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Category: Politics

  • PM Shehbaz announces Rs5 million for families of victims in PTI’s long march

    PM Shehbaz announces Rs5 million for families of victims in PTI’s long march

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif has announced a compensatory amount of Rs5 million (Rs50 lac) for the families of each victim who died during Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) ongoing long march.

    In a tweet, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb, said that the PM has directed authorities to immediately complete the procedure and deliver the cheques to the families of the victims.

    A statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said: “The Prime Minister, while expressing his grief over the tragic deaths during the recent long march of a political party, has been pleased to announce financial assistance of Rs.5 million each in favour of legal heirs of the deceased.”

    According to the PMO statement, the compensation would be extended to the next of kin of Moazzam Gondal, Sadaf Naeem, Samir Nawaz, and Hassam Baloch. Three of the four victims lost their lives after they were run over by PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s container and one was killed in the Wazirabad shooting where the PTI chief was attacked.

    “The Prime Minister has further been pleased to direct that the cheque(s) of financial assistance shall be handed over to the families of the deceased persons immediately after completing the procedural requirements,” the statement reads.

  • Who is Khurram Hameed Rokhri and why is PTI distancing itself from him?

    Who is Khurram Hameed Rokhri and why is PTI distancing itself from him?

    Estranged Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Major (retired) Khurram Hameed Khan Rokhri revealed on Thursday the timeline of “backchannel talks” between the PTI and the establishment, as he denounced former premier Imran Khan’s allegations against senior intelligence official Major General Faisal Naseer.

    In an interview with Hamid Mir on Geo News, Rokhri recalled that a few days after PTI leader Dr Shahbaz Gill was arrested, a meeting was held in Bani Gala where it was discussed that a new intelligence officer had been posted in Islamabad with the aim to “eliminate PTI and Chairman Imran Khan’s narrative”.

    “When Gen Faisal Naseer’s name was taken, I said hold on a minute. Now I know Gen Naseer the same way you know other people in Geo News or anyone in the media” he told Mir.

    “[PTI leader] Salman Ahmed asked me then what was the narrative… the next day they were going to a rally in Jhelum and I told Salman to tell Khan this… I will cut things short here,” he revealed.

    “So Salman tells Khan that the opinion of a close aide of yours […] about Gen Faisal Naseer […] is not the same as what people around you say. When Khan asked him who that person was, Salman replied it is Maj Khurram,” he recalled. PTI chief asked Salman to direct Rokhri to confront the officer.

    “I called the Major General and told him I wanted to meet him. When I met him, I asked the general if he had been posted [in Islamabad] for this reason,” he said. Gen Naseer told him that he was posted the day Gen Sarfraz was martyred, some 20 days back, he confirmed.

    Rokhri then recalled Faisal Naseer’s reply, “I am a professional man… why would I want to do this… Imran Khan is the leader of the biggest political party of Pakistan… he is a hero of the country… why would I want this. And if someone is telling Imran this, please go and tell him that there is nothing as such.”

    “The PTI sent me the conditions for talks, which I forwarded to the persons being named. They agreed to meet but suggested a place other than theirs or ours.”

    Rokhri added that Salman later called him to Islamabad for meeting with Imran, but he could not meet the PTI chief despite a long wait. He was called again, according to Rokhri, but he could not meet the party chief. He added that he refused to meet when he was called for the third time after the attack on Imran.

    He said he wanted to normalise the situation but refused, telling them (PTI leaders) that he would not be part of the game they had started. He quipped, “Hasn’t Alvi Sahib arranged the meeting?”

    The PTI leader said he spoke the truth about the general officer on a TV channel, but the abusive brigade started targeting him. He added that Faisal Vawda was also sincerely trying to defuse the situation, but the “abusive brigade” went after him.

    At one point during the interview, the retired major also said that Khan was being “misled” by a few people who were “roaming around him”, adding that the one well-wisher the former premier had was his sister Aleema Khan. However, he regretted that the PTI chief never listened to her.

    He added that Khan was wrongly convicted in the Toshakhana refere­nce and asserted that Gen Naseer had nothing to do with the alleged custodial torture of Shahbaz Gill.

    Meanwhile, hours after Rokhri made the startling revelations, former information minister Fawad Chaudhry questioned who he was.

    “Yeah kon hein? [Who is this?]” asked the senior PTI leader in response to a clip of journalist Hamid Mir’s programme ‘Capital Talk’ with Rokhri.

    Shahbaz Gill tweeted, “Who is this, sir? Never seen or heard of him before. God knows who will emerge as the leader of Tehreek-e-Insaf in the future.”

