Tag: Afghan

  • ‘This is so sad’: Armeena Khan calls for end to Afghan refugees deportation

    ‘This is so sad’: Armeena Khan calls for end to Afghan refugees deportation

    Pakistani actress Armeena Khan has called for an end to the deportation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Armeena wrote:

    “It would be CRIMINAL of me not to talk about 1.7 million Afghans who are being displaced from Pakistan, their homes being bull dozed. This is absolutely vile! How can we treat them this way? I cannot talk about Gaza without talking about the plight of the Afghans. This is so sad.”

    When a user tried to school her, Armeena slammed him on the double standards of Pakistanis who are protesting for a Free Palestine but on the other hand, are pushing Afghan refugees out of their country.

    “People like you are no different than the war mongering factions of the Israelites. Two sides of the same coin. Spare the Palestinians your hypocrisy. The Pakistani Afghans are also your Muslim brothers and sisters.”

    Veteran actress and model Iffat Omar also joined in by sharing a picture of a boy stranded on a truck and writing in the caption “This is really heart breaking.”

  • Pakistan to send humanitarian aid to Gaza

    Pakistan to send humanitarian aid to Gaza

    Pakistan has announced it will send humanitarian aid to Gaza.

    In the light of severe dearth of food, water and healthcare, about 2.3 million Palestinians are struggling to survive. The spokesperson of the Foreign Office has thus stated that aid will be sent to the Palestinians.

    “In the wake of indiscriminate Israeli aggression and siege of the Gaza Strip, the already oppressed people of the densely populated Gaza are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance,”, the statement read.

    Pakistan is currently contacting the Egyptian government, the Red Crescent and the relevant agencies of the United Nations. Moreover, Pakistani missions abroad are also being contacted to finalise the delivery of aid.

    On Monday, Minister for Foreign Affairs Jalil Abbas Jilani spoke to his counterparts in Iran and Egypt and discussed the current atrocities being committed against Palestine.

    The spokesman said that the oppressed people of Gaza are in urgent need of humanitarian aid.

    However, how or if Pakistan would be able to send aid remains unclear as Israel has prevented other regional countries from sending aid. This includes Gaza’s neighbour Egypt whose borders meet the strip. It was proposed that Egypt would send relief goods through Rafah Crossing in exchange for allowing Americans and other foreigners to leave Gaza but Israel has not yet agreed to it.

  • Taliban refuse to let women work and go to school

    Afghan Taliban have once again rejected international calls to lift the ban they imposed on women’s work and education, after the United Nations sanctions committee concluded in Doha without formally recognising the administration in Afghanistan.

    Suhail Shaheen, head of the Taliban political office in Doha pointed out that the meeting’s decisions cannot be accepted or implemented when the government in Afghanistan is not part of the process.

    In a meeting where over 20 countries’ representatives were present, the Taliban administration was not invited.

    When asked by a journalist if there will ever be a situation when he will meet the Taliban directly, UN Chief António Guterres said: “If the time is right, I will not deny the possibility.”

    Afghan Foreign Minister (FM) Amir Khan Muttaqi will reportedly visit Pakistan in a couple of days.

  • Why do educated girls scare the Afghan Taliban?

    Why do educated girls scare the Afghan Taliban?

    Afghanistan’s Taliban-run higher education ministry has said that female students would not be allowed access to the country’s universities until further notice, barring them from getting education, something that is their right and a basic necessity.

    Where the Afghan Taliban’s takeover poses threat to many, people questioned what will happen to the women? Will their needs be sabotaged? Will they be treated as a lesser entity of the state? Will the women have freedom to live and recover from the torments of the past? Will the women be given the chance to have a good life? Looking at the present situation, one can only think: Why are the Afghan Taliban so afraid of a woman’s mind? If you educate a woman, you educate an entire generation. But this notion fails to prevail in the region.

    The ban on female education has drawn international condemnation and people across the world are angry at how Afghan women are being treated.

    After the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021, they closed schools across the country. Most schools eventually reopened, but girls in secondary school were told to stay at home until conditions— which the Taliban didn’t define— were ready for them to return to classes. The announcement to return to school never came.

    In addition to barring women and girls from education, the Taliban have imposed a raft of rules to govern female behaviour.

    We can only hope that the Taliban recognise women as equals and give them their due right and recognition.

  • Bilawal ‘disappointed’ over Taliban banning Afghan women from university education

    Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has expressed disappointment over the ban on university education for women in Afghanistan. “I’m disappointed by the decision that was taken today,” he said on a visit to Washington.

    The Taliban on Tuesday banned women from universities in Afghanistan. The statement was made by the minister of higher education, who stated that it will go into effect right away.

