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☆ Hardeep Singh Nijjar: Who was the Sikh leader murdered in Canada?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Sakshi Dayal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A sign outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple is seen after the killing on its grounds in June 2023 of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada September 18, 2023. Here is what is known about Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the man at the centre of the row. - He was initially associated with the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) Sikh separatist group, according to India's counter-terrorist, National Investigation Agency. - For supporters demanding a so-called independent Sikh state of Khalistan, Nijjar was a prominent leader and a strong voice for the cause. - He was elected head of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurudwara, a Sikh place of worship, in Surrey, the Vancouver suburb where he lived.

Persons: Nanak, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Chris Helgren, India's, Nijjar, Sakshi Dayal, YP Rajesh, Sharon Singleton Organizations: REUTERS, Khalistan Extremism Monitor, for Conflict Management, Babbar Khalsa International, National Investigation Agency, Pakistan's Inter, Services Intelligence, Khalistan Tiger Force, YP, Thomson Locations: Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, DELHI, Ottawa, New Delhi, India, Jalandhar district, India's, Punjab, Islamabad, Indian, Vancouver

[1/2] Lawyers, some of them look on television screen, dispaying the live broadcast of the proceeding from the Supreme Court of Pakistan, at the Sindh High Court Bar Association in Karachi, Pakistan September 18, 2023. The move marks the beginning of the tenure of new Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa as Pakistan's top judge. Isa's first move as the top judge was to open proceedings for live broadcast. "It is a majority consensus decision to telecast live," Isa said at the start of proceedings shown live by state-run broadcaster Pakistan Television. Previous attempts to broadcast proceedings live had been blocked by the court.

Persons: Akhtar Soomro, Qazi Faez Isa, Isa, Umar Ata Bandial, Isa's, Shehbaz Sharif, Anwar ul Haq Kakar, Imran Khan, Faiz Hameed, Asif Shahzad, Mark Potter Organizations: Court Bar Association, REUTERS, Rights, Pakistan Television, Inter - Services Intelligence, Former, Thomson Locations: Pakistan, Sindh, Karachi, Rights ISLAMABAD

Tens of millions of dollars have poured back into Pakistan's interbank and openmarkets, dealers say, since raids on black market operators began on Sept. 6. Ninety percent were going to black market dealers, cutting our supply of foreign exchange," Bostan explained. While a crackdown on the black market was needed to stabilise the rupee, it "is a temporary fix," said Fahad Rauf, Head of Research at Ismail Iqbal Securities. High inflation and chronic external deficits lie at the heart of the currency's problem, and closing off people's access to black market dollars risks storing up pent-up demand. "There is an unprecedented demand for the dollar," Hanifullah Mohmand, a trader in the Peshawar market, said.

Persons: Akhtar Soomro, Asim Munir, Malik Bostan, Bostan, General Munir, Haji Luqman Khan, Sheikh Allauddin, ECAP, Fahad Rauf, Ismail Iqbal, Ariba Shahid, Mushtaq Ali, Gibran Peshimam, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: REUTERS, Pakistan, Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan, Reuters, Federal Investigation Agency, FIA, Inter, Services Intelligence, ISI, Locals, International Monetary Fund, IMF, Research, Ismail, Ismail Iqbal Securities, Thomson Locations: Karachi, Pakistan, KARACHI, PESHAWAR, Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore, Quetta, Afghanistan

☆ Pakistan's Imran Khan openly accuses military of trying to destroy his party
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/5] Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan pauses as he speaks with Reuters during an interview, in Lahore, Pakistan March 17, 2023. A bruising year-long standoff between Khan, Pakistan's most popular leader according to polls, and the army came to a head when military buildings and property were ransacked last month, allegedly by his supporters. "I have absolutely no doubt that the military courts are meant for me," said Khan, who is out on bail. Amnesty International says Pakistan's military courts have previously shown disregard for due process, lack of transparency, coerced confessions and executions after unfair trials. Munir was later selected as the country's top general by Khan's successor and political rival, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Persons: Imran Khan, Akhtar Soomro, Khan, Asim Munir, Munir, Pakistan's, Shehbaz Sharif, who's, Gibran Peshimam, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Pakistani, Reuters, REUTERS, Authorities, Amnesty, military's Inter Services Intelligence, PTI, ISI, Thomson Locations: Lahore, Pakistan, LAHORE

[1/3] Firefighters try to douse a bus that caught fire during clashes with the supporters of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad, Pakistan, May 12, 2023. The decision was taken at a meeting of the National Security Committee chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. It is an endorsement of the military, which said on Monday that the rioters and their handlers had been identified, and would be tried under army laws. "The meeting endorsed to bring the miscreants, the planners who incited for violence and their facilitators to dock by trying them under constitutional provisions of concerned laws, including Pakistan Army Act and Official Secrets Act," said a statement issued by Sharif's office. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), an independent civil rights group, said it strongly opposes the use of those two laws to try civilians.

