Mushahid says ‘Asian hands to shape Asian destiny in Asian Century’, 70 political parties from 33 countries participate

DNA

ISLAMABAD, NOV 20: The International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), Asia’s oldest and largest organisation of political parties, unanimously elected Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed as the ICAPP Co-Chairman at its biennial  conference here in the historic Turkish city, with 200 representatives and leaders of 70 political parties from 33 countries participating. Mushahid’s name for Co-Chairman was proposed by Thailand and Iran, and supported by China, Cambodia, Russia, Lebanon, Turkiye and Indonesia, before being put to a vote.

Former Foreign Minister of South Korea, Chung Euiyong, was re-elected Chairman of ICAPP.

The ICAPP Conference, held once every two years, also issued the ‘Istanbul Declaration’ which expressed solidarity with victims of the ‘recent devastating floods in Pakistan of epic proportions’ and urged  ‘alleviating hardships of people through climate finance and climate justice’.

Senator Mushahid Hussain thanked the participants for reposing confidence in him and termed his election as a ‘humbling experience for me personally and a great honour for Pakistan’ to be so recognised at an important global forum, which represents public opinion and political parties of the world’s largest continent, Asia.

Mushahid Hussain termed the current epoch as historic transformation for Asia as the ‘balance of economic and political power is shifting from West to East’ marking the ‘dawn of the ‘Asian Century’, which he noted the great visionary Poet of the East, Dr Allama Iqbal, had predicted 90 years back, when he wrote: ‘see, the Sun rising in the East’! He said ‘ICAPP is continuation of the Bandung Spirit, which started in 1955 with the first Afro-Asian Summit hosted by the great Indonesian leader, Dr Soekarno, at the Indonesian city of Bandung’. Senator Mushahid Hussain said the ‘time has come that Asian hands must shape Asian destiny and the future of Asia’. He recounted his own early exposure to Asia, when he was a student studying at a school in Jakarta while his father served as Pakistan’s first Defence Attaché to Indonesia, and later his travels to China, Vietnam, Korea and Cambodia and other Asian countries.

Mushahid also referred to Pakistan’s close connections to Asia, when Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah supported the cause of Indonesian Independence in 1945, the Palestine issue in 1940 and admired the leadership of Turkey’s Mustafa Kamal Ataturk. He said formation of Indian National Army (INA) in Singapore in 1942 served as a catalyst for the freedom struggle in the South Asian subcontinent. Pakistanis also joined in solidarity with the Vietnamese people, while refusing to join the Korean War, although Pakistan participated in the 1955 Bandung Conference.

Senator Mushahid Hussain also quoted from three different world leaders to underline that the ‘current global scenario is unpredictable, volatile and unstable’, noting that President Biden calls it ‘the decisive decade’, President Putin says ‘this is the most dangerous decade after World War II’, while President Xi Jinping talks of ‘once in a century transformative change in the world’. In this context, Mushahid urged Asians to ‘avoid Bloc politics and reject any New Cold War’. He also praised Turkish President Erdogan’s role as a ‘bold voice for Asian rights’. A Media Forum, Business Council and a Tourism Conference were also held on the sidelines of the main ICAPP conference.

Earlier, ICAPP leaders, Chairman Chung Euiyong and Co-Chairman Senator Mushahid Hussain, accompanied by former Interior Minister and Deputy Chairman of Turkey ruling Justice & Development Party, Efkan Ala, visited the site in Istanbul’s Istaqlal Street where a terrorist bomb had killed and injured Turkish children, women and men, and they laid a floral wreath at the site, expressing solidarity with the victims families and condolences with the Turkish nation on this heinous crime against humanity. Mushahid also offered Fateha for the victims.

The next ICAPP Conference will convene in Cambodia in 2024.

ISLAMABAD, Nov 19 (DNA): Foreign Minister and Chairman Pakistan Peoples
Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday said that under relevant
procedure and laws, the appointment of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS)
was a prerogative of the incumbent prime minister whereas Imran Khan was
trying to make the whole process controversial, which would not be
allowed.

Addressing a news conference here, the foreign minister said that
Pakistan Tehreek-I-Insaf chief wanted to link his politics with the
appointment process of the new army chief.

Imran Khan thought about himself only and did not care for the entire
country suffering from the consequences of his petty politics, Bilawal
regretted.

“Why did you choose Rawalpindi? Khan sahib let this decision
(appointment of COAS) happen,” he said and suggested to PTI’s chief to
postpone his long march for the time being.

The foreign minister said the previous PTI’s government had damaged
country’s foreign policy, economy and democratic set up and now Imran
Khan only wanted to create political instability which would be strongly
resisted.

He said that during International Monetary Fund agreement, Imran Khan
had attacked Islamabad, which was foiled. Now all the democratic forces
in the country were united and the PTI chief would not be allowed
playing such like past tactics, he added.

Pakistan and its people could no longer bear any crises, he maintained.

The foreign minister said peaceful demonstration was a democratic right,
but no unconstitutional or undemocratic tactics could be allowed and
reiterated that Pakistan Peoples Party would play its democratic role as
it had manifested in the past by resisting all the undemocratic moves.

