Friday, July 31, 2020
Lebanon becomes 1st country in Middle East and North Africa to enter hyperinflation
ByIbtissem Guenfoud
Lebanon could face its biggest crisis since its Civil War, economists are warning as the country's currency hits new lows.
Lebanon is now the first country in the Middle East and North Africa to see its inflation rate exceed 50% for 30 consecutive days, according to Steve H. Hanke, a professor of applied economics at the Johns Hopkins University.
The sharp rise in prices for goods and services pushes the country further into crisis. High inflation means many goods have become unaffordable.
"We started receiving messages from educated people ... emailing us just for help," said Soha Zaiter, executive manager of the Lebanese Food Bank.
She added, "There is no middle class anymore."
The Lebanese rely heavily on imports, which constitute 60% of consumed goods, according to Lebanese economist Roy Badaro. Because of the very high correlation between importation and consumption, the spike in the exchange rate to the dollar then translates into a massive increase in retail prices. Clothing and footwear items alone have seen a 345% annual rise in prices, according to Credit Libanais’ latest report. In addition, the lockdown measures taken to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in the shutdowns of small businesses and massive layoffs, has pushed the country to the brink.
COVID-19 has "a multiplier effect," said Badaro.
According to Zaiter, more than half of the Lebanese population is living under the poverty line as a result. The World Bank estimates that 155,000 households are living under the extreme poverty line.
"If you compare the situation before and after, not only COVID-19, but even before the revolution started in October 2019 … now people are depending on NGOs because the government doesn’t have any plan for these people," she said.
While the Lebanese authorities have pledged financial aid to the poorest 43,000 families, there are worries that it didn't reach the right people.
"The list of data for the families was so old, some of them were already dead or not living in Lebanon anymore," said Zaiter.
The nonprofit organization Embrace, which has a national suicide prevention helpline, said suicide reports have doubled in the country this year, jumping from an average of 200 calls per month last year to between 400 and 500 per month in 2020.
On a visit to Lebanon on July 23, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian was blunt in his critique of the country’s leadership, saying, "Help us to help you."
As talks with the International Monetary Fund have hit a stalemate, the Lebanese are left to rely on their diaspora for an influx of money.
"Venezuela has oil. Our oil is the diaspora," said Badaro.
Rabah's cousin, who lives overseas, used to send money home to his family.
But "a lot of business shut down due to COVID and my cousin has not been paid for the last five months ... now we have to send him money," Rabah said.
The only way out of the crisis for many in Lebanon is through reform.
According to Makram Rabah, a history lecturer at the American University of Beirut, the core problem is that "no one has any trust in the political system."
The Central Bank "has dug itself so deep" bailing out the country that "it’s incapable of doing anything," Rabah said.
"This was the Central Bank’s original sin," added Badaro, referring to the decision in 1997 to fix the rate of the Lebanese pound.
The country’s weakened position means it is at a crossroads.
"We are in the middle of a reality check about funding growth and our economy and the food even," said Badaro.
#SaudiArabia: #Yemeni Blogger Convicted for Supporting #LGBT Rights - 10 Months’ Jail, Fine, Deportation to Potential Danger
A Saudi court sentenced a Yemeni blogger to jail and then deportation to Yemen for a social media post supporting equal rights for all in Saudi Arabia, Human Rights Watch said today. After a trial in which he was provided no counsel, Mohamad al-Bokari, a Yemeni living in Riyadh, was sentenced on July 20, 2020 to 10 months in prison and a fine of 10,000 Saudi Riyals (US$2,700). Al-Bokari has 30 days to appeal.
The authorities arrested al-Bokari, 29, on April 8 for posting a video on social media calling for equal rights, including for gay people. He had fled Yemen in June 2019 after Yemeni armed groups threatened to kill him and has since been living in Saudi Arabia as an undocumented migrant. A source in contact with al-Bokari told Human Rights Watch that before his trial, he was held in solitary confinement for six weeks in al-Malaz prison in Riyadh, in a hot and humid cell with no windows, no air-conditioning, and insufficient ventilation.
