Sunday, January 20, 2019

' الیکشن لڑنے والے سکھ رہنما پشاور چھوڑنے پر مجبور

پاکستان کی تاریخ میں پہلی بار پشاور سے عام انتخابات میں حصہ لینے والے سکھ امیدوار دھمکیوں اور قاتلانہ حملوں کے بعد پشاور سے انتہائی کسمپرسی کی حالت میں نقل مکانی پر مجبور ہو چکے ہیں۔
گذشتہ سال کے دوران پشاور سے دوسرے علاقوں اور شہروں میں منتقل ہونے والے رادیش سنگھ کا واحد خاندان نہیں بلکہ ان کے علاوہ کئی خاندان اپنی جان و مال بچانے کے لیے نہ صرف پاکستان بلکہ انڈیا بھی منتقل ہو چکے ہیں۔

عوامی نیشنل پارٹی کے ہمراہ میان افتخار کو دی جانے والی دھمکیوں کے خلاف احتجاج کے موقع پر بشری گوہر اور جمیلہ بی بی کے ساتھ


سکھوں کی پشاور سے منتقلی کی وجہ ٹارکٹ کلنگ اور دھمکیوں کا نشانہ بننا ہے۔ سکھ فیڈریش آف پاکستان کے مطابق سنہ 2014 سے لے کر 2018 تک دس سکھ ٹارکٹ کلنگ کا نشانہ بن چکے ہیں اور کئی کو دھمکیاں ملی ہیں جبکہ کئی ایک کو اغوا کیا گیا اور بعد میں بھاری تاوان کے عوض چھڑایا گیا
رادیش سنگھ مشہور سیاسی و سماجی رہنما ہیں جو پورے ملک کی سکھ برادری کے علاوہ پشاور بھر میں جانے پہچانے جاتے ہیں۔ انھیں اکتوبر سنہ 2005 میں خیبر پختوںخوا میں آنے والے سیلاب کے دوران سماجی خدمات انجام دینے پر کئی ایوارڈز دیے گئے ہیں۔ رادیش سنگھ کئی سالوں سے پشاور کے کئی مقامات پر مسلمانوں کے لیے رمضان کے موقعے پر افطار کیمپ بھی قائم کرتے ہیں۔ پشاور کے سکھ، دیگر اقلیتیں اور مسلم سب انھیں ٹونی بھائی کے نام سے جانتے ہیں۔
رادیش سنگھ عرف ٹونی بھائی نے بی بی سی کو بتایا: 'لگتا ہے کہ کچھ حلقوں کو میرا عام انتخابات میں حصہ لینا پسند نہیں آیا۔ یہی وجہ ہے کہ انتخابات کے دوران مجھے دھمکی آمیز کال موصول ہوئیں اور یہ ایسی کال تھی جو موبائل نمبر پر نہیں آ رہی تھی جن کی باقاعدہ پشاور کے مقامی تھانہ میں شکایت درج کروائی گئی تھی۔
’انہی انتخابات کے دوران تین مرتبہ مجھ پر قاتلانہ حملے ہوئے۔ ایک حملہ انتخابات سے دو روز پہلے ہوا تھا۔ قاتلانہ حملوں کی پولیس کو اطلاع اس لیے نہیں دی تھی کہ دھمکیوں کی اطلاعات پر بھی پولیس نے خود حفاظتی اقدامات کرنے کی جگہ مجھ پر پابندیاں عائد کرنا شروع کر دی تھیں۔
انھوں نے مزید کہا: 'پولیس دھمکیوں کی شکایات پر مجھے ہدایات دے رہی تھی کہ میں گھر پر سکیورٹی گارڈ رکھوں اور کیمرے لگاؤں۔ میں نے روزانہ گھر پر آنا جانا شروع کر دیا تھا جبکہ میری والدہ کینسر کی مریضہ ہیں اور وہ اس صورتحال سے مزید پریشان ہوتی تھیں جس پر دوستوں کے مشورے کے بعد یہ ہی مناسب سمجھا کہ پولیس کو قاتلانہ حملوں کی اطلاع نہ دی جائے۔'
رادیش سنگھ کا کہنا تھا کہ انتخابات میں حصہ لینے کا مقصد انتخابات کے ان نظام پر احتجاج کرنا تھا جس میں پاکستان میں موجود اقلیتیں اب اپنے نمائندوں کا خود انتخاب نہیں کر سکتیں بلکہ وہ اب سیاسی پارٹیوں کے رحم و کرم پر ہیں جو ایسے اقلیتی نمائندے نامزد کرتے ہیں جو اقلتیوں کے بہرحال نمائندہ نہیں ہوتے۔
انھوں نے کہا: 'میں عام بلدیاتی انتخابات کے موقعے پر براہ راست کونسلر منتخب ہوا تھا جس میں مجھے اکثریتی مسلم ووٹ ملے تھے۔ اس دوران میں نے عوام کی بھرپور خدمت کی تھی جس بنا پر میں پرجوش تھا کہ لوگ مجھے خدمت کی بنیاد پر ووٹ دیں گے مگر ایسا تو نہ ہو سکا مگر مجھے اپنا گھر بار چھوڑ کر لاہور میں پناہ حاصل کرنا پڑی ہے۔'
ان کا کہنا تھا کہ انتخابات کے بعد انھیں اطلاعات ملنا شروع ہو چکی تھیں اور دوستوں نے بھی خبردار کیا تھا کہ اب کچھ بھی ہو سکتا ہے جس بنا پر انھوں نے انتہائی دکھی دل اور کمسپرسی کے عالم میں گذشتہ سال اکتوبر میں پشاور کو خیرباد کہا۔
ہماری صورتحال یہ تھی کہ ہمیں اتنی جلدی منتقل ہونا پڑا تھا کہ میرے پاس میرا واحد اثاثہ ایک مٹسوبشی کار ماڈل 1987 تھی جس کو میں نے کچھ عرصہ قبل ڈھائی لاکھ میں خریدا تھا جبکہ اس کو 55 ہزار میں فروخت کرنا پڑا۔ میرا الیکٹرانکس کی سپلائی کا چھوٹا سا کاروبار تھا جہاں پر میرا دفتر تھا اس کا تین ماہ کا کرایہ ادا نہیں کیا تھا۔ جب وہ دفتر چھوڑا تو مالک پلازا نے دفتر میں موجود تمام سامان کرایہ کی مد میں اپنے قبضے میں کرلیا۔ بس ہم نے جان بچا کر لاہور میں پناہ حاصل کر لی۔'
