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Tag: Fawad Chaudhry

  • Round Three: Sheikh Rasheed to meet TLP workers tonight

    Round Three: Sheikh Rasheed to meet TLP workers tonight

    At 10 PM tonight, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid and Religious Affairs Minister Pir Noorul Haq Qadri will, yet again meet workers of the recently banned Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) for a third round of talks.

    Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry tweeted that the second round of talks had ended earlier today.

    The first round, led by Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar, had taken place yesterday after which 11 police hostages were released by the TLP. The first talks took place after a day of clashes between workers and the police.

    Although Prime Minister Khan, in his address to the nation, clearly said that the approach taken by the TLP to the French backing of blasphemous cartoons is wrong, the TLP has put forward four demands. They want the French ambassador to be sent back to France, the part chief Saad Rizvi to be released, the ban on the party to be removed and the arrested workers to be released. PM Khan has clearly stated that his approach, which includes uniting the Muslim world should be adopted by the country, and that the TLP is trying to show that they ‘feel more passionate’ about the Holy Prophet (PBUH) which is not true.

    It remains to be seen what happens in the meetings between the TLP and the government. However, PM Khan mentioned that the violent protests done by the banned party had led to the killing of four police officers, 800 officers injured, 40 police cars destroyed and millions of rupees lost in the destruction of private property.

  • Cabinet reshuffle, again

    Cabinet reshuffle, again

    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has had another cabinet reshuffle this past week. The news of another reshuffle was doing the rounds for some weeks and finally it was announced on Friday, April 16. Except for one new but expected addition, all other portfolios have been given to already serving cabinet ministers. Only their portfolios have been changed.

    Hammad Azhar, who had just been appointed the finance minister less than three weeks ago after the ouster of Hafeez Shaikh, has now been removed and given the portfolio of energy. Shaukat Tarin, who served as the finance minister in the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) regime, has been appointed as minister for finance. He has been given the additional charge of revenue as well. Tarin is the fourth finance minister under the current regime and the second ex-PPP finance minister after Shaikh. Asad Umar was originally appointed the finance minister by PTI before being removed unceremoniously after a few months into his tenure whereas Hammad Azhar’s stint as finance minister was the shortest of all in this government. Tarin will be finance minister for at least six months and then the government will have to get him elected for him to remain in the ministerial position. Tarin has been extremely critical of PTI’s economic management. We will have to wait and see how he turns around the economy.

    Omar Ayub has been made the minister for economic affairs; he was previously energy minister. Khusro Bakhtiar, who held Ayub’s portfolio has now been given the portfolio of industries and production – a portfolio held earlier by Hammad Azhar, who now has Ayub’s portfolio. If this does not make your head hurt, do not fret for we now have Fawad Chaudhry back as the Information Minister while his ministry – Science & Technology – has been given to former information minister Shibli Faraz. Musical chairs, much?

    Fawad Chaudhry was an asset as the information minister when the PTI government came to power but he was replaced by Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan. Shibli Faraz later replaced Firdous. Chaudhry is the fourth – yet the original – information minister. When Chaudhry took on the science ministry, he brought his ministry to the limelight by starting many new projects. One of Chaudhry’s feats was his tussle on moonsighting for Ramzan and Eid with Mufti Muneeb. Chaudhry won in the end through his use of technology. Unfortunately, the new science minister Shibli Faraz thinks that moonsighting and the use of technology for this should not be the science ministry’s concern. We hope that Faraz will not rollback all the good work done by Chaudhry.

    We also hope that we will not need a new finance minister or a new information minister anytime soon.

  • PPP, several others, including PTI’s Fawad, against criminalising criticism

    PPP, several others, including PTI’s Fawad, against criminalising criticism

    The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has said that it rejects any attempts to further gag the fundamental right of freedom of expression in the name of preventing defamation and disrespect of the armed forces.

    In a statement, Senator Farhatullah Babar expressed grave concern over a bill moved by a PTI MNA and approved by the National Assembly Standing Committee on Interior seeking to amend the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) to send anyone to jail for two years with fine Rs 500,000 or both for what has been described as ‘defamation of the army”.

