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Allama Khadim Hussain Rizvi passes away in Lahore

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 19 (APP): APP Digital NewsAllama Khadim Hussain Rizvi, the leader of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan breathed his last Thursday night at Lahore, his party announced. He was 55.

No reason for his death was given. His party officials said he was rushed to a hospital after he had problem breathing and had fever for past few days. However he was pronounced dead when he arrived at the hospital.

Senior TLP leader Syed Inayat-ul-Haq Shah also confirmed the news and asked the TLP workers to proceed to Lahore to participate in his last rites. The Tehreek-e-Labbaik announced that his funeral would be held on Saturday at 10 in the morning at Minar-e-Pakistan.

Videos on several social media accounts showed large number of his followers rushing to his home and crying over his sad demise.

The fire brand clerk was known for his protest marches, that often became violent and created law and order problems. His last protest was relatively shorter at Faizabad and ended only after a two day blockade of the twin cities on Monday.

Immediately after the confirmation of the news condolences poured in from all sections of society; including the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, Information Minister, Chief of Army Staff, Chief Minister Punjab and political leaders of many parties.

Prime Minister Imran Khan in a tweet expressed his grief over the sad demise of Allama Khadim Rizvi and conveyed condolences to his family.

Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa also conveyed his condolences over the demise of the TLP leader.

 

Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, Special Assistant to the Chief Minister on Information in Punjab also expressed grief over his sad demise.

Amir Jamat Islami also expressed his grief and prayed to Allah Almighty to bless the departed soul.

Prime Minister Imran Khan’s consistent stance on Kashmir

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Prime Minister Imran Khan’s stance on Kashmir at international fora to highlight gruesome human rights violations by India

 

Indian media’s fake “civil war” in Pakistan, falls flat on face

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APP Digital Small logo
By Shafek Koreshe

In an abortive attempt to create diversion from Narendra Modi’s human rights abuses in Kashmir, the Indian media went berserk by propagating fake news about a “civil war” like situation in Karachi, triggering a hilarious response from the twitterati in Pakistan, who enjoyed every bit of the ridiculous reports.

#CivilWarInPakistan and #KarachiCivilWar were in no time the top trends, with the young twitter users going crazy by posting video clips from action movies, comics, images of the Indian MiG pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, shot down by Pakistan Air Force inside Pakistan’s territory, as scenes from the Civil War, getting an equally enthusiastic response with numerous retweets and likes.

The arrest of PML-N leader Captain (Retd) Safdar on charges of political sloganeering at Quaid’s Mausoleum and leave applications by senior police officers was exploited by the top Indian news channels, who portrayed an administrative issue as a “civil war” and went to the extent of even reporting casualties, and armed clashes.

Indian Media ditches professionalism to dip at to its lowest 

#FakeNews CNN18News
#FakeNews CNN18News

The news reports were part of a persistent barrage of fake news from Indian mainstream media and its RAW controlled assets on social media over the past few months. The trend has witnessed a sharp spike as part of India’s fifth generation war (5GW) against Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Foreign Office on the “malicious and fabricated propaganda” by Indian mainstream and social media claiming civil unrest in Pakistan, said planting such baseless stories were reflective of the “Pakistan-obsessed BJP-RSS” mindset.

“Needless to say that Indian media continues to hit new lows,” he said, when asked to respond over the series of fake news flashed as breaking news across the Indian media about a “civil war in Pakistan”.

“Indian media continues to hit new lows”: FO

The Spokesperson said through “peddling fake news and running propaganda machinery”, India could not wash away the truth about its own gross and systematic human rights violations in Indian Ilelgally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

“Rather than reporting on humanitarian crisis in IIOJK, the Indian media chooses to spread fake and sensational news about Pakistan to detract from core issues,” he said.

5th Gen War – Twitterati bust RAW’s #Fake letter attributed to COAS

 

#FakeNews - Yet another figment of imagination of Indian Media
#FakeNews – Yet another figment of imagination of Indian Media

The Indian media tried hard to appease its own consumers and to create a diversion from its human rights abuses in occupied Kashmir. However in its abortive attempt it created history by churning out fake news overpowered by the anti-Pakistan hysteria, undermining its professional ethics and credibility.

#FakeNews - India Today with its concocted news story
#FakeNews – India Today with its concocted news story

The unleashing of the Indian media did not go unnoticed, as Michael Kugelman, deputy director at the @AsiaProgram and South Asia senior associate @TheWilsonCenter in a tweet pointed that the Indian disinformation accounts were exploiting Pakistan’s current political crisis, and “falsely claiming that the country is no experiencing urban warfare.”

He described the trend as “dangerous and disturbing”, as several of these accounts were verified and had huge followings.

Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari said the Indian media was in “hyper drive with fake news on Pakistan” and regretted that it was “unfortunate that Twitter is [deliberately ignoring it].”

All major media outlets in so-called world’s biggest democracy decimated all journalistic norms as none bothered to fact-check such a huge gaffe. India’s News18, India Today, Zee News, India.com and several others quoted the International Herald which showed old videos of bomb explosions in Pakistan and portrayed it as the ongoing civil war.

