Tag: home-politics

  • Hindu mob beats up Muslim couple over beef rumour in India

    Hindu mob beats up Muslim couple over beef rumour in India

    Days after Narendra Modi’s hardliner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was elected to power for a second consecutive term, a Hindu extremist mob has severely thrashed three Muslims, including a woman, over beef rumours.

    According to India Today, the incident took place in the Seoni city of Madhya Pradesh.

    A video of the incident, which shows self-claimed gau rakshaks [cow vigilantes] hitting the young Muslims with sticks, has gone viral. The video also shows the Muslim man being forced to thrash his wife with a slipper and say Jai Shree Ram.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Five suspects have been arrested from Seoni city, 350 km from state capital Bhopal, the police was quoted as saying. Meanwhile, the victims have been identified as local residents Dilip Malviya, Taufik and Anjum Shama.

    Former Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) chief minister Mehbooba Mufti took to Twitter to condemn the incident.

    “Horrified to see cow vigilantes thrash an innocent Muslim with such impunity in MP. Hope the chief minister will take swift action against these goons,” she said.

  • Indian election: Man cries after getting only five votes, says has nine family members

    Indian election: Man cries after getting only five votes, says has nine family members

    An electoral candidate in Indian Punjab on Thursday broke down in an interview after he received only five votes when “there are nine members in his own family”.

    According to reports, Neetu Shuttern Wala, who hails from Jalandhar, stood independently in the recently held general polls.

    When he was being interviewed, he started crying before the camera not because of the alleged five votes, but because there are nine people in his own family.

    The interview clip went viral, with some calling it the “biggest election story” of the day.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    “Sir there are nine votes from my family, but I have only received five,” he can be heard as telling the reporter in the viral video. When asked if his family hadn’t voted for him, he replied, “No sir, they have been dishonest in voting.”

    Meanwhile, Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) clinched its second consecutive term after receiving a huge mandate in the election.

    Far from falling behind its 2014 score of 282, which was a historic record at the time, BJP succeeded in climbing a new summit of 300 seats in the lower house of the Indian parliament.

  • Indian anchor says Sunny Leone instead of Sunny Deol during live election transmission

    Indian anchor says Sunny Leone instead of Sunny Deol during live election transmission

    Indian journalist Arnab Goswami found himself in an awkward position on Thursday after he accidentally referred to Bollywood actor and former porn star Sunny Leone instead of actor-turned-politician Sunny Deol on live TV.

    The blunder came during the ongoing heat of 2019 Indian general election counting on his channel. With the video of the incident going viral, it provided a moment of laughs in the heat of the counting day.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    https://twitter.com/TheGodWhispers/status/1131427436799774720

    His exact words were:

    “Sunny Leone… Sunny Deol is leading from Gurdaspur.”

    As social media went crazy over the blunder, Leone tweeted:

    Earlier, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Deol made his debut with a bang, having cornered over 54 per cent of the votes polled in his constituency so far.

    Narendra Modi’s BJP is now leading in 300 constituencies, according to result trends. The main opposition party, Indian National Congress (INC), on the other hand, is leading in 50 constituencies.

    No seats have officially been declared, but if the trends turn into concrete results, it would mean a thumping win for Modi — and defy many pre-election predictions that it would be a tight race.

  • PM Imran’s nephew, journalist survive gun attack ‘by PTI minister’s goons’

    PM Imran’s nephew, journalist survive gun attack ‘by PTI minister’s goons’

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s nephew and reporter of a private media outlet have escaped in Lahore a gun attack “by the goons of a minister of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)”.

    As per the details, lawyer Hassaan Khan Niazi and journalist Rai Saqib Kharral were attacked in the Gullo Kot area of the provincial capital, where Darul Hikmat (DuH), a Christian education centre, has been illegally occupied by land mafia.

    “At least four shots were fired at us as we reached the charity school to meet the person in charge,” Hassaan Khan told The Current, alleging that the attackers are related to a Punjab minister.

    “Norez, one of the people responsible for the attack, is a provincial minister’s son-in-law,” he said further.

    CM TAKES NOTICE:

    Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar has taken notice of the incident and illegal occupation of the school.

    According to a private media outlet, CM Inspection Team Chairman Malik Asad Khokhar has sought a report from the Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO).

    Owned by the Darul Hikmat Trust, the community school was established in 1986 and houses hostels for both boys and girl, besides multiple lawns as well as a football ground.

