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HomeGo To PakistanImran Khan shows no mercy, sacks Pakistan Cricket Board chief Najam Sethi

Imran Khan shows no mercy, sacks Pakistan Cricket Board chief Najam Sethi

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Here’s what’s happening across the border: A coin toss will decide legislator, and ‘chaiwala’ PTI candidate is actually a millionaire.

Imran Khan asks Pakistan Cricket Board head to resign

Pakistan Prime Minister-elect Imran Khan has asked Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, journalist Najam Sethi, to resign from the position by 16 August, reported Samaa TV.

Earlier, talking to The Daily Express, Sethi had said he was ready to return to his career as a sports analyst on TV if the government didn’t want him to continue as the PCB head.

He added, “I will only work with dignity and honour. If I feel like the new government does not want my services, I will go home without a second thought.”

“All I want is someone from the government to come and let me know if they want me to continue as the head of PCB or not,” he said.

In 2013, the PTI chief had accused Sethi, then the caretaker chief minister, of allegedly helping the PML(N) rig the election.

On Minorities Day, columnist recalls growing up in hate & love

As Pakistan marked the National Minorities Day on 11 August, freelance columnist Norbert J. Almeida shared his experience growing up as a Christian in the Islamic country.

In a series of tweets, Almeida explained that being a minority in Pakistan in the 1970s had been a mixed bag of “a lot of hate, some love and much indifference”.

Sharing some of his “funny” experiences, Almeida said he was once asked by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to prove his nationality. He was also once refused a ride by a driver, as he was ordered to pick-up a gora (white).

Almeida also recalled that his door was knocked several times by strangers who saw his name and asked if he could teach them English.

He said in his concluding tweet, “Finally, it was the 1st day of Eid and a 3 pm funeral mass for my dad. The church was packed 99% by Muslim friends, colleagues, acquaintances. That is the Pakistan I grew up loving and wish for forever and ever.”

At a Pashtun rally, girls hold pictures of ‘disappeared fathers’

In a rally organised by members of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), a body protesting against a military crackdown on the community, young girls were seen holding photographs of their “disappeared fathers”. The rally was held in Swabi district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sunday.

The PTM, founded in January, has since been carrying out a countrywide protest against alleged extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention and “disappearances” of young Pashtun men in Pakistan.

The Swabi rally faced resistance from a counter-demonstration, but the protesters continued. Two former members now headed for the national assembly, Mosin Dawar and Ali Wazir, were present at the rally too. They were suspended from the PTM core committee amid a general consensus that the movement needed to stay apolitical.

PPP, PML (N) reject talk of Punjab tie-up

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has rejected reports of a tie-up with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in Punjab, reported The Express Tribune.

Hasan Murtza, a PPP member of the Punjab provincial assembly, said they will not support the bid of the PML-N for Punjab chief ministership.

“Our alliances will be limited to certain issues,” he said, adding, “We will support Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in their positive governance initiatives and we will support PML-N when they will raise fair objections.”

The PML-N, which led Punjab from 2013 to 2018, has also issued a statement confirming that there will be no alliance between the two parties.

PTI’s ‘chaiwala’ parliamentarian turns out to be a millionaire

A new member of the national assembly widely believed to be a tea-seller during the campaign has turned out to be a millionaire who owns a garment business, reported Geo TV.

In his affidavit submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan, Gul Zafar Khan revealed that he possessed two houses worth Rs 10 million and agricultural land worth Rs 12 million.

Ahead of the election, photographs of Khan serving tea had gone viral, leading to generous reportage on the “chaiwalla’s campaign”. In subsequent media interviews, the PTI member said he was a waiter before Imran Khan’s party nominated him as a candidate, and touted education as his prime focus area as a parliamentarian. He had contested the 2013 election too, but lost. It wasn’t immediately clear why his business did not come up in earlier reports.

Coin toss to decide Balochistan representative

Unable to decide who will get a reserved women’s seat in the Balochistan assembly, newly-minted allies Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Balochistan National Party (BNP) have left the decision to a coin toss, reported The Express Tribune.

The seat in question is the only one among the assembly’s 11 reserved for minorities and women that is yet to get a representative, with the Election Commission of Pakistan having already notified candidates for the others.

People are hoping this isn’t a sign of things to come – that PTI chair Imran Khan, a former cricketer, won’t use a coin toss to determine matters much more important than who bats first in a match.

The BNP, with four members in the National Assembly, recently announced support for Khan’s bid for the prime minister’s office, helping him secure a majority in the lower house.


Contributors: Alind Chauhan, Anagha Deshpande, Manisha Mondal, Prateek Gupta, Priyamvada Grover and Soniya Agarwal 

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