#Former Prime Minister | Imran Khan

[xtruss]

Today the World 🌎 is Observing International Day to Combat Islamophobia! This Day is Observed Annually on March 15th, Since Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers of Member States (CFM), in Its 47th Session, November 2020, Unanimously Adopted a Resolution Led By Pakistan to Observe March 15th as the “International Day To Combat Islamophobia.”

[globalknock]

Sons of former prime minister and founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran Khan have also become active for the election process in Pakistan, shared a unique post to support PTI.

(24 نیوز )سابق وزیر اعظم اور بانی پاکستان تحریک انصاف  عمران خان کے بیٹے بھی پاکستان میں  انتخابی عمل کیلئے متحرک ہو گئے ہیں ، پی ٹی آئی کی حمایت کیلئے منفرد پوسٹ شیئر کر دی ۔  تفصیلات کے مطابق سابق چیئر مین پی ٹی آئی  عمران خان اس وقت متعدد کیسز  میں سزا کاٹ رہے ہیں اور ان کی جماعت کے تمام امیدوار آزاد حیثیت میں الیکشن لڑ رہے ہیں ،  تاہم ایسی صورتحال میں ان کے بیٹے  انتخابی مہم میں کود پڑے…

[banglakhobor]

গ্রেফতার ইমরান খান, প্রাক্তন পাক প্রধানমন্ত্রীর তিন বছরের জেল

ইসলামাবাদ: তোশাখানা মামলায় দোষী সাব্যস্ত হলেন পাকিস্তানের প্রাক্তন প্রধানমন্ত্রী ইমরান খান। শনিবার ইসলামাবাদের একটি আদালত ইমরানকে তিন বছর কারাদণ্ডের সাজা দিয়েছে। এই রায়ের ফলে আগামী পাঁচ বছর ভোটে দাঁড়াতে পারবেন না তিনি। এছাড়াও পাক রাজনীতি থেকে তাঁকে ৫ বছরের জন্য দূরে থাকতে হবে। অভিযোগ, দেশের প্রধানমন্ত্রী পদে থাকাকালীন পাকিস্তানের রাষ্ট্র হিসাবে পাওয়া উপহারগুলি অবৈধভাবে বিক্রি করে দিচ্ছিলেন…

[newscast1]

Ex-Pak Army chief Bajwa favoured Imran Khan in Bani Gala house case, claims PM Sharif’s aide

Ex-Pak Army chief Bajwa favoured Imran Khan in Bani Gala house case, claims PM Sharif’s aide

Former Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa influenced the then chief justice to favour ousted premier Imran Khan in his Bani Gala house case, a top aide to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has claimed. Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan (L) and ex-Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. (File photo)/PTI) By Press Trust of India: Former Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa influenced…

[zvaigzdelasas]

SECRET PAKISTANI ARMS sales to the U.S. helped to facilitate a controversial bailout from the International Monetary Fund earlier this year, according to two sources with knowledge of the arrangement, with confirmation from internal Pakistani and American government documents. The arms sales were made for the purpose of supplying the Ukrainian military — marking Pakistani involvement in a conflict it had faced U.S. pressure to take sides on. The revelation is a window into the kind of behind-the-scenes maneuvering between financial and political elites that rarely is exposed to the public, even as the public pays the price. Harsh structural policy reforms demanded by the IMF as terms for its recent bailout kicked off an ongoing round of protests in the country. Major strikes have taken place throughout Pakistan in recent weeks in response to the measures.

The protests are the latest chapter in a year-and-a-half-long political crisis roiling the country. In April 2022, the Pakistani military, with the encouragement of the U.S., helped organize a no-confidence vote to remove Prime Minister Imran Khan. Ahead of the ouster, State Department diplomats privately expressed anger to their Pakistani counterparts over what they called Pakistan’s “aggressively neutral” stance on the Ukraine war under Khan. They warned of dire consequences if Khan remained in power and promised “all would be forgiven” if he were removed.

