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  • Sindh police say Safdar was arrested as per law, delete tweet later

    Sindh police say Safdar was arrested as per law, delete tweet later

    The social media cell of the Sindh Police has further aggravated the controversy surrounding the arrest of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Capt (r) Muhammad Safdar after it deleted a tweet that termed the arrest of the PML-N leader in accordance with the law.

    The statement updated on Twitter read: “The arrest of Capt (r) Safdar was done according to the law and the investigation will be impartial and on merit.” However, the tweet was hastily removed for unknown reasons, but it had generated over 450 retweets before being taken down.

    Screen-grab of now-removed tweet

    It was reposted to the Twitter handle later in the day.

    Safdar was arrested from his hotel room in the early hours of Monday for raising slogans at the mausoleum of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, and jumping over the grill surrounding the grave. This had resulted in a backlash on social media and the government quarters who demanded his arrest for violating the sanctity of the place. However, the way he was arrested by police gave rise to speculations.

    Senior journalist and analyst Hamid Mir has claimed the Sindh government informed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Muhammad Zubair that the provincial police chief had been “kidnapped by rangers at 4 am and forced to issue the orders for the arrest of Maryam Nawaz’s husband, Captain (r) Safdar”.

    “Unfortunate incident. Sindh Govt informed PML-N leader Muhammad Zubair that IG [insector general] Sindh was kidnapped by Rangers at 4 in the morning he was brought in sector commander’s office where addnl IG was already present and were forced to issue the orders for the arrest of Cpt Rtd Safdar [sic],” Mir claimed in a tweet.

    It was, however, rejected by another senior journalist, who said the IG was “fully onboard with the arrest”. Maintaining that internal rifts were marring the affairs of the joint opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), Kamran Khan quoted sources as saying that all claims regarding the IG’s arrest were not true.

    CASE AGAINST SAFDAR, MARYAM:

    The FIR registered against the PML-N leaders Maryam Nawaz and Capt Safdar and about 200 other people said the PML-N leaders, along with 200 of their followers, reached the Quaid’s grave where Safdar jumped over the grill surrounding it and resorted to sloganeering.

    A case has been registered under Section 6 (convening of meetings or processions in the mausoleum), Section 8 (entry into mausoleum with weapon) and Section 10 (penalty for contravention of provisions) of The Quaid-e-Azam’s Mazar (Protection and Maintenance) Ordinance, 1971.

    It said the PML-N leader and his followers damaged the state property at the shrine besides threatening to kill the complainant upon intervention. “My complaint is that Safdar and his cohort violated the sanctity of the Quaid’s mausoleum and his grave. A case [should be] registered against him for raising political slogans inside the mausoleum complex, death threats against me and for damaging government property.”

  • Study reveals COVID-19 can survive on human skin for nine hours

    Study reveals COVID-19 can survive on human skin for nine hours

    Japanese researchers have discovered that COVID-19 stays on human skin for nine hours, stressing the need for frequent hand washing to fight the on-going pandemic.

    The pathogen that causes the flu, by comparison, survives on human skin for about 1.8 hours, said the study, published this month in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal.

    The study backs World Health Organisation guidance for regular and thorough hand washing to limit the spread of the virus.

    “The nine-hour survival of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus strain that causes COVID-19) on human skin may increase the risk of contact transmission in comparison with IAV (influenza A virus), thus accelerating the pandemic,” the study underscored.

    “The longer survival of SARS-CoV-2 on the skin increases contact-transmission risk; however, hand hygiene can reduce this risk,” the study said.

    Both the contagious diseases, the COVID-19 and the flu virus are inactivated within 15 seconds by applying ethanol that is used in the hand sanitizers.

  • US could have saved trillions had it handled COVID-19 like Pakistan: American economist

    Economist and the former United States (US) Treasury secretary, Lawrence H Summers, while admiring Pakistan’s COVID-19 pandemic strategy, has said that Washington could have saved trillions had it handled the outbreak like Islamabad.

    In a conversation with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday, he said, “America’s failure on COVID-19 is almost unimaginable. Heck, if the US had handled the pandemic as well as Pakistan, we would have saved in the neighbourhood of $10 trillion.”

    “The costs of an expanded testing system are trivial compared to the costs of tens of thousands of early deaths. Expanding testing should be a matter of utmost urgency,” tweeted.

    The US has recorded more than 8.35 million cases, 224,389 deaths, and over five million recoveries from the virus. US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump also tested positive for coronavirus on October 2.

