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.

  • PTI’s Zartaj Gul lashes out at anchor Kamran Shahid, asks if she should call his show ‘pathetic’

    PTI’s Zartaj Gul lashes out at anchor Kamran Shahid, asks if she should call his show ‘pathetic’

    Minister of State Zartaj Gul lashed out at anchorperson Kamran Shahid when he called the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ‘pathetic’.

    While speaking on Dunya News programme, ‘On The Front with Kamran Shahid’, Gul was told by Shahid that the government’s focus should be governance.

    “From the past two to three years the governance of [PTI] has been pathetic. You [government] shouldn’t be worried about Nawaz Sharif or anything else,” said Shahid.

    Gul while responding to the government being labelled as pathetic said, “You [Kamran Shahid] being the host [of the show] can not call my government pathetic.”

    “How would you feel if I say that you are conducting your programme in a pathetic way. You need to increase the value of your show and give better analysis,” responded Gul.

    “You cannot become a party, you are the host,” said Gul, adding, ” Senator Afnan Ullah or Major General (R) Ejaz Awan can say this to me, [being fellow panelists] discussing political analysis but as a host, you cannot.”

    ” You being the anchorperson, I will also say to you, that you are conducting your show in a pathetic way, improve your standard,” said Gul.

    Shahid interjected Gul and said, “You can call my programme pathetic and give it minus zero numbers. I will give a warm welcome to your criticism and learn from the suggestions you give for my improvement.”

    “I wouldn’t act like you or your prime minister and act tone-deaf towards issues and become rigid on one thing and make it a matter of my ego.”

    “The government made things a matter of ego and took a U-turn from all the promises it made to the people,” said Shahid.

  • ‘Authorities were unable to perform their duties’: CM Buzdar suspends 15 officials responsible for Murree tragedy

    ‘Authorities were unable to perform their duties’: CM Buzdar suspends 15 officials responsible for Murree tragedy

    Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Sardar Usman Buzdar on Wednesday ordered the suspension of 15 officials for being negligent towards their duties.

    CM Buzdar,while addressing a press conference, revealed the findings of the inquiry report and said that Rawalpindi’s deputy commissioner has been removed and disciplinary action has been ordered against him.

    The Murree assistant commissioner has also been suspended along with Murree’s assistant superintendent of police (ASP), said the CM.

    Buzdar further said that the Rawalpindi chief traffic officer (CTO), traffic deputy superintendent of police (DSP), Murree divisional forest officer, Murree district emergency officer, Murree Rescue 1122 in charge, and Punjab Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) director have also been suspended and disciplinary action has been ordered against them.

    The chief minister said that disciplinary action has been ordered against these 15 officers over the Murree tragedy as “concerned authorities were unable to perform their duties.”

    “The government has fulfilled its promise of a transparent inquiry into the Murree tragedy,” Buzdar said, adding the inquiry report has highlighted the shortcomings of the authorities.

  • Turkish President Erdogan says open to fix ties with Israel

    Turkish President Erdogan says open to fix ties with Israel

    After years of a fraught relationship, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has indicated mending ties with Israel.

    A joint pipeline to bring eastern Mediterranean Sea gas to Europe was started by Turkey’s rival Greece and Israel which was backed by then-President Donald Trump’s administration. At the time, Turkey strongly opposed the project but last week it was reported that Washington no longer backed the pipeline project.

    Following this, Erdogan said he was in talks with Israel on an old idea to bring Mediterranean gas to European clients via Turkey. “We can still do that,” he said.

    This is not the first time that Turkey has expressed the desire to be on good ties with Israel. In 2020, the President said the country would like to have better ties with Israel but it is impossible to accept their Palestine policies.

    In recent years, Ankara has repeatedly condemned Israel’s occupation in the West Bank and its treatment of Palestinians.

    Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister (PM) Benjamin Netanyahu have often exchanged angry remarks, but both countries continue to trade with one another.

  • UK asked to probe Indian army chief, home minister over alleged war crimes in occupied Kashmir

    UK asked to probe Indian army chief, home minister over alleged war crimes in occupied Kashmir

    A London-based law firm has filed an application with the British police seeking the arrest of India’s army chief and a senior Indian government official over their alleged roles in war crimes in Indian-Occupied Kashmir, reports TRT World.

    Law firm Stoke White said on Tuesday it submitted extensive evidence to the Metropolitan Police’s War Crimes Unit documenting how Indian troops headed by General Manoj Mukund Naravane and Indian Home Affairs Minister Amit Shah were responsible for the torture, kidnapping, and killing of activists, journalists, and civilians.

