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TAXILA: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader and former Punjab minister Syed Yawar Bukhari has said the treatment of party leader Zulfi Bukhari in Shahpur jail was the worst example of basic human rights violations. Mr Bukhari was the first to have courted arrest as the PTI’s “Jail Bharo Tehreek” started on February 22. As many as 47 PTI workers and leaders who surrendered to the police were taken to Adiala jail and then shifted to Shahpur jail in Sargodha. Talking to newsmen in Attock on Tuesday, the former minister criticised the government for allegedly treating Mr Bukhari as a ’criminal and terrorist. He reaffirmed the commitment of PTI Chairman Imran Khan to fight against anti-democratic powers till restoration of real democracy through free and fair elections in the country. The movement, according to the former minister, aimed at countering the “attack on constitutionally-guaranteed fundamental rights” and the “economic meltdown” by the incumbent government“. He alleged th...

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday appointed Fauzia Viqar as Federal Ombudswoman for Protection Against Harassment at Workplace. Ms Viqar is former member of the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) from Punjab and played an active role for the betterment of the women and protecting their rights. The president made the new appointment after the completion of the tenure of former Federal Ombudswoman for Protection Against Harassment at Workplace Kashmala Tariq. The appointment has been made in accordance with Section 3 and 21 of the Federal Ombudsman Institutional Reforms of 2013. Last year in June the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had issued a notice to Federal Ombudswoman Kashmala Tariq for continuing to work despite the end of her tenure. The IHC had also sent a notice to the law ministry. Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2023 from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/1lRLJEk

RAWALPINDI: More than 5,000 police personnel, including Elite Force commandos and Dolphin Force will be deployed to ensure foolproof security for Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches being played at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Additionally, 347 traffic police officials will be on special duty to maintain the flow of traffic which will be diverted to alternate routes. Inspector General of Police Punjab Dr Usman Anwar directed Rawalpindi police to remain vigilant and conduct intelligence-based operations (IBOs) to foil any attempt to damage Pakistan’s brand and ensure provision of a conducive environment for the public to watch cricket matches. In order to prevent any attempts to harm Pakistan’s reputation, Inspector General of Police for Punjab Dr Usman Anwar gave the Rawalpindi police the go-ahead to conduct IBOs and to remain vigilant during PSL cricket matches. He also instructed them to provide a comfortable environment for spectators to watch cricket matches. Following the IGP’s ...

Supporters, as well as unknown armed men, storm judicial complex Police detain 35 people, thrash journalists covering Imran’s appearance ISLAMABAD: As former prime minister Imran Khan arrived at the judicial complex to secure bail in multiple cases, fragile security measures put in place by the police provided Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) supporters and some “unidentified individuals” who were armed with automatic weapons to storm the complex without facing resistance from police. The visit of the police chief and the DIG Operations failed to boost security measures as they remained inadequate giving supporters who had accompanied Mr Khan a free hand to enter the complex. However, the police were quick to beat up a number of journalists who had converged at the Islamabad High Court for the coverage of the PTI chief’s visit. Police officials told Dawn that the capital police imposed “fragile security measures” in and around the judicial complex as mere 64 police were deployed ...

KARACHI: The US does not care about Dr Aafia Siddiqui and if the Pakistani government wanted to bring her back, she would be here in the country, a prominent human rights lawyer said on Tuesday. Clive Stafford Smith is the lawyer who paved way for the return of two Pakistani brothers — Abdul Rabbani and Ahmed Rabbani — who were detained at the Guantanamo Bay prison for the last 20 years. They were released and returned to Pakistan last week. Addressing the press conference along with Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s sister, Dr Fauzia Siddiqui, Mr Smith said Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who was ‘abducted’ in 2003, “holds no special importance for the US” and it’s the government of Pakistan that didn’t do enough to bring her back. Responding to a question, he said if Dr Shakeel Afridi had to be traded for Dr Siddiqui’s release, the Pakistani authorities should do it. Dr Afridi has been incarcerated for more than a decade after he was accused of helping the US in tracing the Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden w...

