Current Final

Category: Politics

  • ‘PM tasked YouTubers to target media, Opp,’ claims journalist

    ‘PM tasked YouTubers to target media, Opp,’ claims journalist

    Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday held a meeting with a delegation of YouTubers to discuss an alleged propaganda campaign against the opposition and journalists critical of the government policies, claimed a journalist in a tweet.

    Adeel Raja, an investigative journalist and producer, says the details of the meeting were not made public fearing criticism in the light of the Hazara protests. Raja said that the YouTubers “were tasked to improve the image of the government and target journalists and opposition”.

    Geo’s Hamid Mir also tweeted responded to this news, saying he was ready to face the YouTubers’ attacks.

    Meanwhile, Punjab CM’s focal person on digital media, Azhar Mashwani, rejected claims made by the journalists. He said it was “not a meeting” but an “interview by digital media publishers and Youtubers”.

    Mashwani’s remarks were also endorsed by PM’s focal person on digital media, Dr Arslan Khalid. Dr Khalid said it was a not meeting, but a question-answer session with the premier. He added that the video of the session will prove the journalist “wrong again”.

    The news of the meeting between the PM and social media influencers prompted a response from the senior journalists, including Hamid Mir, who commented that the PM has time to meet with Youtubers and Turkish artists, but he has no time for grieving Hazara people.

  • PM meets Ertuğrul founding team while Mach victim families still wait for him

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has come under criticism for meeting the founding team of hit Turkish drama series ‘Diriliş: Ertuğrul’ days after the Mach massacre, victim families of which await him even after the passage of five days.

    Earlier, thousands of protesters blocked Quetta’s key western bypass on Sunday after 11 coalminers belonging to the Hazara community were brutally executed. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack by terrorists at a residential compound near a mine site in Mach area of Bolan, some 100km away from the provincial capital.

    While the protesters have been seeking the government’s support and assurance for an end to sectarian killings that have once again shot up in the area, they have been demanding that the premier personally meets them.

    Amid delays in PM Imran’s travel to Balochistan, and subsequent criticism by opposition members as well as the general public, it has emerged that he on Thursday met the founding team of the hit Turkish series that has broken viewership records in Pakistan.

    The meeting in Islamabad was also attended by Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz, Kashmir Committee Chairperson Shehryar Afridi and personalities from Turkish and Pakistani film industries.

    The meeting discussed in detail the proposed television series being created in collaboration between Pakistan and Turkey on the Khilafat Movement among other future projects and the lost glory of Pakistani entertainment industry.

    The premier, however, did tweet on the Mach massacre once again on Wednesday.

    He had also condemned the incident and assured the grieving community of the government’s support earlier, on Sunday.

  • Bilawal, Maryam urge PM to visit Hazara families, put ‘ego’ aside

    Bilawal, Maryam urge PM to visit Hazara families, put ‘ego’ aside

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz have urged the prime minister to accept the demands of the protesting Hazara community.

    The victim families have been protesting in the freezing cold of Quetta against the killings. The protesters have demanded a meeting with PM Imran Khan and the dismissal of the Balochistan government over the security failure.

    Speaking to reporters during his visit to the protest camp, Bilawal said that the PPP had dismissed its government in Jan 2013 after similar protests were arranged by the minority community over the killings of its members.

    “Then too, you had put forward your demands to us. We had even dismissed the [provincial] government,” he was quoted by Dawn as saying.

    Bilawal said he has no words to describe the pain of the Hazara families, adding that he would always raise his voice for the persecuted community. “Unfortunately, we live in a country where even the dead have to be dragged into politics,” he said, adding that “we live in a country where blood is cheaper than food.

    According to the PPP chief, at least 2,200 Hazara Shias have been killed in the past 22 years, but their killers have remained free.

    In a reference to the remarks by the PM that a foreign country was involved, Bilawal said that it is still a failure of the state if it has failed to stop a foreign conspiracy on its land.

    ‘EGO BIGGER THAN COFFINS’

    Meanwhile, Maryam Nawaz also spoke to the protesters. She chided the PM for having such a “big ego” that he cannot even feel the pain of these people. “All they are asking is that you come here and condole. Is your ego bigger than those whose coffins are laying here,” she remarked.

    She called the PM “shameless” for ignoring the plea of the Hazara Shias, saying she was not in Quetta to play politics on the issue. “It is your job to visit these people,” said Maryam, asking Imran to empathise with the protesters. “You are a parent yourself, trying to understand their pain,” she urged the PM.

  • Bilawal, Maryam to visit families of slain Hazara miners

    Bilawal, Maryam to visit families of slain Hazara miners

    The opposition leadership, including Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz, will visit the families of the Hazara coal miners who were killed in a sectarian attack in Mach, Balochistan, last week.

