Pakistan, Bahrain information ministers vow to strengthen media ties

ISLAMABAD: Jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s top aides said on Friday they had held a meeting with Pakistan Chief Justice Yahya Afridi, in a rare development to discuss drafting a National Judicial Policy.
The move comes days after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Afridi at his residence, with the top judge sharing the agenda of an upcoming meeting of the National Judicial Policy Making Committee and seeking the input of the government on the draft, according to the Supreme Court. The chief justice’s reforms agenda aims to reduce the pendency of cases and provide speedy justice to litigants. 
Afridi had informed PM Sharif during their meeting that he would also be taking the opposition’s input and wanted bi-partisan support for his reforms. 
Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, Gohar Khan, the chairman of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, said the party had met the chief justice on his request to discuss the new National Judicial Policy.
“The chief justice of Pakistan had shared an agenda with us regarding National Judicial Policy and asked for our inputs on ten points,” Gohar said.
Last year, ex-PM Khan had written a letter to then Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, who retired in October, seeking judicial intervention into alleged rigging in the Feb. 8, 2024 national election and the subsequent allocation of reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies, which the PTI says were unfairly allocated to their opponents. 
After the election, the Election Commission of Pakistan had denied the PTI its share of 70 reserved seats in parliament, contending that Khan-backed independent candidates could not claim them. PTI candidates contested the polls independently after the party lost its election symbol in the run-up to election for not holding intra-party elections.
The Supreme Court later struck down the Election Commission of Pakistan’s decision on the reserved seats, calling it “unconstitutional” and ordering that reserved seats be allocated to the PTI.
“We also told him [Chief Justice Afridi] that no one regards SC order as a court order these days. SC orders are not being implemented be it senate elections or reserved seats,” Gohar said.
The PTI chairman added that the chief justice had assured the party of taking “certain measures” to address its issues.
Pakistan, currently bolstered by a $7 billion IMF facility granted in September, is navigating an economic recovery path even as it faces prolonged political crisis. Imran Khan, arguably the country’s most popular politician, has been behind bars since August 2023 in a slew of cases he says are politically motivated. His party has been leading a movement, including through street protests and sit-ins, to demand his release.

DUBAI: Pakistan and India clash in a blockbuster group match at the Champions Trophy on Sunday in Dubai.
AFP Sport looks at five controversial moments on the pitch between the arch-rivals in one-day cricket.
Pakistan’s Javed Miandad always found a way of unsettling his opponents with his batting or sledging, and a match against India at the 1992 World Cup was no different.
Excessive appealing by Indian wicketkeeper Kiran More seemed to have irked Miandad during Pakistan’s chase in Sydney.
The batter had a word with More, who was constantly chatting behind the stumps, before taking guard on a delivery.
Later, after completing a cheeky run, Miandad hopped like a kangaroo in a bid to imitate the glovesman in his appeals.

Commentators and fans saw the funny side but not Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin, who looked visibly furious at Miandad’s antics.
Opener Aamer Sohail was steering Pakistan’s chase in the 1996 World Cup quarter-final when a moment of rashness from the left-handed batter cost his team the game.
Chasing 289 for victory in Bengaluru, Sohail and fellow opener Saeed Anwar made the team race to 84 in 10 overs before Anwar departed.
Sohail kept up the charge as he hit Indian medium-pacer Venkatesh Prasad for a boundary and sledged the bowler with a finger pointed in the direction of the shot.

Prasad hit back, bowling Sohail next ball to a huge roar from the crowd and a send-off gesture from the bowler to derail Pakistan’s chase.
Pakistan’s usually cool Inzamam-ul-Haq infamously confronted an India fan in the stands at a match in 1997 at Toronto and the incident became a talking point for years to come.
Inzamam was standing at the boundary when an India supporter heckled the batter with chants of “Aloo” (Potato in Hindi), referring to the cricketer’s bulky frame.
When the calls became louder on a megaphone, Inzamam directed one of his players to bring a bat from the dressing room and was soon inside the stands to go after the heckler before security intervened.

Inzamam was reprimanded for the act and years later said the chants were personal and abusive.
India batsman Gautam Gambhir — now their coach — smacked Pakistan spinner Shahid Afridi for a boundary in a match in 2007 and words were exchanged before the two nearly came to blows.
Gambhir and Afridi refused to back down after some verbal volleys and the batter and bowler collided — seemingly on purpose — in between a run.
The two again had a go at each other with expletives clearly visible in dramatic TV images, before the on-field umpire intervened to douse the fire.
Gambhir and Afridi have kept up the rivalry even after retiring and indulge in ugly exchanges on social media on cricket and politics.
Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar never backed down from a fight but in a duel with Harbhajan Singh at the 2010 Asia Cup the Indian spinner had the last laugh.

Akhtar bowled a dot ball to tailender Harbhajan in India’s chase and threw a few sledges, but that only triggered the batter to hit a six for an India victory in the final over off Mohammad Amir.
HarbHajjan celebrated wildly in front of Akhtar, who told him where to go.
Akhtar and HarbHajjan recently playfully re-enacted the moment on TV in a promotion video for the Champions Trophy.