October 30, 2008	Thursday	Shawwal 30, 1429

NAWABSHAH, Oct 29: A large number of students of Quaid-i-Awam University of Engineering, Science and Technology (Quest) and Nawabshah Medical College for Girls put signatures on a piece of cloth on Tuesday to voice their resentment at and rejection of jirga system during a campaign launched by the Women Action Forum against the outdated system.

The forum members Ms Amar Sindhu, Rukhsana Channar, Ghazala Mallah, Mehrunnisa Larik and Rubina Junejo visited the Quest as well as the medical college and took signatures of students against the jirga system.

Later, talking to journalists outside the press club they said that the jirga system was in clear contravention of the Constitution of Pakistan. It was a parallel system to courts and should be discouraged, they said.

They called for legislation against the system and said that the outdated system had encouraged murders of innocent men and women under the pretext of karo-kari.

They demanded that President Asif Ali Zardari and the chief minister ban jirga system through legislation to bring criminal elements to justice and plug loopholes in the law that helped them escape punishment.

SELF-IMMOLATION: A man tried to commit immolation by torching himself reportedly over some family problems in Qazi Ahmed on Wednesday.

Lakshman alias Lachhu Thakur, 30, doused himself in kerosene oil and tried torch himself but he was saved by people and taken to Rural Health Centre Qazi Ahmed.

Police said that Lakshman was a drug addict and he had a petty quarrel with his wife after which he tried to kill himself.