Latest news with #Sadiq
Business Recorder
2 days ago
- Politics
- Business Recorder
Speaker pays tribute to forces for successful operation in Awaran
ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has paid tribute to the security forces for their successful operation against terrorists in Awaran. He commended the bravery, professionalism, and unwavering commitment of the armed forces in safeguarding the sovereignty and stability of Pakistan. While expressing profound grief, the speaker conveyed his heartfelt condolences over the martyrdom of Major Syed Rab Nawaz Tariq during the operation. He lauded the courage and heroism of the martyred officer, stating that Major Rab Nawaz's sacrifice is a symbol of unmatched valour and patriotism. Speaker Sadiq strongly condemned the activities of India-backed terrorist networks operating in Balochistan. He also said that 'Fitna Al-Hindustan' will meet a disgraceful end. He said that the sacrifices of the brave soldiers of Pakistan's security forces will not go in vain. He reiterated that the entire nation takes immense pride in its valiant officers and troops who continue to lay down their lives for the defence of the motherland. He also commended the professional conduct of the security forces during the counterterrorism operation, Speaker Sadiq expressed full support and solidarity with the Armed forces in their mission to root out terrorism. He also expressed his deepest sympathies with the bereaved family of Shaheed Major Syed Rab Nawaz Tariq. He prayed for the elevation of the martyr's ranks in the hereafter and for patience and strength for the grieving family to bear this irreparable loss. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Spectator
3 days ago
- Spectator
Save us from the Lime bike invasion
I'm a Londoner born and bred, and I love this city, even though it's slowly being destroyed by the insidious antics of Sadiq Khan. Do his repeated failures explain why his hair is going prematurely white? Why are the roads closed all the time, for no apparent reason? Why are there endless roadworks, yet no men working on them? Why do we have filthy streets and graffiti everywhere? Visiting Majorca, I was impressed by the pristine streets and pavements of Palma. 'How come you have no litter or graffiti?' I asked the driver. 'Everyone is very proud of our city, and we respect it,' he replied. 'No one is allowed to litter or paint graffiti – it is considered a crime – and our citizens shame anyone who does it.' Are you listening, Sadiq? Several news outlets are reporting the surge in the dangerous crossings of immigrants coming to our shores, and the cost of giving them succour. But I'm seeing an invasion of a different sort: the proliferation of rental bikes and powered scooters that litter our pavements. I've recently been almost run over twice by 'Lime bikes'. I've also tripped over a bunch of discarded cycles on the streets of Belgravia. Everyone I know has experienced the rudeness and sloppiness of most of these bike riders. They seem to care not for road rules, pedestrians, safety, or anyone but themselves. The bikes dart recklessly between vehicles. Moreover, there seem to be an inordinate number of food delivery personnel using these bikes. They are the most dangerous, considering the number of deliveries they must make in a day. The irony is that many of these delivery people are allegedly the same immigrants washing up on our shores and – so I was told – have use of these bikes for free. Can the most unpopular Prime Minister in living memory resolve these problems? Probably not. How have we arrived at this terrible state of affairs? I have a vague memory as a little girl of my parents talking in hushed tones about how 'No Nazi will ever be able to cross the Channel and invade us'. My father stalked around the house brandishing a bayonet stained with what looked like dried blood (but was probably rust) from the first world war, announcing he would defend his family from the intruders 'with my final breath'. Whenever I hear the grating tones of our Prime Minister rattling on about what he's going to do for 'working people', I cringe. As a working actress filming The Bitter End, a movie about the Duchess of Windsor's latter days, I woke up every morning between 5.30 and 6.30 to drive to 'work' – shooting in Hertfordshire and Ealing studios. When I arrived, everywhere was already a hive of activity as the cast and crew were setting up. I observed daily how incredibly hard actors, film technicians and artisans work in a job that has little or no security, but that they love. Many movie people may be paid good money, but they work extremely punishing schedules – often 14- to 16-hour days – and they may not get another job for several months afterwards. Actors' careers, unless you are in the 1 per cent of Brads, Toms and Georges, often hang by a thread. I was delighted when Mike Newell, the film's director, told me that the brilliantly talented Italian actress Isabella Rossellini had agreed to play opposite me as the Duchess's nemesis, Suzanne Blum. Isabella embodies the (oft overused and wrongly ascribed) term 'Hollywood royalty'. Her mother was Ingrid Bergman and her father, Roberto Rossellini, was one of the most innovative and radical film directors of the 1940s and 1950s. Isabella, knowing I had arrived in Hollywood at the end of the Golden Age (when the 'gilt was beginning to tarnish' – ha ha!) insisted that I must have met 'Mama'. 'Darling, when I arrived in Hollywood, she had already left for Rome to have you,' I said. 'But I met your father…' I showed her a picture I had posted on Instagram (@joancollinsdbe if you'd like to follow me) of Signor Rossellini and me. 'Your father was in Jamaica preparing to shoot Sea Wife with Richard Burton and me,' I said. 'Wrecked on a desert island, your father insisted on having a love scene between the innocent novice nun – me – and rascally scoundrel Richard Burton. The studio head, Darryl F. Zanuck, agreed, but the censor staunchly refused, so your father left the island and returned to Rome and my chance to work with him sadly ended in the sand.' On the final day of shooting, Isabella and I had to film the denouement – a furious angry scene in which I berated her. Staring intently into her eyes as I delivered venomous vituperations, I was suddenly disturbed by the realisation that I was telling Ingrid Bergman's daughter to bugger off.
