Category: Politics
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Update @ 2013: Police raids, more arrests and websites blocked
Via an IPS journalist and one of our SMS reporters on the ground: – The central leader of the Communist Party of Pakistan — Jam Saqi, was away while police raided his house in Hyderababad – A heavy police contingent is visible outside the Karachi Press Club while PPP activists Saeed Boota, Anis Fatima and…
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Update @ 0942: National Party’s General Secretary is targeted by Pakistani Government
Via e-mail from Umar Farooq with the People’s Resistance which is a coalition of various organizations, left-wing political parties, NGOs and human rights organizations, labor and trade-union federations, academics, students, and citizens: Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, General Secretary National Party, was sent on judicial remand to Landhi District Jail on November 8, 2007. Since hen…
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Martial Law MythBuster
Myth: Supreme Court was interfering in anti-terror activities and releasing terrorists Myth-Buster: The two Supreme Court Judges who ordered the release of Lal Masjid militants were Justice Khokar and Justice Abbasi – both of whom were administered the PCO and now sit in Musharraf’s PCO Supreme Court Courtesy: Azam & Rai Associates
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Update @ 1340: UPenn presents panel on Pakistan’s political & civil crisis – Nov 14
Received via e-mail from a student with the South Asia Center at the University of Pennsylvania in the US: South Asia Center presents a Panel Discussion on “Pakistan: Political and Civil Crisis” and co-sponsored by the Department of South Asia Studies at the University of Pennsylvania on Wednesday, November 14th 2007, starting at 5pm, located…
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Update @ 0210: Peace rallies in London & San Francisco tomorrow
Received via e-mail from student bodies at universites in the UK and US: A peace rally being held in London, UK tomorrow starts at 1400 BST in front of Downing Street and it is expected that there will be a huge turnout while at 1400 in San Francisco , USA a rally is being staged…
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Update @ 0130: Geo News DDoS’d
On Friday at around 2030 the Geo.tv started to received a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Serice) attack and they were able to recover from this surge of artificial traffic after two hours of down time by around 2235. Geo.tv reports that this is the second time such an attack occurred on its servers resulting in…
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Update @ 2030: Peace Rally outside MacDonald’s in Karachi today
The following came into us via e-mail from a representative with the Peoples’ Resistance which is a coalition of various organizations, left-wing political parties, NGOs and human rights organizations, labor and trade-union federations, academics, students, and citizens, demonstrated today (Friday) evening outside MacDonald’s at Sea View in Clifton in a flash peace rally: The public…
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Update @ 1830: Police cordon off Imran Khan’s house
Received via SMS: Imran Khan’s house has been cordoned off by the police while Pakistani security forces have surrounded Shaukat Khanam Hospital in Lahore while in Rawalpindi, riot police have fired tear gas shells to disperse PPP (Pakistan People’s Party) political workers at the Committee Chowk.
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Update @ 1745: Imran Khan sends message on the battle for Pakistan
We received the following e-mail from Imran Khan who highlights the massive crackdown on genuine opposition, police brutality being used as a tool to induce fear for those attending peace rallies, and the need to restore an independent judiciary among other valuable insights: The imposition of martial law under the garb of emergency should make…
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Update @ 1520: Rubber bullets fired at demonstrators in Rawalpindi
Just received the following via SMS (although cell phone voice reception has been disrupted by the jammers, the text messaging service is functional): Benazir Bhutto is trying to reach Liaquat Bagh while Pakistani security forces have fired rubber bullets at demonstrators in Rawalpindi where a peace rally is being held today by the PPP (Pakistan…
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Update @ 1400: Benazir Bhutto comes out of her house
Via SMS, just hours before Benazir Bhutto was set to start off her party’s peace rally, she was detained and placed under house arrest at the Zardari house in Islamabad: Despite Pakistani security forces surrounding her house, Bhutto has just stepped out of the house and police have led her to a nearby waiting car.…
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Update @ 1240: Benazir Bhutto detained, HRCP website blocked
I’ve just received a SMS from Doc that Benazir Bhutto has been detained at her residence in Islamabad while one of the activists on the ground in Pakistan sent in a message via Skype, stating that the HRCP (Human Rights Commission Pakistan) website has been blocked in Pakistan by the PTA (Pakistan Telecommunications Authority). For…
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Update @ 1018: Sindh Democratic Forum encourages united peace rallies
The following signed statement was received from the SDF (Sindh Democratic Forum) via the HRCP and calls on everyone to unite when rallying for a democratic Pakistan peacefully: The members of Sindh Democratic Forum (SDF) have expressed their deep shock and strong condemnation at the imposition of Martial Law in the country. It is a…
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Update @ 0944: CEO of Geo TV sends message on extent of media clampdown
The following comes in, via a Facebook e-mail exchange, from Mir Ibrahim Rahman who is the CEO of Geo TV in Pakistan, a channel which has been blocked by the Pakistani government who has also begun talks with foreign governments to have the channel’s transmission blocked overseas. In his message, Mir, states that he is…
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Update @ 1600: PTI Information Secretary sends activism message for students
As Pakistani security forces prepare to clampdown on new rallies today, I spoke to the PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf — Imran Khan’s political party) Information Secretary — Akhbar Barbar, via phone, who sends out the following message to students organizing and attending peace rallies, while also echoing Shabhaz Sharif’s call last night, for students to rally…