“Khan sahib wants to stop institutions playing their democratic role. He
wants to make undemocratic moves, but we will not allow him,” he added.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said that the parliamentary parties had played a
very democratic role to oust the government of Imran Khan through a vote
of no confidence.

The foreign minister said that Imran Khan had always carried out his
politics on the shoulders of undemocratic forces.

He said the future of a politician like Imran Khan was linked with
making institutions controversial.

If Imran Khan wanted a real freedom, then why did he wait for this week
for his political objectives? the foreign minister questioned.

Bilawal said the appointment of the new army chief was an administrative
decision and its completion would end the politics of Imran Khan.

Bilawal said the entire world was facing economic disaster due to the
Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Imran Khan’s decisions had damaged Pakistan’s ties with the countries in
the Middle East, Europe and the US, he added.

ISLAMABAD, NOV 19: A model trial court in Dadu indicted on Saturday a pair of brothers — both MPAs from the ruling PPP — in a triple murder case in Mehar town.

MPAs Sardar Chandio and Burhan Chandio pleaded not guilty after charges were framed against them. The court summoned witnesses in the next hearing on December 3 to proceed with the case.

“We have recorded our statements in the court,” MPA Sardar said while talking to the media after the indictment, adding that they would plead their case in the next hearing.

Tight security measures were in place during the hearing. A heavy contingent of police was put on alert to avert any untoward incident.

The two brothers along with five other suspects, identified as Ali Gohar, Sattar, Sikandar, Murtaza and Zulfiqar, were nominated as accused in the triple murder of Raees Karamullah Chandio, the then chairman of the Baldai union council of Mehar taluka, his two sons Mukhtiar Chandio and Qabil Chandio. They were killed when a group of armed men attacked their residence in Ahmed Colony in Mehar taluka on Jan 17, 2018. One of the attackers was also killed in retaliatory fire by the inmates.

The bereaved family, which was politically associated with the PPP, believed that the attack was carried out at the behest of Sardar, who was the chieftain of his tribe in Mehar, and his younger brother Burhan, the then aide to the Sindh chief minister.

Pervaiz Ahmed Chandio, a surviving son of late Karamullah, lodged the first information reports and nominated the suspects. Pervaiz had accused the two influential brothers in the first information report of complicity in the attack on their residence and the murder of his three close relatives.

Later, Pervaiz’s cousin Umme Rubab Chandio, who was Mukhtiar’s daughter, moved the Supreme Court after the Sindh police failed to arrest the absconding suspects in the case and at the same time launched a protest campaign to seek the support of civil society and political and nationalist parties in helping her bring all the culprits to justice.

During the course of the protest campaign, Umme Rubab alleged that her family’s rivals were issuing threats to scare her into stopping the campaign and pursuing the case.

KARACHI, NOV 19 /DNA/  – Prioritizing entrepreneurship as one of the most important faculties to secure the future of Pakistani youth, the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) has recognized the country’s first Entrepreneurial Higher Education Institute, Extreme Commerce College.

The Higher Education Commission (HEC) through its notification No. 14(131)/A&A/Acc/HEC-2022 has officially recognised the Extreme College Commerce (ECC) and its qualifications. Through this, the students of ECC will benefit from nationally recognised international qualifications. This recognition enhances opportunities and gateways available to students.

With the aim of bridging gaps in academic knowledge and a successful professional career, Extreme Commerce College was established with the aim to provide a nurturing environment for the Pakistani students and youthful workforce to develop an entrepreneurial and innovative mindset, thus encouraging them to realize their full potential.

The college inculcates educating oneself while earning and getting empowered. This is achieved by harnessing skilled based learning and qualifications. Being the pioneer entrepreneurial higher educational institute (HEI) in the country, ECC offers complementary incubation plus e-commerce structured training to all students throughout their stay at college. The college also offers practical and experiential learning opportunities to the students, where industry practitioners and entrepreneurs are available to share their knowledge of the digital ecosystem.

The visionary leadership at Extreme Commerce was able to spot the tremendous national potential that lies in the human capital and has been working tirelessly towards their vision of making Pakistan the global hub for back-office and technical services for the global e-commerce markets.

Extreme Commerce College (ECC) is Pakistan’s first entrepreneurial higher education institute that came into being as a joint venture between Extreme Commerce and Oxford’s Independent Business School. The purpose of ECC as a futuristic scholastic and incubation hub is to build and disseminate a full spectrum of affordable pre-university to post-graduate competency and skill based learning, complemented by world-class, international qualifications.

ECC is the nation’s foremost institute for digital entrepreneurship with a focus on e-commerce and emerging technologies. It is headquartered in Karachi, with satellite incubation campuses in eight different cities, which can accommodate students nationwide and provide a networking opportunity with more than one million e-commerce experts and entrepreneurs through Extreme Commerce’s online community globally.=DNA

LAHORE, NOV 19: “I will meet you there,” says the PTI chief. Imran Khan has said he will share more details on November 26 in Rawalpindi.

LAHORE, NOV 19: Rawalpindi resorts to panic buying fearing inflation, food shortage amid anti-government protest march; Fawad says “final stage here”