Current Final

Category: Politics

  • Fawad Chaudhry clarifies stance on Noor’s murder coverage

    Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry has clarified his stance on Noor Mukadam’s murder coverage. Fawad made a comment regarding the social media outrage after the murder of Noor Mukadam, while addressing a press conference along with National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf.

    During the press conference, Fawad Chaudhry — while referring to Noor Mukadam’s murder case — said that a campaign was designed through social media to show that Pakistan is an unsafe country for women, adding that Indian channel WION made videos on Noor murder case of hundreds of minutes to portray that Pakistan is not a safe country for women.

    Chaudhry received backlash on social media for his comments, after which The Current reached out to him for his comment on the matter. “There is an Indian channel WION, which made 3O videos on how unsafe Pakistan is for women, and see this case [Noor Mukadam murder] has happened in Pakistan. This is how [Indian channels] make the issues bigger and create a [specific] narrative,” said the information minister while speaking exclusively to The Current.

    Noor Mukadam was murdered on July 20 in Islamabad. Noor’s murder sparked outrage in the country and many protests and vigils were held in Pakistan and abroad subsequently and the story was covered by all major news outlets in the world including CNN, BBC, The Guardian and The New York Times.

  • Noor Mukadam reportedly raped before murder, forensic report

    The forensic report prepared by Punjab Forensic Agency has revealed that Zahir Jaffer raped and tortured Noor before murdering her, SAMAA has reported. The report has been submitted to the Islamabad police.

    As per Punjab Forensic Agency the CCTV footage obtained from Zahir Jaffer’s house showed both him and Noor Mukadam in the same premises and Jaffer’s fingerprints were present on the murder weapon.

    Read more- Noor Mukadam Case Timeline

    Postmortem examination of Noor’s dead body was conducted 12 hours after her murder.

    Earlier, Investigators in Noor Mukadam’ s murder case who are checking the call logs of Zahir’s mother — Asmat Jaffer , revealed that Asmat called the head of Trillium Information Security Systems, a private Rawalpindi-based security firm, several times on the day of Noor’s gruesome murder on July 20, reports Zahid Gishkori for The News.

    As per journalist Fereeha idress, that Cause of death of Noor mukadam was beheading.

    District and sessions court in the Federal Capital on Monday extended the judicial remand of Zahir Jaffer’s parents till August 23 in the Noor Mukadam murder case.Interior Minister Sheikh has announced that Zahir Jaffer and his parents’ names have been placed on the Exit Control List (ECL).

  • National Assembly member bitten by a rat

    A female member of the National Assembly was bitten by a rat at the Parliament Lodges, ARY News reported.

    National Assembly member from the Pakistan People’s Party, Shahida Rahmani, was reportedly bitten by a rat.

    Shahida Rahmani said that she was sleeping when the rat bit her. She has gotten an injection after the rat bite.

    After Shahida Rahmani informed the authorities about the incident, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly said that he would ask the CDA to ensure better arrangements.

  • Fact Check: Islamia University Bahawalpur is not in the top 1000 international universities

    Fact Check: Islamia University Bahawalpur is not in the top 1000 international universities

    Claim: Islamia University Bahawalpur is in the top 1000 international universities

    Fact: Islamia University Bahawalpur is not in the top 1000 international universities

    Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar on Wednesday, in his speech at the Kissan Convention in Bhawalpur, said, “As per the Times Higher Education World Ranking of Universities, Islamia University of Bahawalpur is amongst the world best 1000 universities.”

    According to the World University Ranking, Islamia University of Bahawalpur is not in the top 1000 universities but is in the list of 1001+ universities.

    Screengrab from the Times Higher Education World University Ranking official website

    Furthermore, CM Buzdar said that the Islamia University of Bahawalpur is among the top nine universities in Pakistan.

    Checking the Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) official website which was last updated in 2015, the Islamia University of Bhawalpur is not included in the list.

    Screengrab from the Higher Education Commission’s official website.

    VERDICT: FALSE

  • Pakistan celebrates National Minority Day

    Pakistan celebrates National Minority Day

    Pakistan celebrates National Minority Day today, remembering the contribution of minorities in the progress of Pakistan.

