ALERTS

BODIES OF THREE YOUTHS FOUND FROM TARIQ ROAD, KARACHI IDENTIFIED 09:28 PST

Family feud: Son kills father for inheritance

By Shamsul Islam

Published: August 11, 2011

" Yar threatened to kill his father in public and even boasted that the man would not live long and he would soon have his property," Neighbour Rasheed Alvi.

FAISALABAD:

A man shot his father over property on Wednesday.

According to police officials, Mozaha Salaria resident Ghulam Haider’s son Muhammad Yar had been demanding his share of property from his father but was repeatedly denied. On Wednesday, Yar and two of his accomplices opened fire on Ghulam Haider while he was in his house.

Residents of Sadar Chiniot told police officials that they had witnessed repeated altercations between Yar and his father. “They quarrelled openly over the property and Haider had even publicly slapped his son for demanding his property share,” said a neighbour Rasheed Alvi.

Yar said that his father had seized his property and agricultural land near the Chiniot Police Station.

“He kept saying the land was his but his father had transferred the papers to his name and would not pass it on to him. He told dozens of people that he thought his father would try to give the property to his brother rather than him,” Alvi told police officials.

Ghulam Haider reportedly refused to transfer the property to his son during his lifetime. “He always said that he would not give him anything while he was alive because Yar was unworthy and would squander it away. He said that he would have disinherited him if he could,” said Haider’s brother Akmal.

According to police officials, they discovered Haider’s body hidden in a cupboard in his house after his neighbours called in the shooting. “He was awash in blood and he had been shot eleven times,” said a police inspector from the Chiniot Sadar police station.

Locals in the area told police officials that they were sure Haider had been murdered by his son. “Yar often threatened to kill his father in public and he even boasted that the man would not live long and he would soon have his property,” Alvi said.

On Tuesday night, Muhammad Yar along with two other accomplices, Manzoor and Zahoor, allegedly opened fire on Ghulam Haidar and hid his body in his cupboard before fleeing the area. Police officials ordered an autopsy of the body and have returned the body to the family for burial. “Haider was shot at point blank range at least eleven times. Most likely, while he was asleep,” the autopsy report read.

Sadar Police Chiniot have registered a case under Sections 302, 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) against Muhammad Yar and his two accomplices. However, the accused are still at large and police officials are searching for their whereabouts.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 11^th, 2011.

Freedom at last: 4 kidnapped children free after 2 years

By Shamsul Islam

Published: August 16, 2011

" Pathan vendors are notorious for trafficking people from our area to their towns where they are used for forced labour," Abdul Rehman

FAISALABAD:

Four children kidnapped two years ago along with their mother from their house in Siddhupura and reportedly taken to Kohat have been recovered. Their mother, Seema, is still missing.

A Samundari City police team raided a house in Siddhupura, recovering the children and arresting two people they suspected were part of the kidnapping gang.

The raid was carried out on information provided by a Kohat resident after Abdul Rehman, uncle of children’s father, Abdul Ghani, had paid him Rs20,000 to persuade him to disclose information about his relatives.

Rehman told the police that he had come across the man last week and thought of asking for help with finding his nephew’s wife and children. “Pathan vendors are notorious for trafficking people from our area to their towns where they are used for forced labour,” he said.

The police team along with the Ghani, Rehman and the informer first raided a house in Mohammad village, in Alachi tehsil, in Kohat. Police said the raid was unsuccessful. The informer then told them that the children had been taken back to Siddhupura. On returning and raiding the place mentioned by the informer, the children were recovered and two suspects arrested.

Police said the two men were identified as Muhammad Aslam Khan and Mera Khan. They said the two only spoke Pashtu and did not understand any other language. “We have been unable to communicate with them so far,” Assistant Sub Inspector Bashir said.

Police have registered a case under Section 465 of the Pakistan Penal Code (involving a wife fully leaving her spouse and not kidnapping).

Asked about the rationale behind the selection of the section, ASI Bashir said it appeared “the most suitable” in the circumstances.

He rejected the suggestion that the police had refused to register a kidnapping case two years ago on a complaint by children’s father, Abdul Ghani. “No one had approached us with the complaint,” he said. Ghani, however, insisted he had tried to take up the matter with the police but was turned away.

Talking to The Express Tribune, the older child, nine-year-old Ruqayya said she remembered being kidnapped by some masked men. She said the men had broken into their house when their father was away. The child said the next thing she recalled was in a mountainous area where the family was kept for over a year.

She said there were other women and children in the camp. At times, she said, masked men took the women away to work at forced labour camps. “Occasionally, my mother would burst into tears. She seemed to be in severe pain,” she said.

Ruqayya also reported sexual assault by unidentified men at the camp in Kohat. She said she and her sisters Rukhsar, 4, and Iqra, 3, and brother Javed, 7, were recently brought back to Samundari and their mother remained at the camp.

