Author: newsdesk

  • Lahore woman sentenced to death for claiming to be prophet

    A woman from Lahore has been sentenced to death by a sessions court after claiming to be a prophet, Wajid Ahmad Sheikh reported for Dawn. She has been charged under section 295C of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). The court has also fined the convict with Rs50,000.

    “It is proved beyond reasonable doubt that accused Salma Tanveer wrote and distributed the writings which are derogatory in respect of Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and she failed to prove that her case falls in exception provided by section 84 of PPC,” ruled Additional District & Sessions Judge Mansoor Ahmad Qureshi in his 22-page verdict.

    Section 84 deals with crimes committed by those who are mental.

    A case against Salma Tanveer was registered at Nisthar Colony Police Station in 2013.

    The court record shows that the FIR was lodged by the prayer leader (Khateeb) of Jamia Masjid Anwar-e-Madina in Bahadurabad neighbourhood of Lahore. The prayer leader, Qari Iftikhar Ahmad Raza, alleged that Salma Tanveer, principal of a local school, had published and distributed pamphlets in the area “whereby she denied khatam-e-nubuwat of the Holy Prophet (PBUH)”.

    The FIR alleged that the woman had used derogatory remarks and claimed “her own nubuwat”, according to the court record.

    The woman’s counsel, Mian Muhammad Ramzan, had argued that the suspect was of unsound mind at the time of occurrence. He said the magistrate concerned had ordered mental examination of the suspect, which remained pending without any fault on the part of the suspect.

    The defence counsel further argued that the comparison of writing from photocopies was not possible as tampering had been made in the photocopies of the alleged documents.

    A report by the Punjab Institute of Mental Health (PIMH) declared Salma Tanveer fit to stand trial.

    “The question, however, that arises for consideration is whether in law such abnormality can be treated as sufficient to exculpate the accused for the serious crime committed by her, even though it falls short of legal insanity,” held the judge.

    The judge ruled that the law in the country did not recognise such lesser forms of mental abnormality and the plea of diminished responsibility was not available as a defence in a criminal prosecution.

  • ‘Verbal diarrhea’: Zarnish Khan blasts Maira Khan for classist statements

    ‘Verbal diarrhea’: Zarnish Khan blasts Maira Khan for classist statements

    Actor Maira Khan took to her Instagram handle to call out a certain outsiders for entering Defence Housing Authority (DHA). The Jalan star has been trolled online for her classist comments in the video.

    Fellow actor Zarnish Khan schooled Maira in her Instagram stories.

    Video: Maira Khan has an issue with ‘paindu’, ‘neech’ people shifting to DHA, gets trolled

  • British court orders unfreezing of Shehbaz Sharif, son’s UK bank accounts

    British court orders unfreezing of Shehbaz Sharif, son’s UK bank accounts

    A United Kingdom (UK) court has ordered to unfreeze Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif and his family’s bank accounts for lack of evidence of corruption and money laundering, reported Geo News.

    The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) unfroze the bank accounts of former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif and those of his son, Suleman Shehbaz, on Monday.

    The NCA had conducted a 17-month long probe in which it examined Shehbaz Sharif’s financial transactions over the past 20 years. It said that no evidence of money laundering or criminal activities against the PML-N president or his family was found.

    The UK’s top anti-corruption agency filed a unilateral application before Judge Rimmer to declare that its two-year high-profile investigation in the jurisdictions of Pakistan, UK, and Dubai found no evidence of money laundering and criminal conduct on part of the two Sharifs who were investigated. 

    The NCA had initiated the probe after Pakistan’s Asset Recovery Unit (ARU) had shared evidence with the UK crime agency.

    After the Westminster Magistrates Court allowed the accounts to be frozen and issued a probe consent to the NCA on December 19, 2019, Suleman Shehbaz’s declared Barclays account, Shehbaz Sharif’s HBL UK and Barclays account were immediately probed, seized and monies were frozen.

    Usually, anti-money laundering investigations go back only six years, but in this case, the NCA used its excessive powers and investigated Shehbaz Sharif and his son’s transactions dating back to around 20 years.

    NCA’s investigators started the probe from the first flat that Shehbaz Sharif bought in 2004 on Edgware Road when he was in exile and asked him to produce evidence of the clean origin of the money, including mortgage payments, sources of proceeds in his accounts, salaries and dividends, and full proceeds of the property purchase in the UK bought during exile.

    The NCA investigated Suleman Shehbaz’s Barclays account declared in Pakistan with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and looked into all transfers that were made from Pakistan after the State Bank of Pakistan’s approval. The NCA went through each receipt of transfers from the official money exchangers.

    The court documents obtained by this correspondent from credible sources show that the NCA received a letter from the ARU on December 11, 2019, in which it levelled allegations of criminal conduct against Shehbaz Sharif and Suleman Shehbaz.

    The government of Pakistan had requested the UK government to seize all assets and funds of Shehbaz Sharif and his family and asked them to return the same to Pakistan and extradite Suleman Shehbaz with his family.

