Tag: protest

  • Imran warns of protests if Chief Justice Pakistan given extension

    Imran warns of protests if Chief Justice Pakistan given extension

    Chairman Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan has warned of a nationwide protest if the government attempts to extend the tenure of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faiz Isa.

    The former Prime Minister has said that protests will be held if the CJP-led bench fails to implement the verdict on reserved seats.
    The former premier alleged that the CJP and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) worked together, with the military supporting them, while talking to the media in Adiala jail.

    Mr Khan further said: “All these things have been witnessed in Pakistan as well. Before elections, a crackdown was launched against the PTI on the pretext of May 9 violence”, while terming the situation in Pakistan worse than Bangladesh.

  • Vegetable, fruit prices soar by 150 per cent amid strikes, sit-ins

    Vegetable, fruit prices soar by 150 per cent amid strikes, sit-ins

    The prices of vegetables and fruits have increased by 150 per cent as strikes by trade organisations and sit-ins by political parties in the country take hold.

    Roads in Balochistan have been closed since the past four days to impede the Baloch Yakjehti Council from holding a large gathering in Gwadar, hindering goods-carrying vehicles. Consequentially, the prices of vegetables and fruits in Quetta has risen by 100 to 150 rupees per kilogram.

    Okra, previously retailing for Rs 150 per kilogram, has risen to Rs 400, tomatoes have increased from Rs 80 per kilogram to Rs 140, pumpkin has risen from Rs 120 to Rs 200 per kilogram, while peaches have increased from Rs 100 to Rs 250 per kilogram, and apples have also seen a price increase of Rs 100 per kilogram.

    On the other hand, despite the end of the transporters’ strike across Punjab, traders have been exploiting the situation, driving up food prices even further. Shopkeepers, however, are now reportedly selling spices at more reasonable rates.

    According to citizens, rice and pulse prices have increased by 20 per cent in the market due to the strike. They are calling on the government to reduce food prices.

  • Petrol pumps going on nationwide strike from July 5

    Petrol pumps going on nationwide strike from July 5

    The Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association has decided to close petrol pumps across the country starting from 6 am on Friday, July 5.

    The strike was announced after negotiations between the Association and the government fell apart.

    A delegation from the Pakistan Petroleum Dealers Association held meetings with the Finance Minister, Chairman of FBR, and Chairman of OGRA.

    Abdul Sami Khan, President of the Petroleum Dealers Association, stated that the strike may last for more than one day, according to an Aaj News report.

    People have been advised to keep petrol tanks filled until July 4, as pumps across the country will begin to run dry tomorrow night.

    He also mentioned that negotiations will not resume until the government reverses its decision. Fourteen thousand dealers across the country will shut down their pumps starting July 5.

    On the other hand, the Pakistan Oil Tankers Association has declared that it will not be part of the strike.

    Shams Shahwani, Chairman of the Oil Tankers Association, stated that petrol and diesel supplies will continue uninterrupted throughout the country. He believes that given the current circumstances, stopping the supply is not an option, and he wants to prevent inconvenience to customers.

  • Greta Thunberg shows up at protest to denounce Israel’s participation in Eurovision

    Greta Thunberg shows up at protest to denounce Israel’s participation in Eurovision

    Continuing with her support for the Palestinian cause, climate activist Greta Thunberg joined thousands of demonstrators marching through the streets of Malmo in Sweden, on Thursday, spamming Israel’s participation in Eurovision.

    This year’s Eurovision song contest began on Tuesday, in the southern Swedish city of Malmo. The grand finale is scheduled for Saturday, but the war in Gaza is ‘looming’ over the festivities.

    “I am a Eurovision fan and it breaks my heart but I’m boycotting. I can’t have fun knowing that Israel is there participating when all those kids are dying. I think it’s just wrong” 30-year-old protester Hilda (who did not want to provide her surname), told members of the press. Israel’s military offensive has killed at least 34,904 people in Gaza, mostly women and children.

    In 2022, Russia’s state broadcaster was excluded from the European Broadcasting Union (which oversees Eurovision), in the wake of the war in Ukraine. “I feel like if they can remove Russia why can they not do it to Israel?” 29-year-old, Margo Mustafa said in an exchange with reporters’.
    “The people are here for Eurovision trying to celebrate. There’s nothing to celebrate. It’s an ongoing war” she added.

