Tag: Hamid Mir

  • ‘Meri Double Chin’: Faakhir drops new lockdown music video

    ‘Meri Double Chin’: Faakhir drops new lockdown music video

    While we all are staying at home amid lockdown, most of us are spending this quarantine cooking, eating and gaining weight. Pakistani singer Faakhir has put it in the words correctly. Faakhir with his kids and a few other celebrities made a music video ‘Meri double chin’ that will surely lift our spirits and make us laugh.

    The video features Faakhir’s kids Simone and Naael and other celebrities including Adnan Siddiqui and his son, Hamid Mir, Javed Sheikh, Ayesha Omar, Aijaz Aslam, Shehzad Roy and Momina Mustehsan.

    The song has a catchy chorus and a few rap lines by Simone and Naael.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa7QGLxYzjg
  • ‘Parliamentarians being threatened to legalise homosexuality in Pakistan’

    ‘Parliamentarians being threatened to legalise homosexuality in Pakistan’

    Lawmakers belonging to both the National Assembly and Senate are receiving threats for refusing to move the parliament for the legalisation of homosexuality in Pakistan, senior journalist and analyst Hamid Mir has claimed.

    In his latest column for Daily Jang, Mir has quoted a senator as saying that students of a reputable educational institution are nowadays approaching parliamentarians to move the house for the legalisation of homosexuality in the country.

    “They [the youngsters] have been contacting different lawmakers and demanding, that like many other countries, homosexuality should be legalised in Pakistan,” the journalist quoted the senator as saying.

    He claimed that when the lawmaker advised one of the students to focus on religion and praying five times a day so that “their thoughts do not go astray”, the youngster urged the senator to at least move the Upper House in this regard.

    “When the senator strongly turned down the student’s demand, they were threatened by the youngsters,” Mir wrote. He further claimed that some students have also approached parliamentarians belonging to religio-political parties, but they not yet responded.

    HOMOSEXUALITY IN PAKISTAN:

    The Colonial British government criminalised homosexuality in India under section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) of 1860. Pakistan, after independence, adapted the same laws under the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) that states, “Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than two years nor more than ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.”

    In the 1980s, rules against homosexuality stiffened even more under General Muhammad Ziaul Haq. The punishment for homosexual activities increased to life imprisonment or even death by stoning as a result of the Sharia Law added to the PPC.

    Religious leaders have consistently forbidden and condemned homosexual activities as being immoral under the constitution of Islam. People in Pakistan, who identify themselves as homosexual, do not expose their sexual preference in public due to the fear of being looked down upon or physically attacked.

  • ‘Pakistan bohat khoobsurat hai’: UK envoy reveals what he likes the most about Pakistan

    ‘Pakistan bohat khoobsurat hai’: UK envoy reveals what he likes the most about Pakistan

    British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Dr Christian Turner has shared that he is a huge fan of Karachi Biryani and Lahori food. He expressed his love for Pakistan’s foods and cities in Urdu that is quite impressive and interesting. 

    In an interview with Hamid Mir, Dr Turner said, “Well, I should say, first of all, Pakistan bohat khoobsurat hai, Meri Urdu kharab hai. Thodi jaanta hun.” 

    Turner agreed with the old saying “Lahore Lahore Hai (Lahore is Lahore)” and said that all he had done for three days in Lahore was eat. The representative revealed he was fond of Karachi’s biryani. He said it was “Bohat mazedaar (very delicious)”. 

    Watch the video here:

    Dr Turner has also documented, in detail, his experiences in Pakistan on his social media.

  • Unknown armed men break into residence of Musharraf’s ex-prosecutor, ‘warn him’

    Unknown armed men break into residence of Musharraf’s ex-prosecutor, ‘warn him’

    An armed robbery has been reported at the farmhouse of Akram Sheikh, who previously headed the government’s prosecution team against Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf in the high treason case against the latter, SAMAA reported.

    According to reports, the armed men remained at the lawyer’s residence for around two hours while they held his family hostage, and finally left after looting items worth millions of rupees.

    Sheikh’s farmhouse is located in Islamabad’s Chak Shehzad area, police said and added that the lawyer’s family was locked in a room after their mobile phones were taken away by the intruders. “The house was then combed and looted.”

    While a case has not yet been lodged amid Sheikh’s silence, senior journalist and analyst Hamid Mir has claimed that the lawyer was also threatened by the armed men.

    Sheikh was appointed as the prosecutor by former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif to fight the Musharraf treason case on behalf of the government. He fought the case till 2018 and resigned after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) was elected to power.