  • ‘Rangers kidnapped Sindh IG at 4 am to get Capt (r) Safdar arrested’

    Senior journalist and analyst Hamid Mir has claimed the Sindh government informed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Muhammad Zubair that the provincial police chief had been “kidnapped by rangers at 4 am and forced to issue the orders for the arrest of Maryam Nawaz’s husband, Captain (r) Safdar”.

    Earlier in the day, Karachi police arrested Capt (r) Safdar for violating the sanctity of Jinnah Mausoleum by raising slogans at the grave of the founder of Pakistan. The development was shared by his wife and PML-N vice president, Maryam, who tweeted that police broke into her room to arrest Capt (r) Safdar.

    “Unfortunate incident. Sindh Govt informed PML-N leader Muhammad Zubair that IG [insector general] Sindh was kidnapped by Rangers at 4 in the morning he was brought in sector commander’s office where addnl IG was already present and were forced to issue the orders for the arrest of Cpt Rtd Safdar [sic],” Mir claimed in a tweet.

    It was, however, rejected by another senior journalist, who said the IG was “fully onboard with the arrest”.

    Maintaining that internal rifts were marring the affairs of the joint opposition’s Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), Kamran Khan quoted sources as saying that all claims regarding the IG’s arrest were not true.

    The tweets come as condemnations pour in against Safdar’s arrest that is being termed “inappropriate” while some, on the other hand, laud the authorities for the same.

    People had earlier also been criticising the Sindh government of joint opposition’s Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) for backstabbing the PML-N a day after the mammoth anti-government rally of the PDM in Karachi.

  • Karachi police break into Maryam’s hotel room to arrest Safdar

    Karachi police break into Maryam’s hotel room to arrest Safdar

    Karachi police have arrested Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Capt (r) Muhammad Safdar for violating the sanctity of Jinnah Mausoleum by raising slogans at the grave of the founder of Pakistan.

    The development was shared by his wife PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, who wrote that police broke into her room to arrest Safdar while she was sleeping.

    The PML-N leadership, including vice president Maryam Nawaz, had visited the mausoleum to offer fatiha on Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s grave ahead of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) power show in Karachi. However, the fatiha was followed by slogans by the PML-N supporters and Safdar jumping over the grill surrounding the grave.

    The sloganeering at the mausoleum attracted flak, especially by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership, who sought action against the PML-N leaders for the ‘hooliganism’.

    Similarly, Maritimes Minister Ali Haider Zaidi pushed police to register a case against the PML-N leaders over the incident. “Once again clearly warning CS & IG of Sindh. Action must be taken against the hooligans who created ruckus at Mazar-e-Quaid. If they are allowed to leave KHI, you will be directly held responsible for letting them escape. U will be considered as aiders & abettors in the crime,” he tweeted ahead of the arrest.

    Subsequently, an FIR was registered against the PML-N leaders Maryam Nawaz and Capt Safdar and about 200 other people. According to the complainant, the PML-N leaders, along with 200 of their followers, reached the Quaid’s grave where Safdar jumped over the grill surrounding it.

    A case has been registered under Section 6 (convening of meetings or processions in the mausoleum), Section 8 (entry into mausoleum with weapon) and Section 10 (penalty for contravention of provisions) of The Quaid-e-Azam’s Mazar (Protection and Maintenance) Ordinance, 1971.

    It said the PML-N leader and his followers damaged the state property at the shrine besides threatening to kill the complainant upon intervention. “My complaint is that Safdar and his cohort violated the sanctity of the Quaid’s mausoleum and his grave. A case [should be] registered against him for raising political slogans inside the mausoleum complex, death threats against me and for damaging government property.”

    WAS SAFDAR ARRESTED FROM HOTEL’S ROOM?:

    Though the PML-N claims that Safdar was arrested from the hotel room by the Karachi police, the claim was contested by the federal minister, Ali Zaidi, who shared a video of Safdar being taken in a police mobile. “Maryam once again lying that the hotel door was broken. Video shows otherwise. Do u see any handcuffs? Does it look like he was arrested by force?” he took a jibe at Maryam.

    However, to corroborate the claim, PML-N social media cell shared a video of the hotel room, showing the broken door of the hotel room. The statement issued by the provincial minister also strengthened the claim that the police barged into the hotel room of the PML-N leaders.

    Surprisingly, the Sindh government led by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has distanced itself from the matter, even though the police chief is answerable to the chief minister. PPP minister Saeed Ghani said that while Captain Safdar’s behaviour was inappropriate, the way his arrest was carried out was condemnable.