“Saudi Arabia’s public relations campaigns tout the kingdom’s ‘progress,’ but the court’s jail sentence for peaceful speech and then deportation to Yemen where the defendant’s life is at risk shows how hollow these claims are,” said Rasha Younes, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Saudi Arabia should match rhetoric with reality and drop the case and the deportation against al-Bokari immediately.”
The source told Human Rights Watch that after his sentencing, al-Bokari was returned to a shared cell with other prisoners who have verbally abused him, including by calling him a “devil worshipper” who “deserves the death penalty.”
The source said that since al-Bokari was sentenced, his health had rapidly deteriorated and he was transferred to a hospital. Al-Bokari, who suffers from a chronic heart condition, underwent an electrocardiogram (ECG), and was discharged without being informed of the test results. The doctors denied that he had a heart condition and denied him access to medication, said the source, who believes he is “on the verge of collapsing.”
After al-Bokari’s arrest in April, the source said, security officers subjected him to a forced anal exam, an internationally discredited practice used to seek “proof” of homosexual conduct, that can amount to torture. They continued to beat him and verbally abuse him in detention.
Al-Bokari was charged with violating public morality by promoting homosexuality online, and “imitating women.” These charges show that the court decision is based on discriminatory accusations against al-Bokari based on his perceived sexual orientation and gender expression, Human Rights Watch said.
The source said al-Bokari told him that the court claimed he “confessed that he fled Yemen because he was ‘imitating women.’” But Human Rights Watch reviewed recorded phone communications and messages via social media in which Yemeni armed groups and private individuals threaten al-Bokari with death, which led him to flee. Deporting him to Yemen on release seems likely to put his life at risk, Human Rights Watch said. It would appear to violate customary international law prohibitions against returning someone to a place where they face a real risk of torture or other grave harm.
Saudi authorities regularly pursue charges against human rights activists based on their peaceful exercise of freedom of expression, in violation of international human rights obligations. Saudi Arabia has no written laws concerning sexual orientation or gender identity, but judges use principles of uncodified Islamic law to sanction people suspected of having sexual relations outside marriage, including adultery, extramarital and homosexual sex, or other “immoral” acts.
If such activity is discussed online, judges and prosecutors utilize vague provisions of the country’s anti-cybercrime law that criminalize online activity impinging on “public order, religious values, public morals, and privacy.”
The Arab Charter on Human Rights, which Saudi Arabia has ratified, guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and expression in article 32. The United Nations General Assembly’s Declaration on the Rights of Human Rights Defenders states that everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to “impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/07/27/saudi-arabia-yemeni-blogger-convicted-supporting-lgbt-rights#
القبض على شاب يمني من قبل شرطة الرياض ظهر بعدة مقاطع بحديث يخالف القيم والعادات والقانون.#تم_القبض pic.twitter.com/R4AJUgfakg
— أبو طلال الحمراني (@al7mrany) April 8, 2020
The authorities arrested al-Bokari, 29, on April 8 for posting a video on social media calling for equal rights, including for gay people. He had fled Yemen in June 2019 after Yemeni armed groups threatened to kill him and has since been living in Saudi Arabia as an undocumented migrant. A source in contact with al-Bokari told Human Rights Watch that before his trial, he was held in solitary confinement for six weeks in al-Malaz prison in Riyadh, in a hot and humid cell with no windows, no air-conditioning, and insufficient ventilation.
“Saudi Arabia’s public relations campaigns tout the kingdom’s ‘progress,’ but the court’s jail sentence for peaceful speech and then deportation to Yemen where the defendant’s life is at risk shows how hollow these claims are,” said Rasha Younes, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Saudi Arabia should match rhetoric with reality and drop the case and the deportation against al-Bokari immediately.”
The source told Human Rights Watch that after his sentencing, al-Bokari was returned to a shared cell with other prisoners who have verbally abused him, including by calling him a “devil worshipper” who “deserves the death penalty.”
The source said that since al-Bokari was sentenced, his health had rapidly deteriorated and he was transferred to a hospital. Al-Bokari, who suffers from a chronic heart condition, underwent an electrocardiogram (ECG), and was discharged without being informed of the test results. The doctors denied that he had a heart condition and denied him access to medication, said the source, who believes he is “on the verge of collapsing.”
