Threatened
Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman was quoted by Daily Express (24 June 2019) as saying that the ideological identity of Pakistan was in danger (nazriyati shanakht khatray mein hai). He further observed that today’s maulvis claim that PM Imran Khan will establish the state of Madinah – but that those who established it did not travel in Prado and instead preferred to pray at night and eat dry bread.
Joke
Daily Express (24 June 2019) reported that after Maryam Nawaz, the PML-N’s Khwaja Asif also declared the government’s proposed Charter of Economy (Mesaq-e-Maeshat) to be a joke of the economy (Mazaq-e-Maeshat).
From bangles to handcuffs
The PML-N’s Capt (r.) Safdar, according to Daily Jang (24 June 2019), stated that Maryam Nawaz had chosen to break her bangles and wear handcuffs instead. He went on to say that he was content with her style of politics.
How to behave
Naeem-ul-Haq of the PTI, according to Daily Express (25 June 2019), expressed his view that the National Assembly ought to be cleansed of personal attacks (zaatiyat se pak honi chahiye). He went on to opine that the one thing most needed in the Assembly was a code of conduct, and that the word “Selected” was un-parliamentary (ghair-parliamani).
Recommendation
Federal Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed was quoted by Daily Jang (25 June 2019) as saying that there were two PML-N’s in operation at the moment – that of Nawaz Sharif and that of Shehbaz Sharif. The minister claimed that he had advised PM Imran Khan to let them go and rid himself of them (meinay Wazir-e-Azam se kahaa tha ke inko jaanay dein aur in see jaan churaein).
An odd prohibition?
Commenting on the prohibition of the word “Selected” in the National Assembly, the PPP’s Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, according to Daily Jang (25 June 2019), expressed his view that it was strange. He noted that during his speech a year ago, the PM had thumped the table on his use of the word, but that now the word had been prohibited. Naya Pakistan, he noted, had become Censored Pakistan.
Perils of cricket commentary?
A police constable was arrested in Sanghar district, Sindh, for having spoken ill of the Pakistani cricket team (cricket team ke khilaf ‘bad-kalami’). Daily Dunya (28 June 2019) reported that the Constable claimed to have merely said that India’s team was stronger. He also was quoted as saying that he did belong to the Hindu community, but he was a son of Sindh’s soil and a citizen of Pakistan – and so he had no reason to support India’s team.
Try as they might
PM Imran Khan was quoted by Daily Dunya (26 June 2019) as saying that he was not concerned whether the opposition parties held an All Parties Conference (APC) or launched a protest movement. He stated that they could establish as many contacts as they wanted, but that they would get no NRO.
Political alliances
Fawad Chaudhry, according to Daily Nawa-i-Waqt (27 June 2019), asked whether liberals had accepted the teacher of the Taliban as their leader – on seeing the names of prominent opposition figures in Maulana’s list.
Banned
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), according to Daily Dunya (30 June 2019), have declared it an offense to carry naswar onto an aircraft. It is now included in the list of prohibited substances.