Tag: Prime Minister Imran Khan

  • Gen Bajwa ‘summoned’ PTI ministers, ‘advised’ replacing Punjab, KP CMs: journalist

    Senior journalist Najam Sethi has claimed that Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa recently “summoned” six cabinet ministers of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and put forth three topics for “some plain talking”.

    While the veteran journalist did not name the ministers, according to him, the PTI government’s “abysmal performance” was discussed as what was hurting the image of the military and other bigwigs.

    Sethi claimed that removal of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) chief ministers (CMs), and the need for the federal government to constitute a more efficient and credible team “at least for putting the economy on track”, was also discussed.

    “Time’s running out, he implied darkly,” the journalist claimed in his The Friday Times editorial.

    “As a consequence of such ‘advice’, Imran Khan has blithely sacked Nadeem Babar and Hafeez Shaikh, even though he was lauding their singular expertise not so long ago. Indeed, he had pitched Mr Shaikh to the Senate so that he could continue as full-fledged minister of finance.”

    He further wrote, “Some more chopping and changing is on the cards. But given Imran Khan’s track record of picking his political teammates, we shouldn’t expect any qualitative improvement in performance.”

    Sethi also opined that change in Punjab, in particular, “would be a hard bone to swallow”.

  • Cabinet rubbishes ECC approval to resume cotton, sugar import from India: report

    Cabinet rubbishes ECC approval to resume cotton, sugar import from India: report

    A meeting of the federal cabinet chaired by Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has rejected the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approval to import cotton yarn and white sugar from India, reports quoted sources as saying.

    A day earlier, the ECC had approved two summaries of the commerce and textile ministry to lift ban on import of cotton and white sugar from India.

    According to reports, there were 21 items on the agenda of the ECC meeting to be chaired by newly appointed Finance Minister Hammad Azhar. Commerce and Textile divisions had submitted five crucial summaries for approval besides others.

    At the agenda no. 16, the Textile Division summary sought permission from the ECC to lift ban on import of cotton and cotton yarn from India in a bid to bridge raw material shortfall for the value-added textile sector.

    In addition to this, another summary of the commerce ministry at agenda no. 20 also sought permission to allow import of white sugar from India through the Trading Corporation of Pakistan and commercial importers.

    The resumption of import of these goods was expected to lead to partial revival of trade relations. On Aug 9, 2019 Pakistan downgraded trade relations with India in reaction to the latter’s decision to revoke Article 370 of its Constitution that granted occupied Kashmir a special status.

    In May 2020, Pakistan lifted the ban on import of medicines and raw material from India to ensure there is no shortage of essential drugs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This was the first step of reversing of complete suspension of trade with India.

    However, Indian premier’s letter to Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Pakistan Day was the first step in the right direction amid reports of UAE Royals brokering peace.

    On Tuesday, PM Imran replied to Modi’s letter, saying Pakistan also desired peaceful relations with India.

    “The people of Pakistan also desire peaceful, cooperative relations with all neighbours, including India,” he said in his reply.

    “I thank you for your letter conveying greetings on Pakistan Day.”

  • VIDEO: PM admits flouting COVID-19 SOPs, which led to him getting infected

    VIDEO: PM admits flouting COVID-19 SOPs, which led to him getting infected

    Disclosing how he got infected during the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic in Pakistan, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has admitted flouting SOPs during the recently-held Senate elections.

    Saying that the third wave of COVID-19 was more severe than any previous ones, the premier, in a televised message, urged people to strictly follow government-issued SOPs as the country could not afford complete lockdown.

    “We should strictly adhere to the SOPs, including wearing masks and avoiding gatherings as we did in the past,” he said and added that the number of COVID-19 patients was rising at a very fast pace.

    Admitting he flouted SOPs during the upper house polls and that was how he and the first lady got infected, the premier said both his wife and him, with the blessings of Allah, were now feeling much better.