After al-Bokari’s arrest in April, the source said, security officers subjected him to a forced anal exam, an internationally discredited practice used to seek “proof” of homosexual conduct, that can amount to torture. They continued to beat him and verbally abuse him in detention.
Al-Bokari was charged with violating public morality by promoting homosexuality online, and “imitating women.” These charges show that the court decision is based on discriminatory accusations against al-Bokari based on his perceived sexual orientation and gender expression, Human Rights Watch said.
The source said al-Bokari told him that the court claimed he “confessed that he fled Yemen because he was ‘imitating women.’” But Human Rights Watch reviewed recorded phone communications and messages via social media in which Yemeni armed groups and private individuals threaten al-Bokari with death, which led him to flee. Deporting him to Yemen on release seems likely to put his life at risk, Human Rights Watch said. It would appear to violate customary international law prohibitions against returning someone to a place where they face a real risk of torture or other grave harm.
Saudi authorities regularly pursue charges against human rights activists based on their peaceful exercise of freedom of expression, in violation of international human rights obligations. Saudi Arabia has no written laws concerning sexual orientation or gender identity, but judges use principles of uncodified Islamic law to sanction people suspected of having sexual relations outside marriage, including adultery, extramarital and homosexual sex, or other “immoral” acts.
If such activity is discussed online, judges and prosecutors utilize vague provisions of the country’s anti-cybercrime law that criminalize online activity impinging on “public order, religious values, public morals, and privacy.”
The Arab Charter on Human Rights, which Saudi Arabia has ratified, guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and expression in article 32. The United Nations General Assembly’s Declaration on the Rights of Human Rights Defenders states that everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to “impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/07/27/saudi-arabia-yemeni-blogger-convicted-supporting-lgbt-rights#
‘Saudi Arabia is legally responsible for war crimes in Yemen,’ insists Nobel Laureate
The Yemeni activist and 2011 Nobel Laureate Tawakkol Karman has said that Saudi Arabia is “legally responsible” for all the crimes of the Arab coalition it leads in her country.
“Saudi Arabia is the one who is leading the coalition formally and practically… This is what the world knows and what has been announced,” Karman wrote on Facebook. “Saudi Arabia therefore bears legal responsibility for all the crimes committed by the Arab Coalition, whether the perpetrator is Saudi Arabia or one of the member states. To say that the UAE is guilty of laundering Saudi crimes, on the one hand, and tempting the Saudi army to continue to mess with the Yemenis’ lives, on the other, is useless.”
The human rights activist made her comment after it was reported that the French judiciary has opened an investigation against Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed who is accused of complicity in the torture of prisoners in Yemen detention centres controlled by the UAE armed forces. The French can look into such cases on the basis of universal jurisdiction.
The Yemeni government accuses the UAE of supporting the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) to achieve its own goals in Yemen. This is something that the UAE government in Abu Dhabi usually denies.
“They held Saudi Arabia responsible and prepared to make it pay the price… Will they stop? Who will protect our country from their evil agenda?” asked Karman.
On the military level in Yemen, the Coastguard and security forces announced their withdrawal from the island of Socotra, following the intervention of forces loyal to the UAE-backed STC. According to Abd Al-Moein Ghanem, the Coastguard Commander in Socotra port, his forces withdrew as a result of the evasions and arrests conducted by the STC. “We hold the [Saudi] 808 duty forces responsible for the illegal violations that occur, as the Coastguard administration is not responsible for the actions of the Southern Transitional Council,” he explained.
A local government official told Anadolu Agency: “Since controlling Hadiboh, the capital of Socotra, on 19 June, the Southern Transitional Council is trying with all its might to control the port and interfere in the work of the civil, military and security administration of the government, especially with regard to allowing the entry of ships.” The STC militia, he pointed out, has arrested the Coastguard commander on more than one occasion, as well as the security forces in Socotra port in order to put pressure on him to hand over his duties to one of its members, but it failed to achieve this.”
In a related context, a Yemeni security official was killed yesterday in Abyan Governorate, in the south of the country. A military source reported that a senior officer of the government’s Special Security Forces, Abdullah Adqaf Al-Hanashi, was killed in an ambush carried out by unknown assailants. One of Al-Hanashi’s companions was also killed in the attack, and another was wounded.
