#One & Only Imran Khan

[musiquesduciel]

Not Imran Khan being disgusted by this plot of a rom-com in I Hate Luv Storys (2010)

When that was literally him in his debut film. Down to singing a song. Like sir, this you?

You literally had the same name, even, in both these movies.

TLDR; In I Hate Luv Storys (2010), Imran Khan plays assistant director 'Jai' who comes to hate the plot of his own love story from his debut film where he, ironically, also plays a 'Jai' and people say Imran Khan does not have range?

[timetravellingkitty]

top 5 imran khan movies GO

Mere Brother ki Dulhan: not only is it one of my all time faves, it is criminally underrated. Very funny, very heartfelt. Love it when siblings have healthy relationships in media

Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na: THE FILM THAT STARTED IT ALL...laut aao wapis yaar

Delhi Belly: literal genius what can I say bhaag bhaag dk bose dk bose dk bose

I Hate Luv Storys: did you know this one had a promotional mobile game

Ek Main Aur Ek Tu: please just know that this makes me unreasonably happy. it's so fun

[mariacallous]

Ads containing abortion-related misinformation are allowed to run on Facebook and Instagram in countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, while legitimate health care providers struggle to get theirs approved, new research has found.

The report, released today from the Center for Countering Digital Hate and MSI Reproductive Choices, an international reproductive health care provider, collected instances from across Vietnam, Nepal, Ghana, Mexico, Kenya, and Nigeria. Between 2019 and 2024 in Ghana and Mexico alone, researchers found 187 antiabortion ads on Meta’s platforms that were viewed up to 8.8 million times.

Many of these ads were placed by foreign antiabortion groups. Americans United for Life, a US-based nonprofit whose website claims that abortion pills are “unsafe and unjust,” and Tree of Life Ministries, an evangelical church now headquartered in Israel, were both linked to the ads. Researchers also found that ads placed by groups not “originating in the country where the ad was served were viewed up to 4.2 million times.”

In the report, researchers found that some of the ads linked out to websites like Americans United for Life, whose website describes abortion as a “business” that is “unsafe” for women. The abortion pill is widely considered safe and is less likely to cause death than both penicillin and Viagra. Other ads, like one run by the Mexican group Context.co, linked to a Substack dedicated to the topic that implied there is a secret global strategy to manipulate the Mexican populace and impose abortion on the country.

One ad identified in Mexico alleged that abortion services were “financed from abroad … to eliminate the Mexican population.” Another warned that women could suffer “severe complications” from using the abortion pill.

Meta spokesperson Ryan Daniels told WIRED that the company allows “posts and ads promoting health care services, as well as discussion and debate around them,” but that content about reproductive health “must follow our rules,” including only allowing reproductive health advertisements to target people above the age of 18.

“This is money that Meta is taking to spread lies, conspiracy theories, and disinformation,” says Imran Khan, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate.

In these countries, where Meta often has partnerships with local telecom companies that allow users to access its platforms for free, Facebook is a key source of information. Some of these ads also ran on Instagram. “Anybody with a cell phone can access information. People use it to find services. When we ask clients, how did you hear about us? a lot of them will cite Facebook, because they live on Facebook. It's where they know to search for information,” says Whitney Chinogwenya, marketing manager at MSI Reproductive Choices. So when disinformation runs rampant on the platform, the impact can be widespread.

“Good health information saves lives. By actively aiding the spread of disinformation and suppressing good information,” Khan says, “[Meta is] literally putting lives at risk in those countries and showing that they treat foreign lives as substantially less important to them than American lives.”

Many of the countries impacted by this report also have high maternal mortality rates, making access to reproductive services particularly crucial. In Nepal, for instance, there are 239 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, as opposed to only 32 in the United States. In Ghana, it’s even higher: 319 deaths per 100,000 live births. This comes as the US continues to grapple with the implications of the 2022 Supreme Court decision that struck down Roe v. Wade. On Tuesday, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a milestone abortion case that will determine access to the abortion pill across the country. These laws and policies in the US are often fodder for those seeking to roll back abortion rights elsewhere in the world.

These findings are not the first instances of right-wing groups using social media to promote antiabortion messaging abroad. In 2022, the Spanish far-right group CitizenGo orchestrated a disinformation campaign on Twitter to rebrand a reproductive health bill focused on regulating surrogacy as an “abortion bill.” (The legislation did not address abortion.) A 2023 report from Amnesty International also cited social media as a key way that antiabortion groups disseminate their messaging and target reproductive-health workers.

The report also found that the problem extends beyond just abortion. In one instance, Meta removed one MSI Reproductive Choices ad for cervical cancer screenings in Nepal, saying it involved “sensitive information.” Another ad promoting breast cancer awareness in Ghana was also flagged, as was one in Kenya providing information on vasectomies.

After trying and failing to place ads on Meta’s platforms in Nepal and Vietnam, MSI’s local accounts were restricted from placing any further ads, forcing the organization to start new ones. “But of course, it doesn't have as much audience as we did on the original page,” Chinogwenya says.

Glenn Ellingson, a former Meta employee who worked on civic misinformation, tells WIRED that there are several factors that might lead to an ad being rejected from the platforms, including if it’s targeting a group considered “sensitive,” particularly in an automated system.

“When you’re operating at the scale Meta is at, there are always going to be errors,” he says, adding that greater investment in humans who could review and flag content would likely help the platform distinguish between content that violates its policies and content that doesn’t.

[spot-the-antisemitism]

weidest hate mail from bad race fakers

“Only true path” literally no Jew says that. “Dogs” is an arabic slur. and Finally you think Meir Kahane and Imran Khan were the same person like uneducated neo-nazi you are. I fully admit I’m a bit of a self hating Jew which you’d know if you didn’t send this copy pasta to homochad and unsolicited as well instead of actually reading my blog

in the unpolished verdion of this copy pasta they vowed to beat OP up and tear off their Magen David (and do what with it? Make good bars like blorbos?).

the reason they’re a nazi is they use a British Nazi slur for Pakistanís because they think Kahane is Pakastni and yet also hates Muslims and believes in Jewish Supremacy (which Kahane DID espouse) when Pakistan is the Muslims country. Wrong messy bloody two state solution dumb ass.

(by Homochad’s version they fixed the spelling but she still threatened to cremate them alive which even more apt when you learn it happened to a few nazis during a revolt at Birkenau)

Top paragraph could have been someone’s token antizionist Jew token reaching out after their antizionist friends turned on them to be like “can I leave my cult and still be antiZionist?”

