Dr Fowzia Siddiqui Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s sister calls on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif
Dr Fowzia Siddiqui Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s sister calls on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif
Pakistan and Italy extend Pakistan –Italian Debt Swap Agreement (PIDSA) timeline until December 2024, Andreas Ferrarese the Italian Ambassador in Pakistan and Secretary Ministry of Economic Affairs signs the Exchange of Letter at the Ministry of Economic Affairs
IIOJK sees new trend of state repression in 2023, says LFK report
ISLAMABAD, Jul 6 (APP): The Civilian population in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJK) had been facing horrendous situation under prolonged military occupation, said a bi-annual report documentsseries of ‘Atrocity Crimes’.
The Legal Forum for Kashmir (LFK) released its bi-annual report, titled “Human Rights Situation in Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJK): January to June 2023.”
The report presented an in-depth analysis of various human rights issues, including but not limited to, the impact of heightened militarization on civilian populations, restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly, arbitrary detentions, extrajudicial killings, and the use of excessive force by Indian Occupying Forces (IOF).
It said that Indian occupying forces persisted in their repressive policies and disregard for international law and the principle of the Right of Self-determination.
A total of 113 Cordon and Search Operations (CASOs) were reported by the local media which are just a fraction of the total Search Operations launched by the Occupying Forces.
The report said that this year so far LFK had recorded 126 killings in multiple incidents of violence across IIOJK. The armed action of India’s occupying forces against the native population as a result of heightened military presence has resulted in the killing of 31 Indigenous freedom fighters and 43 Indian occupying forces personnel in said time.
At least 18 encounters took place between the Indian occupying forces and the freedom fighters of Kashmir. During these CASOs, vandalism, and destruction of 91 civilian properties were reported.
Also, 109 instances of Internet Shut down in IIOJK were reported. India’s Infamous anti-terror investigation agencies National Investigation Agency (NIA) & State Investigation Agency (SIA) had attached 124 Properties across IOJK in the last six months, it said.
The report said that India had accelerated its efforts to control every means of dissent and seize properties of native inhabitants, paving the way for outsiders to settle in the region.
In the name of “retrieving state land”, the occupational authorities and their auxiliaries seized over 178005.213 acres in Kashmir region and 25159.56 acres in Jammu as alleged “encroached” by the residents who basically owned the said land legally under the Agrarian Reforms Act, JK State Land Vesting of Ownership Act 2001, JK Evacuees of Property Act and other numerous acts and orders passed by the erstwhile state government in favour of landless peasants.
In the first six months of 2023, the National investigative agency continued its crackdown on Kashmiris, arresting thousands including resistance activists, common people, journalists, religious scholars, and academicians.
The NIA & SIA have attached 124 Properties across IOJK in the last six months.
According to a statement issued by the occupying authorities, nearly, 77 of these properties belonged to the proscribed organization Jamaat-e-Islami.
The NIA’s pursuit of seeking the death sentence for Yasin Malik, the leader of the Jammu and Liberation Front (JKLF), has raised concerns about justice and fairness.
India’s motives, driven by political gain and appeasing a collective conscience, seem to be overshadowing the principles of true justice.
With the looming possibility of history repeating itself, as seen with the hangings of Maqbool Bhatt and Muhammad Afzal, the plight of Kashmir’s resistance leader hangs in the balance. As political analysts and Kashmiri leaders decry this apparent scapegoating for electoral advantages, it becomes crucial to question the ethical implications and ensure that justice is not compromised in the pursuit of political gain.
The report also documented the ceasefire violations perpetrated by IOF against civilians near the Cease Fire Line.
The recommitment to the 2003 ceasefire in 2021 was dusted by India on 23 November 2022, when the Northern Army command Lt General Upendra Dwivedi threatened to attack Pakistan-administered Kashmir and invade it through military action. IOF has thrice violated the ceasefire agreement in the first six months of 2023.
PM, Dr. Fowzia Siddiqui discuss Dr Aafia case
ISLAMABAD, Jul 6 (APP):Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif met Dr. Fowzia Siddiqui here on Thursday and discussed issues related to Dr Aafia Siddiqui.
This was the second meeting of the Prime Minister with Dr. Fowzia within the last three months. Earlier, the Prime Minister had met Dr. Fowzia before she departed for the U.S. to meet Dr. Aafia Siddiqui at the FMC Prison.
Dr. Fowzia thanked the Prime Minister for his leadership and the cooperation that had been extended to her on his directions by the Foreign Ministry for assisting her secure US visa and arranging her meetings with Dr. Aafia in the U.S. prison.
“By extending support to me in obtaining U.S. visa for my visit, you have laid the foundation of the release of Dr. Aafia,” said Dr. Fowzia.
She added that this was her first opportunity to meet her sister since she was imprisoned nearly fifteen years ago and was able to meet her for three consecutive days.
She briefed the prime minister about the steps she planned to pursue for the expeditious release of Dr. Aafia.
The prime minister listened empathetically as Dr. Fowzia narrated the impressions of her meeting with her sister Dr. Aafia. He emphasized that the government remained committed to extend fullest cooperation to her in the struggle to pursue justice for her sister and will make every effort to ensure the well-being and release of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the Foreign Ministry to remain fully engaged with the U.S. Government, as well as Pakistan’s Mission in Washington, for Dr. Aafia’s well-being and for her early release. He also directed the Foreign Ministry to extend full support to Dr. Fowzia for her next visit to the U.S. The Prime Minister constituted a Ministerial committee that will gear up efforts for early release of Dr. Aafia.
Azerbaijan President’s Advisor calls on Air Chief, lauds PAF professionalism
ISLAMABAD, Jul 06 (APP): A high level defence delegation headed by Advisor to the President of Azerbaijan, Khalid Ahadov called on Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu here on Thursday and lauded the historic and exemplary professionalism demonstrated by the personnel of Pakistan Air Force (PAF).
The meeting underscored discussion on several key areas of mutual interest and regional developments, a PAF news release said.
During the meeting, the Chief of the Air Staff shared his vision of modernizing PAF’s capabilities to achieve operational excellence in air, space and cyber domains.
The Air Chief emphasized the longstanding religious, cultural and historical bonds between Pakistan and Azerbaijan, which are exemplified through robust bilateral relations.
He also reiterated his resolve to further enhance the existing bilateral ties in military-to-military cooperation and the training domain. Chief of the Air Staff further said, “Pakistan values its strong diplomatic and defence relationship with Azerbaijan which is based on convergence on all important issues relating to regional peace, security and stability.”
The Advisor to the President of Azerbaijan praised the PAF’s notable progress in developing a thriving domestic capability in the aviation industry. The visiting dignitary reaffirmed that Pakistan and Azerbaijan enjoy deep rooted cordial relations and wished to further enhance the existing bilateral ties between the two brotherly countries.
Earlier, Khalid Ahadov also visited different installations and technological infrastructure established at Air Headquarters, where he was briefed about the operational capabilities and ongoing projects of PAF’s modernization drive.
Dar seeks early legislation for quick resumption of PIA flights to USA, UK
ISLAMABAD, Jul 06 (APP): Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar here on Thursday instructed the relevant authorities to bring forward appropriate legislation as soon as possible to ensure quick resumption of PIA flights to United States of America (USA) and United Kingdom (UK).
The minister was chairing a meeting on matters related to Civil Aviation Division (CAA) and Airport Security Force (ASF), according to press statement issued by finance ministry.
Earlier, the minister was briefed on the issues being faced by the aviation sector pertaining to regulation, service provision, and security functions.
The meeting discussed various legal solutions available and the necessary amendments required in the aviation laws/ordinances in order to enhance the capacity in aviation sector and to make it compatible with the international standards of aviation.
Among others, the meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Aviation and Railways, Khawaja Saad Rafique; Federal Minister for Commerce, Syed Naveed Qamar; Federal Minister for Law & Justice, Azam Nazir Tarar; SAPM on Finance, Tariq Bajwa, Secretaries Aviation, Law & Justice, DG ASF, DG CAA and senior officers from Finance and Aviation.
PML-N Quaid’s acquittal exposes last PTI regime’s political vendetta: Marriyum
ISLAMABAD, Jul 6 (APP): Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Thursday that acquittal of thrice-elected prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Quaid Nawaz Sharif in the plot allotment reference by an accountability court in Lahore clearly showed a political vendetta of the last PTI regime.
Addressing a press conference, she said the plots allotment case related to the tenure when Nawaz Sharif was the chief minister of Punjab.
She said the owner of a leading media house was arrested in a fake case just to pressurize the media to toe the line of the then rulers. Similarly, journalists were arrested and targeted only to curb dissent views, and on that account the then prime minister was given the title of a ‘predator’ at international level.
She said today’s verdict of the accountability court was an eye-opener for those who had blindly followed the fake narrative of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
She said in the so-called illegal plots allotment reference it was alleged that Nawaz Sharif as Punjab chief minister had specifically favoured Mir Shakeelur Rehman to manage favourable media coverage.
