Current Final

Category: Politics

  • Naya Pakistan: Police register blasphemy case against 50 rioters for attacking temple

    Naya Pakistan: Police register blasphemy case against 50 rioters for attacking temple

    Police have registered a blasphemy case against 50 rioters for vandalising a Hindu temple following blasphemy allegations against a local teacher in the Ghotki district of Sindh, journalist Mubashir Zaidi has claimed.

    “Police registers balsphemy case against 50 rioters who vandalized Hindu temple in Ghotki,” he tweeted Monday.

    Heavy contingents of police and rangers were deployed in the district Sunday after violent protests over alleged blasphemy by a school principal belonging to the Hindu community. A temple, school and businesses owned by Hindus in the city were ransacked by the rioters.

    The case against the individuals, who attacked the temple, was registered under sections 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship, with intent to insult the religion of any class),  147 (rioting) and 149 (connivance) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

    Dawn quoted Sukkur Additional Inspector General (AIG) Jamil Ahmed as saying that Section 295 was included because the protesters had vandalised a Hindu temple.

    “The Sindh government and its ministers seem serious to bring the culprits to book,” a rights activist from the Hindu community told a private media outlet on the condition of anonymity.

    However, the activist said that the people still felt insecure and wanted an end to injustice on the basis of faith.

    Another case was lodged against 150 people — 27 named and 123 unidentified persons — for blocking roads. A third FIR [First Information Report] pertaining to rioting and theft was filed against 23 people, including 11 unidentified persons, over reports that protesters had stolen goods from multiple shops in Shahi Bazar.

    RIOTS OVER ‘BLASPHEMY’:

    Law and order of Ghotki and surrounding areas deteriorated on Sunday as people in large numbers took to the streets to protest against an alleged incident of blasphemy.

    The protests began on Saturday after an FIR was filed against the principal of Sindh Public School on the complaint of Abdul Aziz Rajput, a student’s father who claimed that the former had committed blasphemy.

    The FIR was lodged under Article 295(c) — that pertains to “derogatory remarks in respect of the Holy Prophet (PBUH)” — of the PPC.

    Residents of the area demanded that the police arrest the principal, issued a call for a shutter-down strike, and took to the streets in protest. Videos of stick-wielding protesters were shared on social media on Sunday, in which they were seen vandalising a Hindu temple and damaging the school where the alleged incident took place.

    The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) also shared a video of protesters breaking the infrastructure of the school and expressed concern over the situation.

    “Alarming reports of accusations of blasphemy in Ghotki and the outbreak of mob violence,” it said in a tweet.

  • Shahzeb Khanzada destroys CM KP’s advisor on education

    The most controversial discussion on television last night was the notice to parents by the Khyber Pakhtunkhua government that their daughters will have to wear an abaaya/chadar/burkha when going to and coming from school. This restriction was being placed on them for their “own protection”.

    Social media was in an uproar, as well as television programs. When anchor Shahzeb Khanzada did a program on the issue last night, he took the man who had circulated the notice: the Chief Minister’s advisor on elementary and secondary education, Ziaullah Bangash.

    Shahzeb asked him questions on what the government’s plan was on how to cover up little boys since there were more cases of sexual abuse against boys reported than girls. He also asked Bangash about the co-relation between clothes and abuse, showing data on how there was more sexual abuse of children in madrassahs than schools, and madrassahs being a place where students were fully covered and being given religious teachings, this should not be the case.

    Bangash had no pertinent answer. The notice has since then, been taken back by the Chief Minister.

    Watch Shahzeb’s explosive interview here:

  • PM Imran all set for another modest US trip

    PM Imran all set for another modest US trip

    After his austere United States (US) trip from earlier this year, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan is all set for another one of the same kind as merely $162,000 (Rs25 million) from taxpayers’ money will be spent, The Express Tribune reported.

    The premier will reach Washington on September 21, where he will not only hold meetings with US President Donald Trump among other top government officials, but also address the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session.

    It is also believed that PM Imran will once again take a commercial flight instead of opting to charter a plane in a bid to save money as the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government continues to attempt to reduce the burden on the national exchequer.

    Previously, the premier’s visit to the US had cost the treasury around $67,180 (Rs11 million). Around Rs1.35 million were spent on accommodation for PM’s 27-member delegation, while the PM chose to stay at Pakistan Embassy instead of some lavish hotel.

    According to the details of the expenditures, an amount of Rs92,120 were incurred on transport, Rs142,000 on gifts, Rs6,075,800 on airfare, miscellaneous expenditures stood at Rs1,287,460, tips at Rs706,001 and meals at Rs1,389,077.

  • Buzdar’s metro plan backfires, number of commuters falls by 20,000

    Buzdar’s metro plan backfires, number of commuters falls by 20,000

    Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar-led provincial government’s Metro Bus fare policy has backfired as both Lahore and Rawalpindi-Islamabad metro buses have faced a drastic decrease in the number of passengers.

