Eid Al-Adha 2024: Pakistani TV channels to air special programming during three-day holiday

The combination of photos shows posters of special programs scheduled for transmission on Pakistani TV channels on Eid Al-Adha 2024 holidays. (Photo courtesy: ARY Digital/Instagram)
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Updated 16 June 2024
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Eid Al-Adha 2024: Pakistani TV channels to air special programming during three-day holiday

  • Television remains a major source of entertainment despite increase in the number of film productions
  • TV channels will air telefilms on Eid featuring artists like Ahsan Khan, Feroze Khan and Arsalan Naseer

KARACHI: As Muslims around the world prepare to celebrate Eid Al-Adha, marking the culmination of the Hajj pilgrimage to Makkah, Pakistani television channels are planning to air some fun content for viewers’ consumption during the three-day holiday announced by the government beginning next week.
Television remains a major source of entertainment for most Pakistanis, especially during Eid and other national holidays, with drama serials and game shows being far more accessible than film productions. This holds true despite the recent increase in the number and special launches of film productions.
Arab News has compiled a list of at least six new telefilms making their way to the small screen to entertain people celebrating Eid.

Tere Naam Ka Tattoo




A poster of the TV show "Tere Naam Ka Tattoo" scheduled for transmission on Pakistani TV channel ARY Digital on Eid Al-Adha 2024 holidays.(Photo courtesy: ARY Digital/Instagram)

Content creator turned actor Arslan Naseer, who is making waves with his character in the ongoing drama ‘Radd,’ and new-age actress Sahar Hashmi will be starring in the Eid special telefilm ‘Tere Naam Ka Tattoo.’
It’s a romantic comedy, according to Naseer, who plays the role of the male protagonist Ahsan.
“He is a hopeless romantic who is in denial of his breakup,” Naseer told Arab News while explaining his character in the production.
Written by Hasan Inam, the telefilm is directed by Muhammad Iftikhar Iffi.
Naseer said it was a story of two individuals going through a rough patch who eventually find comfort in each other after being betrayed by their former love interests.
“Tere Naam Ka Tattoo is a fresh story,” he added. “It’s not our typical Bakra Eid content. It features a fresh onscreen couple and should be fun to watch.”

Pyaar Tou Warh Gaya




A screengrab from the TV show "Pyaar Tou Warh Gaya" scheduled for transmission on Pakistani TV channel Geo TV on Eid Al-Adha 2024 holidays.(Photo courtesy: Har Pal Geo/Instagram)

The Ahsan Khan and Amar Khan-starrer ‘Pyaar Tou Warh Gaya’ is described as a “very fun, Eid entertainer,” according to Amar.
Amar plays the female lead opposite Khan, who has a double role in the telefilm. He is the husband of the female lead while also disguising as a woman as his second avatar.
Amar plays the role of Khan’s naive wife who wants to know everything. However, she said, she gets puzzled when she learns the truth.
“The audience’s response to the first teaser of the telefilm has been really interesting,” she told Arab News. “Some people are comparing it to ‘dream girl.’“
“Viewers must watch it for fits of laughter this Eid Al-Adha,” she continued, adding the cast included Sidra Niazi, Behroze Sabzwari, and Adnan Jaffer, in addition to herself and Khan.
Written by debutant Shakeel Arsalan, it has been directed by Ali Faizan.

Jodi Ban Gayi




A screengrab from the TV show "Jodi Ban Gayi" scheduled for transmission on Pakistani TV channel Geo TV on Eid Al-Adha 2024 holidays.(Photo courtesy: Har Pal Geo/Instagram)

The Feroze Khan and Sehar Khan-starrer telefilm ‘Jodi Ban Gayi’ will also hit the small screen this Eid Al-Adha. Airing on the first day of Eid, the telefilm offers a fresh pair in never-seen-before characters.
“This is the most exciting aspect of the telefilm,” director Syed Ramish Rizvi said in a conversation with Arab News.
“It’s a romantic comedy that highlights there is no right age for marriage as long the mindset of two individuals align,” he added.
The cast includes Saba Faisal and Mehmood Akhtar in key roles.
“The storytelling and cast are the highlight of the project,” Rizvi said. “Feroze Khan hasn’t done a light-hearted character like this before.”

Tamanna Ki Aarzu




A poster of the TV show "Tamanna Ki Aarzu" scheduled for transmission on Pakistani TV channel ARY Digital on Eid Al-Adha 2024 holidays.(Photo courtesy: ARY Digital/Instagram)

Muneeb Butt and Madiha Imam are coming together for an Eid Al-Adha telefilm, titled ‘Tamanna Ki Aarzu.’
“It’s a 40-minute comedy tele-play that revolves around the theme of property,” Imam told Arab News.
The story, according to her, highlights how women feel insecure in financial terms after their marriage.
Imam plays the role of an unconventional woman who is straightforward and vocal against injustices.
“She is more of a tomboy,” she said.
“It’s a comic, light-hearted play that will make viewers reflect on many things,” Imam continued. “It has a very subliminal, quiet message in it. It also promises a good time with friends and family this Eid Al-Adha.”

