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Supporters, as well as unknown armed men, storm judicial complex Police detain 35 people, thrash journalists covering Imran’s appearance ISLAMABAD: As former prime minister Imran Khan arrived at the judicial complex to secure bail in multiple cases, fragile security measures put in place by the police provided Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) supporters and some “unidentified individuals” who were armed with automatic weapons to storm the complex without facing resistance from police. The visit of the police chief and the DIG Operations failed to boost security measures as they remained inadequate giving supporters who had accompanied Mr Khan a free hand to enter the complex. However, the police were quick to beat up a number of journalists who had converged at the Islamabad High Court for the coverage of the PTI chief’s visit. Police officials told Dawn that the capital police imposed “fragile security measures” in and around the judicial complex as mere 64 police were deployed

KARACHI: The US does not care about Dr Aafia Siddiqui and if the Pakistani government wanted to bring her back, she would be here in the country, a prominent human rights lawyer said on Tuesday. Clive Stafford Smith is the lawyer who paved way for the return of two Pakistani brothers — Abdul Rabbani and Ahmed Rabbani — who were detained at the Guantanamo Bay prison for the last 20 years. They were released and returned to Pakistan last week. Addressing the press conference along with Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s sister, Dr Fauzia Siddiqui, Mr Smith said Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who was ‘abducted’ in 2003, “holds no special importance for the US” and it’s the government of Pakistan that didn’t do enough to bring her back. Responding to a question, he said if Dr Shakeel Afridi had to be traded for Dr Siddiqui’s release, the Pakistani authorities should do it. Dr Afridi has been incarcerated for more than a decade after he was accused of helping the US in tracing the Al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden w

• Authorities say lender ‘changed its mind’ on at least four prior actions • Officials hint at ‘1998-like situation’, say foreign capitals working for Pakistan’s ‘meltdown’ • Despite its pro-poor mantra, sources claim Fund pushing measures that may hit low-income groups ISLAMABAD: The government has been trying to put on a brave face in its struggle to unlock critical funding from the IMF, but background discussions with officials reveal the administration is quite nervous beneath its confident exterior, as it finds it increasingly difficult to convince the Fund to release a loan instalment. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has changed interpretations of at least four prior actions ahead of rea­ching a staff-level agreement (SLA) on the direly needed economic bailout. Sources say the authorities are extremely annoyed at the latest situation, describing it as ‘maltreatment’. “We are members of the IMF, not beggars or else our membership be discarded,” commented a disgruntled

Brendon McCullum has promised that England will keep faith with their attacking game during the Ashes despite Tuesday’s extraordinary one-run loss to New Zealand in Wellington. The hosts levelled a two-match series by becoming just the fourth side in 146 years of Test cricket to win after following on. The Basin Reserve contest will go down as an all-time classic, with England asking New Zealand to follow on 226 runs behind, only to struggle in pursuit of a target of 258. England, despite being denied a seventh successive victory, has won 10 out of 12 Tests since captain Ben Stokes and coach McCullum, himself a former New Zealand skipper, joined forces last year following a woeful run of one win in 17 matches at this level. McCullum, while disliking the ‘Bazball’ reference to his nickname, was adamant there would be no let-up in England’s aggressive approach during a five-match series at home to arch-rivals Australia. “We’ll try to play the cricket that we want,” McCullum told th

PTI Chairman Imran Khan is expected to appear in person in various courts in Islamabad in four different cases pertaining to foreign funding, terrorism, Toshakhana, and attempted murder on Tuesday (today). The former premier has left for Islamabad with party leaders to appear in courts, the party said on its official Twitter account. It said a large number of people welcomed Imran and his caravan at different spots along the motorway as the party chief headed for his appearance in the courts. The banking and the anti-terrorism courts are located in the judicial complex in Sector G-11, while the sessions court is housed at F-8 Kacheri in the capital. Cases against Imran The ECP had in November 2022 approached the Islamabad sessions court with a copy of the Toshakhana reference, seeking proceedings against Imran under criminal law for allegedly misleading officials about the gifts he received from foreign dignitaries during his tenure as the prime minister. In another action,

GWADAR: Four people, including a security man and three civilians, were injured in a grande and rocket attack on an FC checkpoint in Turbat area, late on Monday night. Police officials said miscreants riding a motorcycle hurled a grenade at a checkpoint of Frontier Corps at Jusak Board area. The armed men later fired RPGs at the post, leaving an FC soldier and three others wounded. The injured were immediately shifted to hospital. Police, counter-terrorism department and FC personnel later launched a search operation in the area. Published in Dawn, February 28th, 2023 from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/UWRtvdM

