About diyat:
No, Zia ul Haq didn't bring in Qisas&Diyat law. In fact, left it out of his "Islamizing of laws" bec ZA Bhutto could get out of prison by using it.
Q&D passed in '97. Federal Shariat Court forced the govt to pass it. PML govt actually opposed it. 1/ Such laws existed in tribal societies in history (called weregild in england, ericfine in ireland, vira in russia, in teutonic laws, germanic etc). Evolved in absence of state institutions - they resolved conflicts & provided justice without having police, prisons, courts etc. 2/

Just finished reading Sindh PDMA's 100 page+ monsoon contingency plan.
Well... Hell.
It was quite an okay plan actually. And it collapsed spectacularly.
Why? Because its assumptions failed.
Whole thing was based on meteorological department's predictions, which were 1/ 'above normal' rainfall in sindh & punjab, and 'slightly above normal' in rest of the country. Whereas got something like 500% more rain than that.
In real terms:
Govt planned for displacement of 13,950 people in Khairpur.
As of now, 1,218,177 people are displaced there. 2/

Sindh's going to be the worst hit because its at sea level. Unlike mountain regions & higher elevation plains, water doesn't flow out. & standing water is deadly. Rain flash flooding has destroyed system already, while riverine flood hasn't hit yet. Water heading downstream 1/ from KP, will hit soon. LBOD, meant to drain water to the sea is a fatal disaster - brings sea water back inland instead. Other drains empty back into river via canals. & are silted anyway. So, Sindh Gov, whats the plan? Besides relief work? More specifically, 2/

In the 2010 & 2011 I was in the flood zone for many weeks. Some learnings:-
In immediate term:
People camp in 3 places:
1) designated camps. More organised services, cooked food, doctors, medicines etc.
2) makeshift camps/shacks wherever it’s dry. Hard to map, low access 1/ To services. Primary reason ppl go here is to protect what livestock is left. Designated camps don’t allow goats etc
3) damaged structures on site/near home. Almost impossible to provide services. Common where land ownership at threat or fear others will take over &claim their 2/

The military got politicized & so the judiciary got militarized then politics got militarized, so judiciary got politicized while politics got judicialized,& we've somewhat seen the start of military being judicialized 🙃
Dont tear your hair out. Read stuff. Figure out the (1/ 7) fundamental contradiction/ problem in Pk's politics. There's only 1 core answer - but the process of discovering it is important. Most parties learned it in different decades, in the hardest way, at high cost. & we've all paid a steep price for latecomers
Next, figure out (2/ 7)

Can't focus on work. So here's a little story about Ali - who works in our home - fruits of heaven, fruits of labor and the politics of patronage in a small village in Rahim Yar Khan.
A few months ago, I came home to find a potted tree in the middle of my apartment. Ali used most of his annual bonus to buy a fig tree. It wasn't an ordinary tree, it was injeer, fig, a plant of paradise, he said. Paid Rs 12000 for it.
He was donating it to his village mosque. Everyone would know Ali donated the tree, with its shade of heaven, to the village.

Not bothering with PM Imran Khan's consistently repulsive stance on rape and women's issues in general. That's who he is.
Since it seems difficult for many others to understand rape as a crime of power vs an act of lust vs uncontrollable urges, i'll break it down. A thread(1of8) Men fast. Even if they are hungry they wont eat food, if they're thirsty, they wont drink water. If they see something they cant afford, they will not rob a store. They wont steal a friend's better car etc. 2 reasons:

Impunity isn't a secret pact made by the powerful through some blood oath ritual. Ordinary citizens -all of us- contribute to shielding those who abuse power.
Here's how: We have notions of perfect victims. We believe only perfect victims have a claim on justice. Thread (1/- 6) Rape victims deserve sympathy only if dressed modestly, was where she was out of necessity, badly injured, crying/ hysterical, pleading, no past relationships, and nothing in her lifestyle we object to. If not, there may have been consent, there are two sides to every story (2/6)

To all those with anger fatigue & feeling they're tweeting into a void on unending rape cases: Good. Great. The sooner you let go of the search for saviours/instant solutions, the sooner you can engage & get stuff done. Your anger can dissipate into cynicism, but then you (1/5) become part of the problem. Or you sustain attention & follow cases, ask questions abt old lingering ones, show up at court hearings, email police officials for updates, keep the pressure.That's how things become a public issue vs passing outrage. (2/5)

Who came up with the solutions suggested to and now owned by PM Imran Khan? Was it based on an internet search? Did they talk to anybody who works on rape related cases & issues on the ground? Did they ask what the choke points are?
All 3 solutions are dead ends (1/6) Registry:Who will use it? Landlords wont rent to them? Restaurants wont serve them?They wont be allowed near parks or schools? How? An app for seeing if radius is clear? Police will check on them?Same police who wont register a rape FIR? What when abusers live in victim's homes?

Okay, let's say we hang them. Who will you hang? Those convicted by court, right? Less than 4% of those accused of rape get convicted in Pakistan.
Many don't report. Those who do, for many police won't file FIR, only kacha parcha. Those who make it past that (1/?) Medico-legal exam done too late or not done bec not available.Evidence compromised. If you cross that hurdle, police doesn't examine crime scene & focus only on reliability of accused & perpetrator. Tell accused to go find their own witnesses. If that gets done (2/?)

My father can’t self-isolate. He has dialysis. PTI govt endangering him by not closing mosques. For people who fight over the moon, oppose polio drives& iodized salt & say we bring plagues upon ourselves.
Based on wrong premise that ulema are powerful in Pk.
They’re not.
Thread 1)All govts ignore them when they want, even when the ulema have a fit: Asiya bibi released (PML-N), DNA used as rape evidence (PML-N), age of consent raised (PPP), sexual harassment law (PPP) domestic violence law (PPP), Hudood ordinance voided, WPA brought in (PML-Q & PPP),

Wondering about Karachi. 24,000 people per Sq km. What does social distancing mean where 6 people sleep per room? Where bedsheets serve as walls? Where toilets are communal for entire storeys of flats? What can self isolation do when it means staying on a pallet for 2 weeks (1/3) Where men come home just to sleep since there's no space to do anything else? What handwashing can you do when there's water for just 4 to 6 hours a day? When there are 3 tin glasses for a family of 10?
It's not about blame.
Who do you blame anyway? (2/ 3)

Ref recent attention on spousal Domestic Violence (DV) – different dynamics from in-laws/ natal family DV. I’ve worked cases. Thread for those wanting to help in spousal DV (trigger warning). There are warning signs of DV on internet, look them up (1) Physical & sexual violence is 1 part. Accompanies emotional abuse, suicide threats, forced isolation, surveillance, smashing things, displaying weapons, threatening to take kids, withholding money, threat signals/ reminders, gaslighting etc. (2)