NEWS:  The Afghan Taliban have blamed women’s failure to properly wear the hijab as a reason for preventing them from getting jobs, education, and going out at public places. Maulvi Muhammad Sadiq Akif, the main spokesman of the Taliban’s Ministry of ‘Amr Bil-Maruf wa Nahi-anil-Munkir’, said in an interview with the Associated Press on Thursday that there is a possibility if women come out unveiled in the open there could be sin. According to him, “It is not that wearing a hijab will harm the face of women. A woman has her own value and this value is reduced by looking at a man.  Dr Tim Winter, lecturer in the Sheikh Zayed Islamic Studies at Cambridge University’s Faculty of Divinity avers that the Taliban will struggle to find anything in Islamic scriptures that supports their interpretation. He says the Taliban operate on the basis of textbooks used in rural madrasas. According to him, their level of religious knowledge did not impress the Ulema who went to Afghanistan during both periods of Taliban rule. Dr Tim believes the Taliban have become too isolated from the wider Muslim community. On Wednesday, UN Special Envoy Gordon Brown also said that the International Criminal Court should prosecute Taliban leaders for crimes against humanity for refusing to provide education and employment to Afghan girls and women. Maulana Sadiq Akif, spokesman for the Taliban’s Ministry of ‘Amr bil-Maruf wa Nahi-anil-Munkir’ did not respond to questions about the restrictions on women, including whether any of the restrictions were in compliance with universal hijab regulations. (Urdu Voice of America)

• President Arif Alvi has issued a statement denying that he had signed and thus gave assent to the amendments of the Army Act and the Official Secrets Act. In a Twitter Post, he said, “Allah is witness that I have not signed the Official Secrets Act Amendment Bill 2023, and I have also not signed the Pakistan Army Act Amendment Bill 2023. I told my staff to return the bills without his signature within the specified time to make them ineffective. I checked with the staff several times whether the bills had been returned. ” President Arif Alvi further said that “Today I came to know that my staff has violated my orders, Allah knows all, He is forgiving, I also want to apologize to those who will be affected by it.” It should be remembered that the Army Act and the Official Secrets Act Amendment Bills have become law after the approval. Last night, Imran Khan and Shah Mehmood Qureshi were arrested in the Cipher case, while this morning Asad Umar was detained for the same case. The case has been registered under the Official Secrets Act. (Aeen Daily)

• After the Presidential tweet that he did not sign the Army Secret and Official Secret Act, a Pandora’s box has been opened. The caretaker Federal Ministers of Law and Information said in a joint news conference that there was no need for confusion whatsoever. If the president does not sign the bill within 10 days, the bill itself gets notified, the 10 days is clearly written in Article 75 of the constitution. The president has another option that after putting a written objection he can send the bill for amendment. The president has to choose one of these two in 10 days. He did not though the bills were received by the president on August 2 and August 8. (Himalya Today Daily)

• Senior journalist Hamid Mir, said President Alvi should speak with documentary evidence of his refusal to sign the Army Act amendment bill. Otherwise, he has no option but to resign.  Speaking on Geo News, Hamid Mir said that there are many issues on which the President needs to give a clarification. If he comes forward with clarification, then it will be known whether his position is right or wrong. At present we do not know the point of view of his staff. Only the point of view of President Arif Alvi is known. Only after clarification from his staff, we can form an opinion as to who is telling the truth and who is a liar.  (Qudrat Daily)

• Amir Jamaat-e-Islami Siraj ul Haque has requested the Supreme Court to take notice of President Alvi’s tweet.   Talking to the media in Lahore, he said that the constitution has not been implemented in the country even for a single day. Now a new Pandora’s box has been opened. The president has said that this signature (on the bills for assent) is not mine. Amir Jamaat-e-Islami further said that the date for the new election is not being announced, and now a new controversy has arisen about the signature. It is better if the Supreme Court takes notice of the issue. (Qudrat Daily)

• Former Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon has criticised that President Arif Alvi with his tweet has proved that he is the president of Imran Khan’s ‘Tiger Force’ and not of Pakistan. “I consider it a deep conspiracy against Pakistan.  Arif Alvi’s role has been controversial in the past as well. Today he once again has tried to harm Pakistan. His tweet has proved that he is the most incapable person. (Jang)

• PTI has claimed that Tehreek-e-Insaf Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi has been arrested from his residence in Islamabad by a heavy contingent of police, and that he is being transferred to FIA headquarters. The FIA sources said that he has been arrested in the Cipher case. The investigation team had earlier summoned him twice for questioning. (Aeen Daily)