KARACHI: With weekly inflation surging above 40 per cent, millions of Pakistanis have found their purchasing power further eroded, with many struggling to cover even the most basic necessities. Meanwhile, those at the helm of power scramble to put in stop-gap measures by imposing more taxes and blocking imports to shore up the country’s foreign reserves. The worst hit by this are the poor, who cannot even afford two full meals a day. Hailing from a small village near Nawabshah, Imam Ali lost most of his livestock and crops in 2020 due to floods, forcing him to come to Karachi to find a job. Ever since, he has been working as a security guard in Karachi’s FB Area, earning a meagre Rs15,000 a month. However, the minimum wage in Sindh is mandated at Rs25,000. “We are solely reliant on God, we cannot make ends meet in this inflation,” said 55-year-old Ali. “If our children ask for food, we simply make excuses. If we eat one time, the second meal is hard to manage … we tell the children

BARA: Atop a police outpost in northwest Pakistan, Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Faizanullah Khan stands behind a stack of sandbags and peers through the sights of an anti-aircraft gun, scanning the terrain along the unofficial boundary with the tribal districts. On this cold and rainy February morning, he is not looking for aircraft, but for the militants behind the attacks against his force, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police. It is daytime so he could relax a bit, but night was a different story, the ASI said, pointing to the marks left by bullets fired at the Manzoor Shaheed outpost. The outpost is one of dozens that provide defence against the militants waging a fresh assault on the country’s law enforcers from hideouts in the border region adjoining Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The threat the insurgency poses to Pakistan was illustrated last month when a bombing at a mosque inside Peshawar’s police compound killed more than 80 police personnel. Jamaatul Ahrar, a faction of the

Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch on Monday confirmed that 16 Pakistani survivors seemed to be in “good physical condition” after a wooden sailing boat carrying migrants crashed against rocks on the southern Italian coast over the weekend. The vessel had set sail from Turkiye several days ago with migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and several other countries, and crashed in stormy weather near Steccato di Cutro, a seaside resort on the eastern coast of Calabria, with bodies, shoes, and debris washing up along a long stretch of shoreline. The death toll rose on Monday to 62 people, a coast guard official told AFP — and that number looked likely to increase. The FO spokesperson said that a senior embassy official today met the 16 Pakistani survivors of the capsised vessel. “They seemed in good physical edition,” she added. “According to them there were 20 Pakistanis on the ship,” the FO spokesperson said. “Embassy is in close contact with Italian au

KARACHI: The opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday staged a big rally against growing inflation in the country and announced that it would build a mom­entum from Karachi that would lead to the fall of the “imported government”. A large number of PTI workers and supporters, including women and children, took out smaller rallies from different parts of the city to reach Liaquatabad, where the main rally turned into a protest demonstration. Carrying placards, portraits of Imran Khan and party flags, the workers shouted slogans against the Pakistan Democratic Movement-led coalition government at the Centre for hatching “conspiracies against PTI leadership and totally ignoring the current economic crisis. However, the protest rally caused a traffic mess on Shahrah-i-Pakistan and adjoining arteries since the Liaquatabad flyover and the road leading to Dakkhana flyover were closed for vehicular traffic. Addressing the demonstration, party leaders vowed that the workers were

GILGIT: Every year, from October to April, residents of Gilgit-Baltistan spend most part of their day sitting in front of fireplaces in large, but poorly ventilated halls, to brave the frigid weather. As the region lacks clean energy sources, the primary mode of heating is traditional stoves called ‘Bukhari’. These wood-burning metal heaters are made up of three parts — a fire chamber, a chimney, and a cooking surface — and are used throughout the year. It is not just the firewood, cow dung, or coal that is used as fuel. People in urban parts of the region burn plastic bags and similar synthetic waste in addition to rubber acquired from tyres to keep these stoves running amid freezing temperatures. These stoves are tried-and-tested heaters — meeting the needs of the populace for centuries. But there is a major downside to their use — the impact on the pulmonary system of people huddling around them, chiefly children and elderly people. Gohar Balti, a resident of Skardu, tells Dawn

This year Ramazan will definitely be tougher than previous years for many low and middle-income group people, especially in terms of skyrocketing prices in the last year. After over 12 hours of fasting, people try to enjoy lavish iftar by arranging many items. But many people with mediocre wages and salaries are likely to limit their purchases this year. All responsibility lies on the government to ensure the availability of edible items at cheaper rates not only throughout the year but especially in the holy month. As the government is more occupied in political and economic chaos besides pinning hopes on approval of the International Monetary Fund loan (IMF), it is hard to expect any special measures that could bring any impressive price relief. While consumers have witnessed a price spiral in the last year, the government is not in a position to offer any huge subsidies or duty/taxes relaxations to lower prices. Any efforts to curtail prices by lowering taxes and duties may ir

