The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday asked the government to inform it about the elements behind recording audios of conversations.
The court issued the directives while hearing a petition filed by Najam Saqib, the son of ex-CJP Saqib Nisar, against a National Assembly committee tasked with investigating his purported audio leak, wherein a voice said to be his could be heard demanding a “reward” from a PTI leader for securing him the party ticket to contest Punjab elections.
“Who records the audios,” Justice Babar Sattar asked as the IHC took up the case. The court sought a response from the government by June 19 and also barred the NA committee from taking any action against the ex-CJP’s son.
In his petition, Najam had requested the court to stop the proceedings of the parliamentary panel headed by Aslam Bhootani as the body was formed in violation of the National Assembly rules.
He also claimed that the committee did not summon him but the secretary of the committee still asked him to appear before the panel.
At the outset of the hearing, Justice Sattar inquired about the powers under which the committee had issued a notice. “Is this a special committee?” he asked.
Najam’s lawyer, Sardar Latif Khosa, said that the special committee would follow the same rules as those for regular committees.
“You will have to make the relevant ministry a part of the case,” Justice Sattar said. Khosa, however, responded by saying that there was no relevant ministry in this case but that they would do so.
The lawyer argued that their petition had stated that the NA speaker and the assembly did not have the jurisdiction to probe “private matters”.
“We have not challenged the matter that is currently being heard by the Supreme Court,” he said, referring to the pleas against the formation of a judicial commission formed to probe recent audio leaks.
He underlined that the audio in question was a private phone call between two private individuals and should not be subject to scrutiny by parliament.
The court then suspended the summons issued to Najam by the committee and asked the government to submit a reply in the case by June 19.
The petition
Najam had also challenged the “legality and validity” of the National Assembly speaker’s decision to form the special committee to “audit, inquire and investigate” his alleged audio clip.
“Under the garb of these audio leaks, a campaign has been launched against the petitioner and his father that some kind of gratification has been obtained by Abuzar Chaddhar for the said ticket,” he said.
While he conceded that his father played a role in the award of a PTI ticket to Chaddhar, the petition, however, stated that Chaddhar explored other avenues as well to secure the party ticket.
Najam said, “the petitioner is very clear in his mind that Abuzar Chaddhar was given the ticker on the basis of positive decision taken in the appeal on merit”.
According to the petition, “The audio leak is a result of illegal surveillance of the petitioner’s privacy which can neither be disseminated nor be used for incriminating the petitioner”. Citing its evidential value, the petition said “any document or audio leak cannot be used in any trial or inquiry” unless it is clear that who recorded it or for what purpose.
Alleged audio
In the audio in question, a voice purported to be that of Najam can be heard saying to the person on the other end that his father had worked very hard to get the job done and the caller on the other side, said to be PTI ticket hopeful Abuzar Chaddhar, can be heard saying he would come to meet Najam’s father after submitting the ticket.
In the clip, the voice said to be Najam’s can also be heard asking Chaddhar to meet his father the same day and, in conversation with another caller — identified as Mian Uzair — asking for “not only delivery of the goods, don’t take less than 120”.
Chaddhar was granted a PTI ticket in the second phase when party chairman Imran Khan reviewed and changed his earlier decision for 22 seats.
In the audio, a voice purported to be Chaddhar’s can be heard as saying that “your efforts have paid off” and he would come straight to meet him [ex-CJP] after submitting the ticket [with the ECP] before 12 noon.
According to Geo News, the former CJP confirmed that the audio was of his son’s but that the facts had been “doctored”.
Rare wailing air raid sirens and mobile phone alerts calling for evacuations rattled residents of the South Korean capital, Seoul, early on Wednesday after North Korea tried to launch what it said was a satellite.
Nuclear-armed North Korea’s sixth satellite launch ended in failure, with the booster and payload plunging into the sea, but not before prompting emergency alerts and evacuation warnings in parts of South Korea and Japan.
“I was so panicked. Nine-one-one lines were busy and the internet was slow,” said Lee Juyeon, 33, a resident in the densely populated city of about 10 million who has a 9-month-old child.
“So without knowing what was really happening, I was about to head down to a basement wearing a wrap carrier with my baby.”
The sirens started in Seoul at 6:32am as the city issued a “Presidential Alert” asking citizens to prepare for a potential evacuation.
Then came a second mobile alert, at least 10 minutes later, as the interior ministry said the city’s alert was sent in error.
Lee did not evacuate after seeing a television headline saying the alerts related to a North Korean space vehicle flying farther south, but she showed photographs of friends packing bags, readying to leave.
Although residents of Seoul are used to living in the shadow of threats from their nuclear-armed neighbour, an element of complacency has crept in among many in the city about the risks and how to respond.
The two countries are still technically at war seven decades after the Korean War ended in an armistice.
Some office workers in the Seoul’s central district said they had considered during their commute how to respond to the alarm, such as by withdrawing cash or hoarding water.
“I understand it was a mistake, but even if it has to be simple, that alert message should have said what went on and where to go,” Kim Jong-hyun, 48, said on his way to work after dropping off his child at school.
Later on Wednesday, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon apologised for confusion over the city’s alert but defended the decision to send one as a precaution for public safety. He said the city would improve the wording in future messages and on warning systems.
“Alerts” and “evacuation” were the most trending topics on Twitter in South Korea on Wednesday morning, with confused tweets scrambling to grasp what was going on or to find evacuation areas.
“Hey guys, given Twitter is still working, I guess it is not a war,” one user using the handle @Kimisnim__ said.
The venue inscribed on the birthday invitation was an orphanage in Islamabad. Walking down the entrance, I saw a stage fully decorated with the honouree’s beautiful calligraphy and painting collection. The birthday girl’s father, a man weighed down by loss yet resilient to the core, embraced me and thanked me for coming. Unfortunately, the birthday girl would not be joining us today.
Noor Mukadam was murdered a year and a half ago at age 27, and we were all present to celebrate her memory. Shaukat Mukadam, her father, told me that his daughter would come here every year to celebrate her birthday with the orphans. “She would have been here if she were alive,” he murmured with a smile, his eyes glistening with unshed tears, glancing around the venue as if he felt her presence lingering among us.
Remembering the victim of a horrific murder that jolted the city was a small crowd of mere 10 to 15 people present in a two million-strong city. In our midst at Noor’s birthday, the family of Sarah Inam was also present. Sarah was also brutally murdered in Islamabad, the capital city of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, just a few months after Noor Mukadam.
The city had barely recovered from the shock of one brutal act when it was forced to witness yet another heinous crime. The common denominators were the same: the murderers were men from privileged backgrounds. The kind of men I went to school with, worked alongside, or socialised with. Men who sadly believed it was okay to take someone’s life.
The chilling reality of these incidents serves as a sobering reminder of the urgent need to address the deep-rooted issue of male privilege.
Male privilege
Male privilege is a prevalent and pervasive plague in Pakistan, rooted in our society’s patriarchal structures, culture, and history. In the land of the pure, the concept of male privilege is an unwritten rule, deeply ingrained into the very fabric of our society. It is the systemic and often unacknowledged advantages, entitlements, and social power conferred upon men that are reinforced repeatedly through our elders, the media, social constructs, dramas, and movies.
This idea that men are superior to women and that their ego and status are ‘supreme’ casts its shadow over our homes, and almost every subsequent sphere of society. Even the slightest impingement triggers this fragile male ego leading to devastating consequences for women, such as workplace harassment, abuse at home, or in the case of Noor and Sarah — murder.
Male privilege lies at the heart of the femicide epidemic this country faces. This plague is evident even in polls; in a recent survey conducted by Ipsos, “85 per cent of Pakistanis agree that the main role of women in society is to be good mothers and wives”. In comparison, the global average stands at 41pc.
In short, one can infer that an average Pakistani is twice as likely to discourage women from going to work, contributing to society, or finding purpose in their life if it comes in the way of being good mothers or wives. We are all party to this male privilege and have created an environment for it to persist.
