A video of an unknown man misbehaving with motorway police is making rounds on the internet, claiming that he is the nephew of Major General Asif Ghafoor, the Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
The video shows that the guy is misbehaving with police officials when they asked him to move his vehicle on the side of the road. The man while replying to officials demand said, “I am a son of an MNA and Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and army chief are my friends”.
He also said that he is a captain and all these officials will get dismissed.
وزیر اعظم عمران خان اور آرمی چیف جنرل باجوہ میرے دوست ہیں اور جنرل آصف غفور میرے ماموں ہیں, میں کیپٹن ہوں کوئی نارمل بندہ نہیں۔ چالان ہونے پر ایک شہری کی ٹریفک پولیس اہلکار کو دھمکی pic.twitter.com/zfdYKEziqg
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan will visit Saudi Arabia on Saturday after recent signals from Riyadh indicate that the kingdom’s leaders were not happy with Imran’s decision to attend Kuala Lumpur summit scheduled to be held in Malaysia later this month, Dawn reported.
According to the details, PM Imran will reportedly reassure Saudi leadership that ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia remain firm despite Islamabad’s engagement with other Muslim countries.
The reports further reveal that Saudis are seeing the summit an an attempt by Malaysia to present an alternative to the Jeddah-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as the progressively dysfunctional OIC works under the de-facto leadership of the Saudis.
Other leaders which are participating in the summit include Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Iranian President Hasan Rouhani among others.
Pakistan has expressed its keenness to attend the summit as the Foreign Office (FO) in its recent statement has said, “The KL summit would provide Pakistan with an opportunity to exchange views and find solutions to challenges facing the Muslim world, particularly the governance, development, terrorism and Islamophobia”.
“The summit will also provide us an opportunity to foster cooperation in diverse areas with the participating countries”, the statement added.
Meanwhile, FO spokesman Dr Mohammad Faisal while responding to questions about PM Imran’s sudden visit to Saudi Arabia has said, “High-level political exchanges between the two countries are the hallmark of this brotherly bilateral relationship. You have witnessed the high frequency of leadership level exchanges, especially since last August”.
Dr Faisal further said, “The PM has undertaken at least three visits to KSA since May this year. Any further information about any future visit will be shared accordingly.”
The police, in an attempt to favour Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s nephew Barrister Hassaan Niazi, have allegedly excluded his name from the cases registered against the lawyers who attacked the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) in Lahore on Wednesday, Dawn reported.
According to reports, an official has claimed that a mobile phone footage showing Niazi pelting cops with stones Jail Road had surfaced, however, the police had neither nominated him in the FIRs [First Information Reports] nor detained him.
The authorities have registered two FIRs against 250 lawyers after they stormed the state-run cardiac hospital, damaged public property and beat up government officials, including Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hasan Chohan, on Wednesday.
Police have booked the protesters under terrorism, murder and street crime charges in the FIRs lodged on the complaint of the hospital’s chief executive and SHO concerned.
Moreover, police authorities, after going through several CCTV/mobile phone footage and obtaining credible information from different sources, have nominated 21 lawyers in the FIRs.
A senior police officer, however, has denied the allegation of favouring PM’s nephew, saying all the lawyers, who participated in the violent protest, would be treated equally.
He said that Hassaan was among the 250 lawyers who had gone underground to avoid arrest and the police were carrying out raids for their arrest. “46 lawyers have been arrested so far,” the official added.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s nephew, Barrister Hassaan Niazi, has condemned his peers’ attack on Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) in Lahore, while people are calling him out for being present at the violent protest himself.
At least four patients lost their lives after hunderds of lawyers ransacked the hospital on Lahore’s Jail Road on Wednesday afternoon. The mob was protesting against a viral video wherein doctors were seen making fun of some lawyers they had recently interacted with.
With condemnations pouring in, Niazi was called out for being present at the protest as people questioned if justice would be served regardless of the fact that one of the protesting lawyers was the nephew of the country’s chief executive.
He was also seen attacking a police vehicle that was later set on fire.
“After watching this clip, I feel ashamed of myself. This is murder!” Niazi tweeted separately as he distanced himself from what happened earlier in the day.
After watching this clip I feel ashamed of myself. This is murder!!! My support and protest was limited to initiation of legal action against the concerned doctors. I only stand for peaceful protests. It’s sad day and I condemn my own self for supporting this protest now pic.twitter.com/Pc6FKaYypo
“My support and protest was limited to initiation of legal action against the concerned doctors. I only stand for peaceful protests. It’s sad day and I condemn my own self for supporting this protest now [sic],” he maintained.
Two FIRs [First Information Reports] have been registered against over 250 lawyers involved in the attack.
In order to enhance bilateral trade, Pakistan and Qatar have agreed in principle on a preferential trade agreement (PTA) and a free trade agreement (FTA), The Express Tribune has reported, adding that the agreements would soon be signed after necessary formalities.
Pakistan has also offered to establish a plant in Qatar to manufacture footballs for the FIFA World Cup 2022 as well as subsequent football tournaments.
Nebras Power, a major investment group in Qatar’s energy sector, has expressed an interest in investing directly in Pakistan’s power sector.
The Nebras Power Consortium will take part in the privatisation of the Haveli Bahadur Shah and Balloki power plants in Pakistan.
It has formally informed the Pakistani government about its interest and hoped that it would promote direct cooperation between the two governments in the fields of energy and power generation.
According to a document, Pakistan’s commerce and energy ministries attended the 5th Pak Qatar Joint Ministerial Commission meeting in Qatar last month.
A copy of the minutes issued by the signatories of the two countries was sent to the respective ministries for implementation of the decisions made by the two countries.
Pakistan has expressed an interest in exporting sports goods for the FIFA World Cup 2022. Qatar has welcomed Pakistan’s interest and said it would consider its goods on the basis of price and quality for the mega event.
The document also read that the Pakistani government had fully endorsed a report sent by the Qatar government to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to recognise its products, including Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and natural gas, as ecofriendly.
Qatar has also requested additional traffic rights to enhance aviation links with Pakistan. The two countries will consider the matter on a commercial basis.
The two countries have agreed on an air service agreement in the near future to enhance bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and Qatar in other areas of aviation and agreed to hold further meetings during the forthcoming air service talks scheduled to be held in Shi’ar Uqba, Jordan where further progress is expected in this regard.
According to Qatar’s media, the two-way trade exchange between Qatar and Pakistan reached QR9.5 billion in 2018, witnessing an unprecedented 63pc growth as a result of better ties. The balance of trade is currently skewed in favour of Qatar due to the export of high-valued products to Pakistan. But the South Asian nation is also working aggressively to enhance collaboration in the field of manpower aiming to increase the flow of remittances, which will eventually make the economic relations more balanced.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has appreciated Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan for his courage as the latter expressed restraint over lawyers’ Wednesday ransacking of Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) in Lahore, ARY News reported.
According to reports, the premier, during a telephonic conversation, said that Chohan was an asset of the party and lauded his nerve for offering restraint during the violent protest. He said that miscreants wanted a Model Town-like carnage, but the provincial government of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had foiled their heinous designs.
PM Imran vowed to expose the real characters behind the lawyers’ agitation and added that no one would be allowed to take law into their own hands.
Earlier, Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda had also appreciated Chohan.
Well done FayyazulHassan Chohan! Very graceful of you that you didn’t take any harsh action and avoided the inevitable despite how these hooligans maltreated you. These were the criminals at the behest of PMLN. Condemnable how they attacked the hospital, law must take its course.
“Well done Fayazul Hasan Chohan! Very graceful of you that you didn’t take any harsh action and avoided the inevitable despite how these hooligans maltreated you,” he tweeted.
On Tuesday, Chohan was slapped and tortured by agitated lawyers as their protest against doctors turned violent. At least four patients lost their lives and hospital equipment worth millions was damaged.
The provincial information minister, who had arrived at the scene to hold talks with the lawyers, was thrashed by the protesters who, according to Chohan, also “tried to kidnap him”.
Prime Minister Imran Khan has been ranked the fifth most influential world leader on Twitter, a recent report released by the ranking site, Twiplomacy has revealed.
According to the report, PM Imran has an average of 6K RT (retweet per tweet) ratio on Twitter. These rankings are based on average tweets/retweet interactions on the website.
Interestingly, PM Khan surpassed his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, who despite having 51.8M followers, compared to PM Khan’s 10.7M, has an average tweet/retweet ratio of only 4K. Modi ranked number nine on the list.
King Salman of Saudi Arabia topped the list with 231K avg tweet/retweet ratio followed by President of the United States Donald Trump with 21K avg tweet/retweet ratio. Number three on the list was New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern with 9K avg tweet/retweet ratio.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also ranked on the list at number 30 with 1K avg tweet/retweet ratio, while President Arif Alvi was at number 37 with 960 avg tweet/retweet ratio.
The website also listed the PM Khan’s rankings on different social media platforms. PM Khan is the 15th most liked world leader on Instagram with 2M followers, while Modi topped this list with 31M followers.
Previously, in October, the former cricketer became the sixth most followed world leader on Twitter with 10.5 million followers.
Pakistan’s renowned economist Dr Hafiz A Pasha has claimed that eight million people in the country have gone below the poverty line under the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government and another 10 million could slip below the same soon, Express Tribune reported.
According to the details, Dr Pasha in an article has said that due to low economic growth and double-digit food inflation the national poverty ratio, which was 31.3% in June 2018, would sharply jump to over 40% by June 2020.
