Jammu:

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday that the Pakistan government has called the people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as ‘foreigners’ while India considers them as its own citizens.

Addressing an election rally of the BJP in Ramban district of Jammu division, Rajnath Singh referred to the BJP-PDP coalition government and said, “During Mehbooba-led government, we withdrew cases against minors and those who were innocent. But the problem was that the PDP was sympathetic to separatists. I would always tell her to bring the ground situation under control, but she couldn’t. People of J&K are free citizens of India and they have a right to peace and prosperity.

“In contrast to this, in a recent affidavit, the solicitor general of Pakistan has called the people of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as ‘foreigners’. We don’t call them foreigners. They are our people. Let them come and join us. After a government is formed in J&K, the people of PoK will want to come and join India,” he asserted. He strongly criticised former J&K chief minister and National Conference (NC) vice president, Omar Abdullah for saying Afzal Guru should not have been hanged.

“Omar Abdullah has said Afzal Guru should not have been hanged. I want to ask him did he want Afzal Guru to be garlanded?” Mr Singh queried.

The Union minister said he has come for the first time to Ramban, but the people have given him a warm welcome. “I greet all of you. After 10 years, Assembly elections are being held in J&K. Entire country is watching the outcome of this election. I was in America recently and the Indian diaspora there asked me what would happen in these elections. I told them BJP will form the govt in J&K,” he claimed.

“While coming here, I asked Dr Jitendra Singh about the ground situation and he told me that such a conducive political atmosphere in favour of BJP is far greater than his expectations. In the past, whenever, 2, 6 or 10 per cent voting would take place in Kashmir it would become a big news. 58 per cent voting took place in Lok Sabha elections and in Ladakh it went to 72 per cent,” he added.

“First time, there was an election here which was held without fear and without any partisan consideration. This is a great change for us. The people of J&K are hard-working and talented. If BJP rules J&K for the next 10 years, J&K will be the most prosperous place in India,” Rajnath Singh opined.

“Since Modiji took over as the Prime Minister, our economy has grown from 11th place to become the 5th largest economy in the World. Independent economic surveys and media reports now accept that in 2027 India would be 3rd largest in size after US and China,” he claimed.

“Give an opportunity to BJP to form the government here and we will change the face of this place in 10 years. We have already changed the ground situation in the last 10 years. Even Tazia (Muharram) procession was not allowed in Kashmir and we made this procession take place,” the Union minister said.

“Nobody has the guts today to fire a pistol or hurl a stone at Lal Chowk. Countries need a strong-willed PM and we are fortunate to have one in Modiji. In J&K women were deprived of their rights. We will ensure that West Pakistan refugees, Safaikaramcharis, Valmiki Samaj and others will vote in the Assembly elections. We ensured OBC reservations in Panchayats and urban bodies,” he further claimed.

“PM Modi abrogated article 370 and nobody rose against this. NC manifesto says they will restore 370. Nobody can restore 370 now. For the first time, a G-20 meeting was held in Kashmir Valley. This is called governance. Kashmir was called a terrorism spot, but now it is called a tourism spot,” he said.

He referred to developments in the last 10 years and said that the Muharram procession, railway link, Rs 38000 core worth developmental works, reducing the travel time from Jammu to Srinagar from 14 to 4 hours, 40,000 recruitments in last 5 years.

“Not a single stone pelting incident since 2022. Those youth who had pistols in their hands had rave tablets and laptops. We abrogated 370, if Congress has guts, let them get it back. As long as the BJP is there, no power on earth can bring 370 back,” he asserted.

He also referred to the Parliamentary delegation that went to meet hardline separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani on September 4, 2016. “I was part of the Parliamentary delegation and I told members that the Hurriyat is allergic to the BJP, but if they wanted to go to meet the Hurriyat, they could. When they went to their door, the Hurriyat people shut their door on them,” Rajnath recalled.

