ISLAMABAD: Just hours before the sporting showdown between Pakistan and Indian cricket teams at the World Cup’s marquee event in Manchester, Prime Minister Imran Khan said Pakistan must banish all fear of losing in a five part tweet.
Khan is a former skipper of the Pakistan national team, and led the greenshirts to their one and only World Cup victory in 1992. Pakistan has not won a single world cup match against India in the last 27 years.
“Today, given the intensity of the match, both teams will come under great mental pressure and the power of the mind will decide the outcome of the match,” Khan tweeted.
“In Sarfaraz we are fortunate to have a bold captain & today he will have to be at his daring best.”
Khan advised captain Sarfraz Ahmed to have a “winning offensive strategy,” and to use specialist batsmen and bowlers.
“Unless the pitch is damp, Sarfaraz must win the toss and bat,” Khan said. Contrary to the Prime Minister’s advice however, Ahmed chose to bowl after winning the toss.
“Just give your best and fight till the last ball. Then accept whatever the result like true sportsmen,” Khan said.
It is estimated that Sunday’s match will be watched by a billion people across the world.
Banish fear of losing: PM Imran Khan gives Twitter pep-talk before Pak-India cricket clash
Banish fear of losing: PM Imran Khan gives Twitter pep-talk before Pak-India cricket clash
- Power of the mind will decide the outcome of the match, says PM Khan
- Imran Khan led Pakistan to its one and only World Cup win in 1992
Pakistan police book man for wounding buffalo with ax in Bahawalpur district
- Complainant accuses a landowner in Ahmadpur East of attacking buffalo for straying into his fodder field
- Pakistan police register case against suspect under Pakistan Penal Code for injuring cattle
ISLAMABAD: Police in Pakistan’s eastern Bahawalpur district registered a case on Sunday against a landowner for wounding a buffalo with ax for straying into his fodder field, in another case of animal brutality in the country.
As per a copy of the police complaint seen by Arab News, the complainant Bashir Ahmad, a laborer and resident of the Ismail Pur area of the Ahmadpur East city, said the incident took place on Jan. 24.
Ahmad said he arrived at his home after work on Saturday to find that his buffalo had escaped. Ahmad searched for the animal along with two others he cited as eyewitnesses in his report. They discovered that the buffalo had strayed into a fodder field nearby owned by a man named Manzoor Hussain.
“During this time, Manzoor Hussain came with an ax and as we watched, attacked both of the front legs of the buffalo,” the police report quoted Ahmad as saying.
The complainant said the buffalo collapsed as a result of the assault. It did not mention whether the buffalo had died or not.
Ahmad said the suspect abused him and the other eyewitnesses and left the area after they arrived.
“Manzoor Hussain has committed a grave injustice by injuring my buffalo,” the report quoted Ahmad as saying. “I want action to be taken against him.”
Police registered a case against Hussain under Sections 427 [mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees] and 429 [mischief by killing or maiming cattle of any value or any animal of the value of fifty rupees] of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Local media reported the suspect had been arrested following the police complaint.
Animal abuse cases in Pakistan have frequently made headlines over the years. In June 2024, a local landlord in the southern Sanghar district was accused of chopping off a camel’s leg after it strayed into his fields for grazing.
The story, which triggered an uproar on mainstream and social media, led to the camel being transported to an animal shelter in Karachi for treatment. Six suspects were arrested by the police.
In another incident in the southern Umerkot district during June 2024, a camel was found dead with its legs amputated.
In July 2024, a man was arrested in Pakistan’s eastern Shahpur city for chopping off a buffalo’s tongue.
Pakistan’s existing animal cruelty laws, rooted in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1890, prohibit various forms of animal cruelty, including beating, overdriving, and mutilation.
The legislation also prescribes penalties for breaches of these anti-cruelty provisions, which can include fines and imprisonment, though these are not always effectively enforced.