An enabling environment
Our society’s permissive context further exacerbates this male privilege, implicitly granting men the license to stare, grope, harass, rape, assault, and get away without facing the consequences. Wedded to our outdated loyalties, colonial-era constructs perpetuated by our societal norms have shielded men from being held accountable.
We shun the voices of our own when our traditional loyalties are questioned. We stop our women from protesting for their own rights, we encourage and expect our women to give up their careers for a suitable husband or discourage divorcing an abusive husband. We often turn a blind eye to harassment happening in front of us, diverting attention or dismissing it as someone else’s problem instead of stopping the perpetrator in his tracks, and challenging the oppressive systems that allow such injustices to persist.
Fighting fatigue and resolve to change
This July will mark 730 days since evil struck our capital’s heart and took Noor away. The fervour once shown with hundreds present at gatherings remembering her, has dwindled. The truth is we forget these things. Life takes over.
Inevitably, we will forget about the murders. We will forget about the horrific rape incident in F-9 Park. We have forgotten how a mother was raped before her children on the motorway. We forgot about the manifold incidents of violence against women before Noor’s and countless unknown cases that never even made it into the mainstream news. New stories replacing old incidents capture our attention. The carpet we use to hide our shortcomings is replaced with a newer, bigger carpet. All that is left are mourning families. The status quo persists, and the enthusiasm of our citizens and politicians wavers.
Change will require us to prioritise endurance to drive change over participation in a one-off protest. We need more than just thoughts and prayers — we need endurance over enthusiasm. We need the endurance to continue protesting, educating, crafting, and implementing laws that ensure women feel safe in their homes, workplaces, and the public sphere. It will require a series of interventions, experiments, continuous course correction, patience, and pain.
Educating the public and beginning conversations is a start and the upcoming seminar “Countering the Femicide Epidemic” organised by the National Commission on the Status of Women, in collaboration with Noor’s family and the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad on June 1, is a time to indulge in the tough conversations we desperately need to have. The event is open to all members of civil society.
Noor Mukadam’s landmark case has exposed the entrenched male privilege in Pakistan. After a long trial in the lower court, which sentenced Zahir Jaffer to death — a verdict upheld by the high court — the nation now awaits the Supreme Court’s verdict. Women across the country hope for a judgement that challenges the tenacious status quo and removes the cloud of fear that has arrested them.
On Noor’s birthday, I noticed her beautiful and inspiring calligraphy and thought about who she could have become — a world-renowned calligrapher, another Edhi who could have helped thousands of orphans, or simply just another loving daughter, sister and friend. I also realised that no one is going to fix this for us — no messiah is coming. We all must lead and end this plague.
Change starts at home; it lies within you. It begins when we listen unconditionally, when we become curious, question, and renegotiate centuries-old loyalties. When we do not look away, but instead stop a harasser in the act, and when we let women decide how they want to live their life. Most importantly, it’s when we tell our men that they are not entitled to women.
Header Illustration: A photo of Noor Mukadam. — Photo courtesy Leena Ghani Twitter
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) will hear PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s bail plea in the Al-Qadir Trust case later today at 2pm.
A division bench headed by Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb will preside over the hearing.
The case alleges that the PTI chief and his wife, Bushra Bibi, obtained billions of rupees and land worth hundreds of kanals from a real estate firm for legalising Rs50 billion that was identified and returned to the country by the UK during the previous PTI government.
Imran was whisked away from the IHC premises by paramilitary forces on May 9, leading to violent protests across the country. The PTI chief had immediately approached the IHC for release but it had declared his arrest legal.
Imran had then approached the Supreme Court, which on May 11, termed his arrest “invalid and unlawful” and directed him to appear before the IHC the next day.
Subsequently, the IHC had granted Imran bail in the case for two weeks and stopped authorities from arresting the PTI chief till May 17 in any case registered in Islamabad after May 9.
On May 17, the IHC had extended its order to prevent Imran’s arrest in cases filed against him after May 9 until May 31.
The IHC will also hear two other petitions concerning Imran today, one of which is a bail plea regarding the violation of Section 144.
The other is a writ petition seeking a bar on Islamabad police from arresting Imran in any case registered after May 9. These two petitions will be heard after the bail plea in the Al-Qadir Trust case at 2:30pm.
Meanwhile, an Islamabad accountability court will also take up the bail plea Bushra Bibi in the Al-Qadir Trust case. Last week, she had been granted bail till May 31 (today).
Accountability judge Mohammad Bashir will preside over the hearing.
Islamabad police says Section 144 still in place
Strict security arrangements will be in place during the hearings. A heavy police contingent will be deployed outside the IHC premises and the Federal Judicial Complex.
Furthermore, only those with special passes will be allowed to enter the courtroom.
Separately, Islamabad police reminded the public that Section 144 (ban on public gatherings exceeding four persons) was still in force.
“No political activity is allowed in high security zone/Red Zone,” the police force said on Twitter.
Imran questions NAB action sans probe into Bahria owner
Last week, Imran had questioned the credibility of the NAB probe in the Al-Qadir Trust case, pointing out the accountability watchdog’s failure to take action against Bahria Town owner Malik Riaz.
He made the remarks in his response to a call-up as he and Bushra Bibi joined the proceedings in the Al Qadir Trust case at NAB Rawalpindi’s office.
In a written reply, Imran also shifted responsibility on his former accountability aide Shahzad Akbar for making a secret deal with the property tycoon.
According to the reply, it was a misconception that the retrieved amount of £190m was not deposited in the national treasury. NAB grilled Imran for about four hours at its office and asked him to bring records along at the next hearing. Sources said that Imran’s reply was also termed “unsatisfactory” by NAB officials.
In his response about the money received from the UK, Imran stated, “It got deposited after conversion into PKR in the account opened in the name of Registrar Supreme Court of Pakistan…[if] the amount transferred constitutes ‘illegitimate amount’ and that Bahria Town is the beneficiary, thereof, it is indeed strange that till date you appear not to have taken any punitive measures against the owners of BTLK [Bahria Town] or applied to the Honorable Supreme Court of Pakistan for the recovery of the said amount on the ground that it is illegitimate money.”
He stated that since he was not aware of the settlement between the National Crime Agency (NCA) and Malik Riaz, he relied upon the briefing of Shahzad Akbar that “the amount was to be repatriated to Pakistan against the liability of respondents [Bahria Town].”
He said that the issue did not come under discussion in the cabinet.
“Shahzad Akbar got the deed of confidentiality approved from the cabinet on Dec 3, 2019. However, I am not aware of any other deed of confidentiality that may have been signed by SAPM Shahzad Akbar on Nov 06, 2019. As regard the allegations that in the deed of confidentiality stately signed on Nov 6, the designated account for adjustment of liability of BTLK was malafiedly intimated to the NCA UK for transfer of funds instead of repatriation of the recovered amount to the State of Pakistan, in order to give and obtain material benefit, I reiterate that I am not aware of any deed of confidentiality… nor was I privy to or have participated in providing any designated account to the NCA for repatriation of the funds from UK to the state of Pakistan,” he said.
LAHORE: Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi says the government will present provincial budget for four months.
Talking to a delegation of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS), led by its President Nazafreen Saigol Lakhani, here on Tuesday, he said a good news would come soon regarding improvement in the economic situation.
He lambasted the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) for showing old videos about ill-treatment of women prisoners in jails.
“A nefarious propaganda is being churned out. A total of 11 women involved in attacks on military installations are in jail on judicial remand,” he said and added the arrested women were kept in jail as per its manual. He said some 500 women were wanted in the May 9 incidents but the government showed restraint.
“Clear instructions have been given to not arrest anyone innocent. A dangerous plan was hatched to burn valuable aircrafts in the attack on the Mianwali Air Base. Attackers of Mianwali Air Base brought weapons concealed in trolleys filled with straws. In Mianwali, the policemen continued to fight the attackers,” he said and added the attack on Jinnah House was pre-planned.
Earlier, the APNS delegation and the chief minister discussed matters related to the newspaper industry.
