Crush insurgents for Balochistan peace: Azma
Expressing solidarity with the families of the nine passengers killed in Loralai, Balochistan on Thursday, she emphasised the urgent need to crush violent elements. She berated "so-called human rights champions", adding they raise their voices for every oppressed group, "but when Punjabis are being killed, everyone turns a blind eye".
Speaking at a news conference at DGPR, she labelled PTI as merely a "champion of chaos," and claimed that the party was planning to misuse public funds to support their movement.
In an obvious reference to PTI founder Imran Khan, Azma said, "He built one hospital on his mother's name, but neither constructed any new hospitals nor improved existing ones".
She clarified that the health card scheme is still operational in private hospitals while over 9.3 million citizens have benefited from field hospitals. She announced to reconstruct Lady Willingdon Hospital on international standards to better serve mothers and children.
Azma praised Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz's special focus on the healthcare sector, saying, "Health is Maryam Nawaz's first and foremost priority". Projects such as Nawaz Sharif Cardiac Hospital in Sargodha, Cancer Hospitals, and Field Hospitals reflect the government's commitment.
She also noted that free medicines are now being provided in public hospitals.
Commenting on the sewerage issues in rain-affected areas, Azma said, "It's not possible to install sewerage lines in every street, but the administration remains highly active".
Condemning threats to MPAs, she stated, "PTI only knows how to do protest politics. We didn't respond to such threats in the past, and we won't do it now either".
The minister also shared that a housing project with 50,000 units was being launched to provide shelter to every citizen.
She pointed out that those targeting Punjabis in Balochistan were aiming to destabilise the country.
The state must deal with them with an iron hand — without this, the dream of peace and prosperity will remain unfulfilled.
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Express Tribune
an hour ago
- Express Tribune
In the course of the day
Listen to article I am visiting abroad and not able to keep up with the 24/7 television news which would sink a day into an unending cycle of how great we are doing, how insidious the enemy is, and how PTI continues to be the anathema to our collective drive to greatness. But I do catch glimpses here and there to know where the rest of the world is going — not great places, I can assure you, and how I have found my relative freedom from such imbecile engagement. Two things though still caught my eye: Qasim and Suleman, Imran Khan's kids, are the new threat and they need to be closely monitored for they may upturn the system of power in Pakistan. And second, in continuation of how intimately we are waltzing with the new US administration in Trump's repeated infatuation with power, even if it emerged from the F-10/PL-15 combo — China brand — there was better sense and a promise when Ishaq Dar spoke to a Washington think-tank and suggested Pakistan can and may be ready to look at out-of-box solutions on Kashmir, such as moving away from the UNSC Resolutions which are binary and do not per se provide the option to expand the list of options where Kashmiris can have the right to seek a third option other than the zero-sum choice of India or Pakistan as their homeland. What if they now, after seventy-eight years, seek a country of their own? The interpretation and the argument are entirely mine. No politician worth his salt would risk being seen with these words. All he reportedly said was that it doesn't have to be one or the other — India or Pakistan — but what the Kashmiris want. There is enough plausibility for denial built into this 'official' and 'reported' statement. The rest is left to imagination, primordial or ideational. Not a soul though will stand for what is not safe and official. Hence, life will be as it has been for the rest of our lifetimes. So much for breakthroughs and an improved Pakistani recognition and space on the global stage. A few things should be clear. The US is in no position to arbitrate on Kashmir. Yes, they did the region a huge favour in intervening to stop the war but that's about it. Our compulsions are local and so are our issues though with implications that can mushroom globally and hence, the world has kept running to keep us from our periodically default conflict-prone recourse. Pakistan did great in reestablishing and reinforcing the deterrent — a combination of the conventional and the nuclear — against India. This is a huge positive which endowed greater freedom of action to Pakistan to work on challenges which are mostly internal along a broad spectrum. How long will such space remain is to be seen. Will India try another hand on testing the threshold? Probably not yet or not right away. There are serious gaps that have come to light in its own system of forces which needs time and attention. It would like to have all her bases covered before she indulges in another adventure. She might utilise other avenues in the lower spectrum with transient or lower effects as is being evinced for some time now on the Afghan border and in Balochistan. Also, not the very best of a nation's defence is needed to counter such a threat which can be effectively handled by counter-terror police and paramilitary forces. Though this threat needs to be fully neutralised early enough to avoid casting adversely on Pakistan's economy and society. Cumulatively, it can leave a debilitating