DAWN/The News International, KARACHI 20 January 2000, Thursday, 12 Shawwal 1420
www.karachipage.com (click on underlined key words to get more details)
Mushahidullah detained in bomb blast case
Two kg bomb defused in Karachi
Hearing of Saulat Mirza's appeal put off
One injured by robbers, 15 vehicles snatched
HRCP report: 266 'honour-killings', 163 'stove-deaths' around Lahore region
Appointment must for visa interview: US embassy
Zee TV deliberately bungles debate on Kashmir
Mushahidullah detained in bomb blast case

KARACHI: The Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) on Wednesday detained PML-N city leader Mushahidullah Khan from Anti-Terrorism Court and shifted him to the CIA Centre for investigation.

Sources confirmed that a team headed by SSP CIA Manzoor Mughal appointed for investigating the Arambagh bomb blast incident were interrogating the PML-N leader. Nine people were killed and 25 seriously injured in the blast on Monday. The former KMC administrator
was an active leader of PML-N and was recently nominated as coordinator of PML-N Karachi to organise the party in the city and mobilised it for the support of the former prime minister who has been arrested in the plane hijacking conspiracy case.

According to party leader Nihal Hashmi advocate, the police officials posted at the ATC for security duty told him that the CIA staff had taken Mushahidullah into custody. He said that Mushahidullah had come to the court along with him to attend the proceedings of the plane conspiracy case. But some plainclothes men asked him that they wanted to talk to him. Later they took him away in a private vehicle.

Police also arrested at least 30 PML-N workers including six women from in front of the Anti-Terrorism Court No 1 Clifton when they were demonstrating outside the court premises. These workers and leaders were chanting slogans in favour of deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif and against General Pervaiz Musharraf. Heavy contingents of police and rangers were deployed in the area to prevent the PML-N workers and supporters from reaching the court. Heavy police and rangers force was also deployed along the route leading to the court.

Meanwhile, the PML-N Karachi claimed that six armed persons kidnapped party activist Major (retd) Mustajab when he was returning after attending the proceedings of the plane conspiracy case.

The party said the armed persons stopped Mustajab's car at the traffic signal near the Marriott Hotel and took him away in a car. The party claimed that some passersby asked them about their identity. They said they are government officials, the party claimed.

Two kg bomb defused in Karachi

KARACHI: Just two days after the bomb explosion in Arambagh area, a two-kilogramme explosive device was found near a shop in old clothing market - Lunda Bazaar - on Thursday afternoon. On Monday about one kilogramme bomb exploded near Arambagh killing nine and seriously injuring 25 people.

It was about 4:30 pm when Muhammad Amin, owner of shops 153-154, spotted a plastic sack underneath the front stall of his shop. Seeing some suspicious substance like wire and detonator, Amin pulled the plastic bag and hurriedly took it towards the open space in the parking lot of City Courts on Ali Dina Road and threw it away. Other shopkeepers informed the police and the Bomb Disposal Squad was called at the scene. During the course a stir was created in Lunda Bazaar and its surroundings and people started running in panic.

Saeed, another shopkeeper, told The News that he along with others spotted the suspicious bag containing something wrapped in a towel. He said some of the shopkeepers tried to open the bag and when the towel was removed a switch sort of thing was visible which created doubt and fear among the people thus the bag was thrown away in the parking lot of the City courts.

Bomb Disposal Squad chief Moinuddin reached the scene in a few minutes and found that the explosive was without any detonator. However, the detonator was kept in a side of the carton containing the explosive.

Moinuddin told The News that it was a two-kilogramme bomb containing PE-3 explosive in the form of four slabs of 4.25 inches long, three inches wide and 1.5 inches thick. "The four slabs were tied with a thin rope and packed in a carton but the detonator was not fitted in the slabs which means the stuff was not kept at the place for explosion. I think it was kept there for further transportation to somewhere else," Moin said.

He said the detonator - the switch of the bomb - was of pull up system and of 1.5 diameter long while the hole made in the slabs for detonator was only of .5 inch diameter which again confirmed that whosoever put the stuff at the place did not intend to explode it at that place. After taking precautionary measures, the BDS chief took the explosive to the concerned police station and separated its several parts to avoid any risk.

SSP South AD Khwaja said efforts were on to nab the culprits. He said the presence of mind on the part of shopkeeper Amin saved the area from a disaster. He said the police force was put on alert but people should also play their due role to curb the terrorist activities by keeping an eye on suspicious characters.