    On the other hand, an account with Rokhri’s name on Twitter uploaded an image of him with Fawad. It was unclear if the account belonged to the retired army officer.

    However social media users had dug up pictures of Major Rokhri with multiple leaders of PTI including Imran Khan.

    https://twitter.com/masoodch6/status/1590802075927343104?s=20&t=6Yn2Ih0BIFXvSKoiLdH7Hw

    However, PTI suspended the membership of Rokhri after he debunked party chief Imran Khan’s allegation against a senior army officer.

    “After consultation with higher party leadership, basic party membership of Major (R) Khurram Hameed Khan Rokhart has been terminated,” PTI’s Mianwali President Saleem Gul Khan said in a notification.

  • Key person in Judge Arshad Malik’s scandal speaks up

    Key person in Judge Arshad Malik’s scandal speaks up

    Mian Saleem Raza, a key character in the Judge Arshad Malik’s video sandal, has said that a senior official of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) met him in London in the first week of October 2019 asking him to make a false confessional statement against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif or face financial ruin including being added in the “most wanted terrorists” list, reports The News.

    When the video scandal first came to light, it was alleged by Shahzad Akbar, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s former accountability minister, that it was Raza who had paid Rs.20 million to Mian Tariq to buy a secretly filmed private video of the accountability judge. Raza, however, rejected all allegations of blackmail against him made by the FIA and Shahzad Akbar.

    “I told him I cannot lie about Nawaz Sharif because he had no connection of any kind with Judge Arshad Malik’s video scandals. He threatened that I will meet a very horrible fate and that my whole family will suffer if I didn’t cooperate. He promised that I will pay a big financial price and will be added to the list of terrorists. Every threat he made was executed later on. When the FIA officer kept calling me, I switched off my phone as he was threatening me and causing me stress,” Raza narrated.

    “The same official (who followed me to London) had visited my house in Lahore in 2019 with two other FIA officials on July 7 and 8, after Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s press conference in Model Town with other PML-N leaders. The FIA officials told me they were prepared to organise a meeting with Shahzad Akbar if I agreed to become a witness against Nawaz Sharif,” shared Raza who has not returned to Pakistan since July 2019.

    Raza’s name was added to the “most wanted terrorists” list after one of the main accused Tariq told FIA on October 1, 2019, in an alleged confessional statement that he had sold out the immoral video of the former accountability court judge to Raza for Rs.20 million.

    Raza said that he told the FIA in Lahore that he had visited Nawaz Sharif in Kot Lakhpat jail several times but all meetings were held in the presence of others and the ex-premier never asked him for anything, never gave him any task and never discussed anything about his legal cases.

    “I told the FIA that Nawaz Sharif knew me only as his follower who loved him, visited him in jail and followed him everywhere. The FIA didn’t like this factual statement and asked me to lie and say that he (Nawaz Sharif) had asked me and arranged money to pay to Mian Tariq but I told them this was not true. They told me that I should lie and have a comfortable life or else they will make my life difficult. They were asking me why I met Nawaz Sharif so many times in jail. They were not interested in the truth so I decided to flee from Pakistan to save my life,” he added.

    “Judge Arshad Malik visited my home in Lahore’s Dharam Pura on July 1, 2019, on his own accord with Mian Tariq in his official car but without his security protocol. I didn’t know that Tariq will bring a judge to my house, I found it was Malik after he entered into my house.”

    “Judge Arshad Malik openly told people whom he met that he was regretful and felt guilty that he had convicted Nawaz Sharif. He told the same to me when I met him. He told me that Nawaz Sharif was an innocent man who was wronged to manipulate elections and deprive him of power. Malik told me and others he could not sleep at night after convicting Nawaz Sharif wrongly and felt so guilty in conscience that he wanted to do a press conference to tell the world how he was blackmailed to convict Nawaz Sharif.”

    “Arshad Malik asked to convey his apologies and regrets to Nawaz Sharif during my next visit to jail but I told him that Nawaz Sharif will not like such a thing and I told him that it was not my place to convey such messages as this will upset Nawaz Sharif. He was insisting but I told him I was not in a position to do that. I never passed any message to Nawaz Sharif or anyone in the Sharif family. I had no other role or dealing with him as I had no other means to guide him on what to do. I have no idea how he got introduced to Nasir Butt,” he stated.

