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Tag: Pakistan

  • Pakistan rescues woman in love gone wrong, saves wife left in Indian jail by husband

    Pakistan rescues woman in love gone wrong, saves wife left in Indian jail by husband

    Pakistan has issued a nationality certificate, which will lead to becoming a citizen of Pakistan, to a stateless woman, Sumaira who has been stranded in India for four years. It was issued after verification by National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and her family. Pakistan Interior Minister has sent her nationality certificate to Foreign Ministry.

    Pakistan High Commission in India, New Delhi will issue travel documents and she will be able to come to Pakistan with her daughter who is four-years-old.

    According to her lawyer, Sohana Biswapatna, Sumaira was born in Qatar to Pakistani parents who moved from Karachi for employment. She married an Indian Muslim for love in Qatar without the consent of her parents. She illegally moved to India with her husband in 2016.

    Sumaira and her husband were arrested in 2017. However, her husband, who faced the charges of facilitating a foreign intruder, was released on bail after a few months. She remained in jail.

    She gave birth to a daughter in prison.

    The message she sent through her lawyer to BBC, “I have been punished by law for the mistake I made, but my sorrows and pains are not diminishing. The family had already separated, but now the husband in India has also turned away. At the moment, my only recourse is my country, Pakistan.”

    According to Sumaira, she wanted to confess her crime but her husband stopped her from giving a statement. The husband thought that India would deport her if she confessed. He was trying to find a way to release her from jail and settle her in India.

    Her case was stalled in India for three years as she did not confess to her crime.

    Her husband stopped visiting her and attending her calls without any explanation around after two to three years. After losing hope of reunion, she confessed to her crime.

    She was sentenced to a three year imprisonment, which she has already completed.

    Currently, she is living in a state shelter in Bengaluru, Karnataka, a state of India.

  • ‘Chief Justice should not be deciding samosa or sugar prices’: Bilawal

    ‘Chief Justice should not be deciding samosa or sugar prices’: Bilawal

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, in an event organised by the Lahore High Court Bar Association, criticised the former Chief Justices of Pakistan (CJPs).

    Bilawal took a jibe at CJPs Mian Saqib Nisar and Gulzar Ahmed. He stated, “Some judges took it upon themselves to busy themselves, the courts and the legal community on deciding which building should be demolished and which should stay. The judiciary of Pakistan is a place for the battle of legal ideas, it is not a place for us to decide where or where not to build a dam.”

    In 2018, Justice Nisar had launched the initiative of collecting donations for the construction of the Diamer-Bhasha. Meanwhile, Justice Gulzar decided on several high-profile cases last year including the demolition of buildings in Karachi i.e. Nasla Tower and Tejori Heights.

    “CJP should be deciding constitutional issues instead of samosa or sugar prices”, said Bilawal. However, he made it clear that despite this, he had the utmost respect for the legal community and judges.

    He also called on the legal community to support his party’s planned anti-government long march on February 27.

    According to him, Pakistan needs a system of accountability that is fair and non-discriminatory instead of the present “witch hunt and persecution” of opponents and those who exposed the government’s failings.

  • ‘Imran Khan the standard you want to set for Bushra Bibi, apply the same for all women’: Maryam Nawaz

    ‘Imran Khan the standard you want to set for Bushra Bibi, apply the same for all women’: Maryam Nawaz

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz, in a fiery press conference, fiercely criticised Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.

    “Yes, your [PM Khan] wife [Bushra Bibi] is of respect to us. The standard you want to set for your wife, the same standards should have been there for the deceased Kalsoom Nawaz [wife of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif]. When I used to go to check on my mother from our London apartment to the hospital, three to four Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) workers used to abuse me. When my son Junaid used to leave, they used to abuse his mother,” said Maryam Nawaz.

    She alleged that some PTI activists had barged into the hospital just to take pictures of an ailing Kulsoom.

    “The standard you set for your wife, apply the same for every woman,” added the PML-N leader.

