Slavery exists on July 6, 2015“This injustice I face is not my fate” — Veerji Kolhi (advocate/social activist, involved in bonded labour for four years.)Bonded labour is an extensive form of slavery. It is a system of forced labour, under which a debtor enters or is presumed to have entered into an agreement with the creditor for doing work in […]
Unnoticed internally displaced Pakistanis on September 7, 2014“I was studying in fourth class in Mirali, North Waziristan, and my teachers called me the most confident child of my class. I miss my school and the schools in Bannu are not giving me admission because I do not have a school-leaving certificate with me. I want to study, make friends in school and […]
Women and children in the IDP crisis on August 3, 2014On hearing news of the increasing number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) coming to Bannu after Operation Zarb-e-Azb was announced, I began to visit them in order to help the IDPs by providing them with basic relief items. Upon a recent third trip mainly focused on providing women and children with assistance, my attention was […]
Adopt a comprehensive law against honour killing on July 26, 2014On July 24, 2014, a young girl was shot dead allegedly by her father in the name of ‘honour’ in Akhundani village, Jhal Magsi district. Regrettably, she was not the only one who has had to face this brutality. There have been countless cases that Pakistan has faced, only increasing with time. A young mother […]
The dilemma of North Waziristans IDPs on July 17, 2014A lengthy, unceasing queue in a barren land void of shade was seen with little children, old men and youngsters waiting to receive food supplies from one morning to the next. The tribals of North Waziristan, famous for throwing grand dinner parties, especially in Ramzan, were bearing up with 42 degrees temperatures to receive goods […]
Bulldozing the right to shelter on June 21, 2014The CDA’s current plan to bulldoze the slums, load the residents onto trucks and take them ‘back’ to their places of origin sounds despicable, illegal and morally inexcusable. Mass evictions are a remarkably old school policy when compared to current international standards Islamabad is the only planned city in Pakistan. A master plan was conceived […]
Anti-measles campaign turns fatal on June 11, 2014After the reports of 79 deaths within five months in Khyber Pakhtukhwa (KP) due to a measles outbreak, the coalition government of KP, led by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), initiated its 12 day anti-measles campaign on May 19, with an aim of vaccinating around 9.6 million children under the age of 10 in the province. This […]
Too young to tie the knot: ending child marriages on June 4, 2014“I wanted to study further but my family could not afford the cost of medicines for father, let alone cover the expenses of my education. We were six sisters and one brother. My father wanted to arrange marriages of all of his daughters while he was alive. It would have lessened the burden on the […]