  • Irresponsible? COVID-infected PM Imran spotted in meeting ‘with media team’

    Irresponsible? COVID-infected PM Imran spotted in meeting ‘with media team’

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, who tested positive for COVID-19 last week, was on Thursday spotted holding a meeting with his “media team”.

    In a picture tweeted by Information Minister Shibli Faraz, the premier was seen sitting with him as well as Senator Faisal Javed Khan among others.

    Netizens reacted to the picture rather strongly over the fact that the picture showing infected PM with at least seven others was taken in the midst of a global pandemic.

    As a result, Senator Faisal Javed, who had also tweeted the same picture, deleted it. He, however, retweeted a party worker, saying that the premier was “doing well” and “holding meetings following [coronavirus] SOPs”.

    https://twitter.com/FaisalJavedKhan/status/1375031814998405121

    When approached for a comment over the potential risk the meeting posed to the health of attendees, premier’s digital media aide Dr Arslan Khalid said that he wasn’t part of it so couldn’t exactly comment on the duration of the meeting or what kind of precautions were taken.

    “But from the released pictures it appears that doors and windows of the room were open with at least 10 feet or more distance between participants and the PM, that too with everyone in masks.”

    To a question regarding sharing such pictures with media considering the third wave of COVID-19, he said public messaging was very important and it should have been avoided. “Even though all SOPs must have been followed, a picture alone can’t convey all details,” he added.

    Speaking to The Current, one of the attendees of Thursday’s meeting, Senator Faisal Javed, said that it was likely that the premier contracted the virus while holding meetings with parliamentarians ahead of Senate elections.

    “This means that it remained undetected but it has been quite a lot of days since he got infected and is probably healthy now.”

    When asked as to what message the picture sent to the nation at a time when awareness on social distancing and isolation needs to be raised during a deadly third wave of the virus, the senator said that to him it showed how SOPs were being followed and the premier was still working.

    It merits a mention that PM Imran had tested positive for COVID-19 last Saturday. However, reports suggest that he had been showing symptoms for quite some time.

  • Pakistani who attacked French magazine’s office says PM Imran, Khadim Rizvi influenced him

    Pakistani who attacked French magazine’s office says PM Imran, Khadim Rizvi influenced him

    The Pakistani man who attacked the former offices of French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, last September was radicalised by videos of preachers in his home country and anti-France demonstrations at the time, AFP reported, citing a local newspaper.

    According to Le Parisien, police investigation has revealed the 26-year-old had spent the days leading up to his knife attack watching extremist preachers on YouTube and TikTok denouncing France and Charlie Hebdo.

    “I couldn’t eat. I was crying watching the videos,” Zaheer Hassan Mahmood told investigators.

    Weeks before, the magazine had republished sketches of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), which were considered blasphemous by Muslims, to mark the start of a trial of men linked to a 2015 attack on its offices.

    Mahmood said he did not realise the magazine had moved offices after the 2015 attack and presumed the two people he slashed with a meat cleaver were employees of the publication, the report said.

    Both victims, who worked for a TV production company with no links to Charlie Hebdo, sustained serious injuries.

    Mahmood, from the village of Kothli Qazi in Punjab province, had entered France with false papers showing him as an unaccompanied minor, enabling him to claim asylum.

    Islamist groups organised demonstrations in Pakistan in September against Charlie Hebdo and French President Emmanuel Macron, who defended freedom of expression and blasphemy, which is legal in France.

    Mahmood watched videos by Khadim Hussain Rizvi, the late founder of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party, and other radical preachers.

    He was also influenced by Prime Minister Imran Khan, who accused Macron of “attacking Islam”, the newspaper said.

    Blasphemy is a criminal act in Pakistan, where laws allow death penalty for anyone deemed to have insulted Islam or Islamic personalities.

    Mahmood said he initially intended to damage the office building, rather than attack people, and has offered to apologise to his victims.