Another senior police officer of district South said the shopkeepers were being questioned to find a clue to the culprits. Meanwhile, the recovery of the explosive device caused misunderstanding at the railways stations as the district South police aired the message for keeping an eye on suspicious characters. In response Railway police searched out two outbound trains - Khushhal Khan Khattak Express and Sukkur Express - delaying their departure.

Hearing of Saulat Mirza's appeal put off
KARACHI, Jan 19: An Anti-terrorism Appellate (ATA) bench of the Sindh High Court, consisting of Justice Hamid Ali Mirza and Justice Mohammed Ashraf Leghari, on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of the appeal by Saulat Mirza, an activist of the MQM, till Thursday.

Saulat Mirza was sentenced to death in the murder case of Malik Shahid Hamid, managing director of the KESC, his driver Ashraf Brohi and gunman Khan Akbar, both employees of the KESC.

The incident had occurred on July 5, 1997 when unknown assailants opened fire with automatic weapons killing the deceased as soon as they came out of the DHA residence of the KESC MD on way to the KESC head office.

The accused/convict was first tried and sentenced by a Military Trial Court. Later, the case was shifted to ATC-5 which also convicted him, against which the present appeal was filed by the accused/appellant.

The same bench also adjourned till Feb 9 an appeal filed by Asma Nawab, accused in a triple-murder case of her father, mother and brother.

explanation SOUGHT: A division bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday asked the additional district and sessions judge (ADJ) West-II to decide the bail application of an accused/applicant, Shahid, within a week and explain the delay in deciding the bail application.

The bench, consisting of Chief Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui and Justice Ghulam Rabbani, was hearing a constitutional petition seeking direction of the High Court filed by Mst Shamim, wife of Shahid, accused in the murder case of head constable Shaukat Ali of Saeedabad police station.

Ms Farkhunda, counsel for the petitioner, maintained that Shahid alias Chitta, accused, was arrested on April 10, 1999 in this case along with co- accused Shahzad and Zahid, all activist of the MQM.

She further maintained that the other two co-accused were granted bail by the ADJ West-II in the same month. Although the case of the accused is identical, bail was not granted to him.

She maintained that afterwards a bail application was filed by the accused on September 17, 1999. The ADJ heard the arguments on Oct 1 and Oct 29 but no decision was announced, she claimed.

The bench, after hearing the counsel for the petitioner, allowing the petition, asked the ADJ to decide the bail application in a week's time and to report compliance to the Member Inspection Team of the High Court and also to "explain that why the bail application was kept pending for decision so long."

According to the prosecution, a complaint was lodged by Mst Shabiran, widow of deceased HC Shaukat Ali, on Sept 4, 1995, that her husband was shot dead in Rangar Mohalla, Saeedabad, Baldia Town, Karachi.

The body of the deceased was found in a garbage bin with hands and legs tied and eyes blindfolded.

Some eight persons were booked in this case, but they were later acquitted by the trial court, after which the present accused was arrested and named in the case whereas the FIR was against unknown persons.

Another bench of the SHC, comprising Justice S. A. Sarwana, issued stay order till Jan 28 against the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) restraining it from dispossessing or demolishing houses of 13 plaintiffs.

The bench was hearing a suit filed for declaration of permanent injunction against the DHA by Saif-ul-Islam Ghauri and 12 others, residents of the kachchi abadi of Qayumabad, Korangi.

Khawaja Sharf-ul-Islam, appearing for the plaintiffs, maintained that the kachchi abadi was officially notified in 1986 and the residents had paid all government dues etc for regularization and were in rightful, legal possession of the land. - APP

One injured by robbers, 15 vehicles snatched

KARACHI: Bandits looted cash, jewellery and other valuables and injured the owner of the house on his resistance in New Karachi on Wednesday. Besides, armed men looted thousand of rupees, gold ornaments, and electrical appliances, and snatched 15 vehicles from various parts of the city.

Three bandits barged into the residence of Muhammad Saleem in Sector 5/C, North Karachi, in the New Karachi police limits. The bandits on a gunpoint locked all the inmates in a room. Two of them stood guard while the others collected cash, jewellery, and other valuables. When Saleem resisted the bandit, his accomplice opened fire and fled along with the booty after leaving him injured.

Robbers looted cash, gold ornaments, and electrical appliances from the residence of Muhammad Saleem in Clifton, cash, jewellery and other valuables from the shop of Khadim Hussain in Defence, and Rs 50,000 from the shop of Muhammad Ismail in F B Industrial Area.

Car-lifters snatched seven cars and eight motorcycles from different parts of the magapolis, while Karachi police claimed that they recovered three cars and five motorcycles from the metropolis.

