Afghan female journalist survives life attempt

The Frontier Post, Oct.7,1998

By Imtiaz Hussain

PESHAWAR - A female Afghan journalist survived life attempt when two unidentified persons fired at her Monday night in the cantonment area of the provincial metropolis.

Najeeba Sara Bibi, presently affiliated with the BBC's Pashto Service, had been receiving threats for the last couple of months from certain quarters following which the firing incident occurred.

An FIR was registered at the West Cantt police station under Section 324 of the Pakistan Panel Code.

The local police directed her to remain indoors till the completion of investigation.

The lady claimed that both the attackers had beards and were black turbans on their heads.

The lady, who also remained associated with the Pushto daily "Hewad", had received a number of letters, carrying the name and signature of Maulvi Muhammad Sarwar Mukhlis, chief of an intelligence agency of Afghanistan. Some of the letters also had the seal of the Afghan government.

In these letters, she was asked to abandon her activities and not to come out of her residence situated in Gulberg. Najeeba Sara is a widow and the sole bread-earner of her family.

Her husband, Muhammad Ismail Khan, was a professor at the Kabul University. He was hanged during the rule of Babrak Karmal.

She was threatened for the first time some three months back when six persons stopped her on her way back home. They asked her to stop moving outside and give up her profession. She told The Frontier Post that she conveyed to them that there was no one to look after her family if she remained indoors.

After this incident, she received five letters, asking her to leave her profession and not to talk about women's rights. A few days back Najeeba Sara addressed a gathering in connection with the Afghan Independence Day during which she talking about the rights of the women after which she reportedly received some obnoxious phone calls.

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