ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court on Monday granted protective bail to Pakistan Peoples Party leader Sharjeel Inam Memon against Rs2 million surety bonds till April 5.
He has been accused of involvement in a Rs5 billion corruption scandal of awarding advertisements to the print and electronic media under a public awareness campaign as information minister of Sindh.
The IHC division bench, comprising Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, rejected the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) plea to obtain custody of Mr Memon, saying that since the accused had surrendered himself before the court and wanted to contest allegations levelled against him, he should be encouraged to face trial.
Mr Memon was looking anxious while the NAB prosecutor was opposing the grant of protective bail to him but felt relaxed after the court accepted his plea.
After leaving the courtroom, he criticised Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and accused him of wanting to drag him in fake cases.
Court rejects NAB plea to obtain his custody on the ground that the accused has surrendered before court
NAB prosecutor Sardar Muzzaffar argued before the court that Mr Memon was a proclaimed offender and, therefore, he could not claim normal rights. He also questioned Mr Memon’s affidavit attached with his petition in which he had stated that it was his first petition.
Mr Muzzaffar informed the court that Mr Memon had on March 6 applied for protective bail in the Lahore High Court, which dismissed his plea. “Given this, it is now settled that Mr Memon concealed facts from the IHC and did not mention that one of his applications had been dismissed by an LHC bench,” he said.
Justice Kayani said that after Mr Memon surrendered himself before the IHC, he was no more a proclaimed offender.
Mr Muzzaffar said that earlier Mr Memon had filed a petition in the Sindh High Court to seek bail. The SHC directed him to appear before the accountability court within 10 days, but he failed to do so.
The NAB prosecutor said that the accused did not join the investigation which was still pending since he had been a fugitive for two-and-a-half years.
The IHC bench said that it would not examine the case under Section 497 of the Code of Criminal Procedure dealing with pre-arrest bail as Mr Memon was seeking protective bail.
The court advised NAB to present the arguments in the trial court when the accused would seek pre-arrest bail.
Farooq H. Naek, the counsel for Mr Memon, told the court that it had granted protective bail to former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Khalid Langove.
In his petition, Mr Memon had said that he feared arrest and being implicated in a false case, though no inquiry was pending against him and no notices had been issued to him.
Talking to the media after obtaining bail, Mr Memon said that he was grateful to the court. He said that it was easy for him to stay outside the country and avoid legal proceedings (but he did not do so).
He said that all cases prepared against him at the “behest of Chaudhry Nisar” were tools of political victimisation.
ISLAMABAD: The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) pleaded before the Supreme Court on Monday that non-payment of Rs2.5 billion arrears by the federal government might affect the authority’s sustainability as an identity-management organisation of international repute.
“Nadra does not take any funding from the government for running its vast operations nationwide and worldwide,” said a report submitted to the apex court in compliance with a suo motu notice taken by Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on exorbitant fee being charged for issuance of National Identity Card for Overseas Pakistanis (NICOP) and cancellation of the Pakistan Origin Card (POC).
Nadra explained that the pending amount of Rs2.5bn was in view of the government’s decision to make the first-time issuance of ID cards free of cost to citizens and agree to partially bear the cost. But the federal government was not making these payments and, therefore, the receivable was continuing to increase, the report regretted.
It said the authority issued two different cards under the Nadra Ordinance 2000 — NICOP to overseas Pakistanis under Section 12 and POC to those eligible for it under Section 11. About the card being expensive, the report explained that Nadra operated 14 registration centres abroad whose expenses were incurred in foreign currencies at rates prevailing there.
Similarly, it said, the cost of POC for seven years was $150 whereas the cost of obtaining a Pakistani visa was between $197 and $228 in different countries like Norway, Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom, adding that NICOP/POC holders could enter Pakistan by showing their respective cards.
Salary of the staff, rents and cost of renovation and maintenance of the centres were higher because these were paid in foreign currencies, the report said, adding that Nadra was also contemplating to open more centres in near future to facilitate a large number of Pakistanis living abroad.
The expensive IT infrastructure abroad was another reason for the higher cost of overseas cards, it said, adding that the cost of operating centers abroad was much higher than in Pakistan.
According to the report, Nadra is also issuing NICOP and POC online, which requires a high-availability mission critical redundant internet connected system with state-of-the-art cyber security infrastructure and integration with international credit card services.
“Not only this infrastructure is procured from international vendors, it also requires support and maintenance from original manufactures due to the mission critical nature; it requires highly specialised workforce round the clock to manage the technical operations and a dedicated international standards data centre,” the report said.
It said NICOP/POC fees had not been increased in 2012, adding that NICOP validity had been enhanced from seven to 10 years without any additional charge to the applicants.
In its earlier report, Nadra had explained that its chip-based NICOP/POC was equipped with 36 security features (overt and covert) which preserved a citizen’s identity more efficiently by preventing all types of forgery.
ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told the Senate on Monday that a law was being prepared to stop leaders of proscribed organisations from taking part in elections.
Winding up the discussion on implications of a statement made by him in the Senate on Jan 10 making a distinction between banned terrorist outfits and proscribed sectarian organisations, he said the existing law did not prevent outlawed organisations from contesting elections and holding meetings with government functionaries and civil servants.
