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Category: Politics

  • Fawad, Sanaullah favour live coverage of corruption trials

    Fawad, Sanaullah favour live coverage of corruption trials

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Rana Sanaullah have endorsed the live broadcast of graft trials for greater transparency.

    The lawmakers were participating in a talk show hosted by senior journalist Hamid Mir. During the show, Mir asked Fawad if he would support the plea of PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi seeking live coverage of his trial in an accountability court. At this, Fawad said he would fully support it.

    According to the science and technology minister, the live coverage of trials was standard practice in the UK. “Pakistan follows many practices and laws of the UK, why can’t it do it in terms of trials,” he added.

    He said the people must know what are the charges and what is defence.

    At this, Sanaullah said he also supported the idea of the televised trials, adding that his narcotics case should also be aired.

    On Wednesday, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi filed a petition in an accountability court of Islamabad, seeking live media coverage of his trial proceeding in LNG-Terminal project reference.

    The plea argued that Article 19-A grants the public the right to know factual information about a trial. People would get the authentic information about the trial through live coverage, he added.

    “There are other public benefits; let the people know whether their representatives are innocent or corrupt or they have been involved in false and politically motivated cases; let the people see whether complaints are ‘stock witnesses’, whether the case is politically motivated,” the application quoted by Dawn newspaper said.

  • Did you know Usman Buzdar is a crorepati?

    Did you know Usman Buzdar is a crorepati?

    After both the upper and lower houses of the parliament, details of assets and liabilities of Punjab Assembly members have also been released by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), according to which, Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar is a millionaire or crorepati with his 10 immovable properties alone amounting to Rs35 million (Rs3.5 crores).

    According to details, while some members of the provincial assembly also own offshore properties, others run businesses besides owning agricultural lands.

    It has also emerged that CM Buzdar, on top of his 10 immovable properties, also has a 14-kanal bungalow in Taunsa Sharif and four kanals in Dera Ghazi Khan. His spouse, on the other hand, owns three pieces of land, whereas Buzdar himself also owns agricultural land in Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan besides three tractors, two vehicles and Rs7.7 million (Rs77 lacs) in his bank account.

    Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervez Elahi owns three properties worth Rs69.4 million (6.94 crores). He also has shares in three properties and owns a house each in both Lahore and Islamabad. The former CM also has shares in the Zahoor Palace Gujarat, has Rs9.9 million (Rs99 lacs) capital in a flour mill and Rs13.5 million (Rs1.35 crores) unsecured debt.

    On top of this, he has Rs12.7 million in his bank account while his wife has assets worth Rs93.1 million in her name, including jewelry worth Rs2.1 million.

    The assets of Hamza Shehbaz, who is the leader of the opposition in the Punjab Assembly, are worth Rs414 million (Rs41.4 crores). He owns Rs30 million (Rs3 crores) of agricultural land given by his brother Suleman Shehbaz, and has invested Rs130 million (Rs13 crores) in the country.

    Hamza also has Rs10 million (Rs1 crore) in his bank account.

    Provincial Minister Aleem Khan and his wife have properties worth Rs159.2 million (Rs15.9 crores). His daughter and wife have assets worth Rs7.8 million (Rs78 lacs) in England and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and stock shares worth Rs117.7 million (Rs11.77 crores).

    Aleem also has an unsecured loan of Rs1.21 billion and owns three luxury cars worth Rs32.1 million (Rs3.21 crores) in addition to 65 tolas of gold. He also has Rs10 million (Rs1 crore) cash and Rs139.1 million (Rs13.91 crores) in his bank account.

    Punjab Minister Fayazul Hasan Chohan owns two properties worth Rs8.5 million (Rs85 lacs) while he and his spouse have a total of Rs7.9 million (Rs79 lacs) in their bank account.

    Provincial Minister Raja Basharat owns more than Rs29.3 million (Rs2.93 crores) assets, while Provincial Minister Raja Rashid Hafeez owns more than Rs111 million (Rs11.1 crores) assets.

    The documents also state that Ejaz Khan of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has total assets of only Rs274,000 (Rs0.27 million) and no car or jewelry or businesses at home or abroad. The lawmaker with the least assets and liabilities is Sajida Yousuf, who has only Rs217 in her bank account. She has no car, no jewelry and no property at home or abroad.

  • VIDEO: Cameras were installed in Maryam Nawaz’s jail cell, bathroom?

    VIDEO: Cameras were installed in Maryam Nawaz’s jail cell, bathroom?

    Senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Maryam Nawaz has claimed that cameras were installed in her jail cell and bathroom during detention in National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cases against her and other members of the Sharif family.

