Category: National

Rising water levels in the Chenab and Sutlej rivers has forced locals into evacuation at Jalalpur Pirwala. However, allegations have emerged that rescue workers are demandeding thousands of rupees from stranded residents to transport them to safety.

The allegations surfaced when senior journalist and analyst Hamid Mir spoke to an affected resident in the area. “I have been waiting since 6 am. My family is trapped on the other side, hungry and thirsty, and I am helpless. I want just one boat to get them out, but Rescue 1122 workers are asking people for 25,000 to 30,000 rupees,” the man claimed.

Rescue officials on the ground rejected the claims. One worker explained his own house had collapsed and his family had been stuck for four days. “I have not had the time to move them to safety. We are here to serve the people, and no rescue worker is asking for money. This is completely false.”

“We have been evacuating people for 15 days. We have not seen such cases. If private boats are charging money, we have nothing to do with that.”

Recent monsoon floods have devastated Pakistan, displacing over 2.2 million people across Punjab alone. The relentless rains, combined with water aggression from India, have submerged nearly 3,900 villages and triggered evacuations of more than 120,000 residents overnight.

At least 61 lives have been lost in Punjab alone, with the nationwide death toll surpassing 900.

The PDMA has issued urgent flood warnings for Sutlej, Ravi and Chenab rivers, labeling the next 24 to 48 hours as critically high-risk.

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore has sentenced senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders Dr Yasmin Rashid and Ejaz Chaudhry, besides 10 others, to a rigorous 10-year imprisonment in yet another May 9 rioting case while acquitting former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

As per the details, the leaders were sentenced in a case pertaining to the burning of police vehicles near Jinnah House in Lahore Cantonment.

Ex-provincial minister for housing and urban development Mian Mehmood Ur Rasheed and former Punjab governor Umar Sarfraz Cheema were also among the leaders who were awarded 10 years’ imprisonment.

The court also awarded a five-year sentence to former ruling party leader and fashion designer Khadija Shah.

The development comes a month after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) de-notified several PTI lawmakers, including the opposition leaders in the Senate and National Assembly, Senator Shibli Faraz and Omar Ayub Khan, respectively, following their convictions in May 9 cases.

Said cases are linked to the violent protests that erupted across the country and continued for at least 24 hours following the arrest of PTI founder Imran Khan in 2023. The unrest included attacks on public property and military installations, such as the Corps Commander’s House in Lahore, also known as Jinnah House.

 
While multiple PTI leaders and workers were released on bail after their arrests, several still remain behind bars.

Despite a diplomatic deadlock between Pakistan and India, New Delhi on Tuesday released 67 Pakistani prisoners at the Wagah-Attari border. 

The group includes 53 fishermen and 14 civilians, many of whom had been behind bars in India for years.

According to officials, India has only released over 200 Pakistanis since 2021, but Pakistan has released almost 600 Indian prisoners in the last five years.

The Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi played a central role in securing their freedom by arranging consular access, processing documents, and coordinating repatriation. First Secretary Tariq Masroor was credited with leading the efforts.

The majority of those released are from Sindh’s coastal area and Karachi. During fishing trips, many were detained after unintentionally entering Indian waters, frequently due to malfunctioning gear or rough seas. Five members of the same family who were arrested in January 2022 were among the released civilians. 

Twenty-one inmates were detained in Gujarat, 39 in Porbandar, one in Rajasthan, one in Hyderabad, one in Ludhiana, and four in Amritsar jails, according to authorities.

Muhammad Rizwan of Karachi, one of the released fishermen, revealed that he had been detained at the age of 19 while fishing with 14 other people. 

It is said that two of them passed away while in Indian captivity. While Rizwan and his father were set free, a number of his friends are still behind bars.

Security officials in Lahore confirmed that the repatriated prisoners would undergo clearance and questioning before returning to their families.

The release comes weeks after both countries exchanged lists of prisoners on July 1, 2025. India announced that it had 463 Pakistanis in its custody, including 382 civilians and 81 fisherman, whereas Pakistan claimed to be holding 246 Indians, including 193 fishermen and 53 civilians.