رادیش سنگھ کا کہنا تھا کہ پشاور میں کسی نہ کسی طرح دال روٹی چلتی رہتی تھی مگر لاہور تو نیا شہر ہے۔ 'میں ایسوسی ایٹ الیکٹریکل انجینیئر ہوں پھر بھی مجھے کوئی ملازمت نہیں مل رہی بلکہ دکان پر بھی کوئی کام نہیں ملتا۔ لوگ میری سفید داڑھی اور بال دیکھ کر کہتے ہیں کہ بابا جی آپ کو اب کیا نوکری دیں گے اور آپ کیا کریں گے؟ جس وجہ سے میرے تین بیٹوں کی تعلیم ادھوری رہ گئی ہے وہ مختلف دکانوں پر سیلزمین کی ملازمت کرتے ہیں جس کا مجھے انتہائی دکھ ہے مگر چلیں کسی حد تک ان کی زندگیاں تو محفوظ ہیں۔'
ان کا کہنا تھا کہ بظاہر تو پشاور، خیبر پختوںخوا اور قبائیلی علاقہ جات میں امن قائم ہو چکا ہے مگر سکھوں کے لیے امن قائم نہیں ہو سکا۔
وہ کہتے ہیں کہ ’2014 کے بعد سکھوں کی ٹارگٹ کلنگ شروع ہوئی تھی جس کا پہلا نشانہ میرے دوست بھگوان سنگھ بنے تھے اور سنہ 2018 میں بھی نشانہ بننے والے چرن جیت سنگھ میرے دوست تھے جبکہ کئی سکھ اغوا برائے تاوان کا شکار ہوئے ہیں جس میں مجھے ذاتی طور پر معلومات ہیں کہ رابن سنگھ اور رنجیت سنگھ کو تاوان دے کر چھڑایا گیا تھا۔‘
رادیش کے مطابق وہ ہی نہیں بلکہ کئی خاندانوں نے حالیہ دنوں میں پشاور چھوڑا ہے اور کئی ایک انڈیا بھی چلے گئے ہیں جس میں ان کے رشتہ دار بھی شامل ہیں اور سکھوں کے انڈیا جانے کا سلسلہ سنہ 2004 سے شروع ہے۔
جب اس سلسلے میں صوبائی حکومت سے رابطہ کیا گیا تو ان کے ترجمان نے کہا کہ وہ رادیش سنگھ عرف ٹونی بھائی کو نہیں جانتے اس لیے کچھ نہیں کہیں گے۔ ترجمان کا کہنا تھا کہ صوبہ خیبرپختوںخوا پولیس پورے صوبے کے عوام کوتحفظ فراہم کرنے کے لیے سرگرم عمل ہے اور سکھوں سمیت سب کو تحفظ فراہم کیا جائے گا۔
ترجمان کے مطابق پولیس سکھوں کے قتل کی تفتیش کررہی ہے اور کچھ ملزماں گرفتار بھی ہوئے ہیں اور سب کو تحفظ فراہم کیا جائے گا۔
شاور کو چھوڑ کر اسلام آباد سے تقریباً ایک گھنٹہ کی مسافت پر صوبہ پنجاب میں واقع سکھوں کے مقدس مذہبی مقام حسن ابدال میں آباد ہونے والے سکھ خاندان کے سربراہ مہان سنگھ نے بی بی سی کو بتایا کہ پشاور ان کا آبائی علاقہ ہے مگر وہاں پر ہر وقت ان کے سر پر خطرے کی تلوار لٹکتی رہتی تھی جس وجہ سے اپنے اور اپنے خاندان کے تحفظ کے لیے زمین، جائیداد اور کاروبار چھوڑ کر حسن ابدال منتقل ہونے کا فیصلہ کیا ہے۔
'چرن جیت سنگھ کے قاتلوں کی ٹارگٹ کلنگ اور پھر پولیس کی جانب سے گرفتار ملزمان کی عدالت سے ثبوت نہ ہونے کی بنا پر بری ہونے کے بعد تو کوئی کنجائش باقی ہی نہیں بچی تھی کہ پشاور میں رہائش اختیار کر سکتے۔'
سکھ فیڈریش آف پاکستان کے مطابق پاکستان کے قبائلی علاقہ جات خیبر ایجنسی اور اورکزئی ایجنسی میں اس صدی کے آغاز میں شروع ہونے والے دہشت گردی سے پہلے 40 ہزار کے لگ بھگ سکھ خاندان موجود تھے، جن کی ایک بڑی تعداد 2004 میں پشاور منتقل ہوئی تھی۔ ان میں سے ایک بڑی تعداد انڈیا بھی چلی گئی تھی۔ اسی طرح مالاکنڈ ڈویژن میں 2008 کے طالبائزیشن دور کے اندر بھی سکھ اپنا آبائی علاقہ چھوڑنے پر مجبور ہوئے تھے۔
سکھوں کی ملک گیر تنظیم کے مطابق پاکستان کے قبائلی علاقوں سے منتقل ہونے والوں کی بڑی تعداد نے پشاور میں رہائش اختیار کی تھی مگر کچھ نے پنجاب کے علاقوں کا رخ بھی کیا تھا۔ 2014 تک تو یہی سمجھا جاتا رہا کہ دہشت گردی سب کے لیے ہے مگر جب 2014 کے بعد امن قائم ہونا شروع ہوا تو اس کے بعد سے سکھوں کو ٹارگٹ کلنگ اور اغوا برائے تاوان کی وارداتو ں کا نشانہ بنایا جانا شروع ہو گیا جس میں اب تک دس سکھوں کی ٹارکٹ کلنگ ہوئی ہے جو کہ ریکارڈ پر ہے جب کہ کئی ایک اغوا برائے تاوان کی وارداتوں کا نشانہ بن چکے ہیں۔
پشاور کے تاریخی شواہد اکٹھے کرنے والے اور اس پر نظر رکھنے والے پشاور کے مقامی قلم کار ہمایون اخونذادہ نے بی بی سی کو بتایا کہ پشاور، قبائلی علاقہ جات اور خیبر پختوںخوا کی تاریخ، ثقافت، تمدن میں سکھوں کا بہت اہم کردار رہا ہے اس صدی سے پہلے سکھ بڑی تعداد میں آباد تھے۔ ان کے تمام چھوٹے بڑے گرودواروں میں عبادات ہوتی تھیں۔ وہ میلے ٹھیلوں کا انعقاد کرتے تھے جس میں مقامی مسلمان بھی شریک ہوتے تھے اور سکھ مسلمانوں کے تہواروں میں شریک ہوا کرتے تھے مگر اب تو ان کی تعداد بہت کم ہو چکی ہے وہ تمام روایتی میلے ٹھیلے بھی ختم ہو چکے ہیں۔
ان کا کہنا ہے کہ اس کی ایک بڑی وجہ یہ ہے کہ سکھ بہت بری تعداد میں نقل مکانی کر چکے ہیں۔

