Current Final

Category: National

  • ‘What is Imran to me if I can bring down Musharraf,’ says Zardari

    ‘What is Imran to me if I can bring down Musharraf,’ says Zardari

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has said that if he can send former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf home, then bringing Prime Minister Imran Khan down is not a problem for him.

    Speaking to a rally in Garhi Khuda Buksh to commemorate the death anniversary of slain PM Benazir Bhutto, Zardari said the opposition parties needed to change their tactics and mindset regarding the anti-government drive instead of “dictating each other”.

    The PPP would want to see all parties on a single page in the fight against the government, but “we should not dictate each other what to do”, he added. “We will have to fill up the jails,” said Zardari, adding that Benazir had left a message for her party to keep on fighting for Pakistan.

    Taking a jibe at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, the former president said that the PTI has no importance and it will come to an end just like the party formed by Gen Musharraf during his era.

    According to the PPP co-chairman, Imran government has a little time left. “They will crumble beneath their own weight.” “These [PTI] are the people who run a cricket team, not a country,” he quipped.

    The PPP leader said that incumbent government was targeting political rivals through the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

    “NAB is running a black market and issuing warrants for businessmen,” said Zardari, adding that the PPP never targeted the opposition politicians during its tenure.

    It is a historical fact that the country suffered whenever the democracy was derailed, he said, calling upon the PM to quit the government if he was unable to run the country.

    The country’s exports had fallen and the dollar had seen a steep rise, he said, referring to the poor state of the economy. The PPP had kept inflation in check in spite of the financial crunch, he claimed, adding that “everyone is hoping that one day Bhutto’s party will rise to power” again.

    In addition to other politicians, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz also spoke on the occasion.

  • Maryam says over 95 per cent PML-N lawmakers have submitted resignations to her

    Maryam says over 95 per cent PML-N lawmakers have submitted resignations to her

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz has said that out of 160 Punjab lawmakers, 159 MPAs have submitted their resignations to the party leadership in line with the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) strategy to ramp up pressure on the government.

    Speaking to reporters ahead of her visit to Sindh to participate in a rally organised by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) to mark Benazir Bhutto’s death anniversary, Maryam said the deadline given to the lawmakers to turn in their resignations was Dec 31.

    She said the only provincial lawmaker who hasn’t submitted her resignation letter is currently battling for her life after she was put on a ventilator.

    Speaking about the National Assembly members, she said over 95 per cent MNAs have sent in their resignations to her. According to Maryam, the lawmakers will submit their resignations till 31st to the party leadership and the PDM will subsequently decide when to send them to the respective speakers.

    Maryam said the lawmakers will not defy the party line, as they know that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has “no future”. She added that attempt to damage the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) also backfired because people have become politically aware.

    Speaking about her uncle and PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, the de-facto PML-N chief said that Shehbaz has always been loyal to his brother Nawaz Sharif. Shehbaz would have been the prime minister of the country instead of “incompetent” Imran Khan had he betrayed his brother at the behest of the powers-that-be, said Maryam.

    Maryam also rubbished the reports of any potential “grand dialogue” between the government and the opposition. She said there will be no talks with the government and Imran Khan will have to go home.

  • Seven rare deer die mysteriously at Bahawalpur Zoo

    Seven rare deer die mysteriously at Bahawalpur Zoo

    Seven rare deer were reported dead in Bahawalpur Zoo on Saturday.

    According to reports, it is suspected that the animals died after eating poisonous fodder. At least 12 other deer at the zoo are in critical condition.

    The deer who died were of a rare breed.

    The zoo management claimed that dozens of deer suddenly started falling ill. Seven of them died within a short period after falling ill while 22 were rescued and treated.

    “12 are still in critical condition,” added the management.

    According to the administration, the cause of the deaths has not yet been ascertained. Their samples have been sent to Lahore for further investigation.

    The Bahawalpur Zoo curator said the cause of death will only be known after an autopsy.

    With little legislation to safeguard animal welfare, zoos across Pakistan are notorious for their poor conditions. Recently, the Peshawar Zoo lost its fourth giraffe in 2020, just a few days after a black bear’s alleged death. Similarly, the Sindh High Court, earlier this week ordered the Karachi Zoo management to shift Rano from her 25-foot wide Victorian ‘grotto’ pit to another open cage.

  • Journalist Saleem Safi claims Zardari, Bilawal are becoming ‘taabedar’

    Journalist Saleem Safi claims Zardari, Bilawal are becoming ‘taabedar’

    Senior journalist Saleem Safi has accused Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leadership, especially Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and father Asif Ali Zardari, of trying to reach a deal with the establishment.

    Responding to the statement of Murtaza Wahab — the spokesperson to the Sindh CM — that Sindh IG Mushtaq Mahar was not kidnapped, Safi said such statements by the PPP leadership gave away its alleged secret dealings with the government and the powers-that-be. It also shows that they are on their way to becoming “taabedar”.

    Alluding to the statement, he asked is there still any doubt left regarding the duplicity of the PPP in the anti-government alliance? According to the journalist, the PPP will oppose the mass resignations and long march in the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) meeting on Jan 2 and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will likely endorse the PPP.

