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.

  • ‘Nani, diesel, cherry blossom, baby’: Khan has a name for all his political rivals

    ‘Nani, diesel, cherry blossom, baby’: Khan has a name for all his political rivals

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan quite frequently comes up with names for his fellow politicians. From names like cherry blossom, kukri, diesel, and nani, Khan has repetitively used these names to demean his political rivals.

    Cherry blossom:

    Khan has started addressing Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Shairf as ‘cherry blossom’ and often calls him “boot polishiya” [someone who polishes boots].

    In the same public address, Khan also called Shehbaz as “chooha” [mouse/rat].

    Geedar- Nawaz Sharif

    The PTI chairman called Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif a “geedar” [jackal] and said, “Geedar (jackal) cannot be a leader.”

    Maryam Nani

    Imran Khan called PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz “nani” [Grandmother].

    Later addressing Maryam as “bachi” [child], Khan said she does not have a political standing.

    ‘Baby Bilawal- Bilawal Sahiba’

    Khan during his jalsa in 2015 addressed Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari as “beta [son] and baby”. The former premier said, “Bilawal beta this is not how politics is done. Politics is not done by putting pictures of your grandfather and mother in the back ground. We are going to make a Naya Pakistan baby Bilawal.”

    In 2019, Khan addressed Bilawal as “sahiba” [Madam]. He said, “Bilawal Bhutto sahiba ki tarhan mein koi kagazh ki parchi pay nahi aya tha.” [I did not come into politics on a piece of paper like Madam Bilawal Bhutto.]

    Later in 2020, he referred to Bilawal as a child and criticised him for not having done an actual job in his life.

    Diesel- Maulana Fazl

    Khan said that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Major-General Qamar Javed Bajwa asked him not to call Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman “diesel”.

    “I was just talking to Gen Bajwa and he told me not to refer to Fazl as diesel. But I am not the one who is saying that. The people have named him diesel,” said Khan.

    Hamza Kukri

    The PTI chairman has often called Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz “kukri” [ chicken].

    Three stooges

    Khan called Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Shehbaz Sharif, and PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari the “three stooges”, referring to a classic American programme. This address was before Khan was ousted from power. He told his party members that the no-confidence motion was a “blessing” as it had “lifted” Khan’s party.

  • British-Pakistani Baroness to the House of Lords Shaista Gohir: ‘Anger drives me’

    British-Pakistani Baroness to the House of Lords Shaista Gohir: ‘Anger drives me’

    Shaista Gohir OBE, CEO of the Muslim Women’s Network UK was appointed Baroness to the House of Lords through her nomination as a non-affiliate peer at the House of Lords. ‘OBE’ [Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire] next to her name refers to the title used for the second highest ranking officer in the order of the British Empire.

    Gohir has been a trailblazing women’s rights campaigner, especially as an ambitions Muslim woman striving to achieve progressive attitudes amidst Islamophobia and the response of active gendered Islamisation. She joined the Muslim Women’s Network UK (MWNUK) in 2005 and spent almost 17 years developing the organisation from a handful of volunteers to a nationally acknowledged charity, becoming Executive Director, then Chair and eventually Co-Chair so she can diversify her efforts.

    In a report for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Gohir writes, “More Muslim women need to be empowered with information to be able to challenge religious extremist rhetoric… More resources need to be created to highlight role models and relevant role models need to be included in the education curriculum.” Shaista Gohir has done extensive work on building the epistemic necessity of female Muslim role models in society.

    On January 15, 2015, Gohir launched a national helpline for Muslim women to help those who are stuck in situations of domestic violence or sexual abuse from family members. Born to parents who hailed from Daultalla, Tehsil Gujarkhan in Rawalpindi, they moved to England in the 1960s, where she was raised by a single mother who worked long hours in a clothing factory. Growing up, even as a child, she had to take care of her siblings and feed them as her mother continued to labor to financially sustain the family. On this subject she tells The Guardian, “Even in a single-parent family, I saw how women would take responsibility for men’s bad behaviour.”

    Her organisation MWNUK has researched extensively the sexual exploitation of Asian girls and their ability to report and on child sexual exploitation and how it can be reported by the members of the service industry. She has also written for The Guardian, advocating Muslim women’s rights, where she talks about a comprehensive report compiled in 2015 by her organisation on the subject of shariah councils and Muslim divorce for women, titled “Information and Guidance on Muslim Marriage and Divorce in Britain”.

