Megalomaniac

Asks Parliament to specify terms of service Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday allowed a conditional extension of the Army chief’s term for six months, during which Parliament will have to legislate on the terms of service of the top general. On Tuesday, the court temporarily suspended a government notification granting a three-year extension to Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa. A Bench, comprising Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and Justices Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel and Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, heard the case and gave a short order on Thursday. “…we, while exercising judicial restraint, find it appropriate to leave the matter to Parliament and the federal government to clearly specify the terms and conditions of service of the COAS [Chief of the Armed Staff] through an Act of Parliament and to clarify the scope of Article 243 of the Constitution in this regard,” the court said. Therefore, the current appointment of the Army chief “shall be subject to the said legislation and shall c...

Court slams government for procedural lapses in notification Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of the case regarding the extension of the tenure of Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa until Thursday. If the court decides in favour of his extension or reappointment, Gen. Bajwa will be able to continue his tenure as Army Chief. His current term ends on Thursday at midnight. Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa said the government has made the Army Chief a shuttlecock due to the procedural hiccups regarding the extension notification. Justice Khosa said that even an assistant commissioner is not notified the way the government handled the Army Chief’s extension notification. He asked the government to find a solution till Thursday to the questions raised by the court; otherwise the court will act as per its constitutional obligations. Prime Minister Imran Khan called an emergency session of the government’s legal team as well as senior Cabinet Ministers. Gen. ...

A notification for the extension of the tenure of Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javer Bajwa has been suspended till Wednesday by the Chief Justice of the Pakistan Supreme Court Asif Saeed Khosa on Tuesday. A petition by the Jurists Foundation through Riaz Hanif Rahi had been filed challenging the extension. The petitioner on Tuesday filed a withdrawal application, but the three-member Bench, comprising Chief Justice Khosa, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, rejected the withdrawal request and converted it into a suo motu under Article 184 (3) of the Constitution of Pakistan. The court suspended the notification based on technicalities. The Chief Justice maintained that the summary and approval of the Army Chief’s extension “is not correct”. On August 19, the Prime Minister’s office issued a notification saying that the Army Chief’s tenure had been extended for another term of three years from the date of completion of current tenure. Presid...

Three teenage girls have moved Lahore High Court demanding action to tackle air pollution Earlier this month, three teenagers from Lahore — Leila Alam, Laiba Siddiqi and Mishael Hayat — filed a petition in the High Court against the Punjab government for under-reporting air pollution and requesting a new policy to tackle the issue. Ms. Alam, a 13-year-old student in Grade 9, said she decided to file the petition because the government was not truthful on the severity of air pollution. “If the government refuses to acknowledge how unhealthy the air is, I don’t think the everyday citizen will really know how hazardous the air that they are breathing is or how much damage it can cause to their lungs, to their circulatory system,” she said. In the World Air Quality report 2018, Pakistan was ranked second worst for air quality in the world, after Bangladesh (India is ranked third). Lahore, Pakistan’s second city with 11 million people, is badly hit. Earlier this month, the provincial ...

Software engineer aimed to go to Turkey to meet girlfriend Two Indian nationals, one from Telangana and the other from Madhya Pradesh, were arrested by the Pakistani police for illegally entering the country, authorities have confirmed. Prashant Maidam, a software engineer from Hyderabad, and Durmi Lal, a farmer from Madhya Pradesh, were arrested in the Cholistan desert area in Bahawalpur, Punjab, last week, the police said. The Bahawalpur police registered an FIR against them under the Pakistan (Control of Entry) Act on November 14. They had crossed the border without any identification papers and proper documents, such as a valid visa and passport, said the police. Sources said Mr. Maidam told them that he was in love with a woman in Turkey and was going there through Pakistan and Afghanistan. Mr. Lal wanted to see the border and crossed over by mistake. Bahawalpur Judicial Magistrate Yazman asked the local police to travel to Multan and hand over the two Indians to the F...

A year ago when the groundbreaking ceremony of Kartarpur Corridor took place in Pakistan, the plan to turn it into a corridor for Sikh pilgrims to visit the gurdwara here seemed quite ambitious. But on November 9, the plan had turned into reality. Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the Kartarpur Corridor on Saturday. He congratulated the Sikh community on the 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak. “I didn’t know the importance of Kartarpur for the Sikh community. I only found out a year ago. Imagine if Muslims could only see Madina from a distance of 4-5 km. This is the Madina of the Sikh community,” he said. Prophet Mohammad is buried in Madina. Mr. Khan praised the message of humanity propagated by Baba Guru Nanak. Thousands of Sikh pilgrims from Pakistan, India and across the world were present at the opening. Lakhbir Singh Lodhinangal, MLA from Batala, Punjab, told The Hindu that it was the biggest wish of the Sikh community that had finally been fulfilled. “We are ...

Differences emerge in talks over PM’s resignation & fresh poll A government delegation led by Defence Minister Pervez Khattak met Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) representatives and other Opposition leaders, who were leading a sit-in in Islamabad demanding Prime Minister Imran Khan’s resignation, on Tuesday, but failed to resolve the deadlock. “So far we are holding on to our demands. Our stance is the same as before,” JUI-F leader Akram Durrani said. “We have our own stance; they [Opposition] have their own stance,” said the Defence Minister. “We are trying to find a middle ground so that both the government and the Opposition can find a way-out. On many things, we have agreed to their demands. Talks were held in very good atmosphere. We will talk to our leadership,” Mr. Khattak added. He did not say which are the demands the government has agreed to. Reports indicate that the two points on which the government did not agree were the Prime Minister’s resignation and fr...

Maulana Fazlur Rehman says the protests will continue and that Imran Khan’s government should go. As the two-day ultimatum he issued to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan expired on Sunday night, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman has said the protesters will continue the sit-in until their goals are met. “We have decided that we will not go to any tribunal or Election Commission or any court. The PTI’s (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) foreign funding case is still lying around with the Election Commission after five years. This ‘illegitimate’ ruler’s foreign funding case has not been decided, how will this Election Commission settle rigging cases?,” he said while addressing ‘Azadi March’ in the capital on Sunday. “This is a movement. After this march, we will not stop our journey… Today, we have shut down Islamabad. Tomorrow we will shut down the entire country. Today, we have a huge rally here; tomorrow we will make the entire Pakistan a rally-ground,” he said....

Islamist party leader Maulana Rehman leads thousands to capital, gives PM two-day ultimatum Tens of thousands of protesters, led by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman, took out a march in Islamabad on Friday, demanding the resignation of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. “You have two days, we cannot show more patience,” Mr. Rehman warned the Premier. If Mr. Khan doesn’t resign in two days, “he will not be able to stop people from entering the Prime Minister’s House”, he said. “Nawaz Sharif had heard this, so had Asif Zardari. Now, they [establishment] should also hear what we are saying,” said Mr. Rehman in a pointed message to the establishment. ‘Stay here’ “Only the people of Pakistan have the right to rule over Pakistan; no institution has the right to impose itself over us,” said Mr. Rehman. “Stay here my friends, do not move... they have to resign in two days, you the people will decide what your decision is. It was your vote that was snatched from yo...