In yet another incident of miscalculation, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said that Pakistan enjoys the support of 58 member countries of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) against Indian actions in held Kashmir, while the global rights body only has 47 members.
“I commend the 58 countries that joined Pakistan in Human Rights Council on 10 Sept reinforcing demands of int community for India to stop use of force, lift siege, remove other restrictions, respect & protect Kashmiris’ rights & resolve Kashmir dispute through UNSC resolutions [sic],” the premier tweeted Thursday.
I commend the 58 countries that joined Pakistan in Human Rights Council on 10 Sept reinforcing demands of int community for India to stop use of force, lift siege, remove other restrictions, respect & protect Kashmiris’ rights & resolve Kashmir dispute through UNSC resolutions.
He also welcomed “the EU’s call in the Human Rights Council for a peaceful solution of the Kashmir dispute in line with UNSC resolutions, int law and bilateral agreements”.
I welcome the EU’s call in the Human Rights Council for a peaceful solution of the Kashmir dispute in line with UNSC resolutions, int law and bilateral agreements.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar also made the same mistake and said that Pakistan has the support of 58 member countries.
Twitterati, however, didn’t spare the premier. Expectedly, within a short time, several people started pointing out the error and poking fun at him. Here’s what they tweeted:
Isn’t the UN Human Rights Council made of 47 countries? However, there are 58 countries that PM wants to thank. I think he is counting the djinns too.. https://t.co/uD8OSAF2sm
Previously, PM Imran had found himself in a similar soup when, at a conference, he said that Germany and Japan are immediate neighbours who share a border.
“Germany and Japan killed millions of their civilians until after the Second World War when they decided that they would have, on the border region of Germany and Japan, joint industries,” he had said.
Acclaimed writer and son of Indian journalist Tavleen Singh and former governor Salmaan Taseer, Aatish Taseer has written a controversial piece for Vanity Fair. From interviewing PM Khan’s former wife Reham Khan to singer Ali Zafar, Taseer is being severely criticised for writing a puff piece with quotes from an ex-wife and a singer accused of sexual harassment.
Aatish Taseer
The Current decided to sum up the major points from his article.
1. Pakistan’s first lady Bushra Bibi has two jinns
According to a journalist who has not been named, Bushra Bibi, known as “Pinky Peerni” has two jinns and when people seek her guidance, she asks them for “great vats of cooked meat,” that she “fed to the jinns she has kept at her disposal”.
Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi’s Nikkah – Feb ’18
2. Khan married Bushra Bibi because of a dream
When PM Khan sought guidance from Bushra Bibi, according to Taseer, she told him that she had had a dream and according to the dream, “it was imperative he be married to the right woman—i.e., a member of Maneka’s own family.”
Taseer then relates that Bushra “offered her sister to Khan,” as well as her daughter. PM Khan refused and “then Maneka went away to dream again…and the voice in her head told her that she, Bushra Maneka, a married woman and a mother of five, was the wife Imran Khan needed.”
According to the article, Bushra Bibi’s husband Khawar Maneka, “agreed to give her a divorce,” so she could marry Khan.
Imran Khan pictured in Bani Gala in 2012
3. “I have seen women from the age of just 6 to 60 going crazy over him”
Long-time friend Yousaf Salahuddin tells Taseer that Khan was a very wanted man in his younger days and girls as young as six years were crazy about him. This quote was inserted in a paragraph that describes Khan as a sex symbol.
4. Zulfi Bokhari refused to give Taseer an interview with Khan
Taseer said that he approached close aide and Special Assistant to the PM on Overseas Pakistanis, Zulfi Bokhari to set up an interview with PM Khan. But “when I spoke to Zulfi Bokhari, a frequenter of nightclubs from the London days… he sought assurances that my piece would be positive; otherwise, he told me, it would be his a** on the line. A few days later, Bokhari WhatsApped me: “Unfortunately the PM has said he can’t do it right now. Perhaps in the near future.”
5. Khan was envious of Benazir’s death
Taseer writes that when Benazir Bhutto died in 2007, Khan came to Pakistan a few days later “with a French girlfriend” and had been “photographed poolside in swimming trunks as his country was engulfed in trauma”.
Imran Khan sunbathing at Godrej bungalow at Juhu in Mumbai on 28 Dec. 2007
Taseer also mentions the time when he met Khan alone after BB’s death, Khan said that God had saved Benazir. Khan said that BB, in making a deal with General Musharraf had done, “the most immoral thing you could have done. So this thing has come as a blessing for her.” Taseer asked Khan what he meant by “this thing” and Khan replied, “Death,” as a matter-of-fact. Then, with what sounded almost like envy, he added, “Benazir has become a martyr. She has become immortal.”