Indian Express
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Meet singer and former MP Muhammad Sadiq, whose song from the '80s is powering Ranveer Singh's Dhurandhar
When Punjabi folk singer Muhammad Sadiq recorded his song 'Na de dil pardesi nu' (Don't give your heart to a stranger) aka Jogi in the turbulent '80s of Punjab marked by significant insurgency, it was under a modest contract with HMV and sung with his singing partner Ranjit Kaur. Penned by popular Punjabi songwriter Babu Singh Mann and arranged by Charanjit Ahuja, the song quickly found a place in the village akhadas (live performances), at weddings and had trucks and tractors blaring it on their crackling cassette stereos – a litmus test for the popularity of any song. Algorithm-based music searches and Spotify chart toppers were yet to arrive. The song was revived and given a new lease of life in the 2000s by music producer Panjabi MC, who took the raw appeal of the song and its high-pitched and bright Punjabi tumbi riff and turned it into a club favourite in the British Asian underground space. The desis bonded over its beats and brassy tune often during 'daytimers' – afternoon club events, as there were night curfews from parents and a very confined nightlife. Two decades later, the song is back – this time with rapper Hanumankind and singer Jasmine Sandlas layering their voices with Sadiq and Kaur's rustic, unpolished voices in the upcoming Ranveer Singh-starrer action thriller, Dhurandhar. Singh's smouldering intensity and the numerous action sequences in the recently released first look have been paired with this age-old Punjabi ditty in a new avatar. The film will release in December. Sadiq, 78, is chuffed that the song is back in the spotlight. 'I lived and grew up in a village and my background is basic and traditional. Whatever I sung and whenever I made these songs, the idea was to appeal to the people from the village. The young in that generation were not so educated. Youngsters were like me and I made a song that they would like. The urban audience was never on my mind. But it was nice when it played in clubs in England. Now this film has done another version of it,' says Ludhiana-based Sadiq, who is also a former Member of Parliament and had won the Indian general election on a Congress ticket from Faridkot in 2019. The song, which Sadiq calls an example of 'Punjabi civility and culture' uses figures like Heer, Sassi and Sohni – tragic heroines popular in Punjabi folk tales – besides traditional Punjabi folk styles. This was one of Sadiq's most significant moments; he has sung it at almost every concert. 'I was in England last year. They are still playing it in the clubs,' he says. Earlier this year, Sadiq was the guest artiste in global popstar Dosanjh's Ludhiana concert, which was a part of his sold-out Dil-Luminati tour, where he was introduced as 'the real OG' of Punjabi music. The two also sung a couple of songs together, including Na de dil pardesi nu. Dosanjh honoured Sadiq with a shawl and tumbi – Sadiq's instrument – in a glass case, besides going on his knees and bowing to him on stage. 'That boy (Dosanjh) has shown the way to the younger generation and manifested what it is to respect senior artistes. It is because of him that the younger generation knows me and my music. He's achieved so much and yet he is still so down to earth. I wish Waheguru gives him more success,' says Sadiq. Born in Kup Kalan, a sleepy little village in Punjab's Malerkotla, Sadiq grew up in a Punjabi Muslim family from the Mirasi community, traditionally travelling musicians and keepers of the folklore in the subcontinent, who came from Rampur near Ludhiana. In the village noted for its literary tradition and writers like Surjit Rampuri, Gurcharan Rampuri, Joginder Singh and Surinder Rampuri, is where Sadiq's father, a military man, became a raagi in the Manji Sahab gurdwara – a significant religious site for the Sikhs – in the nearby Alamgir. So the first strains that Sadiq heard and imbibed were that of the gurbani (hymns from Guru Granth Sahib). 'Also, on my way to school, I often heard Mohammed Rafi being played in some shops and his voice mesmerised me,' says Sadiq, who would often perform at Bal Sabhas. He was 10 when he performed at an event where the PEPSU (Patiala and East Punjab States Union – a State that united eight princely states) Chief Minister Brish Bhan was the chief guest and gave him Rs 100 as a reward for singing Rafi's Jagwala mela yaaron from the 1949 album Lachhi (1949). 'My mother didn't sleep,' says Sadiq, with a laugh. He soon began learning Hindustani classical music from Ustad Baqir Hussain of the Patiala gharana. 