Story Highlights
Panama Leaks
Meetings of 12-member joint parliamentary committee formed to draft term of reference (ToRs) for investigation into revelations made by Panama Papers has failed to reached any consensus, hence Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has decided to quit the joint parliamentary committee. A meeting of the party’s senior leadership under the chairmanship of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also decided to file an application in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and a reference in National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for the disqualification of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. PPP claimed that they provided prime minister an opportunity to clear his name but the government representatives in the committee refused to do so. The opposition has also warned the government that this attitude could result in serious political repercussions. Participants of the meeting also vowed to vigorously pursue the Panama scandal and called for unity in the opposition ranks in formulating a robust response to the ruling coalition sidetracking the issue.
Meanwhile media reports also quoted sources as saying that both opposition and government do not want accountability of anyone as both are afraid that if they send ToRs to the Supreme Court, they can themselves come into the accountability net.
Sufi Singer Killed
Famous Pakistani Qawwali singer Amjad Sabri was killed this week in a gun attack in Karachi. According to media reports, Sabri, 45, was killed in a targeted attack and was shot multiple times. His associate, who was with him in the car at the time of attack, was severely injured. Media reports also quote Sabri’s friend as saying that Sabri had earlier submitted an application for security, but the Sindh Home Department did not act on it. However, an official source said the Home Department had received no such request.
Amjad Sabri was son of renowned qawwal Ghulam Farid Sabri and nephew of qawwali icon Maqbool Sabri. Both Maqbool Sabri and Ghulam Farid Sabri were known for their soulful renditions of mystic poetry. The national political leadership, including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and President Mamnoon Hussain strongly condemned the killing of Sabri.
Sabri was a ‘Qawwal’, or singer of ‘Qawwali’, which is a traditional form of Islamic devotional music that is popular across South Asia for centuries. The music is closely associated with Sufism, a mystical sect of Islam that is viewed as heretical by hardline groups such as the Taliban. In 2014 he was asked by a court to respond to blasphemy charges following the airing of a controversial song-and-dance routine that was set to a qawwali piece about the wedding of the daughter of Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Foreign Affairs
As tension at Torkham border between Pakistan and Afghanistan finally subsides, Pakistan has now told Afghanistan that border management between the two countries was crucial to combating terrorism, as terrorists can freely cross the borders. In this regard, Pakistani and Afghan officials held talks this week in Islamabad. A six-member Afghan delegation held talks with the Pakistani officials led by Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry. Both discussed ways and means to check illegal cross-border movement which would also help stopping smuggling. According to the sources, the Pakistani officials told the Afghan delegation that Pakistan planned to set up gates at all crossing points on the border with Afghanistan. The Afghan officials were of the view that Pakistan should have consulted Kabul before setting up a gate at the Torkham border between the two countries.
The Foreign Office also said in its statement that both sides decided to work in the spirit of good neighbourly relations and that effective border management is vital to promoting peace, countering terrorism and strengthening relations between the two countries.
Meanwhile Pakistan has said that more than three million Afghan refugees living in the country should go back to Afghanistan as some of them have become a security risk for the country as terrorists are using refugee camps as hideouts.
Other News
All other news are considered under this category.