    Safi claimed that the meeting of the government spokesperson held earlier this week also decided to “go easy on the PPP”. The government has decided to target Maulana Fazlur Rahman and his party, he said, adding that a strategy has been finalised in this regard. He claimed that decision to be lenient to the PPP speaks volume about the secret talks.

    Safi also accused Bilawal and Zardari of becoming “tabedaar (obedient)” and said that Maulana should clear things up with the PPP and PML-N leadership before it’s too late.

    The word ‘taabedar’ was first used by Maryam Nawaz as she used it to refer to Prime Minister Imran Khan for being “obedient to his selectors”.

  • Benazir’s death anniversary: Fazl refuses to attend PPP rally in Garhi Khuda Baksh

    Benazir’s death anniversary: Fazl refuses to attend PPP rally in Garhi Khuda Baksh

    Amid speculations of rifts in the Pakistan Democratic Movement, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman has declined an invitation by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari to attend a rally in Garhi Khuda Baksh on Dec 27.

    Instead of Fazl, who also heads the PDM, a five-member delegation of the party will attend the gathering that marks the death anniversary of slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto, reported Dunya TV.

    The refusal to attend the gathering by Fazl comes at a time when the JUI-F is facing internal turmoil following the expulsion of its top leaders, including Maulana Sheerani, who questioned the JUI-F’s commitment to the party.

    Similarly, the JUI-F and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are not happy with the PPP. They believe that the PPP was in contact with the powers-that-be to reach a deal. “Both parties are not reacting to this development because of the alliance, but the PPP has been told that if it wants to gain results via backdoor talks, it can go ahead,” said a senior journalist recently.

    Meanwhile, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has reached Naudero House to attend the death anniversary of Benazir Bhutto. The PPP chief will stay in Naudero for three days and will address a rally in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh on December 27.

    PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz will also attend the rally on the invitation of Bilawal. Both opposition leaders will hold a meeting at Bilawal House, Naudero.

  • Daniel Pearl case: US ‘deeply concerned’ over court’s decision to release suspects

    The US State Department has said that it’s “deeply concerned” over the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) decision to release the suspects in the Daniel Pearl murder case.

    “We are deeply concerned by the reports of the December 24 ruling of Sindh High Court to release multiple terrorists responsible for the murder of Daniel Pearl. We have been assured that the accused have not been released at this time,” said the State Department in a series of tweets in response to the ruling of the high court.

    According to the State Department, the US government has been following this case closely. “We continue to stand with the Pearl family through this extremely difficult process,” it said, adding that it would continue to honour Pearl’s legacy.

    On Thursday, the high court asked the Sindh government to release the suspects, including prime accused Omer Saeed Sheikh, who were convicted by an anti-terrorism court in 2002 for the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. The court had also ordered the government to place their names on the no-fly list.

    However, the federal government said that it would challenge the ruling and that the suspects would remain behind the bars till the decision on its review appeal.

    The family of the slain US journalist also denounced the high court’s decision. Pearl’s parents said that they refused to believe that the Pakistani government and the Pakistani people will “let such a travesty of justice tarnish the image and legacy” of Pakistan.

    Pearl was working on a story about religious extremists in Pakistan in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks, when he was kidnapped in Karachi.

  • Remove ‘sacrilegious content’ or face legal action, PTA tells Google and Wikipedia

    Remove ‘sacrilegious content’ or face legal action, PTA tells Google and Wikipedia

    The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has issued notices to Google and Wikipedia over the dissemination of “sacrilegious content” on their platforms, saying a legal action will be taken in case of a failure to remove the content.

    In a press release shared on its Twitter handle, the PTA said that the action against the tech giant and the online encyclopedia was taken after “complaints regarding misleading search results associated with ‘Present Khalifa of Islam’ and unauthentic version of Holy Quran uploaded by Ahmadiyya Community on Google Play Store” were received.

    Calling it a matter of a “very serious nature”, the PTA approached Google with the directives “to immediately remove the unlawful content”.

    “The platform has been issued with the notice under Removal and Blocking of Unlawful Online Content (Procedure, Oversight and Safeguard) Rules 2020 (“Rules”) to remove the sacrilegious content to avoid any legal action by the regulator,” it added.

    According to the PTA, people also registered complaints against Wikipedia for “hosting of caricatures of Holy Prophet (PBUH) and dissemination of misleading, wrong, deceptive and deceitful information through articles portraying Mirza Masroor Ahmad as a Muslim”. 

    “After extensive communication on the matter, Wikipedia has been finally served with the notice to remove the sacrilegious content to avoid any legal action,” the statement added.

    “In case the platforms remain non-compliant, PTA shall be constrained to initiate further action under Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 (PECA) and Rules 2020,” said the regulatory authority.

  • Shehbaz ‘endorses national dialogue’ in meeting with govt ally

    Shehbaz ‘endorses national dialogue’ in meeting with govt ally

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif is in favour of a dialogue with the government instead of mass resignations and long marches, said a leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F) after a meeting with him in prison.

