Army pays tribute to Lance Naik Muhammad Mehfooz on 52nd martyrdom anniversary

The Pakistan Army, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), and services chiefs paid tribute to Lance Naik Muhammad Mehfooz Shaheed, recipient of Nishan-e-Haider, on his 52nd martyrdom anniversary, the military said in a statement. During the Indo-Pak war of 1971, Lance Naik Muhammad Mehfooz exhibited extraordinary bravery, silencing enemy guns without fear. Despite injuries, he leapt forward and successfully subdued an Indian machine gunner, ultimately eliminating the threat. Read also: Army pays tribute to Sowar Muhammad Hussain on 52nd martyrdom anniversary “The courageous actions of Lance Naik Muhammad Mehfooz Shaheed on the battlefield is an example to be emulated by all defenders of the motherland,” Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement. It said that these shining stars of Pakistan who laid down their lives for the security of the country undoubtedly deserve honour and respect. "Let us remember these heroes who have laid down their lives in defence of our motherland. The nation is proud of its gallant sons," the statement concluded. A tale of heroism Lance Naik Muhammad Mehfooz was born on October 15, 1944, in Pind Malakan, a villiage in Rawalpindi. He was enrolled in the Pakistan Army on October 25, 1962. After training, he joined the 15th Punjab Regiment. During the 1971 war, Lance Naik Muhammad Mehfooz was part of the Pul Kanjry operation in the Wahga-Attari sector. On the night of December 17, while capturing the objective, his company was halted at about 70 metres short of Indian positions. His machine gun was destroyed due to enemy shelling so he took another machine gun from a martyred soldier and effectively engaged an Indian machine gunner who was inflicting heavy causalities on his company. In the process, Muhammad Mehfooz was critically injured and his machine gun was destroyed. Unruffled by his wounds, he leapt forward and strangulated the enemy to death. In the meantime, he was bayonetted to martyrdom by another enemy soldier from the same bunker. The next morning, a ceasefire was ordered and the enemy commander himself praised the martyr while handing over his body. Acknowledging his chivalry, then-Indian commander Lieutenant Colonel Puri said, “during my entire service, I have never seen such a courageous being. Had he been in my force, I would have recommended him for the highest gallantry award.”  

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It’s still a jungle out there!

