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  • ‘Will you shut up, man?’ and much more from Trump vs Biden presidential debate

    From “will you shut up, man?” to “elections have consequences”, following are some of the quotes making news after Tuesday’s United States (US) 2020 presidential debate between Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

    The polling is scheduled for November 3.

    SUPREME COURT NOMINATION:

    Trump, asked by moderator Chris Wallace about whether U.S. appeals court Judge Amy Coney Barrett should be nominated to the Supreme Court before the election: “We won the (2016) election. Elections have consequences.

    “We have the Senate and we have the White House and we have a phenomenal nominee respected by all.

    “ […] I think that she (Barrett) will be outstanding. She will be as good as anybody who has ever served on that court. We won the election and therefore we had the right to choose her.”

    Biden: “We should wait, we should wait and see what the outcome of this election is.”

    Trump: “As far as a say is concerned, the American people have already had their say. … I’m not elected for (just) 3-1/2 years.”

    Responded Biden: “He’s elected until the next election. […] The election’s already started.”

    HEALTHCARE:

    Biden, told by Trump he had adopted former Democratic presidential rival Bernie Sanders’ “socialised medicine” proposals, said of the president: “Everybody here knows he’s a liar. […] You picked the wrong guy on the wrong night at the wrong time.”

    “[…] Folks, do you have any idea what this clown’s doing? I tell you what, he is not for anybody needing healthcare.”

    After Trump explained his healthcare proposal, Biden said: “He has no plan for healthcare. … The fact is this man has no idea what he’s talking about.”

    DEALING WITH THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC:

    Biden to Trump: “You should get out of your bunker and get out of the sand trap and … the golf course and go in the Oval Office and (put) together Democrats and Republicans, and fund what needs to be done now to save lives.”

    Trump to Biden: “You didn’t think we should’ve closed our country (to China) because you thought it was terrible.”

    “… We’ve done a great job. But I tell you, Joe, you could never have done the job we’ve done. You don’t have it in your blood.”

    Biden on Trump’s leadership on the pandemic: “He panicked or he looked at the stock market. … A lot of people died, and a lot more (are) going to die unless he gets a lot smarter a lot quicker.”

    Responded Trump: “There’s nothing smart about you, Joe.”

    RACE RELATIONS:

    Biden on Trump: “This is a president who has used everything as a dog whistle to try to generate racist hatred, racist division.”

    Trump to Biden, citing the then-senator’s support for the 1994 crime bill: “You’ve treated the Black community about as bad as anybody in this country.”

    Biden: “Yes, there’s a systemic injustice in this country in education and work and in law enforcement and the way in which it is enforced.”

    LAW ENFORCEMENT AND URBAN UNREST:

    Trump: “The top 10 cities and just about the top 40 cities are run by Democrats in many cases, radical left, and they’ve got you wrapped around their finger, Joe, to a point where you don’t want to say anything about law and order. And I’ll tell you what the people of this country want and demand law and order, and you’re afraid to even say it.”

    Biden said Trump had done nothing to calm the protests. “He just pours gasoline on the fire.”

    Responding to Trump attacking him on the suburbs, Biden said: “He wouldn’t know a suburb unless he took a wrong turn. I know suburbs.”

    WHITE SUPREMACISTS:

    Wallace: “Are you willing tonight to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and to say that they need to stand down and not add to the violence or the number of these cities as we saw in Kenosha, and as we’ve seen in Portland?”

    Trump: “I would say almost everything I see is from the left-wing, not from the right. … I’m willing to do anything. I want to see peace.”

    Wallace: “Then do it, sir.”

    Biden: “Do it, do it. Say it.”

    Trump: “You want to call them. What do you want to call them? Give me a name.”

    Biden, referring to a right-wing group: “Proud Boys.”

    Trump: “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.”

    CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE ENVIRONMENT:

    Trump: “I believe that we have to do everything we can to have immaculate air, immaculate water, and do whatever else we can that’s good.”

    Biden: “The first thing I will do, I will rejoin the Paris Climate Accord.”

    ELECTION INTEGRITY:

    Biden encouraged mail-in voting by saying Trump does it, too. “He sits behind the Resolute Desk (in the White House) and sends his ballot to Florida.”

    Biden: “He cannot stop you from being able to determine the outcome of that election. … If I win, that will be accepted. If I lose, that will be accepted.