THE ANSWER IS YES. You can be the non cult version of any ideology besides totalitarian ones which are cults by definition.

but the bottom “asajew” no fuck off Jvp troll. The real ask is “I’m a good Jew who doesn’t like genocide. Are you a good Jew like me or an evil zionazi like them?”

either I bend over backwards to appease you for clout or I push back even a little and end up on another blocklist for “being mean to someone’s dancing monkey token good jew”

maybe things like come full circle and I’ll be called a terf. So I blocked you. Guess that means I’m one of the evil Jews

This is the new “Op kinda problematic,shake my head. Why do you reblog from them?”

therefore I censored OP’s name

Naoh Schnapp is a popular antizionist scapegoat but Jews don’t actually care for him. He is a dogwhistle for antisemites for “young gay zionist jew it’s ok to call slurs”

they sent it to a blog that plenty of people hate watch to harass someone who called thier blorbo Sinwar a terrorist

The way the hamas and pro Israel support is lukewarm and stilted as if the person hates even typing the terms “hamas are terrorists” is so telling

“they’re so brave” no Jew talks like this this how you backhandedly compliment trans people for coming out

and finally “send them anon mail to cheer them up” is code for send them death threats on anon

I’M NOT YOUR ANTISEMITIC NUMBERS STATION

Sorry I spotted your dogwhistles, blocked you and reported you to the FBI each time you sent this on what must be several block evades

Do you think I’m stupid to this any of this is in good faith?

[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.

[starlightshadowsworld]

Reminder that the whole reason Pakistan is in the mess it is.

With Imran Khan being removed as prime minister.

And his subsequent imprisonment for 3 years after that.

And that whole mess.

... Is because of America.

Imran Khan was in support of a neutral policy in the Russia/Ukraine war.

The Russian invasion into Ukraine hadn't started and he expressed that "there was still hope for a peaceful solution to be reached."

And the US didn't like that.

In a secret diplomatic cable between the than Pakistani ambassador to America had with 2 state department officials from America.

One being Donald Lou who was not happy with Imran Khan.

'He said that "I think if the no- confidence vote against the prime minister succeeds, all will be forgiven in Washington because the Russia visit is being looked at as a decision by the Prime Minister. Otherwise, I think it will be tough going ahead."

So in other words, because Imran Khan had a different view point that he did, he was threathing Pakistan on the world's stage.

That if they didn't get rid of their leader, their leader who had been democratically elected by the Pakistani public.

Than they would suffer consequences.

... I'm sorry who the fuck put you in charge?!

And if you think oh it's just one guy.

"Don could not have conveyed such a thing without the express approval from the White House."

Aka the Biden Administration.

Which he expressed multiple times.

... I'm not suprised but my god does this piss me off.

Day after this, the no vote of confidence began in the Pakistani Parliament.

And Imran Khan was removed.

And imprisoned.

On some of the most flimsy ass charges I've ever heard.

However, shockingly... People who voted Imran Khan to be prime minister of Pakistan... Actually really liked the guy.

Imagine that.

And protests happened.

And the military, who was already corrupt got a power high from the situation and were arresting many of said supporters.

And Imran Khan might be free now but America has made sure that he can't run in the Pakistani elections.

No matter how popular and how much people want him in charge.

Don't get me wrong the military is definitely fucking shit up.

And their are others at fault.

Infact, Americas involvement was raised by Imran Khan in March 2022 (but this secret cable was only revealed today.)

He stated "a foreign power sent a message that he needs "to be removed" or Pakistan will face the consequences."

And incase you were wondering if it was America.

He the letter he received to be "a foreign conspiracy letter" and it's language was "threathing and arrogant."

But the damage was done.

And while no one else was helping this situation, it wouldn't have happened if not for the USA.

Because who the fuck gives you the right to threaten Pakistan because they wanted to stay neutral in a conflict that they weren't apart of.

Nor had even begun.

You destabilised their government, further corrupted the country and the military for your own gain with no remorse or regard for who it would affect.

You put the person who many feel is the one hope for Pakistan in jail and now he can't become leader.

If someone tried that with America, their government would lose their absolute shit.

We'd be called a dangerous foreign power.

But when you do it it's fine?

But your somehow allowed to dictate the way other countries are run? No offence but you can't run yourselves.

Nevermind Pakistan.

You have no right to do any of this.

You have shattered any peace in Pakistan.

Everyone who has died in the protests and riots is on your hands.

And because of that this news is probably being blocked in Pakistan.

Purposefully destabilise a south asian government and than fuck off like it never happened, who are you, the British?

And their denying it.

US State spokesperson Matthew Miller said "nothing in these purported comments show that the United States talking a position on who the leader of Pakistan should be."

Another spokesperson, Jalina Porter states "let me just say very bluntly, there is absolutely no truth to these allegations."

You fucking liars.

[pct-zindabad]

All World Cup winning captains are at today’s final, all but one

Yusuf the Imprisoned

They call me Yusuf the imprisoned...

but the cage you see is not a cage at all.

It is an opening, a doorway to a secret.

I am not imprisoned, these bars do not exist and no cage is forever.

The time in the cage is the time for true reflection. In this cage you shall truly find yourself. The cage is but a mirror, reflecting the secrets of the universe.

They call me Yusuf the imprisoned…

but my future, it gleams with the reflection of the moon and stars. One day I shall look back when I am king and I shall thank my lord for this imprisonment. It is saving me from that which God has knowledge of. I am safe here as God reveals his plan. This cage binds me to my lord. I am a caged bird of God. He loves me to the extent he caught me and put me in one of his cages so that He may look at me everyday, feed me when I am hungry and one day he will set me free…

So tell me how can I be imprisoned? rather this is the very essence of freedom. They laugh at me in my cage. You cannot travel and see the world they cry, no my friend, in this imprisonment I have been shown many places. My soul has transcended many distances so when I look down at my feet, I see them swollen and callused with journey.

Don't you see the wrinkles around my eyes where I have heard many stories? felt so many emotions?Don’t you see my weathered cheeks which bloomed once with the essence of youth?

Only a true traveller acquires such an appearance.

They call me Yusuf the imprisoned but I am Yusuf the interpreter of dreams. If I can translate your dreams don’t you think I can't translate my own? in my dreams I find my answers and so I awaken everyday by the sound of my own laughter!

Don't you miss the company of thy people they cry? a thousand voices are not enough to satisfy my soul I reply.

In this cage you shall hear the one voice of God and after you recover your true senses every other sound becomes unbearable so speak to me in the language of solitude and nothing else.

They call me Yusuf the imprisoned, but I am Yusuf the free.

