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  • No India-Pakistan cricket till political relations normalise: PCB Chairman

    Discussions on resuming bilateral cricket exchanges between India and Pakistan cannot start between the India and Pakistani cricket boards unless political relations between the two countries become normal and stable, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ehsan Mani told IANS in an exclusive interview.

    “Over the years, PCB has had a number of discussions with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) regarding bilateral cricket. Whether it is T20 cricket or bilateral, all things are in the hands of the BCCI. At this moment I don’t have any intention of playing any T20 league with India. First, they have to sort out the bilateral (political) relations with us, and then we will talk,” said PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani.

    India has not played a Test series in Pakistan for more than 14 years, and Pakistan have not visited India for almost eight years, though they have played against each other in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) events like the World Cup and the Champions Trophy all these years.

    “The ICC constitution says there should be no government interference. So, I think ICC should be talking to them [BCCI],” Mani, a former ICC president, said, referring to the mandatory permission that BCCI has to take from the Indian government to play against Pakistan.

    Read more – Afridi says he has ‘old and strong relations’ with Yuvraj, Harbhajan

    Mani also made it clear that he wouldn’t request BCCI President Sourav Ganguly to let Pakistani players compete in the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, he fondly recalled the harmonious relations between the BCCI and the PCB in 1990s, when he, as the PCB representative, interacted with Madhavrao Scindia and Jagmohan Dalmiya who ruled both the BCCI and the Asian Cricket Council.

    “I had enough discussions with Mr Dalmiya; not just him but with Mr Sharad Pawar and going back to the time of Mr Madhavrao Scindia. We have had very, very good and open relations with the BCCI. Over the last 12 years, I find the relationship is not what it used to be. There has to be trust and openness on both sides — and honesty in dealing with each other,” he emphasised.

    “To find that the relationship was not what it used to be, I was surprised and disappointed when I came back (as PCB chairman in August 2018). A lot of improvement can be done on this. We could talk to anybody (in normal times), but it takes two hands to clap,” said Chairman PCB.

  • Khalil ur Rehman Qamar called a ‘hypocrite’ after he attends protest for motorway rape victim

    Khalil ur Rehman Qamar called a ‘hypocrite’ after he attends protest for motorway rape victim

    Social media users are calling Khalil ur Rehman Qamar a “hypocrite” after he was spotted at the protest in Lahore held to demand justice for the motorway rape victim.

    According to details, Qamar was also called out by a member of the civil society Husnain Jamil Faridi while he was addressing local media channels, the clip of which has gone viral on social media. Netizens lauded Faridi for bashing Qamar and hit out at the writer for his misogynistic comments.

    Khalil ur Rehman Qamar has been at the receiving end of criticism and hate ever since he publicly abused journalist Marvi Sirmed on live television, back in March.

    ICYMI, a few days before the Aurat March, Qamar and Marvi were invited to be a part of a panel discussion on Neo TV’s show Aaj Ayesha Ehtesham Kay Saath. The topic of discussion was a petition against the Aurat March in the Lahore High Court (LHC). The petition, which had called the march “un-Islamic” with a “hidden agenda to spread vulgarity”, had been dismissed by the court that said it couldn’t be banned under the law of the land. Qamar while speaking against the slogan ‘Mera Jism Meri Marzi‘ launched a tirade against Sirmed when she murmured the same as he was talking. He hurled expletives her way and abused her on live television. The TV channel was later fined Rs500,000 (0.5 million) for airing Qamar’s abusive and misogynistic remarks.

    Meanwhile, as per the latest reports, the police have identified one of the suspects behind the gruesome incident that shook the nation. The individual, namely Abid Ali is a resident of Haroonabad town of Punjab’s Bahawalnagar district, is a proclaimed offender, and has been nominated in multiple cases earlier as well. While Ali is still at large, the other suspect identified by the Punjab government Waqarul Hassan reportedly surrendered himself on Sunday at Lahore’s Model Town police station. He claimed that his brother-in-law was using the mobile phone which had wrongly implicated him in the crime, adding that he himself was not involved. The police have said that they will conclude the matter after they receive the DNA report of the suspect.

  • Ex-foreign minister Khawaja Asif under fire for glorifying Taliban

    Ex-foreign minister Khawaja Asif under fire for glorifying Taliban

    As United States (US)-Taliban talks continue with the aim of achieving peace in Afghanistan, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker and former foreign minister Khawaja Asif has glorified the fundamentalist political movement and military organisation in a statement that drew strong criticism.

    “You may have the power, but God is with us… Allah is great,” he wrote while tweeting a picture of Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

    His statement wasn’t very well received by netizens who trained guns at the ex-foreign minister for having forgotten how the Taliban not only brutalised the people of Afghanistan but also harboured militants who targeted many, including Asif’s boss and former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif.

    https://twitter.com/ZahirMoein/status/1305395808439799808

    Meanwhile, after nearly two decades of war that has killed tens of thousands, peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban have opened in Doha.