Mr Naqvi assured the delegation of resolving problems of the newspaper industry.
“I have issued instructions for early payment of dues to the newspapers. Newspapers will be paid in the ratio of 85 to 15 per cent in lieu of advertisements and the advertisement quota is also being increased,” Mr Naqvi said.
During the meeting, prayers were offered for the late APNS member Mumtaz Ahmed Tahir and tributes paid to his journalistic services.
In the meeting, it was agreed to continue the advertisements in the magazines and journals of the deceased members of APNS.
Speaking on the occasion, Punjab Information Minister Aamir Mir said the system of advertisements in newspapers was being digitised, through which payments could be made in the shortest possible time.
The information secretary and DGPR were also present on the occasion.
Musk met with Jin Zhuanglong in Beijing to discuss 'the development of new energy vehicles and intelligent connected vehicles', according to a readout from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
US President Joe Biden is finalising an executive order to restrict American investment in China’s defence industry, the move which is likely to further ratchet up a campaign that Beijing calls "economic coercion", according to a report
Cricket’s cash-starved associate member nations fear the proposed new international revenue distribution model, which heavily favours the game’s superpowers, could potentially stall the growth of the game.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has proposed a new revenue-sharing model for the 2024-27 cycle to be voted on at its July board meeting in Durban.
According to figures leaked to Cricinfo, cricket’s financial engine India would alone claim 38.5 per cent, primarily in recognition of its contribution to the commercial revenue pot.
The 12 full members of the ICC would collectively take 88.81 per cent with the rest distributed among 94 associate members.
The ICC has not commented on the figures, though general manager Wasim Khan said on Monday all members would get more money under the proposed model than in the past.
Pakistan have already made clear their opposition to the model in its current shape and resentment is rumbling among other, less developed, cricketing nations.
Sumod Damodar, one of the three associate member representatives on the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee, said the proposal would not meet the needs of associate members.
“If what is being proposed and discussed is likely to be the outcome then, as an associate member representative, I would be (disappointed),” he told Reuters.
“There are numerous practical reasons why it would be inadequate for associate members.”
Damodar, vice chairman of Botswana’s board, said associate members who have earned one-day international (ODI) status need more money to sustain their high-performance programmes, while the others need cash to bridge the gap.
Citing the rapid rise of Nepal in men’s cricket and Thailand in the women’s game, Damodar said more countries would step up if they were given the required financial support.
Vanuatu Cricket Association Chief Executive Tim Cutler said the proposed model would only accentuate the inequality between cricket’s haves and have-nots.
“The new model is now even more heavily weighted towards the bigger cricketing nations, and there is a risk that the proposed changes will exacerbate this imbalance, putting the future of the game at further risk,” Cutler told Reuters.
“The sad reality is, cricket will not grow beyond its current corners of the world […] if the allocation of the games global funds aren’t more equally allocated with a view to actually growing the game.”
With full members having 12 of the 17 total votes on the ICC board, Cutler said diverting funds away from themselves, or making independent decisions for the good of the game, would be like “turkeys voting for Christmas”.
The ICC did not respond to a request for comment when asked about the concerns of the associate members.
Stronger and richer
Former ICC President Ehsan Mani said there was a lack of vision at the governing body in its approach to developing cricketing nations, despite the huge commercial potential of some of them.
“One of the biggest risks for global cricket is its over-dependence on one country, India, for a major part of the revenues generated,” the former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman told Reuters.
“Countries like the USA and the Middle East and, in longer term, China would bring enormous benefits to the ICC, its members and the global game. World cricket would be stronger and richer for it.”
For Mani, India grabbing the lion’s share of ICC revenues “makes no sense” and he advocated equal shares for all full members.
“World cricket needs a strong West Indies, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan,” he added.
“Cricket in Zimbabwe has suffered due to lack of funds as have Ireland and Afghanistan. Lack of investment in some of these countries will make the game unsustainable and world cricket will be poorer for it.”
Uganda has signed the Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law, which is perhaps the strictest anti-LGBTQ legislation in the world. However, the African nation is not alone. In Iran, Saudi Arabia same-sex activity attracts a death sentence. In Malaysia, such behaviour sees 20 years in jail and a whipping
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GILGIT: Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly Speaker Amjad Ali Zaidi will face a no-confidence vote for not honouring an agreement on the split sharing of the post.
The motions against the speaker will be submitted to the assembly secretariat today (Tuesday), according to Deputy Speaker Nazir Ahmed Advocate.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, Mr Ahmed said the required number of members have signed the motions.
The lawmakers from the ruling PTI and opposition parties including PPP, PML-N, JUI-F and independent members have signed the motion.
Chief Court forms new bench to hear CM’s fake degree case
The motion will need the votes of 17 members in the 33-seat house to be successful. According to Mr Ahmed, an agreement was reached in 2020 to share the position of speaker. It was decided that Mr Zaidi will retain the post for two and a half years as speaker and then he will be elected as the speaker for the remaining period.
The agreement was reached in the presence of former prime minister Imran Khan and GB Chief Minister Khalid Khursheed.
Mr Zaidi has completed his two and a half years in the positions as agreed and now he needs to step down, Mr Ahmed said, “But the speaker was reluctant to honour the agreement.”
GB court forms larger bench
Separately, GB Chief Court has constituted a larger bench to decide the fake degree case against CM Khursheed.
The bench will conduct day-to-day hearings to conclude the case.
In July 2022, GB Chief Election Commissioner Raja Shahbaz Khan admitted a petition challenging Mr Khursheed’s law degree.
Former GB minister Farman Ali Khan and former Assembly member from Astore Abdul Hameed Khan had challenged the chief minister’s degree.
Later, the chief minister, through his counsel Aurangzeb Khan, challenged the election commissioner’s decision in the Chief Court.
In October 2022, a two-member bench suspended the election commissioner’s notice and barred him from proceeding further in the case.
The next hearing was set to take place on June 1.
However, on the CM’s request, a larger bench has been constituted to hear the case.
A notification issued by GB Chief Court stated that judges Malik Anayatur Rehman, Johar Ali and Muhammad Mushtaq will be part of the bench which will decide the case in 14 days.
No loss of life was reported after a huge fire broke out at a plastic factory in Karachi’s SITE area on Monday, rescue and police officials said.
SITE-B Station House Officer (SHO) Zawar Husain told Dawn.com that the fire erupted on the third floor of the Sohail Plastic Factory at 9:15am.
He added that workers present inside the factory had been rescued while those inside an adjacent factory had also been vacated to avoid any injuries or loss of life.
Noting that the fire had not been brought under control yet, the SHO said that the factory’s walls had collapsed and said that the building may have suffered “substantial damage”.
Edhi Foundation spokesperson Azeem also said that there were no reports of deaths or injuries. An official statement from the rescue service said its ambulances and volunteers were present at the site to aid in rescue efforts.
Detailing the preliminary report of the incident, Keamari District Commissioner Mukhtiar Abro said the reason for the fire was reported to be a short circuit.
He said that an inquiry was ongoing and a detailed report would be released after it was verified from the authorities concerned.
The fire brigade said they had been alerted about the incident at 9:37am. It added that five fire tenders, two snorkels and a water bowser were busy controlling the fire but it had not been brought under control yet.
In April, four firefighters lost their lives while 13 others were injured in a fire that broke out at a factory located in the New Karachi area of the city.
Earlier the same month, one person was killed and three were found unconscious after a building near a generator market in Karachi’s New Chali area caught a blaze.
China's latest censure of export limits came during Wang's May 26 meeting with Japanese Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Detroit
To protest is an inherent part of any democracy. Protests are fundamental to the success of democratic processes as they highlight the struggles of the people and, therefore, result in social change.
If you go through the popular rhetoric on social media these days, however, some would have you believe that the PTI is the first political party to have created space for women to participate in political activities, that this is the first time women have taken to the streets for a political cause, and that this is the first time that they have been manhandled or detained by law enforcers for participating in protests.
