Category: Politics

News stories of Politics, for the topics that matter the most to young professionals and college students, political news reported with a different angle.

  • Rao Anwar and all accused acquitted of Naqeebullah’s murder

    Former Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rao Anwar and 17 other police officers have been acquitted in the high-profile Naqeebullah Mehsud murder case.

    Naqeebullah, a young aspiring fashion model from Waziristan, was killed in Karachi on January 13, 2018, during an encounter allegedly staged by Anwar. Rao and his colleagues were charged with the killing of Naqeeb and three others after falsely accusing them of being militants linked to ISIS and Taliban.

    On Monday, the court said that the prosecution had failed to submit sufficient evidence and failed to prove that the victims were kidnapped and murdered in a fake encounter by Rao Anwar and his 14 subordinate officials. However, a detailed verdict in the case is awaited.

    Speaking to Geo TV after the acquittal, Anwar said that “fake allegations” against him had been proven wrong.

    He claimed that the person killed was a “wanted terrorist” whose name was Naseemullah and not Naqeebullah. “He was a wanted militant about which advertisements were also given in the media,” he said.

    When asked whether he would like to rejoin the police force, the former police official said one year of his service is left and he “would like to serve Karachi”.

    Following the verdict, lawyer Jibran Nasir who is representing the case of Naqeebullah said the victim’s family would appeal this judgement before the high court.

  • Journalist who was allegedly involved in Gen Bajwa’s tax data leak returns home

    Journalist who was allegedly involved in Gen Bajwa’s tax data leak returns home

    Senior investigative journalist Shahid Aslam took to Twitter to announce his release from the custody of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for his alleged part in leaking the personal tax data of former army chief General (retired) Qamar Javed Bajwa.

    In a series of tweets, he thanked his colleagues within the media community.

    He said, “Thanks everybody including the media community particularly @UmarCheema1 @AzazSyed @matiullahjan911 @Fahdshehbazkhan @AmirZia1 @AnsarAAbbasi @AsadAToor and my lawyer @MianAliAshfaq for the unprecedented support on my illegal arrest by @FIA_Agency and those who had ordered.”

    After Aslam’s arrest, many journalists came forward for his defence.

    On January 18, the Islamabad sessions court granted bail to him after being in custody for four days.

    On January 14, Aslam was sent on a two-day physical remand to FIA over his alleged involvement in this matter.

    ‘Dehshatgardon ki tarhaan mujhe uthwaya hai’; journalist who was allegedly involved in Gen Bajwa’s tax data leak lashes out

    Bol News journalist Shahid Aslam, talking to the media, has categorically said that he has nothing to do with former army chief General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa’s tax data leak.

    The journalist directly blamed Director General (DG) Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Mohsin Butt for picking him up from his house “like a terrorist”. According to him, 20-25 men were sent to pick him up.

    “They [FIA] have mentally tortured me”, Aslam said.

    Aslam alleged that Mohsin Butt was given orders from higher up that he had to bring the journalist in.

    On Monday, a local court in Islamabad sent Aslam to jail on judicial remand.

    Journalist who was allegedly involved in Gen Bajwa’s tax data leak is handed over to FIA

    On Saturday, Aslam was sent to a two-day physical remand to FIA over his alleged involvement in this matter.

    Judicial Magistrate Umar Shabbir of the District and Sessions court announced the decision to hand over the journalist to the agency. During the proceedings, the reporter denied all charges against him, saying that there is no evidence against him.

    However, the prosecutor said the proof is in Aslam’s mobile phone and laptop, which he is not providing to the investigators. He claimed the journalist played the role of “facilitator” in the leak.

    Earlier that day, the agency arrested Aslam from Lahore and produced him in court.

    In November, a report by investigative news website FactFocus accused the army chief and his family of amassing assets worth Rs12.7 billion over the past six years. FactFocus has claimed that after the publication of the story, the traffic on its site was “disrupted” and the website had been “banned”.

    At the time, Finance minister Ishaq Dar had said that the leak was “clearly violative of the complete confidentiality of tax information that the law provides”.

    He also shared that he has received the interim report related to the leak of Gen (retd) Bajwa’s income tax records, adding that the authorities had traced some of the people involved in the act.

  • ‘Deeply disrespectful act’: Swedish PM condemns desecration of Holy Quran

    Swedish Prime Minister (PM) Ulf Kristersson has condemned the abhorrent act of desecration of the Holy Quran in Stockholm.

    On Saturday, far-right politician Rasmus Paludan set fire to a copy of the Holy Quran in front of the Turkish embassy.

