Tag: trending

  • In its first episode, Sar-e-Rah salutes female taxi drivers

    In its first episode, Sar-e-Rah salutes female taxi drivers

    Pakistani dramas aren’t the first place to turn to if we happen to be looking for entertainment, but it seems like the tide is finally turning. After the ever popular Kuch Ankahi, ARY’s new drama Sar-e-Rah, is exploring the issues faced by women in this society. In its first episode it welcomes female taxi drivers to public spaces.

    The drama explores the lives of four women and an intersex man, and the struggles they face in society. This episode opens with the life of Rabia, a woman who has been waiting for five years for her aunt and fiance Faraz to finalize her wedding date. When her father, the head of the family, suddenly has a heart attack and it begins impacting the family’s household expenditure, Rabia decides to follow his footsteps to become a taxi driver.

    The episode wasn’t afraid to explore the kind of push back and harassment women face at the hands of men when they venture in to public spaces. In one scene, a customer arrives as Rabia’s car and notices that a woman driving . He starts exclaiming “God’s wrath is upon us!” and walks away muttering that this was a sign of the Day of Judgement. Rabia’s family members, especially her fiance, taunt her with the age-old saying ‘Log Kya Kahengee’ if a woman is boldly stepping out in the streets to make an earning. To whom Rabia gives a powerful response by reminding them that no one is more honorable than a woman who chooses to look after her family by making an earning.

    Twitter users are already fans of Saba Qamar’s powerful acting, calling it a well needed show that has arrived at the right time.
    “I’m very excited about Sar e Rah and the engaging, progressive and uplifting narrative it has taken off with. So many issues are being addressed in a natural and (so far) non preachy or patronising way. Can’t wait for the next episode,” wrote drama critic Aamna Isani.

    “Such a unique & powerful concept. This show is giving OG Pakistani show’ vibe . Hats off to #SabaQamar for always trying to do something different,” another user wrote.

    Users especially showered praises on a powerful scene where a customer guides Qamar’s character to never be afraid to charge her customers the price she deserves, and also reminds her to keep her confidence strong and stare back at the same men leering at her.

    We had been waiting for a long time to see Pakistani dramas get on with the times and start wriiting stories that reflected the lives and struggles of women in Pakistan, and it seems like that time has arrived. The drama is a breath of fresh air for welcoming female taxi drivers in to the public sphere, and we are anticipating how it will play out in the next few episodes!

  • ‘It works two ways’: Khan again victim blames Journalist Gharidah for getting harassed

    ‘It works two ways’: Khan again victim blames Journalist Gharidah for getting harassed

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairperson Imran Khan yet again victim blamed journalist Gharidah Farooqi for being harassed at a rally where she had gone to cover the event.

    In an interview with Isaac Chotiner of The New Yorker, Khan was asked if his comment about Farooqi was taken out of context.

    The former Prime Minister responded: “No. No. No. It wasn’t out of context. Look, in our society, we were . . . it was just in one particular rally where they were all men, and she was right in the middle of this male crowd. It’s just that . . . I mean, anyone who knows Pakistani society, or most sorts of societies like India or Pakistan—if you put yourself in that position, you are going to be vulnerable.”

    “It’s just common sense. Yes, the men are to be blamed if they do anything. But also it works two ways, you should all . . . in our society, normally, people would avoid putting themselves in that position. It’s as simple as that,” added Khan.

    “We have brilliant women journalists in this country. They are doing a great job. But they don’t have to put themselves in positions—and let me just say, it was a specific situation I was talking about, because we actually tried to get her out of the situation,” said Khan.

    Chotiner probed Imran further, stating that there seems to be a certain universalism in Khan’s thinking about democratic government, but, when he speaks about cultural or social issues, about girls’ education or how women respond to being mistreated by men, there’s not so much universalism.

    Khan replied, “I’m appalled. I just feel that sometimes the Western press picks up selective things. How can anyone blame women for rape? Tell me, how can any sensible person ever make such a stupid comment? Look, the rapist is always to be blamed. Always. Simple. Full stop. I was looking at the crime charts, and the crime charts reported to me by the police officers showed that sex crimes were going through the roof in my country. So we got to the bottom of it. Why is this happening?”

    “In the case of a woman getting raped, she’s marked for life. But even worse is when children get abused; that stays with them for the rest of their life. The ideas that came forward were, one, that we must bring down the level of temptation in our society, because you have a lot of frustrated people. Now, this is coming from civil society. And secondly, how do we educate children in schools to stop this child abuse?”