17 Sep 23

[mariacallous]

Afghan refugees who fled their country to escape from decades of war and terrorism have become the unwitting pawns in a cruel and crude political tussle between Pakistan’s government and the extremist Taliban as their once-close relationship disintegrates amid mutual recrimination.

On Oct. 3, Pakistan’s government announced that mass deportations of illegal immigrants, mostly Afghans, would start on Nov. 1. So far, at least 300,000 Afghans have already been ejected, and more than a million others face the same fate as the expulsions continue.

The bilateral fight appears to center on Kabul’s support for extremists who have wreaked havoc and killed hundreds in Pakistan over the last two years—or at least that is how Islamabad sees it, arguing that it is simply applying its own laws. The Taliban deny accusations that they are behind the uptick of terrorism in Pakistan by affiliates that they protect, train, arm, and direct.

Mass deportations are a sign that Pakistan is “putting its house in order,” said Pakistan’s caretaker minister of interior, Sarfraz Bugti. “Pakistan is the only country hosting four million refugees for the last 40 years and still hosting them,” he said via text. “Whoever wanted to stay in our country must stay legally.” Of the 300,000 Afghans already ejected, none have faced any problems upon returning, he told Foreign Policy. As the Taliban are claiming that Afghanistan is now peaceful, he said, “they should help their countrymen to settle themselves.”

“We are not a cruel state,” he said, adding: “Pakistanis are more important.”

The Taliban—who, since returning to power in August 2021, have been responsible for U.N.-documented arbitrary detentions and killings, as well forcing women and girls out of work and education—have called Pakistan’s deportations “inhumane” and “rushed.” Taliban figures have said that the billions of dollars of international aid they still receive are insufficient to deal with the country’s prior economic and humanitarian crises, let alone a mass influx of penniless refugees.

The expulsions come after earlier efforts by Pakistan, such as trade restrictions, to exert pressure on Kabul to rein in the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Pakistani Taliban, whose attacks on military and police present a severe security challenge to the Pakistani state. Acting Prime Minister Anwar ul-Haq Kakar said earlier this month that TTP attacks have risen by 60 percent since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, with 2,267 people killed.

The irony is that Pakistan bankrolled the Taliban throughout their 20-year insurgency following their ouster from power during the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. Taliban leaders found sanctuary and funding from Pakistan’s military and intelligence services. When the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in 2021, then-Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulated them, as did groups such as al Qaeda and Hamas. But rather than continuing as Islamabad’s proxy, the Taliban have reversed roles, providing safe haven for terrorist and jihadi groups, including the TTP.

“While it’s still too early to draw any conclusions on policy shifts in Islamabad, it appears that the initial excitement about the Taliban’s return to power has now turned into frustration,” said Abdullah Khenjani, a former deputy minister of peace in the previous Afghan government. “Consequently, these traditional [Pakistani state] allies of the Taliban are systematically reassessing their leverage to be prepared for potentially worse scenarios.”

Since the Taliban’s return, around 600,000 Afghans made their way into Pakistan, swelling the number of Afghan refugees in the country to an estimated 3.7 million, with 1.32 million registered with the U.N. High Commission on Refugees. Many face destitution, unable to find work or even send their children to local schools. The situation may be even worse after the deportations: Pakistan is reportedly confiscating most of the refugees’ money on the way out, leaving them in a precarious situation in a country already struggling to create jobs for its people or deal with its own humanitarian crises.

Border crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been clogged in recent weeks, as many Afghan refugees preempted the police round-up and began making their way back. Media have reported that some of the undocumented Afghans were born in Pakistan, their parents having fled the uninterrupted conflict at home since the former Soviet Union invaded in 1979. Many of the births were not registered.

Meanwhile, some groups among those being expelled are especially vulnerable. Hundreds of Afghans could face retribution from the Taliban they left the country to escape. Journalists, women, civil and human rights activists, LGBTQ+ advocates, judges, police, former military and government personnel, and Shiite Hazaras have all been targeted by the Taliban, and many escaped to Pakistan, with and without official documents.

