Category: PAKISTAN

Life in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mardan district came to a halt on Friday as thousands of workers and supporters of religious parties took to roads to pressure the government into releasing the 31 men convicted in the brutal murder of Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan student Mashal Khan, who was lynched in April 2017 after being falsely accused of blasphemy. Thousands of members of the Tahaffuz Khatm-i-Nabuwat Organisation, Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) joined by locals participated in the protest that began at Pakistan Chowk after Friday prayers. A view of the…

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In the face of criticism from the Supreme Court and political spheres, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Wednesday commended the “professional” performance of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police referencing the headway made in the cases of Mashal Khan’s lynching and the murder of a minor girl in Mardan. Almost a week earlier, the chief justice had criticised KP police, saying: “We had heard that the KP police have become very efficient in the province, but [it seems] your incapability has made you dependent on others […] that is why so…

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An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Haripur is set to announce its verdict in the Mashal Khan lynching case on Wednesday amid tight security. ATC Jugde Fazal Khan Subhan is expected to announce a short verdict in the heavily guarded Haripur jail. Extra security arrangements have been made due to the sensitivity of the case, with roads leading to jail being closed. The jail administration has also banned the entry of visitors. “It is expected that a large number of relatives, friends, family members and supporters will gather outside the Haripur…

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Deliberating on the Elections Act 2017, which paved the way for disqualified prime minister Nawaz Sharif to regain presidency of the PML-N, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked a petitioner how having a party chief who is not eligible to contest elections would be in contradiction with the Constitution. Barrister Farogh Naseem, who is representing opposition MNA Sheikh Rashid, told the court that the law was passed only 17 days after Sharif’s disqualification by the Supreme Court in Panamagate case. Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar — heading the three-member bench hearing the case…

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As the protest sit-in demanding justice for slain tribesman Naqeebullah Mehsud entered its fifth day in Islamabad, leaders of the Mehsud community in Karachi threatened to announce a strike here if the government and law-enforcement agencies do not arrest former SSP Rao Anwar, who killed Naqeeb in a fake encounter, within a week. After the news of Naqeeb’s January 13 extrajudicial killing emerged, Karachi’s Mehsud elders set up a sit-in camp on January 18 at Sohrab Goth, under the banner of the Pashtun Qaumi Jirga, which continued for nearly two…

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LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed joined the PML-Nawaz on Sunday, according to sources. Mushahid held a meeting with former prime minister and PML-N President Nawaz Sharif at his Jati Umra residence today after which the decision was finalised. Talking to Geo News, Mushahid said he has accepted Nawaz’s invitation to join the party, adding that there has been no discussion on the Senate ticket. Reports had been circulating about Mushahid’s return to the PML-N, the party he left in favour of General Pervez Musharraf when the latter…

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LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday behaved ‘weirdly’ as he said “I am very dangerous” while responding to a question put by a media person. Mr Khan had arrived here to attend the Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital board of governors’ meeting. He made a [brief] stopover at Jahangir Tareen’s office in Lahore Cantonment. As he came out of the office, a journalist asked him whether he would appear before the NAB. The answer from the PTI chief was quite unexpected as he said he was very dangerous. Mr…

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BATKHELA/CHARSADDA/NOWSHERA: The Federal Investigation Agency has arrested a man suspected of being involved in child pornography in Batkhela area of Malakand. Also in the day, the Charsadda police claimed to have taken into custody two men on the charge of stripping and filming a girl. A senior official of the Malakand district administration told Dawn that a five-member FIA team visited the District Headquarters Hospital, Batkhela, as part of investigation into a child pornography and blackmail complaint. The official said the administration provided support to the FIA, which arrested three…

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KARACHI: The family of Naqeeb Ullah Mehsud, who was killed in a “fake encounter” last month allegedly by former SSP of Malir Rao Anwar, on Thursday ruled out any compromise with the suspended accused officer in the name of Diyat, or blood money, minutes after the reports of a possible deal between the two sides hit the news channels’ headlines. The news channels claimed through their unnamed sources that the family of Naqeeb had agreed to receive blood money to “pardon” former SSP Rao, the key accused in the murder…

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Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on Thursday questioned the Sindh Inspector General of Police A.D. Khowaja on the whereabouts of former SSP Malik Rao Anwar, who has been accused of being involved in the extra-judicial killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud. A three-member bench of the Supreme Court, presided by the chief justice, was conducting a suo motu hearing on the case. After being presented with an investigation report by Khowaja, the chief justice remarked: “The state has been blamed for his murder. Those who were responsible for providing security are being…

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LAHORE: Even as the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has been able to track down three men who are allegedly involved in uploading and selling child pornographic content online, the agency has proposed the setting up of a fully equipped ‘cyber patrol wing’ at its headquarters to unearth other such cases in the country. At the moment, there is no team at any FIA office that’s working full time to track down the suspects involved in selling or uploading pornographic material online. The FIA goes after suspects on the basis of…

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A video showing a senior lawmaker apparently groping a minor girl sparked widespread anger on social media on Wednesday evening after it was circulated by at least one Facebook page, with many viewers tying it to recent cases of child abuse which have shaken the nation. The lawmaker in question has been identified by Dawn.com as PML-N Senator Nisar Muhammad, who hails from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and is a member of Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights. When contacted by Dawn.com for a comment, the senator refused to talk, asking that he be called later. The…

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The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Tuesday that it will hold a full dress rehearsal of the security arrangements for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) final at National Stadium Karachi on February 11. The PCB, in a letter written to the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, stated that the planned dress rehearsal will be keenly monitored by the International Cricket Council, its broadcaster and security consultants. On the basis of the successful conduct of the rehearsal, recommendations will be made to the Federation of International Cricketers’ Association, which will then decide…

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ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Dema­nding the arrest of former interior minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan over the killings of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYRA) supporters at Faizabad, Pir Afzal Qadri, their patron, deplored that the institution acting as a guarantor of peace with the government had been inactive on the issue. Separately, lawmakers of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), who had resigned from public office at the behest of Sargodha-based Pir Hameeduddin Sialvi, following the controversy over a Khatm-i-Nubuwat clause in the Elections Act 2017, have begun withdrawing their resignations. At a…

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