Following the immense backlash on social media, The Arts Council of Pakistan has modified their upcoming panel on feminism and have added three women to it.
According to an updated shared by Chairperson Electronic Media and Aesthetic Committee Uzma Alkarim, the panel of speakers now includes two women: senior journalist Quatrina Hosain and senior politician Mehtab Akbar Rashidi. Meanwhile the title of the talk has also been changed to Understanding Feminism. Meanwhile, Uzma, another female, will act as moderator. Filmmaker Nabeel Qureshi (Actor-in-Law, Load Wedding) has been removed from the speaker’s list.
Hello all, We are now re-framing the event and including a more diverse group of speakers. Requesting all of you to attend as your participation will add value to the conversation around understanding "feminism” together. pic.twitter.com/CYbv4NApp1
On Monday, a poster for a panel discussion hosted by The Arts Council of Pakistan started circulating on social media. The panel discussion titled Feminism: The Other Perspective featured five speakers and interestingly they were all men. The men on the panel included Duraid Qureshi, Jibran Nasir, Mohsin Sayeed, Muaaz Ahsan and Nabeel Qureshi.
Needless to say the panel given the topic of conversation received immense backlash from the public who took to express their frustration on Twitter.
sir @MJibranNasir why are you on this manel? shouldnt you make space for women and other non binary bodies to talk?
Jibran Nasir was first to respond to the controversy.
Erum the title of the panel is misleading and I've requested the organizers to change it. I was informed the panel is about men talking to other men about rethinking masculinity and why as men we need feminism. It wasn't to explain feminism or talk about women issues as men.
Perhaps the title miscommunicates the intent. Panel is about men speaking to other men about why views on masculinity need to change, how as men we must support women around us and why men need feminism. Im a vocal critic of manels. But this is about men speaking to other men
Uzma had also issued a statement and explanation on the matter.
Hello all, as a female it feels great that we have strong feminists around us. My idea was simple that as electronic media build opinions; what do the Male decision makers of EM think and perceive about feminism. (The other Perspective) But it hurts the sentiments of many 1/2
so now I am adding the female speaker in the panel. Requesting all of you to attend .. will share the new invite by eve.. mark the date as your participation will add value to understand the meaning of feminism more clearly. 22nd nov. 4-6 pm at arts council auditorium II 2/2
Lahore on Thursday once again topped the global list of cities with poor air quality as monitors showed an average “hazardous” Air Quality Index (AQI) of 335.
According to Newsweek Pakistan, residents of the capital of the country’s most populous province woke up again to the sight of a haze covering the city, with residents complaining of sore throats, itchy eyes and other ailments linked to inhaling toxic material through the smog that has increasingly become a regular fixture.
While the average AQI for the entire city stood at 335 around noon, parts of the city with individual air quality monitors showed the figure rising as high as 763, which posits a PM2.5 of nearly 900 ug/m3 — the equivalent of smoking nearly 40 cigarettes.
While smog is not a new phenomenon in Pakistan, it has taken on greater urgency this year amid ever worsening air quality that is particularly unhealthy for children, the elderly and the infirm. In 2007, the Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered authorities to prepare a smog response action plan to overcome the health crisis. The Punjab Environment Protection Council, however, adopted a plan that utilised a modified AQI classification system, which claims a PM2.5 rating of 60 is “satisfactory” even though US AQI adopted by much of the world declares it “unhealthy”.
PM2.5 refers to atmospheric particulate matter that has a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, so small that they can only be detected with an electron microscope. These fine particles, which can come from various sources including power plants, motor vehicle emissions, and agricultural burning, last longer in the air than heavier particles. This increases chances of them being inhaled by humans and animals, where they can bypass the nose and throat and penetrate deep into the lungs. The air pollution worsens during winter, emerging as smog, due to temperature inversion, which produces a layer of warm air that traps air pollutants.
Meanwhile, schools on Friday will once again remain closed across the city due to smog.Both public and private schools in Gujranwala and Faisalabad will also remain shut.
The Punjab School Education Department has issued a notification in this regard as well.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif met with doctors after he arrived in London via an air ambulance for medical treatment late on Tuesday.
Shehbaz Sharif took Nawaz Sharif to Guy’s hospital today for check-up, along with Hasan and Hussain Nawaz.
Nawaz will be treated at Hasan Nawaz’s flat and a room has been reserved for him, equipped with the necessary equipment as advised by doctors.
PM tells govt spokespersons not to react to CJP’s remarks: report
In a meeting with government spokespersons, Prime Minister Imran Khan has said, “The government decided to send Nawaz Sharif abroad on humanitarian grounds and after consulting doctors’ reports” and directed them not to react or respond to CJP remarks.
