A meeting of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) core committee was held on Monday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan in which ruling party members discussed the ongoing political situation in the country. The meeting took place in the wake of the no-confidence motion which is likely to happen next week.
After the meeting, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said PTI rejected the Opposition’s “lotacracy” and their efforts to bribe its party lawmakers. He claimed that PTI MPAs are being offered millions of rupees and all party members have strongly condemned this unethical act.
Fawad said that the “mother of all jalsas” will be held in Islamabad.
Taking a jibe at Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) “Awaami March”, he said that those who are bringing a limited number of supporters should now know that PTI is the only federal party and PM Khan is the only federal leader and this is the reason why their “kaanpein tang rahi hain.”
“All party members, including the lawmakers, believe that only Khan can rule the country during these challenging times,” he said, adding that the recent public gatherings held at various locations in the last few days have once again proved that PTI is a “federal party and not a divisional party”.
A senior police officer confirmed that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Member of National Assembly (MNA) Jam Karim Jokhio has obtained bail before arrest, reports Dawn.
Karim was nominated along with his brother Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Jam Awais Jokhio in the murder case of Nazimuddin Jokhio who was found tortured to death at Awais’ farmhouse earlier this month.
Currently, Awais is under police custody.
The officer, who wished not to be named, told Dawn that the police was trying to frame Jam Karim’s role in the alleged kidnapping and murder case of Nazim.
However, in the preliminary investigation, it was revealed that Nazim was tortured to death for recording MPA Jam Awais’ hunting expedition of a highly rare bird species along with his Arab guests.
The victim’s family has also accused the MPA and his henchmen for torturing Nazim to death.
Nazim Jokhio’s brother Azam, while talking to BBC Urdu’s Riaz Sohail, revealed: “I blindly trusted Jam Awais and took my brother Nazim to meet him and he [Jam] returned my brother in kafan (shroud).”
Jokhio, the youngest one of his siblings, was allegedly tortured to death for recording Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MPA Jam Awais’ hunting expedition of a highly rare bird species along with his Arab guests.
Azam told the media outlet that after repeated calls from Jam’s people, he asked his brother to delete the video. He said he was not “afraid”. After this, Jam’s manager reached their home and asked for Nazim.
“My brother had refused to go with him but I insisted,” he said while adding that he had been elected a member of the district council and he had confidence in them.
Upon reaching, Jam’s people started torturing Nazim with sticks and butts of the gun.
“I pleaded in front of him [Jam] and apologised but he didn’t listen and said that you have insulted my guests. They kept beating him and locked him in a room. They asked me to leave and come in the morning. At 5am, I got the news that they had beaten him to death”, Azam said.
MPA Sindh Assembly along with two suspects, Haider and Mir Ali, have been remanded to police custody for three days.
During the hearing, the investigation officer informed the court that the prime suspect had surrendered to the police. Later, the judge ordered to present a progress report in the case at the next hearing and granted a three-day remand to the police.
Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah had also taken notice of the incident.
Islampura police on Wednesday registered a case against a senior leader of the PML-N for allegedly torturing and thrashing a lady police constable on the premises of an accountability court.
According to a local media outlet, the police nominated PML-N leader Tanvir Chaudhry in the first information report on the complaint of anti-riot force constable Anam Fatima.
She alleged the suspect tried to enter the premises of the accountability court along with five unknown women without seeking permission. As she and her colleague Sonia Ashraf tried to stop them, Tanvir Chaudhry got furious and slapped her.
The FIR stated that he and the unidentified women then thrashed her publicly, Anam alleged and added the attackers also hurled threats at her.
However, conflicting reports claim that the police arrested another PML-N MPA, namely Tanveer Bibi, for slapping the lady constable and registered a case against the lawmaker after approval from the Punjab Assembly speaker.
Meanwhile, a police official has confirmed to the media that the matter had been referred to the investigation wing for further action against the suspects.
Later, Tanvir Chaudhry’s son took to Twitter and said: “Incompetence at its peak! Punjab government lodging an FiR against my father who is not even in Pak[istan] & @Dawn_News, @dawn_com incompetence at its peak putting up wrong picture and writing an article on a man who’s not been in Pak[istan] for 6months.”
“Going for a defamation suit against both,” he added.
Incompetence at its peak!Punjab government lodging an FiR against my father who is not even in Pak & @Dawn_News@dawn_com incompetence at its peak putting up wrong picture and writing an article on a man who’s not been in pak for 6months. Going for a defamation suit against both. pic.twitter.com/KKwvTzfMWk
Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Rukhsana Kausar has tabled a resolution in the provincial house of Punjab seeking a ban on beard styling and action against men with fashionable beards as well as their barbers.
According to Kausar’s resolution, beard is the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and legislation to decide strict action against those who shape beards in fashionable styles is needed.
The resolution contends that any kind of styling of the beard is a “grave sin”, and it is an “insult to the beard”. The resolution calls for strict action against those “who make fun of beard”.