    An excess of 5,000 people gathered on Thursday afternoon, in Malmo’s main square, according to an estimate. Signs in the crowd read: “Liberate Palestine”, “EUR legitimises genocide” and “colonialism cannot be washed in pink.”

    Israel’s entrant, “Hurricane” by singer Eden Golan, is set to compete in Thursday’s semi-final. It has already been partially re-written and given a new title, after Eurovision organisers deemed the original version to be ‘too political’.

    Protester Cecilia Brudell, told the press “At six and nine, my children are now at an age where they want to watch Eurovision but this year we are completely boycotting it”.

    Since the new year, numerous petitions have demanded Israel’s exclusion from the 68th edition of the annual music competition. At the end of March, contestants from nine countries, including Swiss favourite Nemo, called for a ‘lasting ceasefire’.

  • Several dead in protests in eastern Afghanistan

    Several dead in protests in eastern Afghanistan

    Several people were killed when a demonstration broke out in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday after Taliban authorities ordered houses cleared to make way for a building construction, a provincial official said.

    The Taliban authorities had ordered residents to vacate the land on the road between provincial capital Jalalabad and the border with Pakistan to make way for a new customs building, said Arafat Mohajer, the head of the information and culture department for the Torkham border point.

    “The residents of the area created chaos in response,” said Mohajer, and in clashes one Taliban official was killed as well as “a number of people who were occupying the land (illegally)”.

    The demonstration and clashes had blocked the key road from Jalalabad to Torkham, Mohajer added.

  • Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest outside the Met Gala

    Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest outside the Met Gala

     Protesters in New York converged near the Met Gala on Monday in a rally against the ongoing war in Gaza, leading to several arrests, police said.

    Among the rallying points were the gates of Columbia University, which has been the center of spreading demonstrations, before protesters marched through Manhattan to American fashion’s biggest night — or at least as close as police would let them.

    The Met Gala, which attracts celebrities, fashion designers and mass media attention, is a yearly mammoth fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute.

    It was unclear how many arrests were made as stars walked the carpet and posed for photos, but AFP journalists confirmed several arrests while the New York Daily News reported the number was about a dozen, out of hundreds that gathered near the soiree.

    Organizers on X, formerly Twitter, posted a flier for an event dubbed as the “Citywide Day of Rage for Gaza.”

    Monday’s protest appeared unconnected to the demonstrations that have rocked Columbia’s campus, culminating in the university calling the police to clear out student protesters.

    Despite growing concern from a number of young voters and some members of Joe Biden’s Democratic Party over the growing civilian death toll, the president has continued to support Israel in its war in Gaza.

    Under domestic pressure from the left and the right in an election year, Biden has tried to walk a thin line, pushing for a ceasefire deal and warning Israel not to invade the Gazan city of Rafah — though he has not stopped US arms from flowing to the country or conditioned future aid.

    Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched an offensive that has killed at least 34,735 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

  • Pro-Palestinian students camp out at Mexico’s largest university

    Pro-Palestinian students camp out at Mexico’s largest university

    Mexico City (AFP) – Dozens of pro-Palestinian students from Mexico’s largest university camped out Thursday in solidarity with similar protests that have swept colleges in the United States.

    Mounting flags and chanting “Long live free Palestine,” the protesters set up tents in front of the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s (UNAM) head office in Mexico City.

    The students called on the Mexican government to break diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel.

    “We are here to support Palestine, the people who are in Palestine, and the student camps in the United States,” said Valentino Pino, a 19-year-old philosophy student.

    Jimena Rosas, 21, said she hoped the protest would have a domino effect and spread to other universities in the country.

    “Once people see that UNAM is beginning to mobilize, other universities should start as well,” she said.

    Dozens of universities in the United States have seen pro-Palestinian demonstrations in recent weeks, leading to clashes with police and counter-protests.

    Israeli genocide against Palestinians since October 8 has killed more than 34,500 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the territory’s health ministry.

  • Istanbul police clash with May Day protesters

    Istanbul police clash with May Day protesters

    Turkish police on Wednesday fired tear gas and rubber bullets and detained dozens of protesters after authorities banned May 1 rallies at Istanbul’s historic Taksim Square.

