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Ex-Pakistan PM Khan’s party rejects reports of holding talks with government to ease tensions

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif shakes hands with former speaker of the National Assembly and PTI leader Asad Qaiser (left), during a session of the National Assembly in Islamabad on June 26, 2024. (PMO/File)
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Updated 12 December 2024
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Ex-Pakistan PM Khan’s party rejects reports of holding talks with government to ease tensions

  • Reports of possible talks surfaced after Khan’s party leaders met ruling party member Ayaz Sadiq after his sister’s death
  • Khan announced earlier this month his party will launch civil disobedience campaign against government from Dec. 14
Updated 12 December 2024
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Thursday refuted reports it had held talks with the government on easing political tensions in the country, stressing that the ex-premier would announce details of his anti-government civil disobedience movement on Dec. 14. 

Pakistani media reported that the government and PTI had agreed to ease political tensions in the country after PTI leaders Asad Qaiser and Salman Akram Raja met ruling party Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz’s (PML-N) member and National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq this week to offer condolences on his sister’s death. 

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif subsequently visited Sadiq’s residence, fueling speculation that the reported negotiations were discussed between Sadiq and the Pakistani premier. 

Reports of negotiations have surfaced after Khan earlier this month announced the PTI would launch a civil disobedience campaign from Dec. 14 if the government did not meet two of his demands. In a message to supporters on Dec. 5, the jailed Khan said he was setting up a five-member negotiations committee to hold talks with the federal government for the release of political prisoners, and also demanded judicial commissions to investigate protests on May 9 last year and Nov. 24 this year in which the government says his supporters partook in violence and caused vandalism. 

“There were no talks with the government when they [PTI leader] went for the condolence, nothing else was discussed or no political talk except the condolence happened,” Khan’s close aide and PTI spokesperson Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari told Arab News.

He said PTI was open to talks with everyone, however, he questioned whether the government had the authority or power to engage meaningfully with the opposition. 

Khan’s party alleges the Sharif-led coalition government came to power after rigging polls with the help of Pakistan’s all-powerful military. It frequently accuses the Sharif-led government of being a stooge of the military. 

Both deny the allegations and Pakistan’s military has repeatedly said it does not interfere in political matters. 

“As for talks with the government, we are happy to have talks with everybody but the question is does the government have any power or any authority, that will still remain to be seen,” Bukhari added. 

“Because at the moment they seem to have even less authority and power than us.”

Another PTI leader and an important member of its legal team, Muhammad Shoaib Shaheen, also endorsed Bukhari’s stance that there were no talks at any level between Khan’s party and the government. 

“Qaiser visited the speaker of the National Assembly only to offer condolences and any talks will happen only if the government shows seriousness toward the PTI’s demands,” Shaheen told Arab News.

Commenting on the PTI’s call for civil disobedience, Shaheen said Khan himself will announce the civil disobedience process and its details on or after Dec. 14. 

“If the government engages in talks with genuine intent, even then Khan will decide whether to postpone the movement,” Shaheen said. 

’ABANDON OLD WAYS’

Arab News reached out to government spokespersons, including Information Minister Ataullah Tarar and other members of Sharif’s cabinet for a comment. They did not respond till the filing of this report.

In an interview with local media on Wednesday night, Tarar dismissed the rumors of talks between the two sides as baseless, stating that there have been no formal discussions between the government and PTI.

Speaking on the floor of the Senate on Thursday, senior PML-N leader Irfan Siddiqui said the government is willing to engage in dialogue, but urged PTI to abandon its “old ways” and avoid creating undue pressure.

“Even today, we are ready for dialogue and will engage with an open heart, but do not hold a sword over our heads,” Siddiqui said. 

“Before any dialogue, PTI members must abandon their old ways,” he added.

Siddiqui said reconciliation was “a very good policy” and that if dialogue between the two sides did take place, solutions to political issues could be found.

“Peaceful protest is everyone’s right but this right is not unconditional,” he said.