    “If we get the votes, he’s going to go. He can’t stay in power.”

    Trump: “Don’t tell me about a free transition. This is going to be a fraud like you’ve never seen. This is not going to end well.”

    Biden: “You will determine the outcome of this election. Vote, vote, vote. If you’re able to vote early in your state, vote early. If you’re able to vote in person, vote in person – whatever way is the best way for you. Because he cannot stop you from being able to determine the outcome of this election.”

    Asked by Wallace if he would urge his supporters to stay calm and pledge not to declare victory until the election is certified, Trump said: “I’m urging my supporters to go into the polls and watch very carefully.”

    Trump: “If I see tens of thousands of ballots being manipulated, I can’t go along with it. They cheat.”

    Biden: “The fact is I will accept it and he will too. You know why? Because once the winner is declared after all the ballots are counted, all the votes are counted. That’ll be the end of it.”

    INTERRUPTIONS:

    At one point when Trump was interrupting him, Biden said: “Will you shut up, man? This is so unpresidential.”

    Wallace to Trump: “I think the country would be better served if we allowed both people to speak with fewer interruptions. I’m appealing to you, sir, to do that.”

    Trump, referring to Biden, responded: “And him, too.”

    Wallace: “Well, frankly you’ve been doing more interrupting.”

    WATCH THE FULL DEBATE HERE:

  • Senators wipe the floor with Lahore CCPO after he contradicts motorway rape timeline, gives personal opinion

    Senators wipe the floor with Lahore CCPO after he contradicts motorway rape timeline, gives personal opinion

    Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Umar Sheikh once again found himself in trouble when talking to the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights to talk about the motorway gang-rape case on Monday.

    There seemed to be discordant information about the authorities’ response time to the victim’s distress call when her car broke down on the M11 Motorway. The CCPO said that it took approximately 28 minutes to reach the area, while the officers who actually responded to the distress call said that they reached the area in under six minutes.

    The purpose of the hearing was to discuss the case regarding the horrible gang-rape and mugging of a mother travelling with her children at night on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway. The incident led to country-wide protests and calls for reforms in laws pertaining to sexual assault, specifically with a call for public hangings of the perpetrators.

    CCPO Sheikh said during the hearing that the woman was travelling without her husband’s permission, but soon thereafter admitted this was just a “guess”. He was reprimanded by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Krishna Kumari Kohli, a member of the Senate committee, who also told him not to make any such assumptions in the future.

    When the committee reprimanded him for giving his “personal opinions” instead of stating facts of the case, Sheikh backtracked and said that “he had been told that the victim had left late at night because she had to talk to her husband on video call”.

    The CCPO found himself in even hotter water when he forgot the name of the prime suspect in the case. Abid Ali has been on the run for the past 20 days and the eight special teams — comprising personnel from all of the Punjab Police’s departments — have failed to apprehend despite spotting him at least thrice across the province.

    Sheikh said, “If [police helpline] 15 had received the call, we could have reached that place in 25 minutes. The first call to 15 was at 2:47 am made by a passerby and the 15 officials reached at 3:15 am” while addressing the committee.

    In reply, Marri said either the CCPO lacked the correct information or the committee had been misled.

    “The call came at 2:47 am and the first [Dolphin Force] officer arrived at 2:53 am. I’m telling you the 100% truth,” the CCPO responded.

    “Then your cops are lying,” Marri shot back at him.

    “My job is to stop the crime and catch the culprits,” Sheikh replied. “Neither is there a CCTV [camera] at the toll plaza nor is an actual toll tax receipt given.”

    “Five technologies were used in the motorway rape case; geo-fencing, DNA filing, and fingerprint technology. Even the American police do not respond [to a crime] in six minutes,” he added.

    The committee members expressed anger over the contradiction in the police officer’s statement.

    “You say the police arrived at the scene in 28 minutes but the police said they had reached in six minutes,” the committee said. “The police tried to misguide the committee”.

    The CCPO’s repetitive apologies seemed to further irritate the committee.

    https://youtu.be/ClY85ZLGsFU

    “The CCPO only apologised out of fear of the court,” PkMAP Senator Usman Kakar said.

    Sheikh told the committee that Abid’s data had successfully been found from the Punjab Forensic Science Agency’s (PFSA) 2013 records. “The first case of Daniel Pearl in Pakistan was solved with [the use of] DNA,” he said.

