The nation on Sunday celebrated 75th Independence Day with traditional zeal and enthusiasm through a number of activities to highlight the struggle of forefathers and national heroes for acquiring a bratedwaslandofmondhomeland.separateItisaDia-Jubileethemother-whichcele-across the country with a renewed pledge to work with the spirit of Pakistan Movement to make the country a true Islamic welfare state. The day dawned with thirty-one gun salute in the federal capital and twenty-one gun salute in the provincial headquarters. The special prayers were offered for security and progress of Pakistan and well-being of the people. National flag was observed being hoisted at all important public and private buildings. The public and private buildings as well as streets, bazaars and markets had been profusely illuminated. National flags, buntings, portraits of founding fathers, posters and banners were also seen everywhere as part of the celebration of Independence Day. celebrate diamond jubilee with zeal, fervour for national conSenSuS ‘charter of economy’
p rIMeMinister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday called for a grand national dialogue and the development of a consensus on the so-called charter of the economy by all the stakeholders to transform Pakistan into an economic Addressingpowerhouse.anationalflag-hoisting and unveiling of the re-recording ceremony of the national anthem at the Jinnah Convention Centre, the prime minister said that on this 75th Independence Day, the government, like its forefathers, vowed to transform Pakistan into an economic giant. “If we can become a nuclear power, we can also become an economic power but for it we have to strive day and night and prove to the world that we are no less than anyone in the world,” he added. The ceremony was attended by federal ministers, MPs, senior military and law enforcement agencies leadership and people belonging to all walks of life.
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ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
Pakistanis
Monday, 15 August, 2022 I 16 Muharram, 1444 I Rs 40.00 I Vol XIII No 46 I 44 Pages I Lahore Edition CONTINUED ON PAGE 03 CONTINUED ON PAGE 03 attention Some readers have complained that they are not getting the magazine with their newspaper copy. Please call or WhatsApp us at the following number to register a complaint. Contact: irfan.farooq@pakistantoday.com.pk0307-7338168 in today’s issue
INDEPENDENCE DAY
pm Shehbaz callS
ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
“Pakistan Movement is a lesson for everyone which tells when a nation devised the course of its path, the mountain-like hurdles and seas like distances could not hamper them from achieving their goal,” the prime minister added. The prime minister recalled that when national poet Muhammad Iqbal dreamt about a separate motherland, a sense of pessimism was created that it was not feasible. “We salute the founding fathers of Pakistan who had smashed such sense of pessimism and due to their historic struggle, they are now breathing in an independence and sovereign country,” he added. The prime minister said that for decades, the Muslims in the sub-continent faced foreign subjugation, they laid down their lives, gave immense sacrifices and made a historic migration and lost their near and dear ones in that perilous journey to achieve a separate country. “They handed over an ideological country, he said and paid tribute to all those that lost their lives in the Independence Movement.” He said the creation of Pakistan was a sacred trust and mission, the first phase of which was completed, but its second phase was still incomplete. “The mission is to give practical shape to those ideals which were reflected in March 23 resolution,” he added.
The kingdom discussed extending the term of its $3 billion deposit with Pakistan when Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met the kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in May. The matter is crucial because, while the IMF is due to lend Pakistan $1.2 billion, this would be insufficient for Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government to avoid a debt default.Pakistan secured a staff-level agreement with the IMF last month to revive its bailout package. If there’s a risk of default, the IMF’s board may not approve release of the cash.
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The arrest of Dr Shahbaz Gill came before Ashura. It was perhaps inevitable, not because he was inciting hatred against either of the sects, but because he was inciting rebellion with the armed forces. That, it seems, is as sacrilegious an act. It’s not a good time for committers of sacrilegious acts. I mean, look at Salman Rushdie, whose Satanic Verses were published in 1988, but who was attacked now. At 75, it was a bad attack to Interestingly,survive. it was a knife attack, not a shooting. I’m not familiar with the theology on this, but I would be surprised if it was a case of using the weapons used against the original blasphemers. The attacker was a certain Hadi Matar from Fairview, New Jersey. Perhaps an Iranian immigrant? Perhaps someone who shouldn’t have been let in? It’s interesting, but we’ve got Taslima Nasreen expressing worries for herself.
Representatives for Saudi Arabia and Pakistan’s Finance Ministry didn’t immediately respond to Bloomberg messages seeking comment. The aid comes as the IMF has been looking to assess Saudi Arabia’s commitment to financing Pakistan before the multilateral lender disburses fresh funds to the South Asian nation. Bloomberg reported in July that the IMF wanted to ensure that Saudi Arabia will follow through with as much as $4 billion in funding to Pakistan to ensure Islamabad does not have a funding gap after the IMF loan. Pakistan has a gaping trade deficit, a large fiscal hole and a $1.7 billion debt payment due in December. Averting default will depend on whether external support from Saudi Arabia and other countries materializes. Without it, default seems increasingly likely. Saudi Arabia extended support multiple times to the nation. It pledged $4.2 billion in assistance to Pakistan when the former prime minister Imran Khan visited the kingdom in October. That included a deposit of $3 billion with the State Bank of Pakistan to help shore up its reserves and a facility to finance oil derivatives trade worth $1.2 billion during the year.
RAWALPINDI staff report
LAHORE: Punjab CM Pervaiz Elahi, Provincial Minister Aslam Iqbal along with PTI leaders, scouts and other people taking part in Independence Day function at Hazuri Bagh. photo by zubair Mehfooz
The glare from the socks City Notes M a Niazi PM Shehbaz visits residence of Maj. Talha Shaheed
Reasonable, I suppose, because she would be in the sights of the three decades-old.Personally, I blame Nupur Sharma. I can just imagine Hadi Matar sounding off about Sharma’s blasphemy, when someone pointed out that Rushdie was still around. Ms Sharma can take comfort from the fact that Rushdie’s blasphemy was more than three decades ago, so she’s probably got a good run to go. Getting back to Shahbaz Gill, apart from inciting rebellion, there are a number of reasons why there should be cases against him, but I don’t think any charges will be brought. First, is of course the kind of language he has been using about the opposition. Even that can be forgiven, but has anyone seen his socks? I know, the fault is with the makers If they didn’t make those socks, then no one would wear them. But the fault is still Dr Gill’s. Nobody was forcing him to put good money down in exchange for those socks. But he did. And the makers knew that those socks would find buyers. People unashamed of going about town with their ankles looking perfectly ridiculous. If those are the socks that are going to be worn in Naya Pakistan, it might be better to stick to Purana Pakistan. True, there was once the concept of Dazzle socks, but we can have too much of a good thing, and I’m not sure we should have Eyesore socks. I don’t know where Dr Gill developed his taste in socks. Wherever it was, he would be well advised to do the decent thing and not boast about it. In fact, if ever asked about it, he should maintain a well-guarded silence. Or else he should blame any particular bugbear in theButPML(N).apartfrom socks, it seems that sites are brewing hacked to mount a petition against the Chief Election Commissioner, asking him to resign. He is proving a true follower of Imran Khan by refusing to resign, but we’ve had the electoral watchdog PILDAT forced to issue a disclaimer that a site hosting a resignation petition had nothing to do with it, nor did emails asking that the online petition be signed. A worthy cause would be to ask if there could be an online petition about Dr Gill’s socks. All NGOs working in the field of eyesight would welcome signatures, for Dr Gill’ socks are capable of searing the most intrepid eyesight, and have rendered hundreds blind. If was perhaps lucky that Dr Gill was kept away from the Azadi March in Islamabad, for it’s strenuous enough trying to free the country without running the risk of going blind.And if he had been a free man, Dr Gill would have been onstage, strategically placed for maximum exposure to his ankles. Instead, the PTI has had to rely on Fawad Chaudhry to get its message across. He has resurfaced, though he is still not trying to incite anybody to do anything. There’s a meme about Rashid Minhas, who is still the PAF’s only Nishan-i-Haider, in which it is pointedly mentioned that he didn’t obey his senior. Of course that is not a message from the PTI. Obviously The PML(N) is behind it. Shehbaz Gill is also a PMLN) man, because that is the party trying to create differences between the PTI and the military. Whatever the case, I assume Fawad Chaudhry’s socks are orthodox, a tasteful dark blue, with at most a thin pale blue stripe.
RAWALPINDI/DIR staff report
Monday, 15 August, 2022 | LAHORE 02 NEWS ISLAMABAD staff report S AUDIArabia is planning to renew its $3 billion deposit in assistance to Pakistan, as the South Asian nation looks to rein in one of Asia’s highest inflation rates and stave off a current-account crisis, according to people familiar with the matter, reported Bloomberg.TheSaudi Finance Ministry plans to renew its $3 billion deposit with State Bank of Pakistan as soon as this week, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private deliberations. The kingdom also plans to provide $100 million a month for 10 months in petroleum products that will be granted as additional support, the people added.Pakistan’s funding gap has been covered after the kingdom’s commitment, the people said, adding that the assurance will pave the way for the International Monetary Fund’s loan approval at the end of the month. Saudi Arabia has been coordinating with the IMF to ensure that Pakistan is fully supported, one of the people said. The commitment can be announced within the next two days, said one of the people.
ISLAMABAD staff report Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday offered condolences to the family of Shaheed Major Talha Mannan, who embraced martyrdom in the Balochistan copter crash, during a visit to his residence in Islamabad. The premier met with the members of the bereaved family and prayed for the departed soul. Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb was also present on the occasion. Major Muhammad Talha Manan has left behind his wife and two sons. On August 1, a Pakistan Army aviation helicopter—which was on flood relief operations in Balochistan’s Lasbela— had gone missing with six passengers aboard, after losing contact with air traffic control. The wreckage of the aircraft was later found in a coastal district of Balochistan with all six officers on board embracing martyrdom. Commander 12 Corps Lieutenant General Sarfaraz Ali, Major General Amjad Hanif, Brigadier Muhammad Khalid, Major Saeed Ahmed, Major M Talha Manan and Naik Mudassar Fayyaz were on board the Mi-17 helicopter of Army Aviation.
As the country celebrated its 75th birthday on Sunday, Pakistan’s top leadership said the nation should seek guidance from the ideology and thoughts of the founding fathers and put the welfare of the public at the centre of their mission of national rejuvenation. “Let us vow to turn Pakistan into a nation-state that is reflective of the ideals of our founding fathers,” the prime minister said in a message to mark the diamond jubilee. He said the day was a watershed moment in the nation’s history. “Today, we pay rich tributes to Muslims of the subcontinent and express our collective gratitude to them for their heroic struggle, and epic sacrifices for the creation of a new state,” he said. The establishment of Pakistan is an outcome of Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s single-minded devotion, unflinching resolve and his unwavering struggle, he added. The prime minister said that from the conception of the idea in 1930, Pakistan emerged on the map of the world as the world’s largest Muslim nation in a span of just 17 years. The coming of Pakistan into existence was not less than a miracle that stunned friends and foes alike, beating all predictions and assessments, he added. “Where the 75th Independence Day is an occasion of jubilation and festivity, it is also a moment of reflection and selfaccountability. We, as a nation, have achieved many milestones during the last seven and a half decades,” he added. Sharif said: “From thwarting external aggression to putting together federal constitution to becoming the 7th nuclear power of the world to beating the scourge of terrorism, we have come a long way. The odds were definitely heavier than anyone could imagine but our national will to defeat them was stronger.” At the same time, he observed it was also a fact that we have not been able to fully realise the dream that our founding fathers dreamed; the dream of socio-economic justice, rule of and equality before the law, and the dream of an egalitarian society. “While we are an independent nation, a precious gift for which we cannot thank Allah Almighty enough, true freedom lies in being free from want, hunger, poverty and backwardness. As long as we do not have economic sovereignty, the concept of freedom will remain incomplete,” he added. He said nothing was more dangerous for a nation than internal division, disruption and chaos for such negative forces undermine the solidarity and integrity of the country and rob societies of their national purpose. Jinnah warned against such evils and gave the motto of “unity, faith and discipline” as an antidote, he added. “The greatest strength of our country is the people, particularly the youth. It is their energy, resolve and passion that is capable of overcoming any odd, beating any hurdle and lighting the candle of hope.
Floral wreath laying ceremony was held at the mausoleum of Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed, Nishan-e-Haider in Tufailabad, Burewala area of district Vehari, to pay homage to the Shaheed on 75th Independence Day. Major Tufail Muhammad embraced Shahadat in 1958. Major General Muneer Uddin, General Officer Commanding 35 Division laid floral wreath at Major Tufail Muhammad Shaheed’s mausoleum. A smartly turned out contingent of Pakistan Army presented guard of honour. People from different walks of life, civil and military officials and relatives of Shaheed attended the wreath laying ceremony
SauDI arabIa PlanS renewal of $3b DePoSIT To PakISTan Maj MuhammadTufail Shaheed paid homage
Four Pakistan Army soldiers embraced martyred in two terror incidents occurred in Dir area of KPK and in Balochistan on Sunday. According to a statement issued by the ISPR, two soldiers embraced martyrdom when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded as personnel of security forces passed by in Barawal area of DirResultantly,District.