    Advisor to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar said that reports of Shehbaz Sharif being acquitted by the British court were incorrect, clarifying that neither had the ARU nor NAB requested the UK government to initiate a probe against the PML-N leader.

    “[These transactions] were declared as a suspicious transaction by the UK authorities and the NCA secured an asset freezing order(AFO) from the court against these funds,” he tweeted.

    “The news about the alleged acquittal of Shehbaz Sharif or his son Suleman run by one news channel is incorrect and misreporting. It was a result of a suspicious transaction reported by a bank to NCA. The investigation by the NCA against Suleman Shehbaz and some of his family members was not initiated at the request of Asset Recovery Unit (ARU) or National Accountability Bureau (NAB),” tweeted Akbar, who had been keeping a low profile for the last couple of months.

    PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said: “The UK court’s decision has unequivocally exonerated Shehbaz Sharif and his family of all malicious and vexatious claims of corruption and money laundering by Imran Khan. The NCA conducted a 21-month global investigation spanning across a 20-year timeframe whilst overcoming unprecedented jurisdictional challenges.”

    “Never in the history of Pakistan has such a public office-holder been subjected to global scrutiny and multi-jurisdictional probing. Imran Khan has been exposed as a charlatan, willing to malign and assassinate characters of honest public office-holders. False corruption narrative exposed as nothing more than a smokescreen and Imran Khan to be an unscrupulous ringmaster of a circus built on incompetence, deceit and stained by the indignation of the innocent and the poor,” she said.

  • Govt to vaccinate 12-year-old children

    Govt to vaccinate 12-year-old children

    National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has decided to vaccinate 12-year-old children. The decision was taken in a meeting on Tuesday (today).

    Federal Minister for Planning and Development, Asad Umar, took to Twitter to announce the news.

    “In today’s NCOC meeting decided to start vaccination of all 12 years and older. Special drive will be run for vaccination at schools to make it easier for children to be vaccinated,” the minister wrote in a tweet.

    Pakistan has reported 1,400 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total tally to 1,241,825 cases. The country has reported 27,638 deaths so far.

  • Video: Maira Khan has an issue with ‘paindu’, ‘neech’ people shifting to DHA, gets trolled

    Video: Maira Khan has an issue with ‘paindu’, ‘neech’ people shifting to DHA, gets trolled

    Actor Maira Khan took to her Instagram handle to call out certain outsiders for entering Defence Housing Authority (DHA). The Jalan star has been trolled online for her classist comments in the video.

    She has been criticized for choosing the wrong choice of words.

  • Azaan Sami Khan opens up on working with female superstars Sajal and Yumna

    Azaan Sami Khan opens up on working with female superstars Sajal and Yumna

    Azaan Sami Khan has opened up on how he feels working with two A-list female stars of Pakistan. The Parwaaz Hai Junoon composer revealed that he feels absolutely honoured sharing the screen-space with Sajal Aly and Yumna Zaidi in Ishq-e-Laa.

    He thanked his co-star Sajal for being a great friend and helping him so much throughout the process and guiding him from her wealth of talent and experience. For Yumna, he thanked her for believing in him and pushing him whenever he fell.

    The Tu singer is interactive with fans on social media.

    He recently also clapped back at a troll with a dignified reply.

    Azaan is making his acting debut in Ishq-E-Laa, directed by Amin Iqbal, the script is penned by the veteran writer, Qaisera Hayat of Alif Allah Aur Insaan fame.

    Read More: Azaan Sami Khan hits back at troll for referring to father Adnan Sami as ‘Ghadaar baap’

  • Inzamam-ul-Huq undergoes angioplasty after suffering heart attack

    Inzamam-ul-Huq undergoes angioplasty after suffering heart attack

    Pakistan cricket great Inzamam-ul-Haq underwent angioplasty on Monday (September 27) after suffering a heart attack. The 51-year-old is in a stable condition in a hospital.

    His manager revealed that a stent has been placed in Inzamam’s heart. Inzamam, who had been complaining of chest pain recently, underwent tests that revealed a heart attack, following which the angioplasty had to be performed.

    Inzamam made his debut for Pakistan by the end of 1991 and was a part of their successful 1992 World Cup campaign. He went on to lead the national side and eventually finished as their most prolific batsman with over 20,000 runs by the time he retired in 2007. He was recently working with the PCB as the chief selector until July 2019.

    Several Pakistani cricketers and people from cricket fraternity extended their wishes for his quick recovery.

    https://twitter.com/Amermalik12/status/1442600487493062658?s=20

  • Al-Qaeda, TTP members in possession of Pakistani ID cards: report

    Al-Qaeda, TTP members in possession of Pakistani ID cards: report

    Members of Al-Qaeda, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Indian and Afghan nationals have been found to be in possession of Pakistani Identity Cards (ID), according to a government report.

    The report was presented by Senator Faisal Sabzwari of the Muttahida Qaumi Moment Pakistan (MQM) in the Senate Standing Committee on Interior.

    It states that some arrested Afghan citizens had ID cards issued by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Karachi where allegedly 50% to 60% of employees are involved in corruption.

