DNA

ISLAMABAD – To mark 73 years of Indian illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs observed Kashmir Black Day at an event focusing on the plight of the children of IIOJK.

The event was the culmination of an inter-School competition, involving participation by more than 600 students from 7 schools chains in Pakistan and abroad. Empathizing with the youth of IIOJK, the participants expressed themselves through artwork, and prose as well as poetry in English and Urdu. Winners in each of the five categories were awarded shields and certificates.

Addressing the occasion, Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi shed light on the egregious human rights violations in IIOJK, with specific reference to the youth. He stated that the dire humanitarian and human rights condition in IIOJK was above all, a litmus test for humanity.

In addition to the Foreign Minister, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Syed Shibli Faraz, Chairman Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Affairs, Shehryar Afridi and Parliamentary Secretary on Foreign Affairs Andaleeb Abbas addressed the gathering.

Besides short documentaries on the situation of youth in IIOJK, the event featured recorded and live narrations from participants from Pakistan and abroad. Attendees inscribed messages for the Kashmiri youth on the Wall of Hope, and viewed nearly 100 pieces of art by students exhibited on the occasion. The event concluded with the children joining the Foreign Minister in lighting the ‘Lantern of Hope’ as a mark of solidarity of the children of Pakistan with the children of IIOJK.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on Tuesday it will send a security assessment delegation to Pakistan this weekend with a view to playing in the country in early 2021.

If the tour goes ahead it will be South Africa’s first visit to Pakistan since 2007/08.

Two subsequent “away” tours were staged in the United Arab Emirates because of security concerns following a 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore.

No details of the planned fixtures were revealed but according to the International Cricket Council’s future tours programme, South Africa are due to play in two world Test championship matches as well as three Twenty20 internationals in January and February.

Tuesday’s announcement confirmed South Africa will host Sri Lanka in two world Test championship matches over the local summer holiday period.

The first Test will be in Centurion from December 26 to 30 and the second Test will be in Johannesburg from January 3 to 7.

After the CSA’s entire board resigned on Monday, acting chief executive Kugandrie Govender said the matches against Sri Lanka, like those for the upcoming white-ball series against England, would be played without spectators because of Covid-19 restrictions.

On their previous visit to South Africa in 2018-19, Sri Lanka gained an upset 2-0 series win — the first by an Asian team in a Test series in South Africa.

CSA also announced Australia would visit South Africa for three world Test championship matches in March and April 2021, to be followed by Pakistan, who will play three one-day internationals and three T20 internationals. Dates for these tours will be announced later.

It was previously announced South Africa will host England in three T20 and three one-day internationals in Cape Town and Paarl between November 27 and December 9.

The South African men’s team has not been in action since a one-day tour of India was called off because of the coronavirus pandemic in March.

KARACHI, OCT 27 (DNA) – The Sindh government has finalised the names of two bureaucrats for the Karachi administrator post. They are; Najam Ahmed Shah and Syed Hassan Naqvi.

The selected candidate will take over after Karachi Mayor Wasim Akhtar steps down after completing his four years in power by August end. The administrator will stay in power until the local body elections are held in Karachi and a new mayor is sworn in.

Both the bureaucrats are Grade 21 officers and currently working as secretaries for different departments of the Sindh government. Shah is posted as the secretary of the investment department.

He has also served as the specialised healthcare and medical education secretary for Punjab from 2016 to 2018. Shah has also served as the finance secretary, and science and technology secretary for Sindh.

Naqvi, on the other hand, is currently working as Sindh’s finance secretary. He has previously served as director of the export processing zone authority, the project director of the computerization n board of revenue, and worked at CM House, Governor House and CDGK too.

The Sindh government sources told a private television channel that the two names are being considered and one will be selected by the Sindh chief minister. Akhtar was sworn in on August 30, 2016 after the MQM won the local body elections in December 2015.

According to the law, the Sindh government has three months days to hold the elections from the day the mayor steps down. No preparations, however, have been made for the polls. Four years ago, the polls were held on the directives of the Supreme Court. The administrator was running the city’s affairs as no elections were held after 2009.

Last Saturday, some leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Pakistan People’s Party, and MQM-P leadership met in Islamabad. They all agreed to work together for the betterment of Karachi and address its civic issues.

In that meeting, a coordination committee was formed comprising the members of all three political parties. The members included Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar, Ports and Shipping Minister Ali Zaidi, Telecommunication Minister Aminul Haq, Sindh CM Syed Murad Ali Shah, and Sindh LG Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah.