Ever since Adrian Monk decided to hang his boots in 2009, crime fighting hasn’t been the same on TV. After all, no one could make a deduction, find a clue, and remember a detail the way he does, while battling every kind of phobia out there. He was a phenomenon and he proves that a phenomenon like him never gets old; his recent return for Mr Monk’s Final Case is a testament to that where despite a personal tragedy, he does his magic and solves a case, just like the old days. The best thing about this reunion movie is that it doesn’t look forced or dated; in fact, it fits perfectly in the new world and even makes the viewers realise that whatever Mr Monk was doing before the pandemic was right. It explores the post-pandemic life of the obsessive-compulsive detective who isn’t happy now that everyone else is doing what was his 'thing'. The Plot Mr Monk's Last Case begins with Adrian Monk losing a book contract (and the money) after which he contemplates suicide, before being rescued by the ghost of her dead wife Trudy (Melora Hardin). However, he is back into the game after Trudy’s daughter Molly (Caitlin McGee) loses her well-respected journalist fiancé Griffin (Austin Scott) on the eve of their wedding. Unable to accept that Griffin’s death was an accident, Molly asks Monk to investigate who is helped by his trusted companions Natalie (Traylor Howard), and Randy (Jason Gray-Stanford) in the process. Despite Leland Stottlemyer (Ted Levine) being under the employment of the extremely rich entrepreneur Rick Eden (James Purefoy) whom Monk suspects to be guilty of the crime, the ‘defective detective’ uses his magic as if he never left, and succeeds. But not before surviving an attempted murder, posing as a moustached bartender, and overcoming his fear of heights for the love of his adopted daughter. The Good Back in 2002, when the first episode of Monk was aired on TV, he came out as someone different from all the detectives in the world. TV shows like Psych, The Mentalist, The Good Doctor, and others followed Monk so the greatest of ‘em all needed to make a comeback, and that’s exactly what he does. Tony Shalhoub carries on from where he left 14 years ago and still uses his hands to visualise the murder and has a smile that signals that he knows how the murder was committed. With the return of Jason Gray-Stanford’s Randy Disher, Ted Levine’s Leland Stottlemyer, and Traylor Howard’s Natalie Teeger, the movie comes out as a perfect reunion, where Monk still has his phobias and fears to accompany him. He still hates heights, is afraid of germs, and so on, but that all has eased because Mr Monk survived COVID-19 by being just himself, and now doesn’t stand out as odd in a post-pandemic world where everything has changed. To bring Monk back, the writers had to have a mystery as solid as Trudy’s death and they couldn’t have come up with a better one than Griffin’s accidental death. The episode follows the whodunnit format which is what most of the current TV shows follow, making it easy for the newer generation to accept Monk’s return. The makers must be commended for using both the themes — the instrumental one by Jeff Beal and "It's a Jungle Out There" by Randy Newman — during the end credits, even if for a short duration. On using “It's a Jungle Out There” for the series theme song to "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" in the film, creator, writer, and executive producer Andy Breckman agreed that Randy Newman’s music captured the essence of Monk and had to be included. “Newman was the “voice” of the original series. His music—troubled and somber—perfectly embodied Monk’s character. I was determined to include him somehow in the film.” Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Tony Shalhoub also spoke about returning as Mr Monk, why he chose to go dark, and why he thinks the timing was perfect for the reunion. "When Andy first pitched the idea, I thought, ‘Wow, that's not something I would've anticipated. But it didn't take long for it to lock in.’ But then I thought, 'You know what? This is right because we want it to be different.' Why do this at all? Why revisit these characters unless we're treading on new ground? It's very real. The biggest challenge in my mind was, 'Can we pull this off and do it justice while balancing the comedic elements?'" "We want to go dark," he continues. "But we don't want the darkness to undercut the comedy we need in there. We've always done a balancing act. We've always walked the tightrope. This was a higher rope, and it's a lot thinner, and there's a volcano beneath us." The Bad This reunion would have been the perfect way to celebrate the bringing back of all the major characters from the original series but Natalie’s daughter Julie (Emmy Clarke), Sharona Fleming, and her son Benjy (Bitty Schram and Kane Ritchotte) were missed dearly in the movie. The same could be said about the character of Dr Neven Bell (Héctor Elizondo) who doesn’t get the kind of attention he deserves considering he was Monk’s rock in the original series and saved him from doing the wrong thing on numerous occasions. While Monk’s relationship with his stepdaughter was shown to be ideal considering his insecurities, it could have been explored in a better manner. Also, James Purefoy’s Rick Eden seemed somehow based on either Lex Luthor or Elon Musk but he wouldn’t be able to find a place for himself in the great Monk villains club where the best adversaries Monk ever faced are placed in. On being asked whether sending Monk against a tech billionaire who was obsessed with going to space hinted at someone we know, Andy Breckman said that they did so only to raise the stakes high. “Of course, you want a big threat if you want the stakes to be high. This is the formula that I stole from Columbo years ago. Columbo would go up against very, very powerful people, men and women who feel they can be reckless and get away with anything, and they just underestimate this little detective named Adrian Monk. So, the more powerful the villain, the more fun it is for Monk to be bugging him and needling him and getting closer and closer to uncovering the crime.” The Verdict If you are a fan of the original series, then Mr Monk’s Last Case is exactly what the doctor ordered for you. It has the perfect blend of comedy, tragedy, and mystery that would brighten your day and includes moments that would make you pump your fist in the air as well as wipe the tears out of your eyes. The way he is still able to get his hands on clues that others would conveniently miss or how he overcomes his fear of nearly everything is a gift for his fans, even if he considers it a curse. He does look a little old in the movie but that never slowed him down before when he was constantly accompanied by a nurse to a crime scene or somewhere related to the crime. Add to that the fact that he now has another kind of companion who looks like he pushes the idea of a revival ahead. Talking to GQ, creator, writer, and executive producer Andy Breckman said that the matter of reviving the series isn’t up to him but he is glad the reunion movie came out. “I'm so grateful it happened when it did. Timing is everything. And we got very, very lucky.” Yes, there are a lot of things that should or shouldn’t have happened in the 97-minute reunion movie but the fact that we now live in Monk’s world than he living in ours is a testament to his forward thinking. Those who used to make fun of his ‘wiping his hands’ and ‘covering his mouth’ back in the 2000s are thanking him now, just as he predicted. Omair Alavi is a freelance contributor who writes about film, television, and popular culture All facts and information are the sole responsibility of the writer  

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ECP moves to put in place poll plan

