The writer is awar wounded veteran of Pak Army and independent defence analystThe recent influx of propaganda videos on social media against state institutions have raised a few important questions and facts. Consistent spewing of rhetoric, especially the opposition’s narrative against the army on social media is not in line with the previous stance held by such individuals while they lived in Pakistan and had interactions with the institution. A leading example among such people…
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Aseefa Bhutto Zardari is the new thing to happen at the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) jalsa in Multan. The manhandling of the crowd by the Multan administration is classic. Ultimately, the jalsa was held at the historic Clock Tower. The inexperienced administrator of the city seems to be missing the basics of crowd administration that law could be put on the back burner as long as order is maintained. Second, our city administrations are capable…
PDM’s anti-government movement shifted up a gear in Multan — ahead of the plan. The 11-party alliance had planned to stage a public rally inside a cricket stadium in the City of Saints on Monday, but thanks to the government crackdown on the opposition workers and supporters, it turned out to be a bigger show of power observed all over the city. Multan’s was the fifth of a total of six public gatherings in build-up…
It is difficult to say who emerged as the winner after the PDM managed to rather successfully hold its rally in Multan. The government was able to prevent the rally from taking place inside the stadium, where it was originally planned for it to be held. Instead, the rally was diverted to the Ghanta Ghar Chowk in Multan city. Ironically, the action taken by the government in making arrests over the past two days simply…
Prime Minister Imran Khan categorically announced not to allow the PDM rally in Multan. His spokespersons suggested imprisonment for those attending the rally. Scores of opposition workers were subsequently hauled up and the access to the rally’s proposed venue blocked with containers. As the highly motivated PDM workers advanced pushing aside obstacles, the administration belatedly announced it was removing barricades to allow the rally to be held. This has led to mutual accusations within the…
The writer is an Islamabad-based journalist who writes on political and economic affairs.Monday’s defiant public protest in Multan by the opposition coalition – the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) – immediately drew harsh criticism from members of the ruling structure led by Prime Minister Imran Khan. Yet, the opposition is not alone in refusing to lead by example as leaders of Pakistan’s ruling class have all equally led public gatherings with an almost complete disregard for…
report in Pakistan Today, Dec 2, 2020In light of the failure of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) to follow the coronavirus guidelines and standard operating procedures (SOPs), as well as incidents of vandalism, during the Multan rally, the Punjab government has decided to file a case against the anti-government alliance. ”Among the organisers, 22 belong to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), 16 to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), and 13 are of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F),” said Special…
Editorial in Pakistan Today, Dec 1, 2020President PML-N and leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, out on parole from jail to attend his late mother’s funeral, has called for a ‘national dialogue’ between all political forces to steer the country out of the present crisis. While this is a welcome statement, the political landscape of the country is such that there is simply no space for such a conversation to take…
There is little that the opposition and the government can agree to these days. Every issue portends another barrage of point scoring against one another. The PDM jalsas have now become the main bone of contention where the government points to the pandemic as a reason to hold off on public gatherings and the opposition contends that that the ruling party is only using coronavirus as an excuse to suppress voices against its rule. Both…
THE chairman of the National Accountability Bureau, retired Justice Javed Iqbal, has halted proceedings of the fake bank accounts case against Senate deputy chairman Saleem Mandviwala after he blasted NAB for resorting to blackmail in order to extort money from people. The PPP senator accused the anti-corruption watchdog of committing human rights violations and using the name of the army while indulging in extortion activities. He said that the DG NAB Rawalpindi, Irfan Mangi, was…
Dangerous stand-off: op-ed by Zahid Hussain in Dawn, Dec 2, 2020
The writer is an author and journalist.FIRST there was a clampdown and then a retreat. The panicky response to the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) rally in Multan this week illustrates the growing chaos within the PTI administration. With an increasingly aggressive opposition alliance on a collision course with the government, the latter’s options are becoming narrower. The deadly second Covid-19 wave does not seem to have any mitigating effect on the vicious power game. The…