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  • ‘Sharifs’ political dynasty’: PML-N is upset over Maryam Nawaz’s appointment as senior vice president

    ‘Sharifs’ political dynasty’: PML-N is upset over Maryam Nawaz’s appointment as senior vice president

    Leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are reportedly not happy with the recent appointment of Maryam Nawaz as the party’s senior vice president.

    According to a report in The News, it is being said that there has been no consultation within the party before this decision was taken.

    A senior PML-N leader told the media outlet on condition of anonymity that, “This decision is undemocratic and is aimed at furthering the Sharifs’ political dynasty.”

    One of the PML-N leaders said that the Sharif family or those closely associated with them have the first right to hold every key position whether within the party or in the government.

    Not only this, many in the party think that PML-N leaders Khawaja Saad Rafique and Malik Ahmad Khan would have been a much better choice for the office of Punjab chief minister but the Sharif family decided in favour of one of their own-Hamza Shehbaz, the son of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

    With his appointment, Maryam is now the third most senior in party ranks after her father Nawaz Sharif and uncle Shehbaz Sharif.

    According to a PML-N leader, even Junaid Safdar, the son of Maryam Nawaz, is being propagated by the party’s social media team as the future of the N-League. However, he has not joined politics yet.

  • ‘Racist and violent’; Fury at Prince Harry’s claim he killed 25 people in Afghanistan

    ‘Racist and violent’; Fury at Prince Harry’s claim he killed 25 people in Afghanistan

    Excerpts from Prince Harry’s memoir ‘Spare’, scheduled to hit bookstores worldwide on January 10, have racked up controversies with the Duke of Sussex revealing intimate details of the royal family. However, one passage from the book has landed the erstwhile prince into hot waters himself. Social media is calling Prince Harry “racist and violent” after the revelation that he has killed over 25 Afghans and feels neither satisfaction nor shame. In the book, the Prince wrote that the “insurgents” he killed were like pieces on a chessboard.

    The full passage can be read below:

    https://twitter.com/simonharris_mbd/status/1611656898218176512?s=20&t=8ecv1436gY2bwM8gDx0sPQ

    Social media users were deeply shocked by this revelation, and how little attention is being given in the media to these racist comments.

    https://twitter.com/Dragonvibee/status/1611312946013143040?s=20&t=8ecv1436gY2bwM8gDx0sPQ

  • Fawad Chaudhry extends best wishes to Maryam Nawaz after she underwent throat surgery

    Fawad Chaudhry extends best wishes to Maryam Nawaz after she underwent throat surgery

    Putting aside political rivalry, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry has extended his best wishes to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senior vice president Maryam Nawaz after she underwent throat surgery in Switzerland.

    A day earlier, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb had said that Nawaz is in good condition after her three-hour-long throat surgery that took place in Geneva.

    The minister said the PML-N senior vice president had extended gratitude to all the people, especially the party workers, who had prayed for her and conveyed good wishes to her.

    According to media reports, during the three-hour-long surgery, two of her throat glands were operated on by the doctors.

    Earlier this week, both Nawaz and Maryam travelled together to Geneva from London.

    Maryam is expected to return to Pakistan in the third week of January to assume her new responsibilities as Chief Organiser of the party.

    Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif will also be visiting Geneva to co-host the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan — along with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres — on January 9 (Monday).

  • ‘It was military vs PTI’: Gen Bajwa was actively involved in sending PTI govt packing, says Fawad

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry has said that in the no-confidence motion against his party’s Chairman and then-Prime Minister Imran Khan, it was actually the PTI versus the military.

    Fawad claimed during a BBC HARDTalk interview yesterday that “some army generals, as well as ex-chief General [Qamar Javed] Bajwa were actively involved in sending the PTI government home”.

    Establishment played a very active role in the ouster of Imran Khan

    “And in that conspiracy, some army generals were involved, there is no doubt about that and the establishment actually played a very active role in the ouster of Imran Khan. In fact, the last army chief was [also] actively involved in sending our government home,” he alleged.