The minister regretted that his remarks made in the house had been misconstrued and criticised outside the parliament.
He said he had never talked of giving space to banned sectarian organisations or showing leniency to them. He said he had also not said they were lesser terrorists.
No racial profiling of Pakhtuns under way, Chaudhry Nisar tells Senate
However, he said while there was no room for terrorist organisations to operate in the country, the case of proscribed organisations was different in a sense that many of their followers and activists had no case registered against them. Chaudhry Nisar said he had proposed legislation in this context.
He said almost all terrorist attacks in the country in the pre-operation Zarb-i-Azb period were engineered and masterminded in North Waziristan. The situation is entirely different now and no terrorist organisation has its headquarters in Pakistan and they are operating from across the border.
He rejected criticism over his ‘inadvertent’ meeting with the head of an outlawed organisation as part of a delegation led by Defence of Pakistan Council chief Maulana Samiul Haq and said the issue of blocked computerised national identity cards (CNICs) was discussed in the meeting. Without naming Maulana Ahmad Ludhianvi, he said the person had contested 2013 general elections but nobody objected to it.
He said an election tribunal had de-seated the Pakistan Muslim League-N lawmaker from Jhang and declared that person as returned candidate in his place, followed by a legal battle and a stay by the apex court.
Chaudhry Nisar said he had documentary evidence of meetings between leaders of banned organisations and former president and federal ministers in the past.
Taking the objections over the meeting as something positive in a sense, he said it was indicative of awareness and consciousness which the incumbent government had given to people. In the past, he said, even it was not known how many proscribed organisations were there in the country.
Racial profiling
Earlier the interior minister told the National Assembly that no racial profiling of Pakhtun people was under way in parts of the country. He said there was a procedure under which CNICs had been blocked and made it clear that no foreign national could be allowed to keep fake CNICs and passports.
He disclosed that Mullah Mansour was not the only (Afghan) militant leader to have acquired Pakistani CNIC and passport and said there was a long list (of such persons). However, he avoided sharing any detail.
He provided the province and language-wise break-up of blocked CNICs for the first time, which clearly showed that the Pakhtun people were the major sufferers.
According to him, of the total 344,597 blocked CNICs, 217,007 belonged to Pushto-speaking people, followed by 41,456 Urdu-speaking persons, 29,510 Punjabi-speaking persons, 8,426 Balochi-speaking persons and 7,037 Sindhi-speaking persons.
The breakup of other linguistic groups was: 5,297 Balti-speaking persons, 4,995 Seraiki-speaking persons, 3,838 Brahvi-speaking and 3,493 Hindko speaking persons. A large number of 23,538 persons belonged to miscellaneous ethnic groups, including foreigners. The data shows that the highest number of 106,020 blocked CNICs was issued in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa followed by 85,923 in Sindh, 60,408 in Balochistan, 61,304 in Punjab and 12,031 in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
KARACHI: A sessions court on Monday sentenced a man to a total of 40 years’ imprisonment in a kidnap and rape case.
Ameer Afzal, who ran a tuition centre, was found guilty of abducting his 17-year-old student in Gulshan-i-Hadeed in October 2011 and subjecting her to sexual assault.
Additional District and Sessions Judge (Malir) Shafi Mohammad Pirzada handed down 20-year imprisonment each for the abduction and rape.
The court also directed the convict to pay Rs50,000 as compensation to the victim. In case of default he would have to undergo an additional six months in prison.
Both the sentences will run concurrently.
The verdict said that the victim had given detailed testimony about the incident and categorically deposed against the accused. It added that the medical reports also corroborated her evidence.
The prosecution said that the victim’s father approached the police after her abduction on Oct 12, 2011 and the police managed to arrest the accused and recovered the captive a couple of weeks after the incident.
Later, the accused was released on bail. He jumped bail when the case was fixed on Feb 27, 2017 for pronouncement of the verdict. Therefore, the court issued his arrest warrant and he was again arrested.
A case was registered under Sections 365-B (abducting or inducing woman to compel for marriage, etc), 376 (punishment for rape) and 392 (punishment for robbery) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Steel Town police station.
‘Militants’ remanded
The administrative judge of the antiterrorism courts remanded a suspected militant in police custody in two bomb blast cases.
Qari Mohammad Jawaid has been booked for his alleged involvement in a suicide attack at the residence of slain SP Mohammad Aslam Khan, better known as Chaudhry Aslam, in Defence Housing Authority in September 2011 and another identical attack at the Civil Lines office of the then Crime Investigation Department (CID) in 2010.
The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) produced the suspect before the court and sought his custody for questioning. The court handed him to police on physical remand till March 31.
Meanwhile, the same court remanded two suspects in the custody of the CTD in a case pertaining to the killing of a police officer.
Zafar Ali, alias Saeen, and Obaid have been booked for their alleged involvement in the January 2014 suicide attack on the motorcade of SP Chaudhry Aslam on the Lyari Expressway in which the officer and his two police guards were killed.