Topics: PTI protests Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan Asad Qaiser Sardar Ayaz Sadiq Government PTI talks

Pakistan Senate unanimously passes resolution condemning Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, Lebanon

Updated 13 min 53 sec ago
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Pakistan Senate unanimously passes resolution condemning Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, Lebanon

  • Pakistan Peoples Party Senator Sherry Rehman moves resolution urging international community to protect Palestinian lives
  • Senate condemns Israel’s “exploitation of political vacuum” in Syria after the fall of Bashar Assad’s government in the country
Updated 13 min 53 sec ago
Hasaan Ali Khan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s upper house of parliament, the Senate, passed a unanimous resolution on Thursday condemning Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and Lebanon, urging the international community to protect Palestinian lives, state-run media reported. 

Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 44,000 people and injured thousands more since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas in which Israel says 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage. 

Israel’s 13-month military campaign has displaced an estimated 1.9 million Palestinians, many of them multiple times. Bombings, movement restrictions and evacuations ordered by Israel’s military block access to health care and keep aid workers from reaching people in need, with aid organizations and charities repeatedly warning of crisis-level hunger affecting nearly two million people.

Israel has also bombed Lebanon and traded missile strikes with Iran since its confrontation with Hamas, sparking fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East. The Jewish state’s military campaigns in the Middle East have triggered protests in Pakistan and other parts of the world for the past one year. 

“The Senate on Thursday passed a resolution unanimously condemning Israel’s bombardment extending to many countries,” the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported. 

The resolution was moved by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman on behalf of all political parties. 

As per the resolution, the Senate strongly condemned Israel’s blatant disregard for international law, particularly in its actions against Palestine and urged the Jewish state be held accountable.

The Senate also condemned Israel for its “exploitation of the political vacuum” in Syria as the government of Bashar Assad fell to opposition forces earlier this week. 

“This agenda now extends beyond Palestine to violations of the sovereignty of Syria and many other countries,” the resolution said. 

Calling for immediate accountability for Israel’s actions, the Senate also condemned the killing of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) team members in the Middle East. 

Israel has killed 249 UNRWA staff members in its military campaigns carried out up till November this year, it added.

“Such attacks are a blatant violation of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 302; which mandates UNRWA’s role in providing critical humanitarian assistance to vulnerable populations,” the resolution said. 

Pakistan’s upper house of parliament also condemned the targeted killing of over 180 journalists during Israeli bombings in Gaza along with the destruction of critical infrastructure including hospitals, schools and even residential areas.

“The Senate reaffirms Pakistan’s unwavering support for the Palestinian cause, recognizing it as a moral, political, and legal obligation. Pakistan reiterates its consistent support for the two-state solution of the Palestinian issue, as enshrined in relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions,” the resolution stated. 

The Senate also urged the international community to take action to “protect Palestinian lives, hold Israel accountable for war crimes and ensure compliance with international humanitarian law.”

Since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza, Pakistan has repeatedly raised the issue at the UN, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and other multilateral platforms, demanding international powers and bodies stop Israeli military actions in Gaza.

Pakistan has dispatched a total of 1,273 tons of relief items to the war-affected people of Gaza until Nov. 27, according to the National Disaster Management Authority.

The South Asian nation does not recognize nor have diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for an independent Palestinian state based on “internationally agreed parameters” and the pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

Topics: pakistan palestine ties Senate of Pakistan Sherry Rehman War in Gaza

UK aims to boost home-schooling safety after British-Pakistani girl’s murder

Updated 8 min 56 sec ago
AFP
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UK aims to boost home-schooling safety after British-Pakistani girl’s murder

  • Ten-year-old Sara Sharif’s father, step-mother were convicted of murdering her this week
  • Months before death, her father had taken Sharif out of school to be taught at home
Updated 8 min 56 sec ago
AFP

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday called for better safeguards for home-schooled children and said there were “questions that need to be answered” after the brutal murder of a 10-year-old girl.

Sara Sharif’s father and step-mother were convicted of murder on Wednesday in a trial that revealed gruesome details of the abuse inflicted on her, and the failure of child protection services to intervene despite warning signs.

Months before her death, her father Urfan Sharif had taken her out of school to be taught at home, after Sara’s teacher reported her bruises to child services.

At the time, child services had probed the incident but did not take any action.

Starmer said the “awful” case was “about making sure that (there are) protecting safeguards for children, particularly those being home-schooled.”

The Department for Education said it was “already taking action to make sure no child falls through the cracks” and “bringing in greater safeguards for children in home education.”

The government plans to “make sure that schools and teachers are involved in safeguarding decisions,” a Downing Street spokesperson said, adding that details would be included in upcoming legislation.