• Authorities say lender ‘changed its mind’ on at least four prior actions • Officials hint at ‘1998-like situation’, say foreign capitals working for Pakistan’s ‘meltdown’ • Despite its pro-poor mantra, sources claim Fund pushing measures that may hit low-income groups ISLAMABAD: The government has been trying to put on a brave face in its struggle to unlock critical funding from the IMF, but background discussions with officials reveal the administration is quite nervous beneath its confident exterior, as it finds it increasingly difficult to convince the Fund to release a loan instalment. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has changed interpretations of at least four prior actions ahead of rea­ching a staff-level agreement (SLA) on the direly needed economic bailout. Sources say the authorities are extremely annoyed at the latest situation, describing it as ‘maltreatment’. “We are members of the IMF, not beggars or else our membership be discarded,” commented a disgruntled ...

PTI Chairman Imran Khan is expected to appear in person in various courts in Islamabad in four different cases pertaining to foreign funding, terrorism, Toshakhana, and attempted murder on Tuesday (today). The former premier has left for Islamabad with party leaders to appear in courts, the party said on its official Twitter account. It said a large number of people welcomed Imran and his caravan at different spots along the motorway as the party chief headed for his appearance in the courts. The banking and the anti-terrorism courts are located in the judicial complex in Sector G-11, while the sessions court is housed at F-8 Kacheri in the capital. Cases against Imran The ECP had in November 2022 approached the Islamabad sessions court with a copy of the Toshakhana reference, seeking proceedings against Imran under criminal law for allegedly misleading officials about the gifts he received from foreign dignitaries during his tenure as the prime minister. In another action,...

GWADAR: Four people, including a security man and three civilians, were injured in a grande and rocket attack on an FC checkpoint in Turbat area, late on Monday night. Police officials said miscreants riding a motorcycle hurled a grenade at a checkpoint of Frontier Corps at Jusak Board area. The armed men later fired RPGs at the post, leaving an FC soldier and three others wounded. The injured were immediately shifted to hospital. Police, counter-terrorism department and FC personnel later launched a search operation in the area. Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2023 from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/rSeR7nG

KARACHI: With weekly inflation surging above 40 per cent, millions of Pakistanis have found their purchasing power further eroded, with many struggling to cover even the most basic necessities. Meanwhile, those at the helm of power scramble to put in stop-gap measures by imposing more taxes and blocking imports to shore up the country’s foreign reserves. The worst hit by this are the poor, who cannot even afford two full meals a day. Hailing from a small village near Nawabshah, Imam Ali lost most of his livestock and crops in 2020 due to floods, forcing him to come to Karachi to find a job. Ever since, he has been working as a security guard in Karachi’s FB Area, earning a meagre Rs15,000 a month. However, the minimum wage in Sindh is mandated at Rs25,000. “We are solely reliant on God, we cannot make ends meet in this inflation,” said 55-year-old Ali. “If our children ask for food, we simply make excuses. If we eat one time, the second meal is hard to manage … we tell the children ...

ISLAMABAD: In another bid to convince Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to allow Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leaders to return to the lower house of parliament, a 20-member delegation led by party stalwart Malik Amir Dogar called on the National Assembly speaker and urged him to reverse his decision regarding the acceptance of resignations. Mr Dogar, the former chief whip of the party, informed the speaker that the Lahore High Court had restored the membership of PTI MNAs so their resignations should also be withdrawn, according to separate statements issued by both sides after the meeting. The PTI also demanded that the new opposition leader should be appointed after the restoration of PTI lawmakers’ membership so that the process for the appointment of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chief could be started. The former ruling party also sought the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee currently headed by Noor Alam Khan, a dissident PTI leader. During the meeting at Parliament...

BARA: Atop a police outpost in northwest Pakistan, Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Faizanullah Khan stands behind a stack of sandbags and peers through the sights of an anti-aircraft gun, scanning the terrain along the unofficial boundary with the tribal districts. On this cold and rainy February morning, he is not looking for aircraft, but for the militants behind the attacks against his force, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police. It is daytime so he could relax a bit, but night was a different story, the ASI said, pointing to the marks left by bullets fired at the Manzoor Shaheed outpost. The outpost is one of dozens that provide defence against the militants waging a fresh assault on the country’s law enforcers from hideouts in the border region adjoining Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The threat the insurgency poses to Pakistan was illustrated last month when a bombing at a mosque inside Peshawar’s police compound killed more than 80 police personnel. Jamaatul Ahrar, a faction of the ...