    In an interview on Wednesday, Maryam said that she has been to jail twice and if she revealed the details about how she and other female inmates were treated during detention, “they” will find no place to hide their faces.

    Maryam is currently leading PML-N’s election campaign for the November 15 Gilgit-Baltistan election.

    “I don’t want to hide behind these incidents at all. I’m struggling today, so I don’t want to show that I was affected; I don’t want to cry today that I have been abused,” she said.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    The PML-N vice president added that if her door room could be broken, if she can be arrested in front of her father for speaking the truth, if cameras can be installed inside her jail cell and bathroom, and if she can be targeted personally, then no woman in Pakistan is safe.

    “Be it in Pakistan or elsewhere, a woman cannot be weak,” she said.

    MARYAM IN JAIL:

    On July 6, 2018, Maryam was sentenced to seven years in jail by the NAB on corruption charges in the Avenfield reference case.

    The court had held that trust deeds presented by Maryam before the apex court were fake and had been tampered with. As a result, she was disqualified from contesting elections for 10 years.

    The next day, Maryam announced that she would return to Pakistan on July 13 to file an appeal against the decision. The same day, NAB announced to arrest her and Nawaz Sharif upon their arrival in Pakistan.

    She, along with her father, was taken into custody on July 13 upon their arrival at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport and were airlifted to Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail.

    On July 26, she challenged her sentence in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and filed a petition for bail. The next day, the court rejected her request for release on bail and adjourned the hearing till the end of the 2018 general election on July 25.

    While she was released following the suspension of the verdict against her father, husband and herself by the IHC, Maryam was once again arrested in August 2019 over Chaudhry Sugar Mills corruption charges; this time upon her arrival at the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore to see Nawaz, who was serving his sentence in a separate corruption case.

    In November 2019, Maryam was released on bail by the Lahore High Court (LHC).

  • Modi invites Imran Khan to New Delhi

    Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi has invited his Pakistani counterpart, Imran Khan, to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) heads of government meeting being held in New Delhi on November 30.

    According to reports, the Indian premier invited all the eight members and four observer countries on Tuesday during the online summit of the organisation held in Moscow, chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    The News quoted sources as saying that the Russian president appreciated Pakistan’s proposals on various counts.

    Modi, who tried to demean the objectives of the SCO, tried to take on Pakistan and China in the same stroke without naming them under the garb of respect of sovereignty and said in muffled words that India believed that to enhance connectivity it was important that we move forward while respecting one another’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

    He boasted that India had always been resolute in working in sync with principles laid out in the SCO charter, but it was unfortunate that there had been repeated efforts to unnecessarily bring bilateral issues in the SCO agenda which was in violation of the SCO spirit.

    It was an assault on Pakistan and China’s policies of enhancing connectivity in the region.

    Modi referred to the Shanghai spirit and SCO charter, but he conveniently forgot that it was India that had humiliated the two documents by its actions and inactions.

    Diplomatic sources told the English daily that none of the significant member countries’ premiers will attend the New Delhi virtual meeting except Russian PM Mikhail Mishustin while the Chinese premier, Li Keqiang, and PM Imran might not be available to attend the heads of government meeting.

    Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood or Additional Foreign Secretary Syed Faisal Tirmizi are likely to represent Pakistan at the huddle.

  • Calling rivals ‘traitors’ easiest trick in politics playbook, says Firdous

    Adviser to Punjab Chief Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan, while talking about the practice of labelling political opponents ‘pro-India’, said politicians use such statements because it’s easy to manipulate “anti-India sentiments” of people.

    She made these comments in a TV show in response to a question about the use of terms “traitor”, “Modi’s friend” and “Indian agent” by government officials to discredit political rivals.

    According to Firdous, it’s easy for politicians to exploit the “anti-India” sentiments of people, which was why treason allegations have remained an integral part of Pakistani politics.

    When asked if the government was using these trick to malign its opponents, Firdous said this practice is allegedly employed by all political parties, not just the government.

    However, the government has accused the opposition of peddling the pro-India narrative multiple times. In Sept this year after the opposition blocked an anti-terror legislation, the prime minister had said that by blocking Financial Action Task Force (FATF) legislation the opposition was serving Indian interests.

    Also, after the formation of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and its aggressive stance towards the army establishment, the ministers have accused the opposition leaders, especially former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, of harming Pakistan to favour his “Indian friend”.