Parents will also need local authority consent for home-schooling at-risk children under the proposed changes, and a register of children who are not in school will be drawn up.

Sara was found dead in her home in August 2023, with extensive injuries including broken bones, burns and even bite marks after being subjected to years of abuse.

She had also been in and out of foster care after Sharif separated from her mother, Olga Sharif, to marry the step-mother Beinash Batool.

Despite previous allegations of abusive behavior against the father made by Olga, Sharif won custody of Sara in 2019, just four years before she was killed.

Children’s Commissioner Rachel de Souza said Sara’s death highlighted “profound weaknesses in our child protection system.”

De Souza said it was “madness” that an at-risk child could be taken out of school, calling for a ban on home-schooling of suspected abuse victims.

According to a child safeguarding report published on Thursday, 485 children in England died or were seriously harmed by abuse or neglect in the year to April 2024.

Urfan Sharif, Beinash Batool and Sara’s uncle Faisal Malik, who was cleared of murder but convicted of causing or allowing her death, are due to be sentenced on Tuesday.

Topics: Sara Sharif British Prime Minister Keir Starmer

Combatting smog, air pollution at center of discussions as Punjab chief minister visits China

Updated 12 December 2024
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Combatting smog, air pollution at center of discussions as Punjab chief minister visits China

  • CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif on China visit from Dec. 8-15, meets China’s Ecology and Environment Minister 
  • Almost two million people from Pakistan fell sick when smog choked Punjab for over two weeks last month
Updated 12 December 2024
Hasaan Ali Khan

ISLAMABAD: Combatting smog and air pollution has remained at the center of discussions this week as the chief minister of Pakistan’s most populous Punjab province, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, visits China on a week-long trip.

Smog had choked Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province for weeks last month, sickening nearly two million people and shrouding vast swathes of the province in a toxic haze. 

On Thursday, Lahore, the capital of Punjab, was listed as the world’s third most polluted city by Swiss air monitor IQAir, and its PM2.5 concentration, which comprises air particles that damage lungs, was 20.5 times the World Health Organization annual guideline value. Last month, the province had closed down schools and offices, banned outdoor activities and shortened timings for restaurants, shops and markets in a bid to control smog.

China has taken significant steps to combat its worsening air quality, declaring a “war on pollution” in 2015. Key measures include reducing coal consumption, increasing renewable energy capacity, and improving air quality monitoring systems. However, the Helsinki-based Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said last month in its annual assessment China’s emissions of carbon dioxide were on course to rise slightly this year, despite rapid progress on renewables and electric vehicles, putting a key 2025 climate target further out of reach.

“China is also a miracle in curbing pollution, smog mitigation, smog eradication and the steps that China has taken is not only an inspiration for us to learn from but also commend them,” CM Sharif said in televised comments during a meeting with Chinese Ecology and Environment Minister Huang Runqiu on Wednesday. 

“I am also completely and absolutely committed to making Punjab into a climate resilient Punjab.”

Briefing Chinese officials on Pakistan’s short-, medium- and long-term plans to combat air pollution, Sharif said:

“There is a complete plan that is in place which is environment conservation, biodiversity conservation, sustainable development and, most critical areas where we are working on daily basis, is air pollution, improving air quality standards and eradicating smog.”

Sharif said Pakistan would adopt the Chinese model of shifting industries out of cities to give people cleaner air to breathe.

Earlier this week, Sharif’s office said Punjab would develop an advanced air quality management system with the help of China and had set up a Beijing-Punjab Clean Air Joint Working Group.

“I suggest we form a working group where we can sit together on taking some tangible measures for smog mitigation, smog eradication and improving the air quality in Pakistan,” Sharif added. “We can exchange technologies, ideas, success stories and follow in China’s footsteps.”

She urged the working group to adopt a knowledge sharing policy regarding policy formulation, technology transfer, data, sharing, emission reduction strategies and e-transport.

On Thursday, the Punjab CM also invited a Chinese solar company to establish a manufacturing plan in Pakistan during her visit to the Jinko Solar Company in Shanghai, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.

“The CM directed the concerned authorities of Punjab government to take necessary steps for setting up the solar manufacturing plant in the province,” the report said.

