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Tag: Pakistan

  • Governor House wedding shoot triggers furious debate on social media

    Governor House wedding shoot triggers furious debate on social media

    Renowned journalist Saleem Safi shared a TikTok video on Tuesday on X (formerly Twitter) of a newlywed couple in wedding attire running around the Governor House for their wedding photoshoot. He criticised the KP governor for allowing such practices.

    Safi later shared the response of Governor Haji Ghulam Ali where he was defending the practice as something that has been happening for a long time. The media in-charge to KP Governor Maaz Fida issued a clarification, explaining that governor house has always been open to the public for wedding photo shoots, with the condition that they obtained prior permission. In a post shared by Saleem Safi, the screenshot of the clarification, Fida dismissed the news of any film shooting taking place in the governor house.

    He said, “Public’s governor’s public governor house is just as accessible to newly married couples as it is for anyone else”. He said that the video doing rounds on social media is of such a couple that had formally obtained permission for the photoshoot.


    Fida added that there used to be a fee for such photo shoots, which was abolished by Ghulam Ali when he became the governor. He said that a specific portion of the governor house is open for such photo shoots and anyone can obtain the facility.


    Safi counter-criticized the Governor’s statement by saying that if this is the case then would couples from lower strata of society be allowed to have their photoshoots in there.

    The interaction has divided social media where some are defending the practice while others are criticising the fact that romantic photoshoots mar the sanctity of the place.

    Some X users found this funny enough to make memes on it.

    It is important to note that renting out public properties for a nominal fee for photo shoots or events is a common practice, all across the world and in Pakistan as well. In March 2020, the then-Governor Punjab, Chaudhry Sarwar, had also approved renting out the Lahore Governor House estate for commercial activities to generate operational expenditures.

  • Minor child worker Rizwana discharged from hospital, handed over to Child Protection Bureau

    Minor child worker Rizwana discharged from hospital, handed over to Child Protection Bureau

    Rizwana, the 13-year-old minor house help assaulted by her employers, has been discharged from hospital and handed over to the Child Protection Bureau.

    Talking to the media after recovery, Rizwana claimed to be very happy, stating that everyone took good care of her; “I was not well at first, but the doctors and nurses took good care of me”, she said.

    According to the hospital administration, Rizwana has been discharged from the General Hospital and handed over to Child Protection Bureau Chairperson Sarah Ahmed.

    Rizwana, a young domestic worker beaten up by the wife of a civil judge in Islamabad, was under treatment in Lahore General Hospital since five months. Rizwana was brought to Lahore General Hospital from Sargodha with injuries on her head, face and back.

    According to the medical report, due to lack of timely treatment, Rizwana’s wounds were infected with worms, the girl had 15 injury marks on her body including her head and her internal organs were also affected.

  • Toshakhana Case: Court rejects Imran Khan’s withdrawal petition

    Toshakhana Case: Court rejects Imran Khan’s withdrawal petition

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday rejected the plea of former prime minister Imran Khan to withdraw his petition challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) decision on his disqualification in the Toshakhana case.

    On October 28, 2022, the former Pakistan. Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief filed a plea against his disqualification by the electoral body. He filed another petition on January 18, 2023, to withdraw his appeal against ECP.

    Imran Khan requested the withdrawal of his plea from IHC as the matter is pending before Lahore High Court (LHC).

    Justice Aamer Farooq announced the verdict, reserved on September 13, today, after hearing the arguments of all parties.

    The ECP disqualified Imran Khan on October 21, 2022, under Article 63(1)(p). The electoral watchdog said in its verdict that the PTI founder is not a member of the National Assembly anymore, and he is disqualified for making “false statements and incorrect declaration”.

    The decision of Khan’s disqualification was taken by the five members’ bench, and the ECP stated that Imran was found involved in corrupt practices, including submitting a false affidavit.

  • Khumar: Navigating Love Across Class Divides

    Khumar: Navigating Love Across Class Divides

    The Pakistani drama Khumar is a captivating series broadcast on Har Pal Geo. The drama focuses on the lives of two central characters, Hareem and Faiz, played by Neelam Muneer and Feroze Khan respectively. The plot revolves around the male and female protagonists, who fall for each other, but matters take unexpected turns.
    It’s the first time we get to see Feroz Khan and Neelam Muneer together on TV. Plus, Khan is making a comeback to the Pakistani television industry after taking a break.


