Karnal Sher Khan’s brother bars Manzoor Pashteen from entering martyr’s tomb

SWABI: Criticisng his anti-army activities, brother of Kargil hero Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed stopped Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader Manzoor Pashteen from entering the martyr’s tomb in Swabi, ARY News reported.

According to ARY News correspondent, the PTM leader arrived in Swabi to pay a visit to the martyr’s tomb but Sher Khan’s brother reached there and stopped Manzoor from entering the tomb’s premises.

“I have been following your activities on Facebook they are suspicious,” said Anwar Sher, the brother of Nishan-e-Haider recipient.

Addressing the Waziristan tribesmen accompanying Manzoor Pashteen, Anwar Sher added that his brother sacrificed his life for the country, “our Pathan brethren and Waziristan tribesmen”.

Anwar Sher’s protest forced Pashteen and his men to leave without visiting the tomb.

About Karnal Sher KhanKarnal Sher Khan was born on January 1, 1970, in Nawan Killi (Shewa Adda) village in Swabi.

He was commissioned in the Army on October 14, 1994. Captain Karnal Sher Khan emerged as the symbol of mettle and courage during the Kargil conflict on the Line of Control.

He set examples of bravery and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. He defended the five strategic posts, which he established with his soldiers at the height of 17,000 feet at Gultary, and repulsed many Indian attacks.

After many abortive attempts, the Indians on July 5, 1999 ringed the posts of Captain Karnal Sher Khan with the help of two battalions and unleashed heavy mortar fire and managed to capture some part of one of his posts.

Despite facing all odds, he led a counter-attack and re-captured the lost parts of his post.

But during the course, he was hit by the machine-gun fire and the brave son of soil embraced martyrdom at the same post.

He is one of only ten recipients of the Nishan-e-Haider, Pakistan’s highest military honour.

Read More

PTI’s ‘chaiwala’ MNA-elect speaks up about owning assets worth millions

BAJAUR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) MNA-elect Gul Zafar Khan on Friday spoke to ARY News about the reports that he owns assets worth millions despite being introduced as a ‘chaiwala’ (tea-seller) by his party during July 25 elections.

Speaking during ARY News show ‘Sawal Yeh Hai’, Gul Zafar Khan said that he belongs to a noble family in tribal area bu back in 90s he rebelled against the prevalent system and had to leave his home and sell tea at a stall in Karachi.

“I worked in Karachi and sold tea from 1992 to 2002 and then two more years, so in total I worked as a tea-seller for 12 years,” said Gul Zafar.

He explained that the property he declared before Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was all inherited.

Gul Khan who clinched victory in NA-41 (Bajaur) was widely reported to be a ‘chaiwala’ but a look into documents submitted with ECP revealed that he has assets worth over Rs30 million in his name including optical and garment businesses and a non-custom paid luxury car.

Social media trolls were quick to call him a fraud but Zafar Khan maintains that he sacrificed and stayed away from his family and its property to pursue his political ambitions.

He also thanked PTI for putting its trust in him over influential families in tribal areas.

Read More

Petition in court seeks removal of ‘N’ from PML-N

PESHAWAR: A petition has been filed in the Peshawar High Court seeking the removal of ‘N’ from the name of Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N).
The petition was submitted by Khanzada Ajmal Zeb to the PHC, according to reports.

The petitioner prayed the court to declare the word ‘Noon’ or ‘Nawaz’ with PML illegal and unconstitutional and “therefore, it should be expunged from the Pakistan Muslim League.”

The petitioner told the court that Nawaz was convicted in corruption charges and sentenced for 10 years. He asked how can the name of former prime minister is still attached to a political party despite being banned from participating in politics for life?

“Nawaz has hijacked the PML and has introduced his own group, which is against the policy of party’s original ideology and public interests,” he claimed.

A similar application was filed with the Election Commission of Pakistan in the last week of June. The plea had sought removal of Nawaz Sharif’s name from PML-N, arguing that the name of the disqualified person cannot be used in a title of a political party.

The ECP had also issued a notice to party’s supreme leader Nawaz Sharif to file his reply on the petition.

The NAB court had sentenced Nawaz Sharif to 10 years in prison for corrupt practices linked to his family’s purchase of upscale London flats.

