Day: June 3, 2022

Posted on

Foreign Minister addresses letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations on the conviction of Hurriyat leader Yasin Malik

Islamabad, June 03, 2022 (PPI-OT):As part of Pakistan’s ongoing efforts to draw the attention of the international community to the alarming situation in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has addressed a letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Antonio Guterres, on 31 May 2022.

The letter apprises the Secretary General of the circumstances of Mr. Yasin Malik’s conviction in a manifestly dubious and politically motivated case filed by the Indian National Investigation Agency, his chronic ailments and the ruthless treatment meted out to him in Indian jails. It also highlights that the incarceration of Mr. Yasin Malik, his sham trial on concocted charges, his malicious conviction and the attempt to portray the legitimate freedom struggle of the Kashmiris as terrorism, illustrate India’s blatant disregard of its international legal obligations.

The Foreign Minister underscored that the malicious trial and conviction of Mr. Yasin Malik was a part of Indian government’s ongoing attempts to persecute and repress the Kashmiris and their leadership and to implicate them in fictitious and motivated cases. He noted that by denying a fair trial to Mr. Malik, arbitrarily detaining him and meting inhumane treatment to him in jail since 2019, India is in contravention of international human rights law, in particular the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. He also cautioned that in line with the well-documented pattern of Indian behaviour, there was credible risk of “custodial murder” in case of Mr. Yasin Malik.

The Foreign Minister urged the Secretary General to play his role in promoting a peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UNSC resolutions; and called upon the international community to:

i. Take immediate cognizance of India’s outrageous targeting of indigenous Kashmiri leadership through motivated cases;

ii. Prevail upon India to dismiss all the baseless charges against Mr. Yasin Malik and ensure his immediate release from prison;

iii. Urge India to release all other Kashmiri leaders incarcerated on trumped-up charges and allow the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir to determine their own future through a free and impartial UN-sponsored plebiscite as prescribed in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions;

iv. Compel and counsel India to end its egregious violations of human rights against the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and implement the recommendations of the two OHCHR Kashmir Reports;

v. Prevail upon India to repeal draconian laws including UAPA, and accept a UN-supervised investigation into the human rights situation in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, allow access to independent monitors for assessment of the ground situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, and to allow the Kashmiris to determine their own future through a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations as enshrined in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

For more information, contact:

PPP Media Cell (Sindh)

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)

Peoples Secretariat Shikarpur Colony,

Behind Mazar-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Karachi, Pakistan

Cell: +92-305-3370383

Email: contact@ppp-tu.com

Website: https://www.ppp.org.pk

Posted on

LG Polls in Balochistan Remain Controversy-Free, Orderly

Quetta, June 03, 2022 (PPI-OT):Balochistan completed the first phase of the local government (LG) polls to elect over 6,000 general councillors in an election that remained controversy-free followed by prompt acceptance of the results by all major political parties. Such an acceptance augurs well for democracy and development in the province where the integrity of electoral exercises has previously been questioned.

Despite sporadic illegalities and irregularities, the elections remained largely peaceful, orderly and better-managed. Campaigning and canvassing around polling stations, non-provision of copies of result forms to polling agents, inconsistent compliance with the legal provision to permit voters present inside the polling station after 5:00 pm to cast their vote and issues of secrecy of voters remained some of major areas that need to be stringently enforced. FAFEN observers reported large number of voters turning out to vote on election-day. Although majority of polling stations (65 percent) were categorized as sensitive or most-sensitive security-wise, the election-day remained largely peaceful with scattered incidents of local violence reported in 23 districts.

Election Day followed a highly competitive campaign with political parties and independent candidates freely canvassing in a largely peaceful environment. As many as 17,774 candidates – 17,642 male and 132 female – were in the run for general seats fielded by 17 political parties in 6,259 wards (5,345 rural and 914 urban wards) in municipal corporations, municipal committees and union councils. The ECP had set up a total of 6,237 polling stations – 671 male, 652 female and 4,914 combined. These polling stations had a total of 13,533 polling booths including 6,867 for men and 6,307 for women to facilitate 3,614,724 voters – 2,043,828 male and 1,570,896 female voters.

Following the May 29 elections of representatives on general seats, ECP is now due to hold indirect elections for the seats reserved for women, peasants or workers, and religious minorities, and the elections for Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of the local councils. Moreover, the ECP has yet to announce schedule for general seats elections in two major districts with sizeable urban population in the province i.e. Quetta and Lasbela, which were earlier withheld because of issues with the delimitation of wards.

After the expiry of LGs in Balochistan on January 27, 2019, it took over three years for ECP to conduct LG elections as these continued to face delay on one pretext or the other by the provincial government. Lack of consensus among political parties over amendments to the Balochistan LG Act (BLGA), 2010 and delimitation of constituencies remained the primary hurdles before the conduct of election. The Balochistan Assembly in February 2019 and April 2022 recommended to the Election Commission through resolutions postponement of the LG polls due to impending amendments to the BLGA and subsequent delimitations. The provincial government had also petitioned the Election Commission to withhold the elections to allow introduction of necessary amendments to the BLGA, 2010. However, a three-member bench of the ECP rejected the petition on April 14, 2022 and announced the date for election-day.

