of the area, he claimed they had done all to uproot
the old enmity and to become brothers again. He said he had
become penniless after spending Rs5 to 6 million for the murder
case pending with the court for the last 18 years, adding the
compensation money would come in handy for him in the hour of
trial, he claimed. On the barbaric tradition, Abdullah said
it had turned a number of rivalries into blood relations. He
claimed the marriage of two girls was a mismatch. However, he
said the chapter was now closed once and for all. A majority
of the people in the village called for a permanent end to the
tradition. |
Human
sacrifice in India
By Rezwan Hamid |
| The incidents in Meerwala and Mianwali have brought
shame to Pakistan and hit world headlines. However, few people
know what goes on in one of our neighbouring countries where
human sacrifice to please gods and goddesses is still practised.
I produce below what a prestigious American magazine, Time Asia
recently reported: For the magic to work, said the US magazine,
"the killing had to be done just right. If the goddess
were to grant Khudu Karmakar the awesome powers he expected
from a virgin's death, the victim had to be willing, had to
know what was happening, watch the knife and not stop it. "But
even tranquillizers couldn't lull 15-year-old Manju Kumari to
her fate. In his police confession, Karmakar says his wife,
daughter and three accomplices had to gag Manju and pin her
down on the earthen floor before the shrine. "In ritual
order, Karmakar wafted incense over her, tore of her blue skirt
and pink T-shirt, shaved her, sprinkled her with holy water
from the Ganges and rubbed her with cooking fat. Then chanting
mantras to the 'mother' goddess Kali, he sawed off Manju's hands,
breasts and left foot, placing the body parts in front of a
photograph of a blood-soaked Kali idol." Saying that human
sacrifice remains banned in India by law, the American magazine
said it was still practised secretly. It adds, "Quite simply,
say the faithful, - known as tantrics - Kali looks after those
who look after her, bringing riches to the poor, revenge to
the oppressed and newborn joy to the childless. "So far
this year, police have recorded at least one case of ritual
killing a month. In January, in the southern state of Andhra
Pradesh, a 24-year-old woman hacked her three-year-old son to
death after a tantric sorcerer supposedly promised unlimited
earthly riches. In February, two men in the eastern state of
Tripura beheaded a woman on the instructions of a deity..."
The magazine goes on to give other examples. However, what happens
in India in no way lessens the enormity of crimes in Meerwala
and Mianwali. |
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Dra
Ghazi Khan:
Police escort
defendants and
witnesses in the
Meerwala gang-rape
case to a court
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Silence
Over Mianwali Bargain
By Reshma Sajjad |
| Although the Chief Justice of Pakistan has taken
suo moto notice of the infamous Mianwali bargain, but the damage
has been already done, and two innocent girls have been sacrificed
at the altar of tradition. Urgent efforts need to be done to
revoke these marriages. It is regrettable that among the ruling
elite and politicians, only Aitzaz Ahsan bothered to take notice
of this gory incident and issued a bold and informative statement
in this regard. However, the Punjab government is still sleeping.
Despite all claims of upholding women's rights, may be the governor
does not consider it politically expedient to interfere in these
'minor' matters and invite the wrath of his political allies
in Mianwali. It is also very strange to see that our ever green
Begum Atiya Inayatullah still seems to be very comfortable with
the situation, and did not make any effort to stop this crime
and injustice. Thus, all is quite in the government camp. It
could be that we are waiting for directions from the US State
Department before taking any action. May I call Islamists, secularists,
NGOs, journalists and all other groups to join hands and try
to stop this crime. In order to their resolve, they may set
up a hunger strike camp in front of the Mianwali Press Club.
I really wish that prominent politicians like Imran Khan, who
also happens to be from Mianwali, and Farooq Leghari, who happens
to be a relative of Nawab of Kalabagh, would lead this protest.
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Heirs
Pardon Killer Father Under Qisas Law
By Rafaqat Ali |
| Islamabad, July 26: Zakir Hussain Shah, a resident
of Bara Kau locality who had murdered his daughter last month,
will be absolved of the charge as his wife and son in their
capacity as legal heirs of the deceased have agreed to pardon
him under the Qisas and Diyat law. The Qisas and Diyat law,
which was enforced in 1990 on the insistence of the then chief
justice Mohammad Afzal Zullah, is being massively abused. Under
the law, murdering a family member virtually carries no punishment
as the other family members have the right to pardon the killer.
