ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Iran on Monday committed to increasing their annual trade volume to $10 billion over the next five years, as part of an understanding to deepen relations across all sectors.
This was agreed during a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, who is on a three-day visit to Pakistan leading a delegation comprising cabinet ministers, senior officials, and business representatives.
In addition, the interior ministers of both countries decided in principle to ban terrorist organisations in their respective countries, while also increasing cooperation in border management, including steps for prevention of smuggling and drugs trafficking, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
President Raisi, in his media statement, described the current level of bilateral trade as “unacceptable” and “as a first step” decided to raise this to $10 billion. The new target set by the two leaders looks highly ambitious given that the trade between the two countries last year stood at about $2.3 billion despite a significant boost in trade after the two countries signed MoUs for facilitating bilateral trade in Jan 2023.
Later in August, the two sides chalked out a five-year trade plan for realising the 2021 goal of increasing trade to $5 billion.
Since 2005, the two countries have been operating under a preferential trade agreement and have been negotiating a free trade agreement, which many anticipated would be concluded during the Iranian president’s visit.
Several factors have impeded trade growth between Iran and Pakistan, including international sanctions on Iran, security issues in border regions, and inadequate border infrastructure as well as economic misalignment.
Moreover, banking and payment issues due to the lack of direct banking channels and the necessity to comply with international financial regulations hinder smooth economic interactions.
Fluctuating political and diplomatic relations influenced by external geopolitical pressures also affect the execution of bilateral trade agreements. The two sides, which share nearly 900km of border, are specifically eyeing the development of border markets to increase trade.
Border trade
In his media remarks, Mr Raisi highlighted the long border between the two neighbouring countries as a significant opportunity for enhancing bilateral relations. He acknowledged that some measures have already been taken to facilitate border trade, but described these efforts as “insufficient”.
Emphasising the need for further action, he advocated for additional steps to “activate trade and business in border areas”. President Raisi expressed that increasing commercial activity along the border would not only improve security but also boost the welfare of the communities residing in these regions.
Pakistan and Iran had in May last year inaugurated the Mand-Pishin market, one of the planned six border markets that are to be jointly constructed by the two countries.
Separately, in a meeting between Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and his Iranian counterpart Dr Ahmad Vahidi, both agreed on a joint plan of action to deal with the menace of terrorism by further improving mutual support and exchange of intelligence information. Both sides also resolved to sign a security agreement in this regard.
It was also decided to provide all possible facilities to the Pakistani pilgrims on the occasion of Arba’een. The Iranian interior minister extended an invitation to his Pakistani counterpart to visit Iran in that regard where the Iraqi counterpart would also be invited.
Pak-Iran gas pipeline
It was widely expected that the leaders of both countries would in their meetings discuss the fate of the stalled Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline especially after Islamabad earlier this year decided to construct an 80km line within its territory to pre-empt Tehran from initiating arbitration in international courts that could potentially lead to a penalty of $18 billion.
“Probably, you can find some individuals who do not favour expansion and promotion of good bilateral relations between Iran and Pakistan but who cares? It is not important,” Mr Raisi said referring to the critics of Pak-Iran ties.
A PMO statement also mentioned a commitment by both leaders to expanding cooperation in the energy sector, but did not specify any project.
Security along Pak-Iran border
Border security also remains a significant area of contention between the two countries. This region has become a breeding ground for drug trafficking, smuggling, and the movement of militant groups.
Tensions escalated in January when Iran struck suspected militant hideouts inside Pakistan. In response, Pakistan targeted sanctuaries of suspected Baloch separatists in Iran, leading to a temporary downgrade of diplomatic ties. However, both countries quickly acted to mend the rift.
Mr Raisi cursorily touched on the issue noting the commonality of views on fighting terrorism, organised crime, narco-trafficking and other manifestations of instability. According to the PMO statement, PM Shehbaz and President Raisi agreed to “develop joint approaches to confront common challenges including the threat of terrorism.”
Meeting with army chief
In another meeting President Raisi discussed regional stability and border security with Chief of Army Staff Gen Asim Munir.
According to an ISPR statement, both sides concurred on the necessity to bolster bilateral cooperation while jointly striving for regional stability and economic prosperity.
Gen Munir emphasised the need to improve coordination along the border to prevent terrorists from jeopardising the longstanding relations between the two neighboring countries, ISPR said.
Gaza crisis
Both PM Shehbaz and President Raisi in their comments expressed strong and unequivocal condemnation of the ongoing genocide in Gaza by Israel and reiterated the call for international efforts to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.
Though PM Shehbaz reminded Mr Raisi of Iran’s support for the Kashmir cause, the Iranian leader avoided mentioning that in his comments.
Separately, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar called on Mr Raisi after his arrival at the Nur Khan Airbase. He also met President Asif Zardari. President Raisi will also travel to Lahore and Karachi.
Eight MoUs signed
Pakistan and Iran signed eight MoUs aimed at enhancing bilateral cooperation across a broad spectrum of areas.
These agreements, signed in the presence of PM Shehbaz and President Raisi, included a security cooperation agreement to bolster mutual security measures and an agreement on judicial assistance focusing on civil matters to enhance legal collaboration.
Additionally, an agreement to promote film exchange and cooperation in the audio-visual sectors was established, marking a significant step towards cultural exchange.
Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2024
PESHAWAR / QUETTA: Security forces on Tuesday claimed to have eliminated thirteen alleged terrorists in three operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, over the past 48 hours.
A statement issued by the military’s media wing said that 11 alleged terrorists were killed in two intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in Dera Ismail Khan and North Waziristan on Monday and Tuesday.
Ten of them were gunned down in D.I. Khan, where seven Customs officers have been slain by unidentified attackers in the last six days.
The statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) read that security forces carried out the operation following intelligence reports about the presence of alleged terrorists.
ISPR says 11 dead in D.I. Khan, North Waziristan; two ‘militants’ killed in ongoing operation in Pishin highlands
“After an intense fire exchange, ten terrorists were successfully neutralised,” it added.
Separately, one alleged militant was gunned down in North Waziristan district, ISPR said, adding that arms and ammunition were also recovered from the alleged militants’ possession.
“The killed terrorists remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area against security forces as well as the innocent civilians,” the statement read.
This is the second operation launched by security in North Waziristan, bordering Afghanistan, in less than a week.
On April 17, the military claimed to have thwarted an infiltration attempt from Afghanistan by killing seven militants who were trying to cross into Pakistan.
Two ‘terrorists’ killed in Pishin
In Balochistan’s Pishin district, two alleged terrorists were killed and several injured in a gun battle with the security forces on Monday.
According to officials, the local administration received information about the presence of terrorists in the Sanzalai mountain range of Pishin, following which an operation was planned.
As security forces, including personnel of Frontier Corps, Levies and Police, closed in on the terrorists’ hideout, they opened fire.
Following a heavy exchange of fire, which lasted for an hour, two terrorists were killed, according to Pishin Deputy Commissioner Jumma Dad Mandokhail.
He also said that some terrorists were reportedly injured in the gun battle.
According to DC Mandokhail, the deceased terrorists were involved in the March 27 attack on security forces, in which a Levies risaldar had embraced martyrdom.
The encounter between security forces and suspects in the Killi Manzari area of Pishin also left four Levies officials injured. Following the gun battle, the terrorists had escaped into the Sanzalai mountain range.
DC Mandokhail added that the operation was ongoing against the alleged terrorists in the area and will continue until they are “completely eliminated”.
Meanwhile, the officials of the Frontier Corps (North) have claimed that the terrorists had crossed into Pishin from Afghanistan and had established their pickets on top of the hills.
Locals have also been informed about the terrorists’ presence in the mountains and cautioned against going into the area due to the ongoing operation.
Locals should not extend any help to these terrorists, FC officials warned.
Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2024
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) asked the special prosecutor of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Monday why a copy of the cipher or its content had not been shared with the trial court judge, when the entire proceedings in the cipher case revolved around that single document.
Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb made this observation while hearing the appeals of ex-premier Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi against their conviction in the cipher case.
A special court, established under the Official Secrets Act, handed both Mr Khan and Mr Qureshi 10-year jail sentences each in the case after Judge Abual Hasnat Zulqarnain appointed a state counsel for them.
The cipher case pertains to a diplomatic document that the FIA’s charge sheet alleges was never returned by then-PM Imran Khan, who long held that the document contained a threat from the US to topple his government.
As member of the division bench that also comprised IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, Justice Aurangzeb noted that the cipher could be produced before the judge in a confidential manner.
The bench was of the opinion that since the proceeding in this matter is criminal in nature, the benefit of doubt will go in favour of the accused persons.
Earlier, FIA’s special prosecutor Hamid Ali Shah informed the bench that the missing cipher was a ‘Grade-II’ classified document and disclosure of its contents compromised its security protocol.
“Every coded communication is considered a secret document,” he reasoned.
During the course of arguments, the FIA counsel defined the cipher and its security protocol. He also submitted a booklet about the security protocol for cipher and apprised the court that the booklet was issued for ‘official use only’.
Earlier on Jan 18, only weeks before the Feb 8 general elections, former principal secretary Azam Khan testified before the special court that the cipher never returned to his office.
The former bureaucurat claimed he had intimated the then prime minister, his military secretary as well as the relevant staff numerous times.
Four days later, former foreign secretary Sohail Mehmood appeared before the trial court, claiming that the copy sent to ex-PM Khan was never returned while Mr Qureshi said he returned the copy to the ministry and the ex-secretary replied in the affirmative.
On the other hand, Mr Khan had claimed that the cipher was still with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and he had received only a rephrased version of the diplomatic cable.
However, the FIA special prosecutor told the IHC bench on Monday that the original copy of cipher remained in the custody of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the transcript was sent to the designated offices, adding that those copies were destroyed upon return.
The court adjourned further hearing till Tuesday (today).
Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2024
ISLAMABAD: A full court meeting of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) will deliberate upon proposals on Tuesday (today) to finalise the same before their submission to the Supreme Court in a matter related to the alleged meddling by personnel of intelligence agencies in judicial affairs.
Interestingly, six of the eight IHC judges who will take stock of the issue and come up with recommendations are themselves the complainant in this regard before the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).
According to a notice circulated among all the eight judges by the IHC registrar office, the meeting will be convened on April 23, at 2:30pm.
The Supreme Court had initiated suo motu proceeding on the letter of six of the eight IHC judges against the alleged meddling in the judicial affairs. In its April 3 order, the SC called for proposals from the main stakeholders in the judicial system and the independence of judiciary, namely the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), high courts and the federal government.
Proposals to be submitted to apex court may be finalised by 25th
“They should suggest what should be the institutional response and mechanism to address the issues like the ones raised in the letter [of IHC judges] and ensure that such issues do not arise in future and, if they do, to fix liability and proceed against those responsible,” the order stated. In any such process, it added, the idea was to empower the high courts and their chief justices to deal with issues relating to the judges.
Since the apex court had sought the proposal by April 25, sources said the IHC registrar office circulated the apex court order among the judges and sought their final proposal by the deadline. The IHC administration will then file a consolidated report to the SC.
Initially, a seven-member larger SC bench had conducted a hearing on the suo motu proceedings.
Justice Yahya Afridi, however, recused himself from hearing this case, stating: “This may affect the functioning of the worthy chief justice and judges in their discharge of judicial functions, and would to my mind amount to interference in the independence of high courts.”
“To proceed on the proposed action of suo motu would negate the lessons moved into action by public sentiments no matter how pressing the issue may appear,” Justice Afridi emphasised, adding that one must also not ignore that the high courts under the Constitution were independent establishments envisaged to regulate not only their administrative functions, but also provide security to and safeguard the judicial officers in the discharge of their judicial functions.“
In their letter, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Justice Arbab Mohammad Tahir and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz had hinted at the alleged involvement of ISI in judicial matters.
Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2024
ISLAMABAD: The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) grabbed the highest number of seats in the by-polls held in 21 National and provincial assembly constituencies on April 21.
According to Forms-47 released by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), the party clinched two of the five National Assembly seats, nine out of 12 Punjab Assembly seats, and one out of the two Balochistan Assembly seats up for grabs.
The PPP and PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council, and an independent candidate won a National Assembly seat each. The PPP, PML-Q, and Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party (IPP) got one seat each in the Punjab Assembly.
In a major upset, an independent candidate Mubarak Zeb — brother of slain independent candidate Rehan Zeb, who was killed before the February 8 general elections — won from the NA-8 Bajaur constituency defeating Gul Zafar Khan.
PPP, PTI clinch one National Assembly seat each
Faisal Amin Khan won the National Assembly seat from NA-44 in Dera Ismail Khan vacated by his brother Ali Amin Gandapur. He bagged 66,860 votes while his rival Rasheed Khan Kundi of the PPP got 21,970.
In NA-119 (Lahore), Ali Pervaiz of the PML-N won by securing 51,086 votes. Runner-up Shahzad Farooq backed by the PTI got 34,197 votes. The seat was vacated by Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.
The NA-132 (Kasur) seat vacated by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was won by Rasheed Ahmed Khan of the PML-N to become the only person in the by-polls to secure more than 100,000 votes. He got 146,849 votes while PTI-backed Sardar Hussain Dogar got 34,197 votes
In Sindh’s Qamber Shahdadkot, PPP’s Khursheed Junejo won the NA-196 constituency, vacated by party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, with 91,581 votes. The only other candidate in the race was Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan’s Muhammad Ali, who got 2,763 votes.
Punjab Assembly
In Chakwal-cum-Talagang’s PP-22, PML-N’s Falak Sher Awan defeated SIC’s Nisar Ahmad. They secured 58,845 and 49,979 votes, respectively.
In Gujrat’s PP-32, former Punjab CM Chaudhry Parvez Elahi was defeated by his nephew, PML-Q’s Musa Elahi, who clinched 71,357 votes. The former CM could only bag 37,106 votes.
PML-N’s Adnan Afzal Chattha won the PP-36 Wazirabad seat defeating PTI’s Faiz Chattha. They secured 74,769 and 58,682 votes, respectively.
The PP-54 Narowal seat was won by federal minister Ahsan Iqbal’s son Ahmed Iqbal who defeated SIC’s Awais Qasim. The winner received 59,234 votes while his opponent could get 45,762 votes.
In Bhakkar’s PP-93, PML-N’s Saeed Akbar Khan defeated an independent candidate Afzal Dhandla in a close contest. They secured 62,058 and 58,845 votes, respectively. In PP-139 Sheikhupura, PML-N’s Rana Afzaal Hussain won by bagging 45,585 votes. SIC’s Mian Ijaz Hussain bagged only 29,833 votes.
In PP-147 Lahore, Muhammad Riaz of the PML-N won by just getting 31,841 votes. He defeated an independent candidate Muhammad Khan Madani who got 16,548 votes in an electoral race marked by low turn-out (13.97 per cent).
The Form-47 shows that SIC’s candidate Shahrukh Jamal Butt pulled out of the race after the passage of the deadline for the withdrawal of his nomination papers. In PP-149 Lahore, Muhammad Shoaib Siddiqui of the Istehkam-i-Pakistan Party emerged victorious by securing 47,722 votes. He beat SIC’s Zeeshan Rasheed who managed to get 26,209 votes.
PML-N’s Chaudhry Muhammad Nawaz won from Lahore’s PP-158, defeating SIC’s Chaudhry Moonis Elahi. They got 40,165 and 28,018 votes, respectively. On the PP-164 seat from Lahore, PML-N’s Rashid Minhas defeated SIC’s Mohammad Yousuf.
In Rahim Yar Khan’s PP-266, PPP’s Mumtaz Ali defeated PML-N’s Muhammad Safdar Khan Leghari by a clear margin. They secured 47,181 and 34,552 votes, respectively. SIC’s Ch Samiullah was far behind in the race with 14,627 votes.
