Current Final

Category: National

  • Balochistan CM asks ‘people to cooperate’ after Afghanistan seeks bodies of citizens killed in Mach attack

    Balochistan CM asks ‘people to cooperate’ after Afghanistan seeks bodies of citizens killed in Mach attack

    After Afghanistan asked Pakistan to return the bodies of the Afghan citizens who were killed in an attack on Hazara coal miners in Mach, Balochistan, Chief Minister Jamal Kamal has asked people to cooperate.

    In a letter to the Foreign Ministry’s Camp Office in Quetta dated Jan 5, the Consulate General said: “As you know, in the terrorist incident that took place in Mach area of Bolan district of Balochistan province by the anti-governments and joint terrorists of the two countries, seven Afghan citizens are among the victims.”

    It said that the heirs of “three martyrs have requested that their dead bodies be transferred to Afghanistan”. “Therefore, your esteemed office is kindly requested to contact the relevant authorities to grant permission for transferring the mentioned three corpses via the Chaman-Spin Boldak Corridor.”

    In a tweet, CM Kamal wrote: “Afghanistan Government has asked Govt of Pakistan to hand over bodies of their three Hazara Community citizens whose heirs have requested Govt of Afghanistan. Therefore, we request the people to cooperate with us in this matter as requested.”

    11 coal miners, who belonged to the Hazara community, were killed by the terrorists in a sectarian attack in Mach, Balochistan, last week.

    The families of the slain miners are protesting for the past five days against the killings on Quetta’s Western Bypass. They have refused to bury their dead till the in person security assurances from the prime minister. But the PM has refused to visit, saying he will come to condole with them very soon.

  • Hotel owner, manager fined over violating SOPs in ‘vulgar’ student party

    Hotel owner, manager fined over violating SOPs in ‘vulgar’ student party

    A video of tourists celebrating and partying at tourist destination at Malam Jabba recently went viral on social media, prompting authorities to register an FIR against the participants and hotel management for violating SOPs.

    According to reports, the FIR also states that “obscene acts” were carried out at the party. The FIR was lodged under Section 294 and 33 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The FIR also says that 30 to 40 participants are unidentified and missing.

    The FIR was registered on the complaint of SHO Javed Iqbal.

    Later, hotel owner Fazal Khan and manger Hasnain Ahsan were presented before a divisional magistrate. Both were fined Rs40,000 and released.

    Reacting to the incident, Ahmed Ali Butt hit out at authorities for allowing jalsas and rallies but registering FIRs against dance parties.

    Meanwhile, despite a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, tourists are thronging to Pakistan’s scenic northern areas to witness snowfall and experience the winter wonderland.

    As per the latest reports, tourists flocked to Kalam valley to witness the Snow Kabaddi Championship, organised by the local youth in collaboration with the hotel association and youth affairs department.

    Six local teams took part in the championship with the Matiltan Tiger emerging as the winner.

  • Bilawal, Maryam to visit families of slain Hazara miners

    Bilawal, Maryam to visit families of slain Hazara miners

    The opposition leadership, including Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz, will visit the families of the Hazara coal miners who were killed in a sectarian attack in Mach, Balochistan, last week.

    The families of the slain miners are protesting for the past five days against the killings on Quetta’s Western Bypass. They have refused to bury their dead till the in person security assurances from the prime minister. But the PM has refused to visit, saying he will come to condole with them very soon.

    In a statement, Marriyum Aurangzeb, the PML-N spokesperson, confirmed the visit of Maryam to Quetta on Thursday. She said the PML-N VP will visit the victim families to express condolence on behalf of PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif.  She will be accompanied by PML-N leaders Ahsan Iqbal, Senator Pervaiz Rasheed, Khurram Dastgir, Rana Sanaullah, Marriyum Aurangzeb, and former Sindh governor Muhammad Zubair, the statement said.

    On the other hand, Bilawal will visit the Hazara mourners along with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and members of the Sindh Cabinet. The PPP chief will offer condolences to the families who lost their loved ones in the attacked claimed by the Islamic State.

    On Wednesday, the PM had asked Hazaras to bury their loved ones, saying the state was taking measures to put a stop to such attacks against the minority Shia community. He had also blamed a neighbouring country for the attack.

  • Delivery boy robs people by hiding gun in food delivery bag

    The police arrested a delivery boy for robbing people using a weapon hidden inside his delivery bag.

