Current Final

Category: National

  • PDM protesters break into sealed jalsa venue ahead of joint opposition’s gathering

    Workers and leaders of joint opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) on Saturday broke into the venue of the alliance’s Multan gathering to be held on November 30, which had reportedly been sealed by the administration.

    According to reports, the district administration had placed 30 containers around the venue, Qila Kohna Qasim Bagh, with more being brought in to block roads leading to the city and police deployed outside.

    As per the details of Saturday’s incident, a rally led by sons of former prime minister (PM) Yousaf Raza Gillani, namely Ali Haider and Ali Musa, overpowered law enforcement to enter the venue. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers led by local party leaders also accompanied the PPP stalwarts.

    The episode saw several scuffles between opposition workers and the police on different routes leading to the stadium where the rally was headed. A final scuffle broke out right outside the venue where hundreds of cops were discharging their duties.

    Unconfirmed reports of casualties — both police personnel and political workers — are pouring in.

    A senior PPP leader confirmed to The Current that Gillani brothers have taken control of the venue and a welcome camp is also being setup at the stadium. “They refuse to leave until the gathering has been held on Monday.”

    To a question, they said the people of Multan are overjoyed to have with them the late former PM Benazir Bhutto’s daughter, Assefa Bhutto-Zardari, who’ll be replacing her coronavirus positive brother and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.

    Earlier, more than 200 workers of PDM constituent parties were arrested and raids were being conducted to arrest more. The lists of workers, particularly from the PML-N and PPP, were provided to respective police stations.

    The arrests had come after the government vowed to not let opposition “put people’s life at risk” by holding a gathering amid the second wave of COVID-19.

    As the opposition claims the government is using the virus outbreak to stop the PDM from holding its rallies against “the fascist regime”, PML-N Punjab President Rana Sanaullah has declared that the Multan rally will be held at all costs.

    Talking to the media outside the party’s Model Town secretariat in Lahore, he said if the government did not de-seal Qila Kohna Qasim Bagh, the entire city of Multan will become the venue of the public meeting.

    He said the first phase of the PDM’s anti-government protests will be completed by holding the last event of the series in the Punjab capital on December 13, and the next phase will begin after the alliance leadership devises a new strategy.

    “We stand united against the government,” he said.

  • Citizens cannot ‘speak against state’, says high court

    Citizens cannot ‘speak against state’, says high court

    The Peshawar High Court has said that Pakistani citizens have no right to speak against the state, as they are bound to “respect and follow” the laws of the country.

    The acting chief justice of the PHC, Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan, made these remarks while hearing a plea of Prof Ismail– the father of activist Gulalai Ismail — against the cancellation of his bail, reported Voicepk.net.

    The acting CJ said that citizens cannot be granted the right by the court to criticise the state. During the hearing on November 23, the deputy attorney general told the court that Prof Ismail posted ‘anti-state tweets’ on his social media account.

    As per the prosecution, Prof Ismail had posted on Twitter: “When the TikTok star Hareem Shah can enter the Foreign Office, the country does not fulfill the definition of a state.”

    At this, the judge said such remarks were “unbecoming of a teacher”, adding these messages would have an adverse impact on his students as well. The judge said a citizen was bound to respect and follow the laws of the state. The judge addressed Prof Ismail and said that he should not misuse the relief if he’s granted bail.

    When the judge summoned Prof Ismail to the rostrum, the latter spoke in a harsher tone. This irked the judge, who said the petitioner called himself a teacher, but he did not even know how to talk. The lawyer tried to handle the situation and said his client was suffering from high blood pressure and that his family was facing harassment allegedly by the law enforcement agencies.

    Nevertheless, the court sought an apology from the petitioner and adjourned further hearings until Friday, November 27.

    Prof Ismail was granted conditional bail by the PHC in Oct 2019. A single-member bench of the high court, comprising Justice Qaiser Rasheed, had instructed Prof Ismail to “be careful” in the future while asking him to submit a surety of Rs100,000 as well as personal guarantees from two individuals, a report in Dawn said.

    Gulalai Ismail’s parents are facing charges of financing terrorism, allegedly for funneling money from their daughter toward terrorist activities. They deny the charges and are currently out on bail but have been ordered not to leave Pakistan.

    In October this year, an anti-terrorism court in Peshawar had indicted the parents of rights activist and Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leader Gulalai Ismail ‘on charges of actively aiding’ two terrorist attacks carried out by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in 2013 and 2015.

  • People are outraged at the woman who slapped a security guard at Dolmen Mall

    People are outraged at the woman who slapped a security guard at Dolmen Mall

    People on social media are triggered by a woman who slapped a security guard at Dolmen Mall. Reportedly, the guard did not open the barrier to let her in because of the revised mall timings.

    The video doing rounds on social media shows the girl not only shouted at the guard but also slapped him. She can be heard saying, “Tumhari itni himmat, auqaat main raho.”

    People are outraged at her and are criticising her actions on social media.

    https://twitter.com/sakhtLondii/status/1332012212756520962?s=20

    Earlier, Deputy Comissioner South Karachi had announced that the mall will be strengthening COVID-19 SOPs for the staff and the customers.

  • ‘Over 20 mobile phones, Rs90,000 in cash’: Johar Town cafe robbed in ‘two minutes’

    ‘Over 20 mobile phones, Rs90,000 in cash’: Johar Town cafe robbed in ‘two minutes’

    Police have registered a case against two unidentified suspects for robbing a restaurant in Lahore’s Johar Town area on the night of November 26 and getting away with a loot of almost Rs1 million.

    Chai Khas, an eatery located on Main Boulevard, was jam-packed at 10:30 pm (despite coronavirus SOPs) when two alleged robbers entered the premises. According to eyewitnesses, the suspects armed with handguns took the “entire floor hostage and started taking away people’s mobile phones, jewellry, and wallets”.

    FIR of the incident

    The FIR of the robbery registered at the SattoKatlan police station claims that at least 21 mobile phones, worth almost Rs1 million, and Rs90,000 in cash was looted in the alleged robbery. The FIR, however, doesn’t mention the details or the worth of the jewellry. The suspects managed to finish their job in two minutes before getting away on a 70cc motorbike numbered 7102, as per the FIR.

    The incident took place at 10:30 pm on Thursday while the FIR was registered around 5 am on Friday, as the owner was allegedly reluctant to approach the police at first. However, after the insistence of the robbed customers, the owner decided to visit the police station in the wee hours of the morning, accompanied by one of the customers, who also shared the account of the robbery on a Facebook group.

    According to the FIR, the two suspects in their early 30s entered the restaurant on Thursday night. They sat in the cafe for a while before they took out their weapons and started robbing people at gunpoint.

    Subsequently, the police booked the suspects under Section 392 of the Pakistan Penal Code that pertains to robbery. “Whoever commits robbery shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which [shall not be less than three years nor more than] ten years, and shall also be liable to fine; and, if the robbery be committed on the Highway […..] the imprisonment may be extended to fourteen years,” the section reads.

    The police ASI, Furqan Anjum, remained unavailable for comments when The Current called him, seeking updates on the probe.

    RELUCTANCE OF CAFE OWNER:

    The people who were robbed at the restaurant have accused the cafe management of dilly-dallying in the registration of the FIR and the release of the CCTV footage of the incident. An eyewitness claimed that the owner didn’t want to go to the police because it could “damage the reputation of his cafe”. “The owner remained insensitive to the episode and remained reluctant to file an FIR,” the customer complained.

    People, who were robbed at the restaurant, have asked the Punjab IGP and Lahore police chief to take notice of the incident in light of a spike in street crimes over the past several months.

  • Chaudhry Sarwar inaugurates café for public at Governor House

    Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar has inaugurated the ‘Governor House Café’ that is set up in a double-decker bus inside the Governor House in Lahore.

    The restaurant, which will be open for the public, has been established in a double-decker bus. While the lower portion of the bus houses the kitchen, the upper section has the sitting area. According to details, the governor and his wife had lunch with the kids under the care of Sarwar Foundation at the inauguration.

    Aas per reports, the café will remain open for the public and families from 11 am to 6 pm.

    Chaudhry Sarwar’s wife Perveen, while talking to the media, said that only a few children were invited for the opening ceremony because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    She added: “We have received a lot of donations and we will use them for their (children) benefit only”.

    In addition to the café, Sarwar also inaugurated Quran Garden, Corona Heroes Wall and Souvenir Shop at the Governor House as well.

  • Firdous Ashiq destroyed for saying Sharifs ‘parceling mother’s body to Pakistan through cargo’

    Twitterati are training guns at Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Sardar Usman Buzdar’s aide Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan for saying that the Sharifs were “parceling the body of their mother back to Pakistan through cargo”.

    Begum Shamim Akhtar, 90, breathed her last in London on Sunday and her dead body is being brought back to Pakistan. According to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Information Secretary Marriyum Aurangzeb, her funeral prayers will be offered on Saturday at the Sharif Medical City in Raiwind.

    “It is painful to see how those who used chartered flights to transfer cuisines are now parceling their mother’s body back to the country through cargo,” she was heard as saying during an informal media talk.