    The families of the slain miners are protesting for the past five days against the killings on Quetta’s Western Bypass. They have refused to bury their dead till the in person security assurances from the prime minister. But the PM has refused to visit, saying he will come to condole with them very soon.

    In a statement, Marriyum Aurangzeb, the PML-N spokesperson, confirmed the visit of Maryam to Quetta on Thursday. She said the PML-N VP will visit the victim families to express condolence on behalf of PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif.  She will be accompanied by PML-N leaders Ahsan Iqbal, Senator Pervaiz Rasheed, Khurram Dastgir, Rana Sanaullah, Marriyum Aurangzeb, and former Sindh governor Muhammad Zubair, the statement said.

    On the other hand, Bilawal will visit the Hazara mourners along with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and members of the Sindh Cabinet. The PPP chief will offer condolences to the families who lost their loved ones in the attacked claimed by the Islamic State.

    On Wednesday, the PM had asked Hazaras to bury their loved ones, saying the state was taking measures to put a stop to such attacks against the minority Shia community. He had also blamed a neighbouring country for the attack.

  • ‘US would invade US’: Jokes break internet after Capitol Hill breach

    ‘US would invade US’: Jokes break internet after Capitol Hill breach

    The breach of the US Capitol by the supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump to stop the final electoral count resulted in the death of four people and scores of arrests last night. The situation turned so bad that it prompted a curfew in Washington DC.

    The lawmakers were counting votes to certify the victory of President-elect Joe Biden when the chaos ensued as a direct result of a speech made by Trump. It took hours to get the far-right Trump supporters out of the Capitol.

    The visuals coming out of the US capital sent waves throughout the world and images of the protesters taking over the house floor and flooded social media. And Twitter didn’t miss the chance to roast the US over its interventionist policies and a history of hijacking third-world elections. But not all memes were political, like this one.

    https://twitter.com/GhassenSwayah/status/1347008230225039360

    What would the US do if this was a third world country?

    https://twitter.com/mhdksafa/status/1346905706105081858

    Venezuela has a score to settle.

    https://twitter.com/Riogringa/status/1346944360345186313

    “Always in favour of law and democracy,” a Turkish lawmaker mocks the US over its habit of meddling in other countries’ affairs.

    Chickens coming home to roost?

    Is he Trump’s ‘Proud Boy’ or what?

  • PM says ‘neighbour instigating sectarian terrorism’, asks Hazara victim families to bury loved ones

    PM says ‘neighbour instigating sectarian terrorism’, asks Hazara victim families to bury loved ones

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has said asked Hazara victim families to bury their loved ones who were killed in a terrorist attack on Sunday by the Islamic State, aka Daesh.

    His tweet came in response to the demand of the Hazara protesters who asked the PM to visit their protest camp and assure them of security. The protesters have said that they will not bury their dead unless the PM listens to them in person.

    The PM, however, says that his government is taking “steps to prevent such brutal attacks” that are being instigated by the country’s “neighbour to instigate sectarian terrorism”.

    “I want to reassure the Hazara families who lost their loved ones in a brutal terrorist attack in Machh that I am cognisant of their suffering & their demands. We are taking steps to prevent such attacks in the future & know our neighbour is instigating this sectarian terrorism,” he tweeted.

    The PM also promised the Hazara community that he would visit them “very soon to offer prayers and condole with all the families personally”.

    “I share your pain & have come to you before also to stand with you in your time of suffering. I will come again very soon to offer prayers and condole with all the families personally. I will never betray my people’s trust. Please bury your loved ones so their souls find peace,” he added.

    At least 11 Hazara miners were shot dead by the Islamic State in Mach, Bolan, on Sunday. After the killings, the mourners have been staging a sit-in in Quetta for the past four days.

  • How will visiting victim families benefit PM, Zulfi asks Hazara protesters

    The families of slain Hazara coal miners and thousands of protesters have refused to end their sit-in being held at the Western Bypass, Quetta, saying they won’t bury their dead till Prime Minister Imran Khan personally assures them of security.

    At least 11 Hazara miners were shot dead by the Islamic State in Mach, Bolan, on Sunday. After the killings, the mourners have been staging a sit-in in Quetta for the past four days.

    PM’s aide Zulfi Bukhari, federal minister Ali Zaidi also visited the protesters, but they said they will not end the protest unless PM Imran comes to their protest camp. A video of Zulfi and the protest organisers negotiating has also been making rounds on social media.

    In the video, Zulfi is seen assuring the protesters that the PM will visit them soon. The Hazara community representative can be heard saying that the PM’s visit will be beneficial for the entire country. At this, Zulfi asks: “How is the premier going to benefit from this visit?”

    At this, the organiser says: “We are saying the PM’s visit will at least solace the families of the slain miners.” Zulfi responds he promises that the PM will visit them. “We want the PM to visit Quetta and meet these families on this stage, in front of all these mourners,” the protester asserts.