Wo Saat Din




A poster of the TV show "Wo Saat Din" scheduled for transmission on Pakistani TV channel Hum TV Pakistan on Eid Al-Adha 2024 holidays.(Photo courtesy: Hum TV Pakistan/Instagram)

The telefilm titled ‘Wo Saat Din,’ starring Usama Khan and Alizeh Shah in lead roles, will hit television screens on the third day of Eid.
It has an ensemble cast including Samina Ahmed and Fazila Qazi while it is written by Saima Akram Chaudhry of ‘Suno Chanda’ fame.
Chaudhry described the story as one in which a woman tries to keep relationships intact.
“There is a budding love story amidst the situation that becomes life-changing for the families involved,” Chaudhry told Arab News.
Khan, who plays the male protagonist in the telefilm, shared it was signature Saima Akram Chaudhry’s family-oriented play.
“Still, it has a unique story which will be entertaining to watch for viewers on Eid Al-Adha,” he said.

Love Hai Mushkil




A poster of the TV show "Love Hai Mushkil" scheduled for transmission on Pakistani TV channel ARY Digital on Eid Al-Adha 2024 holidays.(Photo courtesy: ARY Digital/Instagram)

‘Love Hai Mushkil’ is described as a “fun, Eid special telefilm,” according to the official Instagram handle of the channel airing it on Eid.
It features Ali Rehman Khan and Mah-e-Nur Haider in lead roles, alongside Hina Bayat and Javed Sheikh. Written by Misbah Ali Syed, Love Hai Mushkil is directed by Kashif Saleem.
Going by the teaser, it seems to be a conventional romantic comedy in which hate between the guy and the girl turns into lasting love. The two individuals who constantly fight and express dislike toward one another eventually fall in love.


Pakistan president approves judges’ transfer to Islamabad High Court amid judiciary row 

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Pakistan president approves judges’ transfer to Islamabad High Court amid judiciary row 

  • News reports say government aims to appoint one of the transferred judges as Islamabad High Court’s chief justice
  • Islamabad Bar Council criticizes move as “affront to the independence of the judiciary,” undermines rights of legal fraternity

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari this week approved the transfer of three judges from the high courts of Sindh, Balochistan and Lahore to the Islamabad High Court (IHC), despite opposition from five IHC judges who had warned that the decision would not be in line with the constitution. 

As per a notification from the Ministry of Law and Justice on Saturday, Zardari approved the transfers of Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar from the Lahore High Court (LHC), the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro and the Balochistan High Court’s (BHC) Justice Muhammad Asif to the IHC. 

Local media reports had stated the government was considering transferring Justice Dogar as it was considering elevating him to the post of IHC chief justice. Reports said incumbent IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq is expected to be elevated to the Supreme Court. 

Five of the 10 IHC judges formally opposed Justice Dogar’s transfer on Friday. In a letter addressed to the chief justices of the Supreme Court, IHC, LHC and SHC, the judges said that if the decision to transfer the judge was to consider him as IHC chief justice, it would be “fraud on the constitution.”

In a notification released on Saturday, the Ministry of Law and Justice announced:

“In exercise of the powers conferred under clause I of Article 200 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is pleased to transfer:

Mr. Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, judge from the Lahore High Court to the Islamabad High Court, Mr. Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro judge from the Sindh High Court to the Islamabad High Court and Justice Muhammad Asif judge from the Balochistan High Court to the Islamabad High Court.”

Pakistan’s constitution empowers the president to transfer a judge from one high court to another after the concerned judge consents to the decision. The president can approve the transfer after consulting the chief justice of Pakistan and the chief justice of both high courts.

The Islamabad Bar Council unanimously rejected the president’s decision in a statement on Saturday. 

“This decision is an affront to the independence of the judiciary and undermines the rights and representation of the legal fraternity in Islamabad,” the council wrote in a press release. 

The council said it has convened an Emergent General House Session at 11:00 am on Sunday, along with the Cabinets of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association and the Islamabad District Bar Association, to deliberate on the “future course of action.” 

“The Islamabad Bar Council urges the legal fraternity to unite in this critical time to uphold the sanctity of the judiciary and protect the interests of the Islamabad’s legal practitioners,” it added. 


Pakistan’s FIA says key facilitator of Morocco boat tragedy arrested

Updated 02 February 2025
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Pakistan’s FIA says key facilitator of Morocco boat tragedy arrested

  • Several Pakistanis were on board migrant ship that sank off Morocco’s coast this month
  • FIA says suspect Abdul Ghaffar involved in human smuggling in Mauritania, Burkina Faso

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) this week announced it had arrested a human smuggler who was the main facilitator of the Morocco boat tragedy in which several Pakistanis were killed this month. 

Pakistan’s foreign office confirmed earlier this month that a migrant boat with several Pakistanis had capsized near the coast of Morocco en route to Spain. According to Moroccan authorities, 36 people were rescued from the vessel, which had departed Mauritania on Jan. 2. The boat had 86 migrants on board, including 66 Pakistanis, minority rights group Walking Borders said. 

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had instructed the government to take stern action against human smugglers involved in sending desperate Pakistani citizens on dangerous journeys to Europe via sea. 

“The main facilitator of the Morocco boat accident, Abdul Ghaffar, was arrested at Islamabad Airport yesterday,” a statement from the FIA said on Saturday, adding that it has traced the gang of human smugglers involved in the incident. 

The investigation agency said Ghaffar had been living in Mauritania since 2023 and had facilitated sending several Pakistanis to Europe. It said the accused’s father, Muhammad Sarfraz and close relative Munir Ahmed are also involved in human trafficking in Mauritania since 2018. 

FIA said it had nabbed Ghaffar when he arrived in Islamabad on Friday with seven passengers. After being identified by the passengers, he was taken into custody and shifted to Faisalabad. 

“Important evidence was recovered from Adul Ghaffar, the agent involved in human trafficking,” the FIA said. 

The agency said it has evidence Ghaffar was in contact with an African human smuggler named Abu Bakar. It said upon initial investigation the FIA found out that Ghaffar and his accomplices were actively involved in human smuggling in the African countries of Mauritania and Burkina Faso.

“The suspects helped Pakistanis onto boats by luring them with promises of sending them to Europe, which resulted in the deaths of several Pakistanis,” the agency said. 

The FIA said a case has been registered against Ghaffar and further investigations are underway. The agency said it expected more arrests after extracting information from the suspect. 

“Strict legal action will be taken against smugglers who play with innocent lives,” the FIA vowed. 

The Morocco boat tragedy highlighted the perilous journeys many migrants, particularly Pakistanis, undertake due to conflict and economic instability in their home country.

In 2023, hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel sank in international waters off the southwestern Greek town of Pylos.

It was among the deadliest boat disasters ever recorded in the Mediterranean Sea.


Pakistan anti-graft body files reference against property tycoon over illegal transfer of Karachi land

Updated 02 February 2025
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Pakistan anti-graft body files reference against property tycoon over illegal transfer of Karachi land

  • Malik Riaz Hussain and others are accused of having over 7,000 acres of government land transferred illegally to Bahria Town Karachi
  • The development comes days after National Accountability Bureau said it had initiated process to seek Hussain’s extradition from UAE

KARACHI: Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has filed a reference against real estate tycoon, Malik Riaz Hussain, and 32 other individuals over illegal transfer of government lands for a mega project in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, a NAB spokesperson said on Saturday.
Hussain, who currently lives in Dubai, is one of Pakistan’s wealthiest and most influential businessmen and the country’s largest private employers. He is best known as the chairman of M/s Bahria Town, which claims to be Asia’s largest private real estate developer and has projects in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and other cities.
NAB filed the reference in an accountability court in Karachi nominating Hussain, his son Ahmed Ali Riaz, former Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Sharjeel Inaam Memon, then local body minister and now information minister of Sindh, among 33 people for illegally transferring government land to M/s Bahria Town for its Bahria Town Karachi project in 2013 and 2014.
“Accused persons in connivance with each other illegally transferred the government land, initialy admeasuring 7220 acres, to M/s Bahria Town,” the anti-graft body said in the reference. “The said illegal transfer of government land to Bahria Town was made under the garb of adjustment/exchange/consolidation.”
It said the accused persons acted as an “organized syndicate” to cause cumulative losses of Rs700 billion ($2.5 billion) to the national exchequer, requesting the court to try them for committing the “offenses of corruption and corrupt practices.”
The development came days after NAB said it had initiated the process to seek Hussain’s extradition from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who was also charged in another land corruption case involving former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife.
A Pakistani court last month sentenced Khan to 14 years in prison and his wife, Bushra, to seven years, in the case in which they are accused of receiving land as a bribe from Hussain through the Al-Qadir charitable trust in exchange for illegal favors during Khan’s premiership from 2018 to 2022. Khan says he and his wife were trustees and did not benefit from the land transaction. Hussain too denies any wrongdoing relating to the case.
“We have written to the Federal Investigation Agency for the extradition,” a NAB spokesman told Arab News on Wednesday, adding that the FIA would now pursue the case.
Prior to that, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed that Pakistan would use its extradition treaty with the UAE to bring Hussain back.
Last month, NAB also cautioned people against investing in Hussain’s new real estate venture to build luxury apartments in Dubai.
“If the general public at large invests in the stated project, their actions would be tantamount to money laundering, for which they may face criminal and legal proceedings,” it said.
Hussain responded to NAB in a post on X, saying that “fake cases, blackmailing and greed of officers” had forced him to relocate from Pakistan because he was not willing to be a “political pawn.”