The Qisas law has changed the nature of the crime. Before the
introduction of this law, murdering a person was crime against
the state but now it is against the person. The heirs have powers
to pardon the murderer. Zakir had slit the throat of 18-year-old
Sabiha on June 26 at Dhoke Khayam on suspicion that she had
become pregnant. The matter was reported to the Bara Kau police
by her maternal uncle, Ibrar Hussain Shah. Ibrar had stated
that Zakir had murdered Sabiha after tying her with charpoy.
Zakir disappeared from the scene with the knife and later obtained
pre-arrest bail from the sessions court of Islamabad. He has
since returned home and is now living with his wife and son.
He had submitted a compromise deed on behalf of his wife and
son. The police presented the challan in the court of the district
and sessions judge, and the case is slated to be taken up on
Saturday. The court would have no option except to verify from
the heirs whether they had pardoned him or not. If the response
is in affirmative, the matter ends there and the murderer father
would be a free man like he was one month back. The main argument
for the enforcement of the Qisas law was that it would have
deterrence effects on society and the homicide would decrease.
Twelve years after its enforcement, the law is being misused
to the extent that people now commit homicide with impunity,
especially in family. Justice Munir A. Sheikh, senior puisne
judge of the Supreme Court, has been observing time and again
that after the introduction of the Qisas law, the crime rate
has increased. Recently, he asked Jamaat-i-Islami lawyers during
the course of Riba case to state whether the murders had decreased.
When the counsel had no answer, Justice Sheikh said his experience
as a judge of the high court and the apex court was that now
people murdered with impunity. In another case, a had killed
his four sisters in Mardan when they demanded share in the ancestral
property. The mother, who was the legal heir of the deceased
girls, pardoned the son and the case ended then and there. Similarly,
a man in Sargodha opened fire on his family members, resulting
in death of his two daughters. His wife and other daughters,
wounded in the shooting, pardoned the murderer as they were
the legal heirs of the deceased. |
Villager
Stoned to Death on Imam's Call
By Shamsul Islam Naz |
| Faisalabad, July 5: A man of Chak Jhumra was
stoned to death on Friday by villagers on the call of a local
Pesh Imam who had issued a decree (Fatwa) against the man accusing
him of blasphemy. Zahid Shah, 40, of Chak 103 JB (Barnala),
about 26km from here, was booked under Section 295-B of the
Blasphemy Act by Chak Jhumra police in Sept 1994 on the complaint
of Maulvi Faqir Mohammad, Imam of the village mosque, for desecrating
the Holy Quran and using objectionable words against the holy
Prophet. The accused was arrested and jailed. But in 1997, he
was granted bail by a local court. After his release he left
the village and settled with his brother, Mohammad Naeem, in
Madina Town (Faisalabad) while the case registered in 1994 against
him was still pending with the court. A few days ago, Zahid
Shah returned to his village. He allegedly had an altercation
with some of the locals on Thursday. When the matter was brought
to the notice of Faqir Mohammad, he convened a "Panchayat"
the same day. After Isha prayers, Maulvi Faqir Mohammad made
announcement through the mosque loudspeaker and urged people
to come out of their houses and kill Zahid. Scores of the villagers
gathered outside Zahid's house, dragged him out in the presence
of his brother and wife Perveen, and beat him with iron rods
and sticks. When he fell unconscious, the mob dragged him to
the main intersection of the village. In the meantime, people
belonging to nearby villages had also reached there. When he
regained senses, Mauvli Faqir Mohammad asked the enraged mob
to stone him. Zahid Shah sustained serious injuries during the
stoning and died on the spot. Chak Jhumra police, who reached
the spot after four hours of the incident, neither arrested
any of the persons who had stoned Zahid nor sent the body to
hospital for autopsy. Zahid's relatives, who were shocked and
terrified, kept themselves indoors and refused to get any case
registered against any person. The police handed over the body
to Naeem who took it to Faisalabad for burial. A Chak Jhumra
Police Station official said it was an "accidental incident"
and did not fall in the purview of cognizable offence. He said
when Zahid's family members refused to lodge any complaint,
the question of registering the case did not arise. Zahid was
the first cousin of Chaudhry Mohammad Tariq, Naib Nazim of Tehsil
Council, Chak Jhumra. Zahid left behind a widow and a son, Khurram
Shahzad. When this correspondent visited the village, some witnesses
said that though before stoning Naeem had begged mercy for his
brother and promised that the accused would leave the village
forever, the mob and the Imam had no second thoughts. |
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