    Host Stephen Sackur asked Fawad about DG ISI Lt Gen Nadeem Anjum’s press conference, in which he, alongside then ISPR chief Lt Gen Babar Iftikhar, said Imran Khan asked the military to perform an unconstitutional act during the no-confidence vote.

    Chaudhry responded: “The current [army] leadership has just assumed the office and we are hoping there will be a change in the policy, but the last chief was not speaking truth when he said we asked [for their] help. We only asked for their neutrality.”

    Unelected institutions like the judiciary and the military exercised their powers beyond Constitution

    Dismissing the notion that the PTI was against the military, Fawad said his party was not against anyone. “In Pakistan, unelected institutions like the judiciary and the military exercised their powers beyond Constitution [in the past], which is known to everyone.”

    Bygones are bygones: PTI looks forward to having good relations with US

    Talking about how Khan blamed United States for his ouster and then later changing his narrative that he wants to have good relations with US, Fawad said that the PTI never said it seeks a war with the superpower. “Instead, it wants good bilateral ties. No party wants confrontation with the US,” Fawad noted. However, at the same time the PTI doesn’t want any country including the US to dictate Pakistan, he opined.

    Saying bygones are bygones, Fawad said his party looks forward to having good relations with the US, and hopes the superpower too would like to collaborate with Pakistan’s most popular political party.

    Calling Osama bin Laden a “martyr” was a slip of a tongue

    To a question, he clarified that Imran never called Osama bin Laden a “martyr”, saying he had a slip of a tongue in one speech which was clarified later.

    Shehbaz govt ruined all efforts due to their ignorance of Afghanistan’s history and problems

    Chaudhry said the then-PTI government was holding “continuous negotiations” with the Afghan government “and we were close to actually resolve the issue”.

    He, however, blamed the incumbent government for “ruining” all efforts due to their “ignorance of Afghanistan’s history and problems”.

    PTI could wait for elections but….

    The PTI leader said his party could wait for elections “but this government is not ready to hold polls as they know people will oust them through vote”.

    He insisted that elections were needed for Pakistan and not for the PTI. “We are asking that elections should be held at the earliest so that a new responsible government can take care of economic affairs.”

    Zardari and Sharifs had put Pakistan into a vicious debt cycle

    Stephen Sackur said Pakistan’s debt stood at $116 billion when the PTI took over in 2018, but it rose to $230 billion when the party left government.

    Fawad responded saying his party’s government had to borrow funds to return the loans taken by the previous government. He maintained that his party’s government worked to restructure the loans and did as far as economy is concerned.

    He said, ” Zardari and Sharifs had put Pakistan into a vicious debt cycle.

    Imran gave the country one of the cleanest governments in 75 years of history

    Sackur said figures did not bear out his claim, referring to promises made by the PTI before elections, especially those about corruption, He said that Pakistan fell by 20 points on the corruption perception index (CPI).

    Fawad disagreed, arguing that these were the departments related to rule of law, for example judiciary, not the political side, that had contributed to that index. He said Imran gave the country one of the cleanest governments in its 75 years of existence.

    The PTI leader said it is not possible to create economic stability without political stability as [political uncertainty in the country is such that] no one knows who will rule the country three or five months from now.

  • Haris Rauf has an endearing interaction with fans on ‘Hasna Mana Hai’

    Haris Rauf has an endearing interaction with fans on ‘Hasna Mana Hai’

    The current Pakistani cricket team has entered in to our lives like a breath of fresh air. We love them because they’re extremely talented and hard working, they never embody the dog-eats-dog mindset, support and respect each other without a doubt, and most importantly how much have fangirls are ready to die for them.

    Haris Rauf is endearing to many women because of his looks and his prodigious cricketing skills. The bowler was a guest on Friday’s episode of the Geo News show Hasna Mana Hai where a fan had an endearing question for him. She asked him about what will she and other fan girls like actress Maya Ali do now that their crush, Haris, has gotten married and settled down.