Imran Khan also reportedly said that people were watching Nawaz’s activities in London. He said that the PTI would not play politics over Nawaz’s health.
Talking about the foriegn funding case the premier reportedly told participants of the meeting,”No need to worry about the foreign funding case. PTI’s audit reports are there for all to see”.
PM reportedly said that opposition parties were using the case to keep their politics alive and build a narrative against the PTI.
NA approves Shehbaz Sharif’s resignation as PAC chairperson
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif had earlier stepped down reportedly owing to his personal engagements and now PML-N’s Rana Tanveer is likely to be nominated as the PAC chairperson in place of Shehbaz.
The PAC primarily oversees the public expenditure and, in case of a suspicion of malpractice or corruption, the committee has the authority to investigate the matter and refer the issue to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).
Shehbaz’s nomination was unanimously supported after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) came into power.
Pakistan beat India to qualify for ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup final
Pakistan on Wednesday qualified for the final of ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2019 after beating India by three runs in the first semi final in Dhaka.
Pakistan — who were defending a total of 267 — restricted India to 264 for eight in 50 overs, as Pakistani bowlers displayed great control on nerves and outstanding death-overs skills.
Pakistan’s opponent in the Saturday’s final of ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup will be decided after the second semi final between Afghanistan and Bangladesh on Thursday.
TikTok
has become the most downloaded social media app in Pakistan in 2019, according
to US-based market intelligence firm Sensor Tower.
TikTok , a Chinese iOS and Android social media video app for
creating and sharing short lip-sync, comedy, and talent videos
As per reports, WhatsApp is the most downloaded non-gaming app in Pakistan this year with 18.1 million downloads, while TikTok is second on the list with 16.3 million downloads in the past eleven months.
The
data compiled by Mobile Insights Strategist Craig Chapple, shows that TikTok
has exceeded 1.5 billion downloads globally on the App Store and Google Play and
it continues to be one of the world’s most popular apps.
Other
apps in the list include, Messenger with 15.7 million downloads, Facebook with
just over 15 million downloads while Instagram is on the fifth spot with 4.3
million downloads.
Sensor
Tower is the leading provider of market intelligence and insights for the
global app economy. TikTok has been downloaded 25.5 million times in Pakistan
since its launch, becoming one of the fastest growing social media apps in the
country.
The federal government is reportedly contemplating imposing a complete ban on the use of social media by government servants during work hours.
According to reports in the local media, this suggestion was put forth by the National Information Technology Board (NITB) officials during a meeting of National Assembly (NA) standing committee on Information and Technology.
Reports stated that not only would the use of social media applications or pages including Facebook and Whatsapp be banned during the office timings but officials would also be barred from bringing storage devices-USBs- to the offices. This recommendation was put forth to address concerns related to data theft. Recently, a spate of leaked notifications from government offices has sparked anger in power circles.
It has even led to the circulation of fake notifications on social media to discredit a particular governmental agency or official. The technology board has urged the government to act against this threat.
The committee was informed that a new local social network, modeled on WhatsApp, would be introduced into government offices to streamline communications.
E-offices will be established at every ministry, which will be interconnected.
“Any official information would be shared on the server after prior approval of the federal authorities.”
Moreso, it was recommended that government employees be barred from indulging in any part-time businesses.
Meanwhile, the board also advised that a separate authority be set up to combat the spread of fake news across the country.
Police have arrested a man who tried to kidnap children in Lahore by giving them candies after the locals complained about him.
As per reports, the police were alerted by locals when a man in the city’s Hanjarwal neighbourhood attempted to kidnap two children from their school by tempting them with candies. As the kidnapper walked away, the residents of the area found him suspicious and called police on him.
Police later arrested the man and recovered both the children from him. The kids were returned safely to their parents.
How to keep your child safe from strangers?
Teach your kids that adults don’t need help from kids
If an adult need help to find a place or anything else, they should be seeking help from another adult, not a child.
Educate your child about the law
Kids should know that no one has the right to touch their private parts or to ask children to touch theirs because it’s against the law. Also, tell them that threatening a child is also illegal. Kids need to be told that adults who do this will be punished.
Tell your child that it’s OK to scream, and say no to an adult if they feel uncomfortable or scared
We teach children to listen, be obedient and respect the elders but there are times when they should disobey and be loud. Teach them that if someone tries to take them forcefully they must say no, scream and run away.
Have a code word phrase
This is a phrase that you would teach your children and that will be a secret between you, your kid and some other trusted members. They should speak that code phrase whenever someone tries to behave strangely with them. Make it something funny or personal so it’s easy for the kids to remember. Also, a child should only go with someone who tells them that phrase.