The reality is that women have been passionately mobilising and protesting — often alongside their male counterparts — since before Independence and have also been at the receiving end of brutal repression by the state. Whether it is to support their favourite leader or a political party that they align with, they have never been afraid to be at the forefront of any movement. They have also taken the lead in actively mobilising for social causes that fail to make it to the priority lists of political parties. For the sake of brevity, however, this essay only focuses on women’s participation in political causes.
A woman PTI supporter shields her younger brother from a baton charge during the party’s protest near Millennium Mall — Shakil Adil / White Star
A tradition of rebellion
The phenomenon of women’s participation in politics — mainstream or otherwise — began well before Independence. In the 1946 elections, two women, Begum Jahanara Shahnawaz and Begum Shaista Ikramullah, were elected to the Central Constituent Assembly and continued to be part of the first Constituent Assembly after Partition.
This was also the year women supporting the Muslim League came out on the streets and protested against the government for refusing to allow the political party to form a ministry. They faced violence from the state — very much like they do today — and many were arrested.
Women leaders of the Muslim League are released from Punjab Jail in March 1947 — Lahore Museum Archives
Of course, no one can deny the role women played in the Pakistan movement.Women like Fatima Jinnah, Ra’ana Liaquat Ali Khan, Begum Abdullah Haroon, Begum Ghulam Hidayatullah, Jehan Ara Shahnawaz, Viqarun Nisa Noon, Begum Tassaduq Hussain and many unnamed others fought alongside men against colonial powers and for a separate nation.
Initially, women’s protests for the cause were limited to Lahore and Karachi; however, the Civil Disobedience Movement of 1947 saw Pakthun women in modern day KP come to the fore and register their protests.
After Independence, women’s inclusion in politics as well as other aspects of the democratic process were seriously deterred by long periods of dictatorships.
It is also ironic that it was under a military dictator that women received an unprecedented number of seats in the federal as well as provincial assemblies in 2002 and entered formal political representation. Then again, it was the same military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, who in 2005 had this to say about the rising incidence of rape cases in the country: “This has become a moneymaking concern. A lot of people say if you want to go abroad and get a visa for Canada or citizenship and be a millionaire, get yourself raped.”
Bushra Gohar, a senior leader of the National Democratic Movement (NDM) and former senior vice-president of the Awami National Party (ANP), told Dawn.com that “democracy and the political process in the country has been weakened by long military dictatorships and military control during the brief transition to democracy”.
“The attacks on political leaders have affected political parties as well. They weren’t able to develop a strong democratic political system within parties,” said the former MNA.
Bushra Gohar — AFP
In spite of this, women actively participated in protests against several dictatorial regimes. Whether it was during the protests of the late 1960s against Ayub Khan — where students, women, workers and peasants, along with politicians like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto forced the dictator to resign on March 25, 1969 — or during the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD) in the early 80s against General Ziaul Haq’s rule, women have always been a force to be reckoned with.
In recent years, Gwadar has seen a series of protests, many of them led by women. The Haq Do Tehreek (HDT), led by Jamaat-i-Islami’s Maulana Hidayatur Rahman, has been staging regular protests in the city for a number of demands, including the banning of illegal trawlers in Balochistan’s waters, a reduction of security checkpoints, as well as the liberalisation of trade with neighbouring Iran.
Despite facing violence from the law enforcement agencies time and again, in the form of tear-gas and arrests, the protesters continue to gather. In late December last year, the Balochistan government imposed Section 144 for a month. Despite the law prohibiting the gathering of five or more people in public, the demonstrators continued to pour onto the streets — and get arrested.
Maasi Zainab brings women to the maulana’s protests and sit-ins — Dawn
Sixty-five-year-old Maasi Zainab is the female face of Gwadar’s HDT and is also the one who helped bring Rahman to the forefront. He was on his way to Turbat when he heard Zainab’s message on his phone and decided to come to the port city and join her for the protests. Since then, she has been a strong supporter of Rahman and continues to go door to door to invite women to the protests and sit-ins.
Before Gwadar, hundreds of women marched in the streets of Swat in 2013 to protest prolonged power outages and load shedding of natural gas in the area. This was the first time in the history of the region that women — most of them housewives from Saidu Sharif and adjoining areas — took to the streets to voice their demands.
During one such demonstration, Tabbasum Bashir, an activist who headed the protest, told The Express Tribune: “This protest is a slap on the face of the government. Despite cultural and social barriers, the women are here to demand for their rights.”
“They have joined political parties, protest movements, and community mobilisations to access greater rights and resources. But because fewer women have played visible leadership roles, their contributions to the political culture have been recognised less,” she added.
The cover of Ayesha Khan’s book
In 1981, the MRD movement against the dictatorship of Gen Zia demonstrated bravery of women protestors. The PPP, which at the time was headed by former PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s widow Begum Nusrat Bhutto and later by their daughter Benazir Bhutto, joined hands with the Awami Tehreek and other secular democratic parties to mobilise people across Sindh against the dictator.
Women affiliated with Rasool Bux Palijo’s left-leaning Awami Tehreek formed the Sindhiyani Tehreek (ST) to call for an end to feudalism and the patriarchy, demanded federalism and provincial autonomy and fought to restore democracy. Although the ST was a women’s wing and not entirely independent, it had an independent working mechanism, a separate constitution and distinct areas of operation. Hundreds of women partaking in the MRD were arrested and faced violent suppression from the state at the time.
The Sindhiyani Tehreek played a crucial role in mobilising rural Sindhi women for the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy — Sarmad Palijo/Twitter
“Women in the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy during the 1980s were brutally repressed and attacked by the military for speaking out against the regime and demanding the political rights of the people, particularly in Sindh,” explained Khan.
Farhatullah Babar, a prominent PPP politician and former senator, remembers the women’s resistance against Zia as “heroic”.
“It was heroic because the women had stood up against a military dictatorship with whom the mullahs had also joined hands.”
Farhatullah Babar — Mohammad Asim / White Star
Describing the women’s struggle against the “mullah-military alliance as a glorious chapter in the history of women’s rights in Pakistan”, he said: “Zia used the name of Islam to curb resistance to his dictatorship. In particular, religious principles were interpreted in ways that militate against the weakest section of society, namely the women.
“When the Federal Shariat Court at the time decreed that stoning to death was unIslamic, he [Zia] sacked the chief justice and brought in a handpicked head of the Shariat Court and authorised him to also review any verdict of the court. Thus reviewing its previous judgment, the new court declared stoning to death Islamic,” he added. “Zia went too far.”
Gohar also recalled the protests of the Women Action Front against Zia’s “draconian laws [as] very powerful”.
Beyond the mainstream, political parties at local levels have also attracted women members and supporters, whether it is the Hazara, Baloch or Pashtun women fighting against terror and militant attacks in the region and protesting against the abduction of their loved ones — who are often given the misnomer of ‘missing persons’.
“The Baloch women’s movement against enforced disappearances is very inspiring,” Gohar continued.
“Women who protest against the terror attacks on Shia Hazaras in Balochistan face risk to their lives by taking to the streets — many of these women are affiliated with Hazara political parties, for example, the Hazara Democratic Party,” said Khan. “Women in the ANP in KP have been exposed to militant attacks. In fact, which political party has members that have not been suppressed by the state?” she asked.
Obstacles to participation
Afiya Zia, a researcher, activist and author of Faith and Feminism in Pakistan, said that while women have been actively engaging in political struggles over the years, much of their energy has been directed towards the countless cases of violence against them, for example, “Sindhi and Baloch women protesting against dams and honour-based killings and for their right to marry [whoever] they want.”
Gohar, who herself has been a part of many protests since the beginning of her political career, said: “Over the years, starting from military dictator Ziaul Haq, I have been threatened, harassed and my party membership revoked for my rights-based political positions.”
This shows that despite the enthusiasm and bravery women have shown time and again, they have not had it easy. At every stop, they face challenges and harassment to merely have their voices heard within or outside political avenues.