عیدالاضحیٰ اعلیٰ مقصد کی خاطر قربانی دینے کی یاد دہانی کراتی ہے، بلاول بھٹو - #EidMubarak
پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی کے چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے عید پر اپنے پیغام میں کہا ہے کہ عیدالاضحیٰ اعلیٰ مقصد کی خاطر قربانی دینے کے لیے تیار رہنےکی یاد دہانی کراتی ہے، آج ہر مسلمان کو اپنی انا کو قربان کرنے کاعزم کرنا ہوگا۔
انھوں نے مزید کہا کہ انا کی قربانی کے ساتھ عظیم مقصد کے لیے اتحاد کے ساتھ کام کرنا ہوگا۔ عیدالاضحیٰ کے پر مسرت موقع پر حکمران اپنی انا کو چھوڑ دیں۔
بلاول بھٹو نے مزید کہا کہ حکمران عوام کو حقیقی مقصد کے لیے متحد کرنے کی کوشش کریں جو واقعی قومی ہو۔
انہوں نے کہا کہ عوام عید نہایت سادگی کے ساتھ منائیں، سماجی دوری پر عمل کریں۔ اپنے غریب بھائیوں کو بھی عید کی خوشیوں میں یاد رکھیں۔
بلاول بھٹو نے کہا کہ معاشرتی انصاف کے ذریعے ہم زندگی میں اعلیٰ مقصد حاصل کرسکتے ہیں۔
Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Greets Muslims on Eid-ul-Azha
This has been stated by Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in a message while greeting the Muslims throughout the world on the eve of Eid ul Azha falling on Saturday.
“I greet the Muslims throughout the world in general and of Pakistan in particular on this auspicious occasion”, he said.
On this auspicious occasion of Eidul Azha I urge the rulers of Pakistan to shed their bloated ego and strive to unite the people for a purpose and a cause that is truly national and is higher than their own selves, he said.
Chairman PPP also urged people to celebrate this Eid with simplicity with great regard to social distancing and other precautionary measures during the prevailing pandemic.
“I also urge people to remember their less fortunate brethren who are deprived of the most basic needs of life due to poverty and share bounties with them”.
Islam teaches us that sharing the bounties with others is a multiplier of God’s grace and bounties bestowed upon man, he said. “The message of Islam is the message of social justice and we have an obligation to our community through which we attain a higher purpose in life”.
#PPP - Bilawal Bhutto demands no-confidence motion against Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Bilawal said that he would discuss the no-confidence motion against the speaker in the opposition APC. Today, the role of the Speaker has endorsed our position.He said that the government did not want the opposition to talk about these bills. We will try to bring the opposition parties on one page. A non-controversial bill was also made controversial. These people are using FATF to empower themselves.Bilawal said that problems were arising due to ego and dictatorial thinking of the government. The government’s attitude will increase public problems. The demands of FATF are related to Pakistan, we will meet them.
Chairman People’s Party Bilawal Bhutto said that you cannot silence my opposition. Asif Zardari initially said that NAB and economy cannot go hand in hand. We are not interested in any NRO. The government wants the opposition not to speak in the House.
He said that he wanted to make it clear that the NAB Ordinance has been brought by PTI. What the government is doing today is beyond comprehension. They will not be deprived of their rights by government threats and propaganda.
Bilawal said that the government had taken action against BRT, Malam Jabba, sugar and wheat scandals. Shehzad Akbar declared his property 2 years later.
“We are facing charges but you are hiding behind the stay order”.
He said that Imran Khan was protecting the corruption of his advisers. Imran Khan himself has received the highest amnesty. The noise of the NRO is actually being hidden from the NRO.
Bilawal Bhutto said that how can one be prevented from reading proxy in the name of Islam. How to ban books. The Punjab Assembly needs to review the legislation. Censorship is not in Pakistan’s interest.
https://dailytimes.com.pk/648507/bilawal-bhutto-demands-no-confidence-motion-against-speaker-national-assembly-asad-qaiser/
Thursday, July 30, 2020
#Ahmadiyya #IstandwithAhmadiyya How to become an instant hero in #Pakistani social media — shoot someone to save Islam
NAILA INAYAT
Khalid Khan shot dead an American citizen accused in a blasphemy case in a Peshawar court this week. The murderer became an instant hero on Pakistani social media.