    More than 40,000 police were deployed across Istanbul, blocking even small sidestreets with metal barriers in an attempt to prevent protesters gathering.

    Police clashed with demonstrators near city hall in the Sarachane district, firing tear gas and rubber bullets to stop protesters breaching barricades, AFP reporters said.

    According to media reports, at least 150 people had been detained by midday, but authorities did not confirm the figure. AFP reporters saw many people being arrested.

    Some were detained trying to enter Taksim Square.

    Tall metal barriers were put up around the square, where authorities have banned rallies since 2013, when it was the focus of demonstrations against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.

    Taksim was a rallying ground for May Day celebrations until 1977, when at least 34 people were killed during demonstrations. Authorities opened it up again in 2010, but it was shut again after the 2013 protests.

    In the Besiktas district, police detained at least 30 left-wing protesters who were shouting “Taksim cannot be banned”, an AFP journalist.

    One protester was dragged along the ground by police and his group detained.

    Another 30 people were detained in the Sisli district.

    The MLSA rights group said several journalists were pushed to the ground during the troubles.

    – ‘Taksim belongs to workers’ –

    Main roads across Istanbul were closed to traffic while public transport including ferries and subway trains were halted because of the security clampdown. Landmarks such as the Topkapi palace were cordoned off.

    Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Taksim would be out of bounds for rallies to stop “terrorist organisations” using it for “propaganda”.

    Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and unions had pressed the government to open the square for labour rallies but Erdogan warned on Tuesday against any provocation.

    CHP leader Ozgur Ozel, accompanied by Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu and labour unions, gathered at the Sarachane neighbourhood.

    “We will keep on fighting until Taksim is free,” Ozel said. “Taksim belongs to the workers.”

    Addressing the police, Ozel declared: “These workers are not your enemies Our only desire is for the day to be celebrated as a festival. We do not want conflict.”

    In 2023, Turkey’s top constitutional court ruled that the closure of Taksim Square for protests was a violation of rights.

  • IHC puzzled by FIA singling out Imran, Qureshi in cipher case

    IHC puzzled by FIA singling out Imran, Qureshi in cipher case

    The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday questioned why the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) was only specifically investigating former Prime Minister Imran khan and former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi for not returning the diplomatic cipher even though others involved in the case have done the same.

    Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb gave his remarks during the hearing of appeals filed by both Khan and Qureshi against their conviction.

    Defence council Barrister Salman Safdar presented his argument that the concerned diplomatic cipher was sent to the top eight offices, including the president, PM’s principal secretary, foreign secretary, army chief, director general of Inter-Services Intelligence, chief justice of Pakistan and cabinet secretary.

    However, the defense argued, none of the mentioned recipients returned the diplomatic cable to the Foreign Office when the inquiry commenced in October 2022.

    The other recipients didn’t return the cable for over a year and did so only when proceedings were started against only the ex-PM and FM.

    Justice Aurangzeb asked for an explanation of this move by FIA, to which Barrister Safdar replied it showed “selective prosecution, political victimisation, colourable exercise of power and defective investigation”.

  • Maulana Fazlur Rehman announces protests against February polls

    Maulana Fazlur Rehman announces protests against February polls

    Leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam- Fazl (JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Wednesday said that his party had decided to boycott by-elections and will be holding protests in different cities from April 25.

    “Just like in 2018 elections, the mandate of people has been stolen in elections of 2024. We decided that our party would not accept the results of recent elections because this parliament is more of a representative of the establishment rather than the people,” said the chief of JUI-F.

    By now, major political parties like Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, JUI-F, and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) have rejected the results of February 8 elections, making the general elections controversial.

    “This is our narrative and we have decided to move forward with it. We will start this movement named ‘Awami Assembly’ from April 25 from Balochistan’s Pishin,” said the JUI-F leader. The second ‘Awami Aseembly’ will begin from Karachi on May 2 and the third phase would be in Peshawar on May 9.

    He also said that his party is in contact with other political parties, “so that a united opinion of people comes forward.”
    He criticized the Elections Commission of Pakistan for neglecting its legal obligations and accused the security agencies of overstepping their boundaries.