    “I was innocent and you put me in the death cell. You did the character assassination of a daughter in front of her father. When I was in Gilgit Baltistan and running my political campaign in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, you did not have an answer to my political criticism. So your minister on record hurled below the belt criticism towards me.”

    “I want to request the media to play the footage of the speeches of the PTI ministers where they have made personal attacks against me. Imran Khan Sahib used to praise them for making such comments, clap at them. I too am someone’s daughter. What you have done with Asma Shirazi, Gharidah Farooqi, and Sana Bucha, the country has not forgotten it.”

    “Have the guts to take criticism,” reiterated Maryam.

    Responding to the arrest of journalist Mohsin Baig by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), who is accused of initiating a debate on a television show with obscene references towards PM Imran Khan and Minister for Communication Murad Saeed, Maryam said, ” When Mohsin Saab was with you [Imran Khan], helped you with your political matters, at that time he was very nice. And now that he is criticising you, you should have had the guts to take the criticism. You used FIA against him. I feel sorry for your mental condition Imran Khan Saab.”

    “People are cursing you for the price hike and increase in the petrol prices,” said Maryam, adding, “People don’t have fuel. The people of Pakistan do not travel on government-provided vehicles.”

    “I agree that you [PM Khan] are not eligible, and do not have the qualification but I wish you had a heart which was kind. You have used the hard-earned money of the people of Pakistan just to settle your score with your opponents,” said the PML-N leader.

    “You have made FIA, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) a part of your politics to settle scores with your opponents. Despite the fact that you are a liar and fake, you are sitting on the seat of a prime minister of the country, you should have spent all your time serving the people of Pakistan, instead you utilised all your energy to take revenge on the Opposition,” said Maryam.

    Talking to reporters after appearing at the Islamabad High Court in the Avenfield Apartments case, Maryam was asked if Shehbaz Sharif would resign as PML-N president if the “no-confidence gamble” failed.

    Maryam responded that she was hopeful of the move’s success “because Imran is on his last legs and it’s a risk that should be taken”, adding that the messages sent by her party to disgruntled lawmakers were also applicable to the PML-N itself.

    She did not elaborate on who she was referring to as “disgruntled” lawmakers or what messages were sent to them.

    “If the opposition does not take a united stand here then we will be blamed for it. It’s ultimately the public that we have to go back to at the time of elections.”

    Responding to a question on whether she supported another extension for the army chief, Maryam said “it’s a premature question and we don’t have any details before us”.

  • ‘PM Khan to make significant changes in cabinet within two weeks’: Fawad

    ‘PM Khan to make significant changes in cabinet within two weeks’: Fawad

    Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (PM) on Political Affairs Shahbaz Gill have revealed that PM Imran Khan would soon make changes in the federal and Punjab cabinets by including allied parties’ members, reports Dawn.

    While talking to the media outlet, Chaudhry stated that “the premier will make significant changes in the federal cabinet within two weeks”. It has been reported that PM Khan is expected to make changes in five ministers of state, i.e. ministries of defence, planning, education, energy and overseas Pakistanis.

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will include leaders from its two major coalition partners — the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP).

    BAP’s Kauda Babar told Dawn that his party had demanded at least four federal cabinet seats.

    The news has come at a time when the Opposition is gearing up to bring a no-confidence motion against PM Khan in the National Assembly (NA). They recently approached the MQM as well as the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) to support them.

    The government has recently given appreciation certificates to the ten ministers who performed better than others. However, those who were not included in the list are reportedly unhappy.

  • Bill Gates reaches Pakistan on first-ever visit

    Bill Gates reaches Pakistan on first-ever visit

    Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), has arrived in Pakistan for a one-day visit. Gates will meet with Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Arif Alvi. He will also visit the National Command and Operation Centre headquarters. Gates will pay a visit to the COVID-19 treatment facility in Chak Shahzad.

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan, in a tweet, said, “It’s a pleasure to welcome Mr Bill Gates on his first-ever visit to Pakistan. Planned engagements include a review of progress on polio eradication; visits to NCOC and Ehsaas program as well as meeting the President, the PM and health leadership of the provinces.”