    “After the video scandal broke out, Mian Tariq was tortured in custody by the FIA and treated like a terrorist to the extent that half of his body was paralysed. He was tortured until he agreed to make a false statement against me to save his life. He took back his statement against me as soon as he was out on bail and told me that he was tortured to make the confessional statement. He has become a living tragedy and Shahzad Akbar was the one who ordered his torture to make Imran Khan happy,” he added.

    “I had never met any of them before but the FIA and Shahzad Akbar lied that I conspired with them. I had no relation with any videos, payments or anything like that.”

    Raza has called on Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah to look into his case and hold an independent inquiry into the conduct of the FIA against him. “I request Rana Sanaullah and PM Shehbaz Sharif to look into my case and remove my name from the list of most wanted terrorists. I have not committed any crime. I want to visit my country and family as a free man and I need clearance. I have done nothing wrong by not lying about Nawaz Sharif,” he appealed.

    “The FIA didn’t spare my children even in school. I don’t blame the PTI government but I do want to ask Shahzad Akbar why he did this to me. What happened to me and other innocent people in this case is a crime against humanity. My family life and business are ruined just because I refused to lie and implicate Nawaz Sharif,” the former trader from Lahore said.

    Living in London ever since the video scandal, Raza said his own family and friends abandoned him after he got into difficulties and he was treated for depression and mental trauma in London. “I got courage after seeing what happened to Nawaz Sharif and how he had to pay a heavy personal and political price. I will request the government of Pakistan to look into my case and help me get justice,” he concluded.

  • Only seven women out of 110 world leaders in climate change conference

    Only seven women out of 110 world leaders in climate change conference

    Out of the 110 world leaders who showed up to discuss climate issues at the Climate change conference (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, only seven are women. This disproportionate representation was in stark contrast to the fact that women are most affected by the climate crisis.

    Former Minister of Environment and Climate Change of Canada, Catherine McKenna thinks male leaders at COP27 should allow women to take their podium time.

    In an op-ed for Scientific American, McKenna, along with climate researcher Amy Myers Jaffe, said, “This is especially critical as attendees discuss how the countries of the Global North, responsible for most of the world’s carbon output, should help the Global South deal with the effects of that pollution. The perspectives of women, whose voices are underrepresented in climate discussions, are instrumental to solving the climate crisis in a more just and equitable fashion and can contribute powerfully to our understanding of climate action across the globe.”

    According to United Nations (UN) report, women and girls experience the greatest impacts of climate change, which amplifies existing gender inequalities and poses unique threats to their livelihoods, health, and safety.

    Seventy per cent of the 1.3 billion people living in poverty are women. In urban areas, 40 per cent of the poorest households are headed by women. Women predominate in the world’s food production (50-80 per cent), but they own less than 10 per cent of the land.

  • COAS Bajwa is making farewell visits, is he really going to retire?

    COAS Bajwa is making farewell visits, is he really going to retire?

    Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited Sialkot and Mangla garrisons to bid farewell to various formations, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Thursday.

    The head of the armed forces met officers and men at both locations and addressed the troops even as speculations raged about whether the Chief will ask for or be offered an extension of tenure.

    At the garrison, General Bajwa appreciated the formations for their excellent performance during various operations, training, and natural calamities. Moreover, he also advised them to keep serving the nation with zeal and commitment regardless of circumstances.

    According to the military’s media wing, on his arrival in Sialkot, the COAS was received by Lieutenant General Muhammad Aamer and by Lieutenant General Ayman Bilal Safdar at Mangla garrison.

    Earlier this week, COAS Bajwa visited Peshawar Corps Headquarters where he urged officers to stay focused on their professional duties and serve the nation. A few weeks ago, the army chief also took the top military commanders into confidence about his retirement plan.

    Last month, during an informal talk at the National Defence University (NDU) the COAS reportedly stated that he would retire on the due date—November 29. The statement however did not quell rumors about an extension in his service tenure.

    Qamar Javed Bajwa is set to retire after six years in office. He was appointed in 2016 by then-Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif and later granted an additional three-year extension in 2019 by former PM Imran Khan.

    It has been reported this week that suggestions were made to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the leadership of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) by “certain elements” to convince the COAS to continue as the head of the armed forces.

    Some reports suggested that the government was told to give an extension to the incumbent army chief, and dissolve the government so that an interim government could be formed which would then continue for six to seven months.

    The Chief’s farewell visits might now finally put all speculation to rest.

  • ‘My eldest son always wanted me out of politics’: Imran Khan

    ‘My eldest son always wanted me out of politics’: Imran Khan

    Imran Khan, the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and former Prime Minister has said in an interview that his life was in danger and he received immense death threats when he was campaigning against the incumbent government that was “imposed on the nation”.

