Amid Protests, Floggers Likely to Escape Punishment

ISLAMABAD, April 4: Political parties and rights organisations on Saturday organised demonstrations in Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar, Lahore, Multan, Hyderabad, Khairpur, Sialkot and other towns and cities, condemning the public flogging of a 17-year-old girl in Swat after television channels telecast a clip showing the lashing.

However, the Swat Taliban denied the incident and termed the video fake.

Our Mingora correspondent says the Tehrik-i-Taliban has denied having flogged the girl, terming the video clip a conspiracy to sabotage the peace agreement signed in February.

Speaking at a press conference at Charbagh, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan told reporters that a woman, wife of Rehmat Jalal, was flogged about six months ago for “illegally living with her father-in-law Noor Jalal for eight years”. The man was also flogged, he added. The woman, he said, was flogged “by four boys after collecting proper evidence”. The boys, Wajid Ali, Abid, Bilal and Rafiullah, were produced before the media.

Muslim Khan said the video had been prepared by some “Westernised NGO to malign Islam and to sabotage the peace agreement”.

In Islamabad, chief of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf Imran Khan condemned the incident and said strong action should be taken against people responsible for the flogging.

“Perpetrators of this heinous act are not human beings. They are savages. We have to wage a joint fight against them,” said prominent human rights activist Tahira Abdullah. Allama Inayat Ali Shakir, Mufti Abdul Qavi, Allama Nisar Mustafa, Allama Rai Zafar Ali, Allama Mujahid Kazmi, Allama Ahmad Saeed Qureshi also condemned the flogging and said it was un-Islamic, immoral, unethical and against all socio-religious values. They said that no religion permitted people to humiliate and abuse women, adding that Islam accords a high social status to women.

“Such fanatics must be dealt with an iron fist. They are tarnishing the international image of Islam and Pakistan.”

Pakistan Tour Operators Association also denounced the flogging. “This incident is yet another blow to the tourism industry in the scenic valley,” said president of the organisation Amjad Ayub.

Women’s Parliamentary Caucus strongly condemned the lashing. Its secretary, Nafisa Shah, called for immediate action.

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