Prime Coverage

16/01/2024

Petrol price slashed by Rs8 for next fortnight
The caretaker government on Monday decreased the price of petrol by Rs8 per litre for the next fortnight.
The caretaker government on Monday decreased the price of petrol by Rs8 per litre for the next fortnight.

In a notification issued today, the Finance Division said the government decided to reduce the price of petrol for the fortnight starting from January 16 as recomme­nded by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority.

According to the announcement, the ex-depot price of petrol was cut to Rs259.34 per litre against the previous rate of Rs267.34 per litreThere was no change in the price of high-speed diesel while no changes were mentioned for the prices of light-diesel oil and kerosene oil.

The government has already achieved a Rs60 per litre petroleum levy — the maximum permissible limit under the law — on both petrol and HSD. The government had set a budget target to collect Rs869 billion as a petroleum levy during the current fiscal year under the commitments made with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but was hoping the collection to go beyond Rs950bn by the end of June.

Petroleum and electricity prices have been the key drivers of inflation, which clocked in at 29.7pc in December as measured by the Consumer Price Index.

At present, the government is charging about Rs82 per litre tax on both petrol and HSD.

Although the general sales tax on all petroleum products is currently zero, the government is charging Rs60 per litre petroleum development levy on petrol and Rs50 each on HSD, high-octane blending component, and 95 research octane number (RON) petrol

16/01/2024

Maryam kick-starts PML-N campaign with attacks on PTI
Kick-starting a much-anticipated election campaign, PML-N chief organiser Maryam Nawaz on Monday threw her party’s weight behind the Supreme Court’s verdict in the case pertaining to PTI’s election symbol.
“A terrorist party cannot be allotted an electoral symbol of a political party,” Ms Nawaz told a well-attended rally two days after Imran Khan’s PTI lost its case for its electoral symbol ‘bat’ for not holding intra-party polls as per rules.

The PML-N chose Okara to launch its campaign and Maryam Nawaz tra­velled to the city to address the rally.

Nawaz Sharif and Shehbaz Sharif, who held a meeting with economists in Lahore, did not attend the gathering, but they are expected to address rallies in the coming days.

![]https://twitter.com/pmln_org/status/1746862860439834734)

The PML-N had been facing criticism, especially from PPP, for ‘staying indoors’ despite the elections being just a few weeks away.

Maryam Nawaz targeted Imran Khan and his party in her speech, but she preferred not to speak against PPP and its leadership.

She told PTI lawyers to properly prepare the cases next time before the SC as they might not have the facility of ‘mother-in-law’ (a reference to a purported audio leak of the mother-in-law of former CJP Umar Ata Bandial).

She reminded the PTI that from now on the ‘law’ and nation would make decisions.

In an apparent reference to PTI, she declared, “A terrorist party cannot be allotted an electoral symbol of a political party”.

She said the nation would not allow a political party to manipulate its internal elections and escape without any consequences.

“It is not his (Imran Khan) fault as he was used to getting facilitation… Now neither this facilitation is available nor the facilitators remain,” she said and added every ‘single character’ who wronged her father Nawaz Sharif was meeting their fate.

Ms Nawaz told the PTI that its election symbol should have been ‘danda’ (baton) which it allegedly used against the state and military installations on May 9.

Referring to Imran Khan’s recent accusations that Nawaz was playing the match with the help of “umpires” the PML-N leader said: “His [Khan] umpires are caught while the real umpire is the public that will bring her father back to power”.

A “strong government” should be given to Nawaz Sharif to resolve the people’s problems, she added.

During her address, she also indirectly targeted two SC judges Mazahar Ali Naqvi and Ijazul Ahsan, who recently stepped down. “They resigned to avoid accountability. Nawaz Sharif did not take revenge but fate took action against them. The one who is an oppressor is also a coward,” she said.

29/12/2023

Nawaz ‘cleared’ to contest NA seat in Mansehra
ROs reserve decisions on challenges to Imran, Bilawal’s bids for Lahore seats
LAHORE: The nomination papers of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for Mansehra’s NA-15 constituency were reportedly approved by the respective returning officer on Thursday, whereas separate decisions were reserved on objections to the nomination papers of PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and ex-premier Imran Khan in Lahore.

In NA-15, objections were moved against Nawaz Sharif by PTI leader Azam Swati through his representative Shahid Rafiq, a local party leader. The papers, however, were initially cleared by the RO after she rejected the objections.

