Tag: CM house

  • Jamaat-e-Islami calls off sit-in protest in Karachi

    Jamaat-e-Islami calls off sit-in protest in Karachi

    Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) has called off its sit-in protest in Karachi after the Sindh government agreed to the revisions in the Sindh Local Government Act of 2013 after negotiations successfully concluded between them.

    Both parties have signed the written agreement according to which the health and education institutions will be again transferred to the local bodies, said Sindh Minister for Local Government, Syed Nasir Hussain Shah.

    While addressing the sit-in protestors, Nasir Shah announced that the provincial government will bring amendments to the Local Government law. The notification will be issued in one to two weeks by the Sindh government.

    Both parties also agreed to establish the Provincial Finance Commission, with the mayor and town chairman as members of the commission. It will be awarded once the representatives of the Local Government take power to the authority.

    The mayor and chairman will be responsible for the Building Control Authority and other development authorities.

    The educational institute, Medical and Dental College will be given back to the Karachi Municipality.

    The Solid Waste Management Board will be in control of Mayor Karachi.

    Later on, JI Karachi Chief, Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman announced that there would be no sit-in protests in different areas of the city.

    He said, “With the implementation of this agreement with the Sindh government, we have to get some issues resolved by the federation.”

    JI party has been staging sit-in protests for the past 29 days in Karachi. On January 23, Karachi Chief of JI, Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman warned that the party will block five entrance points to Karachi if their demands were not met.

    Both parties reached an agreement after several protesters of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) got injured from tear gas shelling and police mishandling including the death of one worker on Wednesday. The MQM was attempting to reach the CM House for a sit-in against the Local Government Act.

    The police, however, baton-charged the crowd and used teargas shells in an attempt to dissuade them from entering the red zone.

  • ‘Regrettable’: CM Sindh expresses sorrow at the mishandled MQM-P protest

    ‘Regrettable’: CM Sindh expresses sorrow at the mishandled MQM-P protest

    Chief Minister (CM) Sindh Murad Ali Shah expressed sorrow on how the provincial government handled Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan‘s (MQM-P) workers and leaders’ protest against the controversial Sindh local government bill in Karachi.

    Taking to Twitter, CM Shah said, “Yesterday’s incident outside CM House is regrettable and as a political party, we believe it’s everyone’s right to protest peacefully.”

    Expressing his sorrow over the incident, Shah said that he talked to MQM-P’s MNA Amin Ul Haq and MPA Sadaqat Ali. During their conversation, they discussed and agreed that they needed to find a peaceful solution through dialogue.

    “Explained that we were always willing to hold a meaningful dialogue. Expressed sorrow over [the] death of their colleague and ensured thorough inquiry into the matter,” tweeted Shah.

    Shah further said, “Have instructed the Home Secretary to submit a report regarding yesterday’s events within 3 days. There was an agreement between Police and protesters to use a certain route which was violated, and this is also being investigated.”

    MQM-P protesters attempted to reach the CM House for a sit-in on Wednesday.

    The police, however, baton-charged the crowd and used teargas shells in an attempt to dissuade it from entering the red zone.

    A worker of the MQM-P was killed and several others, including women, were injured when police fired tear gas and resorted to baton-charge on their sit-in outside CM House.

  • Pashtun singer spotted shooting TikTok video at KP CM’s official residence

    Pashtun singer spotted shooting TikTok video at KP CM’s official residence

    Months after heated debates regarding TikTok star Hareem Shah’s connections within the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) made headlines, a viral video has shown renowned Pashtun singer Sofia Kaif walking around what reports claim is the official residence of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister (CM) Mahmood Khan.

    According to reports, Sofia, who was present at the CM House in Peshawar for a ceremony held in one of its lawns, went inside to record the TikTok video shot in a hall of the provincial chief executive’s residence. In the video, the staff of the CM House can also be seen facilitating her.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    This is not the first time a TikTok video has shown an internet celebrity walking around an official building.

    Before Sofia, who had reportedly been invited as a singer to the ceremony at the CM House, Hareem Shah, who had become an internet sensation after her viral videos with influential political leaders took the country by storm, had also been spotted walking around the Foreign Ministry’s office in a TikTok video.

    An investigation had been launched into Hareem’s video, following which multiple controversies involving senior political figures had allegedly forced her to leave the country.

  • Shehbaz Sharif employed ‘money launderers’ in CM’s office: report

    Shehbaz Sharif employed ‘money launderers’ in CM’s office: report

    Two suspicious characters — Imtiaz Gill and Ali Ahmad — were employed by former Punjab chief minister (CM) Shehbaz Sharif as his staff members but they, even during his tenure, were more known for their association with Suleman Shehbaz than anything else, The News has reported.

    The report quoted sources as confirming the PTI government’s allegations that Gill and Ahmad were given some titles — like directors of political affairs and strategy — but they were not part of the hardcore bureaucratic team of the CM Secretariat.

    These two people had no office in the CM Secretariat and they rarely even had any interaction with the Secretariat’s bureaucracy but were mostly seen in the private office of Suleman Shehbaz at 55-H Model Town. They were also found in the Model Town Office of the then Punjab CM.

    These two people were generally referred to as the class fellows and friends of Suleman Shahbaz. The sources said that they were appointed as directors on meager salaries like Rs30,000 a month each but were not doing any official work associated with the CM Secretariat.

    At that time the bureaucracy working in the CM Secretariat had no idea what Gill and Ahmad were actually doing. There was a general perception that the two might have been favoured by Suleman Shahbaz because of his past association with them.

    However, now the government revelation alleged that these two people were key characters involved in money laundering for Shehbaz Sharif family. Although mostly they are linked with Suleman, the fundamental question arises why Shehbaz Sharif offered them official position.

    For the same reason, Barrister Shahzad Akbar put some relevant questions to Shehbaz Sharif which include if Nisar Gill and Ali Ahmad were not appointed as director political affairs and director strategy respectively by Shehbaz Sharif in the CM Office.

    The government alleged that these two men were the front-men of Shehbaz Sharif and Suleman Shehbaz for money laundering and corruption. They were alleged to be the owners of a company named Good Nature Trading, which was involved in money matter for Suleman Shehbaz.

    Nisar Gill is also alleged to have visited some foreign countries along with Suleman Shehbaz. The government alleged that the two had transferred huge amounts in the accounts of Shehbaz Sharif family.

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar on Thursday in a press conference alleged that PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif was involved in corruption worth billions of rupees, claiming his assets had grown by 70 percent during the last 10 years.

    Shahzad Akbar pointed out that three employees of Shehbaz’s GMC Company, who were found involved in running a multi-billion rupee network, were working at the CM Secretariat on different posts and challenged him to respond to them.

    Shahzad Akbar also called on the NAB to probe the Good Nature Trading Company under which billions were laundered through the fake TTs. He explained that the GMC emerged when investigation was carried out against the assets of Sharif family. He said through over 200 TTs, billions were ‘transferred’.

    Independent sources also believe that the money laundering case against Shehbaz Sharif family appears to be the most serious among all cases presently being pursued by the NAB against the former Punjab chief minister and members of his family.

    In this particular case, the government has yet to find any evidence whether money involved in laundering has anything to do with kickbacks, commissions and corruption or is the consequence of a general practice of big businessmen of Pakistan who don’t show their full profits to avoid taxes and thus launder their untaxed income by using hundi and remittances modes.

    However, despite this “usual practice” of the big businessmen this case may really haunt the Sharif family because of the kind of evidence regarding alleged doubtful remittances received by different members of Shehbaz Sharif family and also because of the fact that two people used for the alleged money laundering were employed in the CM Office.