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Johann Hari, Independent

In 2001, as the world began to come to terms with the great gash in the New York skyline, a small tinder-dry Muslim woman wandered onto the stand-up circuit. “My name is Shazia Mirza,” she announced. “At least, that’s what it says on my pilot’s license.” Wearing a hijab, she was determined not to be bullied into silence either by racists or by men who try to impose the values of a nineteenth-century Pakistani village in twenty-first century London.

Instead she joked about everything from the Queen to Primark to how good Allah would be as a judge on Pop Idol, and asked the audience, “Does my bomb look big in this?”

Then, in March this year, the death-threats began. “I will throw acid in your face so you can never go on stage again,” said one fundamentalist, declaring she was “a prostitute to the West.” Another made it clear he had been stalking her, listing her car registration number and describing exactly what she had been wearing in random public places.

Most comedians – whose biggest danger is a nasty write-up in the Standard – would have slunked away and found a different career. Not Shazia. She went on stage at the Battersea comedy club Jongleurs that night – with Scotland Yard detectives in the audience – and read from these death threats on stage.

In response to the maniac who says “I will rape you then burn you,” Shazia asks, “Well, what girl likes to be burned before rape?” To the acid-tosser, she quips, “At least that will stop my moustache growing back once and for all.”

Shazia used to be a teacher and she would see Muslim girls rebelling against the chafing medieval codes of their fathers every day. . “They would arrive at school peel off the hijab, put on make-up, and head down the pub to get pissed,” she explains. “They would snog their white boyfriends behind the staff room. But they are forced to live a double-life. Come 3.30 they put the hijab back on and they’re carted off to the mosque to rote-learn the Koran for three hours. They would come in the next day exhausted, having not done their homework, and they would say, ‘My parents say the Koran comes before homework.’”

Shazia has seen her best friend defeated by these reactionary ideologies. They sat together at school from the age of ten, and her friend went on to become a fantastically successful PhD. She fell in love at University but was pressured by her family to give him up and accept an arranged marriage. “He was so cold. He didn’t look at her or hold her hand or kiss her.” When she moved in with her husband and her parents, they forced her to hand over her credit cards and close her bank accounts. Soon she was pregnant and covered in bruises.

Tens of thousands of Muslim women are kicking back against Islamic fundamentalism. Shazia comments, “I always wanted to be like my white friends, who had abortions, herpes and chlamidya. And my mother would say, ‘Wait until you are married, your husband will give you all of that.’” These brilliant women are the key to breaking the back of Islamic fundamentalism, since without them the fanatics literally cannot reproduce.

Instead of helping these women fight back against fanatical men who threaten to burn and stab them, too often the police are shrugging. After Shazia reported her death-threats, the police acted as if she must have done something wrong. They went through her comedy routine and judgementally asked, “Do you think that is offensive?” (I get my fair share of death-threats – there is even a charming website called ‘Shoot Johann Hari’ – and I can testify this response is pretty typical).

The default position of the police should be that you have a right to say whatever you like, and we are here to protect you from any madman who tries to stop you. They eventually fitted a panic button in Shazia’s house – a month after the death threats began.

Shazia Mirza is not going to run away, and she is not going to settle for a life as chattel to some oaf-husband. She is going to stand and fight with the weapon that dissolves the absurdities of religious fanaticism better than any other: ridicule. So when are we going to start standing up for her, and the tens of thousands of Muslim women in our city who aren’t going to take it any more?

Shazia Mirza is hilarious!

She's quite the Amazonian woman, first rate warrior and a darling. And genuinely funny too!

Padishah dearest, been a long time since I've found myself on the receiving end of one of your acerbic opprobrium. How be you, and the mother of your 12 children?

Incidentally, this throwing acid on the face business is not a novel development. There's nowhere these fiercely bearded acid-throwers are not found it would seem, from Peshawar to Gaza.

What's behind the Islamist dread of hair strands? I honestly want to know.

Poetess, do you spitt or or swallow my dearest?

[quote="Poetess"]

Incidentally, this throwing acid on the face business is not a novel development. There's nowhere these fiercely bearded acid-throwers are not found it would seem, from Peshawar to Gaza.

What's behind the Islamist dread of hair strands? I honestly want to know.[/quote]

^^^

the bitch is back. padishah is sufi, marry arabman and soon you will find out.