    Shaista Gohir has extensively advocated for the rights of Muslim women and given a way of articulation to the problems they face in the West. And so naturally, in light of her relentless efforts, she was appointed as a Baroness to the House of Lords earlier today. Talking to The News and GEO, she emphasised that through her organisation Nisa Global Foundation in Pakistan she wants to expand her mission of supporting and empowering women.

    “A lot of these women are suffering in silence, and they aren’t strong enough to vocalise that they want help,” Gohir says in an interview with The Guardian, “I don’t mind taking the flak.”

  • CM Hamza Shehbaz finally has a cabinet after a month

    CM Hamza Shehbaz finally has a cabinet after a month

    Eight members of the new cabinet of the Punjab government took oath at Governor House in Lahore in the first phase yesterday (May 30).

     Punjab Governor Muhammad Baligh Ur Rehman administered the oath to the cabinet. Chief Minister (CM) Punjab Hamza Shehbaz was also present.

    The cabinet members include Rana Muhammad Iqbal Khan, Sardar Owais Khan Leghari, Malik Muhammad Ahmad Khan, Khawaja Salman Rafique, Syed Hassan Murtaza, Ataullah Tarar, Chaudhry Bilal Asghar and Ali Haider Gillani.

    The portfolios of the new cabinet members are yet to be announced.

    After the oath-taking ceremony, Hamza Shehbaz swore to solve the issues of the people and said, “Our motive is to serve mankind. We will move ahead with new hope and spirit, and our first and last priority is to solve the issues of the masses.”   

  • ‘Our people had pistols’: Khan admits PTI workers had weapons in Azadi March

    ‘Our people had pistols’: Khan admits PTI workers had weapons in Azadi March

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan admitted that during the Azadi March, PTI protesters were carrying weapons with them. 

    Khan’s comments came while speaking on 92 News‘ political talk show ‘Hard Talk’. The former premier said that had the march continued, the clashes between the protestors and the police would have led to anarchy in the country.

    “There was already hatred among the people due to raids carried out by the Punjab Police on PTI lawmakers’ houses a day prior to the march. I was 100 per cent sure that the situation would lead to chaos after the protestors would have seen me,” said Khan.

    “Our people had pistols on them too. I was afraid that the country will now face riots,” Khan told anchorperson Moeed Pirzada.

    Khan further said that the decision to continue the march would have led to hatred against the police and the army and this would create further divisions in the country. He added that this hatred would have only benefitted the thieves who were now in power.

    Khan also commented on police constable Kamal Ahmed who was shot dead during a raid of a PTI leader’s house in Lahore’s Model Town.

    “We have never engaged in politics of provocation. The government blamed the PTI for the [martyred] constable’s death. Anyone would have thought that a thief has entered a house at 2am.”

  • Fact Check: Bilawal Bhutto was not rejected as speaker by NYU, Columbia University

    Fact Check: Bilawal Bhutto was not rejected as speaker by NYU, Columbia University

    Claim: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto reached out to Pakistani students in Columbia University and NYU, both rejected to being his audience for a talk

    Fact: Bilawal Bhutto never contacted Pakistani students in NYU or Columbia University and so was never rejected by him

    On May 27, Shandana Gulzar Khan, a former PTI MNA made a tweet claiming that she has been told by “a person in a sensitive post”, that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari reached out to Pakistani students at Columbia University and New York University, requesting them to arrange a talk with him but both organizations refused. The thread continues onwards and claims that after these two disappointments, Bhutto asked Pakistani students at Cornell to arrange a talk with him, which they first accepted and then at the insistence of the general student body, eventually rejected as well.

    This thread gathered 1,622 Likes, RTs and replies and has been shared to at least 562,647 followers on Twitter.

    Shandana Gulzar Khan’s tweet which refers to Bilawal Bhutto’s rejected request.

    The following day, on May 28, the Pakistani Students Association at NYU and the Organization of Pakistani Students at Columbia University both made announcements on Facebook clarifying that Bilawal Bhutto never contacted them so naturally they never rejected his proposal.

    To confirm with the final university, we reached out to the Pakistani students’ organization at Cornell on their Facebook page ‘Cornell University Pakistani Students Association’. They directed us to an Instagram post which clarified the same as the other two organizations.