    The former army chief and dictator was handed death sentence by a special court earlier this week.

  • VIDEO: JUI-F leader claims Azadi March ruined Israel’s 40 years of investment in Pakistan

    The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) leader Rashid Mehmood Soomro has claimed that Israel has said that JUI-F’s Azadi March has ruined their 40 years investment in Pakistan.

    Rashid Somroo made these claims in a talk show with journalist Hamid Mir when the Azadi March protest was still active, the video of which has now gone viral over the internet.

    JUI-F leader said, “The Israeli newspapers have reported this that Azadi March has managed to ruin their 40 years investment in Pakistan”, adding that the protest also suppressed the talks about Pakistan accepting Israel as a state.

    Hamir Mir on this claim made by Rashid remarked that no government official had made any statement regarding the acceptance of Israel.

    To which JUI-F leader claimed that “top government officials were engaged in backdoor talks with Israel and were ready to accept it, but JUI-F successfully managed to stop these talks”.

    Watch Video:

    The protests, led by JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, began with the ‘Azadi March’ on October 27 from Karachi. Thousands of supporters reached Islamabad on October 31, holding a two-week sit-in on the city’s main highway.

    On November 13, Fazl ordered his supporters to disperse across the country to block roads, in what he termed as ‘Plan B’ to topple Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.

    On Thursday protesters blocked the Grand Trunk Road between Islamabad and Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, causing lengthy delays. Similar disruptions were reported in Jacobabad — a city in Sindh linking the province with Balochistan and Punjab.

  • Celebrities, including Mahira Khan, will be at the Faiz Festival this weekend

    Celebrities, including Mahira Khan, will be at the Faiz Festival this weekend

    The Faiz International Festival is in its 5th year and like previous years, celebrities are flocking to the event. The three-day festival will take place at Alhamra in Lahore.

    Mahira Khan at the Faiz International Festival in 2016

    The event will kick off on Friday with a performance by Ali Sethi and a play dedicated to Asma Jehangir by Ajoka Theatre. There will also be an exhibition of History and Contemporary Sikh Art as part of Guru Nanak’s 550th birth anniversary celebrations.

    Celebrities like Mahira Khan, Ahsan Khan, Eman Suleman and Nimra Bucha will be part of sessions as will be journalists Hamid Mir, Nasim Zehra and Wusutullah Khan. Politicians like PTI’s Asad Umar and Yasmin Rashid and PPP’s Shazia Marri and Raza Rabbani will also be attending.

    The sessions The Current is looking forward to are:

    Stardom with Responsibility with Mahira Khan, Sarmat Khoosat and Mira Hashmi on Sunday at 3PM

    Siyasi Pabandion Kay Door Mai Azad Sahafat with Hamid Mir, Nasim Zehra, Wusutullah Khan and Wajahat Masood on Saturday at 3 PM

    Using Media to address Social Issues with Ahsan Khan, Roshanah Zafar and Seemi Raheel on Saturday at 1 PM

    Pakistan: The Way Forward with Dr Yasmin Rashid, Raza Rabbani, Nafisa Shah, Dr. Ayesha Ghaus Pasha, Afrasiab Khattak and Dr Malik Baloch on Sunday at 2 PM

    The sessions are all free except for Zia Mohyeddin, Ali Sethi, Adeel Hashmi and Farah Yasmeen’s performances.

    Download the full schedule here Download
  • ‘Perfumes vs attar’: Hamid Mir points out differences between 2014, 2019 Azadi marches

    ‘Perfumes vs attar’: Hamid Mir points out differences between 2014, 2019 Azadi marches

    Senior journalist and analyst Hamid Mir has said that there is a lot of difference between the ongoing Azadi March of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and that of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) from 2014.

    “When one used to visit the 2014 sit-in, you could smell perfumes. When you come here, you can smell attar. So it’s perfume versus attar,” Mir said when approached by a private media outlet during his visit to Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s Islamabad protest last week.

    He further said that Imran Khan’s sit-in “had scores of rich people”. “You could see a lot of lipsticks. At this sit-in, what you see is…” the journalist added as he pulled in front of the camera a JUI-F worker.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    The viral video then shows the worker kissing a smiling Mir on his forehead. It isn’t later that another JUI-F activist to the journalist’s left, pulls and kisses him.

    “Do you understand the difference now?” he then asks the reporter, laughing.