Sharif’s daughter, Maryam, widely seen as his chosen political heir, was sentenced to seven years in prison and was disqualified from contesting the elections. Maryam’s husband capt (retd) Muhammad Safdar was handed a year in jail.

Sharif returned to country on July 13 and was arrested subsequently in the light of court orders. He is currently serving his jail term along with his daughter and son-in-law.

Read More

Nine 'militants' arrested for burning down Diamer schools

PESHAWAR: Nine suspected militants involved in torching schools in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) Diamer district were taken into custody by local police on Saturday.

During the operation in the Tangir area this morning, Arif Hussain, a police official, was killed in a shoot out with the culprits.

Two suspected militants were taken into custody from the house, sources say.

“We have managed to apprehend a total of nine suspects up till now,” an official choosing to remain anonymous told The Express Tribune.

The official privy to the details said that the ‘militants’ are a part of a wider nexus with links to another province.

He, however, refused to comment any further as an investigation into the incident is still under way.

Back on August 3, at least 12 schools were set on fire by unidentified attackers late Thursday night in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Diamer district.

Initial reports revealed that at least six school were all girls educational institutes situated in Diamer’s Chilas area.

The school attacked include Royini Girls School, Takya Girls School, one school each in Hodur and Thor neighbourhoods and three all-girl schools in Darel division, Giyal village and Khanbanri. Another two schools were torched in Gali Bala and Gali Payen.

Read More

Girls sweep top positions in Abbottabad intermediate exams

PESHAWER: Girls have bagged the top three overall positions as the Abbottabad Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) announced results for the Higher Secondary School annual examinations on Friday.
The top 20 positions were shared by 34 students. Only seven boys featured in the list with the rest clinched by girls.
Sabahat Safdar from the Peace Group of Colleges in Haripur clinched the overall top position in the board’s results, securing 1,016 marks. She was followed in second place by Laiba Behram with 1,015 marks from the Mansehra branch of the same school and college.

The third position was shared by two students, Easha Asif of the Hazara Public School and College Haripur and Kashmala Mir of the Peace Group of School and College Mansehra. The two students secured 1,014 marks.
In the pre-medical group for girls, the top positions echoed the results as the top three overall position winners. In pre-medical-boys, Hassan Ali Abbasi of the Pakistan International Public School and College Abbottabad was top with 1,009 marks. He was followed by Syed Saad Ali of the Abbottabad Public School and College with 993 marks, while Muneebur Rehman of Peace College Abbottabad was third with 992 marks.
In pre-engineering group-girls, Ayesha Rafi of the Peace College Abbottabad was top with 1,004 marks. Warda Zulhaj of the Quaid-i-Azam College of Khalabutt Township in Haripur was second with 993 marks. The third position in the group was shared by Aiman Khan of Peace College Haripur and Soma Safeer of Peace College Abbottabad with both securing 992 marks.
In pre-engineering-boys, the first position was clinched by Asad Ali of Government Post Graduate College Abbottabad with 1,001 marks, followed by Masaid Zeb of Tameer-e-Watan College Abbottabad with 999 marks. Muhammad Ali of the Pakistan Scout Cadet was third with 996 marks.

Read More

Tech Valley: British Council opens digital library in Abbottabad

ABBOTTABAD: In a first for the region, the Pakistan chapter of the British Council has set up its digital library in Abbottabad.
The library was launched by British Council Pakistan Country Director Rosemary Hilhorst in a ceremony at Tech Valley in Abbottabad on Tuesday.
In the ceremony, Hilhorst expressed the hope that more small tech valleys open up across Pakistan to expand the momentum, energy, innovation, and empowerment of the community.

“The British Council Digital Library will strengthen the cultural ties between UK and Pakistan,” she said as she assured the continuous support of the British Council.
“[The library] will serve as a hub for the continuing efforts to create educational opportunities, knowledge sharing and fostering a learning environment where creativity and innovation are valued. It will really help to build the capacity of teachers, students, youth, entrepreneurs and innovators which is one of the primary goals of Tech Valley Abbottabad,” she said.
Tech Valley Director Abbas Khan appreciate the monetary and time investment for continuous cultural development of Pakistan.
“This is indeed a landmark in the history of Abbottabad where people will get an opportunity to learn, connect and innovate,” he said, adding that it was a fantastic step towards turning Abbottabad into a tech-savvy city and for particularly focusing on small towns where such steps are much needed.