QUETTA: The Marri woman who last week was rescued from captivity along with her children after spending years in a private jail in Barkhan town narrated her ordeal on Sunday, recalling that the family was subjected to torture, kept separately in small rooms and weren’t allowed to meet with each other. “It was a horrible experience that we can’t forget,” Granaz Bibi, wife of Khan Muhammad Marri, said in a recorded video message released on Sunday. Her two teenage sons also narrated what happened to them while in captivity. The woman recalled that she and her three children, including a daughter, had been recovered by the police and Levies officials from the Duki area of Balochistan a few days ago after Marri tribe members and other people protested in Quetta and demanded the government recover the family. Granaz, 50, and her seven children had been languishing in a private jail for years. Two of her sons were killed and their bodies were found along with a woman’s body earlier th

DERA GHAZI KHAN: Mohsin Leghari of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) won the by-election to NA-193 (Rajanpur) with a huge margin on Sunday, unofficial result shows. According to the unofficial result, Mr Mohsin bagged 90,392 votes as compared to 55,218 and 20,074 votes secured by Ammar Awais Khan Leghari of the Pakistan Muslim League-N and Akhtar Hassan Khan Gorchani of Pakistan Peo­ples Party, respectively. While congratulating Mr Mohsin, PTI Chairman Imran Khan expressed the fear that the victory would “scare” the government and its “handlers”. “Congratulations to Mohsin Leghari, Meena Leghari, PTI workers & voters for the NA 193 emphatic victory despite govt machinery, neutrals & ECP all working against PTI,” he tweeted. “My only worry is that this will scare PDM & its handlers more. Therefore, expect greater pressure on SC judges,” he said. The seat had fallen vacant after the death of PTI MNA Jafar Khan Leghari. The result was not unexpected as Jafar Khan was qu

• Plans to propose amendment to NAB law • Accuses judiciary of penalising one leader, protecting another • Sindh CM counts 16 reasons that can lead to a lawmaker’s disqualification KARACHI: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday accused the judiciary of double standard, alleging it penalised one leader but protected another, and called for expanding accountability laws to cover both past and present judges. In a hard-hitting speech, which came two days after a similar address by PML-N chief organiser Maryam Nawaz Sharif in which she called for accountability in the judiciary, Mr Bhutto-Zardari warned that his party would not let this “system of holy cows” run this country. The foreign minister, speaking at a seminar organised by the PPP’s Sindh chapter to mark the golden jubilee celebrations of the 1973 Constitution, was particularly critical of the judiciary’s treat­ment of PTI chief Imran Khan. “I am very sorry to say that the way our apex court is going with double stan

Israel committed to stopping authorisation of any settler outposts in the occupied West Bank for six months during a meeting on Sunday with Palestinian officials in Jordan when the sides pledged to de-escalate surging violence. In a joint statement at the end of a meeting in the city of Aqaba, Israel, and Palestinian officials said they would work closely to prevent “further violence” and “reaffirmed the necessity of committing to de-escalation on the ground”. Host nation Jordan, along with Egypt and the United States, considered “these understandings as major progress towards re-establishing and deepening relations between the two sides”, the statement said. The meeting was held as anxiety mounted of escalation in the run-up to the holy month of Ramazan that begins in late March. Palestinian factions, including the Hamas group, which governs the Gaza Strip, condemned the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority for taking part in the meeting. The meeting brought together top Israel

LAHORE: The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) has launched a fresh probe against Farhat Shahzadi, known as Farah Khan, a close friend of PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi, and Awami Muslim League chief Sheikh Rashid in inquiries pending with it against them to determine whether they committed money laundering or not. The PTI Punjab government’s tenure has also come under scrutiny as the ACE initiated a probe into all mega housing and other development projects on complaints of irregularities to ‘take action against those involved’. “We have launched a review into the inquiries against Farhat Shahzadi and Sheikh Rashid with regard to their alleged involvement in money laundering. If the money laundering allegations are established, the matter will be referred to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for legal action against them,” ACE Punjab Director General Sohail Zafar Chattha told Dawn on Saturday. Matter to be referred to FIA if allegations established He further s

KARACHI: A number of former PTI lawmakers approached the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Saturday to challenge the decision of the National Assembly Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to accept their resignations. The counsel for PTI said that Aftab Siddiqui, Saifur Rehman Khan, Faheem Khan, Attaullah Khan, Aftab Jahangir, Najeeb Haroon and others have also approached the SHC. The lawyer contended that the speaker’s act of accepting their resignations was a violation of law, as he has to ascertain personally whether it was signed by the person concerned. They asserted that the Lahore High Court had annulled the decision of the NA speaker to accept the resignation of the party MNAs in Punjab, as well as notifications of the ECP. They asked the SHC that notifications to de-seat the petitioners may also be declared void and issue directives to the respondents to restore them as members of the National Assembly. PTI Karachi president Aftab Siddiqui told the media the party MNAs had resigned on Apri

