Bid to cancel Minhaj registration stayed

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Monday stayed process of canceling registration of Idara Minhajul Quran and sought a reply from the Punjab government.

Organisation Secretary General Muhammad Mustafa filed a petition against a show-cause notice issued by the government for cancellation of the registration.Petitioner’s counsel argued the registrar of joint-stock companies had on Dec 20, 2014, sent a notice to the organisation and levelled charges of misusing funds for political purposes.

He said a bulletproof vehicle was purchased for organisation head Dr Tahirul Qadri and other leaders after Dr Qadri issued a ‘Fatwa’ against suicide attacks and terrorism.

The counsel said after the Model Town incident the rulers had been politically victimising the Idara Minhajul Quran and its workers. He asked the court to set aside the notice issued by the registrar and retrain the government from harassing workers of the organisation.

Justice Ijazul Ahsan suspended the impugned notice and sought a reply from the government within a fortnight.

BAIL: A Supreme Court two-judge bench on Monday dismissed bail petition of an assistant food inspector involved in defrauding a citizen.

Petitioner’s counsel argued that charges of fraud were false and the police purposely implicated his client in the case.

A state counsel, however, said inspector Muhammad Zafar defrauded a citizen of millions of rupees. He said the suspect was also found guilty in police investigation.

The bench headed by Chief Justice Nasirul Mulk dismissed the petition and police arrested the assistant food inspector.

Four soldiers killed in Kurram blast

HANGU: At least four security men were killed in an explosion targeting a convoy of security forces in Warmagai area of Kurram tribal region on Tuesday.

Security and rescue teams reached the blast site and shifted the victims to a nearby hospital. The security forces' vehicle was destroyed in the blast.

The blast site was cordoned off by security forces as a probe into the incident went underway.

Kurram is one of the most sensitive tribal areas as it borders three Afghan provinces and at one point was one of the key routes for militant movement across the border.

The region was claimed by the military to have been cleared of insurgents during an operation a couple of years ago, however, militants still carry out sectarian attacks and also target security forces occasionally.

Kurram tribal agency is adjacent to North Waziristan region where the operation Zarb-i-Azb is in progress against Taliban and other insurgent groups.

Pakistan Army's announced the grand operation named 'Zarb-i-Azb' against Taliban militants in the stronghold following a Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakisitan-claimed attack on Karachi airport and failure of peace talks between government and Taliban negotiators.

The development also comes amid Operation Khyber I which was launched in Khyber tribal agency on credible information about the presence of militants in parts of Sipah and Akkakhel areas, according to Shahab Ali Shah.

Officials say 2 bombs defused at Cairo International Airport; separate blast scares passers-by

CAIRO –  Security officials in Egypt say police defused two bombs overnight at Cairo International Airport, as a separate blast this morning in downtown Cairo scared passers-by without wounding anyone.

They say the airport bombs, one planted at the arrival hall of airport's terminal hosting EgyptAir and the other near a police patrol location, looked to be controlled remotely by mobile phone.

On Tuesday morning, officials say a sound bomb planted inside an electrical box in central Cairo exploded, wounding no one.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists.

Egypt has been gripped by turmoil since the military toppled Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in 2013. The country has faced attacks ranging from suicide bombings to near-daily small blasts from homemade bombs.

Chinese President to attend Pak annual military parade

Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to be invited as the chief guest at an annual military parade in Pakistan on its March 23 national day, media reports said.

Sources said that Pakistan will hold the occasion after seven years on its national day and it is expected to be held near Islamabad.

Last time the military parade was held on March 23, 2008 when General Pervez Musharraf was the president of Pakistan, reports said.

Taliban threaten girls school in Karachi

Karachi- Administration of Government Girls Secondary School located in the area of Sachal, Karachi received a threatening letter from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The letter threatened to blast the school today.

The letter was written in Sindhi language warning to close the school. The school management announced a holiday. The letter also warned the staff against notifying the police or security agencies. The school administration has appealed the government to beef-up the school’s security immediately.

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IO summoned in Christian couple lynching case

LAHORE - The Lahore High Court on Monday summoned the investigation officer by February 10, along with relevant record while hearing bail application filed by seven accused of lynching Christian Couple in Kot Radha Kishan for their alleged involvement in blasphemy of Holy Quran in November last year.

The petitioners through their counsel told the judge that police had implicated them in the case on the information provided them by their opponents in the area.

They said they had nothing to do with the lynching of couple for any reason as they were not present there when the incident took place.

On it, the judge summoned the investigation officer by Feb 10, along with relevant record.

Sajjad Masih and his wife Shama Bibi – brick kiln workers from Chak-59 of Kot Radha Kishan, Kasur – were brutally killed on November 4, by a mob of over 400 people for allegedly desecrating the Holy Quran.

Police had submitted challan of over 50 people in Anti-Terrorism Court.

PML-N to hold interviews of party candidates for Senate elections.

ISLAMABAD - The    Parliamentary Board of ruling Pakistan Muslim League –N will hold interviews of candidates from Punjab and other provinces for award of the party tickets for the upcoming Senate elections.The board in its meeting to be held in the Party Secretariat here on Wednesday will interview the candidates from Punjab province for party tickets. According to a press statement issued by the Party Secretariat, the interviews of the candidates from rest of the provinces for party tickets will be held on February 5.

