Karachi’s deadly dishonorable secret

In this file photo, Pakistani human rights activists hold a protest over honor killing in Karachi on Sept 1, 2008. (AFP)
Updated 05 May 2018
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Karachi’s deadly dishonorable secret

  • Experts say the incidence of honor killing in Pashtun and Sindhi areas is higher than in other communities, mainly because of the low literacy rate
  • An informed society and better laws can help curb the practice

KARACHI: A married couple were shot dead by “unidentified gunmen” on the outskirts of Karachi on Wednesday, police officials said. A Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE) official said that the victims, Amir, 32, and Mukhtiba, 24, were residents of Orangi Town who had wed about two years ago against the will of their families.
While this particular “honor killing” crime was reported to the police and investigations are underway, many similar cases go unreported in this part of Karachi.
One incident that initially went unreported, in the spring of 2013, involved the decision of a makeshift jirga, an alternative method of dispute resolution by the local community that is adopted in Pashtun-dominated areas of the country. A local militant commander convened the gathering at a house in Qaimkhani Colony Ittehad Town, a Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) stronghold and a no-go area for law-enforcement agencies. The issue the commander was asked to “settle” was a dispute involving a couple and the “honor” of their family.
After a brief, one-sided hearing, the commander handed down his judgment: the couple were condemned to death by stoning. Fazlur Rehman, an eyewitness and relative of the woman who was killed, said the couple was taken into the yard, buried up to their chests and stoned to death.
“It is the responsibility of the state to look after the women who suffer after members of their family are thrown behind bars for committing such gruesome killings,” said Mahnaz Rehman, the resident director of Aurat Foundation, pointing out that that most of these women are housewives who rarely leave their homes. “We have seen how women suffer when male members of their family are arrested in cases of honor killing.”
She added: “Jirgas should not be allowed to function.”
An operation began in Karachi on September 5, 2013, in which officers from law-enforcement agency the Pakistan Rangers conducted targeted raids in Sultanabad, Manghopir, Ittehad Town, Sohrab Goth, Janjal Goth, Gulshan-e-Buner and other areas where the Taliban had taken refuge. Saqib Sagheer, a journalist who covers crime and militancy for a leading Urdu daily, said the Taliban was swiftly and successfully weeded out in these regions.
Despite the Taliban being driven out, the menace of honor killing persists.
On August 14, 2017, 15-year-old Bakhtaj tried to elope with 17-year-old Ghani Rehman. When the families found out, they decided to reach a peaceful settlement and allow the couple to marry quickly. This was unacceptable to Sartaj Khan, a close relative of the TTP’s Khalid Omar Khorasani. Khan assembled a jirga in the eastern Landhi area of Karachi, attended by nearly 40 people. The aim of the meeting was to foil the settlement reached by the families.
Aslam Shah, a neighbor of Bakhtaj, said: “The families, after tracing the teenage couple, decided to get them married, but Sartaj Khan, when informed, gathered elders from Safi tribe, a sub-tribe hailing from Mohmand Agency.”
The male relatives of the girl were the first to implement the jirga’s death sentence and electrocuted her. The boy’s father resisted the decision but, said Shah, “he was threatened by Sartaj Khan, who told him that he would ask Khorasani to blow their houses.”
Fighting back tears, Rehman’s sister told of the family’s ordeal and the final moments she spent with her brother.
“Da Jee [one of the several titles used for father in Pashto] asked the boy to dine with him one last time,” she said. “But Ghani Lala [a title used for older brother] said he was not hungry. Da Jee had his dinner after the night-time prayer. Meanwhile, Lala turned to us, he dug his hands into his pockets and pulled out a few packets of Tasty Gold Supari [areca nuts] and gave one to each of us. He also left one for our older sister, who was not present at the time.”
A few hours later Rehman was electrocuted.
According to the First Information Report (FIR) filed by police on the killings, a copy of which was made available to Arab News, the jirga head, the fathers and uncles of the couple, and 30 to 35 other people were present at the time of the executions.
Shah alleged that the Shah Latif Town Station House Officer, Amanullah Marwat, took a bribe to free the jirga members. Marwat denies this claim and said that the FIR was only an initial report. After investigations, he said he found out that only five people took part in the jirga.
While the court voiced its dismay over the police report in the Landhi honor killing case, another incident emerged. According to reports, the police arrested nine people accused of involvement in the killing of a couple from Kohistan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The pair, Husna and Hadi, had fled to Karachi from Kohistan after they willingly married each other.
Experts said the levels of honor killings in Pashtun and Sindhi areas is higher than in other communities mainly because of the low rate of literacy.
“Convening a jirga in Sindh is illegal,” said Asad Iqbal Butt, vice chairperson of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s Sindh chapter. However, a jirga gives added clout to its participants, making it a very lucrative business in the southern province, he added. Landlords, who are political leaders, use them to acquire votes, and those who are not politicians provide those political leaders with votes in return for money, he said.
“The government has shown zero tolerance toward jirgas in Sindh after the High Court banned all trials conducted under the jirga system throughout Sindh in April, 2004,” said Rasheed Channa, a spokesman for the chief minister Sindh.
Butt said that in 2016, 103 honor killings were reported in Sindh, of which 90 occurred in Karachi during the first three quarters of the year.
“While this may be seen as an increase in number, I see it as an increase in the reporting of such incidents,” he said. “In the past, most cases of honor killing would go unreported. Now the trend is changing. It is changing for the better.
“An informed society and better laws can help us prevent the menace in the future.”


