Sri Lankan Prime Minister (PM) Mahinda Rajapaksa expressed shock at the brutal Sialkot lynching of a Sri Lankan national but expressed confidence in PM Imran Khan’s commitment to punishing all those involved.
PM Mahinda Rajapaksa took to Twitter and wrote, “Shocking to see the brutal and fatal attack on Priyantha Diyawadana by extremist mobs in #Pakistan. My heart goes out to his wife and family.”
Shocking to see the brutal and fatal attack on Priyantha Diyawadana by extremist mobs in #Pakistan. My heart goes out to his wife and family. #SriLanka and her people are confident that PM @ImranKhanPTI will keep to his commitment to bring all those involved to justice.
He said that Sri Lanka and her people are confident that PM Imran Khan will keep to his commitment to bring all those involved to justice.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said he is in contact with his Sri Lankan counterpart and has assured him of justice to the victim’s family.
“Sri Lanka has appreciated Pakistan’s response towards the incident,” Qureshi said, adding that the family has also been approached and “we will satisfy them completely”.
Priyantha Kumara, working as a manager at a private factory in Sialkot, was tortured to death on Friday by a mob after being accused of blasphemy.
A Sri Lankan factory manager has been tortured to death on the charges of blasphemy. As per social media reports, he was working as a manager at a private sportswear manufacturing factory.
As per District Police Officer (DPO) Umar Saeed Malik, the man was murdered by factory employees. According to the DPO, the police have arrived at the place of incident.
In the video shared on social media, it can be seen that the man’s body was burnt publicly after he was murdered.
According to sources, the Sri Lankan national allegedly tore posters off a wall in the factory, which had religious text written on it. He removed it from the wall as the wall was not a place where posters were allowed. After taking down the poster, hundreds of people gathered, dragged him outside, killed him and then burnt his body.
His name was Priyantha Diyawadana. He joined the factory in 2010 and has been here since.
According to journalist Rabia Mehmood, “Factory workers Talha, Furhan complained and decided on the spot to kill the SriLankan national.”
She shared a picture of the two men who claimed to be part of the lynch mob and complained against the manager and then “dragged him out to burn him to death, and are using Tehreek Labbaik’s violence inciting narrative to justify why they did it”.
Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar have termed the incident as “horrific”. Buzdar has also instructed IG Police to investigate the incident.
A-list actresses Saba Qamar and Ayesha Omar expressed their grief and shock at the shocking incident on social media. Earlier the Raees diva Mahira Khan tagged PM Imran Khan and asked him to provide an answer for this.
Former Assistant to Chief Minister (CM) Punjab, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, addressed a rally in Rasoolpur, Sialkot, when people started chanting slogans against her and expressed their complaints and reservations, reported Geo News.
At first, the former aide tried to calm the crowd but eventually, things got out of hand.
In response to the crowd’s slogans, Firdous said: “If you people had employed similar efforts [during the elections] as you are doing now, I would have still been part of the assembly.”
In response, people said that they had voted for her.
She argued that there is some conspiracy against her. She said, “I will work for my constituency, as no one else will.”
Rasoolpur is Awan’s constituency, from where she lost her National Assembly (NA) seat on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) ticket to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Chaudhry Armaghan Subhani.
Last year, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) had demanded the expulsion of the French ambassador and a boycott of French products, asking the federal government to take “practical steps” otherwise it would be compelled to take “extreme action”.
After the government’s refusal, a rally was led by then-TLP chief Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi, who urged the federal government to “declare jihad” against France.
Protests erupted across major cities in Pakistan.
On April 12 after the now-proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Saad Hussain Rizvi was detained by security forces in Lahore, TLP again started protests and threatened the state to adhere to the parties demands.
After the violent rallies, TLP was placed in the list of proscribed organisations, under the 1st schedule of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ &K) Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 2014.
TLP was involved in political activities and carrying out its election campaigns in AJK, for the polls which were to be held on July 25.
Under ATA, banned organisations are not allowed to engage in any political activities.
However, despite the ban, TLP also participated in the NA-249 by-elections in Karachi on April 28. TLP came third in the Karachi by-election.
Yesterday, in Sialkot, PP-38 constituency, a candidate from the TLP participated as a candidate for the election.
Talking to The Current, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry while commenting on the recent participation of the party in the by-elections said, “The government went about it in a legal way, which was to first announce that Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has been banned.”
“It gave them (TLP) the right to appeal the government’s decision. Their appeal was reviewed by the federal cabinet, which dismissed their appeal,” added Fawad.
“Now when it comes to their political participation in the Sialkot elections: they were not allowed to take part in any electoral activity,” said the federal minister.
Fawad added, “The government has notified that the TLP has been proscribed and therefore cannot take part in any activities. Now, this notification will go to the Supreme Court (SC) and proceedings will take place in the apex court as per Pakistan’s Election Act.”
“TLP will not be able to take part in the elections if the SC decides to uphold their ban and consequently bans them under the Election Act, 2017,” stated the information minister.
A viral video has shown a person with uncanny resemblance to a younger Imran Khan, riding a rickshaw in Sialkot.