• Slimmer SC bench to take up matter of Punjab, KP poll delay today • Four judges leave bench; Justices Afridi, Minallah stick to stance on maintainability, Justices Ahsan, Naqvi bow out ‘amid allegations’ ISLAMABAD: After deli­b­e­rations in an anteroom that lasted around ninety minutes, Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial in a surprise move on Monday, split a larger bench into a five-member bench to conduct suo motu proceedings on a delay in elections to the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies. Earlier, a nine-judge bench — visibly polarised at its first hearing — was scheduled to commence the hearing at 11:30am, but proceedings eventually resumed at 1:30pm after the reconstitution of the bench. The Supreme Court also issued a written order, which was dictated in the open court on Feb 23 when Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail objected to the initiation of the proceedings under Article 184(3). The CJP also hinted that they would like to conclude the matter by Tuesday (today) and close...

Twitter Inc has laid off at least 200 employees, or about 10 per cent of its workforce, the New York Times reported late on Sunday, in its latest round of job cuts since Elon Musk took over the micro-blogging site last October. The layoffs on Saturday night impacted product managers, data scientists and engineers who worked on machine learning and site reliability, which helps keep Twitter’s various features online, the NYT report said, citing people familiar with the matter. Twitter did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The company has a headcount of about 2,300 active employees, according to Musk last month. The latest job cuts follow a mass layoff in early November when Twitter laid off about 3,700 employees in a cost-cutting measure by Musk, who had acquired the company for $44 billion. Musk said in November that the service was experiencing a “massive drop in revenue” as advertisers pulled spending amid concerns about content moderation. Twitter r...

KARACHI: The opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday staged a big rally against growing inflation in the country and announced that it would build a mom­entum from Karachi that would lead to the fall of the “imported government”. A large number of PTI workers and supporters, including women and children, took out smaller rallies from different parts of the city to reach Liaquatabad, where the main rally turned into a protest demonstration. Carrying placards, portraits of Imran Khan and party flags, the workers shouted slogans against the Pakistan Democratic Movement-led coalition government at the Centre for hatching “conspiracies against PTI leadership and totally ignoring the current economic crisis. However, the protest rally caused a traffic mess on Shahrah-i-Pakistan and adjoining arteries since the Liaquatabad flyover and the road leading to Dakkhana flyover were closed for vehicular traffic. Addressing the demonstration, party leaders vowed that the workers were ...

GILGIT: Every year, from October to April, residents of Gilgit-Baltistan spend most part of their day sitting in front of fireplaces in large, but poorly ventilated halls, to brave the frigid weather. As the region lacks clean energy sources, the primary mode of heating is traditional stoves called ‘Bukhari’. These wood-burning metal heaters are made up of three parts — a fire chamber, a chimney, and a cooking surface — and are used throughout the year. It is not just the firewood, cow dung, or coal that is used as fuel. People in urban parts of the region burn plastic bags and similar synthetic waste in addition to rubber acquired from tyres to keep these stoves running amid freezing temperatures. These stoves are tried-and-tested heaters — meeting the needs of the populace for centuries. But there is a major downside to their use — the impact on the pulmonary system of people huddling around them, chiefly children and elderly people. Gohar Balti, a resident of Skardu, tells Dawn ...

This year Ramazan will definitely be tougher than previous years for many low and middle-income group people, especially in terms of skyrocketing prices in the last year. After over 12 hours of fasting, people try to enjoy lavish iftar by arranging many items. But many people with mediocre wages and salaries are likely to limit their purchases this year. All responsibility lies on the government to ensure the availability of edible items at cheaper rates not only throughout the year but especially in the holy month. As the government is more occupied in political and economic chaos besides pinning hopes on approval of the International Monetary Fund loan (IMF), it is hard to expect any special measures that could bring any impressive price relief. While consumers have witnessed a price spiral in the last year, the government is not in a position to offer any huge subsidies or duty/taxes relaxations to lower prices. Any efforts to curtail prices by lowering taxes and duties may ir...