A poem, to honour Imran Khan and dedicated to Prophet Yusuf inspired from Surah Yusuf [12:33]

19th Nov, 2023

[mchiti]

hala I got the bollywood movie list for you!!

Idk if you’ve watched any of these or not, but if u have them tell me how was it??

1.Jab we met

2.Hera pheri(if u like comedy)

3.dil to pagal hai

4.Kuch kuch hota hai(obviously)

5. 3 idiots(again)

6.yeh ballet (not a common one but it’s really good,on Netflix)

7. Gully boy

8.wake up sid

9.jaane tu ya jane na

10. mere brother ki dulhan

and obviously zindagi na milegi dobara (ZNMD)

enjoy watching ❤️

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ haaaaa

Bahut bahut dhanyavaad sis this means a lot ❤️❤️ I'm so excited!!! I've only watched Kuch kuch hota hai and jaane tu ya jaane na (what is Imran Khan doing these days?? he was so cute!!) but not the rest thank you so much, this is going to be my reward after my next exam !!! I've meant to watch Jab we met for ages cause of Shahid Kapoor you know jhbgf

you're so sweet and I wish you the greatest day ♡♡♡ I will ABSOLUTELY let you know when I watch them!!! ♡

[raplinesmoon]

bollywoodtan sonyeondan: bts in 2010s rom-coms

Listen, I’ve had a filmy weekend, okay? First my friends got engaged and threw a party, then my other friend and I had a sleepover and binged The Romantics, and on top of that, I think I’ve watched five other different Bollywood movies this weekend and I need to channel this energy somehow so please enjoy my explanations for casting BTS in these 2010s Bollywood rom-coms which I hope one day me (or anyone else) can turn into fics thank you very much

Ok, let’s begin:

Kim Namjoon - Baar Baar Dekho

Listen, I know this movie was critically panned? Do I fucking care? No. I love this movie, I would go to war for this movie because Sidharth and Katrina induce massive amounts of bi panic within me. I love Jai and Diya, I love their love, I love the time travel, I love Kala Chashma. So that’s why I’m choosing none other than Bangtan’s resident intellectual Mr. Namjoon to fill those shoes, okay? Namjoon’s expressed his own profound thoughts about marriage, just like Mr. Jai, and him as a genius mathematician who gets caught in a time loop. Drooling

Kim Seokjin - Hasee Toh Phasee

Again, I would d word for this movie bc it’s just so??!!! My crush on Sidharth Malhotra non-withstanding, this movie is chaotic and beautiful in the best way. It doesn’t try to be flashy or suave, and instead embraces its inner dork. Who does that remind you of, huh? Mr. Kim Seokjin, that’s fuckin who. Nikhil and Meeta just give major OTP vibes, him being a through and through himbo and her being a neurodivergent genius who he can’t help simping over!! Give me Seokjin and OC causing major chaos I beg! And put Zehnaseeb on in the background while you’re at it!

Min Yoongi - Khoobsurat

Am I biased bc I’m Pakistani? Am I biased bc it’s Fawad? Maybe, maybe not! But to quote Lizzie McGuire, this is what dreams are made of!! An off-beat physiotherapist meets a tsundere prince?? And he gradually warms up to her while they get into their own royal shenanigans? You can’t tell me this role wasn’t written for Yoongi, and long haired Yoongi specifically. The grumpy x sunshine trope is super strong with this one, and I love the brightness that Milli brings to the entire family, not just the prince. The Disney movie of everyone’s dreams <3

Jung Hoseok - Mere Brother Ki Dulhan

Listen, this movie doesn’t get enough credit for just being fun the entire way through!! The comedy is top-tier and the characters are just so likeable and wholesome!! And just this big, amazing hare-brained matchmaking effort that is so Bollywood!! And Imran Khan’s Kush being in love with Katrina’s Dimple, who is definitely bisexual (Dhunki, anyone?!). It’s giving King Hobi vibes, not only because he would go out of his way to do anything for someone he loved, but also because Choomantar is definitely siblings with Daydream and I need to see him bust it down to Do Dhaari Talwar thank you for coming to my TED Talk

Park Jimin - Aisha

Let’s all agree that Gal Mitthi Mitthi Bol is a banger, and then let’s all swoon over Jimin in this adaptation which is based on Emma!! I literally can’t decide if I want Jimin in Aisha or Arjun’s role, but it’d be so fun either way!! I kinda like the idea of him trying to set up all his guy friends and them just being such a fun group who all have their own individual love stories sighhhh. And OC being Arjun who’s all no nonsense and the grounding presence in Jimin/Aisha’s life!! Also the style in this movie was inspired by Clueless, and our mans models for Dior so that’s enough for me to want to make it happen

Kim Taehyung - I Hate Luv Storys

Fun fact - I once watched this movie instead of studying for an exam that was happening at the end of the weekend and had so much fun I passed out on my friend’s couch until 3pm the next day!! This is another one of those nostalgic movies that pays homage to all the fun romantic Bollywood tropes!! And all the DDLJ references made me totally think Taehyung! Except he’s not Jay, he’s Simran, and OC will be Jay, and Taehyung has to convince her to believe in romance!! I think that’s a fitting task for the man I consider to be the most romantic member of Bangtan (he’s SRK’s Korean incarnation imo)

Jeon Jungkook - Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania

If there’s one himbo I stan, it’s Humpty Sharma. If there’s another himbo I stan, it’s Jungkook. I literally have a severe emotional attachment to this movie and could probably quote most of the lines to you. What I love about this is how Humpty literally shatters all the stereotypes about toxic masculinity - he cries, he’s vulnerable, he believes in love. It just screams bby boi Jungkook vibes. Also pls him doing the most to get Kavya her wedding lehenga - that’s some of the cutest shit Bollywood has pulled in a while and I’m 10000% here for it (pls bring in Jimin and Tae as Shonty and Poplu too)

Anyways, thanks for listening to me ramble!! If anyone is interested, I’d love to do more of these, like maybe 2000s rom-coms or action movies!! I’m here for any discourse you guys have too, let’s be film nerds together 💜

[badedramay]

No but actually, your assessment of how people lack appreciation for nuances in dramas is so true. It’s not just acting; people can’t appreciate subtleties in writing, either. People always complain of Saas-bahu dramas yet they can’t handle anything besides the overt nature of good Vs evil.

