ISLAMABAD: A senior leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party said on Tuesday former prime minister Imran Khan had launched his protest march to the federal capital last week to prevent the current administration from appointing the new army chief.
Pakistan’s current army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, will complete his tenure on November 28. He became the army chief in November 2016 and was given a three-year extension in 2019 when Khan was in power.
Addressing a news conference in London, PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz Sharif said the former prime minister was not trying to achieve some vital national objective through his protest march.
“There is only one objective of this march which is to prevent the government from appointing the new army chief,” she said. “They want to interfere with the process.”
Khan, who is also the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, was ousted in a no-trust vote in April. He has previously alleged that the current political administration of the country wants to appoint an army chief of its choice who will not question it over corruption.
The PTI chief has also maintained the incumbent government does not have the right to appoint the head of the most important institution in the country, adding it should hold fresh elections and let the new government make the appointment.
Khan has also criticized Pakistan’s the security establishment since his ouster for working with his political rivals.
“Almost every political party has criticized state institutions during the country’s political and democratic history,” the PML-N vice president said. “However, that criticism used to be different. It was issue-based and for course-correction. It was also carried out under the principles of democracy.”
She maintained Khan’s criticism was not grounded in democratic values, adding his only objective was to regain the establishment’s support and turn it into his “crutches.”
Ex-PM Khan’s protest march launched to keep government from appointing army chief — Maryam Sharif
https://arab.news/z2p7u
Ex-PM Khan’s protest march launched to keep government from appointing army chief — Maryam Sharif
- The ruling PML-N leader calls the PTI chief’s criticism of the establishment an attempt to regain support
- Sharif tells journalists in London criticism of state institutions should be based on democratic principles
Pakistani migrant’s death in UAE shatters economic future of families back home
- Pakistani driver killed by falling debris during missile interception in Abu Dhabi amid escalating Middle East conflict
- Death leaves more than a dozen dependents in Pakistan without income after eight years of overseas work
ISLAMABAD: For days, Nazar Ali told his daughter-in-law a gentle lie: authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had confiscated all mobile phones and her husband, Mureeb Zaman, would call home as soon as he got it back.
In reality, Zaman, a 40-year-old Pakistani driver who had spent eight years working in the UAE to lift his family out of poverty, had already been killed by missile fragments during an aerial interception over Abu Dhabi amid an escalating conflict in the Middle East.
The conflict began on Feb. 28 after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran following weeks of escalating tensions between Tehran and its regional adversaries. The attacks triggered retaliatory drone and missile strikes by Iran targeting commercial and US-linked interests across the Gulf region, prompting air defense systems in several countries to intercept projectiles in the skies above major cities.
As interceptors met incoming missiles over the Emirati capital that night, falling debris struck Zaman, ending years of work he hoped would secure a better future for his five children in one of Pakistan’s most volatile regions.
“I found out the same day because nowadays it is the age of the Internet,” Ali, Zaman’s father, told Arab News during a condolence gathering at his residence last week.
“I myself was in the market at that time when I received the news [of his death], but I did not tell the family.”
Zaman had been supporting three households in his hometown in Pakistan’s northwestern Bannu district, including the family of his late younger brother. The region, located in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa near the Afghan border, has witnessed a surge in militancy and counterinsurgency operations in recent years.
The 40-year-old was one of millions of Pakistani migrant workers in Gulf countries whose remittances are a vital source of foreign exchange for Pakistan’s fragile economy.
He is also among the first reported Pakistani casualties of the recent escalation. Two Pakistani nationals have been killed so far in aerial interceptions in the UAE, while another Pakistani died last week in a similar incident in Iranian waters off Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, according to authorities.
Zaman’s life abroad was measured in long-distance phone calls and carefully saved earnings, while his wife, four daughters and one son lived in a single room at their family home in Bannu.
“He used to say that ‘When I come on Eid, God willing, I will build a room for you’,” Ali, his grieving father, said.
For Zaman, working in the UAE represented an escape from the insecurity and economic hardship that have long plagued his hometown, where militant attacks targeting security forces and civilians have periodically disrupted daily life.
Family members said he had hoped to return home for the upcoming Eid Al-Fitr holiday, encouraged by military operations against militant groups in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that had raised hopes of greater stability in the region.
Adnan Gul, Zaman’s nephew, remembered his uncle as a warm and optimistic man who often spoke about building a better future for his family.
“His wish was to have a good home, a settled family, and a good, peaceful life,” Gul said.
Recalling Zaman as a cheerful man who loved food and rarely lost his temper, Gul added: “With younger people he behaved like one of them, and with elders he behaved like an elder.”
“He had many wishes, but unfortunately all those wishes remained unfulfilled.”
Now, Zaman’s death has left his extended family facing an uncertain future.
Relatives fear the loss of his income could disrupt the education of his children, who attend school while also memorizing the Holy Qur’an.
“He used to say these things and tell me ‘Not to tire yourself too much because you have already done a lot of hard work’,” Ali, his father, said, his voice trailing off.
“But such a day came that Allah Almighty once again left us [helpless], and we don’t know what will happen next.”
Buried in his hometown, Zaman is remembered through the photographs he shared with family members on WhatsApp and the Eid gifts he had already purchased before his death.
“When a person leaves this world, only memories remain,” Gul said.
