Tag: protests

  • ‘Shameful’: Shehzad Ghias, Twitter users criticise Youtuber Mooro for Twitter threat

    On Tuesday police forces were deployed at Imran Khan’s house in Lahore to arrest him for avoiding court hearings under the ongoing Toshakhana case, leading to several clashes between police and protestors.

    Celebrities like Haroon Shahid expressed their support for Imran Khan, however he was criticized on Twitter for mocking a policeman who was injured at the protests. YouTuber Shehzad Ghias shared a screenshot of the tweet on his Twitter account. YouTuber Mooro sent him a threat in reply which sparked backlash.

    Mooro had defended his stance by saying that Ghias had been threatening his friends for a long time and ‘playing the victim’ all along.

    “Here is my position, its not about politics, this man, shehzad has embarassed and has been trolling my friends with his toxic tweets and false allegations over the years while holding a moral high ground and pretending to be victim and innocent its a ploy to gain attention.”

    To which Ghias responded by saying that he had spoken out against Ukhaano, another YouTuber who had harassment and sexual assault allegations against him, which he will stand by.

    “He has blocked me so no clue why he is continuing to tweet about at me. Saw the screenshot of his tweet though. He’s talking about the harassment and assault allegations against Ukhano. I stand by everything I’ve said”

    Twitter users criticized Mooro’s insensitive language and for refusing to condemn a fellow PTI supporter trolling an injured policeman online.

    https://twitter.com/MinahilT6/status/1635766266836267008?s=20

  • What was the significance behind the tunnel art installation at Aurat March?

    What was the significance behind the tunnel art installation at Aurat March?

    Aurat March has set up a performance art piece at their protests each year which highlights their central demand which is to create an equal space for both men and women in Pakistan.

    This year, the feminist movement revealed that a gaze tunnel titled “Chalien Auraton Ki Chaal” was installed at the march for men to pass through, in order to make them experience the kind of fear and claustrophobia women undergo when they are harassed on the streets.

    The March elaborated on the significance behind this art installation in a post:

    “The tunnel piece is an exercise in empathy, in conveying our gendered experiences of walking down the streets, in market places, through office doors. Ask any gender minority what they feel when they are in public spaces: each one of us will have many stories of harassment, of discomfort, of instances where the streets didn’t feel like ours. The art piece plays soundbites of our day-to-day public interactions. Aurat March is ultimately about reclaiming public spaces, of never settling for chaar-dewaris, but rather stretching ourselves more fully within and outside our homes. That demands introspection from men of them way they occupy public spaces. We hope this piece helps in that.”

    Another art installation ‘In Ko Viral Karo’ was also at display on the protest which featured pictures of Youtube bloggers along with the misogynist comments they made about participants.

    The movement addressed the significance behind this installation in the post:
    “The coverage of Aurat March we see on Youtube is far from reality. These Youtube ‘journalists’ sensationalized, misrepresented and harassed participants from Aurat March last year. We present direct quotes from their ‘coverage’”.

  • ‘Cabal of five’: Maryam Nawaz doesn’t hold back in criticising judiciary

    ‘Cabal of five’: Maryam Nawaz doesn’t hold back in criticising judiciary

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Senior Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Thursday criticised two sitting judges of the Supreme Court, listing them as members of a “cabal of five” who conspired against her father, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

    Addressing a public rally in Sargodha, she put up a video screen showing pictures of the five people she held responsible, saying: “The people of Sargodha should also see the ones behind the conspiracy”.

    The pictures included ex-Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Lt Gen (retd) Faiz Hameed, former chief justices Asif Khosa and Saqib Nisar, and two sitting Supreme Court judges: Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi, who are currently part of a top court bench hearing a suo motu case to determine who has the constitutional responsibility and authority to announce the date for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

    The PML-N leader said that even the country’s bar councils had protested against the inclusion of the two judges in the bench hearing the suo motu case.

    One of the two serving judges shown on the screen, Maryam said, was part of the bench that disqualified Nawaz in the Panama Papers case. “He is dreaming of becoming the chief justice. It has been five to six years since Nawaz was disqualified but he is still sitting as a judge in every case against Nawaz,” said Maryam Nawaz in a thinly veiled reference to Justice Ijazul Ahsan.

