News Analysis India

Tag: Pakistan news

  • Dubai Leaks: Sharif, Zardari, Military Generals Among Elites Of Cash-Strapped Nation Who Own Properties Worth Billions | world news

    As Pakistan struggles with bankruptcy and its people long for staples like wheat and lentils, the nation’s 17,000 billionaires have bought 23,000 residences in Dubai. Together, the wealth of this group of politicians is estimated to be around 11 billion dollars. The ‘Dubai Unlocked’ report has uncovered shocking facts regarding foreigners’ property ownership in Dubai. The report mentions politicians, people and organizations facing US sanction, and individuals with criminal records.

    The data were obtained by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), a non-profit organization based in the United States that studies international crime and conflict. The information was shared with Norwegian financial outlet E24 and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which oversaw an investigation involving media outlets from around the world. The collaboration, titled ‘Dubai Unlocked’, involves 74 partners from 58 countries.

    Villa in Dubai, revelations shake Pakistan! See, the biggest revelation about poor Pakistan#Pakistan #PakistanNews | @priyasi90 pic.twitter.com/F2g32fKWjI — Zee News (@ZeeNews) May 15, 2024

    The report reveals that 29,700 Indians own 35,000 residential properties in Dubai, making them the country’s top buyers of real estate. With 17,000 Pakistanis having purchased 23,000 residential properties, Pakistan comes in second. Saudi Arabian and British nationals are ranked third and fourth, respectively.

    Pakistan’s Elites Named In Dubai Leaks

    The report provides information on hundreds of thousands of properties and their owners in Dubai from 2020 to 2022. Among the Pakistanis, the list includes the three children of President Asif Ali Zardari, Hussain Nawaz Sharif, the wife of Home Minister Mohsin Naqvi, four MPs. , and more than six legislators from the provincial assemblies of Sindh and Balochistan.

    The report also includes former Pakistani Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf, former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, and over a dozen retired army generals, along with a police chief, an ambassador, and a scientist. These individuals either purchased property directly in their name or in the name of their children and wives.

    Dawn reported that PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari declared these two properties in his statement of assets and liabilities submitted to the ECP. Hussain Nawaz, the son of former premier and PML-N president Nawaz Sharif, is among the listed owners in the leaks.

    The report reveals that President Asif Ali Zardari received foreign property as a gift in 2014. From 2020 to 2022, the report offers details on hundreds of thousands of properties in Dubai, as well as their owners. The list of Pakistanis comprises Hussain Nawaz Sharif, the wife of Home Minister Mohsin Naqvi, three of President Asif Ali Zardari’s children, four Members of Parliament, and over six lawmakers from Sindh and Balochistan’s provincial assemblies.

    Together with former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and over a dozen retired army generals, the report also features a scientist, an ambassador, a police chief, and a former chief of staff of the Pakistani Army, Pervez Musharraf. These people bought real estate either directly or through the names of their spouses and kids.

    Pakistan President Received Foreign Properties As Gifts

    According to the report, President Asif Ali Zardari received a foreign properties as a gift in 2014.However, when he declared it in 2018, it had already been gifted to someone else. Aslam Masood, the CFO of Pakistan’s Omni Group, and his wife own several properties. The list also includes Hamid Mukhtar Shah, a Rawalpindi doctor who was sanctioned by the United States for allegedly kidnapping, detaining, and running a kidney transplant racket on labourers’ in the country. The Altaf Khanani Network, which was sanctioned by the US for involvement in money laundering also features on the list.

    Pakistan’s Home Minister Owns Villa Worth Crores

    Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi’s wife owns a property in Dubai, which he did not declare on his election nomination papers. Naqvi’s wife has a five-bedroom villa in Arabian Ranches. This villa was purchased in 2017 for around 330 million rupees. It has now generated 45 million rupees in rent. In 2023, it was sold for 344 million rupees. In response to the media, he stated that he bought another property in Dubai in January of this year, while Naqvi was Punjab’s Home Minister.

  • Unrest In Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir: Security Forces’ Clash With Protesters Leaves 3 Dead, 6 Injured | world news

    At least three people were killed and six others injured when security forces opened fire on protesters during clashes with paramilitary Rangers in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s capital Muzaffarabad, which has been rocked by protests over high wheat flour prices and inflated electricity bills, according to a media. report. The paramilitary Rangers, who had been called in to maintain law and order in the disputed region, were attacked as they were leaving, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported.

    The 19-vehicle convoy, which included five trucks, chose to leave the region through Kohala rather than Brarkot, a village bordering Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to the report. As the convoy approached Muzaffarabad in a “charged atmosphere,” it was pelted with rocks near Shorran da Nakka village, prompting them to respond with tear gas and firing, according to the report.