    Investigators have found a video he sent to a friend the day before his attack which called for the decapitation of blasphemers, and he received a call from Greece the same day which appeared to refer to a pre-meditated assault.

    He has been charged with “attempted murder with relation to a terrorist enterprise”.

  • ‘Apni dukaan pr baith k ehtijaaj kaisay karoo?’: Firdous Ashiq on not getting paid

    Special Assistant to Punjab Chief Minister (CM) on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan has revealed that she is not getting paid.

    “How can I protest at my own shop?” she said when suggested to do so by host Muhammad Shoaib during a rather light-hearted interview that aired on Wednesday morning.

    Firdous and the host were seen having quite a day with jet-skiing among other water-related activities in Karachi.

    The government official was also spotted sailing a boat and taking digs at the opposition alliance, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHu2TG4dnkA

    “It has run out of fuel like the PDM,” she could be heard as telling the host when her jet ski stopped working.

    Firdous also spoke about how Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan didn’t have any favourites, she wanted to do parasailing but the winds were too strong, and she has been quite a lot into water sports since forever.

  • Modi writes to Imran with ‘desire for cordial relations with Pakistani people’

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said to Prime Minister Imran Khan that “as a neighbouring country, India desires cordial relations with the people of Pakistan”.

    The above was said in Modi’s Pakistan Day message to the premier, wherein he extended his greetings to the people of Pakistan who celebrated the anniversary of the Lahore Resolution across the country.

    The message was conveyed to PM Imran by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad through the Foreign Office (FO).

    “For this, an environment of trust, devoid of terror and hostility, is imperative,” Modi said in the message. He also sent his wishes to the prime minister and the people of Pakistan, who were facing a “difficult time for humanity” due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

    “Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration,” the message concluded.

    Modi’s comments come days after Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, speaking during the Islamabad Security Dialogue, said that lasting peace in the sub-continent will remain elusive until the resolution of the Kashmir issue, stressing that it was time for Pakistan and India to “bury the past and move forward”.

    The army chief had noted that stable Indo-Pak relations were the key to unlocking the potential of South and Central Asia by ensuring connectivity between East and West Asia.

    But this potential has always remained hostage to the disputes and issues between the two “nuclear neighbours”, he said.

    “The Kashmir issue is obviously at the heart of this. It is important to understand that without the resolution of Kashmir dispute through peaceful means, [the] process of sub-continental rapprochement will always remain susceptible to derailment due to politically motivated bellicosity.”

    “We feel it is time to bury the past and move forward,” he said, adding that the onus for meaningful dialogue rested with India. “Our neighbour will have to create a conducive environment, particularly in occupied Kashmir.”

    It is worth mentioning here that recently Bloomberg reported that the government of United Arab Emirates (UAE) was facilitating the development of a four-step “roadmap for peace” between Pakistan and India.

    The report cited the surprise joint statement by directors general of military operations (DGMOs) of Pakistan and India on February 25, that agreed to end Line of Control (LoC) ceasefire violations (CFVs) as the outcome of the talks brokered by the Emirati government months earlier.

    The report also stated that progress on the Pakistan-India “peace” process had been discussed during Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed’s meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during the former’s visit to New Delhi on February 26.

  • Twitter blunder: PTI dates Lahore Resolution (1940) as a 1947 event in Pakistan Day post

    Twitter blunder: PTI dates Lahore Resolution (1940) as a 1947 event in Pakistan Day post

    In yet another Twitter blunder from political quarters, the official Twitter handle of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday-Tuesday midnight mistakenly dated the Lahore Resolution of 1940 as a 1947 event, which was passed seven years before actual independence.

    “23rd March: Pakistan Resolution Day Back in 1947, our ancestors resolved on this day to lay the foundation of Pakistan. On this day, once again we resolve to save our homeland from corruption and rebuild Pakistan!” read a tweet that was deleted after netizens pointed out the blunder.