#Pakistan - Bilawal condemns killings of innocent citizens in #Sahiwal - #ساہیوال_لہولہو

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has vehemently condemned the killings of innocent citizens at the hands of Punjab Police in Sahiwal.
In his message, the PPP Chairman said that the killings of the citizens are a vivid proof that the government of PTI has made Punjab a Police State.
“The killings are a message to the people of the country that they should not go out with their children”, he said, adding, “The killings of parents in front of their children has exposed all tall claims of ‘good governance’ of the ruling PTI.”
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the government had shamefully disappeared after the killings of parents in Sahiwal, which perhaps they believed to be the best of their governance.
He said that the PTI government and the PM claimed to transform Pakistan into a welfare state of Medina but they don’t know that the head of the Medina state used to hold responsibility for anything that would hurt the people.
He said that the announcements for enquiry into the killings of parents and children by the government are sheer face-covering things while nobody trusts the government. Those who shuffled ranks and positions in Police just to please friends can never ensure justice.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the entire government is dependent on twitter handles and they are only experts in maligning tactic. The fact is that ‘Law of jungle’ has been imposed ion Pakistan under PTI’s slogan for ‘New Pakistan.’

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/421442-bilawal

#SahiwalIncident #SahiwalKillings - ’نئے پاکستان میں شہری بچوں کے ساتھ باہر نہ نکلیں‘

پی پی پی چیئرمین بلاول بھٹو زرداری نے کہا ہے کہ تحریک انصاف نے پنجاب
کو پولیس اسٹیٹ میں تبدیل کردیا، ساہیوال سانحہ پیغام ہے،نئے پاکستان میں شہری بال بچوں کے ساتھ گھروں سے باہرنانکلیں۔
بلاول بھٹو زرداری کی جانب سےپولیس کےہاتھوں شہریوں کےقتل کی شدیدالفاظ میں مذمت کی گئی ہے، پی پی پی چیئرمین نےساہیوال واقعے پرردعمل
دیتے ہوئے کہا ہے کہ بچوں کے سامنے والدین کا قتل گڈ گورننس کے جھوٹے دعویداروں کے منہ پرطمانچہ ہے،اتنے بڑے سانحے کے بعد حکومت لاپتہ ہوگئی۔
بلاول بھٹو زرادری نے کہا کہ ریاستِ مدینہ میں دریائے نیل کنارے مرنے والے کتے کی ذمہ داری خلیفہ وقت اٹھاتا تھا،ریاستِ مدینہ کی پیروی کے دعویدارآج کے حکمران بتائیں سانحہ ساہیوال کا ذمہ دارکون ہے؟
انہوں نے کہا کہ نیازی سرکار کی تحقیقات پر کسی کواعتماد نہیں، ایس ایس پیزاورآئی جیزکوتبادلہ کرنے والوں سے انصاف نہیں ہوگا۔
انہوں نے مزید کہا کہ ٹوئٹروالی سرکار دروغ گوئی اورمخالفین پر الزام بازی کے علاوہ کچھ نہیں کرسکتی،نیا پاکستان کے نام پر ملک میں جنگل کا قانون لاگو کردیا گیا ہے۔

Saturday, January 19, 2019

Video Report - Germany to UK after Brexit vote: We will miss you, please stay! | DW News

Video Report - From Yellow Vests to Red Pens: France braces for 10th consecutive weekend of protests

Video Report - #YellowVests #GiletsJaunes - #Paris Many arrests as "Yellow Vests" protests continue

Video Report - #YellowVests #GiletsJaunes #Paris Yellow Vests, round 10: Thousands clash with police on streets of Paris

US-Saudi ties can't move forward until MBS 'dealt with': Graham




The US senator says Congress will reintroduce sanctions against those involved in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.
Senator Lindsey Graham has said the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia cannot move forward until Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) is "dealt with".
Speaking in Ankara a day after meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Graham said Congress would reintroduce sanctions against those involved in the killing of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi.
"What has transpired over the last couple of years has been unnerving, to say the least," Graham told reporters.
"The leadership coming from MBS is not what I have envisioned. Imprisoning the Lebanese Prime Minister, taking all of your critics and throw[ing] them in prison, the brutal murder [of] Mr Khashoggi in Turkey, violating every norm of international behaviour.
"I have concluded that the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States cannot move forward until MBS has been dealt with."
Last November, the CIA concluded that MBS ordered the assassination of Khashoggi in Istanbul, a finding that contradicts Saudi government assertions that he was not involved.Khashoggi, a longtime royal insider who had become a critic of Prince Mohammed, was killed and dismembered by a Saudi hit team in the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul in October, prompting a global outcry.
"We will start sanctioning those involved in the killing of Mr Khashoggi," Graham added.
"We will make a definitive statement that MBS knew about it and is responsible for it and come up with a series of sanctions to let others know this is not what you do if you're an ally of the United States."
'Not one to mince his words'
The US Treasury sanctioned 17 Saudi individuals and the Senate adopted a resolution blaming Prince Mohammed. President Donald Trump, however, has so far been reluctant to directly implicate the royal or issue any punitive measures.
At least 21 Saudis have reportedly been arrested in connection with the case, with five facing the death penalty. Five officials were also fired, including senior royal adviser Saud al-Qahtani, the alleged mastermind of the operation against Khashoggi.
Saudi Arabia is yet to reveal what its agents did with the remains of Khashoggi.
Al Jazeera's Osama Bin Javaid, reporting from the Turkish city of Gaziantep, said Graham's comments were not surprising considering his recent distaste for the Saudi Monarch. "Graham is not one to mince his words and has called MBS a wrecking ball in the past. So, this is not the first time he's airing his views about MBS and how he feels he's implicated in Khashoggi's murder. "He's based that on information provided by the CIA that orders did not come from a low-level operative but straight from the top, almost indicting the Saudi leadership, including MBS. "But the US president still sees MBS as a key ally, and sees Saudi Arabia's role as not just buying weapons from the US, but also in forwarding what Donald Trump has envisioned as a policy for the Middle East," Bin Javaid said. "So it's very interesting that Graham's stance is closer to the US ally Turkey but very different from what the president himself has been saying."
'Filling a void'
Andreas Krieg, an assistant professor at the Defence Studies Department of King's College London, said Graham was filling a much needed void in US foreign policy.
"[John] Bolton was trying to reach out to Turkey as a national security adviser but was given a bit of a slap by Erdogan because he doesn't trust him. Bolton has been very hawkish in his approach to Turkey and in general, Islamism in the region.
"Then you have [Mike] Pompeo who has been in the region recently but has been very pro-Saudi and hasn't responded well to the pressure in civil society and the media in the US over the Khashoggi affair. "And then you had [Jim] Mattis, who while being diplomatic was let go recently. So there's a void Graham is filling given he's a very prominent foreign policy expert in congress".

Al Jazeera's Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from Washington DC, said while it was surprising Graham had visited Turkey amid the government shutdown, he couldn't have gone "without some sort of coordination with the White House".
Trump has refused to approve legislation to restore funding to about a quarter of the federal government, resulting in up to 800,000 employees going without pay.
And earlier this week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was forced to abandon a planned trip to Afghanistan after Trump denied her the use of military aircraft.
"Considering how close Graham is with Trump, there's no way he could have gone to Turkey without some sort of coordination with the White House," Elizondo said.
"How much coordination, and how much he is speaking on behalf of the administration, remains to be seen. But Graham doesn't need President Trump's blessing to go anywhere. He can speak about anything. Graham is one of America's most powerful senators. He sits on the Foreign Relations committee, the Budget committee, the Appropriations committee.
"For several years now he's been a strong voice in international relations ... and this is the second time he's met with President Erdogan in the past six months".

Syria withdrawal

Senator Graham also said he hoped President Trump would slow the US withdrawal from Syria until the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) is destroyed.
Graham said he believed US Chief of Staff Joseph Dunford was working on a plan with Turkey to move Kurdish YPG elements away from the country.
By arming the YPG group in Syria, Washington "created a nightmare for Turkey," said Graham.
Underlining that the YPG/PYD is "clearly" tied to the PKK - listed as a terrorist group by Turkey, the US, and the European Union - Graham told reporters that the US strategy in Syria has the potential to cause harm to Turkey.
The South Carolina senator stressed the importance of protecting Turkey and solving the problem the US "created" for Ankara, referring to US support for the YPG/PYD in the name of fighting ISIL.
Turkey has said it will soon launch an operation against the YPG/PYD in Syria, east of the Euphrates River, near the Turkish border.
There has been friction between Ankara and Washington over the upcoming operation amid the withdrawal of US forces from Syria.

