Training guns at Federal Minister for Science & Technology Fawad Chaudhry, Punjab Information Minister Fayazul Hasan Chohan has questioned the former’s own performance in response to his criticism aimed at Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar.
According to Geo, Fayaz has accused Fawad of trying to remain relevant with his stunts and said he had “crossed all limits” when it came to violating the party’s discipline.
“You should think about how to benefit the ship that you’re on,” said Chohan. “It is not his [Fawad] prerogative to give opinions on whether CM Buzdar should stay or go,” he said when asked to comment on Fawad’s statements, while speaking to a private media outlet.
The provincial minister said only Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan had the prerogative to decide whether Buzdar should remain as Punjab’s chief executive or not and added that the premier, the entire cabinet and treasury benches were satisfied with Buzdar’s performance “100 per cent”.
“I can give him befitting, beautiful replies in my style,” said Chohan. “However, I am bound by my disciplined attitude not to do so. I would request him that excess of everything is bad.”
The information minister expressed disappointment that Fawad had still not learned how to talk about people from his party or government, adding that he was like a brother to him. “However, this has been his problem and he will never change.”
“It is his habit to try to become a hero. He tries to issue a statement every month or so to become a hero in front of the media,” he added.
Chohan advised Fawad to play his part as the federal minister of science and technology to ensure Pakistan became a force to be reckoned with in space. “I request you to prepare a Ghauri II or a Ghauri III for space. Leave the clerics and Usman Buzdar alone,” he added.
Even though Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar is continuing as the provincial chief executive, the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) has practically taken over the slot — with its leaders holding crucial meetings and reportedly preparing a roadmap for power-sharing and distribution of development funds, a private media outlet has claimed.
According to reports, PML-Q leader Moonis Elahi has held a crucial meeting with Punjab Chief Secretary (CS) Azam Suleman Khan and prepared a roadmap for power-sharing and distribution of development funds in the province. Moonis had also hinted at it while speaking to a private media outlet earlier this week.
The power-sharing decision has seriously disturbed CM Buzdar, who has complained about it to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Jahangir Tareen, the report said. It added that development funds worth Rs20 billion would be released for PML-Q parliamentarians’ constituencies, and the party would also be authorised to give instructions to the bureaucracy directly.
Tareen has reportedly accepted all PML-Q demands about power-sharing that they had made in a meeting held earlier this month, and directed the Punjab CS to prepare a roadmap in this regard, with the help of Moonis. “I even could not sleep the whole night because of this worrying situation,” the report quoted a disturbed Buzdar as telling Tareen, who is a close aide of Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.
On the other hand, the report added, PML-Q office bearers say “it was just the beginning”. “We don’t want to remove [Usman] Buzdar, but we can’t sacrifice the entire party and voters for this friendship. So we will try our level best to maintain each other’s integrity.”
‘FAKE NEWS’:
Reacting to the report, the Punjab government has dubbed it as “baseless and factually incorrect”.
As per the details, Punjab government spokesperson Musarrat Cheema, through a series of tweets, said that the government is “considering legal action against reporter and news outlet for such malicious reporting”.
“PTI and PML-Q have a good working relationship in Punjab and we are determined to work for the prosperity of our province under CM [Buzdar],” she tweeted.
The country is facing one of the biggest wheat crises in Pakistan’s history with a bag of atta costing a record high of Rupees 75 per KG. Amid the wheat crisis, PML-N’s member of the Punjab Assembly (MPA) Azma Bokhari was engaged in a heated debate on a television talk show with the Chairman of Punjab Food Authority and PTI MPA Umer Tanveer Butt.
PML-N’s Azma Bokhari telling PTI’s Omar Tauseef to send a bag of atta to her house since she was unable to find it in Model Town
Azma said that there was a wheat crisis in the country and Umer refused to accept it, saying there was no shortage. Azma then said that if there was no shortage, then he could send a bag of atta to her house.
We called Azma to confirm the following story. She says that when she woke up this morning, she was told by the cook in her house that a truck had come with bags of atta. The bags were being unloaded outside her house and her cook told her that he had bought a bag from them for Rs. 790 a bag. Others living on the street had also come by to buy bags of atta.
Bags of atta were dropped outside Azma’s house by Umer
Azma says that she went out and asked the people unloading the bags to take the bags and leave. They said that they had “been instructed” to leave the bags outside her house and sell it to people living in the area. She ordered them to leave her property and says that this was an attempt to “harass” her.
But according to Food and Authority Chairman Umer Tauseef, who was on the program with Azma, they weren’t harassing her and that she is “once again, using the harassment card”.
