Karachi police arrested a nine-member gang of maids, involved in looting homes in the Gulshan-e-Iqbal area of the city.
According to reports, the gang was also involved in street crimes and robbed shops as well. Three laptops, 10 mobile phones, two cameras, gold jewelry, and five pistols were recovered from the group.
The police revealed that the gang operated by first sending maids to different houses following which after a few months, they robbed those houses. The group had allegedly been on the run for the past 15 years.
The police caught the gang after conducting underground operations. Five members of the gang are in police custody while others have managed to escape.
Maulana Fazalur Rehman is leading the Azadi March, which after reaching Islamabad, has demanded the Prime Minister’s resignation. Maulana has given PM Khan two days to resign or face the consequences, which include “another strategy,” and that, “we [opposition] will not be able to exercise any patience after that point.”
Khan himself, while addressing a rally in Gilgit said that, “”When Maulana Fazlur Rehman is there [in Islamabad] we have no need of foreign conspiracies,” he said, adding, “The way the Indian media is celebrating [this march], it makes it seem he [Rehman] himself is (an Indian) national.”
After Khan’s comments, almost declaring Maulana a traitor who is cohorting with India, social media exploded with memes and images of Maulana photoshopped with Modi.
In a television program when Special Assistant to the PM on the Media, Firdous Ashiq Awan was questioned about why Khan was suggesting that Maulana was a traitor, Firdous said that Khan was a Pakistani citizen and every Pakistani had a right to question who their well wishers are.
Fazlu is the Ambassador of India, in Pakistan. 1- He oppose operation against TTP. 2- He called terrorists as “Shaheed” but security forces as “dead”. 3- He called “Kashmir Jihad” terrorism. 4- He supported PTM agenda. 5- Divert attention from Kashmir issue.#FazluCreatingChaospic.twitter.com/0jMP5xmQKm
He was the arranger, the person everyone went to for help. Founding member of the PTI and one of Prime Minister Khan’s oldest friends, Khan tweeted that Qureshi had always been there for him during hard times.
Devastated by the death of one of my oldest friends Ashiq Qureshi last night. He was always there during my many setbacks in life. Was the first to stand by me when I decided to build SKMT & was a PTI founder member. Above all, he will be missed as a gentleman & great human being
A philanthropist and one of the first supporters of Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital, Qureshi graduated from the Pakistani Military Academy in 1971 and served as a diplomat in London and Paris. His love for cricket is well known and he was also present at the 1992 World Cup on the ground with his old friend Captain Imran Khan.
He left the foreign service and returned home and turned his attention to philanthropy in the social sector. He was also the honorary consul for France.
We are saddened by the news that Ashiq Hussain Qureshi, former Honorary Consul of France in Lahore, has passed away. He was a very respected gentleman and was awarded the Ordre National du Mérite last year. Sincere condolences to his family. pic.twitter.com/zXSYPMl3xf
His friends remember him as being a soft spoken and generous friend, one who was passionate about social work and helped veteran and youth cricket in various capacities.
A ‘devoted husband, and a loving father’, his family has released the details of his Namaz-e-Janaza and Qul.
His Namaz e Janaza will be held on Saturday, November 2nd, 11 am at the Lahore Polo Club, Race course Park, GOR 1. The Qul/dua will be held on Sunday, November 3rd at the National Cricket Academy, Gaddafi Stadium, Gulberg 3, Lahore from 3pm to 5pm.
Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan on Friday came hard on Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and said that the latter “can sell his Islam over a diesel permit or Kashmir Committee chairpersonship”.
Religio-political leader Fazl, who is also the former chairperson of the Parliamentary Special Committee on Kashmir, is currently in Islamabad as part of his Azadi March against the “illegitimate” government led by Imran.
Speaking of the JUI-F-led opposition parties’ protest in the federal capital, the premier on Friday regretted the “use of Islam for shoring up votes” as he addressed a gathering in Gilgit.
“Gone are the days when one could use Islam to gain power. This is a new Pakistan. Sit for as long as you want to. When your food runs out, we will send more. But we will not give you an NRO [National Reconciliation Ordinance],” declared the premier.
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“We are celebrating your independence while an Azadi March [is ongoing in Islamabad]. Who are they wishing to gain freedom from?” he asked the crowd as people in Gilgit observed their 72nd Independence Day.
“I want the media to go there and ask people who they wish to free themselves from,” said the premier, stating that all his opponents appeared disjointed in their thoughts and aims.
He also accused Fazl of being a conspirator and said that Indian media was celebrating the march that suggested the right-wing leader was “himself an Indian national”.