  • After Pakistan issues new map, Nawab of Junagarh says princely state will soon become its part

    Months after Islamabad issued a new political map that also included occupied Kashmir among other erstwhile princely states currently under Indian rule, Nawab of Junagarh Muhammad Jahangir Khanji has said that the city in the Indian state of Gujarat “will soon become a part of Pakistan”.

    Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, Nawab Khanji urged the United Nations (UN) to play its role in the liberation of Junagarh from Indian occupation. He also appealed to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan to become its ambassador as he did in the case of Kashmir to highlight the issue of liberation from New Delhi’s illegal rule at all international forums.

    The Nawab said a secretariat of Junagarh should be established in Islamabad to bring the princely state closer to Pakistan and told the participants that November 9 was observed as a black day as on this day in 1947 India occupied the territory of Junagarh.

    “The occupation was against the international law and norms,” he said, adding that a living nation should remember its history and act accordingly.

    Junagarh, he said, had a territory of 4,000 square miles and a 100-mile coastline along the Arabian Sea with many ports. Among the 562 princely states in the sub-continent, Junagarh was the sixth richest and a welfare state which provided free education to its citizens and took responsibility to provide healthcare facilities to all of them, Dawn quoted him as saying.

    He recalled that in October 1947, during his visit to Pakistan his grandfather Nawab Mahabat Khan signed an agreement of accession to Pakistan. During the visit, his grandfather held a meeting with Quaide Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and decided to accede the state to Pakistan.

    The treaty of accession was ratified by the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.

    In the absence of his grandfather, India landed its troops and occupied the territory of Junagarh on November 9, 1947, he said.

    The Nawab said that after the creation of India and Pakistan, the sovereign rulers of the states were given the right of choice to stay independent or accede to India or Pakistan.

    He said that Pakistan took the case of occupation of Junagarh to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

    He vowed to continue struggle for the liberation of Junagarh.

    “I will not rest and will not stay quiet till I have achieved my goal of the liberation of Junagarh,” he said.

    The Nawab said that Junagarh was part of Pakistan and it would remain so.

    He said that Hindu and Muslim communities in Junagarh still expressed their loyalties to the Nawab of Junagarh. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi should know that Junagarh would be part of Pakistan, he said.

    He said it was a dream of the Quaid-i-Azam and his grandfather that Junagarh should be part of Pakistan.

    In reply to a question, he said 2.5 million people belonging to Junagarh lived in Pakistan.

    He said his grandfather never claimed any property or benefits in Pakistan.

  • PTI likely to win GB polls: survey

    PTI likely to win GB polls: survey

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is expected to outperform its rivals, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), in Gilgit-Baltistan elections to be held on Nov 15, according to two surveys conducted in the region.

    As per Gallup Pakistan and Pulse Consultant, PM Imran Khan is the most popular leader in GB, followed by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Nawaz Sharif.

    Gallup survey says 27% respondents would vote for PTI on the election day, whereas 24% would vote for PPP. Only 14% respondents have supported the PML-N. The survey says 42% respondents have named Imran Khan as their favourite leader, 17% said Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, while 15% said it was Nawaz Sharif. Only 3% named Maryam Nawaz.

    Pulse Consultant says 35% of the respondents would likely to vote for PTI, 26% prefer PPP, whereas 14% would choose PML-N on Nov 15. At least 41% named Imran Khan as the most popular leader, 23% said Bilawal while 16% named Nawaz Sharif as the most popular leader, it added.

    The two polls also asked the GB people if the elections would be free and fair. To this, 29% voters told Pulse that they believed elections will be transparent; 20% said they will not be transparent.

    As per the Gallup survey, 31% said elections would be completely fair, 29% said they would be fair to some extent, 28% said they could not say anything.

    The PPP, PML-N and PTI leaders, including Maryam Nawaz and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari are in Gilgit-Baltistan in an attempt canvass their supporters ahead of the elections in the region. The PML-N and PPP have claimed pre-poll rigging in the polls, whereas the GB election chief commissioner has assured “free and fair” polls.

  • Billionaire Taj Afridi richest senator; PML-N’s Zafarul Haq has Rs50,000 in bank accounts, no properties

    Senator Taj Muhammad Afridi is the richest member of the Senate with assets worth Rs1.22 billion, as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issues details of assets owned by the members of the Senate in 2019-20.

    According to details, Taj Muhammad Afridi owns assets worth Rs1.22 billion which also included over Rs160 million worth assets abroad.

    Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani owned assets worth Rs106.3 million which included properties in Pakistan worth over Rs50 million, besides owning four vehicles. Deputy Chairman Saleem Mandviwalla owns assets worth Rs67.7 million.