Scattered incidents of localized violence in 23 districts partially disrupted the polling processes on election-day. FAFEN observers reported 63 incidents of violence inside or around 53 polling stations. A majority of these were verbal brawls and scuffles between workers of contesting candidates and political parties, while a few incidents of armed and unarmed physical clashes were also reported. As many as six persons including a child were reportedly injured due to these armed and unarmed physical clashes. In addition to FAFEN observation, local media also reported various incidents of armed and unarmed clashes resulting in at least one death and multiple injuries.

Though the Election Commission has taken extraordinary measures over the last few years to improve inclusivity of elections particularly by focusing on women, persons with disabilities and transgender people, women participation as candidates has remained a cause of serious concern. As witnessed during Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) LG elections, only 132 women (less than one percent) contested in various wards in urban and rural councils of Balochistan. No woman contested elections on any general seat in 10 districts – Killa Abdullah, Chaman, Nushki, Chagai, Zhob, Sherani, Killa Saifullah, Harnai, Ziarat and Surab. Such low contestation by women reinforces the need for political parties to reform their local structures and organization to encourage more women and other members of marginalized segments of population to emerge as leaders.

This preliminary report is based on the observation of over 12 percent of 6,237 polling stations on which elections were held for the first phase of LG elections. This includes reports from 128 male polling stations, 93 female polling stations and 527 combined polling stations. FAFEN deployed 266 nonpartisan Election Day observers – 70 women and 196 men – to observe the voting and counting processes at around 15 percent of the total polling stations across 32 districts. Each observer was required to observe up to four polling stations for in-depth observation of the quality of the electoral processes. FAFEN’s observation methodology is based on the BLGA, 2010 (as amended up to April 2019), the Elections Act, 2017, the Elections Rules, 2017, and the Codes of Conduct notified under the laws. For the training of FAFEN’s election-day observers, as many as 25 training workshops were held across the province covering technical aspects of voting and counting processes.

For more information, contact:

Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN)

FAFEN Representative

FAFEN Secretariat 224, Margalla Road F-10/3 – Islamabad

Tel: +92-51-2211026

Fax: +92-51-2211047

Cell: +92-321-5017355, +92-301-8549188

Email: media@fafen.org

URL: www.fafen.org

Posted on

Secretary Youth Affairs and Sports Punjab Asadullah Faiz inaugurates High Performance Tennis Training Camp at Punjab Lawn Tennis Academy, Bagh Jinnah

Lahore, June 03, 2022 (PPI-OT):Secretary Youth Affairs and Sports Punjab Asadullah Faiz visited E-Rozgaar Center at University of Engineering and Technology (UET) here on Friday. Director Youth Affairs Syed Umair Hassan gave a detailed briefing to Secretary Youth Affairs and Sports Punjab Asadullah Faiz regarding different features and departments of E-Rozgaar Center.

Secretary Youth Affairs and Sports Punjab Asadullah Faiz inspected various departments of E-Rozgaar Center and also met with the students who are participating in different courses. Talking on this occasion, Secretary Youth Affairs and Sports Punjab Asadullah Faiz said that 45 E-Rozgaar Centers are functioning in various educational institutions of Punjab province. “Several talented students of the province are earning crores of rupees after getting training from Youth Affairs Department’s E-Rozgaar Centers,” he added.

Secretary Youth Affairs and Sports Punjab Asadullah Faiz informed that as many as 20 E-Rozgaar Centers will be handed over to different universities of the province till June 30, 2022 while remaining E-Rozgaar Centers will be handed over to other universities in the next phase.

Secretary Youth Affairs and Sports Punjab Asadullah Faiz said male and female students are being imparted Web Designing, E-Commerce and Digital Media Marketing training at UET E-Rozgaar Center. “Punjab Youth Affairs Department is encouraging the youth to earn their living through useful resources provided by E-Rozgaar Center. Young people are becoming useful citizens of the society by earning decent income through Punjab Youth Affairs Department’s platform”.

Meanwhile, Secretary Youth Affairs and Sports Punjab Asadullah Faiz also inaugurated first-ever High Performance Tennis Training Camp at Punjab Lawn Tennis Academy, Bagh Jinnah on Thursday evening. Former Secretary Sports Punjab Rao Iftikhar, Chief Sports Consultant SBP Hafeez Bhatti, PLTA Secretary General Rashid Malik and other officials were also present on this occasion.

As many as top 32 players from across the country are participating in the month-long High Performance Training Camp being held under the banner of Sports Board Punjab. Former Davis Cupper and PLTA Secretary General Rashid Malik will supervise the training sessions at High Performance Tennis Training Camp.

