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  • Anti-Muslim slogans call for murder at event organised by BJP

    Anti-Muslim slogans call for murder at event organised by BJP

    Inflammatory, anti-Muslim slogans calling for murder were raised in New Delhi, India, on Sunday during a march “against Colonial-era laws” in the country — an event organised by a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ashwini Upadhyay, reported The Wire.

    The event, organised under the ‘Bharat Jodo Movement’, demanded the end of “colonial-era laws” by implementing a Uniform Civil Code. The event was reportedly held without police permission.

    In photos and videos of the event doing the rounds on social media, violent and inflammatory anti-Muslim slogans were raised at the event, including slogans directly calling for the murder of Muslims. The Delhi Police have registered an FIR against unknown persons.

    https://twitter.com/asfreeasjafri/status/1424366863711043587?s=21

    People are questioning why an FIR has been registered against unknown people when their faces are clearly visible.

    Senior Journalist Barkha Dutt tweeted: “Revolting anti-Muslim slogans in heart of the capital is a clear example of hate speech and incitement to violence.”

    “I do not agree with the sedition law or with the phrase anti-national but if ever there was an apt definition of it, it is these men, caught on tape,” tweeted the journalist.

    Indian journalist Smita Sharma tweeted, “Video clips doing the rounds of vitriolic dangerous sloganeering against Muslims in the heart of the capital.”

    Sharma further said, “These are not fringe elements or just stupid crowds. They have been emboldened. Will @DelhiPolice act against these toxic anti-nationals?@CPDelhi.”

    Journalist Maya Mirchandani tweeted, “A group gets permission to hold a sit in at Jantar Mantar supposedly for unity in the country, then raises genocidal slogans against Indian Muslims in the heart of Delhi, a stone’s throw from parliament. Under govt’s nose, under @CPDelhi nose. How? #rightwingextremism #hatespeech”

  • PM Khan shares this video but TikTok is banned in Pakistan

    PM Khan shares this video but TikTok is banned in Pakistan

    Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan at the conclusion of the Olympic Games on Sunday, shared a message for his followers on social media, featuring a Tiktok video that conveys the importance of not giving up.

    Read More – PM Imran Khan wants Tiktok to be banned

    “I want the youth of Pakistan to watch the race and learn the most important lesson that sports taught me: you only lose when you give up,” wrote the premier.

    https://twitter.com/ImranKhanPTI/status/1424282908513210374?s=20

    The 62-second clip shared by PM Imran Khan shows an athlete falling down on his face during a sprint before getting back on his feet again and finishing ahead of everyone else.

    It is the fourth time that the wildly popular video sharing app has been blocked in Pakistan and the third time this year. Free speech advocates are critical of growing censorship since PM Imran Khan took office in 2018.

    The app has been caught up in a series of legal battles with religious activists and authorities. Prior to this shutdown, the app was barred for two days in early July on the order of a provincial court.

    Read More – Justice Athar Minallah expresses anger over TikTok ban, asks PTA for justification

    Despite being hugely popular and useful to many who market and sell goods online in Pakistan, TikTok has many critics in the country who claim the app promotes vulgarity.

    In June, the company announced it had removed more than siz million videos in just the previous three months alone as a result of complaints from officials and citizens alike. Of those six million videos, 15% were pulled because of “adult nudity and sexual activities.”

    The first time that Pakistan moved to block TikTok in 2020, the ban was lifted after diplomatic pressure from China and assurances from Byte Dance, the parent company, with regards to content moderation.

  • Man kills wife with an ax in front of daughter

    A husband killed his wife with an ax in front of their daughter in Nankana Sahib. Police registered a case under Section 302 and arrested the accused, reports Independent Urdu.

    According to the FIR, the woman was a resident of the Maliwal area and a mother of three children. She was murdered by her husband Khalid Hussain on Saturday night.