A day after the Supreme Court suspended the Dec 13 Lahore High Court (LHC) order staying the appointment of district returning officers (DROs), returning officers (ROs), and assistant returning officers (AROs) from the executive, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Saturday took emergency measures in an effort to ensure the upcoming elections are controversy-free. In this regard, the commission decided to approach the judiciary to set up appellate tribunals for the general polls. The ECP, in an urgent letter written to the four provincial election commissioners, instructed them to contact the chief justices of all the high courts in the country for the purpose. The commission told them to seek the suggestions of the high court chief justices for the appellate tribunals. It added that the tribunals would comprise high court judges. The decisions of the ROs can be challenged before the appellate tribunals. Earlier, the ECP notified that the paused process of training of DROs and ROs would kick off again in line with the Supreme Court’s order. In this connection, the ECP has written a letter to the provincial election commissions. A total of 142 DROs and 859 ROs will be trained across the country. According to the letter, the training of DROs and ROs will be held on Dec 17 and 18. The DROs will be trained on Dec 19 as well. A total of 40 training sessions are scheduled simultaneously across the country. Read also: Supreme Court clears path for election The objective of the training is to equip the DROs and ROs with the necessary skills to effectively carry out electoral responsibilities. On Thursday, the ECP stopped the three-day training of the officers responsible for overseeing electoral activities following the ruling of Lahore High Court’s Justice Ali Baqar Najafi issued on a petition filed by PTI Additional Secretary General Barrister Umair Niazi that the DROs and ROs would not appointed from the bureaucracy of Punjab – a development that could have potentially delayed the upcoming general polls scheduled for Feb 8. On Friday, the SC suspended the LHC’s ruling against the appointment of the DROs and ROs. A three-judge SC bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and comprising justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Sardar Tariq Masood, passed the order on a petition filed by the ECP challenging the LHC verdict. The top court, in its order, termed the LHC’s order “irresponsible” that was delivered in “haste”. It directed the high court not to proceed further on the PTI’s petition. The SC sought complete record of the case from the high court and ordered that a show-cause notice be issued to PTI’s Niazi, seeking an explanation as to why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him. Telling the ECP lawyer to read out the SC’s Nov 3 order, which stressed that the general elections should take place on Feb 8, the CJP noted that Niazi’s petition was a violation of the top court’s verdict. CJP Isa ordered that the PTI’s petition should be forwarded to the SC to determine its maintainability. Read: ECP issues election schedule after SC’s intervention He continued that the top court would hear the petition itself if it deemed it appropriate. However, he observed that the PTI’s plea, as filed, appeared not to be maintainable. Meanwhile, the ECP fixed an application for hearing on Dec 19 that sought the removal of interim ministers/advisers with political background for the sake of holding “fair and transparent” elections. The polls supervisor issued notices to caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar, interim Minister Fawad Hasan Fawad and PM aide Ahad Cheema. The ECP also issued a notice to petitioner Azizuddin Kakakhel. The petitioner had sought removal of “biased ministers” from the caretaker cabinet. Following the announcement of general polls a day earlier, the ECP on Saturday cancelled the holidays of the election staff across the country. The regional ECP offices will also remain open on Saturdays and Sundays and in contact with the provincial election commission offices. The election supervisor has also imposed a countrywide ban on the transfer and postings of the government officials. The ECP directed that the matter should be referred to it along with reasons in case of any urgent posting or transfer.

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ECP to take up PTI poll case tomorrow

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has issued the cause list of cases for the coming week. The hearing of PTI intra-party election cases will be held on Dec 18 (tomorrow). The former ruling party’s counsel will continue arguments on the intra-party polls as well as on the ECP’s separate notice. Read also: PHC halts ECP decision, awaits PTI’s appeal The hearing of ECP contempt case against former PTI chairman Imran Khan and ex-PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry will be held on Dec 19. A four-member ECP bench will hear the case at Adiala Jail. The indictment proceedings will be carried out against Imran and Fawad.