“Look, there’s Imran Khan on a rickshaw in Sialkot,” the person recording the video from his own vehicle can be heard as jokingly saying.
WATCH VIDEO:
While the unnamed person from the undated video isn’t really Pakistan’s cricketer-turned-politician and now Prime Minister (PM) Imran (unless he travelled to 2021 from the 1990s), this isn’t the first time such a video has left netizens second-guessing what they just saw.
In 2018, the video of an Imran lookalike driving a Mehran had gone viral soon after his election as the country’s premier.
With the video doing the rounds on social media, people, especially Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) supporters, had started trending tags such as “#NayaPakistan”, “#SayNoToProtocol” and “#ImranKhanOurLeader” on Twitter.
In the said video, those filming the scene could be heard shouting “Naya Pakistan!” and “Wow, Imran Khan!”, to which the person was seen responding with a wave.
Unfortunately, the incident had followed a series of criticism aimed at the PM and his ministers after they did opt for protocol.
Senior journalist and analyst Dr Moeed Pirzada has quoted Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan as saying that criminals such as those involved in the Lahore-Sialkot motorway gang-rape should be hanged at public squares.
According to the journalist, the premier made the statement while speaking to him during an interview that will air tonight (Monday) on 92 News.
“PM Imran Khan thinks that criminals like the ‘motorway rapists’ should be hanged at public squares; watch an explosive discussion with PM Imran Khan, in Hard Talk Pakistan, 92 News, 8:03 pm tonight,” Pirzadatweeted.
PM Imran Khan thinks that criminals like the “Motorway Rapists” should be hanged at public squares; watch an explosive discussion with PM Imran Khan, in Hard Talk Pakistan, 92 News, 8.03pm tonight pic.twitter.com/ShiNzx3QTU
The interview comes days after a mother of three was raped by two men after her car ran out of fuel on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway past midnight.
As per the details, the woman, along with her three children, was driving to Gujranwala in her car when she was forced to stop at the Gujjarpura section of the motorway after running out of fuel at around 1:30 am. She immediately called a relative and sent him her location. He asked her to also dial the Motorway Police helpline 130 but she was reportedly refused help.
In the meantime, two robbers approached the car, broke the window and took the woman and her children to nearby bushes where they raped her repeatedly in front of the children. They also snatched her purse that had cash around Rs100,000, one bracelet, car registration and three ATM cards.
The Gujjarpura police have registered a case, while motorway police spokesperson said they had not been able to take action as the incident did not occur in the limits of Motorway Police.
Amid a strong reaction by the public and countrywide protests, at least one of the two culprits has been identified.
PUBLIC HANGINGS:
While a number of people are demanding public hanging of the accused such as sought for serial child rapist and killer Imran Ali of Kasur, the premier’s belief contradicts that of federal science and technology minister and his government’s former spokesperson, Fawad Chaudhry.
A day earlier, Fawad had said that calls for hanging and burning the rapists alive from prominent members of his party and the educated faction were a reflection of the society’s violent thinking.
زندہ جلا دیں، سرعام پھانسی دے دیں، جسمانی عضا کاٹ دیں ~عوام کی جانب سے ایسا ردعمل آنا تو سمجھ آتا ہے، لیکن ہمارے وزراء اور پڑھےلکھے طبقات کی جانب سے بغیر کسی ہچکچاہٹ کے ایسی باتیں کرنا ہمارے معاشرے کی متشدد سوچ کا عکاس ہے، جو تشدد کو ہر مسئلے کا حل سمجھتی ہے۔
The minister’s comments had come after two members of the ruling party, namely Senator Faisal Javed and Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda, called for extreme punishments for those behind the gang-rape and the rape and murder of minor Marwah in Karachi.
Ghani Tiger is among the first singers and rappers in Pakistan who got famous through TikTok. Hailing from Pasrur near Sialkot, Ghani is one of the most followed Tiktokers of Pakistan. The rapper recently took to social media to tell how his father was brutally murdered.
In a video message, he explained the incident of his father’s murder. Ghani told how a group of men came with rods and pistols and murdered his beloved father. They also shot his brother who is now in the hospital.
He accused his city’s organization of ATI Pasrur and named the culprits involved. According to Ghani, almost 50 to 60 people beat up his father. He urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to take notice of the incident. Ghani said he would not be quiet until his appeal was heard among the highest official ranks.
Soon after he posted, the video went viral and #JusticeForDawoodButt started trending. Zara Noor Abbas also condemned the incident and demanded justice for Dawood.
It pierces my heart to see that even in times like this and the day and age like this, a son has to beg for justice for his father’s death, Online. How many more murders to happen before we can get goons behind bars? #justicefordawood
— Zara Noor Abbas Siddiqui (@ZaraNoorAbbas) May 3, 2020
This video has shocked me! This young tiktoker named Ghani Tiger is speaking of an ordeal that is unbearable.
Fortunately, Punjab police took immediate action against the culprits and have claimed to have arrested three culprits involved in the incident. However, further inquiry is still in progress.