#Pakistan's Police Brutality - Three children watch father, mother, sister getting killed - #ساہیوال_لہولہو - #SahiwalFiring #SahiwalMassacre #SahiwalMassacre #SahiwalIncident



The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) officials shot dead four persons, including a couple, their 13-year-old daughter and a friend of the family in the presence of three children on Saturday.
The incident took place near the Sahiwal toll plaza, where members of the CTD killed the car riders in cold blood, accusing them of being terrorists, on Saturday afternoon. The deceased were identified as Khalil, his wife Nabeela, daughter Areeba and Khalil’s friend. Mystery shrouded the shooting incident, as the CTD officials kept changing their statements after the killings; first declaring them child kidnappers, and then dubbing them as terrorists.
The CTD claimed that the car riders had opened fire on the raiding party, which had tried to intercept the vehicle as well as a motorcycle on the main road. The family in the car also included three children, two sisters and a brother, and the surviving boy also sustained minor injuries. The injured child, Khalil’s son Umair Khalil, told the media persons that his parents, sister and a friend of his father were killed in police firing. He said the incident took place when they were on their way to attend the wedding ceremony of his uncle Rizwan in Burewala. He said they were travelling from Tariqabad (Kot Lakhpat) area of Lahore, to Burewala (Sahiwal) when the police opened fire on their vehicle.
He said his father had asked the law-enforcers to check their vehicle and told them that there were no weapons. However, the police did not pay any heed and opened fire, killing his parents on-the-spot.Eyewitnesses contradicted the CTD statements and said the car-riding family did not open fire at the officials. "No weapons were found with the bodies," they said. The eyewitnesses said the children told them at a nearby petrol station that the “police killed their parents”.Following the firing incident, the CTD officials first abandoned the children at a petrol station. However, later on, they came back and took them to some undisclosed location, and then to an area hospital.
A CTD spokesman said the operation was conducted as follow-up of an action carried out in Faisalabad on Jan 16.
"The car was coming from Lahore and the women killed were 40 and 13 years old, respectively.”
The CTD also claimed that there were three other suspected terrorists on-the-spot, who managed to escape. “They were identified as Shahid Jabbar, Abdul Rehman and their accomplice," the CTD spokesperson added.
Earlier, the CTD officials claimed that the four people were kidnappers, but later on dubbed them as terrorists.
The CTD identified one of the deceased as Zeeshan. The department said that he was wanted for several crimes, including the abduction of Ali Haider Gilani, son of former premier Yusuf Raza Gilani, and several American nationals. The CTD also claimed that he was the deputy chief of a banned outfit.
Reportedly, the children were in an area hospital at the time of filing of the report, which had been cordoned off completely, and no one was being allowed to enter the emergency department. Ironically, the crime scene was not preserved, neither by the CTD nor by the area police.Taking notice of the incident, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday contacted Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar and sought a report on the incident. He ordered for conducting a transparent and detailed inquiry into the incident.
Also, on the order of the Punjab chief minister, the CTD officials, who took part in the action, have been arrested.
Inspector General of Police Punjab Amjad Javed Salimi has also constituted a four-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to probe the incident. Additional IG Establishment Punjab will be the head of the team, and one each representative from the ISI and the IB would be part of the JIT. The team will submit its report within three days.Meanwhile, Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said on Saturday Prime Minister Imran Khan contacted Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar and asked him to immediately reach Sahiwal and called for bringing facts to the fore.In a video clip, the minister noted that the Counter-Terrorism Department had claimed that terrorists had been gunned down in the incident, whereas the media reports and interviews of the children of the victims, were telling something else.He said action would be taken against the CTD raiding party members and they would be made an example if found to be guilty of any wrong-doing.
“And, if CTD’s version is found correct and they (deceased) were terrorists, then that would also be shared with the nation. On both ways, details would be shared with people,” the minister added. He noted that when the incident happened, the chief minister was away from Lahore and the PM contacted him and directed him to immediately reach Sahiwal. Later in the evening, the chief minister reached Sahiwal from Mianwali and visited the children at the DHQ Hospital.
Meanwhile, the inspector general of police (IGP), Punjab, took notice of the incident. He sought an inquiry report on the incident from the Sahiwal RPO and the Punjab CTD. The CTD submitted its initial report regarding the incident to the IGP. According to the report, the CTD team did a joint intelligence-based operation in which four terrorists related with the defunct organisation Daesh were killed, whereas, weapons and explosive material was seized from their possession.
The report said the CTD team tried to intercept terrorists, who were riding a car and a motorcycle near the Sahiwal toll plaza, but they opened fire on the CTD team, and a shootout ensued. When the firing stopped, four persons, including two women, were found dead by firing of their accomplices. Three terrorists fled the scene. The CTD said that the operation was in continuation of the operation conducted in Faisalabad on January 16. The CTD was tracking the remaining terrorists of Red Book namely Shahid Jabbar and Abdul Rehman. According to the CTD, this is the Daesh Network which killed three ISI officers in Multan, one police officer in Faisalabad and kidnapped American national Warren Weinstein and Ali Haider Gilani, son of former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani. The network had also killed dozens of people in blasts and firing. It was the most dangerous network of Daesh in Punjab.
Meanwhile, family members, relatives, friends and locals staged a demonstration in Lahore on Saturday and blocked the main Ferozpur Road against the killings.
The protesters burnt tyres in protest and chanted slogans against the Punjab Police and the CTD and demanded immediate action against the culprits. A terrible traffic mess was witnessed on the Ferozpur Road Chungi Amar Sidhu as thousands of motorists remained stuck almost for hours. However, the protesters dispersed after getting assurance that a police officer would accompany the family to Sahiwal so that bodies could be handed over to the heirs without any trouble.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/421157-three-children-watch-father-mother-sister-getting-killed?5c43bd5d937fd

#Pakistan - #ساہیوال_لہولہو - - #SahiwalFiring #SahiwalMassacre #SahiwalMassacre #SahiwalIncident - اس اینکر نے حق ادا کردیا۔۔۔ اور وھی زبان استعمال کی جو 22 کروڑ عوام استعمال کرنا چاھتی ھے۔۔۔👇👇👇

#Balochistan: Baloch Republican Army claimed to damage #Pakistan military helicopter

The Baloch Republican Army (BRA) spokesperson, Sarbaz Baloch, in a statement to media said that on Wednesday morning Pakistani forces’ helicopters bombed hideouts of Baloch fighters in Shaikhen area in Kohlu.
He further said that Baloch Republican Army (BRA) snipers have targeted the force’s helicopter and damaged it.
In another statement, the BRA has accepted responsibility for an attack on a Pakistani force’s check post in Kolahu area of Tump in district Kech Balochistan.
He said, ‘Our snipers have targeted and killed a security officer on duty at the check post.’
‘The video for the attack on helicopters will be released shortly,’ Sarbaz Baloch said vowing that such attacks will continue till the establishment of an independent Baloch state.