Sepoy Sajid Ali, age 30 years and resident of Kotli, Azad Kashmir and Sepoy Adnan Mumtaz, age 32 years, resident of Poonch, Azad Kashmir) embraced shahadat (martyrdom). Following the incident, the security forces launched an operation to clear the area and eliminate any terrorists present in the region. In another incident, two soldiers embraced martyrdom and another sustained gunshot wounds in an attack on security forces in Balochistan. According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement, the security forces late on Saturday night successfully repulsed the distant fire raid on their post in the Khost town near Harnai district and pursued the escaping terrorists into the nearby mountains.“Asafollow-up, during an encircling effort to cut off fleeing terrorists, a heavy exchange of fire took place between terrorists and a security forces patrol as well,” the military’s media wing said. During the skirmish, two army soldiers embraced martyrdom and an officer got injured while causing losses to the terrorists, it added. “Security forces, in step with the nation, remain determined to thwart attempts at sabotaging peace, stability and progress of Balochistan,” according to the ISPR. The ISPR statement further said that the Pakistan Army is determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of brave soldiers will not go unpunished.
Four soldiers martyred in Dir, Balochistan terror attacks: ISPR
Top leaders reiterate resolve to build Jinnah’s Pakistan on I-Day ISLAMABAD staff report
PMShehbaz calls for national consensus on ‘charter of economy’
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said the government had united the nation on the occasion of August 14 with colours of love and harmony. She said a magnificent display of fireworks in front of the Parliament was proof that “we are a living nation. ‘Azm-e- Aali Shan, Shad Rahey Pakistan.” President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Barrister Sultan Mehmood and AJK Prime Minister Sardar Tanvir Ilyas felicitated the Pakistani nation for celebrating the 75th Independence Day with great enthusiasm.
CoNtINueD fRoM PAge 01 He said that on its independence, Pakistan was deprived of its due shares, but despite all those odds it made excellent progress in different fields as being the 7th in the world and the first nuclear power of the Islamic world. Former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto started the nuclear programme and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif realised it, he maintained. The prime minister said Pakistan had been playing a key role in the UN peacekeeping missions, its players had raised the national flag in different games. “It is a fact that we have made progress in different arenas, but with the speed which with we have to achieve that mission, there were shortfalls which should be overcome,” he stressed. The prime minister resolved that for making Pakistan an ideal nation-state as dreamt about by the founding fathers, they would be ready to shed the last drop of their blood, foil enemies’ designs with the support of the brave armed forces and harness the true potential of youth to lead the future way. The prime minister said that they were thankful to Allah Almighty for observing the 75th-anniversary celebrations and lauded the contributions made by the Pakistani expatriates and their valuable part in the development and prosperity of the country. He also prayed for the liberation of Jammu and Kashmir and Palestine from the foreign occupation. The prime minister expressed his deep grief and sorrow over the recent losses in the flash floods and said the recent rainfalls caused destruction and huge losses in different parts of the country, especially in Balochistan as hundreds had lost their lives and children were left orphans. He prayed for the early recovery of the injured. The prime minister said that on this day, they also acknowledged the contributions of civil society members like Abdul Sattar Edhi and Ruth Pfau. The prime minister also highlighted the minorities’ role in Pakistan Movement and appreciated their sacrifices.Hesaid Muhammad Ali Jinnah had stressed religious freedom in the newly created Pakistan as there would be a rule of law, constitution and democracy. He said the government accorded high priority to realising the true potential of the country’s youth and expressed the optimism that the youth would steer the future course of the country’s progress and prosperity by following Quaid’s principles of unity and discipline.
ISLAMABAD staff report
ISLAMABAD GhulaM abbas Vice Chancellor Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) Islamabad survived unhurt an attack during national flag-hoisting ceremony at the university here on Sunday. According to police and university administration, QAU VC Prof Dr Muhammad Ali Shah narrowly escaped the gun attack due to timey intervention by a security staff. The vice chancellor was moving back to his car after hoisting nation flag on the occasion of 75th Independence Day. In the meanwhile, an employee pointed a gun in his face. The attacker, however, misfired three bullets when a security staff standing nearby rushed and pushed his hand. When contacted the VC confirmed the incident, saying that the attacker has been handed over to the police by the security staff of the university. According to him, it was an unexpected and surprising incident and apparently a murder attempt. “I don’t know the reason behind such an extreme step taken by the university employee. Since police are investigating, things will be clear in the investigation,” he said. Later in a Tweet, QAU Registrar Raja Qaiser Ahmed claimed that the attacker was identified as Jawad Ali, an intern at the Computer Science Department. According to him, in the initial statement the attacker has claimed that he had taken the step for not getting a regular job in the university. Meanwhile the teaching fraternity and students have condemned the attack on the VC. A teaching faculty, while commenting on the extreme step taken by the attacker, says apart from condemning it, the relevant higher authorities should also know the reasons behind such incidents. According to him, the uncertainty among the temporary, visiting and contractual faculty and staff, who are left at the mercy of VCs, registrars of the universities are causing depression and anxiety among such employees.
fawaD TakeS a JIbe aT PM Shehbaz, DubS charTer of econoMy ‘SIlly IDea’
P akistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry on Sunday trashed the proposal floated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for agreeing to a charter of economy and termed it a “foolish idea”. Taking to the micro blogging site, Twitter, the former information and broadcasting minister took a jibe at PM Shehbaz and said that “the refusal of the head of the imported government to hold elections is a reflection of his desire to remain clung to power at all costs”. “This charter of economy is a silly idea. Political parties only join heads to develop a political framework. Having unanimous economic framework is only found in communist systems,” Fawad wrote on Twitter.He added that “no sane person” could support the “disastrous economic policies of the crime minister’s government”. Referencing PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s jalsa in Lahore on the eve of August 14, Fawad wrote: “Last night, millions of people who participated in [PTI’s] Lahore Jalsa declared that the realisation of the dream of freedom was incomplete until real freedom was achieved.”
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Independence Day: Pakistanis celebrate diamond jubilee with zeal, fervour
Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Babar Iftikhar extended felicitations on behalf of the Armed Forces of Pakistan on the diamond jubilee celebrations of Independence Day. 0The ISPR DG on his official Twitter handle wrote, “Happy Independence Day/Diamond Jubilee Celebrations to great Pakistani nation from Armed Forces of Pakistan.”
The contingents of Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Navy visited the mausoleum of father of the nation Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah and paid tremendous homage on the occasion of 75th Independence Day. They laid wreaths at the mausoleum and offered fateha. The contingents also reiterated their commitment to protecting the country at all spheres.
03NEWS Monday, 15 August, 2022 | LAHORE CoNtINueD fRoM PAge 01
President Dr Arif Alvi Saturday expressed condolences over the death of a dozen people in a traffic accident in Rahim Yar Khan. At least 13 people were killed and five injured in a collision between a passenger van and a truck in the town on Saturday. The accident took place when the speeding truck overturned and rammed into the ill-fated van, which was carrying 18 passengers, including women and children, according to rescue officials. In a statement, the president prayed for the elevation of the ranks of theHedeceased.alsoprayed to the almighty to give courage to the bereaved family to bear the loss with fortitude.Alviwished speedy recovery to the wounded.Fatalroad accidents are common in Pakistan, mainly due to lax safety and infrastructure standards.
“The nationwide movement has already started. Insha Allah, this government is a guest for a few more weeks,” he said. A day ago, PM Shehbaz Sharif, in a televised address to the nation, had said that there was no concept of a country’s independence without economic selfreliance.Theprime minister reiterated his call for the formation of a “charter of the economy”, saying that the time has come for Pakistan to head in the right direction. “We should keep national interest above personal interest […] as real political leadership does not look towards the next elections, but at the future of the next generation,” he has said. “Most importantly, we will need to revive the passion that led to the creation of Pakistan,” he said, noting that this passion will lead to the establishment of a great nation.
The change of guards ceremony was held at Mazaar-eQuaid in Karachi this morning. The cadets of Pakistan Naval Academy assumed the guards duties. Associated Press of Pakistan, Radio Pakistan Pakistan Television and other mainstream media were highlighting the services of Pakistan Movement heroes’ on the day and paid tributes to their extra ordinary contributions for making Pakistan a reality. The government released the re-recorded national anthem which reflected updated inclusivity in voices and expression while ensuring the sanctity of the original words and the musical composition. The re-recording of the National Anthem includes 48 musicians from the army, air force and navy bands who skillfully played the musical instruments, a choir of 30 vocalists from the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) and over 125 vocalists representing all provinces, regions and faiths. The Kashmiris along both sides of LoC and living across the globe marked the 75th Independence Day of Pakistan with great zeal, zest, fervor and enthusiasm. In a message, Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif stressed that they should seek guidance from the ideology and thoughts of the founding fathers and put the welfare of people at the center of their mission of national rejuvenation. “Let us vow to turn Pakistan into a nation-state that is reflective of the ideals of our founding fathers,” he said. President Dr. Arif Alvi reaffirmed nation’s resolve to uphold Pakistan’s ideology and make Pakistan an ideal modern Islamic welfare nation-state. The President also reiterated Pakistan’s continued support for the just Kashmiri struggle for selfdetermination as enshrined in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions. The Diamond Jubilee Convention of Parliamentarians, chaired by Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, passed a unanimous resolution, expressing resolve to strive together to make Quaid-iAzam’s vision of a federal, parliamentary, democratic and prosperous Pakistan a substantive reality. Minister Foreign Affairs Bilawal Bhutto Zardari congratulated the nation on the 75th Independence Day and said that the vision of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was to create a Pakistan that would be a role model for the Muslim world with an egalitarian society. “Every Pakistani has to play a role in making this country an ideal Muslim state,” he urged.
ISLAMABAD staff report
QAU VC survives unhurt gun attack by employee Alvi voices condolence on deaths in highway crash
Covid-19: 581 new cases, four deaths reported ISLAMABAD staff report Pakistan reported 581 new Covid-19 cases and four deaths on Saturday, the Ministry of National Health Services said on Sunday. The overall tally of the infected people increased to 1,562,888 across the country with the fresh cases, according to the data released by the ministry. According to the ministry’s statistics, 30,527 people died of Covid-19 in Pakistan with the four newly reported ones. On Saturday, 19,591 tests were conducted throughout Pakistan whereas the positivity ratio stood at 2.97 percent.
The observance of the scheduled Indian Independence day as black day is also aimed at to express indignation against the Indian imperialism for forcibly keeping bulk part of the State in her unlawful and forcible occupation for past 75 years, organizers said. “Anti-India rallies followed by protest demonstrations in all small and major cities and towns at both sides of the LoC, will be hallmark of the day”, an AJK govt. spokesman told APP here Friday. “Participants of the protest rallies will wear black bands around their arms as a sign of hatred against India, according to the organizers of the special black day programs. Black flags will be hoisted atop the private and buildings by the protesting Kashmiris at both sides of the LoC”, according to the reports. In Azad Jammu & Kashmir, anti-India rallies will be staged and processions will be brought out in all small and major cities including AJK’s capital city of Muzafferabad and all other nine district headquarters of Mirpur, Kotli, Bagh, Bhimbher, Palandri, Rawalakot, Haveili, Jhelum Valley and Neelam valley by the people belonging to walks of life to reiterate severe hatred against the Indian imperialism. Participants of the rallies will march in major city streets carrying black banners and placards to express hatred against India for turning the Indian-occupied Jammu Kashmir the world’s largest prison perpetuating brutalities and human rights abuses in the occupied state since August 05, 2019 – the black day in Jammu & Kashmir State’s history following revocation of the special status of the disputed Jammu & Kashmir at the gun point by the despotic and fascist BJP-led Indian government.
20 yearS olD
MIRPUR (AJK) staff report Expressing the extreme hatred against India to mark strong protest over Delhi’s forced Aug, 5, 2019 nefarious action of scrapping special status of Jammu and Kashmir state, the people of disputed Himalayan state would observe India’s independence day on August 15 as Black Day. Every year Kashmiris observe, India’s all national days including the independence day as black day to condemn her constantly denying Kashmiris right to self determination besides to apprise the external world of the India’s ongoing worst reign of state terrorism making people of occupied Jammu Kashmir state besieged, at gun point of over two million of her military and para military troops. India has unleashed history’s worst atrocities and state terrorism against the people in occupied Jammu and Kashmir fighting for liberation of the motherland from the forced Indian rule since past 75 years.
Former PIDC Chairman Azhar Jaffery breathes his last in Lahore
Officials from Pakistan and Türkiye discussed ways to deepen bilateral economic and trade relations in the capital of Ankara.Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal paid a visit to Türkiye and met with senior officials, including Ibrahim Senel, the head of Strategy and Budget Presidency, according to a press release by Pakistan’s embassy in Ankara. During his meeting with Senel, Iqbal suggested bilateral cooperation and experience-sharing in attracting foreign investment, enhancing productivity, participation in global supply chains, and tapping the export potential.
