HYDERABAD, July 4: Three different demonstrations were held here on Thursday to condemn the Meerwala incident in which a young woman was gang-raped according to the decision of a jirga.

A large number of human rights activists, representatives of NGOs and political parties, including women, staged a demonstration outside the press club against the Meerwala and Husri gang-rapes.

The demonstration was sponsored by the HRCP’s special task force for Sindh.

The speakers, including Jam Saqi, Ghaffar Malik, Momin Khan, Muzaffar Kalhoro, Khair Mohammad Magsi, Nuzhat Pathan and Amar Sindhu, condemned the incidents and criticized the government for its insensitivity.

Expressing outrage at the two incidents, Saqi deplored the indifference of political leaders regarding the incidents.

He said that after a railway accident in India, the minister concerned resigned but no one in authority here had taken notice of the two incidents.

He said law and justice had become misnomers here and influential persons, who enjoyed the support of police, had been given a free hand to commit inhuman atrocities against the people.

Other speakers also condemned the apathy of the government and urged political and religious parties to raise their voice against the incidents.

The Citizens Action Committee for Women Rights staged another demonstration outside the press club against the gang-rape of a young woman in Meerwala, Muzaffargarh district.

A large number of women, including women councillors, and representatives of social welfare organizations participated in the demonstration.

Talking to newsmen, leaders of the Aurat Foundation, Safina Javed and Mahar Taj, the PPP leader Farheen Mughal, women councillor Rana Siddiqui, Fehmeeda Riaz and others demanded the immediate arrest of the accused and officials of the administration who were directly or indirectly involved in the commission of such a crime.

They further demanded that Panchayat and Jirga systems should be abolished and the Hudood Ordinance should be repealed.

The protesting women criticized the criminal silence of the women commission and demanded to legislate a law to award punishment to the perpetrators of such heinous crime.

The third demonstration was organized by the Pasban outside the press club against the Meerwala incident.

Speaking on the occasion, Pasban leader Mohammad Hussain Khan said that had the daughter of a rich and influential man been dishonoured, the governor and the rulers themselves would have rushed to the spot.