Poetess; my wife would not be a barefoot fundamentalist Christian hillbilly who can barely read, and functions only to churn out more fundamentalist Christian hilbilly's to waste food and air on. As for digging for details of my marital state; you do not have a snowball's chance in hell. Quite while you're ahead.

As for the article; its just taking a genuinely funny woman and using her as a tool to push the 'oppressed battred Muslim woman' line, which has proven to be false on so many an occassion as to have become tiring.

Lastly, I haven't heard of Arab acid-throwers; they're big on the honour killing. The South Asian propensity for this habit is a throwback to the horrifying Hindu attitude towards women; originators of such practices as Sati, Devadasi and Purdah.

LOL @ barefoot hillybilly. Why insult me Padishah sweetheart?

Denying the rife misogynist attitudes and ill-treatment of women all too evident in Islam is pathetically sad. Tying it to antiquated Hindu practices long outlawed in South-East Asia seems to the American observer a case of special pleading: "Look at the Hindus dude, they're doing it too!"

Exactly why you would be in denial about Muslim acid throwers, I don't know given the preponderance of it among Allah's boys. But a couple of illustrations from a cursory Google search:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite? ... 2FShowFull

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1487395.stm

No denials on my part, Poetess. Just a refutation of your fluff.

These acid attacks predominate in South Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. They are also present to a lesser extent in Cambodia and China. Funnily enough, peaceful Buddhists that the Cambodians are, what religious reason would they have for throwing acid, Poetess?

As for the (not so) antiquated (but illegal) Hindu practices, Poetess, I was merely demonstrating the fact that acid-throwing is probably a by product of the deeply, deeply mysoginistic culture that would produce practices such as Sati, Devadasi and Purdah. The fact remains this practice PREDOMINATES in South Asian countries.

The fact that most acid throwing men do this horrible thing to women, who reject their advances, would seem to support the particular thesis that its cultural baggage, rather than Islam, that brings about such behaviour.

Fluff? Stop flirting with me Padishah. Ecumenical matches of the sort you propose just won't do.

That you attribute this odious Muslim business of disfiguring the faces of women to non-Muslims is wholly fallacious. Islamist acid throwers do so owing not from rejection, rather because they want to impose shariah on women who dare show a few hair strands, as stated by the militants themselves.

To postulate superfluous absurdities with no evidence whatever is to be expose yourself to the charge of falsehood, a sin I'm in the habit of not imputing, common though it maybe for Islamists, but you sir are lying right through your teeth.

Proof you want, is it Poetess?

Alright.

A Memo to Aspiring Movie Directors in Bollywood: Please Combat the Acid Throwing Menace in South Asia. The Law is not enough! - Faisal Hossain, University of Connecticut



Of the many ills that currently plague our society one that is most alien to our Naseeb readers in the West is the Acid Throwing Menace in South Asia. The Acid Survivors Foundation (established in 1998, Bangladesh) reports in this regard,

Throwing of sulfuric acid on the face and body of young females has become an increasingly popular way of expressing anger or frustration by jilted men, some being jilted lovers, ex-husbands, and the like.

So frequently occurring is this menace, that often, this is how a typical news item in Bangladesh can sometimes read,

“In 1998, a man crept into Minara Khatun's bamboo hut in the middle of the night, poured concentrated sulfuric acid on her face and walked away as she woke screaming -- all because she rejected his offer for marriage………”

Or a more statistical report like this one,

Dec 7, 2003: Incidents of acid attack are increasing in Khulna region, triggering sheer panic among the peace-loving and law-abiding people of the region. Of the victims, nine are male and 14 female. ………[Source: The Daily Independent, Bangladesh]

The situation is no different in other South Asian nations like India and Pakistan. The New York Times (Dec, 26, 2001) reports that kerosene as well as acid has fast become the weapons of choice for attacks on wives in India. Another report (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, August 7, 2003) states that the Acid Throwing Menace is increasing at the rate of 200% in Southern Punjab, Pakistan. While there was only nine reported cases in 2001, 56 cases were reported in 2002 and, for 2003, by June there have been already 32 cases.

The numbers reported above may appear insignificant in the face of more than a billion people that live in South Asia today. But these numbers are only the tip of the iceberg, considering that most incidents go unreported in rural areas. What makes the case of Acid Throwing more heart wrenching to those of us, the more privileged ones, are the grotesque pictures of disfigured women who are now struggling to survive in society.