QUETTA staff report Like the rest of the country, 75th Independence Day of Islamic Republic of Pakistan was observed on Sunday in different parts of Balochistan with national fervor and solemnity. The day began with special prayers in the mosques for unity, solidarity and prosperity of the country. 21-gun salute was presented after the Fajar prayer to mark the day in the provincial capital. The principal ceremony was held at the “Sabzazar” of the Balochistan Assembly which was attended by Chief Minister (CM) Balochistan Abdul Quddus Bizenjo, provincial ministers, adviser and senior officials. The CM Balochisan hoisted national flag in the premises of Balochistan Assembly. Addressing the ceremony, Chief Minister of Balochistan Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo said that Pakistan was a strong country and faces various challenges, we were moving forward while facing this country which came into existence on 27th of Ramadan. “It is Allah’s blessing for us to move forward as a nation out of caste, nationality, Sindhi, Punjabi, Baloch, Pashtun for the construction and development of the country. Pakistan would be defended with strong hands and no one could see it with blind eyes”, he added. The CM said that Balochistan was going through a test and a tough time today due to heavy rains and floods, all resources were being utilized for rehabilitation of flood victims in the province. “We are grateful to Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, who has focused on Balochistan in this difficult time and has assured to government of Balochistan that federal regime would provide relief and rehabilitation of the victims in a timely manner”, he said. He said that it has been heard that the devastation caused by floods and rains in Balochistan was irreparable, but our efforts were to continue practical efforts of relief and rehabilitation in the affected areas in a coordinated manner. “One million rupees will be provided by the federal government and one million rupees will be given by provincial government to the survivors of those people of families who died in floods and rain and two to five million rupees to be provided for the construction and repair of houses”, he underlined. He said that after the rescue activities, a survey would be started to estimate the financial, economic and agricultural losses in the next one to two weeks. The Chief Minister of Balochistan while paying tribute to the services of army officers and soldiers including Corps Commander Quetta Lieutenant General Sarfaraz Ali who were martyred in a helicopter accident during flood activities.
Former Chairman Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC) Azhar Jaffery passed away in Lahore on August 10, 2022, due to cardiac arrest. Jaffery held the office as the Chairman PIDC from 1994 till 2004. As the chairman of Pakistan’s first Statutory/Public Sector Corporation chartered to be path Finder vis-à-vis establishment of industry; particularly in the remote areas of the country, Azhar turned around sick units, recommissioned /revived closed down ones, established new ones through JV arrangements (with foreign entrepre- neurs).Jaffery received his Masters degree in history of western civilization with a roll of honor from Government College, Lahore. During his academic tenure, he also held the post of Secretary, Government College Dramatic Club (GCDC), Secretary Garret Historical Society, and Secretary College FrenchAddingSociety.tothat, he was also one of the nine members of the College Seniors’ club with wide ranging proctorial powers.Jaffery was the son of late Magistrate Fazal Ellahi Jaffery, brother of Senior Advocate Mazhar Jaffery and Director Development, Marketing and Sales Ziaraat and Umrah at Six Sigma Travels Qaiser Ellahi Jaffery. He left behind three daughters and a son. Apart from his professional career, Jaffery was extremely eloquent and a brilliant writer. He has published an Urdu book called ‘Dhuwan’ People who were close to Jaffery knew that he had a dynamic, graceful persona that could make him stand out from the crowd. Those who knew him could relate that he never looked at the camera while taking a picture, which was one of his ‘stylish’ ways of standing out from the crowd. As he quoted himself, he was ‘someone who felt crowded when alone, and joined a crowd when he wanted to be alone!’Helived a full life on his own terms and his loss will be insurmountable.
Monday, 15 August, 2022 | LAHORE 04 NEWS
Pakistan, Türkiye discuss ways to deepen ties
LAHORE Manal Jaffery
Kashmiris observe Black Day on India’s Independence Day today
mountain in May last year. Among them, Samina Baig is the only woman climber to achieve this milestone, in 2013. Kashif, the son of a businessman, started climbing at the tender age of 11, gradually scaling several peaks ranging from 3,000 to 8,000 meters (9,843-26,247 feet) before ascending Mount Everest and K2. In 2013, he scaled the 3,885meter (12,746-foot) Makra Peak, situated in Mansehra, still just 11 yearsHisold.2019 expedition to the 8,047-meter (26,401-foot) Broad Peak, located in Gilgit-Baltistan, earned him the title “The Broad Boy.”Apart from Kashif, two other Pakistani climbers, Sirbaz Khan, and Naila Kiyani also made it to the top of Gasherbrum I on Friday. After scaling Gasherbrum I, Khan, 32, has become the only Pakistani to climb 12 mountains above 8,000 meters across the world. Kiani, who accompanied Kashif and Sirbaz to conquer Gasherbrum I, has become the only Pakistani female to scale all 8,000meter peaks inside Pakistan. Last month, Kiani, became the first Pakistani mother to summit K2, the world’s second-tallest mountain. A banker by profession, she currently lives in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). BeComeS worlD’S youngeSt man to ClImB ten PeakS aBove 8,000m
Balochistan renews pledge to prosperity on Independence Day
Split families still suffer after 75 years of Pakistan-India partition KARACHI/NEW DELHI reuters Ali Hasan Baqai and Abid Hasan Baqai, brothers split for 75 years by the partition of Pakistan and India, talk with their families on a video call, words and tears binding them but with no hope of reunion. Thousands of families like the Baqai brothers remain divided three-quarters of a century after their countries were formed in the rupture of independence from British-ruled India in 1947. “I felt that I can’t touch them,” younger brother Abid Hasan told Reuters in New Delhi. It was good to see Ali Hasan in Karachi, but it was nothing like “a hug, a touch, shaking hands or talking to them” in person. Pakistan marks independence on Sunday, and Hindu archrival India on Monday. The Baqai families last met eight years ago when the older brother travelled to New Delhi. Repeated subsequent attempts for visas by the two families have been rejected from both sides, the brothers said. Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence, two over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, which they both claim in full. Tensions peaked in 2019 when each sent combat fighters into the other’s airspace. Britain’s carving out new nations by splitting the two, as its empire ebbed after World War Two, triggered mass sectarian migration in both directions, marred by bloodshed and violence on both sides.
ISLAMABAD Monitoring report
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Highlighting the strong bond between the countries, he stressed the need to convert excellent political relations into enhanced bilateral economic and tradeIqbalrelations.expressed interest in technical cooperation for the development of tourism infrastructure in Pakistan, and proposed to undertake joint collaborative projects in the fields of education and industry.Both sides agreed to remain engaged to work on common areas of interest and to realize the potential of bilateral trade and economic relations. The officials also agreed to share experience in areas of budget preparation, strategy, planning, and sustainable development.
ISLAMABAD anadolu agency S HEHROZEKashif, a 20year-old man from the north, has become the world’s youngest mountaineer to summit ten peaks above 8,000 meters (26,247 feet) after he climbed Gasherbrum I, the 11th tallest mountain on earth on Friday, a mountaineering association said. The 8,068-meter (26,469-foot) Gasherbrum I, also known as the “Hidden Mountain”, is located in Gilgit-Baltistan, which borders neighbouring China, and is home to five out of a total of 14 mountains above 8,000 Mountonlyadded.peaksthecomesClub(2.09GMT),”GasherbrumShehroze“Heartiestmeters.congratulationsKashifonthesummitofItodayat4.09amannouncedtheAlpineofPakistan.“NowShehrozeKashifbe-theyoungestmountaineerinwholeworldtosummit10above8,000meters,”itHailingfromLahore,KashifisthesixthPakistanmantoscaleEverest,theworld’stallest
KARACHI anadolu agency A Nunprecedented monsoon spell which has caused widespread devastation across Pakistan is also adding to already escalating food inflation, aside from exacerbating fears of food insecurity in the country. With food inflation already going through the roof at 30 percent, the ongoing monsoon spells have destroyed huge amounts of ready-to-reap crops across the country, causing shortages of staples, vegetables and fruits in markets and subsequently resulting in soaring prices of essential commodities. Massive downpours along with flooding have so far killed over 500 people in the country since June 14, in addition to inundating millions of acres of agricultural lands in all four provinces as well as Gilgit-Baltistan and the Kashmir Valley. Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, has been the hardest hit, where torrential rains have destroyed large swathes of farmland and orchards in over a dozen districts, which are major fruit suppliers not only to the province but to the rest of the country as well.
ISLAMABAD app Pakistan Railways has utilized funds amounting to Rs167.659 million, out of total Rs352 million, during the past three years to ensure safe and secure travelling for the passengers of Balochistan province. “The government allocated Rs121 million in 2018-19 and the department spent Rs42.430 million out of it, while Rs117 million and Rs 114 million were earmarked in 2019-20 and 2020-21 out of which Rs 33.593 million and Rs 91.636 million were utilized respectively,” an official told APP. He said that Pakistan Railways infrastructure in Balochistan was being maintained as per the available resources in order to provide safe and secure travel for the passengers. “Railway track in Balochistan consists of Sibi-Quetta-Chaman, Spzand-Taftan and SibiHurnai and some portion of Jacobabad Sibi section,” the official added. Moreover, he said a number of upgraded facilities like washroom and drinking water have been provided for comfort of the passengers, besides carrying out renovation of waiting rooms at various station buildings. In addition to this, the official said 10 railway station buildings have been renovated and rehabilitated on Sibi-Harnai section, along with reconstruction and repair of 25 bridges. To a question, he said the contract for rehabilitation of track between (Sama Satta- Bahawalnagar) on Sama Satta-Amruka section has been awarded to the Frontier Work Origination (FWO) last year. The total cost of contract for rehabilitation of track was Rs.7735.000 million and 16 firms purchased the bidding documents but only one firm participated in the bid, he added.
A Flag hoisting ceremony was held at Pakistan Bureau of statistics on Sunday,14 August 2022. The Flag hoisting ceremony at PBS Head office began with recitation of Holy Quran followed by National anthem of Pakistan. To mark the 75th Independence Day of Pakistan, Pakistani flag was hoisted and Cake Cutting ceremony was observed by the Chief Statistician of PBS, Dr. Naeem uz Zafar. PBS also released a National Song in connection with 75th Anniversary of Pakistan and 7th Digital Population and Housing Census for the General Public. The ceremony was attended by senior officers & officials of PBS, during the ceremony the speakers Dr, Naeem Uz Zafar, Chief Statistician and Mr. Muhammad Sarwar Gondal, Member(SS/RM) paid tribute to the founding father Mr. Muhammad Ali Jinnah who took every possible step to turn the dream of Allama Dr.Muhammad Iqbal into reality. They also enlightened the great unforgettable sacrifices of the Muslims to achieve this great motherland on 14th of August 1947. The duties and responsibilities of Govt officers and officials for the development of country were also highlighted. The Independence Day was celebrated with true spirit & national fervor, and it was ended with prayers for the prosperity and peace of country. pr
LAHORE/KARACHI: Two persons lost their lives due to the firing in jubilation on the eve of Diamond Jubilee Independence Day in Lahore. According to police, 17-year-old youth namely Chand Masseh died after a stray bullet hit him in Shafiqabad area. Police said that the victim was walking alongside Ghazi Marriage Hall in Shafiqabad when the bullet hit him. In another incident, a woman died in her sleep when a stray bullet hit her in the Lower Mall area. Police shifted the bodies to the morgue and further investigations were under way. Similarly, 35 persons injured in celebratory firing during Independence Day celebrations in Karachi. According to police, 35 people were injured in Independence Day celebratory gunfire in Karachi. According to the rescue sources, at least 35 people, who had been injured in different incidents of celebratory gunfire, were brought to different hospitals of Karachi. “Most of them were discharged after first aid,” said the rescue sources. staff report
05NEWS Monday, 15 August, 2022 | LAHORE
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Shah said that due to a host of factors, Pakistan is already grappling with the crucial issue of food insecurity, which is likely to be exacerbated by the destruction caused by unprecedented monsoon rains. “The upcoming spells may bring further destruction as a whole, including to the agriculture sector,” he warned. In Punjab and Sindh, increasing populations and housing needs have in recent years turned large swathes of green land into concrete jungles, not only in the big cities but in small districts as well. The regions are considered the country’s two main bread baskets. Monsoon rains have long been wreaking havoc on Pakistan in terms of human casualties and the destruction of already fragile infrastructures. But climate change has further increased their frequency, ferocity and unpredictability in recent years. The country has received 87 percent more rains this monsoon season so far compared to the past year, according to the Environment and Climate Change Ministry. SHORtAgES IMMInEnt: The ongoing monsoon spell, Shah said, has caused around Rs50 billion worth of losses to the agriculture sector in Sindh alone. He further said the relentless rains have badly damaged cotton, dates, chillies, cauliflower, onions, and other fruits and vegetables in Sindh and Balochistan.