    Last year in October, Gates, in a telephonic conversation with Imran Khan, praised Pakistan’s efforts to eradicate polio and at the same time, pledged his continued support against the disease so that no child in Pakistan is affected by the disease in the future.

  • Court reserves decision on PTI’s Faisal Vawda’s appeal against lifetime disqualification

    Court reserves decision on PTI’s Faisal Vawda’s appeal against lifetime disqualification

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) reserved its decision on the maintainability of an application filed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Faisal Vawda against his lifetime disqualification from parliament, reports Dawn.

    Last week, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) disqualified Vawda as a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) and ordered him to withdraw the notification appointing him as senator for concealing his dual nationality.

    Later, the PTI leader approached the IHC. In his appeal, he stated that Section 8C of the Elections Act, 2017 allowed the ECP to conduct an election but did not empower it to disqualify a candidate. According to him, the commission was directed by the court to “probe the issue of falsity or otherwise of the affidavit expeditiously as per a judgment of the Supreme Court (SC)”.

    The commission said Vawda had submitted a “false affidavit” when submitting nomination papers. However, Vawda’s lawyer, Wasim Sajjad argued in the court that his client [Vawda] did not submit a false affidavit.

    Sajjad maintained that Vawda cancelled his United States (US) passport and acquired a certificate from the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) and said that he [Vawda] is only a Pakistani citizen.

    Vawda secured the National Assembly seat (NA-249) in July 2018 and got elected as a Senator last year.

    As per the commission, Vawda can approach the Supreme Court (SC) against its verdict.

  • Getting direct with Australia: PIA to fly directly down under for the first time

    Getting direct with Australia: PIA to fly directly down under for the first time

    The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has announced plans to launch two weekly flights to Australia, cutting travel time to and from the country by around one-third, The News reports.

    PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez says that if it (flights to Australia by a Pakistani carrier) happens, it would be happening for the first time.  He said that PIA has conducted a feasibility study, which concluded that it would be beneficial to the airline.

    PIA intends to operate two weekly flights from Karachi and Lahore to Sydney at first. Later, it might also include Islamabad.

    Flights might commence in late March or early April, according to the national carrier. The airline, however, has yet to receive authorisation from the Australian aviation authority.

    Direct flights would shorten a traveler’s flight duration to 12:30 hours and 13 hours, if one is going to Australia or coming to Pakistan respectively.

    Because there are no direct flights between Pakistan and Australia, passengers must travel for 34 to 35 hours with stopovers, which adds to their travel time.

    “Every airline must touch their hub before flying on to their destination,” stated Nadeem Sharif, Chairman of the Travel Agents Association of Pakistan (TAAP). “There may be eight-hour layovers or even overnight stays, which adds to the travel time.”

    He added that, for example, if a person travelling to Australia via Qatar Airways from Pakistan, he or she must first fly to Doha, Qatar Airways’ hub, and then be carried to Australia from there. Similarly, when a person travels from Australia to Pakistan, the same thing happens.

    PIA’s fleet is expected to grow from the current 29 to 49 by 2026, comprising 16 wide body, 27 narrow body and 6 turbo propeller aircraft. PIA’s share price increased by 1.24 percent on Tuesday to Rs4.09.

  • Zahir Jaffer presents videos of himself and Noor in court, blames Noor for a ‘drug party’ at his place

    Zahir Jaffer presents videos of himself and Noor in court, blames Noor for a ‘drug party’ at his place

    On Monday, during a hearing of the Noor Mukadam murder case, Zahir Jaffer’s lawyer presented a USB in court. Additional District and Sessions Judge (AD&SJ) Muhammad Atta Rabbani asked the lawyer what was in the USB to which the lawyer said that the USB contains videos of Noor and Zahir’s relationship.

    Zahir Jaffer has also submitted his statement in writing to the court.