    PPP MPA Sharmila Farooqi said “sloganeering inside Mazar-e-Quaid is inappropriate, but breaking doors & arresting Captain Safdar in this manner is also unacceptable”. “Sindh government is not a party to this. Clearly a blatant attempt to sabotage the solidarity of PDM and defame Sindh government,” she added.

  • ’50 crores’: Pakistani version of ‘Money Heist’?

    ’50 crores’: Pakistani version of ‘Money Heist’?

    Looks like the Pakistani film scene is heating up with Filmwala Pictures dropping the teaser of Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad and the announcement of a new film titled 50 crores.

    While the makers of the film have not revealed any details, Faysal Quraishi, who is one of the leads has told audiences to wait until October 28. Other actors who are part of the film include Aijaz Aslam, Faryal Mehmood, Anoushey Abbasi, Naveed Raza, Omer Shehzad, Mehmood Aslam, Noman Habib, Saboor Ali, Zalay Sarhadi and Asad Siddiqui.

    Check out pictures and teasers from the film below.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CGdAShFAJaL/
    https://www.instagram.com/p/CGdEHXWBIiG/
    https://www.instagram.com/p/CGe2SqNgS5r/
    https://www.instagram.com/p/CGc7eF8gkz0/
    https://www.instagram.com/p/CGef5m-gqqk/

    Meanwhile, the film has received a lot of flak for bearing striking resemblance to Money Heist.

  • Pakistani dramas are depressing, says First Lady Samina Alvi

    President Arif Alvi’s wife Samina Arif Alvi has said that Pakistani dramas depress her.

    In a recent interview with Independent Urdu, the First Lady said: “I don’t watch [Pakistani] dramas. I don’t know why but they make me feel depressed.”

    Mrs Alvi further said that she discussed this with a few people, including some female anchors and asked them why everything in Pakistani dramas revolve around affairs and weddings, upon which she was told that such subjects garner ratings.

    Disagreeing with this, the First Lady remarked: “Why don’t they make anything decent? People appreciate good and decent content.”

    Read more – Naumaan Ijaz slams Pakistani dramas for spreading negativity

    Mrs Alvi further said that whatever content will be shown on TV, people especially children will learn from it whether it’s good or bad.

    “Aap jis cheez per daalein gay, bachay ussi taraf jayen gay,” said the First Lady. “Dekhain aap jo bachon ki dikhain gay, woh wohi karein gay.”

    Mrs Alvi and her husband President Alvi have often praised Turkish drama Diriliş Ertuğrul in the past. When asked if she has seen the entire series, the First Lady said that she watched a few episodes during the COVID-19 lockdown.

    Concluding her remarks, the First Lady said that it is high time the content of Pakistani Dramas is changed, adding that she liked Diriliş Ertuğrul because it did not have any vulgarity.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CGfTgHgJO-f/

  • Dishonouring our heroes

    A few days ago, a group of youngsters smeared a portrait of the first Nobel laureate from Pakistan, Dr Abdus Salam. The video was widely circulated on the internet that showed the group, consisting of State Youth Parliament Pakistan members, painting Dr Salam’s portrait black while raising slogans against the minority Ahmadiyya community, of which Dr Salam was a member, outside Gujranwala’s National Science College.

    It was tragic to see that science students, rather than honouring Dr Salam, a world renowned physicist from Pakistan and champion of science in the developing world, would take pride in vandalising his portrait due to bigotry. Dr Salam’s contributions to science are undeniable and they have been recognised and hailed by the state of Pakistan as well. Thus it is unfortunate to see that our society is still reluctant to acknowledge him as a hero because he belonged to a religious minority. The white part in the Pakistani flag represents our minorities but if we can continue to persecute them, then we are in fact dishonouring our flag, our founding father’s vision for Pakistan and our Constitution that guarantees that all citizens are to be treated equally regardless of their faith, caste and creed.

    Why do we treat our heroes so badly? Pakistan’s second Nobel laureate and the youngest laureate Malala Yousafzai has also faced a barrage of criticism from Pakistani society. Many a conspiracy theory is associated with the assassination attempt on her life despite the fact that she barely survived the attack. Thankfully, the state of Pakistan has been consistently supportive of Malala and Dr Salam. This gives us hope that one day our society, too, will learn to honour those who have made Pakistan proud in the international arena. We always complain how Pakistan’s image is portrayed negatively in the international press but people like Dr Salam and Malala and many others continue to make us proud due to their contributions in areas like science, education, arts, among others. Asma Jahangir’s work for human rights and women’s rights was hailed around the world but she was not recognised by several segments of society because of her bold views on fundamental freedoms. It is high time that we put an end to such thinking and be more tolerant and appreciative of the work that our countrymen and country-women continue to do for the betterment of Pakistan.

