PESHAWAR: Even as a report filed by the World Economic Forum paints a dismal picture of the condition of women in Pakistan, the country’s northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa may have provided a silver lining by electing a journalist as the Peshawar Press Club’s first woman vice president.
Aneela Shaheen, 38, and a mother of a daughter was crowned with the title after she won the elections on December 29 in Peshawar.
Shaheen, a Sarhad University graduate with majors in Health and Physical Education, began her career as a journalist in 2000 by working for an Urdu-language newspaper, Daily Subh, before moving on to an electronic media platform by becoming a part of Indus and Dunya Television networks.
“Indeed it is an honor and trust upon me but it also needs determination and courage to work with male colleagues particularly in a Pashtun, male-dominated society,” an ecstatic Shaheen told Arab News.
In the 18 years of being a journalist, Shaheen says she has covered all beats except those related to women’s issues. “Since the beginning of my career, I wanted to change the myth about women being weak,” she said. “I worked on [the topic of ] Swat militancy for few months for my organization and broke the stereotypes,” she added.
Shaheen currently works as a freelance journalist, with her last stint being with 24 Television, a media organization. The past year has been grim for the Pakistani media industry with several organizations reducing their headcount as part of cost-cutting measures. However, when 24 Television’s administration decided to sack Shaheen, she chose to resign from her position instead and took to social media to protest against the move.
“Journalism is no more an easy profession and journalists have to fight on many fronts,” she said.
“I, along with my press club colleagues, will formulate an acceptable way for journalists’ job and physical security in this war-torn region,” Shaheen said, adding that “now, we will not allow the owners to sack the media workers with a single verbal order”.
She will work side by side with Syed Bukhar Shah — the newly-elected president of the club.
Shah, a veteran journalist writes for The News International in Peshawar. “Peshawar Press Club members are politically aware and they have the vision and always follow merit,” he told Arab News.
“Aneela is one of the brave journalists among many and that’s why she has beaten her male colleagues,” he said, adding that among the 500 club members, “we have only 30 female members but the Peshawar Press Club appreciates and encourages women journalists”.
“Earning a name in journalism in this part of the world is very hard but without welcoming colleagues, it wasn’t possible for me to stand strong,” Shaheen said.
Founded in 1964, the Peshawar Press Club takes pride in its strive for democracy and freedom of speech. In 2009, a suicide bomber with explosives strapped to his body had tried to bomb the building but was stopped by a security guard. The attack claimed four lives and had damaged the facility too.
Peshawar Press Club elects its first woman VP
Peshawar Press Club elects its first woman VP
- Shaheen cites determination and the courage to work with male colleagues, particularly in a patriarchal Pashtun society, as ingredients to success
- Out of the organization’s 500 members, only 30 are women, newly-elected president says
Pakistan says $50 million meat export deal with Tajikistan nearing finalization
- Islamabad expects to finalize agreement soon after Dushanbe signals demand for 100,000 tons
- Pakistan is seeking to expand agricultural trade beyond rice, citrus and mango exports
ISLAMABAD: Tajikistan has expressed interest in importing 100,000 tons of Pakistani meat worth more than $50 million, with both governments expected to finalize a supply agreement soon, Pakistan’s food security ministry said on Tuesday.
Pakistan is trying to grow agriculture-based exports as it seeks regional markets for livestock and food commodities, while Tajikistan, a landlocked Central Asian state, has been expanding food imports to support domestic demand. Pakistan currently exports rice, citrus and mangoes to Dushanbe, though volumes remain small compared to national production, according to official figures.
The development came during a meeting in Islamabad between Pakistan’s Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain and Ambassador of Tajikistan Yusuf Sharifzoda, where agricultural trade, livestock supply and food-security cooperation were discussed.
“Tajikistan intends to purchase 100,000 tons of meat from Pakistan, an import valued at over USD 50 million,” the ambassador said, according to the ministry’s statement, assuring full facilitation and that Islamabad was prepared to meet the demand.
The statement said the two sides agreed to expand cooperation in meat and livestock, fresh fruit, vegetables, staple crops, agricultural research, pest management and standards compliance. Pakistan also proposed strengthening coordination on phytosanitary rules and establishing pest-free production zones to support long-term exports.
Pakistan and Tajikistan have long maintained political ties but bilateral food trade remains below potential: Pakistan produces 1.8 million tons of mangoes annually but exported just 0.7 metric tons to Tajikistan in 2024, while rice exports amounted to only 240 metric tons in 2022 out of national output of 9.3 million tons. Pakistan imports mainly ginned cotton from Tajikistan.