Read More

Vintage car — the last remnant of Bannu’s Khan Bahadur

PESHAWAR: With even prominent names in the Pakistan movement being lost to dust-covered archives of history, in Bannu, a 90-year-old car is the last testament to a man who helped further the cause of a separate homeland for Muslims in the Indian subcontinent.
In an old brick and mortar garage in Bazaar Ahmad Khan, a well-known and historic village of Bannu in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, a 1928 Ford Model A stands covered in dust and rust. Its original paint almost indistinguishable from the rusting red and its front grille shorn of its once shiny chrome.
“One of our cousins does not allow anyone to touch the car or the garage,” notes Iftikhar Khan, a grandson of Khan Bahadur Ghulam Haider Khan who originally owned the vehicle and large swathes of land.

Owner with the vintage car.

Known as Khan Bahadur in the area, he was the main landlord of Bannu in undivided India.
The city had been formed by Sir Herbert Benjamin Edwardes in 1848 to serve the then British Empire as a supply depot and garrison against the Pashtun tribes in Waziristan. Khan Bahadur’s family was awarded large swaths of land in the area. His village soon became the centre of trade and commerce in the district.
Little did the British know that less than hundred years after creating the city, that the man they counted on most for support would help overthrow the British government and carve out a homeland.
Indeed, Khan Bahadur played a massive role in first furthering the cause of the Pakistan movement and then by providing it with its future president, Ghulam Ishaq Khan — a historic fact little known outside the village.
“Khan Bahadur joined the All India Muslim League along with other notable family members including his son-in-law Malik Damsaz at a time when the entire district was in the grip of the Red Shirts’ (Khudai Khidmatgaar – servants of God) mania,” said Ifran Khan, another of Khan Bahadur’s grandsons.
He pointed out that at that point the social reform movement led by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (affectionately known as Bacha Khan) was seeping the region. The movement, which propagated a similar agenda of self-rule, had been rebuffed by the All India Muslim League (AIML) and courted by Mahatma Gandhi of the Indian National Congress.
Khan Bahadur though pushed on with the AIML and to form Pakistan.
The car, too, is said to have played a part. Irfan said that it was included in a convoy for Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah when he visited the region in the mid-1940s.
“This vehicle was used during Jinnah’s visit to Bannu in the mid-1940s,” Iftikhar said while pointing to the dilapidated car.
“There is a common belief that it was used by Jinnah during his tour to Bannu but this is not true because there were too many vehicles at the time, which primarily belonged to Malik Damsaz and Khan Bahadur and other party leaders. This car was kept in reserve in case of an emergency,” he added.
Iftikhar further said that at the time, Khan Bahadur had emerged as a prominent AIML supporter and leader.
This, he said, did not please the then Chief Minister of NWFP Khan Abdul Qayum Khan, who tried his level best to damage prominent AIML leaders in the province politically.
Khan Bahadur was no exception to this.
“Qayum could stand no political opposition and he sidelined and destroyed all those who could even become potential rivals in any way,” he added.
But despite their role in the creation of Pakistan, Khan Bahadur and Malik Damsaz were forgotten by history. The car too would have been lost to history had it not been for the preservation by Khan Bahadur’s family.
“Khan Bahadur and Malik Damsaz’s role in Pakistan Movement cannot be ignored. They should have been treated as national heroes but people hardly know their names,” lamented Iftikhar.
He added that after Khan Bahadur’s death, all his moveable and immovable property was divided amongst his children and then his grandchildren.
Only a small building, which serves as the garage for the car, and the car itself have survived, Iftikhar said. The building and the car have been locked up since 1965 and are in a state of disrepair.
“I think that it is the responsibility of the federal government to restore this beautiful car to pay homage to the contribution and efforts of Khan Bahadur,” he added, noting that lack of maintenance would further see this piece of Pakistan’s history deteriorate further.
Ghulam Ishaq Khan’s rise
Being a landed individual of considerable influence, Khan Bahadur left his imprint on Pakistan in a host of ways. One of these was to set former president Ghulam Ishaq Khan on the right path.
“President Ghulam Ishaq Khan was quite talented but in his youth, he was quite unruly,” Irfan pointed out.
“One day, Ghulam’s mother visited Khan Bahadur at his house and met with his wife. In that meeting, she complained that her son was not taking interest in anything useful and was jobless. She asked for a favour from Khan Bahadur that her son be provided with a government job to keep him busy and away from bad company,” Irfan narrated.
“My grandfather was a close friend of Sir Abdul Qayum Khan, the founder of the Islamia College in Peshawar. Khan Bahadur asked him to arrange for a job for the young Ghulam Ishaq Khan and he did it.”
That job set Ghulam on a path that ultimately led to the presidency in Islamabad.
“No doubt Ghulam was unruly in his youth but he was hardworking and talented individual and this trait served him quite well throughout his life,” Irfan recalled.

