Current Final

Category: Politics

  • Fayyaz Chohan compares PTI to Trump regime for repeated changes in Punjab govt

    Fayyaz Chohan compares PTI to Trump regime for repeated changes in Punjab govt

    Spokesperson Punjab Government, Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chohan, made a comparison between the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) with the regime of former United States (US) President Donald Trump.

    “Donald Trump’s administration’s 38 positions were changed around three to six times during his five years in power,” said Chohan while speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’.

    Chohan was questioned about the continuous changes in the bureaucracy and police in Punjab.

    “No one from the world except for PTI would have made a comparison with Trump’s regime,” said anchorperson Shahzeb Khanzada.

    Adding to his response, Khanzada said, “Changes in administration should be based on performance. Trump’s regime was blamed that the repetitive changes in his administration were mostly because of his partiality, political disliking, and preferences. PTI too is being blamed for the same reason.”

    In 2018, IG Kaleem Imam was changed over the dispute with Divisional Police Officer (DPO) Pakpatan. Muhammad Tahir was changed because he refused to abide by the instruction on the Model Town case. Amjad Javed Saleemi was changed because he was not cooperating with National Accountability Bureau (NAB) during the leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, Hamza Shehbaz’s arrest.

    “All the people who have been removed from their positions have been because of personal preferences,” commented Khanzada.

    “If people are being changed for better results, it is fine,” added Fayyaz Chohan.

    “These changes are better than Ahad Cheema, Fawad Hassan Fawad or Dr Syed Tauqir Hussain Shah, who were involved in money laundering, murders and doing things on behalf of the chief minister (CM),” said Chohan.

    “None of the claims against these people were proved by the government. So my question is: what is the criteria to check the performance?” asked Khanzada.

    “I don’t think administrative changes have anything to do with or in any way has an effect on the performance of the government,” said Fayyaz Chohan.

    Yesterday, the federal cabinet approved the appointment of Kamran Ali Afzal as the Punjab chief secretary and Sardar Ali Khan as Punjab inspector general of police (IGP) with immediate effect.

    Afzal is the fifth Punjab chief secretary while Khan is the seventh IGP during the three years of PTI’s government.

    CM Usman Buzdar had reportedly recommended the names.

  • Taliban announce interim cabinet, Mullah Hasan Akhund to lead new Taliban government

    Taliban announce interim cabinet, Mullah Hasan Akhund to lead new Taliban government

    Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid on Tuesday announced members of the new interim government in Afghanistan.

    Afghanistan will be led by Mohammad Hasan Akhund while the group’s co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar will be the deputy Afghan leader.

    Taliban’s deputy leader Sirajuddin Haqqani will be the acting interior minister, political chief Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai will be the deputy foreign minister and Mullah Yaqoob will be the defence minister, he added. Mullah Yaqoob is Mullah Omar’s son.

    Qari Fasihuddin will be the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Mullah Abdul Haq Wasiq head of National Directorate of Security (NDS).

    The heads of various other ministries will be appointed soon, Mujahid added.

    The heads of various other ministries will be appointed soon, Mujahid added.

    The Taliban spokesperson said Afghanistan had “gained freedom”, stressing that “only the will of Afghans” will be applicable in the country.

    “After today, no one will be able to interfere in Afghanistan,” he emphasised.

  • PTI reacts to report on false claims of ministers and govt officials

    PTI reacts to report on false claims of ministers and govt officials

    Journalist Benazir Shah’s exclusive report featured on Geo News highlighted the misleading claims of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) numerous ministers and government officials.

    Since the PTI came to power in 2018, its lawmakers and officials have made the most of ‘fake news’ and used it to discredit journalists, media organisations, and the party’s opponents.

    “The offending language is often used to distort the truth and to undermine journalism, which aims to keep the powerful in check. When in reality those handing out the label of ‘fake news’ have occasionally stumbled themselves, especially when communicating with the public. A large number of ministers and government officials from the ruling party have fallen for false and misleading claims. In some instances, clarifications are issued, but in others, no corrections have been made to date,” read the report.