There’s a new ‘hero’ in Pakistan. He’s trending on social media, virtual petals are being showered on him and he’s become the Facebook display picture of many. Even a leader from the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party hailed him.
The ‘hero’ is a young man—Khalid Khan—who shot dead Tahir Ahmed Naseem, an accused in a blasphemy case, in a Peshawar courtroom this week. In front of the judge. This is what happens when you weaponise religion for decades.
Naseem, an American citizen who allegedly claimed to be the “last prophet of Islam” during a discussion with a madrassa student, was booked under Pakistan’s blasphemy law in 2018. A law that carries a death sentence anyway. Formerly an Ahmadi by faith and with a reported mental illness, Naseem was one of the many against whom people in Pakistan are prejudiced. And the law helps.
Khalid Khan fired at him six times during the court hearing Wednesday and reportedly said that Naseem was an “enemy of Islam”. Almost immediately, Khalid and his brutal act were lionised — quite literally because people were posting pictures of him with a lion in the background. The moth-eaten social fabric of Pakistan can even condone a killing if it “defends” Islam.
A legion of fans
Many in Pakistan are justifying Khalid Khan’s crime as an act of bravery, putting up his photos as display pictures — just to hail a murderer.
Not too far from the glorification display was PTI leader Haleem Adil Sheikh, who had apparently put up the killer’s photo with a showering-petals filter as his Facebook DP. The leader later said on Twitter: “This is to clarify, I personally don’t manage my Facebook accounts. This was posted without my knowledge or consent.”
The lions
This isn’t new in Pakistan. This has happened many times in the past — even before Partition. Take, for instance, the 1929 case of Ilm-ud-Din, an illiterate teenager who stabbed to death a Hindu publisher, Mahashe Rajpal, for releasing a book on the Prophet. Din believed that the book, which he hadn’t read, had hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims. His case was fought by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and he was hanged to death. Poet Iqbal, while burying Din, tearfully said, “The educated people like us just could do nothing, while this carpenter’s son scored a point.” Today, there is a mausoleum for Din in Lahore and he is revered as a ghazi (warrior), shaheed (martyr) and a saint.
The 2011 assassination of Punjab governor Salman Taseer by his own guard, Mumtaz Qadri, also took place because of a similar streak of intolerance. Quadri was allegedly incensed because of Taseer’s opposition to the blasphemy law.
Qadri was executed in 2016, but his funeral was attended by more than a hundred thousand people in Rawalpindi. Now, Qadri’s shrine in Islamabad attracts many followers. Even if he was hanged by the state, the duplicity around the issue keeps breeding more Qadris. And that is how in the Peshawar shooter, Pakistanis surely see a Din and a Qadri.
Ban and blasphemy
Between 1987 and 2017, about 75 people have been killed extra-judicially over mere accusations of blasphemy. These include — Christian couple Shama and Shehzad who were burned alive in a kiln in 2014, and Pashtun student Mashal Khan who was lynched on a college campus in 2017.
Yet, blasphemy laws continue to be used as a weapon by anyone who wants to overpower and silence the other. The state has ceded so much space to religious pressure groups that no one can even debate these laws. As in the case of a professor from Sindh, Arfana Mallah, who was threatened with blasphemy charges. Her crime? She supported another teacher, Sajid Soomro, who was booked under blasphemy laws for having a dissenting opinion.
No space for critical thinking is allowed when teachers fear ending up like Junaid Hafeez, a young university lecturer who was sentenced to death on blasphemy charges last year.
Be it the Hindu Krishna temple in Islamabad, the row over a gurudwara conversion in Lahore or the Christian man shot and killed for living in a Muslim neighbourhood of Peshawar, the increasing fanaticism this year doesn’t move the Imran Khan government at all.
Despite all this, the Punjab assembly just passed a controversial bill to protect Islam. In the garb of religion, the idea is to curtail free thinking. Banning a hundred textbooks over photos of pigs in a maths question, banning maps showing Kashmir as part of India, or the wrong birthdates of Jinnah and Iqbal. Then there is a Punjab Assembly member who wants designer beards criminalised because it is a sin. And a possible ban on TikTok is always kept handy — a warning was recently issued to the Chinese app because its content was leading to “extremely negative effects”. Not too long ago, the PTI wanted a ban on the Japanese cartoon Doraemon. What did Doraemon ever do to the PTI?
