Latest news with #Lahore
Arab News
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Arab News
Eight killed, 18 injured as passenger bus meets accident in eastern Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Eight people were killed while 18 others were injured after a passenger bus met with an accident in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province on Sunday, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported. As per local media reports, the passenger bus was heading to the eastern city of Lahore from Pakistan's capital Islamabad, when one of its tires burst near the Balkassar Interchange on the Islamabad-Lahore Motorway (M2). Pakistani English language newspaper Dawn reported that the tire burst caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle, due to which it fell into a ditch and overturned. 'Eight people were killed while eighteen others injured in a passenger bus accident in the area of Balkassar in Chakwal today,' Radio Pakistan reported. 'According to Rescue 1122, ambulances and rescue vehicles promptly reached the site of the incident.' The state-run media said that the injured were shifted to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. Fatal road accidents are common in Pakistan, where traffic rules are rarely followed and roads as well as a majority of vehicles are in poor condition. Pakistan motorway police frequently warns masses on its social media platforms against violating traffic regulations and overspeeding.
Arab News
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Arab News
8 killed, 18 injured as passenger bus meets accident in eastern Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Eight people were killed while 18 others were injured after a passenger bus met with an accident in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province on Sunday, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported. As per local media reports, the passenger bus was heading to the eastern city of Lahore from Pakistan's capital Islamabad, when one of its tires burst near the Balkassar Interchange on the Islamabad-Lahore Motorway (M2). Pakistani English language newspaper Dawn reported that the tire burst caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle, due to which it fell into a ditch and overturned. 'Eight people were killed while eighteen others injured in a passenger bus accident in the area of Balkassar in Chakwal today,' Radio Pakistan reported. 'According to Rescue 1122, ambulances and rescue vehicles promptly reached the site of the incident.' The state-run media said that the injured were shifted to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. Fatal road accidents are common in Pakistan, where traffic rules are rarely followed and roads as well as a majority of vehicles are in poor condition. Pakistan motorway police frequently warns masses on its social media platforms against violating traffic regulations and overspeeding.
Times of Oman
4 days ago
- Politics
- Times of Oman
Pakistan: Imran Khan moves SC against Lahore HC's rejection of bail in May 9 riot cases
Islamabad: The founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Imran Khan, has approached the Supreme Court of Pakistan to challenge the Lahore High Court's (LHC) decision rejecting his bail in multiple cases linked to the May 9 riots, Geo News reported. According to Geo News, last month, the LHC dismissed Khan's bail petitions in eight separate cases, including one concerning the attack on Lahore's Jinnah House, all related to the violent protests following his arrest. In his petition, the former Pakistani Prime Minister contended that the First Information Reports (FIRs) lacked concrete evidence and denied any involvement in the incidents, claiming the accusations were baseless. He further argued that he was in National Accountability Bureau (NAB) custody during the riots, making his participation impossible, Geo News reported. Khan also raised concerns about contradictions in the prosecution's statements and alleged that the police deliberately avoided arresting him for months, suggesting bad faith in the investigation. He further called for a deeper probe into the cases and highlighted that many co-accused had already secured bail, while the evidence against him remained insufficient. The petition challenged the reliability of delayed police statements and asserted Khan's right to be granted bail, as reported by Geo News. A two-member LHC bench led by Justice Shahbaz Ali Rizvi delivered the ruling on June 24 after hearing arguments from both the defence and government. Earlier, on November 27, 2024, the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) also denied Khan's bail requests in these eight cases. According to Geo News, the unrest on May 9, 2023, erupted following Imran Khan's arrest on the Islamabad High Court premises in a corruption case. The protests quickly turned violent, targeting both civil and military properties, including the Pakistani Corps Commander's residence in Lahore and the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi. While some PTI leaders and supporters have since been released on bail, others remain in custody. Imran Khan, who was ousted from power through a no-confidence vote in April 2022, has been entangled in numerous legal battles--including charges of corruption and terrorism--since his removal, Geo News reported. He has been incarcerated since August 2023 following convictions in several cases ahead of the February 8 general elections.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Leading Pakistan rights group decries government crackdown
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), an independent civil rights group, has warned that its operations are being affected due to pressure from Pakistani authorities. "In the past few months, HRCP has faced a series of arbitrary, illegal and unjustified actions that have impeded the organization's ability to carry out its mandate," the commission said in a statement released earlier in July. Harris Khalique, HRCP's secretary-general, told DW that the group has been facing "unprecedented pressure." "Authorities prevent us from organizing events and create disruptions. They have sealed the HRCP's Lahore office, frozen our bank accounts, claiming it is involved in commercial activities, and have blocked our electricity meters while issuing inflated bills," he said. Events organized in various cities were obstructed, and staff received threatening phone calls warning them against discussing topics considered sensitive. "We are against both violence and militancy. Individuals claiming to represent security agencies, along with those identifying as officials from the Interior Ministry, are threatening our female staff," said Khalique. The HRCP was co-founded in 1987 by late lawyer and