    September 2021: Minister of State Ali Muhammad Khan claims that Quaid-e-Azam went to jail

    Claim: Minister of State, Ali Muhammad Khan while speaking on 92 News programme, ‘Hard Talk Pakistan with Moeed Pirzada’ said, “We made the country. In 1947, my grandfather, Muhammad Wakeel Khan, went jail with Quaid-e-Azam.”

    Truth: There is no claim to the fact that the founder of Pakistan was ever arrested.

    August 2021: The ministry of information released a report, which incorrectly flag pro-state tweets as ‘anti-state’

    Claim: A report was released by the Digital Media Wing (DMW) of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting titled, ‘Anti-State Trends: Deep Analytics Report’. It was deeply misleading and based on assumptions instead of facts.

    “The purpose of this report was to ascertain factual data and to analyse social media trends that were anti-state, Data was collected after analysing Pakistan Twitter Panel from June 2019- August 2021. Those hashtags were marked for data collection where the content of tweets was planned and propagated through a network to spread anti-state trends,” General Manager of the Digital Media Wing (DMW), Imran Ghazali told The Current.

    Truth: The report seemed to declare all the users in the report as anti-state until one prominent journalist reached out to the government and they eventually added the disclaimer after the report was published.

    June 2020: Minister of State Zartaj Gul claimed that ‘Covid-19’ actually has 19-points, hence the name

    Claim: Minister of State for Climate Change, Zartaj Gul, while speaking on PTV said that Covid-19 actually has 19 points, which can be applied to any country to combat coronavirus.

    Truth: Covid-19 is actually a short form for Coronavirus disease.

    June 2020: Prime Minister Imran Khan misquotes Allama Iqbal 

    Claim: In a tweet, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan shared an image, which had poetry written on it along with Allama Iqbal’s picture, and wrote, “This poem by Iqbal reflects how I try to lead my life. I urge our youth to understand and absorb the poem of the great Iqbal and I guarantee them that it will release their great God-given potential that we all possess as His greatest creation Ashraf ul Mukhluqat.”

    Truth: PM Khan later tweeted, “I stand corrected – this is not Allama Iqbal’s poem but the message conveyed is what I have stood by and tried to follow.”

    May 2020: Minister Murad Saeed insists the governor of New York wants to follow Pakistan’s model of contact tracing

    Claim: Minister for Communication Murad Saeed, while addressing the National Assembly, said that the governor of New York wanted to follow Pakistan’s model of contact tracing after PM Khan gave the concept of smart lockdown.

    Truth: As per the report published on Geo, not a single briefing of the governor was found stating the claim made by the minister.

    September 2019: Minister of Human Rights Shireen Mazari shares incorrect video

    Claim: Minister of Human Rights Shireen Mazari shared an incorrect video on Twitter and wrote, “Indian occupation forces can’t even bare to see fruit trees live in IOJK – lest the Muslim Kashmiris eat the fruit. Such is the barbarism of the Rogue Modi Govt’s fascist hate-filled mindset. #Kashmir”

    Truth: The video shared was from Himachal Pradesh, 2018 when India, after a court order against illegal forest encroachment, ordered the trees to be chopped.

    May 2019: Minister Fawad Chaudhry claims that the Hubble telescope was sent into space by Suparco

    Claim: Fawad Chaudhry while speaking on Geo News programme, Naya Pakistan said that the Hubble telescope was sent into space by Suparco, the national space agency of Pakistan.

    Truth: Hubble was deployed by NASA.

    However, the ruling party reacted to the report.

  • CM Buzdar’s recommendation appointed as seventh IGP, fifth Punjab chief secretary

    CM Buzdar’s recommendation appointed as seventh IGP, fifth Punjab chief secretary

    The federal cabinet has approved the appointment of Kamran Ali Afzal as the Punjab chief secretary and Sardar Ali Khan as Punjab inspector general of police (IGP) with immediate effect, reported Dawn.

    Afzal is the fifth Punjab chief secretary while Khan is the seventh IGP during the three years of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.

    According to official sources, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar had recommended three names each for the new Punjab chief secretary and the IGP to Prime Minister Imran Khan.

    For the chief secretary, CM Buzdar had reportedly recommended the names of Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera, Afzal, and Babar Hayat Tarrar and for IGP his picks were Khan, Zafar Iqbal and Mohsin Butt.

