KARACHI: As the federal government on Thursday formally announced banning the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a parliamentary challenge emerged in Sindh where the party’s three leaders are members of the provincial assembly (MPA) and one is poised to contest the upcoming NA-249 by-election, leaving both the government and the electoral officials in a quandary about the procedure ahead.
The Sindh Assembly and the Election Commission have preferred to wait for the next administrative and procedural measure from the government for formally banning the religious organisation.
“Things need to get clearer,” said Adviser to the Sindh Chief Minister and provincial government spokesman Barrister Murtaza Wahab. “The federal government, we hope, would further clarify and expedite the process. The provincial government has no role in such a situation. It’s the responsibility of the federal government to clarify the situation. I would refer to Sections 212 and 213 of the Election Act that explain the position if any such situation arises.”
Titled the ‘Dissolution of a political party’, Section 212 of the Election Act 2017 says: “(1) where the Federal Government is satisfied on the basis of a reference from the Commission or information received from any other source that a political party is a foreign-aided political party or has been formed or is operating in a manner prejudicial to the sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan or is indulging in terrorism, the Government shall, by a notification in the official Gazette, make such declaration. (2) Within fifteen days of making a declaration under sub-section (1), the Government shall refer the matter to the Supreme Court. (3) where the Supreme Court upholds the declaration made against the political party under sub-section (1), such political party shall stand dissolved forthwith.”
The TLP made its way to the Sindh Assembly from Karachi in the 2018 general election when its two candidates, Mohammad Qasim and Mohammad Younus Soomro, won their seats from the PS-115 and PS-107 constituencies, respectively, while Sarwat Fatima from the party became an MPA on one of the reserved seats for women.
‘It’s the federal government’s responsibility to clarify the situation’
Amid the deadly clashes between activists of the TLP and police with the loss of more than half a dozen lives in two days, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid on Wednesday announced the decision to ban the party on the Punjab government’s recommendation under the anti-terrorism law.
Finally, on Thursday, the federal government formally banned the TLP, whose supporters staged three days of violent protests across the country this week after the arrest of their leader. A notification declaring the TLP as a proscribed organisation was issued by the ministry of interior shortly after the federal cabinet approved a summary to ban the party.
The Election Commission of Pakistan, meanwhile, waits for the process to be completed before reaching any conclusion about the fate of the TLP legislators.
“After the process of banning any organisation, there are certain procedures which need to be followed,” said an Election Commission official. “Once the TLP is formally banned as a terrorist organisation, its MPAs would have a choice to announce their [dissociation] with the party and retain their seats in the Sindh Assembly in independent status. Otherwise, they would be disqualified and de-seated which would lead to by-elections on their vacant seats.”
For the upcoming election in NA-249, where TLP’s Mufti Nazeer Kamalvi is among several other candidates in the constituency, he said the electoral laws here also showed some flexibility which “hopefully” would not delay the polls.
“In case of formal banning of the organisation, the TLP candidate would be asked to contest as an independent candidate. If he agrees, then we would allocate him a new symbol and revise our Form-33 with his new electoral symbol on the balloting papers,” he added.
ISLAMABAD: While a record number of Covid-19 tests were conducted in a day since the beginning of the pandemic, the country reported another highest number of coronavirus cases in the last 10 months.
All federating units have issued different schedules for vaccination, bifurcating timings in morning and evening shifts.
Moreover, after confirmation of a number of Covid-19 cases, the Senate Secretariat has been closed for three days. It has also been decided to disinfect the Parliament House building.
According to data released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 64,685 tests were conducted on Thursday, the highest since the beginning of the pandemic in February 2020.
Earlier, the highest number of tests stood at 50,186 carried out on April 2 this year.
The NCOC data showed that as many as 5,395 Covid-19 cases — the highest number since June 2020 — and 118 deaths were reported during the last 24 hours.
With 509 ventilators for Covid-19 patients occupied across the country, 88 per cent vents were in use in Gujranwala, 82pc in Lahore, 81pc in Multan and 51pc in Islamabad. Over 90pc oxygenated beds were occupied in Swabi and Charsadda.
The number of coronavirus cases has increased to 739,818 and that of active cases to 77,294. As many as 5,106 patients were admitted to hospitals across the country on Thursday.
Moreover, 646,652 persons have so far recovered from the virus across the country, making it a significant count.
Vaccination timings
All the federating units have shared Ramazan timing for vaccination with the NCOC. According to a document, available with Dawn, vaccination centres in Punjab will remain open from 10am to 4pm and from 9pm to 1am.
In Sindh, all vaccination centers will remain open from 9am to 1pm. However, major centers will remain open from 8.30pm to midnight.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, timing will be from 10am to 2pm and in urban areas vaccination centres will again open from 10pm to 1am.
In Balochistan, vaccination centres will remain open from 9am to 1pm. However, in Quetta the centres will again open from 8pm to midnight.
Timing for Islamabad is from noon to 4pm and from 8pm to midnight. In Azad Jammu and Kashmir, timing will be from 9am to 2pm and from 8pm to midnight. In Gilgit-Baltistan, vaccination centers will remain open from 10am to 2pm, and in major cities the centres will again open from 9pm to midnight.
Meanwhile, due to increasing number of coronavirus cases, the Senate Secretariat has been closed for three days, from April 16 to 18, for disinfection of precincts.
“The Secretariat shall open on 19th April with minimum strength as per rotation policy in place. All staff has been directed to wear face mask, avoid hand shake and maintain social distance as per SOPs while on duty,” said a notification issued on Thursday.
According to another announcement, the building of the Parliament House will be disinfected.
The Ministry of Interior on Friday directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to block access to social media platforms — Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube and Telegram — from 11am to 3pm.
"It is requested that immediate action may be taken on the subject matter," the ministry directed the PTA chairman.
A copy of the notification issued by the Ministry of Interior.
Following the interior ministry's directives, Nayatel — an internet service provider — said in a message to its customers that social media platforms had been blocked on the directions of the PTA.
These platforms include Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, TikTok and Telegram. "The inconvenience is regretted," it said.
Although the notification issued by the interior ministry did not mention a reason for the suspension, the development comes after several days of unrest in the country due to protests by the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).
The Ministry of Interior on Friday directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to temporarily block access to social media platforms — Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube and Telegram — from 11am to 3pm.
"It is requested that immediate action may be taken on the subject matter," the ministry directed the PTA chairman.
A copy of the notification issued by the Ministry of Interior.
Shortly after, the PTA released an official statement saying: "In order to maintain public order and safety, access to certain social media applications has been restricted temporarily."
Following the interior ministry's directives, Nayatel — an internet service provider — said in a message to its customers that social media platforms had been blocked on the directions of the PTA.
These platforms include Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, TikTok and Telegram. "The inconvenience is regretted," it said.
After 3pm, users reported that the social media platforms had been partially restored.
Although the notification issued by the interior ministry did not mention a reason for the suspension, the development comes after several days of unrest in the country due to protests by the recently proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).
Detained TLP chief Saad Rizvi, in a purported handwritten note shared by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill late on Thursday, had urged his followers to maintain law and order and avoid blocking roads and highways.
In the letter, Rizvi had asked TLP supporters to peacefully go back to their homes and cooperate with law enforcement agencies.
However, some TLP supporters insisted they hear or see the words come from Rizvi himself before stopping.
Meanwhile, some rights activists criticised Friday's social media blackout, warning it could lead to more severe curbs on freedoms.
“These arbitrary decisions of blocking and banning have never done any good (and) instead opened ways to blanket bans,” said Nighat Dad, head of the Digital Rights Foundation on Twitter, shortly before the site became inaccessible.
Government bans TLP under anti-terrorism law
On Thursday, the government had slapped a ban on the TLP. A notification declaring TLP as a proscribed organisation was issued by the Ministry of Interior shortly after the federal cabinet approved a summary to ban the party.
The notification said: “The federal government has reasonable grounds to believe that the TLP is engaged in terrorism, [has] acted in a manner prejudicial to the peace and security of the country, [was] involved in creating anarchy in the country by intimidating the public, caused grievous bodily harm, hurt and death to the personnel of law enforcement agencies and innocent by-standers, attacked civilians and officials, created wide-scale hurdles, threatened, abused and promoted hatred, vandalised and ransacked public and government properties including vehicles and caused arson, blocked essential health supplies to hospitals, and has threatened, coerced, intimidated, and overawed the government [and] the public and created sense of fear and insecurity in the society and the public at large."
Copies of the notification were sent to authorities concerned, including the secretaries of different ministries and divisions, State Bank governor, Election Commission of Pakistan secretary and director general passports.
The National Counter Terrorism Authority had also swiftly added the TLP to the list of banned terrorist organisations taking the total number of such outfits to 79.
In an effort to keep the ulema in the loop, the religious affairs minister had also hosted an Iftar-dinner in the honour of religious scholars where Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed had briefed them on the reasons for banning the TLP.
In yet another shuffle in the federal cabinet on Friday, Hammad Azhar has been removed from the office of finance minister less than a month after his appointment and replaced by ex-PPP minister Shaukat Fayyaz Ahmed Tarin who was also given the additional portfolio of revenue.
Newly appointed Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry confirmed the news of the cabinet reshuffle to Dawn.
Meanwhile, former energy minister Omar Ayub has been made the minister for economic affairs. Former information minister Shibli Faraz, who was replaced by Fawad Chaudhry a day earlier, has been made the minister for science and technology — the office previously headed by Chaudhry.
Khusro Bakhtiar has been made the minister for industries and production in place of Azhar.
Last month, Prime Minister Imran Khan had removed then finance minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and given the portfolio to Minister for Industries Hammad Azhar as an additional charge.
Faraz had said at the time that though Hammad Azhar was given an additional charge of finance minister, he (Hammad) would continue to serve as finance minister on a long-term basis as the prime minister was quite satisfied and happy with Azhar's performance.
Earlier this month, sources in the government had told Dawn that the government had made an offer to Tarin to join the federal cabinet as special assistant or adviser to the PM, but he linked his joining the federal cabinet with the decision on an accountability reference that he has been facing for nearly a decade.
He had said he would not accept the offer, which he claimed had been made for a second time, unless a case against him filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was disposed of.
The new finance minister is a cousin of senior PTI leader Jehangir Tareen, who is also facing inquiries in the sugar scandal of the present government.
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) has banned the television and radio coverage of the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) after it was declared a proscribed entity by the government, it emerged on Friday.
In a communique sent to all satellite TV channels and FM radio stations, a copy of which is available with Dawn.com, the authority referred to the Ministry of Interior's notification in which it said the government "has declared Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan as a proscribed organisation for being engaged in act of terrorism, [and] acting in a manner prejudicial to the peace and security of the country".
It noted that the Pemra (Television Broadcast Station Operation) Regulation, 2012, and the Electronic Media Code of Conduct, 2015, required that programmes "shall conform to the laws of the country". Additionally, Clause 3(3) of the Electronic Media Code of Conduct, 2015, "prohibits media coverage to proscribed organisations".
"Therefore, [...] while exercising powers conferred under Section 27 of Pemra Ordinance, 2002, as amended [by] Pemra (Amendment) Act, 2007, media coverage of 'Tehreek Labbaik Pakistan' is banned," the Pemra letter dated April 15 said.
It directed all satellite TV channel and FM radio licensees to "restrain from providing any kind of media coverage to this organisation".
Government bans TLP under anti-terrorism law
On Thursday, the government had slapped a ban on the TLP, whose activists staged three days of violent protests across the country this week after their leader's arrest. A notification declaring TLP as a proscribed organisation was issued by the Ministry of Interior shortly after the federal cabinet approved a summary to ban the party.
The notification said: “The federal government has reasonable grounds to believe that the TLP is engaged in terrorism, [has] acted in a manner prejudicial to the peace and security of the country, [was] involved in creating anarchy in the country by intimidating the public, caused grievous bodily harm, hurt and death to the personnel of law enforcement agencies and innocent by-standers, attacked civilians and officials, created wide-scale hurdles, threatened, abused and promoted hatred, vandalised and ransacked public and government properties including vehicles and caused arson, blocked essential health supplies to hospitals, and has threatened, coerced, intimidated, and overawed the government [and] the public and created sense of fear and insecurity in the society and the public at large."
Copies of the notification were sent to authorities concerned, including the secretaries of different ministries and divisions, State Bank governor, Election Commission of Pakistan secretary and director general passports.
The National Counter Terrorism Authority had also swiftly added the TLP to the list of banned terrorist organisations taking the total number of such outfits to 79.
In an effort to keep the ulema in the loop, the religious affairs minister had also hosted an Iftar-dinner in honour of religious scholars where Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed had briefed them on the reasons for banning the TLP.
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday, during his visit to Sukkur, announced a Rs446 billion development package and programme to uplift 14 districts of Sindh, adding that implementation would take place within a month and people would begin to see its effects.
Addressing a cheque distribution ceremony under the Kamyab Jawan Programme, the prime minister said funds for the development package had been accumulated with "great difficulty by taking money from here and there".
"But all preparation for this package has been done, including feasibility, and they are ready. So within a month, this package will start coming onto the ground and you will start seeing its effects."
The premier said he was most happy at the skill trainings which would be provided to the youth under the development programme.
"We have such a great population but we will only be benefited by this population [...] when we can teach them skills and give them skilled education," he said, adding that the population would become an asset instead of a burden in case those skills weren't provided and everything carried on as usual.
"This is a whole effort that we make our youth stand on their feet [and] give them money for any to businesses."
The prime minister also said that a full effort would be made to provide sports facilities for the youth and cited the great discrepancy between the numbers of sports grounds in New Zealand and Pakistan despite the former having a much lower population than the latter.
"No matter how talented one is, talent needs grounds to play in. If there are no grounds then what is the use of the talent and the population."
Prime Minister Imran Khan said the money for the development package was being provided entirely by the federal government and added that initiatives under the package such as the Sukkur-Hyderabad motorway would be a "big benefit to Sindh's and Pakistan's people".
"The more our logistics [and] connectivity [improves] [and] better roads are built the more ease of business in Pakistan improves. So the whole country will benefit from this but especially your area [of Sindh].
"And the [Naj Gaj] dam, so many acres of land will become cultivable so that will benefit the area," said Prime Minister Imran Khan, referring to the construction of the Nai Gaj dam under the package which will help irrigate 28,800 acres of land.
The prime minister further said cash distribution under the Ehsaas Programme would be extended to 12 million households and that previously, 33 per cent of the total programme fund had been spent on the people of Sindh.
He said he was "proud" that the funds had been distributed on the basis of merit, which he described as not seeing voter or provincial affiliation but determining only on the basis of need and poverty.
The premier said he hadn't ever considered any province or people of Pakistan to not be his own and "all of the country is mine and whichever government is running it, this province [Sindh] is ours too."
"All areas of Pakistan which have been left behind, [we] will fully help them develop," said the premier, citing the development packages announced for south Balochistan and the tribal areas.
"Our emphasis is that all policies we make in Pakistan are to bring our lower segment up [and] I again promise my people of Sindh that [we] will put in full effort to improve your circumstances."
Separately, a statement from his office said the prime minister has announced a "historic" package to end the "decades-long sense of deprivation in Sindh".
Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar also spoke and gave more details on the development package and what exactly it would entail.
He earlier praised the prime minister as having proved with every decision that he was the only leader to exhibit "national thinking". "He thinks and makes decisions not for any particular region but for the whole nation."
The federal minister said that Sindh was the "most gas producing province of Pakistan", yet gas was not provided to its villages while cities such as Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Islamabad were supplied with it. He said that according to the prime minister's vision, the people from the gas producing areas had the first right of use.
He also lamented inadequacies in the system of electricity distribution and shortage of transformers, saying, "we didn't do the development we should have done."
Umar said that gas and electricity projects worth Rs52bn would be initiated by the PTI government in the next two years.
The PMO also said that under the new development package, "supply of gas to the backward districts of Sindh will be started on an emergency basis. Gas supply to 160 villages will be made possible, which will benefit 5,074 households."
It also said that the provision of 30,000 annual electricity connections would be part of the development package.
The federal minister further stated that improvements to railway stations would be made for the "ease of travellers" and provided details about the Nai Gaj dam project. He said it was an old project that the provincial and federal governments were supposed to execute together, but the provincial government had backed out due to the increase in costs.
"So the prime minister decided that the centre would complete that project through its resources and water will be provided for 28,800 acres of land through this new dam," he said, adding that drainage schemes in the area had been included in the project and improvements for the restoration of cultivable land would be initiated as well.
