TIndia can’t snatch even a drop from Pakistan’s water,
ISLAMABAD
S ta f f r e p o r t
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday warned India against any designs on the Indus River saying that it could not snatch even one drop of water belonging to Pakistan, reiterating any attempt to block Pakistan s water in violation of the Indus Waters Treaty would be met with a decisive response
“You threaten to stop our water If you attempt such a move Pakistan will teach you a lesson you will never forget, he said while addressing an event on International Youth Day in Islamabad on Tuesday
Addressing a ceremony, the prime minister said: “I want to tell the enemy today that if you threaten to hold our water then keep this in mind that you cannot snatch even one drop from Pakistan
warns PM
The prime minister warned that if India attempted such an act, “you will be again taught such a lesson that you will be left holding your ears
Our air force shot down six of their jets, among which four of them were Rafales, PM Shehbaz added The prime minister ’s warning comes a day after former foreign minister and PPP Chairman Bilawal BhuttoZardari termed the IWT s suspension an attack on the Indus Valley civilisation and said the nation would not back down if New Delhi forced it into war
“If war is waged, then from the land of Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai we will send a message to the Modi government that we do not retreat we do not bow down and if you dare think about launching an attack on the Indus River then the people of every province of Pakistan will be ready to confront you,” he had said India in April held the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) in abeyance following the attack in occupied Kashmir s Pahalgam that killed 26 an incident New Delhi blamed on Islamabad without evidence
report by correspondents in Islamabad New Delhi and Washington the London-based newspaper described what it called an unexpected resurgence in relations between Islamabad and Washington
Pakistan welcomes US designation of BLA, Majeed Brigade to list of FTOs
ISLAMABAD
S ta f f r e p o r t
Pakistan on Tuesday welcomed the US’ decision to designate the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and Majeed Brigade to its Foreign Terrorist Organisation list according to a Foreign Office (FO) press release In a statement, the FO emphasized that Pakistan had proscribed the Majeed Brigade BLA’s suicide squad as a terrorist entity since July 18 2024 The BLA itself was proscribed in 2006 according to the National Counter-Terrorism Authority s list of proscribed organizations BLA/Majeed Brigade is involved in multiple terrorist attacks in Pakistan, including the heinous Jaffer Express terrorist incident and the Khuzdar bus attack that resulted in the loss of precious lives the release said A day earlier the US State Department made the announcement, stating that the designations demonstrated US President Donald Trump’s commitment to counter-terrorism At least 26 hostages lost their lives in
the Jaffar Express attack in March for which the BLA claimed responsibility In the Khuzdar bus attack, 10 people including two students lost their lives during a suicide attack on a school bus in May
The group was also behind the 2024 attack near the Karachi airport which killed three people including two Chinese nationals as well as the Gwadar Port Authority Complex attack, which claimed the lives of eight soldiers Pakistan remains a steadfast bulwark against terrorism Our sacrifices have secured critical counter-terrorism successes not only for the country but for regional stability and global security
It added that the country remained unwavering in its resolve to protect its citizens and eliminate terrorism in all its forms and manifestations “Pakistan remains committed to cooperating with the international community to overcome this common challenge In related development Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi welcomed the US decision and sincerely thanked US President Donald Trump and his administration
Union address The newspaper also detailed an April agreement between World Liberty Financial, a Trump-backed cryptocurrency initiative, and Pakistan’s crypto council One of the venture’s
AIMS
US tariff hike on India opens door for Pakistan to expand aromatic rice market share
three markets together consumed nearly 49% of Pakistan s basmati rice exports Pakistan currently exports to over 110 countries, including Australia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Canada, the Netherlands and Germany In FY24 Pakistan s basmati exports increased by 35% with a total of 772 725 tonnes and earnings of $876 9 million The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that rice imports into the US have steadily increased over the past three decades from 7% of the domestic market in 1993-94 to over 25% in 2022-23
Over 60% of these imports consist of aromatic rice from Asia, primarily jasmine from Thailand and basmati from India and Pakistan Although the US produces some aromatic rice it differs in quality and aroma from the varieties imported from Asia The USDA anticipates further growth in demand for aromatic rice imports in the coming years