    To this, Rauf jokingly responded by saying that he had to settle down with someone, since he can’t marry everyone of his fans. He then assured his fans that they can mend their broken hearts by finding someone else, since there are other cricket players out there.

    “Not just cricketers, there are many other people out there,” he quipped.

    Another fan also had a hilarious question about how when Rauf is playing on the field, he can hear the women behind him shouting out marriage proposals. To which the cricket player said when he is playing cricket, he and his teammates are focused on the game rather than responding to the fans sitting behind them.

    “We try to look for them after the match but we never find them,” Rauf joked.

    You can watch the complete interview below

  • Twitter explores how the Pakistani rishta culture can be toxic for women

    Twitter explores how the Pakistani rishta culture can be toxic for women

    If anything exemplifies how deeply Pakistani culture vilifies and moral polices women, it is the pervasive rishta culture. Which is a process of the parents of a boy and rishta aunties going to houses where unmarried women are present, and evaluating them on how good of a chance they have for getting married.
    The process is designed in a manner that closely resembles walking through a cattle market, where women line up obediently to be able to prove themselves as the perfect bride and housewife to the mother of the boy. She is endlessly interrogated about her looks, her posture, whether she is well educated or not, or if she plans on having a career after getting married, and so on. Nothing is spoken of whether the man is good enough for her, or will be able to provide and care for her for the rest of their lives. In the process, women are forced to internalize the message that their sole existence and expectations surrounding life should accommodate her future in-laws, rather than her own self. The rishta procedure involves being repeatedly humiliated and berated over minor things, and often leaves the woman feeling more over-burdened and mentally tortured over the expectations that she is suppose to completely serve her independence to cater to her family’s needs.

    Twitter recently had a conversation when a user shared how the rishta culture can demoralize women by demanding them to serve their best selves, and then be out right rejected for it. Also how, the rishta culture breeds the patriarchal imbalance in prevalent in our society, turning women into submissive beings to cater to the men in their lives.

    “This rishta culture in our society is so sick. A random khandan come to see a girl, make her feel uncomfortable with judgmental looks n questions. And then reject her for no valid reason, without even thinking that their munda has no aukaaat !!!!!”

    Thus began a conversation with women sharing their own instances of being hounded and subjected to personal, invasive questions that demoralized their independence and mental health. How this woman on Twitter shared the way she was aggressively hounded by rishta aunties and made to feel inferior throughout the conversation

    “Some aunties did the same to me. They liked me, talked to my family. They thought I am so dumb. When they talked to me, they were so rude and they were uncomfortable because I was opinionated. I was like I will cut you off. Hate such women and men too.

    They just want a showpiece and they are not sure about what they want. It’s ok their loss. That girl should focus on her goals and herself. Live life to the fullest. Zindagi aik baar milti he. Women should not be ghulaam of other women or anyone.”

    Other Twitter users have shared how the Pakistani rishta culture invades a woman’s personal space, and evaluate her over the most minor and irrelevant things, like how this user says an acquaintance was berated over having short hair.

    “My hate for rishta culture increased tenfold today after I learnt that one of the rishta ladies asked a girl, “Baal khud chotay rakhay hein ya barhtay nahi hein?” How could someone be so small minded?”

    Other women shared how women are subjected to consistent scrutiny and humiliation, even being berated over small things like glasses.

    https://twitter.com/Rraafia/status/1401847554908766210?s=20&t=ho4Xkv0ex7HFSFFTSTeFYw

    Women are not one dimensional objects on whom men and toxic aunties can project all of their insecurities and expectations on. It is no woman’s responsibility to cater to the men in her life, and it should never be drilled into her mind to revolve her life around them.

  • Pak Suzuki announces second plant closure in less than 10 days due to parts shortage

    Pak Suzuki announces second plant closure in less than 10 days due to parts shortage

    Due to a persistent lack of imported components and accessories, Pak Suzuki Motor Company Ltd (PSMCL) has prolonged the factory shutdown from January 9 to 13 after keeping manufacturing operations paused from January 2 to 6.

    However, the business stated in a stock filing on Friday that the motorbike facility will continue to be in operation.