"200,000 acres of land in Sindh will be restored under the auspices of the Sindh development package. As a result, 2,522 jobs will be created while 500 families will be able to earn a living.
"Thus, this package will become the guarantor of economic and social security of the people of Sindh," said a statement from the PMO.
Programmes for youth
Umar said that it was not possible for the youth to go unmentioned in any development package announced by the prime minister and said trainings for digital skills and technology would be provided to more than 100,000 young people in the 14 districts, including Larkana, Khairpur, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Ghotki, Sukkur and Badin among other.
"We are going to be making sports facilities in these 14 districts. Our idea is that 130,000 young people will be able to use them," said the federal minister, adding that arrangements were specifically being made for 35,000 young girls to use them as well.
Among other developments he announced were the provision of internet, broadband and optic fiber connectivity in the district as well as the upgrade of passport offices and construction of more centres of the National Database and Registration Authority.
Karachi island issue
The prime minister, during his address, lamented the Sindh government's decision to withdraw its No-Objection Certificate (NOC) for the development on one of Karachi's islands and called upon it to review the decision.
"The whole country and Sindh will benefit from this."
"We were going to make a new city on it," said the premier, adding that all they had done all the preparations and investors from abroad were ready as well. "Billions and billions of rupees would've come in Sindh and Sindh's people would've gotten jobs," he said.
He said all the wealth generation, job generation and expenditure on the project would have been in Sindh and the provincial government had even been offered to retain any profit from the project.
"The only benefit, which was supposed to be for all of Pakistan was [...] $40bn would've come from abroad which was supposed to be invested," said Prime Minister Imran Khan, adding that foreign exchange reserves would have increased and thus directly benefited Pakistan.
"I still don't understand that [why] the Sindh government after giving us the NOC, cancelled it."
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday lauded the services of police for dealing with the "organised violence" perpetrated by activists of the recently proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) across the country this week.
In a tweet, the premier also announced that the government would look after the families of the four police personnel martyred during the violence.
"I want to pay special tribute to our police force for their heroic stand against organised violence intended to create chaos to blackmail [the] government," he wrote, noting that four policemen were martyred and more than 600 injured during the unrest.
"Our nation is indebted to these heroes & we will look after the families of the martyrs," Imran added.
The TLP had taken to the streets across the country especially in Punjab after its chief Saad Hussain Rizvi was detained by security forces in Lahore.
Starting on Monday, charged TLP activists blocked roads across the country, damaged public properties, clashed with police and even held some law-enforcement personnel hostage, videos of which were widely shared on social media. Expulsion of the French ambassador to Pakistan was one of the key demands of the protesters.
The clashes saw authorities use water cannon, tear gas and rubber bullets to hold back crowds. This was followed by the police launching a crackdown against the protesters and getting roads cleared of protest camps.
“The security forces arrested 3,000 extremists/activists of the TLP during the last four days,” a Punjab police spokesperson earlier told Dawn.
On Thursday, the government slapped a ban on the TLP. A notification declaring it as a proscribed organisation was issued by the Ministry of Interior shortly after the federal cabinet approved a summary to ban the party.
The notification said: “The federal government has reasonable grounds to believe that the TLP is engaged in terrorism, [has] acted in a manner prejudicial to the peace and security of the country, [was] involved in creating anarchy in the country by intimidating the public, caused grievous bodily harm, hurt and death to the personnel of law enforcement agencies and innocent by-standers, attacked civilians and officials, created wide-scale hurdles, threatened, abused and promoted hatred, vandalised and ransacked public and government properties including vehicles and caused arson, blocked essential health supplies to hospitals, and has threatened, coerced, intimidated, and overawed the government [and] the public and created sense of fear and insecurity in the society and the public at large."
Copies of the notification were sent to authorities concerned, including the secretaries of different ministries and divisions, State Bank governor, Election Commission of Pakistan secretary and director general passports.
The National Counter Terrorism Authority had also swiftly added the TLP to the list of banned terrorist organisations taking the total number of such outfits to 79.
In an effort to keep the ulema in the loop, the religious affairs minister had also hosted an Iftar-dinner in honour of religious scholars where Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed had briefed them on the reasons for banning the TLP.
Overcoming “tons of snow” and a thunderstorm, climbers Sirbaz Khan and Muhammad Abdul Joshi became the first Pakistanis to summit the 8,091-metre Annapurna peak in Nepal on Friday.
The Sirbaz-Joshi duo made the first summit push on April 13 but were unable to succeed as ropes could not be fixed. The second summit push on April 14 was again unsuccessful as the team ran out of rope at Camp IV (6,900m). For the Pakistani team, it was a case of ‘third time lucky’ and at 1:17pm on Friday, Sirbaz and Joshi were standing on top of Annapurna, according to details shared by their teammates on social media.
This is the first Pakistani expedition on Mt Annapurna which aimed to honour late Pakistani mountaineer and high-altitude porter (HAP) Muhammad Ali Sadpara, acknowledge local porters, and inspire the younger generation.
The four-member team left for Nepal to attempt Annapurna, the 10th-highest peak in the world, earlier this month. Led by Sirbaz, the expedition included climber Joshi, manager Saad Munawar and photographer Kamran Ali of 'Kamran On Bike' fame.
Nepal, China and Pakistan are home to the 14 highest peaks in the world, also known as the 8,000ers. While the world's tallest mountain Everest (8,848m) is located in Nepal, Pakistan is home to five 8,000m peaks including K2, Gasherbrum 1 and 2, Broad Peak and Nanga Parbat.
Climbers enter the ‘death zone’ (above 8,000m the pressure of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span) to reach the summit of these 8,000ers.
At 8,091m (26,545 feet) above sea level, Annapurna I Main is the 10-highest 8,000m peak and said to be one of the most treacherous mountains to climb. The extremely steep south face of Annapurna I Main is a wall of rock that rises 3,000m (9,800ft) which makes it one of the most difficult climbs in the world.
On June 3, 1950, Annapurna was the first 8,000m peak to be climbed, with French mountaineers Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal reaching the summit.
Summit fever
Sirbaz, who hails from Aliabad, Hunza, began his professional climbing career in 2016 and credits Nazir Sabir (the first Pakistani to climb the Everest) and Ashraf Aman (the first Pakistani to reach the summit of K2) as his inspiration. In 2019, Sirbaz became the first Pakistani to summit Mount Lhotse, the world’s fourth-highest mountain at 8,516m in Nepal without the use of supplementary oxygen. His other 8,000m summits include K2, Nanga Parbat, Broad Peak and Manaslu. On four of his 8,000m peaks expeditions, Khan had accompanied Sadpara. Their last expedition together was in Nepal to Manaslu.
Joshi, who hails from Shimshal, Hunza, is a professional climber and HAP. He has been part of various expeditions to the 8,000m peaks in Pakistan. This is his first successful 8,000m peak.
Congratulations pour in
The last few days in Pakistan had been full of negative news and in this backdrop, the story of the relatively unknown Pakistani climbers' summit on Annapurna came across as a welcome relief.
Talking to Dawn.com, ace mountaineer Nazir Sabir praised the young climbers on this feat. “Congratulations on great success and prayers for safe return. I hope this will inspire more youngsters in this country. I also wish the best of luck to Shehroze Kashif who is currently on Mount Everest and hopefully he reaches the top.”
In a short statement, Karrar Haidri, secretary of the Alpine Club of Pakistan (ACP), said, “On behalf of the ACP, its president, executive board and members, I congratulate Sirbaz Khan and Abdul Joshi climbing team on its successful first Pakistani ascent of 10th-highest and most difficult peak Annapurna. It is an outstanding achievement, and we all are very proud of you.”
In a Facebook post, Munawwar, the expedition manager, wrote: “GREEN FLAG RAISED AT THE SUMMIT. With the grace of ALLAH SWT, Pakistani climbers Sirbaz Khan and Abdul Joshi summited Mt Annapuma at 1:30pm on 16th April, 2021. Communicating via radio sets. Both climbers thanked the nation and asked for prayers for safe return.”
He went on to add that this was not the success of the two climbers only but the whole Pakistani mountaineering community.
“Time has come for our unsung heroes to get the respect, recognition and appreciation that they deserve.”
He summed up his post with a heartfelt tribute for Sadpara. “This summit is dedicated to our big brother and the best mountaineer Pakistan ever produced: Muhammad Ali Sadpara.”