    The PML-N leader claimed that when Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) 2014 sit-in failed, ex-chief justice Asif Khosa told PTI chief Imran Khan to bring the Panama case before him so that Nawaz could be disqualified.

    She alleged that ex-spy chief Faiz Hameed is “still sitting somewhere and operating,” behind the scenes.

    Maryam also played the audio purportedly featuring former Punjab chief minister Elahi and one of the top court judges.

    Maryam further said that the two top court judges had taken notice of the transfer of the Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ghulam Dogar and “brought back Imran’s man”.

  • ISB police gives bike to Bykea rider whose bike burnt by PTI protesters

    ISB police gives bike to Bykea rider whose bike burnt by PTI protesters

    The Islamabad Police has handed over a new bike to Ishtiaq, whose bike was burnt by PTI protesters.

    The Incident:

    An angry mob protesting in Islamabad against the assassination attempt on former Prime Minister Imran Khan set ablaze a motorcycle of a bike rider.
    According to the details, the bike was set on fire at IJP Road over minor resistance.

    In a video that is being widely shared on social media, the bike’s owner can be seen crying.

    The boy says on the video that after the death of his father, he along with his brother, ran the household by using the bike in delivery services. Clearly distressed, the boy says that he is a student of grade nine and he pays for his fee by working as a delivery rider

    Supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) took to streets across the country on Friday to protest against the firing incident that injured party Chairman, Imran Khan.
    On November 3, Khan survived an assassination attempt on day seven of PTI’s ‘Haqeeqi Long March’ as his container moved through Punjab’s Wazirabad.
    Following the incident, the suspect/shooter, caught by police on the scene, said that he wanted to kill Khan because “He was misleading the public.”

    Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader Muhammad Hanif Abbasi has annouced that he will hand over a new bike to the victim on Sunday.

  • ‘Murder of school van driver in Swat was honour killing’: police

    Inspector General (IG) of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Police, Moazam Jah Ansari, has said that the case of an attack on a school van in Swat on October 10 was actually an “honour killing incident”.

    Addressing a press conference, the IG said that the murder killed his sister’s husband [the van’s driver] for honour. “We have collared one of the three suspects, while the other two will soon land in the hands of police”, he added.

    Earlier, the police had also claimed that the van driver was in fact the target of the shooting incident which happened while there were 10 to 11 children in the van.

    Moreover, Ansari said, another incident of firing in which children were apparently targeted in Lower Dir was also an armed clash between two rival groups.

    It is pertinent to mention that following the incident of October 10, protestors in Swat valley took to the streets to condemn the attack, believing it was an act of terrorism.

    Many journalists and politicians also expressed concern after the horrifying attack on a school van which left one child injured.

  • Sri Lankan president to step down after massive protests

    Sri Lankan president to step down after massive protests

    Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has decided to step down amid the ongoing protests against the economic crisis the country is facing. His resignation has been sent to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

    “Rajapaksa has officially informed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that he will be resigning as previously announced,” read a statement from the prime minister’s office.

    However, the whereabouts of the president are unknown.

    His resignation came after a large-scale demonstration that took place on Saturday, during which hundreds of thousands of people poured into Colombo and occupied the president’s residence and office, and prime minister’s residence.

    Protesters sang and lit fireworks in the streets to welcome the announcement.

  • SBP determined to curb inflation, improve foreign exchange reserves

    SBP determined to curb inflation, improve foreign exchange reserves

    In a recent interview, the Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Dr. Reza Baqir expressed concern over the continuous deterioration in foreign exchange reserves but remained optimistic that a renewal of loans will be witnessed in the near future, which, coupled with SBP’s initiatives, will enhance market confidence.

    He claimed that the decline in reserves is “clearly alarming, but we are convinced that the central bank’s initiatives will prevent further deterioration”.

    According to data issued by the central bank on April 7, the reserves massively declined by $728 million to $11.32 billion as of April 1.

    The decline, according to SBP, is primarily attributable to debt repayment and government payments linked to the settling of an arbitration judgment.

    In addition to this, the currency even hit new lows in the week, forcing the SBP to intervene by boosting the policy rate, declaring a 100 per cent cash margin on 177 commodities with instant effect, and hiking the markup percentage by 2.5 per cent for borrowing under the Export Finance Scheme (EFS).

