"Their story illustrates the conflicts some women encounter in Pakistan when choosing what are known here as freewill marriages. It also shows how women are increasingly asserting their rights against the traditions of forced marriage and parental authority, implicitly challenging one of the most powerful institutions in Pakistani society."
Another woman who challenged a powerful institution:
"Car bomb kills 17 people in Pakistan; No group claims responsibility as violence persists" by Riaz Khan | Associated Press, October 14, 2012
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain blamed the Pakistani Taliban, noting the fundamentalist Islamic movement also had tried to kill a 14-year-old girl who is an advocate of education for girls and a critic of the Taliban. Malala Yousufzai was shot and wounded by a Taliban gunman in the Swat Valley on Tuesday, an attack that has drawn widespread condemnation.
The girl remains on a ventilator but is in stable condition, army spokesman Major General Asim Saleem Bajwa told reporters Saturday.
She had been airlifted from Swat to a military hospital in the frontier city of Peshawar after the attack, where doctors removed a bullet from her neck. The bullet went into her head before travelling toward her spine. Bajwa said earlier that it was too soon to say whether she had a significant head injury.
I would just like to say I'm against shooting 14-year-old girls in any case.
After her sedatives were reduced on Saturday, she moved her arms and legs. Bajwa said it was a good sign. The school that Yousufzai was attending in Swat’s main town of Mingora — which is run by her father — reopened for classes Saturday. About 80 percent of the students showed up, but many were sad and scared, said one of the teachers, Asghar Khan.
‘‘We want them to concentrate on their studies without any fear or psychological impact from the attack,’’ said Khan.
I don't see how they could possibly do that.
Some 500 tribal elders held a rally in support of Yousufzai in Mingora on Saturday. Some carried photos of the 14-year-old and two other girls who were shot in the attack. They shouted, ‘‘Malala, we are all with you.’’
You find good people everywhere, and a lot more of them. It only takes a handful of a**holes to ruin things for everyone.
--more--"
"Pakistani girl flown to British hospital; Move to provide treatment, safety" by Martin Benedyk | Associated Press, October 16, 2012
BIRMINGHAM, England — The attack on 14-year-old Malala Yousufzai as she was returning home from school in Pakistan’s northwest a week ago has horrified people across the South Asian country and abroad. It has also sparked hope that the Pakistani government would respond by intensifying its fight against the Taliban and their allies.
Oh, that is a real cui bono stinker, folks.
Yousufzai was targeted by the Taliban for promoting girls’ education and criticizing the militant group’s behavior when they took over the scenic Swat Valley where she lived. Two of her classmates were also wounded in the attack and are receiving treatment in Pakistan.
The Taliban have threatened to target Yousufzai again until she is killed because she promotes ‘‘Western thinking.’’
*************************
Pakistanis have held rallies for Yousufzai throughout the country, but most have numbered only a few hundred people.
Yeah, but when it is for gun control here in America there is no but.
The largest show of support by far occurred Sunday, when tens of thousands of people held a demonstration in the southern port city of Karachi organized by the most powerful political party in the city, the Muttahida Quami Movement.
Isn't the MQM one of the political parties involved in targeted killings, kidnappings and extortion?
Led the Globe's world section that day.
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When I began to be suspicious of who was really behind the shooting:
"Malala Yousafzai, the schoolgirl who became an icon of resistance against Taliban oppression"
"Malala, who was 14 at the time of the shooting, has become a highly visible symbol of resistance against the Taliban"
When the war press flogs some symbolism I think it stinks.
So how is she doing?
Shot girl’s father hails ‘miracle’
Pakistani girl shot by Taliban leaves hospital
"In a separate development, a Pakistani ambassador said the 15-year-old girl shot in the head by a Taliban gunman last month is making a steady recovery and is starting to walk, talk, and read."
And then she is back in the hospital?
"More surgery for girl shot by Taliban" by Raphael Satter | Associated Press, January 31, 2013
LONDON — Surgery to reconstruct her skull....
My God!
Pakistani girl shot by Taliban leaves hospital
"In a separate development, a Pakistani ambassador said the 15-year-old girl shot in the head by a Taliban gunman last month is making a steady recovery and is starting to walk, talk, and read."
And then she is back in the hospital?
"More surgery for girl shot by Taliban" by Raphael Satter | Associated Press, January 31, 2013
LONDON — Surgery to reconstruct her skull....
My God!
Malala Yousufzai, 15, made a ‘‘remarkable recovery,’’ a symbol for a girl’s right to an education.
At the age of 11, she began writing a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC about life under the Taliban in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, which Taliban militants overran. After the military ousted them in 2009, she began publicly speaking about the need for girls’ education. She was given one of the country’s highest civilian honors for her bravery.
