Sunday, July 10, 2016

Qadri demands Qisas for Model Town victims

ISLAMABAD: Founder of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Dr. Tahir ul Qadri called on Awami Muslim League (AML) Chairman Sheikh Rasheed at his Laal Haveli residence in Rawalpindi on Sunday.

While two leaders were exchanging pleasantries, Dr. Tahir ul Qadri?s guards scuffled with Punjab Police personnel after they were stopped from taking a bag inside the residence. Later the Laal Haveli administration resolved the matter.

Dr. Qadri had been invited by Sheikh Rasheed to attend a reception in his honour. While addressing the event, Dr. Qadri demanded to know why only policemen are being sent to India for treatment when such a practice is not witnessed in any other department in Punjab be it education, engineering or otherwise.

He claimed the practice of sending policemen to India is tantamount to treason and fall sunder the ambit of Article 6 of the constitution of Pakistan.

Dr. Tahir ul Qadri claimed that the is up for the current leadership in Pakistan, he added that it is unclear if they will even get time to wrap up their affairs.

Dr. Qadri said the relatives of those martyred in Model Town Lahore did not sway before wealth, pressure and fear. He added, that Qisas will have to be paid for the 14 lives that were taken away.

Qisas is the law of retaliation by which an immediate relative of the dead victim if approved by court may take the life of the killer.

The Awami Tehreek leader added, that he will announce the future plan of action for his protest at the end of the month after consulting with all political parties at the national advisory conference.

Qadri demands Qisas for Model Town victims

ISLAMABAD: Founder of the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Dr. Tahir ul Qadri called on Awami Muslim League (AML) Chairman Sheikh Rasheed at his Laal Haveli residence in Rawalpindi on Sunday.

While two leaders were exchanging pleasantries, Dr. Tahir ul Qadri’s guards scuffled with Punjab Police personnel after they were stopped from taking a bag inside the residence. Later the Laal Haveli administration resolved the matter.

Dr. Qadri had been invited by Sheikh Rasheed to attend a reception in his honour. While addressing the event, Dr. Qadri demanded to know why only policemen are being sent to India for treatment when such a practice is not witnessed in any other department in Punjab be it education, engineering or otherwise.

He claimed the practice of sending policemen to India is tantamount to treason and fall sunder the ambit of Article 6 of the constitution of Pakistan.

Dr. Tahir ul Qadri claimed that the is up for the current leadership in Pakistan, he added that it is unclear if they will even get time to wrap up their affairs.

Dr. Qadri said the relatives of those martyred in Model Town Lahore did not sway before wealth, pressure and fear. He added, that Qisas will have to be paid for the 14 lives that were taken away.

Qisas is the law of retaliation by which an immediate relative of the dead victim if approved by court may take the life of the killer.

The Awami Tehreek leader added, that he will announce the future plan of action for his protest at the end of the month after consulting with all political parties at the national advisory conference.

UN Secretary General says Edhi was a ?living example? of compassion

UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon Saturday expressed his ?profound condolences? on the passing away of Abdul Sattar Edhi, saying he was ?a living example of social justice, compassion and solidarity in action.?

?Through his humility and humanity, he changed countless people?s lives for good,? he said in a statement issued through his Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq.

?I join with his immediate family and his larger family of Pakistan in mourning the loss of a legendary man of faith and an epic humanitarian,? the secretary general added.

72-inch diameter pipeline supplying water to Karachi ruptures

KARACHI: Water supply to major parts of Karachi was briefly suspended on Sunday following the rupture of a 72-inch pipeline supplying water to Karachi from Thatta.

The major part of the city faced deficiency of water supply for four hours.

KWSB officials said that back pressure due to power failure at Dhabeji water pumping station caused the supply line burst.

Authorities said that the restoration process could take up to 24 hours while advising citizens to use water carefully.

Karachi could not get a supply of 121 million gallons of water.

Dhabeji water station’s electricity was restored after a four-hour shortage.

Water supply to Karachi was restored through eight water pipelines, although maintenance of the ruptured line remained in progress.

 

 

 

Death toll from fighting in South Sudan capital Juba climbs to 272 people: government source

The death toll from fighting in South Sudan's capital Juba has climbed to 272 people, including 33 civilians, a source at the country's ministry of health told Reuters on Sunday.

The fighting broke out last week between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and vice president Riek Machar. Both men have said they did not know what had triggered the latest violence between their factions.

Mourning for rebel leader as Indian held Kashmir on lockdown

SRINAGAR: Tens of thousands of mourners attended the funeral of a top rebel commander as tensions intensified in Indian-administered Kashmir on Saturday, with authorities imposing a curfew on large parts of the disputed region and suspending mobile networks and internet.

Burhan Wani, a 22-year-old commander of the restive region´s largest rebel group, Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), was killed on Friday along with two other rebels during a brief gun battle with government forces.

Authorities handed the body of Wani, viewed by locals as a hero since he joined the rebel group at the age of 15, over to his family early Saturday morning.

"As people keep turning up to have a glimpse of the commander´s body, multiple funeral prayers are being held. His body is floating on a sea of people," a witness said.

"The actual burial may not happen before dark."
Streets in the main city of Srinagar were deserted except for hundreds of soldiers and police ordering people to stay indoors.

"Yes we have imposed a curfew, but of course his (Wani´s) funeral was allowed," director general of police for the Indian-held region, K. Rajendra told AFP.

Another police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said angry residents defied restrictions in many places across the Himalayan valley and clashed with government forces who fired tear gas and warning shots into the air.

Wani´s death had sparked protests and clashes throughout the night Friday while mosque loudspeakers blared "Azadi" (freedom from Indian rule) in most areas, including the capital Srinagar.

"Aftr many yrs I hear slogans for ´Azadi´ resonate from the mosque in my uptown Srinagar locality," former chief minister of the disputed state, Omar Abdullah, said on Twitter.

"Kashmir´s disaffected got a new icon y´day."

Resistance groups opposed to Indian rule of Kashmir have called for three days of mourning and a shutdown in the territory after the rebel commander´s killing.

Kashmir has been divided between rivals India and Pakistan since 1947, but both claim the territory in its entirety.

HM is one of several groups that for decades have been fighting around half a million Indian troops deployed in the region, calling for independence for Kashmir or a merger with Pakistan.

Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have died in the fighting since 1989.

Protests over shootings block roads in US cities, arrests made

BATON ROUGE, LA./MINNEAPOLIS: Protests against the shootings of two black men by police officers shut down main arteries in a number of US cities on Saturday, leading to numerous arrests, scuffles and injuries in confrontations between police and demonstrators.

Undeterred by heightened concerns about safety at protests after a lone gunman killed five police officers in Dallas Thursday night, organizers went ahead with marches in the biggest metropolis, New York City, and Washington D.C., the nation's capital, among other cities.

It was the third straight day of widespread protests after the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling, 37, by police in Baton Rouge on Tuesday and the death of Philando Castile, 32, on Wednesday night in a St. Paul, Minnesota suburb, cities which both saw heated protests on Saturday.

The most recent shooting deaths by police come after several years of contentious killings by law enforcement officers, including that of Michael Brown, a teenager whose death in the summer of 2014 caused riots and weeks of protests in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson.

On Saturday evening, hundreds of protesters shut down I-94, a major thoroughfare linking the Twin Cities, snarling traffic.

Protesters, told to disperse, threw rocks, bottles and construction rebar at officers, injuring at least three, St. Paul police said. Police made arrests and used smoke bombs and marking rounds to disperse the crowd.

Protesters at the scene said police fired tear gas and rubber bullets. Police said early on Sunday they had begun clearing the highway of debris in preparation for re-opening it.

A march in Baton Rouge saw scuffles between riot police and Black Panther activists, several of whom carried shotguns. Louisiana law allows for weapons to be carried openly.

After a short standoff later in the evening, riot police arrested as many as 30 demonstrators and recovered weapons. Prominent black activist and former Baltimore mayoral candidate Deray McKesson was among those arrested.

Protests also took place Saturday in Nashville, where protesters briefly blocked a road, and in Indianapolis. A rally in San Francisco also briefly blocked a freeway ramp, according to local media.

Hundreds of protesters marched from City Hall to Union Square in New York. The crowd swelled to around a thousand people, closing down Fifth Avenue.

Some chanted "No racist police, no justice, no peace" as rain fell in New York.

"I'm feeling very haunted, very sad," said Lorena Ambrosio, 27, a Peruvian American and freelance artist, "and just angry that black bodies just keep piling and piling up."

New York police said they arrested about a dozen protesters for shutting down a major city highway.