Plans
PTI chief Imran Khan, according to Daily Dunya (05 March 2018), predicted that the next government would be of his party and that they would make every province unparalleled (be-misaal), as is the case with KP. The report went on to state that he planted a tree outside the Karachi airport to kick off the Million Tree Tsunami movement.
Insights
Tahir-ul-Qadri, according to Daily Dunya (05 March 2018), observed that Nawaz Sharif’s “Mujhe kyoon nikala” narrative had fallen flat (pitt gya) in Balochistan, Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. He also added that rates in the Senate elections began in tens of millions of rupees.
Cops and robbers
Daily Dunya (05 March 2018) reported that robbers in police uniforms robbed cellular phones worth 2.2 million rupees near Iqbal Town, Lahore.
Who’s in and who isn’t
Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman was quoted by Daily Dunya (05 March 2018) as saying that the liberal class (liberal tabqa) chose to join its voices with those of strangers (ghairon ki aawaaz mein aaawaz milaata hai) and adopted a harsh (sakht) attitude towards religious parties. He stated that they tried to diminish the role of madrassahs by asking them to return to the national mainstream (qaumi dharay mein). To this, the Maulana said, he replied that it is the liberals who need to return to the national mainstream, because the religious forces were already within it.
Scenes from a wedding
Daily Jang (05 March 2018) informed its readers that Imran Khan asked the person conducting his nikaah to be mindful of his reputation (“meri izzat rakhiay ga”) under all circumstances. When the nikaah-khwan assured him of cooperation, the PTI chief also promised to include the mufti in the core group of the party. The report further stated that when Bushra Bibi was introduced to Jahangir Tareen, she told him that she was not a sorceress (“Mein koi jaadoo-garni nahin hoon!”). Tareen, according to the report, stated it was a personal gathering and then denied that this occurred.
Gifts
Daily Jang (06 March 2018) quoted the PML-N’s Rana Sanaullah as saying that the PTI was the Establishment’s party and was receiving gifts from it.
Tech support
Daily Dunya (06 March 2018) reported that the SIM tool given to police for use to check data during their duties had been deactivated due to inappropriate use (ghalat istemal).
The Lion King
The PML-N’s Saad Rafique, according to Daily Dunya (06 March 2018), opined that preparations were underway to put Nawaz Sharif in jail, but that it was no use to try and trap the Lion in court cases, since he would break the chains and return.
New wardrobe – again?
Daily Express (11 March 2018) reported that the uniform of the Punjab police would be changed once again – not back to the original black shirt and khaki pants of before, but to an altogether new design.
On dance
Daily Express (11 March 2018) quoted parents of students as saying that the ban on dancing at schools and colleges was a welcome step. The report quoted parents of ‘various schools of thought’ (mukhtalif makatib-e-fikr) as expressing their opinion that they greatly disliked their children dancing at school, since they were sent there for character building and not to learn dancing. The parents quoted by the report further stated that dance was not a part of our culture, and that as Muslims we are strictly opposed to dance (sakht khilaf). Other parents were quoted as expressing concern about their daughters being taught ‘steps’ to dance to Indian songs, which made their families’ heads bow down in shame – since no father or brother would accept his daughter or sister performing dance moves.
Great people to fly with?
Daily Nawa-i-Waqt (11 March 2018) reported that in Paris, 4 kilogrammes of heroin had allegedly been recovered from a PIA steward.