Tag: Hammad Azhar

  • PTI leaders ke liye mushkil din

    PTI leaders ke liye mushkil din

    An Islamabad court has issued perpetual arrest orders for nine Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) leaders due to their alleged involvement in a violent incident outside the Federal Judicial Complex.

    The list includes prominent figures like Hammad Azhar, Shibli Faraz, Murad Saeed, Omar Ayub Khan, Ali Amin Gandapur, Ali Nawaz Awan, Hassaan Khan Niazi, Umer Sultan, and Muhammad Asim. 

    The decision came out after the suspects failed to appear despite summons, prompting their declaration as proclaimed offenders.

    The incident dates back to March, during a hearing of the Toshakhana case when clashes broke out between the police and PTI workers. 

    Both sides resorted to aggressive measures, with PTI supporters reportedly using rocks and petrol bombs, leading to injuries sustained by 25 officials.

    Several cases were filed against Imran Khan and other PTI leaders, with Parvez Elahi also being arrested in connection with the case.

    Elahi’s judicial remand was extended till November 21 following his initial arrest in September, despite a temporary release granted earlier by the Islamabad High Court.

    The court has urged the authorities to apprehend the suspects and bring them to justice.

    In a separate case, the district and sessions courts, Islamabad, have once again issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for PTI leader Shahbaz Gill in a sedition case. 

    Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra heard the case on Wednesday and directed the SHO to arrest the proclaimed offender and produce him before the court. 

    The court ended the trial of co-accused Ammad Yousaf following the Supreme Court’s direction.

    This recent issuance of arrest warrants stems from the PTI leader’s continued absence from court proceedings, leading an additional district and sessions court in Islamabad to declare him an absconder on July 26, 2023.

    Despite multiple summonses, Shahbaz Gill had failed to appear before the court, prompting Additional Sessions Judge Tahir Abbas Sipra to issue arrest warrants. Furthermore, the court had instructed relevant authorities to post an absconder notice at Gill’s residence in Faisalabad.

    This is the second instance of non-bailable arrest warrants being issued against Gill, with the first set being issued on June 7, 2023, in connection with the same case.

    Shahbaz Gill is in USA now a days.

  • ‘We are not against US, but pro-Pakistan’: Hammad Azhar on Khan’s audio leak

    ‘We are not against US, but pro-Pakistan’: Hammad Azhar on Khan’s audio leak

    PTI leader Hammad Azhar, while responding to a question in Geo News‘ programme Report Card, regarding Imran Khan’s audio leak, has said that, “We are not against the US but pro-Pakistan.”

    He added that Imran Khan is willing to move past the cypher issue for the sake of good relations between both the countries.

    Azhar further said that facts have shown that the real motivation for cypher was domestically-driven.

    Earlier in the day, a conversation between Imran Khan and US Congresswoman Maxine Moore Waters surfaced online.

    In the audio clip, the former prime minister can be heard requesting the American politician to issue a statement about what’s happening in Pakistan “as it will create waves”.

    After his ouster from power in April 2022 through a Vote of No-Confidence, Imran Khan had blamed America for removing his government.

  • PTI rejects FIR against Imran Khan’s attempted assassination

    PTI rejects FIR against Imran Khan’s attempted assassination

    A First Report Information (FIR) has been registered against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s attempted assassination in Wazirabad almost a week after the tragic incident.

    The FIR has been lodged at the City Police Station in Wazirabad with sub-inspector Aamir Shahzad as the complainant.

    The prime suspect, Naveed, who was captured at the crime scene, has been nominated in the FIR. The report was registered under various charges including terrorism, murder and attempt to murder with sections 302, 324, 440 and Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 included.

    According to the FIR, Imran Khan and other PTI leaders were headed to Wazirabad from Allahwala Chowk, when at 4pm, the accused, Naveed opened fire from the left side of the container, killing Muazzam son of Nawaz of Bharoki Cheema, who was a participant in the rally. Moreover, the FIR says the gun attack left Imran Khan wounded.