    According to details of the assets owned by members of the treasury benches, Federal Minister Azam Swati owns assets worth over Rs810 million, followed by Farogh Naseem, who possesses assets worth Rs400 million.

    Information Minister Shibli Faraz has assets up to Rs46.7 million, Leader of the House in Senate Shehzad Waseem owns assets worth over Rs200 million while his wife also possesses assets worth Rs170 million. Senator Faisal Javed holds assets worth Rs10 million, whereas Muzafar Hussain Shah of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-F) owns assets worth Rs30 million.

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senator Chaudhry Tanveer owns agricultural land of Rs36.7 million, non-agricultural land of Rs47.4 million, besides having Rs37.9 million in bank accounts and furniture worth Rs2.5 million.

    Mushahidullah Khan possesses plots worth Rs7.5 million, shares of Rs65,000 in stocks and jewellery worth Rs0.8 million. He also owns Rs3.1 million in bank accounts.

    Senator Abdul Qayyum owns assets including land worth Rs86.4 million. Senator Pervaiz Rasheed does not own any assets in the country and abroad and only has Rs3.3 million in bank accounts. Senator Raja Zafarul Haq showed only Rs50,000 in the bank accounts without having any property in his name.

    PPP Senator Rehman Malik owns foreign assets worth 1.3 million pounds while his wife also possesses 50 tolas of jewellery worth Rs2.7 million.

    Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar owns immovable properties worth Rs120 million, besides having shares of Rs5 million in stocks, vehicles worth up to Rs38.4 million and Rs23.4 million in bank accounts.

    Raza Rabbani revealed assets worth millions of rupees including Rs15.3 million investments in the business, Rs6.2 million worth gifted property, besides owning millions in bank accounts. He also paid an income tax of Rs1.5 million.

    Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Senator Sirajul Haq is amongst the poorest Senators as he has inherited 12 kanals of land, investments of Rs361,000 in a business and Rs600,000 in bank accounts.

    Senator Talha Mahmood of the JUI-F owns Rs90 million in bank accounts, vehicles worth Rs44.8 million, besides properties worth Rs160 million. He also has investments of Rs27 million and further had other assets worth Rs33 million.

    Abdul Ghafoor Haideri of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) has revealed assets worth over Rs6.3 million.

  • ‘Notification rejected’: Nawaz refuses to trust army probe

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif has refused to accept an inquiry report pertaining to the involvement of the Rangers and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officials in the arrest of Capt (r) Safdar, saying the report shied away from naming the “real culprits”.

    In a tweet, the former prime minister, who has been in s self-imposed exile in London for almost a year now for medical reasons, termed the report as a “cover-up”.

    “Inquiry report on Karachi incident is a cover-up scapegoating juniors and shielding the real culprits. Report “Rejected”,” the ousted premier tweeted.

    It may be noted here that only Nawaz Sharif from the PML-N has commented on the inquiry report.

    As for the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), its spokesperson Mian Iftikhar Hussain termed the development in the inquiry “a victory of the democratic forces”. The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, also welcomed the report.

    In a statement on Tuesday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) had said that the court of inquiry constituted to redress the grievances of the Sindh IG, on the orders of COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, had been completed.

    “The court of inquiry has established that on the night of Oct 18/Oct 19, officers from Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) and ISI sector Headquarters Karachi were considerably seized with the fall out of the desecration of Mazare Quaid [Jinnah’s mausoleum],” read a statement issued by the military’s media wing.

    “They were under increasing public pressure to ensure prompt action as per the law. Assessing the response of police authorities against this developing yet volatile situation to be slow and wanting, in a charged environment, the concerned officers decided to act, rather overzealously,” the ISPR statement had said.

    “They were indeed experienced enough to have acted more prudently and could have avoided creating an unwarranted situation that led to the misunderstanding between the two state institutions.

    “Based on the recommendations of the court of inquiry, it has been decided to remove the concerned officers from their current assignments for further departmental proceedings and disposal at GHQ,” the statement had added.

    KARACHI INCIDENT:

    Last month, the ISPR had said the army chief had taken notice of and ordered an immediate inquiry into the “Karachi incident”, Dawn reported.

    At the time, the ISPR did not specify which incident it was referring to. However, the statement came minutes after PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari called on Gen Bajwa and ISI Director General (DG) Faiz Hameed to investigate the circumstances surrounding the arrest of the PML-N leader, who was in Karachi for an anti-government rally of the joint opposition.

