Punjab Prisons Minister Fayyaz-ul-Hassan Chauhan unveiling the plaque to inaugurate upgradation of the factory at District Jail
Weak Afghanistan not in world’s interest : Governor
LAHORE, Dec 09 (APP):Punjab Governor, Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar while calling for international community’s support for Afghanistan said practical and sagacious approach was need of the day to save the country from catastrophe and chaos.
He said this was important to protect human lives and promote peace in Afghanistan, adding that ‘weak Afghanistan’ will not be in the interest of the world at all .
According to a spokesman of the Governor’s House here Thursday, the Governor expressed these views in his meetings with British Secretary of State Sajid Javed, Minister for Technology and Life Sciences Lord Kamal, Mark Eastwood of the British Parliament, Chairman of the Conservative Party Oliver Dadden, Shadow Minister of the Labor Party Lord Ray Colin and Shadow Defense Minister Veron Kakor, MEP Conservative Party Lord Daniel Hannan, and others including Member of the House of Lords Thomas McLaughlin McCoy in the UK.
Governor Punjab discussed various issues including law and order situation in Afghanistan and the problems faced by the people.He urged all the countries,including UK, to play their role and work together to help establish lasting peace in Afghanistan and ensure basic services for the people.
Governor said that Pakistan, under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, played an exemplary role for peace in Afghanistan.
He said Pakistan supports and stands with “peace”, because without peace the dream of development in the region including Afghanistan cannot be fulfilled.
“If the world ignores Afghanistan, it will not only be dangerous for the region, but also the whole world could suffer”.
He said therefore the world should pay attention to Afghanistan and ensure its maximum financial support without any pre-condition.
He reiterated that unstable Afghanistan will never be in the interest of the world as it would generate chaos there and the law and order situation may get out of control. Therefore, the people of Afghanistan must be provided with health facilities and food items without any delay,he stressed.
Pakistan has been playing its role for this before and will continue to do so for the protection and peace of humanity there, he said.
Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar said that India is committing worse atrocities in Kashmir. The world should take strong notice of Indian atrocities and violations of human rights in Kashmir,he said. ” There is no such thing as human rights in Indian Illegally Occupied Kashmir”, he said.
Talking to British Members, Governor Punjab said that there is no doubt that the relations between Pakistan and United Kingdom are getting stronger with each passing day.
The cooperation of the British Government in various sectors, including health and education, is welcomed in Pakistan. Pakistan wishes strong and better relations with all countries, he added.
DPO Dr Rezwan Ahmad Khan chairing a meeting with police station Moharer and Redars
A view of uncovered sewerage main-hole may cause any mishap and needs the attention of concerned authorities at Gill Wala Road
A view of bull race heading towards their finishing line
Senator Saifullah Abro, Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Power presiding over a meeting of the committee at Parliament House
A group photograph of students and faculty members from Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences, Quetta in the Senate Hall at Parliament House
Senator Seemee Ezdi, Chairperson Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change presiding over a meeting of the committee at EPA office, H-8/2
Senator Mohsin Aziz, Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Interior presiding over a meeting of the committee at Parliament House
Senators participating in 16th conference of Parliamentary Union of OIC member states at Congress Center
Senators participating in 16th conference of Parliamentary Union of OIC member states at Congress Center
Students performing in a tableau during Sindhi culture function at Government Girls Degree Collage Kotri
A worker trimming grass on a greenbelt at Autobahn Road
Passengers traveling on the rooftop of a bus at TM Khan Road may cause any mishap and needs the attention of concerned authorities
DC Amir Kareem Khan leading a walk to mark International Corruption Day organized by NAB
UNGA adopts Pak-sponsored resolution calling for respect for sacred religious symbols
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 09 (APP): The UN General Assembly Thursday adopted, by an overwhelming majority, a Pakistan-Philippines sponsored resolution on promoting interreligious and intercultural dialogue that underscored the need for respecting sacred religious symbols.
The vote was 139 in favour, to none against, with nine abstentions.
The resolution is in line with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision of interfaith harmony, and combatting Islamophobia as also other forms of intolerance on the basis of religion or belief. Pakistani diplomats have been working hard to advance that vision.
In his address to the 75th Session of General Assembly, the prime minister had highlighted the incidents of Islamophobia and other provocations. He has also called on the United Nations to declare an “International Day to Combat Islamophobia”.
