Category: Politics

  • ‘Pakistani women deserve our immense respect’: Army Chief

    ‘Pakistani women deserve our immense respect’: Army Chief

    On International Women’s Day, Chief of the Army Staff  (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa said that Pakistani women have contributed immensely for the glory and honour of our nation.

    “They are also at the forefront against COVID. Women in uniform have proved their mettle by contributing copiously in diverse fields serving the nation and humanity. They deserve our immense respect and gratitude,” General Bajwa added.

    COAS’ message on Women’s Day was tweeted by DG ISPR’s official account.

  • ’کیوں بھی کہنا جرم ہے‘

    ’کیوں بھی کہنا جرم ہے‘

    مارچ 8 ، عورتوں کے عالمی دن کے طور پر منایا جاتا ہے . دنیا بھر کی خواتین ، دین و مسلک سے بےنیاز ہو کر ، اک زنجیر کی طرح بندھ جاتی ہیں . اپنے حق کے لیے آواز اُٹھاتی ہیں . اپنے وجود کو اک ماں ، بہن ، ِبیِوی ، اور بیٹی کے روپ سے نکال کر ، صرف ایک انسان ، صرف ایک عورت ہو کر اپنے لیے وہی حق مانگتی ہیں ، جو مردوں کے پاس ہیں . بنیادی انسانی حقوق جن کو اِس سماج نے عورتوں کے لیے لاحاصل بنا دیا . اِس لاحاصل کو حاصل کرنے پر جب عورتوں نے آواز اٹھانی شروع کی ، اور خصوصی طور پر پاکستان میں ، تو مردوں پر جیسے قیامت ہی بیت گئی . قیامت سے پہلے قیامت سی ہوگئی۔

    پورےسال میں ایک دن اگرعورت نے اپنےحق کےلیےآوازاٹھائی تواٹھائی کیوں؟آخرآج ہی کیوں ؟ آخر 8 مارچ کو ہی کیوں ؟ آخر اتنی ساری عورتیں کیوں ؟ مردوں کا کہنا تھا کہ انہوں نے آخر عورت کو کہا ہی کیا ہے جو عورت کو باہر آ کر با آواز بلند کہنا پڑا کے اُنہیں بنیادی حقوق دئیے جائیں ؟ ایسے بہت سے سوال مردوں كے ذہن میں ہر سال 8 مارچ کو آتے ہیں . ِپھر اُنہیں غصہ آتا ہے . ِپھر وہ غصے میں آ کر ​کہتے ہیں ​“ہم اپنی عورتوں کو اتنی عزت دیتے ​ہیں” اور اسی ​جملے کے اختتام پر مرد حضرات ماں بہن کی گالی بھی شامل کر دیتے ہیں . یہ لیں ، یہ ہے عورت کی عزت کی بریانی بنانے کی ترکیب . اِس ترکیب میں کچھ اور ​اجزاء بھی شامل کیے جا سکتے ہیں جیسے عورت کو مارنا ، اس پر ​تیزاب پھینکنا، اس پر جنسی تشدد کرنا ، اس کو بیٹی پیدا کرنے پر طلاق دینا ، اس کو مزید بچے پیدا نہ کرنے پر گھر سے نکال دینا، اس کو سڑک پر چلتے ہوئے ہاتھ مار جانا ، اس کے پیچھے گاڑی لگا کر اس کو احساس دلانا کے یہ زمین صرف مرد کے لیے ہے، اور مزید بہت سے اجزاء حسب ذائقہ ڈالے جا سکتے ہیں۔

    اسی شور اور ​واویلے کے بیچ میں عورتیں 8 مارچ کو ملک بھر میں پر امن احتجاج کرتیں ہیں . اور ہر عورت اپنی زندگی کے حساب سے اپنا حق مانگتی ہے. میں ہر سال ان ​پلے کارڈز کو بہت غور سے پڑھتی ہوں. تعلیم کے حق سے لے کر كھانا خود گرم کر لو تک ، مختلف ​مطالبات ان پلےکارڈز کے ذریعے اجاگر کیے جاتے ہیں . کچھ ​مطالبات ایسے ہیں جن سے میں ذاتی طور پر بھی ​اتفاق کرتی ہوں کیونکہ میں بھی ایک عورت ہوتے ہوئے بہت مشکل مرحلوں سے گزری ہوں . عورت مارچ میں کچھ ایسے ​پلےکارڈز بھی تھے جس سے یہ اندازہ لگانا مشکل نہیں تھا کہ یہ ​پلےکارڈ لانے والی لڑکی کس قدر بےبسی کا شکار ہو کر باہر نکلی ہے. اک پلےکارڈ پر ​“میں خود ایک گھر بناؤں گی جس میں سے تم مجھے نکال نہ سکو” لکھا تھا، مجھے لگا جیسے کسی بچی نے میرے جذبات کی آخر کار ترجمانی کر دی. وہ چھت ​فراہم کرنے والا جب بے گھر کرتا ہے ، تو یہ زمین عورت پر اور بھی تنگ ہوجاتی ہے  لیکن وہ عورت ہی کیا جو ہار جائے!

