Day: January 29, 2022

Islamabad, January 29, 2022 (PPI-OT):Prime Minister Imran Khan has said Pakistan wants to emulate the Chinese model of development to ensure inclusive economic growth and lift the people out of poverty. In an exclusive interview with the Chinese Media, he pointed out that China has taken out seven hundred million people out of poverty in the last three decades or so. He said the world community also recognizes this achievement as it has not happened in human history. He said China is a model for all those countries which want an inclusive growth.

When asked about multibillion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, the Prime Minister said the first phase was focused on connectivity and power generation projects. He said the corridor project has now moved to the next phase of relocation of industries to Pakistan. We are developing special economic zones. He said Pakistan also desires Chinese cooperation in technology as well as to enhance agriculture productivity. Alluding to the rapid urbanization in Pakistan, he said we also want to learn from Chinese experience as to how they have built their mega cities and coped with urban development.

Imran Khan said both Pakistan and China enjoy mutually beneficial relationship spanning over seventy years. He said it is a deep relationship which has grown stronger with the passage of time. He said both the countries have always stood by each other in difficult times. The CPEC has linked the two countries.

On behalf of people of Pakistan, the Prime Minister also felicitated the Chinese people on their lunar new year. He said he looks forward to his upcoming visit to China to witness the Winter Olympics. Referring to the achievements of China in sports, he said Pakistan also looks forward to enhance collaboration with Beijing in this field as well.

To a question, the Prime Minister said the worst human rights violations are taking place in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, regretting the western silence on it. He said nine million people are living in an open prison in the occupied territory.

When asked about Afghan situation, the Prime Minister urged the international community to think of the welfare of forty million Afghan people which are faced with humanitarian crisis. He warned against abandoning Afghanistan saying it will have disastrous consequences.

For more information, contact:
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
Government of Pakistan
4th Floor, Cabinet Block, Pak. Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel: +92-51-9103557
Email: info@moib.gov.pk
Website: http://www.moib.gov.pk

Lucknow, January 29, 2022 (PPI-OT):The ongoing election campaign in Indian state of Uttar Pradesh witnessed another low when Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, called the Samajwadi Party “worshippers of Jinnah” and supporters of Pakistan. He passed on this remark in a tweet.

Targeting his main rival, Akhilesh Yadav, ahead of the Uttar Pradesh election, the UP chief minister tweeted in Hindi, “They are worshippers of Jinnah; we are worshippers of Sardar Patel. Pakistan is dear to them; we sacrifice our life for Maa Bharati (Mother India).”

Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah had been dragged into the election narrative by the ruling BJP from the word go. But such a canard has not been spread against any one before. Allegation of support to Pakistan, generally perceived as an enemy nation, is tantamount to accusing an entire party and its chief ministerial candidate of “treason”.

Yogi Adityanath, who is seeking a second straight term in the election, has made such absurd comments in the run-up to an election simply because he could as these are deeply polarising and thus could help majorly in reaping a rich electoral harvest and thereby ensure his victory in the elections.

Earlier, he made his “80 versus 20” comment hinting at the ratio of Hindu voters to Muslims in the state. He said that 80 per cent of voters were with the BJP. Only last week, Adityanath told a gathering: “Earlier Haj Houses used to be constructed in Ghaziabad, our government has constructed the Kailash Manasarovar Bhawan.”

Ghaziabad in western Uttar Pradesh is among the seats that will vote in the first round of voting in the state on February 10. UP will vote in seven phases. In western UP, the BJP has faced massive anger over the controversial farm laws, which were withdrawn by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after an 11-month protest and months ahead of elections in key states including UP and Punjab.

The BJP and Yogi Adityanath divisive comments are seen to be an effort at taking the attention away from the farmer protests. Last year, the saffron-clad Chief Minister, who is the head priest at the Gorakhnath Mutt in eastern UP, referred to Akhilesh Yadav’s father Mulayam Singh Yadav as “Abbajaan” (Urdu for father).

“When pension was stopped, his ‘Abbajaan was CM (Chief Minister). He was the CM for four more years. Then he (Akhilesh) himself was CM for four years. But he did not think about government employees then,” Yogi Adityanath said.

In the past few days, Yogi Adityanath’s Twitter timeline has been flooded with communally divisive posts. There are references to “danga” or riots, “Abbajaan, mafia” and “palayan” or migration. Last week, the BJP’s Keshav Prasad Maurya questioned why the Samajwadi Party was not releasing its candidate lists anymore and what it was afraid of.

Sources in the Samajwadi Party, which has released just one list of 29 candidates publicly but has given tickets to many more, say they are worried that the BJP could use the lists on social media to polarise the election. The Samajwadi Party has 13 Muslim candidates in the first phase of UP polls.