Malala was shot on Oct. 9 as she headed home from school. The Taliban said they targeted her because she promoted ‘‘Western thinking,’’ but the attempt to murder a teenage girl over her desire to go to school sent a wave of revulsion around the world. She was flown to England for medical care — and for her own protection.
That's what makes me suspect it wasn't Taliban at all -- or question which Taliban it is.
--more--"
Pakistani girl shot by Taliban won’t back down Her story has captured global attention for the struggle for women’s rights in her homeland. In a sign of her impact, the teen made the short list for Time magazine’s ‘‘Person of the Year’’ for 2012. She is ‘‘getting better, day by day’’ operated to reconstruct her skull.
Pakistani teen shot by Taliban released from hospital
Again?
Malala's story increased the global attention for the struggle for women's rights in her homeland.
This is really starting to feel like a false flag attack of some kind.
The bomb was made up of a pound of explosives stuffed in a tin can, said Bani Amin, the police chief in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, where the episode occurred. The device was placed in a bag and attached to the bottom of Mir’s car, said Amin.
One of Mir’s neighbors noticed the bomb under the car after the anchor returned from a local market, and the police were notified, said Rana Jawad, an official at Geo TV.
No group has claimed responsibility.
The hallmark of an intelligence agency operation.
Or could it be one of those fleeting political parties that received a fleeting mention?
The Pakistani Taliban threatened Mir and other journalists last month over their coverage of an assassination attempt against Malala Yousufzai, a 15-year-old schoolgirl activist who was shot in the head by the militants in the northwest Swat Valley.
Again?
Malala's story increased the global attention for the struggle for women's rights in her homeland.
This is really starting to feel like a false flag attack of some kind.
"Pakistani television anchor survives attempted bombing"
Associated Press,
November 27, 2012
ISLAMABAD — Police defused a bomb Monday planted under the car of Hamid Mir of Geo Television, a prominent Pakistani anchor who was threatened by the Taliban for his coverage of a schoolgirl shot by the militants, police said.
The bomb was made up of a pound of explosives stuffed in a tin can, said Bani Amin, the police chief in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, where the episode occurred. The device was placed in a bag and attached to the bottom of Mir’s car, said Amin.
One of Mir’s neighbors noticed the bomb under the car after the anchor returned from a local market, and the police were notified, said Rana Jawad, an official at Geo TV.
No group has claimed responsibility.
The hallmark of an intelligence agency operation.
Or could it be one of those fleeting political parties that received a fleeting mention?
The Pakistani Taliban threatened Mir and other journalists last month over their coverage of an assassination attempt against Malala Yousufzai, a 15-year-old schoolgirl activist who was shot in the head by the militants in the northwest Swat Valley.
The Taliban targeted Malala for criticizing the group and promoting secular girls’ education, which is opposed by the Islamist extremists....
Related:
Huh?
Also see: Memory Hole: How I Came to Love the Veil
So they want the girls to be educated after all, huh?
Can you see why I start to doubt the Muslim-hating, war-promoting, Zionist AmeriKan MSM?
She is recovering in Britain. Interior Minister Rehman Malik offered $500,000 for information about those responsible.
I was told it was Taliban.
--more--"
Related: Christian girl jailed, accused of blasphemy in Pakistan
"Pakistani girl charged with blasphemy is said to be mentally disabled" by Declan Walsh | New York Times, August 29, 2012
ISLAMABAD — The fate of a Pakistani Christian girl at the center of a contentious blasphemy case hung in the balance Tuesday, as lawyers applied for her release from jail and an influential Muslim cleric offered his support.
The Pakistani authorities have held the girl, Rimsha Masih, in a high-security jail since Aug. 16, when hundreds of Muslim protesters, angered over claims that she had burned pages from an Islamic holy book, surrounded a police station here in Islamabad to demand that she face prosecution.
Fearing violence, police filed blasphemy charges against Masih. Relatives and human rights workers said she was 11 years old and had Down syndrome, and should therefore be exempt from the blasphemy laws. The girl, who comes from an impoverished family of Christian sweepers, was said to have been seen holding a burned copy of the Noorani Qaida, a religious textbook used to teach the Koran to children.
After a brief court hearing Tuesday morning, Masih’s lawyer, Tahir Naveed Chaudhry, said a medical board had established that she was 14 years old and had a degree of mental disability....
For now, worries for Masih’s well-being focus on her incarceration at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, where Chaudhry told reporters he found her ‘‘weeping and crying’’ during a visit Saturday. Amnesty International has said it was ‘‘extremely concerned’’ for Masih’s safety, noting that, in the past, accused blasphemers in Pakistan had been killed by vigilantes before their cases even reached trial.