    Khumar is a heartwarming tale that explores the challenges of love amongst social class differences. The story follows Faiz and Hareem, individuals from contrasting backgrounds whose lives become intertwined by destiny. Faiz, born into privilege, silently supports Hareem’s struggling family, creating a one-sided love affair.
    An ultimate love story will be shown, where status will not be an issue, but time will be a problem. The theme of the whole play can be put above that if your timing is not perfect, reveal your love and tell your partner that you really love him/her.


    The drama delves into the complexities of societal expectations and hurdles faced by Hareem, who strives to meet her family’s needs. Faiz’s love for Hareem remains a secret due to disapproval from his mother. However, an unexpected event shakes their lives, raising questions about the impact of societal gaps on their love.
    The drama’s first two episodes garnered tremendous support from fans, with the debut episode reaching over seven million views and the subsequent one crossing five million views.


    Will Faiz be able to persuade his mother to accept Hareem? Can the couple overcome their diverse backgrounds and create a joyful life together? This timeless love story unfolds against a backdrop of challenges, keeping audiences engaged in the pursuit of love across societal divides.

  • Why are students in Islamabad protesting?

    Why are students in Islamabad protesting?

    A large number of university students in Islamabad protested on Tuesday demanding their universities and the Higher Education Commission (HEC) resolve their accommodation problem.

    Thousands of students were evicted from privately-run hostels after the Capital Development Authority (CDA) sealed many buildings over ‘non-conforming use’. It means that they were operating as a commercial enterprise without authorisation, reports The Express Tribune.

    The students also registered a public interest petition in Islamabad High Court (IHC) against CDA’s policy that has left around 30,000 students on the verge of eviction.

    The petition is filed under section 4(xxiii) of the Federal Universities Act and other laws stating that the universities are bound to create sufficient student accommodation on campus and also to “approve or license” hostels and lodgings existing in the city.

    However, in Islamabad, only five out of the 35 universities over the last two decades have taken any such steps. “As a result, students are compelled to reside in privately-managed student hostels located in the CDA sectors,” it informed.

    CDA issued non-conforming notices to over 70 hostels in November.

    According to the hostel owners, many students had to spend the night on the street after at least two hostels were shut down late in the evening without proper warning.

    The petition also points out that HEC has a statutory mandate to protect the interests of students including their accommodation matters, “but has so far failed to intervene in this crisis”.

    At the preliminary hearing, Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb issued directions for the HEC chairman to grant a hearing to the students and redress their grievances.

  • Green turtles fight to survive against Pakistan’s urban sprawl

    Green turtles fight to survive against Pakistan’s urban sprawl

    Against the backdrop of the mega port city of Karachi, choked with traffic and construction, four green turtles emerge from the frothy Arabian Sea seeking a spot to lay their eggs.

    Three immediately retreat to the water, put off by the glittering lights and heavy beat of a nearby beach party.

    But one trundles towards the end of the beach bank, its flippers whipping sand into the air before settling on a dry spot of sand in which to deposit 88 golf ball-sized eggs.

    Newly-hatched green turtles crawl towards the Arabian Sea, after being released by marine conservationists on Sandspit beach in Karachi. PHOTO: AFP

    Six conservationists tasked with protecting the last surviving turtle species to nest in Pakistan stand guard nearby.

    “Being human doesn’t only call for loving another human being. These animals also require the same attention and love,” said Ashfaq Ali Memon, the head of marine wildlife at Sindh province’s Wildlife Department.

    Sandspit Beach is a beloved recreation spot for the city’s 22 million residents, as well as a critical habitat for Pakistan’s endangered green turtles.

    Until the early 2000s, the beaches of Pakistan’s Arabian coast were the nesting habitat for five endangered turtle species, now only the green turtles come to shore to lay their eggs. PHOTO: AFP

    The eight-kilometre (five-mile) stretch of beach is being relentlessly encroached upon by the construction of concrete beach houses that have, metre-by-metre, eaten into the strip of sand where turtles nest.

    “Once I saw someone disturbing a turtle while she was laying eggs. She ran off for safety, leaving a trail of eggs behind her. That was a very painful scene,” said Haseen Bano, Memon’s wife who supports the work of the volunteers.

    Marine turtles have covered vast distances across the world’s oceans for more than 100 million years but human activity has tipped the scales against the survival of these ancient creatures, the World Wildlife Fund says.

