Pakistan’s blasphemy law has been at the centre of a heated debate since a lower court in Punjab sentenced Aasia Bibi, a 45-year-old Christian woman, to death last year for allegedly insulting the Prophet. — AFP

Lahore, January 15
Two Christian women were beaten up and publicly humiliated by an angry mob in this city apparently over allegations of frivolous religious sacrilege.

The roughing up of the family forced them to go into hiding for fear of being killed, and the fresh incident as the country is yet to recover from the assassination of outspoken governor Salman Taseer for his support to Christian women Aasia Bibi in jail on blasphemy charges.

According to media reports, the incident was triggered over a trivial dispute between a Muslim woman and her Christian sister-in-law, both residents of an east Lahore neighbourhood. The two got into an argument on Tuesday night.

Though the matter was apparently settled, the Muslim woman walked out onto the street on Wednesday morning after her husband had gone to work and started shouting that her sister-in-law had abused Prophet Mohammed, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

A short while later, a group of men led by Muhammad Sameer, a member of a religious organisation “keen on raising its sectarian profile,” forced their way into the Christian woman’s house and started slapping her, said her brother.

“Other men and women from the neighbourhood started gathering at the house too and they beat up my sister and mother. They were the only people in the house,” the brother said.

“We tried our best to get her to confess her crime,” Sameer said. As a member of a religious organisation, he said he could not tolerate any derogatory remarks about the Prophet.

Khadim Hazoor, Sameer’s son-in-law, said faces of Christian women were blackened and they were made to wear necklaces of shoes and paraded around the neighbourhood on donkeys. The crowd showed no-mercy even as the women repeatedly touched the feet of the men denying committing blasphemy and asked for forgiveness.

Sameer said he was “very proud” of his wife for beating the Christian woman. “She beat (the woman) more than anyone else. Her hand is so swollen that she hasn’t been able to make rotis since the day of the incident. I’ve been getting my meals from a restaurant,” he said. The Christian woman’s family left the neighbourhood soon after the incident.

Karachi: The Pakistan Government formed a judicial commission to probe into the murder of a prominent journalist, even as the fresh wave of violence and target killings in the city claimed 31 lives. Pakistan's financial hub has been in the grip of political violence since Wednesday night and as many as 31 persons have been killed so far, most of them activists of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Awami National Party (ANP). Geo television channel reporter Wali Khan Babar was among those killed in the latest violence. — Agencies

Los Angeles, January 15
Music maestro AR Rahman bagged the best original song trophy at the 16th Critics' Choice Awards for his number “If I Rise” in Danny Boyle's film “127 Hours”.

Written by Rollo Armstrong and American artiste Dido, the song was performed by Rahman and Dido, which is also expected to get Rahman his second Golden Globe this year.

Boyle, who went on to score eight Oscars with his last film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, collaborated with Rahman again for '127 Hours', a biopic on the life of mountain climber Aron Ralston.

Rahman, however, lost the best score trophy to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for their film 'The Social Network'. The movie on the life of Facebook founder also bagged top honours, including best film, best director and best adapted screenplay.

The awards, presented by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, are considered a strong indicator for the Oscar awards. Most of the Critics' Choice Awards winners do well at the Oscars.

British actor Colin Firth was named the best actor for his role as a stuttering king in 'The King's Speech' while Natalie Portman's turn as a disturbed ballerina in 'Black Swan' won her the best actress trophy.

Christian Bale was named the best supporting actor for his role in real-life drama 'The Fighter', which also saw Melissa Leo winning the best supporting actress award. Leonardo DiCaprio starrer 'Inception' led all films with six awards total but most of them were for technical achievement. — PTI

Tunis, January 15
Tunisia swore in a new interim president today, the second change of power in this North African nation in less than 24 hours, and grappled with looting, deadly fires and widespread unrest after protests forced its longtime leader to flee.

At least 42 inmates were killed in two prison fires today, looters emptied shops and torched the main train station and gunfire echoed through the capital.

The interim president, Fouad Mebazaa, the speaker of parliament, ordered the creation of a unity government that could include the opposition, which had been ignored under President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's 23 years of autocratic rule. Ben Ali fled the country yesterday for Saudi Arabia following a popular uprising and deadly riots.

Anger over corruption and a lack of jobs and civil liberties ignited a month of protests, but Ben Ali's departure, a key demand of demonstrators, did not quell the unrest. While the protests were mostly peaceful, after Ben Ali's departure rioters burned the main train station in Tunis and looted shops.

Mebazaa, in his first move after being sworn in, seemed intent on reconciliation and calming tensions. In his first televised address, he said he asked the premier to form a "national unity government in the country's best interests" in which all political parties will be consulted "without exception nor exclusion".

The leadership changes came at a dizzying speed. Ben Ali left abruptly last night and his longtime ally, Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi stepped in briefly then with a vague assumption of power that left open the possibility that Ben Ali could return.

But today, Constitutional Council President Fethi Abdennadher declared the president's departure was permanent and gave lawmaker Mebazaa 60 days in which to organise new elections. Hours later, Mebazaa was sworn in.

It was unclear who might emerge as the main candidates in a post-Ben Ali Tunisia: The autocratic leader has utterly dominated politics for decades, placing his men in positions of power and sending opponents to jail or into exile. — AP

Kathmandu, January 15
Amid fears of chaos in Nepal, the UN today ended its peace mission as the government and the main Opposition Maoists inked a crucial eleventh-hour deal to monitor fragile peace process. The UN mission was tasked to supervise the arms and the army of the former rebels and the military.

As Nepal remained in a political deadlock, the UN’s blue flag was lowered at the Kathmandu office of the UNMIN, which was established by the world body as a special political mission in 2007 to manage the arms and armed personnel of the Maoists and the Nepal army.

The UNMIN closure makes the fate of the 19,000 Maoist combatants confined in the cantonments uncertain as there was no clear roadmap regarding the future monitoring, integration and rehabilitation of the former PLA combatants.The warring political parties claimed to have reached an agreement on monitoring of the former armed Maoist cadres lodged in special camps overseen by the UN mission.

The government said a special committee comprising representatives from the main political parties would monitor the ex-guerrillas, which the Maoists do not agree till today.

The Maoists ended a decade-long insurgency that killed 15,000 people in 2006 after the restoration of democracy through peoples’ movement.

Issuing a message at the closure of the UN Mission in Nepal, UN Secretary-General Ban-ki Moon expressed regret over the “insufficient progress made” so far in the peace process and encourages the parties “to redouble their efforts to build the confidence that can bring progress on all fronts of Nepal’s peace process.”

UNMIN chief Karin Landgren said “there are, most immediately, outstanding issues in relation to the future of the arms and armies”.

While this peace process has seen several stops and starts during the past five years, it has never been derailed, she pointed out in her address during the closure ceremony in the capital. There were some 270 UN staff for the monitoring of the Maoists’ arms and the combatants at the time of the closure. A small mission liquidation team will remain, to complete administrative withdrawal matters, according to Landgren.

The country has been in political limbo since the June 30 resignation of Prime Minister Nepal. Despite 16 rounds of polls, the parliament has been unable to elect a new leader, stalling the 2006 peace process in the country. — PTI