Civil society holds protests in Mithi
Civil society groups and political parties held a protest in Mithi on Sunday, demanding that the local police ensure swift investigation of rape cases after two victims committed suicide due to police inaction. The girls were raped in Kunral Village during the last two weeks. Delays in rape investigations give ample time to perpetrators to pressurize and blackmail victims. Activists say that over “80 percent of suicide incidents appeared to be murder cases but area police do not even bother to register FIRs.”
Cuts made to ex-Fata development funds
Under the Tribal Development Strategy devised by the government after the FATA merger and the passage of the 25th Amendment to the constitution, PTI’s federal government pledged a yearly amount of Rs100bn while the KP government pledged a yearly amount of Rs11bn for the development of the region. The government has failed to honor their pledge; the federal govt released only Rs37bn while the KP govt only Rs one billion.
Demands to make Balochistan RTI Act public
Balochistan has finally drafted its own Right To Information (RTI) Act but the draft Bill has not been made public. In this regard, a meeting of journalists and civil society was held in Quetta, participants of which demanded that all stakeholders be consulted before the Bill is presented in the assembly.