LAHORE, July 8: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has demanded immediate arrest of the murderers of Aurat Foundation activist Zubaida and her daughter in Dir and steps for the safety of activists working across the NWFP. Condemning the incident here on Friday, HRCP chairperson Asma Jehangir said the killing of 40-year-old Zubaida Begum and her teenaged daughter was indicative of the scale of threat posed to the lives of NGO workers, particularly women in the NWFP. Fact-finding by the HRCP had shown that the terrible act had been carried out by those determined to keep women in the dark ages.

She said the killings also demonstrated that the situation regarding the safety of NGO workers in the Northern Areas was worsening day by day.

The HRCP condemned the murder and urged the NGOs to stand together for combating the threat posed by extremists working in league with authorities who had consistently failed to protect the activists.

Ms Asma sad the fanatics had repeatedly threatened the NGOs in the NWFP, most frequently for their efforts to politically empower women and give them a stronger voice in the local councils, made the murder of Zubaida and her daughter more ominous. The murder was the latest step in the ongoing campaign to silence all those seeking basic rights for women. The killings and phone calls to their relatives after their tragic deaths was still more shocking.

She said backing of the campaign of violence against the NGOs by the authorities was proved by the fact that no effort had so far been made to punish those guilty of the series of attacks on the NGOs and their activists in general and women in particular over the past few years. The attacks had come in the form of murderous assaults, attacks on schools, hurling of explosives at the offices, which left no doubt about the intention of the perpetrators to maim and kill. Dozens of girls schools in the NWFP run with the support of donors and NGOs had in fact been forced to close down due to the failure of the authorities to protect them. The immunity enjoyed by those behind such attacks could only further embolden them.

Apart from physical threat, NGO leaders and workers had also to face volley after volley of verbal abuse from authorities at all levels, she added.