Adil Najam

For those who can read Urdu, the news is from the Urdu Daily Express (December 3, 2006).

It is the story of a Kot Lakhpat prisoner Abdur Razzaq who appeared in court with his lips having been stitched together. He is in jail on a murder charge. Reportedly, he was unable to pay the ‘monthly’ bribe to the jailers because of his sister’s wedding and his ‘punishment’ was to be locked in a blackhole room, possibly beaten up, and then his lips were crudely stitched together!

Just typing this out makes me sick in the stomach. But there is more.

Guest Post by Zamanov

This picture, proudly displayed on the PCB webpage and in many Pakistani newspapers, is from the President of Pakistan’s reception for the cricket team shows Mr President handing a check of Rs 5 million (50 lakhs) to Mohammad Yousuf, the stylish batsman who recently broke the world record for runs and centuries scored in a year.

While every Pakistani is proud of Yousuf’s achievements and his incredible form over the past year, does it behoove the President of the Republic to award him with a substantial amount of money from public funds when the PCB has already announced an award of Rs 1 million through their official sponsor?

Darwaish

As I was reading the sad story on ATP about an official government car, reportedly in the use of the Syed Safwanullah, Federal Minister of Housing and Works, crushing to death a 6-year old child, another incident which is even more tragic occured in Lahore and surprisingly got very little media attention initially.
According to Daily Times:

The case dates back to November 26, when Waseem Sajjad Malik, a cellular phone-company employee (resident of 292/293-B, Punjab Corporative Society), lost control of his car and hit a tree allegedly because of two racing cars near Masjid Chowk in Defence. One of the two cars (LWJ-700) belonged to Faisal Farooq, son of a prominent confectioner. Waseem’s two-month old baby, born five years after his marriage, went through the screen and fell about 20 feet away. Waseem, his mother and his wife were injured. Waseem’s baby went into a comma right away. Passers-by caught Faisal Farooq, who fled when he saw that they were calling the police. The victims were admitted to hospital with multiple fractures and the baby died shortly after that. Defence police registered a case against Faisal Farooq.

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