In yet another case of animal cruelty in Pakistan, a donkey’s ears were cut off in a village in Rawalpindi district due to a longstanding dispute between two families.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), Tanveer Hussain, who is a resident of Dhakala Dakkhana, Saagri, let his donkey loose on his fields however in an unusual occurrence the animal did not return as it does normally.
When Tanveer went to look for his animal, he found the donkey in an injured condition with its ears severed.
Police have stated that ongoing land disputes between the parties had resulted in a decades-long enmity.
The case marks the second reported incident of animal torture in recent days. In an earlier case, a feudal landlord chopped off a camel’s leg as punishment for foraging in his field in Sanghar, Sindh.
Maverick member of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sher Afzal Marwat told journalists in London that he can only rejoin the party at the request of incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
He told reporters that he’s been out of the party since eight months and will only join again at Imran Khan’s request. Marwat also confirmed that he plans to meet Khan after Eid.
The Member National Assembly (NA) also alleged that PTI misled young Pakistanis living abroad against the state’s security institutions.
The PTI leader condemned the campaign against the country’s institutions.
As terrorist attacks increase in Pakistan, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has increased security protocols for Chinese nationals working on energy projects in the province.
“Your security is top priority for us as you are here for the prosperity and development of our country,” said District Police Officer (DPO) Shafiullah Khan Gandapur after visiting Suki Kinari and Balakot hydropower projects along with Deputy Commissioner (DC) Adnan Khan Bittani.
The DPO also stated, “We have enhanced multilayer security of Chinese nationals working on power projects in parts of the district.”
Officials stressed to reporters that Chinese workers will be provided enhanced security. “We have set standard operating procedures under the National Action Plan for the safety of engineers and workers executing those energy projects in the district.”
A senior journalist, Khalil Jibran of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Landi Kotal district, was killed near his residence on Wednesday, Geo News has reported.
Jirbran was heading towards his house with one of his friends when unknown men targeted him, District Police Officer (DPO) Khyber Salim Abbas confirmed.
According to the details provided by KP police, the assailants surrounded the journalist’s car, dragged him out of it and opened fire at him.
The former president of Landi Kotal press club died on the spot, while his attackers made a quick exit.
The journalism community of the district condemned the incident and criticized the authorities for failing to provide safety to journalists.
DPO Salim Abbas confirmed that the journalist had received threatening phone calls multiple times. Chief Minister KP, Ali Amin Gandapur, also directed authorities to arrest the attackers immediately.
As Eid-ul-Azha approached, Muslims around the world including in Pakistan celebrated by enjoying public holidays, holding large social gatherings, giving meat to the needy but it has not been a festival for the minority Ahmadi community as right-wing religious activists, mostly from Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), targeted them on the Holy days.
Social media is abuzz with videos showing TLP members, helped by local police, searching for meat among the homes of Ahmadis.
In Gojra, an Ahmadi was booked for sacrificing a goat on Eid-ul-Azha on the complaint of a TLP activist.
“The suspect has committed severe abuse by following the rituals of Islam while pretending to be a Muslim,” said the FIR.
A spokesperson of Jamaat Ahmadiyya in Pakistan stated, “Shocking reports of police and extremists raiding Ahmadi homes, confiscating meat. What kind of Eid celebrations is this for Ahmadis in Pakistan?”
A 2022 Supreme Court judgement by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah ruled that obstructing non-Muslims from practising their religion within the confines of their place of worship was against the Constitution.
The 2022 written order stated, “to deprive a non-Muslim (minority) of our country from holding his religious beliefs, to obstruct him from professing and practicing his religion within the four walls of his place of worship is against the grain of our democratic Constitution and repugnant to the spirit and character of our Islamic Republic.”
An inflation bomb has been dropped on the Pakistani public as the government, in its new 2024-25 budget, imposed an 18 percent General Sales Tax (GST) on baby food and formula milk – a necessity for the nourishment of children.
People have strongly criticised the new tax on its probable risk of worsening malnutrition among infants and children since parents wouldn’t be able to afford baby food.
“In other countries, governments reduce taxes on such products,” said Akmal, a resident of Lahore, to DAWN.
In his budget speech Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb ironically underscored the importance of children’s nutrition in the country.
When asked about the new tax, he replied that it “was not a big deal” as formula milk is purchased by the middle and upper middle classes who can afford it.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and son of former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Zain Qureshi, said on Monday that he hopes his father will be released from jail after Eid ul Azha, Geo News has reported.