For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Phone: +92-51-4435548, +92-51-4435549
Fax: +92-51-4861736
Email: info@kmsnews.org
Website: www.kmsnews.org

Kolar, January 29, 2022 (PPI-OT):The Education Department in Indian state of Karnataka has suspended a teacher on charges of letting students offer namaz inside the school premises in Kolar district. S.M. Umadevi, in-charge headmistress of the Balechengappa Kannada Model Higher Primary School in Someshwarapalya, has been suspended by the Department of Public Instruction.

As per the Indian media, Hindu groups had created ruckus by entering the office of the headmistress and protesting against the school earlier this week for promoting a religion. “It is the duty of the teachers of government schools to inculcate a sense of national integration. Religious tolerance, practices and traditions must be there. However, by allowing students to perform namaz in one of the classrooms instills a divisive mindset,” the suspension order stated.

The order added that the act of the teacher highlights dereliction of duty, and negligence on her part. This would have a negative impact on learning and will hinder the overall progress of the educational institution, it added.

The order further stated that this conduct of the teacher does not suit the dignity of a government worker, and is against the Karnataka Civil Conduct Rules 1966, Section 3 (i) (ii) and (iii). Hence, the decision has been made to initiate action against the teacher, it said.

Umadevi has been suspended until further orders pending an inquiry. She has also been asked not to leave the district headquarters without permission. The video of about 20 students offering namaz inside a classroom has gone viral on social media.

For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Phone: +92-51-4435548, +92-51-4435549
Fax: +92-51-4861736
Email: info@kmsnews.org
Website: www.kmsnews.org

Srinagar, January 29, 2022 (PPI-OT):A classical example of Hindu-Muslim unity was re-established in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), when hundreds of Muslims attended the last rites of a Kashmiri Pandit in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Makhan Lal Raina, 80, of Tamla-Hall village in Pulwama died after a brief illness. He was a retired teacher and one of the prominent figures in the area.

“We have been living together for centuries and this is our social obligation to stand by the minority community in hard times. Also, let’s hope it sends out a message of brotherhood,” said a local Muslim, Abdul Hamid. Raina’s family is among 808 families that didn’t migrate in the 1990s. Last week, Kanhaiya Lal, 80, of Washbugh village died. Upon getting the news, local Muslims from the area flocked his residence and carried out his last rites.

For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Phone: +92-51-4435548, +92-51-4435549
Fax: +92-51-4861736
Email: info@kmsnews.org
Website: www.kmsnews.org

Srinagar, January 29, 2022 (PPI-OT):In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the High Court has quashed the illegal detention of three persons booked under draconian law, Public Safety Act (PSA). A bench of Justice Sanjay Dhar hearing the petitions challenging the detention of Muhammad Aslam Sheikh, Aadil Manzoor Mir and Ahtisham-ul-Haq Butt directed the authorities to release them forthwith.

Aslam Sheikh was booked under PSA on November 11, 2020 by virtue of an order passed by District Magistrate Budgam while Aadil Mir was detained vide order dated February 26, 2021 issued by District Magistrate, Islamabad. Ahtisham-ul-Haq Butt was booked under the PSA order issued by District Magistrate, Bandipora on March 3 last year.

For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Phone: +92-51-4435548, +92-51-4435549
Fax: +92-51-4861736
Email: info@kmsnews.org
Website: www.kmsnews.org

Islamabad, January 29, 2022 (PPI-OT):Religious minorities are facing an imminent existential threat in India as Narendra Modi-led fascist government is hell bent upon converting the country into a Hindu Rashtra.

Not only Muslims, all religious minorities are being targeted and facing systematic persecution at the hands of by Hindutva activists, said a report released by the KMS, today. It said the right-wing Hindu groups freely conduct campaigns of harassment and violence against the religious minorities in India.

“Hindu extremists have created an environment of hate and intolerance towards Indian religious minorities. Lives and worship places of religious minorities are under serious threat in India and there has been a surge in violence against the religious minorities since Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister,” it said.

The report pointed out that Modi, who is a life-time member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which is inspired by Adolf Hitler, has turned India into ‘a republic of hate’. It said, the extremist Hindu groups like RSS and BJP promote Hindu supremacy. Muslims, Christians and Sikhs have no particular reason to celebrate India’s national days, it said.

The report maintained that persecution and vilification of minorities have exposed the real face of fascist India, adding that the world community must take immediate steps to end atrocities committed against the religious minorities in India.

For more information, contact:
Kashmir Media Service
Phone: +92-51-4435548, +92-51-4435549
Fax: +92-51-4861736
Email: info@kmsnews.org
Website: www.kmsnews.org