    According to The News, after the Punjab Metro Bus Authority increased the bus fare from Rs20 to Rs30, the number of commuters on Lahore Metro Bus has decreased by up to 20,000 per day while around 10,000 to 20,000 passengers have stopped commuting via the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus.

    “We were expecting an annual increase of Rs800 million in the revenue of Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMTA) by increasing the fare. However, it is quite surprising that the number of passengers has decreased up to 20,000 in Lahore and 10,000 to 20,000 in Rawalpindi-Islamabad on a daily basis,” reports quoted an official as saying.

    It is very strange for us to know that passengers are so sensitive about the fare, the official said further. “The PMTA management is preparing the report on this unexpected outcome which will be presented to the authorities concerned in a week or two.”

  • Supreme Court orders Modi govt to restore normalcy in Kashmir

    Supreme Court orders Modi govt to restore normalcy in Kashmir

    The Supreme Court of India (SCI) on Monday ordered the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi-led government to restore normalcy in occupied Kashmir “as soon as possible while keeping in mind national safety and security.”

    “Schools, hospitals, public transport should function properly,” said the ruling of a three-member bench of India’s apex court.

    According to Dunya News, the ruling came as the SCI took up multiple pleas against the Indian premier’s August 5 decision of revoking the special autonomy of Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK).

    The court has ordered the government to submit a report mentioning the actual situation in the region that has been lockdown for 43 days with communication blackout.

    During the hearing of petitions, Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi remarked that if “requirement arises”, he would himself visit Jammu and Kashmir and expressed concerns over reports of inaccessibility of Kashmiris to the high court.

  • Pakistan unveils schedule for sending first-ever astronaut to space

    Pakistan unveils schedule for sending first-ever astronaut to space

    Federal Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain has said that Pakistan is committed to sending its first astronaut to space by 2022, ARY News reported.

    According to the details, the minister said that China would collaborate with Pakistan in its space mission and the selection process for the astronaut would start in 2020.

    He added that 50 people will be selected in the initial selection process and then the list would come down to 25 in 2022, out of them only one would be sent to space.

    The minister also said that the debris of India’s first space mission namely ‘Shakti’, which had failed, was even posing dangers to the space missions of other countries.

    Furthermore, Fawad said that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) will play an important role in the astronaut’s selection.

    Earlier, on July 25, the minister had announced that Pakistan would send its first citizen to space by 2022 following a selection process.

  • Punjab govt misses tax collection target by over Rs20 billion

    Punjab govt misses tax collection target by over Rs20 billion

    The Punjab government has missed its tax collection target in July, costing the provincial exchequer an amount of Rs20.45billion, The Express Tribune reported.

    According to reports, the provincial government collected Rs11.91billion, down by 63 per cent from its target of Rs32.33billion, and economic experts associate the reduction in tax collections with the fiscal crisis that currently grips the country.

    “If the economy remains in this condition, revenue will continue to fall,” the report quoted an expert as saying.

    Several factors, including lower than usual property tax, irrigation tax, income tax, and land revue, contributed to the overall shortfall. During July, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) collection under stamp duty, property tax, irrigation tax, income tax, and land revenue fell by 20.41 per cent, due to which the tax authority was only able to bag Rs5.38billion instead of Rs6.76billion.

    Similarly, a reduction of 22.16 per cent in property transfer, professional tax, professional excise, and other indirect taxes resulted in a shortfall of Rs0.73 billion.

    The provincial exchequer received another blow in lower than expected collection of sales tax and other indirect taxes. Out of the Rs13.87billion, only Rs318.6million ended up in the provincial coffers.

    Experts believe slowing economic growth will result in lower revenues for the government. And if current trends continue, the government revenue receipts will fail to match the budgeted targets.

    Official sources, on the other hand, confirmed the English daily that the targets were not being met due to the current economic crisis. However, they were hopeful that the coming year would yield better results and bring in greater revenue through taxation.

  • PM claims 58 countries’ support at UNHRC, it has 47 members

    PM claims 58 countries’ support at UNHRC, it has 47 members

    In yet another incident of miscalculation, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that Pakistan enjoys the support of 58 member countries of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) against Indian actions in held Kashmir, while the global rights body only has 47 members.

    “I commend the 58 countries that joined Pakistan in Human Rights Council on 10 Sept reinforcing demands of int community for India to stop use of force, lift siege, remove other restrictions, respect & protect Kashmiris’ rights & resolve Kashmir dispute through UNSC resolutions [sic],” the premier tweeted Thursday.

    He also welcomed “the EU’s call in the Human Rights Council for a peaceful solution of the Kashmir dispute in line with UNSC resolutions, int law and bilateral agreements”.

    Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar also made the same mistake and said that Pakistan has the support of 58 member countries.

    Twitterati, however, didn’t spare the premier. Expectedly, within a short time, several people started pointing out the error and poking fun at him. Here’s what they tweeted:

    https://twitter.com/freakykalin/status/1172140643608481793

    Previously, PM Imran had found himself in a similar soup when, at a conference, he said that Germany and Japan are immediate neighbours who share a border.