Pakistan longest-serving national champion Aqeel Khan, Davis Cupper Shahzad Khan, former Pakistan champion Yasir Khan and former national champion Ahmed Babar will also impart training to top 3 players of all categories including men, women and juniors from Under-8 to Under-18.

Secretary Youth Affairs and Sports Punjab Asadullah Faiz on this occasion announced that Sports Board Punjab will provide playing kits, rackets and other equipment to participants of camp. “The preparation of practice courts will be completed next month at the State of the Art Tennis Stadium in Nishtar Park Sports Complex. We are planning to hold an international tennis tournament at State of the Art Tennis Stadium after the completion of practice courts”.

Secretary Youth Affairs and Sports Punjab Asadullah Faiz said new talent will emerge from High Performance Tennis Training Camp. “Young players should take maximum benefit from the experience of international coaches”, Secretary Sports Punjab said.

For more information, contact:

Sports Board Punjab

Government of the Punjab

National Hockey Stadium, Ferozepur Road, Lahore, Pakistan

Tel: +92-42-99232501, +92-42-99232502

E-mail: info@punjabsportsboard.com

Website: http://sportsboard.punjab.gov.pk

Posted on

Director General Sports Punjab Javed Chohan greets Pakistan rugby team on qualifying for Div-1 stage after thrilling victory against

Lahore, June 03, 2022 (PPI-OT):Director General Sports Punjab Javed Chohan congratulated Pakistan rugby team on qualifying for Div-1 stage after a thrilling victory against visiting Thailand rugby team. Pakistan defeated strong Thailand team by 24-18 in the second match of the Asia Rugby Div-II Championship 2022 at Punjab Stadium on Wednesday night.

Director General Sports Punjab Javed Chohan along with other top officials also witnessed the nail-biting encounter. Sports Board Punjab, on the directions of Director General Sports Punjab Javed Chohan, made excellent arrangements for this mega event. A giant screen was also functional in the ground so that the rugby enthusiasts can enjoy the exciting match fully.

Director General Sports Punjab Javed Chohan in a statement said that Pakistan youth is taking immense interest in the game of rugby. “Pakistan’s historic victory against Thailand will help a lot in the speedy promotion of rugby among the young generation of the country”.

Asian Rugby President Qais Abdullah, Pakistan Rugby Union President Arif Saeed, Chairman Fawzi Khawaja, Secretary Salman Shaikh, Asia Rugby Chief Executive Johny Stavrinou, Tournament Director Ghaith Jalajel and other top officials of Asian Rugby and Pakistan Rugby Union were also present on this occasion. The match was witnessed and enjoyed by a large crowd including families and children. Thailand fought hard in this encounter, but it was Pakistan team, which emerged in the dying moments of the match.

For more information, contact:

Sports Board Punjab

Government of the Punjab

National Hockey Stadium, Ferozepur Road, Lahore, Pakistan

Tel: +92-42-99232501, +92-42-99232502

E-mail: info@punjabsportsboard.com

Website: http://sportsboard.punjab.gov.pk

Posted on

All Pakistan Inter-Provincial Hockey Tournament 2021-22 is underway

Lahore, June 03, 2022 (PPI-OT):The Punjab team defeated Gilgit Baltistan by 06-00. In the semi-final qualifying match Punjab Team showed excellent performance and beat AJK by 04-00.

For more information, contact:

Sports Board Punjab

Government of the Punjab

National Hockey Stadium, Ferozepur Road, Lahore, Pakistan

Tel: +92-42-99232501, +92-42-99232502

E-mail: info@punjabsportsboard.com

Website: http://sportsboard.punjab.gov.pk

Posted on

Modern techniques key to promote hockey among young generation: Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Asadullah Faiz

Lahore, June 03, 2022 (PPI-OT):Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Asadullah Faiz visited the National Hockey Stadium to witness 5-a-Side women exhibition hockey match on Wednesday. Deputy Director Chand Perveen, Administrator National Hockey Stadium Nasir Malik, former women hockey captain Sehrish Ghumman and other officials were also present on this occasion.

Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Asadullah Faiz witnessed and appreciated the game of young hockey players. Later, the participating players also had group photographs with Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Asadullah Faiz. Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Asadullah Faiz was warmly received upon reaching the National Hockey Stadium. He also spoke to female hockey players participating in the training camp.

Talking on this occasion, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Asadullah Faiz, who is also a former hockey player, said hockey is our national game and we will take every possible measure for its revival. “There is plenty of hockey talent in our country and Sports and Youth Affairs Department Punjab will utilise all resources to groom male and female players from nursery level”.

Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Asadullah Faiz said it is need of the hour to adopt modern techniques for the promotion of hockey among the young generation. “It is the only way through which we can compete with leading hockey playing nations and earn a respectable place among the international hockey community”.

For more information, contact:

Sports Board Punjab

Government of the Punjab

National Hockey Stadium, Ferozepur Road, Lahore, Pakistan

Tel: +92-42-99232501, +92-42-99232502

E-mail: info@punjabsportsboard.com

Website: http://sportsboard.punjab.gov.pk