A senior ex-naval officer has told a private news channel that the Pakistan Navy, with the support of China, has discovered vast gas reserves deep beneath the sea in a joint survey initiated under the vision of the Chief of Naval Staff.

The revelation came from Rear Admiral (retd) Fawad Amin Baig on the prestigious occasion of Pakistan Navy Day, observed on September 8 to honour the heroics of the sentinels of the country’s seas.

Speaking on a private media outlet’s political show, Baig maintained, “The country’s waters are not only rich in minerals but also home to a treasure trove of marine resources that could change our economic outlook if tapped wisely.”

“The Pakistan Navy played a central role in exploring these resources,” he added.

Baig noted that a detailed survey carried out with Chinese assistance confirmed that the country’s seabed holds significant gas deposits, stressing that the next step must be to attract investors. 

He said that with the right funding and technology, this hidden wealth could be put to use for Pakistan’s development.

Pointing to the challenges, Baig stated, “Whenever Pakistan moves towards progress, hostile fifth-generation warfare tactics drive investors away.” However, he added that with the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) and the combined efforts of the military and political leadership, a new defence strategy is in place to give Pakistan a stronger economy.

China and Pakistan are working closely to boost mining cooperation and promote the implementation of a pact on strengthening mining development and industrial cooperation, according to a joint statement from the two countries issued last year.

China will strengthen cooperation with Pakistan in areas such as marine oil and gas resources and natural gas hydrates and will encourage Chinese firms to participate in the development of offshore oil and gas blocks in Pakistan, added the statement.

The Hindu community in Pakistan celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi Visarjan in the vibrant city of Karachi last week, leaving Indian netizens startled, as many were surprised to see such a large and open display of Hindu festivals across the border.

Ganesh Chaturthi Visarjan is a festival that marks the birth of Lord Ganesha, the god of wisdom in the Hindu religion. 

Several videos surfaced online, showing the palanquin (palki) of Lord Ganesh being carried from Mirpur Mathelo Colony and travelling 30 kilometres to Mathelo Sahib, where the idol of Lord Ganesha was immersed in the Indus River. 

The video also shows thousands of Hindu devotees embarking on a spiritual journey, walking and dancing the entire path while chanting bhajans and singing praises of their Lord.

As the videos were disseminated all over social media, some Indian netizens did not believe the festival had been celebrated in Pakistan. 

“Ye Pakistan hai hi nahi pagal kisko bana rahy hu Ye Mumbai Ka koi jagah hai Maine Dekha bhi hai same (Who are you making a fool of? This isn’t even Pakistan. This is somewhere in Mumbai. I’ve even seen it. It looks exactly the same),”  said incredulous user in the comments section of the viral reel on Instagram.

“These videos are fake; Pakistan cannot show such a view,” said another user.

“But we are shown another angle of Pakistan on the news,” a third user expressed awe, exposing Indian hypernationalist media. “Bollywood kay bahir ki dunya (World outside Bollywood),” mocked one person, pointing to the increasingly anti-Pakistan sentiment being shown in the film industry. 

“It is good. Now, we have come to know through social media that the Hindu community in Pakistan celebrates all festivals in the country. Otherwise, we were told that they were barred from celebrating it,” said another netizen.

Meanwhile, sharing a video on X (formerly Twitter), one person wrote, “This scene is not from Maharashtra or Gujarat. It is from Pakistan, where all Hindus came together and celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi with great enthusiasm.” 

Last month, members of Pakistan’s Hindu community became the subject of a viral video showing them celebrating Krishna Janmashtami in Sindh’s Hyderabad.

The woman recording the video can be heard challenging the claim that Pakistan had a declining Hindu population amid persecution, highlighting the number of participants at the annual festival celebrating the birth of Krishna.

“You cannot imagine how many people are here. I have never seen [so many] people at Janmashtami anywhere in my life,” she said in the video that was purportedly recorded on Aug 16 when the festival was celebrated.