Look
for a mother with kids
Tell your kids to find a mother with kids or an officer in the uniform if they get lost somehwere. A shopkeeper at a counter is also safe. Tell them to find someone where they can more people.
A trans comedian from Lahore, Anaya Sheikh was harassed on stage with abusive slurs by a Youtube prankster Shahrik Shah at a comedy night organised at a cafe in Johar Town.
According to Anaya, a theatre artist, researcher and trans comedians in an improv group, Shahrik repeatedly came too close to the stage during her performance, made her uncomfortable and passed transphobic and petty comments about Anaya’s physical appearance.
“I wore a top which said ‘We Should All Be Feminists.’ I started with jokes about women empowerment and then I replied to those jokes, which were based on trans people. Then Shahrik Shah of Lahori Prankstar, and another comedian named Usman made fun and used the derogatory terms like khusra and shemale while the whole audience was enjoying my performance,” Anaya wrote on Facebook.
Anaya further shared: “He forcibly tried to come onstage. I asked him to leave. He kept showing me his middle finger and I said even my fingers are not worthy of you but he kept abusing me.”
“I completed my performance and I was shivering when I left the stage,” Anaya wrote recounting her traumatising experience.
The event organiser, Lahorified, has since come out in Anaya’s support and apologised to her.
Speaking to a private media outlet, Anaya said, “I love my audience but I can’t go through this stress and shame which I just faced. I have the video but I don’t have the courage to watch it, and the more I think that many people were recording it, the more I feel depressed and angry. I know this will be out and I’m imagining how happy that will make transphobes.”
Though the Youtuber was reportedly removed from the venue by the organisers who also apologised to Anaya, Anaya said that the society’s mindset in this era still upsets her.
“I was excited obviously [to perform that night]; it was a new audience. I kept thinking I’ll do a different set and the moment I went on stage, I broke the ice and everyone laughed out. They were enjoying the performance so much. I was scared when I was called again onstage [for the encore] but had to do it — the audience kept shouting ‘Once more, Anaya’. I took a breath and went back, but I was shivering so I had to end it,” she said.
“There were some people who laughed at Shahrik’s comments, which made me think that people still find us as a joke. There should’ve been a pin-drop silence. This was not a joke. I was not a joke. I work hard to write stuff to make them laugh to give them a good time, even in such stressful times. I was shocked that such people are still existing in this society and people follow them,” she said.
Two Indian nationals were arrested by the Pakistani police for illegally entering the country last week.
Prashant Maidam, a software engineer from Hyderabad, and Durmi Lal, a farmer from Madhya Pradesh, were arrested in the Cholistan desert area in Bahawalpur on November 14th as per an FIR.
The Bahawalpur police registered an FIR against them under the Pakistan (Control of Entry) Act.
They had crossed the border without any identification papers and proper documents, such as a valid visa and passport, police sources told The Hindu.
Police sources said Prashant told them that he was in love with a woman in Turkey and was going there through Pakistan and Afghanistan. Prashant was reportedly on foot and following Google Maps route.
Bahawalpur Judicial Magistrate Yazman asked the local police to travel to Multan and hand over the two Indians to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA). Bahawalpur police sources said that the two Indian nationals were thoroughly investigated and were sent back from Multan as the FIA doesn’t think this case falls under its jurisdiction.
The two are now back in the custody of the Bahawalpur police.
“Prashant is lucky he was arrested here. We don’t know what would have happened if he had gone to Afghanistan via Pakistan,” said one police officer.
Police sources said the two will most likely be repatriated after due process is followed. The Indian High Commission will have to get in touch with the police and initiate the process of repatriation.
Karachiites have another beautiful spot for a picnic that has a waterfall and a lake and also offers boating. The Safari Park administration opened the newly built ‘Kashmir Point’ to provide a pleasant atmosphere to visitors.
As per reports, KMC authorities had planned to set up a
particularly beautiful, pleasant and calm spot at a hilly site of the park. A 200-feet waterfall is created from which the water flows down
into a lake spanning 4 acres. It also offers a boating facility to visitors.
“We have upgraded the lake at all points and built beautiful
fences around it,” the Safari Park director said.
Flying birds in the park make the scene quite attractive. People can visit the point and the boating costs for Rs100. The
boating facility is available from 11 am to 9 pm with proper lighting in the
evenings.
Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar inaugurated the Kashmir Point on
Sunday. He urged the people to visit the place as it’s a good initiative and a
great addition to the recreational park in the city.