ReCORD mOnSOOn RAInS ADD tO SOARIng FOOD InFlAtIOn, InSeCURIty
Diamond Jubilee Independence Day celebrations held at Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University. pr
“The ongoing (monsoon) has not only hit the growers hard but also caused inflationary pressure, which will subsequently have a dangerous spiralling impact on the country’s entire food chain,” said Syed Mahmood Nawaz Shah, an agriculturalist from Sindh.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Air Force joins the Nation in 75th Independence Day celebrations with fervour and dignity. The Day commenced with offering of special “Dua’” for integrity, progress and prosperity of the country in mosques of Pakistan Air Force Bases & AHQs. Later, a flag hoisting ceremony was held at Air Headquarters, Islamabad. Air Vice Marshal Muhammad Nadeem Sabir, SI(M), Inspector General Pakistan Air Force, hoisted the national flag. Afterwards, all personnel, imbued with the warmth of patriotism, sung the National Anthem in unison with the whole nation. Message of the day by Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, NI(M), Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force was also read at the occasion. A large number of Officers, Airmen and Civilians participated in the ceremony. Similar ceremonies were also held at all Regional Air Commands, PAF Bases and Installations. pr
LAHORE: Lahore College Women University VC Dr Bushra Mirza along with faculty members and staffers cut a cake to mark Independence Day. staff photo corporate corner FCCU celebrates 75th Independence Day
PAF celebrates Independence Day with fervour
Riaz Pirzada cuts cake to mark Independence Day celebrations PR spends Rs167m to ensure secure train journey
Jubilation fire claims 2 lives in Lahore, injures 35 in Karachi
pr ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Human Rights Main Riaz Hussain Pirzada attended a special event as the chief guest today in Islamabad to celebrate 75th anniversary of Pakistan’s Independence Day. The event was organized by Directorate General of Special Education (DGSE), Ministry of Human Rights. The program commenced with the recitation from the Holy Quran and Naat-e-Rasool-eMaqbool (S.W) followed by the playing of the National Anthem. Later on, special children performed on different patriotic and folk songs to mark their fervor and enthusiasm on this special day. Their impressive performance was greatly applauded by the chief guest and the audience. In his welcome address, Mr. Azhar Sajjad, Director General Special Education thanked the chief guest for his kind presence and participation in the program. He delineated educational, rehabilitation and training services of the Directorate General of Special Education for the persons with disabilities. He informed that these services had now been extended to the entire ICT with the launch of Inclusive Education Program and a user friendly mobile application for awareness of PWDs that is also having an E-technology project for visually impaired persons. The Chief Guest while addressing the audience highlighted the significance of Independence Day. He recalled sacrifices, dedication and endeavors of our forefathers for the great cause of Independence. pr
LAHORE: recitationsopenedceremony14,Sunday,passiongreatnationindependentyearPakistan'sJubileeDiamondDay,IndependencePakistan’scelebratedUniversity)CharteredCollegeChristianForman(A75ththeof75thasanwithzealandonAugust2022.Thewaswithfrom the Holy Quran and the Holy Bible. The Special guest for the event was Dr. Jonathan Addleton, Rector FCCU. The ceremony was attended by Vice Rector, Dr. Douglas Trimble, Registrar, Brig (R) Dr. Nayer Fardows, and Chief Security Officer Col (R) Rana Khaqan Mahmood. The national flag was hoisted by Dr. Jonathan Addleton in the presence of faculty and staff members. The FCCU Security Guards Corps saluted the flag while the national anthem was sung. In his remarks, Dr. Addleton talked about the role that FCCU has played in the progress of Pakistan by educating the youth. He mentioned that FCCU has produced many prominent members of Pakistan's leadership since the country's birth. He talked about the contribution of minorities, particularly Punjab Assembly Speaker S.P. Singh who gave his vote in favor of Pakistan and the many Christian soldiers who have given their lives for their country. He said that FCCU will continue to contribute to Pakistan's development by educating its youth.
ISLAMABAD: DIG (HQs) Asghar Ali unfurling national flag at NHMP (HQs) on 75th Independence Day of Pakistan. pr LAHORE: Artistes perform during Jashn-e-Azadi Culture Day at Al-Hamra Culture Complex. staff photo
Pakistan Bureau Of Statistics releases national song On Independence Day Of Pakistan
Population decline in Japan creates opportunities for Pakistan
Independence Day
A t times, it seems that the PtI’s support to Ch Pervez Elahi and his PML(Q) was solely so that it could slake its vengeance for the PML(N)’s crackdown on PtI leaders on June 25, when they tried to take crowds out of Lahore. One of the signs of this has been the large number of SHOs who have been transferred for the ‘crime’ of stopping (with force, sometimes but not always excessive) PtI protesters from going to Islamabad. One of the more egregious applications of force has been the placing of notices on the residence of then Home Minister Ataullah tarar. Mr tarar has subsequently said that the notice had been pasted on a house from which he had moved a long time ago. Is there any attempt to conceal, by this flurry of activity, any sins of omission by PtI leaders based in Lahore? Apart from that, the message to the police is unfortunate, and the PtI-PML(Q) coalition would have done well to avoid it. It is a fixed principle of administration that all previous actions are past and closed transactions, and those who have obeyed orders are not punished or otherwise penalized for having done so. the Punjab coalition will find that it will only be able to issue orders that pass all legal tests, or else it will run the risk of being disobeyed. Even then, in the present situation, policemen are being penalized for obeying what may well have been legal orders. In short, policemen are being asked to act as PtI workers. that is a risky thing to do, especially when the CM, the true fount of the police’s authority, belongs to the PML(Q). the circle of vengeance seems impossible to break out of. the PtI might be bent on taking vengeance for June 25, but the picking up of PtI chief Imran Khan’s chief of staff Shahbaz Gill, also seems to contain an element of retaliation. the only way of eliminating the federalprovincial rivalry seems to be a fresh election, when party affiliation, if nothing else, will determine the pattern of arrests.
The cases against each other seem never-ending YousafEditorNizami Dedicated to the legacy of late Hameed Nizami Arif Nizami (Late)
N Ext month Chile will hold referendum on a new draft constitution, as pointed out by a July 5 Associated Press (AP) News published article ‘Chile president receives draft of new proposed constitution’, whereb it was pointed out ‘President Gabriel Boric on Monday was presented with the formal draft of a proposed constitution meant to replace the charter imposed by a military dictatorship 41 years ago and usher in fundamental changes for Chile. …“this September 4th, it will once again be the people who will have the last word on their destiny,” Boric wrote on twitter. …which includes 388 articles…’ the draft constitution categorically made a break from the neoliberal model that was ever so strongly injected into the country during the last four decades, starting from the efforts of ‘Chicago boys’ under General Augusto Pinochet’s rule in this regard. the same article highlighted this break– whereby the draft constitution reportedly made a strong shift towards social democratic model– as follows ‘In the first of the draft’s articles, Chile is described as a “a social and democratic state” as well as “plurinational, intercultural and ecological.”
The country has a chance for serious and meaningful change– to move away from the economic and social model forged by Pinochet. It is widely acknowledged that the neoliberal model first took hold not in Margaret Thatcher’s Britain or Ronald Reagan’s USA, but in Pinochet’s Chile. Under the dictatorship, the state was shrunk to the minimum, relinquishing to profitdriven businesses the provision of rights through the privatisation of public services
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L Et it not be said that Pakistan has not achieved anything in the 75 years of its existence, the anniversary of which we commemorated on Sunday. Pakistan may not be in the shape it was in 1947, having seen its Eastern Wing hive off and become Bangladesh, but it has been stable for half a century now, and has weathered all sorts of storms, not least has been that of militancy, something which still has not been successfully overcome. It is perhaps not much of a boast to say that Pakistan has survived, but considering that there were so many naysayers at the time of its birth, to have proved them wrong is an achievement in itself. However, it is not as if Pakistan does not face basic existential challenges, of the kind its detractors made much of. Pakistan may not exactly face a constitutional challenge, for it has had a unanimously agreed one since 1973, but the polity itself. However, it is passing through the kind of intense political competition which has seen the main opposition party host a separate Independence Day rally, with the country still divided over its ouster from office four months ago. It is perhaps ironic that though the party was ousted through a constitutional vote of no-confidence, there are still speculations about the role of the military in politics. At the time of Partition, the military was not counted as a factor, but the Rawalpindi Conspiracy case of 1951, was ultimately allowed by the 1958 takeover, which was the first of four martial laws. the recent bout of hybrid rule, and indeed even the present government, give the military a disproportionate place in governance. While the political conundrum remains to be solved, so does the economic. the country’s economic crisis is based on an insatiable hunger for foreign exchange. this has made recourse to the IMF inevitable, and the country is passing through the throes of such a negotiation. One of the key components of economic success has been political stability. It has now become so urgent that foreign exchange markets are apparently using it as one metric of performance. However, it should not be ignored that Pakistan has overcome what might have seemed insurmountable problems. At the time of Partitrion, and when the country broke in 1971, the problems of the country, both political and economic, probably dwarfed those of today. If Pakistan could come through those two crises, there is no reason why it should not be able to overcome whatever is thrown at it now.
Founding Editor M. A. Niazi Joint Editor Umar ExecutiveAzizEditorAziz-ud-Din Ahmad
… Among other things, the draft would require a new public health care system and a process to return land to Indigenous peoples. It also lays out new rights, including the right to “adequate and dignified housing” and equal pay for equal work between men and women.’ Reflecting upon the role played by ‘Chicago Boys’– which literally meant students educated in the neoliberal tradition at the University of Chicago, who later played a significant role in influencing/shaping economic policy in Chile in this direction– an article ‘the complicated legacy of the “Chicago Boys” in Chile’ pointed out ‘Under Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorial regime in the 1970s and 80s, the Chicago Boys conducted the farthest-reaching economic revolution in the history of Chile.…the Chicago Boys’ legacy is a controversial issue in Chile. On the one hand, Chile’s economic growth has been exceptional: its GDP leaped from $14 billion in 1977 to $247 billion in 2017. On the other hand, the country’s economic inequality is astonishing:28.1 percent of the total income is concentrated among 1 percent of the population, making Chile one of the world’s most unequal nations.While the Chicago Boys’ policies did open some economic areas to real competition, they also concentrated capital among a small group of well-connected magnates. Since their implementation, powerful corporate groups born under Pinochet’s regime have used these promarket ideas to avoid competition.’Asthe world suffers from the ravages of climate change, pandemic, global commodity supply shock, and rising and high levels of inequality, and all this, among other reasons, weakening democracies globally, and increasing political instability in general, a common underlying theme for all this has come out as years of neoliberal assault, in a number of causal determinants including weak regulation, unfettered markets, and weakening of influence of voters on public policy in the wake of increasing role of vested interest through their high level of reported campaign financing of politicalGivenparties.this background, the draft constitution of Chile with strong non-neoliberal inclination has been applauded by a number of renowned economists/social scientists globally, as was highlighted by a recent celebratory letter from a number of noted economists/social scientists. In the letter for instance, it was pointed out ‘We believe that the new constitution sets a new global standard in its response to crises of climate change, economic insecurity, and sustainable development. the economic provisions of the Constitution would represent gradual but substantial advances for the people of Chile. …taken together, we believe that the constitution creates a legal framework that will succeed to prepare Chile for a new century of equitable growth, with provisions to attract investment, protect financial stability, and promote development for all Chileans.’ As Pakistan celebrated its 75th Independence on August 14, it would make sense that it should also disassociate itself from the strong neoliberal policy leanings, while learning from the draft constitution of Chile. With regard to the nonneoliberal basis of the draft constitution, and the need to move in this direction, an article ‘Neoliberalism was born in Chile. Now it will die there’ pointed out ‘Now, under 35-year-old Boric, who heads the Frente Amplio (‘Border Front’) coalition, the country has a chance for serious and meaningful change– to move away from the economic and social model forged by Pinochet. It is widely acknowledged that the neoliberal model first took hold not in Margaret thatcher’s Britain or Ronald Reagan’s USA, but in Pinochet’s Chile. Under the dictatorship, the state was shrunk to the minimum, relinquishing to profit-driven businesses the provision of rights through the privatisation of public services.