    In an environment where we see rising political polarisation, religious intolerance, the state needs to continue to promote tolerance and honouring those who have made a mark. Dr Salam does not need validation from those who smeared his portrait; his work speaks for itself but at the same time, it is a tragedy that he does not have the same acceptance from fellow Pakistanis that the international community has given him. Let’s hope that one day, those who smeared his portrait too would feel ashamed of doing what they did.

  • Aamna Ilyas gives her ‘final proclamation’ on fat-shaming comments

    Aamna Ilyas gives her ‘final proclamation’ on fat-shaming comments

    Following immense criticism and backlash on social media over her fat shaming comments on former model Aaminah Haq, Aamna Ilyas has given her “final proclamation” on the matter.

    In a video, shared to Instagram, the model-turned-actor said: “The claim that I called someone fat two years ago is not true. TV, media, bloggers – kindly ignore them all. I will tell you the truth.”

    Ilyas began her explanation by narrating all the instances from her childhood in which she ridiculed people over their looks to point out that body-shaming wasn’t the only thing she was guilty of – since she was going to be judged for her past anyway.

    “I was 6-years-old when we had a disabled cook Nauman – I used to make fun of his limping, calling him loora Nomi loora Nomi,” said Ilyas. “When my cousin had a child, I wouldn’t embrace her in my arms, making faces at how pheeni she was. I was 12 then.”

    “At 15, my school teacher had a speech impairment. I would imitate his stutter and stammering. I ridiculed my best friend for being tidda (too short) and made fun of the guests at my home for being too dark.”

    “I have never called a single person fat in my life – I prefer to use words like elephant, bull or hippopotamus instead,” the model continued, before making her point for sharing all this.

    “No one enters this world knowing all the ethics, so please don’t tell me you all never said these things. But you still wouldn’t give another person a second chance,” she remarked angrily. Imitating some of the criticism she received in the past couple of days, Ilyas went on to say “She said something wrong in the 90s so how can she preach something right today? How dare her!”

    Concluding her video, Aamna said: “Aaminah Haq, I cannot change what I did. I cannot undo the pain I might have caused you – but I try to be a better me every day. And for all you guys, for the last time, I am not her.”

    Meanwhile, Ayeza Khan also posted a ‘friendly’ advise for Aamna under her post. In a comment, Ayeza had written: “Dear Aamna! You have worked so hard to build this career for yourself and there’s so much more waiting for you in the future. Don’t indulge in this mess.”

    In response to Ayeza, Aamna commented: “Love you too! This is such brilliant advice and I’ll need many more from you in the future. So, why have you unfollowed me?”

    Aamna had earlier mocked Ayeza’s latest fairness cream advertisement in a re-enactment video. The video, however, did not sit well with her fans and followers, who advised her to apologise to Ayeza for it.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CGK5subH5Lj/
  • WATCH: Fahad Mustafa flexes his muscles in the teaser of ‘Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad’

    WATCH: Fahad Mustafa flexes his muscles in the teaser of ‘Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad’

    After teasing the fans with stills from the film and behind the scenes, Filmwala Pictures has finally dropped the teaser of Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad.

    The short teaser is packed with action, muscle flexes, and fire cracking chemistry between the two leads. We already know that Fahad Mustafa will be playing a ‘dirty cop’ in the film and the teaser shows him jump on cars and crack skulls in his uniform. The teaser is catchy and exciting and the film promises to be a rollercoaster ride.

    Featuring Mahira Khan and Fahad in the lead, Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad has been directed by Nabeel Qureshi and produced by Fizza Ali Meerza. The duo has previously delivered hits including Load Wedding and Actor in Law – both of which had Fahad in the lead.

    Speaking to The Current, Nabeel had shared that the film will be a satirical action-comedy – something along the lines of their previous film Actor in Law. Fahad had said that the film will feature action sequences that have never been tried before in Pakistan and that he performed all the stunts himself.

    “We have tried to pull off Mission Impossible type stuff in Pakistan with Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad,” said the actor. “I endured multiple injuries while performing these stunts. My heel was injured throughout the course of filming and I couldn’t even walk properly but still, I did all the stunts myself and no double was used.”

    The film was scheduled to hit screens on Eidul Azha but because of the coronavirus lockdown, its release was delayed. Latest reports have suggested that the film’s makers are eyeing a December 2020 release now.