[Current Affairs] August 25,2020 Top Pakistan Current Affairs for FPSC Test Preparation

What’s going on? Another blasphemy accusation, this time against political commentator, journalist and human rights activist, Marvi Sirmed. This story isn’t in mainstream media outlets yet. Based on what we have gathered from Twitter chatter, South Asians Against Terrorism & For Human Rights (SAATH) Forum released a statement condemning “the orchestrated blasphemy campaign and allegations against Sirmed.” Sirmed appears to be a SAATH member as well.

The details: According to SAATH Forum’s statement, Sirmed openly criticizes enforced disappearances in Pakistan. She has also shared names, pictures and dates of citizens who she believes were illegally picked up by Pakistani intelligence agencies. Sirmed tweeted a satirical meme that was supposed to be in reference to enforced disappearances. However, some people didn’t think the tweet about ‘a Mullah,’ ‘Jesus Christ,’ ‘God,’ and ‘Baloch missing persons’ was very funny. Instead, Sirmed said her tweet is generating “a lot of abuse, blasphemy allegations and threats.”

The bottom line: Basically, Sirmed intended to make a sarcastic comment about enforced disappearances in Balochistan. Sirmed believes her tweet didn’t insult any religion, but certainly pointed to “Pakistan’s dark forces.” A blasphemy accusation in Pakistan comes with dangerous consequences. Blasphemy can be punishable by death. Even though the state hasn’t formally executed anyone under the blasphemy law yet, mobs and vigilantes bring it upon themselves to target people facing blasphemy accusations.

Karachi based Business to Business (B2B) e-commerce marketplace, Dastgyr, raised a six-figure (USD) investment from angel investors in the US, Middle East, and Pakistan. They didn’t disclose the exact amount. Dastgyr is a mobile platform that makes it easy for grocery store owners to get inventory for their stores. Entrepreneurs and investors are reportedly taking a lot of interest in Pakistan’s B2B e-commerce space since there is a lot of opportunity. In the last three months, B2B e-commerce startups Bazaar and Tajir raised over $3 million in funding from local and international investors.