DIES: A seven months pregnant woman who torched herself in Khawaja Ajmer Nagri and was admitted Abbasi Shaheed Hospital died, while a middle-aged man committed suicide in Mochko.

Shama, 19, wife of Nadeem, after quarrel with her mother-in-law locked herself in a kitchen of her residence in Sector 5-B/2, North Karachi, in Khawaja Ajmer Nagri on Tuesday and sprinkled a kerosene oil on herself and then set herself.

Her relatives took her to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital in a critical condition. However, after few hours, she succumbed to her wounds. The MLO, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, said that the deceased woman was seven months pregnant.

According to the police Shama was married with Nadeem about 10 month's back and after few days her mother-in-law start fight with her. On Tuesday, after a quarrel with her mother-in-law, she locked herself and put herself to torch.

Ghulam Haider, 50, an employee of a poultry farm hanged himself to death from a tree in the premises of Malikh Al Noor Poultry Farm, on the Suparco Road in Mochko police limit. His body was shifted to Civil Hospital for autopsy. According to the police the deceased was ailing for the last several years and on the day when he was disheartened he committed suicide.

Appointment must for visa interview: US embassy
ISLAMABAD, Jan 19: The US Embassy here has announced that it will resume non-immigrant visa interviews on Jan 24, but has brought some changes in the existing system.

All originial visa applications must still be submitted through Gerrys FedEx, while the non-immigrant visa interviews will be by appointment only. Another change is that there will be no longer a drop-box service at the embassy itself.

Gerry's FedEx will handle all scheduling of non-immigrant visa interviews and all applicants, who have a green or yellow interview letter, should bring the letter to the nearest Gerry's FedEx in person to schedule an appointment.

When given appointment, applicants will also be given a token, telling the date and time when they are to arrive at the embassy.

Due to limited space available at the embassy, applicants who arrive early will not be allowed on the premises. Only people with tokens for the correct date and time will be entertained.

Applicants for all non-immigrant visas may continue to submit their petitions through Gerry's FedEx, whose officers will review the applications. If the applicant is found eligible, his or her passport will be returned with a visa.

Immigrant visa interviews will resume by appointment only, as before. People who have received letters from the embassy with an appointment date and time, should follow the instructions contained in the letter. Those who have received letters notifying them of the suspension of visa interviews, will receive interview letters through the mail in the next few weeks.

Immigrant visa applicants, who have received their "Packet 3.5" may submit requested documents only through Gerry's FedEx, as there will no longer be a drop-box for immigrant visa applicants. "Blue sheet" applicants,who have been asked to submit more documents,must also submit them through Gerry's FedEx.-PPI

HRCP report: 266 'honour-killings', 163 'stove-deaths' around Lahore region
LAHORE, Jan 19: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said here on Wednesday that there was a significant increase in the quantum of reported violence against women. It said that the increase could be gauged from the estimate that while at the beginning of the 90s a woman was reported raped every three hours now this figure had gone up to a rape every two hours. (The word 'reported' is used throughout this article since in many cases a crime might have been committed but not reported to the police, the traditional source of information for a crime reporter.)

It's report, The Dimensions of Violence, chronicling reported cases of violence against women (cases reported in Lahore's national newspapers) says that in the 11 months of 1999 up to the end of November a total of 266 women including 40 girls had been killed by relatives or family members. It said that these murders were apparently carried out by the accused in a bid to save "family honour". The report says that in 82 cases the women were killed by their brothers, followed by 52 instances where the husband was the alleged killer. As if this wasn't enough around 15 per cent of those killed were young girls. When it came to catching the killers, the HRCP report says, no more than 35 people have been arrested. And, in a quarter of all cases, no FIR had been filed after the women's murder.

The Dimensions of Violence then goes on to chronicle cases of burn victims as reported in Lahore's national dailies saying that in over half the 272 reported cases the victim was a recently married woman. In fact, in 201 of these 272 incidents (or close to three-fourths) the victim was cooking. The HRCP report says that while some of the cases might have been genuine accidents the chance that all of them were mishaps seemed quite unlikely. The 272 cases of stove-burning that were recorded included 48 girls and caused the deaths of 163 of the victims. However, not a single person was held and an FIR was registered in mere 22 cases. The HRCP says that this meant that it was quite easy to disguise a deliberate incident stove-burning as an accidental death.