The Legal system has failed miserably to combat this menace, because the South Asian judiciary already has one of the toughest laws in the World in this regard. In the Provincial Assembly of Punjab last year, a resolution declaring acid attacks on women to be equivalent to attempted murder was unanimously approved. In Bangladesh, acid throwing has the maximum punishment of a death penalty. Acid manufacturing industries have to undergo close scrutiny and auditing to make concentrated acids less accessible to the frustrated youth. Similar enactments have taken place in both the Central and State ruling assemblies of India as well.

But where the law has failed, the media in South Asia can perhaps be more effective in improving the frustrated mindsets of certain youths. Why? Because, it is my strong belief (many of the more analytical mind may agree), that the media (fingers pointing at Mumbai), is partially responsible for the rapid worsening of this menace. The social fabric and psyche of the less educated masses spanning Karachi to Assam are fed and altered by the overwhelming dominance of Hindi movies made in Bollywood. We are forced to watch fantasy love stories (comprising 80% of Bollywood’s annual turn-over) that are cast in a make-believe world that is far-fetched from reality.

A typical story line in Bollywood runs on the “Boy (very poor) meets girl (very rich)” line: Boy falls in love; Boy wants Girl, works hard for it, even at times, risking his life; Boy fights off 40 villains, the corrupt police and social head honchos who are against the union; Boy finally proves that his love is true. With the sex-explosion, these stories have become even more fantastic and it’s quite difficult nowadays to identify if the movie ever had a distinct story line or a message in it at all. As Preity Zinta, a top-most Bollywood Actress, so correctly puts it in a BBC interview (April 1, 2004), “A conservative society... is leapfrogging from orthodoxy to in-your-face sex on television, films and the internet”

But how often has a Bollywood movie addressed a social ill like Acid Throwing given the fact that its typical amorous script is so well-suited to depict a collage of rejection, dejection, frustration, and happiness that comes with the four-letter word called ‘LOVE’? As far as I remember, I don’t think there has ever been any scene in a movie that directly addressed this ill (please dare to prove me wrong). Yet, the South Asian movie industry is most suitably poised to implement the potentially most effective remediation strategy for certain segments of South Asian Youth – which is to initiate a gradual change of their mindsets. While we all get temporary relief from the everyday economic hardships of life in a 3-hour silver screen showing undulating bellies choreographed with chiseled male bodies, at the end of the day, these movies are perhaps subconsciously raising the (fake) expectations of these frustrated youth.

I therefore want to send out a memo to the Media, particularly to the Movie Industry located near Mumbai (and others such Lollywood and Dollywood) and to aspiring movie directors and producers. Please combat the Acid Throwing Menace through your artwork, generosity and philanthropy. When the toughest laws seem so sterile, let us start a mass campaign to present this menace within the existing commercial framework of love stories. Let us try to understand the causes behind the menace and let us try to show a slice of reality to the viewers to give them a more distilled perspective on life. The message to spread to the frustrated youth should be “Guys, rejection in life happens; it’s no big deal in this world with of 3 billion women; Channel your frustrations and rejections to transform yourself to a wiser person with a higher capacity for selfless and unconditional love”. And to girls: “Ladies, please be more careful in scrutinizing who you are dealing with; don’t send wrong signals, don’t play games and be diplomatically-savvy to avoid directly rejecting someone who appears potentially dangerous – everyone is a suspect!” And perhaps religion can also play a role. I’m sure, Islam, like other religions (such as Hinduism) has perhaps some worthy sayings (or hadiths from our Prophet – PBUH) that could be used by the establishment. Of all the khutbahs I’ve attended, I have not heard one yet by an Imam that directly addressed a social ill such as the Acid Throwing Menace. Why can’t we change this situation instead of giving our fiery speeches every week on heaven and hellfire?

And lastly, if some potential producer with a penchant for philanthropy (i.e. willing to lose money) happens to read this message, I seriously hope I’m contacted via the Naseeb Editor. As one of those aspiring but cash-strapped directors with a script and a cast, motivation to initiate change in society is all I have to rock and roll and make my life useful.


Faisal Hossain, from the University of Connecticut. April 19, 2004.

Acid Attacks - Heinous Crimes against Women
Shadnaz Khan



Acid-throwing is one of the most alarming and horrific forms of violence especially targeted at women. Unfortunately, Bangladesh has the highest incidence of such attacks in the world. Despite increased public awareness and efforts of the government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to tackle the problem, the number of acid attacks in the country is on the rise.