major gaps still exist It specifically mentions that the identification of politically exposed persons, which includes the head of state, government politicians bureaucrats judiciary military officials and senior executives of state-owned enterprises is guided by regulatory requirements from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan
(SECP) and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) The draft report highlights that financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses (DNFBPs) are required to apply enhanced due diligence measures when dealing with politically exposed persons However smaller institutions are not effectively implementing these safeguards, and there is insufficient clarity on corruption-specific risk indicators Further the IMF noted that despite existing guidelines institutions still lack access to typologies that reflect common methods of laundering proceeds of corruption The report recommends the issuance of specific guidance on identifying unusual financial behavior related to PEPs and government contracts pointing to international examples from countries like Canada and Colombia that have successfully implemented such measures
The decision gives India the chance to get back to the IW T
O T too much should be read into the decision of the International Court of Arbitration s award on jurisdiction, because India refuses to accept its jurisdiction It almost seems that its staging of the whole Pehelgam incident, including the nuclear stand-off with Pakistan, was carried out so that it could suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, and thus oil out of obeying the ICA decision It should be noted that, according to the ICA decision, India had already been avoiding all proceedings, and that too in a case that had been instituted in 2006 Clearly then, India s suspension of the IWT was not a reaction to alleged terrorism, but long contemplated, because it could see court-room defeat staring it in the face However, its plea that the suspension deprived the ICA of jurisdiction was rejected Clearly, an ex post facto plea was not going to be entertained, but clearly, India wanted merely to muddy the waters
The lack of jurisdiction is a common lawyer s argument, but it does not work in cases where it is so clear However, the award does not solve the problem of what is to be done when a country refuses to obey the law The decision not only reflects the poorness of the legal advice India has received, but also its failed attempt to exercise a sort of exceptionalism that was previously only claimed by the USA and Israel The solution lies with those powers with whose support India has been able to trample all over the law, and disregard all international norms It started with Indian disregard of the Kashmiri right to self-determination, moved on to assassinations or attempted assassinations on foreign soil, and has now reached trying to wriggle out of a treaty it had itself signed Pakistan need not be too pleased over the award Though it is a good beginning, it is but the beginning of a journey made needlessly long by the pusillanimity of the comity of nations The journey itself is needless, being imposed on it by the Indian dishonouring of a Treaty into which it had entered voluntarily Perhaps the only positive to emerge from the episode is that India is still showing itself ready to obey international law, even as it attempts to undermine it It is no wonder that India is behaving like a small-town criminal lawyer, for after all, what is India but a small-town criminal?
Dedicated to the legac y of late Hameed Nizami Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor
M A Niazi Editor Pakistan Today Babar Nizami Editor Profit
Nations must take direct action to end Israel’s assault on Palestinians
We’v e reached a sort of tipping point in the way political leaders in the West are reacting to Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestinians in Gaza It s maddening for two reasons: that it took this long to get an official response from Western capitals; and that, once the magnitude of the tragedy became clear, the responses have been so decidedly ineffectual The nightmare in Gaza has been unfolding for 22 months and during this entire time Israel’s savage use of violence and its punishment of innocent Palestinians has been unrelenting early on Israel s genocidal intent became clear as they demolished hospitals, universities, and entire neighborhoods using 2000-pound bombs; forced hundreds of thousands to flee their neighbourhoods and homes; and ordered electricity and water cut off and blocked the entry of food and medical supplies
All this was known in 2023 and yet no action was taken Back then when we called for a ceasefire, the US Secretary of State told me that a ceasefire would be deplorable and the USA would not support such a move In mid-2024, when the United Nations Security Council twice voted on a ceasefire resolution only the USA opposed A third attempt at a ceasefire resolution introduced by the USA passed but it was never acted upon because despite President Biden disingenuously saying Israel had agreed to this resolution, he knew they had not The entire effort was nothing more than a public relations stunt The bottom line is that the world has long known that this war on Gaza s people had to end and yet other than voting on dead-end UN resolutions they did nothing Worse still they continued to do business with and sell weapons to Israel So what has changed now?