The CTD produced Zafar and sought extension in his custody and also presented newly-arrested suspect Obaid. The administrative judge handed them over to CTD on physical remand till March 25.
ISLAMABAD: Chief of Tehreek Sooba Hazara Baba Haider Zaman on Monday opposed the proposed merger of Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (Fata) with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and announced a countrywide campaign for creation of more provinces.
Speaking at a news conference at the National Press Club along with a number of politicians, Baba Zaman solution to the country’s problems lied in more provinces of small sizes.
“Small administrative units can alleviate corruption and ensure good governance as it will help in equal distribution of resources among provinces,” he said.
He announced that he would start a country wide campaign from April 12 for the creation of new provinces such as Fata, Hazara, Seraiki province, etc.
Tehreek Sooba Hazara chief announces a countrywide campaign for creation of more provinces
Baba Zaman said the people of Fata should have been asked whether they wanted a separate province or merger in KP.
He proposed the government to hold a referendum in Fata before taking any decision.
“All the political parties claim that people of Fata will decide their future but practically they are not sincere in their acts,” he claimed.
He alleged that at present people of Fata were slaves of the federal government and now efforts were being made to make them slaves of the provincial government.
MNA Dawar Khan Kundi stressed the need for increasing the federating units. Unfortunately, here decisions are made against the will of the people such as Seraiki people are not getting their province.
Public representative of Fata were not considered while making the decision on Fata. The merger of Fata in KP will be against the will of the people,” he said.
In the past, Pakistan suffered because of ‘One Unit’ but no one is ready to learn from the mistakes, he said, adding both Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari have double standards and even Imran Khan did not say a single word on the issue, he said.
He said that a campaign for more provinces will be launched from April 12.
Former Senator Hameedullah Jan Afridi said that present democracy could not change the fate of the country.
“In democracy all the power should be given to the people but here 15 million tribal people have been deprived of their rights.
However, now the tribal people have got awareness about their rights. Government should hold referendum to know whether the people of Fata wanted merger in KP or a separate province. Moreover, Seraiki and Gilgit provinces should also be created, he said.
MNA Jamshed Dasti, while endorsing all the speakers’ views, said people of Hazara, Fata, Seraiki and Gilgit should have their own provinces.
“There are 60 million people living on Seraiki belt but they are being ignored as a very small chunk of development funds is spent there.
All over the world new provinces are made to address the issues of the people but here big political parties are against it because they feel that they will lose their control over the people,” he said.
He said new provinces would solve some basic problem of the people including education and health.
ISLAMABAD: A six-member medical board constituted by the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) on Monday confirmed that the 11-year-old maid was tortured by her employers in the E-11 sector of Islamabad.
“The board found around a dozen wounds of different types, which were not of the same age, on the body of the girl. This showed the girl faced torture for a long time,” Pims Vice Chancellor Dr Javed Akram said, adding a report would be handed over to the police within 48 hours.
Moreover, the girl, a native of Rahim Yar Khan, was also produced in the court of an assistant commissioner (AC) where she recorded her statement saying the family used to torture her.
According to initial reports, the inmates of the house, including a woman and her son, not only tortured the girl but also cut her hair.
Pims vice chancellor says around a dozen wounds were found on the body of the 11-year-old girl
On the complaint of a neighbour, the police took the girl into custody 17 and shifted her to Pims for medical treatment on March 17.
The police at that time decided to bring the child to Pims again for a medico-legal report on March 18.
However, they did not bring her back and started requesting the hospital administration to prepare a report based on the observations of the casualty medical officer (CMO) who had treated her in the emergency on March 17.
However, as the matter was highlighted in the media, the Pims administration formed the medical board to examine the girl and prepare the report.
The board was headed by surgeon Dr Tanvir Khaliq with psychiatrist Dr Rizwan Taj, burn expert Dr Tariq Iqbal, gynaecologist Dr Nasira, medico-legal officers Dr Farrukh Kamal and Dr Nasreen Butt as its members. As Dr Nasira was on leave, Dr Kausar Bangash participated in the board.
The girl was brought to Pims from the crisis centre in H-8 at 11am on Monday. After her examination by the board, Dr Akram confirmed to the media that the girl was tortured, adding her hair were also found cut.
“There were marks of torture but wounds of any sharp tool such as knife or blade were not found on the body. The child was severely upset because of what she had been facing during the last a few weeks or months,” he said.
“The girl had also continuously received punches and slaps from the family. The marks were of different ages which showed she had continuously been facing torture,” he said.
In reply to a question, Dr Akram said though the medical board confirmed that the girl was tortured it was the job of the police to investigate and find other aspects and angles to the case.
He said after being examined by the board the girl was taken back to the crisis centre.
A member of the medical board, Dr Farrukh Kamal, told Dawn that there were also two burn marks, one on the arm and the other on the rear of the girl’s neck.
“There were around a dozen marks on the body of the girl,” he confirmed.
Additional Deputy Commissioner Islamabad Abdul Sattar Isani told Dawn that while recording her statement in front of the AC the girl stated that the woman and her son used to torture her.
“She said even they used to throw hot water on her body and many times locked her in a room. The girl also alleged that the woman used to keep her hungry. Moreover, there was another maid from Lahore but she left the work because of the attitude of the family,” he said.