Hand grenade hurled at Gulshan-e-Iqbal school.

KARACHI: Miscreants hurled a hand grenade on Tuesday morning around 6:45 a.m at a school located in block 7, Gulshan-e-Iqbal partially damaging the boundary wall of the school with no injury and any other major material loss.
School guard and other witnesses said motorcyclists wearing helmets threw the explosive material.
District administration alongwith Police and Rangers immediately reached the site.DIG Police, Karachi East, Munir A Shaikh said the explosion occurred on a road located between two branches of a private school and fortunately no loss was registered while further investigation would be carried out with the help of CCTV recordings.

The school that starts at eight witnessed routine arrival of the students reaching by school vans and private cars.

Execution of terrorists: unknown assailants launch series of cracker attack in Karachi

KARACHI: Unknown assailants launched a series of cracker attack following the execution of Azam and Attaullah in Central Jail, TheNewsTribe.com reported on Tuesday.

The most recent attack took place in SITE area near rangers Mobile but no one was hurt.

Earlier, unknown men hurled a cracker at a private school in Gulshan-e-Iqbal block 7.

According to reports, the school was closed when the cracker was thrown. The assailants also threw a threatening letter.

The letter warned that if Police did not stop killing of their workers in fake encounters and the government did not stop the execution of terrorists they would attack schools again.

Director General (DG) Rangers also visited the school. Children, along with parents, came to school with their spirits high despite the threat.

Two hanged for killing city doctor

 Attaullah alias Qasim and Mohammad Azam alias Sharif of a banned organisation were hanged to death on Tuesday morning at Karachi Central Prison for killing Dr Ali Raza Peerani in June 2004 in city’s Soldier Bazaar area.

Both were awarded the death penalty by an Anti Terrorism Court on July 6, 2004, however, managed to avert execution for more than 10 years due to moratorium placed on executions in 2008. The convicts shifted to Sukkur prison from Karachi in 2012 due to security reasons were few days ago brought back to the Central Prison of the metropolis, on Sindh High Court orders, for final implementation of the much delayed punishment this morning. On Monday, their application seeking suspension of their death warrants was also dismissed by the court.

According to jail authorities, the convicts were adequately examined by the jail doctors before being hanged, while their bodies were duly checked and handed over to their relatives. Families of both Attaullah and Azam were residents of Qayyumabad, Korangi area. Strict security measures were taken inside and around the prison since Monday. Heavy contingents of law enforcement agencies were deployed at all roads leading towards the central prison to avert any untoward incident.

Two more convicted sectarian killers hanged in Karachi

 

KARACHI: Two more convicted terrorists affiliated with Lashkar-i-Jhangvi were hanged on Tuesday morning at the central prison in Karachi.

Attaullah alias Qasim and Mohammad Azam alias Sharif were sentenced to death for killing Dr Ali Raza Peerani in June 2001 in Karachi's Soldier Bazaar area.

Strict security measures were taken inside and around the prison. All roads leading towards the central prison were also blocked and heavy contingents of law enforcement agencies were deployed to avert any untoward incident.

Reaching out: PTI chief strikes a conciliatory tone

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) adopted a more conciliatory tone on Monday when he called again for a judicial commission investigation to confirm whether or not the 2013 general elections were rigged, raising at the same time the possibility that his party had acted on “a misunderstanding”.

“It should be clear whether there was rigging in general elections or was it our misunderstanding,” PTI chief Imran Khan said after a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sardar Raza, an ex-judge. “Our struggle is for the future of democracy as we want to rectify the electoral system in the country,” said Imran. The PTI chief also signalled his willingness to accept the probe results even if Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) might emerge victorious again.

However, Imran pointed out that the government is saying that the findings of the election tribunals should not come before the judicial commission — a clear sign that it wants to avoid setting up a commission.  While talking about his meeting with the CEC, Imran said that he took up the issue of delay in decisions of election tribunals.

Referring to the case of NA-122, the constituency where National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq defeated PTI chairman, Imran said that “the Lahore High Court (LHC) had issued a stay order for the last one and half years which is against the law.”

The result of NA-122 will come during the month of February and “in case it is proven that I was wrong, I will accept that before the nation,” said Imran.

An independent election commission is the goal for which PTI will continue its struggle, in addition to aiming for an independent judiciary and an independent media, the PTI chairman is said to have told the CEC. “Our struggle is for an independent judiciary for real democracy in the country,” he added.

The PTI also asked the CEC for voting rights for overseas Pakistanis for which the commission has set up a task force. Electronic voting also came up in the meeting. The PTI chairman also asked the CEC for an early decision regarding NA-122 along with the proposal of suspending the NA speaker till the decision is announced.

When asked about PTI’s future strategy in case the judicial commission is not constituted, Imran said, “We will come out on the streets again.” While referring to the recent terrorist attack in Shikarpur, Imran clarified: “We do not want to create hurdles for the government in fighting terrorism.” But, he said, that if justice is not served and all avenues are closed “we would have to come out on the streets again”.

Responding to a question about Senate elections, Imran said that “voting in Senate elections should be open” as members were selling their votes due to secret balloting. “We are working on making the system transparent in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P),” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 3^rd, 2015.