The pictures of devastation and eyewitness testimonies, a staple for those who have been following the news on social media are now featured in mainstream media As a result it has become more diffi-
r i f f s t e a r t h e m a s k
Tbutchers appear to be burying themselves deeper with each miscalculation Their attempts to outwit all sides are increasingly backfiring leaving them entangled in contradictions and diplomatic traps of their own making Rather than emerging as a master strategist Modi finds himself crumbled in contradictions of his own making His administration s efforts to play all sides have led to mounting pressure from allies and adversaries alike exposing the limits of transactional diplomacy
cult for the manufacturers of Israeli hasbara to convince the public that the devastation is exaggerated and the stories of human suffering are fabricated In most european countries the percentage of those who support Israel s actions in Gaza has fallen to less than one-third
Despite the effort of Israeli propagandists, the reason behind this sharp decline in support for Israel isn’t the large number of Muslim immigrants in Western europe nor is it antisemitism What has changed is that european and US publics now know and are horrified by what Israel is doing in Gaza
They are rejecting the lame excuses offered by their leaders, who had hoped they wouldn’t need to respond with anything more than an occasional UN vote of disapproval expressions of concern or toothless condemnations of isolated Israeli acts As the pressure has grown with pictures of starving Palestinian children and aerial photos of mass devastation now dominating media coverage of the war on Gaza Western leaders are struggling to find ways to react Most disturbing is that their motivation appears to be more a need to be seen as acting than finding ways to actually effectuate change
For example the British threat to recognize a Palestinian state unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire is, at best, a hollow gesture The German threat to review cultural and trade ties amounts
At this point, what is required to end the g enocide , save lives, and restore respect for international law and some level of sanity to the region, is for Western nations to take concrete steps to punish Israel, demanding chang es in policy. These must include an end to the assault on Gaza, a ceasefire and withdrawal of Israel forces, and allowing the entr y of international peacekeepers and aid, and the star t of reconstruction effor ts.
The result is a foreign policy increasingly defined not by coherence but by improvisation and reactive posturing Just recently after ninety-four days Indian Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal A P Singh absurdly claimed that India had shot down five Pakistani fighter jets and one large aircraft on May 25 Military analysts worldwide have expressed surprise at India’s delayed and unsubstantiated claims noting that such post-conflict assertions are unprecedented Such assertions by India have precipitated significant backlash both domestically and internationally
The tariff war between the USA and India is more than an economic dispute; it is a political unmasking India’s duplicity has not only been exposed but also challenged by the very powers it sought to manipulate In an interconnected world the pretence of playing all sides while committing to none is a dangerous gamble As Modi and his pack dig deeper into the grave of their own arrogance, the lesson for the watching world is clear: masks, no matter how artfully worn eventually slip
The writer can be reached at hamnakhokher31@gmail com
The tariff war between the USA and India is more than an economic dispute; it is a political unmasking. IndiaÊs duplicity has not only been exposed but also challenged by the very powers it sought to manipulate. In an interconnected world, the pretence of playing all sides while committing to none, is a dangerous gamble. As Modi and his pack dig deeper into the grave of their own arrogance, the lesson for the watching world is clear: masks, no matter how artfully worn, eventually slip.