He referred to the manifesto and the promises made in that. He said incomplete border fencing will be completed, two free gas cylinders will be provided to families of weaker sections, students of remote areas higher secondary schools will be given free tablets and laptops, Jammu will have a riverfront on Tawi, Ramban and Banihal will have tourist destination areas. Jammu and Srinagar will get Metro services and migrant Kashmiri Pandits will be brought back to the Kashmir Valley with safety and honour. In the end, he appealed to voters to elect BJP candidate, Rakesh Gupta with a huge majority.

J&K will go to the polls in three phases on September 18, September 25 and October 1 while counting will take place on October 8.

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

The story so far: Pakistan’s government, on July 15, announced its plan to ban Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, for alleged anti-state activities. The 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician, who lost a vote of no-confidence in 2022 and was ousted from his Prime Ministerial post, has been lodged at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi since August 2023, in connection with various cases.

In a press conference, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announced, “In view of the foreign funding case, the May 9 riots, and the cypher episode as well as the resolution passed in the U.S., we believe that there is very credible evidence present to have Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), banned”.

He added that the government will file cases against Mr. Khan and former Pakistan president Arif Alvi for treason under Article 6. “Our patience and tolerance are considered as our weaknesses. The PTI and Pakistan cannot co-exist as the government is trying to stabilise the country politically and economically, while efforts are being made to thwart its efforts,” Mr. Tarar said. A petition will be filed for the same in Pakistan’s apex court, he added.

The surprising move comes mere days after a 13-judge bench of the country’s Supreme Court ruled that PTI was eligible for seats reserved for women and minorities in the national and provincial assemblies. PTI had approached the apex court after the Peshwar High Court and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had disallowed PTI-backed candidates who had won these reserved seats in the elections held in February.

The PTI, which had been stripped off its iconic ‘bat’ electoral symbol by the ECP, fielded its candidates as independents in the national elections in February. Of the 272 seats in direct contest, PTI-backed Independents won 92 seats, emerging as the largest bloc, but fell short of a majority. With the SC validation of the PTI winners from reserved seats, the bloc, which has now aligned itself with the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC,) will be the largest party in the National Assembly with 109 seats.

Here’s a look at why PTI may be banned and what happens next

Why is PTI being banned?

In April 2022, the Opposition coalition led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) moved a vote of no confidence against Imran Khan in the National Assembly, accusing him of corruption, economic mismanagement, depletion of foreign exchange reserves and soaring inflation. Mr. Khan claimed a “foreign conspiracy” was seeking to oust him due to his “independent foreign policy,” saying that a senior U.S. diplomat was involved in it. Then-Speaker Asad Qaiser called for a vote but then-Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri (who is associated with PTI) dismissed the motion on the day of voting, deeming it unconstitutional.

Fearing a trust vote loss, Mr. Khan advised the then-President Arif Alvi to dissolve the Assembly and prepare for fresh polls. This dissolution was termed unconstitutional by the SC and a 13-hour-long trust vote was held, which culminated in Mr. Khan’s ouster as 174 lawmakers of the 342-member Assembly voted in support of the no-confidence motion. Shehbaz Sharif, leader of the PML-N and brother of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, took over as the Prime Minister.

After Mr. Khan’s ouster, former Pakistani ambassador to the U.S., Asad Majeed, who had authored a cypher sent to Islamabad in 2022, clarified that there was no threat. Mr. Khan had touted this cypher as a base for his claims that a “foreign conspiracy” was trying to topple to his government.

Citing these actions, the current government has decided to move a case against Mr. Khan, Mr. Alvi and Mr. Suri for treason. “You tried to damage the country’s diplomatic relations for the sake of your political interests and went on to get a resolution passed against Pakistan in the U.S,” said Mr. Tarar.

On May 9, 2023, Mr. Khan was arrested in connection with a corruption case while he was appearing in an Islamabad court. His arrest led to deadly riots across Pakistan, with scores of his supporters taking to the streets, vandalising at least a dozen military installations including the ISI building in Faisalabad, and pelting stones at the police. PTI blamed the Pakistan Army for orchestrating his arrest. The Army cracked down heavily on the protestors, arresting them and trying them in military courts.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court deemed Mr. Khan’s arrest illegal, giving him temporary relief. His reprieve was short-lived, as police arrested Mr. Khan in Lahore after he was sentenced to a three-year jail term for illegally selling state gifts.

