Pak Urdu Media Digest – Dec 6, 2023

JUI chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman has claimed that armed men rule at night in Dera Ismail Khan, Tank, and Lucky Marwat. Police presence is noticed during the day. Speaking to the media in Islamabad, he wondered how an election campaign be conducted in KPK and Balochistan when the two provinces are in the grip of unrest, Maulana Fazlur Rahman hastened to add that this does not mean that we want to postpone the elections. “We are ready for elections but we should be given a peaceful environment for campaigning”. He further said that his party has formed an electoral alliance with the PML-N. “We will cooperate with PML-N in KP and Punjab. (Roznama Intekhab, Daily Khabrain)

Caretaker Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti said that the law-and-order situation is becoming a big challenge. Maulana Fazlur Rahman’s remarks regarding law and order are very true. He said that there has been a 78% increase in terrorism in the last 9 months due to the TTP factor. The people of Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s party were attacked. The Maulana was informed about the threat to his life on his arrival in Quetta and we gave them foolproof security. Standard Operating Practices (SOP) for election, and law and order issues will be discussed with all parties this week. He said that only the Ministry of Defense can talk about the availability of forces for poll duty. The forces will fulfil the requirements of the Election Commission regarding security. When there is an election, there is an increase in incidents of terrorism like it happened during elections in 2013 and 2018. We will do our best and we will get through this phase. (Intekhab, Khabrain)

According to the Public Relations Department of the Pakistan Army (ISPR), there was a clash between security personnel and terrorists in Sararogha area of South Waziristan. In the fierce exchange of fire, a 26-year-old soldier, Ahmad Ali of Charsadda, was killed while fighting bravely. A sanitization operation was carried out to eliminate possible terrorists in the area. (Ummat)

Tehreek-e-Pasdaran Skardu President Wazir Hasnain said that the Chilas bus attack was a conspiracy to instigate riots on a big scale. When people from all sects come together for their rights, some powers come to spoil the harmony. It is unfortunate that we are unable to identify our common enemies. Wazir Hasnain asked why terror incidents are happening only in Diamer and urged people to socially boycott terrorists and miscreants. (Daily K2)

All Parties Conference organized by the Skardu Awami Action Committee (AAC) has demanded roll back of wheat price to the 2013 level. also called for immediate restoration of Kargil-Ladakh Road and made out a strong case to start work on the of Shigar Thang Highway. The All-Parties Conference resolved that terrorists should be wiped off this soil without any discrimination. (Daily K2)

Residents of PK 77 and 78 have announced a boycott of the upcoming polio campaign due to non-availability of electricity and drinking water. People are also angry as there is no water for worshipers as well. These views were expressed at a meeting chaired by Nikafullah Sifat of Jamiat Business Forum. (Urdu Point)

Six women involved in drug trafficking were arrested and more than 26 kg of drugs were recovered from them last week, according to the ANF spokesperson. The arrested women are involved in inter-provincial and international drug trafficking. They confessed to their association with various drug trafficking gangs. At Allama Iqbal International Airport, ANF recovered 87 capsules filled with heroin from the stomach of a woman identified as Samira of Lahore, she was nabbed while leaving for Oman. At the Multan International Airport, 855 grams of ice was recovered from the bags of two women, Aqsa and Noor Ahmed, both residents of Sahiwal as they were leaving for Qatar. 1.942 kg of ice was recovered from a woman’s bag at Allama Iqbal International Airport. The accused Sadia, a resident of Karachi, was leaving for Bahrain. 2 women, Saima and Sharifa Bibi, were arrested in Orangi Town area of Karachi with 22.8 kg of hashish. A woman named Amina, a resident of Peshawar, was arrested near Chongi No. 26, Islamabad. 500 grams of hashish and 250 grams of ice were recovered from her. (Ummat)

The Revenue Department has said that 3 lakh 71 thousand houses were affected by floods in Balochistan. Two and a half lakh houses were completely destroyed while 96 thousand houses were partially affected. Five Lakh Forty thousand acres of agricultural land was ravaged. No monetary assistance has been provided by the government to the victims. (Nawaiwaqt)

A special report claimed that pharmaceutical companies have a free hand to sell substandard drugs and medicines in Azad Jammu Kashmir. For the past 8 months the Drug Analyst post has remained vacant in the Drug Testing Laboratory. The pharmaceutical companies are brazenly selling their medicines with no quality check. It looks as though the government has bowed before the drug mafia. Civil Society has expressed grave concern over this issue as dozens of medicine manufacturing licenses were issued on fake documents in Poonch and other parts of AJK. (Siasat)

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has been under severe criticism for a long time. There are talks in political circles to abolish it altogether as there are some other institutions to carry out the work assigned to it. NAB was established at the behest of a dictator who wanted to torture his political opponents by means, legitimate or illegitimate. NAB apparently not only fulfilled his wishes but also continued to serve the political Masters who followed him. While it exposed corruption and looting of national resources found in the system and brought the guilty to book, it also made such cases against the opponents of the ruling party of the day. Because of this, NAB’s reputation suffered. Cases were also instituted against many bureaucrats, which demoralized the bureaucracy. Some such cases were flagged by the senior bureaucrats of Punjab yesterday in a two-and-a-half-hour-long meeting with NAB Chairman Lt. Gen. (Retd) Nazir Ahmed Butt. For example, inquiries were made against a secretary. Relief was given to him but the case was not withdrawn. Another secretary said that an inquiry is made when money is received and spent on projects with the approval of the cabinet. “If we do not spend the money given by the government and it lapses, then the government investigates us. And if we spend the budgeted allocation, NAB initiates an inquiry”. Officers like Ahad Cheema, in whose cases nothing was proven but they were handcuffed and subjected to media trials and were disgraced in the society and before the eyes of the family. Referring to the case of 56 companies, it was said that the projects were approved by the Cabinet and the Supreme Court took note of this fact. Yet, NAB launched a probe and the salaries were withdrawn. Some victim officers did not even have money to pay back their salaries. There is an internal accountability mechanism within every institution. If NAB conducts an investigation, a representative of the department concerned should also be associated with the probe. Chairman NAB assured the bureaucracy that there will be no media trial of any officer in future. “If Ahad Cheema is acquitted in the last case too, I will go to his house to apologize to him. Officers will not be questioned in bona-fide and public interest cases and no action will be taken on anonymous applications. All cases will be discussed first and then proceed”. It was agreed in the meeting that the joint team would meet every two months to discuss the cases before initiating any inquiry. NAB chief also announced a new policy for housing societies. He said seven out of ten societies are committing fraud at present. To protect the public from such frauds, a regulator will be added to the transaction between the builder and the buyer. All transactions will be through banks and cash payments will not be allowed. These steps are the need of justice and the need of the hour. Accountability institution is very important to remove the flaws found in the system but it should perform its duties in a transparent and fair manner so that no one can point a finger of bias. (Edit in Jang)