Succumbing to the #Saudis - #Pakistan - ANOTHER U-TURN - #PTI GOVT ISSUES NOC TO RETIRED ARMY CHIEF RAHEEL SHARIF FOR JOB IN SAUDI KINGDOM

In what appeared another U-turn, the PTI-led federal government has issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) to former army chief retired General Raheel Sharif for his job as head of a Saudi Arabia-led military coalition.

The NOC has been issued in view of an approval that was granted by the federal cabinet during its meeting held on Jan 10, according to a source.
Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry confirmed that the NOC had indeed been issued after approval by the federal cabinet.
“The issue was not on the normal agenda of the federal cabinet’s meeting but it was approved through circulation,” the minister said. Cabinet approved decision in last meeting
Gen Sharif retired in November 2016 and joined the Saudi led coalition that was called counterterrorism coalition, in April 2017 amid controversy that he could not go for any job, especially abroad, within two years of his retirement from Pakistan Army.
Initially, it remained unclear whether the-then Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had issued any NOC to the general. But former defence minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif in 2017 revealed that Gen Sharif had applied for an NOC and that it was approved by the Ministry of Defence after due process. However, legally, Federal Cabinet approval is required for such NOC which was not granted to Raheel Sharif by the federal cabinet under Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
For that reason, the Supreme Court later directed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government to issue a fresh NOC that was needed by the general for employment abroad during the two-year period when he was not supposed to be employed.
The information minister said the government had submitted the NOC to the Supreme Court.
Earlier, the PTI had opposed the issuance of an NOC and questioned the decision to allow Gen Sharif to lead the coalition without knowing its terms of reference, and aims and objectives. The PTI was one of the parties that remained vocal on the issue in the days of the PML-N government.
Former defence minister Khawaja Asif had informed the National Assembly in April 2017 that the Saudi government would hold a meeting soon in which it would unveil the TOR of the alliance.
Mr Chaudhry had presented the PTI’s point of view on the issue and said: “We strongly oppose this decision and will soon bring the issue to parliament.”
The party was of the view that all parliamentary parties had decided that Pakistan should be neutral in the Middle East crisis and the decision to issue an NOC to Gen Sharif was contrary to the parliament’s decision.

http://www.shiitenews.org/index.php/pakistan/item/36441-pti-govt-issues-noc-to-retired-army-chief-raheel-sharif-for-job-in-saudi-kingdom

#Pakistan - #ساہیوال_لہولہو - Son of man killed in Sahiwal raid narrates incident - #SahiwalFiring #SahiwalMassacre #SahiwalMassacre #SahiwalIncident



The son of a man who was killed along with his wife, daughter and a friend, has narrated the entire episode to media.
Umair Khalil, son of Khalil, told media that his father had begged CTD personnel to take money and spare their lives, but they refused and opened fire on the car.
“My papa, mummy, sister and a friend of my father were killed. We survived the firing,” he said. “We were taken to a petrol station and left there,” he said.
The boy said that they were going to a wedding in Burewala from Lahore when they were intercepted by the CTD personnel.Jalil, brother of suspect, also rejected the police claim that his brother was a terrorist.“We all were going to Burewala to attend a marriage. We were in three cars,” Jalil said.Nabeela Ghazanfar, a Punjab police spokeswoman, said that action would be taken against the CTD men if those killed were found to be innocent.
Ms Ghazanfar said that a joint investigation team was formed to probe the matter.DIG Zulfiqar Hameed will head the team which will also have officials from ISI, MI and IB.The JIT has been directed to complete the inquiry and submit the report within thee days. On the other hand, a CTD spokesman insisted that people riding the car were terrorists. "They opened fire on the security personnel which led to the shooting, he said. Meanwhile, relatives of the Khalil took to the streets in Lahore and urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to take notice of the incident.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/421001-son-of-man-killed-in-sahiwal-raid-narrates-incident

Friday, January 18, 2019

Video - Nancy Pelosi Struck A Nerve With Donald Trump

Video Report - Pelosi: Trump outing our trip made things more dangerous

Inside a Teen Girl's New Life After She Escaped Allegedly Abusive Family Under Cover of Darkness


SUSAN KEATING


“The food, the clothing, every new thing — even the cold weather — makes her go ‘wow,’ ” says the friend, Abeer, who knows al-Qunun through an online community of women who have fled Saudi Arabia. “She ate her very first bacon and she loved it!”
On the advice of refugee workers who are concerned about the women’s safety, Abeer spoke to PEOPLE via encrypted communication and used an assumed name.
Al-Qunun, 18, became an international cause célèbre earlier this month when she took to social media after her transoceanic journey went awry.
Humanitarian observers said her plight illustrated the strictures women and girls live under in Saudi Arabia, whose culture is regulated by an intensely conservative branch of Islam. Only recently were women there allowed to drive.The daughter of a powerful Saudi Arabian governor, al-Qunun had at first escaped both her family and Saudi control under the cover of darkness on Jan. 5, boarding the first of several plane rides hoping to resettle in Australia.
She later described years of alleged abuse and called herself a prisoner under her relatives.
During a transit stop in Thailand, however, al-Qunun faced possible deportation back to her homeland. She barricaded herself inside an airport hotel room and then she went online: Writing that she had been abused, she pleaded for help via Twitter, amassing first hundreds and then thousands of followers and notice from around the globe.
Fearing she would be kidnapped, al-Qunun also wrote a farewell letter.
“I decided that I would end my life, before I was forced back to Saudi Arabia,” al-Qunun told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Instead, thanks largely to the attention she had attracted, other authorities intervened and she was ultimately whisked to Canada, where she had been granted hasty asylum. Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland welcomed the exhausted yet overjoyed teen as “a very brave new Canadian.”
“I wanted to be free from abuse and depression. I wanted to be independent,” she told the ABC. “I wouldn’t be able to marry the person I wanted to. I couldn’t get a job without permission.”
The first few days in Canada have brought both ups and downs, her friend Abeer says. Some of her everyday decisions led to rapt headlines by a curious — or exploitative — tabloid press.
“Rahaf went out to eat with friends, a decision she made herself,” Abeer tells PEOPLE. “She was not afraid of getting in trouble.”
Rahaf ate bacon, which is forbidden by Islam, for the first time in her life. On Snapchat, she posted a photo along with heart emojis, the Canadian flag and the caption “Omg bacon.”
“The feeling of freedom, it’s so hard to describe to people who have always known it,” Abeer says. “This feeling is wonderful.”
There has also been loss.
In a statement published by the ABC, al-Qunun’s family denounced and disavowed her as a “mentally unstable daughter who has displayed insulting and disgraceful behaviour.”
“It really upset me,” she told the ABC.
Al-Qunun’s father and brother had tried to visit her while she was stuck in Thailand, according to PBS, but she refused to see them. They appear not to have directly commented on her accusations of abuse.In the wake of multiple threats against her, and in light of what happened to Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi, a U.S. resident who was reportedly murdered inside a Saudi consulate last year in Turkey, the teen now has a bodyguard.
“She never is alone,” said Mario Calla, director of COSTI, a Canadian group that assists refugees.
“It’s like moving to Disney World, but there are people who want to throw you off the rides,” Abeer says. “We must stay safe.”
Nevertheless, al-Qunan looks forward to a new, productive life. According to Al Jazeera, she has dropped the “al-Qunan” from her name, given her family’s disownment.
In a statement in Toronto on Tuesday, she talked about paying forward the help she received.
“Today and for years to come, I will work in support of freedom for women around the world,” she said. “The same freedom I experienced on the first day I arrived in Canada.”

