Month: October 2022

ISLAMABAD: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), Indian troops in their unabated acts of state terrorism martyred 17 Kashmiris in September.

According to the data issued by the Research Section of Kashmir Media Service on Saturday, of those martyred 10 youth were killed in fake encounters. During the month, 7 youth were critically injured due to the use of brute force by Indian police and paramilitary personnel in the territory.

At least 140 civilians including religious leaders, youth and social and political activists were arrested and most of them were booked under black laws, Public Safety Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The occupation troops also destroyed four residential houses during 162 cordon and search operations in the month.

The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) spokesman in a statement issued in Srinagar said the Indian brutalities cannot force the Kashmiris to surrender their just struggle for securing their right to self-determination. He appealed to the international community to come forward and play its role in the resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

Meanwhile, the family of illegally detained APHC leader, Altaf Ahmed Shah, who has been diagnosed with cancer, has demanded his immediate release. Altaf Ahmad Shah has been undergoing illegal detention at New Delhi’s infamous Tihar jail for the last over five years.

ISLAMABAD: PTI Chairman Imran Khan on Saturday submitted his affidavit to the Islamabad High Court in the contempt proceedings but the former premier again remained short of submitting an unconditional apology.

He said that he would fully act on what he assured the court during its previous hearing. He also said that he was ready to do whatever else the court would ask him to do in order to satisfy it. He said during the case proceedings, he came to realize that may be he had crossed the red line.

“If the judge (Zeba Chaudhry) has got the impression that I have crossed the red line, then I am ready to apologize. I had no intention to threaten the judge,” Imran said explaining that by ‘action’ he meant ‘legal action’. He said he fought for the freedom of judiciary for 26 years. He said in future he won’t say anything which would hurt the dignity of judiciary especially the lower judiciary.

Following this, the IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah said that the court would record the PTI chief’s statement and told Imran to submit an affidavit. “Submit an affidavit detailing what you have said,” the IHC CJ said. “It is your personal decision as to visit the judge in person,” the IHC said. “If you have realized [your] mistake and ready to apologize for it that is enough,” the court remarked.

The hearing was subsequently adjourned till October 3 with the court directing the PTI chief to submit an affidavit within a week. The Islamabad High Court started contempt proceedings against Imran Khan for uttering threatening words against sessions judge Zeba Chaudhry during a public rally in Islamabad on Aug 20. The judge had granted physical remand of PTI leader Shahbaz Gill. The court summoned Imran on August 31 and subsequently issued him a show-cause notice.

A day before the hearing, the former prime minister submitted a reply before the IHC wherein he expressed his willingness to “take back” his words about the judge if they were “regarded as inappropriate” and pleaded before the IHC that the judges who had agreed to initiate the case against him should consider withdrawing themselves from the bench as, according to him, they had pre-judged the matter.

However, the IHC had deemed the response to be “unsatisfactory” and asked the PTI chief to submit a “well-considered” response. Following this, Imran submitted a fresh reply in the court. In the revised response, however, Imran stopped short of rendering an unconditional apology. He stated that “I have a profound regard and respect for this honourable court and its subordinate courts and judge”.

On September 8, the IHC decided to Indict Imran, once again calling his response “unsatisfactory”. However, the IHC on Sept 22 deferred contempt proceedings against Imran Khan after he expressed his willingness to apologize to Additional District and Sessions Judge Zeba Chaudhry.

In compliance with the court orders, the PTI chief appeared on Friday before the court of Judge Zeba Chaudhry to apologize to her personally in the threat case. However, Judge Zeba was not present in the court as she was on leave, at which Imran addressed the reader and the stenographer and asked them to tell the judge that Imran came to tender apology to her.

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi, while upholding the decision of the Federal Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace, has awarded the major penalty of “Dismissal from Service” to a Director General of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and also enhanced the fine from two hundred thousand to twenty five hundred rupees.

He held that it has been established beyond any reasonable doubt that the female employee was harassed by the accused with verbal, vulgar, sexual, and demeaning comments and demands by the Appellant. The President observed that he took a strong exception and used the full force of the law when such matters were brought to light and were proven beyond doubt to ensure a safe working environment for the female gender.

He said this was aimed at unleashing their great economic potential which remained unexploited due to their fear of harassment at the workplace. The President ordered that the amount of compensation shall be recovered from arrears of pay (if any), pension emoluments or any other source (property) of the Appellant as per Section 4(i)(d) of the Protection Against the Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2010 and be given to the complainant as compensation in lieu of the hardships faced by her at the hands of the Appellant.

This landmark decision was announced after the President gave personal prolonged hearings to the accused, the complainant and their counsels, besides factoring in the evidence and recording the statements of the witnesses on record and minutely perusing the entire proceedings of the case.

ISLAMABAD: Speakers, representing international organizations and the Chinese think tanks, at an event in Beijing have expressed their resolve to cooperate with Pakistan for proactive climate action and reconstruction of flood affected areas.

The event “In Solidarity with Pakistan” was jointly organized by Pakistan Embassy in Beijing and Center for China and Globalization, to raise awareness about the recent floods in Pakistan. International organizations, Chinese think tanks, NGOs, members of Global Young Leaders Dialogue and Pakistani community attended the event.

Speaking on the occasion, Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque briefed the audience about the extent and nature of the recent unprecedented floods in Pakistan. He said it is unfortunate that despite being a low carbon emitter, Pakistan is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change. The ambassador expressed the hope that international community would remain engaged with Pakistan in the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase.