Lahore:

Dozens of young singles gathered this week to meet potential marriage partners in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore, the first attempt by a UK-based matrimonial app to help people find spouses in person in the conservative Islamic country.

Typically, marriages in Pakistan are arranged by parents who look for suitable matches for their children from within their communities or the extended family. Dating apps are generally stigmatised and gender segregation socially and at work remains common in the country of 240 million people. 

The Lahore event was organised by Muzz, formerly Muzzmatch, which says its app is based on Islamic etiquette. The app is restricted to Muslim users, and, in a nod to traditional values, gives the option of blurring pictures except for specific matches and allows for chaperones to oversee meetings.

Other smaller events are also emerging in the country to challenge traditional matchmaking norms.

Despite criticism online in the past for the app, the Muzz event was attended by about 100 people.

Aimen, a 31-year-old woman who did not want to be further identified, said she used the app on the recommendation of her U.S.-based brother.

“I used the app for two weeks, but then I saw an ad for this event and thought, why not meet people in person?” she told Reuters.

She said that her mother would have accompanied her as a chaperone but couldn’t attend because of ill-health.

Muzz, launched in 2015 in the Britain, which also has a sizeable Muslim population, has over 1.5 million users in Pakistan, its second-largest market after Morocco. 

Moaz, a 27-year-old man, said he has been using Muzz for a year and that he was hopeful of finding a wife through the app. 

“I do get matches, but they have different priorities,” he said adding that girls on the app expect him to involve his parents from the beginning. 

“That is not (immediately) possible,” he said, stressing the need of getting to know someone before taking the next big step. 

Annie’s Matchmaking Party, another Lahore event last week, used an algorithm to match 20 young professionals after a selection process and invited them to the meet.

Noor ul Ain Choudhary, the 30-year-old organizer, faced criticism online that her event promoted a “hookup culture”. She countered that it aimed to provide a safe space for singles to meet and connect.

“In Pakistan, we’ve had two options: biased arranged marriages or time-consuming dating apps with no guarantees. Safety during meetings is also a concern,” she said.

Abdullah Ahmed, 22, was bullish about in person events and said he was convinced he may have found his perfect match at the Muzz gathering. 

“The highlight was meeting an amazing girl,” he said, beaming with excitement, adding that they instantly clicked and swapped social media handles. 

“We’re both Marvel fans! We’re already planning to catch the new Deadpool & Wolverine together,” he said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Lahore:

A 40-year-old Pakistani Sikh woman who was subjected to gang rape by her two kidnapper for nine months in Punjab province of Pakistan has been rescued, police said on Friday.

The incident took place in Faisalabad district of Punjab, some 130 kms from Lahore.

The police claim to have rescued both the Sikh woman and her minor son and arrested the alleged kidnapper/rapists.

According to Gender-Based Violence Unit head (Faisalabad) ASP Zainab Khalid, the Sikh woman, a resident of Nankana Sahib, was illegally confined by two brothers — Khurram Shahzad and Kizar Shahzad — of Faisalabad who repeatedly raped her for nine months.

The police officer said the woman, a divorcee, was introduced to suspect Khurrum by her friend Saima in Nankana Sahib a few years ago.

“In December last year, she asked Khurrum to drop her minor son at her sister’s house in Faisalabad from Nankana Sahib. Instead, he took the boy hostage and forced the woman to come to her house in Sohailabad where he confined them both and raped her repeatedly along with his brother for nine months,” the ASP said and added the police launched an investigation on the complaint of her relative and on August 14 raided the house of Khurrum and recovered her and her son.

ASP Khalid further said that the police team also managed to arrest both suspects.

The Sikh woman said that she was subjected to torture when she resisted rape.

A case has been registered against both arrested suspects of the Pakistan Penal Code.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Thousands of people rallied on July 19 against a planned operation by the Pakistan military to root out militants along the Afghan border, with at least one protester killed when gunfire broke out, officials and witnesses said.

More than 10,000 people waving white flags and calling for peace gathered for the rally in Bannu – 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Afghanistan – where a suicide bomber on Monday rammed an explosive-packed vehicle into an army enclave, killing eight Pakistani troops.

“Military operations have been ongoing for 20 years, yet peace has not been established,” protester Jamaluddin Wazir told AFP.