    PTI’s leaders have categorically rejected the FIR, while social media was flooded with the party’s supporters dismissing the report.

    PTI’s Secretary General Asad Umar tweeted, “The reality of the established system in the country came to the public. Not a few individuals, but the whole system was exposed to the nation.”

    PTI’s senior leader Fawad Chaudhry pointed out that the names of Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Major General Faisal were not mentioned in the FIR and thus the party rejected it.

    PTI leader Shireen Mazari said the FIR was an “attempt at a complete cover up by the three accused through the power of their positions and the state.”

    PTI leader Hammad Azhar also discredited the FIR and said the FIR should be re-named “NRO”.

    The FIR was registered after the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday directed Faisal Shahkar, Inspector General (IG) of Punjab Police, to register it.

    The Chief Justice (CJ), Umar Ata Bandial, warned that the court would take suo motu notice if the FIR of the attack was not registered within 24 hours.

  • ‘A dark day’: PTI reacts to Maryam Nawaz’s acquittal

    ‘A dark day’: PTI reacts to Maryam Nawaz’s acquittal

    Following the verdict of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) acquitting Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Thursday (today), Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders have said that today is, “Another dark day in the history of Pakistan”.

    PTI Senior Vice President Fawad Chaudhry took to Twitter to say that “The country’s institutions have lost the trust of the public”.

    “Beyond any doubt, it is another dark day in the history of Pakistan”, he added.

    Another PTI leader and former Energy Minister Hammad Azhar claimed that “PML-N itself seems to be a bit embarrassed after today’s ruling”.

    In a tweet, PTI Secretary-General Asad Umar made a claim that “Imran Khan’s government was removed so that imported government leaders could get their cases dismissed”.

    The former ruling party leader Babar Awan said, “Jitna bara daku, itni bari kursi“. (The bigger the thief, the bigger the chair). He added, “The jail department would teach lessons about the Sharif family to prisoners so that they can get NRO II as well.”

    The verdict:

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) acquitted Maryam Nawaz and her husband Captain (retd) Safdar in the Avenfield reference, nullifying the conviction handed to them in 2018 by an accountability court.

    After the victory, Maryam said that she was thankful to Allah for making Nawaz and herself proud today. She also took a jibe at PTI Chairman Imran Khan, telling him that he is a “helpless” person now and whether or not he decides to answer for his deeds, history will ensure that he answers for it.

  • PTI’s Asad Umar’s Twitter account hacked

    PTI’s Asad Umar’s Twitter account hacked

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) General Secretary and former federal minister Asad Umar’s Twitter account has been hacked, confirmed PTI’s official Twitter handle early Wednesday.

    “PTI Secretary General Asad Umar’s account has been hacked. Please report any uncharacteristic tweets to Twitter. We are working with Twitter to get access back,” tweeted PTI official.

    Earlier in May, PTI leader and former federal minister Hammad Azhar’s e-mail, Twitter, and Apple accounts were also hacked

  • Who is responsible for getting Pakistan off the ‘terror watch list’?

    Who is responsible for getting Pakistan off the ‘terror watch list’?

    After years of relentless hard work, Pakistan finally received a positive response from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The country is finally close to its removal from the global money-laundering and terrorist financing watchdog’s ‘grey list’. This for sure is a huge win for the country. This was made possible after countless days and nights our officials worked to bring Pakistan one step closer to being removed from the grey list. But here’s the twist. Who should be crowned for the FATF success? Many people are declaring it as their own victory.

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan credited his government for this achievement. Khan congratulated former Energy Minister Hammad Azhar who was the main man working on FATF. On the other hand, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also congratulated the nation and appreciated the performance of Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and the members of her team. According to Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, the premier made a telephone call to the army chief and “lauded his decision to set up the core cell at the GHQ”. Director-General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major-General Babar Iftikhar termed the development “a great achievement” and gave credit to the “civil-military team” and mainly to the core cell set up at the army’s General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi for it.

