Every year thousands of people around the world fall prey to disabilities due to conflicts, disasters, car accidents, HIV, cancer and diabetes. The number of disabled gradually rising worldwide, especially in Asia and Africa where millions of people are starving and facing economic crunch.

The WHO estimates there are over 600 million disabled worldwide, about 10% of the world population, while in Pakistan according to the 1998 census 2.49% of countryís population is disabled.

Many foreign humanitarian workers who deem October 8 earthquake, a bigger tragedy than the tsunami in South East Asia and Hurricane Katrina in the United States, saw massive destruction in four districts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and some parts of NWFP. According to the government figures over 78,000 people were killed and 3.5 million houses damaged in the quake. The trembler also inflicted various types of disabilities among the survivors. After being dug out of the debris by rescuers, a large number of the survivors, young and old, women and men and above all children received multiple serious injuries. Majority of such persons, who have had their limbs amputated, belong to Muzaffarabad, Balakot, Bagh, Rawalakot, Garhi Habibullah and Battagram.

"The world may consider survivors of the deadly earthquake as lucky, many of them think otherwise. It is not the loss of material possessions or surviving without shelter in Himalayan winters but due to the terrible loss of limbs and the ensuing permanent disability," said Mohammad Idrees. To walk again on their feet is a dream for many others who have been paralysed due to multiple spinal injuries which they suffered when tonnes of rubble crushed them.

"I don't know what to say, we are unlucky to survive especially with three of the family members becoming disabled," said Shahid, another victim brought to Pakistan Institute of Medical Science from Azad Kashmir.

Directorate of Special Education official says there are 554 patients with spinal cord injuries among whom 323 are female and 180 male, amputation 654, in which 315 are males and 389 female. The figures are based on the data the ministry received from different hospitals and medical camps, where quake-hit patients are under treatment.

Fazil Cheema, Director South region said: "We have set up post operative unit, Aashiana, in Attock district. After their operations the patients are kept there for physiotherapy." He further said that the government has decided to provide all the deserving patients prosthesis free of cost.

During 2005, Iraq continued to struggle towards the ideal of a moderate, modern, pluralistic society. While there are notable gains, odds abound. And, while development work is going on in the south as well as in the north of Iraq, it is the violence in Iraq's 3/4 provinces out of its 18 provinces that the world likes to look at more closely.

The year commenced with landmark Iraqi elections for the parliament on January 30, 2005. The voter turnout was 58%. Sunni Arabs could not participate fully. The largest Sunni Islamist Party led by Hamid had to withdraw as Hamid kept receiving death threats and the interim Iraqi government could not guarantee his security. While Hamid was very keen to participate in the elections, many Sunnis in Baquba voted after securing an exemption from an edict issued by some Sunni clerics against participation in the elections. Sunni Kurds participated jubilantly in large numbers as did the Shias.

An elected Iraqi government was formed after prolonged negotiations following the elections. As Sunni Arabs had disenfranchised themselves, the president would be a Sunni Kurd, Jalal Talabani. The prime minister, Ibrahim Jafari was from the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shia bloc backed by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. And, the parliamentís speaker was a Sunni Arab, Hajem al-Hassani. Each had deputies from the other sectarian and ethnic groups. And, the cabinet positions were distributed similarly. This marked the first step towards a pluralist government, at least, in form. The parliament was entrusted with the task of forming a constitution and having it approved by the people through a referendum on October 15, 2005. This deadline too was achieved and through the participation of Sunni Arabs. Even though the Sunni Arabs were not represented in the parliament, they were invited to participate in the drafting of the constitution through a committee and an observersí group. Iraq's constitution, therefore, has inputs from all sectarian and ethnic segments, the Sunni Arabsí reservations vis-a-vis federalism notwithstanding.

Another apprehension was that the influence of mid-level clerics in the dominant Shia bloc would lead to a conservative Iranian style government. And, amongst the first targets of conservative Muslim governments are usually the rights of women. The Shia Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari had earlier stated that the veil would not be made compulsory in Iraq. There was then pressure to make family law Shariah compliant. And, this move was countervailed not just by liberal Iraqi women but more strongly by the Kurds. Consequently, the matter was left open and women were given the freedom to either opt for Shariah or civil law in the resolution of family disputes. Other than that women have been granted rights to participate in public life on equal footings with men and a large number of parliamentary seats were reserved for women with the support of the highest office in Najaf. The modernising and moderating forces emanating from a pluralistic set up are becoming evident already.

