LAHORE: Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif receives a subdued welcome from close relatives when he arrived home in Lahore on September 19, along with his daughter and son-in-law, following their release from jail. Security agencies had banned leaders and workers from his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party and other supporters from gathering at the airport to greet him. citing to security concerns.
Sharif, his daughter Maryam Nawaz and son-in-law Safdar Awan flew to Lahore from Islamabad after Islamabad High Court, as part of their appeal, suspended the verdict of an accountability court that in July convicted them in a corruption case and jailed them for 10 years, seven years and one year respectively. They were accompanied on the flight by the former PM’s brother, Shahbaz Sharif, the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly.
The court ordered the trio to submit bail bonds worth PKR 500,000 ($4,000) each as a pre-bail condition.
News of their release was received with jubilation among PML-N leaders and workers across the country, especially his hometown of Lahore. Supporters started arriving at the party’s Model Town office in Lahore city at noon. where Sharif’s nephew, Hamza Shahbaz, greeted the rejoicing crowd. The workers chanted slogans in support of the deposed premier and the Sharif family. Many handed out sweets across the city in the spirit of celebration.
“It is great day that the court has directed to release our leader who always fought for the country and his countrymen,” said Shahbaz as he addressed party workers. “Mian Nawaz Sharif is a clean man and will face the cases courageously.” He added that it was deplorable that Sharif was prevented from being at the side of his wife, Kulsoom, when she died in London on September 11 after a battle with cancer.
Local party chiefs in a number of cities gave passionate speeches in support of their leader.
Imran Nazir, PML-N’s general secretary for Lahore city, said: “Nawaz Sharif’s release brings fright for his opponents.”
Shaiesta Malik, the president of PML-N’s women’s wing, told workers at the party’s Naseerabad area office: “It is time to fight for what is just, what is right.”
In Gawalmandi area of Lahore, Sharif’s ancestral home, PML-N supporters took to the streets to celebrate his release and congratulate each other, distributing sweets and chanting slogans hailing him, many with banners in their hands.
“Kulsoom left for a heavenly abode waiting for her husband and the court realized now that there is no proof against him, said Bilqees Pervaiz, a staunch supporter of Sharif, with tears in her eyes. “Those who unjustly put Nawaz Sharif through this turmoil will have to be answerable for their actions.”
The police made special security arrangements for the arrival of the Sharifs in Lahore and their journey to the family home in Jati Umra. The flight carrying them landed at Allama Iqbal International Airport, where Sharif and his aides were taken to Hajj Terminal instead of the regular exit gates. They were welcomed there by Hamza Shahbaz and other relatives, then taken to Jati Umra in bullet-proof vehicles.
Several hundred party workers gathered at the Hajj terminal gates but were not allowed to stage a procession or rally. They shouted slogans when the vehicles carrying Sharif and the others appeared, and showered them with flower petals.
While most people were banned from entering the Hajj Terminal for security reasons, PML-N leaders Pervaiz Malik, Shaiesta Malik, Khawaja Iman Nazir, City Mayor Mubashar Javed, Khawaja Salman, Mian Naseer and a few others were allowed in.
The Sharifs were driven to Jati Umra on the Ring Road, rather than interior city roads. A few hundred party workers had gathered at the residence but were prevented from greeting their leader.
Nawaz Sharif and daughter arrive in Lahore after court suspends jail sentence
Nawaz Sharif and daughter arrive in Lahore after court suspends jail sentence
- Islamabad High Court suspended the verdict of an accountability court in a corruption case that had put former PM, his daughter Maryam and son-in-law Safdar Awan behind bars
- Security agencies prevented PML-N leaders and supporters from gathering in large numbers to welcome the Sharifs home
ICC to decide fate of Pakistan’s Champions Trophy on Friday
- India has declined to play in Pakistan over security concerns, which the hosts have dismissed
- Last year, when Pakistan hosted Asia Cup, India’s matches were played outside the country
KARACHI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) will meet this week to determine the destiny of next year’s Champions Trophy after India refused to play in host nation Pakistan, a spokesman said Tuesday.
Earlier this month, the ICC informed the Pakistan Cricket Board that India would not tour Pakistan for the eight-team tournament, leaving the fate of the event hanging in the balance.
The nuclear-armed neighbors have fought three wars since being carved out of the subcontinent’s partition in 1947 and that rivalry is often reflected on the cricket field.
