Cafe owner set on fire for not giving free tea
Reported in Jang (November 16, 2014) college students tried to burn a cafeteria owner alive when he refused them free tea. Three of the students have been arrested. The man is in hospital.
Makkah police foils beauty contest attempt
Dunya (November 16, 2014) police in Makkah foiled an attempt to carry out a beauty contest in the holy city and arrested three women. They were registering contestants on the internet and had booked a wedding hall for the competition.
Sheikh Rashid wonders why Zardari is angry
Quoted in Nawa-e-Waqt (November 16, 2014) Sheikh Rashid says former president Asif Zardari threatened him over the phone for calling his son Bilawal ‘billo rani’. He says it should not have been a big deal (konsi qayamat aa gai hai?).
Javed Hashmi campaigner robbed
Reported in Dunya (November 17, 2014) the man who dropped Javed Hashmi’s campaign posters during the recent elections in Multan was robbed of Rs 4 million. Four men took his money and fled.
Electricity bill is half a million, 3 months in a row
A small house in Lahore was sent electricity bills of more than Rs 500,000 three months in a row, reports Jang (November 17, 2014). The first bill was Rs 584,000 but was corrected to Rs 7,000. The second bill was Rs 682,000 and the third one 579,000.
Sharif declines to use Indian bullet proof car
According to Express (November 18, 2014) Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has declined to use any of the bullet proof cars provided by India at the SAARC conference in Nepal. He will take his own car with him.
Girls thrash misbehaving boys at Hiran Minar
Reported in Jang (November 18, 2014) girls on a college trip to Hiran Minar gave a thrashing (phainti laga dee) to boys who were harassing them (chhairr khani). They were catcalling and taking pictures of them without permission, using a mobile phone. The girls called them over, beat them up (durgat banai) and broke their mobile phone. They also vituperated the police (aaray hathon liya), who advised the boys to run away.
‘Should I sell guavas in Pakistan?’
Quoted in Nawa-e-Waqt (November 18, 2014) cricketer Waseem Akram tweets, my job (nokri) is in India. Should I stay in Pakistan and sell guavas instead (amrood baichon)?
Punjab textbook gets Iqbal’s birthday wrong
According to Dunya (November 19, 2014) the fourth-grade textbook for Social Studies in Punjab says Allama Iqbal was born in 1857. Punjab Textbook Board has increased his age by 20 years.
Sheikh Rashid ‘has proven he is a Sheikh’
Nai Baat says (November 19, 2014) Sheikh Rashid has proven himself a Sheikh (itnay barray Sheikh sabit hue hain). He made the PTI resign from the parliament but participates in the sessions and applies for a leave when he misses them, so that he can get all his salary and perks.
Hockey players haven’t been paid in two years
Reported in Nai Baat (November 20, 2014) senior players of the national hockey team have decided to play under protest wearing black armbands because they have not been paid salaries in two years and never get the rewards that are announced when they win.
Dance and dhol at 102-year-old’s funeral
The funeral of a man who died at 102 in Shahkot was accompanied by drumbeat and dancing (dhol ki thaap par bhangray), reports Nawa-e-Waqt (November 20, 2014). His nephew says there is a tradition in the family to be happy at the funeral of anyone who lives to more than 100 years old.