    ایسے بہت سے ​مطالبات دیکھتے ہوئے ایک ​مطالبے پر نظر پڑی جس میں لکھا تھا ​“میرا جسم میری ​مرضی” یہ بے ضرر سا ​پلےکارڈ دیکھ کر خیال یہی آیا کے ہاں ، خدا نے یہ جسم مجھے دیا ہے تو مرضی بھی میری ہی بنتی ہے. کوئی بھی شعور رکھنے والا انسان اِس سے متفق ہی ہو گا لیکن جنہیں شعور حاصل نہیں، وہ ہکا بکا رہ گئے  اور ہکا بکا رہنے والے تھے بھی مرد ان کا ردعمل ویسا ہی تھا جیسے میرا حال ہوا تھا جب میرے والدین نے مجھے بتایا تھا کہ میٹرک کے بعد ابھی اور پڑھنا ہے۔

    سوشل میڈیا پر ایک آگ سی لگ گئی، ان ​بے شعور لوگوں کا کہنا تھا کے ٹھیک ہے جسم عورت کا ہے ، لیکن اب کیا اِس جسم کے ساتھ کچھ بھی کرنےکےلیےہمیں اِجاَزت لینی ہوگی؟ کیاعورت کےجسم کوبھرے بازارمیں ایک دو سیکنڈ کی لذت حاصل کرنے کے لیے ہم مرد بغیر پوچھے ہاتھ بھی نہیں لگا سکتے؟ کیا عورت کے جسم کو ہم اپنا غصہ ​نکالنے کے لیے استعمال نہیں کر سکتے ؟ کیا اب جنسی عمل کے لیے ہمیں عورت سے اِجاَزت لینی ہوگی ؟ اب کیا ہم عورت کی مرضی کے خلاف اس کے جسم پر جنسی تشدد بھی نہیں کر سکتے ؟ کیا اب ہمیں عورت کو اپنی مرضی سے پہننے اور اوڑھنے کو برداشت کرنا ہوگا؟ مزے کی بات ہے کے ان میں زیادہ وہ لوگ تھے جو ​“میرا جسم میری مرضی” کو سمجھ رہے تھے کے ​“اچھا اب عورتیں ننگی ہو کر باہر نکلیں گئیں ؟” ارے صاحب عورت کو کبھی کپڑے کے ساتھ تولنا چھوڑ بھی دیا کریں۔

    اگر عورت نے ​واقعی اپنے جسم کو آپ سے محفوظ کرنے کا ​نعرہ بلند کیا ہے تو کیا غلط کیا ؟ اگر عورت نے سڑک پر بے خوف و خطر چلنے کا مطالبہ کیا تو کیا غلط کیا ؟ اگر عورت نے جنسی ہراسگی کے خلاف آواز اٹھائی تو کیا غلط کیا ؟ اگر عورت نے اپنے جسم کو درندوں کی طرح اکھاڑ پچھاڑ کے خلاف آواز اٹھائی تو کیا غلط کیا ؟ صاحب ، عورت کے جسم کی آزادی صرف دو گز کپڑے سے منسلک نہیں ہے . اس کے جسم کی آزادی اس کا باہر بے خوف و خطر پھرنا ہے . اس کے جسم کی آزادی اس کا اپنے گھر میں بغیر جسمانی تشدد کے رہنا ہے . اس کے جسم کی آزادی اس کا اپنا خیال کرنا ہے . اس کے جسم کی آزادی اس کا اپنی مرضی کا ​اوڑھنا پہننا ہے . اور یہ آزادی وہ سال کے ایک دن میں اگر مانگ ہی لیتی ہے ، تو ایسا ​واویلا ؟ اس کی اِس مرضی کو جرم کی شکل نہ دیں۔ اسے سنے ، اسے سمجھیں اور اپنی ذات کے خول سے باہر نکلیں… وہ جیسے احمد ندیم قاسمی نے کہا ہے؛

    کیوں بھی کہنا جرم ہے کیسے بھی کہنا جرم ہے سانس لینے کی تو آزادی میسر ہے مگر زندہ رہنے کیلئے انسان کو کچھ اور بھی درکار ہے اور اس کچھ اور بھی کا تذکرہ بھی جرم ہے۔

  • Imran wins crucial vote as parliamentarians express confidence

    Imran wins crucial vote as parliamentarians express confidence

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Saturday won the crucial confidence vote in the National Assembly, hanging on to power after his finance adviser Abdul Hafeez Sheikh lost the high-stakes Senate seat election earlier in the week.

