ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) has formally approached Islamabad Mayor Sheikh Ansar Aziz seeking possession of temples at Saidpur Village and Rawal Lake. A two-member PHC delegation headed by Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani met with Aziz on Friday and reminded him that the prime minister had said that Hindu religious sites across Pakistan should be handed over to the community. Saidpur temple is currently in the possession of the Capital Development Authority, while the…
Posts published in “Day: August 16, 2016”
WASHINGTON — Harry Wu, who spent 19 years in Chinese labor camps, was a familiar figure on Capitol Hill, delivering searing broadsides againstChina’s authoritarian government that drew admiration from American politicians condemning the country’s human rights abuses. His close relationship with lawmakers helped Mr. Wu secure a $17 million grant from Yahoo in 2007 to aid families of persecuted dissidents, when the tech giant was facing withering criticism for assisting the Chinese authorities in identifying…
The writer is a former editor of Dawn. IF Pakistan has evidence that the Indian intelligence agency RAW acted in cahoots with its Afghan counterpart NDS to plan and execute the Quetta atrocity then the sooner New Delhi is confronted with this the better. The offices of the national security advisers may be appropriate for this purpose as Pakistan’s Nasser Janjua, former corps commander in Quetta, is said to have developed an excellent rapport with…
GILGIT: Akhun Bhai, a left-wing activist, will replace Awami Workers Party leader Baba Jan and contest by-polls in Hunza. The polls have been scheduled to be held in August. The decision to nominate Akhun was taken after an election tribunal, earlier this week, upheld a decision of returning officer, who recently disqualified Jan for contesting the elections as he had been serving a life term. “Akhun Bhai will be the new candidate for the by-elections,”…
GILGIT: A group of senators have decided to move a resolution against Gilgit-Baltistan chief secretary. The senators, who were in Gilgit-Baltistan to review projects under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, criticised the regional government for giving them the cold shoulder during their visit. The senators expressed their discontent on Friday at Gilgit airport where they addressed the media before flying to Islamabad. Seeds of discontent “None of the top government officials, including the chief minister, governor and…
MANSEHRA: A boundary dispute between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan remained resolved as the representatives of one of the rival tribes didn’t show up in Kohistan on Friday to finalise the agreement. Harban tribe of Kohistan and Thor tribe of Chelas had agreed last month in Abbottabad at the intervention of the provincial government that their representatives would meet in Kohistan on Aug 12 to settle all issues regarding the boundary dispute once and for all.…
The writer is an expert on Chinese civil society, and a research fellow at the University of Nottingham’s China Policy Institute Seeing dissidents prosecuted in China is nothing new, but the convictions this month of a human-rights lawyer and three rights activists on charges of subversion are noteworthy for breaking with past practice. The change has important implications for what has been a growing interest among regular Chinese people in the defense of individual rights.…
SHANGHAI — The deal could be hard to resist. A Shanghai investment firm is offering a fat return of up to 10 percent a year, handily beating both the local stock market and the paltry payouts from bank accounts. It requires a minimum deposit of about $15, making it accessible to just about anyone. Investors can pull out in as little as seven days. Best of all, the money is guaranteed. There is just one…
China said here Friday that it will strengthen communication and coordination with the Indian side to make preparations for the Chinese leader’s attendance at the forthcoming BRICS summit. The BRICS summit is to be held in the Indian state of Goa in October. Visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the remarks while meeting with Goa’s Governor Mridula Sinha, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Anant Shet. Wang wished India success…
The PML-N government has not won too many points, for some time now, on the foreign policy front. Things with India, Afghanistan and America have worsened and the foreign ministry, at times, has been an international embarrassment; strutting along directionless, without a dedicated minister, all this time. Yet, for the past few weeks, there has been a visible effort to mend ties with Iran, which is appreciated. The equation with Tehran, too, took a dip…
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Wednesday told the National Assembly that the children of Afghan refugees in Pakistan couldn’t be issued Pakistani citizenship documents. Though it might seem unfair to the Afghan refugee families who have settled here for over three decades, whose children have been born and bred in Pakistan, the fact remains that the law gives the state descretion over giving or revoking citizenship. If the state decides that the security…