Mein is a good, recent example. Mubashira is — for Pakistani TV standards — a sort of well-written character with bipolar disorder. I say this as someone in the medical field and with family members with BPD. Ayeza has even said mubashira has BPD, but if you read the comments the majority of people are saying Ayeza is “overacting”. Like no bro she’s not overacting (imagine saying Ayeza khan can’t act lolol) she’s having manic episodes, and pretty good ones for PTV standards, but people aren’t willing to appreciate how much work she has put into this character because this character can’t easily be boxed into a category. (To be clear the writing of mubashira isn’t totally flawless like they confused a psychiatrist for a therapist but again it’s the best I’ve seen)

Slightly related but wahaj recently wore a pink Kurta for his MayaPret shoot and the comments under there are filled with demasculinizing wahaj, and this is coming from all genders. Like appreciating nuances are one thing. We have a longgggg way to go if men are still made fun of for wearing pink.

you said it. from what I have observed in terms of how acting is termed by the reviewers as "good" or "bad" very basically falls under the description of, "was it obvious?" even then it has to be obvious at just the right decibel. otherwise it's loud and overacting.

another thing that is often not taken into consideration is how much of a say TPTB have about how a project is executed. i know for a fact that different directors demand different kinds of acting from the actors. some directors specifically WANT the loudness because to them that's how a particular emotion will be best show on screen. some directors go for the subtlety. some want silence to do its job while the actor just occupies the space. and there are cases where the directors are instructed by the channel heads to shoot the project on a certain frequency. no project is made in a vacuum. there are so many decision makers operating behind the doors whose names we don't even know. we only see and react to what we have access to.

khair, acting is an art and while it can be studied and critiqued, there's no set-in-stone parameter by which we can judge its quality. or you can if you really want to but god i am just so tired by life in general to want to get into all that. so, I just stick to the very basic rule for judging an acting performance - did it move me? if yes, then it's a good acting performance. if not then bhale hi uss insaan ko laakhon oscar kyun na mile ho, for me it will never be good. for instance, Iqra Aziz was the best part of Ranjha Ranjha Kardi even if Imran Ashraf continues to make Bhola his entire personality. i won't sit and argue with anyone about it - that's just how my heart works.

AND OMG YES PLS TELL ME ABOUT HOW *FINE* WAHAJ LOOKS IN PINK?!?!?! THE MAN CARRIED THE COLOR BEAUTIFULLY!! SUCH A WELCOME BREAK FROM ALL THE MONOTONY OF BLACK&WHITE!!! FUCK ALL THE HATERS! HE'S A BEAUTIFUL MAN AND THE SOFTNESS OF THAT PINK WITH HIS UNDENIABLE CHARM CREATED AN ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL PICTURE!!! the ones hating on him are only jealous cuz they know they cannot carry the color well.

[xtruss]

Pakistani Corrupt Military Use Age-Old Tactics To Keep Imran Khan Away From Election

Former Prime Minister, Once Corrupt Military’s Golden Boy, Has Been Sentenced In Two Separate Politically Motivated Cases To 10 and 14 Years

— Hannah Ellis-Petersen, South Asia Correspondent | Guardian USA | Wednesday January 31, 2024

A vendor holds a picture of the jailed Former Prime Minister Imran Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan. Photograph: Bilawal Arbab/EPA

The script seems eerily familiar. Imran Khan, once the golden boy of Pakistan’s Corrupt Powerful Military Establishment, found himself at the receiving end of not one, but two, damning court verdicts this week.

Sentenced to 10 years in jail on Tuesday, and 14 years on Wednesday, the brazen timing of the convictions in two separate cases made one thing abundantly clear: the military will stop at nothing to keep Khan away from Pakistan’s general election, which will be held next week.

It was not so long ago that Khan himself benefited from these age-old tactics utilised repeatedly in Pakistan’s chequered political history. In 2018, when Khan was running for prime minister, it was the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif who had fallen out of grace with the military and found himself facing charges of corruption and being barred from office. Less than two weeks before the election in July 2018, Sharif was sentenced to 10 years in jail.

Now the tables have turned again. Khan has become the military’s harshest critic, confined behind bars, while a cowed Sharif has reconciled with the army generals and his path back to power has been cleared. As allegations of pre-poll rigging have abounded, Sharif is expected to be all but escorted into an election win.

Khan was already banned from running in the election, but the back-to-back convictions and hefty prison sentences speak to the strength of the military’s campaign against its former protege.

Since he was toppled from power in April 2022 – after a vote of no confidence widely acknowledged to have been orchestrated by the military – Khan’s criticisms of the army establishment and its tight control over Pakistani politics has been unprecedented.

Yet his campaign against the military was always doomed to fail given its iron grip, and since August, when Khan was finally arrested, it was made clear that the military would stop at nothing to sideline Khan and destroy his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

Any pretence of due judicial process being followed was abandoned entirely at both cases where Khan was sentenced this week. Instead of an open courtroom, the trials were conducted inside the jail where Khan is being detained and his lawyers were not allowed to choose or cross-examine any witnesses.

Given the hefty crackdown on PTI in recent months, including all rallies being shut down by police and all coverage of the party largely banned from news channels, the party is a shadow of its former self, even if it still commands huge support from voters.

For many observers, Khan’s double convictions only serve to confirm that the elections are likely to be among the least credible in Pakistan’s recent history, pushing the country several steps back on its turbulent path towards democracy.

It is reflected too in the unusually muted political campaigning period. As the military has proved to be unafraid to show its hand in “managing” the election, even as it claims to be apolitical, all semblance of a fair fight has dissipated, with parties barely even putting forward a manifesto.

Among Pakistan’s voters, many of whom still revere Khan, there is a sense of anger and apathy. Yet most will echo the same refrain; in Pakistani politics, nothing ever really changes.

********

Imran Khan, Pakistan Former PM, Sentenced To 14 Years in Prison For Corruption (Politically Motivated Charges)

Ruling against Khan and wife Bushra Bibi comes just a day after a 10-year sentence was handed down, and just before Pakistan goes to the polls in a general election

— Hannah Ellis-Petersen, South Asia Correspondent | Wednesday 31 January 2024

Pakistan former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, has been sentenced to 14 years in jail on corruption charges. Photograph: Mohsin Raza/Reuters

Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been sentenced to 14 years in jail in a corruption case, a day after he was given a 10-year sentence for leaking state secrets.

Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi, was also handed a 14-year sentence in the case, known as Toshakhana, which accused them both of illegally selling state gifts. The judge also banned them both from holding political office for 10 years.

The sentence, given at a hearing held in the Rawalpindi prison where Khan, 71, is being held, further worsens the plight of the beleaguered former prime minister, who has been in jail since August and is facing more than 100 different charges.

