KARACHI: Women’s access to health care assumed center-stage across Pakistan on Monday as thousands of Pakistanis took part in rallies to mark International Women’s Day, with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) urging the government to uphold the public’s right to peaceful marches and safe spaces.
The theme for Aurat Azadi March, or Women’s Freedom March, 2021, this year is ‘The Crisis of Care in the COVID-19 Pandemic’, organizers of the march said in a statement.
“We believe in a grassroots movement and the mobilization of the working class against patriarchy, be it domestic workers, teachers, lady health workers or any worker who performs physical or mental labor (paid or unpaid),” the statement said.
“Commission expects the state to uphold women’s constitutional right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to ensure that women’s marches across Pakistan on 8 March are provided security and safe public spaces,” HRCP chairperson Hina Jilani said.
The nationwide event saw protests being held in different cities on Monday, with organizers saying they were expecting a low turnout this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The march will be held with strict health guidelines...we are expecting 3,000 to 5,000 participants this year,” Qurat Mirza, an organizer of the Karachi leg of the event, told Arab News. “Last year, 10,000 participated in the march in Karachi, which is the largest of Aurat marches in the country whereas the participation across Pakistan was estimated to be 50,000 including in major urban units like Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Quetta and Peshawar and small cities like Hyderabad, Faisalabad, Multan.”
Since its inception three years ago, tens of thousands of women in Pakistan have attended Aurat March, demanding gender parity and making headlines with messages about taboo subjects like online harassment, rape, and sexual rights.
Broadly, the theme for this year’s march is women’s health care struggles, with 15 demands that highlight patriarchal violence and discrimination faced by women and sexual minority groups while accessing health care in Pakistan.
“We have added a sit-in to the march to press for our demands. We will come out on the roads again for our rights if they are not fulfilled by authorities,” Sheema Kermani, one of the Aurat March pioneers, told Arab News on Sunday.
Last year, a court in Lahore was petitioned to place restrictions on the event, which the complainant said had an agenda of spreading ‘anarchy, vulgarity, blasphemy and hatred’ against Islam. But the court gave the march a conditional go-ahead.
Access to health care takes center stage as Pakistanis hold women’s day rallies
https://arab.news/mkb5n
Access to health care takes center stage as Pakistanis hold women’s day rallies
- Human Rights Commission of Pakistan urges government to protect participants during peaceful marches on International Women’s Day
- Aurat March has attracted thousands over the last three years and made headlines for highlighting taboo subjects like sexual rights and violence
Pakistan’s Sajid Ali Sadpara summits seventh-highest mountain without supplemental oxygen
- Sajid Ali Sadpara, son of legendary climber Ali Sadpara, summited Nepal’s Dhaulagiri mountain on May 10
- Pakistan has produced several professional climbers who have summited some of the world’s tallest peaks
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani climber Sajid Ali Sadpara has successfully summited the world’s seventh-highest mountain in Nepal, Dhaulagiri, without the use of supplemental oxygen, the mountaineer said recently.
Sadpara is the son of legendary Pakistani climber, Muhammad Ali Sadpara, who died in his quest to summit K2, the second-highest mountain in the world, in February 2021. Pakistani officials also declared Iceland’s John Snorri and Chile’s Juan Pablo Mohr, who were on the quest with Ali Sadpara to summit the mountain, dead.
Alpine Club of Pakistan’s Secretary Karrar Haidri told the Associated Press of Pakistan that Sadpara was able to achieve the feat with the support of Seven Summit Treks, a commercial adventure operator based in Nepal.
“Alhamdulilah [praise be to Allah], Dhaulagiri summit without oxygen and unsupported yesterday 10 May with the team of Seven Summit Treks,” Sadpara posted on his Facebook page on Sunday.
In one of the images he uploaded with the post, Sadpara can be seen holding up the Pakistan flag as he reached the summit.
Dhaulagiri is located in the Dhaulagiri mountain range of Nepal’s Himalayas. It is also known as the “White Mountain” and is considered very popular among the eight-thousanders for expeditions. It lies northwest of Pokhara, an important tourist center in Nepal.
Pakistan has produced several professional climbers, both men and women, who have summited some of the world’s tallest peaks. Its Gilgit-Baltistan is a sparsely populated northern region administered by the country as an autonomous territory.
It is home to some of the tallest peaks in the world and a major tourist destination. Thousands of tourists and foreign climbers visit the region each year for expeditions on various peaks, paragliding and other sports activities.
Indian army reports ‘first calm night’ after Kashmir truce with Pakistan holds
- India, Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire on Saturday after worst fighting between neighbors in decades
- Both sides accused each other of violating ceasefire hours after it was announced by US President Trump
POONCH, India: The frontier between arch-foes India and Pakistan was peaceful and had the “first calm night in recent days,” the Indian army said Monday, after a surprise weekend ceasefire.
The truce was agreed to on Saturday after four days of missile, drone and artillery attacks between the two countries which killed at least 60 people and sent thousands fleeing.
It was the worst violence since the nuclear-armed rivals’ last open conflict in 1999 and sent global shudders that it could spiral into full-blown war.
There were initial doubts as the two sides accused each other of breaching the ceasefire just hours after it was unexpectedly announced by US President Donald Trump on social media.
“The night remained largely peaceful across... Kashmir and other areas along the international border,” the Indian army said.
“No incidents have been reported, marking the first calm night in recent days,” the statement added.
It was also the second straight night without gunfire or shelling at Poonch, the frontier town in the part of divided Kashmir administered by India.
Poonch was one of the worst-hit regions in the latest conflict, with at least 12 residents killed and most of the estimated 60,000 residents fleeing their homes.
On Sunday, people started trickling back to the town, although many still remained worried that the ceasefire would not last.
The alarming spiral toward all-out conflict began before dawn on Wednesday, when India launched missile attacks destroying what it called “terrorist camps” in the Pakistani part of Kashmir.
This followed an April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 civilians.
India accused Pakistan of backing the attack but Islamabad denied involvement and immediately responded to the strikes with heavy artillery fire.
It claimed to have downed five Indian fighter jets — something New Delhi has not commented on.
Militants have stepped up operations in Kashmir since 2019, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government revoked the region’s limited autonomy and took it under direct rule from New Delhi.
Divided Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by both countries, who have fought several wars over the territory since their independence from Britain in 1947.
Pakistan military says Islamabad did not request ceasefire during recent India clashes
- Four days of fighting, the worst conflict between the neighbors since 1999, has killed nearly 70 people on both sides
- Pakistan military spokesperson clarifies no Indian pilot in custody, denies New Delhi’s accusations of violating ceasefire
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has said Islamabad did not request a ceasefire with New Delhi when the two nuclear-armed neighbors clashed in the worst fighting between them in decades last week, alleging that New Delhi had called for it after launching missile strikes in Pakistan.
Tensions between India and Pakistan over an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir escalated last Wednesday, when India struck multiple Pakistani cities with missiles, quickly followed by what Islamabad said was the downing of five Indian fighter jets.
Both neighbors continued to attack the other’s territory with fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery until Saturday evening, when US President Donald Trump announced a surprise ceasefire that has largely held, except for a few alleged violations in Kashmir.
“Let me put it on record, Pakistan never requested a ceasefire,” Chaudhry told reporters on Sunday night in a press briefing. “On the night of May 6 and 7, after those dastardly and cowardly attacks were made, Indians requested [a ceasefire] and Pakistan gave a very clear response, that we will communicate back only after we have given the response that this act deserves,” he added.
Providing operational details of the conflict, Chaudhry said Pakistan struck 26 Indian military facilities while dozens of its drones hovered over major Indian cities, including New Delhi, during Islamabad’s counter-offensive against India.
“Pakistan’s military response has been precise, proportionate and still remarkably restrained,” Chaudhry said, sharing details of ‘Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos,’ which translates to “a structure made of lead” in Arabic.
“It was carefully calibrated to avoid civilian casualties, and it exclusively targeted those entities and facilities which were directly involved in orchestrating and executing cold-blooded killings of Pakistani civilians,” the military spokesperson said.
Chaudhry added that Pakistani forces’ synergy across air, land, sea and cyber domains allowed for precision engagements, overwhelming lethality and rapid tempo operations.
“Precision-guided long-range missiles— Fatah-1 and Fatah-2— were employed by the Pakistan Army, while the Pakistan Air Force utilized highly capable long-range munitions and precision-guided weaponry,” he explained. “Long-range artillery units also contributed significantly to the strike package.”
