An Ahmadiyya Ibadatgah in Karachi was vandalised by a mob on Thursday, Dawn has reported. The news was confirmed by police and the spokesperson of the community.
A police officer who requested anonymity reported that the spokesman, Mr. Mehmood, said that 10 to 12 masked men attacked and damaged the minaret of the place of worship in Saddar in an attack similar to the one that occurred in the Martin Quarters neighbourhood on January 18.
The incident happened around 03:30 pm, the spokesman told local police. Although there were several officers there, he said that they were helpless to stop the assailants. The Supreme Court of Pakistan in a landmark judgment on minorities’ rights issued in 2014, had asked the government to form a special task force for the protection of minorities’ places of worship.
Special measures have been taken at key sensitive buildings in Islamabad, including the President House, Prime Minister (PM) House and Parliament among other places.
Moreover, high security was also beefed up at all the entry points of the capital, Islamabad police’s Twitter account said on Monday.
Snipers have been deployed at all locations and residents are instructed to carry identity cards and essential documents along with them while travelling.
اسلام آباد کیپیٹل پولیس تھرمل امیجنگ کی صلاحیت سے لیس ہے۔
Meanwhile, the Inspector General (IG) of Sindh Police has also ordered officials to start patrolling and snap checking in Karachi.
A day earlier, Peshawar was attacked by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) which claimed the lives of 93 people and left more than 200 injured. In a surprise turn of events, the TTP later claimed that it had nothing to do with the bombing.
Pakistan is currently facing a resurgence in terrorist activities.
After the Peshawar attack, PM Shehbaz Sharif said that such cowardly terror attacks will not weaken the nation’s resolve and that all the terrorists and their facilitators involved in the attacks will be punished.
An incident at Civilizations Public School, a private school in Karachi, went viral a few days ago when a distressed father uploaded a video where he narrated a harrowing account of what his son went through. The father revealed that his son’s teacher, Sadaf Mateen, had overheard the student speaking in urdu to his friends. She called him over and began to humiliate him by making a black mark on his face, and then encouraged other students to laugh at him. The father went on to reveal that he had sought the school’s administrations help but they had refused to cooperate, so he was compelled to make a video and make it public.
Video taken courtesy of Geo news
WARNING – DISTRESSING VIDEO
Father narrates details of his son getting 'humiliated' for speaking Urdu at Karachi's private school
After the video went viral, the Directoriate of Inspection/ Registration of Private Institutions Sindh had announced that they were launching an investigation into the matter which reportedly took place on January 27. An inquiry committee comprising of five members has now said in a statement released on their public pages that the accusations were proven to be true.
“The accusation of applying blackness on the face of student Moosa by his teacher is correct. Indeed, the teacher in question punished the student for not speaking in English, which is quite in contradiction of the feeling of patriotism and love for the national language. The administration of the school failed to handle the situation or deal with the parents on their complaint properly.”
Therefore, the school was charged a fine of Rs 100,000 and their registration was also suspended. In a statement uploaded on their Facebook page, a representative from Civilizations Public School revealed that they had accepted the resignation of the school teacher and said that the incident was against the school’s ethos.
“Civilizations Public School takes great pride in being one the few educational institutions to promote, encourage and celebrate Urdu. Its role in promoting Urdu is unmatched in the country. In the last few years, the school has organized four mushairas and poets such as Iftikhar Arif, Fehmida Riaz and Amjad Islam Amjad have read their poetry to audiences in thousands which included out students, faculty, staff, guests and members of the media. The coverage of these events is publicly available. Books by Urdu masters such as Yousufi, Patras Bukhari and Ibn-e-Insha comprise the entirety of our Urdu curriculum. Lines from Faiz, N. M. Rashid and Majaaz often echo through the corridors and auditoria.
The School in no way promotes English over Urdu. The regrettable incident that took place on January 27 is against the school’s ethos, ideology, philosophy and spirit. We are a considerate and empathetic institution that does not condone or allow anyone to embarrass a student. You are welcome to come to our next Urdu event and witness the school’s culture.
The teacher who took the said step is no longer part of the school and her resignation has been accepted.
The faculty and staff are fully trained and socialized to embrace diversity and a multilingual environment.