  • Azadi March: ‘Hamid Mir advised Shehbaz to run off before Fazl’s dangerous speech’

    Azadi March: ‘Hamid Mir advised Shehbaz to run off before Fazl’s dangerous speech’

    A journalist affiliated with BBC has claimed that senior journalist and analyst Hamid Mir on Friday advised Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Shehbaz Sharif to run off ahead of Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s fiery speech against the Imran Khan government.

    “A few moments ahead of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief’s dangerous speech, Mir advised Shehbaz to take flight,” Rifatullah Orakzai tweeted.

    Sharing an image of the trio laughing inside Fazl’s Azadi March container, Orakzai further wrote that Mir’s advice had the JUI-F chief, Shehbaz and Mir himself in fits of laughter.

    Earlier, the journalist also addressed the protesters from atop the container to guarantee that women journalists would be permitted to cover the Azadi March.

    “I addressed the gathering after I got a ton of grumblings from women reporters that they were not being permitted to cover the jalsa,” Mir said later, adding that he was approached by JUI-F leadership to make the declaration from the phase that women columnists could cover the walk and that they were permitted to report the occasion.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “I, at that point, made the declaration on stage and expressed gratitude towards Fazl,” he said.

    A number of women journalists had on Friday complained that the conservative JUI-F was barring them from covering its anti-government sit-in in the federal capital.

    The revelations had come amid criticism for the religio-political party for having no women participation in its Azadi March.

  • Punjab govt removes name of Hamid Mir’s father from underpass

    Punjab govt removes name of Hamid Mir’s father from underpass

    The Punjab government has renamed the Waris Mir Underpass on the provincial capital’s Canal Bank Road near the Punjab University (PU), where the late writer and intellectual taught journalism for about 25 years.

    The name of Waris Mir, a Hilale Imtiaz recipient, was removed from the underpass on Saturday and renamed the Kashmir Underpass in a sudden and mysterious move that has been condemned by the Waris Mir Foundation.

    Senior journalist and anchorperson Hamid Mir’s father, Waris, taught for 30 years at the PU’s Mass Communication Department.

    He was not the only one to be honoured by the state in March 2013, since all newly-constructed underpasses, which tallied up to more than a dozen across the city, were named after outstanding intellectuals and prominent personalities, including Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ashfaq Ahmed, Habib Jalib, Justice A R Cornelius, Ustad Daman, Chaudhry Rehmat Ali, Khushaal Khan Khatak, Liaqat Ali Khan, Chakare Azam Rind, Justice A R Kiyani and Patras Bokhari.

    The names had been decided through a procedure in several meetings of the City District Government, headed by a former judge of the Supreme Court (SC).

    Commenting on the move, Waris Mir Foundation spokesperson said “it was nothing but an act of aversion, not against Waris Mir alone, but a sequence of hatred and uncalled-for enmity towards the Pakistani media, in general, which seems to be a line of action of the government”.

    “This act, in general, has only been secretly carried out to hurt the sentiments of hundreds of Waris Mir’s students, readers and his posterity,” the spokesperson added.

  • PM Imran unfollows Hamid Mir on Twitter, journalist says he’s ‘honoured’

    PM Imran unfollows Hamid Mir on Twitter, journalist says he’s ‘honoured’

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has unfollowed veteran journalist and analyst Hamid Mir on Twitter, a development that Mir says is no less than an “honour”.

    The episode that follows Mir’s anti-government tirade ever since his interview of arrested former president Asif Ali Zardari was taken off the air, has left the micro-blogging website divided as people argue if it proves the premier’s “inability to take criticism”.

    It surfaced on social media on Monday evening through an account called Siasat Bot that keeps track of the Twitter handles of major politicians and political parties.

    Earlier, Mir’s video had also gone viral on social media wherein he demanded his arrest which was termed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters as propaganda against the government under the guise of freedom of media.

    Following this, supporters of the ruling PTI had been carrying out a campaign against the journalist who has now been unfollowed by the premier on Twitter.

    PM Imran reportedly had 19 followers before clicking the “unfollow” button on Mir. The 18 accounts that he still follows include those of organisations that he himself heads, such as the PTI, Shaukat Khanum Hospital and Namal University.

    The other accounts he follows include that belonging to his party’s senior leaders.

    Mir himself took to Twitter to indirectly address the development. Retweeting an old post, he shared how “he had become unfavorable to PTI after he started criticising them”.

    Speaking to a private news website, Mir said that he was “honoured” to be unfollowed by the chief executive of the country.