DERA GHAZI KHAN: Mohsin Leghari of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) won the by-election to NA-193 (Rajanpur) with a huge margin on Sunday, unofficial result shows. According to the unofficial result, Mr Mohsin bagged 90,392 votes as compared to 55,218 and 20,074 votes secured by Ammar Awais Khan Leghari of the Pakistan Muslim League-N and Akhtar Hassan Khan Gorchani of Pakistan Peo­ples Party, respectively. While congratulating Mr Mohsin, PTI Chairman Imran Khan expressed the fear that the victory would “scare” the government and its “handlers”. “Congratulations to Mohsin Leghari, Meena Leghari, PTI workers & voters for the NA 193 emphatic victory despite govt machinery, neutrals & ECP all working against PTI,” he tweeted. “My only worry is that this will scare PDM & its handlers more. Therefore, expect greater pressure on SC judges,” he said. The seat had fallen vacant after the death of PTI MNA Jafar Khan Leghari. The result was not unexpected as Jafar Khan was qu...

• Plans to propose amendment to NAB law • Accuses judiciary of penalising one leader, protecting another • Sindh CM counts 16 reasons that can lead to a lawmaker’s disqualification KARACHI: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday accused the judiciary of double standard, alleging it penalised one leader but protected another, and called for expanding accountability laws to cover both past and present judges. In a hard-hitting speech, which came two days after a similar address by PML-N chief organiser Maryam Nawaz Sharif in which she called for accountability in the judiciary, Mr Bhutto-Zardari warned that his party would not let this “system of holy cows” run this country. The foreign minister, speaking at a seminar organised by the PPP’s Sindh chapter to mark the golden jubilee celebrations of the 1973 Constitution, was particularly critical of the judiciary’s treat­ment of PTI chief Imran Khan. “I am very sorry to say that the way our apex court is going with double stan...

• Further hike in flour prices feared due to short wheat supply to mills • Milk being sold at Rs210 per litre • Chicken boneless meat reaches Rs1,100-1,200 per kg • Mutton, veal meat available at Rs1,700 and Rs850 a kilo, respectively KARACHI: As the cost of living is rising sharply with each passing day, the life of the common man is fast becoming difficult and tough while the series of measures announced by authorities to control skyrocketing prices of essential food items are yet to produce results which could be deemed advantageous to consumers. The provincial government on Friday launched a crackdown on profiteers and hoarders to control prices of essential commodities and arrested two alleged profiteers in Karachi and collected a total fine of Rs161,000 from different shopkeepers for violating official rates in the city, according to a statement issued here on Saturday. Four shops were sealed during the raids carried out by district administrations while cases were register...

LAHORE: The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) has launched a fresh probe against Farhat Shahzadi, known as Farah Khan, a close friend of PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, and Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid in inquiries pending with it against them to determine whether they committed money laundering or not. The PTI Punjab government’s tenure has also come under scrutiny as the ACE initiated a probe into all mega housing and other development projects on complaints of irregularities to ‘take action against those involved’. “We have launched a review into the inquiries against Farhat Shahzadi and Sheikh Rashid with regard to their alleged involvement in money laundering. If the money laundering allegations are established, the matter will be referred to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for legal action against them,” ACE Punjab Director General Sohail Zafar Chattha told Dawn on Saturday. Matter to be referred to FIA if allegations established He further s...

KARACHI: A number of former PTI lawmakers approached the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Saturday to challenge the decision of the National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to accept their resignations. The counsel for PTI said that Aftab Siddiqui, Saifur Rehman Khan, Faheem Khan, Attaullah Khan, Aftab Jahangir, Najeeb Haroon and others have also approached the SHC. The lawyer contended that the speaker’s act of accepting their resignations was a violation of law, as he has to ascertain personally whether it was signed by the person concerned. They asserted that the Lahore High Court had annulled the decision of the NA speaker to accept the resignation of the party MNAs in Punjab, as well as notifications of the ECP. They asked the SHC that notifications to de-seat the petitioners may also be declared void and issue directives to the respondents to restore them as members of the National Assembly. PTI Karachi president Aftab Siddiqui told the media the party MNAs had resigned on Apri...

