THE Eid season in Islamabad is usually a boring one, especially during Eidul Azha many citizens tend to stay home and watch movies after qurbani. But bureaucrats do not get bored as they have to give hazri to higher-grade officers and receive lower-grade officers at their own homes. Not to mention the share of qurbani meat they get from their junior officers. However, this time what made everybody happy was the snowfall on the Margalla Hills which became the biggest attraction for denizens of the capital during Eid holidays — hills overlooking Islamabad recording one foot of snow after six years with the second day of Eid becoming the coldest day in the last 40 years, and mercury dropping to seven degrees Centigrade.
Continuous rains forced people to remain indoors during Eid; but as soon as the weather cleared, everyone was out of their houses. With the news of snowfall in Islamabad, a huge crowd headed towards Daman-Koh and Pir Sohava (which recorded six inches of snow), but it resulted in a massive traffic jam with hundreds of vehicles stranded in the middle of nowhere. It appeared that the traffic police was not ready for any unforeseen vehicular chaos.
Murree also received six feet of snow, and all of those people who had gone there to have some good time during holidays found themselves trapped. A friend staying a few kilometres from Burban with her car stuck in snow, finally decided to walk the distance and seek help from the hotel shuttle to reach Islamabad. Fortunate enough to get on the shuttle, it took her six hours to reach Islamabad because of heavy traffic.
Markets in the city still look deserted as tailors and butchers who had gone to their native towns have not yet returned after Eid. A new spell of rain and snow is expected in the coming days.
HANDLING WOMEN WITH CARE: Titliayan, dosheeza and kunwari maan are some of the words that one comes across while reading sensational news item related to elopement, in which women invariably run away with their ashna or ashiq. In an effort to rectify the current stereotypical image of women being projected in the media by providing viable gender sensitive alternatives, a gender sensitive code of ethics has been compiled for the print media. The first ever code, compiled by an NGO Uks in collaboration with the British Council, calls upon media persons to ensure a positive and fair portrayal of gender issues.
Launched at a local hotel last week, the code was compiled through a consultative process in which print media journalists were engaged in a dialogue. It urges them to see issues that particularly concern women. It focuses on the use of judgmental words and phrases used for women in news reports and debates on ‘what really determines the newsworthiness of a story.’ It also urges them to take into consideration the fact that the language of communication is sensitive to gender and social inequities, and that women are not stereotyped as victims or objects of sexual desire. It questions how an increased consumerism affects the portrayal of women in the media and whether there has been an increase in violent and pornographic images of women. Different aspects of gender sensitivity including the right to privacy and pictorial depiction of women and rectifying their under representation also come under discussion.
Most crime reporters rely on FIRs which at times are highly sensational in terms of content and language. This is because of the sensational element in information provided to journalists by the police. In the current scenario, gender sensitive training of the police is essential. In order to change media attitude in the country, Tasneem Ahmar, Director Uks Resource Centre said: “Any effort to foster gender sensitivity in the press should start much before the workplace namely in the educational institutional where future journalists are trained. We propose ‘gender sensitivity’ to be included as a topic in the curriculum taught in the mass communication department of universities.”
SILENT WATERS: The screening of the internationally acclaimed film, Khamosh Paani in the capital witnessed a huge turnout, not just because of its publicity, but also because of the fact that the award-winning film by Sabiha Sumar could not be officially released in Pakistan. It testifies that Islamabad too has taste for good movies. The auditorium was packed to capacity as one could see cine-goers finding their way in the pitch-dark auditorium.
Already shown on BBC Channel 4, a Pakistani French German production on the regressive status of women in 1979 under General Ziaul Haq’s martial law, the film shows the sacrifice of women and the agony and suffering on both sides of the border during partition. It deals with the social fallout of fundamentalism in Pakistan and the pervasive influence of religious leaders on common Pakistanis. It’s an intense depiction of a collection of true stories. Shot entirely in Pakistan, the film stars actors from both India and Pakistan. Indian actress Kiron Kher plays the lead role of Ayesha whose son, (Aamir Malik from Pakistan) is caught in the mire of fundamentalism. Other stars include Salman Shahid, Shilpa Shukla, and Arshad Mehmud. Encouraged by the response and people’s interest, Kishwer Naheed, on behalf on the Pak India Forum, announced the forum’s plan to establish a film club on a membership basis, which would screen best movies released around the world. On the occasion, funds were also raised for tsunami victims by the organizers, Pakistan India Peoples Forum, Action Aid and Citizen’s Peace Committee.
THE Eid season in Islamabad is usually a boring one, especially during Eidul Azha many citizens tend to stay home and watch movies after qurbani. But bureaucrats do not get bored as they have to give hazri to higher-grade officers and receive lower-grade officers at their own homes. Not to mention the share of qurbani meat they get from their junior officers. However, this time what made everybody happy was the snowfall on the Margalla Hills which became the biggest attraction for denizens of the capital during Eid holidays — hills overlooking Islamabad recording one foot of snow after six years with the second day of Eid becoming the coldest day in the last 40 years, and mercury dropping to seven degrees Centigrade.
