Police have arrested three friends of Abdul Kareem Sarosh Siddiqui, a major suspect in the last week’s murder attempt on Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Khawaja Izharul Hasan.

The three young men were reportedly part of Siddiqui’s network at University of Karachi (KU) and are students of the institution.

Express News reported on Tuesday that Siddiqui’s network in KU, said to be involved in the assassination attempt, had been busted, with the police detaining three of his friends and moving them to an undisclosed location.

Mohammad Ali Khan, a Pakistani-American living in Sacramento, California, succumbed to injuries he received after an alleged assault on August 27.

Sacramento police officers were called to the scene after Khan who is said to be in his 30s was found bleeding and in need of medical attention. A press release by the police department asked potential witnesses to help in the assault investigations.

Pakistani student critically hurt in hit-and-run in NYC

“Preliminary information obtained through the investigation suggests that the victim’s injuries were possibly caused by a physical assault,” stated the press release.

An update in a Facebook post by Khan’s close friend Juanita Mancillas confirmed he had succumbed to his injuries and passed away.

Pakistani-American student bashed, left in a pool of blood in Australia

Shedding more light on the incident of that night, Mancillas wrote he was attending her sister’s birthday in downtown Sacramento. He left the party at 1:40am and “sometime between 1:40am and 2:15 am he either fell or was assaulted. His phone, keys and wallet were taken. There was still a crowd of people around at the time that this happened.”

Khan’s mother who was supposed to visit him in October “had to take an emergency 26 hour flight from Pakistan yesterday only to say goodbye to her son who she loves so fiercely,” writes Mancillas.

The police department states no motive has yet been established and that they “are requesting the public’s assistance in any information they may have related to the incident.”

ISLAMABAD: A majority of pilgrims who went to perform Hajj under the government scheme have mocked the tall claims made by the government about providing “maximum amount of facilities to them”.

While announcing the Hajj Policy 2017, the government had promised the best possible arrangements for pilgrims this year like express clearance services at Jeddah and Madina airports; modern transport; 100% accommodation in Madina; cooked meals three times a day; filtered water and effective cooling systems in each maktab at Mina; fireproof tents; separate washrooms, etc.

This year the Hajj quota of 179,210 pilgrims was divided into a 60/40 ratio between the government and Private Hajj Group Organisers (HGOs).

In pictures: Hajj 2017

However, with the exception of a few, the pilgrims have expressed their disappointment over the arrangements made by the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Saudi Arabia.

They took to social media website Facebook and sharing application Whatsapp to register their complaints. Most of them faced problems like inadequate transport facility, delivery of food and regulation of its quality at Mina.

Some posted videos and pictures to highlight their plight like overcrowding at camps that forced them to spend time under the scorching sun and take refuge on footpaths at nights. Elderly suffered a lot due to the absence of tents at Mina.

Two million pilgrims converge on Makkah for Hajj

Ayan Shaikh, who went to perform Hajj under the government scheme commented, “Agree, miserable conditions, no food, no water.”

Abuzer Khan commented, “Worst arrangements from government during 5 days of hajj. No transportation no one was there to inform, no volunteer in Arafat…”

Hammad Hasan commented, “I need to raise the complaints on behalf of pakistani Hajis here in Mina. I have visited the camp 12/520 and very disappointed to see the vulnerable situation of Hajis as they have not been provided transportation services to bring them from Azizia to Mina tents.

Pilgrims on govt-scheme Hajj tour facing problems in Saudi Arabia

“They have come to Mina on their own. Nobody there to guide them, no Moallim, no volunteers to guide them. Tomorrow they have to go to Arafat and yet they dont know if they will be provided any transportation? Lunch was also served today. its been really poor services by Pakistan Hajj Commission.”

Rehan Zubair Khalid said, “Poor facilities in maktib 94 under govt. Hajj scheme.”

Arshad Khan Iqbal commented, “Terrible stay in mina congested and hot in camp maktab 88.”

Hajj fraud: Over a hundred stage protest against devious tour operator

While those who went to the holy land under the private scheme showed complete satisfaction over the arrangements.

However, officials at the religious affairs ministry shifted all the blame on Saudi Arabia, saying the complaints pertained to only the affairs managed by the Saudi authorities.

“There is no complaint from the pilgrims against us as the complaints pertain to transport facilities, delivery of food and regulation of its quality in the Mashair area, including Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah. The Saudi authorities are responsible for these affairs,” they said.

They also claimed that the private Hajj operators were involved in defaming the Pakistani government by posting negative comments on the official Facebook page. “They want to pressurise the government into increasing the Hajj quota allotted to them.”

Pakistani pilgrims in Makkah laud government’s Hajj scheme

Meanwhile, preparations for the return journey of 179,210 pilgrims from Saudi Arabia will commence from Wednesday (September 6), and continue till September 22, the Ministry of Religious Affairs announced on Monday.

8 flights carrying Pakistani pilgrims will land at Lahore, Peshawar, Islamabad, Faisalabad and Multan airports on Wednesday, according to the flight schedule issued by the religious affairs ministry. Total number of Pakistanis returning home from Hajj is 47,177.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday rejected a statement by the five emerging-market BRICS powers that militant groups in Pakistan pose a regional security concern, with its defence minister saying no group operates freely inside Pakistan.

The minister’s response follows a statement on Monday by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa that also called for patrons of the Pakistan-based militant groups to be held to account. “These organizations, they have some of their remnants in Pakistan, which we’re cleaning,” Defence Minister Khurram Dastagir Khan told a private news channel, without specifying which groups he was referring to.

BRICS summit: LeT, JeM ‘threat to regional peace’

“But Pakistan, we reject this thing categorically, no terrorist organization has any complete safe havens.” The groups named by the BRICS include anti-India militant factions such as Jaish-e-Mohammad, which was blamed for a 2001 attack on India’s parliament, and Lashkar-e-Taiba, which India blames for cross-border attacks including a 2008 assault in its financial capital Mumbai in which 166 people were killed.

Another group the BRICS named was the Haqqani network, which is allied with the Afghan Taliban militants waging war on the US-backed government in Kabul and foreign forces there. The United States has been calling on Pakistan to do more to tackle alleged Haqqani network sanctuaries on the Pakistani side of the Afghan border, or it might cut military aid. China is also concerned about militant influence spilling over from Pakistan and Afghanistan into its far-western Xinjiang region, where some members of a Muslim minority chafe at Chinese Communist Party rule.

Pakistan inflation rate rises to 3.42%

Countries attending a December conference aimed at stabilising Afghanistan made a similar statement, naming several Pakistan-based groups as a source of concern. Pakistan has always strongly denied offering safe havens to militants groups.

Dear Asad,

I am a 30-year-old single man. For the last one month, I have been talking to a girl who is older than me. According to her, she is 35 and still not married. I have not seen her but she has an idea of me through my pictures.

We have been talking almost every day on WhatsApp and now, I am used to her. You can say that I am now kind of addicted to her, a little bit. But we are just good friends. I have been teasing her often by saying that ‘I will marry you if I do not find any girl of my age or younger than me’. She always took the conversation sportingly and never minded it. Once she told me that she was also talking to other guys, and then I felt hurt. 

Ask Asad: My wife has no faith in our marriage. Should I consider my future plans without her?

Although we are not in a relationship and she is free to talk to anyone she wants to but I think I am getting jealous. I now even stalk her on WhatsApp. I know it is wrong but I am unable to stop myself. Please suggest me a solution to avoid this situation and how that I should mind my own business.

A stalker

Dear stalker,

Thank you for reaching out to me and being so honest about your problem. You realise that you have a stalking problem and it is the first step to recovery.

Just do not stalk her because this makes you a desperate person and a creep. Please, pardon my language but I am just being honest here.

She seems like a frank and mature person who has been straight with you and has not made any false promises so far. She has been very clear that she is in communication with other potential suitors – which is her right – and does not want you to have any false hopes. It is her life and she has every right to follow any step that she believes is best for her happiness and future.

Ask Asad: My mother is a widow but she has remarried. What should I do?

I would like to take the liberty here of suggesting that you are actually not in love with her. You are just infatuated with her. Only because she is talking to other guys, you are getting disturbed. If she were to stop talking with other guys and only talk to you, you would start losing interest in her pretty fast. Basically, it is your pride that is taking a beating since you feel that you are replaceable in her life.

The way I see it, you have two choices. Either you can keep on stalking her and eventually lose her friendship or you can come to terms with the fact that she is only interested in you as a good friend and you both continue that way. My advice is for the latter. Good friends are hard to come by. Cherish your friendship with her. Do not lose it because of your silly jealousy. It is not worth it.

As for as, how you should control yourself from stalking her is concerned, I think, the following steps should be helpful for you.

1) Start looking for someone who is in the age group that you want to marry into rather than spending your time stalking a woman whom you believe is too old for you.

Ask Asad: How can I marry after being sexually assaulted?

2) Practice self-control to give you more control over yourself and your emotions. Whenever you feel like stalking her, tell yourself it is wrong and psychotic and that you are a better person than this.

3) Try to distract yourself by engaging in some kind of an activity whenever you feel like stalking her. Go for a walk, watch TV, read a book or do anything that will help you take your mind off her.

4) Whenever you feel the urge to stalk her, stalk celebrities instead. Celebrities are always doing neurotic, self-absorbed stuff that will not make you feel crummy when you look at it. Moreover, they essentially make a living off of being spied on. It is a win-win situation for everyone.

All the best!

Asad

Asad is a counsellor, life coach, inspirational speaker and a personal-development expert. He advises on social, personal and emotional issues. You can send him your questions for this weekly column at advice@tribune.com.pk with “Ask Asad” mentioned in the subject line and provide as many details as possible.

Note: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Express Tribune.

After the killing of a Chinese man and woman in Balochistan by militants, Beijing is at cross-roads. The two, who landed in Pakistan with the aims of teaching Mandarin in Quetta, were actually Christian missionaries aiming to preach Christianity in a predominant Muslim country, according to a report published in the BBC.

The report claimed after the kidnapping and killing of the duo, there have been internal crackdowns on Christians in China. Islamic State announced on June 8 that Meng Lisi and Li Xinheng, who were in their mid-twenties, had been killed. The pair had been kidnapped in Quetta on May 24.

“Their story draws attention to an unintended and often overlooked by-product of China’s aggressive drive to develop new trading routes and carve out influences across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East,” the BBC report stated.

Islamic State claims it killed two Chinese teachers kidnapped in Quetta

The report elaborates on the presence of ‘underground’ or ‘home’ churches that exist beyond the official authorised protestant churches in the province of Zheijang, where the two had joined these underground churches. Meng Lisi and Li Xinheng,transformed the ways in which Christians were treated in China. Li’s mother who wanted to be named as Mrs Liu told the BBC that she is ‘proud’ of her son if he was ‘proselytising’ there. However, she expressed her dismay and questioned, “Why didn’t the Chinese government tell the Pakistan side to save our children?”

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, a day after the Islamic State announced the killing, responded to a journalist saying, “You asked about the risk in building of the Belt and Road. I shall say that going global comes with risks.”

Since the incident in June, Christians in China have witnessed multiple crackdowns. “[The government] has detained at least four preachers from church groups in Zheijang as a part of a targeted blitz against house churches connected to overseas missions,” said Bob Fu, whose US-based China Aid group supports Christians in the country.

“They have been released but are not allowed to continue their activities and are banned from giving media interviews,” the report quoted Bob Fu as saying. The report also claimed that China’s Christians have been subjected to “increased scrutiny and harassment” in the last five years. “Crosses were torn down from more than 1,000 churches in Zheijand between 2014 and 2016,” the BBC report added.

“In Quetta, Chinese individuals could occasionally be seen on the streets before the May kidnapping but since then they have vanished,” the report continued. Professor Hasan Askari Rizvi, a Pakistani political and security analyst, said Chinese and Pakistani officials would have robustly discussed the Quetta case behind closed doors. “The likeliest outcome would be a combined set of procedures on both sides to ensure this doesn’t happen again,” he said. Indeed, China has continued to stress that it and Pakistan are “all-weather strategic partners”.

The fact that China has invested more than $55 billion in Pakistan as a key beneficiary of its “grand plan” to connect Asia and Europe with a new Silk Road comes with a plethora of risks. Such major infrastructure projects stemming from China have created difficulties for the locals and Chinese tourists.

Abducted Chinese engaged in preaching: Nisar told

In Gwadar, the centrepiece of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, frequent attacks by insurgents have denied Chinese workers the freedom of unguarded movement on the streets, reporters there say. They remain in secure compounds and move under heavy security escort, according to the report.

But Beijing knows that as more and more Chinese missionaries follow the new Silk Road, other cases like this are bound to occur.