    Talking to British television presenter Piers Morgan, he said, “I came into politics to fight these two families. When they brought them back through a conspiracy and imposed them on us, I decided that I was not going to sit at home.”

    The former premier again named PM Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and an intelligence officer as the conspirators behind the assassination attempt on him in Wazirabad. He urged Chief Justice (CJ) Umar Ata Bandial to look into the matter.

    Talking about slain journalist Arshad Sharif, he said, “He was hounded out of Pakistan, and the same intelligence officers were involved”.

    Narrating the firing incident, the PTI chief said the firing of shots sounded like firecrackers. “It felt like a burning sensation”, Khan recalled.

    He again claimed that there were two shooters at the scene who attacked him.

    Khan said that it took him two hours after the attack to reach Shaukat Khanum Hospital, Lahore from Wazirabad.

    “I went to the hospital after a two hours drive, and the moment I got there I spoke to my sons and of course to my wife. My wife was remarkable. The fact I was safe, she was relieved but my boys were worried.”

    Imran disclosed that his eldest son [Sulaiman] always differed with his decision to join politics. “He was quite worried when I was shot”, he said.

    “Sulaiman is very sensitive, he always wanted me to out of politics,” Imran said.

    “The moment my legs heal, I am going to be out again,” Khan said, during the interview. He claimed that he could be attacked again.

    “People are so worried in my country, I never had this feeling before because they know the guys who missed this time, they would try again,” Khan added.

    He also said that his party [PTI] is going to sweep elections this time.

    The PTI chief said his remarks about the significance of Pakistan’s ties with the United States (US) had always been clear.

    “It’s a superpower,” Imran said in response to a question. He underlined that it was unthinkable that one would not want to have good ties with the US.

    “I have only one issue. Pakistan-US relationships have been like a transactional master-slave relationship. We degrade ourselves, I think we allow ourselves to be used like a tissue paper,” he stressed.

    He said he wanted a relationship that mirrors the one that the USA has with India.

    Commenting on the election of Rishi Sunak as the first-Indian origin British PM, Imran said he was surprised at his election.

    “I must confess that I never thought that a day would come that Britain would be ready for an Indian-origin PM,” Imran said.

  • Sharif brothers agree on resisting PTI pressure: reports

    Sharif brothers agree on resisting PTI pressure: reports

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif agreed not to succumb under Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) pressure, especially on their Chairman Imran Khan’s key demand of early elections, reports Geo News.

    The Premier, who is currently in London, had a meeting that lasted for over three hours with only Nawaz, Maryam Nawaz, Suleman Sharif, Hasan and Hussain Nawaz and a few other family members present. No one from the party was asked to join the meeting.

    Nawaz told Shehbaz to “continue doing his best to take Pakistan out of the economic crisis” and “not succumb to any kind of pressure”.

    According to the news report, when Shehbaz Sharif was asked if he will be discussing the appointment of the next army chief with his sibling, the PM said: “I have come today to meet my elder brother and my family. I am meeting them and their children after a long time.”

    After the end of the meeting, he was again pressed as to when the next chief of army staff will be appointed but the PM dodged the question, stating instead that the meeting was a family get together with and said: “ my brother, my nieces, my nephews and rest of the family too. We had lunch, gup shup and congratulations to all of you on Pakistan’s (cricket) win.”

    This visit to London is the third such trip since Shehbaz became prime minister in April. Sharif’s visit to London comes two weeks before the end of General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s tenure. The army chief is set to retire on November 29.

    It has been reported that Shehbaz will consult Nawaz on the appointment of the Pakistan army chief.

  • Arshad Sharif ke nakhun utaray gaye, 3 ghantay tashadud keeya gaya, reveals Kamran Shahid

    Arshad Sharif ke nakhun utaray gaye, 3 ghantay tashadud keeya gaya, reveals Kamran Shahid

    Pakistani journalist and prime-time news anchor Arshad Sharif was brutally tortured for over three hours, Kamran Shahid has revealed on his show. Shahid narrated horrifying details of Arshad Sharif’s autopsy report, including that his nails had been pulled out, his fingers and ribs were also broken and that he had been shot from a close range, including one that was fired at his head.

    The “On the Front” host further said that there were 10 American instructors and trainers at the shooting range that Sharif had visited before being killed.

    “At eight o clock on the night of October 23, Arshad Sharif was shot while sitting in the car with Khurram, who took him [Arshad Sharif] by a long route instead of the usual one on the day the anchorperson was martyred,” he said.