☆ Pakistan’s Military, Once a ‘Sacred Cow,’ Comes Under Attack by Protesters
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A mass of protesters pushing through the gates of the national army headquarters. An angry mob setting a senior military official’s residence aflame. Even under civilian governments, military leaders have kept an iron — if cloaked — grip on power, ushering in politicians they favored and pushing out those who stepped out of line. When politicians or other civilians complained, it was almost always in code, speaking vaguely of “the establishment” or “the sacred cow,” rather than calling out the country’s military or its powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency explicitly. They knew what could happen if they went further: disappearances, arrests, lives in exile.

☆ Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan martial ruler in 9/11 wars, dies
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has died in Dubai aged 79 after a long illness, the army said on February 5, 2023. By Sept. 12, then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told Musharraf that Pakistan would either be "with us or against us." They regrouped and the offshoot Pakistani Taliban emerged, beginning a yearslong insurgency in the mountainous border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Though Pakistan under Musharraf launched these operations, the militants still thrived as billions of American dollars flowed into the nation. Born Aug. 11, 1943, in New Delhi, India, Musharraf was the middle son of a diplomat.

☆ Explainer: Why Pakistan's army chief matters far beyond its borders
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Even when a civilian government holds power, Pakistan's generals retain a dominant influence over security matters and foreign affairs. He later headed Pakistan's two most influential intelligence agencies - Military Intelligence (MI) in 2017 and then the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in 2018. WHY IT MATTERS GLOBALLYPakistan's army chief will play a key role in managing risks of conflict with nuclear-armed rival India on its eastern border, while dealing with potential instability and friction with Afghanistan on its western frontier. The incoming army chief could potentially play a key role in lowering the political temperature as Pakistan attempts to survive an economic crisis and recover from historic floods. He even summoned Pakistan's top industrialists to a meeting at army headquarters to encourage them to pay more tax.

☆ Pakistan's Imran Khan relaunches political march after surviving gun attack
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Asif Shahzad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"Our march wouldn't stop," Khan said, adding the protest will instead gather strength as it closes on the capital Islamabad. His successor Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has rejected the demand, saying the election will be held as scheduled later next year. Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has said the shooter was a "self motivated and committed person" who carried out the attack on religious basis. The former premier instead alleges that Sanaullah, the prime minister and a Pakistan military general from the country's spy agency, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), were involved in the assassination attempt. The police have the suspected shooter in custody after he was intercepted by a Khan supporter who threw off his aim.

☆ Pakistan's powerful spy agency comes out of the shadows to deny role in the killing of a high-profile journalist in Kenya
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif was shot dead in Kenya in what police said was a case of "mistaken identity." In an unprecedented move, Pakistan's spy agency held its first-ever press conference to deny the claims. The chief of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmed Anjum, spoke to the media on Thursday alongside a military spokesperson to address Sharif's killing. Arshad Sharif, an investigative journalist known for being critical of Pakistan's powerful military, was shot dead by Kenyan police on Sunday night. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has demanded an inquiry into Sharif's death.

☆ Former Pakistan leader Imran Khan disqualified from holding office
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s elections commission on Friday disqualified former Prime Minister Imran Khan from holding public office for five years, accusing him of unlawfully selling state gifts and concealing assets, his spokesman and officials said. Chaudhry condemned the move and urged Khan’s supporters to protest publicly. Balkh Ser Khosa, a prominent lawyer, said the commission disqualified Khan from holding public office because he unlawfully sold state gifts given to him by other countries when he was in power. Banaras Khan / AFP via Getty ImagesLaw Minister Azam Nazir Tarar confirmed that the commission found Khan guilty of the charges. Tarar said Khan has been disqualified from holding public office for five years.

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