Tag: PDM rally

  • PDM announces nationwide protests against inflation from October 20

    PDM announces nationwide protests against inflation from October 20

    Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Monday announced countrywide protests against rising inflation and poor economic policies from October 20, reports Dawn.

    Speaking to the media after the PDM meeting, Maulana Fazl said that the nation is suffering due to high inflation, adding that the PDM stands with the public shoulder to shoulder.

    “Rallies and demonstrations will begin from the district level while all PDM component parties will meet at the provincial level. PDM will lead rallies and demonstrations, stand shoulder to shoulder with people and get them their due rights,” Maulana Fazl said.

    “We will go a step further and hold wheel-jams and long march, but step by step,” he said and also called for fresh general elections in the country.

    “We are not discussing local bodies polls – the main issue is holding of free and fair general elections in the country. There is no reason of holding local government elections when there is no legitimate government in the country,” said Maulana Fazl.

  • Nawaz Sharif modifies milli naghma to make a point against establishment

    Nawaz Sharif modifies milli naghma to make a point against establishment

    At the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) jalsa in Karachi on Sunday, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif blamed “a few hundred thousand” of hijacking the country’s democratic system. Sharif was addressing the PDM jalsa from London via video link.

    Nawaz vowed he would not stay silent anymore.

    Reciting a few lines from the milli naghma (national song) ‘Yeh watan tumhara hai’, Nawaz Sharif changed a few lines to: “Yeh watan tumhara hai, hum hain khawamkhah iss mein [This country is yours and we are living in it for no reason].”

    “Ai chand lakh logo, yeh watan tumhara hai, baaqi 21 crore hain khawamkhah iss mein [Dear few lakh people, this country is yours, the rest of the 21 crore people are living here for no reason],” further added Nawaz.

    “It’s a crime to stay silent under the current circumstances,” said Nawaz.

    “A few generals and elite of the society have made this democratic system a hostage. We remained silent when the elected prime minister was thrown out. We stayed silent when votes were snatched and blue-eyed people were imposed over the country to rule. We stayed silent when honest and God-fearing judges were implicated in false cases,” said Nawaz.

    The PML-N leader said, “We stayed silent when the RTS [results transmission system] collapsed [in 2018 elections] and we stayed silent when the country’s poor segment of society was deprived of food. Now you have to decide that whether you want to stand with those who are suffering and scared or with those who raise their voice against injustice.”

  • PDM to march on Islamabad on March 26, yet to decide on mass resignations

    Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has decided to march on Islamabad on March 26 after a six-hour-long meeting in Islamabad.

    The anti-government alliance announced this decision while talking to the media after the PDM huddle. PDM chief and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) head Maulana Fazlur Rehman said the opposition parties will contest the upcoming Senate elections on a joint platform.

    He also said that the parties have decided to contest the Senate elections together and will not go against each other’s candidates. “Our candidates will be jointly decided,” he said.

    He further said that the movement opposes the open ballot method of Senate polls and nomination of former judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, retired Justice Sheikh Azmat Saeed as head of Broadsheet committee.

    There were reports that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was reluctant to resign from the assemblies. And it seems the PDM has yet to take a decision on that.

    Earlier this month, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had said that the opposition should bring a no-trust vote against Prime Minister Imran Khan to send his government home. His remarks had prompted a strong response from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), with its leader Ahsan Iqbal asking the PPP chairman to show the numbers.

    Subsequently, Asif Ali Zardari had to step in and assured that all options were on the table. The PPP will send the “failed and incompetent” government home by all means, said the PPP co-chairman. Zardari said the government will have to go home as its “inexperience and ineptness might plunge the country into a bigger crisis”.

  • ‘Kids half Imran’s age giving him sleepless nights’

    ‘Kids half Imran’s age giving him sleepless nights’

    Recalling that Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan had dismissed her and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari as “kids”, Maryam Nawaz of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has said that the same are now giving the premier “sleepless nights”.