We hope to continue to produce the next generation of leadership and further our mission of celebrating our Urdu heritage.”
Gold prices in Pakistan continued their record-breaking spree as the price of 24-carat gold reached an all-time high of Rs195,500 after gaining Rs4,900.
In addition, the price of 10 grammes also witnessed an increase of Rs4,201 to settle at Rs167,610, according to the All-Pakistan Sarafa Gems and Jewellers Association (APSGJA).
Moreover, the bullion rate in the international market reached $1,936 after a surge of $11.
The Pakistani rupee (PKR) on Thursday dropped drastically to approach an all-time low, days after exchange companies abolished the cap on the rupee-dollar exchange rate.
The sudden hike in yellow metal prices comes as the weakening rupee pushed investors to the safety of bullion to hedge against intensifying economic turmoil in the country.
On Thursday, the local currency crashed to approach another historic low, as it dropped to Rs255.43 versus the US dollar in the interbank market, sliding Rs24.54 or 9.61 per cent from Wednesday’s close, according to the State Bank of Pakistan.
The Sindh government has launched a bus service solely for women in Karachi. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Sharjeel Inam Memon took to Twitter on Thursday to announce that the Sindh Transport Department has launched the bus service in the metropolis.
He also shared pictures of the buses, which are painted in a distinct shade of pink.
“Transport department government of Sindh is going to start Pakistan’s First bus service only for the women and girls exclusively. Inshallah Pink buses will start their operation from 1st February in #Karachi. Peoples Bus Service, At Your Service.”
Transport department government of Sindh is going to start Pakistan’s First bus service only for the women and girls exclusively. Inshallah Pink buses will start their operation from 1st February in #Karachi. Peoples Bus Service, At Your Service. pic.twitter.com/6T1rQUK3qm
Twitter users lauded the launch of the bus service as a step towards improving access to public transport for women in Sindh.
“Another good initiative of the transport department, the women-only bus service will be launched very soon on the roads of Karachi from February 1 Thanks to Chairman @BBhuttoZardari, Transport Minister @sharjeelinam is changing Karachi for all of us in the journey of development.”
Former Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rao Anwar and 17 other police officers have been acquitted in the high-profile Naqeebullah Mehsud murder case.
Naqeebullah, a young aspiring fashion model from Waziristan, was killed in Karachi on January 13, 2018, during an encounter allegedly staged by Anwar. Rao and his colleagues were charged with the killing of Naqeeb and three others after falsely accusing them of being militants linked to ISIS and Taliban.
On Monday, the court said that the prosecution had failed to submit sufficient evidence and failed to prove that the victims were kidnapped and murdered in a fake encounter by Rao Anwar and his 14 subordinate officials. However, a detailed verdict in the case is awaited.
Speaking to Geo TV after the acquittal, Anwar said that “fake allegations” against him had been proven wrong.
He claimed that the person killed was a “wanted terrorist” whose name was Naseemullah and not Naqeebullah. “He was a wanted militant about which advertisements were also given in the media,” he said.
When asked whether he would like to rejoin the police force, the former police official said one year of his service is left and he “would like to serve Karachi”.
Following the verdict, lawyer Jibran Nasir who is representing the case of Naqeebullah said the victim’s family would appeal this judgement before the high court.
Today's judgment will be appealed before the Honorable High Court by the legal hiers of Naqeeb Mehsud. https://t.co/S7hRXCxJDZ
Millions of Pakistanis were left without electricity on Monday due to a nationwide power outage, which threatened to unleash chaos in the South Asian country, which is already experiencing fuel shortages during the winter.
The country’s Ministry of Energy said in a statement the country’s National Grid went down at 7:34 am local time, “causing a widespread breakdown in the power system,” according to initial reports.
ابتدائی اطلاعات کے مطابق آج صبح 7:34 پر نیشنل گرڈ کی سسٹم فریکوئنسی کم ہوئ جس سے بجلی کے نظام میں وسیع بریک ڈاؤن ہوا سسٹم کی بحالی پر کام تیزی سےجاری ہے
— MOE- Power Division, Government of Pakistan (@MoWP15) January 23, 2023
“System maintenance work is progressing rapidly,” the statement added.