Librar y misuse rising
Unprepared ever y
Drowned by design
Selective use of rules-based global order
for political reasons In 1648, the West found a solution to the war in the shape of the Treaty of Westphalia The Treaty of Westphalia is quoted as a first step in the development of a rules-based international order The treaty introduced the concept of the modern nation-state system principles of sovereignty and legal equality among the states which not only became the underlying principles of the modern international system but also helped the West attain peace in a context back then where “might is right” mattered more than any other principle Thus peace disrupted in the 17th century was restored via a collective wisdom in the shape of the Treaty of Westphalia In the 19th century, peace in the West got off track when Napoleon Bonaparte, in the wake of civil war emerging in France after the French Revolution in 1789 declared a coup d’état in France and started expanding France by occupying surrounding states This phase in history is known as the Napoleonic Wars which lasted from 1803 to 1815
order This argument can be substantiated by various phases in world history In the 17th century, the West faced catastrophic war when the Holy Roman Empire was split between orthodox Christians known as Catholics, believing in the discourse of Christianity prevalent in the Dark Ages and modern Christians known as Protestants believing in the ideals of the Reformation Movement inspired by the Renaissance That war in history is known as the Thirty Years War It lasted from 1618 to 1648 Initially, the war remained confined to the Holy Roman Empire on religious grounds but soon it engulfed the whole continent bringing in its wake Sweden Denmark and France along with many regions
During the Napoleonic Wars, France occupied a major part of the West The Napoleonic wars nullified the norms set in the Treaty of Westphalia for the maintenance of peace in the West However once the Napoleonic chapter was over after France s failed attack on Russia, the big powers of that time including Britain, Prussia, Austria, Russia and France- though it had been defeated it was still considered a big power of that time- went for a series of meetings in the shape of the Congress of Vienna to restore peace in the West In the wake of the Congress of Vienna, a political alliance in the shape of the Concert of Europe among the big powers of that time developed in which it was decided that any aggression on the part of any state in the West would be responded to with a collective response Here one can again see how the West regained its peace through a collective approach by standing with each other for a rules-based order in the world Peace attained via the Concert of Europe started fizzling out toward the end of the 19th century because of power compe-
tition ensuing among European powers in the wake of western colonialism and imperialism thanks to the rise of Industrial Revolution and silence of Concert of Europe over the occurrence of small wars among various states, resulting in secret alliances among states, thus creating a pitch for first World War
After losing millions of lives to the First World War once again frantic efforts were made for the maintenance of peace via rulesbased order the centrepieace of which was the formation of the League of Nations, but the West found itself again in the jaws of the Second World War within just over two decades followed again by a new series of efforts for rules-based order in order to maintain peace with the formation of the United Nations
The history of the world reveals one thing: whenever the world has faced collective instability, big powers of that time have relied on the development of a rules-based order for the attainment of peace and many
T h e t w o f a c e s o f I n d i a
IN the war against illegal migrants the United States deported about 150 000 nationals from different countries in the last six months While many of these deportees have been detained in a third country, the majority have been repatriated to their home countries
Among these were 1 700 citizens of India in six months alone More are expected as the immigration agency in the US continues to haul up illegal migrants The Indian government has not created a big row over these arrests and deportation even though a good number were seen being hauled in handcuffs
The official statement so far has been that India disapproved of any illegal immigration, blaming human traffickers for such criminal activity
Parallel to this deportation India sped up its campaign against illegal residents in India and targeted poor Muslim-inhabited areas of a few states such as Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Haryana They hauled up a good number of Bengali-speaking Muslims who were regular Indian citizens from West Bengal (according to the Indian press) but have been living in those states for years to earn a living
They were charged as illegal migrants from Bangladesh brought all the way to the IndiaBangladesh border, and pushed out of India, in a way resembling US deportation of illegal Indians from US cities
Was this a copycat action to show the might of a powerful nation over its weaker neighbour? Or was it a political act by a power-hungry leader to teach lessons to his opponents?