A third watershed event of the year was the parliamentary elections on December 15, 2005, following which there will come up a permanent government for four years. This time the Sunni Arabs participated in droves. Some Sunni Arabs have, however, filed complaints against voter fraud especially in Baghdad. According to the Iraqi electoral commission, results will be announced only after these complaints have been addressed satisfactorily.

While the above points towards the efforts at developing a moderate, modern, pluralistic Iraq, there are currents to the contrary. The Badr brigade that received training in Iran and is the military wing of Hakims' SCIRI (Supreme Council for the Islamic revolution of Iraq) is already in charge of Basra where they are imposing dress codes on women and trying to govern the daily conduct of Basrites. Muqtada al-Sadr's militia in the Sadr city of Baghdad is doing the same to the Shias of this slum neighbourhood. Sunni Arabs in Al-Anbar are just about as conservative as the Taliban were. While the Sunni Kurds are a major countervailing force in this regard at the legislative level, lives in communities and regions, if governed by militias, will render the laws ineffective. A strong Iraqi government will be needed to have its writ established throughout the length and breadth of Iraq and also within its own ranks.

For the interior ministry appears to have been penetrated by a militia that abused the Sunni detainees very recently. Sunni prisoner abuse ought to be highly embarrassing for the School of Najaf that is supposed to uphold the lofty ideals that had kept the Shias from attacking the Sunni holy sites following the bomb blast in Najaf. That there has been no condemnation from the Al-Hawza of the abuse of Sunni detainees is a mind-boggling dichotomy. If the new government of Iraq turns out to be a soft one, this will mean that there will be one Iraq attempting to govern formally and another Iraq trying to fight the informal governance of the militias.

Thus far, the insurgency was supposed to be fighting foreign occupation by killing Iraqis through IEDs (improvised explosive device) and suicide bombings which targeted the Iraqi Shias more than any other sect or ethnic group. The Shias showed remarkable patience by not retaliating in the same spirit primarily because they were instructed not to by their highest spiritual leader. This same forbearance will need to be demonstrated again. Unless the Shias conduct themselves with dignity in the highest government offices, they will themselves be creating hurdles towards the development of a moderate pluralistic Iraq in actual effect. To be effective on this front, the militias will need to be reined in and the government will need to learn to govern well.

During the year 2005 too, the Pakistani women proved their potential in all possible ways. The few prominent women who won acclaim nationally and internationally are discussed below.

Ms Benazir Bhutto:

Benazir Bhutto, Chairperson Pakistan People's Party, and twice Prime Minister of the country, received the World Tolerance Award for "her vision, personal strength, commitment to her ideals and passion for creating a better and peaceful world in the 21st century" in Germany. The award was presented to her by the Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev award in the German city of Leipzig.

Nobel Prize Nominations:

Even the world renowned and most coveted of all, The Nobel Prize jury could not ignore the outstanding performance of the Pakistani women in the variety of fields they are in.

Bilquis Edhi, Asma Jehangir, Anis Haroon, Madeeha Gauhar, Sheema Kirmani, Dr Salma Maqbool, Kishwar Naheed, Majida Rizvi, Zari Sarfaraz and Nafisa Shah are part of 1,000 women from 150 countries nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005.

Microsoft Certificate for nine year old

Pakistani girl:

The bright ten year old Arfa Karim from Pakistan recently made herself entitled to the Microsoft Certification Professional (MCP), turning out to be the youngest MCP in world. Emre Berkin, Microsoft Regional Head, presented Arfa Karim with a desk PC and a lot of software for her future requirements.

Zarine Aziz:

Earlier, economics and banking were considered a field only for men. But Zarine Aziz, President First Women Bank Ltd, broke the stereotype by becoming the first ever Pakistani to receive the prestigious International Business Award (IBA) at the Annual IBA ceremony in New York, USA. Zarine Aziz was recognised as the Best Turnaround Executive; and shares the honour in that category with Edward D. Breen, chairman & chief executive of Tyco International, an American conglomerate.

Pakistani girl receives award from the Chinese Government

A six-year old Pakistani girl, Summiya Zafar earned the rare distinction of securing top position among 3,200 students from over 100 countries, in a painting competition. The award was given to her by the government of China, in Beijing.