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#Pakistan - Killing free speech

THE PTI government has triggered another controversy by promulgating a presidential ordinance that is a clear threat to the freedom of expression. On Sunday, Law Minister Farogh Nasim had announced in a press conference that the ordinance amended the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act that had originally been legislated by the PML-N government in 2016.

At that time too, media and civil society organizations had protested the contents of the law and warned that it would be used to curtail the space for free speech. The PTI government has now gone many steps ahead in making this draconian law even more restrictive; its scope has been broadened to include state institutions, like the military and judiciary, as aggrieved parties. The latest amendments give the authorities the powers to arrest anyone accused of promoting or broadcasting fake news. The courts will have six months to decide whether or not the complaint is genuine but during this period the accused is liable to remain in incarceration unless given bail. This means that anyone can be arrested by the authorities on vague charges. This can lead to wild accusations resulting in random detentions.

Frustration at the government’s refusal to budge on the matter was visible yesterday when the country’s top media bodies walked out of a meeting with the information ministry. Such laws have no place in a democratic society. However, with each passing day, it is becoming increasingly clear that the PTI government is making a mockery of democratic norms. The inexplicable postponement of the session of the National Assembly by the government now makes sense — it was done so that this draconian ordinance could be promulgated, bypassing parliament. It is ironic that the government is resorting to such high-handed tactics to silence its critics when the world is moving towards decriminalising defamation as an issue. The mal-intent of the government is thinly disguised.

The raid on the house of media personality Mohsin Baig and the manner of his arrest indicates that the government intends to use Peca to hound people in this manner. Armed with these latest amendments, it can run amok and unleash a wave of repression against those who do not validate its point of view. This casts a dark shadow on the state of constitutional democracy in Pakistan and makes the citizens vulnerable to greater persecution.

The amendment is a crude attempt by the PTI government to browbeat its opponents and it must not be allowed get away with it. The opposition, media, civil society and all segments of the citizenry must exercise their democratic rights to oppose this ordinance and ensure that it is rolled back. The judiciary too must play its role to ensure that the government is not allowed to trample on the constitutional rights of citizens for its narrow vested interests. Peca is a bad law. It should not be made worse.

#Pakistan - #PPP - Rehman Malik dies due to Covid-related complications

Rehman Malik, a special intelligence agent-turned politician, tested COVID-19 positive in January, and had complained of breathing problems. Earlier this month, he was put on a ventilator.

Rehman Malik, a special intelligence agent-turned politician, tested COVID-19 positive in January, and had complained of breathing problems. Earlier this month, he was put on a ventilator.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) stalwart Rehman Malik, who was the Interior Minister when 10 LeT terrorists launched a brazen attack on Mumbai in 2008, died at a hospital here on Wednesday due to coronavirus-related complications. He was 70. Malik, a special intelligence agent-turned politician, tested Covid-19 positive in January, and had complained of breathing problems. Earlier this month, he was put on a ventilator. “Deeply devastated to say that former interior minister [and] PPP’s senior leader, Abdul Rehman Malik, passed away,” Malik’s spokesperson Riaz Ali Turi tweeted on Wednesday.

“Devastated with the news of @SenRehmanMalik passing after severe covid. He was there for us during exile and remained steadfast with the party no matter the hardships. His loss will be felt deeply by us all,” former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s daughter Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari said in a tweet, which was re-tweeted by PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.

Before his entry into national politics, Malik was with Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency as a special agent, and was elevated to the post of the Additional Director General in 1993.During his stint as a director, he coordinated numerous successful counter-terrorist operations, including the arrest and extradition of Yousaf Ramzi to the US in 1995. Ramzi was one of the main perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the bombing of the Philippine Airlines Flight 434.Malik was considered a close associate of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari. He served as the chief of security of Bhutto from 2004 to 2007.During the military regime of Pervez Musharraf, Malik persuaded Bhutto and exiled prime minister Nawaz Sharif to join hands against the General. The famous Pact of Democracy agreement between PPP and PML-N was signed by Bhutto and Sharif at Malik’s house in London. He also facilitated reconciliation between the PPP and then-military president Musharraf, and the National Reconciliation Ordinance was issued.