• The Islamabad court has handed over former foreign minister and vice chairman PTI Shah Mahmood Qureshi to FIA on a one-day physical remand in the case of missing cipher case.   He was produced in the court of Duty Judge Ehtsham Alam. On the request of the FIA, the case was heard on camera. Quresh is accused of disseminating information contained in the cipher to unauthorized persons. Sections 5 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act were invoked against him. (Daily Dharti, Daily Kashmir Express, Roznama Intekhab)

• PTI Assad Umar has been arrested from Islamabad in connection with cipher document going missing. Meanwhile, Shah Mahmood Quereshi was produced before court. (Pahenji, Aug.20)

• President of Pakistan Muslim League (N) and former Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif reached London yesterday. He left Lahore on a Qatar Airways flight and arrived at Heathrow after a short stay in Doha. He will meet his elder brother and party supremo Nawaz Sharif and discuss political situation in the run up to general elections. In a post shared on Twitter, PML-N leader Maryam Aurangzeb said the two brothers are likely to decide the date of Nawaz Sharif’s return to Pakistan. (Aeen Daily)

• The Balochistan Union of Journalists has strongly condemned the arrest and torture of KTNTV reporter Asrar Chandio working in Sindh by the Awsta Muhammad police and demanded that the false case registered against the journalist be dropped and he be released immediately. (Urdu Point)

• Duran Khan Khosa, leader of the National Party, was injured by the firing of some unknown persons in Quetta. According to private TV Express-News, unknown persons opened fire indiscriminately on Khisa on the Saryab Road. On receiving information, the rescue team reached the spot and shifted him to the hospital after administering first aid.  The police have started investigations. (Qudrat Daily)

• Two terrorists were killed during the clash with security forces in the Bara area when the area was blockaded for searches. Sources said, the terrorists passing near the blockade fired at the gate of the security forces. In the retaliatory action two terrorists were killed while two other terrorists managed to escape. The killed terrorists belong to the Orkazai district. (Qudrat Daily)

• 13 laborers were killed and 2 seriously injured in a roadside bomb explosion at Shawal near the Pak-Afghan border; their van was completely destroyed in the blast. According to local leader Yar Gul, the terrorists planted a roadside bomb to target a convoy of security forces that was passing near the Gul Mirkot area of Shawal. According to local elders, 11 of the laborers belong to the Mehsud tribe in South Waziristan, while 2 belong to Ahmedzai Wazir in Lower South Waziristan. The blast took place around evening yesterday, all mobile services in the area have been suspended due to security concerns. (Dawn Daily)

• Chairman of Senate Sadiq Sanjrani has insisted that general elections will be held only after finalizing new constituencies. Talking to the journalists at the shrine of the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah yesterday, he seconded the Election Commission’s decision to hold elections   after the formation of new constituencies.  Sanjrani said that there is no uncertainty about the upcoming general elections. It is only the constitutional requirements that can postpone the elections for a few months. He said that I am telling you that the elections will be held and surely held on time. By on time, I mean after the formation of new constituencies, and as soon as the process of constituencies is completed, the Election Commission will announce the date of the next general elections. The nation should be assured there will be no delay. Sadiq Sanjrani explained that just a few days before the dissolution of the National Assembly, in the Council of Common Interests (CCI) meeting, the government announced the results of the 2023 digital census and the implications of the decision. (Dawn Daily)

• The Amir of Jamaat-e-Islami Sindh and former MNA Muhammad Hussain Mehanti has said brutality inflicted on innocent girl Fatima in Ranipur and the brutal killing of journalist John Muhammad Maher clearly point out that there is no law and order in Sindh. Addressing a press conference at Sanghar Press Club, he demanded judicial investigation of both incidents. Mehanti further said that during the 15-year PPP rule, people of Sindh have been deprived of basic facilities of life, including peace, health and water, and have been in the grip of bandits of Kache.  The only solution to this and all other problems is implementation of the Islamic system in the country and the election of honest leadership. (Jasarat)

• There has been significant progress in the investigations into the death of Fatima, a young maid working in a fake Peer’s Haveli in Ranipur. The medical report has confirmed that she was brutally tortured and there is a possibility of sexual assault also. DIG Javed Jaskani has said that it has been decided to remand the head writer, doctor, and compounder in the case, while it has also been decided to take remand of the former SHO Ranipur for investigation. The accused will be named for burying the body without postmortem by distorting the facts. Orders have been issued to rescue all the children in the Haveli and send them to their homes. The DNA samples of all the males of Haveli will be taken by establishing a police camp in the mansion. (Jasarat, Qudrat Daily)

