Tag: OIC

  • Hand protecting Imran Khan can be on Opposition’s neck but never in their support, says Sheikh Rasheed

    Hand protecting Imran Khan can be on Opposition’s neck but never in their support, says Sheikh Rasheed

    Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed during a press conference, while taking a jibe at the Opposition, said, “They [Opposition] want that the hand [protecting] Imran Khan should be on their head as well,” adding, ” this hand can be on their [Opposition] neck but never on their head.” Rasheed’s words hint towards the establishment.

    Talking to the journalists, Rasheed said, “If the Opposition goes to International Monetary Fund (IMF) its halal but if Imran Khan does the same its considered haram.”

    “These people went 23 times to the IMF. This time around, the conditions of IMF were pretty tough, hence we were not left with any option but to go to IMF,” said Rasheed.

    Addressing the Opposition, Rasheed said that the Opposition is planning two different long marches toward the capital. He said that the government will provide them the way to continue their march but the Opposition should keep in mind the importance of March 23 and the respect one gives to the country on [the Resolution Day of Pakistan].

    “Important personalities from Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) are coming to Pakistan on March 23 and all eyes from India will be directed towards Pakistan as well,” said Rasheed.

    Accusing the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders of corruption, Raseed said, ” Shehbaz Sharif is more corrupt than Nawaz Sharif,” adding, “I am saying this based on my own knowledge.”

    “I would like to say a historical sentence that all four Sharif’s are minus from the politics of Pakistan,” said Rasheed.

  • ‘Human rights and women rights are different’: PM Khan

    ‘Human rights and women rights are different’: PM Khan

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan during his address at the 17th extraordinary session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) said that human rights and women’s rights are different.

    “We must understand that when we talk about human rights, every society is different, every society’s idea of human rights and normal rights is different,” said PM Khan.

    “The Pakhtunkhawan province, which borders Afghanistan because the culture is similar because there the Taliban are predominantly the Pashtun movement and there are more Pashtuns on our side of the border,” said the premier, adding, “The city culture is completely different from the rural culture.”

    https://twitter.com/mSaleemJaved/status/1472515320850038785

    “Culture in Kabul was always different to culture in rural areas. Just like in Peshawar it is completely different from the culture to the district adjoining the Afghanistan border,” said the prime minister.

    “I will give you an example. We give stipends to the girl’s child parents to put the girls in school but in tribal districts or districts adjoining Afghanistan, if we are not sensitive to the cultural norms of those people, even with stipends they will not send the girls to school,” said the premier.

    “But if we are sensitive to their cultural norms, without stipends they are willing to send their girls to school,” said PM Khan adding, “So this sensitivity I am afraid when we are talking about human rights and women’s rights we have to be sensitive about this.”

    PM Khan’s words received some criticism online.

  • ‘Fighting must stop immediately’: UN Secretary-General

    ‘Fighting must stop immediately’: UN Secretary-General

    UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday called on Israel and Palestine to “immediately end fighting” and return to negotiations.

    “The United Nations is actively engaging all sides towards an immediate ceasefire,” António Guterres added.

    All members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), who participated in an emergency meeting on the situation in Palestine on Sunday, urged Israel not to make demographic and territorial changes in the occupied territory and immediately cease its hostilities.

    Pakistan on Sunday urged the US to play its role in addressing the worsening Palestine crisis and restore peace in the region.

    Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday. They discussed bilateral relations and important regional developments, particularly the deteriorating situation in Palestine.

    The Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in their emergency meeting on Sunday condemned what they described as “barbaric” Israeli attacks on Palestinians and urged the UN Security Council to act swiftly to bring an end to the atrocities.

    The meeting was convened by Saudi Arabia. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi represented Pakistan at the virtual session. He stressed upon the member states that the OIC must not fail the people of Palestine at this critical juncture.

    Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have claimed the lives of 42 more people, taking the death toll to 188. According to Gaza health officials, 16 women and 10 children were killed in the recent air strikes which also targeted the home of a Hamas leader.

