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.

Copyright: Clara Leone

Samar Minallah is a prominent human rights activist and documentary film maker from Pakistan. Her documentary “Swara: bridge over troubled waters” analyses the Swara tradition, according to which a family gives one of its girls as compensation to an aggrieved family instead of blood money. Minallah actively speaks out against what she calls “culturally sanctioned forms of violence against women”  and condemns the “patriarchal mindset” behind such violence.

Mitu’s twin daughters

Mitu Khurana is a doctor who been fighting for years against female foeticide. She has been a victim of her parents-in-law who tried everything in their power to stop Mitu from giving birth to her twin girls. She has now become the woman who champions the cause of baby girls and an activist who leaves no stone unturned to create awareness on the problem of sex selection.

Last January, I heard that a female student who jumped off a running bus in Jakarta and died because she was being harassed and the bus driver refused to stop the vehicle. It reminded me of so many other stories about rape in public transportation. The victims vary from students and career women to housewives.  But is a ‘wrong mentality’ to blame in this case?

Mercy is all set to pamper herself on Women’s Day

There is a proverb which says “Men build houses, women build homes.” No person will disagree. But today’s women do not just make homes; they walk hand in hand with their male counterparts professionally and also manage their homes and families. Debarati Mukherjee spoke to women from her city and asked them how they were celebrating Women’s Day.

Young female protestors at Shahbag shout slogans. A poster of Jahanara Imam can be seen in the background
Copyright: The Daily Star

Women in Bangladesh are a force to be reckoned with. It all began 42 years ago when Jahanara Imam’s elder son, Shafi Imam Rumi, joined the Mukti Bahini (pro- Bangladeshi independence group) and fought against Pakistan’s army. During the entire nine months of the war of liberation. Jahanara wrote what she felt and saw in her diary. This went on to become one of the most important publications about the war. It was called ‘Ekatturer Dinguli’ or ‘Of blood and fire.’

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.