When PTI’s Azadi March took to the streets in the federal capital in 2014, women were seen participating in great numbers. The appearance of famous pop singers such as Abrarul Haq, Shehzad Roy, Najam Sheraz and Salman Ahmad of Junoon were a regular occurrence at Imran Khan’s sit-in.
Like everyone else in the audience, women enjoyed the music and danced — eliciting strong cries of ‘fahashi!’ from the morality police. They were not only character-shamed online but offline too, even inside the parliament itself.
PTI’s Azadi March in 2014 — Reuters
In 2018 — the incumbent Interior Minister of Pakistan — Rana Sanaullahpassed derogatory remarks regarding women who attended PTI’s rally, saying, “The women that were present [there], their ‘thumke’ [hip movement] showed where they had come from. In yesterday’s rally, they hired dancers to attract people to come. This is how the fill their jalsas with people.”
This character assassination of female participants at protests and rallies is not a rare occurrence. Last year, Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, JUI-F chief, said at a rally that PTI’s female supporters “want him [Imran Khan] to come to their bedrooms”. This misogynistic mindset does not only reflect his individual opinion but also highlights a deep-rooted problem of rampant sexism in all levels of our society.
“Politics in Pakistan is male-dominated and controlled. There is very little space and acceptance of women in politics. Women have to work twice as hard to be accepted as a leader,” asserted Gohar.
“Patriarchy, tribalism and conservatism coupled with Talibanisation as state policy have made the political environment toxic and hazardous for women in politics,” she said, listing the reasons that deter women from entering and staying in politics.
She is now one of the founding members of the National Democratic Movement — a Pashtun nationalist, regionalist, and social-democratic political party — and its Pakhtunkwa chairperson. She said she is a part of all key policy decision-making forums of the party.
But not everyone has been so lucky. According to Gohar, “over the years, political parties have become family enterprises with very little room for ideological politics.”
As a result, women’s participation in protests and movements has shrunk, she lamented. “This is largely because political parties haven’t invested in women members’ mobilisation and facilitation. Security and financial constraints have also affected women’s participation in public gatherings.”
More than anything, this goes to show how complicated women’s struggles are in Pakistan — just like anywhere else — and that they cannot be painted with a broad brush.
“Women’s rise in politics hasn’t been organic nor have political parties taken any internal reform to enable gender mobility or increase representation — not even invested in women voters, “ said Afiya.
In the 2018 elections, for example, only five per cent of the candidates contesting for the general seats were women. Of these 171 candidates, eight won seats.
And yet, Babar feels “it is absolutely important that women are part of the mainstream politics to carry forward the agenda of their emancipation. In a patriarchal society like Pakistan, women will have to take the lead”.
“They have proved that when they took the lead, they also made significant achievements. Women must therefore be an important part of any protest or political movement for their emancipation.”
Header image: A woman gestures next to a burning police vehicle during a protest in Karachi following Imran Khan’s arrest — Reuters/ File
PESHAWAR: A teenage girl died at the Lady Reading Hospital here after she gave birth to a stillborn baby, a police statement said on Sunday.
According to the statement, the 15-year-old was brought to the LRH in critical condition, where the doctors, keeping in view her condition, carried out a surgery. The girl gave birth to a stillborn baby, but died shortly after.
The statement said that a special team was formed to probe the case, but relatives of the deceased were reluctant to cooperate with the police. It added that the police started profiling suspected persons and arrested an accused within 24 hours of the death of the girl. He was arrested from Jamil Chowk area on the outskirts of the provincial capital.
The statement said that the accused had confessed to raping the girl five months ago. It stated that the investigation team was probing the case from different angles, including analysing the DNA samples of the stillborn baby and questioning the lady health visitor, who opted for an abortion.
SWABI: Jamaat-i-Islami’s central naib emir Liaqat Baloch has said the mayhem created following the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan on May 9 was the result of hatred created among the minds of youth.
He called for political parties to not deviate from Constitution of Pakistan and keep national interests over and above their personal interests for the country’s progress.
He was addressing a workers’ convention held here on Sunday. The gathering was also attended by Jamaat’s central and provincial leaders.
Mr Baloch said the confronting internal and external issues could only be resolved when the parliamentarians had the passion to develop the country and the nation.
He condemned the attacks on army installations and memorials of martyrs. He said Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s current predicament was because it had committed grave mistakes. “Imran Khan used the party workers as shield and instilled hatred in their minds,” he said.
Mr Baloch also assailed the establishment for making and breaking political parties, weakening the country.
The JI leader said innocent political activists should not be targeted, and imprisoned women activists should be given due respect.
He appealed to leaders of all the political parties to sit across the table, analyse the current situation and reach a mutually acceptable formula to steer the country out of the multiple crises.
“We have to find our way out of the present complicated environment so as to bring economic prosperity to the country and its people,” he said.
Liaqat Baloch said if there was no political stability, the country would drift towards destruction.
“Today, the judiciary and the government are standing against each other,” he said, adding the leadership didn’t have the ability to lead the country in a befitting way.
On the occasion, Jamaat’s provincial general secretary Abdul Wasi said political rivalries were pushing Pakistan deeper into crisis, and the whole nation was looking up to the JI to save the country from further turmoil.
The convention was aimed to prepare ground for reaching out to voters for the next elections.
Addressing a hastily staged press conference, Rana Sanaullah alleged that the objective of the move was to falsely implicate the law-enforcement agencies in the crime and subsequently raise the issue at the international level
In an exclusive interview with Il Messaggero daily, Meloni said that it is yet too early to decide if Italy took the right call by joining BRI or to think whether it should remain part of the project
Turkiye voted on Sunday in a historic runoff that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan enters as the firm favourite to extend two decades of his Islamic-rooted rule to 2028.
The Nato member’s longest-serving leader defied critics and doubters by emerging with a comfortable lead against his secular challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the first round on May 14.
The vote was nonetheless the toughest the 69-year-old has faced in one of Turkiye’s most transformative eras since its creation as a post-Ottoman republic 100 years ago.
Kilicdaroglu cobbled together a powerful coalition of Erdogan’s disenchanted former allies with secular nationalists and religious conservatives.
Opposition supporters viewed it as a do-or-die chance to save Turkiye from being turned into an autocracy by a leader whose consolidation of power rivals that of Ottoman sultans.
But Erdogan still managed to come within a fraction of a percentage point of winning outright in the first round.
His success came in the face of one of the world’s worst cost-of-living crises, with almost every opinion poll predicting his defeat.
Waiting outside an Istanbul polling station on Sunday, 93-year-old Ozer Atayolu told AFP he always arrived first to vote “because I believe in democracy and my responsibility as a citizen”.
“I feel like a child having fun,” the retired textile engineer said.
Opposition gamble
Kilicdaroglu tried his best to keep his disappointed supporters’ spirits up.
“Do not despair,” he said on Twitter after the vote. But he then vanished from view for four days before re-emerging a transformed man.
The former civil servant’s old message of social unity and democracy gave way to desk-thumping speeches about the need to immediately expel migrants and fight terrorism.
His right-wing turn was targeted at nationalists who emerged as the big winners of the parallel parliamentary elections.
The 74-year-old had always adhered to the firm nationalist principles of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the military commander who formed both Turkiye and Kilicdaroglu’s secular CHP party.
But these had played a secondary role to his promotion of socially liberal values practised by younger voters and big-city residents.
Analysts question whether Kilicdaroglu’s gamble will work.
His informal alliance with a pro-Kurdish party left him exposed to charges from Erdogan of working with “terrorists”.
The government portrays the Kurdish party as the political wing of outlawed militants.
And Kilicdaroglu’s courtship of Turkiye’s hard right was hampered by the endorsement Erdogan received from an ultra-nationalist who finished third two weeks ago.
Transactional and tense
People react following early exit poll results for the presidential and parliamentary elections, in Istanbul, Turkey May 15. — Reuters
The political battles are being watched closely across world capitals because of Turkiye’s footprint in both Europe and the Middle East.