    After entering the city via the Western Bypass, the Rangers were met with rocks, prompting them to use tear gas and bullets. According to the report, the shelling was so intense that it left the entire neighborhood reeling.

    Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif approved a Pakistani Rs 23 billion subsidy for immediate release to the region yesterday, after protesters and the regional government failed to reach an agreement.

    However, the government’s decision to provide the subsidy did not satisfy the region, according to the report.

    Over 100 people, mostly police officers, were injured in Saturday’s clashes between police and activists of a rights movement in the disputed region, which resulted in the death of at least one police officer. Since Friday, there has also been a total strike in the area, which has stopped all activity.

    Prior to the violence, a meeting between Prime Minister Sharif and the “prime minister” of the disputed region, Anwarul Haq, approved the release of Rs 23 billion from Pakistan for the region to use for wheat and power subsidies.

    The 40kg flour subsidized rate has been reduced from Pakistani Rs 3,100 to Rs 2,000. A reduction in the electricity tariff was implemented, with units up to 100, 300, and over 300 units subject to rates of PKR 3, 5, and 6.

    The Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) is leading the protest, with traders at the forefront in most parts of the region demanding electricity at the region’s hydropower generation cost, subsidized wheat flour, and an end to the elite class’s privileges.

    The JAAC led a long march to Muzaffarabad, the capital of PoK, on ​​Monday, as the wheel-jam strike entered its fourth day.

    The movement announced its march to Muzaffarabad after talks between the JAAC core committee and the region’s Chief Secretary, Dawood Bareach, ended in a stalemate.

    Prime Minister Sharif expressed deep concern over the violent clashes between police and protesters on Sunday, saying that “absolutely no tolerance for taking the law into one’s own hands” should be maintained.

    “I urge all parties to pursue a peaceful resolution of their demands. Despite the best efforts of detractors, the matter should be resolved soon,” he stated.

    As part of his efforts to defuse tensions, President Asif Ali Zardari urged all stakeholders to use restraint and resolve issues through dialogue and mutual consultation.

  • Pakistan Election Crisis Deepens As Top Official Confesses Rigging, Claims CEC, Chief Justice Involved | world news

    New Delhi: A shocking scandal has rocked the political landscape of Pakistan, as a former commissioner of Rawalpindi accused the chief election commissioner and the chief justice of being involved in rigging the recent elections. Liaquat Ali Chattha, who resigned from his post on Saturday, claimed that he was under immense pressure to manipulate the poll results in favor of the candidates who were losing. He said he was taking the responsibility for the wrongdoing and demanded that he and others who were part of the injustice should be punished.

    Chattha’s Explosive Allegations

    Chattha made his explosive allegations at a press conference at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, where he said he could not sleep after stabbing the country in its back. He said he even contemplated suicide, but decided to expose the truth before the public. He appealed to the bureaucracy to not do anything wrong for the politicians, and said that the chief election commissioner and the chief justice were completely involved in the rigging.

    His remarks came amid nationwide protests by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, led by jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, who alleged that their mandate was stolen in the February 8 elections.

    ECP, CM Reject Claims

    The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) strongly rejected Chattha’s claims, and said that no official of the commission ever issued any instructions to change the election results. It also said that the commissioner of any division had no direct role in the conduct of elections, and that the matter would be investigated.

    Punjab’s caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi also ordered an impartial probe into the allegations, and formed a high-level committee to conduct an inquiry. He said that an independent inquiry would be held and the facts would be brought forward.

    Chattha Arrested, Shifted

    Following Chattha’s press conference, police arrived at the venue and arrested him. He was shifted to an unknown location by the security officials. The reason for his arrest and his current whereabouts are not clear.

    PTI Demands Re-Election

    PTI senior leader and Khan’s close aide Zulfi Bokhari reacted to Chattha’s revelation on X, and said that it was shocking and unacceptable. He blamed the chief election commissioner and the chief justice for being part of the crime, and said that Chattha was pushed close to suicide by the unbearable pressure to rig the elections.

    He also said that the entire Pindi Division’s elections were rigged and null and void, and that the situation in other divisions could be worse. He demanded that the elections should be re-held and that the people’s will should be respected.

  • India Slams Pakistan’s ‘False, Malicious Propaganda’ Of Killing Two Terrorists On Pak Soil

    India on Thursday rubbished Pakistan’s allegations of Indian involvement in the killing of two Pakistani terrorists in Sialkot and Rawalkot last year.