New Delhi: A video featuring a montage of speeches by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has gone viral across the border. In each of the clips, Khan tells various foreign guests that if they fought an election in Pakistan, “you would get more votes than me”.
In the clips, Khan addresses Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and former Indian cricketer and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu.
MBS can win election in Pakistan.
Erdogan can win election in Pakistan.
Sidhu can win election in Pakistan.
Imran Khan can get selected in Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/ufrBwsvCie
— Naila Inayat नायला इनायत (@nailainayat) February 15, 2020
The joke now follows that if Prime Minister Narendra Modi or US President Donald Trump were ever to visit Pakistan, Khan would make the same speech.
Also read: Modi didn’t have dinner with Pakistan PM Imran Khan, viral image is morphed
Indian history gets a Turkish twist, courtesy Imran Khan
If he’s joking in one speech about how winning elections in Pakistan isn’t too hard, even for foreign leaders, PM Khan is changing history in another.
At a media conference with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Friday, Khan claimed Turks had ruled India for about 600 years — something several people, including an opposition leader, pointed out wasn’t true.
WHAT? Turks ruled Hindustan? When??? Did he confuse Mughals with Turks ??♀️ https://t.co/F23eU8GNil
— SenatorSherryRehman (@sherryrehman) February 15, 2020
??????i hope that’s a satire..
— Akram Khan (@akramkhan_) February 14, 2020
Erdogan was on a two-day visit to strengthen economic ties between the two countries. The two countries signed a string of MoUs on matters of trade and economic engagement.
‘Indian team’ reaches Lahore for Kabaddi World Cup, but nobody sent them
Controversy erupted earlier this week when an “unofficial” Indian team comprising 60 members reached Lahore to compete in the Kabaddi World Cup 2020 hosted by Pakistan. The team was sent by the Punjab Kabaddi Association, but didn’t seek permission from the correct authorities before flying to Pakistan.
The Amateur Kabbadi Federation of India has since disowned the team. The Indian sports ministry is also due to look into the matter.
The World Kabaddi Federation, meanwhile, has called Pakistan’s world cup “unauthorised,” adding that “no institution will officially recognise the certificates” issued by it.
“Since we all are here in an individual capacity, the approval of the Ministry of External Affairs or the Indian Olympic Association was not required,” said the team’s coach, Harpreet Singh Baba.
Journalist Gul Bukhari says ‘fear me’ after Pakistan anti-terror cell notice
On Wednesday, reports emerged that the Anti-Terrorism wing of Pakistan’s Federal Investigation agency (FIA) had sent a notice to activist and journalist Gul Bukhari, a vocal critic of the government, for her alleged involvement in “spreading inciteful propaganda against national security agencies, judiciary and the government”.
The notice, which surfaced on social media, said, “If she fails to appear (before the FIA inquiry), we will register a court case under PECA and the Anti-terrorism Act.” PECA refers to Pakistan’s Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act.
Bukhari, who lives in self-exile in Britain, tweeted, “I am a terrorist, please fear me,” in what appears to be a sarcastic response.
I’m a terrorist. Please fear me.
— Gul Bukhari (@GulBukhari) February 12, 2020
Bukhari, however, denied having received an official notice from the FIA in an interview with Dawn. “The grounds are not clear. They said I incite people against state institutions and (am involved in) terrorism,” she said, calling the press release an attempt to silence her.
Bukhari is a columnist who has been critical of the government’s crackdown on the pro-civil rights Pashtun Tahafuz Movement. In 2018, she was abducted by masked men for a few hours in Lahore on her way to a train station.
Also read: Who wants an ‘Islamic President’ in Pakistan and where does Imran Khan fit in?
When residents in Gharibabad blocked bulldozers
A demolition drive in Gharibabad saw residents block efforts by the Pakistan Railways to clear houses Wednesday. The Supreme Court had on 7 February ordered the demolition of scores of houses to restore Circular Railway project as soon as possible.
The Karachi Circular Railway is a defunct public transport system which served the city from 1969 to 1999, but fell into disrepair because of mismanagement and mounting losses. Stretches of land were not in use, so in places like Gharibabad, people began using the land to build houses.
Residents “set up protest camps on Thursday, demanding that the government provide them alternative housing before bulldozing their houses”, reported the Tribune. “They warned that they would block the railway tracks if their houses were demolished without other arrangements being made for them,” the report added.
Pakistan Railways has delayed the demolition until Saturday.
Also read: Peshawar school massacre victims’ parents move court over mastermind Taliban leader’s escape
Popular TV show in court for portraying women as ‘greedy, selfish’
Human rights activist and lawyer Sana Saleem moved the Sindh High Court heard against what she says is sexist content in the Pakistani hit show Meray Paas Tum Ho.
The court heard her petition on 30 January in which Saleem claims the show portrays women as “greedy, selfish and non-professional” and was “ridiculing a woman who makes the same decision as every other man in society”.
In response, the court summoned the show’s producer and lead actor, Humayun Saeed, on 13 February.
The show follows the story of a married couple whose relationship falls apart when the woman has an affair with a wealthy man. The show polarised viewers for its misogynistic storytelling, said The Guardian, but went on to become Pakistan’s most-watched series.
Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar said that if the bench found there to be “immoral discourse”, it would take action against the show’s producers.
Also read: Superheroes: Four-part web series on trials of urban Pakistani women to release soon