Umer says that she asked for a bag of atta on the show, saying that people in Model Town were not finding atta anywhere. He says that there is no wheat crisis and therefore, bags are available everywhere and to prove his point, he sent bags of atta to her house so people living in Model Town could have access to it.
When asked if PTI was trying to divert attention from the real issues, like a looming wheat crisis, he said that this was, “PML-N’s propaganda machine” at work and challenged to show him “one place where atta is not available”. He denied that there was any wheat crisis and said that the prices had increased due to the fact that the government had removed subsidies from certain forms of wheat.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Accountability Shahzad Akbar has been accused of getting removed at least two top-tier civil servants, including Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner (DC) Saifullah Dogar, in a bid “to assist his brother grab land” in Mandra town ofthe district’s Gujjar Khan tehsil.
According to sources, the tussle began when British-Pakistani Jawad Sohrab Malik, who is the nephew of Federal Minister for Privatisation Muhammad Mian Soomro, accused Murad Akbar, the brother of PM Imran Khan’s aide, of attempting to illegally occupy his land in the town near the Grand Trunk (GT) Road.
They said Malik’s late grandfather had purchased over 10 kanals of land in the town back in 1986 and built on it a flour mill a year later, which still stands there. “A watchman was also hired to look after the said piece of land as its succession to the heirs has not yet been made and it is still in the name of Malik’s deceased grandfather.”
‘MURAD AKBAR WANTS TO GRAB LAND’:
Sources close to the lawmaker’s nephew told The Current that his supervisor on January 14 called Malik to inform him that six or seven people had arrived at the site claiming they had purchased two kanals of it. “Malik told him [the watchman] to approach the police and file a complaint against the intruders’ attempt to forcibly take possession of his land,” sources said, adding that the unidentified persons fled as soon as they saw police reaching the scene.
A report quoted Malik as saying that three days after the incident, nearly 50 people sent by Murad arrived at the venue with bricks and other construction material. Once again the supervisor called him to inform what was going on. “A senior police officer and assistant commissioner of Gujjar Khan also arrived at the site uninvited to ensure these people take the possession of the land,” he said.
Malik said a case was filed by Murad in a civil court in 2015, claiming the ownership of two kanals of land, and got a favourable decision ex-parte in 2018. “The deceased grandfather was made the respondent and notices were deliberately sent to wrong addresses so that the one-sided proceedings are held.”
He further said he was scared that by using government machinery, Murad would take possession of the land by force, leaving him in the lurch. “To avoid this, I got stay orders from a civil court and the ADCR.”
Sources claimed that as the tussle continued, Additional District Collector Revenue (ADCR) Rizwan Qadeer also reported that Murad’s ownership was forged and the transfer of land was fake, allegedly upsetting Imran’s aide Shahzad. The report was approved by the DC, following which the Rawalpindi police chief was ordered to use force to ensure transfer of the two kanals of land to Murad.
“The cop, however, refused to intervene saying that it was a civil matter and police couldn’t interfere,” sources said, adding that in the meantime, DC Dogar was reprimanded by powerful circles and transferred along with the ADCR in what was “ironic misuse of authority” by the premier’s aide on accountability.
OTHER SIDE OF STORY:
A friend of Shahzad Akbar, who presented the SAPM’s version but clarified he “wasn’t his spokesperson”, told The Current that the cabinet member had been stopped to issue any statement over the episode by the premier himself.
He asserted that succession of the land had not been carried out because of the disputes within the Malik family, and shared documents and footage to support his claims.
According to documents provided by Akbar’s friend, Murad had bought 17 marlas of land in Moaza Bucha of Gujjar Khan’s Khasra # 473 on main GT Road in April 2005. He later also purchased another 23 marlas of land from the same khasra on June 9, 2008, the documents claimed.
In 2009, he gave an application to the revenue office of Gujjar Khan for partition and possession of his land, he claimed. “After 10 years of hectic litigation, in April 2018 the Gujjar Khan revenue office finalised the partition suit and divided Khasra # 473 into two, making Murad exclusive owner of Khasra 473/1 measuring 40 Marlas,” as per the documents.
After giving him possession, the revenue office also sectioned partition mutation number 2849 dated May 31, 2018 declaring exclusive and legal owner and possessor of Khasra number 473/1. Murad got demarcated the dimensions of his land on Jan 13, 2020 before starting construction and consigned demarcation report in Tehsil Office, Gujjar Khan, they claimed.
The source claimed Malik visited the Gujjar Khan Revenue Office on January 13-16 escorted by police officials deputed for squad duty of Soomro.
