Tag: committee

  • Maulana urges PTI to revamp anti-government campaign

    Maulana urges PTI to revamp anti-government campaign

    Jamiat Ulma-e-Islam – Fazal (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said that he will join the opposition alliance only when the fresh movement against the government starts on a new platform. The development came during a consultative meeting between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders and JUI-F members on Wednesday.

    As per the report of The Express Tribune, Maulana demanded support from the PTI, specifically from its founding chairman and former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, for his party.

    The JUI-F chief also demanded from PTI during Wednesday’s meeting that PTI form a committee with the authority to negotiate for the protest movement.

    Maulana has also asked the PTI delegation to discuss the “authorised” committee with Imran Khan and present the names of the committee members.

    However, a PTI insider told The Express Tribune that the party delegation will meet Maulana Fazlur Rehman again next week to discuss further about re-launching the protest movement against the government.

  • Is Aurangzeb being pushed in background to give Dar more control?

    Is Aurangzeb being pushed in background to give Dar more control?

    In a surprising move, the Finance Minister of Pakistan finds himself cut from two major financial decision-making committees, while paving the way for a much bigger role in financial matters for Ishaq Dar, Express Tribune has reported.

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has reshuffled four cabinet committees. As a result, Finance Minister Aurangzeb now heads only one committee instead of three.
    PM Shehbaz kept the chairmanship of the very important Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet instead of giving the Finance Minister the portfolio.

    Meanwhile, the PM has given Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar the chairmanship of Cabinet Committee on Privatization (CCOP) – a post normally headed by the Finance Minister of the country.

    Tribune reported that there was some apprehension within the ruling party Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) regarding the appointment of Aurangzeb as the Finance Minister and it was decided within the party leadership that Dar would stay in charge of economic affairs but in a different capacity.

    Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb now chairs only the Cabinet Committee on State-owned Enterprises (CCoSOEs).

  • Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority is dividing into two entities

    Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority is dividing into two entities

    A specialised committee consisting of nine members has been established to supervise the division of the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

    Heading this committee is Shazia Rizvi, who holds the position of Joint Secretary II within the Ministry of Aviation. Assisting her as the committee’s deputy is Vice Air Marshal Taimoor Iqbal.

    As per the official notification, Vice Air Marshal Taimoor Iqbal will serve as the committee’s deputy. The committee will also include other distinguished members, namely Asif Iqbal, the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Aviation; Abdul Malik from the Ministry of Finance; and Nadir Shafiq, the Deputy Director General of Regulatory CAA.

    In addition to the aforementioned members, Commodore Mirza Aamir, President of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board; Saqib Butt, Director of Finance at CAA; Sameer Saeed, responsible for Aviation Security; Sadiqul Rahman, Director of APS; and Abid Ali Shah, Director of HR at CAA, will also be integral parts of this committee.

    The committee has been allocated a deadline of October 15th to carry out its assigned tasks. The primary objective of this restructuring initiative is to bifurcate the CAA into two distinct entities, namely the Pakistan Airport Authority (PAA) and the Bureau of Air Safety Investigation (BASI).

    In addition to the creation of these new entities, the committee holds the vital responsibility of seamlessly transferring assets, funds, personnel, records, and equipment between them.

  • Fawad proposes committee with leaders from coalition govt and PTI to probe Gill’s ‘torture’

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday (August 20) proposed the formation of a committee comprising Federal Railways and Aviation Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, and PTI leader Dr Shireen Mazari — to investigate the “torture” of Dr Shahbaz Gill.

    “They will also not be blamed for being pro-PTI,” Fawad tweeted.

    “These people have a point of view on torture, which is independent of their parties’ narrative […] hence, they should be given the responsibility of inquiring the events,” he said.

    The PTI has alleged that Gill was tortured in custody and was sexually abused.

    On Friday, Khan said in a series of tweets said, “All the pictures and videos show clearly Gill was tortured both mentally and physically, including sexual abuse — most too gruesome to relate.”

    Talking to media persons outside the capital’s Police Lines Headquarters today, Chaudhry asserted that physical or mental torture won’t be allowed under any circumstances.

    “I personally believe […] and this is not my party’s demand but mine […] that an independent panel should be formed and the torture should be investigated. And then the faces of those who tortured [Gill] and those who passed its orders should be brought forward in public,” he said, requesting the Supreme Court to take notice of the incident.

  • Professor Kirmani and Amna Baloch arrested during protest outside Karachi Press Club

    Professor Kirmani and Amna Baloch arrested during protest outside Karachi Press Club

    Visuals of a Professor at LUMS and a feminist activist, Nida Kirmani are being shared online, in which she is being severely manhandled by the Sindh Police.

    These visuals are from a protest outside Karachi Press Club, organized at 4:30pm today by the families of Baloch missing persons, where Professor Kirmani and others joined in support. Baloch Yakjehti Committee and Voice For Baloch Missing Persons organized the protest and attendees included activist Baloch Amna Baloch, Zareena Baloch, the wife of still missing Sharif Baloch and others.

    Invitation for the protest on May 24 at 4:30 pm – March from Karachi Press Club to C.M House

    The protesters demanded an explanation of the increased enforced disappearances ever since Pakistan’s first female suicide bombing took place inside the University of Karachi campus on April 26. Since then, several Baloch female students have been abducted in Karachi and Balochistan.

    The police reached ahead of time and since the beginning of the protest, kept the whole area under heavy surveillance, interrogating the press until eventually they arrested a bunch of protesters and took them into custody.

    Murtaza Wahab, Adviser to the Chief Minister Sindh and Aseefa Bhutto Zardari also tweeted in support of the protesters.

    On Tuesday, the Sindh government had imposed Section 144 across the province for at least 20 days. The police action today was taken in justification of keeping up that law. Eventually those arrested were released as well. Journalist Zia ur Rehman spoke to Team Current, and explained the rising unrest in Karachi following the multiple enforced disappearances ever since the University of Karachi suicide bombing.

    Professor Kirmani tweeted a selfie from inside the police station, as those in custody wait to be given their phones back.

    In conversation with activist Sammi Deen Baloch, it was emphasised that when the initial arrests were made only two women were at the venue with some young students. The police also included lady constables who manhandled and dragged the women to the police van. After the arrests were made some protesters including Sammi Deen Baloch stood their ground outside the Karachi Press Club demanding their release. The police took pictures of every one and tried to make some activists sign what Sammi Deen called a “fake statement” which claimed that the police had mistakenly made the arrest but the protesters refused to sign and it was reported that the police’s behaviors softened when they realized that Professor Kirmani was one of the women.

  • ‘Never been hospitalised, activities uninterrupted’: Attorney General wants committee on Nawaz’s health

    ‘Never been hospitalised, activities uninterrupted’: Attorney General wants committee on Nawaz’s health

    The attorney general’s office on Wednesday asked the Punjab government to consider establishing a medical board or a committee that could determine the current status of Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, reports Dawn.

    In November 2019,  Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)’s supreme leader was granted one-time permission by a bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC).

    In a two-page letter, addressed to Punjab Home Secretary Zafar Nasrullah Khan, the attorney general’s office wrote: “In order to initiate the process of verification in the light of the Nov 16, 2019, Lahore High Court order, the government of Punjab is requested to constitute a medical board/committee to examine the documents submitted as medical reports on behalf of the petitioner and Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif so that expert medical opinion regarding the physical condition of Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif and his ability to travel back to Pakistan is made available.”

    The letter was written in line with the federal cabinet’s instructions to the Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Javed Khan to initiate proceedings against the Sharif family.

    The letter pointed out that Nawaz Sharif’s “apparent present physical condition was available in the media”.

    “Given the fact that he had left the country claiming to be in extreme critical condition which prima facie improved significantly after his arrival in London and the fact that he has apparently never been hospitalised and his political, social and other recreational activities have continued uninterrupted… indicate that severe ailment, if any, that may have existed in [the] past is no longer evident or [constrains] his activities,” the letter said.

    “This is further reinforced by the public statements made and reported in the media by his close family members including Shehbaz Sharif and other political associates, who recently met Nawaz Sharif in London,” the letter recalled.

    Earlier this week, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry, while addressing a press conference after a cabinet meeting, said that Nawaz Sharif was not seeking medical treatment for the past 17 months.

    “Shehbaz Sharif was the guarantor of Nawaz Sharif,” said the minister.

    “The drama of Nawaz Sharif’s health was created here,” said Fawad, adding that Nawaz went out of Pakistan through fraud.

    “[PML-N President] Shehbaz Sharif is involved in this fraud. According to his statement, Shehbaz Sharif should take steps to bring Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan,” said Fawad.

    “The Federal Cabinet has decided to approach the High Court on the false affidavit of Shehbaz Sharif,” said the minister.