    August 11 marks the day to reaffirm our founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s vision that despite belonging to different faiths, we are one nation.

    Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi tweeted, “Let Quaid e Azam’s historic speech of August 11 1947 resonate & let us unite to honour spirit & sanctity of his words. Celebrating the white in our flag.”

    Qureshi also shared a video message.

    Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari tweeted that August 11 is a reaffirmation of the vision of Quaid-e-Azam.

    Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Fawad Chaudhry tweeted, “Reopening of the mandir in Rahim Yar Khan on August 11 signifies the importance government attaches to rights of minorities, respect for religious beliefs is our core policy.”

    “We will ensure all citizens enjoy life and liberty as per Constitution of Pakistan mandate,” tweeted Fawad.

    A Hindu temple in Bhong town was recently vandalised by a mob, but is has been completely restored to its original structure and handed over back to the members of the minority community.

  • Pakistan responds to UK’s concerns amid Red List travel ban

    Pakistan responds to UK’s concerns amid Red List travel ban

    The Pakistan government has responded to the United Kingdom (UK) government’s reasons for keeping the former on its travel Red List in a detailed letter written by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan.

     Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari shared the letter on Twitter and said, “The table exposes claims of UK govt, clearly it has been a political decision.”

    Mazari further tweeted, “UK’s Conservative govt with a strong Indophiles’ presence playing discriminatory politics against Pakistan on Covid.”

    Dr Sultan in his letter writes that Pakistan has “no interest in allowing” its nationals who pose a health risk to other societies to travel abroad. He said this is a shared global objective.

    Dr Sultan presented a table comparing key indicators from Pakistan and some other countries in the region, which currently sit on the Amber List, to illustrate what he referred to as “obvious disparities”. He said that when looking at countries’ track record of managing the epidemic, “numbers alone, without context, can be deceptive”.

    The SAPM explained how the Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests in Pakistan were being conducted and highlighted that testing is done through “agreed-upon national algorithms”. He explained how it makes for “accurate and timely data inputs”.

    “We feel that the number of tests being done is a large enough sample size to be a sensitive and accurate barometer of the epidemic and the number, especially when seen with the percentage positivity rate, has accurately reflected the rise and fall of all the waves seen so far,” Dr Sultan wrote.

    SAPM agreed that Pakistan does have limitations in whole-genome sequencing throughput, compared to the UK, which is the current leader in this arena. So far 854 samples have been sequenced during July and August 2021 and the details are shared with the World Health Organisation (WHO) regularly.

  • Temple attacked by mob restored and handed over to the Hindu Community in five days

    Temple attacked by mob restored and handed over to the Hindu Community in five days

     The Hindu temple in Bhong town that was vandalised by a mob has been completely restored to its original shape and handed over back to the minority community, reported Dawn.

    Deputy Commissioner (DC) Dr Khuram Shehzad said that for the security of the temple, a boundary wall was also being constructed around it.

    He said the work on the restoration of the idols (Moorti) damaged during the attack on the temple would be completed soon.

    DC said that all the expenses required for the restoration of the temple would be recovered from the rioters involved in the attack.

    Shehzad added that it would take two months to complete the work on the restoration of the idols in the temple.

    He said the Hindu community would start performing religious rites at the temple after the restoration of the idols.

  • PML-N changes stance, no longer opposes the Anti-Rape Ordinance

    PML-N changes stance, no longer opposes the Anti-Rape Ordinance

    The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) moved a resolution in the National Assembly today for the disapproval of the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Ordinance, 2020. According to an official document by the National Assembly Secretariat, members from the Opposition party were to move against the Anti-Rape Ordinance.

    However, the PML-N has withdrawn its resolution against the Anti-Rape Ordinance.

    PML-N’s Secretary Parliamentary Affairs Shaza Fatima Khawaja told The Current that there were several Ordinances that were passed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government. The PML-N has a considered stance to oppose any legislation that is brought through Ordinances, which is why the PML-N prepared resolutions for dissolution for all of them because they were not going through proper legislative procedures. “This became one of them by mistake,” says Shaza. The PML-N has now withdrawn its resolution for disapproval of the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Ordinance, 2020.