    The administrative affairs of the institute are now being run by the minister’s relatives.

    Meanwhile, several deserving students from nearby localities who were studying at the institution have started leaving the school amid the catastrophic situation that’s prevailing there.

    No official version of the incident had been released by the time this report was filed.

  • Fawad says ‘Science & Tech Ministry has nothing to do with science’

    Fawad says ‘Science & Tech Ministry has nothing to do with science’

    Federal Minister for Science & Technology Fawad Chaudhry has said that his ministry has “nothing to do with science”.

    In a recent interview with Independent Urdu, the minister was asked what relation was there between his law degree and science.

    There is no connection, he said, adding: “In fact, the Science and Technology Ministry itself has no relation with science.”

    Earlier, in an interview to The Current, Fawad, who was sacked as the federal minister for information and broadcasting in last month’s cabinet reshuffle, had said he himself had chosen the Science and Technology Ministry.

    “I was offered two or three ministries by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and I voluntarily chose this ministry because science and technology is the way forward,” he had said.

    WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE:

  • VIDEO: Saudi Arabia intercepts missiles headed for Makkah

    VIDEO: Saudi Arabia intercepts missiles headed for Makkah

    Saudi Arabia has intercepted two missiles headed for Makkah, the kingdom announced on Tuesday night.

    According to an official statement, the ballistic missiles, reportedly intercepted over Taif, were fired by Yemeni Houthi rebels and were headed for the holy city as well as Jeddah, a port city on the Red Sea.

    In a tweet, Saudi Arabia’s embassy in Washington confirmed the reports.

    PAKISTAN CONDEMNS:

    Meanwhile, Islamabad has condemned the reported firing of ballistic missiles.

    The Foreign Office, in a statement, issued its condemnation and also commended Saudi forces for their “vigilant” defence.

    “Pakistan condemns the firing of ballistic missiles by Houthis towards Makkah province and commends the vigilant Saudi defence forces for intercepting the missiles,” read the statement.

    “Pakistan reaffirms its solidarity with Saudi Arabia and reiterates its support against any threat to the security of the kingdom.”

    Saudi Arabia is leading a coalition of Muslim states that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognised government that was ousted from power by Houthi rebels in late 2014.

    The Houthis, on the other hand, denied that their missiles were targeting Makkah, roughly 70 km (40 miles) from Jeddah and 50 km (30 miles) from Taif. The group called the claim “a tactic by Saudi Arabia to rally support for its war”.

  • Journalist comes under fire for crass comment

    Journalist comes under fire for crass comment

    Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s aftari is all everyone can talk about since Sunday evening. It was the first time that most opposition leaders came together for an informal meeting to discuss the future of Pakistan.

    However, politics aside, the one joke everyone started cracking was that Maryam Nawaz and BBZ were looking like newly-weds. It is important to note here than Maryam has a son who is a few years younger than Bilawal and is also a grandmother. Hence, such humour is classified as crass.

    Journalist Mona Alam went one step forward and questioned where Maryam’s husband Capt. (r) Safdar is.

    https://twitter.com/MonaAlamm/status/1130143120614727686

    Mona’s comments were met with a lot of backlash. But she did not back down and defended herself.

    In response to Mona’s comment, one user asked why Capt. (r) Safdar should have been present in the first place considering it was a political gathering, to which she replied:

    Another Twitter user asked Mona where her husband is, to which she replied:

    https://twitter.com/MonaAlamm/status/1130179433082642437

    Soon after, the debate began to heat up even more and personal blows were exchanged such as:

    Not that it’s anyone’s business but Captain (r) Safdar was at the iftar party.

  • United opp divides people: All you should know about Bilawal’s Iftar

    United opp divides people: All you should know about Bilawal’s Iftar

    As leaders of major opposition parties joined hands to attend an Iftar dinner hosted by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday, their united stance against the government left social media divided.

    ATTENDANCE:

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz, PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) senior leader Liaquat Baloch, Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) Chairman Aftab Sherpao and Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) leaders Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar were all in attendance for the event organised at Zardari House in Islamabad.

    AGENDA:

    Bilawal is working to unite all opposition parties and his Iftar was an opportunity for them to reach consensus on launching an anti-government movement after Ramzan.

    The grand show of around ten political parties discussed strategies against the government. Sources had earlier informed The Current that the meeting was set to unite opposition leaders against the country’s economic crisis — falling rupee value and inflation.

