Epaper_22-10-29 LHR

Imran comes out wIth guns

a zIng agaInst establIshment

for the capital to pressure the government into calling snap polls

Khan plans to lead the motorised caravan slowly northwards up the GT road to Islam abad draw ng more support along the way before entering the capita in a week

The distance between the two cities is about 380 k lometres Khan s entourage is ex pected to arrive in Islamabad on November 4

By the time he gets there, Khan said he ex pects to have hundreds of thousands of peo ple with him, and his party has asked authorit es in the capital to al ow a protest sit n

I want that all of you participate Th s s not for politics or personal gain, or to topple the government [ ] th s is to br ng genuine free dom to the countr y Khan said in a v deo message on the eve of the march

Since April when the chairman of PTI was ousted n a contentious vote of no confi dence, the politica environment in Islamabad has been supercharged Khan has repeated y accused the PDM leadership of col uding with the army and the United States to remove him

PM thanks US over additional $30m aid for flood victims

ISLAMABAD

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aday after the mi itar y accused Imran Khan of asking the establishment for “ unconstitutional ” support for his gov ernment in the run up to the con tent ous vote of no conf dence, the former prime minister took a dig at two top generals saying their press conference was more “ political than Sheikh rash d ” , the chief of Awam Musl m league (AMl)

The scath ng and unprecedented news conference by the chief militar y spokesperson and ntelligence chief came after Khan upped his cr ticism of the m itar y, accusing them of plotting his removal in April and sup port ng the government of the Pakistan Dem ocrat c Movement (PDM)

Putting to rest the assumption that he would obser ve restraint while commenting on the army, Khan thundered at the protest march: DG ISI l sten carefu ly the th ngs I know [ ] I am stay ng silent for my inst tut ons and the countr y I don’t want to damage my countr y ”

He referred to the press conference held by Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) Senator Azam Swat earlier in the day in which the latter had revealed the names of the officers from the Inter Ser v ces Intelligence (ISI) agency respon sible for his custodial torture on him

Azam Swati took the names of two peo ple one is Brigadier Faheem and one is Maj Gen Faisal Th s Dirty Harr y ever since he has come to Islamabad he s torturing people Khan al eged

This Dirty Harr y [sic] first picked up Azam ille gally str pped him naked and then tortured him in front of his grandchi dren,” he claimed “Faisal and Faheem did the same with Shahbaz G ll Khan then addressed the army chief and said: “ When B lawal Bhutto gave a statement against the ISI sector commander n Karachi you removed the official remove them [Fa sal and Faheem] too now

These people are defam ng you Gen Bajwa,” he sa d

The former pr me minister gathered hun dreds of supporters in liberty Square of lahore to join a caravan of cars and trucks heading

He has organised large pol tical rallies de manding that the government step down last week smaller protests by his supporters took place after the election commission of Pak istan (ecP) declared the former prime minister guilty of unlawfu ly selling gifts from foreign dig nitaries and heads of state, removing him from his National Assembly seat

The government has repeated y rejected Khan’s demand for elect ons Wr ting for For eign Policy Michae Kugelman deputy direc tor of the Asia Programme at the Wilson center in Washington, argued the government ’s po sition makes sense because right now [if the elections are held] the current government wou d likely lose e ections MARch fOR PRESS fREEDOM : The party has dedicated its long march to Arshad Sharif, journalist and outspoken cr tic of the militar y who was killed under myster ous circum stances in Kenya last week, and members of the press

Addressing a press conference in lahore, party leaders Fawad chaudhr y and Asad Umar said Khan was the only leader who could br ng about “ much needed ” change in Pakistan

Pr me M nister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday expressed gratitude to the United States for addit onal $30 m llion flood relief assistance for the flood affected people of Pakistan “ Grateful to U S govt for the announcement of an additional $30 million in humanitarian assistance for flood vict ms he said in a tweet He mentioned that with the onset of w nter, the chal enges of food, health and shelter sti l pers sted

Shehbaz Sharif urged the nternat onal community to show urgency in contributing to the UN flash appeal on re ief assistance for the flood struck people of Pakistan World should promptly contribute to UN a d appeal to mitigate the impact of tragedy,” he said U S Ambassador Donald Blome on Thursday announced an addit onal $30 m llion in humanitar an assistance to support flood affected populations in Pakistan

This new funding brings the United States total assistance to Pak stan for flood response, food security, and disaster preparedness and capacity bu lding efforts to $97 million th s year The new funding, according to a press statement by the U S embassy, will expand efforts to address immediate needs scaling up assistance to the most affected communities and enabling USAID to reach more than 4 m llion people With the additional funding the U S government through USAID will provide ife saving food nutr tion, and health assistance to mitigate increased food insecurity and ma nutr tion result ng from the impact of the floods as well as curb the rise of diseases resulting from stagnant flood waters

The new funding w ll also provide shelter suppl es to help families rebui d as well as winterizat on kits to help famil es prepare as co d weather approaches

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As the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) kicked off its much hyped long march to the federal capital Interior Minister rana Sanaullah on Friday warned party cha rman Imran Khan that red Zone was government s red line which should not be crossed

Those who attack the federal cap tal wil be met with such d re con sequences that no one wi l ever think of committing such an act again rana Sanaul ah threatened whi e talk ng to the media after inauguration of Passport office at lahore High court (lHc) rawalpindi Bar on Friday

The min ster said that the govern ment was prepared to deal with anyone attempting to break the law with an iron fist Warning protesters of str ct action Sanaullah said “ if they [protesters] abide by the law, we will facilitate them”

We will fulf ll our responsibility ac cording to the situation If they are com ing to march on Islamabad they should understand that no group will be a lowed to march on the cap tal ”

He urged the nation to reflect on this kind of thinking adding that a lot has been revealed about the case of

Arshad Sharif Who helped him go abroad, who issued the false threat alert He also said that the ful report on the matter w ll be presented to Prime Min ster Shehbaz Sharif on the question of potentially im posing governor s rule in Punjab, the in terior minister said that the issue rested with the cab net However he added that “ if any such situation arises, I will move a summar y

It may also be noted that during a hearing at the Supreme court (Sc) over the PTI s May 25 March the cJP had said that the march was the party s pol tical strategy, and ever yone had the right to protest but not be violent or damage publ c property He added that the gov ernment had the authority to take act on aga nst the v olation of law

Acknow edging the Sc ’s orders, Sanau ah sa d that the government would abide by the law but added that democracy will be compromised if mob culture was allowed to continue to grow in the countr y “

Two days ago Imran Khan said that these people could not arrest rana Sanaullah and the Pun ab government has failed

He sa d that today the anti corrup tion unit has withdrawn the warrant “ It

was a shameful example of political re venge Imran Khan should dism ss the Punjab government he said

AZAM SWATI S ALLEGATIONS BA SELESS: Addressing a press conference n Islam abad Sanaul ah threatened that any untoward situation wi l be dealt with ron hands as no one was above the law

The m nister rebutted PTI leader Azam Khan Swati ’s allegations regard ing his arrest and handing over to secu rity personnel saying that no medica report has been submitted by him to

support his al egations

He said Azam Khan Swat ’s a lega tions are baseless and will be chal enged legally condemning the allegat ons of Swati, Sanaullah said that FIA s case aga nst the PTI leader was awful, comp eting a l legalit es

He said that Swati remained under FIA s custody throughout the nvest ga tion and it was not even demanded by any other institution We treated him according to the law dur ng the custody and even medical facility was provided

to h m properly he added commenting on the press confer ence held by the DG ISPr and DG ISI yesterday (Thursday) Sanau lah said that “ if an inst tution is accused of someth ng then it has the right to present its position with the permiss on of the head ”

He also said that “ DG ISI ’s confer ence helped the nation a great deal as a false narrat ve was rejected ”

A day earlier the nter or minister had said the PTI could stage ts long march at the federal capital ’s sectors H 9 and G 9 as allocated by courts but ts partici pants were restr cted from entering the red Zone, which wou d be protected by rangers and Pakistan Army personnel

NATION REjEcTS cALL fOR ‘BLOODy MARch’: MARRIyUM: Minister for Infor mation and Broadcasting Marr yum Au rangzeb said on Friday that the nat on has re ected the cal for bloody march by refusing to become a s ave to the for e gn funded person who violated the constitution In her tweet in react on to PTI leader Fawad chaudhr y s tweet, she said that Pak stan s youth could not be come the protectors of the system of Toshakhana thief, Farah Gog and Bushra B bi The m n ster maintained that the people have refused to become pawns in one person’s lust for power

photo by zubair mahfooz

D A R R E I T E R AT E S C E M E N T I N g M u lT I - D I M E N S I o N A l H I S T o R I C T I E S w I T H u S , C H I N A

According to

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Ministers hold first meeting of Pakistani-Saudi steering committee

RIYADH

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Finance

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energy, under which many topics are currently being discussed, such as cooperation in the oil industry and supply petrochemicals electricity renewable energy, industry, transport, and many other potential opportunities, SPA added

PM approves appointment of Tariq Pasha as SAPM on Revenue

ISLAMABAD

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The Prime Minister has approved the appointment of a close aide of Finance minister Ishaq Dar Tariq Pasha as special assistant to the PM on Revenue According to notification, the Prime Minister, in terms of rule 4(6) of rules of business 1973, has been pleased to appoint Tariq Mehmood Pasha as special assistant to the PM on Revenue with the status of minister of state, with immediate effect According to details, Tariq Pasha would be seventy six cabinet members of Shahbaz Sharif led cabinet Finance minister Ishaq Dar is gradually consolidating its powers with the appointment of close aides on important positions and he is chairing important meetings in the Prime Minister secretariat also It is pertinent to mention here that Ishaq Dar has already appointed Tariq Bajwa as SAPM on Finance

IHC orders shifting of case against Imran Khan to banking cour t

ministry,

Minister

apprised the US Ambassador of the estimated losses faced by Pakistan due to recently devastated floods Donald Blome expressed the same sentiments on bilateral relations between the United States of America and Pakistan He f u r t h e r i n f o r m e d a b o u t h i s r e c e n t v i s i t t o f l o o d a ff e c t e d a r e a s i n P a k i s t a n a n d e x p r e s s e d s y m p a t h i e s o v e r t h e e n o r m o u s l o s s e s c a u s e d b y f l o o d s M o r e o v e r, h e apprised the Finance Minister on additional f l o o d r e l i e f a s s i s t a n c e t o P a k i s t a n b y t h e US government in this time of crisis Th e F in an ce M in is ter ap p r eciated th e support of the United States for flood relief a n d m e n t i o n e d t h a t t h e U S h a s a l w a y s supported Pakistan in its hour of need H e f u r t h e r e x p r e s s e d t h e i n t e n t i o n o f the present government to further augment

t h e b i l a t e r a l r e l a t i o n s b e t w e e n t h e t w o countries in fields of economy, investment and trade

The Finance Minister thanked Donald Blome for his support to Pakistan M e a n w h i l e , A m b a s s a d o r o f t h e P e o p l e ’s R e p u b l i c o f C h i n a N o n g R o n g called on Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Ishaq Dar at the Finance Division

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar welcomed t h e C h i n e s e A m b a s s a d o r a n d h i g h l i g h t e d the friendly and multi dimensional historic ties between Pakistan and China

T h e F i n a n c e M i n i s t e r s h a r e d h u g e gratitude toward the Government of China f o r p r o v i d i n g s u p p o r t t o P a k i s t a n i n t h i s time of devastated floods The latest flood losses were also discussed in the meeting

B o t h s i d e s f u r t h e r d i s c u s s e d f a s t

tracking progress on CPEC and exchanged views on further enhancing brotherly relations between both countries It was also shared that CPEC is a key project and its completion in a timely manner is imperative for reaping the lucrative returns

The Chinese Ambassador shared historical brotherly ties between both the countries and assured the Finance Minister of continuous facilitation and support to Pakistan At the same time, the Chinese Ambassador also shared thankful sentiments toward the government of Pakistan for facilitating the Chinese companies working on various projects in Pakistan

In concluding remarks the Finance Minister thanked Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong for continuous support and cooperation being offered by the government of China

Pakhtun leaders reiterate a united stand against terrorism

entire Pakhtun belt

Pakhtun leaders from across the country declared here on Friday that they could no more be deceived in the name of religion and they would not tolerate terrorists and terrorism under any garb on their land

They were speaking during a huge protest at Barikot Tehsil organized by Swat Olasi Pasoon and Swat Qaumi Jirga, to reaffirm resolve to durable peace in Malakand division and the

A large number of people including leaders of various political parties from across the country participated in the protest Prominent among the speakers were PTM head Manzoor Pashteen MPA Ahmad Kundi, Jamaat i Islami Senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, Khushal Kakar QWP provincial president Sikandar Sherpao, ANP Salim Khan Advocate, Ayoub Khan Asharey, Attaullah Jan Idrees Bacha PkMAP Mukhtiar Yousafzai, Aftab Khan, Dr Khalid Mahmood, Sher Shah Khan,

Adalat Khan, Engineer Sharafat Ali and Syed Muhammad Ali Shah

The speakers said that the uprising for peace and prosperity by the residents of Swat gave spirit and courage to all the Pakhtuns across the world “History will remember the Swat uprising in golden words, which not only shook the state institutions but also gave a spirit to all the oppressed Pakhtuns,” said Khushal Kakar, who came from Balochistan to address the protest He said it was high time for all Pakhtuns to stand united for their rights

The speakers said that Pakhtuns sent

a message to the entire world that they were peace loving nation and not terrorists adding that they would never allow anyone to sabotage the hard earn peace in the entire Pakhtun Belt in general and scenic Swat vally in particular They also declared that from now on, nobody would be allowed to use religion as tool for imposition of their narrative in the society, adding that Pakhtuns would deal all such powers and elements with sternly who ever tried to divide the society or create law and order under any garb

INP CNE Naseer Qureshi passes away; laid to rest

Naseer Qureshi, senior journalist and founding member and Chief News Editor of national news agency “INP”, has passed away His Namaz e Janaza was offered in DI Khan and later he was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard in DI Khan city Well known socio political figures, including editor of “INP” Aftab Chaudhry participated in the funeral prayers According to details, Naseer Qureshi went into a coma after he met with an accident on motorcycle last week when he was returning home from the office He was undergoing treatment in a private hospital He passed away on Thursday night The funeral prayers of late Naseer Qureshi were performed Friday after Juma prayer at Jamia Masjid Dhok Qureshi in Qureshi Mor area of Dera Ismail Khan’s hometown, after which he was buried in his native graveyard INP Editor in Chief Syed Asif Salahuddin has expressed deep sorrow and regret over his death and said that the late Naseer Qureshi was very hard working well mannered and very skilled in his field

following flood devastation

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Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman on Friday said there are resources for the developed nations to go on wars but not for saving human lives as their response is slow in the case of Pakistan and other natural calamity stricken nations

monster floods whereas four million children were out of health services

We are going to enter the recovery and rehabilitation phase, and as per the PDNA the combined total losses accounted of Rs 3 3 trillion, damages of Rs3 2 trillion and needs of Rs 3 4 trillion All ministries and provinces worked with the development partners to collate the date and compile these figures ”

Insaf leadership to task said Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also did long march from Karachi and not even a single vase was damaged