Diplomatic sources told APP that despite opposition from some western countries during negotiations, the resolution acknowledged the significance and respect accorded to religious symbols in many religions and societies.
The resolution urges States to disseminate values of religious tolerance and interreligious dialogue through educational programmes.
In this regard, it also stresses that the exercise of the right to freedom of expression carries with it special duties and responsibilities and must be subjected to legitimate restrictions such as necessary for respect of the rights or reputations of others, and protection of national security or of public order, or of public health and moral
Speaking in the General Assembly ahead of the vote, Ambassador Mohammad Aamir Khan, Pakistan’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, stressed the need to strengthen mechanisms that promote dialogue and understanding.
Noting the increase in Islamophobia in many parts of the world, he stressed that Islam is a religion of peace and should not be judged by the acts of extremists who exist in all societies. Thus, the international community must effectively address unresolved disputes and conflicts, lack of inclusive socioeconomic development, and anti-migrant rhetoric.
To Pakistan, respecting and promoting freedom of religion and belief is not only a duty to its citizens, but also a way of life.
“Our Founding Fathers declared that the religion, caste or creed of a citizen had nothing to do with the business of the said,” Ambassador Aamir Khan said.
“Today, in Pakistan, we are seeking to build a polity based on the principles of equality, justice, tolerance and solidarity.”
Pakistan also seeks to build relations with its neighbours and others in the international community, he said, pointing out that a prime example of Islamabad’s policy is the initiative taken by the Prime Minister Khan to open the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor between India and Pakistan two years ago.
In the last two years, the Pakistani envoy said the corridor has not only fulfilled the earnest desire of the Sikh community around the world for easy access to the revered site, but is also reflective of the primacy that Pakistan accords to all the religious minorities in the country.
“It was because of these reasons that the Kartarpur Corridor was described by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres as ‘Corridor of Hope’ during his visit to Kartarpur Sahib in February.”
Thursday’s resolution also takes note of the “Call for Mutual Respect” which was issued by the High Representative of the UN Alliance of Civilization last year in the aftermath of republication of blasphemous cartoons in Franc.
This reference, the sources said, was particularly problematic for western delegations because it underscored that insulting religions and sacred religious symbols provokes hatred leading to polarization and fragmentation of society.
While reaffirming that violence can and should never be justifiable or acceptable response to acts of intolerance, the resolution underscores “that such violence should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group”.
A large majority of the member states from the OIC and the developing countries voted for the resolution. The only notable exception from the developing world was India which tried to unsuccessfully mobilize support for deletion of reference to the Kartarpur Corridor.
With 300 plus attacks this year, India among worst countries for Christians
ISLAMABAD, Dec 9 (APP): As the world observes International Human Rights Day on Friday, the Narendra Modi government in India continues to indiscriminately target the minorities with over 300 attacks in the first nine months of this year against Christians, making the country one of the worst for the community to live.
Be it is the Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, or Dalits, the Hindutva mindset is poised to the cleansing of all non-Hindu communities not only through policy measures but also the use of force through RSS goons.
In September this year, Pakistan had issued a 132-page dossier on Indian war crimes in IIOJK which contained reports of 32 human rights watchdogs and 14 reports by Pakistan.
According to the document, since 1989, over 96,000 extra-judicial killings, around 162,000 cases of arbitrary arrests and torture, over 25,000 pellet gun injuries were recorded. Moreover, 11,250 women were raped, around 23,000 widowed and over 108,000 children orphaned. The document also provided details of the 8,652 unmarked mass graves that have been identified in 89 villages of IIOJK.
According to a report by the Religious Liberty Commission report, more than 300 attacks on Christians took place in the first nine months of this year, including at least 32 in Karnataka.
Four north Indian states registered as many as 169 of them: 66 in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, 47 in Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh, 30 in tribal-dominated Jharkhand, and 30 in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh.
The Christians are blamed for converting Hindus into Christians and that also considered to be changing the character of India.
At least nine Indian states have planned anti-conversion laws, including Chhattisgarh, which is termed a “new laboratory” for anti-Christian hatred in India.
Since the Hindu nationalist BJP took power in 2014, persecution against Christian and Muslim minorities has been on the increase across the country, and today, it’s one of the worst countries in the world to be a Christian.
According to local observers, the acts of violence facing Christian communities are part of a concerted campaign to inflame tensions in a bid to justify new laws restricting their worshiping activities.