    It was decided that solutions will be found to the issues the country is facing and all opposition parties will launch a protest inside and outside the parliament after Eid.

    They also agreed that the government has failed in running the affairs of the country and after Eid, an All Parties Conference (APC) would be held where a joint strategy would be formulated.

    The meeting also expressed concerns over “political victimisation” by the National Accountancy Bureau (NAB).

    PM IMRAN’S REACTION:

    Meanwhile, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan hit out at the opposition and said, “Today certain people have gathered for an event but we really know that it is because of them that Pakistan has not moved forward.”

    He said that the economy was being used “as a source of blackmail by corrupt political mafia”.

    DIVIDED SOCIAL MEDIA:

    Some social media users lauded Bilawal and Maryam as the new faces behind the two biggest opposition parties in the country, “taking forward the ideas of their parents” — former PMs Benazir Bhutto and Maryam Nawaz.

    https://twitter.com/always_opposed/status/1130139351558631424

    Meanwhile, some others stepped up to criticise the “unholy alliance”.

    https://twitter.com/FawadPTIUpdates/status/1130080776899452928

    https://twitter.com/Faisal_Kp01/status/1130382713062678528
  • Pakistani millionaire who lost everything, became labourer in UAE

    Pakistani millionaire who lost everything, became labourer in UAE

    An overseas Pakistani has gone from owning a million-dirham business in Sharjah to becoming a labourer at a junk yard after he lost over Dh500,000 in an alleged scam, Khaleej Times reported.

    As per the details, Asghar Hussain and his family’s lives
    were turned upside down in late 2008, when an Indian con artist forged his
    signatures on legal company papers and fled the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

    Asghar, his wife and four kids, aged 15 to 23, have had to
    live with the dire consequences that followed the incident. By 2013, Asghar was
    no longer able to keep his business going as he was unable to pay bank loans.

    His children were kicked out of school in 2014 for not
    paying the fees – they remain without an education till this day.

    Their residence, which used to be a large two-bedroom
    apartment, is now a small, unfurnished room. They sleep on the floor, hang
    their clothes on a dirty ladder, and have their belongings stored away in
    worn-out cardboard boxes.

    “My children haven’t been to school in almost five years,” the
    mother, Farah Gull, told Khaleej Times.
    “I have knocked on so many doors, asking charities if they can at least help us
    with school, but we were turned away.”

    The family still owes the school, the Pakistan Islamia
    Higher Secondary School in Sharjah, about Dh20,000.

    “My mother died when I was living here illegally, so I
    couldn’t even go to see her one last time. My wife’s parents died and she
    couldn’t go either. It really breaks our hearts,” Ashgar said.

    Going back home to Lahore was not an option for them as the
    parents sold their home and all of their belongings to pay for their failing
    business, rent and school fees.

    Asghar has managed to secure a temporary job at a junk yard,
    where he and his 23-year-old son work as labourers, earning less than Dh500 per
    month.

    “It’s not a life I imagined for myself and my kids, but we
    have to produce some kind of income for the home. I have a wife, three
    daughters and a son that I have to take care of. I refuse to beg on the
    streets, but I will do a job of a labourer if I have to earn cash for my
    family,” he said.

  • The Current’s favourite political gimmicks

    The Current’s favourite political gimmicks

    Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was spotted visiting different areas of Multan as a pillion rider on a motorbike, without any protocol and listening to the problems of his constituents.

    Hardly anyone is not familiar with the lines our political leaders can cross while trying to score attention or approval of the masses.

    Here are four of The Current’s favourite Pakistani political stunts.

    4. Shehbaz Sharif’s overenthusiastic address to party workers:

    Shehbaz and his signature “mic drops”. Here’s a private news channel’s report on it.

    3. Imran Khan burning a utility bill against inflation under PML-N rule:

    Fulfilling his promise to burn his electricity bill at the infamous 2014 sit-in, the PTI chief set fire to a piece of paper on night of his call to celebrate the “Day of Deliverance”.

    2. Sheikh Rasheed on the run across Rawalpindi:

    Despite orders for his arrest, Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed made it to a rally of his supporters in Rawalpindi’s Committee Chowk on a motorbike while beating the cops after him.

    1. Imran’s ‘civil disobedience campaign’ against PML-N government:

    The disobedience movement was a no-confidence public campaign against the government of PML-N. It was launched by the PTI chief in 2014 to protest against the alleged corruption of Sharif family members.