April 19, 2007	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 01, 1428

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NAWABSHAH, April 18: District Nazim Faryal Talpur said on Wednesday that the Talibanisation and Mullahism had spread fear and uncertainty among the moderate and liberal people of Pakistan.

Speaking at a seminar on "Empowerment of women as basis of freedom and democracy" organised by Liberal Forum Nawabshah at a local hotel the nazim said that Islam was a moderate religion which gave women complete rights including divorce.

She regretted that the rights guaranteed in the constitution were not being implemented. Sindh was a liberal province where people had moderate thoughts, she said and added despite black customs of the past like karo-kari Sindh had less incidents of violence against women than Punjab.

Ms Talpur said that that violence against women and child labour persisted all over the country and steps should be taken to eliminate the menace. She saw low literacy rate as major cause of unawareness among women of their legal rights and urged the educationists and youth to play a positive role in the betterment of womenfolk.

She said that five women contested for the seats of zila nazim in Sindh, which was an example of women’s liberation in the province and she was elected for the second consecutive term.

Liberal Forum Pakistan’s Chairman Asif Khan said that the forum was working to create awareness among people about their rights. Unfortunately Pakistan had been under military rule for decades and the army removed all the five elected governments, he said.

He said that political parties though eloquently and verbally strived for democracy but their own structure remained undemocratic. Political parties had no experience of democratic procedure and practices, he said.

He said that Pakistan needed to strengthen its institutions and get rid of army rule. The forum had spread its network to 25 cities of the country to continue struggle for the freedom of public and for free and fair elections in the country.

Coordinator of Liberal Forum M. Parkash, MPA Ghulam Qadir Chandio, Naeema Jamali, Ziaul Hassan Lanjar advocate, Mohammad Anwar Shaikh and Khurram Yar Brohi also spoke on the occasion.

INTERNET DISCONNECTED: Railway passengers seeking reservations and bookings for Karachi and upcountry faced trouble due to suspension of Internet service in the Pakistan Railways’ reservation office since last three days.

A fault occurred in the Internet link which connects Nawabshah reservation office through the central reservation system. The office has stopped booking and reservation due to suspension of Internet service resulting in the loss of approximately Rs125,000 per day.

When contacted reservation supervisor Abdul Wahid Burki said that the fault occurred on Monday afternoon disconnecting the station from the central reservation system.

He said that he had informed the concerned officials and hoped service would be restored soon.