ISLAMABAD

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Friday issued written order regarding the shifting of PTI prohibited funding case against former prime minister Imran Khan to the banking court Justice Mohsin Akhter Kayani issued a 16 pages judgment stated that Imran Khan’s bail petition pending with the special judge central would also be shifted to the banking court Islamabad The court said that the matter was started with a first information report (FIR) so it was shifted the relevant forum as per the directives of the Supreme Court The IHC order said that it was granting two week protective bail to the two accused including Tariq Shafi and Faisal Maqbool and instructed them to approach the concern court for the relief and also appear before FIA investigation team within five days It may be mentioned here that the FIA had registered FIR against Imran Khan and others under Foreign Exchange Act with regard to prohibited funding scam

The federal minister said this while briefing the media on the findings of the PDNA Report, launched earlier at the Planning Ministry which was a finalised and important document based on the joint surveys conducted by the federal government with the provinces

Meanwhile, Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) report underscored trillions of rupees cumulative damages, losses and requirements to ensure rehabilitation of the 33 million flood affected people

Senator Rehman said, “the federal government will also launch the rehabilitation plan in 4 5 days that will cover the key aspects of revival efforts to ensure sustainable relocation of the affected communities ”

The minister added that some 90 districts remained calamity hit and it was revealed after the joint survey results which were partnered by World Bank, other donor agencies and development partners

The provinces also gave their input and recommendations in the PDNA, she added

She said the fact sheet clearly stated that one out of seven Pakistanis were affected due to the recent

She said further planning would have to be made keeping in view the risk of future hazards as 5 5 million in households having children below five not immunised, 1 5 million households having no water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities, and 2 8 million households did not get postnatal treatment

She noted that the two lakes formed in the flood affected region primarily Sindh and Balochistan could not lose water as the water was not receding due to the terrain and topography of the region

“The destruction caused by the massive torrential rain floods is high and the resources are limited to support the impacted communities

The opposition, she said, was dragging the country towards a bleak direction as their fake narrative had cast serious impacts on the society that also gained huge media coverage “World Bank AIB UNDP and all ambassadors of diplomatic corps sat together to provide assistance to the nation The government is doing its job and will continue to do so whereas the Opposition will do bloody long march ”

The minister while taking the Pakistan Tehreek e

“Imran Khan lacked public support that’s why he is starting his march from lahore otherwise he should have called it from Karachi His close party associate Faisal Vawda claimed it a bloody march and predicted bloodshed during the march

The trolling brigade of Imran Khan continued their narrative of abusive language all over the social media, she said, adding, Imran Khan made propaganda on the diplomatic cable and uttered lies blatantly before the nation He abused his opponents in the morning and besieged them in the evening

She alleged that Khan was going to sacrifice the country for his insatiable urge for power as there were 33 million people were affected equal to the population of Belgium, Netherlands and Sweden combined “You did two telethons for them where is that money and where it was spent? Did you ever query what damages you incurred to the country? Imran Khan lied to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and isolated the country

Commenting on the killing of late senior journalist Arshad Sharif, she said the PTI leadership used a very capable journalist and made his tragic death controversial Arshad Sharif was a dear one of everyone and after all he was a journalist apart from his ideology and political thinking, she added

LAHORE: Rush of lawyers during annual of elections of Supreme Court bar Association (Inset) Senior lawyer Aitaza Ahsan cast vote vote during polling photoS by zuba R Mehfooz

TH E Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Friday allowed Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to arrange import of the remaining quantity of 0 80 MMT of wheat through open tendering or through G2G arrangement, before harvesting of the new crop

According to details meeting the ECC of the Cabinet was held here with Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Ishaq Dar in the chair on Friday

On the occasion the Ministry of National Food Security & Research tabled a summary, seeking permission for the import of 0 80 MMT of wheat through TCP It was submitted that ECC on 09 05 2022 allowed TCP to import 3 MMT of wheat and directed to devise import modalities Modalities were devised and TCP was allowed to import 1 00 MMT of specified milling wheat through an international tendering process later, public wheat stocks were re verified by the Committee and reported that actual shortfall would be 2 60 MMT, instead of 3 MMT Therefore, TCP was allowed to import only 0 80 MMT through open tendering as well as through G2G basis out of remaining 1 60 MMT on 06 09 2022

In view of the aforementioned, the ECC approved the proposal and allowed TCP to arrange import of the

remaining quantity of 0 80 MMT through open tendering or through G2G arrangement, before harvesting of the new crop Further ECC directed the concerned Ministry to frame and submit a logistic plan within 15 days

The Ministry of Commerce presented a summary on suspension of import conditions contained in Import Policy 2022 with regard to import of Timber/Wood

It was informed that all Pakistan Timber Traders Association (APTTA) requested for extension in the date of implementation of conditions of import permit

The Federal government subsequently suspended the operation of Import Policy provisions till 31st August,

2022 APTTA has again approached with the same request to support the wood business sector In order to facilitate the import of wood/timber, the ECC directed Department of Plant Protection (DPP) of M i n i s t r y o f N a t i o n a l F o o d S e c u r i t y & R e s e a r c h t o review the conditions for import of wood and timber and to bring them in conformity with the international best practices so that the import of wood and timber will not be subjected to unnecessary and cumbersome p r o c e d u r e s h o w e v e r, t o a d d r e s s t h e i m m e d i a t e c o n c e r n s o f t h e w o o d / t i m b e r i n d u s t r y, t h e E C C a p p r o v e d t h e p r o p o s a l t o s u s p e n d t h e d a t e o f i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f I P O 2 0 2 2 r e g a r d i n g i m p o r t o f timber and wood till 31st March, 2023

The ECC approved summary presented by the Ministry of Industries and Production and allowed TCP to proceed ahead with the lowest subject offer received @ US$ 520/MT for import of 300,000 MT of Urea Fertilizer TCP floated an international tender in this regard on Oct 19, 2022 and the same was opened on Oct 26 2022 Three bidders offered rates lowest responsive bid was @ US$ 520 PMT for 300,000 MT

The Ministry of National Food Security & Research submitted another summary regarding the request of Food Departments Government of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan for additional supply of imported Wheat from PASSCO’s stock It was presented that the Ministry of National Food Security &

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LAHORE

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limit of lal p i r a n d P a k g e n p o w e r p l a n t s w a s r e v i s e d f r o m 2 0 % t o 5 0 % i n A p r i l 2 0 2 1 w i t h o u t p l a c i n g t h e c a s e b e f o r e t h e A u t h o r i t y a s i t w a s r e q u i r e d t o d o u n d e r t h e r e l e v a n t d o c u m e n t s , s a i d a p r e s s r e l e a s e i s s u e d h e r e F r i d a y O n i n q u i r y, C P PA G f a i l e d t o s a t i s f y t h e a u t h o r i t y r e g a r d i n g v i o l a t i o n o f t h e r e l e v a n t p r o v i s i o n s o f t h e N E P R A A c t , R u l e s a n d R e g u l a t i o n s m a d e t h e r e u n d e r S u b s e q u e n t l y, t h e A u t h o r i t y i n i t i a t e d l e g a l p r o c e e d i n g s a g a i n s t C P PA G C o n s e q u e n t l y, a n e x p l a n a t i o n O c t o b e r 1 3 , 2 0 2 1 , w a s i s s u e d t o C P PA G u n d e r R u l e 4 ( 1 ) o f t h e N E P R A ( F i n e s ) R u l e s 2 0 0 2 f o l l o w e d b y a s h o w c a u s e n o t i c e d a t e d F e b r u a r y 1 4 , 2 0 2 2 , u n d e r R u l e 4 ( 8 ) & ( 9 ) o f t h e N E P R A ( F i n e s ) R u l e s 2 0 0 2 M o r e o v e r, a n o p p o r t u n i t y o f h e a r i n g w a s a l s o g r a n t e d t o C P PA G o n J u n e 0 2 , 2 0 2 2 , h o w e v e r, C P PA G f a i l e d t o p r o v i d e a n y s a t i s f a c t o r y r e s p o n s e a n d w a s f o u n d g u i l t y o f v i o l a t i n g r e l e v a n t p r o v i s i o n s o f t h e N E P R A A c t , R u l e s , a n d R e g u l a t i o n s m a d e t h e r e u n d e r T h e r e f o r e , t h e a u t h o

A district and sessions court in lahore on Friday sent ARY News anchor Chaudhry Ghulam Hussain to prison on judicial remand for two weeks, a day after his arrest in connection with a purported bank fraud case dating to 2003

A Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) statement claimed the journalist was “wanted” in connection with the fraud Hussain who is known for his strong pro army views, has lately become a fierce critic of the security institution According to the agency’s statement Hussain submitted fake documents to secure an Rs57 million loan from a bank

Hussain’s two sons were also nominated in the case, the agency said, adding that a banking court in lahore issued a non bailable warrant for the journalist

During the hearing, the FIA requested a 14 day physical remand of the journalist

“Chaudhry Ghulam Hussain wilfully defaulted on the loan,” FIA prosecutor Munim Bashir told the court, claiming the loan was secured by submitting forged documents However, Azhar Siddiqui counsel for Hussain argued the case was over a decade old and the first information report (FIR) against his client was registered in 2011

“Has the FIA started working for banks to recover the loans, asked Siddiqui He said that Hussain has never been accused of submitting fake documents

“late at night, 30 to 40 people came [at a restaurant] to arrest him Did they come because of a personal grudge ” Siddiqui asked demanding to know the motive behind the arrest

The court then asked the FIA prosecutor about how Hussain was appearing on primetime television every day if he had been declared a proclaimed offender in 2013

“What were you doing since 2013,” the judge asked At that, Hussain’s lawyer said that his client had no role in the case, adding that all the other people named in the case have been released in the past

“Hussain has already returned 47 percent of the amount as a guarantor, he disclosed

Siddiqui went on to add that his client was a journalist and, hence, was being falsely implicated Ever since his arrest, Hussain is being defamed on television ”

Meanwhile, Hussain said the property in question was worth Rs450 million out of which Rs250 million had already been paid “This matter is now pending in the Supreme Court,” he added Subsequently, the court rejected the FIA s request for physical remand and sent the journalist on judicial remand It also instructed the agency to return Hussain his identity card

Weekly inflation for combined consumption group increases by 4.13pc

d d e c r

t h a t

The

Research prepares a list of allocations of the recipient agencies at the start of each food year and simultaneously local and imported wheat is supplied However, provinces have demanded additional supply of imported wheat from PASSCO s stock Considering the urgent demand of Provincial Food Departments of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan and subject to the approval of respective provincial cabinets, the ECC granted permission to provide 1 00 MMT of imported wheat from PASSCO’s stock to Punjab ( 0 50 MMT) , Sindh ( 0 30 MMT) and KPK ( 0 20MMT) with full cost and incidentals of PASSCO Further, 0 04 MMT of local and imported wheat @ 50:50 ratio with full cost and incidentals of PASSCO may be provided to Baluchistan

T h e E C C a l s o d i s c u s s e d i n d e t a i l a n o t h e r s u m m a r y o f t h e M i n i s t r y o f N a t i o n a l F o o d S e c u r i t y a n d R e s e a r c h r e g a r d i n g u rg e n t a d v i c e r e l a t e d t o t h e award of 6th International Wheat Tender 2022 opened o n 2 6 t h O c t o b e r, 2 0 2 2 f o r 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 M T K e e p i n g i n v i e w r e s u l t s o f 6 t h I n t e r n a t i o n a l Te n d e r t h e E C C a p p r o v e d t h e l o w e s t b i d o ff e r e d @ U S $ 3 7 3 0 0 / M T for 380,000 MT on CFR bulk at Karachi

T h e E C C a l s o a p p r o v e d a t e c h n i c a l Supplementary grant of Rs 333 915 million in current f i n a n c i a l y e a r 2 0 2 2 2 3 i n f a v o u r o f t h e I n t e r i o r Ministry enabling Frontier Constabulary to establish an anti riot unit of 2000 personnel

Team probing Arshad Sharif’s killing leaves for Kenya to begin investigation

ISLAMABAD

A two member team constituted to probe into Anchorperson Arshad Sharif s killing on Friday left for Kenya to start their investigation According to details the two member team headed FIA Director Athar Waheed, left for Kenya to investigate the gruesome murder of Arshad Sharif where it will investigate the murder case from different angles and determine motive and other facts surrounding the incident On the orders of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif the two members team formed by the Interior Ministry comprising FIA Director Academy Athar Waheed and Deputy Director Intelligence Bureau Omar Shahid Hamid left for Doha from Islamabad on Friday morning According to the flight schedule, head of the team, Athar Waheed, flew from Islamabad to Doha by Qatar Airlines flight number 615 while Omar Shahid Hamid left Karachi for Doha Both the members will gather at Doha Airport, from where they will fly to Nairobi through Qatar Airways Flight 1341 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Pakistan in Kenya will be obliged to provide facilities and assistance to the investigation team during its stay According to sources, the investigation team will find out the facts about the circumstances and events that took place including Arshad Sharif s arrival in Kenya accommodation arrangements and who was making arrangements for him The investigation team will review the post mortem report of Arshad Sharif in Kenya the vehicle and travel records of the victim of the shooting, as well as the police team there The team could be staying Kenya for almost two weeks

Institutions being used as tools to hound opponents, rules lHC

LAHORE S ta f f R e p o R t

weekly inflation for the

(SPI)

group witnessed an increase of 4 13 percent during the week ended on October 27, as compared to the previous week

The SPI for the week under review in the combined consumption group was recorded at 213 74 points against 205 27 points registered in the previous week, according to the latest data released

a s e i n p r i c e s i n c l u d e d c h i l l i e s powder (41 85%), sugar (16 45%) and gur (5 01%) T h e c o m m o d i t i e s t h a t w i t n e s s e d i n c r e a s e i n p r i c e s o n Yo Y b a s i s i n c l u d e d o n i o n s ( 1 7 7 3 7 % ) , t o m a t o e s ( 8 4 1 7 % ) , d i e s e l ( 7 4 5 1 % ) , p u l s e g r a m ( 6 4 7 3 % ) p e t r o l ( 6 2 7 5 % ) c o o k i n g o i l 5 l i t r e ( 5 5 1 3 % ) , w a s h i n g s o a p ( 5 4 9 7 % ) , p u l s e m o o n g ( 5 4 1 9 % ) , p u l s e m a s o o r ( 5 2 3 3 % ) , v e g e t a b l e g h e e 2 5 k g ( 5 2 3 1 % ) g e n t s s p o n g e c h a p p a l ( 5 2 2 1 % ) m u s t a r d o i l ( 5 0 9 7 % ) , p u l s e m a s h ( 5 0 0 8 % ) a n d vegetable ghee 1 kg (49 44%)

A judge of the Rawalpindi bench of the lahore High Court (lHC) said the institutions have become tools in the hands of politicians as they register a case at the leadership’s behest and when an administration changes, the incoming government demands quashing of cases The judge expressed these remarks on Friday during the hearing of a case pertaining to an inquiry against Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah Khan into the purchase of plots by him in a housing society at throwaway prices During the hearing the director general of the Anti Corruption Establishment (ACE) told the court that Khan should not be arrested in this case He elaborated that if the challan was presented in the court then the name of the accused could not be excluded from the case The judge, however, remarked that institutions have become a political tool One (authority) comes and registers a case and then the other (authority) comes and requests for cancellation of the same case After this, the judge disposed of the petition seeking the cancellation of the arrest warrants for the interior minister On October 8, a special judicial magistrate in Rawalpindi issued non bailable arrest warrants for Khan for not appearing before the ACE in connection with a corruption inquiry An ACE team went to Islamabad to arrest Khan but failed to do so as the concerned police station’s SHO refused to comply with the orders On October 10, the court again issued fresh arrest warrants for the interior minister but the ACE team again could not arrest Sanaullah citing a lack of cooperation” from the Islamabad police

