A Pakistani pupil has been expelled from his private school for getting married on the sly because teachers believe marital relations are inappropriate playground talk. Ghairat Khan, a bearded seventh grader, is registered as 13 years old and attends classes at the English-language Peshawar Model School with 12 and 13-year-old boys, but insisted that he is 18.
It can be common for children to fall back several years at school in parts of Pakistan and Khan said he married his 16-year-old cousin because his father died and his mother was ill with asthma. Under civil law in Pakistan, boys can marry at 18 and girls 16, but under Islamic law, younger unions are permitted with parental consent.
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Punjab to shut Nato’s supply terminals
Islamabad : The Nato supply terminals in Pakistan’s Punjab province will be closed down due to security fears, Punjab provincial government officials said. “There are security fears. We want to minimise the targets for the terrorists. There are so many unauthorised Nato terminals here (in Punjab),” a government official said.
He said the decision has been taken after intelligence agencies warned that terrorists are planning to attack Nato supply terminals in several areas of Punjab, including Attock and Mianwali, reports our Pakistan correspondent.
In one such attack on April 24 near Chakwal, terrorists set fire to 12 Nato tankers, and killed four policemen who were on guard duty. The attackers have still not been traced and are believed to be planning more attacks.
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Cyclone may hit Pakistan coast today
Islamabad : The cyclone will hit the coastal area of Pakistan on Saturday evening, the meteorological department said on Friday. “We hope its intensity will be lessened then. The prevailing weather situation can cause storm and heavy rainfall during next 24 to 36 hours in Sindh-Makran coast including Karachi,” Dr Qamar Zaman Chaudhry, director-general meteorological department, said.
Talking to a private Pakistani television channel, he said the storm hit an island of Oman at 120 nautical miles, consequently at least 18 feet high tides were reported in the area, reports our Pakistan correspondent.