    He said that Section 500 of the PPC already provides punishment for the defamation of anyone, and the addition of Section 500-A is aimed only at gagging freedom of expression guaranteed under Article 19 of the constitution in name of national security. It is not acceptable and will be opposed at every platform he said.

    “The nation has witnessed enough of how behind the facade of ‘national security’ citizens have disappeared mysteriously, national resources diverted, internment centres set up, ex-tribal areas made a no-go area, foreign and security policies hijacked and security establishment’s business and commercial empire expanded exponentially.”

    Section 500-A is liable to be grossly misused in the name of national security as Section 295-C has been misused in the name of religion, he said.

    “Defence forces working within their constitutional limits are universally admired and do not need any legislation to protect their honor and respect. Similarly, no legislation can stop people from questioning those who transgress their limits with impunity,” he said.

    While the PPP and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) reportedly tried to block the bill from approval by NA Standing Committee on Interior, saying it was a violation of right to freedom of expression, some government members have also expressed concern.

    While Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari had earlier blocked a similar bid to curb criticism, Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry has now said it was an “absolutely ridiculous idea”.

    In a tweet, he said he strongly felt that instead of introducing new laws to quell criticism, the laws dealing with contempt of court “should be repealed”.

    He was seconded by Mazari.

    “Totally agree. Cannot state it strongly enough,” she wrote.

  • Ramzan to begin from April 14, announces MoST

    The Ministry of Science and Technology has announced that the holy month of Ramzan will commence on April 14 in Pakistan.

    “The moon of Ramzan, 1442 AH will be sighted on the evening of April 13, 2021,” said the ministry in a tweet. “The first of Ramzan will be on April 14, 2021. The moon will be clearly sighted in Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Karachi.”

    Minister of Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry also shared the announcement on social media.

    Chaudhry has been a vocal critic of the old-fashioned and outdated moon-sighting procedure, arguing that Pakistan should opt for science and technology to follow the moon cycle. He often clashed with the Ruet-e-Hilal committee on this.

    In December, last year the government appointed Moulana Abdul Khabir Azad as the new head of the committee replacing Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman.

  • Ban on TikTok lifted in Pakistan: Fawad Chaudhry

    Ban on TikTok lifted in Pakistan: Fawad Chaudhry

    Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday said that Peshawar High Court (PHC) has lifted the ban on TikTok as it was ordered by a single-member bench of the same court.

    “Peshawar High Court has suspended the operation of single bench judgement, ban on TikTok has been lifted. We need a framework to encourage international companies to make Pakistan their investment hub,” tweeted the federal minister.

    In March, PHC ordered Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to ask service providers to block users access to TikTok immediately in the country.

    “In respectful compliance to the orders of the Peshawar High Court, PTA has issued directions to the service providers to immediately block access to the TikTok App,” the PTA said.

    PHC Chief Justice (CJ) Qaiser Rashid Khan heard the petition filed by a citizen and ordered the ban on Tiktok.

    This is the second time when TikTok faced a ban in Pakistan.

    In October last year, the PTA had blocked TikTok after the company “failed to fully comply” with its instructions for the “development of an effective mechanism for proactive moderation of unlawful online content”.

    The moves had, however, led to outcry over “bars on digital advancement” in the country.

  • Pakistan Television’s first female anchor Kanwal Naseer passes way

    Pakistan Television’s first female anchor Kanwal Naseer passes way

    Pakistan Television (PTV)’s first female anchor, newscaster and announcer Kanwal Naseer has passed away at the age of 73. The departed soul was hospitalised for the past couple of days, as reported by Radio Pakistan.

    Born in 1948 in Lahore, Naseer entered media at the young age of 17 and remained associated with PTV and Radio Pakistan for over five decades. Naseer made her first announcement at the PTV on November 26, 1964. 

    Naseer has been awarded the Pride of Performance and many other national awards in recognition of her services. She was the daughter of legendary actor Mohini Hameed.

    Meanwhile, several notable personalities including Fawad Chaudhry and Humayun Saeed expressed their condolences over her death on social media.

    https://twitter.com/RajaBasharatLAW/status/1375321768378916868
  • Qazi Faez Isa’s wife moves court for contempt case against Fawad Chaudhry

    Qazi Faez Isa’s wife moves court for contempt case against Fawad Chaudhry

    The wife of Supreme Court (SC) judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa has moved court for a contempt case against Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry over a tweet by the latter.