S ta f f R e p o R t

“It is stated

Federal

public gatherings

IS L A M A B A D Capital Territory (ICT) administration on Friday sought an ex planation from a political party (Pak istan Tahreek e Insaaf) over violations it made during May 25 public gather ing in the federal capital

ICT Administration had issued a written reply in response to the letter submit ted by the PTI regarding permission of hold ing Jasla sit in from November 4 at Srinagar Highway (between H 9 and G 9) lslamabad

Railways to restore Jaffer Express train from next month

LAHORE

S tA f f R e P o R t

dertakings

you

impera t

clauses of terms & con ditions

violate, said the reply

It added that keeping in view the fol lowing violations of undertakings submit t

t r e c o r d , p l e a s e explain (point wise) as to why the party in

stant application may be considered favor ably and may not be turn down rejected “ O n M a y, 2 5 2 0 2 2 i t w a s d e c i d e d t h a t y o u w i l l c o n v e n e J a l s a a t H 9 ( i n f r o n t o f M e t r o d e p o t ) I s l a m a b a d b u t y o u f a i l e d t o a d h e r e t o t h e a g r e e m e n t a n d t h e p r o t e s t e r s m o v e d t o w a r d s t h e R e d Z o n e o f I s l a m a b a d F o r J u l y 2 n d 2 0 2 2 p u b l i c g a t h e r i n g N O C w a s i s s u e d b y t h e c i v i l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n u p o n s u b m i s s i o n o f c o n s e n t a n d u n d e r t a k i n g b y y o u t h a t b e i n g o rg a n i z e r y o u w i l l b e r e s p o n s i b l e o f a n y d a m a g e c a u s e d t o t h e p u b l i

Pakistan firemen killed during Q atar training exercise

DOHA M o n i to R i n g R e P o R t

The Pakistan Railways has decided to partially restore train operation for Quetta from the month of November

This was decided in a meeting presided over by Rail ways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique held at the PR Headquarters, here on Friday The PR will restore Jaffer Express train from Peshawar to Mach Balochistan in the next month The minister directed the PR adminis tration to form a strategy about management of carrying the passengers from Mach to Quetta by road transport It was also decided to complete Sibbi Harnai Section in 3 months It is pertinent to mention that the construction of the track at the section has been delayed for the last 4 years The minister also directed to ensure capacity building of the railway police on better lines The Pak istan Railways Freight Transportation Company was di rected to form a plan to increase its income and to enhance the performance, the company was directed to induct young railway officers as well as experts from the market The minister expressed his satisfaction on the restoration work of the Hirok bridge during the meeting

Bilawal’s letter on HR situation in held Kashmir delivered to UN leadership

UNITED NATIONS

S tA f f R e P o R t

Pakistan s Ambassador to the United Nations, Munir Akram delivered to the UN leadership a letter by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on the worsening situa tion in Indian occupied Kashmir, as Muslims across the world observed October 27 black day The day marks the anniversary of India’s invasion and occupation of the Hi malayan state in 1947 The ambassador met the president of the General Assembly Csaba Korosi and the Security Council president for the month of October, Michel Biang, and handed over to him the letter, which was de livered to Secretary General Antonio Guterres Winding up the discussion on the dispute at a webinar earlier in the day, Ambassador Akram said Pakistan had kept the Secu rity Council informed almost every month about the evolving situation in occupied Kashmir The foreign min ister ’s letter will be released by the UN as a document of the Security Council and the General Assembly

WASHINGTON A P P

Three firemen from Pakistan have died in a training accident in Qatar just weeks before the start o f t h e Wo r l d C u p , o ff i c i a l s h a v e c o n f i r m e d A u t h o r i t i e s s a i d t h e t h r e e w e r e n o t t a k i n g p a r t i n a m u l t i n a t i o n a l Wo r l d

C u p s e c u r i t y e x e r c i s e c u r r e n t l y b e i n g h e l d a r o u n d D o h a t h a t i n c l u d e s s i m u l a t i o n s o f c h e m i c a l i n c i d e n t s a n d d e m o n s t r a t i o n s

B u t a c c o u n t s g i v e n b y f r i e n d s o f t h e t h r e e a n d p o s t e d o n s o c i a l m e d i a s a i d t h e y w e r e o n a f i r e t r u c k m o u n t e d

c r a n e t h a t c o l l a p s e d i n D o h a s m a i n H a m a d P o r t a s p a r t o f a s e p a r a t e t r a i n i n g e x e r c i s e Officials did not give details of the a c c i d e n t l a t e We d n e s d a y P h o t o g r a p h s c i r c u l a t i n g o n s o c i a l m e d i a a p p e a r e d t o s h o w t h e c r u m p l e d c r a n e w h o s e w a l k w a y s e e m e d t o h a v e b u c k l e d m i d w a y u p t h e s t r u c t u r e T h e i m a g e s s h o w e d h o w t h e m e t a l f r a m e h a d f o l d e d a t a p r e c a r i o u s a n g l e , s e n d i n g t h e u p p e r s e c t i o n o f t h e c r a n e s m a s h i n g i n t o t h e r o o f o f a n a d j a c e n t b u i l d i n g Ti m e s t a m p s o n t h e i m a g e s

s u g g e s t e d t h e i n c i d e n t u n f o l d e d o n Tu e s d a y m o r n i n g I n i t i a l r e p o r t s s u g g e s t e d t h e t h r e e v i c t i m s w e r e Q a t a r i a n d K u w a i t i n a t i o n a l s , b u t t h e s e t h e o r i e s w e r e c h a l l e n g e d b y a r e l a t i v e o f o n e o f t h e v i c t i m s w h o c o n f i r m e d t o D o h a N e w s t h a t t h e m e n , a l l t h r e e i n t h e i r 3 0 s , w e r e o f P a k i s t a n i o r i g i n T h e t r i o w e r e i d e n t i f i e d a s Yo s e f M i n d a r K a l e e m A l l a h a n d J a l a l M i n d a r, a f a t h e r o f t w o , h a d l i v e d h i s e n t i r e l i f e i n t h e G u l f s t a t e T h e t w o o t h e r v i c t i m s h a v e f a m i l i e s b a s e d i n P a k i s t a n , a c c o r d i n g t o D o h a N e w s r e p o r t

Pakistan’s mission in Türkiye obser ves ‘Black Day ’ in solidarit y with Kashmiris

ANKARA

Pakistan’s embassy in Washington organised an event to observe “Black Day” in which Ambassador Ma sood Khan said that Kashmiris will and the steadfast support of the Pakistani nation would continue to sus tain the movement for justice

The right to self determination is an inalienable right of people of Jammu & Kashmir and no power on earth can deny that fundamental right,” Khan told the gathering which included the president of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry, as the chief guest, and other Kashmiri lead ers including Ghulam Nabi Fai and Imtiaz Khan

Also present were members of the Pakistan American community, activists, students and media representatives

The messages of President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif were read out on the occa sion Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed member of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom Wajid Khan, UK’s shadow Justice Minister Afzal Khan, US activist for Kashmir cause Daniella Khan, Associate Professor of History at Quaid i Azam University Dr Ilhan Niaz, and Kashmiri activist Shaista Safi sent video messages

Speaking on the occasion, President Chaudhry highlighted various efforts that have been made in

past to engage the international community and high light the issue of Kashmir at the international level

He also shared his thoughts about the recent at tempts by the Indian government to change the de mographic character of the illegally occupied territory of Kashmir

The president urged the participants to become the voice of Kashmiris by not only engaging US law makers and raising the issue on international plat forms but also proactively participating in the US political process

In his remarks, Ambassador Khan presented a his torical perspective of the longstanding issue high lighting the immense sacrifices by the people of Pakistan in their moral, diplomatic and political sup port for the just cause

Noting continuing inattention that had made Kashmir a blind spot for the international community, he said that the decades old dispute was a perpetual threat to the peace and stability of the region

Ambassador Khan urged the people of Kashmir not to lose hope, as the flame of liberty must con tinue to burn in your heart ”

Senator Sayed, in his video message, expressed solidarity with the people of Kashmir on behalf of the Parliament and called upon the international commu nity that there should be no double standards with re gard to any illegal aggression, occupation and annexations

Pa k i s t a n w i t n e s s e s 3 0 0 p c r i s e i n G LO F, s e a l e ve l s i n o n e ye a r

S L A M A B A D A P P

The

T h e m e e t i n g o f t h e S e n a t e S t a n d i n g C o m m i t t e e w a s h e l d u n d e r t h e c h a i r o f S e n a t o r S e e m i E z d i a n d w a s a t t e n d e d b y S e n a t o r s K h a l i d a

A t e e b , K e s h o o B a i , A b i d a M u h a m m a d A z e e m Ta j H a i d e r K a m r a n M i c h a e l a n d s e n i o r o ff i c e r s o f t h e M i n i s t r y o f C l i m a t e C h a n g e a l o n g w i t h i t s a t t a c h e d d e p a r t m e n t s a n d a g e n c i e s M i n i s t e r f o r C l i m a t e C h a n g e , S e n a t o r S h e r r y R e h m a n w a s a l s o p r e s e n t D u r i n g t h e b r i e f i n g i s s u e s t a k e n u p e n t a i l e d p r e p a r a t i o n s o f t h e M i n i s t r y f o r t h e 2 7 t h C o n f e r e n c e o f

t h e P a r t i e s o f t h e U N F C C C ( C O P 2 7 ) a n d t h e L i v i n g I n d u s I n i t i a t i v e T h e C o m m i t t e e w a s i n f o r m e d a b o u t t h e m a j o r i s s u e s t h a t t h e M i n i s t r y o f C l i m a t e C h a n g e w o u l d b r i n g t o t h e t a b l e i n c o n t e x t o f d r a s t i c e ff e c t s o f C l i m a t e C h a n g e i n Pakistan It was asserted that Pakistan i n t h e l a s t t w o d e c a d e s h a s w i t n e s s e d 152 extreme climatic events that have l e d t o a n i n c r e a s e i n f o o d i n s e c u r i t y I t a d d e d t h a t t h e Wo r l d B a n k h a d e s t i m a t e d P a k i s t a n f l o o d l o s s e s a t U S D 4 0 b i l l i o n I n w a k e o f t h e p l e d g e s m a d e d u r i n g p r e v i o u s C O P 2 6 , P a k i s t a n w a s i n t h e f r o n t l i n e f o r a d v o c a c y f o r c l i m a t e f i n a n c e t h a t w a s m o s t e s s e n t i a l f o r a n y p r o g r e s s o n e n v i r o n m e n t a n d c l i m a t e i s s u e s , t h e m e e t i n g w a s t o l d The Committee was informed that P a k i s t a n w a s s u g g e s t i n g t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f a t r a n s p a r e n t m e c h a n i s m c l e a r l y d e f i n i n g C l i m a t e F i n a n c e n e e d s a n d e n c o u r a g i n g s i m p l i f i e d p r o c e d u r e s f o r i t s a c c e s s

A n A d o l u Ag e n c y P a k i s t a n ’s e m b a s s y i n T ü r k i y e o n T h u r s d a y o b s e r v e d B l a c k D a y t o e x p r e s s s o l i d a r i t y w i t h t h e p e o p l e o f I n d i a n o c c u p i e d J a m m u a n d Kashmir on the 75th anniversary of the dispute over the region The occupying power India has been trying to silence the Kashmiri struggle for freedom and peace through armed aggression, but history is replete with instances telling that no possible device and design can destroy the will and determination of the people,” said Abbas Sarwar Qureshi, deputy head of mission at the embassy, at an event commemorating the 75th anniversary the day in Ankara, Türkiye s capital

U N d e c l a re d r i g h t to s e l f d e te r m i n at i o n

i n a l i e n a b l e r i g h t o f K a s h m i r i s : E nvoy

T

S

S y e

DE S P I T E lapse of two months of devastating floods in Swat District, re habilitation and resettle ment of the affected people could not started and it is feared that their miseries will be compounded by the winter which is about to start

According to data compiled the Provincial Disaster Management Au thority (PDMA) during a damage as sessment survey, 34 people including six children and a woman were killed in the devastating flood of August 26 in Swat District, while 28 injured were injured Similarly 88 houses were completely destroyed during the flood while 145 were partially damaged Apart from this 29 other buildings have also been affected by the flood

The PDMA statistics are correct but the reality is quite the opposite Many hamlets along river banks in Kalam Bahrain Madyan Matta and Khwazakhela were washed away by the roaring floodwater The number of damaged houses is in hundreds while more than 200 trout fish farms, 2 large hatcheries, several educational institu tions, mosques, religious schools (Madrasas) and many hotels have also been washed away by the flood

Apart from this, peach, persim

mon, apricot, plums, apple and other fruit orchards and vast fields of vegeta bles were also washed away by flood water

According to a conservative estimation, flood caused a huge loss of Rs20 to 25 billion in Swat valley

On other hand, the KP government has provided compensation amounting to Rs0 5 million each to the heirs of those who lost lives and Rs0 2 million to the injured, but unfortunately, despite the passage of two months, no relief money could be provided to the dis placed victims The affected people complained that despite the fact KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan belongs to Swat, he has so far failed to take any step for resettlement of those rendered homeless by the devastating flood

The Village Council Roringar in Tehsil Matta where village Mandaldag was completely wiped out by furious floodwater while the surroundings have also changed drastically after calamity

Iftikhar Ali, a local body represen tative of the village council informed that 96 houses and more than 40 shops had been washed away by floodwater in one of the villages in his village councils besides wiping out 17 Trout fish farms, schools, mosques and or chards from the village map and where now only destruction and big stones were visible Though the calamity has gone now and become a part of the past, condition of the affected people

UNDP puts estimated rehab, reconstruction cost of flood-hit areas at $16.3b

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

The updated post disaster needs assessment has called for urgent support to implement a recovery and reconstruction that ‘Builds Back Better’ based on the principles of the poor first transparency inclusion and climate resilience in flood hit area of Pakistan The assessment estimated total damages to exceed USD 14 9 billion and total economic losses to reach about USD 15 2 billion Estimated needs for rehabilitation and reconstruction were at least USD 16 3 billion, not including much needed new investments to strengthen Pakistan’s adaptation to climate change and overall resilience to future climate shocks or reconstruction needs of affected private entities, an updated report of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pakistan said Housing; Agriculture and Livestock; and Transport and Communications sectors suffered the most significant damage, at USD 5 6 billion, USD 3 7 billion, and USD 3 3 billion, respectively Sindh is the worst affected province with close to 70 percent of total damages and losses, followed by Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Punjab The Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives led the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) which was conducted jointly with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Union (EU), the United Nations agencies with technical facilitation by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the World Bank The PDNA, in addition to estimating damages, economic losses and recovery and reconstruction needs, also assesses broader macro economic and human impacts and recommends principles along which to develop a comprehensive recovery and reconstruction framework The floods affected 33 million people and more than 1730 lost their lives They are particularly impacting the poorest and most vulnerable districts The situation is still evolving, with flood waters stagnant in many areas, causing water borne and vector borne diseases to spread, and more than 8 million displaced people now facing a health crisis

has not changed and cold weather has entered from above multiplying diffi culties of the victims”, he said

“I am the youth councilor of my area and the residents have elected me by giving more than 1,600 votes, but it is a pity that neither we have the au thority nor the Chief Minister of Khy ber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan and MPA elected from the area and provin cial minister Muheebullah Khan do not even listen to us and people come to us and demand us Iftikhar Ali said

Amir Salam Khan, 65, a resident of village Mandaldag, said that he had built an eight room house for himself after working hard for a lifetime and was living in his house with his mar ried sons, but his house was com pletely destroyed and now they have taken refuge with their relatives adding that at this time their life is going through a lot of difficulties and now the winter season has also started