• Christian community of Hyderabad observed a black day and held a demonstration against the Jaranwala carnage. Speaking on the occasion, Father Jameel Albert, Master Akram Masih, Rukhsat Gulzar Masih, Yusuf Mattoo and others said that for some time now a group with a certain mindset has made life difficult for Christians though the Christian community living in Pakistan has played a major role in the development of the country.  In various areas of Punjab, every now and then, the Christian community and their property and places of worship are targeted on one or the other pretext, due to which Christians have become victims of insecurity. At Jaranwala, houses and churches were targeted. We condemn the desecration of books of all religions, including the Holy Quran, anywhere in the world. We respect all religions; therefore, the government of Pakistan should provide us security. (Jasarat)

• The anti-extremism unit of Islamabad Capital Police is carrying out operations against elements spreading religious, sect, linguistic hatred and propaganda against institutions on social media. The unit has written to the FIA after tracking to close more than 700 social media accounts. More than 200of these suspect accounts have been closed so far. Roznama Intekhab)

• Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is rocked by a fundraising campaign scandal. The party’s London-based group has announced a £1 million fundraising campaign and PTI’s legal team has accused them of making money. Zulfi Bukhari, Naeem Panjutha and Sher Afzal Marwat said that PTI had nothing to do with the London campaign and asked people not to offer donations. Sher Afzal Marwat especially expressed the fear of traitors and spies infiltrating Imran Khan’s legal team. On Friday, lawyer Rashid Yaqoob talking to Geo News said that Imran Khan has instructed him from his jail cell to raise his legal case at the international level under the banner of Human Rights Legal Aid Foundation. A search of British companies found that the foundation was created on June 26, 2023 and has no history of fighting for human rights. He said that he had been instructed by Imran Khan to assemble a legal team comprising top UK lawyers including Michael Mansfield KC, Gareth Pearce and Ben Emerson KC. In a poster released to the media, Rashid Yaqoob described Christine Baker as the Patron of the foundation;  PTI’s lawyer Mehtaz Aziz has also been described as a patron, while Yasir Qureshi has been described as the operations director. In this poster, there are pictures of Imran Khan’s legal team as partners. The PTI British team has asked for donations on an emergency basis and asked Imran Khan’s supporters to donate generously to fight the case in international courts. The lawyer and his team also appeared on a TV channel, in which they further emphasized the appeal for donations. Minutes after the appeal for donations by the British legal team, Imran Khan’s lawyers in Pakistan issued a statement saying that Sher Afzal Marwat has gone underground, spies and traitors have infiltrated the PTI legal team and that the Pakistani legal team condemns the British Foundation (HRLAF) and its members. Sher Afzal Khan Marwat, who himself is part of the HRLAF poster, tweeted last night that “Imran Khan’s legal team and PTI’s core committee have put my life in danger.” He went on to say: “There is no doubt about the presence of traitors in the core committee of PTI. These people are giving the recordings of the core committee meeting to the enemies and even the media people. Shockingly, the Zoom meeting details and recordings of the legal team have been shared with outsiders, putting my life and my freedom at serious risk. I am going undercover for the first time as the designated team can catch me anytime. I want to tell the party people and make them listen to the messages of those who are following me. Yesterday I went into hiding and made sure I was safe but I have identified my stalkers and if I go missing, I have sent their names to a group of lawyers for legal action. It is also becoming very difficult to trust the people in the inner circle of the party”.  Naeem Haider Panjotha, another legal assistant of the PTI chief, wrote on Twitter that Imran Khan has not issued any instructions to collect money for the legal team. “Be aware that Imran Khan has not given any such permission to his legal team members. Here this clarification is also necessary and it is declared that no one should give any funding to fight Imran Khan’s legal battle either at the national level or at the international level. So please refrain from doing this”. Barrister Gauhar Khan said that PTI’s legal team will send legal notices to those who are collecting donations in the name of PTI chairman. Since Imran Khan’s expulsion, several legal and political appeals have been launched by social media broadcasters to raise funds for Imran Khan and the PTI. Rashid Yaqub was part of the legal team of Senator Waqar Ahmed Khan, the former Pakistani minister for privatisation. (Jang)

• Secretariat Police have arrested 18 activists of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) for violating Section 144.  The PTM activists were and asked to stop but the group continued marching from the D Chowk shouting slogans; hence they were arrested. The Police investigation has been initiated in this matter. (Jang)

• DIG South Irfan Ali Baloch said that there is much evidence that stolen mobile phones from Karachi are being sold in Dubai and Afghanistan. He said that among the recovered mobile phones, 22 were smuggled to Afghanistan through Balochistan and sold in the local markets there, and these mobile phones were purchased from Afghans who came to Pakistan through IMEI numbers. After reaching Quetta, these Afghans installed Pakistani mobile SIMs on these mobile phone numbers and they were seized. DIG Baloch further revealed that his team has also seized several iPhones that were stolen from Karachi. These iPhones were reset and sold in the Dubai market. He said that the citizens from whom these iPhones were recovered had bought them from the local markets of Dubai and brought them to Pakistan. Many such iPhones have been recovered from citizens returning to Pakistan after shopping in Dubai. (Jang)