According to the World Watch List by Open Door, In India, “it can be difficult for some Christians to gain access to the Bible. Some Christians cannot read, and others live in places where reading a Bible publicly can lead to attacks or heavy persecution.”
This is the third year since 2019 that India has ranked in the top 10 of the World Watch List.
Indian Security Forces operate with pretty much impunity in IIOJ&K. The draconian security laws, e.g. Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act 1978, The Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1990, Prevention of Terrorism Act 2002, give extraordinary powers to Indian security personnel to shoot and kill unarmed civilians.
The U.N. office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released two reports in 2018 and 2019 accusing India of grave human rights violations in Kashmir and called for the formation of a commission of inquiry into the allegations.
In December 2019, Modi government introduced discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which excludes Muslims and allows Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Parsi immigrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan to get Indian nationality.
On one side, Indian security forces have turned IIOJ&K into an open air prison while on the other side Indian minorities are at the receiving end of saffron terrorism.
India’s anti-Sikh policies and religious bias have compelled the community to seek separate homeland, Khalistan. The recently held Khalistan referendum in the UK has sent a strong message to the Indian establishment to end discrimination against Sikhs.
India is a party to several UN declarations, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights but it continues to allow individual Hindu nationalists to intimidate and terrorize the Sikh minority without consequence.
Apart from that, Hindu Dalits are denied of access to education, health, inter-marriage and often pushed to seek low-grade jobs.
A telling example of the social exclusion that Dalits suffer even in the face of a large-scale natural disaster was witnessed in the immediate aftermath of the 26 December 2004 Tsunami which killed over 10,000 and displaced 650,000. xii
The cow vigilantes came to prominence as part of India’s violent polity during Modi’s first term as prime minister. Since then, from 2014 onwards and during the seven years of his first and now the second term, violence over the ownership and eating of cows has become such a norm that it is barely reported anymore.
Indian state has become the largest violator of human rights that are guaranteed in the UDHR. It has become an apartheid state where human rights and “equality” have become a distant idea.
The western powers, often claim to be the champions of human rights, have failed to hold India accountable for its bad human right record because of their vested interests.
On this International Human Rights Day, the United States and the European Union should rise above their economic and strategic interests and call for the protection of human rights in Indian minorities and Kashmiris in IIOJ&K.
APP Digital Report by Ishtiaq Ahmed
PM for inclusive development to empower the poor
ISLAMABAD, Dec 9 (APP): Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday stressing for inclusive development said it must demonstrate trickle-down effects with the aim of empowering the poor and lower strata of society.
He expressed these views in an online address at the concluding session of the 24th Sustainable Development Conference titled: “Beyond the Pandemic: Leaving No One Behind”, held here at Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
The Prime Minister said that the first Muslim state [Riasat-e-Madina], which was a true welfare state used to invest in the wellbeing of the poor, including orphans, widows, and daily wagers.
He further said it proved the best model of development because it led the corner stone of one of the best civilizations, according to press release issued by SDPI.
The Prime Minister said he believed that any nation that followed this model would rise, adding, China was the best example of that, which in a very short period alleviated 700 million people from poverty.
“China exactly followed the model of Riasat-e-Madina, by bringing meritocracy and investing in the weaker segment of the society and, which made their development more inclusive and leaving no one behind,” he added.
During the times of COVID-19, the prime minister said that there was a great pressure on the present government to announce a complete lockdown, but keeping in view the vulnerabilities of people, they chose to go on smart lockdown.
Like the developed nations, he added, they had no capacity to feed people at their homes during the lockdown.
Because of the smart lockdown, the country’s food supply chains, agriculture and infrastructure sector did not affect, the prime minister said, adding, “In this way we not only saved our poor people from further economic stress, but also saved our economy.“
The Prime Minister thanked the SDPI for creating food security dashboard for the Government of Pakistan, which helped them in monitoring the situation of daily commodities.
Earlier, at an evening plenary on ‘CPEC in the Emerging Regional Scenario’, National Security Adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf said that Pakistan did not have the kind of resources to cater for the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, whereas to receive international humanitarian aid, the country [Afghanistan] had no operational banking channels.
However, Pakistan would allow every aid to pass on to Afghanistan, he added.
To a question about hosting more Afghans, he said: “We are not in a position to host more refugees, though we are now hosting their third generation.”
He said that the real issue was that how the forthcoming humanitarian crisis could be prevented.
