The Afghan Taliban on Wednesday said there was a complete ban on activities of political parties in Afghanistan. “Political parties’ activities have been completely stopped in the country because neither do these parties have any standing in Sharia, any place in Sharia nor is any national interest attached to these parties or the nation liked them,” Interim Minister for Justice, Shaikh Maulavi Abdul Hakeem Sharae said while presenting annual report of his ministry in Kabul, according to a statement issued by the Afghan Taliban’s media outlet. The statement demonstrates that the Afghan Taliban may continue to monopolies power as a movement and have no intention of allowing political plurality in the country.
The Jaranwala police of the Faisalabad District in Punjab, have filed two terror cases against more than 600 people for ransacking and “torching Christians’ homes and a church building”. A day earlier, a violent mob of hundreds had ransacked and torched five churches while also attacking the residences of members of the Christian community. A Christian cemetery and the office of the local assistant commissioner were also vandalised. The incident had led the Punjab government to call in Rangers while 3,000 police personnel from various police units, including the Elite Force, had been deployed as well. Shame and grief rippled across Pakistan’s social media. ‘Not Jinnah’s Pakistan’ was tweeted multiple times. Actor Azekah Daniel strongly condemned the violence. Other celebrities also took to social media to condemn the horrific incident, including Mahira Khan and Shehzad Roy, who called on the state to arrest each person involved in the mob violence. After the violence, the Islamabad police has formed a “Minority Protection Unit” (MPU) comprising 70 policemen for the “protection of minority places of worship and communities”.
(Kashif Hussain, Dawn; Images Staff, Dawn; Dawn Desk, Dawn )
Armed groups of the Mengal tribe continued to exchange fire in Baluchistan’s Wadh for a second consecutive day after breaking a week-long ceasefire brokered earlier between the warring factions. The firing started in the afternoon and continued till late evening. Mortar shells and fire of heavy weapons were heard in Wadh town which created fear and harassment among the residents living on both sides of the Khuzdar-Karachi highway. “Heavy exchange of fire continued for more than two hours. Blasts were also heard in different areas of the small Wadh town,” officials said, adding that Khuzdar-Karachi national highway remained closed for traffic for several hours.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) is going to take up on August 22 deposed prime minister Imran Khan’s appeal against his conviction in the gift repository—Toshakhana—case. A division bench, comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, will also hear the PTI chief’s miscellaneous application to suspend his sentence and to grant him bail on that day. The IHC has already summoned the record of Imran’s trial at Islamabad’s District and Sessions Court (West).
(Correspondent, The Express Tribune)
Following backlash over the exclusion of Imran Khan from a video paying homage to country’s cricketing legends, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has released a “complete version” which prominently features the cricketer-turned-politician under whose leadership the country won its sole ODI World Cup in 1992. The original tribute video, posted on the country’s 77th Independence Day (Monday), was widely criticised on social media and earned the PCB a ton of flak. Wasim Akram, arguably the greatest among an entire generation of cricketers who blossomed under the tutelage of Imran, had also expressed his displeasure over the snub.
(News Desk Karachi, Cricket Pakistan)
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Opinion
Senior Diplomat and former ambassador to the US, India and China and head of UN missions in Iraq and Sudan Ashraf Jehangir Qazi gives a critical analysis of Pakistan’s Afghanistan policy in his article. AFGHANISTAN’S internal developments are of importance to its neighbors, especially Pakistan. But far more important is Pakistan’s Afghanistan policy mess which is a direct consequence of Pakistan’s political situation. According to Ashraf Jehangir Qazi the Taliban Government in Afghanistan, long considered Pakistan’s protégé, is no longer friendly.
Pakistan’s Afghanistan Policy: Dawn