    Shaza added that the PML-N would like the government to bring this legislation to parliament as concerns were also raised by the Women’s Action Forum (WAF) and the Women’s Lawyers’ Association (WLA) about the Anti-Rape Ordinance.

    “PML-N stands for women’s rights and would want a pro-women law that can also be implemented without any bureaucratic or other hurdles.” Shahza Khawaja said that despite strong opposition from PTI and other parties, the PML-N has been able to pass progressive and pro-women legislation, including the Anti-Rape Laws 2016, Anti-Honour Killing Bill, as well as Protection of Women against Violence Bill in Punjab.

    In response to a tweet, Shaza Khawaja tweeted that the PML-N unequivocally stands with women’s rights in every sense of the word.

    Twitterati reacted to PML-N’s withdrawing the resolution.

    Farieha Aziz tweeted, “Bills will be detrimental, not beneficial if passed in their current form. Must not be passed as they are.”

    Lawyer Reema Omer tweeted, “It was bizarre – even if well-intentioned – to make such radical reform in criminal law through ordinances anyway. The focus now must be on the anti-rape bills, which have some serious problems.”

  • Pakistani exiles in UK not on ‘hit list’, Pakistan rejects Guardian report

    Pakistani exiles in UK not on ‘hit list’, Pakistan rejects Guardian report

    Pakistan on Tuesday “categorically rejected” a report published in The Guardian, which alleges that Pakistan was cracking down on dissidents abroad, adding that such accusations were baseless.

    Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said that the unsubstantiated allegations appeared to be part of the rather “blatant on-going misinformation campaign” against Pakistan to malign the country and its state institutions.

    “Pakistan is a parliamentary democracy with a vibrant civil society, free media, and independent judiciary, which remains fully committed to the promotion and protection of human rights for all its citizens without discrimination,” said the FO spokesperson. “Our strong commitment to the right to freedom of opinion and expression is demonstrated by the presence of scores of vibrant media channels and newspapers in the country.”

    Chaudhri said it was regrettable that any news outlet provided a “platform for the peddling of unsubstantiated and false narratives against Pakistan”.

    British security sources are understood to be concerned that Pakistan might be prepared to target individuals on British soil, said a report published in The Guardian.

    According to the report, there are further warnings given by other intelligence services across Europe to Pakistani dissidents, including rights activists from Balochistan, journalists, and members of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM).

    “If there is illegal pressure, in particular on journalists in the UK, then I would expect the law enforcement agencies and the British government to take notice of that and to make an appropriate legal and/or diplomatic response,” said Mark Lyall Grant, former UK High Commissioner to Pakistan.

  • ‘I had already sent you with great difficulty’: PM Khan gets direct with Firdous Awan

    ‘I had already sent you with great difficulty’: PM Khan gets direct with Firdous Awan

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and former Special Assistant to the Chief Minister (CM) Punjab on information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan made an all-out attempt to have a formal meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan but didn’t get a chance for it, reports Geo News.

    As per the sources of Geo News, Awan kept waiting for the PM at the waiting room of Governor House in Punjab to hold a formal talk with the premier. When PM Khan made an appearance, Awan tried to meet him, however, security personnel stopped her.

    Awan managed to get a chance for a walking chat with PM Imran Khan as he headed toward a helicopter to leave the Governor House. The PM heard her while walking, reported Geo News.

    “What is all this that happened to me in Punjab?” Awan complained to PM Khan, sources said. “You must know better, I had already sent you with great difficulty,” was the premier’s response.

    Addressing the media, Awan rejected reports of her being snubbed. Instead, she said had a rather pleasant meeting with the prime minister.

    She also said some people who are jealous are spreading rumours. “No meeting can take place with the prime minister without a scheduled appointment.”

    “Some mischievous elements aren’t able to digest my meeting with the PM,” said Awan. “Hence, they are disseminating false and baseless propaganda.”

    Earlier on Monday, the former CM adviser went to the premises of the Punjab Assembly to attend the oath-taking ceremony of PTI MPA Ahsan Saleem Baryar, but she was stopped from entering the ceremony.

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