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ECP issues election schedule following SC order

Shortly after the Supreme Court's directive to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to release the election schedule for the February 8, 2024 general elections, the electoral body complied on Friday night. As per the election schedule, nomination papers can be submitted to Returning Officers (ROs) from December 20 to December 22, 2023, with the names of nominated candidates set to be published on December 23. The scrutiny of nomination papers by ROs will take place from December 24 to December 30. The deadline for filing appeals against RO decisions on nomination papers is January 3, 2024, and the Appellate Tribunal is expected to decide on appeals by January 10. The publication of the revised list of candidates is scheduled for January 11, with the last date for candidate withdrawals and the final publication of the revised list set for January 12. Also read: SC suspends LHC verdict, orders ECP to issue poll schedule today The allotment of election symbols to contesting candidates is slated for January 13, leading to the culmination of the general elections on February 8. The election schedule is applicable to seats reserved for women and non-Muslims in the national and provincial assemblies of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan. The last date for submitting reserved seats nominations before the ROs is December 22, as per the official schedule. Simultaneously, the ECP has also announced the resumption of training for District Returning Officers (DROs) and Returning Officers (ROs) in preparation for the upcoming general elections. The training sessions for ROs are scheduled for December 17-18, while DROs will undergo training on December 19.

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Karachi Police bust gang robbing citizens for over two decades

Police in Karachi on Friday claimed to have busted a gang that admitted to a two-decade-long spree of robbing unsuspecting individuals exiting banks and automated teller machines (ATMs). Surprisingly, the law enforcement officials remained tight-lipped about the reasons behind the delayed apprehension of the suspects. City Zone Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amjad Hayat addressed the media, revealing that the Garden police successfully apprehended Imran Aman, the alleged mastermind, alongside his three accomplices, Shahid Saqib, Imran Chocolate, and Aamir Don. The quartet specialised in targeting citizens exiting banks and ATM booths. "Acting on intelligence, the Garden police took swift action to arrest the prime suspect, Imran Aman, and his associates. The group has been active for an astonishing 20 years," SSP Hayat stated. Read more: Gang involved in 100 abductions busted During the operation, law enforcement recovered a cache of weapons, ammunition, mobile phones, and a motorcycle reported stolen from Landhi. Shedding light on the gang's modus operandi, SSP Hayat explained that the accused systematically targeted individuals leaving banks and ATMs after withdrawing money. "Shahid Saqib played a crucial role in reconnaissance, gathering intelligence inside the bank and relaying information about potential victims to his colleagues waiting outside," SSP Hayat said. Aman, identified as the leader of the criminal outfit, also faces allegations of involvement in burglaries targeting residential properties, according to the SSP. Hayat asserted that the gang employed coded language during phone conversations, referring to a bank as an “office,” a weapon as a “card,” and the intended victim as a 'chicken.' "The accused recently targeted individuals who had just withdrawn money from a bank in Baldia town,” he further said.

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PPP questions the purpose behind NAB

 PPP spokesperson Faisal Karim Kundi has raised questions about the purpose of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), stating that the top graft buster has consistently been used for political engineering. "Earlier, NAB was filing multiple references against Nawaz Sharif, the PML-N supreme leader and former prime minister. Now, the same NAB is helping Nawaz get acquitted in these cases," Kundi stated during a press conference on Thursday. "The public should be informed whether NAB was wrong in the past or if it is wrong now. NAB is not someone’s private estate; it's a state institution," he emphasized. Kundi mentioned that the PPP has rejected proposals for imposing restrictions on the use of social media during the upcoming general elections. "Imposing restrictions on social media would impede freedom of expression. People have the full right to express their opinions and feelings," he insisted. He also confirmed Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as the PPP's candidate for prime minister, while Asif Ali Zardari would assume the presidency if the PPP comes into power. "Asif Zardari dispelled all rumors by symbolically placing a turban on Bilawal's head during their recent visit to Balochistan," he clarified. Regarding the PML-N's policies, Kundi criticized them, labeling them as "drawing-room politics." He questioned why a party claiming to be the country's major party is evading elections and discussing a two-month delay if they are indeed a significant force. "We have voiced our reservations to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) officials, advocating for a level playing field for all parties. The PPP is determined to have transparent elections on February 8. There should be no excuses to postpone these crucial elections," he asserted. He added that elections have been conducted even during wars, emphasizing against further delay in general elections. He condemned the recent incident of terrorism in DI Khan, highlighting the PPP's commitment to implementing the National Action Plan. "If the National Action Plan were enforced today, such incidents might have been prevented. We need to know who allowed these terrorists back into the country and who released them," he questioned. Touching on the recent hearing of a presidential reference regarding Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's case verdict, Kundi stressed, "Justice should be served to Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Those involved in his execution, be they bureaucrats, judges, or lawyers, should be held accountable," he concluded.

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