South Asia Citizens Web

The Asian Human Rights Commission received information that on 9 January 2011 according to police officials over 40,000 people gathered in the streets of Karachi, the capital of Sindh Province for a rally. The speakers
of the rally announced over their public address system that anyone showing support for the amendments to the blasphemy laws should face the same fate as Salman Taseer. No officer of the law enforcement agencies or government officials including at least 3,000 members of the police, who were present at the meeting area, moved to silence them or did not take any action despite such death threat was made in in public. It has created serious death threats to the ordinary people of Pakistan.

Why is the Nitish Kumar Govt. giving character certificates to rape-accused BJP MLA of Purnea and slandering the rape victim? Why is Mayawati’s police jailing the gang rape victim and protecting the accused BSP MLA?
Why are rapists of a dalit girl being protected and woman activist jailed in Punjab? These are the questions raised by protesting women at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on 8 January 2011, at a demonstration organised by the AIPWA and AISA, and joined by representatives of several other women’s groups.

We the undersigned demand an immediate White Paper from the Government of India on the phenomenon of ‘Hindutva Terror’ and the true extent to which it poses an internal security threat to the country. The government should also seriously investigate the openly expressed sympathies towards ‘Hindutva’ ideology of certain retired policemen and bureaucrats as this is an indication of such sympathy within serving officials of the police, army and bureaucracy.

M. B. Naqvi’s book ’Pakistan at Knife’s Edge’ was launched at a ceremony held on 9th January 2011, in Karachi under the aegis of the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research and the Pakistan Peace Coalition.