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.

  • Maryam Nawaz admits to blocking ads, media bodies urge govt to not use adverts to control editorial policy

    Maryam Nawaz admits to blocking ads, media bodies urge govt to not use adverts to control editorial policy

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz, in a heated press conference on Thursday, confirmed the authenticity of her viral audio clip.

    In an audio clip doing rounds on social media, Maryam Nawaz can be heard saying, “We have given many chances to Samaa News. The kind of news Samaa [airs] and the way its anchor Nadeem Malik is, we can no longer work with the channel. So we are not giving any ads to Samaa.”

    ”Samaa News, Channel 92, ARY News, and Channel 24 will not get any ads from us [PML-N],” said Maryam.

    In response to a statement made by Maryam Nawaz, Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) and All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) said that government advertising should never be used to influence editorial content or to control free speech.

    The two bodies in their separate statements said that the governments should not try to create divisions within the media industry or use advertising as a tool to exercise control over news organisations.

    PBA said the present government had centralised the process under which decisions pertaining to advertisements are made, taking this right away from individual government organisations, departments and ministries, in order to exercise total control over media.

    “The present government’s track record on media relations has also come under a lot of criticism by media watchdogs and journalists’ bodies. When governments try to control freedom of expression, democracy and the people of Pakistan suffer the most,” it added.

    Meanwhile, APNS said, “The figures released are not only partial and selective but purposefully do not include the advertisement spending of the present government. The APNS asks the government to release the figures of advertising released to the media in the last 20 years.”

    Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry presented the record in the National Assembly.

  • Police arrest four accused of ‘blasphemy’ after argument with Imam

    Police arrest four accused of ‘blasphemy’ after argument with Imam

    Police have arrested four men charged with blasphemy in the village of Khodi Khushal Singh after an argument with a religious cleric (Imam), a local police official Faryad reported to Al Jazeera.

    The initial police report says that men, who were Muslim, argued with the cleric after he refused to make a funeral announcement for a Christian man from his mosque.

    “As soon as they arrived [at the mosque], they started cursing the mosque’s imam, disrespected the mosque, and insulted Islam,” read the report. The four men were charged under sections 295 and 298 of Pakistan’s penal code, which carries penalties of up to two years in prison.

    Pakistani human rights activists have condemned the case against these four men.

    “If there was a Muslim who in good faith wants to have an announcement such as this made in the community, it’s not an attack on someone’s faith, it’s a good cause,” said human rights activist and lawyer Nadeem Anthony. He raised the question that if someone announces a funeral on a loudspeaker, how is it a religious violation?

    Pakistan has never executed a convict under the blasphemy laws, but accusations of the offense have led to murders by individuals who take the law into their own hands. Several months ago, a policeman in Sadiqabad killed a man, who was charged with blasphemy.

  • Fake social media profiles discrediting Sikhs in India exposed

    A network of fake social media profiles of people claiming to be Sikhs, and promoting divisive narratives, has been exposed, reports BBC.

    The network used so-called “sock puppet” accounts, which are fake ones controlled by real people posing as independent individuals, rather than automated “bots”.

    The fake profiles used Sikh names and claimed to be “Real Sikhs”. They used the hashtags #RealSikh to endorse, and #FakeSikh to discredit, different political viewpoints.

    The report, from non-profit organisation the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), found many of the accounts in the network used the same fake profiles across several platforms. These accounts shared the same names, profile pictures, and cover photos, and published identical posts.

    According to the report, the accounts sought to label any notion of Sikh independence as extremist, and delegitimise the farmers’ protests, claiming they had been hijacked by “Khalistani terrorists”.

    Benjamin Strick who worked on the story wrote a detailed thread on Twitter sharing the details of his findings.

    “We can glean some obvious details from the content the accounts post. Here is some of the Facebook activity we looked at. It shows a strong focus on countering Sikh independence. Note the prominence of tags such as #PakistanBehindKhalistan,” tweeted, Benjamin.

    “There was also a common theme throughout the network of fake personas to retweet or tweet about the Indian Armed Forces and Indian Army content. This content was unique as it was not related to Sikh independence much like the other content,” shared Bejamin on Twitter.

  • ‘Woh meri awaz hai’: Maryam Nawaz confirms authenticity of viral audio clip

    ‘Woh meri awaz hai’: Maryam Nawaz confirms authenticity of viral audio clip

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz, in a heated press conference on Thursday, confirmed the authenticity of her viral audio clip.

    In an audio clip doing rounds on social media, Maryam Nawaz can be heard saying, “We have given many chances to Samaa News. The kind of news Samaa [on-airs] and the way its anchor Nadeem Malik is, our pact no longer can work with the channel. So we are not giving any ads to Samaa.”

    ” Samaa News, Channel 92, ARY News, and Channel 24 will not get any ads from us [PML-N],” said Maryam.

    Meanwhile, when the reporter asked Maryam about her audio in the press conference, she confirmed the authenticity of the audio and said, ” Woh awaz meri hai [It is my voice].”

    She further added, ” I am accepting it is my voice and not saying it has been pieced together. This is an old audio, I was running the media cell of my party at the time of this audio.”

  • PM Khan refers to the alleged audio leak of CJP Nisar as a ‘drama’

    PM Khan refers to the alleged audio leak of CJP Nisar as a ‘drama’

    Addressing the Kamyab Jawan Convention 2021 in Islamabad, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan termed the alleged leaked audio of the former Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar as a “drama”.

    “You need to understand from where all this started. A country where the head, prime minister, and ministers start stealing and taking public funds abroad […] countries are not poor because of lack of resources, they become poor when government officials start stealing from the people. Such a country can never progress,” said PM Khan.

    “It is unfortunate that a man [Nawaz Sharif] who has been convicted by the Supreme Court and has absconded from the country addresses the event,” PM Khan

    Commenting on the Asma Jahangir Conference, PM Khan said, “There was a function in Lahore where the chief justice and Supreme Court judges are invited, and who addresses that event? A man [Nawaz Sharif] who has been convicted by the Supreme Court and who has absconded from the country. It is unfortunate.”

    He added that a nation was destroyed when it stopped considering looting money a bad thing.

    “When a nation’s morals die, that nation dies.”

    “No one can wipe out a nation if its morality is intact,” he remarked.

    “You may call the courts and army bad, I have already been dubbed badly. But you need to answer from where did you get the money to buy those apartments,” PM Imran Khan

    Commenting on the Panama Papers, the premier said that the investigation revealed that PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz owned four flats in London.

    “Where did this money [for the apartments] come from?”

    “You may call the courts bad, you may call the army bad and I have already been [dubbed] bad … But answer from where did you get the money to buy those apartments?”

    The prime minister went on to say that he had been dragged to the court over an apartment he owned in the United Kingdom.

    “[But] I submitted all the details [regarding the case] to the court,” he added, pointing out that he had bought the apartment when he was a cricketer and not a public office holder. “[Yet] I produced all the receipts, but they (PML-N leaders) lied in the National Assembly [regarding their assets].”

    “Not a single document [has been shared] that shows the means to buy the flats [owned by them],” he said.

    “Ever since we came into power three years ago, I am hearing that we will fail,” said the premier

    Addressing the audience, especially the youth, PM Khan said that people told him that in a two-party system, a third party could not form the government. “Ever since we came into power three years ago, I am hearing that we will fail.”

    “Everyone said it was impossible, but Allah made it possible,” he noted, adding that no person has ever become successful through shortcuts, as the secret to success was having a big vision and determination.

    The prime minister said the country was going through a tough time due to the coronavirus as businesses had halted and prices of commodities shot up.

    However, to alleviate the adverse effects of the pandemic, “the government, through Kamyab Pakistan, will provide interest-free loans to four million deserving households for building their own homes and teach them skills,” he said.

  • ‘Who pressured you to sentence Nawaz Sharif and said that Khan needs to be in power?’: Maryam asks ex-CJP Nisar

    ‘Who pressured you to sentence Nawaz Sharif and said that Khan needs to be in power?’: Maryam asks ex-CJP Nisar

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz, in a heated press conference in Islamabad, called upon former Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Saqib Nisar and asked him to come forth and tell the nation the truth.

    “Come forth, tell the nation who pressurised you?” Maryam Nawaz

    “Whether today or tomorrow, you will have to tell the nation the truth. There is still time. Come forth, tell the nation who pressured you to sentence Nawaz Sharif if it was unwarranted? Who pressured you to sentence Maryam Nawaz, if it was without merit. And who told you that [Prime Minister (PM)] Imran Khan needs to be brought to power?”

    “If Nawaz didn’t deserve the punishment, then why did you play with the justice system? You were sitting in the highest forum and why could you not refuse orders to convict Nawaz Sharif?”

    Maryam also asked Nisar why he allowed himself to be “forced to take an unconstitutional and illegal [step]”.