ISLAMABAD: The Election Com­mission of Pakistan (ECP) has rej­e­c­ted the Punjab government’s request and decided to hold the by-election in Rajanpur on Sunday (today). The by-election will take place on the seat, NA-193 (Rajanpur), which had fallen vacant following the death of PTI’s Sardar Jaffar Khan Leghari in December 2022. Two days before the polling, the interim government of Punjab on Friday requested the commission to postpone the by-election. The government said that the Dera Ghazi Khan division commissioner has raised security concerns in a letter to the home department. The commissioner also wrote to the ECP requesting postponement over security concerns. The ECP, in a statement, said the Punjab government’s requested couldn’t be entertained as all arrangements for the by-election were already in place. It added that the deputy commissioner, Punjab Police, Army and Rangers would be present in the monitoring room and respond to any untoward situation. The ECP sai...

• Matches from Tuesday may be shifted to Karachi if deadlock persists • Govt agrees to light up teams’ route to stadium, says no further talks until board commits funds • PCB accuses provincial govt of ‘changing its stance’ on budget LAHORE: The Punjab government may have agreed to light up the route from the team hotels to the Gaddafi Stadium, but its sta­ndoff with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) continues to drag on, making it seem like the Pakistan Super League would be shifted from Lahore and Rawalpindi to Karachi after an agreement on security expenditure eluded the two sides, on Saturday. The Punjab government has lowered its demand for security funds — from Rs450 million to Rs250m — but the PCB is refusing to flinch, stating that it is the obligation of the government to provide protection to the teams, as per the agreements signed in 2014 for the restoration of international cricket in Pakistan. The PCB has taken its patron-in-chief Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in th...

LAHORE: Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah opened the Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) with his keynote address on Friday, talking about memory, nostalgia, migration, and refugees. “For a writer, at least a writer of a certain kind like myself, memory is a vital resource. I’m not referring to the ability to remember certain facts or details but the swarm of memories that linger on long after the moment has passed,” Gurnah said, explaining further that he was talking about the time that could leave us quivering with regret or experiencing unexpected elation. He was addressing the opening ceremony of the LLF at the Alhamra Art Centre. Amber Saigol of the Dawn Media Group, Commissioner Muhammad Ali Randhawa, DC Rafia Haider, British Council deputy head Maria, Pakistan Arts Council, Karachi, President Ahmed Shah, Punjab Institute of Art and Culture Director Sughra Sadaf, Rachel Cooper of the Asia Society, publisher Alexander Pringle, Lahore Arts Council Executive Director Zulfikar Ali Zulfi...

IN military regimes, which have together ac­­c­o­unted for almost half of the country’s history, it was technocrats, for most purposes, who led the government. Even in many civilian governments, key positions such as the finance and commerce ministries were often imposed upon them. Despite their seemingly strong credentials, however, their performance remained mostly unsatisfactory, and if the experiment were to be repeated, there is no reason to expect any different outcome. It is, therefore, necessary to reconsider how technical expertise may best be availed in matters of governance. What did our past technocrat governments fail to achieve? Well, for one, they could not achieve a taxation system that is fair and where what is due gets collected, nor did they manage to increase and diversify exports with goods and services that are internationally competitive, whose sale is not dependent upon receiving state subsidies and grants of ‘favoured’ status by buyer countries. They were no...

ISLAMABAD: Taking a stand, three parties from the ruling coalition stated before the Supreme Court on Friday that two members of its nine-judge bench, hearing the suo motu case about delay in the announcement of a date for elections to the Punjab and KP assemblies, should recuse themselves from the case. The PML-N, JUI-F and PPP further said that the two judges should never be part of any bench hearing any case involving these three parties and their leadership. “At the very outset, [the] PPPP, PML-N and JUI-Pakistan with utmost respect submit that it is apparent from the Feb 16, 2023 [order] passed by two-member bench, comprising Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan [and] Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, that they have already disclosed their mind,” said a signed document furnished by senior counsel Farooq H. Naek, Mansoor Usman Awan and Kamran Murtaza, respectively, with the court. The counsel, however, hastened to add that the ruling parties did not have any personal reason or grievance ...