    The brother of the deceased, Yaseen, registered an FIR at Mangta Nawala police station. Yaseen told Independent Urdu that his sister was married to Khalid 15 years ago and has two sons and a daughter. Khalid used to drive a rickshaw to earn a living. According to Yaseen, the victim came to his house after the couple had a fight over their children.

    He said that Khalid came to his house on Friday night and took an oath by placing his hand on the Qur’an that he will never beat his wife again and wants to take his wife and children back home.

    Yaseen said that since the couple already had a fight so just to be on the safe side, he went with the couple along with some other relatives to ensure that the couple do not quarrel again.

    Yaseen said he slept on the roof at night, his sister in a room and Khalid in the courtyard.

    “At about two o’clock in the morning, there was a noise and we ran downstairs. I saw Khalid attacking my sister with an ax. My sister died on the spot due to severe injuries while Khalid saw us and fled the scene.”

    Yaseen said that when Khalid was attacking his sister with an ax, his 14-year-old daughter was standing there in shock.

    He said that the young girl’s senses have not been restored yet. They have brought the children home with them while the victim has been buried.

    SHO Tasawur Munir said that the accused has been arrested and action will be taken as per law. The SHO declined to comment further, saying an investigation is underway.

    Yaseen said he is very poor and is a driver by profession, he is afraid that the police will suppress the case so he needs justice for his sister.

  • Ayeza Khan’s account hacked? Requests her fans to support

    Ayeza Khan’s account hacked? Requests her fans to support

    Meray Paas Tum Ho star Ayeza Khan took to her Instagram stories to update her fans about a fake account of the actress on Twitter. The handle claims to be Ayeza’s team but isn’t affiliated with her.

    It is a verified account and hence caught the Chupke Chupke diva’s attention. She immediately asked her followers to report the account on twitter with over 2.5 lac followers.

    She recently updated netizens on her vaccinated status with a picture and a detailed caption on her Instagram handle. The Laapata actor replied back to netizens who questioned her point of posting it on a public platform.

     Ayeza is currently starring in Laapata opposite Ali Rehman Khan and Sarah Khan.

    Read More: Video: Ayeza Khan stuns the web with her electrifying dance moves on Sridevi’s chartbuster song ‘Mitwa’

  • Did Zahir’s mother help cover up Noor’s murder? Investigators look through call logs

    Did Zahir’s mother help cover up Noor’s murder? Investigators look through call logs

    Investigators in Noor Mukadam’ s murder case are checking the calls logs of Zahir’s mother — Asmat Jaffer — who called the head of Trillium Information Security Systems, a private Rawalpindi-based security firm, several times on the day of Noor’s gruesome murder on July 20, reports Zahid Gishkori for The News.

    Asmat Jaffer, who was in Karachi at the time of the murder, was also in contact with her son at 7:29pm. Noor’s murder reportedly took place between 6:30 and 7:30pm.

    Shortly after this call, Zahir contacted Trillium Security’s head at 7:30pm for five minutes after which Asmat spoke to the head of the firm at least thrice. Not only this, several people that she was in contact have confirmed that she was actively moving between Karachi’s DHA, Clifton and Shaheed-e-Millat Road area and reached out to multiple people at this time. According to The News, Zahir’s mother communicated over 200 times with numerous people: her servant, neighbours in F-7/4, a few influential individuals, a security company, capital police, a welfare trust, four private firms, her immediate family members and periodically with her son, the suspected killer, officials and people involved in the case said.

    These strange calls started peaking in the afternoon of July 20. She made frequent calls to Zahir a dozen times. However, the nature of these calls hasn’t been disclosed yet.

    “I have nothing to do with what happened [at Jaffer House]. These are absolutely false findings. Whatever the folks are saying is incorrect, as I have no connection with this [Noor Mukadam] murder,” Trillium Information Security Systems’ owner told Gishkori.