    According to the report, Abdullah Baloch of Al-Qaeda and an Indian citizen who was involved in the Safoora Goth also had an identity card.

    NADRA chairman Muhammad Tariq Malik said that the matter is under investigation, 12 officers have been arrested and 29 have been suspended.

  • Court orders ‘rapist’ to wash women’s clothes for six months

    Court orders ‘rapist’ to wash women’s clothes for six months

    A man in Bihar, India, accused of attempted rape was granted bail on the condition that he will wash and iron the clothes of all women in his village for six months.

    As per reports, the 20-year-old Lalan Kumar will have to buy detergent and other products to provide six months of free laundry services to about 2,000 women in the village of Majhor, a court said on Wednesday.

    Kumar, who washes clothes for a living, was detained in April on charges including attempted rape, Santosh Kumar Singh, a police officer, said.

    No date has been set for his trial.

    “All the women in the village are happy with the court decision,” Nasima Khatoon, the village head, said.

    “It is historic. It will boost respect for women and help to protect the dignity,” added Khatoon, one of the villagers who will monitor Kumar.

    Women in the village said the order had made a positive effect by making crime against women a subject of discussion in their community.

  • ‘Since 2001, I have repeatedly warned that the Afghan war was unwinnable’: Imran Khan

    ‘Since 2001, I have repeatedly warned that the Afghan war was unwinnable’: Imran Khan

    Prime Minister Imran Khan says he was surprised to see that no mention was made of Pakistan’s sacrifices as a US ally in the war on terror for more than two decades. “Instead, we were blamed for America’s loss,” he wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post.

    “Since 2001, I have repeatedly warned that the Afghan war was unwinnable. Given their history, Afghans would never accept a protracted foreign military presence, and no outsider, including Pakistan, could change this reality,” wrote PM Khan.

    PM Imran Khan lashed out at successive Pakistani governments, saying that they had sought to please the US instead of pointing out the flaws of a military-driven approach in Afghanistan.

    “Pakistan’s military dictator Pervez Musharraf agreed to every American demand for military support after 9/11. This cost Pakistan, and the United States, dearly,” he stressed.

    “Those the United States asked Pakistan to target included groups trained jointly by the CIA and our intelligence agency, the ISI, to defeat the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Back then, these Afghans were hailed as freedom fighters performing a sacred duty. President Ronald Reagan even entertained the mujahideen at the White House.”

    “Once the Soviets were defeated, the United States abandoned Afghanistan and sanctioned my country, leaving behind over 4 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan and bloody civil war in Afghanistan. From this security, vacuum emerged the Taliban, many born and educated in Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan,” read the opinion piece.

    “Fast forward to 9/11, when the United States needed us again — but this time against the very actors we had jointly supported to fight the foreign occupation. Musharraf offered Washington logistics and air bases, allowed a CIA footprint in Pakistan, and even turned a blind eye to American drones bombing Pakistanis on our soil. For the first time ever, our army swept into the semiautonomous tribal areas on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, which had earlier been used as the staging ground for the anti-Soviet jihad. The fiercely independent Pashtun tribes in these areas had deep ethnic ties with the Taliban and other Islamist militants,” wrote Khan.

    The prime minister pointed out how, between 2005 and 2016, 16,000 terrorist attacks were conducted against Pakistan by over 50 militant groups, who saw the US and Pakistan as collaborators.

    “We suffered more than 80,000 casualties and lost over $150 billion in the economy. The conflict drove 3.5 million of our citizens from their homes. The militants escaping from Pakistani counterterrorism efforts entered Afghanistan and were then supported and financed by Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies, launching even more attacks against us,” he wrote.

    The premier lashed out at former president Asif Ali Zardari, referring to him as “undoubtedly the most corrupt man to have led my country”, accusing him of not worrying about the collateral damage caused by US drone strikes. He said former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was no different.

    “Tragically, instead of facing this reality, the Afghan and Western governments created a convenient scapegoat by blaming Pakistan, wrongly accusing us of providing safe havens to the Taliban and allowing its free movement across our border. If it had been so, would the United States not have used some of the 450-plus drone strikes to target these supposed sanctuaries?”

    “Surely Pakistan is not to blame for the fact that 300,000-plus well-trained and well-equipped Afghan security forces saw no reason to fight the lightly armed Taliban. The underlying problem was an Afghan government structure lacking legitimacy in the eyes of the average Afghan,” he wrote.

    The prime minister said the “right thing” right now for the world to do would be to engage with the new Afghanistan government, adding that if assured of constant humanitarian aid, the Taliban will have a greater incentive to honour the global community’s demands.

    “Providing such incentives will also give the outside world additional leverage to continue persuading the Taliban to honor its commitments,” he wrote.

    “If we do this right, we could achieve what the Doha peace process aimed at all along: an Afghanistan that is no longer a threat to the world, where Afghans can finally dream of peace after four decades of conflict. The alternative — abandoning Afghanistan — has been tried before,” warned the prime minister.