Development project to change cityscape for good

LAHORE – Umaima Ahmed of The Nation talked to some of the affected people to get their views on the China-financed Orange Train project and its effect on their lives.
She started at Maharaja Building on Edward Road where seventy families are living in the building given to them after they moved to Pakistan following Partition in 1947. In the initial years they paid rent for the place but later they were allotted the property when PM Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto ordered reallocation. Since then they have lived in this area and their generations have grown up here but they all will soon have to move.
Alam Shahana Javed, a widow living in the Maharaja Building on Edward Road. “The Orange Train project will go over our dead bodies, if we are not given proper compensation for our houses that the government is taking away.”
Shakeel Ahmed, an Edward Road resident. “We have our original documents in which the property is in our name. The government said it’s an AUQAF property but they are not showing us the documents. They are also not paying us enough for the property and the building.
The ground floor house is being offered 3 million rupees, the price of the 1st floor is estimated 2 million and the top floor is not even worth mentioning leave aside the cost of the rubble.”
Mrs Imran Siddique, a house wife residing near Chuburgi. “This train has caused a holy mess in the area. We are living without gas, water and for hours without electricity. When we need to take a bath we have to go over to our relatives about 45 minutes away from here.
Cooking has become a torture for us as well. Everyday my house has to be cleaned about 2 times, dust sets in even before I put the broom and dust pan away.”
Shahid Miraj, Dean of St. Andrew Church Cathedral on Maclagan road. “On 31st December 2015, DCO Lahore had asked us to come for a meeting regarding the Orange Train. We were busy with our prayers and celebrations for New Year, due to which we could not attend the meeting. After that no one has approached us, but if they start any work without our permission we would not allow it.
We have heard the train will pass near the church and we are concerned about the maintenance of the building. This church was built over a century ago and since then great effort has been put in to maintain it.”
The Institute for Disadvantaged Children, corner of Jain Mandir on Lytton Road. 
Parents of children studying there are concerned about the future of their children being from the lower class of society do not have enough resources to take their children to another institute. According to interviews with the parents, the Orange Train will leave the children without a place to receive care and recreation. “The government said they would be allotting another place to the institute but who knows when they do it and what will happen to our children?

Shahid Ali, a shop owner opposite the Shalimar Gardens facing the destruction of his premises. “They have pulled down our shops without giving us adequate time to move out. We were given a notice of three days, after which they did not ask us if we have found a place or not. We don’t have any place to keep our shop material.
There were homes on top of our shops but they had to be vacated too. We have no idea where they have moved too, but they were very upset as they had been living here for over 20 years.” He further said, “They have not flattened the corporate office from where the orange train will start, but have broken our shops.”
The University of Punjab, the Orange Train will be taking part of the land of the University Town Housing Society, for which the permanent staff of the University contribute to get a plot allotted to them over the years. The government is taking some land of the society which is earmarked for teachers. The newly constructed home of the registratar will be demolished as it is in the path of the train.
A teacher of PU told The nation, “Khawaja Hassam had assured us that no part of the University would be taken into the route of Orange train. But now the government has sent us a notice and said the plan cannot be changed. In case they do not stop, we will be protesting in front of the Chinese Consulate and Punjab Assembly (for our rights).”
Orange Train has given the laborers a fixed income for some time. They would be working on the project for the next 27 months. Different companies that are part of the Orange Train project have hired them for 18,000/- rupees a month. They are provided with a place to stay at Thokar Niaz Beg, food is delivered to them at site and get a pick and drop daily. Muhammad Saleem spoke to The Nation and said, “We are satisfied with the payment that is given to us. Our family is living back in the village, so we don’t really have to pay for anything. They are giving us food and a place to stay. We work here on shifts. Every day the manager comes to check the work we have done. We are working hard day and night.” 
Not only the affected people are vocal about the way the project has taken their livelihood and homes away from them, many others concerned citizens also spoke to the Nation and expressed their reservations on the project .
Mariam Hussain, assistant professor of National College of Arts. “All the Orange Train claims that you are seeing are nothing but a stack of lies. The Government has appointed its own people at the required posts to approve this project otherwise no sane person would say yes to this living horror.
This project is not even sparing the disabled and mentally challenged people. The people who are being affected on its route are not given enough time to even look for a place. The government is just throwing them out of their homes.”
Rafay Alam, environmentalist. “This project is very ambiguous, no one is clear about it. The orange line is crossing all the heritage sites, which in the long run will have a negative impact on structure and foundations. The government is not disclosing the full plan. Even UNESCO is not giving approval for the project , which violates the international standards and treaties that are signed for preserving heritage sites.
If only they had used the money that they are using on constructing the bridge on Jail road it could have saved us from a lot of destruction.”
Prof Ajaz Anwar, information secretary of the Lahore Conservation Society. “Even though we need to get our transport system in order, but this Orange Train Project is not scientifically sound. Everywhere in the world the trains are going underground not hanging in mid-air. For a country like Pakistan this outrageously expensive project is being laid out of our taxes.
This is an election campaign which needs to be rejected. It would not only cause devastation to historic places but also give an ugly look to the city! We have grown up in this city; our attachments with this place are unexplainable. We are the custodians of these places, if we don’t look after them how will we tell our future generations about the rich history this land holds!.”
Kamil Khan Mumtaz, heritage pioneer. “Transport system of Lahore definitively needs to be improved but it does not mean that Lahore should be uprooted totally.
Buses should be purchased for the roads – this would help economy and save a lot of damage that is being caused to the city.”
Anonymous, civil society activist. “This project is nothing but a destruction of Lahore city. We can’t afford to lose our rich and expensive heritage for this stupid orange line. They are putting in so much of money but the output would be zero.”
They have no idea how many homes and businesses they are destroying. The results of this project will not be seen only in the next 2 years but 20 to 25 years down the lane.”