    The court denied bail to Zahir’s parents. Asmat Jaffer arrived at Quaid-e-Azam International Airport, Karachi, at 6:30am on July 21, throughout on call. Upon her arrival, she did not go to her family home. She went straight to sector F-8 for a few hours, before going to a friend’s house in sector F-6.

  • VIDEO: Man gets stuck behind ATM machine during theft

    A drunk thief in India’s Tamil Nadu got stuck behind an automated teller machine (ATM) while he was trying to steal money.

    The police arrested the thief identified as Upendra Roy. The police first rescued the thief and then detained him. 

     As per reports, Roy in his drunk state, removed the plywood on the wall behind the ATM and managed to reach the back of the machine. 

    Read More: Thief arrested after falling asleep in AC room during robbery

    Nearby residents informed the authorities when they heard strange sounds coming from the ATM. The police reached the spot and arrested the thief.

  • ‘The gun is already placed on their head’: Hamid Mir on being banned by Geo

    ‘The gun is already placed on their head’: Hamid Mir on being banned by Geo

    In an interview with Stephen Sackur on BBC HARDtalk, senior journalist Hamid Mir talked about why he was banned on Geo News, press freedom, censorship under Prime Minister Imran Khan, attacks on journalists, and how he is worried for his own safety in Pakistan.

    Disappointment on being off-air

    Stephen Sackur questioned Hamid Mir as to how disappointed he was with his employers [Geo News] and the Jang group who did not stand by him. Sackur also questioned how Mir felt that he had lost his voice and platform as a journalist because he was suspended from his channel.

    Mir said he was certainly disappointed but did understand the circumstances under which the decision was taken place.

    “Mir Shakil ur Rehman was arrested last year and he remained in the detention of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for more than seven months for a three-decade-old case, which was not a very big case. And I think that he was arrested, he was detained, just because of the freedom he was trying to give us. He got bail from the Supreme Court but his name was placed on the Exit Control List. He cannot leave Pakistan. He is already being held at gunpoint. So, my employers, the gun is already at their head. So when they were asked to ban Hamid Mir, they banned me. So I can understand their problem,” replied Mir.

    Imran Khan is a helpless Prime Minister

    The BBC host asked Mir that in the past he had a friendly relationship with PM Imran Khan so did he ever think that PM Imran personally wanted to see him taken off-air.

    Hamid replied, “It’s a very difficult question for me to respond [to], but I will try to very honestly. Imran Khan stood by me in 2007 when I was banned by General Pervez Musharraf, and yes at that time he was the biggest supporter of media freedom in Pakistan. Yes, I provided him a lot of space on my TV shows because he was in the Opposition, and you can say that I was friendly with him when he was in the Opposition. But when he became PM, I started raising questions. I even met him personally, and I asked him that your government should provide more space to the media because you are the biggest beneficiary of media freedom.”

    “One of my interviews with the former president, Asif Ali Zardari, was banned on my show, on my TV channel and some other Opposition leaders were also banned on different TV channels. So we started criticising Imran Khan and so I think he was not happy with my criticism.

    “The second part of your question is very important. I think that Imran Khan is not directly responsible for imposing a ban on me. And I don’t think he wants me to be off-air. But like past prime ministers, he is not a very powerful prime minister and I think he is helpless and he can’t help me,” said Mir.

    Concerned about my personal security

    Sackur questioned Mir if he feared the toxic environment in Pakistan and how concerned was he about his personal safety in the country after two assassination attempts on him. Mir answered, “Yes, I am very concerned about my personal security for a long time. I asked my family to leave Pakistan and my family left, my daughter and wife have already left. I was also approached by some people who suggested I leave Pakistan. But I decided not to leave.”

    Ready to face imprisonment

    The HARDtalk host asked Hamid Mir if he was ready to face imprisonment for the accusations against him, to which Mir responded, ” Yes, and I am ready to face life imprisonment because if they will be able to convict me at least the whole world will come to know what is going on in Pakistan. The whole world is already aware of what is going on in Pakistan because I am a living example of censorship in Pakistan. Everybody knows what happened to Hamid Mir and why he is banned and everybody knows the names of the people which I have not mentioned, everybody knows who was responsible for imposing a ban on me.”

