Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairperson Imran Khan during his jalsa in Kohat scolded Chairman Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir, Shehryar Afridi, and said that the arrangements he made for the jalsa were weak.
“Shehryar Afridi, tumhara intazam kamzor hai. Lights hi nahin hain, loug nazar nahin aa rahay,” said Khan. [Shehryar Afridi your arrangements are so weak. There are no lights, I can’t see people properly].
“I cannot see half the stadium, so give the arrangements to someone else from now on,” added Khan.
The PTI chairman praised the Supreme Court’s (SC) decision on 63-A and said the apex court with the verdict has ensured Pakistan’s morality does not diminish.
“I am thankful that the Supreme Court rejected the votes of the people who sell their vote and betray their constituents and democracy,” the ex-prime minister said.
Khan said that “Allah has not given us the choice to remain neutral” and stressed that there was no intermediate way.
Actor Feroze Khan took to his Instagram stories to take a dig at vice president of PML-N, Maryam Nawaz. The Tich Button star shared a statement of Maryam in which she is referring to former President Asif Ali Zardari as “Naik seerat and Paak Daman.”
Feroze stated, “Mujhe baksh dey yaar.”
Recently he complimented former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s physical appearance. The Habs star termed Imran as a “sexy beast” by attaching an old interview of PTI chairman.
TheKhaanihero also shared a rare interview of Khan.
The Khuda Aur Mohabbat 3 hero has often expressed his support for PTI and Imran Khan.
Recently when Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said on Wednesday that he was forced into politics at a young age. “I didn’t choose this life, it chose me,” said Bilawal in interview with CNN’s Becky Anderson.
After this interview of his went viral, Feroze termed him as a cartoon.
Actress Mathira was quick to slam him for his derogatory remarks for the young politician. Taking to her Instagram stories, the Blind Love star called out the Khuda Aur Mohabbat 3 hero for bully labeling Bilawal as ‘cartoon’. She added that its a very mean thing to say to anyone.
Mathira concluded by saying that Bilawal is different but he’s the best.
Recently when Writer and former journalist, Reham Khan shared a video with PML-N leaders, in which the Janaan producer can be seen saying to Imran Khan, “Kidhar hai Niazi? Dar gaya kya?”, Feroze and Adeel Chaudhry slammed Reham for the video.
While the Gul-e-Rana star termed her as ‘snake’, Adeel claimed that she is a horrible person.
Actor-host Mishi Khan took to her Instagram handle to call out Aamir Liaquat for his conduct over the years.
The Janaan diva said that what’s happening with the Aalim Online star now is the karma of Junaid Jamshed as because of Liaquat, a group of citizens attacked Junaid Jamshed.
“Mr. Aamir Liaquat please don’t do these silly videos with your flip crying acting as it’s too late for you to give lame excuses to save your skin. You are exposed big time and your decision to leave the country is probably the most wise one. It’s too late….Your over confidence & erratic behaviour made you lose everything and of course what you said for Junaid Jamshed’s mother on live TV. Makafat e Amal. What goes around comes around so better to leave if you have little integrity and self-respect left. Stop your nonsensical videos as they won’t save your dwindled reputation.”
She also asked him that when is he leaving Pakistan and offered help in case he is not able to book a ticket.
Earlier Mishi re-shared a video of former Prime Minister Nawaz to express her disappointment and disagreement with his scrutiny of Imran Khan’s economic decisions. Mishi said that its all a lie, she also asked that when will Pakistan get rid of Sharif clan.
His tweet got the attention of netizens who started trolling him instantly. Haider Abbasi had some befitting and hilarious replies to his trolls.
A Twitter user questioned, “Hamare paiso se degree complete ki ha. Humne tumhari fee bhari ha. Shukria ada nai karoge hamara?” [You have went abroad to study on our money, we have paid for you. Wouldn’t you say thankyou to us?].
To which Haider Abbasi replied, “Thanks for paying my fees. Much appreciated.”
Haider also thanked the social media platform for increasing his followers on Twitter and said, “I gained nearly 2000 followers because of this tweet. Twitter privilege is real.”
I gained nearly 2000 followers because of this tweet. Twitter privilege is real. https://t.co/r6tI9FFINN
The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday in its decision on a presidential reference seeking interpretation of Article 63-A of the Constitution, which is related to the status of defecting lawmakers, said the votes of defecting lawmakers will not be counted.
Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, and Justice Munib Akhtar gave the majority verdict while Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail were the dissenting judges.
Question 1: Should Article 63-A have a limited or a broad, purpose-oriented interpretation?
The short-order said that the first question was related to the proper approach to be taken for the interpretation and application of Article 63-A.