Her plight has also prompted concern among conservative Muslim clerics who, alarmed by a spate of recent blasphemy-inspired mob attacks, have united with Christian leaders on the issue....
Say what?
--more--"
"Pakistani girl charged with blasphemy is said to be mentally disabled" by Declan Walsh | New York Times, August 29, 2012
ISLAMABAD — The fate of a Pakistani Christian girl at the center of a contentious blasphemy case hung in the balance Tuesday, as lawyers applied for her release from jail and an influential Muslim cleric offered his support.
The Pakistani authorities have held the girl, Rimsha Masih, in a high-security jail since Aug. 16, when hundreds of Muslim protesters, angered over claims that she had burned pages from an Islamic holy book, surrounded a police station here in Islamabad to demand that she face prosecution.
Fearing violence, police filed blasphemy charges against Masih. Relatives and human rights workers said she was 11 years old and had Down syndrome, and should therefore be exempt from the blasphemy laws. The girl, who comes from an impoverished family of Christian sweepers, was said to have been seen holding a burned copy of the Noorani Qaida, a religious textbook used to teach the Koran to children.
After a brief court hearing Tuesday morning, Masih’s lawyer, Tahir Naveed Chaudhry, said a medical board had established that she was 14 years old and had a degree of mental disability....
For now, worries for Masih’s well-being focus on her incarceration at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, where Chaudhry told reporters he found her ‘‘weeping and crying’’ during a visit Saturday. Amnesty International has said it was ‘‘extremely concerned’’ for Masih’s safety, noting that, in the past, accused blasphemers in Pakistan had been killed by vigilantes before their cases even reached trial.
Her plight has also prompted concern among conservative Muslim clerics who, alarmed by a spate of recent blasphemy-inspired mob attacks, have united with Christian leaders on the issue....
Say what?
--more--"
"Pakistani cleric now charged in blasphemy case; Arrest could help free accused Christian girl" by Salman Masood | New York Times, September 03, 2012
ISLAMABAD — The Muslim cleric at the forefront of a campaign to prosecute a Christian girl for blasphemy has suddenly found himself at risk of facing the same charges, after one of his colleagues went to the authorities and accused him of falsifying evidence of burned holy papers....
The surprise arrest might change the direction of a case that has brought the world’s attention to Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws, which critics say are regularly used to exploit and intimidate minorities....
Some neighbors had accused the cleric of being a troublemaker and of instigating locals....
In incidents of accused blasphemy, where much of the details are murky or disputed, as people are generally afraid of inviting the wrath of religious figures and leaders who use their pulpits to whip up a storm of public anger, often leading to violent protests and riots....
In AmeriKa they do it to gin us up for wars.
In AmeriKa they do it to gin us up for wars.
At times, even just the rumor of blasphemous acts in Pakistan have led to lynchings or other violence, particularly against minorities.
Late last month, a group of influential Islamic clerics urged the police to investigate the charges against Masih and prosecute her accusers if the charges proved to be fabricated.
Why did the Iraq war lies just pop into my mind?
Why did the Iraq war lies just pop into my mind?
The case has put a spotlight on Pakistan’s blasphemy laws and caused an uproar across the country, largely because of the girl’s age and questions about her mental capacity....
--more--"
Related:
Lawyers demand release of Pakistani girl accused of blasphemy
Christian girl in Pakistan to be freed
Related:
Lawyers demand release of Pakistani girl accused of blasphemy
Christian girl in Pakistan to be freed
"Pakistani court throws out blasphemy charge" by Salman Masood | New York Times, November 21, 2012
ISLAMABAD — A Pakistani court ordered police to withdraw blasphemy charges against a Christian teenager on Tuesday, lawyers said, bringing an end to a contentious case that had gripped the country and sown fear in its Christian minority population.
The girl, Rimsha Masih, who comes from an impoverished family of sweepers, was arrested in August after Muslim accusers said she had been holding a burned copy of the Noorani Qaida, a religious textbook used to teach the Koran to children....
Justice Iqbal Hameed ur Rahman, who heads the Islamabad High Court, stated in his judgment that there was no evidence for the charges against Masih....
‘‘The case against Rimsha Masih is finished,’’ said Tahir Naveed Chaudhry, one of her lawyers. ‘‘Justice has been served.’’
****************************
Rights groups say the law, which dates back to the colonial era, is increasingly used to discriminate against religious minorities and accusations are often framed to settle personal enmities and vendettas.
The case against Masih was particularly shocking as it involved a minor facing charges that carry the possibility of a death sentence. Government officials and several leading politicians expressed outrage over the blasphemy accusations, and in a rare development, several leading Islamic scholars and leaders also condemned them.
