PTI claims one dead as violence intensifies in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Islamabad, Oct 14 (IANS) Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) claimed that one person was killed and more than a dozen injured after police allegedly opened fire on protesters in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa amid escalating political tensions and a deteriorating security situation in the province after imposition of emergency rule, according to local media reports.

The situation has worsened following the federal government’s declaration of a state of emergency on Sunday and the imposition of governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which suspended the provincial government led by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

A video circulating on social media showed gunfire erupting on a street as armed personnel chased people, forcing several individuals to flee amid the chaos.

Other widely circulated footage showed police personnel brutally beating people with batons, with several individuals seen lying on the ground amid the violent confrontation.

On Tuesday, a protest against the governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa turned violent, with demonstrators torching a National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) office in the Bara Bazaar area in the province and allegedly holding 15 police personnel hostage, local media reported, citing police.

Meanwhile, PTI lawmaker Iqbal Afridi claimed that the violence left 11 party workers injured and one dead. The reported casualties could not be independently verified, Pakistani daily The Express Tribune reported.

According to Khyber District Police Officer Waqar Ahmed, hundreds of PTI supporters first assembled in Bara Bazaar on Tuesday afternoon to oppose governor’s rule. Police responded with tear gas and firing live rounds, prompting the crowd to disperse temporarily.

The confrontation resumed roughly 90 minutes later when another large group, led by provincial assembly member Abdul Ghani, marched from Minar Chowk towards Bara Chowk, raising anti-government slogans.

The protesters damaged government property and set traffic signals ablaze after reaching the intersection, Ahmed said.

The situation further deteriorated when demonstrators allegedly confined 15 police personnel inside the tehsil municipal office and took possession of their weapons and uniforms.

Citing eyewitnesses, Pakistani daily Dawn reported that at least five protesters had sustained injuries, while police arrested 50 people for allegedly trying to create unrest.

However, a doctor at Hayatabad Medical Complex, one of the three major hospitals in Peshawar, told Dawn that the facility had received more than a dozen injured people, including four policemen.

The demonstrations were staged against the imposition of governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which has rendered PTI leader Sohail Afridi non-functional in his role as the province’s chief minister.

–IANS

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Mumbai, Feb 20 (IANS) BJP State President Ravindra Chavan on Friday announced that the party will take action against Narayan Chaudhary and the corporators who supported him for rebelling against the party whip in the Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation mayor election.

Chavan told reporters that the party’s Bhiwandi local committee had forwarded Narayan Chaudhary’s name for the mayoral post with a majority.

Accordingly, the party asked Chaudhary to file his nomination. However, after extensive discussions, the BJP state-level leadership ultimately declared Sneha Patil the party’s mayoral candidate to avoid local disputes.

“Considering Chaudhary’s local-level differences with Vilas Patil of the Konark Vikas Aghadi, the party leadership decided at the state level to change the mayoral candidate to avoid disputes and to protect the interests of the party. Even after that, several efforts were made until the last moment to prevent Chaudhary and the corporators who supported him from rebelling,” said Chavan.

He added that, however, those efforts did not pay off.

Chavan’s warning comes hours after, in a dramatic turn of events, rebel BJP candidate Narayan Chaudhary clinched the Mayor’s post in the Bhiwandi-Nizampur City Municipal Corporation (BNCMC).

Despite a last-minute strategic shift by the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, Chaudhary secured a decisive victory with 48 votes, aided by a significant cross-party alliance and a split within the BJP ranks.

The election witnessed high-voltage drama from the start. Shinde’s Shiv Sena withdrew both its candidates, Balaram Chaudhary and Suchita Rupesh Mhatre, to extend support to Vilas R. Patil, the former Mayor and leader of the Konark Vikas Aghadi.

However, this move failed to consolidate enough power to stop Narayan Chaudhary.

In a surprising development, six BJP corporators broke ranks to support Chaudhary, joining forces with the Congress and the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction)to ensure his win.

Earlier, several candidates had filed nominations, including Adv. Mayuresh Vilas Patil, Pratibha Patil, Javed Dalvi (Bhiwandi Vikas Aghadi), and Tariq Momin (Congress).

During the special general body meeting, Presiding Officer and Thane District Collector Shrikant Panchal declared all applications valid.

Candidates were given 15 minutes to withdraw.

Following this, Tariq Momin, Javed Dalvi, Suchita Mhatre, Balaram Chaudhary, Mayuresh Patil, and Pratibha Patil withdrew their nominations, setting the stage for the showdown.

–IANS

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US Congress renews scrutiny of systematic religious repression in China: Report

Male, March 3 (IANS) China’s treatment of religious and spiritual communities has once again come under scrutiny in the US Congress following remarks by a former senior American official who condemned the Chinese Communist Party’s policies as a “war on belief systems”, a report said on Tuesday.

Addressing US lawmakers recently, Sam Brownback, former US Ambassador‑at‑Large for International Religious Freedom, accused the Chinese Communist Party of waging a worldwide persecution campaign targetting religious believers, a report in Maldivian media outlet Etruth MV highlighted.