“We don’t have a house and we don t have the money to run the wheel of life What we had with us has been washed away by the flood and our provincial government has not helped us,” he regretted

Amir Salam Khan said that Chief Minister KP Mahmood Khan belongs to this area but unfortunately he has not asked about condition of people of the area so far, nor has bothered to visit the area and “console the people with

mere claims ”

Forty eight year old Umar Farooq said that it has been two months since the floods but they have not received anything from the government

“In this situation, if we are not helped immediately, our life can be very difficult,” he said, adding that people of the area go to work in sugar cane mills in Sindh and Punjab at the end of November, but after the floods, there are no signs of their employment

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Min ister Mahmood Khan visited Swat last week and spoke to the media in Gabin Jabba area of Tehsil Matta He said on this occasion that after the flood disas ters restoration and rehabilitation has been underway at a brisk pace

“The KP Government will com pensate all the affected people in 15 to 20 day,” he had claimed and added that construction of houses was his first pri ority and in this context he had in creased the compensation for the construction of damaged houses from Rs0 2 Million to Rs0 4 million to help affected people resettle in their houses

The flood affectees have expressed regret that the government officials come and hold photo sessions with an nouncements, but practically no steps could be taken so far for their rehabil itation and resettlement, which is a question mark on the performance of the rulers

Naveed Q amar urges diversific ation of Pakistan’s expor t por tfolio with EU

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

Federal Minister for Commerce and Investment Syed Naveed Qamar in a meeting with Executive Vice President of European Union Commission and EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis in Brussels on Friday expressed Pakistan’s desire to diversify its export portfolio with EU

The commerce minister was joined by Pak istan s Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union Dr Asad Majeed Khan, said a press release from the Pakistan’s embassy in Belgium

During his meeting with Valdis Dombrovskis, the minister underscored that the GSP Plus facil ity had been mutually beneficial and played an

important role in the growth of trade between the two sides

He reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment towards the effective implementation of GSP Plus related international Conventions and hoped that the new scheme would continue to focus on its primary aims of sustainable development, good governance and poverty alleviation without overburdening the partner countries with fresh conditionalities Naveed Qamar stressed that investment from the EU in manufacturing and agro food sectors will help Pakistan diversify its exports to EU in a sustainable manner While highlighting the impor tance of Pakistan EU trade and investment rela tions, Vice President Dombrovskis reaffirmed EU Commission s interest in further strengthening this partnership

Severe dengue outbreak sparks fear in KP

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) health department has confirmed dengue infliction in at least 299 persons in the province during the last 24 hours With the latest addition to the list of affected the number of dengue virus patients soared to 17,543 As per the health department spokesperson, the provincial capital was the most affected by the mosquito borne virus In 24 hours 120 new cases of dengue infliction were reported in Peshawar, putting the total number of virus sick persons in the district at 7,204 As of now, the total number of dengue cases in Mardan stands at 3,496, Khyber at 1,076, and Nowshera at 898 At least 14 persons have lost their lives to the virus in the province during the current season of which eight persons hail from Nowshera, five from Khyber, and one each from Mansehra and Mardan Moreover, a total of 85 patients are under treatment for the mosquito borne virus in different hospitals in the province, according to the data provided by the health department

BHC CJ summons Home Secretar y over cour t firing incident

KARACHI

S ta f f R e p o R t

Sindh Education and Culture Minister Syed Sardar Shah, on Friday said that over 52,000 new teachers have been recruited in a transparent manner to address the issue of shortage of teachers in government schools of the province

He while addressing a press conference here at the Sindh Assembly Building, said that process of recruit ment on 60,000 vacancies of teachers was initiated through a neutral testing service, and so far posting or ders had been issued on 70% available posts to eligible candidates

Due to certain issues offer letters of some candidates

have been withheld and those would be issued after ver ification of the documents, he said, and added that in Thatta and Sujjawal districts 70 percent of the posts of teachers were left vacant

Sardar Shah said that posting of newly recruited teachers in schools with shortage of teachers would be first priority so that the closed schools could be opened and teaching process be resumed in such schools

He claimed that after the new recruitment none of talukas would be left without a teacher in the school

The education minister informed that education ministry has communicated to Sindh Public Service Commission for recruitment on another 4 800 new va cancies of music and art teachers as well

Giving details of damages to school building due to

flood he said that 12 000 schools have been affected and out of them 5,000 of them have been completely destroyed

Schools partially affected must undergo fitness checks to ensure the safety of children, he maintained, and vowed to take measures for restoring the teaching process in 15 thousand classrooms

He said that out of Rs 271 billion education budget 80% goes on salaries and 15% on other expenditures so government needed support of international institutions for the development of education Earlier, the education minister also chaired a meeting on teacher recruitment that was attended by Secretary School Education Akbar Laghari, Directors of Schools, DEOs and other officers

The meeting was informed that the offer letters had been issued to 15,885 candidates against 17,684 vacant posts of junior elementary school teacher while offer letters had also been issued to 35,153 candidates against 40,167 vacancies of primary school teacher

The education minister instructed District Education Officers to attach first priority to posting of teachers in such schools where there was a shortage of teachers and ensure that no school remain closed due to non avail ability of teachers

I m ra n co m e s o u t w i t h g u n s b l a z i n g a g a i n s t E s t a b l i s h m e n t

ConTInUED fR oM PAgE 01

“You should take part in this march even if you do not belong to the PTI The nation must reject decisions taken behind closed doors,” Chaudhry told the press He underlined the future of Pakistan was dependent on the success and failure of today s march If this movement fails, then the nation will fail,” he added Meanwhile, speaking to the media ear lier in Islamabad Minister for Interior Rana

Sanaullah Khan said the government will deal with long march participants with an iron hand, and take “strict action” if they at tempt to break the law and create a law and order situation in the capital

He said the Supreme Court’s orders re garding the protest were clear “If protesters abide by the law we will facilitate them he added

He said democracy will be rendered meaningless if “mob culture” continued to grow in the country

STRICT SECURITY: Authorities have tightened security in Islamabad ahead of the march The government has deployed thou sands of security personnel to block the pro testors from entering the capital

According to officials, the Ministry of Interior has decided to deploy around 30,000 police rangers and para military troops in Islamabad and not allow protesters to enter the Red Zone near the Parliament House

The residences of the president and prime minister, ministers’ offices, parliament,

and other important buildings, including for eign embassies, are located in the Red Zone

The ministry has also deployed paramil itary Frontier Constabulary (FC), while po lice from Sindh will be called out to assist the Islamabad police

The authorities also sent hundreds of con tainers into Islamabad to barricade all entry points before the arrival of demonstrators

Meanwhile, Islamabad police have is sued instructions to its officers pertaining to the code of conduct during the march Offi

cers deployed at the frontline will be wearing anti riot gear whereas those without proper gear will be posted outside the reach of the protesters

Similarly police personnel deployed to counter the long march will not be armed with weapons and would only be allowed to carry batons

They have been told to avoid the upper parts of the body when hitting protesters in case of baton charge and use their shields effectively in case of stone pelting by the protesters

Islamabad: Federal Minister for Human Rights Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada addressing as Chief Guest the Consultation and Analysis session arranged by National Commission on the Rights of Child on the issue of Child Marriages in Pakistan pR

Polarized Pakistan

Th O U g h PTI chief Imran Khan’s much awaited

Long March did not start on Friday after prayers, the verbal battle between him and the establishment was joined on Thursday with an unprecedented appearance by Dg ISI Lt gen Nadeem Anjum, accompanied by Dg ISI Lt gen Babar Iftikhar, at a press conference The presser did not target the Long March, nor general Nadeem mention Mr Khan specifically but he clearly indicated the military s distancing from the Long March, and he also made a couple of revelations which dented Mr Khan’s narrative

First was his pointing out that Mr Khan met people in the night and called them traitors the next day The revelation that Mr Khan had offered the COAS a lifetime extension just before the no confidence bote that ousted him, goes against Mr Khan’s narrative that the military had conspired to oust him as PM The presser also discussed the muder in Kenya of journalist Arshad Sharif, with general Babar stressing Mr Sharif s departure from Dubai had to be investigated The hints that were being made about Mr Sharif ’s killing, that it was targeted, were reversed, and both generals spoke about the need to determine who had persuaded Mr DSharif to go to Kenya Mr Khan has upped his attacks on the military since his ouster, and on Friday evening showed no deviation from this, while reacting in a TV interview to the presser, asking why the ISI and ISPR had held a political press conference if the institution had indeed become apolitical By refusing to respond on the ground that he would be led into attacking the institution, he made his feelings clear

One of the effects of the presser was that the rift between the PTI and the military, once so firmly on the same page has come out in the open The institution has finally reacted to the uncountable pinpricks to which it had been subjected by the PTI, especially its social media trolls There should be no confusion, going forth, about institutional support for the PTI It is significant that both Dgs also separately said that the decision to be apolitical was institutional, not individual, and would not be reversed The thrust of their remarks also indicated a resentment that the COAS had been targeted It would be difficult to see a worse curtain raiser for the Long March, which is aimed among other things at persuading the military to make sure that elections took place soon

Wh O murdered journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya? This is the major question every Pakistani is asking The answer is simple: Arshad Sharif was the vic tim of polarized Pakistan eight years ago, in 2014, Pakistan was not so di vided politico socially Polarization was made possi ble by pitting one media channel against the other One team of newspapers was hired to undermine the other newspaper One squad of reporters was made to stand against the others A team of analysts was asked to peddle one kind of narrative opposed to the other one Dissenting journalists were intimidated, kidnapped and beaten Freedom of expression was made selective Freedom of press was rendered dis criminatory

Billionaires were marshaled to fund the cam paigns electables were arranged to swell the political ranks of a political party ethnic parties were extorted for their existence Islamism was fanned and region alism was projected Nationalism was exploited to meet political objectives Judges were blackmailed and hired to issue one kind of decision The possibil ity of like minded judges was frozen All circum stances were made to project one type of account at the cost of the rest

Social media teams also jumped into the fray tak ing the rift to a new height The users were bom barded with cropped pictures, forged data, and phony information to serve a given purpose A club of vol unteers appeared to disrespect any given opponents Money was brought in to pollute the electoral cam paigns more than before It took a lot of effort to make Pakistan polarized by the year 2018

Today, in 2022, the political chessboard is di vided viciously Along the same lines society is also forked hatred in one section is dominant against the other Mutual respect has waned Vituperation is a norm Differentials are more than togetherness Shar ing is both minimized and missing

The strife surrounding the division has increased manifold Like mindedness has got entrenched in the

higher judiciary which hates the difference of opin ion even in its decisions Provinces want to win against the Centre The Punjab Assembly has wit nessed the longest session of four months before pro roguing the session for an indefinite period

One Pakistan is now fighting against the other Who is responsible for this all? Who polarized Pak istan? Polarization consumed the life of Arshad Sharif

Listen to the speech of Manzoor Pashteen at the Asma Jahangir Conference in Lahore the other day he has been booked on terrorism charges for his speech Can a speech invite terrorism charges? The assumption is that he would moderate his words: he would not speak the truth Is it possible? Instead of addressing his grievances, he is being penalized

Owing to polarization, anyone can be a victim In 2019, the Anti Narcotics Force claimed to have re covered 15 kg heroin from the possession of Rana Sanaullah, today’s Interior Minister Though yet to be proven, mere indictment carries a death penalty or life imprisonment It is known that the heroin traf ficking case was a fake

The case was an exam ple of how the uniform was used to penalize targeted politicians Can anyone think that a uniformed force could stoop so low to hush up a politician? Respect of the uniform was put at stake by the wearers themselves This was an example to reckon with The point is simple: when the uniform is not con scious of its credibility, how can Pashteen respect the same? Now respect is being earned through registering cases on terrorism charges

prone to sentimentalism in the name of religion or even ethnicity, would take informed decisions What an expectation!

Why was there no possibility for diverting funds to lay infrastructure for schools and colleges to educate the masses who would take informed decisions in the future? What not invest in the future of the country?

Journalist Arshad Sharif was not assassinated in the wild confines of Kenya but on the border of polariz ed Pakistan. He was a victim of the division that he had to follow adver tently or inadver tently to make his sur vival possible in the media. The dissection haunted him to death. If Pakistan had not been polariz ed, Arshad Sharif would have been alive today

Around 2014 the pro moters of polarized Pakistan remained obsessed with the ideals of the Bangladesh Model The model was an expression of a soft coup which was justified on the excuse that the political system was replete with corrupt politicians and that the voters were also incapable of electing honest politicians That is, both should be honest, politicians and the voters hence, it was a self assumed nation alist duty to cleanse the political system of corrupt el ements and educate the masses to elect honest politicians

The ultimate objective was the welfare of the public: People should be rightly guided to make in formed decisions The idea was the wonder of the age Uneducated and semi literate people who are

n d s o c i e t a

nomic, biological, environmental, in a broader sense

But having said that the impact of societal expecta tions, daily interactions, and set standards have a huge impact on an individual‘s mental health And its negative impact encompasses all sections of society

accept her decision irrespective of what society says Society should accept people as they are rather than disturbing their lives by setting high standards The pri ority should be given to the mental health of individuals rather than making them vulnerable

These are things that can be controlled and are man ageable and everyone can play a role

For how long would Pak istan amass tanks and guns, especially when Pakistan is a nuclear capable country? Why should it be the case that the masses arrange for education on their own but then vote for the politicians required by the proponents of the soft coup?

Nevertheless, the soft coup was possible if both ju diciary and military joined hands to help the masses winnow the right from the wrong The advocates of po larized Pakistan made the existence of the soft coup a necessary instrument before it was too late to correct the country s trajectory In 2014, the time was running out In 2022, however, the genius of the soft coup is on a retreat Neutrality is being proclaimed Association with politics is being regret ted and dissociation from politics is being pro nounced For the champions of the soft coup withdrawal is an option What about the masses and what about the sufferers? The question is this: Who would reap the reward and retribution of the soft coup which polarized Pakistan? Why should one not trace the footprints of the soft coup that left Pakistan polarized?