  • ‘I am PM of Pakistan and we stand with Palestine’ – PM Khan on Twitter

    ‘I am PM of Pakistan and we stand with Palestine’ – PM Khan on Twitter

    Bloodshed between Israel and Hamas escalated overnight, with at least 35 Palestine Muslims killed in Gaza and five people killed in Israel in the most intensive aerial exchanges for years.

    https://twitter.com/aqadir97/status/1392337789480431619

    Israel carried out hundreds of air strikes in Gaza into the early hours of Wednesday, and Gazans fired multiple rocket barrages at Tel Aviv and Beersheba in response.

    One multi-story residential building in Gaza collapsed and another was heavily damaged after they were repeatedly hit by Israeli air strikes.

    Prime Minister Khan tweeted in solidarity with Palestine, saying “I am PM Khan and we stand with Palestine”.

    As tensions rise between Palestinians and Israelis, the international media, social media noticed that the coverage of the international press was incredibly one-sided.

    Financial times wrote: “Hamas rocket attacks provoke Israeli retaliation in Gaza.”

    The Economist’s headline for the brutality of Israel on the Palestinians was : “Israel exchanges fire with Hamas as tensions in Jerusalem boil over.”

    BBC reported saying, “Pleas for calm as Israel-Gaza violence erupts”.

    The New York Times read: “After raid on Aqsa Mosque, Rockets From Gaza and Israeli Airstrikes”.

    As tensions rose between Palestinians and Israelis, people voiced their concerns and sympathies on social media.

    U.N. Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland tweeted: “Stop the fire immediately. We’re escalating towards a full scale war. Leaders on all sides have to take the responsibility of de-escalation.

    “The cost of war in Gaza is devastating & is being paid by ordinary people. UN is working w/ all sides to restore calm. Stop the violence now,” he said.

    The world reminded the people of Palestine that they are not alone is such devastating times.

    Human Rights Minister in PM Khan cabinet, Shireen Mazari said, “Palestinians prevented from praying in Al Quds mosque & killing of innocent Palestinians in Gaza incl children – & all UN can do is express ‘concern’.”

    ” OIC also needs to move beyond rhetoric on Palestine & Kashmir,” she added.

    However, this has been the heaviest offensive between Israel and Hamas since a 2014 war in Gaza, and prompted international concern that the situation could spiral out of control.

  • Israelis dance as third holiest mosque attacked

    Israelis dance as third holiest mosque attacked

    Israelis were seen dancing and singing in front of the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem while a fire blazed on.

    More than twenty people including nine children and a Hamas commander were killed in Gaza Strip overnight – making it one of the bloodiest days of fighting in several years.

    While Israel continues to bomb Gaza and kill childern, this bloodbath has been the reality of Palestinians under apartheid.

    The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has condemned escalating Israeli aggression and attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque. The meeting of the OIC Permanent Representatives was convened upon the request of the State of Palestine. During the meeting, Pakistan’s permanent representative at the UN also strongly condemned the Israeli aggression.

    Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday strongly condemned the attack on innocent Palestinians by the Israeli forces during the month of Ramzan.

    Last month Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report on how Israel is an apartheid state.

    The report says: International criminal law has developed two crimes against humanity for situations of systematic discrimination and repression: apartheid and persecution. Crimes against humanity stand among the most odious crimes in international law.

    Tensions in Jerusalem have flared since Israeli riot police attacked Palestinian worshippers on the last Friday of Ramazan in the city’s worst disturbances since 2017.

    Nightly unrest since then at the Al-Aqsa compound has left hundreds of Palestinians wounded, drawing international calls for de-escalation and sharp rebukes from across the Muslim world. Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site of Islam.

  • PM Khan urges OIC to oppose Islamophobia at all forums

    PM Khan urges OIC to oppose Islamophobia at all forums

    Prime Minister Imran Khan met the Islamabad-based Ambassadors of countries belonging to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Tuesday, briefing them on Pakistan’s efforts at the international level to create awareness about Islamophobia. He also stressed the need to collectively address the occurrences which surface due to it.

    PM Khan stressed that Pakistan’s efforts were always aimed at building a mutual consensus and promoting inter-faith harmony. He noted that Islamophobic acts fan inter-religious hatred and disharmony. “Falsely equating Islam with radicalism and terrorism was leading to the marginalisation and stigmatisation of Muslims,” he added.