    The State Bank of Pakistan’s restrictions on obtaining prior approval for imports, including completely knocked-down (CKD) kits, have prevented PSMCL from opening its production facilities for 30 days since August 2022. This has negatively impacted the clearance of shipments from the port and resulted in shortages of parts and accessories.

    On the fate of employees because of persistent plant closure and plummeting sales of vehicles, a PSMCL official claimed that “so far no company’s employees have been terminated.”

    In 5MFY23, Pak Suzuki’s sales decreased by 35 per cent to 37,042 units from 57,200 in the same time the previous fiscal year.

    On Friday, the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and the Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM) both voiced their concerns regarding Millat Tractors’ decision to cease operations for an indefinite period of time due to declining sales and delayed sales tax refunds.

    In a joint statement, PAAPAM Senior Vice Chairman Usman Aslam Malik and LCCI President Kashif Anwar observed that “we should save Pakistan first, then politics, before we reach the point of no return.”

    Both leaders urged the administration and the opposition parties to get together and talk about how to resolve the nation’s crisis.

    They pointed out localization as the long-term answer to economic issues. The removal of imports must be given first priority, followed by the removal of export.

  • ‘Meray dost ko 2 Vigo daalay utha ke le gaye’: Moonis Elahi

    ‘Meray dost ko 2 Vigo daalay utha ke le gaye’: Moonis Elahi

    Pakistan Muslim League- Quaid (PML-Q) leader Moonis Elahi took to Twitter on January 7 to inform his followers that friend was kidnapped by two Vigo pick up trucks in Lahore.

    Moonis further wrote that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is swearing that it is not involved in any way.

    “Now after a few days suddenly the FIA will be delivered and they will be forced to register an First Information Report (FIR),” tweeted Moonis.

    Moonis Elahi, the son of Punjab’s Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi, is considered to be quite close to Imran Khan, the Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), PML-Q’s collation partner in the Punjab government.

  • UN condemns attack on police van guarding polio workers in DI Khan

    UN condemns attack on police van guarding polio workers in DI Khan

    The United Nations has condemned the attack on a police van guarding polio workers in Dera Ismail Khan in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
    “It’s not the first time that we’ve seen attacks on health workers; It’s not the first time we’ve seen attacks on people trying to do polio vaccination in Pakistan and other places in the world,” UN Secretary-General’s spokesman, Stephane Dujarric said.

    He added, “Sometimes we’re faced with a situation where you really run out of words, but it is despicable to target and attack people who are going out in communities in extremely challenging circumstances, trying to protect the lives of infants and babies from a preventable disease that is almost wiped out; except for a handful of countries, and that all too often is due to a security situation where people actively work against health workers.”

    Terrorists opened fire on five police officers on Thursday who were guarding polio workers in Dera Ismail Khan, injuring all of them.
    As per the details, the incident happened on Thursday afternoon. The policemen were shifted to a local hospital for treatment.

  • Pakistani banks start charging dollar transactions at open market rates

    Pakistani banks start charging dollar transactions at open market rates

    Pakistani banks have announced that they will settle debit and credit card transactions made with foreign retailers and websites at the open market exchange rate for the US dollar.

    The conversion rate for the transactions would be calculated by the open market rate in place at the time, which might not match the rate listed on the foreign merchant’s website.

    Customers were advised by the banks in a statement that they could only settle debit or credit card purchases with foreign retailers or websites by buying dollars on the open market. As a result, the conversion rate for these transactions will be determined by the current open market rate.

    The statement, according to bankers, was made in response to several client concerns over the increased exchange rate.

    On Friday, the Pakistani rupee lost Rs0.02 to the US dollar in the interbank market, continuing its downward trajectory.

    The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported that the exchange rate of the local currency for the dollar was Rs227.12. Which shows a 0.01 per cent decline from the close of Rs227.12 on Thursday.

    According to SBP, the Pakistani rupee is valued at Rs227–228 against the dollar. However, in the open market, the greenback is priced above Rs250 and goes as high as Rs275.