Not only are these laws, resolutions, calls for bans regressive, but they also remind us that Zia-ul-Haq may have gone, his ruins are still working overtime.
#StateAttackedChamanSitIn - چمن: ایک خاتون سمیت تین افراد ہلاک، حکام کا مظاہرین پر براہ راست فائرنگ سے انکار
پاکستان کے صوبہ بلوچستان کے افغانستان سے متصل سرحدی شہر چمن میں سرحد کی بندش کے خلاف احتجاج کے دوران فائرنگ سے کم ازکم ایک خاتون سمیت تین افراد ہلاک اور 13 افراد کے زخمی ہونے کی اطلاعات ہیں۔
فائرنگ کے بعد افغانستان سے متصل سرحدی شہر چمن اور اس سے متصل سرحدی علاقے میں صورتحال کشیدہ ہوگئی ہے۔
مشتعل مظاہرین نے بعض سرکاری دفاتر کو بھی نذر آتش کیا ہے۔
چمن ہسپتال کے ایک سینئر اہلکار نے بی بی سی کو بتایا کہ اس واقعے میں ایک خاتون سمیت تین افراد ہلاک ہوئے ہیں۔ انھوں نے بتایا کہ گولیاں لگنے سے 13افراد زخمی بھی ہوئے ہیں جن کو ابتدائی طبی امداد کی فراہمی کے بعد علاج کے لیے کوئٹہ منتقل کیا گیا ہے۔
بلوچستان کے وزیر داخلہ میر ضیاءاللہ لانگو نے کوئٹہ میں اس حوالے سے ایک پریس کانفرنس کے دوران بتایا کہ ’ہمارے وہ بھائی جو احتجاج پر تھے وہ ریڈ زون میں داخل ہوگئے اور زبردستی سرحد کو عبور کرنے کی کوشش کی۔‘
انھوں نے کہا کہ وہاں قرنطینہ سینٹر اور نادرا آفس کو بھی نذرآتش کیا گیا ہے۔
ان کا کہنا تھا کہ اس دوران جو شرپسند عناصر تھے انھوں نے فائدہ اٹھانے کی کوشش کی اور حالات کو خراب کرنے کی کوشش کی۔
خیال رہے کہ چمن کی سرحد کو کورونا کے باعث بند کیا گیا تھا۔
#Pakistan #PPP - We did not let Tabahi Sarkar bulldoze the FATF Bills without amendments says Sherry Rehman
Addressing the media in the parliament lodges, Parliamentary Leader of the PPP, Senator Sherry Rehman cleared the air over government’s false claims and said, “The bone of contention was not NAB but FATF. We made sure that our proposed amendments in the FATF legislation by the 24 members of the notified committee were included. We did not let them bulldoze it without amendments”.
She said, “They were trying to move these bills without our amendments and that is why Senate majorities had to be summoned, so they see we have the numbers and send the bill back to committee”.
“The federal government itself admitted that the amendments were much needed and that we are right. We have seen the FATF requirements and they do not include economic terrorism nor was their arrest for 90 days. Pakistan’s parliament is here to ensure the protection of its citizen rights,” she added.
Speaking on the NRO allegations, she said, “We are not scared of NAB and they can keep it to themselves. We have all faced it and will do it in the future too but we will never ask for an NRO. They might need it, not us. We have not asked for any concession from the government. They came to us. We did not go to them”.
“Pakistan was in FATF’s grey list and PPP’s government managed to remove it from the list unlike all the hullabaloo which this government is creating. President Zardari made it clear that we do not need their NAB. He served prison sentence for eleven years, he does not need it,” she added while highlighting PPP’s role.
Parliamentary Leader of the PPP, Senator Sherry Rehman concluded by saying, “They have misused the parliament so much and have not safeguarded Pakistan. This country should be running through the parliament and not executive orders. This is not a presidential system and we will not even let Pakistan become that”.