    Though there is no doubt that the road to success in terms of FATF has been a long one for Pakistan, let us not forget that many have done a lot of hard work to bring the country to this point. But this recent episode of many claiming credit for our success at FATF has raised one question: Can we as a nation stand united and be able to celebrate the major wins together, keeping aside our political and personal differences? The answer, for now, seems, ‘no’. The recent political scenario has divided the nation so much that even conversing on a simple topic that involves politics ends up in a heated argument. Does one wonder where have the days of critical thinking and constructive debate gone? We can only hope that Pakistanis — be it politicians, think-tankers, policymakers or the common citizen — be able to celebrate Pakistan for its glory and wins.

  • Richest politicians in Pakistan: ECP releases data

    Richest politicians in Pakistan: ECP releases data

    The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Wednesday released the data on the assets owned by Pakistani politicians and their spouses.

    Imran Khan

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s assets for the year 2021 have witnessed an increase of Rs60 million as compared to the year 2020.

    Khan owns assets worth Rs142.1 million while he has inherited houses in Zaman Park and Mianwali and three in Bhakkar. He has a bank balance of more than Rs63 million and he has $329,000 in his two other accounts. The PTI chief has also declared four goats worth Rs200,000 in his assets.

    Bushra Bibi

    Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi’s net worth is Rs142.11million. Bushra Bibi owns 52 kanals of land in Pakpattan while she also has 379 kanals of land in Pir Ghani and 267 kanals of land in Okara. She is also the owner of a three-kanal house in Bani Gala.

    Asif Ali Zardari

    Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari’s wealth increased by around Rs40 million to Rs714.23 million in 2019-20 compared to the previous year. He owns thousands of acres of agricultural land, 20 horses, hundreds of camels, cows, and buffaloes as well as other valuables. The arms he possesses are worth Rs16.6 million.

    Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari

    PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is a declared billionaire, having a total wealth worth of Rs1.6 billion. However, the bulk of his wealth remains outside the country.

    Bilawal has more assets in the UAE than in Pakistan and his 25 properties and other assets in Dubai are worth Rs1.44 billion, whereas in the country he has 19 agriculture and non-agriculture properties, around Rs122.14 million cash in hand or banks and arms valued at Rs3 million.

    Shehbaz Sharif

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif owns assets worth more than Rs245 million, and he also owes Rs140 million. The prime minister has Rs2 million in his bank account.

    “PM Shehbaz has borrowed Rs63.9 million from his son Suleman Shehbaz, however, his bank account in London is empty,” stated the document, adding that he is indebted with Rs140 million.

    Shehbaz Sharif also declared the assets of his wives.

    Nusrat Shehbaz

    Nusrat Shehbaz has wealth worth Rs230.29 million and owns nine agricultural properties and one house each in Lahore and Hazara divisions.

    Tehmina Durrani

    Shehbaz’s second spouse Tehmina Durrani has Rs5.6 million.

    Shahid Khaqan Abbasi

    Former PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and his wife own two houses in Islamabad and 40 tolas of gold. He gifted his shares in Air Blue airline worth Rs60 million to his son.

    Shah Mahmood Qureshi 

    Former Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi turned out to be the owner of assets worth Rs219.6 million – even more that those of his party chief, Imran Khan.

    Raja Pervez Ashraf 

    National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf declared the value of his assets as Rs23.6 million while his wife owned 100 tolas of gold.

    Hammad Azhar 

    Hammad Azhar owns assets worth Rs402 million.

  • ‘No MoU on wheat and oil with Khan’s govt’: Russian ambassador to Pak

    ‘No MoU on wheat and oil with Khan’s govt’: Russian ambassador to Pak

    Danila Ganich, Russia’s ambassador to Pakistan, has said that in his opinion the Russian visit could have been “one of the factors” for the removal of former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan from power but added that it was a sheer coincidence that Khan happened to be in Russia the day the Ukraine war broke out.

