Tag: Protests in Pakistan

  • AJK protests come to end after demands met by government

    AJK protests come to end after demands met by government

    Azad Jammu & Kashmir Joint Action Committee has announced the end of protests according to a notification circulating on social media.

    In its statement, the joint action committee has called on the government to form a judicial commission to investigate the fatalities that took place during the protests.

    On Monday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved an urgent grant of Rs 23 billion in a bid to resolve the issues of people in Azad and Jammu Kashmir (AJK) as three people were shot dead and six sustained injuries due to firing and teargas shelling by the paramilitary Rangers in Muzaffarabad.

    The Government also announced reduced rates of 40kg flour bags to Rs 2,000, down from Rs 3,100, and electricity tariff was reduced to Rs3, Rs5 and Rs6 per unit for up to 100, 300, and more than 300 units, respectively.

    Rangers were also called in to maintain law and order in the state as violent clashes erupted between the police and the protestors

  • Can’t find your medicine? Pharmaceutical firms threaten to protest from January 5

    Can’t find your medicine? Pharmaceutical firms threaten to protest from January 5

    Pharmaceutical firms in Pakistan have threatened to start boycotts from January 5 after growing shortage of medicines and other life-saving drugs and to put pressure on the government to resolve the sector’s problems.

    After the federal government introduced policies to increase prices of raw material, several medicines including insulin, are now unavilable in markets.
    According to the Pakistan Drug Lawyer Forum President Noor Meher, 91% of raw materials used to create these medicines are imported to Pakistan. He said that stocks of new medicines are sitting at Karachi port and Lahore Dry Port, however government authorities are not providing clearance to deliver these to stores. Meher revealed that the dire situation has now pushed pharmaceutical workers to protest on streets to demand the government’s attention for the sector’s problems.

    In October 2022, healthcare organization GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced that it was shutting down the production of Panadol tablets, Panadol Extra Tablets and Cildren’s Panadol Liquid Range in Pakistan after suffering financial losses.

    In a letter to PM’s Principal Secretary Syed Tauqir Shah, the CEO of GSK Consumer Healthcare Pakistan, Farhan Haroon had written:

    “We are incurring heavy financial losses on the production of the entire Panadol range due to an increase in the price of their raw ingredients and in the absence of due approval by the federal government on the recommendation of Drug Pricing Committee of Drug Regulatory Committee of Pakistan. Due to these challenges, manufacturing of Panadol range on negative margins is unsustainable and despite exhaustive efforts of the company to mitigate the issue through dialogue, the situation is now beyond our control, compelling us to declare force majeure.”

  • Pemra restricts all media outlets from covering banned TLP

    Pemra restricts all media outlets from covering banned TLP

    The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) has restricted all television channels and other media outlets from covering any activity of the banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).

    While issuing the orders in a notification, Pemra referred to the April 15 letter of the Interior Ministry, which had declared the TLP a proscribed outfit, as well as its earlier notification about banning its coverage. It was in April that Pemra first placed a ban on the TLP after it was banned by the government.

    Read more – ‘Go back or things will be out of my hands,’ Sheikh Rasheed warns TLP protesters

    The official notification says, “It is reiterated that regulation 18(h) of Pemra (Television Broadcast Station Operation) Regulation, 2012 and clause 16 of the Electronic Media Code of Conduct, 2015 requires that the programmes shall conform to the laws of the country. Further, Clause 3 (3) of Electronic Media Code of Conduct, 2015 prohibits media coverage of proscribed organisations.”

    “Keeping in view the reasons stated above, in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 27 of Pemra Ordinance, 2002 as amended by Pemra Amendment Act, 2007 all satellite TV channels, FM radio stations and distribution service networks (Cobb TV Operators, IPTV) are hereby directed to stop the media coverage of proscribed organisation TLP,” read the statement.

    Read more – ‘Will not allow facts to be distorted’: TLP asks Sheikh Rasheed to reveal details of negotiations

    Currently, TLP is determined to continue with its long march to the federal capital, Islamabad.

    Recent clashes between the banned organisation and the government resulted in at least five officials’ death and more than 200 injuries.

  • Islamabad, Lahore, Rawalpindi partially shut down due to protests

    Islamabad, Lahore, Rawalpindi partially shut down due to protests

    Roads have been blocked in Islamabad and Lahore and Metro Bus service in Rawalpindi has been suspended because of the ongoing protests organised by the banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) in these cities, reported Geo News.

    Islamabad Traffic Police have issued a traffic plan as the city braces to deal with TLP protests today (Friday). TLP’s protest is reportedly moving from Lahore to the federal capital for a long march.

    Containers have been placed at various points in Lahore, including the Samanabad turn at Multan Road and at the Grid Station Stop. Containers have also been placed at the Dubai Chowk in Iqbal Town’s Boulevard area to stop protesters from assembling. 

    Earlier, the Ministry of Interior had written to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to suspend internet services in Lahore due to TLP protests.  

    Strict security measures have been taken in Rawalpindi as authorities have blocked and placed containers on several roads.