Blog

  • Hameed Haroon denies rape allegations after Jami names DAWN’s CEO as his alleged rapist. Jami Responds.

    Prominent Filmmaker Jamshed Mahmood, known as Jami had claimed in October that he had been raped by a “media tycoon” 13 years ago and had not named his rapist. He tweeted this from his twitter account, jamiazaad, which he says has now been hacked. The twitter thread is still present on the account. He said that “i was brutally raped by a very powerful person in our media world. A Giant actually, and yes, I’m taller than him but I froze…” He did not reveal the name of the media tycoon at that time.

    He recently named the alleged rapist as Hameed Haroon, the CEO of Dawn Newspaper. He named him in a tweet from a new twitter account.

    https://twitter.com/azadjami1/status/1210926255840940033

    Jami had tweeted two days ago and Hameed Haroon has now issued a statement, rejecting the rape allegations.

    WATCH: Why was Jami not taken seriously?

    Dawn Newspaper has printed Hameed Haroon’s statement. Parts of it are as follows:

    “For some three months now, tweets in the social media and some print media, some of which have been authored or prompted by Jami Raza, have alleged that Jami was subjected to rape many years ago but was ‘coming out’ only now because the rapist was an ‘influential and powerful media personality’. Hitherto fore, strangely the alleged rapist was never specifically named, even though hints and innuendos were dropped from time to time that could be taken as suggesting that it was the CEO of Dawn, Hameed Haroon. “But since I had not been specifically named in the tweets, I was advised, that even though I had a fair idea of who was prompting Jami Raza, I should exercise restraint until I was specifically named. On 28th December, Jami Raza specifically named me and it has therefore become necessary to respond”, Haroon says.

    Haroon goes on to say how he met Jami when Jami was a freelance photographer and how he worked with him on a photo essay in 2003-04. Haroon denies ever being alone with Jami, saying that he did go to Jami’s house to, “condole on his father’s death but was unable to personally meet him….This was been the sum of my interaction with Jami”.

    Haroon adds in his statement that, “The story is simply untrue and intentionally fabricated at the instance of those who wish to silence me and through me, to compel the newspaper that I represent to support their repressive narrative,” and that he will be “initiating legal action to clear my name and reputation.”

    Jami has responded to Haroon’s statement, saying that Dawn did not give him a space to voice his side of the story, Dawn should not be detracting from the issue at hand and that this is all about #MeToo.

    https://twitter.com/azadjami1/status/1211682042490085376

    Jami is a prominent Pakistani filmmaker who directed Moor, Pakistan’s submission for the Oscars in 2015 and popular movie 021. He has also been a vocal supporter of the #MeToo movement and after he revealed what happened to him, met with a lot of support from many people including singer Meesha Shafi and actor Osman Khalid Butt.

    Dawn has posted that they assure their readers that an inquiry will be made into the allegations.

  • Sarmad Khoosat’s ‘Zindagi Tamasha’s’ trailer mysteriously disappears from Youtube

    Sarmad Khoosat’s ‘Zindagi Tamasha’s’ trailer mysteriously disappears from Youtube

    Sarmad Khoosat’s award-winning film Zindagi Tamasha‘s trailer has mysteriously disappeared from Youtube.

    While Sarmad himself declined to give a comment on the matter, it is being speculated that the Censor Board requested the director to take down the trailer. However, there has been no confirmation of this on the matter and no further details have been shared.

    Written by Nirmal Bano and directed by Sarmad Khoosat, Zindagi Tamasha starres Arif Hassan, Samiya Mumtaz, Eman Suleman and Ali Qureshi in the lead. The film’s is centred around a Naat Khwan Rahat Khawaja (played by Hassan) and his family who are outcast from society when a secret of Khawaja’s is leaked.

    Meanwhile, the official synopsis states: “The film is an intimate portrait of a family as well as a scorching political commentary on little gods on this earth who police our private passions.”