    To which, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, the chairperson of the Senate committee, asked why Abid had been released. At this, Lahore’s top cop simply sought forgiveness once more.

    “Babar Malhi’s blood and DNA have also matched,” he said.

    At which, the committee members paused, in shock, and asked: “Babar Malhi or Abid Malhi? Is the main suspect [named] Abid or Babar? You are investigating this case and you don’t know the name of the main suspect.”

    At this point, the shaken officer cited his age as an excuse for his poor memory and continued to seek forgiveness from the committee, repeatedly apologising to all members of the hearing. He even went as far as to say a joint session should be summoned so he can apologise to all lawmakers at once.

    He also talked about his desire to bring “court-martial law” into the Punjab police forced, touted himself as someone “who wishes to bring reforms”, and blamed leaks on his 500 people strong police force.

    He further tried to shift part of the blame in the insufficient response to the call to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO).

    “In this case, too, an FWO officer was taken on the woman’s conference call. He told her he would send a car,” he said. “That car was on the M2 [motorway] and it took a long time to reach the site.”

    “The crux of the matter is that this alert should have been to 15,” he added.

    Speaking to The Current, Khokhar separately said that he was shocked over the CCPO’s statements. “His mix-ups have created confusion over the police response time.”

  • Imran Khan paid more tax than US President Donald Trump

    In light of a recent New York Times report and the tax details of parliamentarians revealed by Pakistan’s Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), it has emerged that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s mere Rs0.2 million in taxes was more than business tycoon and United States (US) President Donald Trump’s federal taxes during his first year in office.

    The directory, published on the official website of FBR, contains tax details of elected representatives belonging to six different assemblies; National Assembly of Pakistan, Senate of Pakistan, Balochistan Assembly, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, Sindh Assembly and Punjab Assembly. 

    According to the information released, former PM and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi was the highest taxpayer, as he paid a staggering amount of Rs241,329,362 in taxes.

    The premier in 2018 — his first year in office — paid Rs282,449 in taxes whereas President Trump paid just $750 (Rs124,290 as of 2020) in federal income tax during his first year as president.

    Trump, who in 2016 suggested reports of tax avoidance showed he was ‘smart’, denounced the findings as ‘completely fake news’. The New York Times said that of the 18 years its reporters examined, Trump had paid no income tax at all in 11 of them.

    While there is no comparison between the taxes paid by the two leaders from Pakistan and the US, it merits a mention that both were equally criticised for alleged tax evasion.

    As for Abbasi, his paid taxes were twice as much as the entire cabinet of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) paid.

    Industries and Production Minister Hammad Azhar and Petroleum Division Minister Omar Ayub were the top two tax payers in the cabinet, contributing Rs59.4 million and Rs26 million to the exchequer respectively.

  • Nawaz, Maryam go filterless, say ‘nation expected Lt Gen (r) Asim Bajwa to be arrested, not Shehbaz’

    Nawaz, Maryam go filterless, say ‘nation expected Lt Gen (r) Asim Bajwa to be arrested, not Shehbaz’

    Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has said the nation was expecting the arrest of PM’s aide Asim Saleem Bajwa but the authorities instead apprehended his brother Shehbaz Sharif.

    “This is oppression and this is injustice,” Nawaz said, referring to Shehbaz’s arrest in a money laundering case. “This is not acceptable and we will not accept it.”

    The National Assembly opposition leader was arrested Monday morning after the Lahore High Court rejected his bail plea.

    Referring to Bajwa, the former premier told reporters in London that the nation wanted to know how a person made such big properties and assets in just 15 or 20 years.

    Opposition parties have been demanding an investigation against Bajwa after the publishing of a story that claimed that Bajwa’s family had set up 99 companies in four countries, including a pizza franchise with 133 restaurants.

    The website, FactFocus, claimed that his wife is a “shareholder” in at least 86 companies. Of them, 71 were set up in the US, seven in the UAE and four in Canada.

    Bajwa has rejected the story on his family’s assets as “incorrect” and “false”.

    Meanwhile, Maryam Nawaz, who was addressing a press conference in Lahore, said that if there was accountability and justice in country, Bajwa would have been arrested.

    Maryam said the anti-government movement would not stop with the arrest of Shehbaz Sharif, rather the unjust act would add fuel to fire. “This movement will not suffer a setback due to Shehbaz Sharif’s arrest,” she insisted.