The PTI leader argued that the PML-N supreme leader had been disqualified for life by the Supreme Court and added the RO was not authorised to approve the nomination papers. But Mr Sharif was cleared.

In Lahore’s NA-122 constituency, the nomination papers of ex-PM Imran Khan were contested on grounds of his punishment in the Toshakhana case. The objector said the court had only suspended the sentence, not the conviction handed out to the PTI leader in the case. It was claimed that the approver was not a voter in the NA-122 constituency, which meant that they could not become an approver.
ROs reserve decisions on challenges to Imran, Bilawal’s bids for Lahore seats

Mr Khan’s counsel contested the claim and said the approver was registered as a voter in the same constituency, but his name was removed from the rolls due to the new delimitation on Dec 15. The lawyer further said that the ECP could not punish anyone, adding that Article 62 and Article 63 did not apply to the former PTI chairman.

28/12/2023

A Brief interview about Baloch Genocide !

27/12/2023

PTI’s Qureshi manhandled during re-arrest from Adiala Jail in a case yet to be disclosed
“I represented the nation, I am innocent and I am being targeted for political revenge without any reason,” he said.
Footage shared by the party on Instagram showed Qureshi, clad in a cardigan and a shalwar kameez, attempting to speak to police personnel gathered outside the jail while he remained inside its premises. However, an official wearing the Punjab police uniform refused to listen and proceeded to shove Qureshi out the gate and toward an armoured police vehicle.

“Look at this. What is this?” Qureshi said as he was pushed the entire way to the van while the crowd yelled at officials to be careful.
PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who was granted bail in the cipher case by the Supreme Court last week, was manhandled by police officials as they re-arrested him outside the Adiala Jail on Wednesday.

Qureshi was released from jail on bail after the Rawalpindi DC withdrew an order for detaining the ex-former foreign minister for 15 days under Section 3 of the Maint­en­ance of Public Order (MPO).

Police have not yet responded to Dawn.com’s request for a comment regarding the case in which the PTI leader was taken into custody.

In a post on X, the PTI said that Qureshi was again arrested from outside the Adiala Jail after being released on bail in the cipher case. The party said that the order issued yesterday by the Rawalpindi DC had been withdrawn.

26/12/2023

What the Baloch want ?
EARLY on Sunday, there were few people in the green areas in front of the Islamabad Press Club. The rows of quietly seated protesters were missing as were the cameras and visitors.

The camp was just waking up. The young men were busy fixing the tent, straightening out rugs, etc. One of them carried away a ring-light and stand used with phone cameras. Most were masked, but there was little uniformity in hairstyle or clothes. From shalwar kameez to jeans to heavy Balochi shalwars, one could see it all.

A small group of women sat in a corner. Their crumpled clothes and mussed-up hair under chadors or dupattas indicated the day was just beginning. Most were young. One was studying in a school in Karachi where her family was based; another in a university in Balochistan; a third, head on her knee as if she still had some more sleep in her, was also in school. One of her companions pointed to the sleepy one and told a visiting delegation that her father had disappeared before she was born.

Another young woman walked up. She was a housewife but had finished her schooling before marriage. Her youngest child, a toddler, was with her. I have been taking part in these protests since 2016 when my brother disappeared; he had just been married a year or so before, she said.
It was not possible for women to step outside the home in those days, she added. But now I have seen many parts of Pakistan, she said with a laugh, with more than a note of bitterness. I was here in Islamabad in 2021 also.

Most of the women were young and educated, and hailed from middle-class backgrounds. In this and their presence in Islamabad lies the changing environment of Balochistan’s politics and society. Sammi Baloch and Mahrang Baloch are not outliers, even though they have become the face of this particular march.

The protesting Baloch citizens in Islamabad and beyond are reflecting a new reality.

This longest-running insurgency in Balochistan has been led by the middle class from the province’s non-tribal areas. Those who are picked up and those who fight for their return are both from this class, and not the tribal sardars who continue to be the face of Balochistan in Islamabad.

The sardars and other MNAs are the first to be maligned when the issue of Balochistan’s development comes up and the first to be co-opted economically and politically. But more and more, it appears, they are irrelevant for the people.
Over the years, many Baloch and Pakhtuns have moved out of conflict areas to urban centres such as Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi. Many have moved for employment and others for education. This has also created networks which make such protests and visibility possible.