Journalist Arshad Sharif was not assassinated in the wild confines of Kenya but on the border of po larized Pakistan he was a victim of the division that he had to follow advertently or inadvertently to make his survival possible in the media The dissection haunted him to death If Pakistan had not been polar ized, Arshad Sharif would have been alive today

The writer can be reached at qaisarrashid@yahoo com

p r e s s u r e s

ning after perfection and chasing dreams has taken cen trestage And, if somehow someone tries to break this chain he is designated a loser and is left behind In all this materialism people have forgotten that mental well being and good mental health hold a key place in life And, without peace of mind, all their achievements and successes have no value

Th e World health Organisation defines mental health as “mental health is a state of mental well being that enables people to cope with the stresses of life realise their abilities learn well and work well, and contribute to their commu nity” Learning and spreading awareness about mental health is important because it encompasses our emo tional, psychological and social well being and affects how we think, feel and act”

Mental health affects people in their daily life behav ior, acts, interactions, and relationships It also impacts physical health Similarly, physical health, daily routine matters and interactions and acts affect mental health

Mental health is like physical health that needs proper care and people should be made aware of it

But while people care about their physical health mental health remains ignored The concept of keeping at the front our mental health and also of others in our daily lives is rare and not taken care of expressing men tal health is a challenge and if someone gathers the courage to talk about it, he is termed weak and vulnera ble in most cases

Many factors are responsible for poor mental health or mental health disorders These include social, eco

A student suffers from depression for getting fewer marks in exams and failing to get admission to a desired discipline or university A married woman suffers from mental illness because of domestic violence which she tolerates just for the sake of saving her marriage and avoiding a divorcee tag A person suffers from depres sion for not having a home, not having a car, not earning enough, and not enjoying the privileges of life A bulky person suffers from a mental disorder because of contin uous bullying and body shaming

It shows that a society that should have been pro gressive is regressive And mental health is not a prior ity And a family that should have been a protective and encouraging force has given up on societal expectations and standards Both society and family should play a positive role in an individual’s life

A society should be progressive with a healthy envi ronment for everyone without setting high standards A family should be an encouraging force in an individual’s life It should leave aside all societal expectations, provide support and accept its members as they are, care about their mental health, and not put an extra burden on them

A student who got fewer marks in exams should not be compelled to attempt suicide or pressurised enough to go into a state of depression, but rather be accepted and encouraged

A person who cannot give his family a luxurious life but works hard to provide a standard life should be ap preciated rather than pressured to do more A woman who lives in an abusive marriage should have enough freedom to expose her perpetrator and her family should

Peace of mind and good mental health will help indi viduals to do the work they love to the fullest of their ca pacity It will help them perform routine activities in a better way It will help in the creation of a progressive society

Unfortunately, we are living in a world where run

Unfor tunately, we are living in a world where running after perfection and chasing dreams has taken the centre stag e . And, if somehow someone tries to break this chain he is designated as a loser and is left behind. In all this materialism, people have forgotten that mental well being and good mental health hold a key place in life

As materialistic values and materialism have taken over human beings over the last couple of decades, the level of contentment has declined And the greed to achieve more and more has destroyed peace of mind

Society has set the same high standards for every in dividual Those who achieve these standards are success ful while those who fail to do so are unsuccessful

All human beings are different They all have differ ent talents and capacities By Judging every individual on the same standards, society has created an environ ment where mental well being is compromised for un necessary societal pressures

With other factors, the most important reason for all this restlessness and confusion is that in all these mate rialistic standards we have forgotten that not everything is in the hands of individuals What is in the hands of an individual is effort and hard work and after that every thing should be left to the Almighty

If that is kept in mind then the one living in his house and the one in a rented house both will be happy and have contentment and peace of mind every occupation will be worthy and every individ ual will be judged on his qualities and not on his status It will help individuals to not surrender to societal pres sures and live a life of their choice hence a progressive and free society could be achieved

This cannot happen in a single day every section of society should contribute to letting people think about their mental health and well being and helping them leave aside all societal pressures and unreasonable standards

The writer is freelance columnist

ISI chief ’s

presser

Long March first shot in salvo

B a n g l a d e s h ’ s i n v o l v e m e n t

i n U N p e a c e k e e p i n g

1988, Bangladesh participated for the first time in both the United Nations Iran Iraq Military Observer group (UNIIMOg) in Iraq and the United Nations Transition Assistance group (UNTAg) in Namibia

In addition to multiple successful operations in Somalia, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Re public of the Congo Bangladeshi troops ensured that rebels in Liberia and the Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire) gave up and laid down their arms The country also closely monitored the elections in Mozambique, the Congo, Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Ivory Coast, and other African countries

In November 2019, the Bangladesh Police received the Best Police Unit Award for its ded ication to UN Peacekeeping missions The Nyala Super Camp in South Darfur, Sudan, was secured by the Bangladesh Formed Police Unit (FPU) 11, which received praise for its out standing efforts in boosting the capabilities of the police force

E d i t o r

s m a i l

Impor tance of research to manage floods

I N 2020, when Covid became a reality and the world community endeavoured to find a solution to the problem, doctors and the research community stood up to the challenge and answered the call Across the world, doctors and scientists tried to have the vaccine ready and suggested preventive procedures to slow down the spread of the virus In comparison, after the devastating 2005 earthquake and the equally if not more catastrophic floods of 2010, our departments and institutions remained unprepared and all but paralysed

It took intense international pressure and extremely generous foreign funding to not only support us in recovering from those unfortunate times, but also to help us stand on our feet and establish relevant platforms, such as the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and its provincial counterparts They were supposed to work towards reducing the disastrous effects of future earthquakes and floods by conducting research and setting enhanced standards in addition to establishing a plan of action in case bridges or roads were swept away or damaged

Unfortunately, looking at the events of the last few months, it seems none of that happened as there was a visible disconnect between the government and various institutions not only in terms of priorities, but also understanding This year ’s floods affected the same infrastructure in many of the same locations that it had done in 2010 Likewise, the floods this year affected the same families that had suffered back in 2010

This has not only brought back memories of their loved ones, but also of the apathy of the government that seems to be caring more about who is in power instead of whom it rules over

The flow of information this year was better compared to 2010, and people themselves had been aware of the actual risk which made them evacuate their towns and villages before the disaster struck Things could have been even better had the NDMA and PDMAs been given their due rights and powers in the absence of which they are nothing more than paralysed institutions much like the rest of the government departments

Th e establishment and maintenance of stability through cooperation was the key motivation behind the UN s found ing in 1945 The primary objective of the UN is to “maintain international peace and security, and in pursuit of such ends, to take effective collective measures for the pre vention and removal of threats to the peace and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace and to bring about by peaceful means and in compliance with the prin ciples of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situa tions which might lead to a breach of the peace ”

As a part of a global peace movement, the UN Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO) were established in 1948 to settle international con flicts The first mission was to send UN Army investigators to the Middle east to observe the agreement between Israel and its Arab neigh bours In recent years, the UN peacekeeping op eration has changed to reflect the dynamic nature of international conflicts and the global political landscape The UN peacekeeping role was specifically extended after the Cold War South Asian countries send a sizable contin gent of soldiers to peacekeeping operations Peacekeeping operations are one area of inter national activity where the region’s united ef forts have had a positive effect

Bangladesh has assumed a leadership posi tion in the UN’s peacekeeping mission and is well versed in the history of such missions Bangladesh is one of the UN s most significant and trustworthy partners thanks to its ongoing commitment, adherence to the organization’s regulations and prompt adaptation measures It has stayed committed to acting as an account able UNPKO stakeholder despite the changing nature of the world s security environment

Instead of concentrating only on peacemak ing and peacebuilding, modern peacekeeping aims to ensure social protection in both pre and post conflict environments and to seal harmo nious connections After inter state warfare ended and armed conflict began, peacekeeping now has a variety of responsibilities that go be yond its core duties One of the main goals of UN peacekeeping missions may be to increase state efficiency and reduce state fragility As a result, the current batch of troops may signifi cantly affect the UN forces ability to operate

Despite challenging topographical, meteor ological, and other unfavourable conditions, Bangladeshi forces are completing the job with the utmost integrity, dedication, and profession alism Bangladesh has been actively taking part in peacekeeping operations all over the world for the past three decades and it has been essential to maintaining world peace and stability In

Since 1988, Bangladesh has sent almost 175,000 soldiers, including more than 1,800 women, on 54 peacekeeping operations to 40 different countries on five continents Presently, around 7,000 military and police are participat ing in ten distinct tasks The majority of Bangladesh s peacekeepers are stationed in Africa The nations and names of the missions where Bangladeshi personnel are presently sta tioned are included in the following table

When they first joined the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia in 1993, a detachment of 1,002 soldiers was headed by the 3rd east Ben gal Regiment an infantry regiment from the Bangladesh Army The operation in Cambodia was a huge endeavour for Bangladesh, and the military of that nation contributed a sizable de tachment to the peacekeeping effort

The Bangladeshi military participated in DDR efforts in Kosovo Timor Leste Sierra Leone, and Liberia as well as demining opera tions in South Sudan They have also helped Juba have access to water sanitation basic education jobs, and other means of livelihood In response to the growing threat presented by improvised ex plosive devices Bangladesh’s engineer Centre and School of Military engineering and Ordnance Centre and School have started providing special ized training on counter IeD All peacekeeping units getting ready for deployment to Mali receive specialized training from these two institutes

Bangladesh was one of the first countries to adopt the 2016 introduced Peacekeeping Capabil ity Readiness System It has accelerated its de ployment by contributing troops to the UN mission in Mali Bangladesh is dedicated to up holding its reputation in order to bring about world peace The most casualties occurred during three large ambushes against Bangladeshi contingents in 2017 and 2018 eight valiant Bangladeshi war riors gave their lives in these three ambushes in flicting serious injuries on 10 more troops

A brigade sized force was able to be sent to Freetown Sierra Leone as a result of Bangladesh’s prompt provision of more troops in response to the UN’s request and in compli ance with the mission s increased mandate Bangladeshi soldiers continued to serve in places like the Democratic Republic of the Congo by frequently keeping an eye on villages to maintain security Missions by Bangladeshi contingents in Darfur, Cyprus, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo were completed successfully

Former peacekeepers and observers claim that the UN hired the majority of Bangladeshi soldiers for peacekeeping operations worldwide over the previous three decades because of their neutrality, professionalism, and quick respon siveness during the deployment In addition to their competence, former members of the mili tary forces and the police claimed that Bangladeshi peacekeepers’ high moral standing while serving in UN missions also assisted the country in sending out more troops In 2011, 2014, 2015, 2021, and 2022, Bangladesh was the country that supplied the most troops

In 2021, some 110 Bangladesh Navy ser vicemen who took part in the UN mission to up hold stability in Beirut Lebanon were awarded the Peacekeeping Medal Rear Admiral Andreas Mugge, the Maritime Task Force (MTF) Com mander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, presented the medal to the officers and crew of the Bangladesh Navy destroyer Sangram in recognition of their contributions to peacekeep ing operations Since the Navy was sent to Lebanon 11 years ago, its personnel have per formed their responsibilities with the utmost in tegrity, commitment, and efficacy The Navy’s proud participation has strengthened Bangladesh s status and image overseas

Additionally Bangladesh was warmly com mended this year by the US embassy in Dhaka for their contributions to UN peacekeeping mis sions When Ahmad Tejan Kabbah the former president of Sierra Leone, paid a visit to Bangladesh in 2003, he expressed his apprecia tion for Bangladesh’s significant help to Sierra Leone as a result of the performance of the na tion s peacekeepers in Africa Ivorians fre quently called Bangladeshi soldiers “munami ” which is Ivorian for “my friend ” Additionally, the UN awarded medals to about 861 members of the Bangladesh Armed Forces including 19 women, who were serving with the UN peace keeping force in South Sudan (UNMISS) in 2020 for their unwavering efforts to ensure the safety of civilians

The UN peacekeeping deployment is a sig nificant illustration of internationalism and world collaboration It has been proven to be one of the best strategies for promoting and uphold ing global peace and stability The Blue hel met” now stands for global cooperation and collective leadership for world peace Bangladesh eventually joined the Blue hel met” family with pride due to its enormous com mitment to UN peacekeeping efforts over time The nation of Bangladesh has reached unprece dented heights as a result of its participation, serv ice, and sacrifice in UN peacekeeping missions for world peace Bangladesh has been building its reputation in the UN for more than three decades thanks to its diligence and commitment

As a global peacekeeper and advocate Bangladesh may be regarded as exceptional and exemplary Bangladeshi peacekeepers have served in Africa s arid regions and continue to do so They have made a significant contribution in a variety of fields as security personnel, medical professionals engineers trainers and advisors while dealing with numerous security threats, dif ficulties, and challenges Around the world, threats are currently taking on new dimensions which is likely to jeopardize world peace

Radicalization, environmental concerns, enormous human migration, the growth of right wing extreme nationalism, catastrophic catastro phes, trade conflicts, etc are some of the primary security dangers of the new millennium The UN may react to the fresh challenges and change its emphasis to take into account the developing na ture of the dispute and the evolving role of PKO If Bangladesh is to keep up with the rate of global development and manage difficult disagree ments, it may need to make progress

The writer is freelance columnist

Therefore, instead of expecting the government or its institutions to do anything on account of pre planning something that they seem to be simply unable to comprehend I would much rather ask the research community of the country to take the lead in this regard For the last 75 years, the community has been acting pretty much independently and selflessly in carrying out research on critical issues even though nobody has shown the willingness to make use of such efforts In an approach similar to what the doctors took during the Covid outbreak, researchers in the fields of engineering and all other relevant field should work on understanding the effects of the previous floods This should be done not only to establish cause and effect relations for the damaged infrastructure, but also to find the shortcomings in the design and/or execution of the structures that have been damaged, and the strengths of those that survived

OMAIR SHAFIQ PESHAWAR

Clinical Pharmacy

The emergence of clinical pharmacy as a practice was because of the seriously poor medicine control systems that existed in hospitals during the early 1960s It was initially termed ‘ward pharmacy’, but participation in medical ward rounds in the late 1970s signalled the transition to ‘clinical pharmacy’ Clinical pharmacy in the 1980s grew because of its ability to promote medication safety and to ensure that cost effective medicines were used in hospitals In the United States, pharmacists’ participation in physicians’ ward rounds have shown reduced adverse drug events by as much as 78 per cent and 66pc in medical and intensive care settings, respectively

Today, clinical pharmacy is an integral part of the health profession worldwide as its primary role is to provide safe, effective and accurate medicine dose Regretfully, this profession is not much known in Pakistan except a few well known, mostly private hospitals, the rest do not acquire the services of clinical pharmacists Balochistan does not have a single clinical pharmacist Some hospitals in Quetta, including the Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayyad hospital, the Bolan Medical Complex hospital and the newly established branch of Indus hospital, are considering hiring the services of clinical pharmacists by utilising hospital pharmacists

The absence of clinical pharmacists in the health profession puts the life of thousands of patients at risk, promotes ineffective use of medication, and accelerates medication wastage Additionally it leaves thousands of pharmacy graduates in a mental dilemma who go through five years of extensive study only to find there is limited practical implementation of their skills and knowledge post graduation The government must consider the integration of clinical pharmacists in the healthcare system It is their job to promote medication safety, reduce medication related issues and boost cost effective medication It will also open up job opportunities for pharmacy graduates who frequently switch careers or move abroad in search of employment

SHAMIR MURTAZA QUETTA

Coastal villages of Karachi

T h e coastal areas of Karachi are threatened by the infamous land mafia that has been active in centuries old fishing localities in the Keamari district Bhit Khori, too, is affected by the mafia now The landgrabbers are making fake documents in connivance with certain officials on the basis of which they are purchasing and selling properties in Bhit Khori

They use residential land for commercial purposes, and are said to be planning to construct motels and restaurants on such plots of land Bhit Khori is an abandoned fishermen s locality near Mubarak village Fishermen from Shams Pir Island, Kaka village and Khadda Lyari used to come here for fishing The activities of the land mafia will harm the culture and tradition of Mubarak village because the Bhit Khori link road passes through the residential areas of the village Commercial activities will affect the life of the village locals In fact, they are already being harassed by the mafia gangsters The same mafia has already grabbed the residential area of Manjhar goth located near Sunehra beach The local people have complained to the authorities concerned against the mafia, but there has been no response The authorities concerned should stop the illegal selling and purchasing of properties in Bhit Khori and surrounding areas, and cancel all the fake documents that are issued by the corrupt officials in the area

SARFRAZ HAROON KARACHI

KAMAL UDDIn MAzUMDer

W h y A M e r i C A n s C o n s i s T e n

M

ly M

s r e A d s o C i A l U p r i s i n g s i n T h

s

Th e most recent series of protests in Iran have baffled, intrigued and excited people every where perhaps none more than the easily ex citable American pundits, who are eager to read anything that happens around the world as a commentary on how exemplary their history and politi cal ideologies have been in the context of humanity at large Of course, they are sadly mistaken in this habitual assumption