The coordination committee will meet in Karachi at Sindh CM House today (August 22). The committee will discuss its core issues as per the TORs finalised in the first meeting, Haq told SAMAA Digital. This includes issues relating to Karachi roads, transport, and sewerage.

The selection of Karachi administrator is not in the agenda of the meeting, he said, adding that it could be discussed though. “It is the prerogative of the Sindh government to appoint Karachi administrator.” MQM-P just wants the government to appoint a competent and skilled officer who is aware of the city’s dynamics.  He, however, clarified that his party has yet to given any name for the post.

Khurram Sher Zaman, a PTI MPA, said that the Sindh government has right to appoint Karachi administrator, but it should consult it with other stakeholders. “A decision with mutual understanding is needed”, he added.

 He speculated that the provincial government may opt for Naqvi as he has been working closely with the Sindh CM. Shah, on the other hand, has already clarified that the appointment of the Karachi administrator is an administrative issue and would be dealt with accordingly. = DNA

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 27: The President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Sardar Masood Khan on Tuesday urged the international community to intervene and stop India from death and destruction, the genocide of Kashmiris and evicting them from their land and homes in Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

He also called upon the UN Security Council play its role in finding a political and diplomatic solution to the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the resolutions on the issue to save the region from devastation and to ensure peace and security of the region.

Addressing two international webinars and two national conferences on the occasion of the 73rd anniversary of Indian military occupation of occupied Kashmir and the Black Day being observed by Kashmiris on both sides of LoC, in Pakistan and all over the world against its illegal occupation, he said that the Kashmir issue emerged as a result of illegal and the immoral military occupation of Kashmir by India in 1947 and today it has all the potential of taking India-Pakistan hostility to the nuclear level.

Addressing webinars organized by the Scottish Human Rights Forum and Kashmir Council Sweden, the President rejected Indian claim that Kashmir is a bilateral dispute between the two countries.  He said it was an international dispute on which the UN Security Council had passed several resolutions and the issue was still on the agenda of the Security Council.

Saying that there are three parties to the Kashmir dispute, Khan asserted that apart from Pakistan and India, the people of Jammu and Kashmir are the principal party to the long-standing dispute and the participation of Kashmiri people in any parleys to resolve the issue was inevitable to make the process a success.

He emphasized that that solution to the Kashmir issue lies in a free and fair plebiscite under UN supervision and in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions. He maintained that before any talks on Kashmir it was necessary for India to withdraw all measures it took before and after August 5, 2019, with regard to Occupied Kashmir in violation of UN Security Council Resolutions 92 and 122.

India, he said, also needs to take back actions such as unilaterally changing the disputed status of the region and altering the demography of the occupied territory. He said that the UN Security Council should play the role of mediator to resolve the dispute and the UN Secretary-General should appoint a Special Representative to take forward the diplomatic process.

Addressing a conference organized by the Kashmir Institute of International Relations (KIIR), the president said that the bond of love and the brotherhood between Kashmiris and Pakistan was eternal and no power on earth could separate them from each other. He said that India had used every tactic in the last seven decades to integrate the Kashmiris with Indian society and win their hearts and minds but it had failed and now it had hatched a nefarious conspiracy to wipe out the entire Kashmiri nation.

He said that dialogue with India could not be successful without the participation of genuine representatives of Kashmiris. He said that after August 5 last year, the entire Kashmir Valley was under siege where the Indian Army was selectively killing the youth every day, arresting them and putting them in jails. In the last one year, 14,000 youths have been arrested and locked up in various jails in Kashmir and India.

The President said that even children of Kashmir and women were also not safe from Indian barbarism, and hence, it was obligatory for the international community to take congnizance of gross violations of human rights by accelerating efforts to resolve the dispute through peaceful means.

Praising the efforts of Altaf Wani, Director, Kashmir Institute of International Relations, the President said that his institute was playing an important role in raising the voice of oppressed Kashmiris in various forums of the world.

Addressing another function organized by the Pakistan Arts Council Rawalpindi, President Masood said that the extremist policies of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have put the peace and security of the entire region at stake.

Comparing Azad Kashmir with the occupied part of the state, the President said that in fact no comparison could be made between the two parts of the state. Innocent people are being killed in the occupied part of Kashmir. They are arrested and made disappeared. Young people are blinded by being shot in the eyes and women are sexually abused to terrify the population. He said people in Azad Kashmir are free and they have all civil liberties and fundamental rights.