“Military operations can never be a substitute for peace.”

Pakistan’s government announced earlier this year, without giving details, that the military would launch a new campaign to counter violence in areas along the border with Afghanistan, which has surged following the Taliban government’s return to power.

Friday’s protest turned violent when crowds reached the walls of an army facility and gunfire broke out, witnesses and officials reported.

“They chanted slogans against the army, and some started throwing stones at the facility’s wall. This led to firing in the air by the military, causing a stampede,” an intelligence official in the nearby city of Peshawar told AFP on condition of anonymity.

At least one protester died, according to Pakhtun Yar, the provincial minister for public health, who was a speaker at the protest.

He accused the military of opening fire on the protesters.

“During the rally, shots were fired directly at me and the people standing near me. This wasn’t just firing in the air — it was intended to kill us,” Yar told AFP.

“The shooting was carried out by those who want to destroy our peace. They want to spill the blood of our people, but the community is no longer willing to tolerate this.”

Influential military

For years the Pakistan Taliban – a separate group from the Afghan Taliban but with a similar ideology – waged a bloody campaign in the area, killing thousands of civilians and taking control of parts of the border region, before being pushed back by a military campaign that began in 2014.

The clearance operation displaced hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed countless homes and businesses, sparking a local backlash calling for the rights of ethnic Pashtuns to be protected.

But protests against the powerful military, which analysts say holds large sway over the government and foreign policy, are rare and often brought down quickly.

Former prime minister Imran Khan, who waged a campaign of defiance against army chiefs after being ousted from power, is currently in jail on charges of inciting protests against the military.

His party has faced a major crackdown, with supporters and leaders rounded up last year for staging an unprecedented day of rallies against the military, accusing it of interfering in politics.

Violence has surged along the border since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of failing to root out groups taking shelter on Afghan soil while preparing assaults on Pakistan.

The Taliban government insists it will not allow foreign militant outfits to operate from Afghanistan, but Islamabad-Kabul relations have soured over the issue.

A worker from the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA), along with police officers, speaks to an Afghan citizen while checking identity cards, during a door-to-door search and verification drive for undocumented Afghan nationals, in an Afghan Camp on the outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan, November 21, 2023. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Pakistan announced on July 10 that it is extending the stay of 1.45 million Afghan refugees who legally reside in the country, a day after a visit by the U.N. refugee agency.

Afghan refugees with proper documentation will be able to remain in Pakistan until June 30, 2025, according to a statement issued by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office. On Tuesday, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi urged Pakistani authorities to extend the validity of their registration cards — critical identity documents.

The previous stay extension issued by Pakstna’s government was up on June 30, causing wide uncertainty and fear they may get repatriated.

The decision came following a widely criticised anti-migrant crackdown that started last year targeting anyone without valid documentation regardless of nationality, according to Pakistani authorities, forcing an estimated 6,00,000 Afghans to return home. However, the clampdown has seemingly been put on hold, without authorities offering an explanation.

After wrapping up his three-day visit in which he met Afghan refugees and Pakistani officials, Mr. Grandi issued a statement, expressing his appreciation that the repatriation of undocumented persons has been suspended.

Also Read | The inhumane decision to expel Afghan refugees

There was no confirmation from Pakistan that the crackdown has in fact been halted.

U.N. agencies have decried the forced expulsion of Afghans from Pakistan, saying it could lead to severe human rights violations — including the separation of families and deportation of minors. Although Pakistan had been routinely deporting Afghans who came here without valid documents in recent years, the ongoing crackdown is unprecedented in scale

Pakistan has long hosted an estimated 1.7 million Afghans, most of whom fled during the 1979-1989 Soviet occupation of their country. More than half a million others escaped Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in 2021, with thousands waiting for resettlement in the United States and elsewhere.

The undocumented Afghans are separate from refugees who are registered with the authorities and the UNHCR, though the crackdown has raised concerns among refugee communities as well.

Islamabad:

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday extended an olive branch to his predecessor and political rival Imran Khan, offering to hold talks with him if was facing “troubles” in jail.

Mr Khan, the founder of his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, has been in jail since August last year after being convicted in some of the nearly 200 cases slapped on the 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician since his ouster from power in April 2022.

