Tag: home-politics

  • India wants me dead: Sheikh Rasheed

    India wants me dead: Sheikh Rasheed

    Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid has said that “Indian politicians have been wishing for his death”, Khaleej Times reported.

    “Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi made a big mistake by revoking the autonomy of Indian-held Kashmir (IHK),” he said while addressing a press conference.

    “Modi’s main agenda is to destroy Pakistan,” the minister said, adding that Muslims were treated as second-class citizens in India.

    He warned Indian soldiers that if they move towards Lahore or Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), they should know that Pakistan’s “smart bombs will welcome them”.

    “Our army is ready,” said the minister. However, he said it would be better for both nations to resolve the issue through dialogue.

  • Abhinandan returns to cockpit, flies MiG-21 with Indian air chief

    Abhinandan returns to cockpit, flies MiG-21 with Indian air chief

    Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured after Pakistan Air Force (PAF) downed his MiG-21 aircraft during a stand-off with intruding Indian jets in February, has returned to the cockpit.

    Responding to Indian Air Force’s (IAF) violation of Pakistani airspace on February 26, PAF had hit back by sending fighters to strike Indian targets the following day. In the pursuit, a PAF fighter jet had downed at least one Indian MiG-21 aircraft and captured Abhinandan, who had ejected and landed within Pakistani territory.

    He was handed over to India by Pakistani authorities as a goodwill gesture within 60 hours of the standoff.

    “Both of us have two things in common. First, both of have ejected and second, both of us have fought Pakistanis. I fought in Kargil, he fought after Balakot. Third, I’ve flown with his father,” IAF chief BS Dhanoa, who flew his last sortie with Abhinandan, said Monday.

    The flight came after the wing commander was recently cleared to fly after treatment for injuries sustained in action. Earlier, in an ironical development, Abhinandan was conferred with the Vir Chakra, India’s third-highest wartime medal, on its Independence Day.

  • ‘No one asked Imran for an NRO,’ says Aseefa in maiden interview

    ‘No one asked Imran for an NRO,’ says Aseefa in maiden interview

    Former president Asif Ali Zardari’s daughter, Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, has said that no one even ever asked the Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan-led government for a National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) and her father “would not be striking any deals to avail it”.

    NRO is an ordinance issued by former military ruler General (r) Pervez Musharraf in 2007. It grants amnesty to politicians, political workers and bureaucrats who are accused of corruption, embezzlement, money laundering or even murder.

    In her maiden solo interview to BBC Urdu, the late PM Benazir Bhutto’s daughter on Sunday said that her father spent over eleven years in jail where he was tortured without conviction and he didn’t make any deals even back then.

    “People of Pakistan are living in abhorring conditions, while the government is continuously insisting that it won’t give an NRO to anyone,” she said.

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    “…but the question is that who even asked the government for one?”

    To a question regarding joining politics, Aseefa said it was not a compulsion, but one could raise his or her voice for the masses by entering politics. “I will continue to be their voice along with my brother.”

    She also said that family members of the jailed former president were not satisfied with the healthcare facilities being provided to the latter in prison.

  • Women snipers to undertake Muharram security duty with commandos

    Women snipers to undertake Muharram security duty with commandos

    A fresh batch of women cops has completed snipe shooting training to perform security duty along with already trained police commandos, The Express Tribune reported Monday.

    According to reports, the 50-women batch was imparted training at Qila Gujjar Singh Police Lines, during which they were taught to insert bullets in the magazine of an SMG rifle and pistol.

    After this, the women officers were trained to load and unload weapons and also encouraged to practice by the trainer by taking their positions to fire at their targets.

    All-female personnel engaged in this snipe shooting training fired 50 bullets from the SMG rifle and 50 bullets from the pistol, reports said and quoted an official as saying that training women police personnel had become important in the current wave of terrorism.

    “A large number of men and women will participate in the upcoming processions and gatherings of Muharram. Women police officers are being deployed equally as men on the entrances of processions and meetings for police checking.”