  • ‘Justice is necessary to uplift the common person’: PM Khan

    ‘Justice is necessary to uplift the common person’: PM Khan

    Addressing a ceremony at the groundbreaking of the Islamabad District Courts’ building on Tuesday, Prime Minister Imran Khan said, “Justice is necessary to uplift the common person.”

    “If you want to uplift the common person […] then it is necessary to provide them justice as well and a society becomes free when it gets justice,” said PM Khan.

    PM Khan attributed Pakistan’s decline to a lack of rule of law.

    “Whatever banana republics are there aren’t because of lack of resources but because of the rule of power instead of rule of law,” he said, adding that “two Pakistans” were created in the country with different treatment between the people.

    “The biggest injustice Gen Musharraf did to the country was giving NRO,” the premier said, adding that Musharraf didn’t have a right to give NRO to the powerful because the looted money was not his but the nation’s.

    “Only a society that upholds the rule of law is prosperous,” Prime Minister Imran Khan said.

    “I was saying 25 years ago that the country can only progress when the courts are free,” he added.

  • ‘Army chief agrees fake news, disinformation a threat to national security’: Fawad

    ‘Army chief agrees fake news, disinformation a threat to national security’: Fawad

    Federal Minister for information and Broadcasting, Fawad Chaudhry took to Twitter and said, “Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, while addressing the Defence Day function, said fake news and disinformation were a threat to national security.”

    Fawad wrote, “This analysis is based on the truth, and therefore the Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA) is being brought to deal with these threats, as yellow journalism happens to be the biggest threat to freedom of media.”

    Representatives of media organisations rejected the proposed PMDA and termed the concept as an unconstitutional and draconian law against the freedom of press and expression and a step toward imposing state control to regulate all segments of media under over-centralised body.

    The Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a statement said that as part of its crackdown on freedom of expression, the government of Pakistan is seeking broad new powers in the garb of the proposed PMDA.

    Information Minister faced a hard time as members of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting demanded to see the draft law of PMDA.

    Spokesperson of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Marriyum Aurangzeb, demanded that the draft of the law should be presented for the establishment of the authority instead of a verbal briefing by the minister.

    Adding to her point, Aurangzeb said, “The attitude of the information minister was dictatorial.”

    However, Fawad Chaudhry said that some people did not want to have any regulations in the media industry, adding that Pakistan cannot turn a blind eye to conspiracies being formulated against it.

  • ‘We need privacy, keep media out of courtroom’: Zahir Jaffer

    Zahir Jaffer, the prime suspect in the Noor Mukadam case, asked police officials to keep media persons out of the courtroom, Mona Khan reported for Independent Urdu. While appearing for the hearing of the case today, Zahir told police officials: “We have privacy, keep the media out of the courtroom.”

    Moreover, Zahir’s mother Asmat Adamjee asked police officials to delete a video from the phone of a cameraman of a private news channel. Police officials then took the phone from the cameraman and deleted the video clip.

    Zahir came for the hearing today in Islamabad District and Sessions court with a new haircut. The prime suspect was wearing a brown shalwar kameez and was talking to police officials in Urdu. Earlier, Zahir had said that he does not understand Urdu.

    The police submitted the challan of the case today.

    Therapy Works CEO Dr Tahir Zahoor, while addressing a press conference on Saturday, said that Zahir Jaffer is an alcoholic who has been playing lunatic after murdering Noor Mukadam.

  • Indian media runs Arma-3 game clip, calls it Pakistan Air Force attacking Panjshir

    Indian media runs Arma-3 game clip, calls it Pakistan Air Force attacking Panjshir

    Republic TV and Zee Hindustan ran footage from a video game Arma-3 as visuals claiming that it was the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) attacking the anti-Taliban fighters in Panjshir Valley.

    The channel aired the footage stating it was from Hasti TV and shows airstrikes by Pakistani drones in Panjshir Valley against resistance fighters.

    Republic TV posted the video with the caption, “Pakistan army supporting Taliban against Northern Alliance in Panjshir”. During the broadcast, the anchor can be heard repeating the claim that the footage shows airstrikes in Panjshir and claiming that Pakistan was behind it.