A spokesman for the ICC based in Dubai told AFP they could “confirm an ICC meeting on Friday” where the issue will be on the agenda, without providing further details.
The PCB has already rejected proposals that would allow India to play in a neutral third country, insisting the full schedule from February 19 to March 9 must be staged on their turf.
India’s cricket board has not commented on the tournament.
Deteriorating political ties mean bitter rivals India and Pakistan have not played a bilateral cricket series for over a decade — squaring off only in ICC multi-nation events.
Pakistan suffered a years-long drought of matches at home as teams refused to visit after a 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore. International play only fully resumed in 2020.
When Pakistan hosted last year’s Asia Cup, India’s matches were played outside the country.
But Pakistani cricket chiefs have rejected security fears for the Champions Trophy, pointing to their recent successful hosting of top teams including Australia, England, and South Africa.
The Champions Trophy will be the first ICC event staged in Pakistan since it co-hosted the 1996 World Cup with India and Sri Lanka.
Government hopes for calm as Imran Khan’s party says eight dead in Islamabad clashes
- PTI workers retreat from the capital where they planned a sit-in after police, paramilitary launches operation
- Interior minister says Khan’s wife and KP chief minister are ‘on the run,’ PTI does not mention their location
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi voiced optimism for normalcy in Islamabad early Wednesday as former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s supporters withdrew following intense clashes with police and paramilitary Rangers, with his party claiming at least eight protesters were killed.
The unrest unfolded as police and Rangers launched an operation to disperse Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) protesters who aimed to stage a sit-in near parliament and key government installations, demanding the release of Khan, who has been in prison for over a year.
Led by Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister, Ali Amin Gandapur, the protest march began on November 24 with a “final call” by the ex-premier to his supporters, with many of them vowing not return until Khan was freed.
Speaking to the media, Naqvi said the protesters had fled, adding that Bibi and Gandapur were also “on the run.”
“You saw them fleeing— thousands, not just one or two or three,” he said, referring to the protesters.
“For us, the most important thing is to restore all the roads in Islamabad that were blocked. Reopen mobile phone and Internet services. By tomorrow, you will find the roads operational,” he added.
Naqvi praised the Rangers for their “amazing performance” and urged Khan’s party to reconsider its approach.
“How many times do you intend to repeat such actions,” he asked. “Please, stop now. Today alone, the stock exchange dropped by 3,500 points. Hopefully, tomorrow will bring a new day with a fresh perspective.”
In a separate news conference, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar accused the PTI of suffering a “major political failure,” saying their leaders came to free Khan but ended up with many of their workers arrested.
“This wasn’t a final call,” Tarar remarked. “It was a missed call.”
“This has become a major political failure for them because their intentions were not right,” he continued. “They have suffered significant losses and will not be able to recover from this.”
Tarar further alleged that PTI’s protest aimed to disrupt the visit of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who is on a three-day visit to Islamabad, and damage the country’s economy.
“Their schemes have been reduced to dust,” he added.
PTI Alleges ‘Massacre’
Meanwhile, PTI accused the government of using excessive force against its supporters. In a strongly worded social media post, the party described the crackdown as a “massacre” by the state.
“A massacre has unfolded in Pakistan at the hands of security forces... firing live rounds with the intent to kill as many people as possible. Pakistan is experiencing its darkest hour since the massacre in East Pakistan in 1971,” the party wrote.
The PTI claimed “dozens” of its supporters were killed in a separate statement, adding it had identified eight victims so far.
At least six people, including four paramilitary soldiers, were reported to have died before the Tuesday night raid was launched.
In an appeal to Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, the party called for suo motu action and murder charges against Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the interior minister, and police chiefs in Islamabad and Punjab.
“Dozens of unarmed and innocent workers were shot dead on the orders of the fascist regime,” the PTI said in its statement.
It added that the party planned to review the situation with its leadership, including Khan, to decide on its next steps.
None of the PTI statements share the current status and location of Bibi and Gandapur. However, some media reports said they had safely reached Mansehra after leaving Islamabad when the security force’s operation began.
A day earlier, Amnesty International urged the Pakistan government to ensure the rights of protesters and rescind alleged “shoot-on-sight” orders.
“The severe restrictions on assembly, movement, and mobile and Internet services, as well as arbitrary detentions of thousands of protesters across Pakistan, particularly in Islamabad, are a grave violation of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, movement, and expression,” the organization said on X, formerly Twitter.