activist Asma Jahangir, former Supreme Court Justice Dorab Patel and former Air Force Chief of Staff Zafar Chaudhry. It has since grown into Pakistan's leading human rights organization. The HRCP has consistently acted as an independent and credible advocate for civil liberties, both within Pakistan and on the global stage. Amid pressure from authorities, the HRCP has voiced significant concern regarding the increasingly shrinking space for human rights advocacy in Pakistan. Government cites 'security concerns' The security situation in Pakistan has deteriorated in recent years, with militant attacks occurring regularly. In the southwest, security forces are engaged in a long-standing conflict with Baloch separatist militants. Pakistan's foremost opposition party, Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), was not allowed to contest the 2024 election as a party, resulting in violent protests and a crackdown on its members and supporters. Khan remains imprisoned on various charges, which his party has said are politically motivated. The government has denied pressuring the HRCP, and says it is taking measures to ensure security. "The standard operating procedures are in place for events due to security concerns and there are ongoing protests in the country. We have put no restrictions on freedom of expression, " Talal Chaudhry, state minister of interior, told DW. Chaudhry added that "online events are also being conducted without any limitations, and the state is not restricting them." But Hina Jilani, a human rights advocate and member of the HRCP's council, disputes this claim. "The government is employing tactics to silence the group activities. Our events are being obstructed and there are efforts to introduce laws that could impact our finances, hindering our ability to carry out the work," she told DW. Jilani cited two examples of the government placing bureaucratic hurdles that prevented an HRCP community outreach event from taking place in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, and a roundtable discussion in Islamabad focused on the human rights situation in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan province. Jilani said the government crackdown threatens the "HRCP's autonomy and poses a significant risk to the human rights of the people of Pakistan." Shrinking space for rights in Pakistan The human rights situation in Pakistan remains marked by inadequate judicial protection and rising authoritarianism. According to Amnesty International's 2024 report on Pakistan, authorities "weaponized laws" on defamation and hate speech as the security situation deteriorated amid militant attacks. Amnesty cited dozens of examples of legal measures to suppress opposition parties, particularly targeting Imran Khan's PTI following protests in May 2023. More than 80 people were imprisoned in connection with the protests after "secret trials." Freedom of the press and freedom of assembly have also been severely curtailed. "Enforced disappearances continued unabated, targeting journalists, activists, students, comedians, political opponents and families of political opponents," the Amnesty report said. In 2024, Pakistan's democracy ranking fell six places, placing it among the "top 10 worst performers" in the Democracy Index released by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Independent media outlets are facing increasing pressure, censorship and economic hardship. Social media platforms are often restricted during protests or political events. "Pakistan has become a completely authoritarian regime, there are no courts, there is no media, they have broken the civil society," Imaan Mazari, a rights activist and lawyer, told DW. "The human rights situation in Pakistan is deplorable and effectively we are living in a martial law," she added. HRCP vows to continue work However, HRCP leader Khalique remains optimistic and said the commission will continue its work and "persist in efforts to advocate for the rights of the people of Pakistan." On pressure from the government, Khalique said he hopes for more cooperation in the future. "We are critical friends, not adversaries, and we aspire for a healthy society and a strong country," he said. "We are an independent organization that strives to remain neutral and evidence based. We cannot compromise our integrity." Edited by: Wesley Rahn
Irish Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Wolf Moon by Arifa Akbar: On the night shift
Wolf Moon Author : Arifa Akbar ISBN-13 : 978-1399712859 Publisher : Sceptre Guideline Price : £16.99 Wolf Moon by Arifa Akbar is a book I wanted to like. Its central question—'What does it mean to be a woman in the night?'— serves as a loose thread binding together memoir, cultural criticism and feminist theory. Akbar's experiences of menopausal insomnia lead into analyses of Louise Bourgeois's night drawings and Sarah Kane's 4.48 Psychosis. Visits to her father's care home are interwoven with eerie Pakistani folktales he once told her. She interviews night-shift workers, dancers in Lahore and security guards. She drifts through galleries, goes clubbing and attends late-night films. There's a perceptive reading of Henri Fuseli's The Nightmare, as well as some evocative descriptions of David Lynch scenes. The cultural references are obvious and a little self-consciously tasteful, but they are handled deftly. This is, unmistakably, a serious and intelligent book. Still, the cumulative effect is deadening. READ MORE The problem isn't the material, which is often fascinating, but Akbar's compulsive need to filter it through the dull strainer of introspective autotheory. Entire pages are padded with limp self-reflection—'I think back to' 'I felt' 'I wondered'—until the prose begins to sag under the weight of its own inwardness. The analytical intensity is often laughably disproportionate to the life being examined: 'I put a notebook beside my bed. I open it up the next morning. I write a few words down, but I am left straining for more.' There's also a wearying performance of liberal empathy. When she encounters sex workers dancing in Amsterdam's red-light district, she rushes to ally herself with them, as though fending off imagined accusations. 'I feel horrified,' she declares at a Jack the Ripper tour. 'I was in awe of her fortitude,' she writes of a security guard at her theatre, then asks, 'How did Maria remain invisible to me?' I am naturally distrustful of anyone so easily scandalised. Again and again, moments that might have thrummed with tension are robbed of all charge. We don't just hear that she went to Berghain; we're told what Berghain is, then led through one of the tamest nights in club history. Not her fault, but it's hard to be invested in such a safe and orderly life. A book about night, yes, but drained of its Dionysian wildness.
