Today’s top Pakistan current affairs September 14,2020 with download link available in pdf. These are the latest breaking news about Pakistan which will be helpful for aspirants in test preparation of current affairs, Pakistan affairs, General knowledge for NTS, PPSC, CSS, FPSC, KPPSC, SPSC, BPSC, AJKPSC, OTS, PTS, and other Govt Jobs, exams & MDCAT, ECAT Entry test preparation.
One Liner
- Seven rape cases reported in Punjab in 24 hours . At least seven incidents of rape involving minor girls were reported in Punjab during the past 24 hours
- Supect In Motorway Gang-Rape Case Arrested, Confesses to Crime: CM Buzdar. A suspect wanted by authorities in the motorway gang-rape case has been arrested and he has confessed to the crime, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar announced on Monday.
- Motorway gang rape accused Shafqat makes startling revelations during probe.
- Government to table bill for rapists’ castration, hanging. Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) government decided on Monday that it will bring to parliament a bill to penalize sex offenders; rapists with castration
- In meeting with army chief, Khalilzad discusses Afghan peace process. Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad discussed Afghan Reconciliation Process among other matters at the GHQ, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement.
- World’s biggest online retailer to hire 100,000 more workers. Amazon.com on Monday said it is recruiting 100,000 more workers – the fourth hiring spree it has announced for the United States this year – to keep pace with e-commerce demand that jumped during the pandemic.
Spotlight by The NewsRun
1. COVID-19 IN PAKISTAN
- Pakistan reported 539 new cases and 4 deaths in the past 24 hours. Pakistan also conducted 31,411 tests in the span of 24 hours (P.S. this data was last updated on September 14 at 8:44am).
2. Countrywide protests against motorway gang-rape
What’s going on? Two robbers allegedly raped a woman in her early 30s at gunpoint on the motorway last week.
The details: Her car ran out of fuel while she was travelling from Lahore to Gujranwala with her children. A relative in Gujranwala told her to call the police helpline, and was on his way to help. However, before the relative reached her, two armed men took her and her children to a nearby field at gunpoint and gang-raped her. The robbers also snatched her cash, jewellery and other valuables.
Where were the police? As for the helpline, police claim she hadn’t called by the time the armed men showed up. However, according to Al Jazeera, she phoned the police for help, but the two armed men got to her first.
Tell me more: Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) in Lahore, Muhammad Umar Sheikh, suggested that her own actions got her into trouble. He questioned why she left the house late at night, drove alone with her kids, didn’t check the petrol in her car, and didn’t take a route called GT road that is more populated. He also said the woman, who is a French citizen, thought she was in France and not Pakistan where society is different.
Public outrage: Over the weekend, Aurat March (i.e. women’s march) organized protests across Pakistan. Protesters accused CCPO Sheikh of victim-blaming and demanded his removal. They also demanded justice, accountability, safety for women, and structural reform to end patriarchal violence.
Looking ahead: Police identified two suspects, and arrested one of them. The arrested suspect, Waqarul Hassan, denied his involvement in the rape case. He reportedly turned himself in to plead his innocence. However, police are saying he did not surrender and was actually arrested. The police used mobile phone records to track him, but Hassan claimed the SIM card registered under his name belongs to his brother-in-law, Abbas. Police used DNA tracing and evidence from the crime scene to identify the other suspect, Abid Ali. Ali was reportedly involved in a similar case registered a few years ago. Ali’s phone records reportedly led police to Hassan.
The bottom line: International rights organizations claim that Pakistan has not done enough to reduce violence against women, especially when it comes to holding perpetrators accountable.
3. Petitions to abolish
There is something called a two-finger test (i.e. hymen test), which is conducted to examine sexual assault survivors. This virginity test measures the size and elasticity of female genitalia. Two petitions against the test called it “intrusive” “demeaning” “inhuman” and “violative.” Recently, provincial health authorities in Punjab told the Lahore High Court (LHC) that the medical evaluation of sexual assault survivors will no longer require the test, since it has little scientific merit. Also, the appearance of a hymen is not a reliable indication of intercourse.
- Backstory: The two-finger test continues to traumatize rape survivors in Pakistan. Healthcare professionals and human rights organizations around the world have reportedly urged Pakistan to stop the outdated test. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it violates a sexual assault survivor’s human rights. It also negatively impacts a woman’s physical, psychological, and social well-being. Since the test almost mimics the original act of sexual violence, survivors could re-experience the traumatic event.
- The two-finger test has been used to determine ‘consent’ in rape cases:The test has backfired on women survivors due to gender biases, presumptions about character, and unscientific conclusions. For example, in Naveed Masih vs. The State 2008, the LHC didn’t believe a survivor’s testimony, because the test revealed that her hymen admitted two fingers “easily.” This supposedly indicates that she has been sexually active before. If her hymen had been “tight” that would mean she experienced intercourse for the first time while being raped. Basically, the LHC assumed that a woman with a sexual history will always give her consent, and can’t call the intercourse ‘rape.’
4. Massive anti-Shia protest in Karachi
On the same weekend as the anti-rape protests, extremist islamic groups, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ), held a huge rally in Karachi against the minority Shia community. Throngs of people chanted slogans against Shias, calling them kaafirs (i.e. infidels). Protesters also threw stones at an Imam Bargah (i.e. congregation hall for Shia commemoration ceremonies). Pakistani singer, songwriter and actor, Asim Azhar, asked Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan to take notice of the brazen religious intolerance in Pakistan. Other Twitter users thanked Azhar for bringing up an important issue that Pakistani celebrities apparently don’t talk about much.
MARKET RECAP
The benchmark KSE-100 index closed at 42,530.67 after dropping 116.68 points (-0.27%) as of September 11, 2020.
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