LAHORE: The PML-N government’s initiative to hold peace talks with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan has rekindled the hope of the families of Ali Haider Gilani and Shahbaz Taseer for their safe recovery.
Ali Haider, son of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, was kidnapped by armed men in Multan just two days before the May 11 election.
Similarly, Shahbaz Taseer, son of slain Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, was kidnapped by unidentified men in Aug 2011 in Lahore’s Gulberg area.
The successive governments of both the PPP and the PML-N have failed to recover the both young men who are believed to be kept by their kidnappers in the areas bordering Afghanistan.
Karzai urged to reject bill
KABUL: An international rights group said yesterday that Afghan President Hamid Karzai should refuse to sign a law passed by parliament that would deny women protection from domestic violence and forced marriage.
Afghanistan’s parliament, a two-chamber house dominated by conservative clerics and former Islamist warlords, passed a “criminal procedure law” last year which experts say contains articles that deny women legal protections.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said the bill “is expected to be sent to Karzai for final signature into law within weeks, if not earlier” and called on the war-torn nation’s leader to send the bill back to legislators with amendments.
“President Karzai should reject a law that will effectively let batterers of women and girls off the hook,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement, quoting its Asia director Brad Adams.
AGENCIES