Threats from Middle East conflict affecting Pakistan maritime security needs — naval chief
- Says Iran’s standoff with US and Israel may manifest into “precarious situation” for ships plying along Sea Lines of Communication
- Pakistan has recently inducted PNS Babur and PNS Hunain, two state-of-the-art warships, into its fleet to enhance maritime security
KARACHI: Pakistani Naval Chief Admiral Naveed Ashraf said this week growing regional threats due to the conflict in the Middle East had necessitated a “robust, adaptive, and technologically advanced” navy and pushed Islamabad to reevaluate its maritime security needs.
Pakistan has recently inducted PNS Babur and PNS Hunain, two state-of-the-art warships, into its fleet as part of a broader effort to enhance its maritime security and operational readiness.
In an interview with the Naval News website, Admiral Ashraf explained the effects on naval technologies of a changing regional geopolitical environment due to the “ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict with its butterfly effect in Yemen and Iran.”
“The already volatile maritime security environment coupled with a diverse range of traditional and non-traditional maritime threats necessitates a robust, adaptive, and technologically advanced Navy with well-trained HR,” he said.
“Therefore, since assuming command as Chief of the Naval Staff, the most pressing challenge was to boost combat readiness through optimal utilization of resources and completion of ongoing Projects under financial constraints in order to boost the Pakistan Navy’s prowess in the increasingly complex maritime security environment in the region.”
Admiral Ashraf said Pakistan was in the midst of complex geo-political and geo-economic competition prevailing in the region and its maritime security was intertwined with the maritime environment in the Indian Ocean, which was rapidly transforming.
“In our immediate neighborhood, long-drawn instability in Afghanistan simmers and continues to impinge upon regional security. On our eastern side, India is disturbing regional peace by blatantly provoking its neighbors,” the officer said.
“On our Western flank, Iran’s standoff with the US and Israel may manifest into a precarious situation for the shipping plying along the international Sea Lines of Communication (SLOCs).”
The ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, with a spillover in the maritime arena after missile strikes by Houthis on merchant traffic and counter strikes on the Yemen mainland by the US-led West, had created conditions for enhanced ERF presence in the region, Ashraf said, referring to Engine Reliability Fix (ERF), a Naval Aviation Enterprise initiative that aims to improve the lifespan of engines on various aviation platforms.
“Access to shore-based missiles and remotely operated vehicles to the warring groups is a serious threat to SLOCs transiting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden,” he added.
In the non-traditional domain, maritime terrorism, piracy, drug trafficking, gun running and human smuggling were other challenges, Admiral Ashraf said, describing Pakistan’s regional maritime security as an “ominous hybrid mix of traditional and non-traditional threats.”
“Operationally, we believe in hybrid approach that combines manned and unmanned systems for naval operations,” he added.
“This strategy enables us to leverage the strengths of both types of platforms, optimizing operational flexibility and effectiveness. By integrating unmanned technologies with traditional manned systems, what I have observed is that operational gaps have been duly addressed, especially with regards to surveillance while substantially cutting repair/ maintenance and operating costs.”
Pakistan says over 24,000 Hajj applications received so far for 2025 pilgrimage
- Saudi Arabia has allotted Pakistan a total quota of 179,210 pilgrims for the upcoming Hajj pilgrimage
- Quota of 5,000 has been allocated this year for overseas Pakistanis on “first-come-first-served basis”
ISLAMABAD: Over 24,000 Hajj applications by Pakistani pilgrims had been received by designated banks by Tuesday, Radio Pakistan reported, as the nation prepares for the annual pilgrimage slated to be held in June next year.
Saudi Arabia has allotted Pakistan a total quota of 179,210 pilgrims for the upcoming Hajj pilgrimage, to be divided equally between the government and private schemes. Around 15 designated Pakistani banks started receiving applications for Hajj 2025 from intending pilgrims on Monday this week.
The deadline to file Hajj applications is Dec. 3 while the draw for the government scheme will be held on Dec. 6.
“Receiving Hajj applications under the Government Scheme, through designated banks, is gaining momentum,” Radio Pakistan reported.
“Today, four thousand Hajj applications were received, bringing the tally to twenty-four thousand, two hundred and sixty-six.”
A quota of 5,000 has been allocated for overseas Pakistanis on a “first-come-first-served basis,” the religious affairs ministry said on Monday.
The ministry announced the country’s Hajj 2025 policy earlier this month, according to which pilgrims can pay fees for the annual pilgrimage in installments for the first time.