Critics argue that India s inability to protest against US deportations is counter intuitive to its aspirations for regional hegemony and, consequently, global leadership A country that nurtures a desire to be an Asian superpower bypassing China should have the courage to protest the indignity with which the US treated its citizens
Instead by quietly accepting the indignity with which the deportees were sent back to India, India acknowledged the limits of its muscle-flexing ability This muscle flexing is reserved for its weaker neighbour, Bangladesh, where it pushed back hundreds of its own citizens under the unproven label of illegal aliens
The duplicity and diplomatic dissonance shown by the two cases above reveal the asymmetry in India s global relationship and politics India has one face in dealing with superpowers, particularly the US, and another with its neighbours With the US it seeks accommodation to survive, hoping not to upend its strong economic ties and trying to keep pace with the political tide With Narendra Modi it is much more so as he has learned to march to the tune of every US president that he has met So, if a president decides to expel Indians as illegals, he does not raise his eyebrow When the US imposes tariffs, he does not raise a fight He negotiated coolly In other words, with a superpower he does not
want a fight The superpowers, particularly the US, are above his league He kowtows before powers Modi’s political calculus is different for Bangladesh
The objectives of a different approach for smaller neighbours particularly Bangladesh are more for domestic than international politics Modi s Hindu nationalist party is driven by a desire to dominate politics in every state by drawing Hindu nationalists to one party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been trying to grow roots in West Bengal a state with a large Muslim minority The ruling Trinamul Party which has a fairly large Muslim base has been steadfast in opposing BJP s Hindutva ideology and its objective to demonize Muslims as anti-state BJP has been successful in installing a BJP government in Assam, another state with a huge Muslim minority In fact BJP’s war against these two states grew from the reliance and support of Muslims to the political parties Trinamul and Congress which had ruled Assam before BJP The current drive against Muslims is rooted in the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (2019) that allows citizenship to minorities from all neighbouring states who had emigrated before 2014
It forbids citizenship to Muslims who may have migrated to India that time or before In essence any Muslim who is suspected of immigration to India legal or illegal prior to 2014 or later is bound by this act to be deported India s inability to push back against US deportation is in stark contrast with the active program of pushing Bengali Muslims into Bangladesh for their alleged Bangladeshi nationality Critics argue that India is flexing its muscles regionally because its hands are restrained in a global fight revealing an asymmetric Indian policy An economically and politically weak Bangladesh has offered little resistance, just as India had to do in the case of US deportation To Modi and his government, it does not matter if the people his government is rounding up are legal residents of the state of their residence It is important to discover where they originally belonged to or their parents or forefathers belonged to Any evidence of their origin from Bangladesh or former East Pakistan is proof enough for their deportation The objective is intimidation of the Muslim minority by forceful eviction of some people from this minority
It is worthwhile to state here some observations by experts on the above actions By branding deportations (of alleged Bangladesh nationals) as defense of national interests, Modi is tapping into voter anxiety about identity and sovereignty, much like Donald Trump The strategy worked well for Assam, and now it is targeted at West Bengal which is still run by a secular party But border politics and migration still cause fears among people here By pushing out people labeled as Bangladeshi intruders BJP and Modi government are trying to wrest power from Trinamul to BJP
Ziauddin Choudhury has worked in the higher civil service of Bangladesh early in his career and later for the
MA RT I A L arts movie star Bruce Lee is a widely recognized icon: the most celebrated Asian male in global popular culture as film scholar Celine Parreñas Shimizu puts it Unsurprisingly, then, Lee s untimely death in 1973, at the age of just thirty-two, sparked a heated tussle over his legacy that would be played out publicly in international media
His widow Linda Lee penned a family-oriented book that purported to offer her intimate perspective from inside a celebrated interracial marriage as Shimizu summarizes its content Not to be outdone, B-list actress Betty Ting Pei Lee s alleged mistress played herself in the salacious film Bruce Lee and I, billed as a tell-all about Lee’s sex- and drug-fueled last days
“What is revealed in the contest between the collections of intimate personal observations and memories is ultimately not the secrets of Bruce Lee as a sexual being writes Shimizu Instead we see the limits of expectations placed upon him by women located at different standpoints in American and Hong Kong society