To a query about the medical examination of the children, ASI Bashir said the police did not want to ‘complicate’ the matter. “We have recovered them. That should be enough,” he said.

He said they would contact Kohat police and launch joint raids to recover the woman.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 16^th, 2011.

Development: First Halal Industrial Park to be established

By Shamsul Islam

Published: August 16, 2011

Zone to be spread over 200 acres of land in industrial city of Faisalabad. PHOTO:IMHALAL.COM

FAISALABAD: The Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Halal Research Council (HRC) on Monday to establish Pakistan’s first Halal Industrial Park.

Located on M3 Motorway, Industrial City Faisalabad, the Halal Industrial Park will be spread over 200 acres of land.

“The establishment of the Halal Industrial Park will significantly contribute to the economy of Pakistan,” said FIEDMC Chairman Khawaja Asim Khurshid. The market size of the global Halal food industry is estimated to be around $635 billion.

Speaking on the occasion, Punjab’s Livestock and Dairy Development Department Secretary Hamid Yaqoob Sheikh said that the provincial government would extend full support for the promotion of Halal meat and dairy industry.

He stressed the need for value addition in the Halal food industry to tap the Gulf and European markets.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 16^th, 2011.

Health alert: 10 cases of dengue detected

By Shamsul Islam

Published: August 17, 2011

" We are expecting an influx. Last year we began receiving dozens of cases. We have reports of eight cases in smaller tehsils," Allied Hospital administration official.

FAISALABAD:

In the wake of monsoon rains in and around the city, the threat of an outbreak dengue epidemic has surfaced in the district.

Health officials have confirmed that two dengue patients have been admitted to the local Allied Hospital. A teaching insulation of the Punjab Medical College has also stated that eight similar cases have been reported from rural areas where they are seeking treatment from private clinics.

“We have begun to get confirmed reports of the virus and we have already placed all DHQ hospitals on alert. Vaccines are being ordered,” said Dr Azhar Rauf.

Hospital officials told The Express Tribune on Tuesday that Chak No63-JB resident Muhammad Sajawal was brought to Allied Hospital with a high fever. “His condition worsened at the hospital and his tests confirmed the dengue virus,” said Dr Rauf.

Another patient was brought in later, the same day, and doctors confirmed that the fever was not a regular cold but a symptom of the dengue virus. After testing and collection of blood samples, labs have confirmed the two cases of dengue virus. “Both cases are quite severe and the fever is rising. We have administered the vaccine,” he said.

Allied Hospital administration has set up a fully functional ward for the dengue virus. Isolation booths have also been established for patients. “We are expecting an influx.

Last year when the virus spread we began receiving dozens of cases. We already have confirmed reports of eight cases in smaller tehsils,” said an administration official at the hospital. Public health experts have warned that if preventive measures are not taken on an emergency basis by all concerned authorities the virus will spread swiftly throughout the district. “Hospitals need to have an adequate supply of vaccines and isolation booths,” said Health Department official Dr Mubasshir Kayani. “The monsoon spell has made the situation worse and the virus is likely to spread quicker due to the rains,” he said.

“The district authorities need to ensure that a spray is carried out as soon as possible,” he said. “The rains and ponds of water offer the ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes and residents should start carrying mosquito repellent with them,” he said. Health authorities said that due to the indifferent attitude of local health authorities, dengue patients are constrained to visit costly private hospitals. “We need to ensure that DHQ hospitals and care centres are working properly.

Otherwise many people will not be able to afford treatment,” Dr Kayani said. Health experts said that a patients’ blood needed to be tested on the spot by using an Eliza analyser. “This will save time and in case of testing positive, the patient should immediately be moved to an isolation ward,” he said. They further stressed that health authorities should also ensure availability of platelet kits and Eliza kits for tests at all the hospitals of the city as well as tehsil level hospitals.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2011.

ALERTS

BODIES OF THREE YOUTHS FOUND FROM TARIQ ROAD, KARACHI IDENTIFIED 09:28 PST

Punjab govt to sell seed packets for Rs50 each

By Shamsul Islam

Published: August 11, 2011

Kitchen Gardening Programme has been launched on the special directives of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. PHOTO: AFP

FAISALABAD: The Punjab Agriculture Department will sell 200,000 packets of different vegetable seeds as part of the Kitchen Gardening Programme during the winter.

The Kitchen Gardening Programme has been launched on the special directives of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for rural and peri-urban areas, Dr Anjum Ali, director general of the Agricultural Extension and Adaptive Research, told The Express Tribune on Wednesday.

He said that the objective of the programme was to promote the use of fresh and home-grown vegetables besides reducing the ever-increasing demand for vegetables in the open market.

He said that each packet, available for Rs50, would contain seeds of 10 different vegetables.

He said that the Punjab government had directed executive district officers (agriculture) to launch a promotional campaign in this regard.

“Training programmes for the Kitchen Gardening Programme will also be conducted with the assistance of NGOs and education and social welfare departments,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 11^th, 2011.