On January 17, when labourers were working on Murad’s alleged land to construct boundary wall, the minister’s official escort number GAE 538 with uniformed police officials reached the spot.
A private Vigo UC-1-ICT, allegedly registered in the name of Malik, with armed guards reached the scene and threatened labourers of consequences and asked them to stop the work.
Murad claimed that Somroo called Mandra station house officer (SHO) and ordered him to intervene. The Gujjar Khan Revenue Department after examining the documents of both sides decided that Murad, being “legal owner”, is within his right to build the wall.
Somroo and Shahzad Akbar have reportedly spoken to each other about the dispute, but wide differences exist as both fully support the claims of their relatives and are unwilling to budge from their respective stands. Both the leaders were contacted for a comment, however, they were unavailable.
Malik, however, denied the claims made by the aide of Akbar, saying his family was the rightful owner of the property. He also claimed that he was not present at the scene when the incident took place.
OFFICERS BEAR THE BRUNT:
Meanwhile, an official notification, a copy of which is available with The Current, showed that two civil servants who have been removed from office include Rawalpindi DC Saifullah Khan Dogar and ADCR Rizwan Qadeer.
Sources said the two officials, who were also allegedly reprimanded by Shahzad, were let go due to alleged misuse of authority owing to the high-level power struggle between the two top members of the federal cabinet.
Saifullah was transferred on January 20 and replaced with Capt (r) Muhammad Anwar-ul-Haq, while Rizwan Qadeer was transferred two days earlier. An assistant superintendent of police (ASP) in Gujjar Khan has also been transferred reportedly due to the dispute.
Shahzad Akbar’s friend, however, says that the removal was merely a co-incidence. He also hinted at another case pertaining to a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) senator, being the reason behind the transfer of the Rawalpindi DC.
None of the said officers were available for a comment.
In what appears to prove the rumoured rift between certain leaders of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has called out Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) for Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan for her “illiterate” remarks regarding Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar.
The SAPM had said that those criticising CM Buzdar were criticising Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and it would be “the premier’s failure if the provincial chief executive of Punjab failed”.
“Why?” Fawad said while quoting Awan on a private media outlet’s talkshow Monday night. “I’d say it is an illiterate comment,” he said, to which the anchor asked if the minister was sure about what he was saying regarding a colleague.
“Whoever says such a thing… it’d be a dumb thing to say,” Fawad maintained, adding that Buzdar was to held accountable for his performance and PM Imran for his own.
WATCH VIDEO:
To this, the anchor said that the premier was accountable for both his performance and that of CM Buzdar.
Continuing to train guns at the Punjab CM, Fawad urged Buzdar to step aside, and said the federal government could not deliver effectively without the support of the provinces.
Raising questions over the performance of the Punjab government, the minister said that they had made promises with the people of change and accountability and good governance ahead of general election, but unfortunately nothing had changed in Punjab.
He maintained that around 62 per cent of the total budget went to provinces but they were not delivering appropriately. Fawad added that the federal government was doing whatever it could for the masses.
As the price of wheat (atta and flour) reaches Rs75 per kilogram (kg) — the highest price recorded in Pakistan’s history — amid shortage, we have to ask: what is this crisis and what led to it?
The crisis is huge because it hits a daily essential. Roti, bread, naans and puris, you name it, everything with any bit of flour or wheat in it is going to be affected, and prices are rising.
What happened? A country that is rich in wheat production, exports millions of tonnes of wheat itself is now in a massive wheat shortage?
It all started from projection vs. reality.
Projection this year did not meet reality and was less than the previous three years
It all started from the government projecting that the wheat production of 2018-2019 would be 25.2 million tonnes, which would be sufficient for the year. Pakistan also exports wheat and because the projected wheat crop was high, the country exported, 640,000 tonnes. Pakistan was supposed to export between 200,000 to 400,000 tonnes.
The crisis began when Pakistan did not meet its projected figure. It produced 24.7 million tonnes due to bad management, poor coordination and the weather.
So now all provinces are racing to save their stock. Punjab has imposed a ban on moving wheat to other provinces and reportedly, people who want to profit from the shortage, are hoarding the wheat to sell at a later stage when prices increase.
The federal government is blaming the provinces for the shortage, primarily the Sindh government (Sindh is also the only province which is not under PTI rule) saying that the Sindh government bought a lot of wheat at the wrong time. The Sindh government is saying that Imran Khan is responsible because he allowed the extra wheat to be exported.
Prices of 10KG of atta in four cities
The next few months are going to be crucial for wheat. The price of wheat used to be around Rs45-50 per kg and is now Rs75. The government is now having to import wheat from other countries to make up for the shortage, and Twitter is not happy about it.