Some efforts have been made to help Afghans regarded as vulnerable to Taliban excess if they are returned. Qamar Yousafzai set up the Pakistan-Afghanistan International Federation of Journalists at the National Press Club of Pakistan, in Islamabad, to verify the identities of hundreds of Afghan journalists, issue them with ID cards, and help with housing and health care. He has also interceded for journalists detained by police for a lack of papers. Yet that might not be enough to prevent their deportation.

Amnesty International called for a “halt [to] the continued detentions, deportations, and widespread harassment of Afghan refugees.” If not, it said, “it will be denying thousands of at-risk Afghans, especially women and girls, access to safety, education and livelihood.” The UNHCR and International Organization for Migration, the U.N.’s migration agency, said the forced repatriations had “the potential to result in severe human rights violations, including the separation of families and deportation of minors.”

Once back in Afghanistan, returnees have found the going tough, arriving in a country they hardly know, without resources to restart their lives, many facing a harsh Himalayan winter in camps set up by a Taliban administration ill-equipped to provide for them.

Fariba Faizi, 29, is from the southwestern Afghanistan city of Farah, where she was a journalist with a private radio station. Her mother, Shirin, was a prosecutor for the Farah provincial attorney general’s office, specializing in domestic violence cases. Once the Taliban returned to power, they were both out of their jobs, since women are not permitted to work in the new Afghanistan. They also faced the possibility of detention, beating, rape, and killing.

Along with her family of 10 (parents, siblings, husband, and toddler), Faizi, now eight months pregnant with her second child, moved to Islamabad in April 2022, hoping they’d be safe enough. Once the government announced the deportations, landlords who had been renting to Afghans began to evict them; Faizi’s landlord said he wanted the house back for himself. Her family is now living with friends of Yousafzai, who also arranged charitable support to cover their living costs for six months, she said.

With no work in either Pakistan or Afghanistan, Faizi said, they faced a similar economic situation on either side of the border. In Pakistan, however, the women in the family could at least look for work, she said; their preference would be to stay in Pakistan. As it is, they remain in hiding, afraid of being detained by police and forced over the border once their visas expire.

[workersolidarity]

🇵🇰 🚨

PROTESTS AFTER INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES FORMERLY OF PTI, PARTY OF IMRAN KHAN, DEFEAT WESTERN-BACKED OPPONENTS

Despite the jailing of Imran Khan and the banning of his PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf) Party, several independent candidates formerly of PTI won big in the 2024 Pakistan General Elections, held February 8th.

Pakistan has been in turmoil ever since Imran Khan, Prime Minister since August 2018, was ousted in a Lawfare coup by Western-backed opposition forces in the Pakistani government and military. Khan has since been detained on trumped-up charges, some of which include accusations of an illegal marriage to his third wife, whom he married in 2018 shortly before assuming office.

After Khan's ouster, PTI supporters protested en mass against the government, leading to several violent incidents which the government then used to strip the party of its symbols and prevent candidates from running under the party's banner. PTI candidates have since been forced to run as independents.

Several high-profile former members of PTI turned against Khan under pressure and were trounced in this week's elections, with several lesser-known ex-PTI members defeating the turncoats.

During the elections, which were held on Thursday February 8th, several reports of pressuring and ballot stuffing accusations emerged, with videos posted online showing interference at the polls.

Still, independent, PTI-backed candidates won at least 92 seats, which though not enough to form a government on its own, could make it a major player during negotiations to form a coalition, if not suppressed.

Any coalition will need 169 seats to support its bid before forming a new government, with the Western-backed Muslim League winning the most seats and most likely to form a governing coalition.

Delays in results and fears of a stalemate and further political turmoil has brought thousands of PTI and Khan supporters out into the streets to protest the government's attempts to eliminate PTI and Khan as a threat to the current elite faction governing the country.

