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NSC session with top brass underway

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ISLAMABAD: An in-camera session of the National Assembly’s National Security Committee (NSC) is underway at the lower house, in which the military leadership is expected to brief the lawmakers on the country’s prevailing national security situation.

The session is being chaired by NA Speaker Raja Pervez Ashraf.

According to sources, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Chief Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum will give a detailed overview of the current situation to the members.

The development comes after a national security huddle — headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif — decided last week to launch fresh military operation to flush out rising militancy in the country.

Notices have been issued by the National Assembly Secretariat and all federal ministers, advisers and MNAs have been invited to attend the meeting.

Secretaries of interior, foreign affairs, finance, defence and information and broadcasting have also been invited to attend the meeting while the four provincial chief ministers, chief secretaries and IGPs were issued special invitations by the NA Secretariat.

‘Healthy interaction’

On Thursday, Prime Minister Shehbaz announced that the National Assembly would be given an in-camera briefing on national security matters on Friday (today).

Responding to a point raised by MNA Ali Wazir from Waziristan, PM Shehbaz informed the house that during the in-camera briefing, parliamentarians would also be able to put their respective questions on the relevant subject.

He assured the MNA that all of his reservations would be listened to and responded positively to satisfy his concerns.

“This would be a healthy interaction. There would be no discussion to spoil the situation, rather it would be an attempt to rectify the matters,” the prime minister remarked.

Speaking on the occasion, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had said the military leadership would attend the National Assembly session and respond to the queries of the members. He further added that the military leadership was cognisant of the challenge posed by terrorism.

He voiced serious concerns over the surge in terrorism and demanded that terrorists’ facilitators settled in the civilian areas must be held accountable.

Asif, who recently visited Kabul along with DG ISI to convey Pakistan’s concerns on the TTP activities, said terrorism increased after people from Afghanistan settled in Pakistan.

“Terrorists have settled in the residential areas. Action should be taken against the people who have helped them settle,” he said while referring to the previous Imran Khan-led government.

“These people have political support, as they are also present at Zaman Park. They have the support of Khan,” he said.

The defence minister added that the first Afghan war took place during the reign of General Zia, while the second war happened during the rule of General (retd) Musharraf after 9/11.

He seconded MNA Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir and said they were correctly saying that the people in those areas were suffering for the sins they did not commit.

Speaking on a point of order, Ali Wazir appealed to the government to stop the military operation in the tribal areas. He said another operation in the tribal areas had been discussed in the NSC huddle.

“We have come to know that even the GHQ has not been taken into confidence and the generals who had retired should be dealt with first,’” he said.

He said the people who spread mistrust had now come to the settled areas of the country.

“When the Taliban came to Afghanistan, sweets were distributed in the country, as Pakistan had problems and differences with the past Afghan rulers,” he recalled.

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Nawaz Sharif departs for a five-day personal visit to China.

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Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and a former prime minister, departed for China on Monday night for a five-day private visit.

Nawaz Sharif is visiting China, escorted by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar.

Nawaz Sharif reportedly planned to see Chinese company owners as well as discuss the Punjab province’s development projects. During his visit in China, he will also have a medical examination.

In addition, the fact that Nawaz and his party chose China for his first overseas trip after he returned to Pakistan in October of last year shows how much weight the Asian superpower holds.

Eight other Chinese companies were reportedly prepared to start working right away, while 16 Chinese companies had expressed interest in the Nawaz Sharif IT City, which is the brainchild of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, who has plans for similar projects in all of the province’s major cities.

Remarkably, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s scheduled visit to China ahead of his anticipated talks with Chinese authorities next month coincides with the elder Sharif’s visit.

Dar’s presence alongside Nawaz simultaneously underscores the party leadership’s confidence in him and serves as a reminder of why he was chosen to be foreign minister.

The fact that this visit was organized in the wake of the recent terror assault in Shangla on Chinese engineers involved in the Dasu hydroelectric Project, however, may provide some insight into the significance of this visit.

That was followed by Pakistan’s resolute pledge to deal harshly with those groups that have been attacking Chinese citizens in an effort to undermine the cordial relations between the two countries.

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Education

The president of Iran’s wife, Dr. Jamileh, claims that knowledge without ethics is worthless.

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The Iranian President’s wife, Dr. Jamileh-Sadat Alamolhoda, claimed on Monday that Islam had illuminated the globe 1400 years ago by emphasizing the value of knowledge.

She said, “Knowledge without ethics has no value,” during her speech at the National University of Modern Languages (NUML).

Dr. Jamileh earlier today opened the university’s cultural festival. She visited a number of foreign and national booths exhibiting distinct cultures and customs.

Attendees included academic members, a sizable student body, Director General Brig Shahzad Munir, Rector NUML Major General (retd) Shahid Mahmood Kayani, and many others.

Speaking to the pupils, Dr. Jamileh added that religious leaders in Iran and this area were crucial in keeping the nations unified during the colonial era.

She was impressed by Muhammad Iqbal, the Poet of the East, for his contribution to the dissemination of Islamic norms and knowledge via his poetry.

She also gave a speech at the launch of her own book, “The Art of Living Femininely,” adding that it was also being translated into Urdu.

She expressed gratitude for NUML’s contribution to the creation and sharing of knowledge and expressed a willingness to investigate the potential for reciprocal scholarly cooperation in the fields of languages and science and technology.

Thanking the NUML administration for welcoming her and giving her a chance to engage with the teachers and students, Dr. Jamileh expressed her gratitude.

In his remarks at the event, the Rector NUML stated that profound people-to-people links as well as bilateral relations between Pakistan and Iran are historical, fraternal, and mutually trustworthy.

The honorable guest accepted an honorary doctorate in educational sciences from the NUML Rector.

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To discuss the judges’ letter, the IHC CJ calls for a full court meeting.

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A full court conference has been called by the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court for this Tuesday in order to consider the matter of the letter of six IHC judges.

The full court session is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. All judges, including district and session court judges, have been asked for comments by the chief justice’s office of the Islamabad High Court.

The development follows accusations made by six judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) against the nation’s intelligence services for meddling in judicial matters.

Judges Babar Sattar, Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Arbab Muhammad Tahir, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kiyani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, and Justice Rafat Imtiaz are the six judges.

In response to the letter, Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa had intimated on March 27 that the Supreme Court would convene as a full court.

The Supreme Court’s Justice Yahya Afridi has withdrawn from the suo moto case involving the letter authored by six judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

Prior to this, the Islamabad High Court Bar Association petitioned the Supreme Court under the Constitution, asking for an open and impartial inquiry into the six judges’ letter that purportedly involved meddling in judicial matters.

The petitioner begged the supreme court to prosecute individuals who were found to have influenced the legal system.

The petition claimed that the judges had brought up a serious matter. “If the apex court deems it necessary, it should refer the matter to the Supreme Judicial Council for review,” it requested.

The petitioner argued that the only source of justice and defender of the Constitution was an independent judiciary. Under no circumstances can the judiciary’s independence be compromised.

How it started

A letter against the “interference of intelligence agencies in judicial matters” was sent to the Supreme Judicial Council on March 25 by six justices of the Islamabad High Court.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court took suo moto notice and made hints about forming a full court to consider the case. Prior to that, the federal government established a one-man inquiry commission, but Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, the former chief justice, refused to allow the body to begin any proceedings.

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