    Khan, in October last year, passed sexist comments about journalist Gharidah Farooqi, saying: “Woh mardon mei ghussay gi toh aisa hi hoga” (If she will enter into men’s sphere, then this is what will happen).

    During a meeting with the delegation of the National Press Club and the Rawalpindi/Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ), Khan said that “Farooqi goes into the crowd and then complains that she is being harassed”.

    He also said that he will ask his party workers to act appropriately.

  • Wikimedia Foundation requests PTA to unblock Wikipedia

    Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) announced on Friday that it was blocking access to Wikipedia on grounds of refusal to remove sacrilegious content, after restricting the website for 48 hours.
    Now, Wikimedia Foundation has released a statement on their official Twitter account, giving their side of the story.

    “On 1 February, we received a notification from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority stating “the services of Wikipedia have been degraded for 48 hours” for failure to remove content deemed “unlawful.” As of 3 February, our data shows this has extended into a full block.”

    The Foundation emphasized that the right to access to knowledge was for everyone, and in restricting Wikipedia, PTA was denying a country with the 5th largest population in the world that right. They urged the Pakistani government to remove the block and allow Wikipedia to function freely within Pakistan.

    “We believe that access to knowledge is a human right. A block of @Wikipedia in Pakistan denies the 5th most populous nation in the world access to the largest free knowledge repository. If it continues, it will also deprive everyone access to Pakistan’s history and culture. We hope that the Pakistan government joins us in a commitment to knowledge as a human right and restores access to @Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects promptly, so that the people of Pakistan can continue to receive and share knowledge with the world.”

  • Five years jail and arrest without warrant for criticising army and judiciary in new draft bill: Dawn

    Five years jail and arrest without warrant for criticising army and judiciary in new draft bill: Dawn

    A bill has reportedly been prepared by the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) led government where up to a five-year imprisonment sentence can be given to “whoever scandalises or ridicules the Pakistan Army and judiciary through any medium”, reports Riazul Haq for Dawn.

    It is to be noted that the bill is to amend the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)

    The newspaper has reported that the summary and the bill will be forwarded to the federal cabinet soon.

    It says that whoever makes, publishes, circulates any statement or disseminates information, through any medium, with an intention to ridicule or scandalise the judiciary, the armed forces or any of their members will be found guilty. And the punishment may extend to five years or with a fine which may go as high up as Rs 1 million or both.

    Moreover, it says that the offender will be arrested without a warrant and the offence will be non-bailable and non-compoundable and can only be challenged in a sessions court.

    Dawn also reached out to PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi who said that he had not seen the draft but there had to be “some limit” to defaming someone.

    “Everywhere in the world there is a defamation law and this does not happen that anyone comes up willy-nilly and says whatever they want,” he was quoted saying by Dawn.

    However, later he denied his comments in a tweet as reported by Dawn, and said that he “simply cannot lend support to any draconian legislation”.

    “I believe that Pakistan needs defamation laws with financial recourse to protect everyone from unsubstantiated accusations,” he explained.

    PML-N’s Rohail Asghar also made it clear that no such laws should be passed by the government as he believed that there should be space for criticism.

  • What is the one piece of advice Shah Rukh Khan always gives his kids?

    Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan held yet another round of #AskSRK on Twitter where among many hilarious questions was one about his relationship with his children.
    SRK has always been open about how protective he is towards his children. In an interview with David Letterman, he revealed that he made sure to spend a lot of time with them.

    ‘If there is one thing I hold against my parents, it’s that they didn’t spend a lot of time with me. Now as a father, I want to be there for my kids as much as possible. That I am going to make sure that I live very long, and I make sure that I keep on living with my kids and never let them feel they don’t have a parent. So any given moment I spend with them, I study with them, I sleep with them, I chat with them, I sort out all their problems, and I hate it when they have boyfriend girlfriend problems.”

    On Twitter when a fan asked Khan about the advice that he would always provide to his children, he replied:

    ‘The journey is important…the end is not.”

    Aside from this, there were also many humorous moments during the #asksrk session, we have provided some of our favorite below

  • Fallout of China balloon saga; Blinken postpones visit

    United States (US) Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed an official visit to China, scheduled to start on Friday, calling an alleged spy balloon over his country an “unacceptable” violation.