#source1

#source2

#videosource

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[xtruss]

All That’s Left For Them Now Is To Murder Me – But I’m Not Afraid To Die! The Former Pakistani Prime Minister Writes Exclusively For The Telegraph From His Prison Cell

— BY IMRAN KHAN | 2 May, 2024 | The Telegraph

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is currently serving a prison sentence for controversial corruption charges. Credit: AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary

Today, Pakistan and its people stand in confrontation with each other. Almost two years ago, an engineered vote of no confidence was moved against my government and a government cobbled together by the military establishment came into being.

Since then, the Corrupt Military Establishment, under direct guidance of General Asim Munir, The Corrupt Chief of Army Staff, has tried every tactic to decimate my party’s presence from the political environment of Pakistan.

The oppression, torture and denial of our election symbol have been extensively documented, but nothing has worked for the military and the powerless civilian leadership acting as its puppets.

Pakistan’s general elections on Feb 8 2024, showed the utter failure of their design.

With no single electoral symbol in a country where the vast majority of voters are guided by a party symbol, the people came out and voted overwhelmingly for candidates supported by my party, the Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI), despite standing as “independents” with a host of diverse symbols.

This democratic revenge by the people of Pakistan against the agenda of the military establishment not only was a national defiance by the people but also a complete rejection of the official state narrative of May 9 2023, when PTI supporters were falsely accused – as a pretext for a crackdown – of attacking military installations.

Pakistan's Corrupt to his Core Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir (left) shakes hand with Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi CREDIT: Inter Services Public Relations via AP

Unfortunately, instead of accepting the people’s mandate, the military establishment went into a fit of rage and electoral results were manipulated to bring into power the losers.

The same vote tampering was seen in the recent by-elections.

As a result, today Pakistan is at a dangerous crossroads. The people have shown in no uncertain terms their rejection of state electoral machinations and of the oppression, incarceration and torture of not just the PTI leadership but also of its workers.

The military leadership has been subjected to overt criticism at a level unseen before in our history. The government is a laughing stock.

More Oppression and Violence

The response of the state has been to unleash more oppression and violence not just on party workers but also on journalists and human rights defenders. Social media restrictions have been put in place with a complete ban on the X platform.

Perhaps the most ominous development has been the systematic attempt to destroy the independent functioning of the judiciary at all levels.

Judges have been subjected to all manner of pressures including blackmail and harassment of family members. As a result, our trials on false charges are conducted with no proper defence allowed and no concern for the law of the land and the constitution.

The Corrupt Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) and of the Islamabad High Court have been found short of delivering unbiased justice.

But members of the senior judiciary have risen against the attempted destruction of the independence of the judiciary. Six brave judges of the Islamabad High Court have written a letter to the CJP highlighting instances of harassment and blackmail including of their families by intelligence agencies. Specific instances are cited and details given.

This is unprecedented in our history – although, informally, many knew what was happening to the senior judiciary but for such a letter to have come from these judges shows the level of despair, anger and frustration.

The sorry state of judicial affairs is reflected in the hesitancy shown by the CJP, who eventually felt compelled to act but instead of calling for a full bench hearing of the supreme court and summoning those named by the six judges, he has sought to put the six judges effectively in the dock.

With an economy in crisis, spiralling prices and a people politically angry at having their electoral mandate stolen and being economically beleaguered, the state stands isolated.

Unwilling to mitigate its grave errors which have led Pakistan to this precarious juncture and unable to go beyond its mantra of oppression and violence against critics, the State is treading the same path it trod in 1971, when it lost East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.

Upsurge in Terrorism

At the same time, it is seeing an upsurge in terrorism and a growing alienation in Balochistan where the issue of enforced disappearances is growing in severity. On Pakistan’s borders, India has already admitted to undertaking assassinations inside of Pakistan and the international border with Afghanistan remains volatile.

The military establishment’s expectation of unquestioning support from the US, in return for the provision of access to airspace and related facilities to the US for military purposes, has been punctured after the publication of the latest US state department’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices which highlights the many human rights violations in Pakistan.

Again, seeking salvation by relying on support from the International Monetary Fund when there is a confrontation with the people will not result in any stability for Pakistan. There is no other way out of the crisis but to restore the people’s mandate and release all political prisoners including those being held for trial under military courts. The constitutional functioning of state institutions must be restored.

“The Corrupt Military Establishment has done all they could against me. All that is left for them is to now ‘Murder Me’. I have stated publicly that if anything happens to me or my wife, Corrupt General Asim Munir will be responsible. But I am not afraid because my faith is strong. I would prefer death over slavery.”

— Imran Khan is the leader of the Pakistan-Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) party. He is serving a prison sentence for controversial corruption charges.

[collapsedsquid]

At least one police officer was killed and dozens of people injured in Pakistan as supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan clashed with security forces outside the capital Islamabad on Monday, officials and Khan's party said. Authorities have enforced a security lockdown for the last two days after Khan called for a march on parliament for a sit-in demonstration to demand his release, while highways into the city have been barricaded. One police officer was shot and killed, at least 119 others were injured, and 22 police vehicles were torched in clashes just outside Islamabad and elsewhere in the Punjab province, provincial police chief Usman Anwar said. Two officers were in critical condition, he said.

Get stormin that capital to free your imprisoned leader and correct the stolen election!

[beardedmrbean]

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani police Monday fired tear gas canisters at supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan to stop them from entering the capital, where they hoped to stage a sit-in to demand his release, officials said.

The firing of tear gas came shortly after demonstrators — who traveled 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the restive northwest — began arriving and gathering near Islamabad. They defied a lockdown, previous tear gas and widespread arrests despite a ban on rallies in the city.

The development came a day after the leadership of Khan’s party went ahead with the “long march” even as Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko arrived for a three-day visit. He was received at an airport near the capital by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday evening.

Authorities said at least one police officer was killed and several officers and demonstrators were injured in clashes. The marchers appeared determined to enter Islamabad, where the lockdown, which has been in place for two days, has disrupted daily life.

The government was in talks with Khan's party to avoid any further violence, officials said.

Khan, who has been in jail for over a year and faces more than 150 criminal cases, remains popular. His party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, says the cases are politically motivated.

A convoy of vehicles carrying protesters was expected to enter the capital Monday night. Security officials say they expect between 9,000 and 11,000 demonstrators, while the PTI says the number will be much higher.

Video on social media showed Khan supporters donning gas masks and protective goggles.

Travel between Islamabad and other cities has become nearly impossible. Ambulances and cars were seen turning back from areas along the key Grand Trunk Road highway in Punjab province, where shipping containers were used to block roads.

Video circulating online showed some protesters operating heavy machinery to remove the containers.

“We are determined, and we will reach Islamabad, though police are using tear gas to stop our march,” PTI senior leader Kamran Bangash told The Associated Press. “We will overcome all hurdles one by one, and our supporters are removing shipping containers from roads."

Bangash also said Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, who was recently released on bail in a graft case, will lead the march along with Ali Amin Gandapur, the chief minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where Khan’s party remains in power.

Earlier, almost 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Islamabad, Bibi, wearing a white head-to-toe burqa, addressed protesters while sitting in a truck, urging them to remain determined to achieve their goal and free Khan. She then chanted, “God is great” and left.

Khan’s main political opponent, Sharif, heads the current government.

Sharif’s spokesperson, Attaullah Tarar, said on Sunday that whenever any high-profile foreign delegation comes to Pakistan, the PTI “begins the politics of long marches and onslaught on Islamabad to harm the economy.”

Some economists say protests cause billions of rupees in damages to the country's fragile economy.

Protesters on Sunday night burned trees as police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds. Khan supporters retaliated by using slingshots and pelting security personnel with rocks.

In a bid to foil the protest, police have arrested more than 4,000 Khan supporters since Friday and suspended mobile and internet services “in areas with security concerns,” which the PTI said affected its call on social media for a protest. On Thursday, a court prohibited rallies in the capital and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said anyone violating the ban would be arrested.

Authorities say only courts can order the release of Khan, who was ousted in 2022 through a no-confidence vote in Parliament. He has been imprisoned since his first conviction in a graft case, in August 2023.

Khan has been sentenced in several cases. His convictions were later overturned on appeal but he cannot be freed due to other pending cases against him.

[porterdavis]

Stop calling it unprecedented!

The big picture: In reality, leaders who left office since 2000 have been jailed or prosecuted in at least 78 countries — including in democracies like France, Israel and South Korea.

Since 1980, around half of the world's countries have had at least one such case, and that's not counting impeachments or coups. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ongoing corruption trial Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's home was surrounded this month in a botched attempt to arrest him, while former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak remains in jail after a judge this week threw out a challenge to his corruption conviction Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentina's current vice president and former president, was convicted of fraud but remains in office and out of prison because her position carries immunity   Like Trump, Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy had his home searched after leaving office. He was convicted in two separate cases in 2021 and sentenced to prison   In South Korea, former President Park Geun-hye was sentenced to 24 years for corruption. Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been in and out of court for three decades and was temporarily barred from seeking office due to a tax fraud conviction We were only considering leaders who held the most powerful political office in each country

And don't forget Spiro Agnew who was indicted while serving as Vice President. He later resigned and pled guilty to one felony. Nixon resigned to avoid prosecution and impeachment.

Trump will just be the most egregious, but then, he's the biggest crook of the lot.

[news-of-the-day]

5/25/23

Putin announced Russia would be sending nuclear weapons to Belarus. It would maintain control of them but they would be housed there. Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner mercenary group, announced they were withdrawing from Bakhmut following Russia's victory, and added 20K of his troops died in the battle.

Floridian Governor deSantis announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election. People have been talking about him running for president for so long, I hadn't realized he hadn't actually officially launched his campaign yet.

The announcement was streamed live on twitter but there were many technical difficulties, which people like to point out as Musk's failures after his takeover of the company. Musk has been vocalizing for a bit that he wants to step back from twitter to return focus on Tesla and SpaceX, and last month he announced a new CEO, Linda Yaccarino, head of advertising and partnerships at NBC.

I'm trying very hard to keep on top of the Pakistani elections but the situation keeps changing regularly. You may remember there's a big hubbub regarding former Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan, who was ousted a year ago after a no-confidence vote. My general sense is the existing powers that be are trying everything to keep him from running again, from throwing antiterrorism or bribery charges at him. In the past week the government has considered banning his party altogether after there were clashes with police when they tried to arrest Khan or just protest in general. Thousands of members of his party have already been arrested and many high-profile leaders have resigned. It's a very tense situation. The backdrop to all this is Pakistan is running out of money and is on the edge of a default, trying to convince the IMF to bail it out.

US jobless claims rose slightly to 229K last week, and unemployment fell to 3.4% in April. GDP was 1.3% annualized rate in Q1.

The Supreme Court handed down a ruling limiting the EPA's ability to regulate wetlands under the terms of the Clean Water Act.

Richard Barnett, the man who was pictured putting his feet up on Pelosi's desk during the January 6th riot, was sentenced to 4.5 years.

I apologize, yesterday I forgot to mention the fire that killed 19 students was in Guyana. It's also come to light the student's phone was confiscated because she was texting her older boyfriend, who is now expected to be charged for statutory rape since she was under 16, so the entire situation is awful and terrible.

1) Politico, Guardian, WSJ 2) Miami Herald 3) NYT, Barrons 4) WSJ, Al Jazeera 5) Reuters 6) USA Today 7) Washington Post

[zersk]

lol. lmao even