Lee’s sexuality is at the heart of the dispute between the two women’s portrayals of the late star Asian men in North America were already seen as “lacking masculine virility and sexual power in representation but Lee was singled out for also symbolizing monk-like asceticism writes Shimizu Linda Lee s memoir Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew, which was reprinted three times upon its release in 1975, pushed back against this stereotype by emphasizing Lee’s sexual appeal
Granted Linda Lee continued to present his sexuality in racial terms When she calls his reflexes more feline than human her description racializes him via an Asian-cat association that suggests sneakiness and inscrutability, Shimizu explains, such that what may seem like a pleasing and attractive characterization is an eroticization of his racial otherness ” Though Linda Lee recognized the reality of racial discrimination against Chinese Americans her memoir also sought to present interracial difference as no impediment to romantic love I believe that it was our very differences in race culture, upbringing, tradition and customs that were largely instrumental in bringing us even closer together, she wrote “[I]ndeed I believe that interracial problems can exist in a marriage only if a person sets out to make them so ” She further asserted that “[t]he only time you saw the real man was when you saw him playing with
Inamullah marwat
C hina, US ex tend tariff truce by 90 days
on their meetings in London on June 9 and 10 2025 and in Stockholm on July 28 and 29 2025; The Parties recall the commitments under the Geneva Joint Statement and agree to take the following actions by August 12, 2025: 1 The United States will continue to modify the application of the additional ad valorem rate of duty on articles of China (including articles of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region) set forth in Executive Order 14257 of April 2 2025 by suspending 24 percentage points of that rate for an additional period of 90 days starting on August 12 2025 while retaining the remaining ad valorem rate of 10 percent on those articles pursuant to the terms of said Order
2 China will continue to (1) modify the application of the additional ad valorem rate of duty on articles of the United
Indian opposition holds another protest over ‘ Vote Chori ’ in Bihar
Toll of India Himalayan flood likely to be at least 70
A seefa c alls for united ac tion to prevent breast c ancer
First Lady Ms Aseefa Bhutto Zardari has called for united action involving government institutions, health professionals, media, and communities to raise awareness to combat breast cancer the most common cancer among women in Pakistan and the highest in prevalence in Asia She made these remarks during a meeting with Mr Omer Aftab, Founder and Honorary CEO of Pink Ribbon Pakistan at Aiwan-e-Sadr today Highlighting that one in every nine Pakistani women is at risk the First Lady warned that delayed detection claims thousands of lives annually She noted that survival rates exceed 90 percent when the disease is diagnosed early and stressed that “every woman re-
gardless of where she lives, must have access to timely screening, diagnosis, and treatment ” Ms Aseefa Bhutto Zardari emphasized making women’s health a national priority with targeted efforts on prevention early detection and treatment She called for expanding breast cancer facilities to underserved rural areas, breaking cultural taboos
that delay consultations, and promoting mobile mammography units, community outreach, and male family involvement to overcome stigma She urged all stakeholders including the media educators and religious leaders to spearhead a nationwide awareness drive, encouraging early detection and timely medical intervention
KARACHI s ta f f r e p o r t
Under the Board of Secondary Education Karachi (BSEK) the Ma araka-e-Haq and Independence Day celebrations commenced on Monday with an exhibition cricket tournament, which will continue from August 11 to 14 at Eidgah Cricket Ground Nazimabad The tournament is featuring participation from students of both government and private schools
Addressing the opening ceremony, Board Chairman Ghulam Hussain Soho said that the Ma’araka-e-Haq (Battle for Truth) was valiantly fought by the Pakistan Armed Forces and we should take their actions as a practical example to follow in every field He added that the message of Ma’araka-e-Haq is that we can confront false forces in every arena through the strength of our faith The event was attended by Chief Guest and Member of the
Sindh Provincial Assembly Aamir Siddiqui Advisor to the Sindh Ombudsman Fasihuddin Khan Chairman of Sukkur Board Dr Zahid Channar, school association heads Meraj Siddiqui, Munawar Hameed, Tauseef Shah, Aamir Murtaza, Board Secretary Dr Naveed Ahmed board officials APCA Matric Board representatives and a large number of students from both government and private schools MPA Aamir Siddiqui said that after many years, under Chairman Ghulam Hussain Soho positive changes are visible in the board The tournament featured teams from Government Boys Secondary School F C Area, Mumtaz Government Boys Secondary School Firdous Colony, Fatimia Boys Secondary School Numaish Chowrangi and Rangers Public School Nazimabad In the final match Government Boys Secondary School F C Area defeated Mumtaz Government Boys Secondary School Firdous Colony to win the tournament