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: A US drone attack on a car killed an Al Qaeda ‘commander’, a Taliban trainer and two other militants in Afghanistan’s Paktika province near the border with Pakistan.
Security sources told Dawn on Monday that the US fired two missiles at the car in the Laman area, killing the four militants.
The sources said Qari Yasin, alias Ustad Aslam, hailing from Lodhran in Punjab was considered one of the most important commanders of the local chapter of Al Qaeda.
The other ‘commander’ killed in the attack was identified as Ameen Shah Mahsud of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
He is said to be a TTP trainer of suicide bombers.
A large number of tribesmen displaced from North Waziristan have relocated to the Laman area of Paktika province along the border with South Waziristan.
Our Bahawalpur Correspondent adds: Qari Yasin carried a head money of Rs5 million, a spokesman for the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) said.
The spokesman told Dawn that Qari Yasin was a proclaimed offender and his name was included in the CTD’s Red Book.
He said Yasin had been involved in several high-profile terrorist attacks, including the assassination attempt on former president Gen Pervez Musharraf, attack on the GHQ, attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team and a bomb blast at Data Darbar in Lahore.
Members of Sikh community protest outside the Peshawar Press Club on Monday. — White Star
PESHAWAR: The members of Sikh community held a protest demonstration here on Monday against the federal government for not including a column in the national census form for them and appealed to Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Pakistan to order resolution to the issue.
Holding banners and placards inscribed with their demands, the protesters shouted slogans for inclusion of a column in the census form for them.
Radesh Singh Toney, the chairman of Peshawar chapter of Sikh Community of Pakistan, said that federal government neglected Sikhs in the census form that caused unrest among them.
“We are also citizens of the country and have similar rights. If transgender people could get special column in the census form then why not our Sikh community,” he questioned.
He said that his community was loyal to the country and played prominent role in Pakistan movement but even then they were neglected for unknown reasons.
Mr Toney said that Sikhs should be given similar rights as mentioned in the constitution otherwise the neglect in the census form would be consider discrimination.
He said that Islam gave equal rights to them but the rulers were neglecting Sikhs despite the fact that they had vast population in different parts of the country. He said that they would start holding protest rallies across the country if rulers did not change their policy.
Javed Afiridi speaks at the Peshawar Press Club on Monday. — INP
PESHAWAR: The Peshawar Zalmi, the winner of the Pakistan Super League 2017, has revealed it is in contact with the Afghanistan Cricket Board to explore possibilities for bilateral matches.
“Our negotiations with the Afghanistan Cricket Board are underway to play joint matches and thus, promoting peace in the region,” Peshawar Zalmi owner Javed Afridi told the ‘Meet the Press’ programme at the Peshawar Press Club on Monday.
Mr Afridi said Pakistan and Afghanistan should forget about differences and join hands for promoting love, peace and development in the region.
He congratulated Afghan nationals on the eve of Nauroz (New Year) event.
Owner urges Islamabad, Kabul to promote love, peace, development
The Peshawar Zalmi owner said he was happy at the reopening of Pak-Afghan border and hoped it would mitigate the misery of the people living on both sides of the border.
He said his recent meetings with Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Peshawar corps commander and FC inspector general turned out to be very fruitful as they assured him of full support on the plans for the promotion of sports activities in Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“It is the need of the hour that all institutions and people of different sectors join hands to work for the restoration of peace on our soil,” he said.
Mr Afridi said he would set up a sports foundation to promote the grooming talents in Fata and KP.
He said he was happy to see the recent PSL victory of his team cheer up the Fata and KP people suffering from lots of misery and agonies for years.
The Peshawar Zalmi owner said the credit went to the entire Pakistani nation, particularly the people of Fata and KP, for giving an overwhelming response to the PSL final in Lahore.
He also thanked international players for coming to Lahore to play the final.
“The foreign players also wanted to cheer up Pakistanis by playing in Lahore after they were given assurance of foolproof security,” he said.
Mr Afridi said the success of the PSL, which was a dream for him, happened due to his and Shahid Afridi’s efforts.
He said if the Pakistan Cricket Board handed the Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium over to him, he would renovate it and made it of international standard again.
The Peshawar Zalmi owner said his team’s players didn’t back out on their commitment of shaving their heads after winning the PSL final and that that would happen after they performed Umrah.
Peshawar Zalmi coach Mohammad Akram, who was also in attendance, said his team had begun the PSL journey two years ago at the Army Public School to cheer up all children affected in the carnage.
He said the credit of his team’s victory went to Javed Afridi and Shahid Afridi.
FAISALABAD: Mian Nawaz, brother of PML-N MPA Tahir Jameel, has been found guilty of kidnapping and torturing Abdul Latif, the former barber of the prime minister and the chief minister.
MPA Tahir Jameel was not made part of an inquiry although he was summoned by the inquiry officer.
Rejecting findings of the inquiry, Latif said he would submit an application to the PM and the CM requesting them to depute any officer from Lahore for the inquiry as he (Latif) was abducted and tortured at the behest of the MPA. He said the MPA was present in his outhouse when his brother and other people had been torturing him.
