Self-exiled journalist Ahmad Noorani has alleged that the newly appointed Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi has “a long-standing hatred for Imran Khan.”
In a vlog, Noorani discussed the political situation of Pakistan, especially the recently passed 26th Amendment and the appointment of a new CJP.
“Justice Yahya Afridi has many qualities, but the most significant trait that brought him the appointment of CJP was his hatred for Imran Khan,” claimed the journalist.
Ahmad Noorani also claimed that Justice Yahya’s bias against Khan is long-standing, but the reasons remained unknown.
Justice Yahya Afridi, who was nominated by a Special Parliamentary Committee (SPC) last week, took oath as the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) on Saturday.
Following the passage of the 26th Amendment, the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) will now be “appointed on the recommendation of the Special Parliamentary Committee from amongst the three most senior” SC judges.
Previously, the president used to appoint the CJP based on the seniority principle, according to which Justice Mansoor Ali Shah would be the next CJP.
Social media teams associated with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) have come under vehement criticism by former Minister and ex-member of the party, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain.
Appearing on Samaa’s programme, Mere Sawal with Absar Alam, the former Information and Broadcasting Minister, stated that YouTubers like Adil Raja, a former army major who is now pro-PTI, have earned 50,000 pounds using Imran Khan’s name in their vlogs within just two months.
“Adil Raja has nothing to do with PTI, and he is not even associated with PTI,” Fawad said.
Criticising PTI’s social media cell, he declared that one person is operating 30 social media accounts from Germany and London. “Un ki wajah se hum is condition mein hain.”
“Pseudo PTI’s social media cell is even playing in the hands of foreign intelligence agencies like India’s RAW and banned outfit Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA),” Hussain alleged.
He said that multiple pseudo-PTI YouTubers had harshly criticised journalists and Generals in Pakistan, which ultimately led them to turn against PTI.
The leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf showed a clear divide following Hussain’s harsh comments on advocate Salman Akram Raja last week.
“Salman Akram Raja has been Nawaz Sharif’s lawyer from Panama until now. Who are the rest of these people,” Chaudhry Fawad Hussain asked, “The establishment has put us in jails and imposed its representatives on the party. As long as Imran Khan is in jail, they have a political life; when Imran Khan comes out from behind bars, they won’t even be visible,” Ch Fawad Hussain said on X (formerly Twitter).
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) magazine Unipath lauded the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir as a “forceful voice against violent extremists.”
The magazine stated that the General will be remembered as a leader whose foremost commitment resides in the security, stability and prosperity of Pakistan.
The article highlighted Gen Asim’s role in counterterrorism efforts, including his stance on fifth-generation warfare and capability to respond to foreign aggression, as well as socioeconomic measures.
“Gen. Asim Munir has taken decisive action against Tehrik-i Taliban Pakistan (TTP) within Pakistan, known as Fitna al Khawarij. Under his leadership, through July 2024, 22,409 intelligence-based operations have been conducted against terrorists and their facilitators. They eliminated 398 terrorists, including 31 high-value targets,” the article stated.
It also quoted Gen Asim’s speech to a jirga in Peshawar on August 7, 2023, in which the Gen remarked: “There is no option for these terrorists except to submit to the writ of the state of Pakistan before they are decimated if they persist on their wrong path.”
It also mentioned that the Pakistan Army, under Gen Asim’s leadership, is fully prepared to defend the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the motherland.
The Unipath magazine article highlighted how Pakistan’s “sovereignty was challenged on January 16, 2024, when Iran carried out a series of missile and drone strikes within Pakistan’s Balochistan province resulting in the deaths of two innocent children.”
“To express its resolve and redeem its stature, on January 18, Pakistan conducted a meticulously planned and precisely targeted series of military strikes based on credible intelligence against terrorist hideouts in the Sistan-o-Baluchistan province of Iran. This operation, codenamed Marg Bar Sarmachar, resulted in the elimination of several terrorists,” stated the magazine.
It also applauded the Chief’s role in trying to improve the economic conditions of the country through the initiative of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) and the Green Pakistan Initiative for job creation and economic development.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, over 60 democratic lawmakers of the United States House of Representatives called on US President Joe Biden in a letter to use Washington’s leverage with Pakistan to secure the release of incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan.
“We write today to urge you to use the United States’ substantial leverage with Pakistan’s government to secure the release of political prisoners, including former Prime Minister Khan, and curtail widespread human rights abuses,” the letter read.
PTI leader Qasim Khan Suri has been actively campaigning to engage with US lawmakers as he took to X to post: “Thank you, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, Congresswoman Cori Bush, for supporting human rights & democracy in Pakistan and calling for the release of political prisoners including former Prime Minister Imran Khan.”
