Pak Urdu Media Digest, Dec 5, 2023

In a statement, DC Chaman said that the FC and police personnel, doing routine checking, tried to stop PTM chief Manzoor Pashteen’s convoy. Instead of stopping, they opened fire on the security personnel, and fled from the scene. Manzoor Pashteen was arrested from a warehouse after a search operation. (Aeen Daily)

In a statement, Baloch Voice for Justice has strongly condemned the firing on the convoy of PTM chief Manzoor Pashteen and his arrest. And demanded his release immediately. The statement said that these actions are not only a violation of the basic principles of justice, freedom, and democracy but are also harmful to our society. The communities can no longer be suppressed by violent behavior nor can they be pulled back from the national struggle by spreading fear. Such hideous tactics are being used to prevent them from going to Turbat. (Qudrat Daily)

The Central Spokesman of the National Party stated that the arrest of Manzoor Pashteen is condemnable. The democratic process will be weakened by the arrest of the political leaders and the suppression of the free expression. The NP spokesperson has demanded that Manzoor Pashteen be released immediately. (Urdu Point)

The President of Quetta Bar Association, Malik Abid Kakar Advocate, and General Secretary Changez Hai Baloch Advocate have condemned the attack on the convoy of Manzoor Pashteen, the head of Pashtun Protection Movement, and his arrest, and said that attacking the convoy of Manzoor Pashteen is a cowardly act. Such an attack on political leaders who are struggling for their rights is a systematic conspiracy. Manzoor Pashteen Balach was going to Turbat to express solidarity with the relatives of Balach Baloch and the Baloch mothers and sisters who were on dharna. Such actions will not improve the conditions of Balochistan but will worsen and create more hatred. It is time for all the people to unite and fight for the rights of their subjugated community so that oppression, aggression, injustice, and unconstitutional practices can be prevented and those who are supposed to protect us would not shoot at us. The Quetta Bar Association announced boycott of all courts on Tuesday, December 5. (Qudrat Daily)

An explosion occurred near a private bank and a school on Verisk Road in Peshawar, as a result of which four persons, three of them children, were injured. According to the police, the bank’s windows were broken and the nearby shops were also damaged in the explosion. Rescue teams and security personnel reached the spot. An investigation has been launched into the blast, and it is being ascertained when the explosive material was planted and in which vehicle it was brought. SP Arshad Khan told the media that the blast took place at 9:10 am in which 4 kg of explosives were used. He added that it would be premature to say who was the target of the blast. (Dunya Daily)

Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Fawad Ishaq has demanded the rollback of the hike in gas prices for industries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province including textiles. He made the demand while addressing a joint press conference with Chairman of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textile Mills Association Kamran Shah at Sarhad Chamber. (Urdu Point)

Worried about the shortage of gas in Karachi, the industrialists have shut down all the industries in protest. Due to the shortage of gas, industrial production is almost non-existent. So, all the seven industrial zones established in Karachi were closed in protest. Javed Balwani, Vice Chairman, Businessmen Group, said that industrial production stopped due to non-supply of gas. Therefore, the workers were prohibited from coming to the factory. In recent days, the industrialists of Pakistan’s business hub, Karachi, had announced a complete shutdown of production, in order to force the caretaker government to withdraw the extraordinary increase in gas prices. (Roznama Intekhab)

Despite the IMF’s reservations, the increase in the revolving credit of electricity plants could not be stopped. And it continued to swell though power tariffs have gone up steeply. It increased by Rs.71 billion in October alone. The revolving credit of the electricity sector has now touched Rs.2,611 billion. During the first four months of the current fiscal year, an increase of Rs.301 billion was recorded in the revolving credit of the electricity sector. The liabilities of the power producers touched Rs.1750 billion. DISCOS have to pay Rs.96 billion for fuel supply. (Jang)
On November 7, 2023, Sindh cabinet sanctioned a sum of Rs.4.57 billion plus for deportation of illegally staying foreigners in the province. The illegally staying foreigners will be nabbed and later put in a tent city; Sindh government will make arrangements of their stay and for taking them in groups from Karachi up to borders. Sindh government has also written to federal authorities for subsidized railway transportation to take these aliens up to the borders. So far, caretaker Sindh government has released Rs.35.83Crore and these funds have been disbursed to deputy commissioners in 29 districts for facilitating deportation. Though caretaker Sindh government has done its job. It is the duty of law keeping machinery that they nab illegally staying foreigners and inform deputy commissioners so that they can be deported. (GM Khokhar in Awami Awaz, Dec.3)