EDITORIALS

• Currently, there is a severe shortage of epilepsy drugs, insulin, and injections used in renal dialysis, besides drugs for fever, and body aches amongst other ailments. Black marketing in drugs is also on the rise and medicines are sold at exorbitant prices. Yet, the disruption in the supply chain due to the ban on imports has not been removed. Often raw materials for the manufacture of medicines are not available. The government should immediately pay attention to this problem and remove the obstacles that cause the shortage of medicines. It is also important to promote local production of medicines so that dependence on imports can be minimized. (Edit-Dunya Daily)

• Malaria cases are increasing in Sindh.  Daddu district alone has reported 1473 cases in just two weeks. Many lives are now being exposed to threats of more infections for want of required medicines. According to some malaria patients, anti-malaria doses are being sold to private laboratories and medical stores at the rate of Rs.600-800 per dose. Many patients say they come to government hospitals from long distances spending big amounts on transportation but are not given anti-malaria doses. Some patients who have started protests have demanded that the government should take action against hospital staff who are selling medicines in the black. The health department should ensure that required medicines reach government hospitals and civic bodies should also ensure proper sanitation and civic authorities should also organize cleanliness awareness programs. (Sindh Exp, Edit)

• The nation is rocked by brutal violence a civil judge and his wife reportedly inflicted on their young domestic work in Islamabad. Then there is the case of a 10-year-old girl worker who died as a result of violence in a Peer’s house in Ranipur. Because the accused are influential and powerful, they escape from the clutches of law, while the plight of poor, weak and helpless is suppressed after hitting the headlines. And this is leading to increase in injustice and cruelty.  This is reprehensible. (Daily Pakistan Edit)

• 11 workers were killed when terrorists blew up their vehicle with explosives in Tehsil Shawal of North Waziristan. According to officials, there were 13 workers in the vehicle. Two of them were seriously injured in the explosion. All the deceased belonged to Makin and Wana tehsils of North Waziristan. 16 persons were killed and 10 injured after a pick-up van carrying diesel drums collided with a passenger coach on the Faisalabad Motorway near Pindi Bhattian. Both tragedies are alarming but the nature of both is different. The first incident is actually a continuation of the wave of terrorism that seems to be emerging rapidly in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.  We have to fight terrorism with public support. An effective plan of action should be taken to root out this demon. It should be remembered that national development and prosperity is subject to peace in the country.  The Pindi Bhattian accident is a grim reminder of the need to strictly enforce traffic rules. (Jang Edit)

• Official Secrets Act Amendment Bill 2023 and Pakistan Army Amendment Bill 2023 have received the President’s assent and have come into force. When the Official Secrets Act amendment was presented in the Senate, the government allies were also angry that the new changes were against the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law. They were of the view that the bill gave the secret agencies free rein to detain any citizen and search any place without a search warrant. However, these bills, which were approved by Parliament in late July, were sent to the President for approval in early August, which he signed yesterday. Section 6 (A) of the Secrets Act makes unauthorized disclosure of the identity of officials, informers or sources of intelligence agencies an offense punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and a fine which may extend to one crore rupees. Also, if any person divulges information obtained in an official capacity which may be harmful to Pakistan or the armed forces, he shall be punished with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and he will not participate in any political activity for two years after his dismissal. Along with the signatures of the President on these bills, the news also came to light that the FIA has arrested Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi and has named him in a case registered under the Official Secrets Act related to diplomatic ciphers. According to the FIR, a case was registered against him on August 15 under Sections 5 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act and Section 34 of the Pakistan Penal Code. It has been stated in the FIR that on March 7, 2022, the then Foreign Secretary received a diplomatic cipher from Washington, on October 5, 2022, a case was registered in the FIA’s Counter-Terrorism Department and it was told that former Prime Minister Imran Khan, former Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and his aides were involved in providing classified information to unauthorized persons. Regarding the cipher, the American website Intercept recently claimed to have received the document, which was also published. Imran Khan had waved the Cipher document at a public gathering days before the end of his government. Undoubtedly, the leader of Tehreek-e-Insaaf and his associates have taken a very irresponsible stand clearly against national interest in the May 9 anti-army incidents and in the case of Cipher, on which it is the responsibility of the government to bring them to justice. But this legal process should be transparent, fair, impartial and absolutely free from doubts. (Jang Edit)