    “I think that was one of the factors but I also know that it was a sheer coincidence that he happened to be in Moscow on that very day,” said Ganich when asked if Khan’s government was removed from power because of his visit to Russia in an interview with Aaj News‘ senior anchorperson Shaukat Piracha.

    “The proof of that is just the fact that he was in Moscow on that very day, had he known that the operation would start on that very day, definitely he would have tried to refrain from being there on that very day. So that was a coincidence.”

    “As an ambassador of a foreign country I prefer not to interfere in your internal affairs.”

    “I do know that Pakistani [authorities] concluded that there was no conspiracy. So here I would like to say period. I cannot take sides here, especially when your judge concluded that there was no conspiracy,” said Ganich.

    Ganich said that Russia and Pakistan did not conclude any memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Khan’s claims that Russia had agreed to sell both wheat and oil at a 20 per cent and 30 per cent discount to Pakistan due to the efforts of his government.

    “I can confirm that we did not conclude any MoU,” the ambassador revealed. “As for what kind of discounts could have been offered [on oil and wheat], I cannot comment on this, as these are confidential negotiations.”

    Earlier, Russian Counsel General in Karachi, Andrey Fedorov said that a proposal was discussed between the two parties, while categorically denying that any letter was written by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government to Russia, reported Samaa News.

    Finance Minister Miftah Ismail in an interview with CNN’s Becky Anderson refuted Khan’s claims that Russia has not offered a 30 per cent discount on oil or wheat.

    Miftah further said that even though a letter was written by former minister Hammad Azhar, Russia did not respond to the letter.

    Former premier Khan recently said that during his time in power, the PTI government had signed an agreement with Russia to buy cheap oil and wheat. Adding that his government remained in power Pakistan would not have to face the petrol bomb.

  • ‘Azadi March’: Anti-Terrorism Court grants interim bail to Shafqat Mahmood, Hammad Azhar, Yasmin Rashid

    ‘Azadi March’: Anti-Terrorism Court grants interim bail to Shafqat Mahmood, Hammad Azhar, Yasmin Rashid

    An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Friday approved interim bails of top leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in Punjab after it issued non-bailable arrest warrants for them over alleged vandalism and damage of property on May 25, during the Azadi March.

    The ATC had issued non-bailable arrest warrants for the PTI leaders earlier. According to the court order issued Thursday, investigating officer Muhammad Saleem had requested the issuance of non-bailable arrest warrants for PTI leaders Mian Akram Usman, Muhammad Zubair Khan Niazi, Imtiaz Mehmood Sheikh, Mian Mehmood ur Rasheed, Mian Shafqat Mahmood, Malik Nadeem Abbas, Murad Raas, Mian Aslam Iqbal, Yasir Gilani, Dr Yasmin Rashid, Hammad Azhar, Andleeb Abbas, and Ijaz Chaudhry.

    PTI leaders whose warrants had been issued reached out to the court for interim bails. The court, after accepting their pleas, directed each of the petitioners to submit Rs100,000 as the surety against bails.

    Former energy minister Hammad Azhar said that Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz want to make this country a “police fascist state”.

    “A criminal [lady] issues directives from PM House to include sections pertaining to terrorism. I ask: where are the law and Constitution?”

    Hammad warned that the country would become a “police fascist state” if the law and Constitution don’t raise their voice today.

    “All these people standing with me are respectable citizens of society. They are not terrorists,” said Hammad.

    Last month, the Punjab Police had registered a total of 42 criminal cases against PTI’s senior leaders and workers for alleged agitation in the aftermath of the Azadi March held on May 25.

    However, PTI Chairman Imran Khan admitted that during the Azadi March, PTI protesters were carrying weapons with them. 

    “Our people had pistols on them too. I was afraid that the country will now face riots,” Khan told anchorperson Moeed Pirzada while speaking on 92 News‘ political talk show ‘Hard Talk’.