    “Germany and Japan killed millions of their civilians until after the Second World War when they decided that they would have, on the border region of Germany and Japan, joint industries,” he had said.

  • Bushra Bibi has ‘two jinns’ claims Aatish Taseer

    Bushra Bibi has ‘two jinns’ claims Aatish Taseer

    Acclaimed writer and son of Indian journalist Tavleen Singh and former governor Salmaan Taseer, Aatish Taseer has written a controversial piece for Vanity Fair. From interviewing PM Khan’s former wife Reham Khan to singer Ali Zafar, Taseer is being severely criticised for writing a puff piece with quotes from an ex-wife and a singer accused of sexual harassment.

    Aatish Taseer

    The Current decided to sum up the major points from his article.

    1. Pakistan’s first lady Bushra Bibi has two jinns

    According to a journalist who has not been named, Bushra Bibi, known as “Pinky Peerni” has two jinns and when people seek her guidance, she asks them for “great vats of cooked meat,” that she “fed to the jinns she has kept at her disposal”.

    Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi’s Nikkah – Feb ’18

    2. Khan married Bushra Bibi because of a dream

    When PM Khan sought guidance from Bushra Bibi, according to Taseer, she told him that she had had a dream and according to the dream, “it was imperative he be married to the right woman—i.e., a member of Maneka’s own family.”

    Taseer then relates that Bushra “offered her sister to Khan,” as well as her daughter. PM Khan refused and “then Maneka went away to dream again…and the voice in her head told her that she, Bushra Maneka, a married woman and a mother of five, was the wife Imran Khan needed.”

    According to the article, Bushra Bibi’s husband Khawar Maneka, “agreed to give her a divorce,” so she could marry Khan.

    Imran Khan pictured in Bani Gala in 2012

    3. “I have seen women from the age of just 6 to 60 going crazy over him”

    Long-time friend Yousaf Salahuddin tells Taseer that Khan was a very wanted man in his younger days and girls as young as six years were crazy about him. This quote was inserted in a paragraph that describes Khan as a sex symbol.

    4. Zulfi Bokhari refused to give Taseer an interview with Khan

    Taseer said that he approached close aide and Special Assistant to the PM on Overseas Pakistanis, Zulfi Bokhari to set up an interview with PM Khan. But “when I spoke to Zulfi Bokhari, a frequenter of nightclubs from the London days… he sought assurances that my piece would be positive; otherwise, he told me, it would be his a** on the line. A few days later, Bokhari WhatsApped me: “Unfortunately the PM has said he can’t do it right now. Perhaps in the near future.”

    5. Khan was envious of Benazir’s death

    Taseer writes that when Benazir Bhutto died in 2007, Khan came to Pakistan a few days later “with a French girlfriend” and had been “photographed poolside in swimming trunks as his country was engulfed in trauma”.

    Imran Khan sunbathing at Godrej bungalow at Juhu in Mumbai on 28 Dec. 2007

    Taseer also mentions the time when he met Khan alone after BB’s death, Khan said that God had saved Benazir. Khan said that BB, in making a deal with General Musharraf had done, “the most immoral thing you could have done. So this thing has come as a blessing for her.” Taseer asked Khan what he meant by “this thing” and Khan replied, “Death,” as a matter-of-fact. Then, with what sounded almost like envy, he added, “Benazir has become a martyr. She has become immortal.”

    6. Khan identified himself as a “liberal”

    In a discussion with singer Ali Zafar, Khan said that he was “a liberal” and said about his “right-wing” tilt that, “you just can’t talk about those issues so openly, because you’re going to be penalized for it.”

    Khan told Ali that “You know me…I’m a liberal; I’ve got friends in India; I’ve got friends who are atheists. But you’ve got to be careful here,” meaning Pakistan.

    Social media had mixed reactions to Taseer’s account.

    https://twitter.com/hussainjahanzeb/status/1172357378647441409?s=20
    https://twitter.com/akkhan81/status/1172418837435666432?s=20
    https://twitter.com/OmarWaraich/status/1172185474389069824?s=20
  • Buzdar’s mouthpiece resigns from office

    Buzdar’s mouthpiece resigns from office

    Amid reports claiming that Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar will soon be sacked by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, his spokesperson, Dr Shahbaz Gill, has resigned from office.

    “I hereby resign from the post of official spokesperson to Punjab CM,” Gill stated in a handwritten note submitted to the office of the provincial chief executive.

    Initially, Gill did not cite any reason behind his abrupt decision, however, reports quoted the former spokesperson as saying that “it was difficult for him to defend the poor performance of the Punjab government”.

    In a tweet posted earlier in the day, Gill had said that he would be sharing an “important decision” very soon.

    Rumour has it that Gill will be replacing Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan as the special assistant to the PM on information and broadcasting.

    Meanwhile, PM Imran’s close aide Awn Chaudhry has reportedly been removed as the advisor to Punjab CM as well. He has been replaced by Asif Mehmood.