'After learning for a few years, I realised that classical music was a niche form and heard by fewer people,' says Sadiq, who was also the eldest of six children and needed to work. He was about 16-17 when he joined the neighbouring natak mandali and would do small roles in Ramlila and other Punjabi plays. He would often croon the singing portions. In the '80s, when duets were the trend, he began singing with many musicians. His recording of Laung Gawacha with Surinder Kaur remains famous, even though it has been sung and remixed by a number of artistes. Others include Kurti malmal di and Sun ke lalkaara among others. He finally began singing with Kaur and toured with her for years. Even though '80s Punjab was riddled with violence and turbulence Sadiq and Kaur continued so that they could make a living. This is also the time when Amar Singh Chamkila was singing. 'The mahaul (atmosphere) was not conducive when we were singing. While I wasn't threatened the way he was, I was asked not to sing on the platforms which were given by the Congress party. There was also the 11 people at a wedding rule for a while. After Chamkila's death, the work just stopped. Families organising weddings stopped calling the artistes. But slowly things began improving,' says Sadiq, who says that he hasn't received any royalty for the song since HMV changed hands in 1986. While Punjabi folk has found a new lease of life in Hindi cinema, questions of credit and royalty remain unanswered. Dhurandhar producers also did not credit Sadiq or any of the members involved with the song before it was pointed out by Charanjit Singh's son on social media, where he tagged actor Ranveer Singh. There has been no payment, of course, since the songs were owned by labels earlier and artistes were not very well aware of their rights. 'Almost every other Hindi film either has a Punjabi tune or a glimpse of one. But the folk artistes are often left on the margins. I hope there is awareness and better credit,' says Sadiq.
India Gazette
6 days ago
- Politics
- India Gazette
Omar Abdullah calls out newspapers for
Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], July 14 (ANI): Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday expressed anguish over the missing media coverage in local newspapers on the issue of 'the entire elected government being locked up'. Abdullah accused some newspapers of burying the news story about several elected representatives BEING confined to their homes on the Kashmir Martyrs' Day, as alleged by Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) chief spokesperson and Zadibal MLA Tanvir Sadiq as well. 'Take a look at our local newspapers - both from Jammu and from Srinagar, English & vernacular. You'll be able to distinguish the cowards from the ones with guts. The cowards have completely buried the fact that the entire elected government was locked up yesterday, along with most elected representatives. The newspapers with some guts have put it on the front page. Shame on the sellouts who buried the story, I hope the size of the envelope was worth it,' Abdullah posted on X. Earlier, Abdullah came down heavily on the 'unelected nominees of New Delhi' for allegedly locking up the elected representatives of Jammu and Kashmir. Taking to X, the Chief Minister shared pictures of police outside his residence, with armoured vehicles parked and movement restricted, as the regional parties, including the National Conference (NC), were denied permission to visit the martyrs' graveyard in Srinagar. 'To borrow from the late Arun Jaitley Sb - Democracy in J&K is a tyranny of the unelected. To put it in terms you will all understand today the unelected nominees of New Delhi locked up the elected representatives of the people of J-K,' Abdullah wrote in a post on X. Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA Mohamad Yousuf Tarigami also posted on X, saying, 'A padlock on my gate, placed under house arrest and denied the right to pay homage to the July 13 martyrs. This day is etched in our collective memory -- a reminder of those who laid down their lives for the restoration of democracy and a better future for us all,' JKNC's Sadiq alleged that several party leaders had been confined to their homes to stop them from paying tribute to the martyrs. 