Anjuman-i-Tajran (City) President Shahid Razzaq Saka told the inquiry officer that he had phoned the MPA for the release of Latif. He also endorsed that Latif was kidnapped by Mian Nawaz.
SSP (Operations) Rana Muhammad Masoom, who conducted the inquiry on the direction of the PM secretariat, recorded the statement of Latif, his brothers, sister and mother and some neighbours.
Complainant rejects findings; claims MPA is the main accused
The officer mentioned that Mian Nawaz had been found involved in kidnapping and torturing Abdul Latif on Feb 22 last.
According to the CDR data of Latif, his position was also detected near the outhouse of Mian Nawaz, the SSP said.
It was also found that Latif and his family had a dispute over a five-marla house in Kausarabad and a scuffle also took place between Latif and his siblings on Feb 22 last, he said.
During the inquiry, the officer said, the family of Latif, including his brothers Shareef, Hanif, mother Raja Bibi and sister Shaheed Bibi, had denied the claim of Latif that he was abducted and tortured by someone.
Neighbours of Latif told the SSP that the family had a property dispute and they had often intervened in the matter for the patch-up.
On Feb 22 last, they said around 12 unidentified people had entered the disputed house, thrashed Latif, bundled him into a car and drove away with him.
Nawaz admitted during the inquiry that he had visited the house of Latif on the scuffle day. The medico-legal report of Latif is non-cognizable, the officer noted.
Sources said the MPA and his brother refused to get their statements recorded and denied all charges leveled against them by Latif.
An officer, requesting anonymity, said the police had summoned the MPA and his brother, but they refused to give anything in writing.
He said the inquiry had been conducted on the application submitted to the PM secretariat by Zubeda Bibi, wife of Latif.
He said a case would be registered on the application of Latif and police would book the MPA if the complainant would name him in his plaint.
Latif said his application was already pending with the police in which he had clearly mentioned that the MPA wanted to grab his house. And for this reason, the MPA had got him abducted and tortured at his outhouse, he added.
He said it was evident that police, through this inquiry, had given a clean chit to the MPA because of his influence. “I will, however, continue my efforts for justice,” he said.
He said he had plainly told the inquiry officer that the MPA was present in his office when he (Latif) was being tortured, but not a single word had been made part of the inquiry about the role of the MPA.
Denying all allegations leveled against him, the MPA said he was just an arbitrator between Latif and his family.
ISLAMABAD: The second phase of the survey of religious seminaries in Islamabad has come up with a more shocking revelation: over 76pc of their buildings were built without permission from the civic body.
The first phase of the survey, recently conducted by the Islamabad capital territory (ICT) administration, had showed that a majority of the total 374 madressahs were not registered with any government organisation.
It may be noted that the number of primary, middle and secondary schools in the capital is 348. In the newly-established residential sectors of G-13 and G-14, there is not a single public school but some seminaries have already cropped up there.
The second phase of the survey, which was completed by the CDA on Monday, showed that 76pc of the seminaries had been built without any approved building plans.
The survey said out of the total 374 seminaries, 151 were operating in the sector areas and model towns of the capital. Out of the 151 in the urban areas, only 87 had been built as per approved building plans. The other seminaries located in the urban as well as rural areas were built without any design, approved building plan or taking any non-objection certificate (NOC) from the CDA.
The CDA never made any serious attempt to enforce its building by-laws and regulations in the rural areas of the city where most of the religious seminaries were set up without any approved building plan.
“Since we approve or disapprove building plans of seminaries in the city areas, our record shows that only 87 seminaries have the approved building plans,” said a senior officer of the CDA who requested not to be named.
He said it was shocking that out of the 374 seminaries only 87 had approved building plans.
“Now as the interior minister is monitoring the matter, we will enforce the by-laws across the capital. All the 374 seminaries would be asked to get their building plans approved.”
As per the CDA ordinance 1960, the civic agency is bound to regulate all buildings across the capital. However, the civic agency never moved beyond the sector areas, leaving unregulated and unplanned buildings thriving in the rural areas.
“We conducted the survey of the building plans of madressahs on the request of the ICT administration,” said Member Planning Asad Mehboob Kayani.
“My team work hard in the last three days and I think they submitted the survey to the ICT administration today or maybe they will submit it tomorrow.”
He said the CDA management had decided to implement the by-laws across the capital.
When contacted, Director Building Control Shafi Marwat said: “We have completed the survey but can’t share its details with the media.”
The Pakistan Rangers Sindh on Tuesday claimed to have recovered a huge cache of arms from a store at a park in Gulshan-i-Iqbal area of Karachi.
A statement issued by the paramilitary force claimed that Inbisat Malik, the son-in-law of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Mohammad Anwar, had concealed the arms and explosives at this property with the help of miscreants.
The recovered arms and ammunition were meant to be used for terrorism and unrest in Karachi, it added.
Rangers claimed that the raid was carried out after receiving reliable information, from their intelligence sources, regarding the presence of arms and explosives at a storeroom in the park's ticket office.