“If their [PTI] founder is facing troubles [in jail], then I reiterate: come, let’s sit down and talk,” Mr Sharif said while addressing the National Assembly.

“Let us sit together to take the country ahead. Let us talk for the betterment of the country. There is no other way forward,” he said.

The Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf have been at loggerheads for years, particularly after the February 8 elections, which Mr Khan’s party claims it had won.

Commenting on the 2018 elections won by Mr Khan’s PTI, Mr Sharif said: “We joined Parliament despite the [rigged] polls. The sort of slogans that were raised during my first speech will always be remembered as a dark chapter in the history books.”

“If someone is facing any injustice, then I believe that the scales of justice should be in favour of those [being victimised], there is no difference over it — whether it be any politician or anyone from any walk of life,” Geo News quoted Sharif as saying.

Mr Sharif lamented that he had once again, while he was in the opposition, proposed to Mr Khan to sit for a dialogue but such slogans were raised again.

“So who is responsible for this bitterness [between politicians]. We don’t even shake hands now,” he said.

Mr Sharif, 72, also recounted his ordeal of facing victimisation by Mr Khan’s government and that he was in jail when his mother passed away. He said that despite being a cancer survivor and with a backbone issue, he used to be taken to courts on the ordinary prison van just to exacerbate the condition, but he never complained.

In response to Prime Minister Sharif’s remarks, Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub reiterated that the PTI would talk with the government only when Mr Khan and other incarcerated leaders and workers are released from jail.

“This should be in your minds: you torture our workers, you’ve kept our lady workers in prison vans at 45°C. My prime minister Imran Khan was kept in a death cell, there’s an oven-like environment over there,” he said, amidst sloganeering from the treasury benches.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Lahore:

The political adviser to jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan has reportedly been kidnapped by unknown men from Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, according to a media report today.

Ghulam Shabbir, who is the elder brother of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Shahbaz Gill, was abducted by unknown individuals two days ago while he was travelling to Islamabad, according to an FIR registered at the Kahna police station, Pakistan’s Express Tribune newspaper reported.

The FIR, registered by his son Bilal, states that Shabbir had left his residence in Lahore’s Khayaban-e-Amin late at night and headed towards Islamabad. No further details were available.

Imran Khan has been in jail since August last year after being convicted in some of the nearly 200 cases slapped on him since his ouster in April 2022.

In May 2022, the former cricketer-turned-politician launched a march toward Islamabad from Lahore to topple the coalition government of Shehbaz Sharif that assumed power after he was ousted as the premier following a vote of no confidence.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa:

Police foiled an attempt to marry off a 12-year-old girl to a 72-year-old man in Charsadda town and arrested the groom, ARY News reported.

According to police, the girl’s father, Alam Syed, had agreed to sell her to the old man for PKR 500,000. Before the ‘Nikkah’, the police intervened and arrested the 72-year-old groom identified as Habib Khan, and the ‘Nikah Khwan’ (a person who solemnizes the marriage). But, the girl’s father fled the scene.

However, the case has been registered against the girl’s father, the 72-year-old man and the ‘Nikkah Khwan’ under the Child Marriage Act, according to the ARY News.

Despite laws against child marriage, such incidents continued to occur in Pakistan.

Recently, law enforcement agencies thwarted similar attempts in Rajanpur and Thatta, where young girls were being forced to marry older men. In one case, an 11-year-old girl in Rajanpur, Punjab, was set to marry a 40-year-old man, as per Ary News.

Separately, a young girl was forcibly married to a 50-year-old landlord in Thatta but fortunately, she was saved after the timely action of the police.

On May 6, the police arrested a 70-year-old man for marrying a 13-year-old girl in Swat

A 13-year-old girl was married to a 70-year-old man in Swat by her father. Getting the information, the police swung into action and took the groom and father of the minor girl into custody, the ARY News said.

The Nikkah Khwan and the marriage witnesses were also arrested, while the minor girl was sent to a hospital for a medical examination.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Karachi:

Authorities in Karachi arrested a trader on Saturday for allegedly selling sacrificial goats with plastic teeth in the Gulberg Chowrangi area, as reported by ARY News.

A circulating video on social media depicted a customer removing what appeared to be plastic teeth from one of the goats, prompting swift action from law enforcement.

