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.

  • PPP agrees to vote for federal budget

    PPP agrees to vote for federal budget

    Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have agreed on the annual budget being presented in Parliament today, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

    PPP had earlier expressed concerns about the budget, but the publication stated that the party will vote for it to extend its support to PML-N.

    PPP leader Nayyar Bukhari had said the party has yet to decide whether to vote in favor of the budget.

    The matter is now reportedly settled between the top leadership of both parties.  “Despite protest and speeches in the parliament, the PPP will support the passage of the budget,” sources confirmed to ARY.

    However, PML-N has assured PPP of adding some of their proposals to the budget.  

  • Khan, Bushra Bibi request IHC to transfer back Iddat case to Judge Shahrukh Arjumand

    Incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi have requested the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday to transfer the Iddat Nikkah case back to Islamabad district and session court judge Shahrukh Arjumand, The Express Tribune reported.

    IHC judge Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb heard the petition, eliminated objections raised by the registrar’s office on the plea, and sent notices to Bushra Bibi’s former husband, Khawar Maneka, in the case.   

    During the hearing, Khan’s counsel, Salman Safdar, requested the court to transfer the case back to judge Shahrukh Arjumand or IHC to hear the plea itself.

  • Army eliminates 11 terrorists involved in Lakki Marwat attack

    Army eliminates 11 terrorists involved in Lakki Marwat attack

    At least 11 terrorists involved in the martyrdom of seven army officials in Lakki Marwat on Sunday, have been killed during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in the same district on June 12.

    Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) released a statement that the IBO was carried out in response to the recent Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion that claimed the lives of seven brave soldiers to bring the perpetrators of the heinous act to justice.

    The military’s media wing stated, “During the conduct of the operation, own troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ location, as a result of which eleven terrorists were successfully neutralised while multiple terrorist hideouts were also busted.”

    In recent years, Pakistan has seen a deterioration in the security situation in the country as the Taliban interim government came into power in 2022 in Afghanistan.

  • Pakistanis seeking asylum in foreign countries will not receive passports

    Pakistanis seeking asylum in foreign countries will not receive passports

    The federal Ministry of Interior has decided on Tuesday not to issue passports to Pakistanis who have requested asylum or are already living on asylum in foreign countries, citing security concerns.

    The ministry sent a letter to relevant authorities asking them not to issue travel documents to asylum seekers.

    According to the ministry’s notification, previously issued passports will be suspended and not renewed.

    The Director General Passports issued the notification on Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s directions.

    The Foreign Ministry and other relevant authorities have also received copies of the notification.

    According to data issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),  almost 40,618 Pakistanis applied for asylum in 2022.

    Most Pakistani asylum seekers are currently based in Italy, Austria, and Canada.

    Some of them are in the United States of America, as almost 1477 individuals fled away from Pakistan to the USA in 2022.

    Pakistan was the fifth most represented country, with 5342 immigrants arriving in Europe; however, the number of Pakistani asylum seekers in Greece didn’t increase from 2022 to 2023.

  • Khan ready for talks with government, says Barrister Gohar

    Khan ready for talks with government, says Barrister Gohar

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Barrister Gohar has told journalists on Tuesday outside Adiala Jail that Imran Khan has given a green signal for talks with the government.

    “We told the PTI founder that dialogue is necessary, as distances are widening. He agreed with us [on this],” said Gohar.

    Barrister Gohar said that Imran Khan is ready to forgive what has happened to him for the sake of the country.

    Gohar emphasised that it would be PTI’s own decision to negotiate when asked if the negotiations would take place with the help of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

    He also mentioned that the party will begin negotiations after talking to Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai.

    “We have never refused to negotiate. The ice is breaking. We want things to improve,” said Gohar.

    PTI founder’s decision to change his rigid stance comes after his interaction with Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa during a hearing in the NAB amendments case a few days ago.

    CJP told Khan to go to the parliament as the “country needs to move forward.”