    Blinken said that the high-altitude surveillance balloon flying over the continental US “created conditions that undermine the purpose of the trip”. He informed China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, in a call Friday morning that he was postponing the trip.

    The decision was made after high-level conversations were held between Blinken, President Joe Biden and other top national security officials.

    White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that Biden was advised by military leaders not to shoot down the balloon because of the risk to the safety and security of the people on ground.

    China, however, has said that the balloon was a “civilian airship” used mainly for weather research that deviated from its planned course.

  • Fawad cries on live TV recalling his kids visiting him in jail

    Fawad cries on live TV recalling his kids visiting him in jail

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry cried on Kashif Abbasi’s show on ARY while recalling the time his kids visited him in jail.

    A visibly teary-eyed Chaudhry said, “It was bad”.

    Senior journalist Kashif Abbasi told the former minister that it must have been a devastating time for the family, especially the kids. Abbasi added that Chaudhry’s children were told that Papa was out due to an official trip.

    https://twitter.com/PakForeverIA/status/1621168257255485441?s=20&t=0v5w9F90XMu7xZ5VDki6ng

    With tears in his eyes, Chaudhry said, “Of course, what could we tell them.”

    An Islamabad district and sessions court has accepted Chaudhry’s bail petition in the case registered against him for threatening Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) officials and their families on February 1.

    The bail was accepted on the condition that he will not repeat any words that can incite violence against a constitutional institution.

    Chaudhry was arrested outside his house in Lahore on January 25, after the case was registered against him in Islamabad.

  • Khan will not contest in upcoming National Assembly by-polls

    Khan will not contest in upcoming National Assembly by-polls

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has decided not to contest on National Assembly (NA) vacant seats, multiple media outlets have reported.

    According to Geo News, former Members of the National Assembly (MNAs) of the PTI will participate in the upcoming national assembly by-elections. Khan has reportedly directed them to submit their nomination papers and start election campaigns in their constituencies.

    A day earlier, Khan also withdrew his nomination papers from National Assembly Constituency NA-193.

    It is pertinent to mention that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced that by-elections for 33 vacant seats will be held on March 16.

    PTI leaders had announced that their party chief will contest on 33 seats out of 35 seats, leaving aside the two women’s reserved seats.

    On Thursday, it was reported that Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) will also participate in the upcoming by-polls with the party completing the process of finalising its candidates.

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  • Commissioner in the day, rock star at night: here are some fun facts about North Nazimabad’s new Assistant Commissioner

    Commissioner in the day, rock star at night: here are some fun facts about North Nazimabad’s new Assistant Commissioner

    North Nazimabad’s new Assistant Commissioner Hazim Bangwar is creating a storm on social media which has yet to see a government officer who is also a model, singer and a philanthropist. Take a deep dive along with us all about this trendy dude’s background.

    1. Bangwar’s mother is from Iraqi descent and is an architect, while his father, Ali Akbar Bangwar, has served as the Police General D.I.G of Pakistan.

    2. Bangwar moved to New York at the age of six where he finished high school from Midwood High School. He later got his Bachelors in Fashion Design and Marketing from AIU London, and then his LLB from University of London.

    3. He spent his academic years producing music, and signed a two year deal with Interscope Records. Bangwar’s first mix tape ‘One Man Army’ was promoted in both US and UK. He was later offered a deal by Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. under Young Money Entertainment as a singer/songwriter. He released many tracks like ‘Hell Ya’ and the Urdu track ‘Tujko Bhulaya’.

    4. Aside from his singing career, Bangwar is a philanthropist and has founded the Hamza Bangwar Foundation, and doesn’t shy away from having the best lewks as we can see from his insta page!

  • Illegal screening of ‘Pathaan’ in Karachi cancelled

    Illegal screening of ‘Pathaan’ in Karachi cancelled

    A film screening of Bollywood’s smash hit Pathaan organized by Firework Events in DHA, Karachi has been cancelled.
    The event was gaining traction on social media with many lining up to buy tickets.

    However, the Sindh Board of Film Censors issued a statement calling for the screening to be banned, stating that only films approved by the board are allowed to be played in public or private cinemas.
    “No person shall make or arrange a public or private exhibition of a film by means of cinematograph unless the film has been duly certified for public exhibition by the Board.”
    The Censor Board also cited laws that include imprisonment of up to 3 years along with a fine of up to Rs 100,000. SBFC demanded that Firework Events cancel the screening of the film.