The arrested trader, hailing from Hyderabad and in Karachi to sell animals for Eidul Adha, admitted under questioning by police that he was involved in the sale.

Police seized seven additional goats as part of their investigation into the incident, according to ARY News.

“The video circulating on social media provided us with vital information about the sale of goats with artificial teeth, leading to the trader’s arrest,” a police official clarified.

Eidul Adha, slated for June 17 following the sighting of the Zil Hajj moon on June 7, is a significant religious festival where Muslims commemorate Prophet Ibrahim’s obedience to God by sacrificing animals. The meat from these sacrifices is traditionally shared with family and the less fortunate.

The tradition, rooted in the story of Prophet Ibrahimi, involves the sacrifice of animals over three days during Eid celebrations.

Investigations into the case are ongoing, as authorities continue to look into the matter, ARY News reported.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

A Pakistani court has rejected a petition seeking the disqualification of former prime minister Imran Khan for concealing his alleged daughter Tyrian White while submitting his nomination papers for the 2018 general elections.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) took up the petition on May 21 after a gap of almost a year, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The petition alleged that the 71-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party founder had not disclosed his alleged daughter — Tyrian White — in his nomination papers for contesting the 2018 general elections.

Mr. Khan’s PTI party won the 2018 general elections, and the former cricketer-turned-politician served as the prime minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to April 2022.

The IHC rejected the petition after noting that a three-judge bench had previously dismissed it, the report said.

Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri read the opinion of the two judges given last year and ruled that the case has already been dismissed.

On May 10, 2023, a three-member bench of the court hearing the case was dissolved by IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq after the opinion of two of the three judges — supporting the petition’s dismissal — was uploaded on the court’s website.

The majority judgement was deleted from the website minutes after it was uploaded, and the IHC chief justice dissolved the bench.

Mr. Khan’s party welcomed the judgement, saying that the two judges had already decided the case, but the IHC chief justice “tried to keep it alive on technicalities”.

Senior lawyers questioned the constitution of a fresh bench when the case had been decided earlier, according to the report.

The petition said that even though Khan had three children, he had mentioned only two in the papers and concealed the existence of his third child.

It also alleged that Khan did not marry his alleged girlfriend Sita White, mother of Tyrian, because her father told Khan that he would not get a “penny” from his wealth if he married Sita.

The PTI founder initially joined the proceedings but later backtracked after he was asked to undergo a blood test, it added.

File picture of police officers examine the site of suicide bombing at a highway in Shangla, a district in the Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on March 26, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

The Taliban defence ministry on Wednesday rejected Pakistan’s allegations that Afghans were involved in an attack on Chinese engineers, as ties between the neighbouring nations sour amidst rising insecurity.

Pakistan’s military had said at a press conference on Tuesday that a suicide bomb attack in March in Pakistan’s northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, that killed five Chinese engineers, was planned in neighbouring Afghanistan, and that the bomber was an Afghan national.

“Afghans are not involved in such matters,” said Mufti Enayatullah Khorazmim, the spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Taliban-run Ministry of National Defence.

“Blaming Afghanistan for such incidents is a failed attempt to divert attention from the truth of the matter and we strongly reject it,” he added.

A suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into a convoy of Chinese engineers working on a dam project in northwest Pakistan in March, killing six people.

“The killing of Chinese citizens in an area of ​​Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that is under tight security cover by the Pakistan Army shows the weakness of the Pakistani security agencies,” Khorazmim said.

Pakistan-Afghanistan relations sour

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have soured in recent months. Islamabad says Kabul is not doing enough to tackle militant groups targeting Pakistan and in March Pakistan carried out airstrikes targeting militants on Afghan territory.

Last year, Pakistan expelled nearly 3,70,000 undocumented Afghan nationals, saying the majority of suicide attacks against its security forces were carried out by Afghans, a charge Kabul rejected.

Pakistan’s military spokesman said on Tuesday that security for 29,000 Chinese nationals in Pakistan, many of them working on infrastructure projects, was the top priority for security institutions.

The Taliban are also seeking economic ties with China, the first country to formally appoint an ambassador to Kabul under the Taliban, and wish to join China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is Beijing’s $65 billion investment in development and infrastructure.