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Mohtarma Bhutto condemns
gang rape of Hindu women
Condemns growing lawlessness in Sindh; demands arrest of culprits.
Islamabad February 28, 2007: Former Prime
Minister and Chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party Mohtarma Benazir
Bhutto has condemned the gang rape of Hindu women in village Ghulam Ali
Khawar in Larkana tehsil and demanded arrest of the culprits and punishment
to them according to the law.
The gang rape of Hindu women has brought into focus once again the miseries
heaped on the minorities and will only bring a bad name to the country the
world over, Mohtarma Bhutto said in a statement today.
On Sunday eight armed people attacked the residence of a Hindu family in
village Ghulam Ali Khawar in Larkana Tehsil, held the family at gunpoint,
gang raped three women and decamped with loot. Earlier during this month
Nasimah Labano in Ghotki was gang raped by criminals followed by another
gang rape of another woman Nasima Girgej in the same locality.
“The lawlessness and anarchy marked by gang rapes, dacoities, murder and
robberies in Sindh is growing every day as the regime has abdicated its
responsibility due to obsession with getting General Musharraf re-elected
from the same assemblies”.
Mohtarma Bhutto said that it seemed that the regime had hired the criminals
and dacoits to carry out its victimization campaign against the people to
strike a terror in their hearts during election year.
She said that gangs of dacoits were roaming free in the province, street
crimes had increased manifold and the life and property of citizens was not
safe. “The worst thing is that no action is taken even when the victims
summon courage to lodge complaints and even identify the extortionists and
criminals to the police”.
She demanded the arrest of the culprits who vandalised the members of the
Hindu minority community as well as Nasimah Labano and Nasimah Girgej. She
said the Party will raise the issue of deteriorating law and situation in
the province and the indifference of the regime at all available forums.
It may be mentioned that ever since General Musharraf publicly exonerated
the rapist of Dr Shazia Khalid and accused Pakistani women of getting
themselves raped for dollars and visas the incidents of rape and violence
against a women had increased. |
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It is time for Mr.
Musharraf to stop playing with fire -- in other words, with radical
Islamists. He should remember that Pakistani voters are moderate. The two
biggest, mainstream, moderate parties received more than 80 per cent of the
vote in the last election. Compare that to the MMA, which controls the
North-West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan. The alliance polled only
10 per cent of the national vote in the 2002 election. Islamists may have
"street power" in Pakistan and be able to organize large demonstrations
against unpopular cartoons and set off bombs, but they have little popular
appeal. That said, so long as moderate political parties remain effectively
marginalized, the Islamists will present themselves as the only effective
platform for anti-military protest.
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