Swabi | Pakistan

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) issued a condemnation on Sunday after it was reported that an 11-member committee of elders had declared that all transgender persons would be expelled from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swabi district. “The HRCP strongly condemns the reported decision by community elders in Swabi, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to form a committee aimed at expelling transgender persons from the district. Such actions are unconstitutional, discriminatory and amount to incitement to violence against an already marginalised community,” the HRCP said in a statement on X. It added that “no citizen can be deprived of the right to reside, work or earn a livelihood anywhere in Pakistan on the basis of gender identity”. The human rights body called on the provincial and district authorities to “immediately ensure the safety and dignity of transgender persons in Swabi and uphold their fundamental rights under the Constitution and the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2018”. The committee of elder...

SWABI: Elders formed an 11-member committee here on Saturday, declaring all transgender persons will be expelled from Swabi district. The development came after a Wednesday incident when the transgender people and participants of a music programme used “abusive language” against the police over the latter’s bid to stop the event. The police later launched a crackdown, leading to the arrest of 226 people, including two transgender persons. The 11-member committee comprises tehsil president of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl Maulana Abdul Samad Haqqani, religious leader Maulana Abdul Hadi, Gul Nabi Khan, president of Islahi Jirga Maneri Payyan, Bakhtiar Khan, general secretary, Bashir Khan, president, Islahi Jirga Maneri Bala, Gul Rehman, general secretary, Yasir Khan, president of Anjuman-i-Dokandaran, Swabi city, Irsalan Khan, senior vice-president, Zamin Shah Bhutto president of traders Link Road Swabi and two transgender. Maulana Haqqani said: “We don’t want our youth to get involved in wrong activities and wish ...

Police on Wednesday arrested 226 individuals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swabi for allegedly resisting a raid and participating in a ‘musical show’. Swabi Deputy Superintendent of Police Ijaz Khan Abazai told Dawn.com: “The number of arrested individuals was 226, and a number of them belonged to various areas outside the district, and the larger issue was that they tore the uniforms of three police personnel when they were resisting the police order to close the show.” He added that the arrested included two members of the transgender community as well. The first information report (FIR) of the incident was registered at the Swabi City Police Station on the complaint of Station House Officer (SHO) Saidul Amin under Sections 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 186 (obstructing a public servant in discharge of public functions), 294 (obscene acts in public) and 506 (criminal intimidation of the Pakistan Penal C...

At least 42 people have lost their lives in rain-related incidents in Swabi district, while dozens of villages in Tank remain cut off after flash floods triggered by torrential rains.

SWABI: Local charities sent the much-needed relief supplies collected in Swabi to the calamity-hit areas of Buner district on Saturday. Speaking to Dawn before leaving for Buner, activists of welfare organisations said that the people in their neighbouring district were in dire need of foodstuff and drinking water after flash floods swept away their houses and crops and badly damaged road infrastructure. Al-Khidmat Foundation, Swabi, president Wajid Ali Shah said that they had sent medicines worth Rs1 million along with five doctors and 15 paramedical staff to Buner. “Similarly, on our request five trucks containing dry foodstuffs have reached Buner from our Rawalpindi wing and 15 ambulances of medicines and paramedical staff have also commenced their duty in the affected areas,” Mr Ali said. “We have also planned to dispatch more foodstuff, tents and medicines to Buner by Saturday evening,” he said. “Right now, we are focused on three areas, including medicines, foodstuffs and tents. These things are badly r...

Rescue 1122 firefighters on Friday are still working to bring under control a fire at a tobacco warehouse in the Azamabad area of Razaar tehsil in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swabi district that has been raging for 38 hours. The fire, which broke out at 4am on Thursday morning, was still out of control today, forcing firefighters to continue their extinguishing efforts. A Rescue 1122 official, Luqman Khan, said that the three-storey warehouse was filled with ‘white patta’ tobacco and its stems that were mainly used in snuff and cigarettes. “The biggest problem for the firefighters was that no ventilator or exhaust were built,” the official said. He said that the rescue team drilled holes in the walls from the outside to start the process of putting out the fire, adding that it was such a difficult task that “four firefighters fainted during the operation”. According to the official, the intensity of the fire had compelled the district administration to contact Rescue 1122, requesting additional fire extinguishing ve...

A “notorious drug dealer” was arrested in an injured condition after an exchange of fire with the police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swabi district, the spokesperson of Swabi Police said in a statement on Friday. According to the statement, police were conducting a search operation on Thursday night in various areas within the limits of Kalu Khan police station, led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Circle Shakeel Khan, Station House Officer Abdul Wali Khan, along with a police team, against the presence of drug dealers and criminals. “Police received a tipoff from an informant that notorious drug dealers and wanted suspects were spotted at Wazir Shaheed Road,” the statement said. “A police team was immediately formed to arrest them. Upon seeing the team, the drug dealer opened fire to evade arrest. The police also returned fire using the right of self-defence. The drug dealer was arrested in an injured condition.” Police recovered 400 grams of methamphetamine (crystal meth) and a pistol with cartridges from the...

SWABI: The police have arrested two Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf workers under the Prevention of Electronic Crime Act (Peca) for using social media platforms against the security forces. Imran alias Manu was taken into custody for trying to create public unrest during the recent Indo-Pak border tensions by “posting derogatory words” against the Pakistan Army’s chief, Inter-Services Public Relations director-general and security agencies through his Facebook account, according to an FIR registered at the Tordher police station on Friday. The police said an inquiry had been initiated against the accused. They said the accused had been sent to Swabi judicial lockup after appearing in a local court. Also, the Kalu Khan police arrested Zahid Zaman of the Sheikh Jana village in Razaar tehsil on Thursday after booking him under Peca. The FIR said that Zahid had tried to “create distrust and hatred among the public by using malicious words” against the Pakistan Army’s chief and ISPR DG through his Facebook account. The p...