MURDER CASES: The HRCP says that for the first 11 months of 1999 a total of 675 women were reported murdered. This included 85 who were under the age of 18 and 402 married women. The figure of 675 also includes the 266 women who were killed on a matter of so-called 'honour'. Over 71 per cent of the accused (in 480 cases) were relatives, mostly husbands, brothers or fathers and in over 35 per cent of cases (241) the women had been killed after being "suspected as having either a bad character or a friendship/relationship" with another man. For these 675 reported murders no more than 77 accused were arrested - in fact, complaints of over 150 murders were never registered.

RAPE: A total of 597 women including 295 (over 49 per cent) were reported raped in the Punjab. Almost as many of the women, 286 to be precise, were gang-raped. In 140 cases, local police did not register even an FIR for the crime while mere 74 people were arrested for the 597 cases.

KIDNAPPING: A total of 713 women were kidnapped during the first 11 months of 1999; and over half, 368 to be precise, were girls. The HRCP says that police is especially "notorious" for not dealing with kidnap cases properly, especially when women are involved. In almost a third of cases, 232, not even an FIR was registered. A total of 12 people were arrested and only 26 of the 713 kidnapped women were reported as having returned to their homes.

CUSTODIAL VIOLENCE: Forty one cases were reported of the either rape or torture of women in custody by police personnel; This included six girls and the distressing aspect was that all cases of rape were gang-rape, implying that whenever an opportunity presented itself, the whole "gang" of policemen on duty took part. Of the 41 reported cases only in five was anyone arrested.

SEXUAL HARASSMENT: A total of 146 cases were reported of women (including 49 girls) being either molested or of an attempt to rape being made. However, sexual harassment as perceived (and dealt with) in other developed countries was not issue here and the cases reported were always of situations where the situation got so out of hand that a relative [of a victim] tried to make an issue out of it - and the matter gained sufficient attention to makes it way into a newspaper report. However, in over a third of cases of sexual harassment no case was registered and only nine people were held, and that too for a short period.

Zee TV deliberately bungles debate on Kashmir

WASHINGTON: The compulsive hatred shown by the Indians towards Pakistan, sometimes bordering the ridiculous, has become a recurring theme in the Western media. Zee TV's programme in London, where Pakistan's High Commissioner Akbar S Ahmad was blacked out from the debate, was reported even by The Washington Times.

It said the Zee TV bungled the broadcast of a debate between the Indian and Pakistani ambassadors to Britain so badly that the diplomats suspected something else was afoot. They could not believe ZEE TV could be so inept unless it was a conspiracy, wrote The Times.

The story goes that Akbar Ahmed was invited by Zee TV to participate in a debate on Kashmir. His aides were worried right from the start. They advised him to reject the invitation from India's largest satellite broadcaster with nearly 200,000 subscribers in Britain's Asian community.

When he showed up at the television studio, the paper said, his aides were worried that he might be poisoned. They warned him not to drink or eat anything offered by the Indians The debate between Ahmed and Indian Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri degenerated into a farce.

Akbar told The Daily Telegraph that he was cautious as he entered the studio for the half-hour recording earlier this month. "It was enemy territory and on enemy terms," he was quoted by the newspaper, "but I thought it was worth the risk to try to get a breakthrough. You have to realise that it's like a Cold War between us," he added. "My staff members were so nervous that they warned me not to eat the sandwiches or drink the coffee in case they were poisoned."

The report says Akbar, a polished speaker, thought he had scored some valuable debating points, as he refuted India's charges of terrorism and challenged his counterpart over India's refusal to allow a plebiscite on the future of the disputed Kashmir region. As the TV network saw the debate going the Pakistan way, things started happening. Then the first glitch was discovered. A power surge had wiped out the tape, according to the show's producers, who asked the diplomats to restart the debate.

"But this time the debate was more aggressive, not letting me get my points in and cutting me off whenever I used flash-point words like Kashmir or plebiscite," Akbar. Ahmed complained. "I got the impression that the whole intention was to paint Pakistan a terrorist state."

That, however, was just the beginning of the farce. When the programme was broadcast on January 2, the station went to a commercial after 12 minutes into the debate. When the show returned, the ambassadors were missing. Without any explanation, their debate had been replaced with an interview of a former Indian prime minister talking about his novel.

Half an hour later, the debate returned. However, as soon as Akbar began to mention Kashmir, the programme was switched to an Indian movie and did not return. Funnily, reports The Times, the television station blamed an inexperienced staff member for mixing up the tapes. The paper notes that the poisonous atmosphere between the two countries only added to the tension.

© DAWN Group of Newspapers, 2000
© JANG Group, 2000

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