    On October 19, Safdar, who was staying at a hotel with his wife, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, was arrested for “violating the sanctity of Jinnah’s mausoleum” by raising political slogans at the venue, surrounded by hundreds of party workers.

    Following Safdar’s arrest, a purported voice message by PML-N leader and former Sindh governor Muhammad Zubair was shared by a journalist in which Zubair alleged that the IG was kidnapped and forced to register the FIR [First Information Report] against Maryam, her husband Safdar and 200 others for violating the sanctity of the tomb.

    In the audio clip circulating on Twitter, Zubair said that Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah confirmed to him that police were pressured into making the arrest. “When they [police] refused to do that, Rangers kidnapped [the IGP],” Zubair had said.

    Maryam had also alleged that the Sindh police chief was forcibly “taken to the sector commander’s office and asked to sign on the arrest orders”.

    The statement by the military’s media wing comes days after PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif said that the inquiry into the “alleged abduction” of the Sindh IG and additional IG, and the “storming of Maryam’s room” had not been made public despite Gen Bajwa’s “personal assurance”.

  • ISI, Rangers officials removed over Sindh IG incident that PM Imran termed ‘comedy’

    Officials of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Sindh Rangers involved in the “Karachi incident” that was termed by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan as a “comedy”, have been removed pending further departmental proceedings for acting “overzealously”.

    “I believe it is a comedy. When I think about that, I laugh. What is happening? It is unfortunate that all the enemies of Pakistan, including India and Israel, are with them,” the premier had said while referring to the incident wherein Sindh Inspector General (IG) Mushtaq Mahar had allegedly been coerced to issue arrest warrants against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Capt (r) Safdar.

    The humiliating treatment meted out to the top cop, however, had led to senior officials asking the government for 60 days leave, and chairperson of Sindh’s ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) demanding Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa to hold an inquiry into the incident. The army chief had subsequently ordered Karachi corps commander to conduct an immediate probe into the incident.

    In a statement on Tuesday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that the court of inquiry constituted to redress the grievances of the Sindh IG, on the orders of COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, had been completed.

    “The court of inquiry has established that on the night of Oct 18/Oct 19, officers from Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) and ISI sector Headquarters Karachi were considerably seized with the fall out of the desecration of Mazare Quaid [Jinnah’s mausoleum],” read a statement issued by the military’s media wing.

    “They were under increasing public pressure to ensure prompt action as per the law. Assessing the response of police authorities against this developing yet volatile situation to be slow and wanting, in a charged environment, the concerned officers decided to act, rather overzealously,” the ISPR statement said.

    “They were indeed experienced enough to have acted more prudently and could have avoided creating an unwarranted situation that led to the misunderstanding between the two state institutions.

    “Based on the recommendations of the court of inquiry, it has been decided to remove the concerned officers from their current assignments for further departmental proceedings and disposal at GHQ,” the statement added.

    ‘KARACHI INCIDENT’:

    Last month, the ISPR had said the army chief had taken notice of and ordered an immediate inquiry into the “Karachi incident”, Dawn reported.

    At the time, the ISPR did not specify which incident it was referring to. However, the statement came minutes after PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari called on Gen Bajwa and ISI Director General (DG) Faiz Hameed to investigate the circumstances surrounding the arrest of the PML-N leader, who was in Karachi for an anti-government rally of the joint opposition.

    On October 19, Safdar, who was staying at a hotel with his wife, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, was arrested for “violating the sanctity of Jinnah’s mausoleum” by raising political slogans at the venue, surrounded by hundreds of party workers.

    Following Safdar’s arrest, a purported voice message by PML-N leader and former Sindh governor Muhammad Zubair was shared by a journalist in which Zubair alleged that the IG was kidnapped and forced to register the FIR [First Information Report] against Maryam, her husband Safdar and 200 others for violating the sanctity of the tomb.

    In the audio clip circulating on Twitter, Zubair said that Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Murad Ali Shah confirmed to him that police were pressured into making the arrest. “When they [police] refused to do that, Rangers kidnapped [the IGP],” Zubair had said.

    Maryam had also alleged that the Sindh police chief was forcibly “taken to the sector commander’s office and asked to sign on the arrest orders”.

    The statement by the military’s media wing comes days after PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif said that the inquiry into the “alleged abduction” of the Sindh IG and additional IG, and the “storming of Maryam’s room” had not been made public despite Gen Bajwa’s “personal assurance”.

    “Despite Gen Bajwa’s personal assurance, result of inquiry into abduction of IG/AIG Sindh & storming of Maryam Nawaz’s room hasn’t been made public. Does this nation have the right to know the reasons for delay?,” he tweeted.