    Until the early 2000s, the beaches of Pakistan’s Arabian coast were the nesting habitat for five endangered turtle species.

    Marine turtles have covered vast distances across the world’s oceans for more than 100 million years but human activity has tipped the scales against the survival of these ancient creatures, the World Wildlife Fund says. PHOTO: AFP

    Now only the green turtles come to shore to lay their eggs on just two beaches in Karachi and on uninhabited islands in Balochistan, further down the coast towards Iran.

    Alongside construction, noise and garbage pollution, WWF-Pakistan has also reported that diesel and petrol fumes have caused deformities in hatchlings.

    As well as major disruption to their nesting habitats, thousands of turtles are also injured or killed in fishing nets every year.

    Named for the greenish colour of their cartilage and fat, they are classified as endangered across the world.

    Sindh Wildlife Department has a dedicated team of six volunteers, paid according to fluctuating donations, who patrol the beaches after dark during nesting season between August and January.

    “When the turtles arrive to use the pits, our volunteers are present to take care of them and to ensure no one can disturb them,” Amir Khan told AFP.

    Data on the number of green turtles is not available in Pakistan but, for the past few years, the number of hatchlings has increased. PHOTO: AFP

    The 88 — a decent batch for a young female — were delicately collected the same night and taken to a protected coastal conservation centre and reburied in the sand for the 45-60 day hatching cycle, away from the danger of stray dogs, mongoose and snakes.

    Baby turtles just a few hours old and only about two inches long are meanwhile brought to the water’s edge in buckets by volunteers and released one-by-one, swimming off into the night.

    Data on the number of green turtles is not available in Pakistan but, for the past few years, the number of hatchlings has increased.

    In 2022, volunteers successfully hatched 30,000 eggs and the current year’s count has already passed 25,000 just over halfway through the season.

    Baby turtles just a few hours old and only about two inches long are brought to the water’s edge in buckets by volunteers and released one-by-one, swimming off into the night. PHOTO: AFP

    Khan said these “living dinosaurs” will continue to struggle against the accelerating urban sprawl of the city and the dangers posed by fishermen.

    “It feels good to take care of these turtles, they boost the beauty of our beach,” said Mohammad Javed, a 29-year-old volunteer who inherited the caretaker legacy from his father.

  • ‘Not me, Imran Ashraf decided to end the marriage’: Kiran Ashfaque

    ‘Not me, Imran Ashraf decided to end the marriage’: Kiran Ashfaque

    Kiran Ashfaque announced her marriage to PPP official Hamza Asim Chaudhary on Sunday, attracting a lot of attention, some of it from trolls. This was the actress’s second marriage, after her first one was to actor and host Imran Ashraf ended after four years.

    Kiran has boldly stepped up to shut down trolls who bullied the actress for quickly marrying after her divorce, reminding them she didn’t need permission from anyone for moving on. A commentator underneath her wedding pictures bullied the social media influencer for moving on to a man who wasn’t as attractive as Imran, to which Kiran responded:

    “He was the one who decided to end the marriage, no me. But Allah led me to a much better man than him.”

    On Tuesday, the actress shut down another troll who mocked the actress for getting married within a year after her divorce, responding that she wouldn’t sit around crying about her circumstances.

    “You mean I should have kept residing at my parents and remained depressed about my life while my parents were worried about me?”

  • Karachi’s Jaweria arrives in India to marry Kolkata’s Sameer

    Karachi’s Jaweria arrives in India to marry Kolkata’s Sameer

    Another cross-border marriage is about to take place, this time in India. Jaweria from Karachi and Sameer from Kolkata are set to get married soon. Jaweria Khanum finally made it to India after a wait of five years to marry Sameer Khan Yousafzai.

    The two befriended each other on social media and got the approval of their families in 2018. The pair got engaged and started trying to get a visa to culminate their deep bond into marriage.


    Detailing the difficulties she met, Jaweria revealed that her visa was rejected twice, in addition to travel restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

    She was eventually granted a 45-day visa after two rejections. The couple plans to marry in the first week of January, with Jaweria expressing joy at fulfilling her wish after five years.

    Following her arrival in India, she was received with a wholehearted welcome from her future in-laws. The couple is set to travel from Amritsar to Kolkata, where the marriage ceremony is scheduled to take place.