Dr Omer JaveD
An example for Pakistan on Independence Day
06 Monday, 15 August, 2022 COMMENT Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965 I Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9 I Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545 I Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk I Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk
Joint Editor
However, our guest indicated another dimension of Japanese society and its implications both in the shortrun and the long-run. there is a swift decline in the population of Japan, leading this amazing nation into a ghost country very soon if trend continues. Japan’s population has been declining since 2009 at a pace more than initial estimates. According to the World Population Review, “the population is expected to fall below 100 million by 2058. the main cause of Japan’s population decline is the rapidly decreasing number of births, which is currently at the lowest it has been since data started being collected in 1899. In 2019, only 864,000 babies were born in Japan – 54,000 less than the number from 2018. the fertility rate in Japan is 1.4 births per woman – far below the population replacement of 2.1.” Japan is trying to prevent the population from falling below 100 million through different initiatives such as loosening regulations on childcare providers, easing the tax burden on part-time working parents and extending interest-free loans for higher education. But, according to Hiroshi Shiraishi, senior economist at BNP Paribas Securities, “this will not boost the population growth. the more direct way is through immigration.” It was exactly the same thesis which our guest suggested during the meeting on 24 July. He emphasized the need for a structured programme to develop relevant human resources with required technical abilities, fundamental know-how of Japanese language and above all strong moral values to quickly integrate in the Japanese society. He declared Japan as an untapped land of opportunities for Pakistani workforce provided they exhibit required language and technical skills to contribute to the sustainability of existing industrial and communal infrastructure of Japan. He desired the attention of policy makers to set a strategic plan to involve local relevant organizations and also diplomatic channels for convenient immigration of skilled and groomed human resources to Japan who can contribute to strengthen the economy of Pakistan through remittances and knowledge sharing in the long run. The writer is Associate Professor Management Sciences and Head, Center of Islamic Finance COMSATS University (CUI) Lahore Campus, and can be reached at drabdussattar@cuilahore.edu.pk
Dr abDus sattar abbasi
Chile’s new draft
AReflectionsnot-so-merry-go-round
I t was indeed a pleasure meeting an accomplished Pakistani settled in Japan for the last 26 years. He brought forth emerging dimensions of Japanese society which are not commonly known to the outside world except those who have interest or expert in those areas. He explained his experience of assimilation in Japanese society. He emphasised that Japanese consider an individual as a most important component in their dealings; they do business with people not convincing features of the product. they don’t develop rapport with strangers but once they have confidence in an individual they go all out to patronize and facilitate him or her. He explained his experience of promoting Halal certifications in Japan that how a lady owner of a hotel extended both moral and material support for a successful Halal expo. Japan has surprised the world with exceptional development in several sectors after World War II. According to Okazaki tetsuji, “the devastated Japanese economy rose quickly from the ashes of World War II. By 1956, real per capita GDP had overtaken the prewar 1940 level. During the recovery period (1945–56), per capita GDP rose at an average annual rate of 7.1 percent. Recovery was followed by the era of rapid growth. Japan began closing in on the West at a speed far exceeding its pre-war progress. In 1973, Japan’s per capita GDP was 95 percent that of Britain and 69 percent that of the USA. that was the last year of the so-called rapid-growth era, but the Japanese economy continued to expand at a comparatively brisk rate for almost two more decades. By 1991—the last year of the “bubble economy”—Japan’s per capita GDP was 120 percent that of Britain and 85 percent that of the USA. Despite the setback of World War II, the process of catching up with the West, begun a little more than a century earlier, was basically complete.” there are innumerable dimensions of Japanese society which fascinate an individual. the Cultural Atlas states, “Since the 1950s, Japan has emerged as one of the most economically and technologically advanced societies in the world. this development has occurred alongside the continuation of intricate and longstanding cultural traditions. For example, modern buildings and high-rises can be found next to historical structures, temples and shrines. the historical trading route that ran from tōkyō to Kyōto (known as tōkaidō) continues to be heavily travelled, albeit on high-speed railroad lines and express highways. While the country develops and manufactures many of the world’s modern appliances and gadgets, families continue to pass on the skills and techniques of long-practised crafts through generations. this relationship between the past and future has become a globally recognised feature of Japanese culture and society.” Around 80 percent Japanese follow Shinto (the way of the gods) religion which considers cleanliness is godliness. Steve John Powell & Angeles Marin Cabello suggest, “At Japanese schools, cleaning is part of students’ everyday routine. Some examples of extreme Japanese cleanliness have gone viral, like the seven-minute train-cleaning miracle has become a tourist attraction in its own right. During football world cups Japanese fans amazed the world by staying behind to pick up rubbish from the stadiums.” Kumiko Makihara claims, “the Japanese routinely berate themselves and praise others, upholding the culture’s traditional respect.” It is probably because of this reason that bowing is very important in Japanese culture. Natasha the co-founder of the World Pursuit says, “How many times you bow and how deeply you bow shows your level of respect to the person you’re bowing to. Even friends bow to each other.”
Political and economic crises
The writer holds PhD in Economics degree from the University of Barcelona, and previously worked at International Monetary Fund.Prior to this, he did MSc. in Economics from the University of York (United Kingdom), and worked at the Ministry of Economic Affairs & Statistics (Pakistan), among other places. He is author of Springer published book (2016) ‘The economic impact of International Monetary Fund programmes: institutional quality, macroeconomic stabilization and economic growth’.He tweets @omerjaved7
Untappedconstitutionlandofopportunities
SHER ALAMPESHAWARSHINWARI
75 Years of Independence—-
ZAKIRMARDANULLAH Editor’s mail
06-07 Comments - 15th August 2022_Layout 1 8/14/2022 10:53 PM Page 2
We had gone through political romanticism of the 1970s that was replaced by the jihadism of the 1980s, the compromised- democracy of he 1990s, the anti-Jihad narrative building of 2000s, the physical fight against Jihadism in the 2010s, and onward experimentation of all—- the rule of Pakistan tehrik e Insaf (PtI). Already under experimentation since 2006, the PtI “Masala mix” had an awesome taste. Now Pakistan is re-experiencing the political romanticism of the 1970s under the banner of Riasate Madina and trying to reclaim absolute independence of democracy. trapped deep into poverty, illiteracy, and uncertainty, the emerging Pakistani youth was looking at its political leadership like a starving thirsty dying person in the middle of the desert and looking at the sky for divine help. that was the scene where Imran Khan put his bid and built his narrative of hope beyond realities and promises having no fulfilments, but through his power like a dream merchant, he successfully sold dreams for a better new Pakistan among the masses.Breaking my clichés that now people are only interested in bread and butter and better infrastructure, instead, Imran Khan woven hopes and dreams. He is still selling dreams and hopes that are beyond execution and are impractical. He has never contested on this issue and nobody ever talked about that his promises were unachievable, impractical, and in contradiction to social, economic, and geographical realities. How could we achieve Riasat e Madina that is not even being promised by Islamic states of the Arab world? Riasat e Madina was the reality of a particular era and geographical location. We need to browse, find and contest every dream and phrase Imran is selling successfully.I do not know what would be the product, however, I am certain that all generations under Independent Pakistan are victims of a miscarriage of justice;I don’t use “justice” in the narrow sense of “legal justice”, but use this term for political, moral, social, legal, economic and historical justice. We are prisoners living in a laboratory among different kinds of colorful chemicals and we do not know what would be the next experiment but we are sure there will be one soon. The writer is an international award winning journalist who has been in the field since 1988 and appears in national and international media as analyst and political scientist.
Pathetic education system
07 Monday, 15 August, 2022 COMMENT
Balochistan in need
Drug Mafia A campaign was launched recently on the directives of commissioner of Peshawar to make the city free from drug addicts and it came up with shocking revelations. According to reports, surveillance teams rounded up about 800 drug addicts from various parts of the metropolis and about 200 of them were found to be suffering from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other diseases. Surprisingly enough, more than a dozen were young women. All the arrested drug addicts were sent to rehabilitation centres where they would be properly treated and rehabilitated under strict vigilance. the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government in collaboration with civil society organisations has been working against drug abuse for long. Such measures are not taken for the first time, but, unfortunately, the government never tried to find out the root causes of drug addiction. One does not need to apply rocket science to know it is the drug mafia which is responsible for this menace. No comprehensive data is available and only sketchy information cannot address this horrible social issue. there is a need for scientific surveys to be carried out featuring the area, age and gender of the drug addicts with a socio-economic background of every individual and the family they belong to. A comprehensive action plan against the real perpetrators — drug mafia and all those who are involved in manufacturing, transportation and facilitators in access to drugs — should be launched. It is also believed that not only uneducated people, but school and university students, both boys and girls, are addicted to heroin, hashish, ice, etc., and that there has been a fast-growing trend of drug abuse among students staying on the educational campuses. When it comes to students living on the campuses of boarding educational institutions away from the supervision of their parents, special vigilant teams should be set up on the campuses to ensure that these students do not fall prey to such addiction.
ONE of the reasons for Pakistan’s poor literacy rate is the absence of educational reforms and the lack of decorum in institutes. Cheating, deception, fraud are commonplace in most examination boards of the country — especially amongst the high schoolers during board examinations. Even university students are promoted based on forged results. Although rote learning, memorising and cheating allow students to progress from one academic level to another, they cannot achieve much in life without any real knowledge or skills. Often students cheat or rotelearn because of lackadaisical teaching. teachers either simply read the content of the textbooks or assign tasks to students without any proper instructions. Resultantly, students’ grasp of concepts is weak and quells their creativity and curiosity. Poor teaching outcomes often compel students to opt out of education and start working to support their families. However, they usually end up in low-skilled jobs and cannot move up the social ladder later. Our weak education system is the chief reason behind Pakistan lagging in overall societal and economic development. there are fewer individuals that are equipped with the knowledge and skills to contribute back to the economy, which will continue shrinking if the education system is not reformed. the government must overhaul the entire system from primary schooling up to the university level.
a Letter from Prometheus agha iqrar harOOn All generations under Independent Pakistan are victims of a miscarriage of justice;I don’t use “justice” in the narrow sense of “legal justice”, but use this term for political, moral, social, legal, economic and historical justice. We are prisoners living in a laboratory among different kinds of colorful chemicals and we do not know what would be the next experiment but we are sure there will be one soon Long enough together to have become a nation
BALOCHIStAN has been reeling from floods that have caused largescale devastation. Presently, almost half of provincial population is facing tough times owing to heavy rainfall. What is making things worse is the government’s indifferent attitude towards the misery. the infrastructure has been fully destroyed and left dysfunctional by the floods. In this crisis, marooned people have been finding it hard to move to safer areas, and have not been able to communicate and travel because there is no reliable infrastructure left. Large tracts of land remain inundated by floodwater, and it is simply impossible to make any movement with any degree of certainty. Some areas of Balochistan, like Awaran are disconnected presently from the rest of the country due to damaged roads. However, no one from the government has ever paid a visit to the affected area. Sadly, several people have died and thousands are spending their days and nights in the open because their homes have been swept away. Due to lack of rescue services, one can even see bodies floating in rainwater. On the one hand, people are worried about their loved ones’ lives, while on the other, they keep calculating in their minds what might be a better option for themselves; to survive the misery and rebuild after the monsoon is over, or to simply die once. In case they survive, they will have to die many a death every day. they cannot afford to buy two meals per day owing to lack of employment opportunities in everyday life; how will they have their homes rebuilt? After the collapse of bridges on highways in different parts of Balochistan, thousands of passengers have been stranded, waiting for some kind of help, but all in vain. Many passengers and other people are trapped in areas where no one can supply food. Children are dying of hunger. there is anxiety among the people who have lost their livelihood and loved ones in the catastrophe. those who are at home are worried about those who are not at home, fearing they might have died owing to floods. According to reports, Lasbela is the most affected district from where loss of life has been reported the most. Unfortunately, the provincial government is apathetic to the people’s misery. While Balochistan faces a critical situation, those in the power corridors do not bother thinking about the flood victims. to rub salt into the wound, mainstream media is busy broadcasting frivolous, silly news, such as about a particular actress who lost her shoes. this is really condemnable, to say the least. Balochistan, as usual, is being ignored and given a cold shoulder by the provincial and federal governments. this silence and inaction on the part of the governments is painful and unfair. the provincial government should visit the flood-affected areas, restore communication, give relief funds, clear the roads, and provide shelter to the people till their houses are rebuilt. And, it will help if the dignitaries could avoid the temptation of visiting the affected areas in some helicopter. trust me, it does not give them any practical input about what needs to be done on the ground.