    The law firm’s report was based on over 2,000 testimonies taken between 2020 and 2021. It also accused eight unnamed senior Indian military officials of direct involvement in war crimes and torture in Occupied Kashmir.

    “There is strong reason to believe that Indian authorities are conducting war crimes and other violence against civilians in [Indian-Occupied] Jammu and Kashmir,” the report stated.

    Hakan Camuz, director of international law at Stoke White, said he hoped the report would convince the British police to open an investigation and ultimately arrest the officials when they set foot in the United Kingdom (UK). Some of the Indian officials have financial assets and other links to Britain.

    “We are asking the UK government to do their duty and investigate and arrest them for what they did based on the evidence we supplied to them. We want them to be held accountable,” Camuz said.

    The police application was made on behalf of the family of Zia Mustafa, a jailed rebel fighter whom Camuz said was the victim of an extrajudicial killing by Indian authorities in 2021, and on behalf of human rights campaigner Muhammad Ahsan Untoo, who was allegedly tortured before his arrest last week.

    Human rights lawyers have increasingly used the universal jurisdiction principle to seek justice for people who were unable to file criminal complaints in their home countries or with the International Criminal Court, located in The Hague.

    Last week, a German court convicted a former Syrian secret police officer of crimes against humanity for overseeing the abuse of thousands of detainees at a jail near Damascus a decade ago.

    Camuz said he hoped the request to the British police seeking the arrest of Indian officials will be followed by other legal actions also focusing on Kashmir.

    “We are sure this is not going to be the last one, there will probably be many more applications,” he said.

  • PML-N’s Khaqan Abbasi knows 22 NA members who want to leave PTI govt

    PML-N’s Khaqan Abbasi knows 22 NA members who want to leave PTI govt

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi while speaking on Geo News programme, ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khandaza Kay Sath’, said, “I know 22 members of the National Assembly who don’t want to remain part of the incumbent government anymore.”

    Abbasi said that if those 22 people step aside, the government will lose its majority in the House.

    Responding to Fawad Chaudhry’s claim that four PML-N leaders are “hell-bent on removing Nawaz Sharif from the party,” Abbasi said: “I am unable to understand Fawad’s statements as he is just trying to seek attention.”

    He said that “no one desires the throne in PML-N”, adding that party leaders “just want the implementation of the Constitution in the country”.

    “I never had the desire to become the prime minister,” Abbasi added.

    The former premier said that the “government itself is walking with the help of crutches and can’t stand without it even for a single day”.

    On being asked why did the four names turn up, Abbasi said the government is lying.

    On the other hand, responding to Abbasi’s comments during the show, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Shibli Faraz said that “without taking any names, we had just hinted at four senior leaders of PML-N, and now people can guess themselves who we were referring to.”

    “PML-N is an incompetent party with an incomplete narrative and its leadership lacks democratic thoughts,” added Faraz.

  • PTI spokesperson slammed after implying reduced prices of ‘Shoop Noodles’ shows less inflation

    PTI spokesperson slammed after implying reduced prices of ‘Shoop Noodles’ shows less inflation

    Spokesperson to the Finance Minister, Muzzammil Aslam has shared a screenshot of a message he received from a departmental store. In the message, the supermarket offered reduced prices of a few local commodities.

    Muzzammil while sharing the tweet wrote, “Everyone is talking about inflation but on the other hand, the prices of local commodities are continuously decreasing. Isn’t this an open contradiction?”

    He shared some prices of local products which lowered their prices.

    Netizens slammed the spokesperson for sharing reduced prices of ‘Shoop Noodles’ on Twitter which shows less inflation in Pakistan.

    A netizen replied in the same manner, “Everyone is talking about that the country has no gas but on the other hand, we are doing so much gaslighting every day. Isn’t this an open contradiction?” 

    

    

    
https://twitter.com/AliMaken/status/1483705646503579655

    

    

    Another user added, “It is a Simple Demand-Supply Crisis.”
    

    

    


    

    

    

    Another netizen questioned the intelligence of the person who appointed him as a spokesperson.
    

    

    


    

    

    

    Some users have expressed extreme disappointment with the government’s spokesperson.
    

    

    


    

    

    

    

    


    

    

    

    

    

    


    

    

    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    Shehbaz Sharif, Shaukat Tarin test positive for Covid-19
    
			
    Shehbaz Sharif, Shaukat Tarin test positive for Covid-19
    
			
    Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly (NA) Shehbaz Sharif has tested positive for Covid-19 again.
    

    Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin has also tested positive for coronavirus 
    

    The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) official Twitter handle shared the news. 
    

    

    


    

    

    

    The PML-N president, had last tested positive for COVID-19 in June 2020.
    

    Shehbaz is currently isolated at home and resting as per his doctor’s advice.
    

    Pakistan is currently battling a fifth wave of the pandemic with a current positivity rate up to 9.5 percent and 5472 positive case of the coronavirus. 
    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    ‘We want to engage’: Fawad Chaudhry offers conditional friendship to the Opposition
    
			
    ‘We want to engage’: Fawad Chaudhry offers conditional friendship to the Opposition
    
			
    The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership on Tuesday appeared to want to befriend the Opposition and want to reconcile amidst tensions. 
    

    Informa­tion and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry, while addressing a press conference after the federal cabinet meeting, said, “We want to engage the opposition on important national issues like electoral and judicial reforms and the appointment of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) chairman.”
    

    Accompanied with Energy Minister Hammad Azhar, Chaudhry said that the National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaisar and the Prime Minister (PM) himself had invited the Opposition to negotiate on these three issues. 
    

    However, Fawad said that despite constant efforts to engage the Opposition on the government’s reform agenda, they were only interested in formulating conspiracies and trying to topple the government.
    

    It is pertinent to state here that the Opposition has shown interest in talks with the government, provided the premier himself participated in the talks.
    

    Fawad categorically said that PM Khan would not sit with any Opposition leader, including Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif.
    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    ‘[PTI leaders] spent winter nights in heated bedrooms,’ Maryam blasts govt, says no rift in party
    
			
    ‘[PTI leaders] spent winter nights in heated bedrooms,’ Maryam blasts govt, says no rift in party
    
			
    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Tuesday rejected the claims of the government of having a forward bloc within the party and said that the government was fabricating such stories to divert attention from its incompetence.
    

    Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Sunday claimed that four PML-N leaders were “hell-bent on removing the party supremo Nawaz Sharif from the party.”
    

    Addressing a gathering in Lahore, Fawad said that there is a “rat race going on among senior PML-N members as to who would lead the party next,” adding that, “four top-most party leaders want to remove PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif in a bid to take over the party’s leadership.”
    

    When asked about the reported attempt by her party leaders to replace the PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, Maryam said that Fawad’s statement was a way to hide from the questions of media about rising inflation and the government’s inabilities that led to the recent Murree tragedy. 
    

    

    


    

    

    

    She said that after the death of tourists, instead of providing a balm to the wounds of the bereaved families, the inconsiderate ministers and government machinery started victim-blaming. 
    

    Criticising the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leadership who used to make fun of PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif, Maryam said, “Instead of following his example and borrowing the boots from him, they [PTI leaders] spent winter nights in the heated bedrooms of their official residences, maintained on public expense while tourists were dying in the snow.”
    

    
			
    
		
    
		
	
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    Pak business community gives widow of Sri Lankan national Priyantha Kumara aid, PM Khan appreciates
    
			
    Pak business community gives widow of Sri Lankan national Priyantha Kumara aid, PM Khan appreciates
    
			
    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has appreciated the efforts of the Sialkot business community and Rajco Industries to provide aid to the widow of Priyantha Kumara who was beaten to death and burnt by a mob in Sialkot on the basis of blasphemy. 
    

    In a tweet, PM said, “I want to appreciate the Sialkot business community for transferring $100,000 to the account of Priyantha Kumara’s widow and Rajco Industries for transferring monthly salary of $ 1667 to her account – which they will do for 10 yrs.”
    

    

    


    

    

    

    Kumara’s family including his wife and children reside in his hometown in Sri Lanka. He used to work in Rajco Industries as a general manager and had been living in Pakistan since  2010.
    

    Rajco Industries reportedly has sent the financial aid of $100,000 (Rs17.6m) and the salary of $1,667 (Rs293,260) for the month of December 2021 to Kumara’s window.
    

    Last month, media reports had said that the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) raised the amount of $100,000. The chamber President Mian Imran Akbar said they are taking appropriate steps to prevent such incidents in the future. He also ensured the safety and security of foreign employees and businessmen. 
    

    Following this, Special Assistant to PM Dr Shahbaz Gill tweeted: “The funds and salary are committed by Rajco Industries for next 10 years and announced by Honourable Prime Minister of Pakistan have been transferred to the account of Widow of deceased Sri Lankan Manager Mr Priyanatha Khumara in Sri Lanka”.