Newsline was always so much more than just a publishing project… it was always about making the dream of editorial integrity a reality
The announcement that the December issue of Newsline magazine would be its last, was greeted by rather emotional comments on social media from people who had been associated with the venture or somehow touched by it.
Their often emotional comments expressed a real sense of sadness and almost personal loss, and while these remarks may have seemed surprising to those unfamiliar with the Newsline project, they really resonated with those who had lived through General Zia’s — direct as well as indirect — martial law periods.
This is because Newsline was not just another publication: for those in journalism, it was a venture that symbolised hope — the hope of the triumph of the journalist over the seth or owner/proprietor/media baron.
Newsline was founded by a group of women journalists in late 1988. The team was led by Razia Bhatti, the longtime editor of The Herald, the Dawn Group monthly that was famous for its stylish production values and its hard-hitting content.
Razia, perhaps the best editor Pakistan has ever produced, was summoned by management and told it was time for her (after some two decades) to leave. This happened soon after General Zia dismissed the civilian government and announced fresh elections and it was a time when the military establishment was seeking to regain control of the political narrative and tame the increasingly outspoken media.
The editorial team was so appalled by the management’s decision to get rid of Razia that most of us opted to resign in protest and leave with her. I was a newcomer in the group (as was Tehmina Ahmed). I’d been with the team for less than a year, but my other colleagues were well-known names in the field, particularly Rehana Hakim, Samina Ibrahim and Sairah Irshad. Talat Aslam stayed on as did Zahid Hussain, our star reporter, who then joined us several months later.
Soon afterward, Razia had the bright idea that we should start our very own magazine. It seemed a complete impossibility, but we began to work on developing the idea anyway. Zia, the cause of most of our woes, had been killed in the Bahawalpur crash and within a few months of that the country’s publishing laws were liberalised and we were able to get a publishing license or ‘declaration’.
We decided we must have a controlling interest and so we invested whatever we could in the company and were also lucky enough to find some investor friends who wanted to come in not for the profit (there never were any), but because they had faith in the venture.
The first issue came out in July 1989 and the legend of Newsline gained strength with every new issue. The legend was that the journalists had won, that editorial integrity would not be compromised, that the news narrative was not tailored according to financial or political interests.
The Newsline launch, Karachi July 1989. L to R: Rehana Hakim, Razia Bhatti, Zahid Hussain, Samina Ibrahim, Umber Khairi, S.A. Baqri, Baseer Ashraf, Tehmina Ahmed
But keeping the legend alive and carrying the torch for this sort of idealism was not an easy task. Financially we struggled and the pressures we faced were many, but we carried on.
Even after Razia died suddenly in 1996, Rehana and the team kept the flame of this hope alive. The names of staffers who passed through the intense training ground that was the Newsline office reads like a Who’s Who of journalism, politics, literature and academia (Abbas Nasir, Mohammed Hanif, Nafisa Shah, Naziha Syed Ali, Marvi Memon, Kamila Shamsie to name just a few). But apart from the commitment of the core team what perhaps helped most to keep the venture alive was the support and good wishes of so many people – friends, colleagues and readers.
But eventually, we reached a stage where the magazine could no longer function as a small independent operation and we became part of a media group (again) when we sold Newsline to the HUM group. When I told a friend about this she asked, “If you sold it and it didn’t belong to you, why are you getting so worked up about it?”
She’s right of course. Legally, we no longer owned Newsline and the decision to cease publication was rightfully the owner’s, but emotionally and idealistically perhaps we will always own Newsline because it was always so much more than just a publishing project… it was always about making the dream of editorial integrity a reality.
Pakistan Railways (PR) has suffered a loss of whopping Rs213 million as three of Tezgam’s carriages were reduced to ashes in the fire that shook the entire nation on Thursday, a private media outlet reported.
At least 74 people were killed and over 40 others injured after three gas cylinders exploded in a train travelling from Karachi to Rawalpindi. The fire destroyed three of the train’s carriages, including two economy class carriages and one business class carriage.
Footage over both mainstream and social media showed flames engulfing the ill-fated train as people cry for help following the mishap near Punjab’s Rahim Yar Khan district.
It wasn’t later that Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmed blamed passengers for the fire, while people across the country stepped up to condemn the minister’s remarks and accuse PR of criminal negligence.
“It isn’t PR’s fault and passengers are to be blamed for it,” the minister said while speaking to journalists after the tragedy.
“It is unfortunate that passengers take cylinders with them. They don’t fear the law,” he said, adding that several people jumped to their deaths from the burning train.
While Rasheed promised an inquiry to ascertain how the passengers had managed to carry cylinders with them, his statements were not very well received by the people who demanded the minister’s resignation amid rising number of train mishaps.