Pakistani PM hopes Sharaa assuming president’s office will bring peace to Syria

Updated 01 February 2025
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Pakistani PM hopes Sharaa assuming president’s office will bring peace to Syria

  • Al-Sharaa was declared president for a transitional phase on Wednesday, less than two months after he led a campaign that toppled Bashar Assad
  • Sharaa said he will form an inclusive transitional government that will build institutions and run the country until it can hold free and fair elections

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday welcomed Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s assumption of the office of the Syrian president, hoping it would lead to peace in Syria.
Sharaa was declared president for a transitional phase on Wednesday, less than two months after he led a campaign that toppled Bashar Assad.
He was also empowered to form a temporary legislative council for a transitional period and the Syrian constitution was suspended.
“We welcome Mr. Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s assumption of office as President of the Syrian Arab Republic during the transitional phase and hope that the new leadership will be able to bring peace, progress and prosperity to the brotherly people of Syria,” Sharif said on X.

Syria’s President Ahmed Al-Sharaa delivers a speech at the Presidential Palace in Damascus, Syria in this undated handout image released on January 30, 2025. (Handout via REUTERS)

On Thursday, Sharaa said he will form an inclusive transitional government representing diverse communities that will build institutions and run the country until it can hold free and fair elections.
He was addressing the nation in his first speech since being appointed president by the military command that ousted Assad in a lightning offensive last year.
The group that led the offensive, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, has since set up an interim government that has welcomed a steady stream of senior Western and Arab diplomatic delegations keen to help stabilize the country after 13 years of civil war.


Pakistan army chief vows retaliation after militant attack kills 18 troops in Balochistan

Updated 01 February 2025
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Pakistan army chief vows retaliation after militant attack kills 18 troops in Balochistan

  • Pakistani forces suffered casualties when they engaged militants who had erected barricades on a key highway in Kalat district late Friday
  • Balochistan has for years been the scene of an insurgency, with several separatist groups staging attacks and targeting mainly security forces

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army chief, General Asim Munir, on Saturday visited the southwestern Balochistan province after militants killed 18 Pakistani soldiers in the restive region, promising to hunt down the perpetrators of attacks on Pakistani security forces.
General Munir was given a comprehensive brief on the prevailing security situation in Balochistan during his visit, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.
He offered funeral prayers for the deceased soldiers and later inquired after the injured ones at the Combined Military Hospital in Balochistan’s provincial capital of Quetta.
“Those who are acting as terrorist proxies of their foreign masters who have mastered the art of manifesting double standards of hunting with the hound and running with the hare are well known to us. No matter what these so called ‘frenemies’ may do, you will surely be defeated by the resilience of our proud nation and its Armed Forces,” the army chief was quoted as saying by the ISPR.
“For the defense of our motherland and its people, we will definitely retaliate and ‘hunt you down,’ whenever required and wherever you may be.”

In this handout photo, released by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Pakistan Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir (2R) gestures during a briefing on a security briefing in Quetta on February 1, 2025. (Photo courtesy: ISPR)

Pakistani forces suffered the casualties when they engaged militants who had erected barricades on a key highway in Balochistan’s Kalat district late on Friday night. The banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), one of the most prominent separatist groups operating in the southwestern province, claimed responsibility for the incident.
The fighting continued overnight into Saturday morning and the military said it had killed at least 23 militants in subsequent clearance operations.
Balochistan has for years been the scene of an insurgency, with several separatist groups staging attacks and targeting mainly security forces in their quest for independence. The separatists accuse Islamabad of exploiting the province’s natural resources. Successive Pakistani governments deny the allegations and say they have prioritized Balochistan’s development through investments in health, education and infrastructure projects.

A handout image released by Balochistan Levies on February 1, 2025, shows a bank damaged in an overnight attack by separatist militants in the town of Mangochar, located in Balochistan’s Kalat district. (Photo courtesy: Balochistan Levies)

In the past, the BLA has carried out major attacks in Balochistan and other parts of Pakistan, targeting security forces, ethnic Punjabis whom it considers “outsiders” in Balochistan, and Chinese interests and nationals.
More than 50 people, including security forces, were killed in August last year in a string of assaults in Balochistan that were claimed by the BLA. Last month, dozens of fighters of the separatist outfit wrested control of a small town in Khuzdar from the Levies paramilitary forces. Pakistani authorities had regained the town after hours of efforts.