A close aide to former Prime Minister Imran Khan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi has been in jail since last year.
“This is my second Eid without my father. He has given the ultimate sacrifice. I’m hoping that he’ll be out of jail after Eid,” Zain Qureshi told journalists after offering Eid prayers in Multan.
Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi are facing multiple cases. They were initially arrested in the cypher case and cases related to vandalism on May 9.
Zain Qureshi also that his party is always ready for dialogue.
Earlier this week, an audio conversation of Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan and Supreme Court judges was leaked on social media. Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa clarified that it wasn’t leaked from the Supreme Court.
Justice Isa stated that he asked the IT staff who told him that there were some voices in the audio which did not belong to the top court.
The conversation was regarding the NAB amendment case’s court hearing in which Imran Khan appeared through video conference from Adiala Jail where he is currently imprisoned.
Interestingly, Justice Athar Minallah suggested that there was no issue even if the audio was leaked because the dialogues were made during an open court.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Anny Marri has confirmed that the wounded camel subjected to cruelty is being taken care of by a non-profit organisation Comprehensive Disaster Response Services (CDRS).
She posted on X (formerly Twitter): “So grateful to @CDRSWORLD for stepping up to the help the injured camel who is now in khi. Sarah Jehangir and her team of volunteers remind us of the good in the world. 24/7 doctors at present & a prosthetic once the camel heals, is the plan of action.”
CDRS describes itself as the “Top non-profit organization and charitable, registered in the United States and Pakistan for disaster relief and projects on human and social development. CDRS responds to human suffering in emergencies and disasters, as well as serves in the development of communities in need, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, class, location, or background.”
For animal rescue and shelter, the organisation has the “Benji Project for Animal Welfare and Rescue” dedicated to this task.
Previously
A heartbreaking incident took place in Mandh Jamrao area of Sanghar, Sindh when a camel wandered onto the agricultural land of an influential feudal lord. The angered man then told his employees to torture the animal, ending with cutting off its leg.
Social media is seething with rage at the inhumane act of cruelty. A widely shared video on social media shows the animal screaming in pain while a photo shows a man holding the leg in a room.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Anny Marri wrote on X that the injured camel is being treated in an animal welfare sanctuary.
The owner of the camel, Somer Bhan, reached Press Club Sanghar with a severed leg in a protest against the cruel act. He stated, “The tyrant cut off the leg of a speechless animal just because it passed through his fields.”
Sanghar police registered a case against “unknown persons” instead of filing the case against the person responsible.
In an unfortunate incident on June 8, a fire broke out in the pediatric ward of the Sahiwal Reading Hospital that claimed the lives of 11 children, most of them newborns.
After the incident, the hospital’s spokesperson Dr. Farrukh Shahzad stated that the fire was caused by a short circuit in an air conditioner in the nursery ward after which the hospital staff moved the children to the emergency room and the surgery ward; the hospital even denied reports of children’s deaths in the incident.
However, Information Minister Punjab government Azma Bokhari spoke with BBC Urdu, and said, “Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has rejected the report presented by the hospital and has conducted her own inquiry. Action has been ordered against officers of the hospital administration.”
During the CM’s visit to the hospital, it was found that fire extinguishers had expired since April and had not been maintained which is against safety protocols.
The CM was outraged at the hospital’s management for failing to provide fire extinguishing equipment even after the fatal incident.
CM Maryam Nawaz dismissed the hospital’s MS Akhter Hussain, Deputy MS Dr Usman Anwar, Assistant MS Dr Umer and Sahiwal Medical College Principal Prof Dr Imran Hasan.
However, when the Sahiwal police tried to arrest the doctors on CM’s orders, a clash took place between the police, hospital doctors and paramedics. The clash allegedly resulted in injuries to two dozen doctors and 30 paramedics.
The Young Doctors Association (YDA) led the protest, criticising the CM’s decision to arrest the senior doctors. It threatened to shut down all emergencies of public sector hospitals across Punjab if the detained doctors were not released.
The YDA has demanded the withdrawal of the suspension of senior doctors and action against the police officers involved in the baton charge.
District Police Officer (DPO) Sahiwal Faisal Shehzad held rounds of negotiations with the senior doctors and released all the doctors on orders of the Punjab government.
Maryam Nawaz also replied to a social media user on X (formerly Twitter) complaining of the government’s high-handed action against the doctors.