    It was also revealed in Dunya News program that Khurram usually used the shooting range road, but that night he took the Magadi Highway route instead, despite its longer distance.

    On his program, Kamran Shahid showed pictures of Arshad Sharif’s body, including close-up photos of his hands, fingers, wrist and a bullet wound.

    Shahid later took to Twitter and wrote, “Deleted video of my show that shows the pics of the hands of late Arshad Shareef in the respect of the family — intention is only to pressurise this Govt to tell the truth about his brutal murder— issue the post mortem report and find the killers!”

  • ‘I’m not joining any political party’: Mustafa Khokhar denies rumours of joining PTI

    ‘I’m not joining any political party’: Mustafa Khokhar denies rumours of joining PTI

    Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, senator from the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), has formally submitted his resignation from the upper house.

    “Allhamdulillah, I have formally submitted my resignation today. I’m thankful for the positive response & support across party lines which was far beyond my imagination,” he said while announcing the resignation.

    “For those who are speculating about my political future, let me state clearly that I’m not joining any political party. I will try hard to maintain my independence,” the tweet added.

    “Allhamdulillah, I have formally submitted my resignation today. I’m thankful for the positive response & support across party lines which was far beyond my imagination,” he said while announcing the resignation.

    “For those who are speculating about my political future, let me state clearly that I’m not joining any political party. I will try hard to maintain my independence,” the tweet added.

    Social media users are praising the former senator.

    https://twitter.com/UxamaAftab/status/1590618643947474944

    Khokhar had said that he had “gladly” agreed to resign from the upper house after a senior party leader had conveyed the leadership’s unhappiness with his “political positions”.

    In a series of bombshell tweets, Khokhar wrote, “Met a senior leader from the party today. He conveyed that the party leadership wasn’t happy with my political positions and wanted my resignation from the Senate. I gladly agreed to resign.”

  • Khan-Bajwa friendship kharab honay lagi when Bajwa told Khan to make Aleem Khan Punjab CM and Khan said no

    Khan-Bajwa friendship kharab honay lagi when Bajwa told Khan to make Aleem Khan Punjab CM and Khan said no

    Former Prime Minister and Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, in an exclusive interview to Dawn, talked about his relationship with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Qamar General Javed Bajwa.


    “The army chief wanted me to appoint Aleem Khan [as CM Punjab] and I wouldn’t. Because not only were there NAB cases against him, he had occupied and sold land worth millions belonging to the government,” Imran Khan said while discussing how his infamously close relationship with the Chief went sour.


    “We always thought they were just allegations. And he defended himself. But when I asked the vice chairman of the LDA [about Aleem], he showed me on a map how Aleem Khan had occupied government land. This was around the end of my second year, and beginning of the third of my government, said Khan while answering a question why did he include Aleem in his party.

    “They were organised, you could get their help, we were on the same page regarding foreign policy. It was just the last six months, the issue of them making deals with these crooks when they should be behind bars,” he added.


    Imran Khan talked about former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif who also had a falling out with the establishment. “The army was going after these people before I came to power. 95 per cent of these cases preceded my government. The Nawaz Sharif case, the Avenfield case… he would not have got convicted had the army not provided the two brigadiers in the JITs — that was before me.”

    Admitting that he doesn’t know about the internal politics of the army, Imran emphasized that his relationship with them was “going well”, however, “Later, I discovered there was a big issue going on about the next army chief. I had never ever thought about who the army chief would be in November — why would I care, if it’s on merit? It should be the best person. It matters to the Sharifs and Zardari… but not to me.”


    Imran further said that he was hopeful that the Army would help him when he will try to bring rule of law in the country, adding “NAB was controlled by the army. I couldn’t do anything. They would say, ‘yes there are cases, we are working on it’. But nothing would happen. I discovered that, actually, the establishment controlled NAB and proceeded as it wanted… It was to control politicians by having files about their corruption. They would squeeze someone, but then he would be out on bail.”


    Talking about the allegations that General Faiz Hamid is his man, Khan said, “General Faiz was the only general I knew, because he was working with me as the ISI chief… and I didn’t know anyone else. I told Gen Bajwa ‘I will take your recommendations because I don’t know the other guys’, but at the time my worry was Afghanistan. I feared it would go into civil war. And I felt Americans would blame us and we would be sanctioned. Ashraf Ghani told me there are 300,000 Afghan soldiers and they will be outnumbered. Not just Ashraf Ghani, ISI was telling us there will be civil war [in Afghanistan]. I wanted Gen Faiz to stay till the winter till the transition happened,” he stated.