ISLAMABAD: The Election Com­mission of Pakistan (ECP) has rej­e­c­ted the Punjab government’s request and decided to hold the by-election in Rajanpur on Sunday (today). The by-election will take place on the seat, NA-193 (Rajanpur), which had fallen vacant following the death of PTI’s Sardar Jaffar Khan Leghari in December 2022. Two days before the polling, the interim government of Punjab on Friday requested the commission to postpone the by-election. The government said that the Dera Ghazi Khan division commissioner has raised security concerns in a letter to the home department. The commissioner also wrote to the ECP requesting postponement over security concerns. The ECP, in a statement, said the Punjab government’s requested couldn’t be entertained as all arrangements for the by-election were already in place. It added that the deputy commissioner, Punjab Police, Army and Rangers would be present in the monitoring room and respond to any untoward situation. The ECP sai

• Matches from Tuesday may be shifted to Karachi if deadlock persists • Govt agrees to light up teams’ route to stadium, says no further talks until board commits funds • PCB accuses provincial govt of ‘changing its stance’ on budget LAHORE: The Punjab government may have agreed to light up the route from the team hotels to the Gaddafi Stadium, but its sta­ndoff with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) continues to drag on, making it seem like the Pakistan Super League would be shifted from Lahore and Rawalpindi to Karachi after an agreement on security expenditure eluded the two sides, on Saturday. The Punjab government has lowered its demand for security funds — from Rs450 million to Rs250m — but the PCB is refusing to flinch, stating that it is the obligation of the government to provide protection to the teams, as per the agreements signed in 2014 for the restoration of international cricket in Pakistan. The PCB has taken its patron-in-chief Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in th

PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday alleged that the Punjab caretaker government had tortured a watchman to force him into giving a statement against party leader Usman Dar in a corruption case. In a video message alongside Dar and a man named Javed Ali, Imran said he wanted to deliver the “emergency video talk” since it was about such a “painful and frightening” matter that it could not be delayed further. “Javed Ali is only one man who has come to the front. They have tried with so many people to give [forced] confessions against our senior leaders or ministers ever since our government fell,” Imran said. The PTI chief said Dar had got Ali employed as a watchman in Sialkot. “He was picked up by the police and after that ‘ namaloom afraad ’ (unknown people) … “ he added, before telling Ali to narrate his alleged ordeal. “This whole statement under [section] 164 [of the Criminal Procedure Code] that was forced from him was to trap Usman Dar and incriminate him in corruption cases.

KHYBER: Hundreds of frustrated Afghans thronged the Torkham border crossing on Friday afternoon after border security officials of both Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed to partially reopen the border for pedestrian movement on both sides. Sources at Torkham told Dawn that the issue of resumption of bilateral trade, however, remained unresolved during the talks held on the Pakistan side of the border. Officials said as many as 500 stranded Pakistani came back after the border was reopened, while nearly 900 Afghans, with valid travel documents, were allowed to return to Afghanistan after the closed-door meeting between security officials of Border Coordination Committee of both countries. Commandant Khyber Rifles Col Naumanul Haq headed the Pakistan side and was assisted by Lt Col Bilal, Lt Col Mujtaba Naseer and Maj Kamran, while the Afghan delegation included Attaullah, Qari Yousaf, Commander Qari Hanzala, Qari Sabit and five others. Trucks line up on both sides as dialogue on res

LONDON: Tens of thousands of junior doctors in England will take strike action for three days from March 13 in a dispute over pay, the British Medical Association (BMA) said on Friday, adding to a series of walkouts by other staff in a strained health system. Junior doctors, who agreed in 2019 to an annual 2 per cent pay rise as part of a four-year deal, say that is now inadequate in light of much higher inflation. “We are demoralised, angry and no longer willing to work for wages that have seen a real terms decline of over 26 per cent in the past 15 years,” the BMA, which represents nearly 50,000 junior doctors, said in a statement. “This, together with the stress and exhaustion of working in an NHS in crisis, has brought us to this moment, brought us to a 72-hour walkout.” Junior doctors are qualified physicians, often with several years of experience, who work under the guidance of senior doctors and represent a sizeable chunk of Britain’s workforce of doctors. Rail union accep

IN military regimes, which have together ac­­c­o­unted for almost half of the country’s history, it was technocrats, for most purposes, who led the government. Even in many civilian governments, key positions such as the finance and commerce ministries were often imposed upon them. Despite their seemingly strong credentials, however, their performance remained mostly unsatisfactory, and if the experiment were to be repeated, there is no reason to expect any different outcome. It is, therefore, necessary to reconsider how technical expertise may best be availed in matters of governance. What did our past technocrat governments fail to achieve? Well, for one, they could not achieve a taxation system that is fair and where what is due gets collected, nor did they manage to increase and diversify exports with goods and services that are internationally competitive, whose sale is not dependent upon receiving state subsidies and grants of ‘favoured’ status by buyer countries. They were no