“Go to Pakistan” has become the favourite slur of ultra-nationalists for anyone challenging the establishment view – on issues ranging from national security to terrorism, from which meat you eat to which cricket team you should play with or support, and what you write or tweet to triple talaq.
But imagine for a moment, if you indeed go to Pakistan, what will you find there? Will it merely affirm all stereotypes? Radicalism, violent Lashkars and a vile deep state are all realities in Pakistan. But it is also a large nation of 20 crore people with fascinating politics, diplomacy, economy, society, culture, cricket and fashion, and flourishing litfests. And so much intrigue!
‘Go To Pakistan’, ThePrint’s prolific new feature launching today, will take you there, beyond the big, obvious headlines, and bring you significant happenings that no one else will. So fasten your seat belts. And Go To Pakistan.
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Pakistan to host Lindsay Lohan, Diego Maradona, Martina Hingis and more celebrities on Pakistan Day event on 23 March.
International sports and entertainment stars will be attending a dinner organised by Pakistan’s army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa to commemorate the country’s republic day, known as ‘Pakistan Day’.
The guests include the iconic Argentinian footballer Diego Maradona, German tennis star Boris Becker, German footballer Lothar Matthäus and retired Swiss tennis star Martina Hingis, as well as Hollywood actors Hilary Swank, Lindsay Lohan and Sean Stone, and celebrated director Oliver Stone.
As the director-general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR, the media wing of the Pakistani armed forces), Major General Asif Ghafoor, tweeted a video saying that the nation was preparing to celebrate its 78th Pakistan Day in a “befitting manner”, many responded that Lohan, once a common tabloid fixture for her partying lifestyle, wasn’t the best role model to host on the occasion.
Lindsay Lohan not exactly a good role model –> Lindsey Lohan, Diego Maradona among several others expected to attend Pakistan Day event in Pakistan
— omar r quraishi (@omar_quraishi) March 8, 2018
Number of Pak visas for Chinese on a high since CPEC began
Since the flagship ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), began five years ago, over 39,000 Chinese nationals have already visited Pakistan.
Pakistani diplomatic missions in China issued 13,268 visas in 2015, 6,268 in 2016 and 12,287 last year.
In the five years since CPEC began, a total of 92,204 foreigners have received a visa to visit Pakistan.
For the protection of Chinese workers involved in CPEC projects in Pakistan, Islamabad has deployed an estimated 37,000 security and 15,780 military personnel.
Declaring faith, religious belief now compulsory for those joining Pak judiciary and civil and armed services
The Islamabad high court Friday made it compulsory for those aspiring to join the judiciary and the civil and armed services to declare their religious beliefs and faith. According to a Reuters report, the order followed a petition brought forward by ultra-religious political party Tehreek-e-Labaik in connection with a change in wording to an electoral law. The amendment sought to replace a religious oath with a simple declaration, which Tehreek-e-Labaik said was blasphemy.
Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui wrote in the HC order, “The… oath is the foundation of our religion and it is the duty of every Muslim to protect this core belief.” He also warned that citizens who specify an “incorrect” religion on their ID papers would be considered to have committed fraud. “Citizens applying for jobs in state institutions must take an oath which ensures compliance with the definition of Muslim and non-Muslim provided in the constitution,” the court said.
Siddiqui also ordered educational institutions to ensure religious studies are a part of regular curriculum.
That’s what you gotta do when one of the WONDER of this era turned red due to pathetic judgement of a country leaded By ultraconservative mind sets..