Erdogan’s warm ties with the West during his first decade in power were followed by a second in which he turned Turkiye into Nato’s problem child.
He launched a series of military incursions into Syria that infuriated European powers and put Turkish soldiers on the opposite side of Kurdish forces supported by the United States.
His personal relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin has also survived the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine despite Western sanctions against Moscow.
Turkiye’s troubled economy is benefiting from a crucial deferment of payment on Russian energy imports, which helped Erdogan spend lavishly on campaign pledges this year.
Erdogan also delayed Finland’s membership of Nato and is still refusing to let Sweden join the US-led defence bloc.
The Eurasia Group consultancy said Erdogan was likely to continue trying to play world powers off each other should he win.
“Turkiye’s relations with the US and the EU will remain transactional and tense,” it said.
Day of reckoning
Turkiye’s unravelling economy will pose the most immediate test for whoever wins the vote.
Erdogan went through a series of central bankers until he found one who started enacting his wish to slash interest rates at all costs in 2021 — flouting the rules of conventional economics in the belief that lower rates can cure chronically high inflation.
Turkiye’s currency soon entered a freefall and the annual inflation rate touched 85 per cent last year.
Erdogan has promised to continue these policies, despite predictions of economic peril from analysts.
Turkiye burned through tens of billions of dollars while trying to support the lira from politically sensitive falls ahead of the vote.
Many analysts say that Turkiye must now either hike interest rates or abandon its attempts to support the lira — two solutions that would incur economic pain.
“The day of reckoning for Turkiye’s economy and financial markets may now just be around the corner,” analysts at Capital Economics warned.
The election will decide not only who leads Turkey, a NATO-member country of 85 million, but also how it is governed, where its economy is headed after its currency plunged to one-tenth of its value against the dollar in a decade, and the shape of its foreign policy
PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday hit back at Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah’s allegations that the party had planned to orchestrate a “raid and rape” at a known worker’s home in an effort to malign law enforcement agencies, terming them an effort to pre-empt and cover up “horror stories”.
Imran’s remarks came hours after Sanaullah, in a post-midnight press conference in Faisalabad, alleged that intelligence agencies had intercepted a telephone call in which a plan to “stage a raid and rape” at a known PTI worker’s home was being discussed.
The interior minister did not provide any proof of his claim.
“A plan […] was being prepared. That there is an actual raid at a home — and that home will be of a known PTI worker — and an incident of firing occurs there, resulting in casualties,” he said, adding that this was being planned to highlight human rights violations in Pakistan.
“In the same conversation that was intercepted, a second drama was that a rape is carried out. Meaning that an actual rape is carried out and it is blamed on law enforcement agencies [and] that it is happening at the government’s behest.”
The minister alleged that the PTI had then planned to highlight the issue on international media. He said that there were chances that the act would be carried out “tonight” (Sunday night) which is why the government had deemed it “necessary to make the nation aware of the devilish design”.
The minister had also taken to Twitter with his allegations. “The country’s agencies intercepted a conversation, revealing disturbing plots and planned actions, including a raid on the PTI leader’s house and a staged rape,” he said.
Sanaullah reiterated that the objective was to “falsely implicate law enforcement institutions in the crime” and to subsequently raise the issue at an international level.
Responding to the allegations, Imran said: “If there were any doubts about women being mistreated in jails, this press conference from this certified criminal should remove all such doubts.
“He is so obviously trying to cover up and pre-empt the horror stories about to break in the media,” he said, adding that women were being “mistreated and harassed by the state” for protesting peacefully.
Meanwhile, Islamabad police urged officials to ensure that cameras in police stations, offices and jails were working properly to avoid “plans to target officials”.
The police force noted that a “planned campaign to defame institutions” had been initiated under which officials — regardless of their post — would be targeted.
“While all women are respectable, some can be used in this campaign,” Islamabad police said, calling on officials to “keep matters transparent to avoid such tactics”.
KARACHI: Mohammad Bilal, the former two-time national snooker champion, died following a cardiac arrest in his hometown Mandi Bahauddin on Friday night.
The 38-year-old player was laid to rest in his hometown after Zuhr prayers, the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Federation (PBSF) said in a statement.
During his career, Bilal won the national title twice in 2016 and 2019 besides clinching other domestic honours.
At international stage, Bilal partnering compatriot Asjad Iqbal bagged the 2018 IBSF World Team Cup in Doha, and clinched the Snooker 10 Reds event during ACBS Asian Tour the same year.
In 2019, he won silver at the SAARC Snooker Championship in Dhaka.
Meanwhile, the PBSF condoled the sudden demise of Bilal and prayed for the departed soul.
At least nine people have lost their lives, and 25 others sustained injuries in a snow avalanche that hit Astore district, Gilgit Baltistan on Saturday, according to officials.
Deputy Inspector General of Police for Diamer-Astore Division, Tufail Mir, informed Dawn.com that the avalanche struck nine people near Shunter Pass during the early hours of the day.
Among the deceased were three women, he added.
Mir said that rescue teams were facing challenges in reaching the affected area due to its remote location and difficult terrain.
Furthermore, communication difficulties were also impeding the officials’ efforts.
GB Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid Khan expressed deep sorrow over the loss of lives and instructed local authorities to initiate rescue operations.
He called upon the secretary interior, director general of GBDMA (Gilgit Baltistan Disaster Management Authority) and other officials to look into the incident immediately.
Meanwhile, GB Chief Secretary Mohiuddin Wani said that rescue teams had been dispatched to the affected area in line with the instructions of the chief minister.
A medical fitness certificate of PTI Chairman Imran Khan, prepared by the Pakistan Institute of Medical Science (Pims) after his arrest on May 9 and released to the media on Friday, claimed that the former prime minister appears “under stress with anxiety symptoms” and had “little insight about the seriousness and reality of the current situation”.
The report was shared by Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel in a press conference, who claimed that the report showed Imran’s test results from while he was under the National Accountability Bureau’s custody.
While the report claimed that Imran’s “mental stability is questionable”, elsewhere it declared his higher mental function to be “intact”, clinical status “stable” and deemed him “fit” for detention by the accountability watchdog.
PTI has claimed that it will take legal action against Patel under defamation and other laws. Meanwhile, many on Twitter reacted to Patel’s conference, pointing out the contradictory nature and poor quality of the report.
Senior journalist Abbas Nasir urged the stakeholder[s] to do better: “Surely, PPP could do better than to use this so-called ‘medical report’. Seriously, at least think about your own respect,” he tweeted.
Political analyst Mosharraf Zaidi termed the certificate a “joke of a letter” and questioned the quality of doctors who put together the reports.
“Forget former PM Imran Khan’s blood tests and the quality of doctors that would put together that joke of a ‘letter’.
Zaidi also seemed to criticise Patel’s competence as the health minister. “Just take a moment to breathe in the reality of Abdul Qadir Patel as Health Minister.
“A very elaborate and cruel simulation is being enacted,” he wrote.
Journalist and ARY TV show host Maria Memon discussed the medical report on her show, questioning the standard of ethics and seriousness of the doctors who signed the report as well as of Patel, who held a press conference “to discuss the urine sample of a political opponent.”
“If you consult medical experts about the report — both in Pakistan and abroad — they call it a joke.”
“I wish Qadir Patel had consulted someone about what the report even says. On the first page, Imran Khan’s higher mental function is intact, but on the second page, the mental function suddenly deteriorates… How is there such a big difference in the contents of page one and page two?” Memon questioned.
Lawyer Abdul Moiz Jaferii said, “We are not a serious country. What kind of a doctor would sign this? What are you telling the world?
“His higher mental function is ‘intact’ and he is ‘fit’ for nab custody on page 1 but his mental stability is questionable on page 2.
Jaferii dubbed the entire situation “a clown show.”
Journalist Aniqa Nisar too pointed out the big ethical concern stating, “Making a medical report public to humiliate the opponent is below the belt”, continuing to point out the selective act of making Imran’s report public: “And if not, why don’t we test ALL of our politicians. Unfortunately most, if not all, will test positive for alcohol at the very least.”
This will mark Dahal's first official foreign trip since he assumed office in December 2022. He has previously visited India thrice during his earlier tenures
Senior puisne judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa, the head of a three-member judicial commission formed to probe alleged audio clips leaked on social media, stayed the body’s proceedings on Saturday — a day after a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial ordered it to do so.
On May 20, the federal government had formed the commission to probe alleged audio leaks that sparked concerns regarding the independence of the judiciary.
Headed by Justice Isa, the commission also includes Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan and Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamer Farooq.
On Friday, the Supreme Court had stayed the commission’s proceedings, suspended the government’s May 19 notification of its appointment and also stopped the implementation of the commission’s May 22 order to conduct open hearings and make the findings public.
During the hearing today, Justice Isa cited the apex court’s “judicial order” while stopping the meeting, and said the commission will issue a written order for today’s proceedings.
SC restrains commission from probe
At the hearing of a set of four petitions challenging Justice Isa-led commission in the audio leaks, CJP Bandial said, “I am sorry to say that efforts have been made regrettably, maybe unknowingly, to draw a wedge between the judges of the court.”
While pointing towards Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan, the CJP asked him to convey to the federal government to follow constitutional norms in letter and spirit instead of ignoring Article 175 concerning the superior judiciary.
The top court, later while postponing further proceedings till May 31, issued notices to the respondents including AGP Awan in terms of Order 27-A of the civil procedure code to assist the court.
At the outset of Friday’s hearing, the AGP drew CJP Bandial’s attention towards certain clauses of the notification of appointing the commission and requested the CJP to consider not hearing the matter, rather recuse himself from the bench, leaving the matter to his next in line (Justice Isa).
“We respect you as well as your client, because it is the government of Pakistan but all institutions of the country including the judiciary should be respected and protected,” the CJP observed, also expressing the regrets that the May 9 tragic events also had a silver lining as the vilification campaign against the judiciary receded afterwards.
“It has to take tragedy like May 9 to convince the people that an institution like the judiciary has to be respected,” Justice Bandial remarked.
However, the CJP regretted, the government committed many mistakes while making the Supreme Court (Practice & Procedure) Act, 2023 law in a hurry as even bail and family matters have been put before the three-judge committee.
When the AGP said the matter can be resolved, the CJP regretted that interferences have been made in the administrative matters of the judiciary without any consultation while making the law. The AGP admitted that he was not part of the deliberations for the issuance of the notification for setting up of the commission on audio leaks.
“Either remove the errors from the law or come fully prepared if you want to fight,” the CJP asserted.
Later, an eight-page order of the CJP-led bench referred to the arguments of the counsel for petitioner Abid Shahid Zuberi that cited the note of Justice Mansoor Ali Shah in Justice Isa’s case.
Justice Shah, in his note, had held that the scope of the Investigation for Fair Trial Act, 2013, (IFTA) was restricted to the surveillance and interception of a person who was suspected to be involved in any “terrorist or anti-state activity”.
Otherwise, no other law regulates the fundamental right of privacy of citizens and allows probe into their lives through surveillance and interception, the note stated. In the remaining sphere, the right to privacy is absolute, until law is enacted to regulate it, it added, while emphasising that violation of absolute privacy right makes the inadmissibility of evidence, collected in violation thereof, also absolute.
The AGP reminded Justice Munib Akhtar, who was also part of the bench that heard 2021 case of Justice Isa, cited Justice Shah’s note a ‘minority view’.
The CJP-led bench order noted that the alleged audios were all leaks by a so-called “black hat hacker” operating under the Twitter handle “indibell”. The first and primary question was the very veracity, credibility and legality of and authorisation for the alleged audios and the identity of the person or “hacker” engaged in or abetting in such acts, it emphasised.
Referring to AGP’s request to the CJP to recuse from the bench, the order explained that the contention was repelled for the reason that it was an accepted and settled constitutional principle, acted upon several times in the constitution of commissions that CJP’s permission had to be sought whenever a sitting judge was intended to be made a member. Since this power was peculiar to CJP office, the incumbent for the time being of the same could neither divest himself nor be divested by the federal government from discharging the constitutional duty.
While dealing with the judiciary, the government should “deal with proper quarters,” the CJP reiterated.
The order said the federal government appeared to have acted unilaterally in this matter and thus the constitutional principle of the highest importance had been, prima facie, breached.
Even though the other two commission members are chief justices of high courts, the subject matter of the reference transcends any particular high court and involves at the very least a sitting judge of the SC and a chief justice of a third high court. Therefore, keeping in mind the settled principles of federalism, prima facie, the constitutional principle would apply even in regard to the other two members of the commission and therefore, the CJP’s permission was required for their appointment, according to the SC order.
“Prima facie, therefore, the very constitution of the commission is cast in doubt,” the bench feared.
His funeral prayers were offered in a mosque close to his residence after Asr prayers. He was laid to rest in Miani Sahib graveyard in the evening.
He has left behind two sons and a wife to mourn.
He was known for his exceptional journalistic skills and dedication to reporting the truth.
He served Dawn for over 25 years before joining daily The Nation as Editor Reporting, and later 24 News channel.
At the time of his passing, Mr Mumtaz was attached with Arab News as an analyst. He was well-respected by his colleagues and peers in the field of journalism for his insight and integrity.
Negotiators are discussing a deal that would lift the limit for two years, but remain at odds over whether to stiffen work requirements for some anti-poverty programs
Summarily, the Act prohibits discrimination against a transgender person in areas such as education, employment, and healthcare. It directs the central and provincial governments to provide welfare schemes in these areas such as reforming health curricula to address basic health issues of the transgender and intersex community, besides other measures that ensure the full inclusion and participation of transgender persons in mainstream society via rehabilitation, vocational training, and employment schemes.
Under the Act, offences such as compelling or enticing a transgender person to beg or enter forced or bonded labour, denying a transgender person the right of passage to a public place, forcing or causing a transgender person to leave their household or village, harming or endangering the life, safety, health, or mental and physical well-being, and physically, sexually, verbally or economically abusing a transgender person are punishable offences.
Many stakeholders, ranging from community activists to human rights experts, lawyers and medical professionals, joined hands to develop this legislation. It is based on the most recent research while also being culturally specific to the khwaja sira communities that have existed for centuries in Muslim South Asian society.
In contemporary Pakistan, the transgender community has been marginalised because transgender people don’t ‘fit into’ existing gender categories. Consequently, they face problems ranging from social exclusion and discrimination to lack of education, unemployment, and adequate medical facilities.
The 2018 Act recognised this status and gave it legislative backing to begin solving issues affecting the transgender community, ensuring access to healthcare, education and self-determination and recognising their right to human dignity.
A (100) step(s) backwards
The harassment, violence and discrimination faced by the transgender community in Pakistan has been co-opted by conservative religious groups in a bid to ostracise and demonise a community with a rich history and cultural identity in the country.
The hard-fought gains for legal gender recognition that culminated in the passing of the 2018 Act are at risk of being reversed based on stereotypical and harmful views and insidious misinformation campaigns. These sensationalist claims, and the false conflation of a person’s real or perceived gender identity with sexual orientation makes transgender persons even more vulnerable to abuse by law enforcement, harassment, arbitrary arrest, and prosecution.
On May 19, 2023, the Federal Shariat Court of Islamabad (FSC) announced its verdict on 12 Shairat petitions through which several petitioners challenged various sections of the Act. It ruled that sections 2(f), 3 and 7 of the Transgender Act 2018, which relate to gender identity, the right to self-perceived gender identity and the right of inheritance for transgender people do not conform with their interpretation of Islamic principles. The entire khawaja sira community is mourning the FSC’s attempt to delegitimise the Act — which is already resulting in more violence and hatred towards their community.
The petitioner’s ‘concerns’
It is unfortunate that the colonial legacy of ‘Hijra panics’ continues in South Asia to this day. Many of the concerns or panics expressed by petitioners and opponents of the Act echo right-wing Western anti-trans narratives in Pakistan and this is only a growing trend.