    Various Indian media outlets shared the fake video, claiming it as Pakistani Air Force attacking Panjshir.

    The video started doing the rounds on Twitter.

    Indian journalist Swati Chaturvedi tweeted, “No bigger disgrace to journalism than the shouty clown & his channel.”

    A Twitter user tweeted, “It’s not that Pakistani 5th Gen Warriors aren’t as skilled, but I think they just lack the sheer brazen confidence that Indian 5th Gen Warriors have.”

    Another person tweeted, “Indian media in a nutshell.”

    https://twitter.com/Ibn_e_Channa/status/1434840247553122304

    Schooling the channel for fake news, a Twitter user wrote, “This is so embarrassing and misleading at the same time. It’s a shame that we let channels like @republic test our sensibilities time and again. Shame on us for letting them exist.”

  • Defence Day: Pakistani leaders pay tribute to martyrs

    Defence Day: Pakistani leaders pay tribute to martyrs

    Pakistan paid a befitting tribute to the country’s armed forces, as it observed Defence Day with traditional spirit and enthusiasm.

    This year’s Defence and Martyrs’ Day theme is “Our martyrs our pride, a salute to all the relatives belonging to Ghazis and Shaheeds.”

    The day began with a 31-gun salute in Islamabad and a 21-gun salute in the provincial capitals.

    In his message on Defence Day, President Arif Alvi vowed that Pakistan would never compromise its integrity.

    “Today we are actively fighting a hybrid war being waged against us. I commend the security agencies for their relentless efforts towards exposing the enemy carrying out covert activities,” he added.

    “We stand by the people of Kashmir in their just struggle for the right to self-determination guaranteed under the UN Security Council resolutions,” said the president.

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan also paid tribute to the brave soldiers of the Pakistan Army. “The Armed Forces must fight the enemy with unparalleled fearlessness in the world. Our brave officers, soldiers, pilots, and sailors have proved to the world that they are always ready to defend every inch of the homeland. Even if they have to pay a price for it.”

    Stressing the need for peace, PM Khan wrote, “On this occasion, I want to make it clear once again that our desire for peace should never be seen as our weakness, but should be answered in the same positive way for the prosperity and betterment of the people of the region.”

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif took to Twitter and said, “Today the people & armed forces of Pakistan came together to defend their motherland against the Indian military aggression.”

    “We will always remember the sacrifices of our brave soldiers!”

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that the sacrifices of the martyrs, the unwavering determination of the soldiers, and the invincible unity of the people of Pakistan is our strength and the guarantee of our bright future.

    Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry, paying a tribute to the families of our martyrs, tweeted, “Today, in the names of martyrs.”

    Minister for Human Rights, Shireen Mazari tweeted, “Today is a day to remember & pay our respects to our martyrs esp the soldiers for whom there’s not to reason why and the families they leave behind.”

    PPP leader Sherry Rehman tweeted, “On this #DefenceDay, we pay tribute to our valiant heroes who sacrificed their lives to protect our country and people. We forever owe their families a forever debt.”

  • ‘Don’t call us terrorists and extremists,’ TTP issues warning to Pak media

    ‘Don’t call us terrorists and extremists,’ TTP issues warning to Pak media

    “You call us terrorists and extremists, which shows your bias…stop it or you will be responsible for making enemies,” Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said in a statement addressed to the Pakistani media and journalists.

    “It discredits your profession, so from now on, call us by our name, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan,” read the statement.

    “If you fail to do so, you will not only be doing injustice to your profession but will be responsible for making enemies,” the statement further added.

    Twitter reacted to the TTP statement.

    Journalist Azaz Syed wrote, “#TTP issues a latest threat to media in #Pakistan.”

    Journalist Ziyad Faisal wrote, “Notification rejected. My desk will refer to TTP as ‘the banned/outlawed TTP’ & to their activities as ‘terrorist attacks’ – & nothing will ever change that.”

    Four personnel of the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) were martyred and 21 others injured in a suicide bombing at a convoy on Quetta-Mastung road on Sunday in Balochistan.

    TTP claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement released to CNN.