  • ‘Produce missing persons or appear before court’: IHC sends notice to Musharraf, IK, PM Shehbaz

    ‘Produce missing persons or appear before court’: IHC sends notice to Musharraf, IK, PM Shehbaz

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has directed the government to issue notices to former President General Pervez Musharraf, former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and the current PM Shehbaz Sharif for following an “undeclared tacit approval of the policy regarding enforced disappearances.”

    The court directed that the federal government shall produce the missing persons before the court on June 17 or justify the failure of the state to effectively investigate.

    IHC Chief Justice (CJ) Justice Athar Minallah said, “Musharraf and all other successor chief executives [PM Shehbaz and Khan] shall submit their respective affidavits explaining why the court may not order proceedings against them for alleged subversion of the Constitution in the context of undeclared tacit approval of the policy regarding enforced disappearances and thus putting national security at risk by allowing the involvement of law enforcement agencies, particularly the armed forces.”

    The court also noted that the involvement or even a perception of the involvement of the armed forces in acts “amounting to a violation of human rights and freedom of the citizens weakens and undermines the rule of law.”

    On Sunday, the high court issued a 15-page order in a case related to the disappearance of journalist Mudassar Mahmood Naro and five other people after their petitions were in their final phases, but the federal government requested an “adjournment.”

    The court also noted the fact that how the Pakistani media ignores this form of abuse and that reporting on the matter is not a priority. Moreover, the court also expressed dissatisfaction over the role of parliament in regard to the disappearances. It said that “they are the most important and crucial organs of the state but nothing has been placed on record to indicate that they may have adopted a proactive role to fulfill their Constitutional obligations.”

    Journalist Mudassar has been missing since 2018 from Khyber Pakhtunkhua.

  • ‘Is say zaida Allah ki kya lanat hogi ke Madina mein aap ke khilaaf naray lagay’: Khan

    ‘Is say zaida Allah ki kya lanat hogi ke Madina mein aap ke khilaaf naray lagay’: Khan

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Monday said that the incumbent government was cursed by Allah to the point that even when they [governemnt officials] were in Madina, people couldn’t stop themselves from chanting slogans against these corrupt leaders. Khan was addressing a lawyers’ convention in Peshawar.

    “What was our [PTI’s] fault if ordinary people chanted slogans against these people in Madina? We had kept a Shab-e-Dua on the day it happened. We came to know through social media that slogans had been chanted against them,” said Khan.

    I am the chief executive of the country. Who is being addressed by the US, saying that Imran Khan needs to be removed?

    Khan once again criticised the government and blamed it for conspiring with the United States (US) to take him out of power.

    “This is the first time a democratic government was taken out of power. Since our government was not removed because of corruption, people took to the streets instead of distributing sweets,” said Khan.

    Khan explained the conspiracy against him and said that the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu threatened the Pakistani ambassador to the US that you need to remove Imran Khan.

    “When I saw the cipher, I thought to myself: I am the prime minister of the country. I am the chief executive of the country. Who are they addressing when they say that Imran Khan needs to be removed?”

    “When they say that once he [Imran Khan] is removed, you will be forgiven. I immediately got to know that forgiveness was being given to Cherry Blossom [ Shehbaz Sharif].

    They are compromised bootlickers

    Khan said that Pakistan has been ruled by the military but two political families [Sharifs and Zardaris] monopolised the political arena and remained in power for the last 62 years.

    “They [the then opposition] comprised bootlickers, that’s why the US wanted to bring them back to power.”

    “I ruled for three-and-a-half years and they started having issues with my government just because Pakistan wanted to maintain friendly relations with other countries but refused to fight their wars,” he said.

    “We had no relation with 9/11. I will not give Pakistan’s bases to America.”

    Khan also said that Pakistan neither wanted bad relations with any country nor did it want to become their slave.

    I have never seen anyone more filthy than this family

    “I have never seen anyone more filthy than this family,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif killed a record number of people between 1997-1998 in police encounters.

    Khan took a jibe at the PML-N and said that the Supreme Court had rightly called the Sharif family a “Sicilian Mafia”.

    ‘I will come back … this Jihad for me’: Khan

    “If these people stay in the government, the rule of law in the country will be destroyed,” said Khan.

    Talking about PTI’s Azadi March, Khan said that the party has approached the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP).

    “We are approaching the SC tomorrow. We will be taking a ruling from the Supreme Court and ask them if we have a democratic right to protest or not. Why were we stopped? How can they stop the chief minister of KP and Gilgit Baltistan?”