If the figures coming out are correct, Pak officially exported 500,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan. Another 140,000 tonnes were smuggled out even after a belated ban. Then according to some, 800,000 tonnes were diverted to chickenfeed. Now Pak importing 300,000 tonnes. ♂️
In a dig at the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker and former prime minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has suggested people to stop eating roti in order to bring the country out of the persisting wheat crisis.
Speaking to journalists at the accountability court, where he was presented by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) scandal case against him, Abbasi said that people were only facing the consequences for electing the PTI to power.
“What can they do other than not eating roti anymore?” he asked in response to a query regarding the wheat crisis that grips the country amid provincial and federal governments’ blame game.
To another question about PM Imran Khan’s statement that his “salary wasn’t enough”, Abbasi said that the premier should give himself a pay raise.
Earlier, an accountability court extended judicial remand of the ex-premier till February 4 in the LNG scandal. During the hearing, the court also sought report on the arrest warrant of absconder Shahid Islam from NAB.
The judge remarked that indictment proceedings cannot be carried out due to one absconder.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader and Federal Minister for Science & Technology Fawad Chaudhry has been spotted in the car of a Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader along with one belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), leaving supporters wondering if “a deal has been struck”.
According to the details, Fawad on Sunday evening was spotted getting on the car of PPP senator and party chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s spokesperson Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar. PML-N Senator Musadik Malik and two others also accompanied Fawad and Mustafa as the latter drove to a five-star hotel.
With Fawad, who has never shied away from training guns at the two major opposition parties — the PML-N and PPP — accompanying the two leaders belonging to the ruling party’s arch rivals, it wasn’t later when speculation ran rife that a deal had been struck between the three largest political parties of the country and there lied no disputes among them whatsoever.
Amid all rumours, The Current went an extra mile to investigate and figured out that the three leaders had only decided to accompany each other for a cup of tea following “Where is Pakistan heading in the next 10 years” — their session at the recently-concluded two-day Afkare Taza ThinkFest 2020 in Lahore.
Their bond also dates back to a private media outlet’s show “Khabar K Peechy” where the three represented their respective political parties.
Future of the coalition government in centre hangs in balance ever since the resignation of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui as the federal minister for information technology and telecommunication, which reportedly came because of former Google executive, Tania Aidrus.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led federal government on Sunday suffered a severe blow as Siddiqui of MQM-P — an ally of the PTI — announced his decision to leave the federal cabinet over “unfulfilled promises” on part of the ruling party.
Amid speculations over the fate of the ruling party that is in power owing to the support of its allies, reports have claimed that Siddiqui’s resignation came because he “was extremely unhappy with his ministry due to continuous intervention by Aidrus”.
Aidrus had resigned from Google for Pakistan and is currently heading Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s Digital Vision programme in the country.
According to The News, while PTI has strongly rejected the allegations leveled against Aidrus, and sources in the ruling party have said that she is acting within the rules and regulations; people close to Siddiqui have said he felt like a stranger in his ministry while Aidrus had started holding meetings with the premier and heads of other institutions directly.
“Besides that, she also issued directions to institutions responsible for running the affairs of the ministry and Federal Secretary Shoaib Siddiqui had complained about it to the minister several times in this regard.”
In a first, both the government and major opposition parties on Tuesday joined hands to approve in the National Assembly all three bills formalising the tenure of the three services chiefs, including Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa.
According to Geo News, Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan made a rare appearance in the Lower House of the parliament as the assembly voted on three bills that will formalise the tenures of the army, navy and air force chiefs.
Before the voting started, Defence Minister Pervaiz Khattak took the floor to request the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) that it take back amendments it had suggested to the bills, saying he was making the request “keeping in mind the regional and national situation”.
Naveed Qamar, who spoke on behalf of the PPP in response to Khattak’s request, said that the amendments had been suggested to improve the bills but, after being approached by a government delegation and consulting with the rest of the opposition, the party had decided to withdraw them.
With voting commencing shortly after the dialogue, Speaker Asad Qaiser asked legislators to express their assent or dissent. The bills were voted on clause by clause.
Some opposition lawmakers, including those from Jamaate Islami (JI), the Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), walked out in protest over the bills. They had earlier announced they would not be supporting the bills on principle. All the major parties had, however, lent near unquestioning assent to the same.
After voting on the bills concluded, the National Assembly session was adjourned till 4 pm on Wednesday.
The bills will now be sent for approval to the Senate Standing Committee on Defence before they are voted on in the Senate, and become law once signed by the president.