“When I see youngsters on the streets and in the markets with different designs of beard in the name of fashion, I feel hurt, because that is against the teachings of Islam,” she told a private media outlet.
Federal Minister for Science & Technology Fawad Chaudhry has also reacted to the resolution in the Punjab Assembly.
یہ خاتون سپر مسلمان بننے کی دوڑ میں سب کو پیچھے چھوڑ گئی ہیں، کیسا کیسا ہیرا بیٹھا ہے ایوانوں میں ان کے ہوتے ہوئے اسلام کو کسی بیرونی سازش سے کوئ خطرہ ہی نہیں۔۔ خود ہی کافی ہیں۔۔۔ pic.twitter.com/H9ZPFMZDnN
This is not the first time that beard designing has been a priority of the ruling elite as barbers have time and again been “strictly barred” from styling customers’ beards in different shapes or clipping them into designs in areas of rural Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan.
KP police in Shabqadar tehsil of Charsadda had in 2019 detained at least four barbers for styling customers’ beards during an unofficial ban imposed by a local traders’ union that had termed such beards “un-Islamic”.
Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Attaur Rehman has been accused of raping, recording and blackmailing a university student in Multan, The Express Tribune has reported.
According to reports, the Punjab Assembly lawmaker was sexually assaulting the girl for over 11 months and was blackmailing her on the basis of the video he had recorded of the victim’s ordeal.
The police, under political influence, initially refused to lodge a complaint despite repeated attempts made by the victim, reports said and added that she was a first-year student at National College of Business Administration & Economics (NCBAE) in Multan.
Due to studies, she relocated from Lahore to Multan over a year ago and had been working at Pakistan Human Development Foundation (PHDF), a local non-government organisation (NGO) run by the accused lawmaker.
The accused took her to an undisclosed location, around 11 months back, in the guise of office work, where he allegedly raped and filmed her.
Rehman later threatened her of dire consequences if she refused to obey him.
The victim has filed an application with a local magistrate for her medical examination and attached medical records of the hospital she was recently admitted to after sodomy.
A video of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA Haleem Adil Sheikh, wherein he is proudly presenting the party’s “sariyay [iron rod] wala seth“, went viral over the internet on Saturday.
The video shows Adil using the term to refer to his colleague and Sindh Human Rights Focal Person Mir Iftikhar Ahmed Khan Lund.
Earlier this month, Lund’s appointment by the Human Rights Ministry had sparked a debate on social media since he is accused of violating his driver by inserting an iron rod into his rectum.
“The poor don’t matter to them…” Adil says while criticising an unnamed entity in the video breaking the internet. “The thing is if they learn their lesson with batons… it’s good… [else] we have sariyay wala seth with us now,” he says as he holds Lund’s hand and the entire room breaks into laughter.
WATCH VIDEO:
PTI leader Haleem Adil Sheikh introducing the party’s leader in Ghotki and ‘human rights adviser’ Iftikhar Lund as “Sarye (iron rod) Wala Seth”. Iftikhar Lund faces charges of torturing his employee by shoving an iron rod into his rectum. Video via Rab Nawaz Baloch pic.twitter.com/5CA7g1HefO
According to a Human Rights Ministry notification dated July 10, Minister Shireen Mazari appointed Lund as a focal person on the issues of human rights in Sindh.
“He shall assist the office of the federal minister on the issues of human rights while keeping liaison with relevant stakeholders,” the notification read.
While the appointment is “purely voluntary without the ministry bearing any expenses”, the news took the internet by storm owing to the gross violation allegedly committed by Lund in April.
THE ASSAULT:
As per the details, a van driver named Allah Rakhio was allegedly assaulted and meted out inhumane punishment in Sindh’s Ghotki district on the orders of his employer, Lund, and his three relatives.
According to the victim’s son, Zahid Hussain Rakhio, his father had a disagreement with Shafiq Lund, following which he was called to Iftikhar’s residence where he was mercilessly beaten up by Shafiq, Rafiq Lund and Mumtaz Ali Lund in Iftikhar’s presence.
Injured Rakhio called Hussain, who took him to the hospital, where he received eight stitches on his private parts. A video of Rakhio lying on his back on a stretcher and narrating his ordeal was also widely shared over the internet.
FIR AGAINST LUND:
A First Information Report (FIR) against Iftikhar, Mumtaz, Shafiq and Rafiq on the victim’s complaint was filed at the Khanpur Mahar police station.
The FIR was filed under sections 324 (attempt to commit qatle amd), 355 (assault or criminal force with intent to dishonour a person), 147 (punishment for rioting) and 143 (punishment for being a member of unlawful assembly).
Hussain claims that police have not yet made any arrests and are trying to brush the incident under the carpet, while party sources say the issue was resolved in an out of court settlement as the driver forgave Lund and his accomplices.