پولیس نے اس افسوسناک واقعہ کی ایف آئی آر فوری درج کر کے 3 ملزمان کو گرفتار کر لیا ہے جلد دیگر ملزمان کو بھی گرفتار کر لیا جائے گا۔
— Punjab Police Official (@OfficialDPRPP) May 3, 2020
With reduced industrial pollution and traffic due to coronavirus resulting in improved air quality across the globe, breathtaking views of Kashmiri peaks from Punjab’s north-eastern city of Sialkot — one of Pakistan’s most industrialised regions — have started doing rounds over social media.
In the wake of COVID-19, lockdowns have had a dramatic impact on air pollution around the world. While lockdowns have emerged as a temporary but effective solution to the global pandemic, they also appear to be dealing with another pressing problem faced by citizens — suffocating pollution. As millions of humans stay home around the world, pollution is temporarily alleviating.
While the mountains of Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) could earlier only be seen from Sialkot after heavy rains — when the weather was super clean –, they can now be seen from the city as improved air quality leads to better visibility and clearer skies.
Earlier, images of clear skies over China and California, and fish swimming in Venice’s canals also made their way to social media. While they are a glimpse of what it might look like if we take better care of the earth, none of it is likely to last.
Much of this temporary environmental reprieve will diminish once the economy picks back up again. And of course, no one should want to curb pollution and tackle climate change via a deadly global pandemic, given the grave health and economic impacts the crisis is creating.
Want to know which hospitals in your city have the Coronavirus test? Here is the list but first, if you suspect that you have symptoms, including fever, coughing, shortness of breath then call the state helpline at 1166 or your doctor.
Private labs are charging a minimum of Rs 7,900 for each test and some public hospitals are giving the test for free. Results will be available in 48 hours.
HOSPITALS TESTING FOR CORONA VIRUS
KARACHI
The helpline to call for suspected cases in Sindh is: 021-99204405, 021-99206565, 021-99203443, 021-99204405, 0316-0111712
Public
Civil Hospital
Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre
Private
Aga Khan University Hospital
Dow Medical College
Hyderabad
Liaquat Hospital
Lahore
Services Hospital
Rawalpindi
Benazir Bhutto Hospital
Multan
Nishtar Hospital
Sialkot
Allama Iqbal Memorial Hospital
Faisalabad
Allama Iqbal Memorial Hospital
Allied Hospital
Rahimyar Khan
Sheikh Zayed Hospital
Quetta
Fatima Jinnah General and Chest Hospital
Peshawar
Muhammad Teaching Hospital
Jinnah Teaching Hospital
Prime Teaching Hospital
Painless Hospital
Khalil Hospital
Zia Medical Complex
Mercy Teaching Hospital
Kuwait Teaching
Naseer Teaching Hospital
MSF Hospital
Afridi Medical Complex
Shahab Orthopedic Hospital
Rehman Medical Institute
North Western General Hospital
Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital
Akbar Medical Centre
Abaseen Hospital
Habib Medical Centre
Ibrahimi Hospital
Islamabad
Pakistan Institute of Management (PIMS)
Gilgit Baltistan
Civil Hospital Hunza
DHQ Gilgit
DHQ Chilas
DHQ Skardu
PDSRU
DHQ Karimabad
Azad Jammu and Kashmir
Abbas Institute Of Medical Sciences, Muzaffarabad
Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Hospital Muzaffarabad (CMH.)
CMH Rawalkot
DHQ Mirpur
DHQ Kotli
DHQ Neelum
DHQ Jhelum Valley
DHQ Bagh
DHQ Haveli
DHQ Bhimber
DHQ Hospital Sudhnoti
The helpline to call for suspected cases in Sindh is: 021-99204405, 021-99206565, 021-99203443, 021-99204405, 0316-0111712
To gain more respect among his devotees and gather more followers, a fake pir (faith healer) in Sialkot attempted to trap himself inside a deep underground pit for 41 days in a ritual but was arrested three days after being inside the pit.
According to a report in Samaa News, Sagheer alias Mithay Shah decided to shut himself in a six-foot deep pit in Wanchal village and told his tearful and emotional devotees that he would stay there for 41 days. His devotees bid him farewell with drums and high emotions.
However, Sagheer turned out to be a complete fraud after the police unearthed his pit which had water, electricity, food and bed arrangements. The police foiled his plans and arrested him three days into his ritual.
Video footage shows the police removing the sand and wooden planks over the pit to arrest Sagheer. He had made arrangements for water, electricity, food and a bed.
The police have also registered a case against the pir and have put him behind bars. SHO Tariq Mehmood shared that the police received information that a man in the village had shut himself in a grave-like pit and there was a possibility that he could die of suffocation because the pit had been covered with mud.
He said several people had gathered around the pit when they reached. The law enforcers pulled the fake faith healer out of the pit.
The SHO further revealed that when they interrogated the fake pir, he said that he was doing this to “help raise respect and pride” for himself among his devotees so that more people follow him.
Meanwhile, Sagheer’s devotees defended his actions saying that the police pulled him out of the pit while he was praying.