#Pakistan #PTI wants dictatorial powers in the name of Financial Action Task Force, Chairman #PPP
Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the government,t in the garb of FATF, wanted to bring a legislation through which it could make any citizen a missing person for six months. The PPP could not allow this because our stance has been for democracy and basic human rights. The government wanted to get dictatorial powers using the backdoor but PPP will never allow it to happen. The government is also trying to blend FATF legislation with the legislation for NAB. They are two different issues. The business community had met the Army Chief and the government and their narrative was that NAB and business cannot go together. In this regard, President Asif Ali Zardari had said long ago that NAB and economy cannot go together. Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that after the verdict by the Supreme Court judge Justice Baqar, NAB and democracy cannot go together.
Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the government is trying to provide relief to Kulbhushan Jadhav. Imran Khan was supposed to become ambassador for Kashmir but he has become the counsel for Kulbhushan Jadhav and is trying to give him relief through the backdoor.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that Imran Khan gave NRO to himself, his sister and all his friends. He gave NRO to every case of mega corruption under his government, from BRT Project to Malam Jabba and from sugar to wheat scandals. He said that the wife of Justice Qazi Faez Isa is called by FBR and asked to provide her money trail. Imran Khan has given NRO via amnesties and he also gave NRO to his sister Aleema Khan’s corruption. Every advisor and special assistant should also be asked to give their money trail. There has been no answer from the government about the foreign funding case. The puppet prime minister and his puppet ministers are trying to hide behind the stay order. NAB will have to adopt the same process for PTI which it has adopted for opposition.
Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the PTI government is trying to impose a ban on knowledge in the name of Islam. Punjab government has passed a resolution in this regard. Islam asks all of us to acquire knowledge; we cannot ban books in the name of Islam. Punjab Assembly should review its resolution. He said that this government is also after social media and wants to ban social media and this kind of censorship is not in the interest of Pakistan. It is unfortunate that the government is imposing censorship in the Senate and the National Assembly.
Chairman Bilawal said that PTI government has stopped testing for Covid-19 and is claiming that 19 districts of Punjab are Covid-19 free. They are lying because they are not conducting tests for Covid-19. This will further harm the health and economy of the country.
Responding to questions, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the government accepted our amendments in the two bills which have been passed today. PPP and PML-N are working together and we should not give any credence to the government’s propaganda. He said that all the opposition parties together will decide of the future actions against government. We should not forgive the dictatorial behavior of the speaker of the National Assembly and the opposition can dislodge him so that the NA session does not become a PTI jalsa each time we meet. He said that the green passport was undermined by this government’s actions of grounding all the PIA planes and not taking appropriate action against Covid-19. He said that we should not put a ban on education, knowledge and books in the name of Islam and said that he once again asks Punjab Assembly to review its resolution. He said that the PTI had promised to create a South Punjab province within hundred days but like all the other promises, it did not fulfil this promise as well that had been made to the people.
https://www.ppp.org.pk/2020/07/30/pti-wants-dictatorial-powers-in-the-name-of-financial-action-task-force-chairman-ppp/
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
What Makes India's Rafale Fighter Jets So Potent Against China, Pakistan
The first five Rafales bought from France in a multi-billion-dollar deal landed in the country on Wednesday.
The ability to strike air-to-air targets from up to 150 km away and safely hit land targets 300 km within enemy territory make India's Rafales some of the deadliest fighter jets flying in the world.
Known for air-superiority and precision strikes, the French-made Rafales are India's first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23 years after the Sukhoi jets were imported from Russia.
The first five Rafales bought from France in a multi-billion-dollar deal landed in the country on Wednesday and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh used their arrival to launch a veiled warning to neighbouring China over territorial tensions.
"If it is anyone who should be worried about or critical about this new capability of the Indian Air Force, it should be those who want to threaten our territorial integrity," Mr Singh said.
Indian and Chinese forces were locked in a six-week-long standoff along their de-facto border that peaked with a hand-to-hand battle in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed last month. China also suffered casualties in the showdown but has not given figures.
The deadly clash has sharpened an intense nationwide spotlight on the combat jets that were greeted with a water-cannon guard of honour when they landed at the Ambala air base in Haryana.
The aircraft are capable of carrying a range of potent weapons. European missile maker MBDA's Meteor beyond visual range air-to-air missile, SCALP cruise missiles and MICA weapons system will be the mainstay of the weapons package of the Rafale jets.