    The police official also said that there were difficulties in deploying male police officers on the roofs of several houses along the procession routes. “Local people used to complain that there were women in their houses and they could not allow male officers in their homes due to personal reasons.”

    He explained that women police force was trained in snipe shooting to address these complaints and added that women shooters will be deployed on the roofs of houses that fall under the routes of the procession.

  • FBR serves ARY tax evasion notice, demands Rs992 million

    The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has served a notice to ARY News, demanding Rs992 million which the channel owes to the tax body, The News has reported.

    The entity has evaded millions of rupees in taxes through misrepresentation, concealment and misuse of exemptions, causing a substantial loss to the national exchequer, reports quoted FBR as saying.

    The body also claimed that in a bid to escape the fresh tax demand, the media house allegedly tampered with previously-submitted official agreement documents — which was discovered by the authorities.

    The investigation from FBR states that “an offshore related party (co-owned) entity ARY FZLLC undertook transactions with the other two companies, ARY COMM and ARY Films and TV Productions Pvt, which by, virtue of section 85 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, were its associates”.

    The investigation further revealed that the tripartite agreement was used to allow the three companies to settle their receivables and payables in Pakistan on behalf of ARY FZLLC.

    The media group’s tax assessment showed that it obtained exemptions by claiming to export locally-produced content to the offshore entity in order to evade local taxes.

    However, ARY Communications has accused the FBR of conducting a fishing expedition and also added that the proceedings were “based on whims, assumptions, and guesswork”.

    Reports further revealed that FBR served the tax notice to the channel despite facing a lot of pressure from influential quarters to withdraw any such demand.

  • ‘Pakistan even has atom bombs as small as 250 grams,’ Sheikh Rasheed warns India

    ‘Pakistan even has atom bombs as small as 250 grams,’ Sheikh Rasheed warns India

    Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad has warned India that Pakistan even has small nuclear bombs weighing 125-250 grams, which can hit and destroy targeted areas, The News reported.

    “We know if we want to use our 1-inch, 2-inch or half an inch [atomic bombs],” the minister said on Sunday, leaving netizens all cracked up.

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    “India committed two blunders. The first one was carrying out atomic explosions while presuming that Pakistan would not do so and secondly, it scrapped special status of Kashmir on August 5 this year, believing Kashmiris won’t react”, the minister said further.

    Tensions soar on either side of the border ever since New Delhi on August 5 revoked Article 370 of the Indian constitution, robbing the people of the troubled valley of their autonomous state. India has since kept Kashmir under lockdown.

  • ‘Hide in a basement, take a bath’: Indian media airs tips on surviving nuclear attack

    ‘Hide in a basement, take a bath’: Indian media airs tips on surviving nuclear attack

    As tensions continue to soar between nuclear-capable Pakistan and India amid Kashmir crisis, an India media outlet has aired tips on how to survive a nuclear attack, Scroll.in reported.

    According to the details, a recent video clip from television channel Zee News, informing its viewers about what to do in case of a nuclear attack, has left people on social media in disbelief.

    News anchor Sudhir Chaudhary’s tips on surviving nukes include not looking directly at the explosion, running to the basement of the strongest building around you for shelter, taking a bath and sealing clothes exposed to radioactive waves to avoid them from being spread further.

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    “The spe­c­ter of nuclear war haunts tensions between Pakistan and India, and the disputed territory of Kashmir could provide the spark that lights South Asia’s nuclear fuse,” warned a report published by a United States (US) think-tank last week.

    The report — by Stratfor, a geopolitical intelligence platform based in Austin, Texas — also disputed the classification of the Kashmir issue as India’s “internal affair” or a “bilateral” issue between the two neighbours.

    “It isn’t. A potential nuc­lear conflagration cannot be anything other than a matter of international peace and security,” the report warned.

    According to the report, the possibility of “the conflict going nuclear may have increased on Aug 16”, when Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh seemed to abandon India’s “no first use” doctrine.

