Pakistan on Wednesday strongly condemned yet another incidence of “highly provocative and sacrilegious remarks” made by a BJP leader against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The Foreign Office called upon the international community to take urgent cognisance of the aggravating Islamophobia in India and said it was the second time in the last three months that a senior BJP leader made disrespectful comments against the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
PTI Chairman Imran Khan has said that the UK-based publication The Guardian took his statement on the attack on controversial author Salman Rushdie “out of context”. According to the publication, Khan had condemned the attack on “The Satanic Verses” author and described it as “terrible and sad”. The Guardian quoted him as saying that the anger of Muslims cannot be taken as a justification for the assault.
The Ministry of Interior has cancelled the no-objection certificate (NOC) of ARY Communications Private Ltd, citing “adverse reports from agencies” as the reason behind the decision. Reporting on the development, ARY News’ English website called the cancellation by “the coalition government led by PML-N” an “economic murder of more than 4,000 media workers associated with the news channel”.
The biography of wicketkeeper-batter Sarfaraz Ahmed has been added to the fourth standard Urdu book. The primary school students will read about Sarfaraz, who led Pakistan towards victory in the Champions Trophy in 2017. The cricketer’s wife Khushbakht proudly announced the news on her Twitter handle by sharing the picture of fourth-grade Urdu book.
Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa has become the first Pakistani ever to be the sovereign representative of the queen of United Kingdom during the Sovereign’s Parade at the Military Academy Sandhurst. The army chief on Friday addressed a passing out parade at the Royal Military Academy as the first Pakistani dignitary who was invited as the chief guest.
According to latest reports on Friday, it has emerged that PTI has engaged a Washington-based lobbying firm to support the party’s goal of developing good ties with the United States and the Pakistani diaspora in the country. The report claims that the party is making attempts to mend ties with the Joe Biden administration after the PTI had accused US for overthrowing the Imran Khan-led government.
A joint inquiry team formed by the government detected a total of 774 social media accounts responsible for smear campaign against the military, with many of them found to be operating from India as well. The revelations were made during a session of the committee summoned by Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah for a briefing on the progress made in the case so far.
Punjab Chief Minister Parvez Elahi has advised the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leadership to disassociate itself from the anti-army statement given by Shahbaz Gill, chief of staff to PTI chairman Imran Khan. Mr Elahi asserted that Gill’s statement had done more damage than good and added that he had no right to go against the party policy.
November will be an important month of Pakistan as the decision on General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s successor will be made by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif. If the current military chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s term is not extended, then the new COAS and CJCSC will be selected from among the following senior-most lieutenant generals of the Pakistan Army.
In a country where political leaders have been outed as having received funding from Osama bin Laden, and where investigations led by the Supreme Court have found that an entire generation of politicians were bankrolled by the ISI, this matter should not trouble PTI.