TOWARDS the end of 2019, something unusual happened at a federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar was allowed to present a ‘non-agenda item’; he had with him a sealed envelope that he said contained a non-disclosure agreement. It pertained to a multi-million pound settlement that the UK-based National Crime Agency (NCA) had recently arrived at with property tycoon Malik Riaz. According to a source present at the meeting, “[Human Rights Minister] Shireen Mazari objected, saying, ‘What approval are we giving when we don’t even know its contents?’ We were told that if it is opened there are implications for national security and the UK government also has reservations”.
The NCA investigates money laundering and illicit finances derived from criminal activity in the UK and abroad, and in the case of the latter, returns the stolen money to affected states. It seems that Mr Riaz had for some time been the subject of a ‘dirty money’ probe by the Agency. On Dec 3, 2019 it announced a £190 million out-of-court civil settlement with Mr Riaz — its largest till date — adding that it “did not represent a finding of guilt”.
In this country, on the pretext of the non-disclosure agreement, the matter was swept under the carpet. Despite its claims of holding the corrupt to account and bringing back ill-gotten gains stashed abroad by Pakistanis, the PTI government has been curiously tight-lipped about the asset forfeiture deal.
More than one year on, the episode remains cloaked in secrecy. With the help of documents obtained by UK-based investigative journalism project Finance Uncovered, Dawn has pieced together a more complete picture.
The deal with the NCA took on particular relevance for Pakistani citizens when Mr Riaz tweeted: “I sold our legal & declared property in UK to pay 190M £ to Supreme Court Pakistan against Bahria Town Karachi.” It may be recalled that a few months earlier, in March 2019, the Supreme Court had accepted Mr Riaz’s offer of Rs460bn as settlement dues by his real estate firm Bahria Town Ltd after it was found to have illegally acquired thousands of acres of land on Karachi’s outskirts in district Malir.
The amount, which translates to almost $3 billion, was historic in scale. But the settlement with the NCA later that year was a travesty because, thanks to the Pakistan government, it afforded Mr Riaz a shocking reprieve.
Lawyer Farrukh Qureshi of Samdani and Qureshi described it thus: “It is as if one is apprehended with the proceeds of a crime, and instead of such proceeds being reimbursed to the person wronged, they are used as reparations for another crime. …The amount recovered should [have] come straight back to Pakistan, rather than being put back into Malik Riaz's pocket.”
Indeed, the British law-enforcement agency in this case may have allowed itself to be manipulated by Pakistan’s power brokers. The ‘accountability czar’, Mr Akbar, did not respond to Dawn’s questions despite repeated requests.
The £50 million London property that forms part of the £190m settlement. Design and photography: Tessuto Interiors London
The settlement included 1 Hyde Park Place, a £50m property. Located in one of the most expensive areas of London, it was bought by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 2007. Over the next four years a number of high-end firms, including interior designers Tessuto, undertook a massive overhaul of what had been an office building and flats and transformed it into a single residential property. The changes included the excavation of a basement and the building of a swimming pool.
On March 21, 2016 the property was sold by Mr Sharif’s son Hasan Nawaz for £42.5m to a British Virgin Islands company named Ultimate Holdings Management Ltd. Mr Riaz’s son, Ali Riaz Malik, signed for Ultimate Holdings; he was represented by Mischon de Reya law firm. Mr Nawaz signed for himself, witnessed by his lawyer Jeremy Freeman. (A couple of weeks before the sale took place, Mr Nawaz had been contacted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists about the Sharif family’s offshore companies that had come to light in the Panama Papers.)
The transfer deed for sale of 1 Hyde Park Place by Hasan Nawaz to Ultimate Holdings.
Interestingly, documents filed with the UK Land Registry show that a charge against the property was registered at the same time as the sale: Mr Nawaz is recorded as a lender to Ultimate Holdings. The terms of the loan were “as per the contract dated March 21, 2016 between the parties”. However the contract itself is not filed with the land registry. The timing of the sale and the loan to Ultimate Holdings suggest that Mr Nawaz was keen to divest himself of the property, the priciest in the Sharif family’s UK portfolio. On Sept 19, 2016, the loan by Mr Nawaz was discharged.
The sale illustrated the mutually beneficial relationships that exist among Pakistan’s rarefied elite.
Document showing the loan by Hassan Nawaz to Ultimate Holdings.
Enter the Pakistani state
In 2019, Mr Riaz’s £190m settlement in the UK was effected with the use of new civil powers known as Account Freezing Orders (AFOs) which allow law enforcement to target suspected proceeds of crime using a civil rather than a criminal burden of proof. Because it was a civil case, the NCA was able to settle it privately with Mr Riaz rather than going to court to secure a Forfeiture Order.
In August 2019, eight AFOs pertaining to the investigation against Mr Riaz were secured from Westminster Magistrates Court in London. In compliance with the AFOs, more than £100m — which the Guardian reported NCA “suspected to have been derived from bribery and corruption overseas” — was frozen on Aug 12. Some £20m associated with the Riaz family had been frozen earlier in December 2018. The AFOs were made out against accounts held by Mr Riaz’s wife Bina Riaz, daughter Sana Salman, son Ali Riaz, daughter-in-law Mubashra Ali, as well as several companies, including Fortune Events and Ultimate Holdings.
Enter the Pakistani state, reportedly at the behest of Mr Riaz.
During September 2019, Mr Akbar is believed to have met Mr Riaz multiple times, at the Dorchester hotel and at the latter’s daughter’s residence. A widely circulated video showed him meeting the property tycoon outside his daughter’s Paddington flat.
According to a London-based Pakistani source well connected with the British political establishment and anti-corruption organisations in the UK: “Mr Akbar advised the NCA to settle with him [Riaz]. Otherwise, he told them, Riaz would finish their prosecution budget [by having high-powered lawyers drag out court proceedings].”
Mr Akbar clearly took up the matter at the very highest levels of the British government. How else can one explain its Home Office’s refusal to share information about the case despite a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)? An email to the Home Office’s Criminal Finances Team asking for details about Mr Akbar’s meetings with Mr Riaz received a reply requesting more time for a “full response”, which arrived on Feb 1. The gist of the response was: “We neither confirm nor deny whether we hold the information that you have requested.” They based their response on certain sections under the FOIA that allow for exemptions to disclosure if doing so may prejudice relations with another state or prejudice the prevention or detection of crime.
(The NCA is exempt from the FOIA and its actions can only be questioned through judicial review proceedings by a court. Even so, judicial reviews are a challenge to the way in which a decision has been made, rather than findings on the conclusion.)
A home cinema in 1 Hyde Park Place. — Photo: Knight Frank Real Estate
Whatever the approach Mr Akbar adopted, it seems to have worked and the NCA in early December 2019 agreed to a civil settlement with Malik Riaz. While noting this, the NCA’s annual report does not name Mr Riaz but describes him as “a Pakistani national, whose business is one of largest private sector employers in Pakistan.”
The benign spin is remarkable: the Bahria Town behemoth indeed employs a large number of people. However, on May 4, 2018 the Supreme Court in separate hard-hitting verdicts found massive irregularities in the acquisition by Bahria of huge tracts of public and forest land for three of its housing projects across the country, declaring each of them null and void. In its judgement about Bahria Town Karachi (BTK) — which sprawls unofficially over 30,000 acres and is believed to be the largest such project in South Asia — the SC said: “We have been witnessing such nefarious activities in the past at a small level, but we have not even dreamt of such activities at such a huge, massive and colossal level…. Inaction would be disastrous and devastating for the state when the watchdogs of the public property allow the grabbers to grab it for a bone or a piece of flesh.”
It also said: “Grant of land to Malir Development Authority for an incremental [low-cost] housing scheme proved to be a gimmick to accomplish the agenda of Malik Riaz aiming at his personal enrichment at the cost of the state and the people.”
Investigative reports in this paper have detailed how indigenous communities have been strong-armed into ‘selling’ their land. On the one hand, police carry out raids on the goths, and book locals on fake terrorism charges. On the other, they say, Bahria personnel constantly threaten and intimidate them.
Dawn made multiple attempts to obtain Mr Riaz’s response to its questions, to no avail.