The recovered arms and ammunition were meant to be used for terrorism and unrest in the city, said a press release.—DawnNews
Rangers personnel reportedly recovered four hand grenade, 10 ball bombs, a light machine-gun, 16 sub machine-guns, two shotguns, six 7MM rifles, three .233 bore rifles, a 30 bore rifle and other weapons during the raid.
Action will be taken against the accused under the Sindh Arms Act, the release added.
The Pakistan Stock Exchange ended Tuesday's trading session on a positive note, with the benchmark KSE-100 index gaining 362 points, or 0.74 per cent, by the close of the trading session to reach 49,059.60.
The benchmark index crossed the 49,000 point barrier after a day of erratic trading, as volumes were led by engineering and power generation and distribution scrips.
Around 94 million shares had changed hands by the end of the session, with a total worth of nearly Rs7.22 billion.
Stocks of 385 companies were traded, of which 285 gained in value, 83 declined and 17 remained unchanged.
Volumes were led by:
K-Electric Ltd.: 36m shares traded [-1.99pc];
Aisha Steel Mill: 25.6m shares traded [+4.97pc];
Power Cement Ltd.: 10.6m shares traded [+5.26pc];
Pak Refinery: 10.3m shares traded [+3.32pc]; and,
Azgard Nine: 9.23m shares traded [+0.19].
"Stocks closed sharply higher led by oil, banking and cement scrips on strong valuations," said analyst Ahsan Mehanti.
"Mid-session pressure was witnessed on concerns for $5.4bn current account deficit for Jul-Feb 2017," continued Mehanti.
"Positive sentiments amid foreign inflows, government-proposed PSDP commitments and outcome of CPEC projects played a catalyst role in the bullish close," he added.
"Volumes recovered from yesterday on rumors that a new product for margin financing will be launched soon," read a research note from Topline Securities. "The Index, as a result, gained 322 points, or 0.66pc, to close at 49,020 level."
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) has ordered the suspension of Zara Hut Kay, a Dawn News programme, for three days with effect from Wednesday (March 22).
The regulator made the decision under section 27 of the Pemra Ordinance 2002 after a brief hearing held in Pemra’s head office on March 17. It was attended by Mubashir Zaidi, one of the three presenters of the programme.
Mr Zaidi and the two other presenters of Zara Hut Kay, Wusatullah Khan and Zarrar Khuhro, were given show cause notices by Pemra for making comments on a reference pending before the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) against Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) during an episode of the programme on March 9.
Pemra had issued the notice on March 10, asking the channel to explain its position and appear before a committee tasked with hearing the case.
The show cause notice pointed out that discussing a matter pending before the SJC was a violation of section 20 (c) of Pemra Ordinance 2002, Rule 15(1) of Pemra Rules 2009 and clauses 3 (1-j), 4(3) of Electronic Media (Programmes and Advertisements) Code of Conduct 2015.
In his submissions to the court, Mubashir Zaidi said neither he nor any of his two colleagues intended to slander or show contempt for the judiciary in the programme, Zara Hut Kay.
KASUR: Until 2015, teenage boy Dawar’s (name changed) life was a bit normal in their village Hussain Khanwala of Kasur district. He was studying in a vocational training institute, while his family would work on their farm.
Then the media broke the child abuse scandal, and the fact that Dawar was among the sodomized boys, was not a secret anymore. The secret, which earlier only Dawar’s family and the tormentors had shared for almost three years.
The media coverage and ensuing litigation of the scandal has changed the lives of Dawar and his family altogether.
The scandals involved dozens of children of the locality who had been raped and blackmailed by some local youths for years.
Dawar’s family has migrated to Lahore in a rented house where the boy has mostly turned into a virtual recluse.
“We’re always in the fear that our neighbours will come to know about our connections with Hussain Khanwala,” Dawar sighs.
He says soon after the media coverage of the scandal, the villagers and friends would taunt him. Now, the boy with his father visits Kasur courts on hearing.
Other than Dawar’s family, seven other families of the rape complainant children have also left the village for other destinations they do not want to disclose.
Another boy, whose name also appeared on the list of the raped children, says wherever he goes the scandal chases him.
“Since 2015, I’ve never visited my college where I was a second year student then,” he says.
He said society refused to accept him; the college fellows avoided him; the villagers taunted him while some relatives cut off ties with them.
After the scandal came to the limelight, police sprang into action.
Since 2015, the families of the complainant children have been trapped in litigation.
“Litigation has been consuming our resources and time,” said a grey-headed man, whose son had allegedly been raped and blackmailed by the gang from 2013 to 2015.
He said the rapists had earlier taken away their gold ornaments and Rs300,000 through blackmailing. Now, lawyers’ fees and visits to court had put them under financial duress.
Another complainant said he had to leave his job in a Lahore company in 2016 for his colleagues came to know about his haunting past and started making fun of him which often ended in scuffle.
Now, he is doing another job, where his colleagues only know him a resident of Pattoki.
Not only the abused complainants’ families, other villagers also felt the heat of the scandal.
More than 10 families have left the village due to its bad repute, said a shopkeeper of the village market.
“I also want to leave the village but I cant afford,” he said.
This correspondent collected data on the alleged abused boys and found that most of them had left education.
One of the boys is a vendor in a central Punjab city. Earlier, he would run his family’s convenience store in the village after school.
Another boy, who was a grade 9 student in 2015, now bakes breads at a hotel in Raiwind with a new name. The family of a 10-year-old abused boy migrated to Lahore where they work as domestic help.
Of more than a dozen cases registered into the incident, few accused had been convicted, but the abused children and their families have yet to lead a normal life.
A shopkeeper in the village said that Hussain Khanwala used to be a centre of business and civic activities for several surrounding villages but, after the scandal, the village market, consisting of over 200 shops, presents a deserted look.
“It’s not the same lively village anymore,” he said.
Affected families told Dawn that soon after the scandal, several government functionaries and civil society activists had thronged the village promising justice, rehabilitation and future opportunities for the families. “Nothing better happened since the breaking of the scandal. In fact, how the media, government and civil society used the incident for their interest is also a scandal,” said one of the complainant boy’s elder brother.
The Karachi Grammar School brought home an award for Best Small Delegation after competing in this year's Harvard Model United Nations debating contest.
Head of the delegate, Sabriyah Saleem Chatoor, was awarded the title of Outstanding Delegate.
Thirteen students from the school, accompanied by Aysha Shiekh, a member of faculty, visited China to compete in the annual contest that took place between March 16 and March 19.
Over 2,000 high school students from various countries, including India, Singapore, Brazil, and the USA, participated at HMUN Chin, read a press statement issued to local media.
The KGS team competed in eight different committees and 13 members of the 14-member team secured awards, the statement said.
KGS won 3 Best Delegate,7 Outstanding Delegate and 3 Honourable Mention awards and thus secured the Best Small Delegation award, the press release added.
The delegation comprised 14 people:
Sabriyah Chatoor (head delegate)
Aamer Jooma
Hussain Bakshi
Taha Ahmed
Sabrina Sadat
Maryam Majeed Agloria
Vijdan Tahir
Aliza Ayaz
Faisal Nadeem
Maaz Agha
Aarish Ali Shah
Muzzamil Godil
Maryam Sajjad
Last year, the KGS won the best international delegation award at the HMUN held in downtown Boston.
At HMUN, delegates gain insight into the workings of the United Nations and the dynamics of international relations by assuming the roles of UN representatives and members of other international bodies and national cabinets.
A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) air hostess was arrested on Monday night in Paris for shoplifting at a shopping centre, PIA sources told DawnNews.
The air hostess, Afshan Khalid, was spotted by CCTV cameras as she stole items, prompting the shopping centre's security personnel to apprehend her and hand her over to the police, said a source in the national airline.
Khalid was detained by French authorities for five hours and released after PIA's station manager in Paris posted her bail, PIA sources said.
PIA management has taken notice of the incident and have ordered a full investigation into the matter, Yaqoob PIA's general manager flight services, told DawnNews.
Yaqoob added that the air hostess will be barred from flying on any international flight for a duration of six months.
"Once the investigation is complete, strict action will be taken against Afshan Khalid," he added.
The photographer behind the celebrated Humans of New York Facebook page has spoken out after alarming accusations were leveled against Syeda Ghulam Fatima, the subject of one of his viral photos, and vouched for her “integrity and prudence”.
In an email to Dawn.com, New York-based Brandon Stanton on Monday responded to questions about his association with Fatima, saying, “I stand behind Fatima's work and have complete faith in her integrity.”
The allegations have shocked many Pakistanis who had celebrated Stanton’s visit and his subsequent fundraising campaign for Fatima’s NGO. The debate over whether this was a case of fraud and embezzlement went viral across social media.
Stanton says the funds were transferred to Fatima in phases: “The money was transferred in three different installments, beginning less than 1.5 years ago. The first installment was not received by Fatima until November 2015. I have been in constant contact with Fatima, and we have met in person twice since she received the money.”
The article published on March 17 says Fatima has “failed to provide audits and contracts” two years after Stanton’s campaign.
The report also includes photographs of what appears to be an under-construction building, which it says is the Freedom Center BLLF pledged to construct. It likens Fatima's project to "many government projects plagued by corruption", adding that it exists only on paper.
Stanton however clarifies that there was “never a timeframe for completion” of the project.
“The money was intended to support her work for an extended period of time. It is my understanding that very little has been spent so far — which I believe to be a sign of Fatima's prudence," Stanton says.
"The money was never intended for a single construction project and there was certainly never a timeframe for completion.”
Fatima shot to fame in 2015 when Stanton photographed her during his visit to Pakistan as part of his journey to photograph ordinary people and tell their stories on his blog.
In his Facebook post with her photograph, Stanton described Fatima as a “very special change agent who is working to eradicate one of the nation’s most pressing social ills”.
Inspired by her work at the BLLF — an NGO that describes itself as the pioneer of organisations working to end bonded labour in Pakistan — Stanton invited the over 15 million followers on his page to donate to her cause.
“She has been shot, electrocuted, and beaten numerous times for her activism…. So as we learn her story over the next few days, anyone wishing to help empower Fatima can donate to Bonded Labour Liberation Front…," Stanton wrote in 2015.