India in mourning after over 240 killed in deadliest aviation disaster in decades

Updated 13 June 2025
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India in mourning after over 240 killed in deadliest aviation disaster in decades

  • Sole flight survivor Ramesh Viswashkumar a British national of Indian origin, is being treated at a hospital, airline confirms
  • London-bound Dreamliner with 242 people on board also killed dozens more when it crashed into a medical college hostel

NEW DELHI, India: Indian authorities were combing the site of one of India’s deadliest aviation disasters on Friday, after an Air India plane crashed in the western city of Ahmedabad less than a minute after takeoff, killing all but one of its passengers. 

The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which had 242 people on board, also killed dozens more people when it crashed into a medical college hostel located just outside Ahmedabad airport and burst into flames on Thursday afternoon. 

The sole survivor, a British national of Indian origin, is being treated in a hospital, the airline confirmed. 

“We are all devastated by the air tragedy in Ahmedabad. The loss of so many lives in such a sudden and heartbreaking manner is beyond words. Condolences to all the bereaved families,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on social media after visiting the crash site in the capital of his home state of Gujarat. 

The passengers comprised 169 Indian nationals, 53 Britons, 7 Portuguese and one Canadian. 

The surviving passenger, who was in seat 11A next to an emergency exit in front of the plane’s wing, reportedly managed to jump out. He told Indian media that he had heard a loud noise shortly after flight AI171 took off. 

Various footage showed the plane taking off over a residential area and then sinking and disappearing from the screen, before a huge fireball could be seen rising into the sky from beyond the houses. 

Those killed on board include a family who was visiting India for Eid, a newlywed who is moving to the UK and Vijay Rupani, former chief minister of Gujarat. 

Health authorities are conducting DNA tests to identify bodies, which were mostly charred beyond recognition, as relatives take part and wait for officials to release the remains. 

Suresh Khatika, who was waiting at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital where the DNA testing was taking place, said his niece Payal Khatika was among the passengers. 

“Payal was going for further studies and she has taken a loan for it. She was really preparing herself for the day when she would go to the UK for studies,” Khatika told Arab News. 

“It is really tragic that her dream crashed like this. We are in deep pain, and don’t know how to react.” 

Many Indians have also taken to social media to mourn the victims, as their stories circulated widely. Among them is Dr. Pratik Joshi, who was reportedly bringing his wife, Dr. Komi Vyas, and three young children to move to the UK. A picture of the family, believed to be taken on the plane and shared with relatives before takeoff, has garnered millions of views online as messages of condolence poured in. 