fatigue and a lingering sense of inevitable unease. Pakistan should not let that set in. But then there is that gap and liberty of action in policy innovation that Pakistan can pursue to solve and resolve Kashmir — I use both terms deliberately. It may not change the paradigm of engagement in South Asia, but it will eliminate a major source of triggering a wider conflict of the kind that India and Pakistan almost entered in May and barely escaped from its most dreadful consequences with outside help. Like in the Cold War, if the level of animosity is such that the two must still bring the other down for whatever reason — civilisational, arrogance of assumed power, or mere subjugation — at least the means can remain restricted to proxy only as is currently the case. This can still be handled and neutralised with a focused effort. But what it leaves is a more formal, political space for dealing with the root cause plaguing the region. The Foreign Minister was not only right, but brave to think beyond the shackles of an anachronistic policy which has kept the region locked in inaction on this front. They can fight wars but not solve issues. Politically, if India puts forward status quo as its preferred dialectic, the response option remains with Pakistan to move India away from its entrenched position. The cost on the battlefield for forcing policy options is horrendously unsustainable for either side as the small war showed. Hence the crying need instead to get to the table. The world at large too is desperate to hear differently from the region of how to assist. The zero-sum option formalised in the UNSC statutes generates its own fatigue and most of the world simply walks by such an argument. It is time to break the mold of our own response and see if it can entice public and international attention. In that sense Ishaq Dar's statement even if to initiate an academic discussion is a welcome break. I have long proposed an independent Kashmir on the lines of Switzerland as a breakout option from the logjam that has held us in an eternal face-off. What seemed right under the principles of the partition then would have surely changed as Kashmiris have fought for their independence with a cost paid in almost 100,000 lives in the last three decades. It is about time that the world noticed their fundamental right to determine their own future. How can Pakistan or India decide what their future might be? It is time that the issue of Kashmir be looked at in a new light. This may also unshackle the potential of this region and its people towards far greater prosperity and promise than what has fallen their way bound in unimaginative policy. If we have garnered space at the world stage, courtesy of some great work done by our warriors, rather than fizzle in useless chest thumping it be put to constructive use. It may return a blank but then we already have that. The space should be used to turn the almost dead stone over. In the meanwhile, Qasim and Suleman have ended their brief sojourn to the US and decided to let Pakistani politics proceed at its own pace. The threat of them pulling a rabbit out of the hat stands thankfully postponed.
Express Tribune
an hour ago
- Express Tribune
Opposition demands end to 'engineered politics'
Opposition leaders attend the first day of the two-day All Parties Conference in Islamabad on July 31, 2025. Photo: X Listen to article As the opposition's All Parties Conference (APC) began in Islamabad on Thursday, senior political leaders called for the restoration of democracy, constitutional supremacy and an end to what they described as 'engineered politics' and 'judicial victimisation'. With a firm call to restore democracy and uphold the will of the people, PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan declared that no political solution can succeed unless the voice and vote of citizens are respected. 'Some are trying to end democracy, but democracy will continue. We will bring constitutional supremacy, free the judiciary and repeal the 26th Amendment,' the PTI chairman said, as the opposition's APC kicked off under the banner of Tehreek Tahafuz Ayin-e-Pakistan (TTAP) – the opposition parties' anti-government alliance. Read More: PTI's Omar Ayub, Shibli Faraz sentenced to up to 10 years in May 9 cases The TTAP's APC brought together leaders of major opposition groups, including PTI, PKMAP, former senators, legal experts and civil society voices. Initially planned at a hotel in Islamabad, the venue was shifted to the Tarlai farmhouse of former senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar after the hotel abruptly cancelled the booking. Speaking at the conference, the opposition leaders expressed deep concern over what they described as a collapse of constitutional order, political victimisation and the erosion of civilian authority. The conference also unanimously condemned fresh prison sentences handed down to PTI leaders, calling them politically motivated. The TTAP leaders demanded the formation of a neutral election commission, restoration of judicial independence and an end to what they called a 'scripted' political system allegedly imposed by unelected forces. PkMap & TTAP chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai denounced repeated violations of the constitution by powerful quarters, recalling that a former dictator had dismissed the country's founding document as mere paper. 