    As per details, the suspect from Karachi’s Ferozabad area bore the uniform and a box of online food delivery service in which he put his weapon.

    The delivery boy, Abdul Rauf told the police he had only recently joined the online food delivery service and admitted he was tempted to rob people as he had no money.

    “I bought this gun back in 2011”, Rauf admitted to police.

    Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) East Sajid Sadozai told media the suspect knocked at house doors pretending to be a food delivery person and then robbed them with his partners.

    The police are still searching for his alleged aides involved in criminal activities.

    Rauf has confessed to at least 21 robberies, SSP Sadozai said.

  • PM says ‘neighbour instigating sectarian terrorism’, asks Hazara victim families to bury loved ones

    PM says ‘neighbour instigating sectarian terrorism’, asks Hazara victim families to bury loved ones

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has said asked Hazara victim families to bury their loved ones who were killed in a terrorist attack on Sunday by the Islamic State, aka Daesh.

    His tweet came in response to the demand of the Hazara protesters who asked the PM to visit their protest camp and assure them of security. The protesters have said that they will not bury their dead unless the PM listens to them in person.

    The PM, however, says that his government is taking “steps to prevent such brutal attacks” that are being instigated by the country’s “neighbour to instigate sectarian terrorism”.

    “I want to reassure the Hazara families who lost their loved ones in a brutal terrorist attack in Machh that I am cognisant of their suffering & their demands. We are taking steps to prevent such attacks in the future & know our neighbour is instigating this sectarian terrorism,” he tweeted.

    The PM also promised the Hazara community that he would visit them “very soon to offer prayers and condole with all the families personally”.

    “I share your pain & have come to you before also to stand with you in your time of suffering. I will come again very soon to offer prayers and condole with all the families personally. I will never betray my people’s trust. Please bury your loved ones so their souls find peace,” he added.

    At least 11 Hazara miners were shot dead by the Islamic State in Mach, Bolan, on Sunday. After the killings, the mourners have been staging a sit-in in Quetta for the past four days.

  • VIDEO: Ostrich on the loose in Karachi

    VIDEO: Ostrich on the loose in Karachi

    A video of an ostrich running across a road in Karachi is doing rounds on social media.

    As per reports, the bird had escaped a private park and made its way to a road in the city’s Korangi No 4 area.

    “Ostriches are afraid of water. This one escaped from a private park when water entered it” said the police. “The park’s employees ran after it and captured it later.”

    Meanwhile, other reports have stated that the bird escaped from the Landhi Korangi Zoo.

  • Govt to name artificial forest after Guru Nanak

    Govt to name artificial forest after Guru Nanak

    Governor Punjab Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar has announced that an artificial forest near Head Baloki will be named after Baba Guru Nanak.

    Talking to the media on Baba Guru Gobind Singh’s birth anniversary, Governor Sarwar said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is involved in the killing of minorities and Kashmiris living in India. The governor asserted that the UN should declare India and Modi terrorists.

    He said minorities in Pakistan have full religious freedom.

    Minority MNA Shaneela Ruth and MPA Mahindra Pal Singh, who were also present on the occasion said: “We are proud that the government under the leadership of Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan is ensuring the provision of all basic facilities to the minorities and standing by the deserving families during the corona crisis.”

    Sharing his thoughts on the ongoing PDM rallies, the governor said that PM Imran Khan will complete his constitutional term, commenting that are as many narratives in PDM as there are parties.

    “I am sure that the general elections in Pakistan will be held on time. Since the formation of the opposition alliance PDM, none of its promise or claim has been fulfilled, so there is no doubt that the PDM is clueless about its strategy,” said Sarwar.

    Meanwhile, Governor Sarwar also announced mass marriages of 15 deserving Sikh couples and promised 2% quota for employment of minorities in the Higher Education Department.

  • How will visiting victim families benefit PM, Zulfi asks Hazara protesters

    The families of slain Hazara coal miners and thousands of protesters have refused to end their sit-in being held at the Western Bypass, Quetta, saying they won’t bury their dead till Prime Minister Imran Khan personally assures them of security.

    At least 11 Hazara miners were shot dead by the Islamic State in Mach, Bolan, on Sunday. After the killings, the mourners have been staging a sit-in in Quetta for the past four days.