A “limited number of grids” in Islamabad and Peshawar have had power restored, the ministry said.
The duration of the power outage is unknown, but attempts are being made to bring power back to various areas of the country.
The disruption occurs as the country’s frail economy continues to face numerous difficulties, including a serious energy crisis.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered all federal agencies to cut their energy use by 30 per cent. In addition, his administration mandated that all stores and restaurants close at 8:30 pm.
The per tola price of 24-karat gold witnessed an increase of Rs1,200 on Saturday and was traded at Rs187,200, up from Rs186,000 the previous trading day. The price of 10 grammes of 24-karat gold also increased by Rs1,029 to Rs160,494 according to All Sindh Sarafa Jewellers Association.
Although gold is often used as an inflation hedge, it is quite vulnerable to monetary tightening, which raises the opportunity cost of owning the bullion, which is typically a non-yielding asset like other precious metals. In other words, a precious metal investment cannot be “put to use” to try to make a profit.
According to the jewellers association, gold in the local market continued to be “undercost” by Rs3,000 a tola when compared to the Dubai market, maintaining its Friday trend.
Dealers claimed it was difficult to determine if the potential increase in the policy rate of 100–200 basis points (BPS) had been included in the price of the yellow metal.
According to a research report from Pearl Securities, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) may raise the policy rate by 100 to 200 basis points to reduce ongoing inflationary pressures.
Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari recently got candid while talking about his mother’s legacy, assassination, and his foray into politics.
In a wide-ranging interview on Thursday with The Washington Post’s Lally Weymouth, Bilawal, who is currently representing Pakistan at World Economic Forum in Davis, agreed that if his mother Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto had lived Pakistan would have been a different place.
“I think that not only would Pakistan be a different place, but our region would have gone in a different direction. She had a vision and clarity that no one had at the time,” he said of his mother, the first female Muslim Prime Minister in the world.
Responding to a question about where he was when his mother was assassinated in 2007 in Karachi, he said, “I was a freshman at Oxford”. Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in an attack in Rawalpindi in 2007, right before she was to lead her party to the polls.
Speaking about his early stages in politics, Bilawal—who is also chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)— said that his party thought that it was important for him to take a “ceremonial role leading the party to keep them united”.
When asked whether he could become prime minister this year, FM Bilawal said he would have to win an election first.
“Obviously, my party will be hoping that we win,” he said, hinting towards a coalition government if his party wins the most seats in the general elections scheduled for later this year.
During the interview, the young minister reiterated that Pakistan’s new leadership, both political and military, will hold no talks with terrorist organisations who don’t respect the country’s laws and constitution.
He said that former PM Imran Khan gave the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) a place to hide; not only did he release prisoners who were in Pakistan’s custody, but also engaged in a dialogue with them. “He [Imran Khan] has always been ideologically sympathetic to their point of view,” he added.
Amid questions on delayed results and allegations of rigging, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has commented on the second phase of Local Government (LG) elections in Karachi, Hyderabad.
The commission explained that compiling the results is, “a complicated process” and said it takes time to prepare the result of one union council.
In its statement on Monday, the ECP said the results are being transferred to the offices of Returning Officers (RO) from all polling stations across the city.
The provincial election commissioner said that each RO had to compile the result of at least five UCs, which “is causing a delay in releasing poll results”.
However, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) openly accused the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), provincial administration and the electoral body of wrongdoing, warning that any attempt to “change the results” after voting would lead to a strong reaction.
Meanwhile, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Karachi President Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman said: “We are not getting results from the returning officers despite 18 hours of delay since the conclusion of polling.”
He strongly condemned the delay and called on the concerned authorities to stop the ROs who are “trying to change the results”.
He said that a lot of people from the PPP also voted for JI. He further said that his party has won over 100 seats, adding that there is ambiguity on the rest of the seats.
As of now, it’s being reported that PPP leads with victorious on 46 UCs, Jamat-e-Islami has secured 17, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) 13, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) three, Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam (JUI-F) two, while banned organisation Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP) and an independent have one won seat each.
Voting started early on Sunday morning amid a low turnout, however, official results are still not declared as of Monday afternoon. It is pertinent to mention that a day before the polls, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan announced that they are boycotting the local government polls
