Eight more detainees released from jail

Eight more people, who were put behind bars for staging a protest against the alleged illegal recruitments in the Mangla dam extension project, were released from Mardan jail Tuesday. Earlier, two detainees were released from the jail on medical grounds. Two drummers are also included among those who have been set free. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Malik Naveed Iqbal earlier held a meeting with the Haripur deputy commissioner and informed him about the financial difficulties of the detained people. Following the meeting, the deputy commissioner issued orders for the release of eight people. The judicial magistrate had earlier rejected the bail pleas of six detained protesters. Read More: Jails serve as breeding ground for diseases Social activist Erum Rasheed and others have been detained in jail for the last 20 days under the maintenance of public ordinance. The protesters had blocked Barotha Road leading to Tarbela Dam for over 10 hours against the alleged irregularities in recruitments in the dam’s extension project. Police baton-charged and arrested around 25 persons after they blocked a road in protest seeking jobs in the Tarbela dam extension project. Earlier, Irum Rasheed had said that the Tarbela Dam general manager had assured them of recruiting locals for the hiring of T-4 and T-5 extension projects. Published in The Express Tribune, September 29th, 2021.

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Man held for allegedly raping hearing, speech impaired woman

Gujar Khan police have arrested a man for allegedly raping a hearing and speech impaired woman for six months. The victim’s father informed the police that he was a labourer at a brick kiln and his wife had died. He has two daughters aged between 24 and 21 years and both are deaf and dumb. He stepped out for some work to Sar Subah Shah and returned around 10pm, he said, adding that he found his elder daughter in a sub-conscious state. He shifted her to a hospital immediately. Later, his daughter told him that their neighbour, Adnan Shah, used to rape her, and she was six months pregnant. The suspect also gave some medicine to the victim to kill the unborn child. The police have booked the suspect after registering a case on the father’s complaint. The police have collected evidence from the site. According to the officials, the suspect and the victim will undergo DNA tests while the suspect will be presented in the court for procurement of remand. The victim’s condition is better now and she will be discharged from the hospital soon, they added. Read More: Two teenagers allegedly gang-raped Meanwhile, Saddar police held two suspects after three years in the killing a married couple for honour. The suspects killed the couple in November 2018 after they solemnised the free-will marriage. Both victims have been declared wanted by the court. The police officials said Asad and Gulfaraz killed Ikhlaq Ahmed and his wife Ramsha for honour. Both suspects were the cousins of Ramsha and were against her free will marriage. Published in The Express Tribune, September 29th, 2021.

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Usman Mirza, six others indicted

A sessions court in Islamabad on Tuesday formally charge-sheeted Usman Mirza and six other accused involved in harassing, torturing and blackmailing a boy and a girl in Sector E-11. Additional Sessions Judge Ata Rabbani indicted the seven suspects, including prime suspect Usman Mirza, in the Islamabad couple harassment case on Tuesday. All the suspects, Hafiz Ataur Rehman, Farhan Shaheen, Adaras Qayyum Butt, Rehan Hassan Mughal, Umar Bilal Marwat and Mohib Bangash were handed charge-sheets. All the suspects denied committing the crime and accept the charge sheet. The suspects were brought to the court from Adyala jail while excluding Rehan and Umar Bilal, who were on bail, appeared in the court themselves. Meanwhile, the court issued notices to 21 witnesses to record their testimonies on October 12. Islamabad High Court (IHC) Judge Mohsin Akhtar Kayani has directed to complete the trial of the case in two months by conducting regular hearings in the case. Meanwhile, the high court also rejected the bail applications of three suspects in the case, including Adaras Qayyum Butt, Ata-ur-Rehman and Farhan Shaheen. According to the police charge-sheet submitted to the court, Usman Mirza is the prime offender in the case who recorded inappropriate videos of the couple, stripped them naked, assaulted them, and kept them hostage for hours. Read More: Two held for ‘harassing’ tourist family The prime suspects hurled threats at the couple and forced them to have sex in front of them, according to the police charge sheet. The charge sheet said that the suspects touched private parts of the girl and forced the couple to dance naked. The suspects filmed videos of the victims, blackmailed them and received extortion from them as well, the charge sheet said. The challan said that police have recovered the mobile phone used for making the objectionable video and the pistol used by the prime suspect to threaten the victims. According to the charge-sheet, the co-suspect, Umar Bilal, told the investigators that he extorted Rs1.125 million from the couple at the behest of Usman Mirza and of the extorted money, gave Rs0.6 to Usman Mirza. The statements of the victims recorded before the magistrate have also been made part of the challan. The girl said that Usman Mirza forced her to have intercourse with the boy, threatening to rape her if she refused to. The charge sheet has included the statement of Usman Mirza, who said he filmed the couple’s video on November 18, 2020. The FIR of the case was registered at the Golra Police Station on July 6 after the video went viral, the police charge-sheet said. Moreover, the suspects also abused the couple verbally and physically by doing vulgar acts. The FIR of the case was registered on July 6 after which the suspects were traced and arrested. The FIR said the incident took place at an apartment building in Sector E-11/2. Published in The Express Tribune, September 29th, 2021.