“In our view, this provision cannot be read and applied in isolation and in a manner as though it is aloof from, or indifferent to, whatever else is provided in the Constitution,” the verdict stated.
It said that Article 63-A was an “expression in the Constitution itself of certain aspects of the fundamental rights that inhere in political parties under clause (2) of Article 17,” adding that the two provisions were “intertwined”.
“Defections rightly stand condemned as a cancer afflicting the body politic. They cannot be countenanced,” the order said, adding that 63-A must be interpreted in a “purposive and robust manner”.
“The pith and substance of Article 63-A are to enforce the fundamental right of political parties under Article 17 […] It must therefore be interpreted and applied in a broad manner, consistent with fundamental rights,” the verdict said.
Question 2: Will the defecting members’ vote be counted, given equal weightage?
Giving its stance on the second question, the verdict said that the vote of any member of a parliamentary party in a house “that is cast contrary to any direction issued by the latter in terms of para (b) of clause (1) of Article 63-A cannot be counted and must be disregarded, and this is so regardless of whether the party head, subsequent to such vote, proceeds to take, or refrains from taking, an action that would result in a declaration of defection.”
Question 3: Will the defectors be disqualified for life?
“While it is for parliament to enact such legislation, it must be said that it is high time that such a law is placed on the statute book. If such legislation is enacted it should not amount to a mere slap on the wrist but must be a robust and proportionate response to the evil that it is designed to thwart and eradicate,” the order stated.
Question 4: Measures that can be taken to prevent defection, floor crossing, and vote-buying
On the question of the measures that can be taken to curb vote-buying, the verdict refrained from giving an opinion on the fourth question, submitted by the president was returned by the court as it was “stated in terms” that were “vague, and too broad and general”.
What is Article 63-A?
Article 63(A) of the Constitution of Pakistan deals with the defection of parliamentarians.
According to the Article, a lawmaker can be disqualified on the grounds of defection if they vote or abstain from voting in the House contrary to any direction issued by the parliamentary party to which they belong.
However, this is restricted to three instances where they have to follow the party’s directions:
Election of the prime minister or chief minister;
Vote of confidence or a vote of no-confidence;
Money bill or a Constitution (amendment) bill.
Per the Article, the head of the party is required to present a written declaration that the MNA concerned has defected.
However, prior to presenting the declaration, the head of the party will have to give the MNA concerned a chance to explain the reasons for defection.
Following that, the party chief will then forward the written declaration to the speaker, who would, in turn, hand it over to the chief election commissioner (CEC).
The CEC will have 30 days at its disposal to confirm the declaration. Once confirmed, the MNA concerned will no longer be a member of the House and their “seat shall become vacant”.
Holger Ziegeler, a German diplomat in Karachi, has been accused of sexually harassing attendees and groping a woman at an event in Karachi. The event took place on November 13 last year and was co-funded by the German Consulate.
“At the 2nd ScrapFest Pakistan event on November 13th/ 2021 at a privately hired venue; a woman attending was sexually harassed by one of the senior staff members from the German Consulate in Karachi,” wrote Urvah Khan in an Instagram post. She was the main organiser of the event.
“Since my last post on this incident, the German Federal Foreign Office’s unit responsible for investigating all allegations of sexual misconduct has directly contacted me. I have provided them with the video and text evidence I mentioned was in my possession,” wrote Urvah in a separate Instagram post.
Talking exclusively to The Current, Urvah Khan said that she organised the event ScrapFest, which promotes women and people from the LGBT community. The second event was co-funded by the German Consulate and Holger Ziegeler was German Consul General in Karachi.
The event took place on November 13, 2021, and Urvah officially issued a statement on April 22, 2022. Three days after issuing a statement, she contacted the German Foreign Office.
“It took a bit of time to make the statement because I needed time to speak to a victim and to convince the witnesses to come forward. We had a text message. After we found the video evidence and had collected the statements of the victims, I knew we had everything we needed.”
Regarding the status of the investigation, she said the German Foreign Office in Berlin is investigating the matter. “They are interviewing the witnesses and the victim. We are waiting to find out what is going to happen.”
Urvah further added that the woman who was groped by Holger Ziegeler reached out to her with the allegations the same night, and recorded her statement the next morning. “I brought it up with Holger. At first he was willing to apologise. The victim asked for a written apology as she was traumatised and did not want to see his face. He later retracted his apology and said that he did not harass her and this was a terrorist attack on his legacy.”
He also pressurised Urvah to get rid of the evidence.
Urvah said that when the German Consulate in Karachi was informed, they messaged her to take her Instagram posts down.
“They did not support me or try to investigate, which is one of the reasons I reached out to the German Foreign Office in Berlin.”