Journalists and researchers such as Zia ur Rehman argue this has exposed Baloch students to left-wing parties and mentors outside their own province. As the state continues with its age-old tactics such as arrests, disappearances and force, it can no longer do so as invisibly as it can in the peripheries.

Consider the FIRs against Punjab University students during the PTI tenure, which made it to the National Assembly, or the viral footage of a student being abducted from Punjab university.

The point is not to state the obvious but to argue that in a changing Pakistan, protesting Baloch citizens in Islamabad and beyond are simply reflecting a new reality. On the other hand, the state is still employing the old, ineffective rulebook.

It has to engage these young people and the middle classes, instead of silencing them. Such engagement means allowing Balochistan’s people to choose their own representatives.

Without this, people will have no choice but to turn to violence or protests, because parliamentary politics here is not providing any answers to those in whose name it claims legitimacy. Islamabad’s protest camp symbolises the failure of our politics.

The writer is a journalist.

25/12/2023

HBD 🎂 to Lord of Decisions since 1947 🌚

24/12/2023

ISI has ‘no technological capacity’ to ascertain source of information leaked on social media
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court has summoned directors general of the Intelligence Bureau and Federal Investigation Agency in connection with an audio leaks case as the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) expressed its inability to trace the source of leaked recordings.

Justice Babar Sattar, in a written order issued on Saturday on petitions filed by Bushra Bibi, wife of former prime minister Imran Khan, and Najam Saqib, son of ex-CJP Saqib Nisar, sought a report from the IB and FIA at the next hearing.

During the hearing, Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan informed the court that no law enforcement or intelligence agency had been authorised by the federal government to intercept or rec­ord telephone calls. “The right to privacy of all citizens must be upheld and their private phone conversations ought not be recorded, and such conversations are protected by attorney-client privilege.”

The attorney general said the FIA has written to various social media platforms to seek information with regard to the release of voice calls that form the subject-matter of these petitions in order to determine the source or sources that first released the illegally recorded calls.
ISI has ‘no technological capacity’ to ascertain source of information leaked on social media

He sought some time on behalf of the FIA to procure such information in order to file a report.

Justice Sattar said the report should include details of social media handles that shared the illegally recorded audio conversations in view of the timing of such sharing.

He summoned the FIA director general to brief the court as to how such surveillance and recording of phone calls can take place in Pakistan.

AG Awan told the court that the ISI had filed a report through the Ministry of Defence.

However, the ISI stated that it had no technological capacity to ascertain the source of release of information on social media platforms.

The court directed the IB to conduct an inquiry and analysis to identify the social media accounts used to release and circulate the illegally recorded voice call and the social media accounts that shared such voice call in view of time stamps of sharing. The director general (law & regulation) of the Pakistan Tele­c­omm­unication Authority (PTA) informed the court that nobody had been authorised to undertake lawful intercepts.

The court also impleaded all the mobile service providers as well as the six largest fixed-line service providers as necessary parties who will file rep­orts. The court sought a list from the PTA of all mobile operators in Pakistan as well as the top six fixed-line operators.

The counsel for the Pakistan Electro­nic Media Regulatory Authority infor­med the court that the regulator had a limited authority under Section 27 of the Pemra Ordinance 2002 to issue prohibition orders and one such order had been issued to the electronic media prohibiting them from broadcasting illegally recorded private phone conversations.

He said no prior restraints could be applied in relation to speech and it is only after the broadcast of certain material, even if it is illegal, that regulatory action can be taken, which in the instant case could not be taken due to non-existence of the Council of Complaints.

Justice Sattar also impleaded the Pak­istan Broadcasters Association and All Pakistan Newspaper Society as necessary parties since the illegally recorded voice call was broadcast across the electronic media and reported in the print media.

23/12/2023

Gold worth over Rs10m stolen from Lal Shahbaz Qalandar's shrine
Auqaf department disclosed that a staggering sum of Rs12,372,863 worth of gold was pilfered from the revered Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine over the past month.
KARACHI:
In a shocking incident reported on Friday, the manager of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine, Zubair Baloch, stands accused of orchestrating a brazen robbery, making off with gold valued at over Rs10 million.

Sindh Caretaker Minister for Law, Religious Affairs and Human Rights Omar Soomro dismissed the manager and directed the authorities to register a robbery case against him.

Read more: Sehwan enlivens as devotees celebrate Urs of Shahbaz Qalandar

Auqaf department disclosed that a staggering sum of Rs12,372,863 worth of gold was pilfered from the revered Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine over the past month.