    She said even if the entire PML-N leadership, including her, was arrested, the movement would not stop. Terming the arrest extremely unfortunate, Maryam said she had no doubts that the PML-N president had been picked up because he chose not to betray his brother, Nawaz Sharif.

    “He [Shehbaz Sharif] not only stood with his brother but his loyalty to his brother’s cause and the party remained unwavering. “His wife has been declared an absconder; his son, my brother Hamza, has been sent to jail, though no case has been proven against him.

    “During the last week, Shehbaz gave two to three statements, saying that if they want to arrest him, they can , but the party will implement 100% of the directions given in Nawaz Sharif’s speech at the APC,” she said, referring to a statement made by the PML-N supremo at the opposition’s multiparty conference last week.

    The PML-N leader said the party had all its options open including resignations from all assemblies as well as launching a long march, and the party was deliberating on all options. “Those who are talking about birth of ‘Sheen’ from ‘Noon’ are now screaming because Sheen and Noon are completely united and can’t be separated,” she said, adding that Shehbaz was arrested though nothing was proved against him.

    Questioning the accountability and justice system, she said those who stood for justice were behind the bars or were submitting their financial details.

  • Dilip Kumar’s wife says ‘MashaAllah’ to Pakistan’s efforts to conserve Kumar’s KP home

    Dilip Kumar’s wife says ‘MashaAllah’ to Pakistan’s efforts to conserve Kumar’s KP home

    The wife of Indian actor Dilip Kumar, Saira Banu, has expressed her delight about recent reports of his ancestral home being purchased by the government for conservation in  Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

    Kumar’s ancestral house is  located at  the Qissa Khwani Bazar and is over 100 years old.

    Saira Banu told the ETimes: “I wish the provincial government success in its efforts and sincerely hope that this time the dream comes true. Mashallah.”

    “My heart fills up with joy each time I receive the same news about the ancestral home of Yousuf Saheb in Peshawar in northwest Frontier province which the provincial government has been repeatedly trying to turn into a monument for posterity. It has come up so many times in the past and I have appreciated the tenacity with which the government is pursuing the mission of turning the house into a museum for the public to visit and feel the vintage charm of the house where Dilip Saheb grew up like any bright boy of the province,” she added

    Also Read: KP govt allots Rs50 million to restore Kapoor Haveli, other historical buildings

    She said that they visited the house some years ago, and that the actor got emotional as he recalled his childhood memories.

    “The house is of great sentimental value to my husband and I have shared his pride and happiness during a visit to the property some years ago. He was so emotional when he saw the house where he spent his lovely childhood in the comfort and security of a large, refined family.”

    Dilip Kumar is an Indian actor, producer and philanthropist. Kumar is 97 years old and is the only living male actor from Bollywood’s golden era of movies. The actor debuted in 1944 in the film ‘Jwar Bhata’ and has won eight Filmfare awards for the best actor so far.

  • Shehbaz Sharif arrested, again

    Shehbaz Sharif arrested, again

    The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has once again arrested the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Shehbaz Sharif, from outside the Lahore High Court (LHC) in a money-laundering case.

    The arrest came as the court rejected the bail petitions filed by the PML-N president in the said case as well as that pertaining to his assets.

    Shehbaz had earlier reached the LHC for a hearing on his interim bail petition in the money-laundering case by NAB.

    A two-member bench of the LHC presided over the hearing, while lawyers representing the former Punjab chief minister (CM) presented their arguments after a three-day hiatus.

    A large number of PML-N party workers reached the court to express their support for Shehbaz, Geo reported.

    On Thursday, a two-judge bench of the LHC had extended Shehbaz’s interim bail in the same case till September 28.

    In December last year, the anti-graft watchdog had issued orders to freeze 23 properties owned by former Punjab chief executive and his sons, Hamza and Suleman, over claims they had acquired assets beyond their known sources of income and committed money-laundering.

    According to the NAB, an investigation against Shehbaz, Hamza, Suleman, and others had revealed that the PML-N president had acquired properties in the name of his wives Nusrat and Tehmina Durrani.

    While the authorities are also reportedly tightening the noose around Suleman, who is in London, Hamza already remains incarcerated.