When the PPP government was formed after the 2008 general elections, Malik was appointed Advisor to the Prime Minister on Internal Affairs. He was later given the portfolio of Interior Minister by the then Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani.During the PPP government, he was awarded Sitara-e-Shujat – one of the highest civilian awards in Pakistan. He also received the Nishan-e-Imtiaz.

https://indianexpress.com/article/pakistan/rehman-malik-dead-former-pak-minister-covid-complications-7787591/

#Pakistan #PPP - Youth ready to confront the selected: Bilawal

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that new generation was ready to confront the selected.

Addressing the convention organised by the People’s Students’ Federation (PSF) here at the Arts Council on Wednesday, the PPP chairman said that it was high time that youth should assume the leadership role in the country.Bilawal said that it was the prime time for the young people to lead the country from the front against the decayed and frustrated elements having no sanity and sense of responsibility. He said the PSF office-bearers and workers had, through years of unshaken and nerve-writhing struggle, had secured the right to form the student union that had been snatched in the past by dictator Ziaul Haq.

He said that late Benazir Bhutto in her first term had restored the student unions along with the labour unions, but under a conspiracy the government of Bhutto was toppled and the government that followed again imposed ban on student unions. He said that PPP was not the party of landlords and ‘peers.’

He said that Pakistanis got this country not as a result of any war or violence but as a result of a peaceful democratic struggle under the leadership of Quaid-i Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Quaid-e-Awam Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto gave the precious gift to the nation in form of democracy. The PPP chairman was of the view that the biggest atrocity against the youth of this country was that an attempt was made to suppress their voice. He lamented that the young people were not allowed to talk about their own problems. “Some frustrated elements are predominantly obsessed with a negative idea that country's youth should not be involved in mainstream politics. “We wonder why there is so much violence and barbarism in our society. The politics of religion and ethnicity get space because student unions were banned,” he said.

By banning student politics for their own benefit, some elements not only harmed the youth of country's academic institutions such as colleges and universities but also inflicted irreparable loss to the society, he commented.

He said that the ever-escalating fee graph of educational institutions was visible to everyone. The way the state was being run, and graduates were being deprived of job opportunities, the students would now speak and draw attention to such issues. The PPP chairman said that cases of harassment were being reported from educational institutions, but it was a great injustice that those cases would be investigated by those who belonged to the same institution as they won't do justice at all.

"Student unions are our first step, and when the students are organised, they will fight for the solution of their problems, but if there is a PPP government, you will run the government yourself," he said.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/934337-youth-ready-to-confront-the-selected-bilawal

وزیراعظم کے خلاف تحریک عدم اعتماد کے لیے 3 جماعتوں نے کمیٹی تشکیل دے دی

وزیراعظم کے خلاف تحریک عدم اعتماد کے معاملے پر اپوزیشن کی تین بڑی سیاسی جماعتوں نے9 رکنی کمیٹی تشکیل دے دی، کمیٹی وزیراعظم کے خلاف تحریک عدم اعتماد لانے کا حتمی لائحہ عمل طےکرے گی۔

ذرائع کا کہنا ہے کہ کمیٹی میں ن لیگ، پی پی پی اور جے یو آئی ف کے تین تین رہنما شامل ہوں گے، مسلم لیگ ن کی نمائندگی خواجہ سعد رفیق، سردار ایاز صادق اور رانا ثناء اللّٰہ کریں گے۔

ذرائع کا کہنا ہے کہ پیپلز پارٹی کی نمائندگی یوسف رضا گیلانی، راجہ پرویز اشرف اور سید نوید قمر کریں گے۔

ذرائع کا کہنا ہے کہ جے یو آئی ف کی نمائندگی مولانا اسعد محمود، اکرم درانی اور سینیٹر کامران مرتضیٰ کریں گے، اپوزیشن کی 9 رکنی کمیٹی کا اجلاس جلد از جلد منعقد ہوگا۔

کمیٹی کے اجلاس میں عدم اعتماد لانے سے متعلق حتمی اقدامات طے ہوں گے، حکومتی اتحادیوں اور ارکان سے رابطوں کا طریقہ کار اور حکمت عملی بھی طے ہوگی۔

ذرائع کا کہنا ہے کہ کمیٹی حکومت سازی سمیت دیگر امور کو بھی حتمی شکل دے کر منظوری کے لیے پیش کرے گی۔

https://jang.com.pk/news/1054107