An interior view of 1 Hyde Park Place. Design and photography: Tessuto Interiors London
The Westminster Magistrates Court appointed Essex-based Haslers Accountants as receivers to handle the settlement. On Dec 5, 2019, Mr Akbar announced at a press conference in Islamabad that £140m had been repatriated to Pakistan, into the Supreme Court’s account — presumably the one set up by the court to receive Bahria Town’s liabilities — and the remaining £50m would be transferred later on the sale of 1 Hyde Park Place. When asked how the money could be transferred to the SC account, he deflected the question saying that the government, NCA and Mr Riaz had signed a “deed of confidentiality” which prevented him from elaborating on the matter.
‘The stuff of sheikhdoms’
This effort to conceal facts on the specious pretext of ‘national security’ amounts to a mockery of the Pakistani people’s right to information in a matter of public interest. Abdul Moiz Jaferii, partner at Haider Waheed Partners said: “In simple terms, it is the stuff of sheikhdoms. An unelected person [Mr Akbar] wields authority unknown to the public to settle a matter hidden from the public on terms sworn to secrecy… . The guise of confidentiality is used as an excuse, even though the only confidentiality that could possibly bind the Pakistani state here would be one it willingly agreed with the accused person, and not one which the NCA has imposed upon them… .”
According to David Corker, senior partner at the Corker Binning law firm in London, confidential settlements like the one in question are the result of a financial crime strategy that increasingly focuses on recovery of funds over criminal litigation. “Law enforcement concerning white-collar and financial crime has become fatigued by trial by jury, with all the attendant delay and costs and are increasingly seeing the re-designation of their effectiveness by how much money they have seized and how many alleged plots they have disrupted. This is the natural outcome of that process: the NCA gets a good result but it is willing to make concessions to get there.”
Back in London, 1 Hyde Park Place was first put up for sale with Knight Frank realtors: their brochure described it as “one of London’s last surviving Georgian palaces”. However, it did not find any takers, apparently because of the high price tag of £45m. According to a source in London, one of the realtors handling the property said that “mid to high £30m” would have been a more realistic number. The property is now being handled by Beauchamp Estates. It raises serious questions whether the price paid for its purchase was purposely inflated. Dawn made several attempts to contact Mr Nawaz but received no response.
A shot of the study at 1 Hyde Park Place. Design and photography: Tessuto Interiors London
As of now, however, 1 Hyde Park Place is not on the market. According to a source relevant to the process, “the sale of the property is on hold at the moment…. But it should be on the market soon, it just needs to undergo some due diligence before that happens.”
The NCA has given contradictory messages about the status of the property and the matter remains shrouded in mystery. A senior official from the organisation first told Dawn in December 2019 that “The NCA has taken ownership of the property and it will be sold with the proceeds going back to Pakistan,” but then retracted their words in a subsequent email.
Meanwhile, several members of the Riaz family reside in the deluxe Lancaster Gate development just a short walk from 1 Hyde Park Place. Fortune Events Ltd, an offshore company based in the British Virgin Islands, bought nine apartments here between 2011 and 2018 for a total of £35.95m.
There are indications that the Riaz family is the actual beneficiary of the nine apartments. For one, Ali Riaz’s email is given as a contact address on one of the title deeds; another lists a Dubai PO Box address which links to Ali Riaz’s property at P69 Emirates Hills. The address for the Mischon de Reya law firm is also frequently given as a contact address.
On Nov 22, 2019 Westminster Magistrates Court set aside the eight AFOs dated Aug 12, 2019 and the first one from December 2018 to enable money in the accounts to be repatriated to Pakistan. Two of the accounts belong to Fortune Events, suggesting the Riaz family is indeed the beneficiary of the Lancaster Gate portfolio. The settlement appears to have left untouched his luxury portfolio worth £36m owned through a company served with two AFOs.
Court order setting aside the AFOs.
The following documents show the title deeds for the nine apartments in the Lancaster Gate portfolio:
In the UK, anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International expressed disquiet over the settlement. Rachel Davies Teka, head of advocacy at TI said via email: “Returning stolen wealth is often the most complicated and fraught part of any corruption case, yet it is also one of the most important. It is hard to know whether justice has been served if the return of ill-gotten gains happens behind closed doors and without civil society oversight.”
An interior shot of 1 Hyde Park Place in London. Design and photography: Tessuto Interiors London
Recently, the NCA has made some significant changes to the way it conducts and publicises its civil financial investigations.
Susan Hawley, executive director of Spotlight on Corruption, a UK based anti-corruption charity, views these measures in a positive light. “The NCA has clearly done some thinking since the Malik Riaz settlement, and the controversy it has generated in Pakistan,” she said in an email to Dawn. “It is very welcome that it has committed to greater transparency, and to ensuring that any settlement does not damage public confidence. It has also committed to providing greater detail to journalists and NGOs about upcoming hearings in open court which is a major step forward. …We cannot have another situation where it is widely perceived that money confiscated in the UK has essentially benefitted the perpetrator when it is returned to a country, or that the perpetrator is seen as having got away with it….”
The NCA’s revised approach, however, will make little difference to the indigenous farming communities affected by Bahria Town Karachi’s inexorable advance. For them, the prospect of displacement from their ancestral lands looms closer each day.
A few months ago, some villagers invited a group of journalists to pay a visit to the area affected by the SC’s controversial order of March 21, 2019 that allowed Bahria to develop 16,896 acres for its Karachi project. They wanted them to see first-hand how they were being bullied into leaving their land.
The previous evening, a disturbing incident had occurred. Some locals returning from Gadap had found themselves unable to access their village through their traditional route because Bahria guards had locked the gate erected on the BTK periphery and blocked their entry. Going around the development meant an extra 45 minutes of travel. More villagers arrived and a clash ensued. Some Bahria officials appeared on the scene. At least one individual was armed with a pistol that he allegedly began firing in the air to scare the villagers away. “We are encircled like Palestine,” said one villager bitterly.
Rustom Gabol, the old school master at Haji Ali Mohammed Gabol goth, pointed out how Bahria was swallowing up the school playground by building a road through it. Behind the decrepit little village school loomed the under-construction five-star hotel in BTK’s Golf City that boasts Pakistan’s first ever 36-hole PGA standard golf course.
At the same village a few days ago, Bahria bifurcated a natural reservoir for rainwater by dumping tons of earth to create a redundant artificial ‘walkway’. This will act as a barrier for rainwater flowing down the Kirthar range and prevent it from collecting in the reservoir, the nearest water source for the villagers and their dwindling livestock. The message for the residents is clear: leave, or die.
Header image: A view of the master bedroom in 1 Hyde Park Place. Credit: Knight Frank Real Estate
The Ministry of Interior on Friday directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to temporarily block access to social media platforms — Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube and Telegram — from 11am to 3pm.
"It is requested that immediate action may be taken on the subject matter," the ministry directed the PTA chairman.
Shortly after, the PTA released an official statement saying: "In order to maintain public order and safety, access to certain social media applications has been restricted temporarily."
Following the interior ministry's directives, Nayatel — an internet service provider — said in a message to its customers that social media platforms had been blocked on the directions of the PTA.
A copy of the notification issued by the Ministry of Interior.
These platforms include Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, TikTok and Telegram. "The inconvenience is regretted," it said.
After 3pm, users reported that the social media platforms had been partially restored.
The PTA too issued a statement saying "access to social media applications has been restored."
Although the notification issued by the interior ministry did not mention a reason for the suspension, the development comes after several days of unrest in the country due to protests by the recently proscribed Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).
In a video message, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid apologised to the public for the hours-long blockage of the applications, saying the government will "try not to [restrict] social media in the future".
He said the social media platforms were blocked because the TLP had issued a call to its activists to come out on the streets for protests after Friday prayers.
The minister said due to the government's efforts, "the terrorists, agitators and those spreading unrest through social media have been defeated".
Detained TLP chief Saad Rizvi, in a purported handwritten note shared by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill late on Thursday, had urged his followers to maintain law and order and avoid blocking roads and highways.
In the letter, Rizvi had asked TLP supporters to peacefully go back to their homes and cooperate with law enforcement agencies.
However, some TLP supporters insisted they hear or see the words come from Rizvi himself before stopping.
Meanwhile, some rights activists criticised Friday's social media blackout, warning it could lead to more severe curbs on freedoms.
“These arbitrary decisions of blocking and banning have never done any good (and) instead opened ways to blanket bans,” said Nighat Dad, head of the Digital Rights Foundation on Twitter, shortly before the site became inaccessible.
Also on Friday, Sindh Police’s Counter-Terrorism Department initiated action against social media accounts allegedly operated by supporters and workers of the TLP, according to CTD Sindh chief Omar Shahid Hamid.