    In response to the Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) recent rate hike, Baqir stated that the move was made to tackle growing inflation and lessen external pressures. “The foreign exchange market has been under a lot of pressure for more than a month. A number of factors contributed to it: first, there was political uncertainty; second, our reserves were drained due to debt payments”.

    Consequently, the Pakistani rupee ended its devaluation run on April 8, and the KSE-100 Index witnessed positive sentiment, ending the day with an impressive gain of 658 points.

    The SBP Governor also discussed the skyrocketing petrol prices, which remain elevated because of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, adding more pressure on the local currency.

    The central bank made a determined decision after analyzing the statistics to lower inflation, improve foreign exchange reserves, and boost business confidence.

  • Govt successful in negotiating with TLP, maintain secrecy over details

    Govt successful in negotiating with TLP, maintain secrecy over details

    Officials from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government on Sunday claimed that they had reached an ‘agreement’ with the proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) in order to end the nearly two-week-long protests.

    The government’s negotiating team members Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Mohammad Khan, along with Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman were present at the press conference.

    “The government of Pakistan and the TLP held detailed negotiations in an environment of mutual trust and an agreement has been reached between the two sides,” said Mufti Muneeb.

    The details of the negotiations have yet not been made public, Mufti Muneeb said its details would be made public at an ‘appropriate time’. He, however, said its ‘positive results’ would be visible to the nation next week or during the next 10 days.

  • Groom reaches bride’s home despite TLP protests

    Groom reaches bride’s home despite TLP protests

    Blocked roads and violent protests could not stop a groom in Punjab from going to his bride’s house. The groom crossed the River Jhelum on the shoulders of his relatives to reach the wedding venue, ARY News reported.

    The groom left to attend his wedding ceremony but had to stop at River Jhelum bridge owing to its closure due to the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan’s (TLP) ongoing protests in the province.

    Read More: Newly-wed bride asks groom to bring water, runs away with cash, jewellery

    The groom crossed the River Jhelum on the shoulders of his relatives. The wedding guests were able to reach the bride’s home after covering the distance on foot.

    Various roads, including the GT Road, are blocked to stop the violent protesters from marching towards Islamabad.

  • Pakistani celebrities march in solidarity with Palestinians

    Pakistani celebrities march in solidarity with Palestinians

    Pakistani celebrities have been very vocal about the atrocities of Israel on Palestinians. They came out with hundreds of people in Lahore and Islamabad to March in solidarity with the Palestinians on Monday.

    We have spotted Fawad Khan, Sadaf Fawad, Hania Aamir , Osman Khalid Butt , Maryam Nafees, Ali Rehman Khan, Armeena Rana Khan and Dananeer Mobeen.

    Many other celebrities have supported Palestine through their social media handle.

    Here are pictures of artists who supported Palestine in their ways.

    “Such an overwhelming turnout in Islamabad,” said Hania Aamir. She was holding a placard that read: “Ethnic cleansing, colonial occupation, genocide. Call it what it is.”

    The march and protests were held in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore. Fawad, his wife Sadaf and Ammara Hikmat attended the protest in Lahore, while Hania, Ali Rehman, Dananeer, Osman Khalid, Maryam etc. were spotted in Islamabad and many other stars expressed solidarity with Palestine through their social media.

    In Manchester, Armeena Rana Khan lit candles for Palestinian children who have been killed in Israeli airstrikes.

    https://twitter.com/ArmeenaRK/status/1394009941300629508?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1394009941300629508%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-22599151841632722090.ampproject.net%2F2104302228000%2Fframe.html
    https://twitter.com/ArmeenaRK/status/1394035847993909253?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1394035847993909253%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-3557252681201185774.ampproject.net%2F2104302228000%2Fframe.html

    Celebrities including Maya Ali, Mahira Khan, Ayeza khan, Ayesha Omar, Hania Aamir, Sheheryar Munawar, Shehzad Roy and many other celebrities called out the Israeli violence in Palestine through their social media accounts.

    With the constant airstrikes pounded on Gaza, at least 212 Palestinians, including 61 children, have been killed since the attacks began. About 1,500 Palestinians have been wounded.

    More than 58,000 Palestinians have been displaced by Israeli air strikes that have destroyed or badly damaged nearly 450 buildings in the Gaza Strip, according to the UN aid agency.

    About 47,000 of the displaced people have sought shelter in 58 UN-run schools in Gaza, Jens Laerke, spokesman of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told reporters.