    “The common Pakistanis are very wise, they are very clever. They know each and everything about what’s going on. But you see, there is no rule of law in Pakistan. And we only want justice, we want that the rule of law should be established in Pakistan. And if a journalist is asking questions, don’t try to silence his voice,” added Mir.

    State of media freedom in Pakistan

    Stephen Sackur questioned Mir whether there was a climate of fear in Pakistan when it comes to journalists or journalism.

    “Yes, definitely, there is a climate of fear in Pakistan. A lot of young journalists, they are very disappointed and look at the state of media freedom in Pakistan. When Mr Imran Khan became prime minister in 2018 Pakistan was ranked at 139 on the World Press Freedom Index. Today, in 2021, when I am talking to you, it is 145. So Pakistan lost six points in the last three years,” said Mir.

    He further added, “According to the International Federation of Journalists, Pakistan is one of the five most dangerous countries for journalists in the whole world. This is not good for Pakistan, for its reputation and credibility in the international community. And yes, there is a climate of fear in Pakistan because Pakistani journalists think journalism is becoming very difficult in this country and this government of Imran Khan [is] now planning some more anti-media laws which is not acceptable to us.”

    Rule of law only solution in Pakistan

    Commenting on the grave danger to democracy in Pakistan, Hamid Mir said, “I think that the rule of law is the solution to all of our problems. That’s why we want a general democracy in Pakistan because the founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a democrat and I am a follower of his.”

    “And all those people who are trying to snatch media freedom from us are enemies of Pakistan and are enemies of Muhammad Ali Jinnah,” said Mir.

  • Eight PPP leaders summoned to FIA

    Eight PPP leaders summoned to FIA

    The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has issued notices to eight members of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), including provincial ministers. FIA has summoned them in person, reported Hum News.

    FIA notices have been issued to Nasir Shah, Saeed Ghani, Nafisa Shah, Qadir Patel, Shahida Rahmani, Naz Baloch, Shela Raza, and Qadir Khan Mandokhel.

    PPP leader Nafisa Shah said that the PPP members have been summoned after receiving a message from a nominee in a case regarding anti-Chief Justice speech.

    “The members have been notified by the FIA by issuing notices under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA),” stated Nafisa Shah.

    “State machinery is being used to silence PPP spokespersons and leaders. Receiving a message from a person on WhatsApp does not constitute a crime nor does the PECA law apply,” added Nafisa Shah.

    The PPP leader said, “Political leaders receive thousands of messages. If receiving messages is criminalised, the whole world will be in jail.”

    She said that the PPP could not be silenced by such tactics and that the FIA ​​is misusing its powers.

    “Like the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), FIA is being used by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for political engineering,” said Nafisa Shah. 

    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    Pakistan on Red List for not providing Covid-19 data, UK claims
    
			
    Pakistan on Red List for not providing Covid-19 data, UK claims
    
			
    

    The British government has claimed that the Pakistan authorities did not send them the Covid-19 data on vaccination and testing, which likely explains why Pakistan is still on the United Kingdom (UK) travel ban Red List while India and several other countries have been removed from the ban list and moved to the Amber category, Murtaza Ali Shah reports for The News.
    




    Social media users, Pakistani and some UK officials also criticised the UK’s decision to not move Pakistan from the Red List to the Amber List but it has now come to light that the Pakistan government’s National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) did not share the data of vaccination and testing with the UK authorities.
    




    The Pakistani government officials have claimed that the UK authorities did not ask them for any data; that the Pakistan government has been sharing data with the British High Commission in Islamabad. The data was accessible on the NCOC’s Twitter and the UK government could have easily checked it before making and announcing a decision on the latest removals and retention of the travel list.
    




