Latest news with #PakistanMuslimLeague-Nawaz
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First Post
a day ago
- Entertainment
- First Post
Pakistan's Provincial Minister Maryam Aurangzeb regrets ban on Aamir Khan starrer ‘Dangal': 'It was a film which was...'
Maryam Aurangzeb, who is now a senior minister in the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) in Punjab, said she had just become the information minister when Dangal was released. read more A minister in Pakistan's Punjab province says she regrets not allowing Aamir Khan's 'Dangal' to release in the country in 2017. Maryam Aurangzeb, who is now a senior minister in the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) in Punjab, said she had just become the information minister when 'Dangal' was released. 'Yes, if there is one regret that I have when I was the Federal Information Minister, it was banning the screening of 'Dangal' in Pakistan,' Aurangzeb said on a popular podcast. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'It was my first meeting with the censor board representatives and information ministry people and they recommended a ban on screening of the film giving some reasons for this,' she added. Aurangzeb said she approved the ban though she had not seen the film. In those days, the government allowed the release of Indian films in Pakistan. 'One and half year later, I got a chance to see the film and I realised my decision to approve the ban was wrong. It was a film which was inspirational for our girls and was close to home,' she said. Though Indian films and actors remain hugely popular in Pakistan, the government has placed a ban on their screening in the country since 2019. Indian films were screened in Pakistani cinemas between 2008 to 2019 and did excellent business. Since the ban, dozens of cinema houses have gone out of business and are struggling to survive on Hollywood movies as the production quality of Pakistani films remains very low.
Deccan Herald
2 days ago
- Politics
- Deccan Herald
Pakistan's provincial minister regrets ban on Aamir Khan's 'Dangal'
Maryam Aurangzeb, who is now a senior minister in the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) in Punjab, said she had just become the information minister when "Dangal" was released internationally and in India.
Business Recorder
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
CM vows to ensure good governance, public welfare
LAHORE: Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz met with Speaker Punjab Assembly Malik Ahmad Khan, here Wednesday and congratulated him for holding the Budget 2025-26 Session successfully. During the meeting, Malik Ahmad Khan expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister for the allocation of record funds for education, health and development projects in the province. Maryam Nawaz said that all goals regarding people's welfare and good governance will be achieved at all costs. She said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) represents the people and which also started different development projects for the welfare of the general public. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
News18
7 days ago
- Politics
- News18
Pakistan's Defence Minister Admits ‘Hybrid Rule', Says Army Too Holds Power In Civil-Military Setup
This marks the second time in a week that Asif, currently serving in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's cabinet, has acknowledged the presence of a hybrid arrangement. Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, a senior leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and a close aide of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has openly stated that the country is operating under a 'hybrid model" of governance in which the military holds a fair share of power. This marks the second time in a week that Asif, currently serving in Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's cabinet, has acknowledged the presence of a hybrid arrangement. Analysts have long criticised this setup as a 'fixed government to serve subsidiary interests," rather than a genuine power-sharing model. Asif's remarks came during an interview with Arab News aired on Friday evening and are being widely interpreted as confirmation that the Sharifs' PML-N is functioning with the endorsement of Pakistan's powerful military establishment. Describing the hybrid civil-military structure as a shared arrangement, Asif said: 'This is a hybrid model. It's not an ideal democratic government. So, this hybrid arrangement, I think it is doing wonders. This system is a practical necessity until Pakistan is out of the woods as far as economic and governance problems are concerned." He further argued that if such a model had been implemented in the 1990s, when Nawaz Sharif was twice elected prime minister, Pakistan might have avoided prolonged friction between civilian and military leadership. 'The confrontation between the military establishment and the political government would retard the progress of democracy," he added. The defence minister's statement has reignited debate over the PML-N's political trajectory and its now-contradictory past slogan of 'vote ko izzat do" (give respect to the ballot). Critics argue that Asif's frank admission cements the perception that the PML-N has aligned itself firmly under the military's umbrella, abandoning its previous anti-establishment stance. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, a long-time rival of the Sharifs, has repeatedly claimed that the general elections held on February 8 were the 'Mother of All Rigging" and accused the PML-N and its coalition partner—the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari—of being 'mandate thieves." Following Asif's admission, political observers say the future of Pakistan's democratic institutions remains precarious. 