    “These kids are half your age but they are turning you around their little finger [and] have given you sleepless nights,” she said as leaders of the 11-party opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) on Sunday gathered in Larkana on the occasion of the late ex-PM Benazir Bhutto’s 13th death anniversary for another power show as part of its anti-government protests.

    According to Dawn, Maryam once again hit out at the government over inflation and allegedly hiding behind the establishment, telling PM Imran he was not fighting the PDM but the entire population of Pakistan.

    “Your war is not with PDM but with the 220 million people of Pakistan whom you have struck like lightning,” she said while addressing the premier, adding that the people had “won” this war.

    Maryam said when Bilawal was unable to attend the PDM rally in Mardan, PM Imran was “jumping around with elation” believing there had been a rift within the opposition. She alleged he will say the same about today’s rally which Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman did not attend.

    She alleged that whenever these “kids” called him out, Prime Minister Imran hid behind his “elders” and asked them to rescue him.

    “These kids’ biggest qualification is that the people of Pakistan are standing with them,” she said, adding that the premier’s alleged dream of creating a rift within the PDM “will never be fulfilled”.

    The PML-N leader paid tribute to Benazir’s struggle for democracy, recalling that the Charter of Democracy signed by her father Nawaz Sharif and Benazir “wasn’t just a few pieces of paper; this was a decision for turning the course of Pakistan’s political history that I, Bilawal and all of Pakistan’s political leadership will take forward and advance”.

    She said when the PPP government was formed in 2008, many elements wanted it to be brought down but Nawaz “crushed that suggestion even within his own party” and favoured allowing the government to complete its tenure.

    “When political parties started completing their terms, some forces to whom ‘divide and rule’ suited started getting restless. Then we saw [former ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja] Pasha set up a party by collecting political trash named the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, and that party was then used in dharnas and conspiracies against your elected government,” Maryam alleged.

    She said while politicians were given death sentences and faced character assassinations, those who committed much severer offences such as “breaking the country and the Constitution, losing Siachen and the Kashmir cause, violating one’s oath to interfere in politics, having political rivals killed, and committing corruption worth billions” were not held accountable.

    “But remember, ideology cannot be hanged or exiled,” she added.

    Accusing former military ruler retired Gen Pervez Musharraf of being “the murderer of the Constitution and of Benazir Bhutto”, she said no one even talked about bringing him back to the country.

    “The court that sentenced Musharraf to death [in the high treason case] was hanged itself,” Maryam alleged.

    She said although Musharraf could not return to the country, the “brave decision” of the judge who led the bench that handed guilty verdict to him, late Peshawar High Court chief justice Waqar Ahmad Seth, to uphold the Constitution “will not only be remembered by the Pakistani people but also kept alive”.

    Maryam also thanked the people of Sindh for their hospitality and Bilawal and his family members for welcoming her early in the morning at their residence in Naudero.

    Earlier, Bilawal also delivered a fiery speech wherein he criticised the government and its policies among accusing it of rising to power with the support of the security establishment.

  • Lahore admin puts 13 more localities under ‘smart lockdown’

    Lahore admin puts 13 more localities under ‘smart lockdown’

    Amid an increase in the number of coronavirus cases in the city, the district authorities have decided to impose “smart lockdowns” in 13 more areas of Lahore in a bid to contain the virus.

    Meanwhile, Pakistan reported 71 deaths and 2,700 cases as the infections continue to peak across the country.

    According to a notification issued by the Punjab Primary & Secondary Health Department, smart lockdowns with “controlled entry and exit points” have been imposed in several localities of the provincial capital.

    Due to the lockdown, all types of gatherings, including social and religious ones, will be completely banned. On the other hand, medical services, pharmacies, laboratories, collection points, hospitals, and clinics will remain open 24 hours a day.

    Shops selling essential items, including milk shops, meat shops, and bakeries will remain open from 7 am to 7 pm, as per the notification. The grocery stores, general stores, flour mills, fruits and vegetable shops, and petrol pumps will remain open from 9 am to 7 pm, it added.

