PESHAWAR: Women have always been depicted as fragile and delicate in worldly matters particularly in literary pursuits or physical activities and this mindset is virtually ingrained in a male dominated patriarchal society in Pakistan.

However, there are many women in the country who have discarded the stereotype image, and proved their mettle in their chosen professional field.

One such outstanding and remarkable example is Maryam Nasim, an intrepid and determined young lady who has outclassed her male counterparts in a field said to be the exclusive domain of men.

Believe it or not powerlifting and bodybuilding are Maryam’s forte and not only has she shattered the myth she has proved herself by winning multiple medals in many competitions.

Hailing from K-P considered to be a conservative area of the country in relation to women Maryam comprises 0.3 per cent of sportswomen in the province.

While most other girls opt for softer sports like volleyball, badminton, volleyball, and handball, but she has chosen the gruelling sports of a male oriented activity.

Background information

Maryam Nasim belongs to Peshawar from a business family. She is the eldest of four siblings, who has become a role model for others to emulate.

She obtained her early education from Peshawar and graduated in Australia in the field of accounts, Besides a lucrative bank job in Melbourne she also took part in powerlifting and will soon be vying for the world’s championship.

She is also a certified nutritionist and blogger who guides various sports professionals such as coaches .

“When I moved to Australia, I was looking for activities on campus and started running initially, and then powerlifting was a sport activity which attracted me a lot.” Despite several warnings from the family members and colleagues that she had made a wrong choice, she persisted in her pursuit and now everyone appreciated her efforts, Maryam said.

She said that there are three types of lifting, but her field of expertise is powerlifting, which requires more energy and difficult task.

Achievements

Maryam has won a silver medal last year, secured a bronze medal at Avia powerlifting competition. Despite sustaining an injury she defied all odds and won the medal.

She participated in the -57 and 63 kilograms category of the event alongside participants from seven other countries and made her mark and won recognition among the sports community of Australia and Pakistan.

In recognition of her services for K-P and Australia the district government has awarded her sport recognition award (Fakhr-e-Peshawar) last year and the provincial sports ministry has offered her space for coaching and imparting training to men and women in the province. She hoped that she would win more medals for her country, but stressed that practice and physical fitness is the key to success. She said that she has been practicing hard since last year to get her eligibility certificate for competing for world tournament.

Athlete and dietician

Attired in the traditional Peshawar outfit, with light makeup and with a childish smile, she doesn’t appear to be a powerlifter. From her grace she represented the banking sector professional. But besides power lifting game, she is professional dietician and coach for sports people.

“ I am looking forward to having my own platform to utilise my knowledge and expertise to give basic health information to the majority of K-P women. She stressed on that note Pakistani women don’t have the stamina and will for physical exercise, nor do they keep their body slim and strong, only few recognise this.

“ I will provide free consultation, coaching and guideline to every sportsperson in the province” She said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 26th, 2018.

Police booked the nephew of Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri for allegedly robbing a businessman in the federal capital.

A first information report (FIR) was registered at Shalimar police station claiming that the nephew of the religious minister, Zulfiqar Qadri, snatched a vehicle from Amjad Saeed.

The FIR also stated that six of Zulfiqar’s guards also assaulted Saeed’s son during the alleged robbery.

The businessman claimed in the police report that Zulfiqar had tried to abduct his son and justice should be delivered as per the law of the land.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court has posed a question whether a graft case can be reopened after acquittal under Article 184(3) of the Constitution, a jurisdiction which is exercised in public-interest matters.

A two-judge bench of the top court, comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, has also sought a written reply from the government, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the petitioner regarding maintainability of a constitutional petition.

The petition, filed by President of Lawyers Foundation for Justice Feroz Shah Gilani, had sought recovery of losses Pakistan incurred after the promulgation of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) by former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf.

In his petition, Gilani requested the court to order recovery of money misappropriated and wasted by the respondents through unlawful means “already on record in different judgments of the Supreme Court and high courts”.

He said Musharraf subverted the Constitution by declaring emergency followed by promulgation of the NRO, arbitrarily withdrawing criminal and corruption cases against politicians, including Pakistan Peoples Party Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari – causing huge financial losses to the national exchequer.

Since the Supreme Court in its landmark judgment of Dec 16, 2009 has declared the NRO void ab initio, the respondents are liable to compensate for the losses and the damage suffered by the exchequer, including the loss of $60 million stashed in Swiss banks allegedly by Zardari, the petitioner said.