The US State Department has confirmed that American officials, including Special Representative for Afghanistan, will visit Pakistan this week to discuss issues related to Afghan refugees. Assistant Secretary of State Julieta Wallace of the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration is arriving on Monday for a three-day visit. During her stay, she Julieta Wallis will also meet with the officials of non-governmental international organizations. The focus of the American diplomat’s discussions during these meetings will be the process of resettlement of Afghan refugees waiting to go to the United States, in addition to joint efforts to provide security to vulnerable people. Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, spokesperson of Pakistan’s Foreign Office, said that US Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West will visit Islamabad on Thursday. US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Elizabeth Horst will be coming on December 9 a four-day visit. Zahra Baloch said that the talks with American officials are a continuation of the contacts between the two countries on various issues, including the situation in Afghanistan. However, the spokesperson clarified that the talks will not be limited to Afghanistan alone. The US officials are visiting Pakistan at a time when the exodus of illegal immigrants from the country continues. Local and international human rights organizations and the United States are calling on Pakistan to reconsider its policy of deporting foreign migrants whose lives may be in danger upon returning to Afghanistan. It should be noted that thousands of people working with the United States and allied forces in Afghanistan had come to Pakistan for refuge. Many of them are awaiting transfer to the US. The US recently provided Pakistani authorities with a list of 25,000 Afghan nationals, and urged Islamabad not to deport them. However, Pakistan had objected to this list and the talks between the two countries are still going on. (Jalil Akhtar, Urdu Voice of America)

Kidnapping and other crimes against children are common in Punjab. We also see children begging on the streets. Children are also used in the sex industry. There is also a market for buying and selling them as domestic workers. Incidents of forced labor and violence against children also exist in the Pak society. Crimes against children are different from other crimes. The disappearance and kidnapping of a child is the beginning of all these crimes. By the way, these crimes against children are happening all over the country. We cannot say that only in Punjab there are incidents of child disappearance and kidnapping. Brutal crimes against children are happening on a daily basis across the country. Zainab’s murder in Qasur gained media attention, and the case became a test case for the Punjab Police at that time. Punjab Police specially appointed Zahid Nawaz Marwat as DPO Qasur. He is considered an expert in investigating blind cases. He oversaw all the activities to trace the accused in the Zainab case; the police tracked down the accused and arrested him. Since the Zainab case, Zahid Marwat has focused on missing children and other crimes against children. Today he is the Chief of Sheikhupura Police. If the performance of Sheikhupura Police is evaluated, 121 complaints were registered in 2023, and all cases were resolved. 112 children were recovered while 13 children were recovered but their parents could not be found. Now these children were handed over to Child Protection Centers. According to the police, the reasons for the disappearance and kidnapping of children range from property disputes, to parental harshness and unnecessary scolding and from domestic disputes to jealousy of relatives. There are gangs of child abductors as well. These gangs use children for crimes. Many gangs turn such children into beggars, forced laborers. Girls are also used for crimes. Therefore, special measures have to be taken to protect children. Police should conduct a special crackdown in the entire Punjab, as it has become very necessary to eliminate such criminal gangs. In our country, when a child goes missing, the entire responsibility falls on the police. The police are expected to recover the child immediately. But we do nothing to eliminate the fault-lines that make children disappear. There is no focus of any government in this regard. ( Muzammil Suherwardy in Express Daily) ###