    According to the notification, smart lockdowns will be imposed in the following areas of Lahore due to a high number of COVID-19 positive cases.

    Khucha Mission Das, Mian Wacho Wali Street, Rang Mehal; Street No 7, Androon Sheran Wala Gate; Street Adjacent to Fazal Sweets, Mochi Gate; Street Kosha Alam Yar, Androon Bhatti Gate; Main Street H No.100 near Butt Sweets, Chuhan Road, Islamia Park; Street 61, Almadad Pak Colony, Ravi Road; Tufail Street, Kila Lakshman, Ravi Road; St#3, Ravi Road, St#13 Kasur Para, Ravi Road; Main Street, Moh Khokhar Road, Badami Bagh; Street No 6, Data Nagar, Badami Bagh; St No7-A Siddiaqia Colony, Badami Bagh; St No 3, Mohalla Kachi Abadi, Iqbal Park, Badami Bagh.

  • ‘Great debut’: Aseefa impresses Farhan Saeed, Momina Mustehsan

    ‘Great debut’: Aseefa impresses Farhan Saeed, Momina Mustehsan

    Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari’s maiden address at the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) jalsa in Multan, which was seen as the formal entry into politics by the daughter of the late former PM Benazir Bhutto and ex-president Asif Ali Zardari, has left people impressed. While followers of the party have made that clear on social media, others have also admired the budding politician.

    Among those who lauded Aseefa are singers Farhan Saeed and Momina Mustehsan.

    “Great Debut,” said Farhan, while sharing a picture of Aseefa on social media. “Any day a better choice to lead PPP.”

    Similarly, Momina welcomed Aseefa into the political arena and hailed it as a big win for women in Pakistan.

    “The hearts and spirits of many young women all over Pakistan must have been reignited seeing more females step into leadership positions in a male-dominated political arena,” said Momina. “Here’s welcoming Aseefa. More power to you!”

    Earlier, Ali Tareen, who is the son of Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s close aide and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) bigwig Jahangir Tareen, was offered to join the PPP in response to a tweet calling Aseefa “pretty cool”.

    Aseefa was filling in for her coronavirus positive brother PPP chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari at the PDM jalsa in Multan. Many said she reminded them of her mother Benazir.

    At the jalsa, Aseefa delivered a short and brisk speech. She vowed to stand by her brother “every step of the way”.

    She began her speech by heaping scorn on the “selected” government. “Despite the cruelty and oppression by the selected [government], so many of you have gathered here. This selected [government] will have to go!”

    Speaking about her mother, she said Benazir had carried on her father’s mission — to establish a welfare state — and faced several setbacks.

    “[Former] president Asif Zardari introduced the 18th Amendment and BISP [Benazir Income Support Programme] and fought for the people’s rights,” she said and promised supporters that she would continue their mission and would not back down.

    “They think that we are afraid of arrests. If they arrest our brothers, then they should know that every woman of PPP is ready to take up the struggle,” she said.

    Meanwhile, Ahmed Ali Butt said that Aseefa’s entry “looks like Game of Thrones Season 6, Episode 1”.

  • Newlyweds in Multan walk 6km due to PDM jalsa roadblocks

    Newlyweds in Multan walk 6km due to PDM jalsa roadblocks

    A newlywed couple on Monday had to walk six kilometres due to road blocks due to the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) jalsa in Multan.

    According to reports, the couple were at Lodhran’s Dunyapur tehsil when they encountered several barriers with police and other security personnel, asking them to stop their vehicle. The groom with his ‘barat’ had to park their cars on the side of a road from where they went to their destination on foot. 

    Shipping containers and heavy vehicles were parked at different spots around Multan as a security measure, while mobile phone services were also suspended inconveniencing locals.

  • PTI’s Shahbaz Gill criticises Bakhtawar Bhutto’s engagement’s invitation

    With the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) insisting that they will go ahead with the Peshawar jalsa as planned on November 22, despite a sharp increase in cases of COVID-19, Special Assistant to PM on Political Communication Dr Shahbaz Gill has accused opposition parties of not caring about the lives of ordinary people.