    Needing the support of 172 MPs in the 342-seat House to retain its confidence, the prime minister secured 178 votes. PTI has 157 members in the House.

    The session began at 12:15 pm with a single-point agenda to reaffirm confidence in Imran, according to a National Assembly Secretariat statement.

    Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi tabled the resolution in the House. The resolution reads: “That this House reposes confidence in the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Mr Imran Khan, as required under clause (7) of Article 91 of the Constitution Islamic Republic of Pakistan.”

    MPs arrived at the Parliament House while scores of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) activists and supporters and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders gathered outside.

    Read more – PTI, PML-N face off in Islamabad as parliament decides PM’s fate

    Before the session began, Punjab and Balochistan chief ministers Usman Buzdar and Jam Kamal Khan, Senate chairman Sadiq Sanjrani and other officials met in Speaker Asad Qaiser’s chamber, where they discussed the vote of confidence.

    The prime minister had decided to take the vote on Wednesday (March 3) following the Senate elections wherein his party faced the unexpected defeat of Sheikh.

  • PTI, PML-N face off in Islamabad as parliament decides PM’s fate

    PTI, PML-N face off in Islamabad as parliament decides PM’s fate

    Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) protesters and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters engaged in a short brawl and shouted slogans against each other outside the Parliament in the red zone, the day Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan sought a vote of confidence in the National Assembly.

    As per details, the law and order situation erupted as the parliament geared for PM Khan’s vote of confidence amid joint opposition’s boycott of the session.

    PML-N’s Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Ahsan Iqbal and Musadiq Malik were among the PML-N leaders present at the scene.

    The incident reportedly occurred when PML-N leaders tried to address the media and PTI workers surrounded the PML-N leaders and a scuffle broke out. A large crowd has now gathered at D-Chowk and some political workers have entered the Parliament Lodges.

    https://twitter.com/TalatHussain12/status/1368106077179494401?s=20

    While many reports have suggested that PTI supporters instigated the violence, Focal Person to PM Imran on Digital Media Dr Arsalan Khalid and Focal Person to Chief Minister Punjab on Digital Punjab Azhar Mashwani have alleged that Abbasi and Malik attacked PTI supporters when they chanted slogans against PML-N.

    https://twitter.com/arslankhalid_m/status/1368105897336143872?s=20

    Later, a large contingent of law enforcers arrived at the scene and managed to separate the political workers of the two parties.

    The 30th NA session – on a single point agenda – will make it clear whether PM Imran commands the trust of the house and whether the lawmakers who allegedly ditched the ruling candidate on the general seat in the recently-held Senate election stick to their stand.

  • ECP rejects PM’s reservations on Senate elections

    ECP rejects PM’s reservations on Senate elections

    The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has issued a statement rejecting the “discussion and unhappiness” over the way Senate polls were conducted.

    “It is a shocking matter that under the same staff in the same [election] under the same roof on the same day, [what they won] is acceptable and [what they lost] is unacceptable. Is this not [an] open contradiction?” questioned the commission.

    A day earlier, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan had criticised the election watchdog for allowing “foul play” in the elections for the upper house of the parliament.

    “The ECP rejects this,” Friday’s statement added. “This is democracy and free elections and the beauty of free elections which the entire nation saw and which is mandated by the Constitution.”

    Every political party and politician should have the courage to accept its defeat, it said.

    The electoral body said that if someone disagreed with the ECP’s results, they should come forward with evidence.

    “We have neither come under pressure from anybody and neither will we [do so in the future].”

    The ECP’s statement came after an urgent meeting was convened following the premier’s accusations.

  • Modi tragically driving India towards authoritarianism: Washington-based watchdog

    Modi tragically driving India towards authoritarianism: Washington-based watchdog

    Freedom House, a Washington-based human rights watchdog has downgraded India from a free to partially free democratic state.

    “Rather than serving as a champion of democratic practice and a counterweight to authoritarian influence from countries such as China, Modi and his party are tragically driving India itself toward authoritarianism,” the democracy research institute stated in its annual assessment.

    Under the Modi government, India is consistently backsliding from a free democracy to an authoritarianism state.

    Political, social and civil rights and liberties have deteriorated in India since Modi became Prime Minister (PM) in 2014 and they further degenerated after the 2019 election, said the report.

    Freedom House is a US-funded Non-governmental organisation (NGO) and it is a champion of democracy for eight years.

    They have assigned an overall score of 67 to India in their annual freedom in the world report.

    There are several factors for the decline in the ranking which including legislation and policies that undermine the political rights of Muslims, increased government pressure on human rights organizations, and rising intimidation of academics and journalists in the country.