#FakeNews - Indian International Herald tweet
#FakeNews – Indian International Herald tweet

The Institute of Policy Research in a report said their data indicates a pattern of Indian propaganda against Pakistan on digital media that grew exponentially after 2018 General Elections in #Pakistan. The propaganda hovers around largely 4 key themes.

IPRI Timeline of Indian Propaganda
IPRI Timeline of Indian Propaganda

Minister for Ports and Shipping pointed that the Indian propaganda was at its peak and “sadly fueled by the PDM Circus.” He said the food inflation was artificially manufactured, but was being brought under control.

Minister for Kashmir Affairs also lambasted the “fake, fabricated and malicious propaganda campaign to malign State institutions of Pakistan. He urged @Twitter to take action against Indian accounts for #FakeNews against Paksitan.

However, this idiocy of Indian media gave the Twitterati a perfect chance to enjoy as the microblogging site was flooded with messages to ridicule the Indian media’s insanity.

“Karachi civil war has gotten so bad that my food panda delivery boy had to crawl through mine fields carrying his AK47, RPG & 9mm along with my nihari and Biryani. This thing is getting so serious. Multiple cows have been killed & people are dying of over eating. #IndianMedia,” commented renowned singer Fakhr-e-Alam.

Besides numerous other fake photos, the Indian media also used an image of a building collapsed following a gas leakage blast in Karachi earlier in the day to substantiate its fake news of civil war.

“A little investigation would have informed Zee News that it wasn’t a bomb blast in ‘civil war’ in Pakistan but the result of a  gas leak in Karachi. Whither truth, objectivity, balance and fairness in reporting?,” said Farhatullah Babr, former senator of Pakistan Peoples Party which rules Sindh province.

“An Aircraft shot during civil war in Karachi… and the pilot captured…,” commented another Twitter user Fasihuddin while sharing the images of Indian aircraft MiG-21 and captured injured pilot Abhinandan following an aerial dogfight during India-Pakistan standoff in 2019.

Pakistan urges UNSC to sanction BLA, saying it got ‘new lease of life’ after Taliban take over in Kabul

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UNITED NATIONS, Feb 05 (APP): A senior Pakistani diplomat has called on the UN Security Council to “act swiftly” to designate the “foreign-funded” Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) as a terrorist group under its sanctions regime, established by Resolution 1267 in 1999, as he renewed Pakistan’s pledge to combat and eradicate terrorists on its soil.

Speaking in a Council debate on ‘Threats to International Peace and Security caused by Terrorist Acts’, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN, said that terrorist groups such as Fitna al Khawarij (TTP ) and Fitna al Hindustan (BLA) and its Majeed Brigade got a “new lease of life” after the Taliban takeover in Kabul.
The United States has already labelled BLA as a “foreign terrorist” organization.

“We hope the Council will act swiftly to designate BLA under the 1267 sanctions regime, acceding to the listing request that is currently under consideration,” the Pakistani envoy told the 15-member Council.

On its part, he said the international community must address the contemporary terrorist threat through a “collective, comprehensive and coordinated response” including through the balanced implementation of the Global Counter Terrorism Strategy (GCTS).

In this regard, Ambassador Asim Ahmad said, “We must effectively tackle the terrorist threats from Afghanistan,” pointing out that terrorist groups such as BLA and TTP were operating with virtual impunity from Afghan soil and with the “active support of our eastern neighbour (obviously a reference to India),” committing “heinous terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.”

As documented by the Council’s Monitoring Team, he added, , the Afghan de facto authorities (DFA) provide a permissive environment for a range of terrorist groups, notably TTP; Al-Qaeda, ISIL-K (Da’esh) remains active with an external focus and ETIM/TIP members move freely within Afghanistan.

“These terrorist groups pose a threat not only to Pakistan, but to the entire region and beyond. Recent terrorist activity in Central Asia close to the Afghan border has validated earlier warnings,” the Pakistani envoy said, adding, “It has become imperative to prevent the billions of dollars of sophisticated weapons and equipment left behind by foreign forces in Afghanistan, from falling into the hands of terrorists.

just this weekend, he pointed out that BLA claimed responsibility for a series of terrorist attacks across multiple locations in Balochistan Province of Pakistan that resulted in the martyrdom of 48 innocent civilians, including 5 women and 3 children.

“145 BLA terrorists were neutralized during the effective riposte by our valiant security forces,” the Pakistani envoy said.

“As a front-line State”, he said, Pakistan has suffered more than 90,000 casualties and major economic losses, citing the country’s role in dismantling Al-Qaida and countering ISIL-Khorasan Province.

Ambassador Asim Ahmad also stressed the need for accountability of external destabilizing actors who support, finance and arm these groups, including their proxies in Afghanistan.

“There must be zero tolerance for state terrorism – of the type on crass display in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and other situations of foreign occupation”, he said.

“Occupation and accompanying repression cannot be masked as counterterrorism to suppress the internationally-recognized and UN-sanctioned legitimate struggles of peoples against foreign occupation and for their inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with relevant UN resolutions and international legitimacy.”