Fundamentally, the petitions expressed concern over the anglicised words ‘transgender’ and ‘intersex’, and the right to self perceived identity. The concerns extend to hypothetical scenarios that may result if ‘people begin changing their gender identity at will’.
Kamran Murtaza, a senior advocate at the Supreme Court of Pakistan appeared on behalf of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan to present their arguments. He stated: “Any biological male person can get access to all the places which are secluded specifically for female genders, like girls educational institutions, schools and universities etc., girls’ hostels, hospitals and other places, where services are provided to women only. Similarly, the services and jobs, which are specially and specifically allocated to females can easily be misused by biologically male persons having a CNIC of ‘X’ gender mark issued by Nadra identifying him as a ‘transgender woman’ under this law, because by doing so, that biological male person cannot be stopped [from] avail[ing] any facility or privilege meant for women only.”
Another concern was “biological men/boys” competing with girls/women in the same categories and “outperforming them in every sport”. This discourse is prevalent in the west, and is barely a concern in our local context.
Khwaja siras are not asking for access to spaces where only women or only men are allowed — they are asking for their own third spaces, an X on their ID card. While the 2018 Act was written on the basis of research, evidence, and lived experience — the concerns that motivate the FSC ruling are not.
Doctors and professors from the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association also stated that “now some new terms like ‘other-kin’ and ‘trans-species’ are also being introduced which are more disturbing than the term transgender. If any society accepts the concept of transgender, as stated in the impugned law, then there will be nothing to stop the sexual perversions and sexual degeneracies spreading in the society.” It is to be noted that no such terms have been used in the Transgender Act — such concerns are speculative projections of fear that are not grounded in the lived realities of khwaja siras in Pakistan.
During the delivery of the verdict, the court speculated that the Act could lead to rape, and sexual assault of women as petitioners alleged that it makes it easy for a man to gain access to “exclusive spaces” intended for women, “disguised” as a transgender woman.
Interestingly, the petition that raised this concern cited four instances of sexual violence by transgender women against cis-gendered women and minors. All four cases were from the United Kingdom. There is no publicly available evidence of such incidents taking place in Pakistan. Not to mention, looking at the proportion of perpetrators from male, female and transgender would do one some good. Individual cases of violence are often disproportionately highlighted and used to spread narratives about entire communities. This is not only the case with transgender communities, but all marginalised communities across the world, including Pakistanis and Muslims.
If the FSC is concerned with the rampant violence against women that already exists in our society, scapegoating our already marginalised community will not improve the condition of women in Pakistan. Women are being raped in public parks, on motorways and in their homes. The FSC should start a separate inquiry into this fahashi if it is concerned with the violation of women in this country. Instead, the state has failed to provide women with safe women-only spaces or safe public spaces. It has also, at times, failed to condemn or convict male perpetrators of violence, even when the evidence could not be more obvious.
Moreover, khwaja siras and transgender persons are not asking for access to women-only spaces; this is a myth designed to aggravate our population against the community. We already exist in this society and have co-existed for centuries before. Denying our humanity will not make us go away, it will only make our lives harder and deny the human dignity we too have a right to.
Speculative and panics of a disproportionate level were stark in many of the petitioner’s statements, as was also expressed by Amnesty International: “This ease of changing the identity will pose a threat even to the national security in certain cases … This “facility” will provide the criminals, terrorists, spies and refugees a camouflage to hide their identity, which may create a serious problem in anti-terrorist activities in the country.”
A big price to pay
A major concern was also the issue of inheritance. According to them, a biological woman can change her gender identity to a man if the Act is implemented and gain access to a man’s share in inheritance (as set per Islamic law). Ironically, they fail to recognise that the opposite would result in a trans woman losing share in inheritance. Furthermore, they fail to recognise the discrimination faced by the community, for which an added share in inheritance would be a far-from-substantial reward.
In response to the Act being misused, Advocate Farhat Ullah Babar pointed out, “A law is liable to be misused particularly if it [offers] special incentives to persons addressed in the law. The Transgender Protection Act 2018 confers no special privileges on transgender like reserved seats in parliament, in professional colleges etc. The 2018 Act only gives the transgender persons basic human rights available to every citizen including the right to vote, to contest elections, to seek education etc…
“Secondly, is it conceivable that anyone will willingly want to be recognised as a member of the most dispossessed, the most vulnerable community whose members are threatened, intimidated, ridiculed and harmed on a daily basis?”
Precedents from the (Islamic) world
Specifically, Section 2(n)(iii) of the Act has been rejected by the FSC based on their own interpretations of how gender works — the court insists that gender must conform to biological sex. Ansar Javaid, petitioner and chairman of the Birth Defects Foundation called gender dysphoria a “curable disease”.
Section 2(n) of the Transgender Protection Act 2018
This claim flouts the reality now accepted by medical and legal communities within and outside Islam, that sometimes it simply does not. How can we progress as a nation when we do not accept the lived realities of our own citizens?
International medical and legal guidelines call for accommodating sexual differences as essential to establishing ethical standards regarding the treatment of the human body. Muslim-majority countries started to allow for the change of legal gender, with the case of the Turkish Civil Code in 1988. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini gave approval for sex reassignment surgeries in 1964 and again in 1985. Sex reassignment surgeries have been conducted in Morocco since 1956 and the first one occurred in Egypt in 1982. Even our own laws set a better precedent than this, such as the 2011 Supreme Court decision to grant voting rights to khwaja siras which was won by an attorney specialising in Islamic law.
In 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared that “gender incongruence” or gender dysphoria will no longer be considered a behavioural or mental disorder. “It was taken out of the mental health disorder because we had a better understanding that this was not actually a mental health condition and leaving it there was causing stigma,” said Dr Say, a WHO reproductive health expert.
Myth vs fact
As mentioned earlier, misinformation and conflation with western politics has led to a misunderstanding of the Act itself. Any claims that this law pursues an agenda of legalising homosexual relationships are false. The Act does not refer to sexual orientation or sexual relations at all. The preliminary objections to the petitions clearly state: “The entire text of Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2018 does not use any phrase or expression which may make reference to lesbians & gays or any other person who commits homosexual acts.”
Below are two more examples of some of the myths that are being spread by bad faith actors:
Myth: Someone may perceive themselves F (Female) or M (Male) contrary to the sex assigned to them at birth and get their legal gender changed to the opposite.
Fact: The transgender persons do not demand recognition as F (female) or M (Males). They only want to be legally recognised as X (transgender) for the purpose of accessing basic rights enshrined in the Constitution.
Myth: People in married couples will declare themselves the same gender as their spouse, or people of the same sex will get their legal gender changed to marry.
Fact: “This would automatically annul the marriage because the marriage can be registered in Nikahnama only between M (Male) & F (Female). There is no provision in any law and any rule for the registration of marriage between a X (Transgender) & M (Male), or between X (Transgender) and & F (Female) or between X and X,” Advocate Farhat Ullah Babar explained.
Amnesty International and other human rights groups have directed that removing the section in concern from the Transgender Act would reverse essential protections and must not be accepted.
The Government of Pakistan must not forget that it is its duty to uphold and protect the rights of all people, regardless of their real or perceived gender identity or gender expression. Its failure to do so will result in them being in violation of their obligations in respect to local legislation as well as international human rights law. Moreover, rights groups have also said that the government must stop any attempt at amending the Act that would prevent transgender persons from obtaining official documents that reflect their gender identity without complying with abusive and invasive requirements like medical examinations.
The FSC’s decision on the Transgender Rights Act will not take legal effect immediately. The Constitution clearly states that this court’s decision on the repugnancy of any law to the injunctions of Islam, will have no legal effect until the time period specified for an appeal has elapsed. The federal and provincial governments have six months to lodge an appeal. Until that time has passed, the court’s decision should not be deemed to revoke the khawaja sira community’s existing rights under the Act.