  • Woman moves family court after losing to father in Ludo

    Woman moves family court after losing to father in Ludo

    A 24-year-old woman has approached a family court after she lost several Ludo games to her father in Bhopal city of India.

    As per the details, the young woman, her two siblings and their father, used to play the game during the coronavirus lockdown. After losing a few games, she developed bitterness against her father, which increased over a period of time and the family had to seek counselling sessions for her.

    “Nowadays, children are unable to endure defeat which is why such cases come up. They need to learn to accept defeat which is as important as winning,” family court counsellor Sarita Rajani told an Indian news agency.

    “A 24-year-old young woman had come to us and said that when she was playing Ludo with her siblings and father, her father killed her token (goti) and she felt it was a breach of trust. She said she had trusted her father a lot and didn’t expect to be defeated by him,” she added.

    Rajani told that the girl has said that she lost respect for her father and even felt hesitation in calling him “father”. She said the father-daughter relation was better earlier and only the board game defeat led to the crisis. 

    “She has been counselled four times till now and the situation is improving. We will find a positive solution,” she added.

    Rajani added that the girl did not share her feelings with her family and decided to seek counselling about the matter.

    She said the young woman is currently pursuing her studies and does not have a mother. The girl is the youngest of three siblings.

  • We are with you, Mr PM, but take a look back at home too

    We are with you, Mr PM, but take a look back at home too

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has addressed the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), warning India against any misadventures.

    “I want to make it clear that any attempt by the fascist totalitarian RSS-led Indian government to aggress against Pakistan will be met by a nation that will fight for its freedom to the end,” he said, exposing India’s fascism.

    “While the Nazis’ hate was directed at the Jews, the RSS directs it at the Muslims, and to a lesser extent, the Christians.”

    Talking about Islamophobia around the world, PM Imran said India is the one country in the world where “the state sponsors Islamophobia”.

    On the Kashmir issue, he emphasised that Pakistan had always called for a peaceful solution to the Kashmir dispute. He said that India must repeal the measures it had instituted since August 5, 2019, end its military siege and other gross human rights violations, and agree to “resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and, of course, the wishes of the people of Kashmir”.

    He also pointed out that what India did on August 5 last year was in violation of the UN Charter, council resolutions and international law, particularly the 4th Geneva Convention. “Changing demographic structure of occupied territory is a war crime.”

    PM Imran is right about the atrocities in India being committed against religious minorities, especially the Muslims in India. From beef lynchings to Delhi riots to Modi himself laying the foundation stone of the Ram Mandir on the one-year anniversary of revoking the special status of Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK), the message that the Indian government is giving to its Muslim citizens is quite clear: the Hindutva supremacy brigade is in charge and you can only live here on our terms.

    This is a grave indictment of the so-called world’s largest democracy where the rights of minorities now are almost non-existent. The media in India has largely become pliant, a few honourable exceptions aside. We hardly see them questioning the state on issues that matter the most.

    PM Imran’s comments on India are spot on. We do hope that he would also take notice of the new sectarian fire that is roaring in Pakistan these days.

    The huge anti-Shia rallies that were taken out in Karachi and Islamabad should be a wake-up call for our state. It took a long time for the state to put out the sectarian conflict in the country. It would be extremely dangerous if sectarianism starts again. We cannot forget the target killings of Shia Hazaras in dozens just a few years ago.

    The state must end this before it becomes uncontrollable again. Interfaith harmony as well as sectarian harmony is important for any society and for people to co-exist peacefully. Pakistan’s media has been quite responsible in the recent sectarian rift. We hope that the state, too, will play its part.

  • Bollywood was allowed to flourish in Pakistan, says PM Imran

    Bollywood was allowed to flourish in Pakistan, says PM Imran

    With the government set to introduce a new film policy to assist producers and filmmakers, Prime Minister Imran Khan, who chaired a meeting on the matter, remarked that foreign content – Bollywood particularly – was allowed to flourish in Pakistan.

    Speaking exclusively to The Current, Senator Faisal Javed, who has worked with the government on making the film policy, said that PM Imran during the meeting commented that the previous governments did not work towards building up the Pakistani film industry, which led to its decay. As a result, there was an onslaught of foreign content that impacted the youth’s upbringing and compromised their moral values.