“A woman came by the stage where he groped her buttocks, then grabbed her hand.”
Urvah added that apart from the victim who was groped, Holger’s behaviour throughout the night was unacceptable and disrespectful towards many of the attendees. Many of them came forward as witnesses about how uncomfortable they felt.
“In terms of other attendees, he would try to go closer to them. A few of the witnesses said that they saw him trying to touch women on their body parts, on their stomachs, on their backs.”
“There was another witness who said that he was standing in front of him while he kept touching his friend’s back. She kept putting his hand back to where it was supposed to be,” added Urvah.
Asked why she chose to speak to an international publication, VICE, instead of a local one regarding the case, Urvah said, “Because he is a foreign diplomat, he had diplomatic immunity so that is why I was worried about PEMRA coming after an article or news item like this, and shutting it down. This is why I wanted the first article to be published in an international publication so PEMRA could not touch it.”
“The big issue is that he thought because he co-funded the event through the German Consulate, he could behave in this manner and could get away with it,” said Urvah. “I think it’s important if we all talk about what he did and I think it’s important to have a conversation.”
Talking exclusively to The Current, Dr Mehrub Moiz Awan, said, “I was hosting this event for a fee as requested by Urvah and a lot of my fans came specially for me.”
While narrating what happened at the event, Mehrub said, “The white man was visibly drunk or at least tipsy and interrupted me a few times during my jokes as well. I had especially made a point to crack jokes at white people and white privilege and our own audience was loving them. He tried to be a little handsy with me as well but as I’m a Pakistani transwoman, I know how to handle such guys very well.”
“Later I found out that a female left very upset because she was groped by the same guy. The dude actually sent Urvah a text as well that I saw with my own eyes. It said something like who’s this girl, she’s good. I want her number,” added Mehrub.
Disclaimer: The Current is not responsible for the statements mentioned in the story.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leadership is underfire for passing sexist and derogatory comments toward Foreign Minister (FM) Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz.
“This darmiyana man has become our FM. May God bless him, how will he move Pakistan forward,” said Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan.
“I said it earlier, if he is coming, we will move to Afghanistan, at least we will be able to live there,” added CM Khan.
وزیر اعلیٰ خیبر پختونخوا محمود خان نے آج ایک تقریب میں بلاول بھٹو پر طنز کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ درمیانہ والا آپکا فارن منسٹر بن گیا اللہ خیر کرے وہ آگے پاکستان کو کس طرح بڑھائے گا میں نے پہلے ہی کہا تھا کہ یہ آجائے تو ہم افغانستان کی طرف نقل مکانی کر لیں گے ۔۔ pic.twitter.com/YV7XoBkHyX
Former Deputy Speaker National Assembly (NA) Qasim Suri tweeted a picture of a PTI supporter holding a placard with an insensitive comment on Bilawal and shared it with the caption “lethal”.
Netizens called out the three PTI leaders for their comments. Twitter reactions are as follows:
This person was our speaker national assembly on a stay granted by the supreme court of Pakistan for 3.8 years sums up mentality of our society as a nation. Pakistan https://t.co/nl2RqeQHfw
— Engr M.Alam Sharif (@_Hassan_khel_) May 17, 2022
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said the government is ready to form a judicial commission to inquire about life threats received by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.
Speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath’, Rana Sanaullah said that the government had provided Khan ‘prime minister-level’ security and around 150-200 security personnel had been deployed for his safety. He said that security stays with Khan all the time and they move him from Bani Gala to wherever he goes.
“However, if Imran Khan needs more security, then he should tell us. We will provide it too,” he added.
جان کو خطرے کی ویڈیو ریکارڈ کراکے چھپائی کیوں ہے اسے شیئر کرو،جوڈیشل کمیشن بنانے کو تیار ہیں۔عمران خان کےساتھ جس قسم کےلوگ ہیں انہی میں سےکسی نے موبائل فون نکالے ہونگے۔ عمران خان کو وہی سیکیورٹی ملی ہوئی ہے جو انہیں بطور وزیر اعظم ملی ہوئی تھی۔وزیر داخلہ
— Shahzeb Khanzada (@shazbkhanzdaGEO) May 16, 2022
“If you have recorded that video, then share it with the people. You say you will bring everything in front of the people of Pakistan, then you must share the video. They say one thing one day, and another the next day. Every few days, they bring a new fraud and lie. This man [Imran Khan] wants to divide the country and misguide the youth.”
Talking about PTI leader Dr Shahbaz Gill’s claim that two of Imran Khan’s mobile phones were stolen in the Sialkot jalsa, Rana Sanaullah said that Imran Khan’s mobile phones must have been stolen by his companions because Imran Khan is “surrounded by such people who can do it”.