PHC HALTS APPOINTMENTS OF NEW NA , SENATE OPPOSITION LEADERS TILL 15TH
tion of their parliamentary roles
TH E Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Tuesday issued a stay order halting the appointments of new opposition leaders in the National Assembly and the Senate following the disqualification and removal of PTI s Omar Ayub and Shibli Faraz from their respective roles
On August 5, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) disqualified Ayub and Faraz along with other opposition MNAs and MPAs following their convictions by the antiterrorism courts in three cases related to the May 9, 2023 riots
Subsequently, on August 8, both leaders were removed from their posts through notifications issued by the NA and Senate secretariats A division bench comprising Justices Arshad Ali and Dr Khurshid Iqbal took up separate petitions filed earlier by Ayub and Faraz against the denotifica-
PTI interim chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan appeared as the counsel for both the petitioners
The bench issued notices to the ECP and other respondents, directing them to halt the appointments for the opposition leader in both houses of the parliament which are currently vacant
The court adjourned the hearing till August 15 (Friday) seeking replies from the respondents
During the hearing, Gohar informed the bench of the details of recent developments “When an MNA becomes the opposition leader then the ECP’s role does not remain anymore he asserted May 9 was an unfortunate incident which should not have happened, the PTI leader said He contended that the ECP recently also disqualified MNA Abdul Latif from the NA-1 by “citing the wrong reference of the [2012] Azhar Siddique case ” We won 180 seats entered the parliament with 90 seats and are now left
ATC orders Qureshi’s release af ter acquittal in two May 9 cases
The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Lahore on Tuesday issued a warrant of release to the Kot Lakhpat Jail superintendent for the release of PTI s Shah Mahmood Qureshi in two cases in which he had been acquitted ATC Judge Manzer Ali Gill issued two separate ‘warrants of release in connection with two different FIRs (768/23 and 103/23) Qureshi had been acquitted on Au-
with 23,” the PTI lawyer lamented “Now the government wants to bring another party’s opposition leader ” Gohar
gust 11 in these cases which were registered against him following the May 9 riots that erupted after the arrest of PTI’s founding chairman, Imran Khan Judge Gill issuing the separate warrants addressed the superintendent of Central Jail Kot Lakhpat stating, This is to authorize and require you, the superintendent of the jail, to release the accused Shah Mehmood Qureshi from this case forthwith if he is not required by you in any other case
claimed, requesting the court to issue directives to stop any further action against Ayub and Faraz
PTI vows to resist ‘proposed’ 27th Amend ‘tooth and nail’
ISLAMABAD
s ta f f r e p o r t
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has vowed to resist tooth and nail any attempt by the ruling elite to bulldoze another controversial, agenda-driven, and person-specific” 27th Constitutional Amendment designed to further cripple the wings of the Supreme Court and reduce the high courts to powerless institutions In a strongly worded statement, PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram warned the fake regime was hellbent on paralyzing the judiciary after rendering it toothless through the 26th Amendment vowing the nation would never permit another constitutional butchery to further weaken the judiciary or legitimize the illegitimate rule of power-hungry elites He lamented that the Constitution has been reduced to a mockery with self-serving amendments bulldozed through to safeguard the vested interests of a corrupt cabal instead of protecting the country and its citizens
“The 26th Amendment was a
judicial massacre and now they want to finish the job with the 27th They want to strip SC of its authority and turn high courts into rubber stamps, making sure no judge dares stand in their way But PTI will not let this happen ” Waqas reaffirmed This illegitimate regime s selfish agenda has plunged Pakistan into lawlessness trampling the Constitution, justice, and morality By installing corrupt puppets in key posts, they paralyzed state institutions ” PTI CIS declared He urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan to move beyond symbolic visits and assert constitutional authority to enforce justice, warning
that rapidly eroding public trust in the judiciary poses a grave existential threat to the country s future Waqas denounced the politically motivated 10-year sentences handed to PTI legislators through rushed trials while PTI founder Imran Khan his wife Bushra Bibi and senior leaders remained imprisoned for two years on fabricated charges, yet the judiciary remained unmoved Reacting to the visit of a PIMS doctors team to Adiala Jail for Imran Khan s medical check-up PTI CIS demanded that he must be given immediate access to his personal physicians and a team from Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital (SKMCH) for a comprehensive medical examination while ensuring his safety and well-being Waqas stressed that Imran aged 72 requires regular medical evaluations, warning that the Punjab government bears full responsibility for his health and must be held accountable for persistently denying him basic constitutional rights He made it clear that if God forbid Imran s health deteriorates the entire responsibility would rest with the state