Random scrolling on Instagram sometimes lands you in the right spot. It happened with me when I saw Asad Monga’s post about having participated in the SCO Summit as a chef.
It was fascinating how he introduced himself as a boy from Karachi whose love for cooking weathered all the seasons of his life and took him to the corridors of power.
In his Instagram post, Asad shared his insights about Culinary Diplomacy and his experience at SCO in these words: “The SCO summit was a warm display of Pakistan’s efforts to welcome global leaders with our hospitality and show our willingness towards stronger regional ties and a better Pakistan. Maybe if we are to consistently soften our image on the global stage, the first foot forward is Culinary Diplomacy and Hospitality.”
Asad was summoned by the government of Pakistan to assist with the Dinner & Lunch service carried out for world leaders at the SCO summit in Islamabad. It was such a moment that he had to document it all on his account with a behind-the-scenes photo dump, giving credit to all those who helped him in the process.
Asad is otherwise known for culinary retreats to understand seasonality in Pakistan and explore the use of fresh produce to curate meals.
Asad Monga on his culinary retreats
I sent him a message, and after a delay of some days, he replied. He was kind enough to actually explain to me the work environment of a kitchen, which he described as “an activity of trouble-shooting”. The reason behind this is that they are working with hands, and things are constantly changing as it involves too many variables, which one needs to keep in check, yet it is not something you cannot control. “We were doing a 15-16 hours shift in a day,” Asad told me.
His reasoning for making this a career left me in awe as he delineated that he decided to go for culinary arts as a subject to study for his undergrad because he wanted to do something with his hands. I did my A-levels from Karachi, and when everybody was deciding where to go for college, “I didn’t want to do a traditional degree, so I thought I wanted to do or learn something from my hands, and I wanted to have a skill-based profession. So I applied for culinary school, and I did a degree program in Kuala Lumpur and France,” Asad said, adding that he had completed his initial training and internships there as well. After his arrival back in Pakistan, he has been associated with different kitchens ever since 2011.
This got me to ask him how his experience of over a decade landed him this opportunity. To this, he replied that he was recommended by Okra- his previous place of work, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry reached out to him, and he put together a team to accompany him to Islamabad. In the capital, they collaborated with the team at Serena Hotel, where they prepared a nice mix of dishes, keeping in mind the sensitivities of global leaders.
With utmost modesty, Asad gave credit to his team, describing that it was “a full team effort,” as he was just a part of this big machinery, and he considers himself lucky to have been selected for this job.
Asad with the team at Islamabad’s Serena Hotel
Speaking about his team, Monga introduced me to two other chefs, one from Karachi and the other from Lahore. Ramsha is from Karachi, and she runs a restaurant called d.brew’d on I. I Chundrigarh road. Another team member was Rabia from Lahore, who runs a restaurant called For the Table. “My team helped me execute all the things to the level I wanted and our stakeholders were expecting of us”. Asad said emphatically.
Speaking on behalf of the team, he said, “We had a great time and had lots of learning, considering it was such a high-profile event. So many little things needed to be taken care of, which was a great information knowledge for us.”
Shedding light on his experience at the Serena Hotel, Asad recalled it as something that stood out for him in this journey. “What stood out for me was the team at Serena and how committed, professional and welcoming they were,” he mentioned exuberantly. He elaborated this by saying that this is usually not the case when you enter somebody else’s kitchen.
Asad Monga at Serena Hotel for SCO Summit 2024
Famous chef Julia Child once said no matter what happens in the kitchen never apologize but most of all I was interested in knowing all the details from inside the kitchen so I asked Asad about the menu and all thay transpired in the kitchen.
The menu has a mix of some Pakistani food and some international food. About the spice content and the making of the dishes, he commented, “Of course, we had to keep in check all the sensibilities of the global leaders that were coming in.” He further added that he and his team kept a nice mix of dishes in the overall menu which required the spices to be kept at a “base level” which means neither high nor low but flavourful.
The food they made was a mix of some Pakistani, Asian and Western food. There were Mutton Chops and Keemay-walay Naan for Pakistanis and salmon to add a touch of Continental. Asad very interestingly pointed out how some indigenous dishes were recreated for the occasion. For example, they made a Dao Dao Soup, which is a Hunza special.
He recounted how the dessert was specially made, keeping in mind the time of the year, which is the fall season. It had stewed apples with peanut butter cream and some dehydrated apple flowers on top of the apple crumble. “This was a play on apple crumble,” he ingeniously pointed out. “It’s funny, this was the first dessert I ever made, and I got an opportunity to serve it on such a big platform,” he added further.