    PM Kristersson reacted to the abhorrent incident, tweeting: “Freedom of expression is a fundamental part of democracy. But what is legal is not necessarily appropriate. Burning books that are holy to many is a deeply disrespectful act.”

    “I want to express my sympathy for all Muslims who are offended by what has happened in Stockholm,” he said.

    Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif has also condemned the incident.

    In a tweet, the Premier said: “No words are enough to adequately condemn the abhorrable act of desecration of the Holy Quran by a right-wing extremist in Sweden.”

    Shehbaz emphasised that “the garb of freedom of expression” was used to hurt the religious sentiments of the 1.5 billion Muslims across the world, calling the act “unacceptable”.

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan also condemned the incident as he highlighted the steps his government took against Islamophobia.

  • ‘Was a freshman at Oxford’, Bilawal gets candid about his whereabouts when his mother was assassinated

    ‘Was a freshman at Oxford’, Bilawal gets candid about his whereabouts when his mother was assassinated

    Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari recently got candid while talking about his mother’s legacy, assassination, and his foray into politics.

    In a wide-ranging interview on Thursday with The Washington Post’s Lally Weymouth, Bilawal, who is currently representing Pakistan at World Economic Forum in Davis, agreed that if his mother Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto had lived Pakistan would have been a different place.

    “I think that not only would Pakistan be a different place, but our region would have gone in a different direction. She had a vision and clarity that no one had at the time,” he said of his mother, the first female Muslim Prime Minister in the world.

    Responding to a question about where he was when his mother was assassinated in 2007 in Karachi, he said, “I was a freshman at Oxford”. Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in an attack in Rawalpindi in 2007, right before she was to lead her party to the polls.

    Speaking about his early stages in politics, Bilawal—who is also chairman of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)— said that his party thought that it was important for him to take a “ceremonial role leading the party to keep them united”.

    When asked whether he could become prime minister this year, FM Bilawal said he would have to win an election first.

    “Obviously, my party will be hoping that we win,” he said, hinting towards a coalition government if his party wins the most seats in the general elections scheduled for later this year.

    During the interview, the young minister reiterated that Pakistan’s new leadership, both political and military, will hold no talks with terrorist organisations who don’t respect the country’s laws and constitution.

    He said that former PM Imran Khan gave the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) a place to hide; not only did he release prisoners who were in Pakistan’s custody, but also engaged in a dialogue with them. “He [Imran Khan] has always been ideologically sympathetic to their point of view,” he added.

  • Imran cites British PM Rishi Sunak fine for not wearing seatbelt as ‘rule of law’

    Imran cites British PM Rishi Sunak fine for not wearing seatbelt as ‘rule of law’

    British Prime Minister (PM) Rishi Sunak was fined by the police on Friday for not wearing a seatbelt in the car while filming a social media video.

    Lancashire Police announced on Twitter that they have issued Sunak “with a conditional offer of fixed penalty”.

    In the video that went viral on Thursday, the seatbeltless Conservative leader speaks from the back seat of a moving car about his policies for boosting growth during a trip to Lancashire in England’s north.

    According to BBC, passengers caught failing to wear a seat belt when one is available can be fined £100 (PKR 28,475).

    Reacting to the news, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman and former PM Imran Khan highlighted the rule of law in Britain.

    In a tweet, Khan said, “This is rule of law where no one is above it; this differentiates prosperous nations from poor ones.”

    “No NROs, no qabza GPS, no custodial torture for tweeting the truth about the powerful because the justice system protects the weak. Justice was the bedrock of Riyasat e Madina,” he added

    However, Sunak apologised afterward and called it a “brief error of judgement”.

    It is the second time Sunak has received a fixed penalty notice while in being in the government.

    Last April, he was fined along with the-then PM Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie for breaking Covid lockdown rules by attending a gathering in Downing Street in June 2020.

  • Indian govt calls BBC Modi documentary ‘propaganda’

    Indian govt calls BBC Modi documentary ‘propaganda’

    The Indian foreign ministry has dismissed a BBC documentary about Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi’s role in the 2002 Gujrat riots as “propaganda”.

    The first of the two-part series was aired in the UK on Tuesday with the second part scheduled to hit airwaves a week later. The documentary tracks Modi’s first steps into politics, including his rise through the ranks of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to his appointment as chief minister of Gujrat.

    Modi was still holding the position when communal riots rocked the state, leaving more than 1,000 people dead, most of them Muslims.

