- Vows to curb honour killings
after Pak documentary’s Oscar nomination
ISLAMABAD, January 25: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has formed a high-powered steering committee for periodical consultation with the provinces on matters related to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Besides constituting the 11-member committee, a number of important agreements were also made during a consultative meeting held in Islamabad under the chair of the premier to address the reservations of political parties regarding CPEC, a statement issued by the PM House said on Friday. Representatives of all parties and provincial governments attended the meeting.
According to the statement, it was decided to carry out the construction of the western route of CPEC on priority.
“Working on the principle of one corridor, multiple passages, the western alignment for CPEC will be constructed on priority, with a timeline of two years and six months, i.e. July 15, 2018,” the statement read.
All parties, the statement claimed, affirmed their support to the CPEC, agreeing that the new institutional framework will be able to better accommodate the regional concerns in future.
It was also decided that the western alignment for CPEC will be a four-lane expressway in the first phase, but with a provision for subsequent conversion into six-lane limited access motorway, for which land acquisition will be the responsibility of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government.
The development comes a week after the Chinese government urged the government, its allies and opposition parties to resolve their differences on the route of the multibillion dollar project.
“China hopes the relevant parties in Pakistan could strengthen communication and coordination on the CPEC to create favourable conditions for the project,” the Chinese embassy in Islamabad said in a statement.
Earlier this month, the K-P government also threatened to take extreme steps if the federal government did not complete the western alignment of the project on a priority basis.
Pakistan and China had signed an agreement on April 20 last year to commence work on CPEC development projects worth over $46 billion, which comes to roughly 20 per cent of Pakistan’s annual GDP.
The corridor aims to connect Gwadar port in Balochistan to China’s Xinjiang region via a network of highways, railways and pipelines spread over 3,000km. Work on several sections has already started but the entire project is expected to take several years to complete.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed Pakistan would eradicate “evil” honor killings as he congratulated director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy on her Oscar nomination for a harrowing documentary on the practice.
“A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness,” which follows the story of a rare survivor, was nominated in the documentary short category of the Academy Awards on Thursday. Hundreds of women are reportedly murdered by their relatives in Pakistan each year on the grounds of defending family “honor”. Their male murderers are often “pardoned” by relatives under the country’s controversial Islamic blood money laws that allow murderers to escape punishment. A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office late Thursday offered Chinoy, who made history in 2012 when she won Pakistan’s first Oscar for another documentary, Nawaz’s congratulations.
“Honour killings, the theme of the film, afflict several segments of Pakistani society,” it quoted the premier as saying.
He expressed the government’s commitment “to rid Pakistan of this evil by bringing in appropriate legislation”, the statement continued, adding that Chinoy’s “insights” could prove helpful.
Chinoy said on Twitter she was “delighted” that the prime minister had made the commitment.
“Next step is to push all the politicians to call a joint session & get the anti honour crime bill passed that has lapsed in parliament!” she said in a tweet.
Chinoy was feted across Pakistan in 2012 when she won the country’s first Oscar for “Saving Face”, a 40-minute documentary that exposed the horrors endured by women who survive devastating acid attacks.-Agencies