    “I’m not surprised at all. Since Modi’s election, India has become a more regulated society. One way of judging it is how dissenters and journalists are being treated. In the last couple of years India has become a very dangerous place for journalists, particularly those who criticize Modi or his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),” said Dr Talat Wizarat, a noted scholar of International Relations.

    According to the Washington-based research institute, India has witnessed a 9-point decline since 2005. This year’s report also raises several questions about the Indian judiciary’s role. Citing the recent acquittal of BJP leaders who were credibly accused of orchestrating the demolition of the Babri Mosque in 1992, the report said judicial independence had also come under strain since Modi’s re-election.

  • PM announces stepping down if betrayed by party members again

    PM announces stepping down if betrayed by party members again

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that he is going to seek a vote of confidence from the National Assembly this week, adding that his party would sit on opposition benches if they lose this time.

    He was addressing the national a day after his party’s Abdul Hafeez Shaikh faced defeat on the critical Senate seat from Islamabad despite PTI and its ally parties’ majority in the lower house of the parliament.

    The premier said that that the opposition wanted to threaten him with the no-confidence motion after defeating Shaikh in order to get NRO-like concession. Saying vote of confidence will be held through show-off hand, the premier said that he will have no objection if any member of his party does not trust him.

    Highlighting that some of his party’s lawmakers have sold their votes to ensure the victory of PDM’s joint candidate Yousaf Raza Gillani, he said that such elements should have fear of God.

    PM Imran also questioned the role of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in the Senate election. He accused the Commission of damaging the democracy in the country by supporting secret balloting for Senate polls. “The ECP was informed about the horse-trading beforehand but it did not take any action,” he said.

    He said that the ECP provided an opportunity of horse-trading to the opposition, adding that the institution has failed to hold fair and transparent elections.

    Hitting out at opposition parties, the premier said that all the opposition parties in the past were calling for holding Senate polls through an open ballot but they stepped back when the government tried to make legislation in this regard. He said that such moves made the character of opposition parties doubtful.

  • Will Hafeez Shaikh continue as finance minister?

    Will Hafeez Shaikh continue as finance minister?

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government will soon be required to pick a new finance minister as Abdul Hafeez Shaikh’s tenure of six months is going to expire in June 2021 following his loss in the Senate election.

    Hafeez Shaikh, who took oath as Minister for Finance on December 11, 2020, was contesting for the Senate seat from Islamabad from the platform of the PTI and it was requisite for him to win the polls to continue the same portfolio since he was an unelected individual to head the ministry. However, under the Constitution, it would not be possible to serve as finance minister as he has been defeated by former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, the joint candidate of the PDM, in yesterday’s Senate race.

    According to reports, PTI lawmakers and allied parties’ lawmakers were not happy with the PM’s decision to award a ticket to his aide on finance as many saw Sheikh as a “parashooter” in the PTI ranks.

    It remains to be seen who will be the next finance minister.

  • PM Imran Khan to address nation tonight

    PM Imran Khan to address nation tonight

     Prime Minister Imran Khan will address the nation tonight at 06:45 pm. The development comes a day after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Abdul Hafeez Shaikh lost his Senate seat in Islamabad.

    Reports suggest that the government has requisitioned a session of the National Assembly on Saturday so that the PM can seek a vote of confidence from the lawmakers. Yesterday, after former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani defeated finance minister Hafeez Sheikh in the Senate election, the government held a power-packed press conference where it was announced by Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced that PM Khan will seek a vote of confidence from parliament.

    Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari reminded PM Khan of his promise to dissolve the assembly if he lost the Islamabad Senate seat.

    Meanwhile, Information Minister Shibli Faraz tweeted that Prime Minister Khan has announced the name of Sadiq Sanjrani for Senate Chairmanship. Sources say that Yousaf Raza Gillani will be PDM’s candidate for Chairman Senate though his name has not yet been confirmed by PDM.

  • ‘Who voted for Gilani?’ – PDM defeats PTI in Senate election

    ‘Who voted for Gilani?’ – PDM defeats PTI in Senate election

    Former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Wednesday emerged victorious against the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.

    After the result was announced, Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and the former prime minister shook hands and hugged each other.

    The news of Hafeez’s defeat was told to him by Zain Qureshi — who was the minister’s polling agent — following which the two men embraced each other.

    Gilani secured 169 votes while Shaikh received 164 votes. Out of the total number of 341 votes, 6 were rejected and 1 was not polled.

    Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto and Maryam Nawaz celebrated the win in their tweets.

    Nawaz Sharif also tweeted, congratulating Gilani on the win.

    Meanwhile, PTI’s Dr Shahbaz Gill tweeted that the government will challenge this result

    PTI’s Shaukat Yousafzai also called a press conference, asking who voted for Gilani and alleged that money had a role to play. He also questioned the veracity of the results.

    The votes were done by secret ballot and it will be difficult for the government to determine who voted for whom.