    “You all are informed to implement the mentioned order of suspending education of females until further notice,” said the letter signed by the minister for higher education, Neda Mohammad Nadeem. The letter was issued to all government and private universities.

    Despite the fact that the international community has on multiple occasions made the education of girls a key demand for any future recognition of the Taliban administration, the group has barred Afghan girls from going to school beyond the seventh grade. Moreover, they have restricted women and girls from working and have limited their travel unless accompanied by a close male relative.

  • Afghan Taliban ban women from entering public parks, funfairs

    Afghan Taliban ban women from entering public parks, funfairs

    Afghan Taliban have banned Afghan women from entering Kabul’s public parks and funfairs.

    “For the past 15 months, we tried our best to arrange and sort it out – and even specified the days,” said Mohammad Akif Sadeq Mohajir, spokesperson for the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue. “But still, in some places – in fact, we must say in many places – the rules were violated,” he told AFP.
    “There was mixing [of men and women], hijab was not observed, that’s why the decision has been taken for now,” he stated.

    Women and park operators, who have spent a lot of money creating the facilities, were shocked by the news.

    “There are no schools, no work … we should at least have a place to have fun,” said one woman, who asked to be identified only as Wahida, as she watched her children play in a park through the window of an adjoining restaurant. “We are just bored and fed-up with being at home all day, our minds are tired,” she told AFP.

    In May this year Taliban barred men and women from dining together and attending parks at the same time in the Western city of Herat, considered a liberal city in comparison to other cities of the country.

    “There are no schools, no work … we should at least have a place to have fun,” said one ewoman, who asked to be identified only as Wahida, as she watched her children play in a park through the window of an adjoining restaurant. “We are just bored and fed-up with being at home all day, our minds are tired,” she told AFP.

    In May this year Taliban barred men and women in the western Afghan city of Herat, from dining together and attending parks at the same time, according to an official.

    Herat is considered a liberal city in comparison to other cities of the country.

    Despite the international community stating that education for girls is a key demand for any future recognition of the Taliban administration, the group has barred Afghan girls from going to school beyond the seventh grade. Moreover, they have restricted women and girls from working and have limited travel for them unless accompanied by a close male relative.

  • Today marks one year since Afghan girls were banned from attending school

    Today marks one year since Afghan girls were banned from attending school

    United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres took to Twitter to urge Taliban authorities in Afghanistan to revoke the ban on girls’ education that was implemented a year ago.

    He said, “Sunday marks one year since girls were banned from attending high school in Afghanistan. A year of lost knowledge and opportunity that they will never get back. Girls belong in school. The Taliban must let them back in.”

    “It is profoundly damaging to a generation of girls and to the future of Afghanistan itself”, said Markus Potzel, the acting head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). The UN has called the ban ‘tragic and shameful.

    According to UNAMA, more than a million teenage girls have been deprived of education across the county.

    Earlier this month, dozens of girls protested in an eastern Afghan city due to the closure of schools for girls.

    When the Taliban seized power in August last year, they did reopen high schools for boys on September 18 but banned secondary school girls from attending classes.

    Education Minister Noorullah Munir termed this act a “cultural issue”. He said that many rural people do not want their teenage daughters to attend school.

    Earlier this year, the Taliban said that schools for girls would be opened after March 21 with the caveat that girls and boys must be completely segregated in schools

    However, schools were opened for a small period of time and again were shut down

    At the time, the Ministry of Education said that the schools would be closed until a plan was drawn up in accordance with Islamic law and Afghan culture.

    Despite the fact that the international community has on multiple occasions made the education of girls a key demand for any future recognition of the Taliban administration, the group has barred Afghan girls and women with certain restrictions including covering themselves from head to toe and not to travelling alone.

  • Pakistani qaum, yeh cricket hai bhei, racism check mein rakho

    Pakistani qaum, yeh cricket hai bhei, racism check mein rakho

    Sports brings pride and recognition to a country and for Pakistan, cricket is one of the most celebrated games. It brings both joy and heartache to millions of Pakistanis. With Pakistan and Sri Lanka playing the final of Asia Cup 2022, we wish both teams luck but we obviously want Pakistan to win! Pakistanis all around the world will be rooting for our boys in green. Cricket and our men in green are a source of continuous pride for the country but what we witnessed from the audience stands in the match between Pakistan and Afghanistan was nothing but disappointing at so many levels. The Afghanistan-Pakistan cricket rivalry is fast crossing the acceptable margins, even surpassing the age-old rivalry between India and Pakistan.