Saudi Arabia has hosted its first women’s wrestling match, as it takes steps towards relaxing strict rules on entertainment, BBC News reported.
According to the details, the contest took place in Riyadh, featuring WWE stars Natalya and Lacey Evans. The duo fought in body suits and a t-shirt on top, in line with requirements for visitors to “dress modestly.”
Thursday’s wrestling match was part of the WWE Crown Jewel event which took place at Riyadh’s King Fahd International Stadium, which can seat 68,000 spectators. Former boxing champion Tyson Fury also competed, defeating Braun Strowman.
Ahead of the match, wrestler Natalya wrote on Twitter: “The world will be watching. I am so incredibly proud to represent our women’s division tomorrow night at #WWECrownJewel. It’s time to bring your best, Lacey.”
Saudi wrestler Mansoor, who will be squaring off against Cesaro, during an interview before the event said that many female members of his family could not wait to watch the match live.
Mansoor said, “I cannot even begin to describe how much that means to me, how much that means to my little sisters, who love WWE, how much it means to my nieces, who love WWE and who fantasise and dream about being wrestlers”.
Amid reports of a rift between opposition parties as the
Azadi March of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) to Islamabad continues, cracks
are also emerging among ranks of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), The Current has learnt.
According to sources, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s orders were disobeyed by the Punjab leadership of his party on Wednesday as 70,000 people were not mobilised to welcome Fazl’s caravan in Lahore.
The Current reached
out to several PML-N leaders to confirm or deny what rumour had and on the condition
of anonymity, one of them rejected the same.
“Both MNAs and MPAs of the PML-N were in Lahore to receive
Maulana’s caravan and they did. We even distributed food among his buses, which
were over a thousand in number,” the PML-N leader added.
“There were six different points in Lahore where our party
members gathered to welcome and facilitate Maulana Fazl. Our workers gathered to
welcome the caravan hours before its arrival.”
When asked why the PML-N leadership was nowhere to be seen at the Lahore stage of the Azadi March as JUI-F leaders addressed a mammoth gathering, the PML-N leader said they were asked to come on stage at the last minute and that too by a junior party worker.
“Not Maulana or any other JUI-F leader invited us on stage and we told them that we will come in an hour. However, later we were told that the caravan will not stop for us.”
The PML-N leader also said that they are on their way from Lahore to Islamabad with a huge crowd and plan on holding a small rally in the federal capital even though their leadership has been told by the JUI-F that the Azadi March will commence tomorrow.
When The Current reached out to other PML-N leaders for confirmation of the postponement, former National Assembly (NA) speaker Ayaz Sadiq said, “Akram Durrani Sahib called me today and said that Maulana will address Azadi March at 2 pm tomorrow after Friday prayers in Islamabad.”
On Halloween Day, while the world is breaking the internet by posting their pictures of themselves in their Halloween costumes, Pakistan is debating why a ‘foreign holiday’ being celebrated in our country?
Wasim & Shaniera Akram with Sharmila Faruqi and Hisham Riaz at a Halloween party last year
The debate ranges from people discussing how it’s against Islam to celebrate a ‘pagan’ holiday and others saying that ‘The West’ does not celebrate Eid, so why is Pakistan celebrating their holidays? The counter-argument to this is that if that’s the case, then we should also not celebrate birthdays.
Sheheryar Munawar at a previous Halloween party
Others are pressing the fact that Pakistanis need to live and let live and if people want to celebrate Halloween they should be allowed to do so; the counter to which is that celebration of the event is ruining our culture and should not be promoted.
Ahmed Ali Butt at a Halloween celebration
Despite people passing judgement against the celebration of Halloween, there are many events happening in major cities for children to dress up and enjoy the holidays. Some people are planning small trick or treating events in their areas, hoping it also promotes their children to get to know their neighbours.
Nadia Jamil has made some staggering revelations in her recent interview.
Speaking on Samina Peerzada’s show, Nadia revealed how an influential politician’s daughter used to bully her. She said she won’t reveal her name as she is passing through a hard time these days.
“At the time, girl’s father was the Chief Minister and the family was very influential,” Nadia said.
She continued, “She was my junior in school and once said to me: ‘Tumhaara baap meray baap ka naukar hai.’”
Nadia further said that when she told her grandmother about this incident, her grandmother scolded her that she should be very cautious as the family could destroy her father’s business. To which Nadia had responded that how could she say this about my father.
Meanwhile, sources tell us that the girl Nadia was referring to in her interview was former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter, Maryam Nawaz. The two studied in the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Lahore, where Nadia was Maryam’s senior.
Apart from that, Nadia also had a candid discussion about her illness, childhood and career with the host. Watch Nadia’s full Interview here:
