SOURCE:Ausaf, Ummat, Daily Pak, Nawa-i-Waqt, Urdu Point, Daily Jinnah, Awami Awaz, Daily Dharti, Jasarat, Kawish, Daily Intekhab, Daily Times, Jang, Ibrat, Khabrain, Roznama Duniya, Hizb Media, Al Qalam Weekly, Baad-e-Shimal, Bang-e-Sahar.
CHINA
1. Al Qalam Weekly editorial was on Chinese veto at the UN on the Indian request to include the name of Maulana Azhar Masood in the list of terrorists. “Had Masood’s name been included in the UN list of terrorists, India and other enemies of Pakistan would have got a chance to increase pressure upon Pakistan. But India faced humiliation when China rejected the petition; since then the Indian media has been spewing venom against Maulana Azhar Masood and showing clips of Maulana-Speak on Kashmiri Muslims and jihad to buttress its case that Maulana is indeed a terrorist, anti-India, and a threat to Indian security. While Indian outcry understood, the silence adopted by Pakistan is astonishing. It seems as if Pakistan is trying to give an impression that it has nothing to do with the issue. Pakistani leaders should realise that India is trying to trap Pakistan by levelling allegations of terrorism against it”. (Al Qalam Weekly Edit, 15-21 April)
AFGHANISTAN
1. Daily Pak and Roznama Dunya have taken to task the deputy spokesperson of Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani for saying that people of Afghanistan will stop trusting Pakistan if it failed to bring Taliban to the peace dialogue. His statement is inappropriate. Afghan and Indian secret agencies are jointly conspiring to foil Pakistan’s efforts for peace in the region and are not happy with Pakistan’s development at quick pace. Pakistan is doing everything possible for peace but India, with Afghanistan’s help, has not supported the cause. Afghan Taliban was not under Pakistan’s influence and hence it is not an easy task for Pakistan to hold talks with them considering the terms and conditions put forth by Taliban. If Afghanistan believes that only Pakistan can convince Afghan Taliban then instead of pulling its leg, the Afghan authorities should cooperate with Pakistan and stop RAW from using Afghanistan’s soil against Pakistan. Roznama Dunya also points out that peace in Afghanistan is in Pakistan’s interest since security on the western border will help Islamabad to concentrate on its eastern border. (Daily Pak Edit, Roznama Dunya Edit)
INDIA
1.India’s announcement that it would consider the granting of Indian citizenship to Pakistani Hindus migrating to India was a conspiracy against Pakistan in response to the detention of Kulbhushan Jadhav and other agents and the breaking of RAW’s network in Pakistan. Additionally, another objective of this policy was to end the effect of Muslims vote banks in India. (Ausaf)
2. Commenting on reported Indian willingness to grant citizenship to Pakistani Hindus migrating to that country, Nawa-i-Waqt said this is a new Indian conspiracy against Pakistan. Indian minorities are living in miserable conditions in India. Low caste Hindus are in no different state. Even the Hindus who had migrated from Pakistan have been repenting their decision. Pak Foreign Office should not sit quiet on this serious matter more so as India is using this to whip up an anti-Pakistan propaganda centred on the condition of minorities in Pakistan. Pakistan will have to counter India’s false propaganda by focusing on pathetic plight of minorities in India under Hindu right wing rule. (Nawa-i-Waqt Edit)
3. JuD chief Hafiz Saeed said the gory LoC would soon be destroyed and that Kashmir could not remain a part of India at any cost. He alleged that state terrorism by India in Kashmir was a result of Pakistani authorities’ unilateral friendship with India. Saeed hailed the OIC for accepting Kashmir as a crucial issue and the need to resolve it. He added that Kashmir’s freedom was necessary for Pakistan’s survival and security. Additionally, he also criticised sectarianism and termed it as a poison for Muslims. (Daily Pak, Nawa-i-Waqt, Ausaf, Roznama Dunya)
4. JKLF Chairman Yasin Malik said that the new pro-India J&K Government should stop harassing the Hurriyat leadership and face them on political grounds. (Daily Pak)
5. Lt. Col. (Retd) Abdul Razak Bugti said that Iran should be careful as RAW’s activities in Chahbahar could be a conspiracy to separate Iran’s eastern region with the Balochi population and make it India’s colony like Bangladesh. He added that any investment or interest by India in Chabahar Port would not only be dangerous for Iran but also for Pakistan. (Nawa-i-Waqt)
POLITICAL SCENE –PANAMA PAPERS
1. Editorials on Panama Leaks says with allegations being levelled at the PM and his family it is necessary that the PM and the government immediately respond to the demand for a fair enquiry, as this is the only way to achieve accountability. Further observes that only investigations cannot end corruption in the country. Subsequent action against the guilty is necessary for laying the menace of corruption to rest. (Awami Awaz Edit, Khabrain Edit, Ausaf Edit, Kawish Edit)
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
1. Nazir Naji strongly criticises the Nawaz government for not cashing in on any of the opportunities presented to it, and saysthat the Pakistan government remains calm even if it suffered any losses. In this regard, he points out that when Pakistan lost its East Pakistan, it remained passive and now again when India had more or less acquired full control over J&K, the government was least bothered. He writes that a political party in J&K, which believed in Kashmir’s freedom, had won the majority of Muslim votes, but Pakistan did not give due importance to the incident; if Pakistan had an alert leadership, it would have showed the election results in J&K as an example of the Kashmiri freedom movement to the international community. Naji further states that the Kashmiris had always supported Pakistan and hoisted Pakistani flag and even faced bullets for it, but Pakistan remained insensitive to all this and in their lust for power, they had spread their power game up to AJK, and that had caused severe damage to the Kashmir cause. He writes that this was why the Muslims in J&K and India had stopped pinning their hopes on Pakistan and were seeking new means to get their rights. According to him, 20 crore strong Muslim community in India would not accept the Hindu slavery and would find ways of freedom within the democratic set up there. Naji writes that the Indian ruling class was so weak that it got upset with a minor students’ protest and if Pakistan had supported the Indian Muslims then that could have destroyed the Indian dream of supremacy. Naji further writes that the Pakistani leadership had also failed to take any political or diplomatic advantage of the arrest of Indian secret agents, and adds that the Pakistan Army is not happy with the situation. He concludes his column thus: PM Nawaz was not perturbed by the allegation under Panama leaks either. (Roznama Dunya)
2. Zarar Pirzada expresses surprise at the extensive media to Ghulam Rasool Chottu and the Chottu Gang and says such attention was never given to other much bigger issues affecting the people or even to those who are playing a constructive role in the society. The media should also pay attention to people helping the society so that no more Chottus are produced. (Awami Awaz)
3. Dr. Shuja Ahmad Mahesar, in Kawish, laments at what he see as disturbing trends in the Pakistani society. The middle-class is not strong across Pakistan, and still succumbs to opportunism and greed. The lower strata of society in Sindh is busy fighting one another over Kabila or language or other such related issues. This is the reason why the upper class elites are able to easily exploit the middle class and the lower class in Sindh and across Pakistan. (Kawish)
4. Jang editorially expresses concern over the incident of flashing laser lights on aircrafts while landing at Karachi Airport. It calls for a thorough investigation into the incident saying that the matter should not be taken lightly. (Jang Edit)
KHYBER-PAKTHUNKHWA
1. Addressing a grand assembly of tribal leaders at Fazal Qadir Shahid Chowk in Bannu, Siraj-ul-Haq said homes, trades, and markets of tribal people had been destroyed and demands Rs 500 billion packages for tribal people from government. JI would support the tribal people till they returned to their areas. The tribes were nationalists and they always protected the national boundaries, Haq said (Jasarat)
PUNJAB
1. Absence of the writ of law in the country is evident from the way Chottu gang has given a tough time to the Punjab Police for the last three weeks; the situation has turned so ugly that the Army has to take over the Ops. Prior to this, there was a general belief that the Police performance in Punjab was a lot better as compared to the other provinces because the Punjab police is well paid and better equipped. However, this Chottu gang episode has broken that myth about the Punjab police being active and vigilant and there are rumours about how the Punjab police is also highly politicised and helpless in controlling crime, apparently because of political interference. Several names have appeared in the media for supporting Chottu, and thus as long as such facilitators are around, there will be no dearth of Chottus. The only way to eliminate the Chottus is action against those who are supporting and sustaining such criminals. (Ibrat Edit)
POK/ G-B NEWS
1.PML (N) won four of the seven seats in the Gilgit-Baltistan Council elections. The other two seats were secured by the Tehreek-e-Islami and an independent candidate. (Baad-e-Shimal, Daily K2)
2.Daily K2 compliments Gilgit-Baltistan government for conducting the G-B Council elections in a transparent way through the ‘show of hand’ voting system. Those criticising the procedure wanted to rig the election and this system failed their plan. (Daily K2 Edit)
3.Baad-e-Shimal edit says: CM Hafizur Rahman is not happy with the opposition’s criticism of relief and rehabilitation work for the rain affected areas. In fact he has held out threats to the opposition for criticising his government efforts. Rahman should take criticism in a constructive spirit; those criticising him also should do so with a positive intent. (Baad-e-Shimal Edit)
4.Ghizer District Executive Engineer, Mir Gyas, of the B&R Department said the Ghizer-Chitral Road could be made an all-weather one if the Gilgit-Baltistan Government is ready to support the project. This road could be used as an alternative to the Karakoram Highway. (Daily K2)
5.Majlis-e-Wahdat-ul-Muslimeen (MWM) served a show cause notice to its Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly member Kacho Imtiaz for voting to an independent candidate, Syed Afzal, in the GB Council elections. It is alleged that Kacho had taken money for his vote. (Baad-e-Shimal)