Masih was arrested on Aug. 16 in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad after neighbors accused her of burning an Islamic textbook. A cleric, Muhammad Khalid Chishti, 30, who leads a mosque in the impoverished Mehr Jaffer neighborhood on Islamabad’s outskirts, stirred the furor by provoking the Muslim population and forcing hundreds of Christians, who mostly work as sweepers and domestic helpers, to temporarily flee the neighborhood in fear. Under pressure from angry Muslim protesters, police filed a case against Masih and arrested her.
But later, police investigations revealed that the cleric had himself added pages of a Koran to a heap of burned textbook pages that were retrieved from the girl. He was arrested for the false accusation but was released on bail in October....
“Police investigated on the proper lines,’’ Chaudhry, the lawyer, said. ‘‘Religious leaders played a very positive part. The pressure built by local news media also played a role in highlighting this case and created public pressure. Above all, the courts delivered justice.
‘‘I feel that with the development today, people who abuse blasphemy law, will be discouraged. I hope this will bring a full stop to false blasphemy cases.’’
Maulana Tahir Ashrafi, the chairman of the All Pakistan Ulema Council, a group of Muslim clerics who campaigned for Masih’s release, called the court decision a ‘‘milestone in the history of Pakistan.’’
--more--"
Rights groups say the law, which dates back to the colonial era, is increasingly used to discriminate against religious minorities and accusations are often framed to settle personal enmities and vendettas.
The case against Masih was particularly shocking as it involved a minor facing charges that carry the possibility of a death sentence. Government officials and several leading politicians expressed outrage over the blasphemy accusations, and in a rare development, several leading Islamic scholars and leaders also condemned them.
Masih was arrested on Aug. 16 in a slum on the outskirts of Islamabad after neighbors accused her of burning an Islamic textbook. A cleric, Muhammad Khalid Chishti, 30, who leads a mosque in the impoverished Mehr Jaffer neighborhood on Islamabad’s outskirts, stirred the furor by provoking the Muslim population and forcing hundreds of Christians, who mostly work as sweepers and domestic helpers, to temporarily flee the neighborhood in fear. Under pressure from angry Muslim protesters, police filed a case against Masih and arrested her.
But later, police investigations revealed that the cleric had himself added pages of a Koran to a heap of burned textbook pages that were retrieved from the girl. He was arrested for the false accusation but was released on bail in October....
“Police investigated on the proper lines,’’ Chaudhry, the lawyer, said. ‘‘Religious leaders played a very positive part. The pressure built by local news media also played a role in highlighting this case and created public pressure. Above all, the courts delivered justice.
‘‘I feel that with the development today, people who abuse blasphemy law, will be discouraged. I hope this will bring a full stop to false blasphemy cases.’’
Maulana Tahir Ashrafi, the chairman of the All Pakistan Ulema Council, a group of Muslim clerics who campaigned for Masih’s release, called the court decision a ‘‘milestone in the history of Pakistan.’’
--more--"
Related:
Pakistani teen accused of blasphemy A case against a Christian teenager accused of having sent anti-Islamic text messages. The case follows a highly publicized one earlier this year in which a 14-year-old girl was detained for weeks after being accused of burning pages from a holy book."
So much for milestones.
And while waiting at the women's bus stop:
"Car bomb kills 17 people in market in Pakistan" Associated Press, December 18, 2012
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A car bombing in a crowded market in Pakistan’s troubled northwest tribal region near the Afghan border Monday killed 17 people and wounded more than 40 others, officials said.
The bomb went off near the women’s waiting area of a bus stop close to the office of one of the Khyber tribal area’s top political officials, said Hidayat Khan, a local government official....
The dead included five boys and two women, said Abdul Qudoos, a doctor at a local hospital in Jamrud town, where the attack occurred....
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Try to keep your head down, girls:
Pakistan parents killed daughter for eyeing boy
The girl’s death underlines the problem of so-called honor killings in Pakistan, by pouring acid on her.
Please don't do that to your young ladies.
Related:
Tomas Munita for The New York Times Hameeda Sarfraz, in the dark burqa, teaches Islamic religious lessons to children in her village, about 50 miles north of Islamabad, Pakistan.
Pakistani children, who fled their village with their families
because of fighting between militants and militiamen in Pakistan’s
tribal area of Bajur, attended a Koran reading class (Muhammed Muheisen/Associated Press).
I think they are cutest little things, how about you?
Also see: Pakistan’s industry of denial
Someone is in denial.
Pakistani Beauty Pagent
Ah, thank heaven for little girls!