Meteor is the next generation of BVR air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) designed to revolutionise air-to-air combat. The weapon has been developed by MBDA to combat common threats facing the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Sweden. The Meteor is powered by a unique rocket-ramjet motor that gives it far more engine power for much longer than any other missile, experts say.
The Meteor missile can target enemy aircraft from 150 km away. It can destroy enemy aircraft before they actually even get close to the Indian aircraft.
Had India had this capability a day of during the aerial encounter with Pakistan last year, the assumption is that many Pakistani F-16s would have been destroyed.
Rafales are also equipped to carry SCALP cruise missiles that can hit targets 300 km away. It means that an Indian Air Force Rafale taking off from Ambala, will be able to launch one of these weapons from well within Indian airspace to hit a target deep inside China.
The third weapon system is the MICA missile system. The MICA is a very versatile air-to-air missile. It comes with a radar seeker. It also comes with an infrared seeker and the reason which makes it very advanced is that it can be fired for the short-range to your long-range as well right up to a 100 km.
It's already in service with the Indian Air Force is Mirages and is the primary weapon system of Rafales as well.
The Indian Air Force is also procuring new generation medium-range modular air-to-ground weapon system Hammer to integrate with the Rafale jets.
Hammer (Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range) is a precision-guided missile developed by French defence major Safran. The missile was originally designed and manufactured for the French Air Force and Navy.
Apart from weapons, Rafales also fly with SPECTRA - widely considered the world's most advanced fighter-based electronic warfare suite, a system which is the cornerstone of the Rafale's survivability against a host of the latest threats.
SPECTRA is designed to detect threats and provides a multi-spectral threat warning capability against hostile radars, missiles and lasers. By detecting threats at long-range, SPECTRA allows the pilot to instantly select the best suited defensive measures combining radar jamming of ground and airborne radars and the deployment of infrared or radar decoying flares and chaff.
The fleet of five aircraft, comprising three single-seaters and two twin-seaters, are being inducted into the Indian Air Force as part of its Ambala-based No 17 Squadron, also known as the ''Golden Arrows''.
India has also received five more jets which are currently in France for training missions. The delivery of all 36 aircraft as part of the deal is set to be completed on schedule by the end of 2021, the government has said.
Pakistani Man Accused Of Blasphemy Shot Dead In Court
A Pakistani Muslim who was on trial for blasphemy has been shot dead in a courtroom in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
It was not immediately clear how the young assailant, identified as Khalid Khan, managed to get into the court on July 29 amid tight security. The attacker was subsequently arrested.
The suspect told police the prophet Muhammad had ordered him to kill the man standing trial, Tahir Nasim, because he had belonged to the Ahmadi faith.
Ahmadis, a 4-million-strong minority group in Pakistan, have faced death, threats, intimidation and a sustained hate campaign for decades.
Ahmadis insist they follow Islam. However, Pakistan declared the group non-Muslim in 1974 for regarding their sect's founder, Ghulam Ahmad, as a prophet. Orthodox Islam holds there can be no prophets after Muhammad.
Nasim was arrested two years ago on blasphemy charges after claiming he was Islam’s prophet.
Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law carries an automatic death penalty for anyone convicted of insulting God, Islam, or other religious figures.
Crowds and individuals in Pakistan often take the law into their own hands.
While authorities have yet to carry out a death sentence for blasphemy, even the mere accusation can cause riots. Domestic and international human rights groups say blasphemy allegations have often been used to intimidate religious minorities and settle personal scores.
A Punjab governor was killed by his own guard in 2011 after he defended a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, who was accused of blasphemy.
Bibi was acquitted after spending eight years on death row in a case that drew international attention. Faced with death threats from Islamic radicals upon her release, she flew to Canada to join her daughters last year.
In December, a Muslim professor in Pakistan was also sentenced to death after being convicted of blasphemy.
A court in Multan found Junaid Hafeez, who had been held for six years awaiting trial, guilty of spreading anti-Islamic ideas.
Hafeez's lawyer said his client was wrongly convicted and he would appeal the verdict.
https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistani-blasphemy-accused-shot-dead-court/30755005.html
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