This article was published in The Nation on 16 Jan 2016

Evidence against Abdul Aziz ‘couriered to all MNAs’

An evidence file of 78 pages has been couriered to all the Ministers of National Assembly (MNAs) against Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Aziz by Never Forget organisation.

Interior Minister Chaudary Nisar had said on December 30 2015, while addressing the senate that there is no evidence existed against the Lal Masjid cleric Abdul Aziz and if there is any it should be presented to the government.

Never Forget has sent a letter for the MNAs in which the history and context of the topic is discussed. Along with it they have compiled all the First Information Reports (FIRs) against Aziz. His links with militants and land grabbers are also mentioned. Proofs of Abdul Aziz and Jamia Hafiza having shown support to the Islamic State and Daesh has been presented in the document as well.

While speaking to The Nation, Jibran Nasir a lawyer and activist who is the man behind this document said, “I have sent the evidence file to all the MNAs. I hope some MNA will have the guts to show the facts to Chaudary Nisar and ask what action he will take against Abdul Aziz .” When asked if he plans to hold any protest if action is not taken by the authorities Nasir said, “I don’t like bringing people on roads. People are educated enough to know what should be done in such a scenario. We all should be raising our voice against the militants and their sympathizers.” He further added, “My only aim is to make the institutions start taking action against the militants, especially Abdul Aziz who is sitting in the heart of Pakistan’s capital and is calling out to Daesh. I will use all lawful means to take this issue up. This case is even in the court and I am keeping a close eye on it.”

Abdul Aziz is the famous cleric of Lal Masjid in Islamabad known for giving anti-state statements. He has shown support for ISIS in the past. After Army Public School was attacked on 16 December he refused to condemn the attack, which brought him into the limelight once again.

This article was published in The Nation on 14 Jan 2016

13-year-old fighting for life after escaping rape attempt in Muridke

On 7 January a 13-year-old girl escaped a rape attempt in Muridke , near Lahore. The alleged culprit returned with a gang of people and threw petrol on her and set her on fire. Presently the girl is under treatment at Mayo Hospital Lahore and is fighting for her life. The police have registered a First Information Report (FIR) in Sadar Police Station Muridke and are investigating the matter.

The doctors and staff attending to the girl at Mayo Hospital are not very hopeful about her recovery. A doctor speaking to The Nation said, “She is in critical condition. All efforts are being made to treat her.” The girl is in extreme trauma due to which no one is allowed to visit her. The moment she sees an unknown faces she gets hysterical.

The girl’s family comes from a very poor background. Her father M. Khalid who is a daily wager said, “The girl was alone at home when Azaam Kamboh (the alleged culprit) attacked her. She escaped the attack but soon he came with a group of men who barged inside the house and threw petrol on her and burnt her.” Khalid says half of her body has been burnt.

“I was at work, I received a call at about 11:30 am that this has happened and I rushed home. When I reached home I came to know that while the culprits were trying to escape they even beat up my wife when she came home. I thank God that my younger kids escaped the attack.”

Khalid continued: “The police have asked me for Rs 25,000 if we want the culprit to be arrested. How can I manage that? I can’t give her the required medicines that the doctors are asking to bring, how will I give the police this amount? He asked “Where is the CM Punjab? We had no enemies; even so why has this happened to us?”