    The film premiered at the Busan International Film Festival held earlier in October where it also won the prestigious Kim Ji Seok Award. Sarmad at the time had said that the film will be releasing in Pakistan early next year. However, he had not specified a date.

    Sarmad is currently working on his next feature film Kamli starring Saba Qamar in the lead. The shoot for the film has wrapped up and it is now in its post-production stage.

  • Yasir Hussain has marriage advice for his followers

    Yasir Hussain has marriage advice for his followers

    After a whirlwind romance, a very public engagement and a low-key mayun and mehndi, Iqra Aziz and Yasir Hussain tied the knot in a beautiful afternoon wedding amidst their closest friends and family. Yasir gave his bride 4 tolas (10 grams) of gold as haq mehr.

    Read more: Qubool Hai! Iqra Aziz & Yasir Hussain have tied the knot

    Following the wedding celebrations, Yasir took to Instagram to advise his followers to keep their weddings simple and easy.

    “Ladies and Gentlemen,” wrote Yasir, “Marriage isn’t as hard as we’ve made it out to be.”

    Sharing his own experience, Yasir elaborated, “I had originally planned to have my wedding at home but due to lack of space, I had to shift the venue. The two of us did not give each others families any unnecessary gifts. There was no dowry or bari (gift from the groom’s side to bride). We did not waste money on extra jewellery. The nikkah khwan (wedding officiant) was paid Rs 8000 while the food was according to the number of guests.”

    “This is all that a wedding is – take it easy on your family and make weddings simple,” he asserted.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B6sJO5bjmi5/

    Yasir also expressed his joy on his marriage saying, ” I never knew that one signature would make my life so beautiful.”

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B6sDw1zjh_Q/

    Meanwhile, following the nikkah, Iqra took Yasir’s last name, changing her name from Iqra Aziz to Iqra Aziz Hussain.

    The couple will be hosting their valima today (Monday).

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B6sbR8vlJzy/
  • VIDEO: Shahroz Sabzwari opens up about his separation

    VIDEO: Shahroz Sabzwari opens up about his separation

    One of television’s most beloved couples, Syra Yousuf and Shahroz Sabzwari have “separated” after seven years of marriage. While the couple has not yet divorced, they are “separated” as per Shahroz.

    Following widespread media speculation, Shahroz took to Instagram to update his fans and followers about his separation with wife Syra. At the same time, he lashed out at the public for spreading misinformation and dragging his private matter on the streets.

    “I am really upset because I never thought this would happen,” Shahroz said. “My family’s respect is being dragged on the streets without our consent and a girl who has nothing to do with this is being dragged along.”

    Explaining the situation, Shahroz said, “I want to start with describing the issue. What has happened between Syra and me is our personal matter. We have not divorced, we are just separated. Syra is my wife! And I don’t understand how people are saying that ‘the news has been confirmed, they [Syra and Shehroz] are not together after seven years of marriage.’ Who said this? Was it me, or was it Syra, or our family, or our cousins, who said this? No one!”

    Speaking further, the actor explained the difference between a divorce and separation asserting that he and Syra are are only separated.

    “What is a separation? My wife and I were having some issues so we decided that instead of spoiling our relationship and the family’s decorum, we should give each other space. And this is called a separation. And after attaining that space, we get to understand whether we can reconcile or not, and then bigger decisions are made.”

    Shahroz also addressed the rumours that the couple split because of a third person, namely Sadaf Kanwal.

    “Another rumour claims that they’re not together because of a girl, Sadaf. Again, who said this? Was it me, or was it Syra, or our family, or our cousins, or our friends, who said this? No one!,” he remarked. “But you all still decided to drag someone’s sister, daughter, into the matter and became the jury and judge yourself. You didn’t ask me, no one asked Syra – the one everyone’s rooting for, nobody asked her.”

    “I met Sadaf one month ago for work purposes – she has only worked with me. Just because she danced with me does not mean we have something going on, and it’s so bold of you all to assume that a person I met one month ago is responsible for a separation that happened six months ago.”

