Clash over mosque averted

RAWALPINDI, Oct 13: A possible clash over the occupation of a mosque in Gulzar-i-Quaid between the police and members of a religious party was averted on Thursday with the intervention of the residents of the area.
The two-storey Jamia Masjid with a hall in the basement was stormed by the activists of a religious party following the six-member committee of the mosque developed differences over some religious activities.

As the religious party activists began to intercept the people at the mosque gate, some local residents informed City Police Officer (CPO) Azhar Hameed Khokhar who came there with a heavy police contingent. However, some local residents intervened and the clash between the police and religious party activists averted as the CPO was assured that the mosque would be evacuated and the matter would be resolved amicably. — Our Reporter

8 police officials move IHC

ISLAMABAD, Oct 13: Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday sought reply from interior ministry and the Inspectors General of Police (IGPs) of Islamabad, Punjab and Sindh in a petition challenging the restriction on the police officials to appear before United Nations Selections Assistance Team (UNSAT) for induction in UN peacekeeping missions.
Eight Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs) and five inspectors filed the petition through their counsel Chaudhry Mohammad Ashraf Gujjar.

The single-member bench of the IHC comprising Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan directed interior ministry to consider the cases of those police officers who were barred from participating in the selection process for the UN peacekeeping missions and adjourned the hearing till October 18.

DSP Hameedullah, Abdul Ghafoor Malik, Mohammad Khan, Rustam Ali, Badruz Zaman, Abdul Latif, Shareef Khan and Khalid Rasheed were among the petitioners.—A Reporter

More funds for flood victims

ISLAMABAD Oct 13: Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in collaboration with International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC), International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and partner national societies would develop donor strategy to collect more funds for the rain-hit people of Sindh.

It was decided on Thursday in a meeting of the representatives of IFRC, ICRC and partner national societies. PRCS Chairperson Sherry Rehman chaired the meeting.

The representatives of the societies briefed the chairperson about their relief activities in the rain-affected areas of Sindh.

The sister national societies that participated in the meeting included Danish Red Cross, Norwegian Red Cross, Canadian Red Cross, British Red Cross, German Red Cross, UAE Red Crescent, Qatar Red Crescent and Turkish Red Crescent Society.— A Reporter

IFRC Head of Pakistan Delegation Karen H Bjornestad informed the meeting that they along with the PRCS were making assessments and they, after concrete information from the fields, would seek more funding for the victims to provide them assistance in the fields of livelihood, water and sanitation and medical care. She said that the assessment would be completed by the end of this month. She also stressed gearing up of the efforts to seek funding from potential donors within the country.

The ICRC Acting Head of Delegation also briefed the meeting about its relief activities in the rain-affected areas.  The representatives also informed the meeting about the efforts so far they had made to provide relief to the victims. Speaking on the occasion, PRCS Chairperson Sherry Rehman lauded the services of the IFRC, ICRC and partner national societies in this hour of need.

Sherry Rehman said despite efforts from all the sectors to help the victims, there was still a dire need to expedite relief activities as water was yet to recede, the crops had vanished and thousands of people were still without shelters while there was an urgent need of medicines to cope up with the diseases in the affected areas.She said it was high time to make coordinated efforts to meet the challenge and rehabilitate the rain and flood victims in the shortest possible time.

She said that families were still living in temporary shelters, hemmed in by floodwater that turned into a breeding ground for water-borne diseases.

She urged the representatives to gear up their efforts to seek more funding to help the victims in time as winter season was also approaching.