Last but not least, Asad Monga stressed how this experience changed his perspective on the people in the government. “You know, you always have a stereotypical image in your head about the people working in the government, and that was completely changed for me as I saw some really capable, hardworking, accountable, responsible people working for the foreign office and beyond. They had a very invested outlook and they were very keen because the image of Pakistan is on the line,” he emphasized while adding that this was his first experience of seeing things up close.
Praising his collaborators further, he said that they were really hospitable towards his team. “I was feeling happy and proud that these people were given the charge to execute this kind of function.”
Talking to him transported me to the world of Ratatouille, and I was no less than Linguini. Meanwhile, him having the calmness of Gusteau, the sharpness of Colette and the passion of Remy. It is such an enviable combination for a chef to have and all that a culinary artist aspires for.
Justice Yahya Afridi, who was nominated by a Special Parliamentary Committee (SPC) last night, is set to take oath as the next chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) on Saturday.
Following the passage of the 26th Amendment, the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) will now be “appointed on the recommendation of the Special Parliamentary Committee from amongst the three most senior” SC judges.
Previously, the president used to appoint the CJP based on the seniority principle, according to which Justice Mansoor Ali Shah would be the next CJP.
Since the new CJP is here, let’s take a look at some of his famous cases.
Some important decisions of Justice Yahya Afridi
In 2018, Justice Yahya Afridi was the head of the special bench in the treason case against the dictator Pervez Musharraf. However, he recused after some time after Musharraf’s lawyer objected to his inclusion, saying Justice Afridi was former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry’s lawyer.
In 2020, Justice Yahya rejected Justice Qazi Faiz Isa’s plea against the infamous Presidential Reference against him, saying the fundamental rights of a sitting judge would remain eclipsed so far as their enforcement was not in consonance with the terms of his oath of office. However, he endorsed the quashment of reference by disposing of other petitions moved by a number of bar councils and bar associations.
In 2022, he supported the issuance of show cause notice to Imran Khan in the May 25 Long March case of Tehreek-e-Insaf when it was accused of allegedly flouting a May 25 order of the apex court that defined the limits for the party’s ‘Azadi March’ gathering in Islamabad and thereby committing contempt of court. A five-member SC bench, in a 4-1 split decision, instead sought a reply from Imran on the matter before deciding to issue him a notice.
In 2023, a five-judge bench, which included Justice Yahya, declared that the trial of civilians in the military courts was unconstitutional in May 9 cases.
In the Punjab/Khyber Pakhtunkhwa election case, the petitions were dismissed as pending in the High Court.
In April 2024, he also recused himself from the infamous six IHC judges’ letter to the Supreme Judicial Council case.
In the reserved seat case of SIC-PTI, he supported the position of Tehreek-e-Insaaf by giving a similar position as the other 8 judges on the bench but opposed it due to some other legal issues. And he also wrote his dissenting note in the decision related to the case.
Justice Yahya Afridi was also part of the 9-member larger bench of the Supreme Court on the presidential reference against the execution of former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
Justice Yahya Afridi declined to join the three-member judges committee of the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Ordinance 2024.
India is likely to support Pakistan’s bid to join the BRICS bloc, an alliance that challenges the economic monopoly of the West, Indian media has reported.
Indian media has speculated that following Russia’s influence on India, News Delhi may vote in favour of Pakistan joining the BRICS.
“One of the key takeaways of the summit is likely to be India’s green signal to Pakistan’s long-pending bid for membership in the bloc,” ABP Live reported.
Pakistan applied for membership in BRICS in August 2023; following this, other countries, Turkiye, Azerbaijan, and Malaysia, also formally applied to become members of the bloc.
It should be mentioned here that a new member of BRICS was added only after the consensus of the bloc members, and India has remained defiant in giving assent to Pakistan joining the BRICS bloc over the past years.
The chances only brightened after Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexei gave public support to Pakistan’s membership in BRICS during his visit to Islamabad in September, Dawn News observed.
What is BRICS?
BRICS stands for countries’ names: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
The group started in 2006, and Brazil, Russia, India and China convened for the first BRIC summit in 2009. However, South Africa joined on 24 December 2010.
BRICS in 2023 extended the invitation to Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates after these countries applied for membership.
Two dozen world leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, attended the opening of the BRICS summit on Tuesday.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin hosted the BRICS summit, which is in progress in Russia’s third largest city, the southwestern city of Kazan and will end on October 24.
Senator Faisal Vawda has said that former Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) chief General (r) Faiz Hameed will face court martial and the punishment he deserves, come what may.
“He [Faiz] will not only be court-martialed but will also be sentenced,” Vawda said while appearing on Samaa’s Nadeem Malik Live.
“Others will also be punished,” Vawda added.