The judge had denied Khan’s lawyers’ request to cross-examine witnesses in the trial and his lawyers were not present on Wednesday, when the sentence was given.

Khan questioned why there was an apparent rush to wrap up the case. “Why are you in a hurry to announce the verdict? I have not even recorded my final statement,” he told the judge, before exiting the courtroom. The verdict was then given without either Khan or Bibi present.

Bibi surrendered to the authorities at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on Wednesday morning.

The Toshakhana verdict came a day after a special court, also held in prison, found Khan guilty of leaking state secrets in relation to a sensitive diplomatic cable that allegedly went missing in his possession. Khan had described the trial as a sham and lawyers said he would be appealing against the verdict.

The timing of both consecutive convictions was deemed as significant by observers, coming a week before Pakistan goes to the polls in its long-delayed general election. Though Khan is already banned from running, he remains hugely popular among voters.

This is Khan’s second sentencing in the Toshakaha case, which related to allegations that the former prime minister bought several gifts given by rulers and government officials at low prices and sold them on for an undeclared profit. Khan had denied all wrongdoing.

The anti-corruption watchdog alleged that Khan and his wife had received 108 gifts from heads of state and foreign officials, some worth millions of rupees, during his term as prime minister and that many had been illegally kept or sold by the pair.

Khan was initially given a three-year sentence in the case in August, but after a higher court threw out the judgment, the legal proceedings began again after investigators presented fresh evidence relating to jewellery given by the Saudi crown prince and allegedly kept by Khan and his wife.

On Wednesday, the judge issued an even more severe sentence against both Khan and his wife, which included a collective fine of 787m rupees ($2.8m).

Khan, who was toppled from power in 2022, has claimed that the mounting cases against him are politically motivated.

Since he was removed from office in a vote of no-confidence, Khan began to publicly criticise the country’s powerful military, who have long been accused of meddling in politics. He alleged the military leadership bore a “grudge” against him and were orchestrating his imprisonment so he could not run in the elections.

Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has also faced harassment and intimidation, with senior leadership imprisoned or put under pressure to leave the party, while workers have been prevented from campaigning or holding political rallies in the buildup to the election.

A statement by PTI on X after Wednesday’s verdict said Khan and Bibi had faced “yet another kangaroo trial in which no right to defence was given to both”.

The party said there had been a “complete destruction of every existing law in Pakistan in two days”.

[humanrightsupdates]

Urgent Action: MAN AT RISK OF PROTEST-RELATED EXECUTION (Pakistan: UA 63.23)

Take action now - write to the Pakistani authorities to demand the release of YouTuber Riaz Khan before 30 August 2023:

I write to you out of extreme concern about the fate and whereabouts of Imran Riaz Khan, a Pakistani YouTuber and TV anchor who has been forcibly disappeared. Imran was arrested and detained in Sialkot on May 11th, 2023. Imran was detained at the Sialkot International Airport by the Sialkot police and taken to the Sialkot Cantt police station at around midnight on May 11th, 2023. Only subsequently was a detention order issued claiming that Imran was inciting violence in the village of Dhana Wali, a claim his lawyer vehemently denies.

Authorities claim that Imran was released on May 12th, at 11.20pm however his family say they have not seen or heard from Imran since his arrest. Imran has been missing for over one month now in a suspected case of enforced disappearance by state authorities and his fate and whereabouts remain unknown. The police claim that Imran is no longer in their custody and it is distressing that the police have not been able to locate Imran despite court orders requiring the authorities to work together to ascertain his whereabouts.

In keeping with government’s international human rights obligations, I urge you to:

Ensure a prompt, and impartial, investigation into the fate and whereabouts of Imran Riaz Khan;

Should Imran Riaz Khan be in state custody, immediately release him, or if there is sufficient evidence of wrongdoing, promptly charge him with an internationally recognizable crime and produce him before a civilian court;

End the practice of enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions, immediately and unconditionally disclose the fate and/or whereabouts of forcibly disappeared people to their families and immediately release forcibly disappeared people or promptly bring them before a judge in a civilian court of law to rule on the lawfulness of their arrest or detention and whether they should be released.

[mariacallous]

MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan—Mohsin Dawar’s campaign for re-election to Pakistan’s parliament was almost cut short before it began in early January when his convoy was ambushed in a village just a few minutes’ drive from his home in Miran Shah in Pakistan’s North Waziristan district, near the lawless borderlands with Afghanistan. As his car came under attack from militants armed with automatic weapons, sniper rifles, and rocket-propelled grenades, he and his team were lured into a compound by residents who promised them safety.

It was a trap. Once the gates closed behind Dawar, the attack intensified. For almost an hour, he said, they were pinned down. Police and Pakistan Army backup finally arrived but not before two of Dawar’s team had been shot and injured. The vehicle took more than 80 bullets, and the windows show just how accurate the attackers’ aim was: Either one of the shots to the windshield or passenger window would have struck and likely killed him if he hadn’t been protected by bulletproof glass.

The Jan. 3 attack on a popular, outspoken, liberal leader in one of the most vulnerable regions of a country fighting a growing insurgency by extremist militants hardly registered in Pakistan, where most believe the military attempted—and failed—to manipulate the Feb. 8 election in an effort to install Nawaz Sharif as prime minister for a fourth time and where media operate under tight government control.

The election wasn’t quite the foregone conclusion that had been expected, with candidates aligned with the jailed cricket star-turned-populist leader Imran Khan winning more votes than each of the major parties—the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party—forcing them into a coalition to get the majority needed to form a government. PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif nominated his brother, Shehbaz Sharif, to become prime minister and his daughter Maryam Nawaz as chief minister of Punjab province, ensuring the dynastic line continues.

Candidates across the country, not only those loyal to Khan, alleged that the results had been rigged against them and in favor of military-backed candidates. Two days after the election, with his seat still undeclared amid growing concerns nationwide about vote rigging, Dawar and about a dozen of his supporters were injured when security forces opened fire on them as they gathered outside the official counting room.

At least three people died of their injuries; What Dawar had believed was an unassailable lead, according to polling by his secular National Democratic Movement party, had disappeared. In the count that was listed as final by Pakistan’s Election Commission, the seat went to Misbah Uddin of the Taliban-aligned Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam-Fazl party. Dawar is still recovering from a serious leg wound.

Dawar’s hometown is, once again, the battleground of what he calls “Project Taliban”—a war against the Pakistani state.

The Taliban’s transnational ambitions are threatening security beyond the borders of Afghanistan, and nowhere is this more evident than in Pakistan’s northwest, where the militant presence has been growing since the terrorist-led group came back to power in August 2021. Attacks on civilians, soldiers, and police have soared. The region bristles with checkpoints and hilltop outposts and is heavily patrolled on the ground and in the air by the Pakistan Army and armed border police. That’s during daylight hours, Dawar told Foreign Policy. Once night falls, it’s a different story.

“The Army checkposts you will only see during the daytime. Before sunset, they go to their barracks, and the people of Waziristan are at the disposal of the militants. Everyone has to secure himself or herself for their own protection,” he said. “It is militarized, and I believe it is a continuation of a proxy war that was started long ago. ‘Project Taliban’ is still continuing.”

The roots of militancy and terrorism in Waziristan go back to colonial times, when the mostly Pashtun people here were characterized as fearless fighters and pressed into service for the British. The stereotype stuck; the region became a center of recruitment and training for young men to fight the Soviets after Moscow’s 1979 invasion of Afghanistan.

After the United States led an invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 in retaliation for the 9/11 attacks, leaders of the Taliban and al Qaeda moved over the border and for the following 20 years enjoyed the protection of the Pakistani military’s intelligence wing, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.

The ISI wanted a tame Taliban-led Afghanistan to thwart the ambitions of archrival India to become the dominant regional power. The Taliban had different ideas. The group’s return to power has inspired affiliated and like-minded groups worldwide, as the extremist regime provides safe haven for dozens of militant groups, according to the U.N. Security Council. They now openly use Afghanistan as a base to train fighters seeking to overthrow governments from China and Tajikistan to Iran and Israel. Among them is Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which, Afrasiab Khattak, a former Pakistani lawmaker and now a political analyst, said, is “just Taliban, there is no difference.”

Earlier this month, the Taliban reiterated the group’s stance on the international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan when the acting foreign minister, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, said the government doesn’t recognize the Durand Line that has delineated the two countries since 1893. The line runs through the tribal regions, dividing ethnic Pashtun and Baloch tribespeople. Recent bilateral tensions have often focused on the border, with tit-for-tat closures impacting cross-border trade.

In comments that Pakistan’s foreign ministry later called “fanciful” and “self-serving”—and which underlined the simmering hostility between Pakistan and the Taliban it helped put in power—Stanikzai said: “We have never recognized Durand and will never recognize it; today half of Afghanistan is separated and is on the other side of the Durand Line. Durand is the line which was drawn by the English on the heart of Afghans.”

The Security Council said in 2022 that the TTP had up to 5,500 fighters in Afghanistan. That number has likely risen, Dawar said, as neither country, mired in economic mismanagement and crisis, can offer its youthful population an alternative livelihood. Victory brought strength, Dawar said, and the Taliban “can attract the youth because money and power is what attracts youth the most.”

The simmering conflict threatens to return Pakistan’s northwest to the wasteland of less than decade ago, when the TTP controlled the region: Dissenters were routinely killed. Terrorists turned the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), now part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province after an administrative merger in 2018, into a death zone. Millions of people were displaced as those who could leave fled to peace and safety.

Those who stayed lived in fear and poverty until the Army finally took action in 2016 and ended the TTP’s 10-year reign by simply killing them, often in attacks that also killed civilians, or pushing them over the porous border into Afghanistan, where they joined Taliban forces fighting the U.S.-supported republic until it collapsed in 2021.

The TTP wants an independent state in these border regions. It broke a cease-fire with the government in November 2022 and has demanded that the merger of the FATA with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa be reversed. Attacks on the military and police have escalated alarmingly, presenting what a senior government official, who spoke anonymously, called “not only an existential threat to the state but also to the common man”—a recognition that what Dawar calls “Project Taliban” not only threatens to engulf the northwest but, if not contained, poses a potential threat to a fragile and barely stable state.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar disagreed, telling reporters before the Feb. 8 vote that the military had the upper hand in the region, by virtue of numbers alone. “I don’t see that they pose an existential threat to the state of Pakistan,” he said, while nevertheless conceding it was a “big challenge” that could take years to dislodge.

He could be right. After the failure of peace talks, ironically brokered by the Taliban’s acting interior minister, U.N.-listed terrorist Sirajuddin Haqqani, Pakistan stepped up pressure on the TTP. Asfandyar Mir, an expert on South Asian political and security issues, said this appeared to have made a “marginal” difference.

“For instance, we haven’t seen a complex or suicide bombing attack by the TTP or one of its fronts for a couple of months now,” he said. “In that sense, it appears the Taliban is sensitive to pressure,” though “smaller-scale attacks and the erosion of Pakistani state authority in parts of the northwest continue.” Things could change, he said, once a new government is installed and, perhaps, brings some stability to the political landscape.

For the people of Waziristan, struggling to survive unemployment, a lack of development, and government neglect of basic services such as roads, electricity, clean water, and education—coupled with a downturn in vital cross-border trade with Afghanistan—priorities have again switched to peace. “The local people have learned through their own bitter experience of devastating war” what a Taliban resurgence means, said Khattak, the political analyst. The security establishment is playing a dangerous game, indulging the TTP so that “local people become so desperate they want the military to come in and help them,” he said.

Hundreds of thousands of people have marched through the streets and bazaars of North and South Waziristan over the past year, demanding action against terrorism and an end to state violence. Yet it continues. “No one is safe. Everyone is a target,” said a man in his 30s as he rolled off a list of potential victims: politicians, business people, teachers, doctors, journalists, civic activists, women’s rights advocates, anyone deemed “un-Islamic.” Even barbers are not immune from extremists who ban men from shaving: The day before the Jan. 3 attack on Dawar’s convoy, the bodies of six young hairdressers were found in the nearby town of Mir Ali.

Another local resident pointed to a “Taliban checkpoint” on the road between Miran Shah and the bustling town of Bannu. The long-haired, kohl-eyed, gun-toting youths in sequined caps stand outside their roadside hut in the shadow of an Army post on the hill above. Around the clock, the resident said, they randomly stop vehicles to shake down the drivers. “It’s just for money,” he said. “Money and power.”

But it’s killing, too, “on a daily basis,” said a government worker who left Miran Shah with his family at the height of the TTP terror and visited in early February from Peshawar so he and his wife could vote for Dawar. The aim, he said, is “to create an atmosphere of fear so that people leave and what is here is theirs.”

Dawar said the turning of the Taliban tables on Pakistan “was predictable.” The Taliban “are now a threat to Central Asia. They are now a threat to Iran, to Pakistan, and to even China. All of them thought we will control the Taliban after the takeover. The problem is it didn’t happen,” he said.

In 2011, then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Pakistan’s leaders that they couldn’t keep “snakes,” as she called the Taliban, in their own backyard and “expect them only to bite your neighbors.”

“There used to be a time when people were sent from here to Afghanistan. Now they are coming around, they are biting,” Dawar said.

[blazehedgehog]

What got you into answering submitted questions on this blog?

Absolutely nothing! I registered this blog for other reasons originally but left the ask box open, because, well, why not? Formspring and Curiouscat were dedicated "ask a social media person a question" services, and I had one of those for a brief time, too, but it all just seemed to kind of... collate here.

But I wasn't a fan of when people would sit down and shotgun blast 10+ questions in a day and then go radio silent for days, or even weeks. Some of that was just how Tumblr itself treated asks -- you could only post answers immediately. However, if you had Xkit installed, asks could be put in to the queue like any other post. (Nowadays, Tumblr lets you do that by default)

So, out of politeness, I decided to just dump all my asks in to a queue where they would go up two or three times a day.

But it was still kind of inconsistent. I'd get a few days or maybe a week worth of posts, but there were still dry spells. Eventually I settled on there being one post per day. And that's the way it's been for years and years at this point. It's extremely rare there isn't a post ready to go.

Sometimes I think I should speed it up. I used to. There used to be times where I'd have 10-15, even 20 posts in the queue, and I'd bump it back up to two posts a day. But that hasn't happened in a while now*. That's for a few reasons.

One, I think I spend a lot more time writing each individual post. Shorter, sweeter, to-the-point posts are getting fewer and farther between, to the point where I am now making a conscious effort to write less, because my proclivity is to just write and write and write and write forever. So when you see a post like this, that's me in my own head saying "shorter posts are fine. not everybody wants to read a novel every day" instead of skipping that ask.

Two, I don't get paid for this. I've thought about at least trying to put a simple adsense banner on this blog somewhere, but if I'm being honest, Tumblr makes that difficult. You may not know this, but my bltn.net site is basically just a tumblr blog redirected through a domain, and Google Adsense is constantly yelling at me because I don't have a proper ads.txt and this and that and the other thing. Because even if you tell tumblr to make a blank page without any formatting, it still inserts secret, invisible formatting anyway. Which Google hates. So it serves ads on bltn.net, but only begrudgingly. And I don't want to make it mad any more than I have to.

You gotta write because you like writing, which I do, but there are sometimes I take a step back and think "This feels like work. I should be paid for work."

Particularly because a friend of mine, Imran Khan, in the days before he became known for his work at Game Informer and Kinda Funny Games and etc. briefly tried to run an ask blog like this, failed to start, and then point blank asked me why I keep this thing running when it seems like so much work. I didn't have an answer for him, outside of the fact that I like interacting with the people who like my writing.

Which I do. But in this scary new world after my Mom died last year, I'm definitely examining where I spend my time more carefully and what I should be paid for doing.

But nagging people to join my Patreon because I can't shut up on Tumblr probably isn't going to work, either. I have a thing my blog's sidebar about it, but getting more aggressive... I dunno about that.

(That being said: good time to note that not only do I have a Patreon, but tier 2 donors get access to a Discord channel where I basically link these the moment they go in to the queue. Meaning you can get early access to these posts days, or sometimes even up to a week or more in advance)

So... I like doing this, I want to keep doing this, I will keep doing this, because I think getting prompts from you guys to write about things legitimately helps me as a writer and helps me build viewpoints on things I would never otherwise think about. If I am left to my own devices and only write about topics that are self-indulgent to myself, I don't know that I would ever write about even a quarter of what this blog wrings out of me.

Because that's the other thing, when Imran asked me that question all those years and years ago: I don't know how to come up with topics? Like, I know the topics that interest me, but those are a narrow group of topics that may or may not be in vogue at any given time. I mean, just go look at my Youtube channel, for instance.

Would you say I have any ongoing "shows"? How often do I venture out of my comfort zone? I think a lot about my last Youtube MCN, Screenwave, when they effectively "fired" me in 2021. I think they figured The Definitive Way To Play would be this ongoing series where I always had a new game to talk about every few weeks or at least every couple of months, and then I... didn't do that. Because I only make those kinds of videos when it's meaningful to me. I don't research games for that series, I talk about mods I personally have field tested in games I want to play. Which is why it's mostly just been Sonic games.

So, like, yes, while I do have a Google Doc absolutely stuffed full of video ideas (32 unmade ideas and counting), when it comes to brainstorming new video ideas, new series, it's not something I've ever really been able to do? That Google Doc is ideas I've been accumulating for the last 5-10 years. My "some day" ideas that never got made.

(That's probably harsh on me, and more impostor syndrome stuff, but I digress; when I think about me thinking about my process, I don't have brainstorm sessions and to date just write videos about things I already know)

Getting prompts here gets me to think about and say things I'd normally never consider. I value that greatly. And this tumblr has even been the inspiration for some of my most popular Youtube videos (my "Definitive Way to play Sonic Adventure" video actually came from this tumblr post blowing up).

So I'm glad to be here. I want to keep being here. It's important to me. But I'd be lying if I did not feel like there was a clock ticking.

* There was no room for this anywhere else, but another reason I feel like I should speed up the queue is that the dry spells are slowly getting fewer and farther between, and sometimes old asks get buried under the next tide of new asks. I have something like 1300 unanswered posts in my inbox these days, but I rarely fill the queue with more than 5-10 posts anymore.

[drmaqazi]

WHAT DOES H.E. IMRAN KHAN, THE FUTURE PRIME MINISTER OF SO-CALLED ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN MEAN WHEN HE SAYS Laa Ilaaha IllAllah

When we say “La Ilaaha IllaAllah," we are affirming that there is no god but Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala). Every Muslim believes in this and testifies to it.

Maybe your first time saying La ilaaha illaAllah was when you reverted to Islam, or maybe you grew up saying this every day. Regardless of how we came to believe in Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala), the phrase is an important part of our faith.

Saying La illaha illa Allah affirms your faith, yes. But did you know that saying it also has benefits that bring you reward in the sight of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala)? Here are three benefits to motivate you to keep your tongue moist with La illaha illa Allah.

Forgiveness of Sins It was narrated from Mu’adh bin Jabal (RadiyAllahu ‘anhu) that the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) said: “There is no soul that died bearing witness to La Ilaaha IllAllah, and that I am the Messenger of Allah (SallAllahu ‘alaihi wa Sallam), from the heart with certainty, but Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) will forgive it.” (Ibn Majah)

Acceptance of Du’a Narrated ‘Ubada bin As-Samit: The Prophet (ﷺ) “Whoever gets up at night and says: — ‘

Laa ilaaha illAllah Wahdahu laa Shareeka lah lahul Mulk, wa lahul Hamd wa huwa ‘alaa kulli shai’in Qadeer. Al Hamdu lillaahi wa SubhaanAllahi wa laa-ilaaha illAllah waAllahu Akbar wa laa hawla wa laa Quwwata illaa-billaah.’

(None has the right to be worshipped but Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala). He is the Only One and has no partners . For Him is the Kingdom and all the praises are due for Him. He is Omnipotent. All the praises are for Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala). All the glories are for Allah. And none has the right to be worshipped but Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala), And Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) is Great And there is neither Might nor Power Except with Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala). And then says: — Allahumma, Ighfir li

O. Allah! Forgive me). Or invokes (Allah), he will be responded to and if he performs ablution (and prays), his prayer will be accepted.” (Bukhari)

Freedom from Hell Narrated `Utban bin Malik Al-Ansari (RadiyAllahu ‘anhu) who was one of the men of the tribe of Bani Salim: Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) came to me and said, “If anybody comes on the Day of Resurrection who has said: La Ilaaha IllaAllah, sincerely, with the intention to win Allah’s Pleasure, Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) will make the Hell-Fire forbidden for him.” (Bukhari)

It was narrated from Abu Hurairah and Abu Saeed (RadiyAllahu ‘anhumaa) bore witness that the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) said: “If a person says: ‘Laa ilaaha illAllahu wa Allahu Akbar (None has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Allah is the Most Great),’Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says: ‘My slave has spoken the truth; there is none worthy of worship except I, and I am the Most Great.’ If a person says: Laa ilaaha IllAllah Wahdahu (There is none worthy of worship except Allah alone), Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says: ‘My slave has spoken the truth; there is none worthy of worship except I, alone.’ If he says,Laa Ilaaha IllaAllahu laa shareekalahu (There is none worthy of worship except Allah with no partner or associate),’ Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says: ‘My slave has spoken the truth; there is none worthy of worship except I, with no partner or associate.’ If he says: ‘La Ilaaha IllaAllah, lahul Mulku wa lahul Hamdu (There is none worthy of worship except Allah, all dominion is His and all praise is to Him),’ Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says: ‘My slave has spoken the truth; there is none of worthy of worship except I, all dominion Mine and all praise is due to Me.’ If he says: ‘ Laa Ilaaha IllaAllah, laa hawla wa laa quwwata illaa billah (There is none worthy of worship and there is no power and no strength except with Allah),’ Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) says: ‘My slave has spoken then truth; there is none worthy of worship except I, and there is no power and no strength except with Me.’ One of the narrators Abu Ishaq (Radiyallah ‘anhu) said: “Then Agharr (RadiyAllahu ‘anhu) another narrator said something that I did not understand. I said to Abu Jafar (RadiyAllahu ‘anhu) : ‘What did he say?’ He said: ‘Whoever is blessed with (the ability to say) them (these words) at the time of death, the Fire will not touch him.’” (Ibn Majah)

These are just a very few examples of Ahadith that shows us the benefits of saying La illaha illa Allah. Many Muslims probably say this phrase every day during Salah or Dhikr, but when you remember the benefits that are attached to it, like many other Du’as, your mind gets more conscious about not only saying it with your tongue but affirming it with your heart and living it through your actions.

La Ilaha Illallah Du’as Benefits in Hadeeth A very short but very heavy Dhikr in Islam. We cannot even record the benefits of this lovely phrase. This is so heavy to weigh on the scale→ HasbiyAllahu Laa Ilaaha Illaa Huwa ‘alaihi

[smqazi]

A WAKE UP CALL TO ALL THOSE CONCERNED 

ABOUT THE FUTURE EXISTENCE OF 

SO-CALLED ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN, 

WHICH BY DEFINITION IS NEITHER ISLAMIC NOR REPUBLIC, 

UNFORTUNATLY!

If I were Chief of Army Staff, having seen the fate of previous “DICTATORS”,      I would act on the request of the Supreme Court if called upon to do so and take following actions rather than imposing another martial law:-

Immediately arrest and put behind the bars all 8500 persons required by the NAB.

Ensure that they are not released by any one unless tried by the courts of law.

I would meanwhile let His Excellency Prime Minister Imran Khan to continue as such.

I also Advise His Excellencies to take necessary steps to identify and bring all those dignitaries / elites found involved in corruption / fake degrees and bring them to justice and get their cases decided on priority basis so that all those convicted are debarred from participating in future elections and holding of any public office.

Request the Chief Justice  of the Supreme Court along with the Islamic Nazriati Council to point out flaws in our constitution, especially those articles which are conflicting with the Islamic teachings, such as immunity of the President, education level of parliamentarians, as Islam lays down a lot of emphasis on education. The first Ayah of the Holy Qur’an revealed to Prophet Muhammad (SalAllahu ‘alaihi wa Sallam) was Iqra’ bism-i Rabb-i-kalla-dheee khalaq….. along with Ahadiths on the subject.

Uneducated assembly carries out legislature and creates problems for the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the interpretation and implementation of the laws, etc., etc.

If need be, we can have two assemblies, an educated one for the legislature and the other for general administration in their respective constituencies.

Having done all of these in a period of six (6) months or so, I advise PM to nominate a caretaker government for an interim period of three (3) to six (6) months and hold General Elections in which only those persons are allowed to participate who are having clean record and are good administrators.

We are desperately in need of...: -       

Electoral reforms

Political reforms

Judicial reforms

Police reforms

Review of constitution so as to make them more accountable rather than granting immunity.

Rule of Law

To make the system more democratic, we should have a strong National Security Council.

Others,

National development council

National finance council

Legislature reforms to be done by higher house only and approved by National Security Council.

MNAs and MPAs and all elected representatives should have no powers to formulate rules for themselves, rather they should be working under the rules made by sensible and capable independent body, otherwise they will continue carrying out legislature to benefit themselves or their parties.

And lastly yet importantly, in so-called Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which by definition is neither Islamic nor Republic, unfortunately, the Constitution's fundamental rights have not played a pivotal role in promoting social justice and inclusivity. These rights ensure that the principles of equality, freedom, non-discrimination, and social justice are upheld. They should enable citizens to challenge unfair practices and laws and seek redress for any violation of their rights.

REFERENCES:

https://www.undp.org/pakistan/news/pakistans-pathway-towards-universal-rights-freedom-equality-and-justicePakistan: A Brief on Equal Rights in Constitutions, Equal …