Acid-throwing has a devastating effect on the victims. It inflicts lifelong suffering on them. Even a small amount of acid - sulphuric or nitric - melts the skin tissues, often with the bones underneath exposed or dissolved. Other effects include permanent disfigurement, scars on the face and body and narrowing of the person's nostrils, eyelids and ears. In most cases, vital organs of the survivors, especially the eyes, are permanently damaged. It has a catastrophic impact on the lives of the victims psychologically, socially and financially.

Victims have to cope too with the horror expressed by other people who look at them. They have to stop studying or working to avoid any humiliation or embarrassment, and it takes a long time for them to recover. Their lifestyle changes completely. In practice, they are almost isolated from society.

In addition, survivors need highly sophisticated and prolonged medical care, which is not easily available in Bangladesh, and the cost of treatment is very high. Just a one-hour operation costs several hundred U.S. dollars, and victims usually have to undergo more than one surgical treatment. Most of the victims are from poor families and cannot afford this expense. Their families have to spend all their money and even need to borrow money to pay for the treatment.

In one case, for example, a 16-year-old girl from a poor family, Dolly Akhter, was attacked by a young man because she refused to marry him. Her father had to spend all his money on her treatment. She underwent several intensive surgeries. Still, she has lost an eye, and permanent scars remain on her face. She does not go to her village and has stopped attending school since the attack. Fortunately, she has received assistance from UNICEF and the Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF); she now works as a tailor with the ASF. Although Akhter is courageous enough to start a new life after having such a devastating experience at a young age, her lifestyle has changed completely.

There is another girl named Bina who is one of the first acid victims to speak publicly about her violent encounter with acid. She also comes from a poor family. She was attacked when she tried to save her cousin from a masked man who was trying to pour acid on her cousin's face in the middle of the night. Bina was a talented athlete and aspired to take part in international competitions, but her dreams were shattered after this incident.

Acid violence is not just an isolated human rights violation but is part of a broader type of cruelty rooted in the universal phenomenon of gender violence. Although the public role of women has increased steadily over the years and in countries like Bangladesh even poor village women and girls are leaving their homes for education and work, the male-dominated society's attitude towards women has not changed significantly. As these women lack proper security, both inside and outside of their home, they become vulnerable to acid attacks.

Increasing Acid Attacks

The number of acid-throwing incidents in Bangladesh is increasing every year. The country's first documented case occurred in 1967. Over the years, the number of incidents has progressively increased from a dozen a year to about 50 a year in the mid-1990s. In the late 1990s, there was a considerable increase in the number of reported attacks. NGOs believe that this growth was an actual rise in the number of incidents rather than the result of more media exposure and an improved reporting system. Sometimes cases are unreported, but the number of unreported cases, on average, is less than 50 a year. According to the ASF, which has worked exclusively for acid victims since 1999, there were 115 cases of acid attack between May and December that year. The number recorded then rose gradually every year to 366 in 2002. The figures for 2003 and 2004 were 335 and 266 respectively. This trend, indeed, is alarming.

The number of female victims has also been increasing over the years. In 2004, nearly 73 percent of the victims were women, the ASF said.

Most of the attackers go unpunished though. Many victims do not file cases against perpetrators because of fear and police corruption. The problem is aggravated by the lack of implementation of existing laws and the negligence of law enforcement agencies. Only 14 death penalties have been rendered thus far. The convicts, however, have not been executed as these judgments are pending approval from the High Court. Moreover, the inherent delay in the legal process allows the perpetrators to escape punishment, and this phenomenon, in turn, sends the wrong signal to society.

Socio-economic Factors behind Acid-Throwing

By examining cases over the past few years, seven main causes of the crime are found, namely: land disputes, refusals of a relationship or marriage proposal, failures of a girl to bring a dowry to her husband, family disputes, marital disputes, political rivalries and the accidental presence of the victims at the scene.

Land and property disputes are the most significant reason for acid attacks in Bangladesh though. As the litigation process in the country is very time-consuming, it often takes a substantial period of time to settle a land or property-related dispute legally. In addition, corruption is involved in almost every step of the proceedings, and it becomes quite costly to continue a case for such a long time. Under these circumstances, acid-throwing is often used as a weapon to weaken an opponent physically, mentally and financially so that he or she would not dare to persist with legal action. As most acid attackers go unpunished, this further encourages them to commit the crime repeatedly. According to the ASF, the problem of land disputes accounted for 27 percent of total acid attacks in 2003, the highest among all the causes.