Journalist gunned down in Pakistan, another still missing

New York, August 15, 2011--Alarm continues to mount for the safety of Pakistani journalists with the assassination of a reporter on Sunday in restive Baluchistan, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Also, a senior reporter remains missing in Waziristan, after being abducted on August 11.

Muneer Shakir, who wrote for the Online News Network and was a correspondent for Baluch television station Sabzbaat, died on Sunday after he was shot as he headed home from the press club in Khuzdar, the district capital in the center of Baluchistan,around midday. Shakir died at Khuzdar's District Headquarters Hospital, Pakistan media widely reported.

Shakir, a general assignment reporter, had not mentioned receiving threats, Pakistan media quoted members of the Balochistan Union of Journalists as saying. Baluchistan is wracked with tension between Baluch separatists, government forces trying to suppress their movement, and militant groups who use the region as a rear guard staging area for the conflict in neighboring Afghanistan. Many Baluch journalists straddle the line between political activism and journalism.

Pakistan has a near-perfect record of impunity in journalist murders, with 17 murders (not including Shakir's) unsolved since 2001.

"Conditions for journalists in Pakistan continue to steadily decline, with unexplained murders, abductions, and a stream of threats from many quarters," said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator. "With the government unable or unwilling to address the problems, journalists must organize among themselves to establish safer working conditions and emergency response systems."

Five journalists have died in Pakistan for their work so far this year, and none of the cases have been fully investigated. With eight dead in 2010, CPJ ranked Pakistan the most dangerous country for journalists that year. In a blog titled "Quantifying the threat to journalists in Pakistan," CPJ described the growing threat level for journalists in the country.

The disappearance of Rahmatullah Darpakhel has gone similarly uninvestigated, Pakistan media say. Darpakhel, who reported for the Urdu daily Ausaf and Aaj TV, was abducted in North Waziristan in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas near the borderline with Afghanistan on August 11.

At a rally on Saturday, Pakistan media reported that colleagues said Darpakhel was not known for filing controversial stories that would anger either government intelligence agencies or Taliban militants. In its initial report about Darpakhel's abduction, CPJ reported that Taliban groups in the region denied any role in the reporter's disappearance.

IFJ Condemns Killing of Journalist in Balochistan

Media Release: Pakistan

August 15, 2011

IFJ Condemns Killing of Journalist in Balochistan

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is alarmed to learn of the killing of another journalist in Pakistan’s Balochistan province on August 14.

According to the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Muneer Shakir was attacked by unknown persons who opened fire on him at 12.20pm as he headed home from the press club in Khuzdar, in central Balochistan. Shakir died at District Headquarters Hospital in Khuzdar.

Shakir, who was aged in his early 30s, worked for Online News Network and was a correspondent with Balochi television station Sabzbaat.

Members of the Balochistan Union of Journalists (BUJ) reported that Shakir was not known to have received any threats.

The PFUJ, an affiliate of the IFJ, said in a statement that the murder of Shakir – the sixth journalist killed in Pakistan in 2011 and the seventh media worker killed in Balochistan since early 2010 – exposed the failure of the Government to protect media personnel.

The BUJ said the provincial government had been informed repeatedly about threats against journalists, many of whom were reporting without assurance of salaries, but had taken no preventive action. The insecure situation in Balochistan was compelling many journalists to leave the profession, the BUJ said.

Elsewhere in Pakistan, grave concerns are held for the welfare of tribal journalist Rehmatullah Dawar, who was abducted in North Waziristan, in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), on August 11.

Dawar, of AAJ TV and the Urdu daily Ausaf, was snatched at a bazaar in Miranshah by unidentified men. No one has claimed responsibility and the motive remains unclear. However, the local Taliban has offered to assist to locate Dawar.

“It is well beyond time for media houses in Pakistan to take responsibility to protect their workers amid increasing risks,” IFJ Asia-Pacific said.

“And power-holders and government authorities at all levels must take concerted action to end impunity by bringing perpetrators to justice.”

In just one example, Awaz TV cameraman Abdul Salam Soomro has received serious threats after he filmed a paramilitary ranger killing unarmed teenager Sarfraz Shah in Karachi in June.

On August 12, after the Ranger accused of the killing was sentenced to death, PFUJ Secretary General Amin Yousuf demanded media organisations implement measures, including through the provision of insurance, to protect media workers who serve the public interest.

Shamsul Islam Naz
Ex-Secretary General
PAKISTAN FEDERAL UNION OF JOURNALISTS
Cellular +92(0)300 8665523
+92(0)321 8665523
http://www.shamsulislamnaz.com
http://www.pfuj.pk
http://www.facebook.com/shamsul.naz
http://shamsulisalmnaz.blogspot.com/?spref=gb
http://pk.linkedin.com/pub/shamsul-islam-naz/1b/312/711
http://twitter.com/Shamsulislmpfuj