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PM calls PTI parliamentary meeting today

Prime Minister Imran Khan has summoned PTI’s parliamentary meeting on Wednesday (today) at the Parliament House to address the issue of lack of quorum in the National Assembly. As the ruling party enters its fourth parliamentary year, several of its lawmakers are now more concerned about their constituencies. The major reason for the lack of quo¬¬rum in the NA is that the parliamentarians are now spending more time in their native villages and not attending the proceedings of the lower house. Canadian PM thanks Imran Khan for felicitating on election victory Government’s chief whip had been in constant contact with the ruling party and the allied parties’ members. Like the previous week, the government failed to complete the quorum this week too due to which the proceedings of the NA had to be adjourned. Due to the lack of quorum, the motion on parliamentary committee on electoral reforms agreed between the government and opposition could not be tabled in the lower house.

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Fawad admits delay in LG polls PTI’s biggest failure

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhary Fawad Hussain has admitted that the failure to hold local body elections in due time was the ruling party’s biggest mistake, saying the delay had caused loss to the government. Addressing a conference on Tuesday, the minister said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had always believed in strengthening the local body system to resolve issues through good governance and stressed that the ruling party needed to take steps to hold local body elections and devolve power to the district and council levels. Citing structural issues as major impediments, Fawad regretted that the local government systems established in Punjab and Sindh in the past had remained crippled and devoid of any power due to the lack of funds, and pointed out that though powers had been devolved to the provinces under the 18th amendment, local bodies were not given their due. Fawad identified lack of funds and spotty mechanism as the major setback to devolving power to the grassroots level, adding that non-implementation of Article 140-A was the biggest problem. He further said that a review petition against the restoration of the local bodies is being heard in the Supreme Court. Read Action against corruption in road projects on cards: Fawad Sharing details, the minister said that during the past three years, Rs2,300 billion were transferred to Punjab; Rs1,700 billion to Sindh; Rs900 billion to K-P and Rs700 billion to Balochistan. Criticising the Sindh government, Fawad said the provincial government had failed to undertake any developmental projects, adding that the federal government desired to address issues confronting Karachi but “how could the problems of Karachi be solved by sitting in Islamabad”. He said that the former Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif spent a major chunk of the provincial income on Lahore alone. “The Orange Line train project cost $260 million and even today the amount of subsidy was collected from other districts.” He said that despite sanctions, Tehran generated $500 million for the welfare of its residents whereas Mumbai generated $1 billion every year and Pakistan should also develop such type of system for public welfare. (With inputs from APP)

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ECP gives three more weeks to Fawad, Swati