Mr. Khan has been also charged for leaking state secrets by publicising the cypher communication between the government and the embassy. In total, Mr. Khan faces a hundred cases; he has been convicted and acquitted in some cases, and been barred from contesting elections for five years.

The current government has used these cases as the bulwark of its decision to ban PTI and charge Mr. Khan and top PTI leaders with treason. It claims that the riots and the attempts by several PTI leaders to sabotage Pakistan’s deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has forced its hand.

What are the reactions?

The decision to ban PTI has been criticised by parties across the political spectrum.

Accusing the government of punishing the PTI for being declared as the largest party in the Assembly, Leader of Opposition Omar Ayub Khan claimed that the government wanted to scare 240 million people through coercion, intimidation and harassment, according to Dawn report.

Asserting that PTI was not one to be intimated, he said that it would not be possible to crush the most popular political party with blind force nor could any positive outcome be expected from it.

Similarly, PPP, a coalition partner of PML-N, has distanced itself from the move, claiming its leadership was not consulted. PPP veteran Mian Raza Rabbani said that the banning of a political party by the government was against all norms of democracy. “Since the country is already facing grave economic and political instability, such a step will add political chaos and bog down the economy,” said Mr. Rabbani in a statement, adding, “The step of banning a political party in Pakistan’s history has always been unsuccessful and been thrown into the dustbin of history.”

Other political parties like Awami National Party, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, and Jamaat-i-Islami too have rubbished the move, terming it ‘childish’ and ‘unconstitutional’ and saying that the move will not stand in court. Even the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has criticised the decision, say that it ‘reeks of political desperation.’

The US State department has maintained that while it opposes such restrictions, the announcement to ban PTI was part of a ‘complex political process,’ reported Dawn. “As those internal processes continue to play out, we will monitor these decisions and any further decisions,” said its spokesperson. India has not yet released any statement on this issue.

Precedent to political parties’ ban in Pakistan

Since its formation in 1947, democracy in Pakistan has been interspersed with Army regimes. However, even when a democratically elected government has been in power, political parties have faced bans, finds an analysis by Dawn.

In 1954, the Communist Party of Pakistan was banned for its alleged involvement in a military coup planned by Major General Akbar Khan to topple the first government in independent Pakistan headed by Liaquat Ali Khan.

The Awami League, a breakaway Bengali faction of the All India Muslim League formed in 1954, steadily gained popularity in East Pakistan and swept all but two seats in the 1970 elections. The military government headed by General Yahya Khan banned the party, leading to protests, war, genocide and eventually the birth of Bangladesh.

Two parties — Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) and the Awami National Party — which are still in existence, have seen factions being banned.

The National Awami Party, founded in 1957, first faced a ban in 1958 when General Ayub Khan imposed martial law. Once the ban was lifted in 1962, it splintered into factions, with the NAP-Wali emerging as the biggest one. In 1975, the PPP government led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto banned the parent party NAP for backing Baloch separatists. Its faction NAP-Wali re-emerged as the Awami National Party (ANP) and is now in alliance with the PPP.

JSQM’s faction led by Abdul Wahid Aresar was banned in 2020 by the Imran Khan government for its alleged links with Sindh separatist militant outfits – Sindhu Desh Revolution Army (SRA) and Sindhu Desh Liberation Army (SLA) – who routinely carried out attacks on military personnel, police etc.

Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), founded in 2015, is one of the recent outfits to be banned due to its violent protests and blatant support for Mumtaz Qadri – an commando who assassinated former Punjab governor Salman Taseer. While it was initially banned in April 2021, the ban was lifted by the Imran Khan government in October 2021 after its protests ground Islamabad to a halt. The party’s popularity has diminished after its founder Khadim Rizvi died.

What will be PTI’s fate?