    Sarina Isa’s application seeking the case against Fawad comes days after he tweeted that speeches were being made for the past one week, but reply would result in “concern” or “contempt”.

    The minister had said that those inclined towards politics must contest elections to realise their popularity and acceptability.

    In a later tweet, Fawad had also dedicated a poem to the judge.

    Meanwhile, “#IStandWithFawadChaudhary” is trending on Twitter.

  • Contempt case against ECP possible, warns govt

    Contempt case against ECP possible, warns govt

    Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has said that the government will begin contempt proceedings against the members of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), including the chief election commissioner (CEC) if they do not resign from their posts.

    Addressing a press conference along with Minister for Industries Hammad Azhar on Tuesday, Fawad said that the government is working with the Attorney General of Pakistan and will go for contempt of court proceedings against ECP officials. He warned that the ECP officials should step down themselves or legal options will be exercised.

    Earlier, the government had demanded election commission officials to resign and reconstitute the election body as it “failed to act as a neutral umpire”. 

    Meanwhile, ECP has sent notices to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its own scrutiny committee to appear before the watchdog on March 22 to explain their stance over keeping secret the foreign funding documents of the ruling party.

  • Government demands resignation of Chief Election Commissioner

    Seeking disbanding of the election watchdog, the ruling party has called on the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) to resign for “failing to hold the recently-held Senate elections in a transparent manner”.

    “It was a longstanding demand of the prime minister that the power of money should not be used to influence elections,” said Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood while addressing a press conference alongside Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz and Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry.

    “For this purpose, the premier wanted the Senate elections to be held via an open ballot.”

    Mahmood said it is the sole responsibility of the ECP to ensure transparent polls are held. He said that the government had told the ECP to implement a system wherein it would not be possible for corrupt practices to take place.

    The minister called on the election commission to be disbanded, alleging that it had failed to meet up to the standards required of it.

    “To ensure transparent elections are held is the responsibility of the election commission. This responsibility was not fulfilled,” he said. “The election commission failed to act as a neutral umpire hence it should resign,” added Mahmood.

    Explaining the government’s demand for the ECP to be disbanded, Mahmood said the PTI was the most popular political party in the country yet it did not have confidence in the ECP. He claimed the ruling party was not the only one which didn’t trust the ECP.

    Earlier, Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari had also taken a dig at the CEC, saying: “It is unfortunate that he is increasingly creating a partisan image of the ECP which erodes its credibility as well as [the] credibility of future elections under its supervision.”

    The minister had alleged that the CEC was partial and added that “instead of supporting PM & PTI’s demand for open ballot to ensure transparency in Senate elections, PDM’s opportunism & CEC’s partisan approach prevented fair, free and transparent Senate elections”.

    “CEC must take prime responsibility for this sorry state of electoral affairs.”

  • Fawad Chaudhry defends expelled couple

    Fawad Chaudhry defends expelled couple

    Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has stepped in to defend the couple, who were expelled from a private university in Lahore for publicly expressing their love.

    “Every girl has the right to marry whoever she wishes,” said Fawad in a tweet. “Marrying with one’s own choice choice is the fundamental right given to women in Islam.”

    “The university administration should re-think their decision,” asserted the minister, adding “Treating women like property is against Islam.”

    Other prominent personalities who criticised the university for its decision included PPP’s Sharmila Faruqi, Shehzad Roy, Yasir Hussain and Shaniera Akram.

    https://twitter.com/ShehzadRoy/status/1370705950479355906?s=20

    The University of Lahore, on Friday, allegedly expelled two students for publicly expressing their love and proposing on university grounds. In a video that went viral on social media and created a stir online, a girl could be seen getting down on one knee and asking her partner to marry him with a bouquet of roses. The proposal ended with the two hugging each other.

    According to a notification, dated March 12, the two students were expelled for “[being] involved in gross misconduct and violation of university rules and were called to appear before the special disciplinary committee [but] failed to appear.”