'This (Trump-Munir) meeting has lifted the thin, see-through veneer of 'elected'. What the world has known for quite a while is now in the open… where is the centre of power in Pakistan and who is in control of real state powers? The political allies (military) in power have presented themselves as the 'government' now," remarked political analyst Dr Rasul Bakhsh Rais, reported news agency PTI. He further noted: 'Khawaja Asif and others now have to seek some legitimacy to praise the merits of the hybrid model, which actually doesn't mean a mixed but a fixed government to serve subsidiary interests." Dr Rais described the current political system as the third iteration of a hybrid regime since Imran Khan's ouster in 2022. Unlike previous periods under General Ziaul Haq and General Pervez Musharraf, both of whom built new political alliances, this time, he said, major parties like the PML-N and PPP have willingly assumed the role of 'political facade." He concluded that the military's orchestration of electoral victories for the PML-N and PPP has reduced them to mere appendages of the establishment. 'Now, the priority of the Sharifs and Zardaris as well as the military establishment is to neutralise the third force — Imran Khan's PTI — which is perceived as a danger for all of them," he said. Senior journalist Matiullah Jan also weighed in with sharp criticism on X: 'What a fall from grace for a politician. This defence minister takes oath to defend the constitution which makes no mention of the so-called hybrid form of government." He added, 'The fact is that this system is not even a hybrid system but a pure and simple dictatorship with political pygmies at the heels of affairs." Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: June 21, 2025, 21:38 IST News world Pakistan's Defence Minister Admits 'Hybrid Rule', Says Army Too Holds Power In Civil-Military Setup
NDTV
7 days ago
- Politics
- NDTV
"It Is Doing Wonders": Pak Defence Minister Praises Civil-Military "Hybrid Model"
Lahore: Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and a close aide of ruling PML-N president and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said the country is being governed under a "hybrid model" in which the military enjoys a major power share. This is the second time this week that Asif, a prominent member of the incumbent Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif cabinet, admitted to the hybrid model, criticised as not mixed but a "fixed government to serve subsidiary interests" by analysts. The defence minister's candid words during an interview with Arab News aired on Friday evening are being considered as an admission that Sharifs' Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has the blessings of the powerful military establishment in Pakistan. Asif described the civil-military hybrid system as co-ownership of the power structure as he said: "This is a hybrid model. It's not an ideal democratic government. So, this hybrid arrangement, I think it is doing wonders. This system is a practical necessity until Pakistan is out of the woods as far as economic and governance problems are concerned." He added if this sort of hybrid model was adopted way back in the 90s (when Nawaz Sharif was prime minister, twice), things would have been much, much better because the confrontation between military establishment and the political government would retard the progress of democracy. The defence minister claimed that "the only realistic option" for the PML-N and the Sharifs is "to compromise with the military." Earlier, a day after Pakistan Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir met US President Donald Trump at the White House, Asif on Thursday said in a post on X described the meeting as "the most important turning point in the 78-year history of relations," and added that the development is the success of the "current hybrid model of governance", involving the elected government and the army. Sharifs' arch rival and former prime minister Imran Khan has maintained since last year that the February 8 general elections witnessed the 'Mother of All Rigging' that deprived his party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf , from forming the government. Khan also called the PML-N and its ruling partner, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as "mandate thieves." After Asif's open admission, the critics claimed that it has further buried the PML-N's earlier slogan of "vote ko izzat do (give respect to the ballot)," setting a future course of politics for the Sharifs that they would continue their politics as subservient to the powerful military. "This (Trump-Munir) meeting has lifted the thin, see-through veneer of 'elected'. What the world has known for quite a while is now in the open... where is the centre of power in Pakistan and who is in control of real state powers? The political allies (military) in power have presented themselves as the 'government' now. "Khawaja Asif and others now have to seek some legitimacy to praise the merits of the hybrid model, which actually doesn't mean a mixed but a fixed government to serve subsidiary interests," said senior analyst Dr Rasul Bakhsh Rais. He said the current setup is, in fact, the third "hybrid regime" since the ouster of Imran Khan in 2022. "Today the difference is that while Gen Ziaul Haq and Gen Pervez Musharraf created political fronts by cannibalising major parties, this time around the two major parties -- PMLN and PPP -- have willingly served as political facade," he said referring to the past two army generals who later became presidents. Dr Rais said by handing victory to the PML-N and PPP in the previous elections, the military establishment has "reduced these parties to the status of an appendage in the hybrid order." He said the political capital of the PML-N and PPP is buried alongside their anti-establishment narrative. "Now, the priority of the Sharifs and Zardaris as well as the military establishment is to neutralise the third force - Imran Khan's PTI --- which is perceived as a danger for all of them," he said. Senior journalist Matiullah Jan said on X, "What a fall from grace for a politician. This defence minister takes oath to defend the constitution which makes no mention of the so-called hybrid form of government." "The fact is that this system is not even a hybrid system but a pure and simple dictatorship with political pygmies at the heels of affairs," he added.