Khalid was asked if he felt he was under threat. “I can’t face anyone in the village now, we will have to leave the place. My brothers and I have been getting calls to take the FIR back but I will not do that. I may be killed but I will get justice for my daughter.”

When asked about his financial condition he said he had been injured in the head a few years ago so he could not do any manual labor, or carry anything on his head. So he has very limited earnings. However he was sending his kids to school so they can become better when they grow up.

The girl’s mother also spoke to The Nation saying, “My daughter’s life has been destroyed. She is in great pain. I don’t know what I can to help her feel better. For us our life has been destroyed.” While crying she said, she would never forgive the culprits. “Today it is their daughter; tomorrow it can be another girl, when will we get justice? We are poor people we can’t even feed ourselves properly,we don’t have socks to wear in this cold. How these doctors and police expect us to pay for the expensive medicines or pay such heavy amounts to get justice?” she asked.

The people of Muridke wait along with the family of the girl to see if justice is served, or if like many others this case too is consigned to the files under influence of the notables of the area.

This article was published in The Nation 13 Jan 2016

Jami interrogated in US coffee shop after mentioning ‘ISIS’

Jami Mahmood, the director of the Pakistani movie Moor was investigated by Palm Springs US police, while sitting in a coffee shop following the screening of his movie, He was interrogated for using the words ‘ISIS’, ‘Afghanistan’ and ‘Pakistan’.

He was at Coffee and Beans with a couple of friends, one of whom was an American pilot of a commercial flight. They were discussing the script for Jami's next movie when people overheard the mention of 'ISIS', 'Pakistan' and 'Afghanistan' and called the police.

While speaking to The Nation Jami said, “I was with Shaz, Hameed Sheikh and an American friend discussing the script for our next movie in which ISIS, Pakistan and Afghanistan words were being used. I asked everyone to avoid these words before we get in trouble. But by that time someone had overheard us and called the police.”

He further said, “The police looked at our documents took pictures and even asked the purpose of our visit. We explained the whole scenario after which they let us go. I know they were just doing their job and things are on high alert in States. Thank God I was not in New York otherwise things would have been bad. Our American friend started crying because he knew that his career would be at stake now because he was sitting with us.”

When asked if he had faced anything like this earlier in America he said, “No, I have been to US before too but things were not like this. About eight years ago I had decided to shift my family to US but then I thought no I’ll stay in Pakistan. Today I feel my decision was right. Speeches of (Donald) Trump have actually started making an effect.” He further said, “I never thought such a day would come when we won’t be ableto take the name of Pakistan in US. Everyone from the family was being very careful of using the word Pakistan. It is all absurd the way things are going.”

This article was published in The Nation on 8 Jan 2016

Transgender rights activist shot injured

The Co admin of TransAction Page on Facebook and a member of TransAction Alliance Adnan was shot by unknown people on Tuesday night. He was returning from a meeting with four people in a car. He is in a critical condition and under observation in Lady Reading Hospital.

Qamar is working with the TransAlliance and many other groups who are working for the rights of Transgenders. While speaking to The Nation he said, “Adnan was taken to Lady Reading Hospital where he was refused treatment. The doctors and police were laughing at us, while he was bleeding. We reached the place at 9:30pm and he got treatment at around 11:15pm. All this time no one was ready to attend him.

“We even reminded them the orders of the Supreme Court that a critical patient should be treated first later the police can follow up the case. But no one was ready to help.”

He told The Nation, they had to ask help from Noor Zaman Khattak, Director Human Rights and get it into the Media, only then Adnan was assisted. “The police even took Adnan’s thumb prints on empty papers without our permission but we tore them as they wanted to make a fake case against him. The nurses and the doctors could not decide where to place Adnan, in the ladies or male ward. This was really disturbing for us.

“We were not expecting such irresponsible, insensitive and inhumane treatment. Even now he is being kept in the male ward but with curtain stands around him. Female nurse staff is not ready to assist him so male staff is looking after him after being pressurized by media coverage.”

Qamar expressed his sorrow and disappointment in Imran Khan and his promises. “Why can people at Shaukat Khanum get high-class treatment, but not in government hospitals? He has never supported the minorities, marginalized people of Khyber PakhtoonKhawa. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has given good legislations in the assemblies but they have never said a word for women, minorities and marginalized people.

“About 3 months ago we even applied for protection to I.G Nasir Durrani, but this day has come where Adnan has been shot but no security was provided. We doubt it will have any affect in the future too.”