https://people.com/politics/rahaf-mohammed-al-qanun-twitter-escape-to-canada/

Saudi Women, Tired of Restraints, Find Ways to Flee



    Whenever her father beat her, or bound her wrists and ankles to punish her for perceived disobedience, the Saudi teenager dreamed of escape, she said.
    As desperate as she was to leave, however, the same question always stopped her short: How would she get out?
    If she ran away anywhere within the country, the Saudi police would just send her home, she feared. Saudi law barred her from traveling abroad without her father’s permission.
    But during a family vacation in Turkey when she was 17, Shahad al-Muhaimeed saw her chance, and bolted. While her family slept, she took a taxi across the border to Georgia and declared herself a refugee, leaving Saudi Arabia behind to start a new life.
    “I now live the way I want to,” said Ms. Muhaimeed, 19, by phone from her new home in Sweden. “I live in a good place that has women’s rights.”
    World attention was drawn to the status of Saudi women after another teenager, Rahaf Alqunun, was stopped in Thailand last week while trying to make it to Australia to seek refuge there. After an international social media campaign, the United Nations declared her a refugee on Wednesday. She left Thailand on Friday and was flying to Canada, where officials said she had been granted asylum.
    The phenomenon of women trying to flee Saudi Arabia is not new, coming to the world’s attention as early as the 1970s, when a Saudi princess was caught trying to flee the kingdom with her lover. The couple were tried for adultery and executed.
    But the number of young women considering and taking the enormous risk to flee Saudi Arabia appears to have grown in recent years, rights groups say, as women frustrated by social and legal constraints at home turn to social media to help plan, and sometimes document, their efforts to escape.
    “All these women who 15 years ago would have never been heard from can now find a way to reach out,” said Adam Coogle, who monitors Saudi Arabia for Human Rights Watch.
    Some who dare to leave slip out quietly, traveling to the United States or elsewhere before applying for asylum — which is never a sure thing. Since being stopped in Turkey in 2017, two sisters, Ashwaq and Areej Hamoud, 31 and 29 respectively, have been fighting a deportation order in court, saying they fear for their lives if they return to Saudi Arabia.For other women, like Ms. Alqunun, publicity played a key role in their successful escapes, but even global attention does not guarantee that a woman will not be repatriated.In 2017, Dina Ali Lasloom, 24, begged for help in a widely viewed online video after she was stopped while transiting in the Philippines. She was held at the airport until family members arrived and took her back to Saudi Arabia, where it is unclear what happened to her.The women who make it out must contend not only with their families’ efforts to force them home, but also with the Saudi government’s extensive and well-financed efforts to do so, often involving local diplomats pressing for repatriation.
    Women who are repatriated can face criminal charges of parental disobedience or harming the kingdom’s reputation.
    “As Saudi women, we are still treated as property that belongs to the state,” said Moudi Aljohani, who moved to the United States as a student and has applied for asylum. “It doesn’t matter if the woman has any political views or not. They are going to go after her and forcibly return her.”
    The ways women choose to flee vary, but interviews with five who succeeded showed common themes. Many had discussed their plans in private chat groups with other women who had already fled or were also considering it.
    A few months before Ms. Alqunun left her family during a trip to Kuwait, for instance, a friend of hers had fled and reached Australia as a refugee and was giving her advice about escaping. Many fled from Turkey, a popular Saudi vacation spot, to Georgia, which Saudis can enter without a visa. And many aimed for Australia because they could apply for visas online, the only option for women who could not get to a foreign embassy.
    Some said they had fled because of abuse by male relatives and because they felt that the kingdom offered nowhere to turn for protection or justice.Others wanted out of the kingdom’s strict, Islamic social codes, which limit what women can wear, which jobs they can pursue and with whom they can socialize. And all spoke of wanting to escape the kingdom’s male guardianship laws, which give men great power over the lives of female relatives.“It is male guardianship that made us flee from Saudi Arabia,” said Ms. Muhaimeed, in Sweden. “That is the biggest reason that the girls flee.”In Saudi Arabia, all women are required to have a male guardian, whose permission they need to get married, travel and undergo some medical procedures. The guardian is often a father or husband, but can be a brother or even a son.
    The kingdom’s day-to-day ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has vowed to make life better for Saudi women. He defanged the once-feared religious police, who harassed women deemed inappropriately dressed, and last year he lifted the ban on women driving. Saudi women can now attend mixed concerts and pursue careers off limits to their mothers.
    When asked about guardianship laws last year, the prince said that Saudi Arabia had to “figure out a way to treat this that doesn’t harm families and doesn’t harm the culture.”
    Those moves have increased his popularity among Saudi women, many of whom say guardianship is not a burden because their male relatives take good care of them. Others escape the rules by seeking jobs in neighboring countries like the United Arab Emirates, where social rules are more lax. But the system’s critics say it gives no recourse to women with controlling or abusive guardians.
    That’s what sent Nourah, 20, fleeing for Australia. Her father had divorced her mother before Nourah was born, and she was raised mostly by her uncles, she said. Her father sometimes abused her, but her efforts to get help fell on deaf ears.
    Last year, her boyfriend wanted to marry her, but her family refused because they perceived him as coming from a lower social class, said Nourah, who spoke on the condition that only her first name be used for her safety. Her father began to arrange her marriage to a man she did not know and who wanted to bar her from working. In October, a day before her prospective groom arrived, she ran away.
    Saudi men use a government website to manage the women they have guardianship over, granting or denying them the right to travel, for example, and even setting up notifications so that they receive a text message when their wife or daughter boards a plane.In order to flee, Nourah used her father’s phone to give herself permission to travel, disabled his notifications and flew to Turkey. From there she traveled to Georgia, then bought a ticket to Australia via the United Arab Emirates, although she feared that the Emirati government would catch her in transit and return her to Saudi Arabia.
    “To me that was like a suicide mission, but I had no other option,” she said.
    But she made her connection and safely landed in Sydney, where she applied for asylum.
    Once abroad, the women often face barrages of insults and death threats from family members and other Saudis who think they have shamed the country. While human rights groups understand why women would want to flee bad situations, they worry that doing so could put them in grave danger.
    “For the few who succeed, there are many who fail, and to be sent back after this puts the women in a really dangerous situation,” said Mr. Coogle of Human Rights Watch.He said it is hard to know how many women have fled the kingdom because some who leave never seek help from aid groups, and those who do reach out sometimes fall out of contact before it is clear if they actually made an attempt to leave or, if they did, where they ended up.He said he had been contacted by many women inside Saudi Arabia who wanted help getting out. His organization did not help them do so, he said, although it would help them seek legal protection if they were outside Saudi Arabia.
    Speaking from a hotel room in Bangkok where she was waiting under guard to learn if another nation would grant her asylum, Ms. Alqunun was already thinking about her new life. She wanted to go to college to improve her English and study architecture, she said.
    She did not expect the transition to life in a country she had never visited to be easy, but she had no regrets.
    “There is no escape other than fleeing,” she said. “There is no other way.”

    With spotlight back on Saudi women's rights, Loujain al-Hathloul's fate remains unknown Facebook Twitter Reddit LinkedIn



    Michelle Ghoussoub 


    UBC graduate has been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia since May 2018.