    Taking a dig at Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari’s upcoming engagement, Dr Gill shared a picture of the invitation card and said: “For Bakhtawar’s engagement, you need a mandatory COVID-19 test report or you will not be allowed to enter Bilawal House. But you call ordinary citizens to your jalsas and put them at risk.”

    “These are those people who consider the public to be less than them,” added the SAPM.

    Bakhtawar will be getting engaged to Mahmood Choudhry on November 27 at Bilawal House in Karachi. All guests attending the ceremony have been requested to get tested for COVID-19 and send the results via e-mail.

    “All attendees are requested to please email a scanned copy of their negative COVID-19 PCR test result 24 hours prior to attendance. This is a mandatory requirement for security clearance,” the invitation reads.

    The guests have also been asked not to bring mobile phones with them due to security purposes.

    “Please note — no photography or mobile phones will be permitted inside the venue and photographs will be available for all guests through our official photographer.”

    “We thank you in advance for adhering to our safety protocols to keep you and your loved ones safe, and enable us all to enjoy the occasion,” it added.

    The couple will reportedly tie the knot in January 2021 in Karachi.

    Meanwhile, it is being reported that Bakhtawar is looking to recreate her mother Benazir Bhutto’s Nikkah look for her engagement.

  • PML-N’s Azma Bokhari reveals Maryam Nawaz’s hotel room number during a terror threat

    A day after the Balochistan government requested the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to postpone its rally in Quetta due to terror threats, the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N)’s former member of the Punjab provincial assembly (MPA), Azma Bokhari posted a video on social media revealing Maryam Nawaz’s room number and suite name. While shaking the door handle of the room, next a sign which clearly states the name of the suite and the number, Azma says, “…yeh lock aur darwaza InshaAllah salamat rahe ga, agar kisi ko adventure karne ka shauq hai tou hum yahan hi hain” (this room is locked, and if anyone wants to have an adventure, we will be waiting right here).

    The National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) has issued a terror threat for Peshawar and Quetta, saying that banned militant outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is planning terrorist activities in the two cities. The statement reads that the TTP is aiming to target religious and political parties in possibly bomb attacks or suicide bombings.

    Azma Bokhari seems to be alluding to the recent arrest of Captain Safdar from his hotel room in Karachi, suggesting that the workers of the party are on high alert and will be there to counter any potential ‘middle of the night’ arrest in Quetta.

    The PML-N former MPA was previously involved in another ‘video war’ with members of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, over the price of aata in her area.

    PDM lead by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam’s Maulana Fazalur Rehman, PML-N’s Maryam Nawaz and the Pakistan Peoples Party’s Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, has done two successful jalsas, one in Gujranwala and another in Karachi but there is some speculation about cracks within the opposition.

  • Rana Sanaullah booked in attempted murder case

    Rana Sanaullah booked in attempted murder case

    Gujranwala police have booked Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders Rana Sanaullah, Khurram Dastgir, and Imran Khalid Butt for allegedly trying to run over police officials after they asked the politicians to stop their vehicle.

    The first information report [FIR] was registered on the complaint of a sub-inspector at Satellite Town police station. According to the FIR, four PML-N supporters attending the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) Gujranwala public meeting on October 16 attempted to hit the police personnel with their vehicle.

    Earlier in the day, Gujranwala police booked at least Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) members over violation of coronavirus SOPs during its power show in the city last week.

    The case registered at the Civil Lines police station against the PDM workers alleged that the political workers flouted measures put in place to contain COVID-19 and also blocked roads.

    Last week, the joint opposition held its first rally in Gujranwala as it kicked off its anti-government drive. The rally was termed by the opposition a resounding success, but the government called it a flop show.

    Police had also booked over 100 people, including internet service providers, sound system organisers and residents in at least seven FIRs [First Information Reports] for violating coronavirus guidelines ahead of the gathering in Gujranwala.