“Kashmiri society seems to be turning intolerant towards the girl child. We seem to be nearing a society that desires to have an all-male population,” writes Rabia Noor.

Balochistan is one of the 5 provinces of Pakistan. It’s important for not only its geographical location but for its vast natural resources. Quetta is the capital city of Balochistan and is home to different communities including the Hazara.

For the last two to three years, Quetta has been under a severe security threat and thousands have lost their lives due to the significant level of terrorism. In the beginning of 2013, a suicide blast took the lives of hundreds of people in Quetta. Again, very recently another suicide attack killed more than 90 people.

It is a big coincidence that the Vatican is choosing a new Pope at a time when the International Women’s Day is round the corner. Western countries advocate women’s rights; women are closely associated with the Vatican administration, but nobody ever talks about the representation of women in the higher ranks of the Catholic Church.

The Indian government has announced the ‘Nirbhaya’ fund to improve security for women in the country. The fund was announced following the brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old who succumbed to her wounds. The media refer to this woman as ‘Nirbhaya,’ meaning fearless in Hindi. But is the fund merely eyewash to pacify the seething masses or will it really help in promoting women’s safety? Blogger Vishwadeepak is skeptical.

Saydee appeared in court wearing a Salwar suit and a ‘Jinnah’ cap

It was an experience of a lifetime to be able to experience the sensational verdict session of Delwar Hossain Sayedi, an infamous war criminal in Bangladesh. I entered the court building at 9:40 am last Friday with my friend Udisa. We waited outside the court building for security clearance and finally entered the main room by 10:30 a.m. Then we waited for the judge to arrive.

Copyright: Arif Hafiz

Since the past few weeks, the youth in Bangladesh have been protesting against war criminals and demanding justice for the victims of 1971. Bangladeshi blogger Paula Aziz says, the movement is an awakening of the masses.

In the second blog in the series, Dr. Kanchana Lanzet of UN Women discusses the role of caste in promoting bias against women. According to the caste system, women, by nature of their biological processes, are “impure.”