    


    




    Several British Pakistani MPs wrote objection letters after it was announced that Pakistan would stay on the Red List while India was taken off the list despite worse Covid-19 situation.
    




     One British Pakistani spoke to a senior UK government minister who told the MP that Pakistan had failed to provide data to the UK government. There was no lobbying effort from the Pakistani government, which was why Pakistan remained on the Red List. Both the MP and the senior government minister wanted to be anonymous.
    




    On Friday, NCOC head Asad Umar, and SAPM National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan conducted a virtual meeting with Pakistani-origin Labour MPs Khalid Mahmood, Muhammad Yasin, Tahir Ali, Afzal Khan, Lord Wajid Khan, Imran Hussain, Yasim Qureshi, Pakistan High Commissioner Moazzam Ali Khan, Naz Shah and Dr Rosena Khan.
    




    Five MPs, who spoke to Geo and The News, confirmed that the subject was discussed during the meeting whether Islamabad had given data to London or not – after two MPs asked the same question to Pakistani ministers. The MPs told Pakistan officials what the UK government had told them about not sharing the data.
    




    According to the MPs, Asad Umar told them that the data was publicly available on the NCOC forums including Twitter and Youtube and the UK authorities could have got it. According to one MP, Faisal Sultan said that he had not spoken to British High Commissioner Christian Turner in “4-5 weeks”.
    




    The MPs said they asked Pakistani ministers and Pakistan High Commission diplomats what efforts had they made to engage with the UK government through the Foreign Office and the High Commission to get Pakistan off the list. The MPs said Pakistani officials had no response.
    




    The Pakistan High Commission said on Friday that the Pakistani envoy met PM Boris Johnson at Sandhurst Academy and highlighted the issue of Red List.
    




    During their meeting with Asad Umar and Faisal Sultan, the MPs said that the UK government believed that Pakistan was performing lower in areas over positivity rate, percentage of genomic testing, and types of viruses, vaccination rates and testing.
    




    In comparison, other countries fared well and came off the Red List. One MP told the Pakistani officials that Pakistan had conducted under 300 genomics tests in the whole year while some countries were conducting 2,500 genomics tests a month.
    




    At the end of the meeting, Asad Umar tweeted: “Had a session with some UK MP’s regarding the continuation of Pakistan on the red list. Shared data regarding Covid disease surveillance and explained Pak strategy for Covid response. Will engage with the UK govt to ensure that red list decisions are based on science not politics.”
    




    


    




    One MP said that at the end of the meeting, Asad Umar shared with them the information sheets that were required. “It’s clear looking at these sheets that Pakistan has up-to-date data but I feel Pakistan authorities should have shared the same with the UK government and run effective lobbying. The UK MPs have been raising their voice because they are under pressure from their constituents but it’s the government’s responsibility to have engaged with the UK government,” said the MP.
    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    Alizeh Shah appeals to netizens to stop trolling her
    
			
    Alizeh Shah appeals to netizens to stop trolling her
    
			
    

    Ehad-e-Wafa star Alizeh Shah was trolled in July 2021 for her choice of dressing at the 5th Hum Style Awards.  She took to her Instagram to post a cryptic post urging netizens to not say anything when they don’t have anything good to say. 
    




     




    She was earlier trolled for her choice of dressing at the 5th Hum Style Awards.
    




     




    The Superstar diva also posted a story describing her equation with haters.
    




    




     




    Mohabbat Tujhe Alvida‘s director, Barkat Sidiki has roped in Alizeh Shah, Ali Rehman Khan and Khushal Khan in his forthcoming directorial venture. Titled as Lekin it is penned by Aliya Bukhari, known for writing several HUM TV shows including the ongoing Yun Toh Hai Pyar Bohut.
    




    The team is currently shooting in Karachi and the play will go on-air later this year on HUM TV.