    PM’s aide Zulfi Bukhari, federal minister Ali Zaidi also visited the protesters, but they said they will not end the protest unless PM Imran comes to their protest camp. A video of Zulfi and the protest organisers negotiating has also been making rounds on social media.

    In the video, Zulfi is seen assuring the protesters that the PM will visit them soon. The Hazara community representative can be heard saying that the PM’s visit will be beneficial for the entire country. At this, Zulfi asks: “How is the premier going to benefit from this visit?”

    At this, the organiser says: “We are saying the PM’s visit will at least solace the families of the slain miners.” Zulfi responds he promises that the PM will visit them. “We want the PM to visit Quetta and meet these families on this stage, in front of all these mourners,” the protester asserts.

    At Zulfi refuses to concede to their demand for a meeting with the PM, saying that if God forbid tragedy strikes in some other part of Pakistan, the victims will also start making demands like these… if someone else gets martyred [in a terrorist attack] and their families will start saying that we want this, not that and so on.”

    Meanwhile, Ali Zaidi also requested the protesters to take back their demand of a meeting with PM Imran.

  • Mob managed to destroy Hindu temple due to ‘cowardice’ of policemen, says KP IG

    Mob managed to destroy Hindu temple due to ‘cowardice’ of policemen, says KP IG

    Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police chief Sanaullah Abbasi criticised the police officials over their failure to confront the mob that demolished a Hindu temple in Karak last week, saying the extremists were able to destroy the religious site due to the “cowardice and negligence” of the policemen.

    IG Abbasi told reporters outside the Supreme Court on Tuesday that at least 92 policemen were present at the site but they failed to control the mob. “I have suspended 12 police officials,” he said after a hearing of the temple demolition case at the top court.

    According to the IG, the protestors remained peaceful until an inflammatory speech by cleric Molvi Sharif — who also led a mob in a previous demolition of the temple in 1997, reported AFP.

    During the hearing, the chief justice of Pakistan directed the KP government for the immediate reconstruction of the temple. “You have to recover money from the people who did this, from Molvi Sharif and his followers,” Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed said.

    He said the mob destroyed the temple with impunity, while ordering the authorities to submit a separate report on the attack.

    While no Hindus live in Karak, devotees often visit the temple and its shrine to pay homage to the Hindu saint Shri Paramhans Mahaaraj, who died there before the 1947 partition of the Sub-continent. It is the fourth holiest Hindu worship site in Pakistan.

  • Another old tweet comes to haunt Imran as 11 Hazara miners killed

    Another old tweet comes to haunt Imran as 11 Hazara miners killed

    After an attack by the Islamic State in Mach, a town in Bolan district of Balochistan, left 11 Hazara coalminers dead on Sunday, another tweet from the past has come back to haunt Prime Minister Imran Khan.

    In 2013, Imran had reacted to the Hazara killings by the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi by holding the state responsible for its inability to stop these killings.

    “Tragic news from Quetta. Condemn Lashkar-e-Jhangiv for its genocidal campaign against Shias, especially Hazaras. Where is the state?” Imran had tweeted.

    However, this time, the massacre has happened during the government of Imran Khan and except a tweet, the PM has done nothing. This has also drawn flak from the opposition that has questioned the actions taken by the government to arrest the culprits.

    Senator Sherry Rehman said that despite the magnitude of this tragedy, the PM or the CM of Balochistan had not visited the families of the victims. “Our PM sat on the ground with half the cabinet members when something similar happened to the Hazaras in the past. What is PM Imran Khan waiting for?” she was quoted by The News as saying. 

    Meanwhile, protests in Quetta against the killings have continued. On Monday, protesters gathered with eight of the bodies in coffins and blocked a bypass on the outskirts of Quetta, demanding justice.

    OLD TWEETS COME TO BITE IMRAN:

    This is not the first time that old tweets of PM Imran Khan have come to haunt him.

    As PM Imran reached China amid Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan’s (TLP) nationwide protests in 2018, a 2012 tweet of his, went viral. In the tweet, he had criticised the then premier, Yousaf Raza Gillani, for traveling abroad as the country “burned”.

    After train accident in which 24 people were killed, the PM was also reminded of his tweet, wherein he demanded the resignation of the railways minister following a train accident. However, he didn’t ask then railways minister Sheikh Rasheed to resign even though his old tweet had gone viral at the time.