  • Sarfraz Bugti refuses to provide details of 14 bombing attacks by Afghans

    Sarfraz Bugti refuses to provide details of 14 bombing attacks by Afghans

    Caretaker government officials are not providing any information to support their claim that Afghan nationals were involved in 14 out of 24 suicide bombing attacks in Pakistan in 2023, Geo has reported.

    Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti disclosed on October 3 that from January until October, Pakistan has witnessed 24 suicide bombing attacks.

    “Of those 24 bombings, 14 have been carried out by Afghan nationals,” he added. “Afghan people attacked us. This includes the Peshawar mosque bombings and the one in Qilla Saifullah and Hangu, amongst others.”

    Sarfraz Bugti also claimed that the government has all the essential proof.

    “Afghan nationals are involved in the attacks on us. We have evidence. We have evidence of everything,” he stated.

    Sarfraz Bugti repeated his claim in multiple interviews with both international and Pakistani news channels.

    The interim government used these metrics to order all undocumented immigrants, as well as 1.73 million Afghan nationals, to leave the country or face deportation.

    Earlier last week, Sarfraz Bugti told Dawn TV that almost 400,000 Afghans have left Pakistan so far.

    Last month, Geo Fact Check reached out to the interior minister and asked for evidence of the involvement of Afghan nationals in suicide bombing attacks, but the interior minister hasn’t responded back until now.

  • Gang of foreigners arrested for looting Sikh family in Lahore, reveals Lahore Police

    Gang of foreigners arrested for looting Sikh family in Lahore, reveals Lahore Police

    Update: The Organi­sed Crime Unit (OCU) of the Lahore police in a press conference revealed that a gang of robbers who reportedly looted members of a Sikh family in Gulberg a week ago are citizens of a neighbouring country. However, they did not mention the country they belong to.

    OCU SP Aftab Phularwan told Dawn on Tuesday that the police examined over 1,000 private cameras to trace the suspects who were living at a rented house in a private housing society near Raiwind and the landlord had not got his tenants (suspects) registered with the local police station.

    He said the OCU arrested the ringleader of the robbers’ gang Shahrukh, his wife Rehana Shahrukh and a cousin Irfan, who were “citizens of a neighbouring country”.

    In reply to a question whether the suspects belonged to India, he said “not at all”, adding that it would not be wise to name the country.

    SP Aftab informed the media that the alleged robbers would conduct snatching bids with Sikh yatrees and inform a hostile agency to defame Pakistan. A uniform of a government institution was also recovered from their custody.

    Mr Phularwan said that the OCU recovered from the suspects’ possession a wireless set, a 9MM pistol and the car they used in the crime against the Sikh family. Requesting anonymity another police officer told Dawn that the criminals arrested by the OCU police were Persian-speaking.

    He said the suspects travelled to Karachi and almost reached there to finally flee to their native country after their crime in Lahore attracted the attention of Pakistani authorities, but OCU police traced the suspects through their mobile phone call records and arrested them.

    Meanwhile, the Indian Sikh family met with Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman at the Civil Secretariat and IG Police Tuesday and thanked the Punjab government for arresting the accused and recovering the loot. The Chief Secretary assured them that such an unpleasant incident would not happen in future.

    Previously, an Indian Sikh family headed by Kanwal Jeet Singh was looted by people dressed in police uniform on November 30 while they were shopping in Gulberg, Lahore. They were visiting Pakistan for the celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak Dev’s birth anniversary. The robbers took away Rs400,000 cash and jewellery belonging to the foreigners, reports Dawn.


    Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi took notice of the incident, speeding up the investigation, claiming that the ringleader of the gang, identified as Ahmad Raza, has been arrested, while raids are being conducted for the arrest of other members of the network.

    The incident


    CCTV footage, collected by the police, showed two suspected robbers in a white car. They stopped the Sikh family on the pretext of checking their documents. One of the suspects was clad in a police uniform and the other was in plain clothes.


    They forced the Sikh pilgrims to produce their documents while sitting in their car, as per the CCTV footage. During checking, they snatched the woman’s bag that contained cash, jewellery, and other valuables.


    The family could be seen in the footage running after the suspects’ car after the incident.


    An FIR was registered as a case of fraud instead of robbery. The report further says that the robbers took with them 150,000 Indian rupees, PKR 300,000, jewellery, and valuable watches.