He went on to point out the rift between leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and said that a “forward bloc had already formed within the party”.
Responding to senior journalist and analyst Nadeem Malik’s question about who was going to be the leader of PTI’s forward bloc, Vawda said that it was exactly what the intra-party dispute was about. “Selection has already been done,” he claimed.
Faiz’s Court Martial
Lt Gen Faiz Hameed was arrested on charges of abusing his powers and raiding a private property development business during his time as head of the ISI. He led the ISI during founder PTI Imran Khan’s administration, from 2019 to 2021, before taking early retirement in December 2022.
According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, court martial proceedings against the former spymaster were initiated based on “concrete evidence” following a detailed probe.
In a 48-minute media briefing last month, the ISPR chief had said that Gen Faiz’s court-martial was an example of the military’s self-accountability.
The authorities in Adiala Jail Rawalpindi have disclosed the food which is being serving to the incarcerated founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan in jail, Geo News has reported.
The Adiala Jail authorities, in an official statement, claimed, “Khan’s breakfast consists of coffee, chia seeds, beetroot juice, yoghurt, chapati, biscuits and dates. For lunch, he is served traditional curry, local chicken, chapati, salad, green tea, and mutton.”
“Dinner includes porridge, coconut, coconut juice and grapes, all prepared under the supervision of an assistant superintendent,” jail authorities added.
They further stated that Khan’s professional cook, under strict supervision, prepares meals as per his choices in jail.
The clarification came after Barrister Gohar Khan, following his meeting with Khan in Adiala Jail, had mentioned alleged mistreatment towards the deposed Prime Minister.
Barrister Gohar had also alleged that electricity supply to Imran Khan’d cell was suspended for five days and that he was allowed only two and a half hours out of his cell.
In a historic yet controversial move, the coalition government successfully passed the 26th Amendment on the dawn of October 21, aimed at judicial reforms, with the Prime Minister calling it a “historic achievement.”
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Nawaz Sharif was also present on the floor of the National Assembly. However, instead of giving a long speech, the former Prime Minister recited a couplet to express his feelings.
Addressing the floor, he said, “The suffering I’ve been subjected to at the hands of judiciary can only be described through this poetry: Naazo Andaaz se kehte hain ke jeena hoga, zehr bhi dete hain tu kehte hain ke peena hoga, jab main peeta hu tu kehte hain ke marta bhi nai aur jab main marta hu tu kehte hain ke jeena hoga.”
Nawaz sat down after reciting the stanza amidst smiles from lawmakers. However, in a funny turn of events, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) chief Maulana Fazal ur Rehman, while laughing, addressed the floor: “ You [Nawaz Sharif] have quoted wonderful poetry, but you’ve made a mistake. The word ‘tu’ should never be added for emphasis because then the poetry gets ruined.”
The bill was initially presented in the National Assembly during a late-night session beginning at 11:36 PM, but it was extended past midnight, and the bill was finally passed at 5 AM.
The coalition government required 224 votes to pass the bill. As the voting began, 225 MNAs supported the motion, with 12 members from the PTI and the SIC opposing the motion.
After the coalition government succeeded in getting the 26th Constitutional Amendment bill passed from both houses of the parliament on October 21, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) followers on social media expressed disappointment with party leadership.
Meanwhile, PTI’s official X handle posted pictures of two senators, Faisal Saleem and Zarqa Taimoor, and six MNAs with the caption, “They took votes from the people in Imran Khan’s name and sold their vote to the same mafia against whom the people gave him a mandate! These traitors will be counted among the darkest characters in the history of Pakistan!”
PTI has publicly called out six MNAs: Aurangzeb Khaji, Mubarak Zeb, Usman Ali, Zahoor Qureshi and Chaudhry Ilyas. However, PTI fans have pointed out at the fact that Zain Qureshi, the son of incarcerated PTI leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi, should also be named.
Zain Qureshi had been incommunicado since last week with his sister expressing concerns on X about his disappearance. She took was called out by PTI followers on social media asking why her concerns came to light this late.
PTI MNA Zain Qureshi posted a clarification video on his X handle early in the morning, emphasising that he is not going to vote for the government’s proposed bill.
However, it seems his clarification does not have any weight in front of his followers with all the comments criticising him for his alleged betrayal.
One user pointed out that a government-affiliated account by the name ‘Farhan Virk’ posted Zain Qureshi’s video on X (formerly Twitter) 22 minutes before Zain himself.
Meanwhile, PTI leader Sher Afzal Marwat claimed last night, “Nine lawmakers have been sold, five have come forward, four have been sold on reserve money. Their price was set around a billion rupees per person. Asif Zardari has paid them.”