6. Khan identified himself as a “liberal”
In a discussion with singer Ali Zafar, Khan said that he was “a liberal” and said about his “right-wing” tilt that, “you just can’t talk about those issues so openly, because you’re going to be penalized for it.”
Khan told Ali that “You know me…I’m a liberal; I’ve got friends in India; I’ve got friends who are atheists. But you’ve got to be careful here,” meaning Pakistan.
Social media had mixed reactions to Taseer’s account.
That Vanity Fair article was less about Imran Khan and more an excuse for Aatish Taseer to name-drop how many of the rich and privileged he knew.
Ppl outraging over this need to: a) read Vanity Fair to understand their brand of interviews/profiles — its not an academic journal, folks; and b) need to finally come out as ‘Insafians’ of the youth variety
I’m not sure why there is so much backlash against this piece @AatishTaseer piece from both pro and anti-PTI people. I think it is well written and has some important insights: https://t.co/fDQ6tiJUzx
Beautifully written but really, after being in the politics for over two decades, should we be concerned about Imran Khan’s past or worry about the future he has planned for this country? https://t.co/YgkMlX0JX3
Amid reports claiming that Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar will soon be sacked by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, his spokesperson, Dr Shahbaz Gill, has resigned from office.
“I hereby resign from the post of official spokesperson to Punjab CM,” Gill stated in a handwritten note submitted to the office of the provincial chief executive.
Initially, Gill did not cite any reason behind his abrupt decision, however, reports quoted the former spokesperson as saying that “it was difficult for him to defend the poor performance of the Punjab government”.
In a tweet posted earlier in the day, Gill had said that he would be sharing an “important decision” very soon.
This morning took an important decision. Inshallah will share with you soon.
The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) increased 2.2 per cent on a weekly basis, data released by the central bank has revealed.
According to The Express Tribune, the reserves had earlier spiralled downwards, falling below the $7 billion mark, which raised concern over Pakistan’s ability to meet its financing requirements. However, financial assistance from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia and other friendly nations helped shore up the foreign exchange reserves.
On September 6, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $8,462.3 million, up by $181.8 million compared with $8,280.5 million in the previous week. The central bank cited official inflows as the reason for the increase in reserves.
Overall, liquid foreign currency reserves, held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $15,751.7 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $7,289.4 million.
Pakistan received the first loan tranche of $991.4 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on July 9, which helped bolster the reserves. Previously, the reserves had jumped on account of $2.5 billion in inflows from China.
Over time, the declining reserves have forced the central bank to let the rupee depreciate massively, sparking concern about the country’s ability to finance a hefty import bill as well as meet debt obligations in coming months.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is facing massive criticism from prominent South Asian lawyers, human rights activists and philanthropists in the United States (US) after it announced to honour Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi with an award, The Guardian reported.
According to the details, the foundation is said to give Modi “The Global Goalkeeper” award for his “Clean India Programme” under which millions of toilets were set up and benefits of sanitation and hygiene were publicised.
Reacting to the news about the award, a group of South Asian Americans working in philanthropy on Tuesday wrote an open letter to the Gates Foundation, alleging that Modi had effectively confined millions to their communities.
The letter also urged the organisation to rescind the award.
“For over a month now, PM Modi has placed 8 million people in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) under house arrest, blocked communications and media coverage to the outside world, detained thousands of people, including children, and denied basic benefits,” said the letter.
The award comes amid growing criticism of detention and deportation of Muslims in Assam and Kashmir and human rights violations in IoK since August 5 under Modi’s rule have made front pages around the world.
While Modi’s government claims that the programme has given 90% of Indians access to clean toilets, press reports suggest otherwise. Reports claim that many of the newly-built toilets remain unused because of poor access to water and caste rules that restrict people from cleaning them.
Former prime minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has apologised to the nation for having appointed Justice (r) Javed Iqbal as the chairman of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), The News reported.
A jurist and professor of law, Iqbal has served as a senior justice of the Supreme Court (SC). He was appointed as the NAB chief on October 8, 2017, by then Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government led by Abbasi.
“The name of NAB chairman had come from Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the appointment was made with consensus,” the former premier said in an informal talk with media outside an accountability court Thursday.
The PML-N leader said the “main aim of NAB was to break the PML-N” and questioned the bureau’s actions for having “instituted the case after arresting an ex-PM”.
Abbasi said he was accused of using a vehicle of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the PM and had he knew about such allegations beforehand, he would have hired a tonga or taxi for reaching the PM Office.
“NAB is conducting investigation against me and remand is also continuing for 55 days, but it doesn’t know anything about the case,” he said further.
Earlier in the day, an accountability court extended the physical remand of former PM Abbasi and former finance adviser Miftah Ismail in the LNG case. Both the leaders were presented before the court that approved NAB’s plea for remand extension and asked it to present the suspects once again on September 26.
Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal made a rather outlandish comment on Wednesday. He said that “maths never helped Einstein discover gravity”.
Mr. Goyal was rubbishing TV reports that India’s economy wasn’t doing well given the statistics about India’s economic growth.
“Don’t go by all these calculations you see on TV, that if the country has to become a $5 trillion economy, it will have to grow at 12% but right now it is currently growing at 6-7%,” said Mr. Goyal.
“Don’t get into those maths; those maths never helped Einstein discover gravity,” Mr. Goyal added. “If he had only gone by structured formulae and what was past knowledge, I don’t think there would have been any innovation in this world.”
Twitter had a field day following these remarks. Many were quick to point out that Einstein indeed didn’t discover gravity; it was Newton!
With the Islamabad High Court (IHC) set to hear former prime minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s appeal against his conviction, an analyst has claimed that “a deal has been struck” and the former “will soon be leaving the country”.
Earlier this week, IHC constituted a two-member bench to hear the appeal filed by Nawaz against his conviction in the Al-Azizia reference. The bench, comprising Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, will hear the appeal on September 18.
This will be the first hearing of Nawaz’s appeal since the controversy regarding the leaked video of accountability court judge Arshad Malik surfaced in July.
The video, purportedly showing the judge “confessing” that he had convicted Nawaz under duress, was made public by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President (VP) Maryam Nawaz.
Malik had in December 2018 sentenced the former premier to seven years imprisonment in Al-Azizia reference. After the removal of the judge over the controversy, IHC had ordered to attach Malik’s affidavit with Nawaz’s plea against his sentence.
Amid rumours that a deal was being struck between the government and jailed Nawaz, analyst and former Balochistan government adviser Jan Achakzai has claimed that the former PM and his daughter will soon be leaving the country.
BREAKING:
Deal is done as earlier I claimed.
Nawaz Sharif will be flying out of the country after bail.
Maryam Nawaz will likely join him.
Big hurdle in front of stressed Govt is almost over.
Expect Interesting political roller coaster and fireworks after November.
“Deal is done as earlier I claimed. Nawaz Sharif will be flying out of the country after bail. Maryam Nawaz will likely join him. Big hurdle in front of stressed govt is almost over. Expect Interesting political roller coaster and fireworks after November [sic],” he tweeted.
Amid heightened tensions and Narendra Modi-led Indian government’s threats of “invading” Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) region of the country, Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat has said his “troops are ready to make the territory a part of India”.
“Indian troops are ready to retrieve Pakistan occupied Kashmir and make it a part of India, but it is the government which takes decisions in such matters,” Gen Rawat said while speaking to an Indian news agency.
He said that the institutions of the country will work as per the orders of the government, but the army is always ready.
WATCH VIDEO:
#WATCH Army Chief, General Bipin Rawat on Union Minister Jitendra Singh’s statement, “Next agenda is retrieving PoK & making it a part of India”: Govt takes action in such matters. Institutions of the country will work as per the orders of the govt. Army is always ready. pic.twitter.com/RUS0eHhBXB
Earlier, a similar statement was made by Indian Union Minister Jitendra Singh, who had said that after the abrogation of Article 370 in India Held Kashmir (IHK), the next agenda of the government was to “retrieve Pakistan-administered Kashmir”.
Singh, however, was brutally trolled by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General (DG) Major General Asif Ghafoor, who suggested him “to consult Indian Air Force (IAF) before taking any such steps”.
He had ridiculed the Indian minister while mentioning failed Indian airstrikes from February 2019, which resulted in two IAF jets being shot down by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and capture of pilot Abhinandan Varthaman.
Excise and Taxation Officer (ETO) Masood Bashir Warraich, who conducted a raid on Lahore’s Café Aylanto, has been made an Officer on Special Duty (OSD), The News International reported.
According to reports, the development comes days after he raided the elite restaurant on MM Alam Road for allegedly allowing its customers to consume alcohol.
The raiding party, led by Warraich and Model Town assistant commissioner, had claimed recovering imported liquor from the restaurant. But interestingly, the FIR [First Information Report] did not include the restaurant owner’s name and only 13 employees — mostly waiters — were arrested.
Warraich had earlier been accused of deliberately delaying the renewal of liquor licences of four hotels in Lahore after their managements allegedly refused to pay him 30 per cent commission from daily liquor sales.
“I am being accused of corruption just because I implemented the rules,” Warraich said while rejecting the claims, adding that before he took charge, all four hotels were selling over 100,000 liquor bottles each illegally every day which reduced to about 8,000 each after he intervened.
“Rumours about my character are being spread by the liquor mafia to discredit me.”
Meanwhile, an Excise Department official has claimed that Warraich’s transfer is not linked with last week’s raid. “The summary for the transfer of the ETO was sent three days prior to the raid,” reports quoted the official as saying.