A spokesperson for the department revealed that Baloch, in a shocking turn of events, admitted to the robbery while being questioned by an inquiry committee.

Soomro directed to halt of the pension of the manager and also referred the case to the Anti-Corruption Department.

23/12/2023

Gaza death toll reaches 20,258 since Oct 7: Palestinian health ministry
Poll shows 96pc of Saudis oppose normalisation with Israel.
9:17 PM
4 out of 5 hungriest people anywhere in the world are in Gaza: Guterres
9:02 PM
WATCH: Israeli military operations in Gaza the ‘real problem’ in humanitarian crisis
8:45 PM
Hamas says contact lost with group responsible for 5 Israeli hostages due to Israeli bombardment

23/12/2023

Punjab CTD neutralises ‘terrorist’ involved in 50 murders, attack on intelligence agency office
The Punjab Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) on Saturday claimed to have killed a terrorist allegedly linked to over 50 murders and an attack on an intelligence agency office.
According to a CTD statement, the intelligence-based operation took place in Chiniot.

The spokesperson mentioned that during the CTD action, the alleged terrorist and his accomplice resisted, leading to an exchange of fire between CTD personnel and the “terrorists”. Both were killed in the exchange of fire.

The spokesperson revealed that the suspect, with a bounty of Rs2.5 million on his head, had been in hiding since 2011, evading security agencies.
During the operation, law enforcement recovered modern weapons and explosives from the hideout where he was located.

The statement noted that the terrorist operated under various aliases within his network and had been responsible for the targeted killing of multiple people as well as attack on the office of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in Faisalabad.

The CTD said that the elimination of the figure was expected to result in a noticeable decrease in terrorist activities.

The CTD has been undertaking operations province-wide in response to terror threats, making arrests and neutralising criminal elements through IBOs in recent months.

Earlier this month, the CTD had arrested nine suspects associated with defunct organisations during various intelligence-based operations (IBOs) across the province.

According to an official statement by the CTD, officials had conducted 70 IBOs in various parts of the province. During the operations, the CTD had interrogated 69 suspects, resulting in the arrest of nine.

The statement had disclosed that two of the arrested suspects were associated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and were detained in Lahore.

23/12/2023

UN resolution ‘falls painfully short’ of addressing the Gaza crisis: MSF
This resolution has been watered down to the point that its impact on the lives of Gazas will be nearly meaningless,” say Doctors Without Borders.

23/12/2023

Court asks Transparency International to prove its claim of corruption in judiciary
“Your organisation should withdraw this report if you do not have proof to substantiate this claim,” Justice Khan observed.
PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan on Friday asked the Transparency International (TI) to furnish evidence regarding its recent report where the judiciary has been declared the second most corrupt institution of the province.

During the hearing of a notice, the chief justice told the TI board member Hashmat Habib Malik and its counsel that the organisation had declared the judiciary among the most corrupt institutions of the country.

“Your organisation should withdraw this report if you do not have proof to substantiate this claim,” Justice Khan observed.

Mr Malik told the court that such reports were prepared in the light of public perception and the organisation itself was not churning out such reports
However, Justice Khan asked him to share details if any corruption was taking place in the high court. Justice Khan said that he would take action against whoever was involved in corruption.

Mr Malik said that they had shared the report with the registrar office and everything would be clear once the court went through it.

However, the chief justice again asked him to furnish evidence of any corruption in the high court. Justice Khan said that they would take action against both the judges as well as administrative officers if they were found involved in corruption.

The hearing later adjourned till January 15.

23/12/2023

22/12/2023

اے خاک نشینو اٹھ بیٹھو وہ وقت قریب آ پہنچا ہے
جب تخت گرائے جائیں گے جب تاج اچھالے جائیں گے

22/12/2023

Why are Baloch protesters being forcefully sent back, IHC asks police chief
“They can stay in Islamabad, protest or go back home. The choice is theirs,” remarked IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq on a petition filed by Baloch protesters against unlawful detention.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday inquired why Baloch protesters in the federal capital, who were subjected to brutal police action a day earlier, were being “forcefully” sent back to their province.

“They can stay in Islamabad, protest or go back home. The choice is theirs,” remarked IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq on a petition filed by Baloch protesters against unlawful detention.