    With the government spokesperson also tweeting the same, her statement didn’t set very well with a number of netizens, who said:

    https://twitter.com/FatimaButt135/status/1331549114551717888

    Meanwhile, Qul would be held on November 29 which would be attended only by members of the Sharif family.

    PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif and President Shehbaz Sharif have appealed to the people and workers to offer Fateha for their mother on the day of Qul in their respective areas.

  • Pakistan becomes founding member of Digital Cooperation Organization

    Pakistan has joined the Digital Cooperation Organization (DCO) as a founding member.

    The organisation has been established under an initiative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that has also invited other countries to join as founding members, including Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait and the UAE.

    The organisation was launched at a virtual event on Thursday, hosted by Saudi Arabia Minister of Communication and Information Technology Abdullah Al-Swaha. Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi participated with a video statement.

    The foreign minister noted that the creation of DCO would cater to the growing need for international cooperation and collaboration in the digital domain at a time when the digital economy is estimated to be worth over $11 trillion and set to expand further in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The organisation will offer a platform to promote the global digital agenda in the scientific, health, educational, commercial, social, agricultural, investment and security spheres.

  • Meals banned during domestic flight operations as COVID-19 cases increase

    Meals banned during domestic flight operations as COVID-19 cases increase

    The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Thursday announced that passengers travelling on domestic flights will no longer be served meals in view of the rising COVID-19 cases. As per details, the new COVID-19 SOPs were issued by the NCOC in wake of surging cases of the infection.

    “No meals to be served during all sorts of domestic flight operations. Compulsory wearing of masks by all passengers and the flight crew through the flight,” read the notification by the CAA.

    The rules have been introduced for domestic flights, chartered flights and private aircraft flights.

  • Sherry Rehman says the new rape ordinance makes minors ‘more vulnerable’

    Sherry Rehman says the new rape ordinance makes minors ‘more vulnerable’

    Senator and senior PPP leader Sherry Rehman has disapproved of the new laws against rapists approved by the cabinet, earlier this week. The new laws call for strict punishment, including chemical castration of the rapist.

    Replying to The Current’s post, which includes the tally of rape cases being reported every day (acquired from various sources), Sherry expressed her displeasure over lowering the statutory age for rape to 13 from 16.

    “The age of alleged ‘consent’ has been moved to 13 from 16 in the new ordinance, which is terrible,” commented the lawmaker. “How will an adolescent be responsible for ‘consent’. This makes younger children even more vulnerable.”

    She also expressed her concern over the matter on Twitter.

    A total of 127 rape cases have been reported from October 12 to November 27 (today).

  • KYA BOLA? (Nov 27): Wazir-e-Azam Lockdown Ky Sakht Mukhalif, Kulsoom Nawaz Ky Ghar Py Dhawa, Veena Malik Ky Dubai Sy Arrest Warrants?

    KYA BOLA? (Nov 27): Wazir-e-Azam Lockdown Ky Sakht Mukhalif, Kulsoom Nawaz Ky Ghar Py Dhawa, Veena Malik Ky Dubai Sy Arrest Warrants?

    Following are some snippets that stood out from Urdu newspapers on November 27, 2020, which The Current takes no responsibility for.

    Wazir-e-Azam Lockdown Ky Sakht Mukhalif.. Kiya Badla?

    Daily Jang has reported that PM Imran Khan, who was against lockdown during the first wave of COVID-19, has seemed to change his mind. “Corona lockdown ky hawaly sy agar wazir-e-azam aur opposition shaksiaat kay purany clips dekhin tou us waqt wazir-e-azam lockdown ky sakht mukhalif thy, aj kal in ki tweets sy lagta ha kay kuch haami ho gye hain.”

    Kulsoom Nawaz Ky Ghar Py Dhawa

    Daily Express has reported that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) raided the house of late wife of Nawaz Sharif. “Muslim League ki markazi tarjumaan Marriyum Aurangzeb ny kaha kay ‘NAB-Niazi’ gath-jorr ny marhooma maghfoora Kulsoom Nawaz ky Murree mai waqia ghar per Jummayraat ko dhawa bola… baghair notice ya itlaa ky ghar ky andar ghusnay ki kosish ki gai… videos banai aur char dewari ka taquddus paamal kiya.”

    Veena Malik Ky Dubai Sy Arrest Warrants?

    The spat between model Veena Malik and her husband has gaining momentum by the day. Jang News has reported her husband Asad Khattak as saying, “Veena Malik kay Dubai sy warrant-e-giraftari jald jaari hun gy. Veena Malik is bar mehrbani kar ky mery haqeeqi address per he notice bhejain.”