ZAKEER ZAKREEYAAWARAN
Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan today exclusively
A miscarriage of Justice
S OCIOLOGIStS and anthropologists believe that half a century and a couple of wars are enough to convert a group of people into a nation. In the last 75 years, we have gone through the milestone of half a century as well as several wars, at our international borders as well as inside our land.technically, we are a Nation now. According to the classical definition, a nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, and territory. We have a territory but still not a language because Urdu being the National language is yet not used as the official language. We have a variety of cultures and ethnicities and as an identity, we have different dimensions. I did research years ago by stopping people on the streets and asking a simple question “Who are you?” the biggest group was those who answer “I am a Muslim”. the second biggest group was those who informed me of their ethnicity (Punjab Sindhi, Balochi, Pashtun, etc). the smallest group answered “I am a Pakistani”. their answers were not shocking to me because this is what we had been teaching in schools. the majority of us still do not believe that “a nation is a group that gets its independence for a certain goal and is a fully mobilized or institutionalized group that works as a cultural-political community that has become conscious of its autonomy, unity and particular interests under the command of its Constitution”. Here are two words that by design have been taken away from our thought process during our schooling; “Constitution” and “Political Community”. Unfortunately, every decade, we are told a new concept of “why did we take our independence?” and the very next we follow another reason for getting independence and this mantra is an unending story. Sometimes I think we are a story of “miscarriage of justice” and facing the brunt of punishment for a crime we had never committed. We, a 75-year-old nation, is the perfect stock for selling dreams, hopes, optimism, and confusion. I am the second generation which is buying dreams and my children are third and their children will be fourth. Nobody amongst us still knows for how long we will be compelled to sleep, and dream merchants keep vending us their stuff. My pragmatic and confident parents endured painful migration in order to hand over an independent country to us, but they left for their eternal resting places when we had already lost former East Pakistan, and then thank God they did not see scenes in which around 5000 militants were slaughtering over 85,000 innocent Pakistanis. thank God my parents did not see how the country was divided into “Pure and infidel” because both were departed souls by 1982. I am the generation that faces the brunt of “Rah Haq” Gen Ziaul Haq patched for us and then Gen Musharraf informed us that “Rah Haq” was neither a Rah (a way forward) nor it was Haq (truthful discourse). He sold us “Enlightened Moderation” telling us it was a key to a moderate and successful society. We bought the stuff and moved on. After his running away from the country we were informed that neither “Rah Haq” nor “Enlightened Moderation” were key to modern society and we also accepted this narrative. My generation kept buying and putting narratives and dreams in draws and still this buying spree is not ending. My generation had been accepting everything it was offering and trying to move forward. In 1976 when I won a speech competition, my headmaster gifted me an Urdu translation of a famous book 100 great personalities of history. When I won the Lahore Board speech competition in 1981, my headmaster gifted me the book Maut ka manzar—- marny ke baad kya hoga (the scene of death and what would happen after death in the grave). In simple words, my generation already spent its life between these two books. Half of my age was spent deciding what should be the length of my Shalwaar (eastern trouser) and a half left to decide whether Denim is better stuff or wrangler. Whatever I reported and observed in my journalistic career started in 1988, I can sum up as: “Eik aur dariyā kā sāmnā thā ‘munīr’ mujh ko maiñ ek dariyā ke paar utrā to maiñ ne dekhā” (I had to confront another river after I crossed one). I had been a part of a complex society that had been going through almost all kinds of political and social experiments and the “Laboratory rat” was still not allowed to come out of the laboratory.
Monday, 15 August, 2022 08 WORLD VIEW In InDIa, DeMocracy
W e’ve all seen those cute little books and articles like The Danish Way to Live Well and The Danish Way of Parenting. Glossy airport literature written for, by and about white middle class people. Our “culture” is packaged for consumption by journalists who make a good buck on book sales and keynote speeches on how the Nordic way can do this or that for your life. Denmark has become a polished brand, a fairy tale land that the world projects its shortcomingseveryonto.time a buzzword such as “hygge” becomes commercialised or “Borgen” goes viral in the anglophone world, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth as a minority Dane. Denmark’s draconian immigration laws have done their part in injecting a dose of reality into the image of the country, with the most recent case being the much maligned anti-ghetto law which was introduced with the aim of reducing how many “non-westerners” live in what they deem to be vulnerable areas. Yet, Denmark and the Nordic countries at large are still regularly portrayed as quasi-utopias that the rest of the world have much to learn from. In the process, the lived experience of minorities is glossed over, privileging a sanitised caricature that foreigners appear to be perversely in love with. “Danishness” as it is understood abroad is essentially a lie. The Danish dream that is being sold and marketed is a bourgeois one. Take for example the famed bicycle habit of Danish people, an emblem of their eco-friendly, easy-going nature. The reality is that being able to cycle everywhere is a privilege for those who live in the inner city of Copenhagen – one of the most expensive cities in the world. The plebeians commute to the unglamorous suburbs after work just like everywhere else. Sadly, it seems mundane public transport commuting doesn’t make good material for lifestyle articles. One of the Scandinavian capital’s dirtiest secrets is that with every stop going away from the city centre, the darker the skin of the passengers becomes. Stowed away in the suburbs, minorities are kept from blemishing the ‘hygge’ daily life of drinking single origin coffee on million-dollar fin-de-siècle balconies. My sense of inferiority was compounded on each of those train rides: the Scandinavian dream of riding bicycles, eating organic food and drinking white wine by the city’s rivers left firmly in the distance. That life never quite felt like it was for me. The conflation between upper middle class life and Danish culture was perhaps clearest in Oprah’s visit to Denmark in 2009. She was chaperoned around Copenhagen by an architect – a representative for the white creative class who lord unchallenged over the country. The stroll concluded with Oprah visiting the architect’s minimalist chic home, which was presented as “typical” in Denmark. The fact that we were witnessing a luxurious apartment in one of the wealthiest districts of the city was conveniently ignored. It’s no surprise that an elite segment defines the image of the country, when one considers the wider homogeneity of the domestic media. The editorial mastheads of the biggest publications are largely staffed by ethnic Danes. Fourteen per cent of the Danish population has a minority background, while the demographic only account for 3.5 per cent of sources in media. The disparity prompted protests outside prominent Danish media houses in April. But minorities are wheeled out on special occasions to discuss migration issues, sometimes facing racially charged verbal abuse from right wing figures on nationalUnderTv.the illusion of protecting universal welfare, any inbound migrants are viewed as potential freeloaders and culturally incompatible threats to the country’s little oasis of happiness. Such myopia gives occasion to tasteless spectacles. Last year, a notable anti-immigration politician coolly explained to Aya, a teary-eyed 19-year-old Syrian refugee, that she had to be deported because Syrians are one of the most criminal demographic groups in Denmark. A few weeks ago, popular Conservative politician Rasmus Jarlov tweeted: “Highly educated Norwegians are better than highly educatedThisSomalians.”week,an opinion poll showed Inger Støjberg’s newly started project, the Denmark Democrats, storming into the parliament as one of the largest parties. This is the same character who only nine months ago was impeached and convicted to 60 days in prison for illegally separating asylum-seeking couples in her position as minister of immigration. Støjberg has in the past garnered international attention for celebrating 50 tightening immigration laws with jubilee cake. I’m not highlighting these instances due to their unique and shocking qualities. Rather, what strikes me is their banality. They remind me of the daily environment I became accustomed to living in Denmark. Because this is the real Denmark in its proudly unsophisticated, ignorant nakedness. This is the Danish culture that I know and recognize, far removed from the nonsense of bicycling, design and “hygge”. This is the chauvinistic, smug attitude that arises from perennially being ranked first in sustainability and happiness indexes.
08 WORLD VIEW 15th August 22_Layout 1 8/14/2022 10:41 PM Page 1
SOLVING THE PROBLEM: A blue ribbon committee called the Countering extremist Activity Working Group was quickly commissioned in April 2021 to evaluate the extent of the problem. The group found about 100 substantiated cases of extremism in the U.S. armed forces in 2021. The latest instance occurred in July 2022, when Francis Harker, a National Guard member with white supremacist connections, was sentenced to four years in prison for planning an anti-government attack on police. Harker, who carried a picture saying “there is no God but Hitler,” was planning to attack police officers in virginia Beach, virginia, with Molotov cocktails and semi-automatic rifles. Worried, Austin has tightened the rules regarding political speech within the military. The new rules prohibit any statement that advocates for “violence to achieve goals that are political … or ideological in nature.” The ban applies to members of the military both on and off duty. Also, for the first time, the new rules prohibit statements on social media that “promote or otherwise endorse extremist activities.” While the intent behind the new rules is laudable, political speech – even of an offensive or distasteful nature – goes to the core of U.S. democracy. Americans in uniform are still Americans, protected by the First Amendment and afforded the constitutional right of free speech. In light of the stricter policy, it is useful to consider how courts apply the First Amendment in the military context.
DIes prIMe
THE MILITARY’S JOB IS TO FIGHT, NOT DEBATE: In deciding these First Amendment cases, courts often hark back to why the military exists in the first place. “It is the primary business of armies and navies … to fight the nation’s wars should the occasion arise,” the Supreme Court said in 1955. In a separate case, the Supreme Court declared: “An army is not a deliberate body. It is the executive arm. Its law is that of obedience.”Quicklyfollowing orders can mark the difference between life and death in combat. On a national level, the degree to which an army is disciplined can win or lose wars. A mindset of obedience does not come solely from classroom training but from repeated rehearsals under realistic conditions. As a military judge observed in a 1972 decision, while service members are free to discuss political issues when off duty, the “primary function of a military organization is to execute orders, not to debate the wisdom of decisions that the Constitution entrusts” to Congress, the judiciary and the commander in chief.
GOOD ORDER AND DISCIPLINE: While soldiers and sailors are certainly not excluded from the protection of the First Amendment, it is fair to say they operate under a diluted version of it. As one federal judge observed, the “sweep of the protection is less comprehensive in the military context, given the different character of the military community and mission.” The “right to speak out as a free American” must be balanced against “providing an effective fighting force for the defense of our Country,” a federal judge noted in a separate case. These and other federal judges point to the military’s need for good order and discipline in justifying this approach. While never precisely defined, good order and discipline is generally considered being obedient to orders, having respect for one’s chain of command and showing allegiance to the Constitution. Speech that “prevents the orderly accomplishment of the mission” or “promotes disloyalty and dissatisfaction” within the ranks harms good order and discipline, and can be restricted. In 1974, for example, the Supreme Court ruled that the Army can punish an officer for encouraging subordinates to refuse to deploy. The officer’s comments included: “The United States is wrong in being involved in the vietnam War. I would refuse to go back to vietnam if ordered to do so.” In 1980, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Army could legally fire an ROTC cadet for making racist remarks during a newspaper interview. explaining his political philosophy, the cadet said: “What I am saying is that Blacks are obviously further behind the whites on the evolutionary scale.” In 2012, a San Diego district court ruled that the Marine Corps can lawfully discharge a sergeant who mocked president Barack Obama while appearing on the “Chris Matthews Show.” At one point the sergeant told the host: “As an active duty Marine, I say s**** Obama and I will not follow his orders.”
Danish culture is not as progressive as you think
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NEW POLICY BANS ‘LIKING’ EXTREMIST MESSAGES: The U.S. military’s revised approach to political speech prohibits retweeting or even “liking” messages that promote anti-government or white nationalist and other extremist groups. Does a restriction this broad comply with legal precedent? As a law professor who has served more than 20 years in the U.S military, I believe the broader rules will probably be upheld if challenged on First Amendment grounds. The most comparable case is Blameuser v. Andrews, a 1980 case from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals where an ROTC cadet espoused white supremacist political views in a newspaper interview. Amongst other extremist remarks, the cadet told the reporter: “You see, I believe that in the final analysis, the Nazi Socialist Party will take over America and possibly the whole world.” Finding that the statements harmed good order and discipline, the Seventh Circuit ruled that the Army did not violate the First Amendment when it subsequently removed him from the officer training program. The cadet’s “views on race relations draw into question his ability to obey commands, especially in a situation in which he regards the military superior as socially inferior,” the Blameuser decision said. The military has wide latitude in deciding who is deserving of the “special trust and confidence” that comes with military employment. Military officials are free to consider political and social beliefs that are “inimical to the vital mission of the agency” in making hiring and firing decisions, the Blameuser decision said. Social media posts expressing support for violent political activities will likely be treated in the same way. As the Seventh Circuit said in Blameuser, by liking or retweeting an extremist message, a service member’s actions are “demonstrably incompatible with the important public office” they hold.