On a question asked about the comments Khan made in relevance to Dr Rizwan’s death caused by a heart attack and poison that can be mixed in food, Sanaullah said, “What should I say to this horrendous man? He was the prime minister of this country and unfortunately is again the candidate for the position of prime minister. If something like this was even suspected, the family would have had his post-mortem done.”
“They bring such lies and fraud to their fan crowd and they believe whatever he [Khan] says. Anyone with wisdom knows about the lies told by Khan,” said Sanaullah.
جو شخص ملک کا وزیر اعظم رہا ہے اور دوبارہ وزیر اعظم بننے کا اُمیدوار ہے،کیا اُسے نہیں پتہ کہ ڈاکٹر رضوان کی موت اگر زہر سے واقعہ ہوتی تو انکے اہل خانہ ضرور پوسٹ مارٹم کراتے۔ ہرذی شعور آدمی کو انکے جھوٹوں کا پتہ ہے۔ وزیر داخلہ رانا ثناء۔
A Lahore resident, Maryam Khan, shared pictures on her Twitter account in which a Lahore traffic police officer on a motorbike can be seen harassing her in broad daylight on Mall Road, one of the busiest roads in Lahore. He parked his bike next to her car at a signal and made ‘kissing’ gestures at her and her daughter.
“Here are photos of a traffic police officer named Sami Ullah on Mall Road, Lahore at 12.30 pm today, harassing me and my daughter while we were at a traffic light stop before G.O.R 1,” tweeted Maryam Khan.
She tagged City Traffic Police (CTP) Lahore to take action against the harasser.
Here are photos of a traffic police officer named SAMI ULLAH on Mall Road, Lahore at 12.30 pm today, harassing me and my daughter while we were at a traffic light stop before G.O.R. 1. Are you ready to clean up this filth from your ranks @ctplahore or is this not your priority? pic.twitter.com/TDVF7bvNUK
While talking to The Current, Public Relations Officer (PRO) Rana Arif said that the police officer, Sami Ullah, has been suspended and an inquiry is underway. He added that the next action will be taken as per the inquiry report. He said that CCTV cameras are placed all over Mall Road and it will be very easy to find out what actually happened.
Earlier, responding to Khan’s tweet, CTP Lahore said, “Ma’am, if you have any complaints regarding any traffic police official. You can register the complaint on Rasta app which is the right forum.”
Mam if you have any complain regarding any traffic police official .you can register complain on Rasta app which is the right forum please.
Following the incident, Twitterati expressed their disappointment and anger over it.
⚠️ Trigger Warning It’s disturbing how so many are gaslighting the lady on some assumptions that the person in pic might not harassing her & he might be entertaining the kid…Blah blah
Check the pic dude, Why he approached the car and tried to be so frank as if he knows her? https://t.co/YxllxJldtL
The Mom star shared his great experience of meeting the veteran politician.
He revealed that Nawaz promsied a better film policy in the country and expressed his progressive vision for the film fraternity of Pakistan.
Screenshot of a tweet is going viral on social media, that features Adnan praising Nawaz and claiming that if he becomes the PM again, he will vainish inflation and improve the economic situatio of the nation.
However the tweet has been posted from a fake handle and is not authentic.
Former focal person on digital media to former PM Khan, Dr Arsalan Khalid exclusively stated to The Current, “Artists make an important part of society and its good to see pml-n promoting this meeting realizing how wrong they were when they attacked all the artists and celebrities who are supporting Imran Khan.”
Earlier the Ahista Ahista star shared pictures when he met the legendary Indian musician, AR Rahman at Dubai Expo 2020 after cancelling his booked flight on December 21
Mom star uploaded a selfie on December 24 with the Oscar-winning musician, AR Rahman on his Instagram. He shared his experience as the evening not to be forgotten ever after listening live singing from AR Rahman.
Adnan said, “I was supposed to fly back on December 21, stayed put another day only to see A R Rahman sahib perform live.”
The live performance lasted for around three hours where people were standing for listening to his soulful music. He considered it a privilege that he immersed in his ethereal music.
He also revealed the humility of a legendary musician and international icon, who took him backstage to introduce his crew.
He added, “Not everyone can be Mr AR Rahman.”
Last month, Popular Indian singer Arijit Singh performed at a concert in Dubai Abu Dhabi. During the concert, the Channa Mereya singer took out the time to praise Pakistani singers, Atif Aslam and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan.
Later, he went on to sing the popular song of Atif Aslam’s Pehli Nazar Mein from the Bollywood film, Race.
What solid statement from @TheArijitSingh regarding Pakistani singers great to see!!