He said critical sites hit by Pakistani armed forces included Indian Air Force and aviation bases at Suratgarh, Sirsa, Poonch, Naliya, Adampur, Bathinda, Barnala, Halwara, Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Udhampur, Mamoon, Ambala, and Pathankot. He said all these sites suffered significant damage.
“S-400 missile systems at Adampur and Poonch were also neutralized by the Pakistan Air Force,” Chaudhry said.
The military spokesperson said Pakistan’s armed forces also carried out comprehensive and effective cyber offensives, temporarily crippling and degrading critical Indian military infrastructure and services,
“These cyber strikes targeted systems directly supporting Indian military operations and were designed to disrupt their warfighting capabilities without affecting civilian platforms,” he added.
‘SOCIAL MEDIA CHATTER’
In response to a question, the military spokesperson confirmed that no Indian pilot was in Pakistan Army’s custody following military clashes.
“I can confirm you that we do not have any pilot in custody, this is all social media chatter, this is all part of multiple sources of fake news and propaganda,” he said.
Four days of fighting, the worst conflict between the neighbors since 1999, has killed nearly 70 people on both sides, with some residents of border villages still waiting to return to their homes.
Diplomacy and pressure from the United States helped secure the ceasefire deal when it seemed the conflict was spiraling alarmingly. But within hours of its coming into force, artillery fire was witnessed in Kashmir, which has been divided between India and Pakistan but claimed in full by both.
A top Indian army officer said on Sunday the Indian military had sent a “hotline message” to Pakistan about violations of a ceasefire agreed this week and informed it of New Delhi’s intent to respond if it was repeated.
“Sometimes, these understandings take time to fructify, manifest on the ground,” Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai, India’s director-general of military operations, told a media briefing, referring to the truce. “The [Indian] armed forces were on a very, very high alert [on Saturday] and continue to be in that state.”
Chaudhry denied any ceasefire violations by Pakistan, saying the country is upholding its commitment to refrain from acts of aggression.
“I can say with 200 percent conviction that we have not done any ceasefire violation,” he said.
Hostilities between the two neighbors were triggered by an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam resort town that killed 26 tourists on April 22. India accused Pakistan of backing the assault, Islamabad has denied it and called for a credible, international probe.
The Pakistani military spokesman said Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos had been a “great example” of coming together of all elements of Pakistan’s national power to effectively counter the threat to national sovereignty and integrity, warning of a similar response to any such attempt in the future.
“No one should have any doubt that whenever our sovereignty would be threatened and territorial integrity violated, the response would be comprehensive, retributive and decisive,” he said.
The military spokesperson emphasized that the idea of war between two nuclear-armed neighbors was absurd and inconceivable.
Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations and have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir, since gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
On Sunday, Trump said he would try to work with both India and Pakistan to see if they can resolve their dispute over the Kashmir territory, vowing to “substantially” increase trade with both nations.
“While not even discussed, I am going to increase trade, substantially, with both of these great Nations,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, referring to India and Pakistan.
“Additionally, I will work with you both to see if, after a ‘thousand years,’ a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir,” he added.
Pakistan Senate chief in Moscow to strengthen Pakistan-Russia collaboration in key sectors
- The visit comes as Pakistan is gradually recovering from a prolonged macroeconomic crisis that pushed it to the brink of a default in 2023
- Discussions will focus on enhancing trade and economic cooperation, and exploring avenues in energy, regional connectivity and security sectors
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Senate Chairman Yusuf Raza Gilani has arrived in Moscow on an official visit to explore new avenues of collaboration between Pakistan and Russia in key sectors, a Pakistani government statement said on Sunday.
Pakistan and Russia, once Cold War rivals, have strengthened ties in recent years through increased dialogue and trade. In 2023, Islamabad began purchasing discounted Russian crude oil banned from European markets due to Russia’s war in Ukraine, and also received its first shipment of liquefied petroleum gas from Moscow.
In Dec., Russia and Pakistan held intergovernmental meetings in Moscow and discussed cooperation on oil and gas offshore exploration and refining. Russian Ambassador to Pakistan Albert P. Khorev this year announced cooperation with Pakistan in energy and industrial sectors, including the modernization of a state-owned steel mill.