    PM emphasised that the vilification of Islamic principles and religious personalities, wrongly justified under the garb of the right to freedom of expression or opinion, hurts the sentiments of 1.5 billion Muslims around the world. He also underlined the need to establish legal safeguards aimed at protecting the sensitivities of all religious groups and said that the OIC has to make a collective effort to project the true image of Islam, and its message of peace and tolerance.

    This comes after TLP’s demand to expel the French Ambassador, resulting in a security situation in the country.

    Video:

  • VIDEO: FM Qureshi says Pakistan ready to ‘ditch’ Saudi Arabia for Kashmir’s sake

    In what appears to be a major foreign policy shift for Pakistan, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has asked Saudi Arabia-led Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to stop dragging feet on the convening of a meeting of its Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) on the Kashmir issue.

    “I am once again respectfully telling OIC that a meeting of the CFM is our expectation. If you cannot convene it, then I’ll be compelled to ask Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan to call a meeting of the Islamic countries that are ready to stand with us on the issue of Kashmir and support the oppressed Kashmiris,” he said while speaking to a private media outlet.

    When asked if Pakistan will “move forward” with or without Saudi Arabia, the foreign minister said, “with or without…”. In response to another question, he said Pakistan could not wait any further.

    WATCH VIDEO:

    According to Dawn, Pakistan has been pushing for the foreign ministers’ meeting of the 57-member bloc of Muslim countries, which is the second-largest intergovernmental body after the United Nations (UN), since India annexed occupied Kashmir in August 2019.

    Qureshi had at an earlier presser explained the importance of CFM for Pakistan. He had then said that it was needed to send a clear message from Ummah on the Kashmir issue.

    Although there has been a meeting of the contact group on Kashmir on the sidelines of UN General Assembly session in New York since last August and OIC’s Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission has made statements on the rights abuses in the occupied valley, but no progress could be made towards the CFM meeting.

    A major reason behind the failure to call the foreign ministers’ meeting has been Saudi Arabia’s reluctance to accept Pakistan’s request for one specifically on Kashmir. Riyadh’s support is crucial for any move at the OIC, which is dominated by Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries.

    Qureshi said Pakistan skipped Kuala Lumpur Summit last December on Saudi request and now Pakistani Muslims, who are ready to lay down their lives for the Kingdom, are demanding of Riyadh to “show leadership on the issue”.

    “We have our own sensitivities. You have to realise this. Gulf countries should understand this,” the foreign minister said, adding that he could no more indulge in diplomatic niceties.

    “We cannot stay silent anymore on the sufferings of the Kashmiris,” he said.

  • ‘PM Imran leaves Shah Mahmood Qureshi behind on Saudi Arabia trip’

    ‘PM Imran leaves Shah Mahmood Qureshi behind on Saudi Arabia trip’

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, who reached Saudi Arabia to attend the 14th Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit in Makkah last week, reportedly left his foreign minister (FM), Shah Mahmood Qureshi, behind.

    According to journalist Azaz Syed, FM Qureshi was left behind after “he was barred from boarding PM Imran’s special flight due to lack of space”.

    “The FM had to make alternate arrangements,” the journalist claimed in a tweet which has not yet received an official reaction.

    While sources have also confirmed the episode to The Current, they clarified that the FM wasn’t offloaded, but told beforehand to arrange his own trip since there wasn’t enough space in the premier’s aircraft.

    Earlier, a meeting of the OIC countries’ foreign ministers preceded the heads of states session to finalise the draft for ‘Makkah Memo’ that was presented and approved at the conference.

    FM Qureshi represented Pakistan at the meeting after managing to reach the Kingdom on time.

    The summit convenes every three years to make decisions about how to confront and contain conflicts and crises in Muslim-majority countries. This year, the conference focused on challenges faced by the Muslim community as it enters a new era with the aim to reach a unified stance.

    ‘WIDENING RIFT IN PTI’:

    The journalist’s claim regarding the FM being left behind comes two days after Federal Minister for Science & Technology Fawad Chaudhry hinted at a “cold war going on within the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)”.

    In an interview to a private media outlet, Fawad had mentioned interference of non-elected people in the affairs of the government. “At times, some important decisions are taken and we don’t even know. I still believe that we have some political weaknesses in decision-making,” he had said.

    FM Qureshi had earlier made headlines after an exchange of heated arguments with PM Imran’s close aide and former PTI secretary general, disqualified Jahangir Khan Tareen.