    He stated: “I and Noor Mukadam were good friends and were in a living relationship with mutual consent for last many years. The same was in the knowledge of both the families and they never ever objected to it. Noor participated in our family functions and events and I also used to attend her family functions and events like a family member. Six months before the unfortunate occurrence, I and Noor were not on talking terms and suddenly July 18, 2021, Noor herself established contact with me and asked for arranging a drug party. She also wanted to invite her friends to the party.”

    He further said that he, along with Noor, left for the airport on July 19, as his flight was scheduled to leave but Noor insisted that they come back from the airport. She invited her friends to a party at his house on July 20.

    “I got under the heavy influence of drugs and all other participants including Noor were also under influence of heavy drugs, (the report of forensic histopathology verifies this fact which the prosecution itself relied on his evidence). I got out of my senses and after hours when I got my senses I was in a tied up condition in the lounge of my house. I made hue and cry on which some persons in police uniform and civil dresses rescued me. I came to know that Noor had been murdered by someone among the participants,” Zahir’s statement added.

    “A widespread negative campaign was started against me and my family by pseudo-social media activists and feminist liking organisations to achieve their nefarious designs and making money. My trial before the court is still pending but mock social media activists and self-styled feminists started demanding my hanging without providing me with the opportunity to prove my innocence through the legal course,” his statement further read.

    “I am also an acute patient of drug psychosis and have remained under treatment in Pakistan and abroad. During the trial, a number of times, requests were made to the trial court and prison authorities for my medical checkup and constitution of a board but the prison authorities due to the influence of Shaukat Mukadam and state machinery did not provide health facilities to the undersigned/accused.”

    The statement further added, “For what has been stated above, I and my parents are innocent in this case but due to influence of the complainant, the indulgence of state stakeholders I have been implicated in the case to usurp money.”

    People are expressing their anger over his statement:

  • Rawalpindi Qari allegedly stabs 12-year-old girl student to death

    Rawalpindi Qari allegedly stabs 12-year-old girl student to death

    A Qari allegedly stabbed a 12-year-old girl to death in Rawalpindi, as reported by Geo News. The perpetrator fled after committing the crime, but authorities apprehended him later that day with the murder weapon. The accused has been arrested along with the murder weapon.

    As per the police, the 21-year-old Qari named Adil from Abbottabad used to visit the victim’s house to teach her the Holy Quran. The victim’s parents had barred the Qari from coming to their home after the girl complained about him, saying that he was trying to do immoral acts with her.

    Adil followed the girl to her tuition centre and stabbed her in the neck with a sharp weapon.

    The police reached the scene as soon as they received information about the incident, gathered evidence and sent the girl’s body to the hospital for a postmortem.

    As per SP Rawal Babar Javed Joya, the accused confessed to the murder, saying that he killed her because the victim’s family was suspicious of him.

  • Hundreds of PTM workers stage sit-in for release of Ali Wazir

    Hundreds of PTM workers stage sit-in for release of Ali Wazir

    Hundreds of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) workers staged a sit-in outside of Sindh Assembly to demand the release of their leader and Member of National Assembly (MNA) Ali Wazir, reports Dawn News.

    Initially, Deputy Commissioner (DC)-South Irshad Ali Sodhar and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP)-South Rai Ijaz Ahmed tried to prevent the group from marching but eventually allowed the rally to proceed towards the assembly building where it was turned into a sit-in.

    PTM founder and head Manzoor Pashteen said, “The government calls itself a democratic one but we are not being allowed to exercise our democratic rights.”

    Pashteen said that the protest and sit-in would continue till the release of Wazir.

    PTM leader Hidayatullah criticised the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) for arresting PTM leaders in false cases. He argued when Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) leaders and workers have been released, why are PTM leaders including MNA Wazir are not being released.

    MNA Wazir and MNA Mohsin Dawar, as well as Pashteen, have been booked for committing sedition by inciting the people to wage a war against the state by delivering provocative speeches against security forces at a rally held in Sohrab Goth on December 6, 2020.