    Khan said he decided to stop because of police brutality and shelling. “I was afraid that there would be bloodshed and people will die.”

    “If the Supreme Court gives us the protection that is one strategy, otherwise I am telling you, I will use my other strategy. We plan ahead for all the hindrances being planted our way. We were not prepared this time. This is Jihad for me. I will not accept this imported and corrupt government.”

    “

  • PM says ‘no question of cut in HEC budget’, two days after educationist raises issue in Op-ed

    PM says ‘no question of cut in HEC budget’, two days after educationist raises issue in Op-ed

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said there is no question of a cut in the budget of the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

    “There is no question of a cut in the budget of Higher Education Commission. I am aware of the negative effect that cuts have had on higher education during the past four years. I have given clear directions to Planning Commission & Ministry of Finance in this regard,” he wrote in a tweet.

    Two days before PM’s statement, an opinion piece was published in The News titled ‘Abandoning higher education‘ by Dr Ayesha Razzaque.

    “For the next fiscal year, the HEC requested a recurrent budget of Rs104 billion. However, a few days ago an official letter (dated May 23, 2022) from the Finance Division regarding the 2022-23 budget emerged. It directs the HEC to prepare a new budget for next year that fits into Rs30 billion, – less than a third of what was requested and less than half of this year’s Rs65.25 billion. Here I would like to acknowledge that Federal Minister for Planning and Development Dr Ahsan Iqbal has voiced his opposition to this news.”

    Dr Ayesha Razzaque took to Twitter to share PM’s statement.

    A thread by Dr Razzaque on the issue of HEC budget can be accessed here.

  • Fact Check: Imran Khan falsely claims that PTI worker from Malakand was killed during Azadi March

    Fact Check: Imran Khan falsely claims that PTI worker from Malakand was killed during Azadi March

    Claim: A PTI activist from Mardan was killed last week as a result of Punjab police’s acts of brutality

    Fact: The banner showed images of Muhammad Zada Agra who was killed by drug smugglers in 2021

    During the PTI Workers’ Convention in Charsadda, Imran Khan raised a banner to tribute the two PTI workers which he alleged in this tweet were killed during last week’s processions. This tweet has 1,135 total Twitter interactions and was shared to 829,798 social media users on Twitter.

    He named these workers to be Faisal Abbas Chaudhry from Lahore and Syed Ahmed Jan from Mardan in his tweet and claimed that they both died as a result of police violence.

    During his speech, not only did he say the name of the second activist from Mardan was Syed Ali Shah, but the banner which he raised, showed an image which showed Muhammad Zada Agra, a journalist and social activist who was murdered in Sakhakot, his home city in Malakand, for Agra’s reporting and advocacy against local drug cartels, in 2021.

    Screenshot of the CPJ report on Muhammad Zada Agra’s killing in 2021

    Although Agra was a PTI supporter and a former district president of the Insaf Students Federation, the student wing of PTI, he was not murdered by the police or on the dictation of Rana Sanaullah, as Khan claims in his address.

    In fact, this Committee to Protect Journalists’ report explains that the Deputy Commissioner Malakand district police announced that the two men who killed Agra were confirmed to be associated with local drug smugglers after their arrest.

    Verdict: MISLEADING

  • Independent candidates take lead in Balochistan LG polls

    Independent candidates take lead in Balochistan LG polls

    Local Government (LG) polls are being held in 32 of 34 districts in Balochistan after nine years.

    As per unofficial results, independent candidates were leading on around 1,487 seats, while Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) won 260 seats.

    Unofficial results: Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) 213 seats, National Party (NP) 100 seats, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) 88, Balochistan National Party (BNP) 79, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) 58, BNP Awami 43, Awami National Party (ANP) 24, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) 23, Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) 18, Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) 15 and Jamat-e-Islami (JI) 7, Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) 5 seats so far. Gwadar’s Haq Do Tehreek clinched 27 seats on the municipal committee out of the total 30.

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said democracy stands strengthened with LG elections in Balochistan.

    In a statement on Twitter Sunday, he said, “People’s active participation in polls shows their trust in state institutions to provide security & ensure smooth conduct of polls. I admire law enforcement agencies for their role.”

    Balochistan Chief Secretary Abdul Aziz Aqeeli said the elections were held in a peaceful, free, transparent, and impartial manner.

    Talking to the media on Sunday, he said voter turnout remained 60 per cent, the highest since the 1988 elections.