Under the government scheme, the first installment of Hajj dues, amounting to Rs200,000 ($717), has to be deposited along with the Hajj application, while a second installment of Rs400,000 ($1,435) must be deposited within ten days of the balloting. The remaining amount has to be deposited by Feb. 10 next year.
On Sunday, Pakistan’s religious affairs ministry said it had launched the “Pak Hajj 2025” mobile application to guide and facilitate pilgrims. The app is available for both Android and iPhone users.
Ex-PM Imran Khan party says wife, key aide not under arrest as Pakistan launches ‘operation’
- Local media widely reported vehicles carrying Bushra Khan and Gandapur left Islamabad and entered Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- Interior minister says PM has ruled out talks with protesters demanding ex-PM Imran Khan’s release, six including four troops killed
ISLAMABAD: A spokesperson for jailed ex-premier Imran Khan said on Tuesday Bushra Khan, the former PM’s wife, and key party leader Ali Amin Gandapur, who were leading demonstrations in Islamabad to demand Khan’s release, had left a protest caravan but were safe amid widespread media reports they had been arrested.
At least six people, including four paramilitary soldiers and two protesters, were killed during clashes between security forces and protesters who made it on Monday night to the edge of Islamabad’s highly fortified red zone, home to key government and diplomatic buildings, before being pushed back by hundreds of security forces, according to Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
“We are trying to secure Bushra Bibi and Ali Amin for the next few hours because we have credible sources that the law enforcement plans to arrest them with a heavy hand,” Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari, a spokesman for the PTI party told Arab News when asked if Bushra and Gandapur had left the protest caravan. He confirmed they had not been arrested.
Bukhari declined to disclose where the two protest leaders were but confirmed that their protest caravan, which was nearing the D-Chowk public square in the red zone, had been pushed further back to the capital’s Chongi 26 area by “hundreds” of security officials.
Two security officials, declining to be named, told Arab News an “operation” had been launched against the PTI protest, declining further details.
Pakistani local media widely reported that police chased cars carrying Bushra and Gandapur, but their vehicles entered Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a northwestern province where PTI is in power and where the federal government does not have jurisdiction.
Supporters of Khan’s PTI on Tuesday reached D-Chowk for a “do or die” sit-in that they say will go on until Khan is freed from prison.
The former premier has been jailed since August last year and faces a slew of charges from corruption to terrorism that he says are politically motivated to keep him behind bars and away from politics.
Speaking to reporters, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi ruled out talks with protesters.
“In today’s meeting, the clear-cut decision of the prime minister and others is that there will be no talks with these protesters,” Naqvi said after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met his cabinet and other top officials on Tuesday evening.
Information Minister Ataullah Tarar said the government had agreed to offer the protesters space on the outskirts of Islamabad to hold their protest and would have facilitated them in their activities.
“But why do they want to go to D-Chowk?” the information minister asked. “Because they want to cause damage to the life and property of Islamabad’s citizens. They have among them Afghan nationals, terrorists, dacoits.”
In a message shared with supporters from jail by his team, Khan, 72, urged his followers to stay peaceful but to stand firm till the end.
“My message for my team is to fight until the last ball is bowled. We will not back down until our demands are met!”
LOCKDOWN
As thousands of rally goers left for Islamabad on Sunday in protest caravans, authorities shut down major highways leading to the capital and used shipping containers to block major roads and streets inside the city. Mobile Internet links and apps like WhatsApp have been down since the weekend and schools have been closed for several days in the capital and the nearby garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Last week, the district administration also banned public gatherings in Islamabad for two months, and on Monday, the interior ministry invoked Article 245, calling in the army to maintain law and order.
On Tuesday afternoon, protest leader Ali Amin Gandapur urged protesters to camp at the D-Chowk square and not advance further into the red zone.
“D-Chowk means D-Chowk,” the chief minister told supporters from atop a truck en route to the public square. “Beyond that, as long as Imran Khan’s orders, Imran Khan’s instructions are not given, we will not go beyond that area and we will respect his instructions.”
Amnesty International called on the Pakistan government to protect and ensure the rights of protesters and “immediately rescind the ‘shoot-on-sight’ orders that provide undue and excessive powers to the military.”
“The severe restrictions on assembly, movement and mobile and Internet services as well as arbitrary detentions of thousands of protesters across Pakistan, particularly in Islamabad, are a grave violation of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, movement and expression,” the rights group said on X.