Fatima shares bank statements
In an attempt to refute allegations leveled in the report, Fatima shared bank statements and land registry documents. The documents, as obtained by Dawn.com, contain:
A bank statement of her account held in Meezan Bank since December 10, 2015 with a closing balance of Rs208 million (over $1.9million) on March 20, 2017
A bank statement of her account held in Meezan Bank with a closing balance of Rs208 million
A bank statement of a BLLF account held in Meezan Bank with a closing balance of Rs5.2 million (around $52,000) on March 20, 2017
Land acquisition papers dated April 24, 2014 for her private property which is now being built as the Freedom Center
Land acquisition papers dated April 24, 2014 for her private property which is now being built as the Freedom Center
Fatima tells Dawn.com that the entire sum of donations was transferred to her a year ago and that the search for land and resistance from powerful brick-kiln owners have caused delays.
"I wanted to build something that will live on after me," Fatima says, adding that the site where the center is being built has no access to water and electricity after a nearby transformer was destroyed by people associated with kilns were she has freed labourers.
"The photographs that have emerged show just one block. It is not the complete project."
In a message to Dawn.com, Hamza Rao, the reporter who worked on the first story says: "First of all, these are not allegations. I have not alleged anyone of corruption or embezzlement. I have simply raised questions about why there is no concrete advancement or development in the project for freedom centers."
"And I am not responsible for how people are perceiving the article." He adds that he has since written a rebuttal to "clarify" his earlier report.
Charity funds in a personal account?
Through a generosity.com campaign, over 76,000 people donated $2.3 million to Stanton for Fatima’s organisation, wildly surpassing the $100,000 goal Stanton had originally envisioned.
Questions are now being raised as to why a large sum of money is under Fatima’s personal account and not in the BLLF account.
In a conversation with Dawn.com, Fatima confirmed that the account with over $1.9 million is a personal account which she created after members of her organisation "expressed their trust” in her to keep the money safe.
According to her, the decision not to put the funds in the BLLF account was taken when the government decided to register a separate entity, Bonded Labour Liberation Front Union (BLLFU), as a platform for both kiln owners and labourers.
She said she feared an "overlap or confusion between the two entities", adding that the transfer of funds into her personal account was meant to avoid what she feared was government intervention.
The Meezan Bank account under Fatima’s name is not a charity account and is therefore not exempt from the relevant taxes.
BLLF is a non-profit organisation registered in 1990 under the Voluntary Social Welfare Agencies Registration and Control Ordinance 1961.
According to a paper prepared by the Social Policy and Development Centre, the ordinance regulates grass-roots level organisations providing welfare services to those in need. It also requires that all
organisations engaged in social welfare or charitable works must be registered with the Social Welfare Departments of the provincial governments.
Lahore-based lawyer Asad Jamal says the issue of funds in Fatima's personal account is one of ethics, but adds that she is not legally bound to transfer the funds in a charity account.
"There is more of a moral issue than a legal issue," says Jamal. "The question can be raised as to why she gave her personal bank details."
"There is no legal obligation for her to not keep the money in her personal account. If she doesn’t have sufficient legal advice then she may not even think about the moral conflict."
Jamal says the wording of the appeal is also important. "Did people perceive that the money they are giving will go to her account or charity account? Maybe the people donated on goodwill for Fatima and left it upon her to decide how best to spend it."
The generosity.com campaign page says the drive was created for BLLF, but the call to action reads, "Let's Help Fatima End Bonded Labour."
"People donated her based on her previous work. Her goodwill earned her the money," Jamal says.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Farhatullah Babar on Monday rubbished reports that former president Asif Ali Zardari will be hosting a talk show as a political analyst on Bol TV, BBC Urdu reported.
He was responding to a promotional video shared by Bol Network on twitter, which said the former president's show — 'Pakistan Khappay with President Asif Ali Zardari' — would be aired every Sunday at 9:30pm.
However, Senator Babar said the former president had only been interviewed by the TV channel, "like he is by different media houses," BBC Urdu said.
During the 'first episode' of the show, aired by Bol TV on March 19, Zardari had appeared live from Bilawal House in Karachi, responding to questions posed by the anchor.
The former president spoke of the challenges Pakistan is facing in the international arena and regretted that the government had failed to appoint a foreign minister.
"If the government does not have a foreign minister, then, I believe, there is no concern for Pakistan's position on the the global stage and the numerous challenges the country is facing," Zardari said.
During the episode, the former president also spoke on Pak-US relations and said that "if someone takes the responsibility to hold dialogue with [America]," the relations can be improved.
At least 20 militants, including a BSN commander, surrendered to Pakistan Rangers on Tuesday and informed the authorities that they had been funded and supported by the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) of India, said a statement released by the Inter-Services Public Relations.
The statement from the military’s media wing added that the militants were funded by RAW through Brahamdagh Bugti.
The militant commander who surrendered today said the group was kept misinformed and apologised for their past deeds, added the ISPR.
The ISPR further added that the surrendering commander had also appealed to other militants to lay down their arms.