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has given three more weeks to Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry and Federal Railways Minister Azam Swati to submit their response to the notices served on them earlier seeking evidence of their allegations against the polls supervisory body expired. In case of non-compliance, the commission has warned that it would take action against them under the Election Act. It further warned that it might initiate contempt proceedings against the ministers. Fawad had sought more time from the ECP to submit his reply while Swati opted to ignore the notice. Swati, during a recent Senate committee meeting, had accused the ECP of taking bribes to rig elections and said such institutions should be “set on fire”. Later in the day, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had accused the chief election commissioner (CEC) of acting as a “mouthpiece for the opposition parties”. Their comments came in the wake of the Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs after one-sided voting by opposition members rejecting key amendments to the Elections Act. READ ECP to set deadline for holding LG elections They included allowing e-voting, holding open Senate elections, giving Pakistanis living abroad the right to vote via internet and parliamentarians vacating their seats if they did not take oath within 60 days. This came as a major blow to the government’s plan to move ahead with holding the next elections using electronic voting machines (EVMs) and e-voting. In a press release issued last week after a meeting of ECP officials presided over by CEC Sikander Sultan Raja, the body said it “objected to and rejected” the allegations against itself and its chief. It added that evidence would be demanded from Swati for the comments he had made about the ECP in the standing committee meeting. “The election commission has decided to issue notices to both ministers so further proceedings can be brought into effect regarding this matter,” it read. Section 10 of the Elections Act, 2017 that deals with ECP’s power to punish for contempt read: “The Commission may exercise the same power as the High Court to punish any person for contempt of court and the Contempt of Court Ordinance, 2003 (V of 2003), or any other law pertaining to contempt of court shall have effect accordingly as if reference therein to a ‘court’ and to a ‘judge’ were a reference, respectively, to the ‘Commission’ and the ‘Commissioner’ or, as the case may be, a member of the Commission.”

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China willing to implement ‘$3.5b Karachi project’

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying on Tuesday said China was willing to work with Pakistan to implement the outcomes of the recently-held 10th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), including the Karachi project. “In the recently-held 10th JCC meeting, China and Pakistan agreed to include the Karachi project in the CPEC framework and listed it as an outcome of the meeting,” she said during her regular briefing while commenting on the inclusion of $3.5 billion Karachi Comprehensive Coastal Development Zone (KCCDZ) in the CPEC framework. The federal government had unveiled an ambitious plan to rebuild Karachi’s coastline under CPEC with $3.5 billion “direct Chinese investment” that aims to overhaul the city’s seaboard with new berths for the port, a new fishery port and a ‘majestic harbour bridge’ connecting it with Manora islands and Sandspit beach. The KCCDZ — spread over 640 hectares or 1,581 acres on the western backwaters marshland of the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) leading to revamp one of the oldest city slums Machhar Colony relocating its more than half a million population — is an initiative of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs. The KCCDZ is the latest addition to CPEC projects aimed at providing Karachi with an ultra-modern urban infrastructure zone, placing it among the top port cities of the world. Read More: ‘Huge job opportunities’ are coming under CPEC phase 2 In a tweet, Prime Minister Imran Khan has termed the inclusion of the Karachi coastal zone in CPEC a game-changer and expressed the hope that it would help in cleaning up marine habitat for fishermen, develop low income housing units and creating investment opportunities. It would put Karachi on a par with the developed port cities. Chunying said China and Pakistan are all-weather strategic cooperation partners and CPEC was a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). “China is willing to work with Pakistan to implement the common understanding of the two leaders and also outcome of the JCC meeting,” she added. She said the Chinese side would ensure smooth operation and construction of existing projects and highlight the cooperation in health, green economy and digital areas. “We will work on other fronts in our cooperation, improve the quality of the joint building of CPEC and provide new impetus to the development and the people’s livelihood,” she added. According to Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on CPEC Affairs Dr Khalid Mansoor, the inclusion of KCCDZ in CPEC in the 10th Joint Cooperation Committee for CPEC would expand the horizon of development for the country. Mansoor pointed out that it was an opportunity for international investors to invest in Pakistan. “The multi-billion-dollar CPEC project has entered into its second phase.” The establishment of Special Economic Zones and the involvement of private sectors would make Pakistan a manufacturing hub,” he added.

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