'States do not run on bullets or batons. They are governed through social contracts; and our constitution is that contract,' he said. Also Read: PTI may boycott Parliament over May 9 verdicts: Barrister Gohar Achakzai appealed to all judges, generals, lawyers, scholars and citizens who believe in constitutional supremacy to guide the movement, saying the alliance was not looking to fight anyone but will not compromise on core democratic principles. He had earlier emphasised that TTAP was not formed at the behest of any institution, adding the alliance will continue its struggle until there is a neutral election commission, parliamentary sovereignty and constitutional rule. Former senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar condemned the fresh wave of convictions handed down to PTI leaders. 'Today will be remembered as a black day in Pakistan's history,' he said, noting that the opposition leaders in the National Assembly, Senate and Punjab Assembly were all sentenced in a single day alongside numerous PTI MNAs, MPAs and workers. As news broke during the conference of a decision by an anti-terrorism court in Faisalabad sentencing multiple PTI lawmakers to 10 years in prison, TTAP spokesperson Akhunzada Hussain Ahmad announced that the APC had unanimously passed a resolution condemning the verdicts. آج اسلام آباد میں تحریک تحفظ آئین پاکستان کے زیر اہتمام اپوزیشن جماعتوں پہ مشتمل آل پارٹیز کانفرنس کا انعقاد ہوا۔ ابھی آل پارٹیز کانفرنس جاری تھی کہ خبر آئی کہ انسداد دہشت گردی عدالت فیصل آباد سے ایک فیصلہ سنایا گیا جس میں پاکستان تحریک انصاف سے وابستہ پارلیمنٹریز و ممبران کو دس… — Akhunzada Hussain Ahmad (@YousafzaiHusain) July 31, 2025 The resolution specifically named National Assembly Opposition Leader Omar Ayub, Senate Opposition Leader Shibli Faraz, Sunni Ittehad Council Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza as victims of what it called politically motivated and unjust punishments. Veteran politician Javed Hashmi said that despite efforts to sideline PTI by denying it an election symbol, the public still sought out PTI founder Imran Khan to vote for him. 'Now they want to keep him in jail; it's a farce,' he said. Hashmi added that true national unity would only come from winning hearts, not firing bullets and pointed to Gwadar's untapped revenue potential as proof that the country had enough resources to prosper if governed justly. Balochistan's ex-senator Lashkari Raisani called for a 'Truth and Justice Commission' to investigate those responsible for weakening the Constitution. 'Let this sitting decide if we will talk with the establishment or will all political parties decide the future inside or outside the dummy parliament,' he asked, urging a collective decision on whether Pakistan will move forward as a true parliamentary democracy or remain a power-centric state. Read: Pakistan committed to eradicating terrorism: PM Shehbaz Majlis Wahdatul Muslimeen (MWM) Chairman Allama Raja Nasir Abbas echoed those concerns, stating that the constitution had effectively been suspended and the pillars of the state had allegedly collapsed. 'The people no longer trust this system. Only the rule of law and revival of the constitution can rescue Pakistan from this crisis,' he said. JI's former senator Mushtaq Ahmed Khan said the election commission had become a tool of the establishment, and the current parliament was nothing more than a scripted show. 'Those who won are in jail. Those who lost have filled the seats in the name of democracy,' he stated. The conference continues on Friday with more sessions expected to outline a political roadmap for democratic restoration and electoral reforms, as TTAP positions itself as a growing force against what it calls unconstitutional interference in the political affairs.
Express Tribune
3 hours ago
- Express Tribune
PTI seeks permission to hold Aug 5 rally in Islamabad
Listen to article The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has formally sought permission from the Islamabad district administration to hold a political gathering in the federal capital's F-9 Park on August 5, in response to a call by party founder Imran Khan. According to a formal application submitted to the Deputy Commissioner Islamabad, PTI has requested approval to organise a rally between 4 pm and 10 pm on the specified date. The request was submitted by PTI Islamabad Region's General Secretary Malik Amir Ali and bears the signatures of both Malik Amir and the regional party president, Amir Masood Mughal. Also Read: 'Women's right to reject marriage proposals rooted in Islam' Speaking to the media after submitting the application, Malik Amir stated that holding peaceful gatherings and protests is the party's constitutional and legal right. 'We will hold a rally in Islamabad on August 5 in accordance with Imran Khan's call,' he said. The party has identified F-9 Park as the proposed venue for the gathering and has emphasised its intention to hold a peaceful and lawful event. It is worth noting that after a series of failed protests, the PTI founder has once again decided to demonstrate street power to campaign for the rule of law and the release of imprisoned party leaders and workers. However, the party appears divided on key policy matters, with dissenting voices increasingly surfacing in public. Also Read: Police investigates second marriage in Sidra Arab murder case Given the situation, a statement of incarcerated PTI founder Imran Khan appeared in the media, ordering every member of his party to immediately set aside all internal differences and focus solely on the party's August 5 protest movement, "for which no meaningful momentum is being built at present". Earlier this week, Aleema Khan, sister of PTI founder Imran Khan, expressed confidence that the public will take to the streets on August 5 to launch a mass movement.