    “India has strictly adhered to this doctrine. What happens in the future depends on the circumstances,” he had tweeted.

  • Information Ministry uses Indian poem for new Kashmir song

    Information Ministry uses Indian poem for new Kashmir song

    The Information Ministry has come under fire for using an Indian poem as a new national song to mark Friday’s “Kashmir Hour” that was observed across the country on Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s call.

    As per the details, the poem “Han Main Kashmiri Hun” by Indian poet and politician Imran Pratapgarhi was played on television channels across the country as the nation expressed solidarity with Kashmiris suffering at the hands of Indian occupying forces.

    Special Assistant to the PM on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan also shared the song on Twitter and wrote, “This poem accurately describes the plight of residents of Kashmir and how they are enduring Indian cruelty. We are standing with Kashmiris.”

    The move was criticised by Twitterati, who asked why an Indian poem was used by the government when several Pakistani poets had also written about Kashmir.

    PM’s aide was also criticised for not giving credit to the Indian poet who had written the poem over a decade ago.

  • Kashmir ‘Curfew Clock’ installed in Islamabad

    Kashmir ‘Curfew Clock’ installed in Islamabad

    A digital clock called “Curfew Clock” has been installed in the federal capital, which shows the number of days, hours and minutes since India has kept occupied Kashmir under curfew.

    The video of the curfew clock that “challenges the world conscience” was tweeted by Central Film Censor Board chairman and Information Minister’s Office director Danyal Gillani.

    Pakistanis on Friday came out in hordes on Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s call to observe “Kashmir Hour” to show solidarity with the people of Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK).

    People of the Muslim-majority troubled valley have been held hostage by Indian occupying forces since August 5 when New Delhi abrogated Article 370 of its constitution to rob the disputed territory of its autonomy.

  • PM Imran, Gandhi’s great grandson on same page against extremist RSS?

    PM Imran, Gandhi’s great grandson on same page against extremist RSS?

    A day after Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan said that the ideology of the Hindu extremist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) had taken over India, a much similar statement of the great grandson of independent India’s founding father Mahatma Gandhi, has emerged.

    “The RSS ideology has taken over India, the way the Nazi party had taken over Germany,” the premier had said while addressing a Kashmir Hour gathering on Friday. “They think that Muslims should be taught a lesson, that they are not equal citizens. Today, the whole world is seeing what is happening in Kashmir.”

    With the premier’s words being widely shared over the internet, it wasn’t later that someone pointed out their similarity with an earlier statement by Gandhi’s great grandson, Tushar Gandhi.

    Addressing a gathering earlier this year, he had called for fighting the ideology of RSS, which he said was trying to divide India.

    Tushar, who is the son of Mahatma’s grandson Arun, had said that Gandhiwadis (believers of the Gandhian philosophy) can remain neutral, but those who call themselves Gandhi’s workers, cannot do the same in the present era as the RSS was threatening the very ideals espoused by Gandhi.

    “I do not hate the RSS functionaries. But I oppose RSS… that idea, which is dividing the country… I do not say that others have not done this. We oppose them as well. We will have to protest, otherwise, we don’t deserve to be called Gandhi’s workers.”

    PM Imran’s Friday address wasn’t the first time when he called out his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi’s regime for being inspired by the RSS.

    In two loaded tweets on the eve of Eidul Azha, he had tweeted, “The curfew, crackdown and impending genocide of Kashmiris in IoK [Indian occupied Kashmir] is unfolding exactly according to [the] RSS ideology inspired by Nazi ideology. Attempt is to change demography of Kashmir through ethnic cleansing. Question is: Will the world watch & appease as they did Hitler at Munich?”

    “I am afraid this RSS ideology of Hindu Supremacy, like the Nazi Aryan Supremacy, will not stop in IoK; instead it will lead to suppression of Muslims in India and eventually lead to targeting of Pakistan. The Hindu Supremacists version of Hitler’s Lebensraum,” he had said further.