    “You will have to answer all this,” said Maryam.

    “After the TV channel said that [Nisar’s] audio had been pieced together to create the clip, Nisar too stepped forth to agree. So the TV channel deserves thanks,” Maryam Nawaz

    Addressing the media coverage regarding the leaked audio, without naming the channel, Maryam said that earlier Nisar denied any connection with the clip and said that it is not him who can be heard in the audio.

    “After the TV channel said that his [Nisar’s] audio had been pieced together from two of his previous speeches to create the alleged audio, he [Nisar] too stepped forth to agree,” said Maryam, adding, “So the TV channel that led to his [Nisar’s] admission of his voice being part of the clip deserves some thanks.”

    Addressing the TV channel directly, Maryam questioned the choice of the channel to omit specific bits from the audio clip that are the “real crux of the matter”.

    She also added that those words are the “charge sheet against Saqib Nisar” and demanded to know which speech those bits are from then.

    “So the bits that you like are his voice and the parts that you do not, are not his voice?” she asked.

    “Audio clips and videos may be material, but Justice Siddiqui is very much alive, he must be inquired about his allegations,” Maryam Nawaz

    “Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui also made a startling statement, while [former accountability judge] Arshad Malik was punished for speaking the truth,” Maryam said, adding that although the two judges had been punished, “nobody dared to come forward to provide justice to Nawaz Sharif.”

    She demanded that the parties involved in the Justice Siddiqui scandal be summoned in court, made to stand in the witness box and a sworn testimony be taken from them.

    Maryam said that audio clips and videos may be material that one can be skeptical about “but Justice Siddiqui is very much alive and he must be inquired about his allegations”.

    “Fifth testimony in favour of Nawaz Sharif”: Maryam Nawaz

    “You (Nisar) will have to give its answer to the people. Leave the audio, leave [the former top] Gilgit-Baltistan judge’s affidavit, and the statements of former judges and FIA’s Bashir Memon. This is the fifth testimony in favour of Nawaz Sharif. Will the nation forget these testimonies? Can you deny that an elected prime minister (Nawaz Sharif) was removed from power unjustly?”

    She continued: “There is no proof against me and I was [sentenced to prison] for seven years. Now National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has no evidence to furnish in the IHC (Islamabad High Court).”

    She said it was “ridiculous” that Nisar was not saying anything in his defence, while government ministers were defending the ex-CJP “haphazardly”.

    “Imran Khan never called a meeting to discuss inflation, but after the audio leak he called a meeting,” Maryam Nawaz

    “[PM] Imran Khan never called a meeting to discuss inflation, but after the audio leak he called a meeting asking his party men to discuss the PML-N tenure in public,” she alleged, saying the ministers and the premier were actually saving themselves “because they know they will suffer badly once Saqib Nisar is proved guilty”.

    “Saqib Nisar get a forensic audit conducted, face the law and build a dam from the money he gets after winning the case,” Maryam Nawaz

    “I want Saqib Nisar to get a forensic audit conducted, face the law and build a dam from the money he gets after winning the case,” she said, calling upon the judiciary “not to bear the burden of someone whose truth is now out”.

    Stressing politicians’ responsibility to protect the prestige of the judiciary, the PML-N leader stated: “Judiciary is bigger than these individuals. We don’t want to take matters beyond a certain point [and] the judiciary should clear its name itself.”

    She then quoted former chief justice Asif Saeed Khosa as writing in the Panama Papers case judgment that “Behind every great fortune, there is a crime,” and said: “The crime and conspiracy that took place before the 2018 elections are also exposed before everyone now.”

  • Shaukat Tarin denies what he said on national television

    Shaukat Tarin denies what he said on national television

    Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tarin admitted to the present gas crisis in the country on Samaa News. However, a day later, Tarin denied his own words and issued a clarification.

    After the show was aired and various news media outlets covered the story,  Energy Minister Hammad Azhar took to Twitter and blamed Geo for manipulating Tarin’s words.

    Hammad tweeted, “What Tarin actually said: -intl prices high due to global shortage. -Noone can predict intl price. – some time ago (July) they had refused a tender (July) but that was for a limited time & wouldn’t have changed things now.”

    “Geo: Gas crises due to not purchasing LNG on time, Fin Min,” added Hammad.

    Shaukat Tarin, after admitting to the gas crisis, took to Twitter and shared his clarification.

    https://twitter.com/shaukat_tarin/status/1463427014711468036

    “News item published in Daily The News titled ‘Govt couldn’t purchase gas Cargoes in time, admits Tarin’ is completely misleading & out of the context,” read the statement.