In the wake of backlash by several of its alliance partners, the PML-N leadership has toned out its attack on PTI. A senior PML-N leader has clarified that no final decision has been made regarding a permanent ban on PTI, reported Dawn.

“We need to consult our leadership and allies in this regard. Any decision to ban PTI will be made in accordance with the law and Constitution,” said Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar. As per Pakistan Constitution’s Article 17, the final decision to ban a political party rests with the Supreme Court.

“The Supreme Court is unlikely to ratify a ban on the PTI as it has already declared PTI as a political party,” says geopolitical analyst Aishwaria Sonavane. Noting the popularity Mr. Khan currently enjoys, she adds, “A ban will only foment public sympathy for Imran Khan. Also bans have proven futile in eliminating public support and will lead to further political instability”.

While Mr. Khan’s political future hangs in the balance due to his legal troubles, PTI’s future as a political force seems stronger. With the recent favourable SC rulings and Pakistan’s own historical failure to snuff out political parties completely, it seems that PTI’s vast public support will help in its continued existence as PTI or as another political party – similar to the ANP.

Erica Robin, the 24-year-old who won the inaugural Miss Universe Pakistan pageant held in Maldives, is being criticised in her home country. From religious leaders to caretaker Prime Minister, everyone has criticised the competition and Ms Robin’s participation, putting a question mark on her participation in the Global Miss Universe Pageant to be held in El Salvador in November, according to a report in Independent. Erica Robin competed against Hira Inam (24), Jessica Wilson (28), Malika Alvi (19) and Sabrina Wasim (26) for the title and was crowned last Thursday.

The outrage in Pakistan

Religious leaders in deeply conservative Pakistan said the event was an insult to Pakistan. Taqi Usmani, an Islamic scholar, demanded that the government take action against the organisers of the pageant. He also wants to dispel the idea that Ms Robin was “representing Pakistan”.

On X (formerly Twitter), politician Mushtaq Ahmed Khan said: “Who are the organisers of this beauty pageant in Pakistan? Who is doing this shameful act?”

As per the Independent report, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has asked the country’s intelligence agency to launch an investigation against the organisers and how they were able to hold the pageant without the country’s approval about using its name.

Mr Kakar has called the staging of the Maldives pageant a “shameful act” and an “insult and exploitation of women of Pakistan”.

What Erica Robin said

Talking about the beauty contest, the 24-year-old told Voice Of America that she felt a lot of responsibility on her shoulders as she believed it would be the first time Pakistan would have a participant in the global Miss Universe pageant.

“However, I won’t do anything that would harm the reputation of the country,” she added.

After winning the contest, Ms Robin, a Christian, said in an Instagram post that she was honoured. “We have a beautiful culture that the media is not talking about, Pakistani people are very generous, kind and hospitable. On top of that, I would like to invite everyone to visit my country and try the most sumptuous Pakistani cuisines and explore our enchanting nature, our snow-capped mountains, our greeneries and our progressive landscapes.”

Who are the organisers?

The beauty pageant was organised by Dubai-based agency Yugen Group. It put out an advertisement in March, inviting applications from Pakistani women. The agency also owns the Miss Universe Bahrain and Miss Universe Egypt franchises, as per Independent.

Ms Robin, a professional model, applied along with hundreds of other professionals. She made it to top 10 contestants and then into top 5.

Speaking about the pageant, Josh Yugen, founder of Yugen Group, told The National: “We want to localise our approach without changing the dynamics of the Miss Universe brand. We are still going to show women from Pakistan who are beautifully confident and who are the epitome of stories of dreams turning into realities.”

Who is Erica Robin?

Ms Robin was born on September 14, 1999, in Karachi. She did her schooling from St Patrick’s Girls High School and then went to Government College of Commerce and Business Administration in Chandigarh.

Ms Robin started her professional modelling career in January 2020 and appeared in the July 2020 issue of DIVA Magazine Pakistan. She revealed in an interview that she once caught the attention of model and actor Vaneeza Ahmed, who got her into modelling.