She said under the ‘NAB- Niazi nexus’, the National Accountability Bureau was given the task to to target political opponents of the PTI chief.
The minister said today, the accountability court had affirmed that Nawaz Sharif was targeted to have political avenge. The court also noted that no evidence of corruption was found against the PML-N Quaid, which led to his honourable acquittal.
It was also pointed out that no legal requirements were fulfilled for declaring Nawaz Sharif as an absconder, she said, adding the process to target the PML-N chief and his family had commenced with changing ‘Panama to Iqama’.
The minister opined that the objective of Asset Recovery Unit was to target and victimize the PTI chief’s political opponents, and gag the media. Now it was the divine justice that Shahzad Akbar had no courage to face the public on that count.
With pressure on NAB, they managed to get false cases instituted against Nawaz Sharif, she added.
Marriyum cited the court verdict: “The record reflects that the accused Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had become the victim of political victimization, and perhaps the NAB authorities were constrained to prepare the reference at the behest of the then ruling junta to damage and destroy the political career and goodwill of the accused (Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif) who had been three times elected prime minister of Pakistan .”
She said the accountability court had categorically stated that Nawaz Sharif was politically victimised. The then regime used all possible means and resources to target and victimize the opponents, she added.
The minister said from 2017 to 2022, Nawaz Sharif not only presented himself along with his daughter, his brother and his brother’s family, but also provided documents of his late father related to the past 40 years business record.
“This is the moment of concern for those who are still under influence of a person who had brought destruction to the country, rendered youth jobless and ruined the national economy, besides clearing the way for return of terrorists and load shedding in the country.”
She said the country would not have been facing the scourge of load-shedding had the previous PTI government focused on performance instead of resorting to political victimization.
Not a single megawatt of electricity was added to the national grid during the last government while Nawaz Sharif as prime minister had made an addition of 14,000 MW and incumbent PM Shehbaz Sharif over 5,000 MW in Punjab as its chief minister.
She said ironically, a ‘drama of building 350 dams’ was orchestrated by the PTI regime just to fool the people and extract money from them.
A former chief justice of Pakistan, Saqib Nisar, would have to explain the reasons of “misdeeds” that paved the way for a “conspiracy against the country and its three times prime minister Nawaz Sharif”, she added.
The minister said the today’s court decision had exposed that how the PTI chief was brought to power and Nawaz Sharif was ousted from political arena by “managing the judicial system”.
She said human rights violations were committed during tenure of previous government which had lodged the opposition leaders in death cells of prisons, causing deterioration of their health, which was later even confirmed by its health minister in Punjab.
Ironically, today the PTI chairman was making a false hue and cry about human rights violations, she added.
The minister held the PTI chief responsible for load-shedding, saying it was Nawaz Sharif who had come with the mega CPEC project, besides roads network across the country. He even managed massive electricity generation at the time when a conspiracy was being hatched agaisnt his government, she recalled.
She said Shehbaz Sharif was arrested twice as opposition leader just to muzzle his voice and all the fake cases were dismissed by the courts.
The minister said the PTI chief tried to damage the political career of Nawaz Sharif, but the latter had rested his case with the Almighty and he was finally vindicated.
“I was present in the court room when the judge of the Islamabad High Court said that not a single piece of evidence has been submitted to prove allegation in the Avenfeild case against Maryam Nawaz by NAB.”
The minister said Maryam Nawaz also stood vindicated in that case as the court in its order noted that if there had been no commitment of the crime then how abetting could happen. That decision had also indicated that Nawaz Sharif did not commit any crime and should be acquitted, she added.
Marriyum said all such court decisions against the three time prime minister should be revisited to restore the people’s confidence.
She said the government strongly condemned incident of desecration of the Holy Quran in Sweden. A national campaign has been launched to send a message to the world for respect for Islam and other religions.
Pakistan fully committed to implement Indus Water Treaty: FO
ISLAMABAD, Jul 6 (APP):Pakistan remained fully committed to the implementation of Indus Water Treaty, including its dispute settlement mechanism, said Foreign Office spokesperson here on Thursday.
While responding to media queries concerning the decision by the Court of Arbitration in the Hague on the question of its competence to hear Pakistan-India water disputes, the spokesperson said, “The Government of Pakistan is in receipt of the Award of the Court of Arbitration, addressing its competence and the way forward on the disputes between Pakistan and India concerning the Kishenganga and Ratle Hydroelectric Projects; and, wider questions of the interpretation and application of the Indus Waters Treaty.”