Independent AriAn KhAmeneh
W HeN the journalist Mohammed Zubair was arrested over a 4-year-old tweet that borrowed a pun from an old movie, on the charge of hurting religious sentiments, Arnab Goswami, a prime-time anchor at Republic Tv, one of India’s leading news networks, was furious — but not at the assault on freedom of expression that the arrest represented. He was mad at Zubair. On another network, Times Now (owned by India’s wealthiest newspaper group), a garish gold band proclaimed an alleged double standard of the “#Zubair Lobby Hypocrisy.” This was the same channel on which Nupur Sharma, a spokeswoman for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) (since suspended), had made disparaging remarks about the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), triggering an international diplomatic kerfuffle with the Arab world. Zubair was among the first to highlight the remarks and the channel was gunning for him. To be sure, in any robust democracy, journalists — or politicians— should not face prison over remarks, no matter how lighthearted or insulting. But many prominent Indian Tv journalists have displayed an ugly doublespeak when it comes to whose liberties they are prepared to protect. If anyone is hypocritical, it is them. Far from being bulwarks against political attacks on free speech, India’s news channels have become factories of hate. As India marks her 75th birthday, the country’s Tv networks are presiding over the death of journalism. Their carefully constructed prime-time narratives line up perfectly with the Hindutva politics of the right wing; in fact, their coarseness often goes several steps further. Their orchestrated bigotry did not even spare the country during the height of the pandemic. When the Tablighi Jamaat, an orthodox Muslim sect, held a mass congregation in early 2020, one Tv channel used the hashtag #CoronaJihad to describe the event. Another picked the visual representation of a Muslim skull cap to convey the dashboard of daily cases. In July, several broadcast outlets used a similar caption — Flood Jihad — to cover a conspiracy that began on social media claiming flooding in the eastern state of Assam was deliberately caused by Muslims attacking an embankment. The duty of journalism should have been to investigate these claims and hold the police to account over why four hapless Muslim men were accused falsely. Instead, Tv stations validated the injustice and amplified its prejudice. News anchors have become actors huffing and puffing in faux outrage. The guests invited to discuss the pressing issues of the day are also cast carefully in the drama — the more extreme, the better. The content is constructed on manufactured dissent, with the networks’ broadcasts producing a steady stream of noisy confrontations and shouting. The screen looks like a hydra-headed monster, split into a gazillion postage stamp windows. The speakers are handpicked for extreme irrationality. While these shows have their share of extremist Hindus, often draped in saffron robes, it is the Muslim voices in particular who are caricatures — made for Tv clerics with long beards and small minds chosen to lampoon the community and reinforce the worstBystereotypes.pittingHindus against Muslims in an artificial gladiatorial debate, Tv news avoids real stories such as rising unemployment and the cost of living, floods and declining public health. Kota Neelima, whose research is focused on how bulletins prioritize subjects, found that over a two-year period, religious issues occupied the bulk of the broadcasts, and on some days made up as much as 76 percent of all content. Private news broadcasts in India began in the ’90s, when two production houses were allowed to present a 30-minute bulletin each on the government-controlled Doordarshan station. I worked with one and remember how every news script had to be first vetted by an official before airing. As a first-generation Tv journalist, I was dazzled by the magic of the medium and the immediacy of its energy. Over the past few years, like many colleagues, I have migrated to the digital space in search of new formats, freshness and greater independence. India’s broadcast journalism has also been dented by a broken revenue model. With exorbitant running costs, budgets to send reporters out into the field have been dramatically reduced. By contrast, talk is cheap. But banality and staleness are presently its least egregious offenses. It is ironic that when Zubair walked out on bail, the precedent cited was the one used to grant bail to Goswami, the anchor who defended Zubair’s arrest. Goswami was jailed in 2020 by the BJP’s opponents, in connection with a suicide case. His arrest was clearly unfair and wrong, but he has continued to use his platform to call for the prosecution of other journalists. Those who disagree with him are slandered, attacked and threatened on his show. When The Post added a new slogan beneath its online masthead in 2017 — “Democracy Dies in Darkness” — some called it “ominous” and “heavy-handed.” But in India, democracy is under constant assault every night at 9 p.m., under the lights of a Tv studio.
In
Military punishing hate speech on social media
FAR FROM BEING BULWARKS AGAINST POLITICAL ATTACKS ON FREE SPEECH, INDIA’S NEWS CHANNELS HAVE BECOME FACTORIES OF HATE. AS INDIA MARKS HER 75TH BIRTHDAY, THE COUNTRY’S TV NETWORKS ARE PRESIDING OVER THE DEATH OF JOURNALISM
WashIngton post BArKhA Dutt
ConversatIon Dwight Stirling L eSS than a month after the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin took the extraordinary step of pausing all operations for 24 hours to “address extremism in the ranks.” Pentagon officials had been shaken by service members’ prominent role in the events of Jan. 6. Of the 884 criminal defendants charged to date with taking part in the insurrection, more than 80 were veterans. That’s almost 10% of those charged. More remarkable, at least five of the rioters were serving in the military at the time of the assault: an active-duty Marine officer and four reservists. Service members’ involvement in the insurrection has made the spread of extremism – particularly white nationalism – a significant issue for the U.S. military.
While each of these statements is protected by the First Amendment in civilian life, they crossed the line in military life because they were deemed harmful to morale and represented what one federal court described as more than “political discussion … at an enlisted or officers’ club.”
fLaG HOIStING cereMONy MarkS INDePeNDeNce Day at raILwayS POLIce LINeS
pr Faysal Bank Limited organized a heartwarming ceremony for flag hoisting on August 14th, 2022 to mark the 75th anniversary of Pakistan, at their iconic Abdullah Haroon Road branch. Celebrations of the 75th anniversary required a platinum edge, therefore FBL decided to showcase Pakistan’s inclusivity by inviting the Special Olympic athletes to grace the occasion.Athletes from Pakistan chapter of Special Olympics were invited to join FBL in this grand celebration of Pakistan’s Independence Day. FBL is enthusiastic to have these special champions shine with equal resonance. The reverberation of their achievements becomes equally treasurable.Sports in Pakistan may have carried a national Flag, but their emotional impact far outweighs any other effect.
40 members of the athletic team joined the FBL families on Sunday morning to be part of flag hoisting ceremony along with cake cutting ceremony and Prizes were also distributed among special athletes to recognize their efforts in the field of sports despite having challenges. Each person held on to a mini flag to flutter and add cheer to an already vibrant"FaysalenvironmentIslami strongly believes in inclusion from all segments of the society." Yousaf Hussain, the President, and CEO of FBL reiterated FBL’s mission as part of its strategic objectives. “On this special day of 75th year of our independence it is important to remember that we have to work towards the shining Pakistan, FBL plays its role by providing economic opportunities in a Shariah Compliant manner.’’ He further elaborated on the importance for society to endorse this need for inclusion and allow youth to aim for their dreams irrespective of their challenges. pr
He also said that Pakistan and its people are no strangers to hard times, “We are not ones to shy away in the face of adversity. This country has been bestowed with the spirit of resilience, brave sacrifice, and perseverance. The same spirit has seen us safely through many trials, and continues to guide us to this day.”
09NEWS Monday 15 August, 2022 | LAHORE corporate corner
Pakistan Navy marks Diamond IndependenceJubileeDay with traditional zeal Karachi: An impressive Change of Guard ceremony was held at mausoleum of Father of the Nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah marking the celebration of Independence Day of Pakistan. A smartly turned out contingent of Pakistan Naval Academy cadets and sailors; arrayed meticulously in ceremonial dresses assumed guard duties at Mazar-e-Quaid, with effervescent spirit and enthusiasm. Commandant Pakistan Naval Academy, Commodore M Khalid graced the occasion as Chief Guest and reviewed the Guard. The Chief Guest and Pakistan Navy contingent presented Qaumi Salam to the Father of the Nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The ceremonial Guard mounting was followed by laying of floral wreath at the Mazar-e-Quaid by the Chief Guest on behalf of Chief of the Naval Staff, officers and men of Pakistan Navy. Later, the Chief Guest offered Fateha and recorded his remarks in the visitor book paying rich tribute to our beloved Quaid. Earlier, the day dawned with Gun Salutes and special prayers were offered in all masajid in naval areas for solidarity and progress of the country. Pakistan Navy Ships and Establishments were illuminated in Navy's traditional manner. Flag hoisting ceremonies were held at Units of Pakistan Navy at Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi, Gwadar, Ormara and Sujawal Numerous Independence Day events were also held at Pakistan Navy units/ establishments including singing of national anthem at daybreak and graceful display of Pakistan Navy Band. Jashan-e-Azadi walk, Boat Rallies, tree plantations, Hifz-o-Qirat competition, various sports events and Independence Day rallies by school children and ladies were also part of day long celebrations. Under the auspices of PN led CTF-151, Independence Day was also celebrated at HQ Combined Maritime Forces Bahrain. On the occasion of Independence Day, the President of Pakistan has approved military & civil awards to Officers, CPOs/ Sailors and Civilians of Pakistan Navy. pr
Mr. Zafar Masud, highlighting the achievements of The Bank of Punjab said that BOP achieved remarkable success in recent times, in all parts, due to our capable teams and leadership. We have achieved these successes in the midst of challenging conditions. He further said “As we raise the flag to mark the 75 years of our country’s independence, let us also look courageously ahead to the tasks before us. Let us recognize the significance of doing our duty – to our families, to our society, and to our nation.”
pr
Platinum Azadi celebrations at Faysal Bank
75th I-Day celebrated at SNGPL Head Office
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) organized a flag hoisting ceremony at Head Office in Lahore to celebrate 75th Independence Day Anniversary of Pakistan. Managing Director SNGPL Ali J. Hamdani was chief guest of the ceremony. Managing Director praised the role of Quid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Allama Iqbal, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and other leaders of Pakistan Movement for their contributions for independence. He said that Quid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah believed in peaceful political struggle for freedom. MD SNGPL said that as a utility Company, it is our responsibility to serve millions of people. He added that SNGPL needs to further improve its customer services in order to serve the consumers more effectively. MD SNGPL also informed that a number of initiatives have been taken to improve customer services including ConnectOn Mobile App, customer services kiosk and Digitime social media complaint service. Managing Director Ali J. Hamdani said that SNGPL is moving towards digitization of its internal business processes and customer services. He expressed hope that it will improve the work flow and ensure the transparency of operations. MD also said that Company announced profit after tax of Rs.10.99 Billion by bringing down the UFG. Managing Director said that the salaries of Executives have been revised while giving special relief to the junior Executives. He said that this incentive will prove as a relief for our hardworking Executives. He added that SNGPL believes in the promotion of gender diversity and currently there are many female colleagues who are working at the decision making positions. He assured that the Company shall be giving equal opportunities to all the females working in SNGPL. On the occasion, MD SNGPL Ali J. Hamdani planted a sapling. The ceremony was also attended by Senior Management of the Company and employees. pr Ibrahim Hasan Murad felicitates nation on 75th Independence Day Lahore: Felicitating the nation on the 75th Independence Day of Pakistan, University of Management and Technology (UMT) President, Ibrahim Hasan Murad, urged the nation to contemplate what Pakistan has been able to achieve as an independent state. He called upon his fellow countrymen to strive harder to fulfill the dream of the Father of the Nation, Quaid-e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and face every national challenge by embracing the message of unity, faith and discipline. Earlier, a special flag-hoisting ceremony was organized by Sitara-o-Hilal Foundation (SHF) at UMT to mark the 75th Independence Day. The flag hoisting ceremony was joined by the President, UMT Rector, Dr. Asif Raza, and UMT DG, Abid Shirwani. Addressing the participants, Mr. Murad said that all stakeholders must join hands in “building a generation that brings the change we all hope for”. He expressed that we must be thankful to Allah Almighty for granting us a separate homeland despite all the opposition, risks and obstructions posed by the enemies of Muslims of the sub-continent. The SHF founder Ibrahim Murad said that it was the need of the hour to have a thorough understanding of our vision and then creating an action plan to achieve that vision with determination to steer the country out of the present crises. Mr. Murad added that Pakistan must continue to raise its voice for the people of Indian-held Kashmir.
Lahore: Children present national songs at an I-Day function organized by For A Cause in collaboration with Defense Club. Staff photo To celebrate the Diamond Jubilee Independence Day, the Bank of Punjab is proud to sponsor the construction of one of the highest flag posts, in any metropolitan city of Pakistan, at Center Point, Lahore. The ground breaking ceremony was held on 14th August 2022. The ground breaking ceremony was performed jointly by Captain (R) Muhammad Usman (Commissioner Lahore Division) and Mr. Zafar Masud (President & CEO - The Bank of Punjab) in the presence of a large number of public and officials from the Bank and districtSpeakingmanagement.onthe occasion, Mr. Zafar Masud (President & CEO – The Bank of Punjab) said; “This year we are celebrating the diamond jubilee of our independence. This day reminds us of the infinite number of sacrifices given by the nation under the patriotic leadership of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Today we also pray for the sustainable development of our dear country and pay tribute to the bravery and sacrifices of personnel of the Security Agencies and Armed Forces of Pakistan in testing times.”
Commissioner Lahore Division, addressing the audience, highlighted the importance of 14th August and paid tribute to the leaders of the freedom movement, including Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Allama Iqbal and Liaquat Ali Khan. He also expressed his gratitude for The Bank of Punjab’s contribution to the national festivities on the occasion of 75th Independence Day; “This great and beautiful flag post will fill each of us with immense pride.”