Take the recent effort by New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, headlined “From Moscow to Tehran, a cri sis of illiberalism The first part is a critique of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine Douthat then turns to China with the same critical edge before moving to Iran where he notes that the Is lamic Republic represents a different sort of rival to west ern liberalism, [and] is enduring a wave of protests that, even if they don t topple the regime are a reminder of just how miserably unpopular the Islamic Revolution is today”

The moral of the story for Douthat is the triumphant assurance of western liberalism he continues: So their mixture of failure, defeat and, in the Iranian case, corrup tion and stagnation stand as a sustained caution to western thinkers trying to imagine something after liberalism Whoever these “western thinkers” plotting to ques

tion the sacrosanct liberalism might be, the distinguished New York Times columnist appears to be confusing the strategic rivals of US imperial designs for the region with competing ideologies

What ultimately drives Douthat and other reac tionary pundits is the notion that the debunked tri umphalism of Francis Fukuyama’s “end of history” was correct and thus their dearly beloved liberal democracies are not actually mired in calamitous neoliberal econom ics and warmongering neoconservative foreign policy

In other words all these people see in the Muslim world is Islamic terrorism They habitually pronounce that Islamism has failed, and therefore their treasured neolib eral economics and liberal democracies have triumphed

In the age of former US President Donald Trump and Trumpism, with armed mobs attacking their most sacro sanct institutions, you might think these people would pause before making these assertions But you would be mistaken: these commentators are blind to their own calamities and still need liberal lullabies, even as rioters storm the US Capitol and fascist political parties triumph across europe

ENDURING ANTI COLONIAL FORCES: These folks see nothing around the world except failed ideo logical attempts, particularly of the Islamist variety, to dethrone liberal democracy

And of course, they always find the writers who tell them what they want to hear As Shadi hamid noted in a provocative essay for First Things ” Douthat informs his readers, “the Muslim world’s various Islamist move ments anticipated the more recent western fascination with (and fear of) ‘post liberal’ politics ”

Sorry to break the news, but not everything that has happened in the Muslim world involves Islamist move ments” We have had profound and enduring forces of anti colonial nationalism and non eurocentric socialist movements, equally if not even more important than Islamist movements

The cumulative effect of these movements is still un folding towards a post neoliberal politics and economics Political ideologies bleed into each other ’s porous bound

aries, and the failure of one is the promise of another

It is thus no accident that a recent New York Times editorial, headlined “how the US can help support the women of Iran calling for change”, takes almost all of its cues from a regime change enthusiast committed to dismantling the ruling Islamist regime equally ridiculous is the recent misguided piece on the Iran protests published by the New Yorker where the sub ject of the piece has sold herself as the leader of the current uprising It is therefore quite natural that despite its legiti mate roots and aspirations the uprising is seen so suspi ciously by many progressive forces around the world

To be sure, US pundits are not the only ones misread ing and thus misrepresenting these protests Reactionary regimes in the Arab world, led by Saudi Arabia and the Israel, do the same for their own nefarious reasons

They do not see such movements as a concerted re bellion for political freedom and economic justice, but as an opportunity to dismantle a strategic enemy The fact that the US, Israel and Saudi Arabia believe they are the direct beneficiaries speaks to their inability to read the roots and consequences of these protests

What is lost on American pundits and their Arab and Israeli sidekicks is how revolutionary momentum across the Middle east from civil rights movements in Iran to the Gezi Park protests in Turkey reveal a far more potent and progressive force at work than their dreaded Islamism Islamism has always been integral, but never defin itive, to these uprisings, and even Islamist movements themselves are generally in a state of flux

The point here is not the potential success or failure of such movements The massive trust and confidence in Arab revolutions ended with torture chambers in Syria and egypt, corruption and authoritarianism in Tunisia and Sudan, and civil war in Yemen The point is to have an ac curate conception of what is happening in our homelands from Morocco in the west to Iran and Pakistan in the east

NEW FORM OF POLITICS: Given the common read ing of the vast and variegated Middle eastern revolutions as having failed to deliver, it is not strange to consider the current uprising in Iran as already doomed Such struc

tural functional readings are first and foremost in service of corroborating the ideological triumph of US and eu ropean neoliberalism, on the model that Fukuyama diag nosed and his neoliberal fan club now trumpets

For the world at large what matters is: what did the iconic egyptian revolutionary Alaa Abdel Fattah mean exactly when he said, in the title of his prison notebook, You have Not Yet Been Defeated?

By what authority and audacity does he have this confidence? It is by the sheer fact that in his person and persona Abdel Fattah represents the collectivity and plu rality of a revolutionary aspiration that does not remain fixated on one state or another, but constitutes an open ended rebellion of all nationals against all states

From one end of the Arab and Muslim world to an o t h e r, A b d e l F a t t a h ’s b r o t h e r s a n d s i s t e r s a r e i n j a i l , dreaming and delivering on the mandates of a deferred d e f i a n c e T h i s i s a n e w f o r m o f p o l i t i c s t h a t h a s n o t been conceived of in the neoliberal and neoconserva tive imagination

Amid the rise of anti liberal and anti democratic movements across the US and europe, this revival of Fukuyama s prognostications might seem utterly bizarre But the resurrection of the dead hobby horse of Fukuyama by reactionary American pundits is a desper ate and feeble attempt to reassure themselves that all is well and dandy in their western dreamland

Yet, all is not well Something is indeed rotten in their state of Denmark They are no longer the measure of anything but the havoc both political and environ mental, that they have wreaked upon the world

The world at large is on its own We may fail or suc ceed but in terms entirely domestic to our hopes and de spairs and neither our failures nor our triumphs are any commentary on how close or far we might be from the false promises of their “liberal democracies”

Hamid Dabashi is Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in the City of New York where he teaches Comparative Literature, World Cinema, and Postcolonial Theory

Umar Khalid’s real crime? Challenging the government as a Muslim

produced at the time of trial But that time never comes

Meanwhile, the word of the prosecution is accepted by the court, which acts like as advocate Guatam Bha tia has said a “stenographer of the police” The court appears to have forgotten its duty to guarantee that the police or the state do not deprive an individual of liberty

As feared, the Delhi high Court on October 18 rejected the bail application of Umar Khalid

The activist has been behind bars since Sep tember 2020 in connection with an alleged conspiracy related to the communal riots in the national capital in February that year Justice from India’s courts has become a rare excep tion, especially when the justice seekers are Muslims or critics of the government Indian courts have reversed the rule of “bail and not jail” for such citizens It requires ex traordinary courage for a judge to apply this norm to them If they do, as was done in the case of student activists Natasha Narwal, Devangana Kalita and Asif Iqbal Tanha, the Supreme Court warned that this should not become a practice This explains the contradiction in the two judge ments for which Justice Siddharth Mridul is responsible one that freed Narwal, Kalita and Asif and one that de nied freedom to Khalid The context of the cases is the same: the communal riots in North east Delhi in 2020

Looking at the proceedings that ultimately resulted in Khalid being denied liberty one wonders if the courts have forgotten that while deciding a bail application, an individual is not to be subjected to trial When deciding a bail plea the judiciary only has to ensure that freedom for the accused will not interfere with the course of fur ther investigation or trial All aspects of the case are not to be discussed This is unfair because the prosecutor is allowed to level charges without needing to produce ev idence, putting the defendant at great disadvantage The prosecution keeps saying that it has evidence that will be

If granted bail, is Khalid a flight risk? Could he in fluence a trial that depends on the whims and fancies of the police? Or is he fated to wait in jail for a trial based on a fantastic tale woven by the police? The bigger pic ture is more terrifying The promptness shown by the Supreme Court on October 15 in suspending the Bombay high Court order acquitting former Delhi University pro fessor GN Saibaba within a day shows that the judiciary does not exist to safeguard the freedom of Indian citizens, but to ensure that society loses this very sense of freedom In a democracy, the spirit of freedom survives only when the critics of the state are free to express their views, and remain free even after expressing such criticism

India’s judicial system appears to be saying that it cannot tolerate the freedom of the government s critics

The Bombay high Court made it amply clear on October 17 while rejecting the bail plea of Kabir Kala Manch singer Jyoti Jagtap that no one can lampoon or criticise the government The rejection of Khalid’s bail petition followed this order as well When read together, both or ders demonstrate that though geographically apart there is a meeting of minds Is this a conspiracy against democracy? Is it blasphemy to ask this question?

Yet, even after the judicial atrocity against Saibaba and Jagtap there was a flicker of hope an expectation that the idea of justice might be still alive somewhere in the justice system That hope was belied

It is also clear from the reason given by the court while dismissing Khalid’s petition that logic is taking a backseat The court agreed with the premise of Delhi Po lice that Khalid s speech at Amravati in Maharashtra was responsible for provoking violence in the national capi tal But where is the evidence? To reach this conclusion,

the bench seized upon the word “inquilab”, or revolution, that Khalid used in his speech In fascinating innocence, the bench wondered why Khalid offered a revolutionary salutation in a democratic country like India It remem bered Jawaharlal Nehru who had said that revolution was superfluous in India as it was a democracy Revolution is red Red is the colour of blood So, when one says “in quilab zindabad”, the court hears bloodshed

The court felt that the women in Shaheen Bagh a prominent site of sit in protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and elsewhere decoded the command issued by Khalid in faraway Amaravati and perpetrated violence in Delhi Going by this logic all leaders of the Communist parties should be in jail as no meeting starts without a krantikari salaam or revolutionary salutation

The court felt that if the word “revolution” was not prefixed with the word “bloodless”, it intended blood shed Since Khalid did not specify bloodless before “revolution” he was definitely giving a call for violence

Do the courts need to be reminded of the many rev olutions that have taken place since the 18th century French Revolution? From the 2014 Maidan revolution in Ukraine and Armenia’s 1989 Velvet Revolution to the 2010 Arab Spring, there have been many revolutions bloodless and involving people Should the courts be urged to read freedom fighter Bhagat Singh’s article on the use of the word revolution ? Singh defends the word revolution saying that it does not mean pistols and bombs and that it is essentially about ideas

Should courts be given examples of the use of the word revolution in the writings and speeches of Mohandas Gandhi, Nehru, freedom fighters Sardar Valbhbhai Patel, Sarojini Naidu and more that revolution does not mean bullets arson or murder? Should the courts be reminded of the slogan Inquilab Zindabad or Long Live Revolution?

Suppose one were to agree with the court that Khalid s speech is crucial in this case Why does the court then choose to ignore those parts of the speech where Khalid asks participants to respond to violence

with non violence with the tricolour in their hands? Why is the court not convinced that Khalid was sincere when he was asking citizens to remain non violent in the face of violence? Is it because his name is Umar Khalid?

Why does this court refuse to believe that a hindutva leader can never mean violence, even when he openly talks of taking up arms? The Delhi high Court’s order is a warning sign to Indian citizens Because it says that if anyone opposes the government, they are criminals Their protest itself is a crime

The court feels that the anti Citizenship Amendment Act movement was not a typical protest What is the court’s idea of what a typical protest should look like?

What was suspicious about a movement led by women braving the harsh winters of Delhi in the winter of 2019 and early 2020? Was it suspicious because it was led pri marily by Muslim women? Does the court also believe, like the Bharatiya Janata Party, that women in general and Muslim women specifically cannot have independent minds and can only be a cover for violent men?

The real tragedy, made clear from the police inves tigation is that the Delhi Police are not interested in find ing out the real cause of the riots in the national capital nor bringing the perpetrators to book The Delhi Police believe the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act was a criminal act, a conspiracy against the country everyone associated with the protest is deemed a con spirator or someone involved in violence

The police have been asked time and again, and that too by one of the judges of this court, why no case was filed against BJP leaders who threatened violence On Oc tober 11, BJP legislator Nand Kishor Gurjar alluded to his involvement in the riots, though he later claimed his re marks had been misinterpreted has he been questioned?

Umar Khalid’s only crime is that his name is Umar Khalid, and that he had the audacity to question the gov ernment as Umar Khalid

teaches Hindi in Delhi University

A M I D T H E R I S E O F A N T I L I B E R A L A N D A N T I D E M O C R AT I C M OV E M E N T S AC R O S S T H E U S A N D E U R O P E, T H I S R E V I VA L O F F U K U YA M A’S P R O G N O S T I C AT I O N S M I G H T S E E M U T T E R LY B I Z A R R E. B U T T H E R E S U R R E C T I O N O F T H E D E A D H O B BY H O R S E O F F U K U YA M A BY R E AC T I O N A RY A M E R I C A N P U N D I T S I S A D E S P E R AT E A N D F E E B L E AT T E M PT TO R E AS S U R E T H E M S E LV E S T H AT A L L I S W E L L A N D DA N DY I N T H E I R W E S T E R N D R E A M L A N D. YE T, A L L I S N OT W E L L

OBSESSED WITH THE NOTION OF ‘ISL AMIC TERR ORISM’ ARE QUICK TO PR ONOUNCE THE TRIUMPH OF THEIR TREASURED NEOLIBER ALISM

E lo N M u S K ta K E S c o N t r o l o f t w i t t E r ,

f i r E S E x E c u t i v E S

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ELON Musk took control of Twitter and fired its top executives late Thursday in a deal that puts one of the leading platforms for global dis course in the hands of the world’s richest man

Musk sacked chief executive Parag Agrawal, as well as the company’s chief fi nancial officer and its head of safety, the Washington Post and CNBC reported citing unnamed sources

Agrawal went to court to hold the Tesla chief to the terms of a takeover deal he had tried to escape The reports came hours be fore the court appointed deadline for Musk to seal his on again off again deal to pur chase the social media network

Musk tweeted earlier in the day that

the future of civilisation to have a

digital town square, where a wide

The New York Stock Exchange, mean while posted a pending order to suspend trading in Twitter before Friday’s session

Twitter did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the departure of its top executives, but the platform’s co founder Biz Stone thanked the three men in a tweet for their collective contribution to Twitter

“Massive talents, all, and beautiful hu mans each ”

‘CHief twit’ The closure of the deal marks the culmination of a long and drawn out back and forth between the billionaire and the social network

Musk tried to step back from the Twit ter deal soon after his unsolicited offer was accepted in April and said in July he was canceling the contract because he was mis led by Twitter over the number of fake bot accounts allegations rejected by the company

Twitter, in turn, sought to prove Musk was contriving excuses to walk away simply because he changed his mind

After Musk sought to terminate the sale, Twitter filed a lawsuit to hold Musk to the

agreement

With a trial looming the unpredictable billionaire capitulated and revived his takeover plan

Musk signaled the deal was on track this week by changing his Twitter profile to “Chief Twit” and posting a video of himself walking into the company s California head quarters carrying a sink “let tHat sink in!” He quipped

He even shared a picture of himself so cializing at a coffee bar at Twitter headquar ters earlier in the day on Thursday

Musk said during a recent Tesla earnings call that he was “excited” about the Twitter deal even though he and investors are “over paying twitter free for all?