    It was also reported that during the meeting, PM Khan asserted that cinema played a vital role in highlighting social values and national heritage, besides providing quality and inexpensive entertainment to the people. The prime minister, in the meeting, made it clear that the promotion of Pakistan’s unique identity locally and globally, and acquainting the youth with cultural heritage was the government’s priority.

    This is not the first time PM Imran has called out Bollywood for spreading obscenity and vulgarity. Earlier in April, PM Khan had said: “I say this with a heavy heart but thirty to forty years ago, you would have never seen such vulgarity in Bollywood. There is so much trash. Bollywood has adopted the worst of Hollywood.”

    “This is affecting our society and youth negatively. Drug culture is emerging, sex crimes are increasing because of such promotion of vulgarity. It is important to note that when vulgarity increases in a society, the family system goes down”, the prime minister had said.

    Then in September, while speaking to journalist Moeed Pirzada about the horrendous motorway gang-rape incident, PM Khan had said that mass media influences the public and commented that indecent content and “obscenity” shown in Bollywood films has increased sex crimes in Delhi.

    “New Delhi has become the ‘rape capital’ of the world due to obscenity in Bollywood,” said PM Imran. “Compare the movies made in India 40 years ago to the movies being made now. Look at the impact of those movies.”

    Film Policy to be introduced soon

    Sharing further details about the film policy and the government’s plans, Senator Javed said that the film industry will be given the status of an industry and that Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Lt Gen (r) Asim Saleem Bajwa has prepared a very detailed and comprehensive film policy keeping all the stakeholders in mind. He said that the policy will be introduced in the coming months. It is pertinent to mention here that this is the first time such a policy is being introduced. While the PML-N government introduced some incentives – such as lowering imports on film equipment, slashing of income tax by 50 percent for those investing in films – the industry was mostly dependent on individuals and corporates for finances.

    Under the policy, filmmakers and cinema owners will be offered several incentives including access to locations. The government hopes to build a soft image of Pakistan through film and promote ‘Pakistaniat‘, which is why it also hopes to make cinemas affordable for the masses.

    “We hope that are we are able to promote our country, tourism and rich culture and history through our films,” said Senator Javed.

    Senator Faisal also said that plans are being made to centralise the censor boards so that only one censor board deems a film suitable for public viewing. He said that multiple censor boards create confusion for both the filmmakers and the audiences.

    Others who were part of the meeting include Information Minister Senator Shibli Faraz, Industries Minister Hammad Azhar, Dr Shahbaz Gill, Zulfiqar Bukhari, secretaries of relevant ministries, SBP governor, FBR chairman and other senior officers.

    PM Imran, in the meeting, directed relevant ministries and departments to furnish a roadmap for implementation of the proposals. The premier later also directed Lt Gen (retd) Asim Bajwa to work on a comprehensive strategy to “cleanse” Pakistani dramas and films of indecency and vulgarity. Latest reports have stated that Gen (retd) Bajwa is already in touch with TV drama writers and producers to change the trend of Pakistani film-making from its current Bollywood-style to what countries like Turkey and Iran are doing.

    Meanwhile, Pakistani actors and directors including Shaan, Humayun Saeed, Farhan Saeed, Urwa Hocane and Nabeel Qureshi welcomed the government’s initiative and thanked PM Khan and Gen (retd) Asim Bajwa for their support.

  • PM Imran Khan wants Tiktok to be banned

    Prime Minister Imran Khan is of the view that social media apps like TikTok are affecting the society’s values badly and should be blocked, Information Minister Shibli Faraz said in an interview with The News.

    Speaking to the publication, Faraz said, “PM Imran is extremely concerned about the ‘growing obscenity and vulgarity’ in the society and has directed all the relevant sections to check the trend before it destroys the socio-religious values of Pakistani society.”

    The information minister added that the Prime Minister had talked about this issue with him not once or twice but 15 or 16 times and wants a complete strategy to check the vulgarity spreading through mainstream outlets, social media and its applications.

    Read more – Pakistanis are outraged with PTA for blocking Tinder

    PM Khan’s opinion has social media divided but actor Ahmed Ali Butt supported the premier’s point of view. Feroze Khan had also earlier referred to TikTok as ‘cancer’.

    Earlier, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had issued a final warning to TikTok ordering it to filter out obscene and immoral content after it banned live streaming application Bigo over similar concerns.

    The PTA has also directed internet operators to ensure that no “immoral or illegal” content is made accessible to users.