    Here’s the new tweet:

    LAHORE RESOLUTION:

    The Lahore Resolution was a formal political statement of declaration of independence of Pakistan adopted by the All-India Muslim League on the occasion of its three-day general session in Lahore from March 22–24, 1940.

    The resolution called for independent states as seen by this statement:

    That geographically contiguous units are demarcated regions which should be constituted, with such territorial readjustments as may be necessary that the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in a majority as in the North Western and Eastern Zones of (British) India should be grouped to constitute ‘independent states’ in which the constituent units should be autonomous and sovereign.

    Today marks 81 years since its adoption that was followed by creation of Pakistan seven years later in 1947.

  • Ignore conspiracy theories; get vaccinated!

    Prime Minister Imran Khan and First Lady Bushra Bibi tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday. They are both self-isolating at home and are feeling “comfortable with mild symptoms” according to government spokespersons.

    the news of PM Imran testing positive was announced by Dr Faisal Sultan on Twitter, we saw that a lot of people started questioning the efficacy of the coronavirus vaccine as the premier had just been administered the first dose two days ago.

    It also led to a lot of conspiracy theories. In a country where the anti-vaxxers have led a vicious campaign against polio drops, it is extremely crucial that these myths be busted. Thus it was good to see the Government of Pakistan’s official social media accounts as well the Ministry of National Health’s social media account give a clarification about the vaccination process.

    They tweeted that PM Imran “was not fully vaccinated when he contracted the virus”. They explained that he only got the first dose merely two days ago, which is too soon for any vaccine to become effective. They also clarified that anti-bodies develop 2-3 weeks after the second dose.

    We have seen the mistrust surrounding the global pandemic in our country. When the pandemic broke out, many people bought into the false theories that this was some kind of conspiracy by the west. Then we saw how many people refused to follow SOPs like wearing masks because they thought it was just a “flu”.

    It was only when a strict lockdown was imposed and when we saw deaths around the world that it was taken seriously. Luckily, Pakistan managed to control the virus after the first wave. When lockdowns were relaxed, we saw another wave, though that too was relatively controlled. Now there is a third wave and this time the UK-variant, which is said to be quite deadly, has also been found in the country. The government has started a vaccination drive for the elderly — those who are above 60 are eligible and need to register themselves to get the vaccine.

    While many people have opted to get themselves vaccinated, there is still hesitation among some. And when the PM got COVID-positive, just two days after his first vaccine dose, it led to some unbelievable theories.

    The government has so far countered the false propaganda about vaccines but it should also start countrywide awareness campaigns busting these myths.

    We hope that all those affected by coronavirus remain healthy. Our prayers are with the PM and First Lady as well as all patients. And we hope that all those who are eligible for vaccination do get vaccinated at the earliest.

  • Modi, Bilawal, Tariq Jamil among others wish PM Khan a swift recovery

    Prime Minister Imran Khan on March 20 tested positive for COVID-19. According to details, the premier is suffering from ‘mild symptoms’ and is self-isolating at home. PM Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi has also tested positive for the virus.

    Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan, while talking to the media, said that they “are monitoring his clinical parameters, and medical treatment will be given to him if required.”

    “Right now, there is no need for any treatment, as such,” added Dr Sultan.

    Soon after the news of PM Imran testing positive spread, prayers started pouring in for his speedy recovery. Among those who sent him good wishes include Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, Maulana Tariq Jamil, PPP co-chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal.

    “Best wishes to PM Imran for a speedy recovery from COVID-19,” said PM Modi.

    “Our thoughts and prayers are with him during this time of difficulty,” said PM Rajapaksa.

    “May Allah grant him full and speedy recovery,” said Maulana Tariq Jamil.

    PPP’s BBZ and Sherry Rehman and PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal also prayed for the PM’s swift recovery.

    PM Khan’s former teammates Wasim Akram, Ramiz Raja and Waqar Younis also prayed for his swift recovery.