Here’s what’s happening across the border: A false tsunami alert rocks Karachi; UK extends help to Pakistan to move out of FATF’s grey list.
Tribal leader says Gilgit Baltistan’s Mujahideen torched schools in region
Tribal leader and ex-speaker of Gilgit Baltistan assembly Malik Mohammad Miskeen Tuesday, in an interview with journalist Shahzeb Jillani, said that there was a link between the torching of schools — over half of them all-girls — in Gilgit Baltistan last month and ‘jihadi’ training camps in that region. Miskeen said people were being trained in these camps, which were being allowed to function by the “State”. These men had carried out the attacks, he added.
He said that after the decision was made to shut down the training camps, the militants responded by burning down these 12 schools.
Miskeen said the militants were “people nourished by the State” but had now become a threat to this very establishment that had first encouraged them.
In his tweet, Jillani, the interviewer, mentioned that the specific part of the clip when Miskeen said these words were not considered ‘worthy’ of going on air by his TV channel.
Root cause of militancy in Dist Diamer, as explained by tribal leader & ex-Speaker Gilgit Balitistan Assembly, Malik Mohd Miskeen. Unfortunately, this clip was deemed unworthy of going on-air. ? pic.twitter.com/5S7HL9PxV3
— ShahzebJillani (@ShahzebJillani) September 4, 2018
@JungjooGernail, who doesn’t give his real name on Twitter, but makes satirical and perceptive comments, shared Jillani’s 1-minute interview clip, although the entire interview was of 10 minutes. In Punjabi English, @JungjooGernail took a dig at the Pakistan military’s strategic role in training and providing safe havens to militants who travel to Afghanistan and India to carry out attacks. Specifically, he reserved his pickled humour for Asif Ghafoor, the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations (media wing of the Pakistani army).
https://twitter.com/GernailSaheb/status/1037100116312813568
United Kingdom wants to help Pakistan move out of FATF grey list
British High Commissioner to Pakistan Thomas Drew said Tuesday that United Kingdom is keen on helping Pakistan to remove its name from the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), reported The Express Tribune.
Speaking at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), Drew said, “In my first meeting with the new government, I offered technical help to make sure it does not stay too long in grey list”.
“Pakistan has done very well during the last five months on the issue of FATF. We are investing to help Pakistan to meet criteria of FATF,” Drew added.
FATF is an international organisation that deals with curbing terrorism. The body put Pakistan on the grey list in June this year following the country’s repeated failure to counter the financing of terror outfits in the country.
Interesting tweets of the day
Journalist and author Hamid Mir in his tweet Wednesday shared a video from his round-table interview with a few guests including Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Senator Faisal Javed Khan. In the clip, the Senator can be heard saying that he was very hungry as he did not get anything to eat at the Prime Minister’s office.
PTI Senator @FaisalJavedKhan was hungry this evening he spent whole day in PM office with just one biscuit and one cup of tea we made fun of him but he made his point very intelligently pic.twitter.com/AHd9VbYZKP
— Hamid Mir (@HamidMirPAK) September 4, 2018
Journalist Munizae Jahangir Tuesday congratulated Pakistan’s new President Arif Alvi on his victory. She appealed to the President to work for all people of the country, adding that it was sad the Constitution of Pakistan did not allow minorities from contesting Prime Ministerial and Presidential elections.
Congratulations President elect @ArifAlvi on your win-hope you represent the federation of Pak,all ethnicities & minorities because Pak was created 2 give people equal https://t.co/bAeJ8UGWYF’s sad that our constitution bars minorities from contesting election for PM or President
— Munizae Jahangir (@MunizaeJahangir) September 4, 2018
Pakistanis own 2,750 properties in UAE worth Rs 4240 billion
In a report published by a private media outlet, investigators have traced 2,750 properties belonging to Pakistanis in United Arab Emirates (UAE) after an estimated Rs 4,240 billion of taxpayers’ money was plundered from Pakistan, reported Pakistan Today.
The report also mentioned that Federal Investigative Agency (FIA), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) have launched a crackdown on 5,000 Pakistanis. These people violated national laws for acquiring those properties through illegal means involving money laundering.
As per the details of the report, identities of Pakistani owners of 1,476 properties in Dubai have already been deciphered by the cyber-wing of FIA and the findings are being transmitted to zones/offices so that inquiries can be initiated against them. FIA’s anti-corruption wing has, additionally, instituted 54 criminal inquiries against 662 property holders with complete details in place.
False tsunami alert issued in Karachi
Karachi’s District Municipal Corporation (DMC) East issued a false tsunami and thundershower alert Tuesday, only to later call it a ‘typo’, The Express Tribune reported.
The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) and National Seismic Monitoring Centre issued a press release regarding the Indian Ocean Wide Tsunami exercise invited several important stakeholders including the media.
The statement was misunderstood by the DMC East that subsequently interpreted the city’s weather of seeing a thundershower and a tsunami in September next year.
Pakistan is one of the 20 other countries taking part in the mock tsunami scenarios around the Indian Ocean. Chief meteorologist Muhammad Hanif was quoted as saying, “We see this exercise as an essential element in the routine maintenance of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System.”
Christian men being picked up from their homes in a Karachi settlement
A small Christian-majority settlement in Karachi is facing nightmares since March this year as unknown raiders arrive in vehicles with no number plates, break into people’s houses and take young men away. These men are later forcefully implicated in criminal cases.
Kaleem Maseeh, a 32-year-old man, was picked up from his house at dawn on 8 May. Khurram Shahzad, 30, was also picked up from his house in Youhanabad in a similar manner. The raiders were in police uniforms, some were in black commando t-shirts and others in civilian clothes. Some other men were also taken with Shahzad to an unknown location. He said, “Had we not opened the door for a few more minutes, they would have stormed through it.”
According to a report on Herald, at least a dozen other houses in this small neighbourhood in Youhanabad reported similar incidents. These men were allegedly kept in a room where they were tortured and coerced into confessing their involvement in the city’s street crimes. Subsequently, all of those men ended up confessing that they were responsible for those crimes.