He said former attorney general Malik Qayyum wrote a letter to the attorney general for Geneva withdrawing criminal and civil proceedings against Zardari, but the Supreme Court in its 2009 judgment held that Qayyum had written the letter in his personal capacity against the Rules of Business, 1973.

“The actions of Mr Musharraf and Mr Qayyum by promulgating the NRO caused huge losses amounting to billions of rupees to debt-ridden Pakistan.

“Both willfully violated the oath of office to the detriment of the country in violation of the rule of the law, particularly of Articles 2, 2A, 25, 227 of the Constitution, the petition alleges,” he added.

After several hearings, the bench on Friday asked the applicant to satisfy the court regarding the maintainability of the petition. The court also asked the federal government and NAB to submit replies over the status of the Swiss cases which were reopened after the SC verdict.

After their response, the court will decide about the maintainability of the petition. The bench has also decided not to make public affidavits of Zardari, Musharraf and Qayyum regarding their asset details.

Justice Ahsan, however, made it clear that there would be no injustice with anyone as the decision would be taken in accordance with the law and the Constitution. The judge also questioned “what are the evidences to establish that the money stashed in Swiss banks is the country’s wealth”.

The petitioner requested the bench to grant him time as he was not provided complete documents. He contended that the SC in the NRO verdict mentioned that public money was lying in Swiss banks, adding that $60 million should be recovered.

Justice Ahsan inquired about evidence proving the money was stolen.

Zardari’s counsel Farooq H Naek said the PPP co-chairman had been acquitted in cases pertaining to money stashed in Swiss accounts.

Additional Attorney General Nayyar Rizvi submitted that the NRO was a past and closed transaction and it would be inappropriate to reopen trial of the respondents through constitutional petitions. However, the bench asked him to give a written reply on the matter. Hearing of the case was adjourned for three weeks.

Interestingly, Zardari and his children have already submitted details of their assets. In the last hearing, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar had asked Naek to convey to Zardari that judges had no bias against anyone.

The bench had also asked the petitioner to justify his petition filed under the Articles 4 and 10A of the Constitution. “I think we should not proceed in this matter [any] further,” the CJP had said.

However, he changed his mind after going through the petition’s contents, emphasising on Article 4 of the Constitution, which says the right of individuals should be dealt with in accordance with the law.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has decided to revoke the basic membership of party’s senior leader Farooq Sattar, reports Express News.

The decision was made at an emergency meeting chaired by convener MQM-P and federal minister Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui at the party’s headquarters in Bahadurabad, Karachi.

The report quoted sources as saying the Rabita (coordination) committee has decided to revoke Sattar’s membership, saying leaders of the party will not maintain any sort of contacts with him.

In September, the veteran politician resigned from the Rabita Committee, saying he could no longer perform duties in the capacity.

Sattar had also confirmed earlier he was weighing up an offer to join the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Sattar lost the NA-247 seat to PTI candidate Dr Arif Alvi during the July 25 polls.

Earlier this month, Sattar and Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar were indicted in a decades-old Loudspeaker Act violation case.

Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid has predicted a major arrest from Sindh, as part of the government’s ongoing campaign against corruption.

“I can predict an end to corrupt politicians this year,” Rashid said while addressing a news conference in Lahore. “I can see new faces emerge in the political arena.

“The AML chief said, “A lot of money is going to be recovered from the faloda seller,” and added that the bank accounts of the faloda seller will reveal who have been given benefits from those.

On Tuesday, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari said a plan was being hatched to put him behind bars. “These days, there are rumours that I will be arrested but that won’t be something new for me as I have seen many barracks in the past.”

On November 1, the veteran politician said that he may be put behind bars, but those doing so will first have to prove that he had deposited money in fake bank accounts.

“If I transferred any money into the accounts of a faloda seller or a rickshaw driver, then I can do that,” the former president said, and added, “but that needs to be proved.”

In September, the top court ordered formation of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe alleged money laundering of at least Rs35 billion through fake bank accounts.

Asif Ali Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur, Omni Group’s Anwar Majeed, former Pakistan Stock Exchange chairman Hussain Lawai and Summit Bank Senior Vice-President Taha Raza are among those being investigated by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for alleged money laundering of over Rs35 billion through fake accounts.