Asif intensifies criticism of bureaucrac y
LAHORE s ta f f r e p o r t
feared trapped when a landslide struck a flooddamaged water channel in Gilgit’s Danyor Nullah during repair work police said on Monday The volunteers were working to restore the channel when a mass of earth suddenly collapsed burying them under debris, according to police Hospital sources confirmed that all those killed were members of a
volunteer team, while three others sustained
As the search for
continued authorities declared an emergency in local hospitals A provincial government spokesperson said accelerated glacial melt driven by climate change, had increased water flow in several streams across the region President Asif Ali Zardari expressed deep grief over the incident, offering sympathies and condolences to the families of the deceased volunteers In a statement he paid tribute to those who sacrificed their lives for the sake of humanity The entire nation is grieved over the loss of precious lives in the tragedy, he said and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured The Shishper glacier recently flooded, damaging farmland and closing a section of the Karakoram Highway (KKH) towards Hunza Traffic has been diverted via Nagar Road while officials warned of more rain and landslides A significant stretch of the KKH in Upper Hunza s Morkhun area has also been destroyed by river erosion, severing the overland link between Pakistan and China, the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) government confirmed PESHAWAR s ta f f
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, in a renewed attack on the country’s bureaucracy, condemned the “lavish indulgences” of civil servants and called for urgent legislative reforms Speaking on a private news channel Asif cited a report revealing that Rs3 5 trillion is spent annually on bureaucrats
While not accusing the entire civil service Asif alleged that 25 to 30 per cent of the bureaucracy was corrupt and vowed to push for legislation on bureaucracy He suggested that bureaucrats should be legally bound to declare their assets annually arguing that “no other sector has as much corruption as the bureaucracy
Asif also pointed out a glaring disparity in dual nationality rules,
According to a PIDE report, Rs860 million is spent over the entire service span of a single bureaucrat ” he added
R
noting that only bureaucrats can hold dual nationality in Pakistan while politicians judges and military officers cannot He called for an end to this privilege Additionally he demanded that bureaucrats entitlement to endless allotments of plots be terminated
The minister also addressed the uproar following his earlier statement about some bureaucrats purchasing property in Portugal revealing that an inquiry is underway to expose those involved
bans Arbaeen
mourning walks
RAWALPINDI s ta f f r e p o r t
The Chehlum of Imam Hussain (RA) and the martyrs of Karbala will be observed on Friday, August 15 In remembrance, six major mourning processions, including Zuljinah Ta’ziya and Alam will be taken out across Rawalpindi
However Rawalpindi Commissioner Aamir Khattak has issued a formal order banning all 12 traditional mashi walks (mourning marches) that originate from different parts of the Rawalpindi
Division Those who defy the ban will be added to the Fourth Schedule and face legal charges
The district administration has requested 20 government buses to transport participants free of charge to central Imambargahs and procession points The decision was made during a high-level meeting chaired by the commissioner Arbaeen in Arabic means forty – referring to the 20th of Safar the 40th day after the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (RA) when people from all over the world travel to Karbala On ordinary days, pilgrims
Tally rises to 50 as three more terrorists
sation between them
usually arrive at Najaf Airport or travel from Iran to Najaf by bus, but on the occasion of Arbaeen they specially walk from the shrine of Hazrat Ali (RA) in Najaf to Karbala
This distance from Najaf to Karbala is 80 kilometres, and the walkers include people of all ages, colours, ethnicities, religions, and sects Although Najaf and Karbala are connected by a dual carriageway the Iraqi government has built a separate road alongside it for pedestrians making the walk easier while keeping vehicular traffic smooth and uninterrupted
The TTP and its affiliated groups had fled across the border into Afghanistan following their rout in a major military operation, codenamed Zarb-e-Azb, in the erstwhile tribal areas of Pakistan in 2014 There they found safe havens which they have since used as launch pads for attacks inside Pakistan Balochistan hosts major projects under the multi-billion-dollar China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative and has often been targeted in insurgent attacks