To a question about winning hearts and minds of the Afghani people, he said it was complicated. As during the last 40 years, billions of dollars were spent to develop a narrative against Pakistan, so it was complicated to win the hearts and minds of Afghans, he added.
However, the NSA said that Pakistan was doing what can be possible to help facilitate the brotherly country.
On Sialkot incident, Dr Mooed said that intolerance in any form should not be tolerated and it must be ensured that the writ of the state should not be challenged. He said the entire nation has to stand up against such heinous crimes.
Dr Mooed said that the issue of intolerance and mob violence in our society need to be resolved permanently so that such incidents might not happen in future.
China-Pakistan shining friendship always stands tests of time: Zhang Chunxian
BEIJING, Dec 9 (APP):Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of National People's Congress of China, Zhang Chunxian said on Thursday that China-Pakistan All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership is one of the most important relationships of China.
Our time-tested and shining friendship has always stood tests of the time and grew from strength to strength, he said in his keynote speech at the 2021 Forum on Cooperation between China and Pakistan Friendship Provinces and Cities co-organized by the Pakistan Embassy and the China People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC).
He said that under President Xi Jinping’s vision of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the flagship project and undergoing high-quality development.
He urged all Sister-Provinces and Sister-Cities to take all practical steps to further strengthen and deepen the bonds of friendship and brotherhood.
Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan, Qasim Khan Suri in his speech stated that Pakistan and China are closest friends and Iron-Brothers.
Our time-tested friendship is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people of the two countries. The last seven decades of high-level exchanges between the two countries speak volume of deep affinity and mutual trust between the leaderships, governments and peoples of two countries, he added.
He congratulated the Communist Party of China (CPC) on its 100th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of restoration of lawful seat of China at the United Nation.
Minister for CPEC Affairs, Khalid Mansoor said that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has given a new impetus to All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership between two brotherly countries.
Sister-Provinces/Cities play a pivotal role in promoting economic and trade exchanges between two countries and conveyed full support of the CPEC authority in facilitating Chinese investors and businessmen.
The Chief Ministers of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan expressed their satisfaction on ongoing meaningful exchanges and emphasize to maintain momentum of high-quality cooperation between Sister-Provinces/Cities for common development and share prosperity of the peoples of two countries.
While appreciating the CPAFFC for promoting high-quality exchanges between Pakistan and China, Ambassador Moin ul Haque greatly acknowledged its contributions for further strengthening bilateral ties.
He said that the increasing people-to-people exchanges are one of the most promising aspects of bilateral relations.
He also thanked the leadership of provinces and cities of China for making the history by establishing 23 new friendship relationships with different province and cities of Pakistan in 2021.
He expressed his strong confidence that these Sister-Relationships will provide a strong foundation for expanding economic, trade, tourism and cultural cooperation to jointly build Pakistan-China Community of Shared Destiny in New Era.
From Pakistan Chief Ministers of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan, the Mayor of Lahore and Secretary IPC and from China Vice Governor of Xinjiang, Henan and Hubei, and Vice Chairperson of Jiangsu Provincial People’s Congress delivered speeches during the event. Assistant Minister from two Foreign Ministries, Consul Generals of China and Pakistan, local leaders and senior officials of different provinces and cities of China attended the event online.
During the event, eleven agreements pertaining to establishment of different Sister-Relationships between different provinces and cities of Pakistan and China were signed. The Forum was one of the major events to commemorate the 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties between Pakistan and China.
In the historic year of the 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties, both countries have established 23 new Sister/Friendship-Relationship between different provinces, cities, national parks and lakes of the two countries.
In the end of the event, a joint declaration on promoting win-win cooperation for common development was issued. The next Sister-Province/City Cooperation Forum will be held in 2023.
Tarin felicitates Masood Khan on new responsibilities
ISLAMABAD, Dec 09 (APP):Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin Thursday extended his felicitations to Masood Khan, the designated Ambassador to United States of America, on his new responsibilities.
In a meeting with the Pakistan’s Ambassador- designate to USA, the adviser conveyed his best wishes for his success, said a press statement issued by finance ministry.
The adviser stressed upon further enhancing business collaborations between both the countries which have a great potential of growth given the opportunities for business and investment available in Pakistan.
The adviser extended his full support and cooperation and hoped the bilateral collaborations between the two countries would further grow during the tenure of Ambassador Masood Khan
Highlighting Pakistan’s long history of relationship with the United States of America, Masood Khan reaffirmed his resolve to strengthen economic and commercial relationship between both the countries.