    Key speakers at the opening ceremony at a hotel included Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation Chairperson Abdullah Abdullah, Mullah Baradar and Pompeo.

    The negotiations, where the two warring sides will sit face-to-face for the first time, will start today (Monday).

    For his part, Abdullah on Saturday spoke about seeking a dignified and lasting peace.

    “I believe that if we give hands to each other and honestly work for peace, the current ongoing misery in the country will end,” Abdullah said, calling for a “humanitarian ceasefire”.

  • PM welcomes children back to school, deletes tweet after realising schools are re-opening tomorrow

    PM welcomes children back to school, deletes tweet after realising schools are re-opening tomorrow

    Confusing days and dates once again, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Monday tweeted to welcome children back to school after a long coronavirus break, only to delete the post after realising that educational institutions won’t be re-opening until tomorrow.

    As per the details, the premier took to Twitter and wrote:

    While he deleted the tweet soon after, in a subsequent tweet PM Imran said:

    “Tomorrow we will welcome millions of children back to school. It is our priority and collective responsibility to ensure that every child can go to school safely to learn. We have worked to ensure that school operations are aligned with public health safety rules on #COVID19,” he wrote.

    This isn’t the first time that the premier, on top of several verbal blunders, has confused the dates.

    Earlier this year, he had asked Muslims “to offer special Nuwafil prayers and seek Allah’s blessings and forgiveness on the occasion of Shabe Baraat tonight”, later deleting his tweet when people had told him the night had already been observed a day ago.

    Mid-Sha’ban or Shabe Baraat is a holiday observed by Muslim communities on the night between 14 and 15 of the Islamic month of Sha’ban. It is regarded as a night when the fortunes of individuals for the coming year are decided and when Allah forgives sinners.

    Twitterati, as usual, had not let go of PM Imran’s faux pas easy.

  • COVID-19 cases increasing through hospitals in Islamabad

    COVID-19 cases increasing through hospitals in Islamabad

    COVID-19 cases continued to drop in the capital city in the last few weeks. It is now revealed that the virus is again spreading through hospitals.

    DC Islamabad Muhammed Hamza Shafqaat, in a recent tweet said, “COVID cases going up. We have traced each and every case in Islamabad. In the recent surge, 80 percent infection is spreading through hospitals.”

    He also urged people “to be extremely careful while visiting hospitals.”

    The total number of reported cases in Islamabad are 15,941 so far.

  • ‘I am sorry’: Lahore CCPO apologises after blaming mother of three for gang-rape

    ‘I am sorry’: Lahore CCPO apologises after blaming mother of three for gang-rape

    Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Umar Sheikh on Monday apologised over his controversial statement regarding the motorway rape incident.

    “I apologise to the victim and all others who were hurt by my remarks. I had no intention of giving any wrong impression,” he said.

    The Lahore CCPO had earlier remarked that the rape victim should have been more careful and taken a safer route.

    “I am shocked… you are a mother of three and the only driver late at night… [she] should have taken the GT [Grand Trunk] Road instead, which is densely populated,” he had said while speaking to Dunya News.

    Sheikh went had further said that the woman should “at least have checked her fuel before taking the motorway”.

    On Tuesday night, it was reported that two robbers had gang-raped a mother of three on the Motorway within Gujjarpura police’s jurisdiction.

    The woman, along with her three children, was driving to Gujranwala in her car when she was forced to stop at the Gujjarpura section of the Motorway after running out of fuel at around 1:30 am. She immediately called a relative and sent him her location. He asked her to also dial the Motorway Police helpline 130 but she was reportedly refused help.

    In the meantime, two robbers approached the car, broke the window and took the woman and her children to nearby bushes where they raped her repeatedly in front of the children. They also snatched her purse that had cash around Rs100,000, one bracelet, car registration and three ATM cards. 

    The Gujjarpura police have registered a case, while motorway police spokesperson said they had not been able to take action as the incident did not occur in the limits of Motorway Police.

    At least one of the two culprits has been identified.

  • Sexual assault survivors’ virginity test will be abolished

    Sexual assault survivors’ virginity test will be abolished

    The provincial health authorities have told the Lahore High Court that the two-finger test (TFT), an old practice of examining sexual assault survivors, has limited evidentiary value and will be eliminated from the protocol of medico-legal certificate (MLC) unless required.

    The test is still used in Pakistan regardless of calls for its cancellation by healthcare professionals and human rights organisations.

    “It is not objective of the medical examination of a female victim of sexual assault to comment about the character of the examinee neither TFT is being practiced with that objective nor it has any strong evidentiary value related to the determination of virginity,” says a joint reply by the Punjab Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department, the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department and surgeon medico-legal Lahore.

    As per reports, the reply was submitted on Friday during the hearing of two public interest petitions challenging the TFT for being disrespectful, inhuman and violative to the fundamental rights of women.

    The petitions mainly plead the demeaning practice whereby medico-legal officers perform a hymen test and a “two-finger test” as part of medical evaluation of women victims is unreliable and unnecessary and has no scientific basis.

    Responding to the points raised in the petitions, the government’s reply states that only certified women medical officer (WMO) do the TFT and that too after the consent of the victim or her guardian in a written form.

    “In case of refusal by the victim, the medical examination is not conducted and the referring court is informed in writing,” it says.

    Justice Ayesha A. Malik will resume hearing on the petitions on Nov 6 when the petitioners will appear with their responses.

    One petition was filed by PML-N MNA Shaista Pervez Malik while women rights activists, academics, journalists and advocates were petitioners in the other. They include Sadaf Aziz, Farida Shaheed, Farieha Aziz, Farah Zia, Sarah Zaman, Maliha Zia Lari, Dr. Aisha Babar and Zainab Husain.

    Advocate Sahar Zareen Bandial and Barrister Sameer Khosa are the lead counsel for the petitioners.

  • ‘We want answers’, Mahira Khan tells PM Imran

    ‘We want answers’, Mahira Khan tells PM Imran

    Following the harrowing Motorway Rape Incident and growing intolerance towards Shias in Sindh, Mahira Khan penned a note saying that she stands with the “Shias of my country”, the “women of this country” and “against anything that goes against the basic foundation of this country”.

    Addressing Prime Minister Imran Khan, Mahira said: “We all want answers. Answers for women being raped, for those in power victim shaming, for minorities being called kaafir.”

    “We want answers,” asserted the actor.

    Read more – Coronavirus: Atif Aslam, Mahira Khan appreciate PM Khan for his efforts

    Besides Mahira, several other celebrities including Feroze Khan, Imran Abbas and Farhan Saeed have urged PM Imran to take strict action and make an example out of those involved in the motorway gang-rape.

    https://twitter.com/ImranAbbas/status/1304290321157758976?s=20

    Meanwhile, Asim Azhar told PM Khan that he’s “afraid our country is coming to a point where being from a particular sect can end your life.”

  • Gang-rape that shook Pakistan

    Gang-rape that shook Pakistan

    On Wednesday, a woman was gang-raped in front of her children on the Lahore-Sialkot Motorway. This incident has shaken the entire country. The details of the incident are so horrific that the women of this country are feeling unsafe, especially after the shocking statement made by CCPO Lahore Umar Sheikh. Mr Sheikh had the unbelievable audacity to tell the rape survivor that she should not have driven so late at night, she should have taken the busier GT Road instead of the stranded motorway and that she should have checked her car’s fuel tank before leaving the house. As if this was not enough, CCPO Lahore went on numerous channels to defend his statement, say that the survivor thought this was France and not Pakistan where society is different. And to add insult to injury, several ministers and cabinet members came to his defence.

    SAPM Shahzad Akbar stood by the CCPO’s side at a press conference and also said his statement was being turned into a controversy unnecessarily. Planning Minister Asad Umar went on to ask that should the CCPO be removed for a bad statement when he has not done anything illegal. Rallies were taken out all over the country on Saturday, asking for the removal of CCPO Lahore. He has shown zero remorse and he sounds extremely confident that he is going nowhere. While the CCPO has been issued a show-cause notice for his remarks about the rape survivor by the IG Punjab, the question remains: why has he not been removed yet? Even if his appointment was political, the government should have removed him to make the women of this country feel safe.

    CCPO Lahore’s statement has made each and every woman of this country feel unprotected and his casual sexism has laid bare the mindset prevalent in the police force about rape survivors. No wonder then that women who are raped do not report these crimes. When the police chief of the country’s second largest city is so dismissive of rape incidents, when he blames the survivor for an attack that could have been prevented with better policing and timely help, when many men on our televisions screens and online spaces are actually saying he said nothing wrong and this is what we were also thinking, how does it make a woman feel? In Punjab alone, there have been at least 2,043 registered cases of rape and 111 cases of gang rape this year. And these are the reported cases. What about those cases that are not reported because women and their families are afraid of the misogynist police mentality?

    When the government stands by a man who thinks women should not step out at night, it means that the government is protecting a misogynist. It gives a clear message to the women of Pakistan: you are on your own, we cannot protect you. Unless and until the CCPO is not removed, the police force will not change its mindset when it comes to violence against women and gender-based crimes. 

  • Allama Zameer Akhtar Naqvi passes away in Karachi

    Scholar and preacher Allama Zameer Akhtar Naqvi passed away in Karachi on Sunday.

    He reportedly suffered a heart attack and was shifted to the Aga Khan University Hospital Saturday night.

    His body is being taken to the Ancholi Imambargah where his funeral prayers will be held.

    Allama Naqvi was born on March 24, 1944 in India’s Lucknow.

    He authored over 300 books in various fields, including literature, culture, religion, philosophy, logic, journalism, sociology, science, oratory, and language. He was also known for lectures he gave on topics such as science, philosophy and history.

    He was the president of the Mir Anees Academy and editor-in-chief of quarterly magazine Al-Qalam.