Refusals of a relationship or marriage proposal are another important factor in acid attacks, particularly on adolescent girls. In Bangladesh's male-dominated society, a girl's refusal to have a relationship with a man or rejection of his marriage proposal is not well received by the man himself. In many cases, especially in rural areas where the enforcement of law and order is not very strict, the spoiled young men take revenge by throwing acid on the girls. The victims mostly come from poor families and are not well protected by their families. Girls and children are vulnerable to acid attacks or attacks of any kind at any time as they can be easily approached by anyone on their way to school or when they go out to fetch water or collect firewood. The access of poor people to police and legal assistance, as well as medical facilities, is very limited. In 2002, only 9 percent of the total cases of acid attacks were related to the refusal of a relationship or proposal, but the percentage jumped to 17 percent in 2003.

The lack of security for poor girls and children has also contributed to the rising number of acid attacks on those who were accidentally present at the scene. As most cases have occurred at night when the victims have been asleep, anyone who was with the victims at the time of the attacks - usually a sister, relative or child - was also injured. This reason comprised 10 percent and 17 percent of the total number of acid attacks in 2002 and 2003 respectively.

Dowry, which is a known cause of violence against women, in general, is also a source of acid attacks. Following Islamic customs, a dowry is a compulsory gift or amount of money that must be given by the husband to the wife. Conversely, in Hinduism, the custom is that the dowry has to be paid by the wife's father to the husband. In reality, this Hindu custom is practised in low-income groups of both the Hindu and Muslim communities in Bangladesh. Failure to give a dowry often means death for the wife or an acid burn on her face and body. The dowry issue triggered 6 percent of the total cases of acid attacks in both 2002 and 2003.

Growing social and political intolerance, declining moral values, the easy availability of acid, the deterioration of law and order and the traditional mindset of men who refuse to tolerate the advances of women in social life have translated into acid violence against women. To combat the problem rigorously, all of the socio-economic determinants behind this violence must be taken into consideration and be addressed simultaneously.

Quality Medical Care Needed

Acid survivors are never cured completely. Their lifestyle becomes different from an ordinary person, and they must follow all of the restrictions prescribed by doctors carefully to avoid further physical complications. First, however, the victims need sophisticated medical facilities for specialised plastic surgery. They have to undergo several operations, which are very costly. It is nearly impossible for most families to pay for the extensive surgery needed to reconstruct the damaged faces of the victims, which costs more than US,000. The acid survivors also need specialised psychological treatment to emerge from the horror and trauma they have experienced.

Since 1999, with the help of international and local NGOs, about 24 acid survivors had been reportedly taken to the United States and Europe for six to 12 months for higher quality treatment. Not all of the survivors are so lucky though, and it is not possible to send every single acid victim to developed countries for treatment. Most victims have to depend on Bangladesh's own health care system and existing medical facilities, which are less than adequate.

There are only nine plastic surgeons in the country, for example. Seven of them work in government hospitals while the other two are in private hospitals. The burn unit of the Dhaka Medical College is the only public hospital to treat acid victims. The unit used to have only eight beds, and patients had to wait in lines even when they needed immediate treatment. The situation was so bad that doctors had to discharge the victims after conducting only the most basic reconstructive surgery. There was no modern equipment and not enough trained nurses. The patients' bandages were often changed by floor cleaners, although lately the situation is improving. On April 20, 2004, a new full-fledged burn unit at the medical college was opened with 50 beds and a well-equipped operation theatre. Fifty-eight doctors and some additional staff were appointed. Prof. Samanta Lal Sen, chief of the hospital's burn unit project, expects that the new unit will improve treatment immensely.

Bangladesh has only about four other hospitals, apart from the Dhaka Medical College, that can provide treatment to the acid-attack victims. The ASF has begun its own hospital called Jibon Tara in Banani exclusively for acid-burn patients. The hospital has 40 beds and a fully equipped operation theatre for reconstructive surgery. Foreign plastic surgeons, who are volunteers, conduct the operations with local surgeons. The ASF provides special care and post-surgery medicine to the patients. The group also runs a 15-bed rehabilitation centre named Thikana and an independent specialised support unit to help the trauma victims. In another private initiative, with the help of the Prothom Alo Fund, a hospital in Khulna has begun offering high-quality medical care for acid victims.

Yet there is still room for improvement, as Dr. Sen notes: "Unless all the district hospitals have independent burn units, it is difficult to cope with the situation."

The Challenges of Reintegrating into Society

Along with the physical suffering, the acid survivors have to deal with mental trauma as well. Many victims are frustrated, and some of them have suicidal tendencies. They need periodic counselling by trained psychotherapists to recover from the shock and frustration.