Pakistani teenager youtuber makes record Lahore: On the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee of Pakistan's Independence Day, a surprising record of a ten-year-old model and actor Musa Tanveer has come to light. Musa Tanveer has been awarded Diamond Play Button by YouTube for reaching 10 million subscribers of his channel Entertainment with Musa, which is a very happy news for Pakistanis on the occasion of Independence Day. Musa Tanveer is Pakistan's first Diamond Play Button holder who has received this honor individually. Musa Tanveer has been uploading videos based on reform messages on YouTube for two years, which is being appreciated all over the world including Pakistan and India.Musa Tanveer's videos have the roles of himself and his younger sister Zamzam, which highlight various social aspects. Musa Tanweer has announced his honor in the name of Pakistan's independence on the occasion of Pakistan's Independence Day. Musa Tanveer, a model-turned-actor, is studying in fifth grade and currently resides in Dubai with his family. He has announced to make telefilms soon. pr BoP, MC Lahore to build highest flag posts in Metropolitan Cities LAHORE pr O nthe occasion of Independence Day, a magnificent flag hoisting ceremony was held at Railways Police Lines, Lahore, with the Inspector General of Pakistan Railways Police Rao Sardar Ali Khan as the chief guest of the ceremony. The railways police also joined the nation in Independence Day celebrations on Sunday. AIG Admin Qaiser Bashir Makhdoom and SP Lahore were present in the ceremony, besides railway police employees and their children also participated in large numbers. A smartly turned-out contingent of railways police presented the Guard of Honour. The chief guest unfurled, hoisted and saluted the national flag. After hoisting the flag, IG railways addressed the officers and audience and said that we need to work very honestly and hard for the sake of beloved Pakistan. Independence day is undoubtedly a day of joy and rejoicing, but on this day we have to renew our vows. We have to promise ourselves that we will end the problems of this country by becoming one nation, one voice, he added. Today, we have to repeat this promise by sacrificing body, mind, money and everything for the sake of our beloved country. We will make its name bright and will always strive sincerely for its development, said IG railways. As Pakistan Railways is a very important institution of the country, the railways police are working day and night for its development, prevention of crimes and protection of its property, quoted Rao Sardar Ali Khan. At the end of the ceremony, Inspector General railways police Rao Sardar Ali Khan congratulated the nation on the occasion of the 75th Independence Day of Pakistan and also paid tribute the leaders of the freedom movement, including Allama Iqbal, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Liaquat Ali Khan and all the members of Tehreeke-Pakistan.He lauded Pakistan's armed forces and police for bravely fighting terrorism and "setting an example". He also distributed gifts among the children and offered prayers for the success of railways department, railways police and Watan-e-Aziz. Under the campaign Green Pakistan, IG also planted a tree sapling in the lines.
LONDON ReuteRs Britain’s Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is 22 percentage points ahead of her rival Rishi Sunak in the contest to become the country’s next prime minister, a poll of Conservative Party members by Opinium Research showed on Saturday. Among a sample of 450 party members who had decided how they would vote in the ongoing leadership election put Truss, who other polls have also shown to be the clear frontrunner, on 61 percent, with former finance minister Sunak on 39 percent, Opinium said. The roughly 200,000 members of the ruling Conservatives are voting to decide on a replacement for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who after a series of scandals and a parliamentary rebellion said in July he would step down once the party chooses a replacement. The overall sample size, including those who did not express a voting preference, was 570. Less than a third of them, 29 percent, said they had already voted and a further 47 percent said they had made up their mind. Only 19 percent said they might still change theirThemind.leadership vote is taking place by postal ballot, with a winner due to be announced on September 5. The poll was conducted between August 8 and August 12. The poll shows that the top three reasons for supporting Truss were a dislike of Sunak, the perception that she was more trustworthy, and that she had remained loyal to Johnson. Sunak’s resignation helped trigger Johnson’s downfall. Sunak supporters said he was better on the economy and the most competent or intelligent of the two candidates. The pollster said they had observed “Johnson nostalgia” among party members, pointing a finding that 63 percent would rather Johnson remained in charge rather than Truss take over. The preference for Johnson over Sunak was even stronger at 68 percent.
o ILgiant Saudi Aramco on Sunday unveiled record profits of $48.4 billion in the second quarter of 2022, after Russia’s war in Ukraine and a post-pandemic surge in demand sent crude prices soaring.Netincome leapt 90 percent year-onyear for the world’s biggest oil producer, which clocked its second straight quarterly record after announcing $39.5 billion for Q1.“While global market volatility and economic uncertainty remain, events during the first half of this year support our view that ongoing investment in our industry is essential — both to help ensure markets remain well supplied and to facilitate an orderly energy transition,” said Aramco president and CEO Amin H. Nasser. “In fact, we expect oil demand to continue to grow for the rest of the decade, despite downward economic pressures on short-term global forecasts.” Net income rose 22.7 percent from Q1 in “strong market conditions”, Aramco said. Half-year profits were $87.9 billion, up from $47.2 billion for the same period of 2021. Aramco paid an $18.8 billion dividend in Q2 and will disburse the same amount in Q3. The quarterly profits, the highest since Aramco’s flotation in late 2019, beat analyst forecasts of $46.2 billion. Aramco was priced at 40.8 riyals ($10.9) ahead of the Saudi stock exchange’s opening on Sunday. Aramco floated 1.7 percent of its shares on the Saudi bourse in December 2019, generating $29.4 billion in the world’s biggest initial public offering. The “crown jewel” and leading source of income for the conservative kingdom temporarily supplanted Apple as the world’s most valuable company in March.Itnow lies second in the list. Saudi Arabia has sought to open up and diversify its oil-reliant economy, especially since Mohammed bin Salman’s appointment as crown prince and de facto ruler in 2017.Earlier this month, the International Energy Agency said global oil demand will rise more than previously forecast this year as heatwaves and soaring gas prices prompt countries to switch fuels for power generation. Oil prices have dropped by $30 per barrel from a peak in June due to growing supplies, but remain close to $100. The OPEC group of oil-producing countries has been gradually raising production, despite pressure from Western leaders including US President Joe Biden — who visited Saudi Arabia last month — to pump more. Biden’s trip was seen as a climbdown after he previously promised to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” over the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Turkey in 2018. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also visited Saudi Arabia since the Russian invasion in February.
NEW YORK Agencies
RIYADH Agencies
Chinese envoy urges India to honour one-China principle
Pakistan pledges to keep pushing UN to free Kashmir from India’s yoke Seven hurt, two seriously, in ‘terror attack’ on Jerusalem bus JERUSALEM AFP Seven people were wounded, two of them critically, after a shooter opened fire on a bus in Jerusalem’s Old City early Sunday, Israeli police and medics said. Israel’s emergency medical services, the Magen David Adom (MDA), called the incident a “terror attack in the Old City”. An AFP reporter noted heightened security around the scene, not far from Jerusalem’s Western Wall, Jews’ holiest prayer site. Police have launched a search for the shooter, who fled after the pre-dawn attack. “The police were informed of a shooting of a bus […] Police have cordoned off the scene and are searching for a suspect,” police said. MDA spokesperson Zaki Heller said six men and one woman were injured in the attack, with all seven “fully conscious”. MDA paramedics said they provided lifesaving treatment to people with gunshot wounds, including both on the bus and in the King David’s Tomb parking area. All victims were taken to nearby hospitals. “We were on the scene very quickly,” senior EMT Nehemia Katz and paramedic David Trachtenberg said in a statement. “On Ma’ale Hashalom St. we saw a passenger bus standing in the middle of the road, bystanders called us to treat two males around 30 years old who were on the bus with gunshot wounds.” Bus driver Daniel Kanievsky described a chaotic scene suddenly erupting. “I was coming from the Western Wall. The bus was full of passengers,” he told reporters in front of his bullet-riddled vehicle. “I stopped at the station of the Tomb of David. At this moment, the shooting started. Two people outside I see falling, two inside were bleeding. Everybody panicked.”
10 FOREIGN NEWS Monday, 15 August, 2022 LAHORE
Latest tensions: The shooting comes about a week after a three-day conflict between Israel and Islamic Jihad fighters in the densely populated Palestinian enclave of Gaza. At least 49 Palestinians, including children, died in the violence, which ended last Sunday after Egypt negotiated a truce. Since March, 19 people — mostly inside Israel — have been killed in attacks. Three Israeli Arab attackers were also killed. In the aftermath, Israel increased raids in the occupied West Bank. More than 50 Palestinians have been killed, including fighters and civilians, in operations and incidents in the West Bank since then.
“Our founding fathers”, he said, “faced vigorous opposition and secured Pakistan through determination, resolve, wisdom and democratic struggle. Hundreds of thousands of our brothers and sisters sacrificed their lives just to reach their promised homeland; to fulfill their dream of nationhood and liberty. “We must never forget their heroism; their ideals; and their sacrifice,” Ambassador Akram said, adding to honour them, “We must preserve and build Pakistan into a strong, modern, democratic Islamic State where all can prosper and no one is left behind. “We must reaffirm the pledge to pursue and realize the vision of the Quaid.” As regards the people of Jammu and Kashmir, he said that they are part of Pakistan’s body and soul who have been denied the right to self-determination and freedom by Indian occupation and oppression. “They have been under a brutal military siege for the past three years. 900,000 Indian troops have unleashed a reign of terror in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, resorting to extra-judicial killings; abduction and torture of young Kashmiri boys; and destruction of entire villages and neighborhoods and the illegal incarceration of Kashmiri leaders.”
The Chinese Ambassador to India reportedly said Saturday that India-China ties are “seeing a positive impetus” and called on India to stick to the one-China principle after Indian External Affairs Ministry made its first public comment over US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s provocative visit to the island of ExpertsTaiwan.urged India to choose a pragmatic policy toward China on sensitive issues, including the Taiwan question and US-India cooperation, for China-Indian relations to see a significant improvement. At a media briefing on Saturday, Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Weidong said that India and China are seeing a “positive impetus” to ties given two meetings between the foreign ministers in the past few months and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attendance at the BRICS summit in June, reported the Hindu on Sunday.Sun talked about the Taiwan question, which has been a hot topic recently amid the escalation of the tension across the Taiwan Straits following Pelosi’s visit to the island, and called on India to continue honoring the one-China principle, according to a release from China’s Embassy in India. Sun’s remarks came after Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Friday said the ministry is concerned over the developments of the tension across the Taiwan Straits and called for “the exercise of restraint, avoidance of unilateral actions to change status quo and de-escalation of tensions” in the region, reported PTI. Reuters reported that when asked about India’s position on the one-China principle, Bagchi said “India’s relevant policies are well known and consistent.” Sun called for India to reiterate its stance of adhering to the principle on Saturday, he was quoted by PTI as telling a group of journalists. “The one-China principle is the political foundation of the China-India relations,” stressed the ambassador at the briefing. Experts said Bagchi’s remarks on the Taiwan question aim to keep a balance between China and the US to maximize its own interests in the region. “Bagchi’s not making a clear claim that India supports the one-China principle this time is actually a conventional practice of the country for a decade when touching upon the Taiwan question, even though it was among the first countries to recognize that there is only one China,” Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Sunday. Qian noted that there have been signs showing that China-India relations are going upward recently, but relations are still at a low level due to the border standoff, India’s cooperation with the US in the IndoPacific, and unfavorable public opinion in the two countries A joint military exercise between the US and India is scheduled to take place in mid-October in Auli in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, less than 100 kilometers from the country’s disputed border area with China, reported CNN. “India should observe ‘the three mutuals’ in China-India relations, especially on sensitive issues, including the Taiwan question and its cooperative activities with the US in the region, so bilateral relations can see a substantial improvement,” said Qian. He also mentioned India’s recent pressure on Sri Lanka to defer the arrival of the Yuan Wang 5, a Chinese research vessel, at Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka, saying that it is the latest example of the complexity and delicacy of China-India relations. The Yuan Wang 5 has been cleared to dock at Hambantota Port from Aug 16 to 22, reported Bloomberg on Sunday.
Highlighting India’s “brutal” military siege of Jammu and Kashmir, now in its 3rd year, Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram has said that Islamabad will continue to raise Kashmir’s call for liberation at the United Nations and in all forums. “We stand firmly with our Kashmiri brothers and sisters in their struggle for right to self-determination and freedom,” he said in a video message to the Pakistani community released Sunday to mark Pakistan’s Independence Day. At the same time, the Pakistani envoy said, “The foresight of Quaid-iAzam in advancing the rationale for the creation of Pakistan is being emphatically validated today in the repression of the Muslims who live in India. “They face organized state repression, shrinking social space and usurpation of their fundamental rights as the BJP-RSS government seeks to eliminate the Islamic legacy in India and re-write history to elaborate the great contributions of its Muslim rulers and dynasties.”
NEW DELHI MiAn AbRAR
Despite many challenges, Ambassador Akram said Pakistan proved itself to be a resilient nation. “We are a strong nation – militarily, we possess vast potential for growth and prosperity. We are an influential and important country on the world“Today,”stage.”he said, “we face great challenges; challenges of security and conflict, the COVID crisis, and the downturn in economy. But these are also global challenges. God Willing, we will overcome these challenges also. “Our Quaid prescribed the principles of unity, faith and discipline as the cornerstones of nation-building. These are the three pillars which are essential for the progress and prosperity of Pakistan. We should continue our struggle to fulfill the vision of the Quaid-i-Azam and make our society humane, inclusive, and tolerant for all.”
Saudi aramco unveilS record $48.4b profit in Q2
Truss 22 points ahead in race to be next UK PM, poll suggests
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Monday, 15 August, 2022 | LAHORE
Monday, 15 August, 2022 Published by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore, for PT Print (Pvt) Limited. Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk
