The General Headquarters (GHQ) on Thursday excused from providing personnel from army, paramilitary Rangers and Frontier Constabulary (FC) for the upcoming elections in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had requested the Defense Ministry to deploy army and rangers for the upcoming elections in the two provinces.
Responding to the ministry, GHQ said that the forces are occupied with national security duties due to the recent wave of terrorism.
However, Punjab Rangers will be available as the Quick Response Force during these elections.
On the other hand, replying to the ECP’s letter, the Finance Ministry has asked the election-conducting authority to postpone its demand for an additional grant in the wider national interest.
The finance ministry requested the election commission to delay its request for the grant until the economic situation of the country improves.
Israel’s former defence minister Naftali Bennett, in a video posted to YouTube on the Gaza situation, referred to Pakistan’s Shifa International Hospital as Hamas Headquarters where the Al-Qassam Brigade of Hamas has been operating.
“Ever heard of Shifa Hospital? It is the largest medical complex in Gaza. It’s also where Hamas’ headquarters is located while they are conducting terror actions against Israel”, he explained while showing a picture of the Shifa Hospital building in the background.
Shifa International Hospital is a care healthcare facility in Islamabad providing medical services to local as well as international patient communities for over 25 years.
Social media users soon started calling out the ex-minister for the blunder.
A big blunder by Israel’s former defense minister Bennett in his YouTube video where he refers to Al-Shifa hospital Gaza as Hamas head office but it’s really the image of Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad!Do get a good researcher at the very least https://t.co/daleQIStWr
— Munizae Jahangir (@MunizaeJahangir) May 21, 2021
Naftali Bennet, former defence minister of Apartheid Israel, lists Shifa hospital in Gaza as Hamas base but shows Shifa intl hospital Islamabad in #Pakistan.
— Asfandyar Bhittani (@AsfandBhittani) May 21, 2021
At 0:25, what this man claims to be a Hamas base in Gaza is actually Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan, which once again proves that these people have zero credibility and will state nonsense, blatant lies to support their agenda. https://t.co/z9E3NBc4cE
The armed forces of the country have sought a 20 per cent increase in the salaries of their personnel for the financial year 2020-2021, which will cost an estimated Rs63.67 billion.
According to a letter forwarded by the Defence Ministry to the Finance Division, a copy of which is available with The Current, the joint staff headquarters, in consultation with the services headquarters, has sought an increase in the salaries of armed forces personnel for being affected due to the current price hike owing to the impact of the devaluation of rupee on consumer price index (CPI), increase in utility bills and the persisting wave of inflation.
In the current financial year 2019-2020, a five per cent increase was granted to the officers up to the rank of brigadier (BPS 17-20) and 10 per cent ad hoc relief was awarded to JCOs/soldiers (BPS 1-16), whereas no increase was given to general officers (BPS 21-22).
Ad hoc relief granted in the pay of the officers has also been marginalised by enhanced income tax slabs due to which officers have to pay additional income tax from existing pay.
Consequently, the pay of officers has actually decreased during the current financial year, the document maintained.
Keeping in view the above mentioned factors, which have affected the fiscal space and livelihood of the armed forces personnel, joint staff headquarters have forwarded a case for the increase in pay duely approved by the chairman joint chief of staff committee to the Defence Ministry for taking up the matter with the Finance Ministry for the revision of pay of armed forces personnel.
The Defence Ministry had also sought that the adhoc relief allowance for the year 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 be merged in the basic pay scale, and proposed a 20 per cent increase in the revised pay scale in the upcoming budget 2020-2021.
Meanwhile, according to a Defence Ministry official, if the proposal of merging of four ad hoc allowances into revised pay scale is allowed along with a 20 per cent raise in salaries and pension of all employees, including civilians and armed forces, it will require Rs150 to Rs200 billion in the next budget.
Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday ordered the Defence Ministry to immediately release lawyer Col (r) Inamur Rahim, reportedly terming his arrest “illegal” and “unconstitutional”.
A representative of the Ministry of Defence had last week informed the LHC that Rahim was in the custody of law enforcement agencies and was currently being interrogated. The revelation had come during the hearing of a case related to Rahim’s abduction from his home in Rawalpindi on the night of December 16.
Rahim, who has fought court cases on behalf of the families of several missing persons, had been picked up by unidentified men from his home in Rawalpindi’s Askari 14. According to his son Husnain Inam, around eight to 10 persons had “picked up” his father.
“Detention of lawyer Colonel Retd Inam ur Rahim is illegal” Finally Lahore High Court Rawalpindi Bench rejected the claim of Defence Ministry that Inam ur Rahim is in the custody of an intelligence agency because he violated official secret act he was abducted from his home
The case was heard by Mirza Waqas of the LHC’s Rawalpindi bench.
According to The News, in a monthly progress report last year, the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (CIED) had reported that 6,051 cases had been registered before the CIED since March 2011.
Out of these, 3,793 cases had been “disposed”, while 2,258 cases were still pending. Significantly, out of the 3,793 cases “disposed” by the CIED, 743 “missing people” were traced to different internment centers.
Some 468 people were located in prisons; and 189 people were found to have passed away. The commission provided no information on steps taken to establish the circumstances behind these detentions or deaths.