The fact that acid survivors can never regain their original appearance has a severe impact on their social lives. No disease or catastrophe can make such a terrible change to a human face like acid-throwing. It is tough for the victims to accept their new identities. It is even harder for them to face the reality that people around them are horrified at the sight of their looks and that they are no longer accepted in society, for many people are not ready to accept the victims when they return to their villages after treatment. Even the victims' own families see them as a burden because the cost of taking care of them is very high. In Bangladeshi society, the acid victims are treated as pariahs, and this lack of acceptance makes social reintegration and marriage more difficult for them.

Moreover, the working capabilities of acid victims drop significantly. Because of physical problems, such as the loss of their eyesight or hearing and the sensitivity of their skin to heat and sunlight, the victims can only do very limited types of jobs. Their income-generating power decreases. Young victims, meanwhile, have to stop going to school. Even after they have recovered, most of them cannot continue their studies because of their unstable physical conditions. They thus cannot develop skills that they could have fostered otherwise.

Although there are efforts by NGOs and benevolent funds to help the acid survivors integrate back into society, a complete reintegration has not been possible yet. The physical incapability of the victims, along with social and economic barriers, makes reintegration very difficult. Moreover, very often the victims are deprived of justice: perpetrators are not penalised and can continue to harass the victims.

The lives of acid victims and their family members are often at risk when they try to bring the perpetrator to justice. In cases where the culprits belong to rich and influential families, the situation becomes worse. The offenders often threaten the victims and their families that, if they do not withdraw their cases, there will be further suffering for them. For example, the sister of an acid survivor named Iva was brutally killed because she filed a case against the culprits. These incidents occur because the victims generally come from poor families and are incapable of defending themselves against influential perpetrators, especially when state organs, such as the police, are not supportive. This explains why the victims cannot return home in most cases and must live lives isolated from their families in NGO rehabilitation centres.

Despite new laws to curb acid violence, there is little improvement, for the laws have not been properly implemented. Only a handful of perpetrators are brought to justice and given punishment. Any negligence on the part of doctors, the police, lawyers and the judiciary weakens the cases of victims, and, as a result, the perpetrators remain at large.

In two workshops in 2002, the ASF, together with the Legal Education and Training Institute of the Bangladesh Bar Council, identified the problems hindering victims from obtaining justice. These problems included the unavailability of a medical certificate containing all of the vital information about the acid burns that ought to be issued by the doctor, reluctance of the doctor to act as a witness in court, delays in the court proceedings and lack of a detailed investigation by the police.

What Can Be Done to Help

To improve the situation, firstly, law enforcement agencies must step up their efficiency in combating the crime of acid-throwing, and the judicial system has to implement the country's laws. A clear signal has to be sent to society that criminals will be brought to justice and punished no matter how powerful they are.

Secondly, the selling of acid or other corrosive substances needs to be strictly controlled. Mere legal provisions are not enough. There should be a high-powered authority to control the sale of acids. Building public awareness in this regard may also help.

Thirdly, there should be proper medical facilities available in all district hospitals to provide much-needed primary care to acid-burn victims.

Fourthly, making use of the distorted face of the victims in public awareness programmes should be stopped because it may encourage others to commit acid-related crimes. According to the law, a victim's name and identity should not be disclosed in the media. This legal provision is important to prevent additional social humiliation and isolation for victims.

Finally, there should be efforts to change the public attitude towards acid survivors. The victims should be treated as normal human beings. Instead of isolating the victims, the public should be encouraged to help the victims restore their confidence and strength. A public awareness programme is needed.

A message must be sent to society that the state genuinely considers acid violence a heinous crime and that whoever takes part in the crime will be severely punished. To realise this aim, Bangladesh needs efficient law enforcement agencies and an effective judicial system to work together with the public to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Acid throwing in Cambodia:
http://www.licadho.org/reports.php?perm=41

A Panel discussion in acid-throwing acid:
http://mboard.rediff.com/board/board.ph ... =179283574

Cases of acid attacks:

http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/sep/25vijay1.htm

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/do ... 415316.htm

http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pI ... t_id=67136

http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pI ... t_id=67135

The Islamist acid throwing people are concentrated in Kashmir, financed, trained and protected by the Pakistani ISI, and Pervez Musharraf; another steadfast ally of the US.

So, who is lying through their teeth here, Poetess.