The court had upheld its competence and determined that it will now move forward to address the issues in dispute, she added.
She said, “The Indus Waters Treaty is a foundational agreement between Pakistan and India on water sharing. Pakistan remains fully committed to the Treaty’s implementation, including its dispute settlement mechanism. We hope that India will also implement the treaty in good faith.”
Pakistan has serious objections to India’s construction of the 330 MW Kishenganga Hydroelectric Project on River Jhelum and plans to construct the 850 MW Ratle Hydroelectric Project on River Chenab in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK).
Pakistan initiated the legal proceeding on 19 August 2016 with a request for establishment of the ad hoc Court of Arbitration pursuant to Article IX of the Indus Waters Treaty. Pakistan’s decision to initiate proceedings was in response to India’s persistent refusal to address Pakistan’s concerns which were repeatedly raised at the level of the Permanent Indus Commission since 2006 for Kishenganga project and 2012 for the Ratle project. Pakistan had also sought resolution of this issue in Government-to-Government talks held in New Delhi in July 2015.
The Indus Waters Treaty provides for two forums for settlement of disputes: the Court of Arbitration that addresses legal, technical and systemic issues, and the Neutral Expert that addresses only technical issues. Pakistan requested establishment of the Court of Arbitration because of systemic questions requiring legal interpretation.
After Pakistan’s initiation of the formal dispute settlement process, India made a belated request for appointment of a Neutral Expert.
Fearing conflicting outcomes from two parallel processes, on 12 December 2016, the World Bank suspended the processes for establishment of the Court of Arbitration and appointment of the Neutral Expert. The Bank invited both countries to negotiate and agree on one forum. However, when Pakistan and India could not agree on a mutually acceptable forum for six years, the World Bank finally lifted the pause in dispute settlement process. It decided to initiate both processes in parallel and appointed the Court of Arbitration and the Neutral Expert in 2022. During this period, India completed the construction of Kishenganga project.
Pakistan is engaged with both processes at the Court of Arbitration and the Neutral Expert. However, India has boycotted the Court of Arbitration. It neither nominated two members of the Court from its side, nor attended the two preliminary hearings held on 27-28 January and 11-13 May 2023 at The Hague, The Netherlands.
In December 2022, India conveyed its objections to the World Bank, maintaining that empanelment of the Court of Arbitration was illegal. It challenged the primacy and competence of the Court. The Court, therefore, decided to first consider India’s objections relating to competence of the court to hear the case.
The Court of Arbitration, in a unanimous decision, declared today that it was competent to consider and decide on the disputes set forth in Pakistan’s Request for Arbitration.
The Court rejected the objections to its competence, made by India through correspondence to the World Bank.
The Court announced that, in the next phase, it will address certain questions concerning the overall interpretation and application of the Treaty’s provisions on hydro-electric project design and operation, as well as the legal effect of past decisions of dispute resolution bodies under the Treaty.
It observed that the issues before the Court of Arbitration were broader than those before the Neutral Expert.
The Court’s decision is binding on the Parties and without appeal.
Before start of the CoA proceedings, on 25 January 2023, India sent a notice to Pakistan, asking to notify a date, within 90 days, to start negotiations for review and modification of Indus Water Treaty. It is noteworthy that the duration of 90 days was arbitrarily fixed, without any express mention in the Treaty.
Notwithstanding the serious implications of Indian moves, there is no provision in the Treaty that allows one side to unilaterally modify or abrogate the Treaty. The Treaty, however, can be replaced by a modified Treaty with mutual consent and ratification by both parties. Consultations are ongoing to chart out a way forward on the matter.
Pakistan’s current crises emanate from conspiracy to oust Nawaz Sharif: PM
ISLAMABAD, July 6 (APP): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said that the series of current crises confronting Pakistan started from the conspiracy to oust Nawaz Sharif from the government and bring Imran Khan to rule at any cost.
The prime minister, in a tweet, said the recent revelations by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s senior lawyer and a journalist about how Nawaz Sharif was deliberately framed in the Panama Papers with an objective to oust him from government and banning from politics was what they knew from the very first day.
“However, these revelations are very important even now because the truth is coming out bit by bit,” the prime minister wrote on Twitter.
He said in the whole process of ousting Nawaz Sharif and bringing Imran Khan to rule, Pakistan had suffered huge losses, democratic evolution was hindered and the economy was severely affected.
He said that rectification of the actions taken against Nawaz Sharif was very important to improve the situation.
“Alhamdulillah, I am proud that my leader stood for the right in history and got vindicated,” he remarked.