At a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, the remarks portrayed Beijing’s actions not as isolated human rights abuses but “as a coordinated campaign to suppress belief systems perceived as threats to state authority.”

“The testimony, combined with recent legislative moves and earlier international findings, has renewed focus on allegations that China is using surveillance, detention, and coercive medical practices to dismantle independent faith communities at home while projecting pressure abroad,” the report mentioned.

Brownback said that “the campaign targets a wide spectrum of faiths, including Christians, Buddhists, Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, and practitioners of Falun Gong.”

According to the report, Brownback alleged that Beijing allocates vast financial and institutional resources aimed at suppressing religion.

He told lawmakers that the Chinese government spends billions of dollars each year to control or dismantle independent belief systems, arguing that the “most severe repression is reserved for Falun Gong practitioners”.

“Brownback characterised believers inside China as individuals operating ‘behind enemy lines’, describing them as uniquely positioned to challenge state control because their convictions allow them to overcome fear. His testimony emphasised that faith‑based resistance, rather than political ideology, is viewed by the Chinese state as a destabilising force,” the report said.

The report stressed that a central focus of Brownback’s testimony was the use of advanced surveillance technology to enforce religious repression.

He said China’s extensive monitoring apparatus enables authorities to identify and neutralise individuals considered capable of mobilising others through faith.

The Capitol Hill hearing, the report said, “placed China’s domestic religious policies within a broader international context.”

Brownback characterised the repression as global, asserting that pressure extends beyond China’s borders through coercion of diaspora communities and use of diplomatic influence.

“As lawmakers consider further action, the allegations outlined during the hearing add to an expanding body of claims that frame religious persecution as central, rather than incidental, to China’s political system. The description of a ‘war on belief systems’ may be rhetorical, but the policies and practices discussed — surveillance, detention, alleged forced organ harvesting, and transnational pressure — reflect a sustained effort to control belief,” the report noted.

“For US lawmakers, the issue now sits at the intersection of human rights, foreign policy, and legislative oversight, with implications that extend far beyond China’s borders,” it added.

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Maha CM Fadnavis puts rain toll at 8, assures financial aid to affected farmers

Mumbai, Sep 23 (IANS) Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Tuesday that eight people died and 10 others were injured while a large number of people are stranded due to heavy rains and floods in Marathwada and other parts of the state.

After the Cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister said that the directives have been issued to the district administration to conduct ‘panchnamas’ (assessment and inspection) of the damage to agriculture as there has been 975.5 mm of rainfall and it still continues in Marathwada and the adjoining districts.

He declared the state government will provide financial aid to the farmers affected by the natural calamity.

“We are conducting a rescue operation in Dharashiv. I am in talks if additional helicopters are deployed for relief works. So far the Maharashtra government has issued the government resolutions for the disbursement of Rs 2,215 crore to the affected farmers due to heavy rains since May, of which Rs 1,829 crore have already been deposited to the bank accounts of the farmers and the balance will be done in next eight days. In addition, the state government will also provide financial aid to the farmers hit hard due to the ongoing rainfall in Marathwada and adjoining districts,” the Chief Minister added.

Chief Minister Fadnavis said that the District Collectors have been given the authority to provide assistance in case of natural disaster incidents.

He added that the district guardian ministers have been asked to visit on Wednesday the concerned districts and streamline the relief and rescue operations.

The Chief Minister said that he will be personally visiting the rain affected districts and supervise the relief and rescue works.

Without naming anyone, he claimed that some parties want to indulge in politics on this issue as well.

The Chief Minister, however, appealed that no one should do politics over such a sensitive issue.

Earlier, former Union Agriculture Minister and NCP-SP President Sharad Pawar, on Tuesday, urged the Maharashtra government to quickly carry out panchnamas (ground assessment) and provide financial assistance to the farmers following severe damage to crops, cattle and properties due to heavy rains and waterlogging in various districts.

Pawar’s demand comes when the Kharif crops on more than 26 lakh hectares across the state have perished.

Farmers especially from Solapur, Latur, Dharashiv, Jalna, Parbhani and Ahilyanagar have been hit badly.

“Heavy rainfall occurred in a district known for drought, which has had a huge impact on farmers. Soybean is a reliable crop but due to water the soybean crop rotted, the produce from it is not in the hands of the farmers due to which they were devastated. I have seen droughts, but I have never seen such heavy rainfall before,” the NCP-SP Chief said.

“During such crisis, it is the responsibility of the state and Central governments to help farmers. The state government will have to immediately swing into action to conduct panchnamas and give compensation to the farmers. The Centre can also provide assistance to the states if there is a natural disaster. The state should seek the aid from the Central government apart from providing financial assistance from its share of funds,” Pawar added.

He also said that the state government needs to provide compensation for the loss of crop, cattle and the land that has been completely washed away.

“If the crop is lost, there is a loss only for that year. But if the soil on the land is washed away, the crop production stops forever. Therefore, the assistance will have to be given for the crops and also for the land damaged due to waterlogging. Along with that, the roads have been destroyed, aid will have to be given for that too. There are complaints in many places, cattle were washed away. The state government should look into all these things, the government should do this work quickly,” he added.

–IANS

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