  • UK earned £5.3 million from rejected Pakistani visa applications

    UK earned £5.3 million from rejected Pakistani visa applications

    According to research by Lago Collective, the United Kingdom and Schengen countries earned millions of pounds and euros by collecting fees from rejected visa applications from Global South countries including Pakistan.

    The report revealed that Pakistanis spent £5.3 million on rejected UK visa applications with almost 40 percent of rejected applications in 2023 alone.

    In the same year, around 50 percent of Schengen visas from Pakistan were also rejected, with €3.344m spent on applications.

    Marta Foresti, co-researcher of the Lago Collective research paper, highlighted, “Visa inequality has very tangible consequences and the world’s poorest pay the price. You can think of the costs of rejected visas as ‘reverse remittances’, money flowing from poor to rich countries.”

    According to Foresti, “Visa regimes are not equal or reciprocal,” emphasizing that while European citizens can easily obtain a visa to a third-world country; the situation isn’t similar when any poor country’s citizen tries to obtain a visa to Europe.

    Meanwhile, visa application fees are increasing which means an extra burden on those trying to move towards better opportunities abroad.

  • PPP promises to make efforts in withdrawal of Punjab defamation law

    PPP promises to make efforts in withdrawal of Punjab defamation law

    Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Central Punjab General Secretary Syed Hassan Murtaza said on Monday that his party will play its role in the “withdrawal” of the controversial Defamation Bill, 2024.

    Murtaza told journalists in Lahore, “PPP was neither taken on board regarding the Punjab defamation law nor budget preparations, adding that the party’s legal team will work on the controversial legislation and will try to convince the provincial government to withdraw the bill.

    Murtaza expressed concerns about the controversial legislation: “PPP was never willing to be part of that legislation.”

    The provincial government planned the foreign visit of Governor Punjab before presenting the controversial bill in the assembly, he clarified, telling journalists about this.

  • Ijaz Ahmed’s racist rant slammed by cricket fans

    Ijaz Ahmed’s racist rant slammed by cricket fans

    Former Pakistani cricketer Ijaz Ahmad’s criticism of the recent poor performance by the Pakistan cricket team in the T-20 World Cup turned into a racist tirade against Pakhtoon players.

    Talking on the ARY NEWS programme Off The Record on Monday night, Ijaz said, “Almost 80 percent of Pakistan’s cricket team constitutes of players from remote areas or Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Even if the team is made from Sindh, seven to eight players are Pathan. They have neither the education nor the exposure which is why these players cannot handle the pressure.”

    Given the already fragile religious and ethnic fault lines that exist in our nation, the statement from Ijaz Ahmad –who was once a sportsman– revealed a highly irresponsible and discriminatory attitude.

    Netizens were quick to condemn the racist remarks. Meanwhile, the owner of ARY News Salman Iqbal also condemned the racist remarks by Ijaz Ahmad saying that “It is not acceptable.”

  • Not a message of love; Khawaja Asif clarifies PM Shehbaz’s message

    Not a message of love; Khawaja Asif clarifies PM Shehbaz’s message

    After Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated Narendra Modi on being elected as the Prime Minister of India, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif tried to clear the air that there wasn’t a “message of love.”

    “It is just a diplomatic compulsion to congratulate Modi on becoming the Indian PM,” stated Asif speaking on the Geo News programme Capital Talk on Monday.

    He also said that Pakistan would never forget that Modi is a “murderer of Muslims” in India.

    Modi is the second person in India’s political history after Jawaharlal Nehru to serve a third consecutive term as prime minister.

    However, this time Modi’s party did not win an outright majority but with the support of 14 regional parties in his BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

  • IHC declares Ahmad Farhad’s arrest illegal

    Islamabad High Court (IHC) has declared Kashmiri poet and activist Ahmad Farhad’s arrest to be illegal on Monday, ARY News reported.
    IHC said in a written order that Ahamad Farhad had been forcefully abducted from his residence in Islamabad, while security institutions failed to recover him.

    The court ordered that Ahmad Farhad should record his statement before the Lohi Bher magistrate after returning home.

    The court also ordered IHC registrar to combine all the cases of forced disappearance and submit them to the IHC’s Chief Justice.