In addition to the passengers and crew, dozens more people perished as they were caught in the path of the plane crash. 

Thakur Ravi, a cook at B.J. Medical College, said his mother and two-year-old daughter, who had been on the side of the building where the plane had crashed, were missing. 

“Other helpers and cooks managed to escape but my mother and daughter have been missing since yesterday,” Ravi told Arab News. 

“We are frantically hoping against hope to have my family back. It was a horrible incident. It seemed as if the sky had fallen on us.” 

Indian Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said a formal investigation headed by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has been launched. 

Boeing said it was in touch with Air India and stood “ready to support them” over the incident. The UK and US air accident investigation agencies also announced they were sending teams to support their Indian counterparts.

India, the world’s third-largest aviation market, has endured several fatal air crashes on its soil, including in 1996, when two planes collided mid-air over New Delhi, killing around 350 people. In 2010, an Air-India Express jet crashed and burst into flames at Mangalore airport in south-west India, killing 158 of the 166 passengers and crew onboard. 


Judge blocks Trump’s election executive order, siding with Democrats who called it overreach

Updated 13 June 2025
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Judge blocks Trump’s election executive order, siding with Democrats who called it overreach

ATLANTA: A federal judge on Friday blocked President Donald Trump’s attempt to overhaul elections in the US, siding with a group of Democratic state attorneys general who challenged the effort as unconstitutional.
The Republican president’s March 25 executive order sought to compel officials to require documentary proof of citizenship for everyone registering to vote for federal elections, accept only mailed ballots received by Election Day and condition federal election grant funding on states adhering to the new ballot deadline.
The group of attorneys general said the directive “usurps the States’ constitutional power and seeks to amend election law by fiat.” The White House has defended the order as “standing up for free, fair and honest elections” and called proof of citizenship a “commonsense” requirement.


Hong Kong rights group shuts down after years of advocating for workers

Updated 13 June 2025
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Hong Kong rights group shuts down after years of advocating for workers

  • Founded in 1994, organization maintained a database tracking workers’ strikes, protests, workplace accidents and other labor rights incidents in China

HONG KONG: A Hong Kong group that advocated for workers rights for decades announced its shutdown abruptly on Thursday, citing financial difficulties and debt issues.
China Labor Bulletin planned to stop updating its website content and appeared to have deleted Facebook and Instagram social media accounts used by the nonprofit rights organization.
“The company can no longer maintain operations and has decided to dissolve and initiate the relevant procedures,” it said in a statement on an archived web page Friday.
Founded in 1994, organization maintained a database tracking workers’ strikes, protests, workplace accidents and other labor rights incidents in China.
As dozens of civil society groups disbanded or left Hong Kong in the wake of the 2020 Beijing-imposed national security law, China Labor Bulletin continued providing valuable resources for journalists and academics in the southern Chinese city.
Critics say the drastic political changes in Hong Kong indicated the decline of Western-style civil liberties that China promised to keep intact when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. However, Beijing and Hong Kong governments insisted the law was crucial to bring stability to the city following massive anti-government protests in 2019.
China Labor Bulletin’s founder Han Dongfang, a former railway worker who participated in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. He told the Central News Agency of Taiwan that the shutdown was his decision and he would stay in Hong Kong.
Han’s decision appeared sudden to many Hong Kong civil society observers. Three weeks ago, he wrote on social media platform LinkedIn about his work anniversary and his team’s progress.
“Let’s keep our faith up at this abnormal time and continue our important work,” he said.


India in mourning after deadliest aviation disaster in decades

Updated 13 June 2025
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India in mourning after deadliest aviation disaster in decades

  • Sole flight survivor, a British citizen of Indian origin, is being treated in hospital
  • Family members provide DNA samples to help identify crash victims

NEW DELHI: Indian authorities were combing the site of one of India’s deadliest aviation disasters on Friday, after an Air India plane crashed in the western city of Ahmedabad less than a minute after takeoff, killing all but one of its passengers.