    Afghanistan and Pakistan faced each other in an important Asia Cup fixture in the Super Four round, where the stakes were too high. Afghanistan needed a win to keep their chances alive, while Pakistan needed to clinch this win to be in the final. Afghanistan was close to victory but the Pakistani team bounced back at the last minute, stealing the game away. The event witnessed some heated moments between Afghan and Pakistani players, charging up the spectators on both sides. Afghan fans purportedly indulged in verbal abuse and later ended up throwing seats at the Pakistani fans, prompting many observers to say the spirit of the game has been ‘tainted’. Sports fabs across the world sometimes show uncouth behaviour, be it cricket or football or any other game. It is always difficult to see one’s own side lose but it does not mean that fans of the winning team should be subjected to violence.

    While the cricketing rivalry between Afghanistan and Pakistan may be in its infancy, it has got all the ingredients for a heated contest courtesy the political history both countries share. After the disappointing scenes between the fans, there was an immense backlash against the Afghans. But the reaction of many Pakistanis was quite disappointing and downright racist. Pakistanis calling Afghans ‘namak haram’ — racist term often used to address Afghan refugees living in Pakistan — was not just uncalled for but also wrong. No one should have to bear verbal abuses and being called ungrateful or other names. Refugees deserve to be treated with dignity. This is what we also demand from western nations when it comes to Muslim refugees so why display racism against refugees in our own country? Also, to taunt an entire nation and another country because of the shenanigans of a few fans is just wrong. It is a game and one needs to accept both win and defeat with grace.

    We just hope that the teams and supporters watching the Asia Cup final today show resolve and grace. May the best team win.

  • Missing Afghan boy found murdered after being raped

    Missing Afghan boy found murdered after being raped

    A missing five-year-old Afghan boy was found murdered on Monday in Karachi. The boy was also raped before being murdered, police have confirmed.

    The minor went missing on Sunday, however, at the time the deceased’s father didn’t register any report. The father has told the police that he had no enmity with anyone.

    Later, the area Station House Officer (SHO) said that an First Information Report (FIR) was lodged on the complaint of the child’s father, who is an Afghan.

    Police Surgeon Summaiya Syed said that after the autopsy it was found that the boy was sexually assaulted, reports Dawn.

    “The face was covered with a plastic bag. His hands were tied behind his back with nylon wire and he was strangled to death,” she said.

    Taking notice of the incident, Karachi police chief formed an investigation team and directed it to submit a progress report within three days.

  • Pakistan and Afghanistan to launch luxury bus service in August

    Pakistan and Afghanistan to launch luxury bus service in August

    Pakistan and Afghanistan will launch a luxury bus service between Peshawar and Jalalabad, as well as Quetta and Kandahar, by the end of August.

    During the visit of Pakistan’s official delegation to Kabul, the two nations have also agreed to boost bilateral trade by allowing unrestricted travel for trucks and other goods-carrying vehicles. Meetings were held between the delegation and other top Afghan officials, including the temporary ministers of foreign and commerce.

    In a joint statement released at the conclusion of three days of talks between Pakistani and Afghan officials (July 18–20), both sides committed to continuing their efforts to remove obstacles through mutual cooperation and coordination.

    The delegation from Pakistan was led by Commerce Secretary Muhammad Sualeh Ahmad Faruqui and included businessmen as well as senior members of various ministries. The delegation from Afghanistan was led by Nooruddin Azizi, the minister of trade and industry, and Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting foreign minister.

    In order to ensure prompt clearance of trade and transit traffic and to address bottlenecks and obstacles on a priority basis, the official also agreed to make border crossing points more efficient.

    In an effort to further boost trade between the two nations, the two sides approved the implementation of the Temporary Admission Document (TAD), which permits free movement of vehicles engaged in bilateral trade but prohibits the loading and unloading of cargo at border crossing points.

    Additionally, all crossing points, particularly Torkham, Kharlachi, Ghulam Khan, and Chaman-Spin Boldak, will have longer operating hours, according to the authorities.

    The bilateral discussions were still centred on trade. Both parties concentrated on enhancing bilateral trade, transit, and accessibility as well as taking the necessary actions to facilitate trade and address issues faced by importers, exporters, traders, and business owners in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

    In parallel, a delegation from the Afghan business community headed by Khan Jan Alokozai, co-chairman of the Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PAJJCCI), arrived in Pakistan on Thursday to take part in a roundtable of Pak-Afghan trade stakeholders. Members of the PAJCCI as well as senior business figures from the Kunar and Nangarhar Chambers of Commerce and Industry make up the delegation.

    Zubair Motiwala, chairman of the PAJCCI, lauded the efforts of the commerce chamber in setting up visits to Chaman, Torkham, and Swat for joint discussions on bilateral and transit trade, exploring new trade avenues, removing trade barriers, and aiding governments in formulating policy.