Topics: Pakistan China Ties Maryam Nawaz Sharif

Pakistan’s second consignment of flood relief items for Malaysia arrives in Kuala Lumpur

Updated 12 December 2024
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Pakistan’s second consignment of flood relief items for Malaysia arrives in Kuala Lumpur

  • Pakistan dispatched 40 tons of essential items such as lifejackets, tents, blankets and sleeping bags
  • Torrential rains and floods in Malaysia and Thailand this month killed at least 30, displaced thousands
Updated 12 December 2024
Shahjahan Khurram

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s second consignment of humanitarian assistance for the flood-hit people of Malaysia arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said. 

Pakistan dispatched a consignment of 40 tons of relief items from Islamabad on Wednesday night for the flood-hit people of Malaysia. Torrential rains and floods killed over 30 in Malaysia and Thailand and displaced tens of thousands in the two countries this month. 

“Upon arrival, the consignment was received by representatives of the Pakistan Embassy in Malaysia and the Malaysian National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA),” the NDMA said. 

It said the consignment featured essential supplies such as tents, blankets, quilts, mats, sleeping bags and life jackets.

The anti-disaster authority said it remains steadfast in its commitment to providing humanitarian assistance to Malaysia’s flood affectees. 

Pakistan sent its first shipment of 40 tons of relief items to Malaysia on Dec. 8.

Pakistan is one of the worst affected countries due to climate change impact, suffering cataclysmic floods in 2022 that killed over 1,700 people and destroyed critical infrastructure inflicting losses worth Rs33 billion.

Topics: Pakistan Malaysia ties Flood in Malaysia

Polio officer in northwestern Pakistan says receiving deaths threats for vaccinating children

Updated 12 December 2024
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Polio officer in northwestern Pakistan says receiving deaths threats for vaccinating children

  • Mirzali Khan, a polio officer in Jamrud, says masked men threatened to shoot him if he continued vaccinating children
  • Pakistan has witnessed surge in polio cases and attacks on vaccinators in recent months by religiously motivated militants
Updated 12 December 2024
WASIM SAJJAD

PESHAWAR: A polio officer from Pakistan’s northwestern Jamrud town said on Thursday that unidentified armed men recently threatened to shoot him dead if he did not stop vaccinating children, amid a surge in polio infections and attacks on vaccinators in the country.

Religiously motivated militants, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, have frequently launched attacks on polio vaccination teams in Pakistan in the past. These groups accuse polio vaccination teams of using inoculation campaigns to sterilize Pakistani children based on a Western conspiracy.

Two policemen guarding a polio vaccination team were killed on Oct. 29 in the northwestern Orakzai district while in another attack, a polio worker and a police constable were killed when militants attacked a polio team in northwest Pakistan’s Bajaur district on Oct. 12.

“On Dec. 7, I was on the way in Gudar area when two masked men, one of whom was carrying a pistol, intercepted and told me what I was doing was improper and I should stop it,” Mirzali Khan, the operational officer in Jamrud for Pakistan’s anti-polio program, told Arab News over the phone.

Khan said the masked men threatened to shoot him if he “continued vaccinating children,” adding that he had immediately registered a police complaint at the nearby police station.

Khan said the incident had left him depressed, saying that he wanted safety and security for his family.

Jamrud Police Station’s Station House Officer (SHO) Shah Khalid confirmed that Khan had filed a complaint over the incident.

“The details were processed to the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) for further details to look into the matter,” Khalild told Arab News.

Ihtisham Ali, adviser to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister on health, told Arab News several polio volunteers and police officials guarding them have been killed by militants during anti-polio campaigns in the past.

He said the government plays its role in ensuring the safety of polio volunteers and that their safety was the provincial government’s top priority. 

“We will tackle the case with concerned authorities after investigation,” Ali said.

Pakistan, along with neighboring Afghanistan, remains the last polio-endemic country in the world. It has so far reported 59 cases of the infection this year.

Pakistan’s efforts to contain polio have been hit hard with repeated militant attacks against vaccinators and law enforcers guarding them.

The masses’ doubts regarding polio campaigns were exacerbated in 2011 when the US Central Intelligence Agency set up a fake vaccination program to gather intelligence on former Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

Topics: anti-polio program Attack on polio team Polio Campaign attacked polio campaign in Pakistan

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Ex-Pakistan PM Khan’s party rejects reports of holding talks with government to ease tensions

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