The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which had 242 people on board, killed dozens more people when it crashed into a medical college hostel just outside Ahmedabad airport and burst into flames on Thursday afternoon.

The sole survivor, a British citizen of Indian origin, is being treated in hospital, the airline confirmed.

“We are all devastated by the air tragedy in Ahmedabad. The loss of so many lives in such a sudden and heartbreaking manner is beyond words. Condolences to all the bereaved families,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on social media after visiting the crash site in the capital of his home state of Gujarat.

The passengers comprised 169 Indian citizens, 53 Britons, 7 Portuguese and a Canadian.

The surviving passenger, who was in seat 11A next to an emergency exit in front of the plane’s wing, reportedly managed to jump out. He told Indian media that he had heard a loud noise shortly after flight AI171 took off.

Various footage showed the plane taking off over a residential area and then sinking and disappearing from the screen, before a huge fireball could be seen rising into the sky from beyond the houses.

Those killed on board include a family visiting India for Eid, a newlywed who was moving to the UK and Vijay Rupani, former chief minister of Gujarat.

Health authorities are conducting DNA tests to identify bodies, most of which were charred beyond recognition.

Suresh Khatika, who was waiting at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital where the DNA testing was taking place, said his niece Payal Khatika was among the passengers.

“Payal was going for further studies and she has taken a loan for it. She was really preparing herself for the day when she would go to the UK for studies,” Khatika told Arab News.

“It is really tragic that her dream crashed like this. We are in deep pain, and don’t know how to react.”

Many Indians have taken to social media to mourn the victims, as their stories circulated widely. Among them is Dr. Pratik Joshi, who was reportedly bringing his wife, Dr. Komi Vyas, and three young children to move to the UK. A picture of the family, believed to be taken on the plane and shared with relatives before takeoff, has garnered millions of views online as messages of condolence poured in.

In addition to the passengers and crew, dozens more people caught in the path of the plane crash perished.

Thakur Ravi, a cook at B.J. Medical College, said his mother and 2-year-old daughter, who were on the side of the building where the plane crashed, were missing. 

“Other helpers and cooks managed to escape but my mother and daughter have been missing since yesterday,” Ravi told Arab News.

“We are frantically hoping against hope to have my family back. It was a horrible incident. It seemed as if the sky had fallen on us.”

India’s Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said a formal investigation led by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has been launched.

Boeing said it was in touch with Air India and stood “ready to support them” over the incident. The UK and US air accident investigation agencies also announced they were sending teams to support their Indian counterparts.

India, the world’s third-largest aviation market, has suffered several fatal air crashes on its soil, including in 1996, when two planes collided in mid-air over New Delhi, killing about 350 people. In 2010, an Air-India Express jet crashed and burst into flames at Mangalore airport in south-west India, killing 158 of the 166 passengers and crew onboard.


Japan’s foreign minister praises Djibouti’s work on maritime security

Updated 13 June 2025
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Japan’s foreign minister praises Djibouti’s work on maritime security

TOKYO: Japanese foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya met with Dileita Mohamed Dileita, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Djibouti, on Friday and praised the “deepening of cooperation between the two countries in the field of maritime security.”

Iwaya stated that Djibouti, located at the southern end of the Red Sea and an important sea lane linking Europe and Asia, is a strategically important partner in the quest for a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP).”

Referring to the good relations between the two countries and his own special attachment toward Japan, President Dileita expressed his appreciation and gratitude for Japan’s development cooperation in various fields and for the Self-Defense Force facility in Djibouti, noting the strategic importance of his country.

The two sides exchanged views on issues that included the regional situation in Africa and in East Asia and agreed to further strengthening bilateral relations and cooperation in regional and international arena, with a view to TICAD 9 in August and Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan.

• This article originally appeared on Arab News Japan