Some employees who would prefer not to work for Musk have already left said a worker who asked to remain anonymous in order to speak more freely

But a portion of people, including me, are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now,” the employee said

The idea of Musk running Twitter has

World faces most dangerous dec ade since WWII: Putin

LONDON Ag e n c e s

President Vladimir Putin said that the world faced the most dangerous decade since World War Two, accusing what he cast as a declining West of engaging in nuclear blackmail against Russia

Putin said he had no regrets about sending troops into Ukraine, and accused the West of in citing the war and playing a dangerous, bloody and dirty” geopolitical game that was sowing chaos across the world “The historical period of the West s undivided dominance over world af fairs is coming to an end ” Putin Russia’s para mount leader, told the Valdai Discussion Club, a gathering of Russian specialists

“We are standing at a historical frontier: Ahead is probably the most dangerous, unpre dictable and, at the same time, important decade since the end of World War Two ”

Though he laid into the West, Putin appeared remarkably relaxed as he was questioned about

the prospects for nuclear war and how he felt about Russian soldiers killed in the Ukraine war, which he cast partly as a civil war Putin blamed the West for stoking nuclear tensions, citing remarks by former British Prime Minister Liz Truss about her readiness to use London’s nuclear deterrent if the circumstances demanded it Putin also repeated an assertion that Ukraine could detonate a “dirty bomb” laced with ra dioactive material to frame Moscow and dis missed as false Kyiv s suggestion that the allegation might mean Russia plans to detonate such a device itself We don t need to do that There would be no sense whatsoever in doing that ” Putin said adding that the Kremlin had responded to what it felt was nuclear blackmail by the West Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb 24 trigger ing the biggest confrontation with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis in the depths of the Cold War when the Soviet Union and the United States came closest to nuclear war

Philippines

COtaBatO, PhILIPPINES Ag e n c e s

Landslides and flooding killed at least 42 people as heavy rain from an approaching storm lashed the southern Philippines, a disaster official said Friday

The storm unleashed flash floods car rying uprooted trees, rocks and mud overnight in nine mostly rural towns around Cotabato, a city of 300,000 people on Mindanao island

Many residents were caught by sur prise as floodwaters rose rapidly before dawn, Naguib Sinarimbo, the spokesman and civil defence chief for the regional government, told AFP

Sinarimbo said 27 died in the town of Datu Odin Sinsuat, including 11 from a mountain village buried in mud, while 10 died in Datu Blah Sinsuat town and five were killed in Upi town

Teams in rubber boats had rescued

residents from rooftops in some towns, Sinarimbo said adding that 16 people were missing in the region

In recent years, flash floods with mud and debris from largely deforested moun tainsides have been among the deadliest hazards posed by typhoons on Philippine communities Mindanao is rarely hit by the 20 or so typhoons that strike the Philip pines each year and kill hundreds of peo ple But those that do tend to be deadlier than those that hit Luzon, the main island

A long mountain range walls off most of Luzon from the Pacific, where most storms are spawned, helping to absorb the blow, the state weather service said

Local filmmaker Remar Pablo told AFP he was shooting a beauty pageant in Upi when the floodwaters suddenly came in after midnight and forced audience members to flee

A row of cars sat half submerged on the street outside, his clips showed

“We were stranded inside,” said Pablo who eventually waded through the water to get home

Rescuers carried a baby in a plastic tub as they navigated chest deep water, a photo posted by the provincial police showed Floodwaters have receded in several areas, but Cotabato remained al most entirely waterlogged Sinarimbo said there could be more flooding over the next few hours because of heavy rain over mountains surrounding the Cotabato river basin

Our focus at this time is rescue as well as setting up community kitchens for the survivors,” he said

The army deployed its trucks to col lect stranded residents in Cotabato and nearby towns, provincial civil defence chief Nasrullah Imam said

“It was a shock to see municipalities which had never flooded getting hit this time, Imam said, adding that some fam

ilies were swept away when the waters hit their homes

The heavy rainfall began late Thurs day in the impoverished region, which is under Muslim self rule after decades of separatist armed rebellion

The state weather office in Manila said the downpours were partly caused by Tropical Storm Nalgae, which it expects to strengthen at landfall overnight Friday

Nalgae was heading northwest with maximum winds of 85 kilometres (53 miles) an hour and could hit Samar island late Friday or the Bicol peninsula on the southern tip of Luzon early Saturday

Nearly 5,000 people were evacuated from flood and landslide prone commu nities in these areas the civil defence of fice said

The coast guard also suspended ferry services in much of the archipelago nation where tens of thousands of people board boats each day

Nor th Korea fires two missiles into sea as South Korea wraps up drills

SEOUL Ag e n c i e s

North Korea fired two short range ballistic mis siles (SRBMs) off its east coast on Friday, South Korea s military said, while South Korean forces were wrapping up nearly two weeks of exercises aimed at deterring their northern neighbour The missile launches, at a time of growing fears that North Korea is preparing its first nuclear test since 2017, were the latest in a year in which North Korea has tested a record number of missiles, whether short range missiles intercontinental bal listic missiles (ICBMs), or others The SRBMs were fired from the Tongcheon area in the North s Gangwon province the South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, four days after the neighbours exchanged warning shots off the west coast of the divided peninsula “Our military is maintaining full readiness posture,” the JCS said in a state ment, adding that it had stepped up monitoring and security while co ordinating closely with the United States The launches did not pose an im mediate threat to the United States or its allies, the US military’s Indo Pacific Command said in a statement However they “highlight the desta bilising impact of North Korea s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic mis sile programmes, it added The nuclear envoys of South Korea, the United States and Japan spoke by telephone and condemned the launches as a provocation and violation of UN Security Council resolutions, South Korea’s foreign min istry said North Korea s nuclear and missile development will only lead to strengthening se curity cooperation in the region and abroad,” the ministry said in a statement urging North Korea to return to talks South Korean troops were set on Friday to finish the 12 day Hoguk 22 field exercises which have included some drills with US troops About 240 South Korean and US warplanes are due to begin the Vigilant Storm drills on Monday flying 1 600 sorties in the largest number of missions ever staged for such exercises, the US Air Force said

‘inCredibly ConCerning’ The allied air craft will perform “major air missions such as close air support, defensive counter air, and emer gency air operations 24 hours a day during the training period,” the air force said

inspec tions to S haanxi, Henan

BEIJING Ag e n c i e s

Chinese President Xi Jinping has stressed the importance of advancing rural revital ization across the board and striving tire lessly for achieving agricultural and rural modernization

Xi also general secretary of the Com munist Party of China (CPC) Central Com mittee and chairman of the Central Military Commission made the remarks during his inspections to the city of Yan’an in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province and the city of Anyang in central China s Henan Province

from Wednesday to Friday

In his first inspection after the conclu sion of the 20th National Congress of the CPC Xi came to Yan’an and visited an apple farm in the Nangou Village on Wednesday afternoon

Noting the great changes brought by agricultural modernization, he said more ef forts are needed to prioritize the develop ment of agricultural and rural areas and consolidate and expand China’s achieve ments in poverty alleviation

China eradicated absolute poverty and finished building a moderately prosperous society in all respects in 2021, thus complet

ing the First Centenary Goal Xi said the Party will do more to keep making people live an increasingly better life

The Communist Party of China is a party of the people, a party that serves the people, he said Hard work urged: Xi called for the enterprising spirit of self reliance and hard work when he visited the Hongqi Canal, or the Red Flag Canal in Linzhou City of cen tral China’s Henan Province on Friday morning

The canal a key irrigation project and major engineering feat of the 1960s, took local people almost 10 years to complete It

was built across the steep Taihang Mountain to bring water to the parched Linxian County, which is now known as Linzhou City The Red Flag Canal itself is a monu ment to the heroic spirit of the people of Linxian County who did not resign them selves to fate or give in to defeat Xi said

He urged the younger generation to carry forward the spirit and contribute to the real ization of the Second Centenary Goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects ‘Cultural ConfidenCe’

During his inspection to the central Chi nese city of Anyang, Xi also underscored the

importance of building cultural confidence when he visited the Yin Ruins on Friday af ternoon

The ruins boast archaeological remnants of the ancient city of Yin, the last capital of the Shang Dynasty (1600 1046 B C ) The oracle bone scripts discovered within the ruins are considered to be the oldest Chinese inscriptions In 1928, Chinese archaeologists discovered the complex of the ruins which were added to the World Heritage List in 2006 by UNESCO

Xi said fine traditional Chinese culture can be better preserved through excavation, studying and protection of cultural relics

alarmed activists who fear a surge in harass ment and misinformation, with Musk him self known for trolling other Twitter users

But Musk said he realizes Twitter can not become a free for all hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences ” Musk has vowed to dial content moder

ation back to a bare minimum and is ex pected to clear the way for former US pres ident Donald Trump to return to the platform The then president was blocked due to concerns he would ignite more vio lence like the deadly attack on the Capitol in Washington to overturn his election loss

C

n PA k i s tA n s t i l l m A n A g e t o q u A l i f y

t

W o r l d C u P s e m i f i n A l s ?

tHE unexpected win by Zimbabwe over Pakistan in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 on Thursday has made Group 2 interesting for all the teams, but Pakistan’s chances of moving on in the tournament are now up in the air

After two games, Pakistan is in fifth place because they lost to India and Zimbabwe On the other hand India, South Africa, Bangladesh, and Zimbabwe are ahead of Pakistan

India has four points after two games, while both South Africa and Zimbabwe have three points after two games Bangladesh is good for two points

Pakistan s next game in the tour nament is against the Netherlands After that, they play South Africa and Bangladesh All three of these games are now must win for Pak istan Pakistan will not make it to the semifinals if they lose one more game

But it won t be enough for Babar Azam’s team just to win three games in a row They’ll also need help from other teams Now Pakistan s best case scenario is for Bangladesh to beat Zimbabwe, India to beat South Africa and Pakistan to beat the Netherlands on Sunday India will be in first place with six points, fol lowed by Bangladesh with four Zim babwe with three, and Pakistan with two points

Then on November 2 it will be

necessary for Pakistan for the Netherlands to beat Zimbabwe and India to beat Bangladesh On No vember 3 Pakistan will need to beat South Africa in Sydney

In this case, India will have 8 points Pakistan and Bangladesh will each have 4 points, and South Africa and Zimbabwe will each have 3 points

On November 6, all of the teams in the group will play Pakistan should beat Bangladesh and hope

India beats Zimbabwe and South Africa beats the Netherlands

If wishes were horses and every thing went according to Pakistan’s equation, India would be in first place with 10 points Pakistan would be in second place with 6 points, and South Africa would be in third place with 5 points

But Pakistan will be in trouble if South Africa beats India on Sun day If South Africa beats India, SA will have five points, and India will h a v e f o u r S o u t h A f r i c a w i l l p l a y the Netherlands and is likely to win I n d i a w i l l p l a y Z i m b a b w e a n d Bangladesh and will likely win both games

So, if South Africa beats India, Pakistan will have to hope that the Netherlands beats South Africa and Zimbabwe beats India to improve their NRR Pakistan s situation is likely to become clear by Sunday evening So, let’s keep Pakistan’s hopes alive by hoping India keeps winning and beats South Africa easily a

Australia vs England washout leaves group wide open for T20

F P

A h i g h l y a n t i c i p a t e d c l a s h b e t w e e n A u s t r a l i a a n d E n g l a n d a t t h e Tw e n t y 2 0 Wo r l d C u p w a s abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain on Friday in Melbourne leaving their group wide open

It was the second match of the day, after Ire land v Afghanistan to be washed out at the Mel bourne Cricket Ground and means all four sides take a point each in their hunt for a place in the semi finals

New Zealand lead Group One on three points the same as England, Ireland and holders Aus tralia but the Black Caps have a better net run rate and have a game in hand S r i L a n k a a n d A f g h a n i s t a n h a v e t w o p o i n t s T h e t o p t w o f r o m t h e g r o u p w i l l

The showdown between Ashes rivals England and Australia had been billed as a must win for both sides after each had won one and lost one Ireland skipper Andrew Balbirnie expressed his frustration after the rain denied his giant killers a crack at a win over Afghanistan

The Irish were pumped up after stunning Eng land by five runs on Wednesday in a rain affected encounter, but the wet weather checked their mo mentum against winless Afghanistan

The Afghans have now had two games aban doned Balbirnie said the situation was “very dis appointing” “We played some really good cricket the other night and were looking forward to this fixture against a team we know really well,” he said “We spoke a lot about it after the England

Cup

game, about backing up that performance and coming out here and playing some good cricket We didn’t get to show what we could do today, un fortunately “If it could have gone our way we could have gone to Brisbane (to play Australia on Monday) with a lot of hopes of going into the next round Ireland had form against the Afghans winning a five match T20 series 3 2 earlier this year Afghanistan are bottom of the group and skip per Mohammad Nabi was equally disappointed “The preparation was really good, we learned a lot from our first game against England and worked on our particular mistakes he said “We were fully ready the plan was to put a score on the board and bring the spinners into the game during the chase Next up in Group One is New Zealand against Sri Lanka on Saturday in Sydney

sindh Amateur golf Championship – Abdullah Ansar leads on first day

The First Round of 22nd Paragon Sindh Amateur Golf Championship was played on Friday at Karachi Golf Club Abdullah Ansar from KGC is leading with 73 one over par Arsalan Khan of the same club along with Qasim Ali khan of Gymkhana Club are jointly following Abdullah with 75 three over par Danyal Khan from KGC is holding 4th position on Day 1 In the veteran s category, Major Rizwan Farooq of DHA is leading with 40 four over nine holes He is followed by Rehan Mirza with 41 five over nine holes Col Shahid Mahboob is leading in over 75 years category with 39 over five holes The final round will be played on Sunday 30th October, 2022 Weather and visibility today at KGC were helpful The defending champion Yashal Shah is not competing due to his participation at Asia Pacific Amateur Golf Championship in Thailand

MelBoUrne

A F P

Batsman Shan Masood warned that his demoralised side must pick themselves up quickly and keep believing if they are to salvage their fading Twenty20 World Cup dreams

Pakistan suffered a shock one run loss to Zimbabwe in Perth on Thursday, four days after they went down to arch ri vals India in their tournament opener in a similarly agonising fashion

One of the pre tournament favourites, they now must win all their remaining games starting with the Netherlands on Sunday and hope other re

sults go their way

“We have three games that are in our hands yes we have to depend on few other results, but that’s the beauty of sport,” Masood who made 44 before Zimbabwe choked Pakistan to 129 8, told reporters in Perth

There are funny things that have happened in sport and we are going to believe and we are going to give it all in these three games ” Their bowlers kept Zimbabwe down to 130 8, but Pakistan faltered in their chase with Pakistan born Zim babwe all rounder Sikandar Raza taking three key wickets, including Masood, in the space of nine balls

Wi t h 11 n e e d e d o ff t h e

f i n a l o v e r, P a k i s t a n f e l l j u s t short to hand Zimbabwe a fa mous victory

“There is disappointment, no doubt To lose two matches with fine margins is very de moralising as we know the im portance of every point in this group, Masood said “But till the tournament doesn’t end, we can’t think ahead and can t look ahead What we can do now is to find our mistakes and to win the next three matches

He added: “To overcome this disappointment we have to come out on the ground and play well It’s only a good per formance on Sunday that will help us feel better

Psl holds its annual Corporate Briefing session

Pakistan Services Limited (PSL) conducted its third Corporate Briefing session at the Islamabad Marriott Hotel in compliance with the directives of the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Thursday, 27th October 2022 Senior Management of the Company, including Mr M A Bawany Vice Chairman Hashoo Group and Director of the Company, Syed Haseeb Amjad Gardezi, Chief Operating Officer Hashoo Group and Director of the Company, Mr Tahir Mahmood, Chief Financial Officer Mr Muhammad Amir Company Secretary and Board Members, Mr Shakir Abu Bakar, Mr M Ahmed GhazaliMarghoob, Mr Shahid Hussain and Mr Rohail Ajmal were present at the event The event was also attended by Chartered Accountants, Corporate Law Professionals, Lawyers and Company members Mr Amir opened the programme by presenting PSL s brief profile and success story followed by Mr Tahir Mahmood who shared the company's financial highlights to brief the investors and analysts about the company s current financial performance and outlook On the occasion Mr Syed Haseeb Ajmal Gardezi shared details on all the recent management agreements and introduced two upcoming five star hotels, Pearl Continental Hotel Multan and Pearl Continental Hotel Mirpur The event concluded with a comprehensive question and answer session