    Sadaf and Shahroz are said to have met while rehearsing for their performance at the third IPPA Awards held earlier this month in Oslo, Norway.

    Sadaf while speaking to a private media outlet had said, “Shahroz and I are just friends. I met him a month ago while he was already separated from wife Syra.”

    Concluding his statement, Shahroze said that no decision about the future has been made and that everyone should respect the couple and their privacy.

    Earlier, Shahroz’s father, Behroze Sabzwari had also spoken to media outlets and said that the matter is being blown out of proportion. He lashed out at those “spreading rumours” and requested fans to let the matter be private.

    “There is an ongoing conflict, just like there is in every family,” Behroze shared. “The couple is going through something that we’re hoping will resolve and they are trying as well. Syra is the mother of our grandchild and we love her.”

    “It is an extremely private matter, how can people say so many things without verification and make things even worse for the people involved? How is a couple’s private conflict even someone else’s problem?” Behroze was quoted as saying.

    Behroze further shared that Syra is currently staying with her father because he is extremely unwell. He said that the couple married with their own will and that the family is hopeful they will sort out their differences. However, he asserted that divorce is not on the cards as yet.

    Even Behroze reacted to the rumours saying, “Dragging a third person into the matter is immoral. She is also someone’s daughter, just like Syra is our daughter.”

    Syra and Shahroz tied the knot in 2012 after a long on-off relationship which began in 2006. Although the two did not share the screen very often after getting married, they were still one of Pakistan’s most beloved couples. They have a five-year old daughter together, Noorey.

    The two will also be appearing in a romantic-comedy together next year. Much of the film has already been shot in Bahrain.

  • Facebook blocks Radio Pakistan’s live streaming of Indian atrocities in Kashmir

    Facebook blocks Radio Pakistan’s live streaming of Indian atrocities in Kashmir

    Facebook has blocked Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation’s (PBC) live streaming of Indian atrocities and military lockdown in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK), Radio Pakistan reported.

    According to the details, Radio Pakistan (RP) has shared screenshots of warning message from Facebook from back in May and July on its website, saying, “your post goes against our Community Standards on dangerous individuals and organisations.”

    According to the the screenshots shared by RP, the warning was given on posts that displayed the picture of Kashmiri freedom fighter Burhan Muzaffar Wani and in another post that mentioned Zakir Musa — a mujahid commander — in the headline.

    However, Radio Pakistan after the blockage its live streaming from Facebook has said on Monday that it has made “alternate arrangements on YouTube for live streaming for its viewers.”

    It is important to note that RP has been highlighting the voice of the people of IoK and exposing Indian atrocities and gross human rights violations at every major platform including social media.

    In addition to Facebook, the micro-blogging website Twitter had also suspended hundreds of accounts and removed multiple posts from Pakistan that were raising voice against Indian brutalities in Kashmir, reportedly under pressure from India.

    Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had earlier approached both social media platforms and submitted complaints against their actions.

  • Police arrest Madrassa teacher accused of raping his 10-year old student

    Police arrest Madrassa teacher accused of raping his 10-year old student

    A Madrassa teacher accused of raping and torturing his 10-year-old student in Abbottabad’s Mansehra was arrested by the police on Sunday.

    The main suspect identified as Qari Shamsuddin will be presented in court Monday.

    According to reports, a child was taken to a hospitalised on Saturday after his madrassah teacher raped him and then beat him.

    The uncle of the victim Ali Gohar lodged an FIR with Pulrah police and said that the medical report of the victim had confirmed that he had been sexually assaulted by owner of the madrassa. The medical report revealed that the child was raped multiple times and had bruises on his elbows and knees and his eyes were swollen. 

    “We want an immediate arrest of the prime suspect in the case as condition of my nephew is still critical,” he added.

    The police have registered a case and arrested four alleged partners of the madrassah teacher, including his brother.

    Police said the education department has also initiated an investigation against the government teacher.

    The madrassah, which was unregistered, has now been sealed and the rest of the students sent home.

    The incident received widespread attention and celebrities demanded for strict action to be taken.

    https://twitter.com/khadijah_shah/status/1211348681707970574?s=20

  • Meray Paas Tum Ho tackles an incredibly sensitive issue without much sensitivity

    The latest episode made Mehwish (Ayeza Khan) come out to be narcissistic and incredibly self-absorbed, which is something that was unexpected and a real put-off.

    The episode starts off with Maham (Savera Nadeem) coming to meet Mehwish and offering her 2.5 crore rupees for her time with Shehwar (Adnan Siddiqui). She glares at her with unmoving eyes and it isn’t very clear why she’s offering Mehwish the money, considering Shehwar is in jail and Mehwish tells her she isn’t interested.

    Maham’s expression didn’t change throughout her conversation with Mehwish

    Anyway, it does make Mehwish seem like a martyr. She doesn’t want money, or Shehwar and just wants love.

    But really? Does she want that? She waits outside Danish’s (Humayun Saeed) office and leaves him a note on his car, saying she imagines him sitting in his fancy car, wondering what his life is like. So she’s still quite materialistic.

    Danish’s friend finds the note and reads it. We aren’t sure if Danish ever got a look at it

    What isn’t okay is the way she tries to commit suicide. It’s insinuated, and the one person who is most affected is her son, Rumi. Danish comes to see if she’s okay and leaves without meeting her. She wakes up and asks if he came to meet her, showing the reason why she tried to commit suicide – to get Danish’s attention, who didn’t give it to her.

    Mehwish after she wakes up from her suicide attempt

    If you have or had any sympathy for Mehwish, it dies right there and becomes into disgust. Also, when a Pakistani drama takes on the incredibly sensitive issue of suicide, it needs to be handled sensitively and it wasn’t in this episode. It seemed rather matter of fact. Girls do such crazy things for attention, it seemed. Giving the drama has handled other issues so well, one hopes that it discusses the issue of suicide in the next episode instead of letting it go with such ease.

    Rumi is badly affected by his mother’s attempt, which is obvious. Danish seems concerned but not as much as one would think. He was proposing to Hania (Hira Mani) before he found out Mehwish was in the hospital. Or was he proposing?

    So happy after Danish tells her he wanted to ask her to marry him for revenge

    It was a super weird proposal. Telling Hania, in front of her friend that he wanted to come ask her to marry him, but then it wouldn’t be fair to her if he did considering it wasn’t for love. ” Agar aap maan gayein tou badla leyne mai aap use hojayein gi,” Danish says to Hania. Hania seems totally bowled over which is so weird considering the proposal was so terrible and says that, “dobara mat poochye ga will you marry me. Kya pata mai haan kehdo”, hinting that shes up for a marriage of convenience/revenge.

    So pleased with himself after Hania tells him she would say yes if he asked her again to marry him. Despite it being a proposal of revenge

    Overall, the female leads really started a downfall in this episode. The strong self-absorbed Mehwish turns to suicide to get a man’s attention and the sweet selfless Hania becomes desperate to marry a man who is telling her he doesn’t love her. Here’s hoping for some redemption in the next one.

  • ‘Gen Raheel Sharif foiled coup attempt by ISI chief in 2014’

    ‘Gen Raheel Sharif foiled coup attempt by ISI chief in 2014’

    Former United States (US) Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson has been quoted as disclosing that former army chief General (r) Raheel Sharif in 2014 foiled a coup attempt by the then director general (DG) of the country’s premium intelligence agency.

    The ex-envoy was quoted by journalist and author Shuja Nawaz in the his recently-launched book “The Battle For Pakistan, The Bitter US Friendship and a Tough Neighborhood”, chapter “Mil-to-Mil Relations: Do More” of which further read that Olson made this statement in the context of the infamous 126-day protest sit-in by then opposition member Imran Khan in Islamabad.

    “We received information that Zaheerul Islam, the DG ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence], was mobilising for a coup in September of 2014. (Army Chief) Raheel (Sharif) blocked it by, in effect, removing Zaheer, by announcing his successor… (Zaheer) was talking to the corps commanders and was talking to likeminded army officers… He was prepared to do it and had the chief been willing, even tacitly, it would have happened. But the chief was not willing, so it didn’t happen,” Olson was quoted in the book, launch events of which were cancelled across the country after its Washington-based author was allegedly told to do so.

    Nawaz has authored a 373-page book covering the US-Pakistan relationship and important political events of the last decade and a half in Pakistan. Brother of former chief of army staff (COAS) the late Gen Asif Nawaz Janjua, he is an acclaimed author and well-reputed intellectual. His book, “Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army and the Wars Within,” is considered the most authoritative history of the Pakistan Army.

    In his latest book, The News reported, Nawaz reveals that for Americans, former ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha was “straight shooting super nationalist general who had come into the world of intelligence on the insistence of Gen Kayani”.

    According to the book, Pasha became an activist and an aggressive head of the country’s premium intelligence agency, expanding its operations and remit virtually at will and demanding greater access to information on US operations and operatives inside Pakistan.

    According to Nawaz, Pasha was a prime target of American surveillance. He was being tracked during his travels abroad. The book provides details on the surveillance of Lt Gen Pasha.

    Shuja Nawaz also states that during Pasha’s tenure, three Pakistan-US joint intelligence fusion cells were shut down and Pasha was a “bête noire” for Americans.

    While quoting an unnamed US official, the author touches the subject of US intelligence surveillance inside Pakistan and says that the US had penetrated many Pakistani organisations.

    The book says that, after Pasha’s retirement, new ISI head Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam was consumed by domestic issues. Islam spent most of his time on the political turmoil following the 2013 elections, which produced public sit-ins, or “dharnas”, by Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and allies against the government.

    “Both Pasha and Islam’s names were associated with the street opposition to [then] Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif; though no solid evidence came to the surface. Islam was also a former head of one of the ISI’s wings or directorates, and then had been in the hurly-burly of Karachi politics as the corps commander there,” notes the book.

    While the latest book by Shuja Nawaz is filled with firsthand accounts of Pakistani and US officials with direct purview of important political events in Pakistan and Afghanistan for a critical period of the region’s history, Lt Gen Zaheerul Islam and Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha have not given their views regarding their role in service.

  • Panagahs provide warmth as cold wave grips Pakistan

    Panagahs provide warmth as cold wave grips Pakistan

    Amid the cold wave that has gripped the entire county, Prime Minister Imran Khan directed the chief ministers of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to ensure that no person is left out in the cold.

    PM Imran Khan asserted that in case there is no space in the existing Panagahs, temporary ones should be set up to accomodate everyone.

    Following the premiere’s orders, Panahgah’s have been set up in different parts of the country to provide shelter to the homeless and poor.

    The Government of Pakistan and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf’s official Twitter handles have been sharing visuals of the Panahgah’s that have been set up in different parts of the country.

    Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar also surveyed the Panagah set up in Thokar Niaz Baig, Lahore to ensure that it had all the facilities.

    PM Imran had also taken this initiative last year in the winters.

  • Is Taher Shah making a comeback?

    Good news for all Taher Shah fans.

    The Eye to Eye sensation is apparently making a comeback. Taher took to social media to share a close up picture of his eyes with the hashtag #ComingSoon. However, he shared no further details.

    Needless to say, Taher’s announcement sent his followers into frenzy.

    https://twitter.com/znb91/status/1210961562367877120?s=20

    Taher became a social media sensation in 2013 after his song Eye to Eye, which he took 20 years to write, went viral. It became so popular that even Ranveer Singh did a rendition of it.

    Following that, in 2016, Taher released his second music video Mankind’s Angel. While it did not have the same effect as Eye to Eye, it still managed to stir up a social media frenzy.

    In December 2016, it was reported that Taher had left Pakistan after receiving death threats. But it looks like after years of staying low, the singer is returning with a bang.