‘They are alive’

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain on Thursday said he had visited the Palas Valley of Kohistan district and had confirmed that all five women, allegedly ordered killed by a local jirga for a wedding dance, were alive.
“Four activists of human and women rights organisations personally met two of the accused women,” Mian Iftikhar said at a press conference upon his return from Kohistan. He said the women’s relatives informed that the remaining three women were also alive but away from the village. According to Mian Iftikhar Hussain, four activists, including Farzana Baari, Fauzia Saeed, Shabina Ayaz and Refaat Butt were in Kohistan since Wednesday and had met two of the accused women and even made video of the discussion with them.
Iftikhar said he along with former MPA Maulana Asmat Ullah met locals of Peech Baila area of Kohistan, including relatives of the women, and they contradicted the reports pertaining to the killing of women. He said the government had already registered a case and stern action would be taken against those found responsible for spreading false and fabricated news to the media, which damaged the image of the province and government as well.
“I met two women and they are alive. I was told three others are also alive. They are in their homes far away in mountainous areas. I could not go there,” rights activist Farzana Bari told a foreign news agency after returning from the region. In Islamabad, the Supreme Court was told by Attorney General Irfan Qadir that “all the girls are alive”. Justice Jawaad Khawaja, part of the bench that took suo motu notice of the incident, responded with “Thank God”. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had earlier said he was ready to send in the army unless he had a clear report on all the women. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, who on Thursday wrapped up a four-day visit to Pakistan, said while the full facts had yet to be established, the allegations showed the restrictions and dangers faced by many Pakistani women. “The very low literacy rate of women and girls especially in areas such as the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (in the northwest) is very worrying and calls for immediate actions and interventions,” she told a news conference.