On Wednesday night, the Islamabad police used brutal force to disperse and detain Baloch demonstrators who had converged on the capital to protest against enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings in their province. More than 200 protesters were taken into custody from different areas of Islamabad. The demonstrators were also met with tear gas, water canons and police batons.The events were strongly condemned by human rights organisations, politicians and analysts. Later on Thursday evening, the government said 90 per cent of the Baloch men and women taken into custody had been released, except for the men who “could not be identified” by police.

However, while hearing a petition seeking the release of detained Baloch protesters, the IHC was told that more than 50 Baloch women protesters “went missing” on Wednesday night, following the police action.

The court had subsequently asked the representatives of the protesters and their counsel to approach the Islamabad SSP (Investigation) to record their version and sought a report from the police today.

22/12/2023

Their language was, in fact, a plea to be heard. !!!
THERE is no single issue that clarifies one’s political position in Pakistan than the Baloch question. This was made brutally clear this past Wednesday night when a caravan of peaceful, unarmed protesters who had made their way to Islamabad from Turbat were violently refused entry into the federal capital.

In the preceding few weeks, the Baloch long march had literally made waves, mobilising thousands of Baloch women, men and children, along with progressive political workers, ethnic-nationalists hailing from other communities, as well as ordinary people.

Led by young women, the caravan snaked through Balochistan and then the Seraiki, Pakhtun and Punjabi heartlands. It was the most meaningful expression of democratic aspirations and what a voluntary federation could look like in recent times. And then they reached the outskirts of Islamabad.

The demands of the marchers are simple enough, but it is precisely their simplicity that is unpalatable to those who rule us: to bring an end to the dastardly practice of enforced disappearances, as well as ‘encounter killings’, which is what triggered the initial protest in Turbat and accountability for those who are known to be complicit in all such practices. Simple demands, with earth-shattering implications.
Why is it that raising such demands is so taboo? And why is it especially taboo for Baloch youth to state what pretty much everyone in Pakistan already knows: that there are some functionaries of the state who do what they want and cannot be held to account.

Their language was, in fact, a plea to be heard.

It is telling that while the long march was making its way through the country, mainstream parties were busy wooing Balochistan’s proverbial electables. Sarfraz Bugti, the caretaker interior minister who resigned as soon as the Election Commission confirmed the Feb 8 poll date, was in particular demand. He eventually joined the PPP.
The caretaker prime minister also hails from Balochistan. In the aftermath of the violent crackdown on the long marchers, it was reported that he took urgent notice. As did the Islamabad High Court after a petition was filed on behalf of the hundreds who were detained. Which begs the question: why is it that the Baloch are repeatedly brutalised and nominal remedial action taken only after more salt is rubbed in their already gaping wounds?

Zubeida Mustafa wrote last week on these pages about the systemic and systematic oppression that steadily increased disaffection amongst the Bengalis and led to the eventual creation of Bangladesh.

One presumably writes such words in the hope that the lessons of history are learned, but the Baloch question makes clear not only that nothing has been learned but that the state is even more militarised now.
Indeed, the scenes on the outskirts of Islamabad this past week make it more difficult to convince the sceptics that a democratic federation in which ethnic nations like the Baloch enjoy genuine citizenship is still a possibility. To be sure, there is no other way to describe the attitudes and actions of those who rule us as old-fashioned colonial statecraft.

The marchers asked to be let into the federal capital and be allowed to say their piece. Their language was not incendiary — it was, in fact, a plea to be heard. They certainly did not come with the loftiest of expectations, given the historical track record.

This is precisely why the young women and mothers who came on foot to what is supposed to be the symbol of the federation, simply asking to be allowed to make their way to a peaceful protest camp, should not have been baton-charged, hosed with water cannons and bundled into police vans.

Mainstream Pak­is­­tan has been exposed to some of these tactics in recent months, especially those who continue to pledge their allegiance to the jailed former prime minister. Many of those who have now experienced the big stick ask rhetorically how and why they are being treated so brutally.

The truth is that they are only now being subjected to the treatment that many Baloch and those who have stood in solidarity with them suffered for a long time. To recognise this is to truly open up the possibility of a deeper democratic struggle in which the most oppressed is given centrality.

Indeed, the solidarities that were expressed along the route of the long march should not be forgotten in the clamour of what happened when it actually entered Islamabad.

The establishment will not be held to account by bourgeois politicians who want to cosy up to it. The only hope is for all progressives — and the ordinary people who came out onto the streets to make clear their abhorrence for disappearances and ‘encounter’ killings — to recognise that that can maybe, just maybe, still lead to a just and democratic future.

The writer teaches at Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.