Read More

Lower Dir's Sumera Shams set to become youngest legislator

KARACHI: Lower Dir is a remote and conservative district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. Women were collectively disenfranchised here by political parties in the 2013 general elections, triggering outcry across the country. But things changed in the 2018 elections, and this change is radical. Dir is all set to send a woman lawmaker, the youngest ever, to the provincial legislature.
Shamsul Qamar Khan, an Awami National Party candidate in the 2008 elections, had died of cardiac arrest on poll day. The local community thought his political legacy would be buried with him since he had no sons to carry forward his legacy.
Little did they know that one of his daughters would prove them wrong and break the taboos in the patriarchal society.

“My political career began shortly after my father died on February 18, 2008. He was contesting for provincial and national assembly seats (PF-95 and NA-34) on ANP tickets,” Qamar’s daughter Sumera Shams told The Express Tribune.
Though the ANP had been voted to power in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (then NWFP), Sumera recalled how she had received a cold shoulder from the party and the community.
In the years that followed, the family persevered. Sumera’s mother managed to head up two construction companies while her sister served as a district councillor in Lower Dir until 2018.
A student at the time of her father’s death, Sumera joined Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), assuming a role in its female student wing in K-P. Later, as head of the Insaf Students Federation (ISF) women’s wing, Sumera focused on issues including institutional sexual harassment. “It is not easy for a young girl to survive in a traditionally male-dominated society,” she added.
In the 2013 general polls, when local elders reached an agreement with political parties to bar women from casting their votes, Sumera defied PTI’s decision by becoming one of the few women to vote in the Dir region. “I waited until noon – indecisive. Later in the day, I gathered up the courage to proceed to the polling station and cast my vote,” she recalled.
“Where last time it took minutes, this year I had to wait for three hours in line to vote as women came out in large numbers to vote,” said Sumera.
The women voters’ turnout in the district was largely influenced by Section 9 of the Election Act 2017 which gives the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) the power to declare poll void if the commission finds violations including “implementation of an agreement restraining women from casting their votes.”
According to the clause, “If the turnout of women voters is less than ten per cent of the total votes polled in a constituency, the Commission may presume that the women voters have been restrained through an agreement from casting their votes and may declare, polling at one or more polling stations or election in the whole constituency, void.”
After the Imran Khan-led party gained majority seats in the federal, Punjab and K-P assemblies, Sumera was picked to represent the district in the provincial assembly on a reserved seat for women.
Sumera said Dir, an erstwhile stronghold of Jamaat-e-Islami, did not see any development work under the rule of the politico-religious party led by Sirjaul Haq.
Asked why the right-wing party remained in coalition with the PTI until earlier this year, Sumera claimed that the JI had failed to deliver in the district despite her party’s efforts. “It has been years since the PTI allotted funds for a medical college in Timergara, but due to JI’s corruption, the project could not be completed,” she claimed.
“As local representatives, it was JI’s responsibility to bring development,” she added.

Read More

PTI’s Shah Farman Loses After Recount In PK-70

Awami National Party candidate Khush Dil Khan on Thursday emerged victorious from PK-70, Peshawar 5 constituency after the vote recount.

The RO said that the vote recount showed Khush Dil Khan in a lead with a margin of 187 votes.

During the July 25 polls, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Shah Farman had emerged winner with a mere 47 vote difference over Khan.However, the ANP candidate had sought a recount in the constituency.

Shah Farman was the former Provincial Minister and also won from PK-71 in the 2018 General Election.

After the vote recount, ANP’s position in the KP Assembly stands at seven seats as opposed to PTI’s 65 seat.

Read More