A k h t

a n t s

t

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ISLAMABAD: Shoaib Akhtar a legendary fast bowler was upset that Pakistan lost to Zimbabwe in their T20 World Cup Group 2 game at the Optus Stadium in Perth Zimbabwe chose to bat first; Mohammad Wasim Jr came back into the team and took four wickets; Zimbabwe scored 130/8 In response, Pakistan fell short by just one run, thanks to Brad Evans’ brave last over During his game analysis, Akhtar criti cized the team s strategy and said Babar Azam was not a good captain “I don’t know why it is so hard for you guys to understand I have said this before, and I am saying it again with our top and middle order, we can achieve big success We can t win consistently Pakistan has a bad captain Pakistan is out of the World Cup s tA F F R e P o

t

S pain prosec utors drop charges against Neymar and others

Barcelona Ag e n c i e s

Prosecutors in Spain on Friday dropped corruption and fraud charges against football star Neymar and others accused in a trial over the Brazilian’s 2013 move from Santos to Barcelona

In a dramatic move, the prosecu tor announced the withdrawal of the charges against all the accused and for all the allegations” they had faced

Neymar, 30, had said he did not remember if he took part in the ne gotiations which led to an agreement

sealed in 2011 with Barcelona over his transfer two years later to the Spanish side from Brazilian club Santos Spanish prosecutors had sought a two year prison term for Neymar a key member of the Brazil team that will be heading to the World Cup in Qatar next month, and the payment of a 10 million euro ($9 7 million) fine

The dropping of the charges is the culmination of a years long legal saga over Neymar ’s high profile transfer to Europe

He then joined Qatar owned Paris Saint Germain in a world record 222 million euro transfer in

2017 Neymar had been one of nine defendants on trial on corruption re lated charges among them his par ents and their N&N company, which manages his affairs Even if he had been convicted prison terms of two years or less are never enforced in Spain for a first time offender

Investigators began probing the transfer to Barcelona after a 2015 complaint filed by DIS, a Brazilian company that owned 40 percent of the player ’s sporting rights when he was at Santos, the club where he rose to global prominence

The firm claims that Neymar, Barcelona and the Brazilian club

colluded to mask the true cost of his transfer thereby defrauding it of its legitimate financial interests

Barca said the transfer was val ued at 57 1 million euros, with 40 million euros paid to N&N and 17 1 million to Santos, of which 6 8 mil lion was given to DIS

Spanish prosecutors believe the actual value was at least 83 million euros Neymar gave evidence earlier this month telling the court he had done nothing illegal and that he only signed documents his father gave him My father has always been in charge” of contract negotiations, he said “I sign what he tells me to ”

DIS also claims financial harm from the 2011 pre contract agreement with Barca claiming it had impeded other clubs from making offers and affected the value of the transfer fee

But the player s father Neymar Sr, told the court the talks had been authorised by the Brazilian club at the time and that it was Santos re s p o n s i b i l i t y ” t o i n f o r m D I S , a n d not his Apart from Neymar, his fa t h e r a n d h i s m o t h e r N a d i n e Goncalves, two former Barca pres i d e n t s , S a n d r o R o s e l l a n d J o s e p M a r i a B a r t o m e u a n d e x S a n t o s b o s s O d i l i o R o d r i g u e s F i l h o a r e among the defendants

Neymar ’s lawyers insist their client is innocent, saying the 40 mil lion euro payment from Barca was a “legal signing bonus which is normal in the football transfer market” Ney mar is having one of his best seasons since he joined PSG and is expected to play a key role for Brazil at the World Cup in Qatar He has scored nine league goals in 11 matches and made seven assists He is expected to lead the Selecao into their World Cup Group G opener against Serbia on November 24 as the South American giants begin their quest to win the trophy for the first time since 2002, and the sixth in total

MelBoUrne

SAudi Crown PrinCe will Soon viSit PAKiStAn, AnnounCeS PM

He also paid rich tributes to the sacrifices rendered by the police in the line of duty

MO H A M M E D bin

Salman has expressed willingness to support development projects in Pakistan said the prime minister, announcing the crown prince of Saudi Arabia would soon be visiting the country

His remarks come days after he concluded a three day state visit to the kingdom during which the two leaders resolved to upgrade bilateral relation ship and fraternal bonds

Speaking at the passing out parade of the Specialised Training Programme (STP) batch of the National Police Academy in Islamabad today, Shehbaz Sharif lauded the role of police in erad icating terrorism from the country, and maintaining law and order

The prime minister expressed con fidence the police would live up to the expectations of the people and won’t refrain from any sacrifice to maintain law and order

He also emphasised setting up a counter terrorism centre and forensic laboratory in the capital and urged working out a project in this regard

He mentioned that the counter ter rorism department and Punjab Foren sic Science Agency (PFSA) were role model departments which needed to be replicated in other parts of the country

Sharif congratulated the cadets who achieved awards in their profes sional field and also expressed satisfac tion over the contribution of the women police force towards national development He urged the cadets to

demonstrate dedication, professional ism and commitment in their field

Sharif said the government despite financial constraints would provide funds to Islamabad police to enhance its professional capacity

He announced that the adjacent va cant land to the National Police Acad emy (NPA) would be transferred in the name of the academy by this evening

He also announced an increment in the salaries of faculty and staff of the academy at par with other police training institutions located across the country

The prime minister regretted that Pakistan despite being blessed with the resources lagged behind the rest of the world in the area of progress and development

He reiterated the government s re solve to work for the progress and de velopment of the country

He congratulated the graduating of

ficers and their parents He also lauded the staff of the academy for imparting the required skills to all police officers

Commandant of the facility Allah Dino Khawaja, said 24 officers includ ing seven women officers passed out from the academy He said the gradu ates had been imparted training as per modern policing techniques and urged them to serve people professionally He said training of young officers had been designed to be academically challenging and physically rigorous to prepare them for leading modern po lice forces in the 21st century

Khawaja said officers had been given thorough exposure to forensic science, cyber crime, public order du ties, investigations and operations T h e p r i m e m i n i s t e r d i s t r i b u t e d s h i e l d s a n d m e d a l

the course

Prime Minister ’s C hina visit to advance CPEC cooperation: FO

ISLAMABAD

Hamid Khan group’s Abid Zuberi elected SCBA President

ISLAMABAD

S ta f f R e p o R t

Abid Shahid Zuberi of the Professional Group of lawyers also known as the Hamid Khan group has been elected president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) for 2022 23 Advocate Hamid Khan is considered a central leader of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf and a close ally of its chairman Imran Khan

As per unofficial results, Abid Zuberi won by a margin of 199 votes Abid got 1347 votes while his close rival Khalid Javed of the late Asma Jahangir group got 1148 votes Abid Shahid Zuberi has defeated Khalid Javed in 12 polling stations across the country Hamid Khan Group has won the battle after three years As per unofficial results declared by the presiding officer, Abid Shahid Zuberi of the Professional Group’s President Candidate and Khalid Javed of the Independent Group s President Candidate bagged 470 votes each in the Lahore Registry elections

Abid Shahid Zuberi of Professional Group won from Karachi by four votes Abid Zuberi secured 170 votes while his close contestant Khalid Javed of Independent Group got 166 votes Khawaja Naveed Advocate got one vote, Khalil Dogar secured four votes and Jameel Ahmed Advocate could get one vote Four votes were declared rejected Khalid Javed from the Asma Jahangir group won by one vote from Multan Khalid Javed secured 75 votes, while his close opponent Abid Shahid Zuberi of Hamid Khan Group got 74 votes

Abid Zuberi is also successful from the principal seat of Islamabad as he got 251 votes while his close rival Khalid Javed of Asma Jahangir Group got 227 votes Ahmad Zuberi also grabbed the first position in the Peshawar registry elections He bagged 92 votes while Khalid Javed came second with 89 votes

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is scheduled to visit China next week which, the Foreign Office spokesperson said, would mark the conclusion of MoUs and agreements in the diverse areas and help advance the agenda of bilateral cooperation

In his weekly press briefing, spokesperson Asim Iftikhar said the visit scheduled on Novem ber 1 2, was expected to advance wide ranging bilateral cooperation agenda in which two sides would review the All Weather Strategic Cooper ation Partnership and exchange views on re gional and global developments

He said the visit would also help consolidate the momentum of CPEC cooperation in wake of the 11th meeting of the CPEC Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) held on Thursday, in which both sides expressed satisfaction over the ongo ing projects under CPEC while several new proj ects were also proposed

The prime minister, who would also be accom panied by Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari would meet with President Xi Jinping and hold del egation level talks with Premier Li Keqiang

The spokesperson started his remarks by ex pressing condolences over the “shocking and un timely death of prominent journalist Arshad Sharif in Kenya and apprised the newsmen how the Foreign Office remained engaged with the Kenyan authorities on the matter

He said as Pakistan had formally requested the Kenyan government for a detailed investigation and the government also formed a two member team to ascertain the facts related to the murder

Referring to the observance of Kashmir

Black Day on Thursday the spokesperson said the country’s leadership, foreign ministry and Pakistan’s missions abroad, through multiple events, underscored Pakistan’s principled posi tion, and resolve to support the Kashmiri peo ple, and called upon the international community to play its due role in urging India to end its illegal occupation, halt massive human rights violations and cease repressive measures against the Kashmiris

On Black Day, the foreign secretary briefed the resident ambassadors of OIC P 5 and Euro pean countries on the egregious human rights sit uation in IIOJK

The foreign minister addressed letters to the President of the UN General Assembly, Presi dent of the Security Council UN Secretary Gen eral, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the OIC Secretary General

The situation remains grave meanwhile in the IIOJK We condemn the recent killings of civilians in fake encounters in Shopian and Kupwara districts Also condemnable is the stopping of Kashmiri photojournalist Sanna Ir shad Mattoo at Delhi airport to prevent her trav eling to New York to receive her Pulitzer Prize,” he told the newsmen

The spokesperson also expressed concerns over the recent attack and ransacking of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference head office in Sri nagar by Hindutva fanatics supported by the In dian Army

He also apprised the media of the prime min ister ’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia on October 24, where he held consultations with the Saudi Crown Prince and attended the Saudi Future In vestment Initiative Summit

PTI long march: Islamabad’s red zone sealed

MPA Khurram leghari backtracks on his claim of par ting ways with Pti

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif suffered two blows on Friday Member Punjab Assembly Khurram Leghari late Friday evening backtracked on his decision of parting ways with Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) and said that he had rather was leading a march to join party leader Imran Khan in PTI’s long march

Earlier in the day, Leghari had vowed to parting ways with the PTI While in Centre Focal Person to Prime Minister on digital media Ahmad Jawad resigned from his post on Friday

Khurram Leghari, a member of a dissident group within PTI previously led by Jahangir Khan Tareen (JKT), had earlier claimed that five more lawmakers have decided to defect from the PTI However, later all the MPAs refused to leave the PTI, leaving an embarrassed Leghari to review his decision

Leghari had informed he might also resign from the Punjab Assembly in the next three to four days “We were promised one thing but offered the opposite lamented the lawmaker

He also expressed his concerns regarding the Punjab cabinet, saying they should know the criteria for becoming a minister

Leghari contested in the 2018 general elections as an independent candidate and later joined the PTI He served as the special assistant to then chief minister Usman Buzdar but was removed in 2020

PM’S foCAL PeRSon ReSIgnS: Meanwhile, Focal Person Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on digital media Ahmad Jawad resigned from his post on Friday Ahmad Jawad in his resignation to the prime minister said: In a country where the blood is shed unjustly, and the facts never come to the fore In a country where the ruler is helpless whether it is Imran Khan or you In a country where the truth means death and the lie is a key to success In a country where the narrative of lies is the way to progress, and its buyers are the respected citizens In a country where slogans like respect the vote are limited to the acquisition of power only ”

“The people of such a country, especially the youth, will have to decide what is true and what is false The hour of decision has come Listen to your conscience I invested my precious time and money in search of the truth and I did my duty for the sake of the country This country has been deceived many times, and I will not become part of any such deception

M o R e R e S I g n At I o n S to C o M e f R o M P M L n, n o t P t I: Meanwhile, commenting on the resignation handed over by Ahmad Jawad, focal person of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ’s social media team, PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry said: More resignations will come from PML N, and not PTI ”

He rejected the possibility of PTI MPAs resigning following Laghari s departure from the party

“The MPAs, whose names were given, have denied quitting PTI,” he said, adding that earlier Sheikh Rasheed was rumoured to not participate in the long march, but now he is partaking in it

He further claimed that at this time, PTI will only be left by the faction that doesn’t want to continue politics in the future “Only those who want to commit political suicide would leave Imran Khan Who else would leave otherwise? Unless the rate is too high, which is a separate discussion,” Fawad remarked, stressing that the entire party stands with Khan, as people are with him

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

Almost two weeks after arrest and alleged custodial torture for posting a tweet against COAS, Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) Sen ator Azam Swati on Friday blew the lid off identity of who had allegedly assaulted him in custody and offered a peek into the power corridor practices by some of the country s most powerful institutions

Addressing a news conference here, the PTI senator reiterated that he had been stripped naked and beaten up while in custody “I was beaten up in front of my innocent granddaughters and that trauma will stay with them forever ” He took the names of

two senior officers, claiming that they were involved in beating him up Swati went on to demand that two senior officers should be removed from their posts immediately for torturing a senior parliamentarian

Claiming that his pleas were ignored and trivialized adding that the doctors who ex amined him should be asked at whose behest torture marks on his body were ignored

How did they not see this violence even after 15 days and how did I continue to be handed over to them on physical remand?”

Swati stated that the Federal Investiga tion Agency (FIA), who had arrested him, will have to answer at whose behest an FIR was lodged against him He also asked who were the unidentified people to whom he

was handed over?

Calling on the Chief Justice of Pakistan he said that he had taken his case to the Supreme Court along with his fellow sena tors and journalists and provided evidence; further saying that he was waiting for justice as any ordinary Pakistani He demanded the CJP provide him with justice as a basic right should be made available

Azam Swati said that he has high hopes that the court will investigate the illegal be havior of the authorities against him, includ ing custodial torture

Citing the preamble of the constitution, he said that true authority lies with Allah and then the people of Pakistan who will use that right He said that no military officer can use

that authority

Earlier at the start of the press confer ence, he said that he would not speak to re cent political issues, including the press conference by the director generals of Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and Public Rela tions (ISPR) where they stated the army would not have any role in politics

Maintaining that he did not wish to ma lign the military rather provide constructive criticism on what needs to be corrected, he stated that security institutions should not have a political role and all such practices which used to be carried out, must be left in the

sponding to PTI senior leader and Senator Azam Swati s allegations against state in stitutions over his arrest, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah criticised him for “defam ing” them

The senator ’s accusations were categor ically rejected by the interior minister who said that the FIA did not hand him over to any other institutions and denied allegations of torture alleging Swati and PTI of insti gating mischief

“Imrani fitna’s characters have adopted the agenda of chaos to create riots and anar chy in the country,” he told journalists during a press conference, adding that they have been targeting the officers of the institutions for the past few days

S e n a t o r S w a t i d e m a n d s r e m o v a l o f m i l i t a r y o f f i c i a l s o ve r h i s ‘c u s t o d i a l t o r t u r e ’