'Since last night, I like many of my colleagues, including the party leadership at Gupkar, the Advisor to the Chief Minister, and a majority of sitting MLAs have been locked inside my home. This is not just unfortunate; it is a deliberate attempt to suppress remembrance and deny us the right to honour the martyrs of July 13. Such actions are not only unnecessary they are unjustified, deeply insensitive, and reveal a troubling disregard for history,' Sadiq posted on X. After not being allowed to visit the martyrs graveyard, People's Democratic Party (PDP) President Mehbooba Mufti said that the 'dil ki doori (distance of hearts)' between Kashmir and the rest of India would end when the Centre accepts Kashmir's heroes as its own, just as Kashmiris have embraced national figures. 'The day you accept our heroes as your own just as Kashmiris have embraced yours, from Mahatma Gandhi to Bhagat Sing, that day, as Prime Minister Modi once said, the 'dil ki doori' (distance of hearts) will truly end,' the PDP chief wrote on X. 'When you lay siege to the Martyrs' Graveyard, lock people in their homes to prevent them from visiting Mazar-e-Shuhada, it speaks volumes. July 13th commemorates our martyrs, those who rose against tyranny, much like countless others across the country. They will always be our heroes,' she added. Martyrs' Day in Kashmir was earlier an official holiday in the state; it was delisted after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. (ANI)
The Hindu
12-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Police deny permission to J&K parties, including NC, to visit slain civilians' graveyard of 1931 uprising in Srinagar
The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday denied permission to the regional parties, including the ruling National Conference (NC), to hold any commemoration functions at the graveyard of 22 civilians who died during an uprising in 1931 in Srinagar and used to be observed as 'Martyrs Day' before 2019. 'The District Administration Srinagar has denied permission to all applicants intending to proceed towards Khawaja Bazar, Nowhatta on 13th July 2025 (Sunday). The General Public is hereby advised to strictly comply with these instructions and refrain from violating the orders issued by District Administration,' the police said in a statement. Any violation of these orders shall invite strict legal action under relevant provisions of law, the police warned. July 13, 1931, is observed as 'Martyrs Day' in J&K to commemorate the killing of 22 civilians who were shot dead in a rebellion against the Dogra monarchy. It used to be an official holiday in J&K but was dropped by the L-G following the abrogation of provisions of Article 370 in 2019. Several regional parties, including the ruling NC, had sought permission for their delegations to be allowed to visit the graveyard located on the premises of Naqsband Sahib shrine in the old city and pay tributes at the graves. 'Profound history' NC leader Tanvir Sadiq termed the decision of the Lieutenant Governor's administration as 'deeply unfortunate'. 'The day has a profound historical and emotional significance for the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the District Administration has chosen to bar peaceful tributes to the martyrs of 13th July 1931 at Khawaja Bazar, Nowhatta. July 13 is not a routine date, it is a solemn reminder of the sacrifices made in the pursuit of dignity, justice, and rights,' Mr. Sadiq said. He said denying people the space to remember their martyrs is fundamentally unjust. 'We urge the administration to reflect on the gravity of this decision. No order can suppress memory. No restriction can erase the truth,' Mr. Sadiq added. Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Iltija Mufti visited the graveyard on Saturday afternoon to pay floral tributes to the deceased civilians. 'Knowing that tomorrow we'd be prevented from moving out, we managed to pay tributes to our martyrs who laid down their lives on 13th July 1931 for democracy. Their memory is being wilfully erased yet their voices echo in every Kashmiri's heart that refuses to bow and dares to hope,' Ms. Mufti said. Mirwaiz's view Meanwhile, Kashmir's chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said he was placed under 'arbitrary house detention for the second day on Saturday'. In a statement, the Mirwaiz said those who laid down their lives in 1931 had done so for a noble cause and pursuit of the realisation of the basic rights of the people of Kashmir under autocratic and discriminatory rule. 'Their sacrifices are unforgettable and will always be remembered,' the Mirwaiz said. The BJP has said the civilians who died in the 1931 uprising were not 'rioters'. 'Our stand is clear, those who sacrificed their lives for the nation are the martyrs of India and J&K,' BJP Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Ali Khatana said.
