Sexual Assault On Women In Pakistan Jail And Deafening Silence Of Ulema, Journalists and Human Rights Activists

By New Age Islam Staff Writer 31 May 2023 Former Member Parliament Says 9th May Violence Orchestrated By Army Main Points: 1. 1.A woman released from Lahore jail has bite marks all over her body. 2. Police exposed private parts to women while arresting them. 3. The police threatened to rape women while raiding houses of PTI leaders. 4. Eye witnesses say Peshawar radio station and the airplane in Mianwali were set ablaze by the Army. 5. Lahore High Court turned down request for providing medical report of Khadija Shah. 6. Announcements from mosques in KPK are being made warning the police of revolt in case of raids on houses. ------ Photo: First India ---- Very alarming and frightening! This is how the law and order situation in Pakistan under Shahbaz Sharif government and the Pakistan Army can be described. Reports that have been pouring in from various sources inside Pakistan show that the Shahbaz Sharif government and the Pakistan Army have lost sanity in their enmity against Imran Khan and in their madness to crush any opposition. They can go to any extent ignoring and disregarding not only their own Constitution but also international convention on human rights. The police have been acting and behaving like the enemy of the people. They have disregarded and violated all laws that they were supposed to protect. The police have been cracking down on alleged protesters who were involved in subversive activities on 9th May when core commander house was set ablaze and Radio Peshawar building was set on fire. The airplane in Mianwali was also set on fire allegedly by the protesters. But while raiding houses of PTI workers and leaders, the police arrested women, threatened to disrobe and even rape them. They beat elderly men and women and even children. When they raided the house of PTI leader and singer Abrarul Haque, the senior officer ordered the police to disrobe his wife. A senior police officer of a city told a journalist on condition of anonymity that his senior officer told him to disrespect, molest and mistreat PTI women so that they will not take part in protests again. While arresting protesting women, therefore, one policemen opened the zip of his pants before the women and said, "See, your dignity is worth this." The police raided the house of singer Salman Ahmad's sister, and arrested his brother-in-law. They raided the house of Shahryar Afridi and picked up his wife. On the midnight of 27th May, the home minister Rana Sanaullah held an emergency press conference and said that the intelligence agencies had intercepted a call of two PTI leaders who planned to rape a women lodged in jail and put the blame on the government and the law enforcing agencies. This press conference raised an alarm among the people and analyst feared that the police might have raped some women in jail and so the home minister had to hold a press conference before the truth came out. People feared that Khadija Shah, a British national and the grand daughter of former Pak Army chief, Sanam Jawed or Taiba Raja, PTI workers, may have been the victims. The police have not disclosed there whereabouts and have not allowed their family members or lawyers to meet. This has caused fear and anxiety among the people and their families. The hearing of the case of Khadija Shah was scheduled for 30th May and her lawyer had requested for her medical report and permission for hef family members to meet her but intriguingly the Lahore High Court rejected both the pleas. This is disappointing. The court seems to be working under pressure from the Army. Now disclosures by the former MNA and a senior PTI woman leader Shandana Gulzar Khan have proved the fear true. She is in hiding and has said that a woman who was released from Lahore jail had bite marks all over her body. This proves claims by Imran Khan and other PTI leaders and workers that women were being sexually harassed and assaulted in jails true. Mrs Shandana says in an audio release: "These women have suffered an inordinate amount of abuse. One particular woman in Lahore complains she has been checked after release from prison and she has reported bite marks all over her body. There are women who have been abused in different ways. They have not been allowed to change their clothing; they have not been allowed food; they have not been allowed lawyers; they have not been allowed electricity; they have not been allowed even bedding. That's the concept that in jail if you are PTI, you will not get medication, you will not get basic toiletries and will have to share toilets with hundreds of other women." In a latest audio clip, a woman says that the policemen are taking women prisoners out and dragging them towards the nearby graveyard. No one knows what happens to them in the graveyard. Actually, Rana Sanaullah knew that this was happening. Hence the midnight press conference. Mrs Shandana has made more shocking revelations, according to a YouTuber Azhar Ali. Mrs Shandana claims that the Radio Peshawar Building and the airplane in Mianwali was set ablaze by the Army. She says that when she was an MNA, anyone passing by the Radio Peshawar had to cross three checkpoints and had to show his identity card to the security personnel. The checkpoints were manned by the force not by the police. Even she had to show her MNA identity card while crossing the checkpoints. But on the 9th May, she was participating in the peaceful protests three kilometres away from Radio Peshawar. All of a sudden they saw the building being set ablaze by a man covering his face. After setting fire to the radio building, he uncovered his face and fired from his automatic gun towards them. Mrs Shandana says no civilian owns an automatic gun. Again she claims that a PML (N) supporter who had witnessed the setting ablaze of the airplane in Mianwali had told her that the DPO himself came, got petrol poured on the airplane and got it set on fire. According to her, even children have witnessed this and it is an open secret that the DPO was himself involved in the burning of the airplane. Similar claims were made by PTI leaders and workers about the arson in core commander house. They claimed that the security was mysteriously withdrawn from the entire area on 9th May and unidentified people with their faces covered had burnt it down. And the police has been cracking down on PTI workers on this ground. The conspiracy is now getting exposed. This is the reason Rana Sanaullah has rejected opposition demand for an inquiry into the 9th May incidents. Dr Yasmin Rashid who was also lodged in jail with other women was released. She said that women will tell their tale after coming out of jail. This gives hint of the state of affairs inside jails. The rape and physical assault on women in jail and arrests of women from homes at night has raised alarm in the tribal area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. People are ready to die to save the honour of their women. According to reports in the social media, announcements are being made from mosques in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa warning the police and the government of dire consequences if they entered their houses and even touched their women. They have threatened to die for their honour and dignity. They have warned the police not to dare to do in Pakhtunkhwa what they have been doing in the Punjab. The activists have been urging the UN and other international organisations to take serious note of the human rights violations in the country especially of the physical and, sexual assault on women and girls in jails and in houses while raids are being conducted. A senior journalist Habib Akram said that he got calks of many parents who told them their sons and daughters were arrested only if they said something in favour of PTI or against the PDM. The religious organisations, the fatwa issuing ulema who keep issuing fatwas of death against each other on sectarian issues have been silent on the rape and physical assault on women and illegal detention of minor children and elderly men and women. The police has arrested more than ten thousand protesters without any evidence and knows that when produced in court, they will be released due to lack of evidence. Therefore, they have been keeping them for longer periods to break their morale. Maulana Tarique Masood, Engineer Md Ali Mirza and Peer Afzal Qadri are silent on the un-Islamic treatment of women. More than 50 ulema had listened the lecture of Maryam Nawaz silently. They can't say anything against the inhuman treatment of women and of protesters by her government. Maulana Fazlur Rahman whom Hareem Shah, a society woman, accused of being a,sexual pervert, has gone to Thailand, amidst severe economic and political crisis in his own country. Critics say he has gone on a private visit to enjoy Thai masage in Pattaya beach. Senior journalists Mansur Ali Khan, Javed Choudhary and Hamid Mir are afraid to speak in favour of the victims. Only some lawyers and some you tube journalists have been fighting for justice. Journalist Imran Reyaz Khan is still missing. The Punjab IG has now said that he might have been taken away to Afghanistan and so they can not do anything to get him freed. It is feared that he has been killed by 'Na Maloom'. It is time international organisations had taken steps to stop human rights violations and physical and sexual assault on protesting women in Pakistan. The OIC and the UN Human Rights Council should take up the issue with the Pakistan government. URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/sexual-assault-pakistan-jail-ulema-journalists-activists/d/129888 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism