Jaranwala: The head of the Church of Pakistan, the country’s largest Protestant church, on Friday reiterated the minority community’s demand for justice in Jaranwaa incident.

They said that the government officials responsible for inaction should also be held accountable through a fair and transparent judicial investigation.

Addressing an event at the Salvation Army church in Jaranwala, which was among multiple churches that were ransacked by charged mobs on Aug 16, Church of Pakistan President Bishop Azad Marshall said that though Christians appreciated the government’s action against the mob leaders, the community believed that such incidents would continue to recur until the perpetrators are sternly dealt in accordance with the law and concrete measures are adopted to prevent religiously-motivated violence.

The event was organised by Salvation Army’s Territorial Commander Colonel McDonald Chandi in honour of an official delegation of the British High Commission to Pakistan led by Deputy High Commissioner Andrew Dalgleish.

“The Jaranwala incident marked the eleventh significant episode since 1997 involving the persecution of the Christian community and we want this to be the last such incident. Unfortunately, no action has ever been taken against police and government officials responsible for negligence in any of these incidents,” he said.

Marshall regretted that the Punjab caretaker government had turned down the Christians’ legitimate demand for a judicial investigation into the Jaranwala incident compelling them to move the Lahore High Court.

“My objective of filing the petition for the formation of a judicial commission was to hold a thorough inquiry into the underlying causes of such attacks and holding the police and district officials responsible for inaction accountable. The government has now shown its willingness to review its decision and we hope to hear encouraging news in the next hearing on Dec 21,” he said.

Marshall said that minority communities were equal citizens of Pakistan according to the country’s constitution and they should not be treated as second-class citizens by the government.

He called for the release of the compensation money to all victim families.

 Addressing the event, British High Commissioner Andrew Dalgleish said the delegation was visiting Jaranwala to express solidarity with the victims of the Aug 16 violence.

“We are also pleased to see the unity between all denominations of the Christian faith on this issue and assure our support in their pursuit for justice,” he said.

Islamabad: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Friday moved a reference to an accountability court, implicating former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his spouse Bushra Bibi in a case involving a £190 million settlement.

The anti-corruption watchdog also named other individuals in the reference include Bushra Bibi's associate Farhat Shahzadi, also known as Farah Gogi, PTI leader Zulfi Bukhari, former accountability official Shahzad Akbar, and Barrister Zia-ul-Mustafa Naseem.

The reference marked conclusion of NAB's investigation, leading to the court placing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief on judicial remand in connection to the case.

The probe focused on allegations that Imran Khan, along with his wife and others, gained control of extensive land under the Al Qadir University Trust, resulting in a reported loss of 190 million pounds to the national exchequer.

According to the charges, the former prime minister and the co-accused purportedly utilized Rs50 billion, equivalent to 190 million pounds at the time, transferred by Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) to the government. The Trust for the Al-Qadir University Project was officially registered by the PTI chief on December 26, 2019.

Dubai: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar met Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on the sidelines of COP-28 conference in Dubai today.

The two leaders discussed bilateral relations and exchanged views on international and regional issues of mutual interest including situation in Afghanistan.

They also discussed the evolving humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Both leaders expressed satisfaction over the upward trajectory in bilateral relations between Pakistan and the Netherlands.

They appreciated the celebrations held in Islamabad and the Hague to mark 75 years of establishment of diplomatic relations this year.

Speaking on the occasion, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar underscored that Pakistan and the Netherlands should work together bilaterally and through the European Union on matters of mutual interest.

He invited the Dutch companies to invest in the areas of agriculture, horticulture, water management and renewable energy in Pakistan.

The Prime Minister highlighted the importance of concrete outcome on climate action and referred to Pakistan's climate vulnerabilities despite being one of the lowest carbons emitters.

He invited the Dutch Prime Minister to visit Pakistan.