    As Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun, the 18-year-old who burst into the public eye by fleeing Saudi Arabia, settles into what she hopes will be a normal life in Canada, another young Saudi woman who once walked the streets of Vancouver remains in obscurity, her life imperilled.
    Loujain al-Hathloul, who graduated from the University of British Columbia in 2014, has been detained in Saudi Arabia along with a number of Saudi women's rights activists since May 2018. 
    Al-Hathloul hasn't been heard from publicly since, but reports from a number of human rights groups allege she's faced torture and sexual harassment behind bars.
    In contrast, Al-Qunun's voice was heard internationally, as she barricaded herself in a Thai hotel room, broadcasting pleas for help over social media. 
    On Saturday, she landed in Toronto and was greeted by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland. She has since told CBC News she's dropped her family name.

    A prominent activist herself, al-Hathloul's case has been widely covered, most recently in a New York Times op-ed by her sister. Shortly after her arrest last spring, Saudi Arabia's state-run press agency issued a statement saying state security had arrested a number of people for forming a cell and trying to destabilize the country using foreign funding.
    Advocates and friends of al-Hathloul said they've become frustrated and concerned at the lack of action in her case, which has grown increasingly dire.
    Over the last week, all eyes have been on Saudi [Arabia], following Rahaf's case, and certainly the situation of women's rights in Saudi," said Jacqueline Hansen with Amnesty International.
    "We've really been encouraging Canada to have a consistent principled stance to our very serious and pressing human rights concerns in Saudi Arabia."
    'Feels more and more dire'
    Saudi Arabia ranks among the worst countries for women's rights and equality. The World Economic Forum ranked it 141 out of 149 in its 2018 report on gender equality.Though Freeland tweeted about al-Hathloul's detention shortly after she was arrested, Global Affairs has since said little about her case.
    "As we have said before, we believe that the imprisonment of these activists runs counter to the Saudi government's stated goal of reform," a statement from Global Affairs read in part.
    Commenting on Mohammed's case, the Wednesday statement said "the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) requested that Canada grant her asylum. We accepted."
    Sima Godfrey, a professor at UBC who taught al-Hathloul during her time in Vancouver, said while she was "delighted" to see Canada had intervened in Mohammed's case, it was also a stark reminder that her former student remains behind bars."I was reminded that Loujain's situation hasn't changed since May and the longer she is being held, the worse conditions are getting. With the latest information about torture and threats of rape and murder, it just feels more and more dire," she said.
    "One can only hope that things will improve, but there are no signs right now."
    Godfrey said she hopes Canada is working on the case through quiet diplomacy and back channels, in order to avoid the diplomatic firestorm triggered when Freeland tweeted about jailed human right's activist Raif Badawi.Freeland's comments drew an angry response from Saudi Arabia, which expelled Canada's ambassador, sold Canadian assets and stopped flights to Canada on its national airline.
    "In some ways it's not a surprise that these women became the flashpoint," said Godfrey.
    "And they become all the more admirable for that reason, because they are so courageous in that context."

    #Pakistan - In #Peshawar Unnecessary referrals from districts causing death of newborns




    Unnecessary referral of newborns from district hospitals coupled with shortage of equipment and trained staff in Peshawar-based teaching hospitals have been causing deaths of preventable ailments, according to sources.
    Paediatricians say that 16 per cent of the neonates die at nursery ward of Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH), 30 per cent at Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) and 25 per cent at Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) Peshawar mostly due to late referral by doctors from the district headquarters hospitals and shortage of facilities at the Peshawar’s hospitals to deal with load of patients.
    “The factors accounted for deaths are 40 per cent infections, 29 per cent premature delivery, 22.5 per cent birth asphyxia and 15 to 20 per cent. jaundice,” they say. Bed occupancy in these hospitals remains more than 200 per cent.
    Experts say teaching hospitals short of space, equipment for neonates.
    Each of the three hospitals -- KTH, LRH and HMC -- admits more than triple patients of their capacities, which lead to infections. “KTH is extremely short of space and has to admit three infants on one cot due to which they get infections and don’t get care to a desired level,” say paediatricians.
    According to them, the teaching hospitals have well-qualified doctors and health workers but they are unable to give proper attention to additional patients and it affects the healthcare services.One year ago, the government of Turkey gave seven incubators to KTH and five of those went out of order owing to electricity fluctuation.The situation in LRH and HMC is more or less the same as newborn babies are referred from all districts of the provinces, making it difficult for the staff to provide treatment to the patients to a desired level.Recently, HMC got specialised nursery unit but mortality was still 25 per cent because of extreme load of patients, a senior pediatrician told Dawn.According to him, the neonates can get quality treatment if the district hospitals stop referral of patients to Peshawar-based health facilities.
    The government has been establishing medical colleges in district now and then but the attached hospitals are short of facilities for newborns. The hospitals, which are required to keep at least five cots empty for critically-ill neonates to give them emergency treatment, can spare a single cot owing to which the people requiring prompt treatment cannot get it. These hospitals have brought the issues into the notice of the government but all such requests haven’t been responded and children up to 30 days of age continue to suffer.
    The well-off people visit a few private maternity homes where facilities exists but majority don’t afford the cost, which runs from Rs10,000 to Rs20,000 per 24 hours.
    Pakistan Pediatrics Association says that 54 neonates die in every 1,000 live-births annually while 16 per cent neonates die due to infections and premature births.
    The association blames shortage of basic equipment including incubators, cardiac monitors, phototherapy, resuscitator, apnea alarm, jaundice meter, infusion pumps, pulse oximeter and oxygen checking machine, which adversely affects the patients.Recently a study carried out at one of the teaching hospitals showed that 50 per cent patients visited Peshawar despite presence of hospitals in their native districts.

    The government has been claiming to put in place a proper referral system of patients but the plan is yet to materialised.

    #Pakistan - Women cycling event in #Peshawar cancelled after opposition from religious party


    By Shahabullah Yousafzai
    The first ever female cycling event scheduled for January 19 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) was cancelled on Friday due to security concerns and protest calls from religious parties.
    The race was sponsored by a Peshawar-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) Zamung Jwand which works for women empowerment in the province.
    The event, however, was opposed by a religious party in the provincial capital.The organiser of the event, who hails from Waziristan, currently resides in Peshawar and is working towards improving public spaces and sports facilities for women in the province.
    According to a press release, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Rafiullah Qasimi warned that “roads shall be blocked” and that the party shall take the law into their hands if the event is conducted.
    A notification released by K-P director-general denied granting permission to any NGO to hold cycling events in Hayatabad. It further read that the Hayatabad Sports Complex has not been booked for the January 19 event.

    #Pakistani journalists calling my article a publicity stunt is the biggest disappointment





    I want Pakistan to become better and the only way that can happen is by highlighting the wrongs, writes Taha Siddiqui.
    Aopinion piece I wrote last week marking one-year of my self-imposed exile in Paris after an attack on my life has opened floodgates of hatred – from Pakistan and its top-rung leaders.
    But my biggest disappointment is the lack of any support from the local press in Pakistan, with some prominent members even taking to social media to attack me, question my motives for writing the piece and calling it a publicity stunt. A few even claimed that there is no threat to press freedom in Pakistan and I am merely exaggerating it.