Gilani is visiting Moscow at the invitation of Valentina Matviyenko, chairperson of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, and is scheduled to hold high-level meetings in the Russian capital, according to Pakistan’s Press Information Department (PID).
“Discussions will focus on enhancing parliamentary exchanges, boosting trade and economic cooperation, and exploring collaboration in key sectors such as energy, regional connectivity, and security,” the statement said.
The visit comes as Pakistan is striving to draw overseas investment amid a gradually healing macroeconomic environment after a prolonged downturn that forced Islamabad to seek external financing from friendly nations and multiple loan programs with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In an interview, Gilani recalled that Speaker Matviyenko had previously visited Pakistan and addressed parliament, which contributed significantly to fostering bilateral understanding, according to the PID.
He highlighted Pakistan’s successful foreign policy initiatives under the current government, which have enhanced the country’s global standing, and reaffirmed Islamabad’s commitment to deepening strategic ties with Russia.
“The visit marks a significant milestone in advancing bilateral engagement and reflects the two nations’ shared interest in broad-based and forward-looking cooperation across multiple sectors,” it said.
‘Precise, proportionate’: Pakistan says only targeted Indian facilities involved in civilian killings
- Four days of fighting, the worst conflict between the neighbors since 1999, has killed nearly 70 people on both sides
- The hostilities were triggered by an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam that killed 26 tourists on April 22
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan exercised restraint and only targeted Indian military facilities and entities that were involved in the killings of Pakistani civilians in this week’s incursions, a Pakistani military spokesman said on Sunday, a day after the United States (US) brokered a truce between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
Tensions between India and Pakistan over an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir escalated on Wednesday, when India struck multiple Pakistani cities with missiles, quickly followed by what Islamabad said was the downing of five Indian fighter jets.
Both neighbors continued to attack the other’s territory with fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery until Saturday evening, when US President Donald Trump announced a surprise ceasefire that has largely held, except for a few alleged violations in Kashmir.
Briefing the media about operational details, Pakistani military spokesman, Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, said Pakistan hit 26 Indian military facilities and dozens of its drones hovered over major Indian cities, including India’s capital New Delhi, in their counter-offensive against India.
“Pakistan’s military response has been precise, proportionate and still remarkably restrained,” Chaudhry said, sharing details of ‘Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos.’
“It was carefully calibrated to avoid civilian casualties and it exclusively targeted those entities and facilities which were directly involved in orchestrating and executing cold-blooded killings of Pakistani civilians.”
Four days of fighting, the worst conflict between the neighbors since 1999, has killed nearly 70 people on both sides, with some residents of border villages still waiting to return to their homes.
Diplomacy and pressure from the United States helped secure the ceasefire deal when it seemed that the conflict was spiraling alarmingly. But within hours of its coming into force, artillery fire was witnessed in Kashmir, which has been divided between India and Pakistan but claimed in full by both.
A top Indian army officer said on Sunday the Indian military had sent a “hotline message” to Pakistan about violations of a ceasefire agreed this week and informed it of New Delhi’s intent to respond if it was repeated.
“Sometimes, these understandings take time to fructify, manifest on the ground,” Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai, India’s director-general of military operations, told a media briefing, referring to the truce. “The [Indian] armed forces were on a very, very high alert [on Saturday] and continue to be in that state.”
The hostilities were triggered by the attack in Indian-administered Kashmir’s Pahalgam resort town that killed 26 tourists on April 22. India accused Pakistan of backing the assault, Islamabad has denied it and called for a credible, international probe.
The Pakistani military spokesman said Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos had been a “great example” of coming together of all elements of Pakistan’s national power to effectively counter the threat to national sovereignty and integrity, warning of a similar response to any such attempt in the future.
“No one should have any doubt that whenever our sovereignty would be threatened and territorial integrity violated, the response would be comprehensive, retributive and decisive,” he said.
Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations and have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir, since gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
On Sunday, Trump said he would try to work with both India and Pakistan to see if they can resolve their dispute over the Kashmir territory, vowing to “substantially” increase trade with both nations.
“While not even discussed, I am going to increase trade, substantially, with both of these great Nations,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, referring to India and Pakistan.
“Additionally, I will work with you both to see if, after a ‘thousand years,’ a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir,” he added.