TransAction Alliance and other groups are working in 18 districts to educate transgender about their rights.  There are around 48,000 transgender in KPK. Qamar said, “If CM KPK Pervaiz Khattak does not give the transgender their due rights, we will file a writ in the Supreme Court against contempt of court. It has categorically stated that transgender should be treated equally and be given their due shares and Identity in the society.”

This article was published in The Nation on 7 Jan 2016

Faisalabad Agriculture University expels gold medalist over Facebook status

Syed Kashan Haider Gilani is a gold medalist of University of Agriculture Faisalabad, who was expelled for posting a status against the university on Facebook.

Kisan Mela (Farmers festival) had been organized in the premises of the university where no farmer was invited. Instead a dance concert was arranged. It was criticized by Kashan Haider a PhD student, on the social media site. The university expelled the student as soon as they came to know about the post.

While speaking to The Nation, Kashan Haider said, “Kisan Mela took place on 24 November 2015, I wrote a post on 27 November. After that I was given a letter to give an explanation, on which I gave a written apology to two different committees, Director Student Affairs and Disciplinary Advisory in the University but no one is listening to me.”

“Nor are they telling me what was wrong in the post. According to them I have brought a bad name to the teachers and the institution,” he added.

Haider continued: “I did not know that our right of freedom of speech has been taken away from us. Yesterday was my first paper, but instead of giving my exam I had to pack my bags and leave my hostel.”

When asked about his future plans he said, “I come from a very mediocre family. My father was a sepoy in the Pakistan army and he passed away few years ago. I’ve studied with scholarships all along with outstanding results. I don’t have an approach to get this issue solved by any influential person. But I will not stop asking what my fault was.”

Dr Jalal Arif, public relations officer in UAF, while speaking to The Nation said, “He has violated the disciplinary code of the university and had maligned the staff which will not be tolerated.” When asked about freedom of speech he said, “Everyone has the right to freedom of speech but nothing can be said to malign the institution or staff. Secondly the case is with the Dr Iqrar, the VC of FAU, by tomorrow the issue will be resolved. It’s not such a big issue.”

This article was published in The Nation on 6 Jan 2015

Women empowerment: The struggle continues

Today ‘women empowerment’ is the buzz word; however for majority of the men, it is hard to digest. Women empowerment means that women have access to education, financial security, equal treatment, protection under law, get acceptance in the work places and society.

The rules of women empowerment are drawn by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), and the United Nations Global Compact. All the member nations are to ensure implementing methods that empower women.

In Pakistan, despite shackles of culture and religion women have excelled in every field and while the lot of women in the urban areas has improved over time, issues still exist.Pakistan can boast of outstanding ladies who have not only worked for women but also sacrificed their lives in the struggle of women rights. Even though Fatima Jinnah was known as the symbol of women empowerment during partition and later, history shows how she was pushed aside.

The female social activists of Pakistan have always stood up against the laws made to suppress women, especially during Ziaul Haq’s regime, yet they never stopped struggling. A time came when ladies of Pakistan earned the fruit of their struggle and Pakistan got the first female Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. She spoke for women rights and empowerment too but was unable to fulfill the promises due to political expediency.

Pervez Musharraf made sure of working for women empowerment . There was no field that did not have an opening for women. Even the male only Armed Forces were opened to women. Today there are women not only in the Army, Navy but in the Air Force also; and a female pilot officer also laid down her life during training. Amendments were made in laws about rape; Hadood law was amended and quota for women in the Central Superior Services were laid, and many other steps were taken for bringing women in the main stream.

President Zardari’s appointed women in various high designations such as Fehmida Mirza the Speaker of the National Assembly, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and First Female Secretary of Defense Nargis Sethi among others. The Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Bill 2009 was passed and implemented. Laws were made about Acid attacks, wani, karo Kari and marriage with the Quran.

The present government is also ensuring empowerment women and Punjab Government has taken the lead and appointed six ladies in the bureaucracy. The Establishment of National and Provincial Commissions on the Status of Women; Strengthening and improving the implementation of the National Policy for Development and Empowerment of Women; Enacting and implementing pro-women legislation, including the Criminal Law Amendment Act, declaring honor killing a crime; Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Act; Women in Distress etc. It also includes women empowerment as the First Pillar of their key planning document, ‘Vision 2025’, to inculcate leadership among women at the grassroots levels.

On the other hand women in rural areas are suffering in the most inhumane ways possible, things like forced marriages, rape, lack of justice, acid attacks, female genital mutilations, honor killing, marriage with Quran, Karo Kari, Watta Satta and forced conversions continue to be the norm.