    Silence of media

    The reason why I chose to go public with the information I recently received from the US intel about a possible assassination plot against me in Pakistan, in my piece for The Washington Post, is because I value freedom of press and believe in exposing those who threaten it.
    When Pakistan’s federal information minister Fawad Chaudhry tweeted against me and called my piece “malafide use of pen”, the local media remained suspiciously silent. This is the same press that considers anything this minister says even as a passing remark as ‘breaking news’. The double-standard was hard to miss.
    This, at a time when Pakistan’s oldest and reputed newspaper Dawn is facing supply disruptions allegedly at the behest of the Pakistan Army, and one of its reporters is facing treason charges.
    A leading media channel like Geo News had to reportedly make a deal with the military to come back on-air after disappearing from cable networks. And a monetary crunch, allegedly engineered by the establishment, has led to several journalists losing jobs.
    But it appears that Pakistani journalists in their pursuit to be in the good books of the military seem to go an extra mile to not just censor themselves but also defend their oppressors, as I witnessed in the aftermath of my piece.

    Reaction from Army

    While the media’s reaction to my piece left me disappointed, the troll army’s attack was on the expected lines, spewing venom and hatred
    But the response that left me unnerved came from Pakistan Army’s spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor in the form of a tweet about “stray dogs are (being) the responsibility of community corporation…”. In Pakistan, stray dogs are mercilessly poisoned or shot dead by the municipal corporations.
    He is the brain, I believe, behind the menacing trolls who target me. Since Ghafoor’s tweet, many of these trolls have been tagging me in his post, pointing out that the general is referring to me.
    Many of my well-wishers in Pakistan also think the same.
    I cannot be certain if it is indeed so but one of the first responses to his tweet from a verified handle is deeply troubling. The user talks about setting up a Pakistani version of Bozkurtlar – a Turkish death squad that has been accused of involvement in assassinations in and outside Turkey.
    Ironically, Major General Ghafoor had earlier invited me back in Pakistan through multiple tweets. In the light of the fresh information about a possible assassination plot against me, one doesn’t know if his invitation was a trap.

    Why I will speak up

    Despite the disappointments, hatred and risks, why do I continue to speak up? Because, I want Pakistan to become better and the only way that can happen is by highlighting the wrongs. However, the backlash for the opinion piece that I wrote last week made me wonder if there was anything wrong in what I said.
    But then I realised I am not the only one facing such hostility. Many Pakistanis, who are celebrated globally, are demonised back home. I have seen people question the motives of peace activist Malala Yousafzai, and disown scientific minds like Abdus Salam, the country’s first Nobel laureate. Now, there are efforts to discredit renowned lawyer Asma Jahangir, recipient of the 2018 UN Human Rights Prize.
    At the same time, likes of Mumtaz Qadri, the assassin of Punjab province’s governor Salman Taseer, Osama bin Laden, the 9/11-mastermind, and Hafiz Saeed, the man behind the Mumbai terror attacks, are celebrated as heroes.
    When I see such problematic narratives and belief systems, I realise what the Pakistani society needs – introspection and a will to challenge the years of indoctrination and hate taught from childhood.
    Pakistan is hurtling towards an implosion if policymakers don’t take immediate steps to address this situation.
    We have a society that is sick, and if we don’t treat it soon, Pakistan will become a place where no one will be safe.

    #Pakistan - #PPP - German envoy calls on Bilawal Bhutto

    German Ambassador to Pakistan Martin Kobler yesterday called on Pakistan People’s Party chief Bilawal Bhutto Zardari here. Senator Farhatullah Babar, Senator Sherry Rehman, Senator Annie Marri and Jamil Soomro were present on the occasion. “Matters of mutual interests were discussed in the meeting,” said a party statement.

    https://nation.com.pk/18-Jan-2019/german-envoy-calls-on-bilawal-bhutto

    صوبائی حقوق کسی کو چھیننے نہیں دینگے، بلاول

    چیئرمین پیپلز پارٹی بلاول بھٹونے کہاہے کہ دو تہائی اکثریت سے ہونی والی
    اٹھارویں ترمیم اورقانون سازی کو غیر منتخب لوگ بیک جنبش قلم ختم نہیں کرسکتے‘این آئی سی وی ڈی وفاق کودینا اٹھارویں ترمیم پر حملہ ہے ، صوبوں کے مالی معاملات پر سمجھوتہ نہیں کیاجائے گا‘ کسی کو صوبائی حقوق نہیں چھیننے دیں گے‘اٹھارویں ترمیم کے خلاف کارروائی کی بھرپور مزاحمت کریں گے‘ سلیکٹڈ وزیر اعظم انسانی حقوق اورنقل وحرکت کی آزادی کے تصور کو نہیں سمجھتے ‘ای سی ایل پر صرف اپوزیشن ارکان کے نام ڈالے جارہے ہیں‘ ای سی ایل میں میرانام ڈالنے سے کوئی فرق نہیں پڑتا ۔ گزشتہ روز قومی اسمبلی میں خطاب کرتے ہوئے انہوں نے کہا کہ سپریم کورٹ نے میرا اور وزیر اعلیٰ سندھ کا نام ای سی ایل سے ہٹانے کا حکم دیا ہے آج صبح وزیر اعظم نے ٹویٹ کیا ہے اور ای سی ایل کے ایشو پر بولے ہیں کیا ہی اچھا ہوتا اگر وزیر اعظم ایوان میں موجود ہوتے اور میرے منہ پر بات کرتے میں ان کو جواب دیتا،لیکن وہ ایوان آنے کی ہمت نہیں کرتے‘ فریڈم آف موومنٹ
    بنیادی حقوق میں سے ہے جس پر کٹھ پتلی حکومت یقین نہیں رکھتی‘ انہوں نے کہاکہ میرا نام ای سی ایل سے ہٹائیں یا نہ ہٹائیں کوئی فرق نہیں پڑتا،انہوں نے کہا کہ سندھ کے اسپتال اٹھارویں ترمیم کے بعد صوبائی حکومت نے لیے اور ورلڈ کلاس ادارے بنا دیے ہیں‘این آئی سی وی ڈی ( نیشنل انسٹی ٹیویٹ آف کارڈیو ویسکولر ڈیزیز)کے لیے 14 ارب روپے بجٹ رکھا گیا ہے ۔ سپریم کورٹ نے یہ ادارہ وفاق کو دینے کا فیصلہ کیا ہے سپریم کورٹ نے یہ ادارے دینے ہیں تو سند ھ کے عوام کو ان کے لیےسمجھانا مشکل ہو جائے گا‘اگر اپ نے یہ ادارے لینے ہیں تو 14 ارب کی گارنٹی دینا پڑے گی کہ مفت علاج جاری رکھا جائے گا‘انہوں نے کہاکہ اپوزیشن اتحاد میں جس پر اتفاق رائے ہو ا وہ عوام کے جمہوری معاشی وبنیادی حقوق تھے مجھے امید ہے حکومتی اتحادی بھی ہمارا ساتھ دیں گے اور جلد پی ٹی آئی بھی ہمارا ساتھ دے گی کیونکہ یہ اہم ایشو ہیں ان پر کوئی سمجھوتہ نہیں کیا جاسکتا ہے ہم ہر صورت صوبائی حقوق کاتحفظ کریں گے ۔