    “When anchor (Nadeem Malik) asked about the gas shortfall situation in the country, he stated the reasons including the ongoing global LNG shortages which have created fiasco, and it was not in control of anybody.”

    “Government has been buying the gas as required, despite higher international prices. However, he has mentioned there was one tender scrapped in July, but this has nothing to do with winter gas. The Adviser Finance has not mentioned at any point that winter gas shortfalls are due to non-procurement of LNG on time.”

    On November 23, Shaukat Tarin appeared on Samaa News’ programme, ‘Nadeem Malik Live’, and said the very words being denied now.

    “We [government] should have bought the gas cargoes on time as the purchasing time for it was over,” said Tarin.

    Tarin further said nobody knew about the international prices, which he stated were quite high, and that the government should have bought some cargoes earlier.

  • ‘Our lives are in danger,’ says firm that did the forensic of CJP Nisar’s leaked audio

    ‘Our lives are in danger,’ says firm that did the forensic of CJP Nisar’s leaked audio

    Garret Discovery, an American-based firm that conducted a forensic analysis of the alleged audio clip of former Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, took to Twitter and claimed that the company is being threatened for the work it had performed for FactFocus.

    “Today we received a call saying our lives are in danger and the same person said he is going to file in court against us for our work authenticating a file for FactFocus,” read the tweet from Garret Discovery’s Twitter handle.

    “Threatening our team to obtain a different result is unethical,” read the tweet.

    Earlier Garret Discovery had confirmed that they did work for FactFocus.

    “We did perform work for FactFocus. As part of our standard agreement, we have a confidentiality clause that prohibits us from speaking about the scope of work or work we performed,” a representative from Garret Discovery had revealed.

    “We have no problem releasing details as long as our client signs an agreement allowing us to do so. Please contact FactFocus with any inquiries as to the work we performed and discuss with them any release of information. We will not comment anymore on this issue until that time.”

  • British PM Boris Johnson ‘loses his place’ makes awkward, lengthy pauses during speech

    British PM Boris Johnson ‘loses his place’ makes awkward, lengthy pauses during speech

    British Prime Minister (PM) Boris Johnson was briefly left lost for words, when he misplaced notes during a speech on Monday to the Confederation of British Industry, reports Reuters.

    While organising and searching for words in his notes, the conservative party’s leader sighed, said “blast it” and repeatedly muttered, “forgive me”.

    Not only this, while addressing, he mentioned Peppa Pig, a British animated cartoon series. He said, “Yesterday I went, as we all must, to Peppa Pig World. I loved it. Peppa Pig World is very much my kind of place: it has very safe streets, discipline in schools.” “Who would have believed that a pig that looks like a hairdryer or possibly a Picasso-like hairdryer, a pig that was rejected by the BBC, would now be exported to 180 countries with theme parks both in America and China?”

    In the speech, PM Boris, who also performed an impression of a car told business leaders about what he terms the green industrial revolution.

    Reacting to his speech, Boris said he had made the points he wanted to.

    “I think that people got the vast majority of the points I wanted to make. I thought it went well”, Johnson said.

    After this episode, according to The Guardian, his party MPs (Members of Parliament) are worried about the prime minister’s competence.

  • ‘He is not a terrorist’: UN criticises arrest of Indian Occupied Kashmir activist

    ‘He is not a terrorist’: UN criticises arrest of Indian Occupied Kashmir activist

    The United Nations (UN) has condemned and criticised the arrest of Khurram Parvez, a prominent human rights activist in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) on terror funding charges.

    UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor called the act ‘disturbing’ and tweeted, “He [Parvez] is at risk of being charged by authorities in India with terrorism-related crimes. He’s not a terrorist, he’s a Human Rights Defender.”

    An Indian official told Reuters that Parvez was arrested on Monday by India’s federal National Investigation Agency (NIA). According to the official, Parvez’s residence and office were searched and a mobile phone, laptop, and books were seized. However, a spokesperson for the NIA confirmed Parvez’s arrest on Tuesday.

    Currently, the human rights activist is being held under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which allows for the detention of up to six months ‘without’ trial.

    Reuters has reported that the activist’s lawyer, Parvez Imroz, could not immediately be reached for comment.

    Back in 2016, Parvez was arrested and detained on similar charges. Later, he was released without being convicted of any crime.

    He is one of Kashmir’s best-known activists and head of the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, a group of rights organisations working in the region.