NA Speaker, Deputy Speaker offer condolences to Hanif Sabir over mother’s demise

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Fri, 24 Mar 2023, 11:03 PM

NA Speaker, Deputy Speaker offer condolences to Hanif Sabir over mother's demise

ISLAMABAD, Mar 24 (APP): National Assembly Speaker, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, and Deputy Speaker, Zahid Akram Durrani, expressed their heartfelt condolences on Friday over the passing of the mother of Hanif Sabir, the Executive Director of News at the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP).

In their separate messages of condolence, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker conveyed their sympathies to Hanif Sabir and his family, acknowledging the profound sorrow and grief they must be experiencing during this difficult time.

The Speaker and Deputy Speaker emphasized that the loss of a mother is an irreplaceable one, which cannot be compensated for in any way. They prayed to Allah Almighty to grant the departed soul a high place in Jannah (Paradise) and to grant patience and strength to the family members to endure this immense loss with equanimity.

President should remain in his ‘constitutional domain’: Rana Sanaullah

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NNPS Desk

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Fri, 24 Mar 2023, 10:52 PM

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President should remain in his 'constitutional domain': Rana Sanaullah

ISLAMABAD, Mar 24 (APP): Minister for Interior Rana Sanaullah Khan on Friday said President Dr Arif Alvi should “work in the constitutional domain” and better write a letter to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan to return 190 million pounds to the national exchequer.

He should also seek answer from the PTI chief for “acts of terrorism”, besides “accepting Tyrian as his daughter” and facing the Toshakhana and foreign funding cases in courts, he said while reacting to a letter written by President Alvi to Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.

The minister said the president should not ” act on the orders of Imran Khan and becomes his puppet”. But unfortunately, “a person breaking the Constitution and law had been appointed to the constitutional position”, he added.

He said the question arose why President Alvi did not act over violation of human rights when a person was arrested in a fake case of 15 kg of heroin.

Whether putting the opposition leader, and the sisters and daughters of political opponents in death cells were not the violation of human rights, he further questioned.

Rana Sanaullah said journalists were tortured during the Imran Khan-led government, which was also the sheer violation of human rights but the president remained silent at that time.

Similarly, he also questioned the president’s silence over human rights violations of policemen, who were targeted with petrol bombs, grenades and slingshots.

Govt will not bow down to Imran’s stubbornness: Rana Sana Ullah

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Raiq Qureshi

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Fri, 24 Mar 2023, 10:49 PM

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ISLAMABAD, Mar 24 (APP): Interior Minister Rana Sana Ullah Khan on Friday said that the collation government would not bow down to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s stubborn attitude.

Talking to a private news channel, he said the PTI chairman was continuously challenging the writ of the state, adding Imran had spread chaos in the country for the last eleven months.

The minister advised the PTI chief to correct his attitude as he had disregarded the political traditions of the country.

“If he [Imran] considers himself a politician, then try to solve the political crisis by sitting with the political forces,” he added.

He further advised that Imran Khan should face his cases and appear before the courts without creating chaos, as the politicians had done in the past.

He reminded that it was on the record that the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) was politically victimized, but despite facing this ‘political storm’, the PML (N) did not try to cause political instability in the country.

UN expert urges India to immediately end crackdown on Kashmiri human rights defenders

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NNPS Desk

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Fri, 24 Mar 2023, 10:15 PM

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UN expert urges India to immediately end crackdown on Kashmiri human rights defenders

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 24 (APP): India must immediately end its crackdown against Kashmiri human rights defenders, a UN expert said Friday, after renowned Kashmiri rights defender Khurram Parvez was arrested in a second case on terrorism charges.

“Indian authorities appear to be intensifying the long-standing repression of Kashmiri civil society,” said Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.

“The state must respect its human rights obligations and be held accountable where it violates them,” she said.

On March 22, 2023, according to a UN press release, Khurram Parvez, already detained since November 2021 on accusations of terrorism, was arrested in a second case after two days of interrogation by the National Investigation Agency, India’s main counter-terrorism body. He is accused of financing terrorism under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, through his work with the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS).

Earlier this week, the US State Department issued its annual human rights report that documents several cases of rights abuses in the Indian-occupied Kashmir.

Prior to Parvez’s arrest, a former associate of the JKCCS, human rights defender and journalist Irfan Mehraj, was arrested in the same case on March 20, 2023 from Srinagar and immediately transferred to New Delhi. Former associates and volunteers of the JKCCS are facing coercion and intimidation from the authorities.

“The Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) carries out essential work of monitoring human rights. Their research and analysis of human rights violations are of huge value, including to international organizations seeking to ensure accountability and non-repetition of abuses,” Lawlor said.

UN experts have repeatedly highlighted grave concerns regarding the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which allows the designation of any individual as a ʽterroristʼ, bypassing the requirement to establish membership or association with banned groups. The Act is applied as a means of coercion against civil society, the media, and human rights defenders in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

The expert called for the release and the closing of the investigations against Kashmiri human rights defenders.

“Time and time again, the government has been called upon to address the fundamental issues with the country’s anti-terrorism framework and its misuse to smear and silence human rights defenders,” Lawlor said. “The arrest and detention of persons for exercising their human rights are arbitrary. There must be accountability and remedy where such abusive actions are taken.”

Ms Lawlor’s statement was endorsed by Clement Nyaletsossi Voule, Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.