He said the action was being taken over a host of charges. “The CTD has initiated action against individuals who used social media to incite violence, spread hate and glorify the assaults on law enforcement personnel,” Hamid added.
He revealed that a list of TLP-related social media accounts had been identified and a complaint had been lodged with the FIA’s Cyber Crime Wing.
The CTD in its request to FIA said anti-state and hate speech material was being uploaded by TLP followers on social media platforms "creating provocations and chaos across the country".
Government bans TLP under anti-terrorism law
On Thursday, the government had slapped a ban on the TLP. A notification declaring TLP as a proscribed organisation was issued by the Ministry of Interior shortly after the federal cabinet approved a summary to ban the party.
The notification said: “The federal government has reasonable grounds to believe that the TLP is engaged in terrorism, [has] acted in a manner prejudicial to the peace and security of the country, [was] involved in creating anarchy in the country by intimidating the public, caused grievous bodily harm, hurt and death to the personnel of law enforcement agencies and innocent by-standers, attacked civilians and officials, created wide-scale hurdles, threatened, abused and promoted hatred, vandalised and ransacked public and government properties including vehicles and caused arson, blocked essential health supplies to hospitals, and has threatened, coerced, intimidated, and overawed the government [and] the public and created sense of fear and insecurity in the society and the public at large."
Copies of the notification were sent to authorities concerned, including the secretaries of different ministries and divisions, State Bank governor, Election Commission of Pakistan secretary and director general passports.
The National Counter Terrorism Authority had also swiftly added the TLP to the list of banned terrorist organisations taking the total number of such outfits to 79.
In an effort to keep the ulema in the loop, the religious affairs minister had also hosted an Iftar-dinner in the honour of religious scholars where Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed had briefed them on the reasons for banning the TLP.
With additional reporting by Javed Hussain in Islamabad and Imtiaz Ali in Karachi.
ISLAMABAD: There was no let-up in deaths claimed by Covid-19 as 110 more people died across the country on Friday.
The number of total deaths climbed to 15,982 while the total number of cases reached 745,182, says the data released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).
According to the data, a total of 64,481 coronavirus tests were performed over the last 24 hours out of which 5,364 turned out to be positive. The total number of active Covid-19 cases across the country stood at 78,425.
Over the last 24 hours, Punjab reported 2,732 cases and 62 deaths; KP 1,129 cases and 35 deaths; Sindh 653 cases and 8 deaths; Islamabad 599 cases and 1 death; Azad Jammu and Kashmir 159 cases and 3 deaths; Balochistan 82 cases and 1 death; and Gilgit-Baltistan reported 10 such cases with no death.
The national positivity rate was 8.3 per cent. Punjab recorded the highest number of deaths over the last 24 hours with 62 fatalities, followed by KP with 35 deaths.
The NCOC reported that 4,123 people recovered from Covid-19 over the past 24 hours. As many as 650,775 people recovered from the disease in the country this year with a recovery rate of 87.3 per cent.
Meanwhile, ulema in their Friday prayer sermons across the country urged the people to follow medical experts’ opinion and the government’s guidelines for Covid-19 to save not only themselves but other people from the deadly virus as it was also obligatory on Muslims to adhere to Islamic injunctions about saving lives of all people.
The Ministry of Religious Affairs on Thursday had appealed to ulema and religious scholars to observe the first Friday of Ramazan as Youm-i-Tauba (Day of Forgiveness) to seek Allah’s forgiveness and blessings to contain the outbreak of the deadly disease in the country.
LAHORE: Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif’s release from jail on bail in a money laundering reference may be delayed further as the Lahore High Court (LHC) bench that had granted him bail two days ago has so far not issued its written order.
The LHC bench comprising Justice Sardar Mohammad Sarfraz Dogar and Justice Asjad Javed Ghural after hearing the final arguments of National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) prosecutor and counsel for the former chief minister on April 14 had risen after telling the parties that they would be informed about its decision shortly.
Some 15 minutes later a court staff member came out of the judges’ retiring room and disclosed the result to the parties, saying the petition had been allowed subject to bail bonds of Rs5 million.
An official said Justice Dogar, who headed the bench, had signed a one-page short order and sent it to Justice Ghural for his signature, which was still pending. While there are unconfirmed reports that Justice Ghural dissented with the bail-granting order and kept the file with him to write his own decision, the staff of the judge told reporters that they had no instructions whatsoever about any change in the order.
However, the LHC website shows the result of Shehbaz’s petition as “allowed”. Advocate Azam Nazir Tarar, the counsel for Shehbaz, told Dawn that he had not been informed by the court if there was any change in the bail-granting order. He said the court’s staff rather gave an impression that a detailed verdict would be released instead of a short order. He said it would be unprecedented if a member of the bench changed his decision after an announcement.
On Friday, both judges attended their courts to work as single benches.
As per the new roster of the judges issued by Chief Justice Mohammad Qasim Khan for the week commencing on April 19, Justice Dogar and Justice Ghural have been transferred to Multan and Bahawalpur seats, respectively. A new division bench comprising Justice Alia Neelum and Justice Farooq Haider has been constituted to hear cases relating to NAB at the principal seat.
Commenting on the situation, senior lawyer Zafar Iqbal Kalanauri said the matter would be sent to a referee judge if the division bench gave a split decision on the bail petition. After going through both conflicting decisions, the referee judge would give an opinion.
However, he said, it was premature to say anything when legally there existed no order, neither unanimous nor a dissenting one.
Shehbaz was arrested on Sept 28 in the reference after the LHC that had granted the pre-arrest bail initially on June 3 refused to further extend his pre-arrest bail. He remained in NAB’s custody for over three weeks before the trial court remanded him to judicial custody on Oct 20.
Previously NAB had arrested Shehbaz on Oct 5, 2018 in the Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme and later in Ramzan Sugar Mills case. In both cases, the LHC released him on bail on Feb 17, 2019.
A statement issued by the LHC spokesman advised media to avoid speculations about the order before its release. It said the court decisions needed to be discussed cautiously. It noted that unnecessary speculations about any order of the court before being signed by the judges caused unwarranted anxiety among the public.
The order in the bail petition would be released to media once it is signed by the judges, it concluded.
ISLAMABAD: The opposition on Friday lashed out at the government in the National Assembly for signing what it called an “illogical” agreement with the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) last year about expulsion of French ambassador from the country and severing of trade relations with France over its government’s stance on publication of blasphemous sketches in a magazine.
The government, however, claimed it had never inked any agreement regarding expulsion of the ambassador. Rather, an understanding had been reached with the TLP that a resolution would be tabled in the assembly regarding removal of the ambassador.
The agreement with the TLP, as reported by the media, read: “The government will take a decision from the Parliament regarding expulsion of the French ambassador within three months, will not appoint its ambassador to France and release all the arrested workers of the TLP. The government will not register any case against the TLP leaders or workers even after it calls off the sit-in.”
In September 2020, French magazine Charlie Hebdo had republished blasphemous sketches of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that triggered protests across the Muslim world. TLP was among the parties and groups that mounted protests in Pakistan over the issue.
“When the government knew that it could not sever bilateral relations with France, then why such an agreement was signed with TLP,” asked Naveed Qamar of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) during a debate in the National Assembly.
MNAs demand that a committee be set up to deliberate on the objectives of establishing the TLP and those behind the move
He said the government was thinking of moving the Supreme Court for dissolution of TLP, but the parliament was not being taken into confidence over the matter. “Nothing is being conveyed to the parliament,” he said.
Mr Qamar asked whether decisions in the past to ban certain organisations had been implemented in letter and spirit. He said the interior minister should inform the house on details of the banned organisations and what action, if any, had been taken against them.
Syed Imran Ahmed Shah of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) said the government should cut all sorts of relations with France and its ambassador should be sent back. “The maximum debt owed to France might be Rs17 billion to Rs18bn, which the lovers of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) could retire from their own pockets,” he remarked.
Former prime minister and senior PML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi asked why the assembly’s proceedings lasted on an average for two hours only when the house could easily be asked to sit for four hours.
Weighing in on the issue, Mr Qamar asked Speaker Asad Qaiser to hold consultations with all the parties in the parliament regarding timings of the sessions.
Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-F’s member Salahuddin Ayubi was of the opinion that JUI-F could be banned just as TLP had been.
During the debate, the opposition demanded that a committee be set up to deliberate on the objectives of establishing the TLP and who were behind the move.