    Muhammad Ali Durrani, the PML-F secretary general, called on Shehbaz at Kot Lakhpat Jail to hold “fruitful discussions” on the political scenario of the country. Durrani, who is an ally of the government, said he visited the PML-N chief on the directions of his party president Pir Sibghatullah because the “political leadership of the country wanted to see the nation united”.

    He said the purpose of this visit was to assert the need for talks, functioning of parliament, and end a deadlock between the opposition and the government to avert en masse resignations and march on Islamabad. He told reporters that they also discussed the union of all factions of the Muslim League.

    According to Durrani, the factions of the Pakistan Muslim League and the like-minded people should join hands — a suggestion endorsed by Shehbaz.

    He also said that his visit to the jail was for a “national cause” and he met Shehbaz, not other party leaders, because he was the “president”. In an apparent reference to Maryam Nawaz, who is the de-facto president of the PML-N, Durrani said at this point there was no need to meet “sidekicks” as Shehbaz will soon have the control of his party.

    The PML-N president, who represents the moderate group in the party, is in prison over graft charges. In his absence, the party is being run by Maryam Nawaz.

  • Middle East Monitor apologises for report on Zulfi Bukhari; Israel confirms ‘no ties with Pakistan’

    Middle East Monitor apologises for report on Zulfi Bukhari; Israel confirms ‘no ties with Pakistan’

    Not-for-profit press monitoring organisation Middle East Monitor has apologised for a report claiming that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s aide Zulfi Bukhari visited Israel, whereas a minister in Tel Aviv has also clarified that the country in Asia that could soon normalise relations with his country is not Pakistan.

    As per the details, Bukhari, who is the premier’s special assistant on overseas Pakistanis, tweeted some documents, including a letter by the news media outlet wherein it had categorically acknowledged the reporting error and apologised.

    “We have removed the offending item,” the letter read, saying that it had been sourced from several foreign media outlets.

    “We accept Mr Bukhari’s refutation of the claims made in the report and sincerely apologise for the inconvenience it has caused,” concluded the letter dated December 23.

    The development was followed by an Israeli cabinet minister also confirming that there was a fifth Muslim-majority country in Asia that was likely to soon normalise relations with Tel Aviv, but it was not Islamabad.

    Speaking to the Israeli news outlet Ynet TV, Regional Cooperation Minister Ofir Akunis acknowledged that there is a potential for two more countries to normalise relations with Israel. He predicted that “there will be an American announcement about another country that is going public with the normalisation of relations with Israel and, in essence, with the infrastructure for an accord — a peace accord”.

    One of those countries is reportedly in the Gulf, but he ruled out Saudi Arabia, therefore leaving many to believe it could be Oman. The other country is further to the east of Israel towards Asia, and is a “Muslim country that is not small”.

    Okif dismissed the possibility of it being Pakistan, however, which many have suspected following PM Imran Khan admitting that “friendly” nations had been pressuring Islamabad to establish diplomatic relations with Tel Aviv.

    Those “friendly” nations are thought to be Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), particularly after Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told the UAE earlier this week that the country “will not and cannot establish a relationship with Israel until a concrete and permanent solution to the Palestine issue is found”.

    The attributes described by Okif leave Afghanistan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh as the only remaining Muslim-majority countries that are “not small” and do not already have open ties with Israel.

  • Long march can wait: PML-N to contest by-polls, Senate election

    Long march can wait: PML-N to contest by-polls, Senate election

    In spite of calls for mass resignations and long march towards Islamabad by the Pakistan Democratic Movement, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Muhammad Zubair has said that his party will take part in the by-polls to be held in February.

    Speaking in a TV show, Zubair said the party has also decided to take part in the Senate polls — a U-turn on the party’s earlier policy of mass resignations. He further said the decision to march on Islamabad will be taken in the light of the by-polls.

    It may be noted here that the PML-N has already hinted at a delay in the long march due to the “cold weather”. Its Punjab president Rana Sanaullah said that the much-hyped march will be held in March, instead of Jan or Feb, when the weather will be favourable.

    Separately, the National Assembly speaker has decided to accept the resignations of two PML-N lawmakers, Muhammad Sajjad Awan and Murtaza Javed, prompting protests from the said lawmakers.

    According to Awan and Javed, the resignations — dated Dec 14 and written on their official letterhead — were not sent to Speaker Asad Qaiser.

    These resignations were sent to the party leadership and it would be their decision if they wanted to forward these letters to the speaker, the lawmakers said, adding that the speaker has no authority to “verify” their resignation letters at this point.

    On the other hand, the NA Secretariat said that these resignations would be accepted automatically if the lawmakers failed to appear before the speaker within a week.

    Earlier this month, Lahore’s Khokhar brothers of PML-N handed over their resignations from respective assemblies to the party leadership.

    MNA Malik Afzal Khokar and MPA Saiful Malook Khokhar had submitted their letters amid talks of mass resignations by opposition lawmakers in a protest against the government.