    At Zulfi refuses to concede to their demand for a meeting with the PM, saying that if God forbid tragedy strikes in some other part of Pakistan, the victims will also start making demands like these… if someone else gets martyred [in a terrorist attack] and their families will start saying that we want this, not that and so on.”

    Meanwhile, Ali Zaidi also requested the protesters to take back their demand of a meeting with PM Imran.

  • Another old tweet comes to haunt Imran as 11 Hazara miners killed

    Another old tweet comes to haunt Imran as 11 Hazara miners killed

    After an attack by the Islamic State in Mach, a town in Bolan district of Balochistan, left 11 Hazara coalminers dead on Sunday, another tweet from the past has come back to haunt Prime Minister Imran Khan.

    In 2013, Imran had reacted to the Hazara killings by the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi by holding the state responsible for its inability to stop these killings.

    “Tragic news from Quetta. Condemn Lashkar-e-Jhangiv for its genocidal campaign against Shias, especially Hazaras. Where is the state?” Imran had tweeted.

    However, this time, the massacre has happened during the government of Imran Khan and except a tweet, the PM has done nothing. This has also drawn flak from the opposition that has questioned the actions taken by the government to arrest the culprits.

    Senator Sherry Rehman said that despite the magnitude of this tragedy, the PM or the CM of Balochistan had not visited the families of the victims. “Our PM sat on the ground with half the cabinet members when something similar happened to the Hazaras in the past. What is PM Imran Khan waiting for?” she was quoted by The News as saying. 

    Meanwhile, protests in Quetta against the killings have continued. On Monday, protesters gathered with eight of the bodies in coffins and blocked a bypass on the outskirts of Quetta, demanding justice.

    OLD TWEETS COME TO BITE IMRAN:

    This is not the first time that old tweets of PM Imran Khan have come to haunt him.

    As PM Imran reached China amid Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan’s (TLP) nationwide protests in 2018, a 2012 tweet of his, went viral. In the tweet, he had criticised the then premier, Yousaf Raza Gillani, for traveling abroad as the country “burned”.

    After train accident in which 24 people were killed, the PM was also reminded of his tweet, wherein he demanded the resignation of the railways minister following a train accident. However, he didn’t ask then railways minister Sheikh Rasheed to resign even though his old tweet had gone viral at the time.

  • Pakistan asks UN to take notice of rights violations in occupied Kashmir, fulfill plebiscite promise

    Pakistan asks UN to take notice of rights violations in occupied Kashmir, fulfill plebiscite promise

    Prime Minister Imran Khan has asked the United Nations and its member states to take notice of atrocities in occupied Kashmir while reminding the world body of its promise of holding an impartial plebiscite in the region.

    The PM said Pakistan would stand with the Kashmiri people till the realisation of their right to self-determination, adding that on Jan 5, 1949, the UN “guaranteed the right to self-determination for the people of Jammu and Kashmir through an impartial plebiscite”.

    “We observe this day as a reminder to the UN and its member state of their unfulfilled commitment to the Kashmiri people.”

    In a statement shared by the APP, the PM said: “Being a direct party to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, Pakistan will continue to underscore the imperative of holding a free and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolutions.”

    According to the PM, the importance of the right to self-determination has been acknowledged in various human rights conventions and decisions of the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council. However, due to the “Indian intransigence, the Security Council has failed to fulfill its pledge to the Kashmiri people”.

    The PM said that Pakistan calls on the international community to take against the well-documented human rights violations being committed by the Indian occupation forces against Kashmiris and ensure that they get their right to self-determination.

  • Due to zero political interference, NAB recovered Rs389bn in two years: PM

    Due to zero political interference, NAB recovered Rs389bn in two years: PM

    Prime Minister Imran Khan said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) managed to recover more money in the first two years of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government as compared to the entire tenures of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

    In a tweet, PM Imran said that the reason NAB was able to recover money during his government was the fact that it was functioning “independently” and without any sort of “political interference”.

    “Total recoveries by NAB in 2019 & 2020 amount to Rs.389 bn in comparison to previous 10 yrs (2008-2018) recoveries of Rs.104 bn,” the prime minister said.

    Imran also appreciated the performance of Punjab’s Anti-Corruption Establishment, saying it recovered Rs206bn in 27 months of Buzdar-led government, whereas it had only managed to recover Rs3bn during the two tenures of PML-N chief Shehbaz Sharif.

    He said the money recovered by the two accountability watchdogs show that accountability worked best when institutions are independent. Imran went on dub the tenures of the PPP and PML-N as “dark ages under corrupt rulers”.

    The opposition leaders, on the other hand, accuse NAB of political victimisation. They claim that NAB is working to target the rivals of PM Imran Khan. Similar remarks were also made by the Islamabad High Court in a graft case against PML-N leader Saad Rafique and Salman Rafique.