In simple terms, people living in poverty will increase from 69 million in June 2018 to 87 million by June 2020, indicating 26% increase in poverty in first two years of the PTI government.
“The situation is very alarming due to an economic growth rate that is close to the population growth rate and an exponential increase in prices of perishable food items,” reports quoted Pasha as saying.
The economist said that the government’s decision to simultaneously increase taxes, energy tariffs and devaluation of currency contributed to the increase in poverty.
He said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government’s decision to keep the rupee-dollar parity stable kept the inflation under check adding that the incumbent government is implementing probably the toughest IMF programme of Pakistan’s history aimed at overpowering fiscal and external accounts challenges.
Dr Pasha is the former finance minister of Pakistan and has also advised Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan at the time of building consensus on signing an IMF [International Monetary Fund] programme.
Meanwhile, the Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar in response to Dr Pasha’s claims has said, “We do not have latest official poverty statistics,” adding that the country was exiting a severe balance of payments crisis which had its own implications.
“The PTI government accelerated the poverty alleviation measures aimed at protecting the poor and vulnerable people from the adverse impact of macroeconomic adjustments”, said the minister.
British journalist Mehdi Hasan has called out the Prime Minsiter (PM) Imran Khan-led Pakistan government for voicing concerns over repression being faced by Muslims across the globe expect the Chinese persecution of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.
Speaking to Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari on his show, Al Jazeera’s Hasan asked as to why had Pakistan not publicly criticised China on its detention of millions of Uighur Muslims.
“There’s a quote on your Twitter profile page from the great Muslim leader and the grandson of the prophet, Imam Hussain, that reads ‘those who are silent when others are oppressed, are guilty of oppression themselves’,” he said, adding that in China, millions of Uighur Muslims were being detained against their will in “concentration camps” and yet the Pakistani government had said nothing.
“In fact, PM Imran Khan has said that he will not criticise China on this publically. Couldn’t the Uighurs say that your silence, Pakistan’s silence, means that you’re guilty of oppressing them too?”
Responding to the question, Mazari said that the link established by Hasan was “absurd” since her government had talked to China. “When we have evidence, we take it up. But China is an ally of ours, and we will not go screaming on the streets about it.”
When asked if Pakistan had condemned Chinese actions privately, the minister said that Islamabad had been speaking to the Chinese and “hearing their point of view”.
WATCH VIDEO:
“You haven’t stood up and spoken about the Uighurs… that’s the problem,” the journalist maintained as Mazari said repression must be called out regardless of who was behind it when asked if she would condemn the Chinese actions.
PAKISTAN, CHINA & UIGHURS:
The Chinese government has reportedly detained more than a million Muslims in reeducation camps. Most of the people who have been arbitrarily detained are Uighur, a predominantly Turkic-speaking ethnic group primarily from China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang.
Human rights organisations, United Nations (UN) officials and many foreign governments are urging China to stop the crackdown; however, officials maintain that what they call “vocational training centres” do not infringe on Uighurs’ rights.
While the Chinese government has refused to share information about the detention centres and prevented journalists and foreign investigators from examining them, internal documents leaked in late 2019 have provided important details on how officials launched and maintain the camps.
As part of a campaign seeking relief for Uighurs in China, Islamabad has time and again been called out for raising its voice for Muslims facing Indian oppression in held Kashmir as well as helpless Palestinians, but not for those in China where lie Pakistan’s economic interests — such as the construction of China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
CPEC is a collection of infrastructure projects that are currently under construction throughout Pakistan. Originally valued at $46 billion, the value of CPEC projects is worth $62 billion as of 2017.
It is expected to not only benefit Pakistan and China, but also to have a positive impact on Iran, Afghanistan and India with the enhancement of geographical links through improved road, rail and air transportation system with frequent and free exchanges of growth and people to people contact.
Prime Minister Imran Khan will receive Bahrain’s highest civil award, the King Hamad Order of the Renaissance, during an upcoming visit to the Kingdom.
According to Arab News, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Overseas Pakistanis, Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari said that PM Khan will be going on an official visit to Bahrain in mid-December, where he will be conferred Bahrain’s highest civilian award at a special ceremony.
During this visit to Bahrain, the premiere will meet his counterpart Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. He will also participate in Bahrain’s national day celebrations.
The National Guard of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Lt. General Sheikh Mohammed bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, on his visit to Pakistan earlier this year, had invited PM Khan to visit Bahrain on behalf of the prime minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
PM Khan is expected to depart on a three-country tour on December 15, starting with Bahrain, followed by Switzerland where he will address a global conference on refugees in Geneva, before concluding his tour in Malaysia.
It is pertinent to mention that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also received the King Hamad Order of the Renaissance by Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa during a visit to the Kingdom in August.