Sidra Humayoun, a social activist spoke to The Nation on the subject and said “In this age of advancement women are leaving their homes and are willing to live in Darul Aman but not tolerate domestic violence or pressures. They want to be treated equally and have access to education. In 2015, 13,000 women came to Darul Aman’s to get protection and shelter. Women laws are being introduced in Pakistan especially in the Punjab yet the government needs to ensure the institutions are strong enough to implement laws, we don’t need more of them.”She further said, “Society needs to empower women, even religionshave empowered women then where is the issue?”

Recently a 15 year old girl was gang-raped in Lahore, and allegedly policemen and Adnan Sana Ullah a political party worker were involved; while it is being investigated, the girl is in a critical condition and is being made to run from pillar to post to seek redress of her grievance.

Crime statistics of Punjab for 2015 speak of why one can not only feel insecure but also be ashamed. 2555 rape cases till November were registered while 538 werewithdrawn. 211 cases of gang rape were registered and 31 withdrawn. No one has any idea how many cases went unreported.According to the Human Rights Commission Pakistan, there were 62 cases of acid attacks.We can safely say that the conditions in other provinces are not any better.

Bushra Khaliq, Executive Director of ‘Women in Struggle for Empowerment’, spoke to The Nation, “Despite of the ways this society has treated and is treating women, they have excelled in every field. They have stepped into the political arena, science and technology, and even the Forces. But it doesn’t mean that they never face difficulties along the way. Being accepted in the society itself and working along with men is still not considered acceptable.” She further added, “Families are not very supportive when women want to work or study. This pushes them in a corner, and makes them feel as if they belong to lower strata of society due to which people take advantage of them.”

Apart from Rural and Urban areas of Pakistan, the minorities in Pakistan face a lot of hurdles in empowering women and most of the work is usually done on personal or Nongovernmental Organizational level.Religious extremism is usually quoted as the reason.

Michelle Chaudhry, daughter of Late Squadron Leader Cecil Chaudhry a hero of the 1965 War, works with The Cecil and Iris Foundation to promote education and women empowerment amongst minorities. After the Peshawar Church Attack in 2013, in which around 80 Christians were killed and over a 100 injured including a 9 year old survivor who passed away recently after struggling for her life for two years. Michelle and that the Foundation set up a skill development center in Peshawar where 79 church attack survivors have undergone a three months course on cutting and sewing clothes and other skills to enable them to earn a respectable living. On graduation after they are given asewing machine, threads, measuring tape, cloth, and are connected to some project so they start earning a living. Michelle spoke to The Nation, “These ladies till last year were crying and were distressed over their conditions but today they are not only running their own house but living a respectable and decent life. Our aim was to empower these ladies. Apart from them we want to empower ladies from the minorities as they don’t get proper education due to obvious reasons.” She further added, “It is unfortunate that women have to face the brunt of religious extremism too. When Youhanabad (Lahore) incident happened, all Christian women who were working in different homes were asked to leave because of the lynching incident. Due to that they had to suffer immensely.”

Sanwar Kumar who works with HRCP, spoke to The Nation on behalf the Hindu community and highlighted the issues faced by the women. “We gained independence from the Britishers but not from the feudal lords. Our area (mostly in Sindh) is ruled by feudal’s and we live in constant fear. Our ladies have to live inside the homes most of the times or they are kidnapped and taken away, either for sexual pleasures, or for forcefully converting to Islam and then marriage. Our women hardly gain education due to which they have no idea about rights and laws.” He further spoke about the representatives of the area, Those who are elected they are just 5 percent of the lot. The rest 95 percent has to suffer for being from the lowest cast.”

Amir Mehmood, the spokesperson of the Ahmaddiya community said, “We make sure of empowering our women but this society does not let them survive. The minute they come to know about their religious affiliations they are targeted, due to which they have to leave the job. In our community we let them be a part of every activity. They are running schools, working as doctors, recreational activity centers etc.” He told us about success stories of Sitara Brooj Akbar who achieved a record in IELTS examination and Dr Mansoora Shamim, a scientist who has worked for six years at CERN in Geneva Switzerland. Dr. Shamim has published seven papers in international journals and co-authored 676 publications as a member of D0 and ATLAS collaborations.

The women in Pakistan, Muslim or from religious minorities and playing an important role in nation building; the men in Pakistan need to realize that until women are not empowered and get their due place in society irrespective of religion, cast or creed, this nation will not be able to excel at the required pace and take up its place in the comity of nations.

This article was published in The Nation on 1 Jan 2016