Riaz Pirzada of the PML-N said the members of the assembly should be informed who had formed two banned organisations, the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan. “First a genie is created that later becomes a headache for its creators,” he added.
On this, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Muhammad Ali Khan said the government had not signed any agreement that the French ambassador should be removed. “We just assured the TLP that a resolution will be tabled in the parliament in this regard,” he said.
During talks with the government the TLP had insisted that the government should table a resolution of its (TLP’s) choice in the parliament, the minister added.
• Package features restoration of farmland, construction of dam, motorway, gas & power supply
• Sindh urged to reconsider cancellation of NOC for island project
SUKKUR: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday unveiled a historic development package worth Rs446 billion to develop backward areas of PPP-led Sindh through power supply, irrigation, sports and communication projects.
The package features restoration of 200,000 acres of agricultural land, upgradation of 14 passports offices, construction of Nai Gaj Dam to irrigate around 28,800 acres, 306-kilometre Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway, gas supply to 160 villages and annual 30,000 new power connections in the neglected districts.
The prime minister, while addressing a ceremony to hand over business loan cheques among entitled youths here, said proposed projects would start getting shape within a month as their feasibility studies had already been completed.
The prime minister said he was pleased to visit the interior of Sindh with good news of the development package, which otherwise was responsibility of the provincial government under the 18th Amendment.
He said interior of Sindh was the poorest area of the country, besides southern Balochistan and tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
He said the people of interior of Sindh were living in difficult circumstances without basic facilities and rights besides facing victimisation through the police.
He likened the development outlook of the interior of Sindh to Moenjodaro and said instead of any advancement the people were moving backward.
“Insha Allah, we will assist (in) the uplift of backward areas of Pakistan honestly and trustfully. I am proud that we gave first development package for southern Balochistan in Pakistan’s history. We also gave the biggest package to now merged tribal area which would be increased. I again commit to my people in Sindh that I will try my utmost to improve their living condition,” he said.
The prime minister told the gathering that his government inherited the biggest debt burden. During the last two-and-a-half years, the government had repaid Rs35,000bn loan, Rs15,000bn more than the amount repaid by the previous government, he elaborated.
The amount of Rs15,000bn could have been spent for public welfare on construction of roads, irrigation and infrastructure development to change the fate of backward areas, he added.
He said despite giving its allocated share to Sindh, the federal government had allocated Rs446bn for the development package for the province, which would focus on skill training to youth, business loans, sports facilities and communication network.
He said it was essential to exploit the potential of 60 per cent of the country’s population below 30 years of age to make them an asset who otherwise would become a liability.
He said it was also equally essential to develop playgrounds for the youth to enable them to exhibit their talent. He said New Zealand with a population of about six million had more playgrounds than the 220m nation of Pakistan.
Mr Khan said Sukkur-Hyderabad motorway would facilitate transportation of logistics besides bringing ease of doing business in the country.
He said the government distributed cash under Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme among 15 million families after the poor suffered due to lockdown caused by Covid-19.
Sindh, with 22pc of the country’s population, got 33pc share in under the programme, which manifested that the amount was distributed fairly and without any political discrimination, he added.
Referring to Bundal Island project, the prime minister said the federal government had designed the project to attract $40bn investment to help surge foreign exchange reserves and strengthen local currency. But unfortunately, the Sindh government withdrew its No Objection Certificate (NOC) issued to federal government due to unknown reasons.
The people of Sindh would have been the biggest beneficiary of the project, he said and added that even the federal government had also offered the profit of the project to the province.
He hoped that the Sindh government would review its decision on NOC cancellation as the project would cast an impact on entire Pakistan.
He said the government had decided to provide cash assistance to about 12m families under Ehsaas Programme.
Mr Khan said he never discriminated the people as he represented the entire country.
Speaking on the occasion, federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said despite being a resource-rich province, the people of Sindh were deprived of development and basic facilities.
He said Sukkur-Hyderabad motorway project would be approved by the Central Development Working Party and Public Private Partnership Board by next week.
Under the package, he said, Rs52bn would be spent on power and gas supply to the deprived areas and Rohri and Hyderabad railways stations would be upgraded.
He said the federal government had decided to complete Nai Gaj Dam project after Sindh government refused to do its part.
He said 100,000 youth in 14 preferred districts would be imparted skill training and sports facilities would be developed for benefit of 130,000 youth, including 35,000 girls.
The package would also ensure introduction of 3G and 4G internet services for 3.7m people and optic fiber connectivity for 1.2m.
He said after upgradation of 14 passport offices, 200,000 people would not have to travel outside their districts for passport-related tasks.
He said the prime minister had given three-month time to the ministers concerned to start execution of their projects.
Sindh Governor Imran Ismail said Imran Khan believed that Sindh was still waiting for his vision for change, where people faced injustices, be it power and gas supply or policing system.
Cheques distributed
Earlier, the prime minister distributed among the entitled youths cheques of business loan under Kamyab Jawan Programme and certificates among those who had completed skill training courses.
Later, he witnessed the disbursement of Ehsaas cash assistance among the women through biometric identification and also handed over cheques to them.
Briefing the prime minister, his special assistant Dr Sania Nishtar said for the first time, biometric system was being used to ensure transparency in cash dispensation.
She said 80pc Ehsaas survey had been completed and rest would be conducted by June.
Dr Sania said the people should send their CNIC No to 8171 Helpline to ascertain whether they were entitled for cash assistance. Moreover, special desks would be set up at district level to register the families.
Federal ministers Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Dr Fehmida Mirza, Ali Haider Zaidi and Mohammadmian Soomro and Punjab Chief Minister Usman Dar were present on the occasion.
LAHORE: Adviser to Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior Shahzad Akbar on Friday cleared mist prevailing over alleged action against the Sharif family’s palatial residence in Jati Umra saying the containers on Raiwind Road had nothing to do with demolition of the residence.
The PML-N media wing spread commotion despite the fact that it also went to a civil court and obtained a stay order leaving the government not to plan any on-ground operation. “A due process will be followed and until then the PML-N leadership should take anti-depressants and don’t get panicked after seeing police or containers,” Mr Akbar said.
The PM’s adviser explained to media persons at a press conference at chief minister’s secretariat that 839-kanal state land was transferred through a forged letter and the revenue department had cancelled the transfer of land as there was no record available in the record. He said the government had 839 kanal of land as per Record of Rights in 1966-67 at Mauza Manak (now popularly known as Jati Umra) but now it did not own a single marla.
As the revenue department started scrutinising the record, it found that the state land was transferred to Waheeda Begum, Muhammad Ali and another person in 1989, 1992 and 1994 on the orders of a deputy secretary of the revenue department. However, the department had now reported in writing that neither any record of the deputy secretary order nor was relevant record available. The revenue department also stated that no state land could be transferred to any individual.
Eventually, Mr Akbar said, the revenue department wrote to the district administration that revenue record should be rectified and Punjab government land be restored. Since all the land record had been computerised, he said, the Punjab government’s land was reverted to it. Though there was no action planned after the Sharif family members obtained stay orders, the PML-N spokespersons held a press conference and later tried to create commotion that the government was going to attack the Jati Umra residence. “Due legal process will be followed,” he assured.
“No one is saying that the Sharif family got the land transferred in its name through a forged or illegal manner but the issue is that the family bought the land from a private party that sold a defective title,” he said and added that the Sharif family should either contact the private party (Waheeda Begum’s heirs) or the district administration with regard to their claim.
Since the land was transferred to Waheeda Begum in 1989, the government would also look into the matter whether there was any misuse of authority as convicted and runaway Nawaz Sharif was the then Punjab chief minister.
Answering a question, Mr Akbar asserted that Mauza Manak land belonged to the state and its transfer to private parties had been cancelled in a similar way the Punjab government was retrieving state land from illegal occupants. He said the government departments were doing quality investigation and contesting cases in courts to recover the state land.
About Shehbaz Sharif’s bail, the PM’s adviser said the judges would soon be appointed and Mr Sharif’s trial would begin yet again.
LAHORE: Despite tall claims of the government to protect green areas, grave concerns expressed by the civil society over consumption of the agriculture land for commercial purposes and court orders against it, hundreds of illegal housing schemes/projects already developed or being established currently on green areas, including about 230 such schemes in Lahore and its adjoining districts, are likely to be legalised/approved under a recent ordinance promulgated in the province.