    According to the documentary the inquiry team had assessed that Modi had prevented the police from acting to stop the violence targeted against Muslims, stating that he had specifically ordered law-enforcing authorities not to intervene. The documentary also features a former top UK diplomat who says that the violence had been planned by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)

    Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the foreign ministry, has termed the BBC documentary a “propaganda piece”.

    On Thursday, British PM Rishi Sunak was asked in parliament if he agreed with the report that Modi was directly responsible for the violence. In reply, Sunak defended his Indian counter-partner.

    “We don’t tolerate persecution anywhere”, the British Prime Minister said but added that “he did not agree with the characterisation” of Modi as depicted in the documentary.

  • Mad man, Gen Bajwa, Gen Faiz responsible for Pakistan’s current crisis: Nawaz Sharif

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif blamed former Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa and former ISI Chief Lieutenant General (retd) Faiz Hameed for the current mess in the country.

    The former Prime Minister also blamed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan, calling him a “mad man”.

    Nawaz Sharif said that a cruel joke had been played on Pakistan for the sake of personal gains.

    “In my Gujranwala jalsa, I stated who was responsible, and everything was out in the open. It is my responsibility to tell the nation about the wrongs committed against the people, and it is my responsibility to make things right,” he stated.

    Turning his guns on another former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif minced no words. “This mad man [Imran Khan, I am calling him a mad man today. I want everyone to compare my time with his, and people will see how happy everyone was during my time and how unstable everything became during his tenure,” said Nawaz.

    As Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa elections approach, PML-N is said to be ready to adopt an aggressive narrative against five individuals as it prepares for the polls.

    According to a news report, the five individuals against whom the PML-N will turn its guns with full ferocity are General (retd) Qamar Javed Bajwa, Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed, former Chief Justices of Pakistan Saqib Nisar and Asif Saeed Khosa along with former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

  • Davos Playbook names Bilawal as the best-dressed person at world economic forum

    Davos Playbook names Bilawal as the best-dressed person at world economic forum

    Politico‘s Davos Playbook on Thursday named Pakistani Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari as the best-dressed person at the World Economic Forum (WEF).

    The playbook is published every year during the economic forum in Davos, Switzerland.

    Apart from the Pakistani minister, the playbook talked about the other politicians and personalities from all over the world who came to attend the international event. Moreover, it reported on all events that happened on Thursday.

    Bilawal, along with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, is currently in Davos. The four-day international event will end today (Friday).

    Here, have a look at Bilawal’s pictures during the event.

  • PML-Q wants seats from PTI to merge into the party

    PML-Q wants seats from PTI to merge into the party

    Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Pervaiz Elahi has put forward a set of conditions to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) if they want a merger with his party, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q).

    The chief minister has asked for seat adjustments in Gujrat, Chakwal, and Gujranwala divisions from PTI in the next general elections which are likely to take place within the year.

    Samaa has reported that Elahi has even asked for a written agreement of the deal from PTI chief Imran Khan.

    Elahi has categorically stated that without any significant political benefit, the PML-Q will not unite with the PTI.

    However, senior leaders of PTI have opposed Elahi’s demands for half of the seats in the aforementioned divisions.

    Earlier, Khan had proposed that PML-Q should merge with it as the Elahis showed immense support to him in the Punjab Assembly dissolution process.

    After this, PML-Q chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain suspended Elahi’s party membership, making it difficult for Elahi to merge his party with PTI.

    Subsequently, Elahi clarified that no final decision has been taken yet on a merger, saying that consultations are still underway.

  • ‘It’s time’: Jacinda Ardern unexpectedly resigns

    Jacinda Ardern unexpectedly resigned as the Prime Minister of New Zealand on Thursday after being in office for almost five years.

    Leaving her country and the world stunned, the popular 42-year-old leader announced that she will not contest in the upcoming elections, scheduled to be held in October.

    “I am leaving because with such a privileged role, comes responsibility, the responsibility to know when you are the right person to lead and also when you are not,” she said, adding that she, “no longer has enough in the tank to do it justice”.

    She said, “I am human. We give as much as we can for as long as we can and then it’s time. And for me, it’s time.”

    Arden said told reporters that she would be doing a disservice to her country by continuing.

    The Labour Party will now vote to find her replacement on Sunday.

    Arden became the youngest female head of government in the world in 2017, when she was elected prime minister at just 37 years of age.

    She won international acclaim for her handling of a terror attack on two Muslim mosques and the Covid-19 pandemic, and became only the second world leader after former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to give birth while in office.