In this context, Ambassador Asim Ahmad called on UN counter terrorism architecture and sanctions regimes to ensure that they adequately respond to current challenges and represent a fair, just and comprehensive mechanism to address the global scourge of terrorism.

“Counter-terrorism policies have so far singled out only the adherents of one religion – that’s Muslims,” he pointed out. “There is a need to encompass the new and emerging forms of terrorism, including white supremacists, far right extremists, violent nationalist, fascist, xenophobic, Islamophobic and anti-Muslim groups, and similar ideologies in various parts of the world.”

“Terrorism can be defeated only through unity and cooperation, without any double standards or discrimination, addressing the root causes and by preventing its exploitation for politically motivated agendas,” the Pakistani envoy added.

Opening the debate, Alexandre Zouev, Acting Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism, told the Council that Da’esh and its affiliated terrorist groups continued to adapt and demonstrate resilience despite sustained counter-terrorism pressure as he presented the Secretary-General’s latest biannual report on the threat ISIL/Da’esh poses to international peace and security.

Da’esh and its affiliates continue to expand in parts of Africa, particularly West Africa and the Sahel, with Islamic State West Africa Province further strengthening its presence in the Lake Chad Basin region, he said. The group remains active in Iraq and Syria, while ISIL-Khorasan (ISIL-K) continues to pose a major threat in Afghanistan and beyond, having claimed responsibility for the 19 January terrorist attack at a restaurant in Kabul.

Zouev said AI and other technologies are increasingly being used to fuel radicalization and recruitment, particularly targeting youth and children, while commercial satellite communication systems are being exploited for low-cost and secure communications.

Turning to priorities identified by the Secretary-General, he highlighted three areas of concern: the dire conditions in camps and detention facilities in north-east Syria and the need for safe, voluntary and dignified repatriation; the deteriorating security situation in parts of Africa, requiring political ownership and coordinated regional responses; and the need for whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches grounded in the rule of law, human rights and inclusive, nationally owned prevention.

“The intensification of the threat posed by Da’esh and its affiliates, despite significant national and international efforts, underscores the imperative to sustain global cooperation on counter-terrorism,” Zouev said. The ninth review of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy this year provides an opportunity for Member States to reaffirm commitments, assess progress since 2023 and address emerging and evolving threats.

Growing Use of Internet, Drones by Terrorists Raises Alarm. Natalia Gherman, Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate, said that, in 2025, the Directorate conducted assessment visits to Austria, Cameroon, Chad, Hungary, Malta, Norway and Somalia, and it is leading a visit this week to Tajikistan. “We work closely with each Member State that we visit” to provide tailored support and recommendations, she said, also describing a recent gathering of countries in Kenya aimed at helping to combat terrorists’ increasingly sophisticated use of the Internet.

Among other recent work, Ms. German said the Directorate published its fourth Thematic Summary of Gaps, focused on Africa, and is supporting international efforts to disrupt the use of virtual assets and new financial technologies for terrorist purposes. In line with its analytical mandate to identify issues, trends and new developments, it published a report on threats to critical infrastructure in partnership with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). “The threat posed by the terrorist use of unmanned arial systems has emerged as a priority for many Member States,” she said, also citing increasingly advanced digital methods now used to exploit children.

UN chief announces global scientific panel on AI, including Pakistan’s Bilal Mateen, to serve ‘all of humanity’

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UNITED NATIONS, Feb 05 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Wednesday announced the launch of a 40-member Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence (AI), which includes Pakistani expert Bilal Mateen, describing it as a global effort “to serve all of humanity” amid rapid technological change.

The UN chief told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York that the panel “is a direct response to the mandate given by Member States in the Pact for the Future to strengthen multilateral solutions for emerging technologies that are reshaping every aspect of our lives.”

“It will be the first global, fully independent scientific body dedicated to helping close the AI knowledge gap and assess the real impacts of AI across economies and societies,” he added.

Guterres highlighted the speed of AI development, saying, “AI is moving at the speed of light. No country can see the full picture alone. We need shared understandings to build effective guardrails, unlock innovation for the common good, and foster cooperation.”

Following an open global call that drew more than 2,600 applications, he recommended 40 experts to the UN General Assembly with deep expertise across machine learning, data governance, public health, cybersecurity, childhood development and human rights.

“All members will serve in their personal capacity, independent of any government, company, or institution,” he said.

The panel is expected to deliver its first report in time for the Global Dialogue on AI Governance in July, he said.

“AI is transforming our world. The question is whether we will shape this transformation together, or allow it to shape us,” the UN chief said, emphasizing the need for “common ground, and a practical basis for cooperation based on science and solidarity.”

Guterres sent the list of the 40 names to the General Assembly to be appointed for a period of three years.

Dr Mateen, who is among the 40 experts from around the world, is a physician-academic and technology leader whose expertise lies at the intersection of AI, data science, and global public health. He serves as the inaugural Chief AI Officer at PATH, a global health organization, where he focuses on the ethical and inclusive application of AI to improve health outcomes.