The move, it is alleged, is set to benefit the powerful land mafia, which succeeded in purchasing huge chunks of land in the green areas around Lahore and other divisions. The land mafia has developed or is in the process of developing housing schemes in violation of the land use rules and the cities’ master plans. After the promulgation of the ordinance, titled “The Punjab Commission for Regularization of Irregular Housing Schemes Ordinance-2021” on April 9, another related to squeezing the LDA’s jurisdiction to the Lahore city district alone from the entire division consisting four districts.
Lahore High Court Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan on January 19 this year had directed the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) to stop all kinds of construction work in illegal housing schemes established on the agriculture land and suspend the amnesty being given to them.
“Not a single wall or window should be constructed in a society developed on the agricultural land,” the CJ had warned the legal adviser to the LDA.
“It seems to be a big game allegedly on the part of the government as first an ordinance to form a commission to regularise irregular housing schemes, including all those falling in green areas, was promulgated and then another came, clipping building control of the LDA and limiting it to the Lahore city alone,” said a private developer/builder.
“Everything is being done very quickly. It seems some very powerful people want illegal housing schemes—especially on the green areas, which cannot be legalised under the existing LDA and environmental laws, land use rules/regulations and the fundamental rights narrated in the constitution of Pakistan. Where is the PM who used to speak from time to time on protecting green areas of the country,” deplored the developer who requested not to be named.
“It is very strange that if you have money equaling 2pc of the residential land value, you can legalise the scheme falling in green areas,” he said.
The Lahore High Court chief justice in recent hearings on various cases had also expressed grave concerns over the illegal housing schemes, especially those developed on green areas. The CJ had also reprimanded the LDA and other civic agencies, including the defunct town municipal administrations (TMAs), for not taking action against those involved in developing illegal schemes. At present, there are as many as 2,000 illegal housing schemes (developed or under-developing phase) in Punjab and most of them exist in major cities, including Lahore and its surroundings.
The Lahore division alone has over 600 illegal housing schemes and the number was 576 in January, this year. The 600 schemes include 230 developed or being established on green areas of Lahore, Kasur, Nankana Sahib and Sheikhupura districts in violation of the master plan, laws, rules and regulations.
According to the April 9 ordinance, the commission, headed by a retired judge of the high or supreme court shall have the power to hear the cases related to illegal schemes and regularise any non-conforming land use on which the irregular schemes exist.
Similarly, another ordinance was promulgated on April 12 to amend the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) Act, 1975 under which Sheikhupura, Kasur and Nankana Sahib are no longer part of the authority.
It was reportedly done on demand of provincial ministers, assembly members and the public who wanted limiting the powers of the LDA to Lahore only.
Talking to Dawn, LDA Vice Chairman S.M. Imran said most of the illegal housing schemes fell in the green areas where development of such projects was not allowed under the master plans and the housing schemes regulations, environment and other rules concerned.
“This matter came under discussion several times in courts since the LDA had no powers to approve or legalise them,” he explained.
He said the situation demanded finding a way out to at least look into the affairs of all illegal schemes and form a commission under the court directions.
“And finally, in line with the instructions, an ordinance was promulgated to form a commission to look into the affairs of such schemes, including the green area ones,” he added.
According to the ordinance, the illegal schemes developed/being developed on the non-conforming land (including green areas) can be regularised on the payment of fine of two per cent of the residential value as per applicable valuation table, followed by the schemes missing parks or open spaces, graveyards on the payment of fine of the amount equaling to two times of the value of deficient land or provision of land (graveyard) as an alternate. Similarly, the penalty for regularising the illegal schemes lacking public buildings or access road width etc has also been fixed in the ordinance.
“I am really worried to see what is happening in our country. On one hand, the government, in collaboration with the citizens, is working for the last one year or so on preparation of a regional plan and city master plans, but on the other hand, it also continues introducing such ordinances to legalise illegal schemes, including the ones on the green areas. It is so strange and irritating really,” deplored Kamil Khan Mumtaz, an eminent urban expert and civil society activist.
He said the government should have taken such steps in line with the guidance of the regional/master plans once they were finalised and approved accordingly.
Mr Mumtaz said the main issue the country had been facing was the implementation and rule of law. “When the people violate laws and develop such schemes or do another unlawful act, the institutions remain silent. And when they take action, the public sentiments emerge surprisingly, forcing the government to legalise the illegal acts,” he added.
While master plans are under preparation, the government, in addition to legalising the illegal schemes, had launched the Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project to facilitate the influential and rich people earn more on the pretext of ‘public interest’, he said. “The government has also changed land use rules and started promoting construction of high rises, housing schemes’ rules etc. Whatever is going on at present is really worrisome,” Mr Mumtaz bemoaned.
LAHORE: The Punjab government on Friday posted Asadullah Hafeez, awaiting posting, as a member (private sector development) of the Planning and Development Board against a vacant post.
Punjab Transport Secretary Syed Ali Murtaza, also chairman of the provincial transport authority, has been entrusted with the additional charge of the post of Chief Minister’s Inspection Team chairman for three months or till the posting of a regular incumbent, whichever fell earlier.
The government transferred Bahawalpur Deputy Commissioner (DC) Muzaffar Khan and posted him as the communication and works special secretary in his own pay and scale against a vacant post.
It also transferred Chief Minister’s Office Additional Secretary Irfan Ali Khan and posted him as the Bahawalpur DC in his own pay and scale.
Agency for Barani Areas Development (ABAD) Rawalpindi Director General (DG) Maqbool Ahmad has been transferred and posted as the Koh-i-Suleman Development Authority DG in Dera Ghazi Khan in his own pay and scale against a vacant post.
Officer on special duty Muhammad Abdul Aamer Khattak has been posted as the ABAD Rawalpindi DG in his own pay and scale.
KARACHI: Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Friday approved Rs30 billion to launch the Karachi safe city project.
He took this decision while presiding over a meeting to review progress of the project.
The meeting was attended by Information Technology Minister Taimur Talpur, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, Planning chairman M. Waseem, Home Secretary Usman Chachar and others.
As many as 10,000 CCTV cameras would be installed in the city in three phases under the project and each phase would be completed within 12 months starting from the next financial year, 2021-22.
The meeting was told that the National Radio & Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC) had submitted technical and financial proposals, which needed to be considered by the evaluation committee.
The chief minister approved the constitution of a nine-member technical committee to be headed by the chief operating officer (COO) of the safe city project to evaluate the NRTC proposal.
10,000 surveillance cameras will be installed at over 2,000 spots in the city in three phases
He also approved the proposal of assigning the charge of CEO to Muqadus Haider and chief technical officer to Tabasum Abbasi. Notifications for the evaluation committee, CEO and technical officers would be issued shortly.
The technical committee will evaluate the technical and financial proposals in line with the PC-I documents and would also evaluate the project phasing as recommended by the NRTC in consultation with the planning and development department.
The technical committee will also look after overall activities of the project, including its execution.
The chief minister approved the execution plan under which 10,000 cameras would be installed in three phases.
In the first phase, cameras would be installed at all the entry/exit points of the city and in district South for Rs9.9bn.
In the second phase, cameras would be installed in three districts, to be selected later on, for Rs9.8bn.
In the third and the concluding phase, three more districts would be covered for Rs9.7bn.
The chief minister directed the finance department to arrange Rs10bn for the first phase in the next financial year.
“I want to start the project in the start of financial year 2021-22,” he said.
The chief minister also directed Mr Waseem of the planning and development department to start the process to get approval of the PC-1 from all the relevant forums by the end of the current financial year.
Mr Shah was told that 8,000 cameras would be 12 megapixel (MP) and 2,000 of eight MP. In this way, 10,000 cameras would be installed at over 2,000 locations with solar back-up.
There would be central and regional command centres and a database centre.
The chief minister was told that at present 2,196 cameras were installed at 538 locations in the city, of them 1,201 belonged to the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, 198 to IT dept and 155 to Sindh police.
KARACHI: Sindh police’s Counter-Terrorism Department on Friday initiated action against social media accounts allegedly maintained by supporters and workers of the recently banned Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan, according to CTD Sindh chief Omar Shahid Hamid.
“The CTD has initiated action against individuals who used social media to incite violence, spread hate and glorified the assaults on law enforcement personnel” said Mr Hamid.
He said that the list of TLP-related social media accounts has been identified and a complaint lodged with FIA’s cybercrime wing.