In PP-290 Dera Ghazi Khan, PML-N’s Ali Ahmad Khan Leghari won against independent candidate Sardar Muhammad Mohiuddin. They respectively secured 62,484 and 23,670 votes.
KP Assembly
Mubarak Zeb Khan, who won the National Assembly seat from Bajaur also emerged victorious on PK-22, Bajaur, securing 23,386 votes. He defeated Abid Khan of the Jamaat-i-Islami who got 10,477 votes. PTI’s Daud Shah won PK-91, Kohat with 23,496 votes, while independent candidate Imtiaz Shahid got 16,518 votes.
Similarly, PML-N’s Muhammad Zareen Khan Magsi won the provincial assembly seat PB-22 from Lasbela, receiving 49,777 votes, whereas independent Shah Nawaz Hasan secured 3,869 votes.
Balochistan National Party-Mengal candidate Mir Jahanzeb Mengal won the provincial assembly seat from the PB-20 constituency of Khuzdar, receiving 28,175 votes, while independent candidate Shafiq Mengal got 20,344 votes.
Moreover, a re-election was held in PB-50, Killa Abdullah, from where Zamarak Khan of the Awami National Party won with 72,032 votes, while Mir Wais Khan Achakzai of Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party came second with 57,132 votes. The turn-out in this constituency remained highest (79.65 pc).
Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2024
ISLAMABAD: In a surprise display of conciliation in the National Assembly, opposition Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) on Monday offered “cooperation and constructive engagement” in the parliamentary proceedings, as the government made a significant goodwill gesture by withdrawing suspension of the two PTI lawmakers whose entry had been banned by the speaker due to their rowdy behaviour during the joint sitting of parliament last week.
The motion seeking the withdrawal of the suspension order against PTI MNAs Jamshed Dasti and Mohammad Iqbal Khan was moved by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and it was readily approved by the assembly through a voice vote after reconciliatory speeches by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Speaker Ayaz Sadiq had suspended the membership of the two lawmakers for the remainder of the current session for “eroding the sanctity” of the assembly by “indulging in rowdy behaviour” during President Asif Zardari’s address to the joint sitting of parliament on April 18.
The speaker had given his ruling after seeking the house approval on a motion through a voice vote and he repeated the same action on Monday for withdrawal of his previous order.
Govt moves motion to restore PTI MNAs’ membership; opposition agrees to join house business advisory committee
This unexpected thaw in relations sparked some optimism among lawmakers, paving the way for a more harmonious and productive parliamentary session. However, the speech of fiery PTI MNA from Karak Shahid Khattak indicated that this cooperation might not last long or perhaps was part of a strategic move ahead of the formation of the standing committees.
Shortly before the adjournment of the sitting till Tuesday evening, Mr Khattak while speaking on a point of order categorically announced they would not let this house run till the release of their founding chairman Imran Khan from the jail.
“We are being given Bhaashan (lectures) that we want to run this house. If Imran Khan is not released, we will not let this house run,” declared MNA Khattak. He said if it was a sin to call “mandate thieves and vote thieves” to those who had come to the power through rigging, then he would continue to repeat it.
PPP lawmaker Shazia Marri, who took the floor after his speech, said it seemed there were some lawmakers who did not want this assembly to discuss the issues being faced by the people. She termed it inappropriate to link parliament’s functioning with someone’s release. She also castigated the opposition members for their noisy protest during the oath-taking of Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, reminding the house that some members had attempted to “sabotage the constitutional process” of oath-taking.
At the outset, leader of the opposition Omar Ayub Khan requested the speaker to review decision of suspending the two PTI lawmakers as per his commitment during a meeting with the opposition members’ delegation in his chamber.
The PTI leader then raised the issue of alleged rigging in by-polls, held on April 21.
PTI’s chief whip Aamir Dogar said that recording their protest in parliament was their democratic right and they would continue to do so. He recalled that in the previous assembly, the opposition members also brought whistles and trumpets during the protests, but the then speaker Asad Qaiser showed patience and did not take any action against them.
Mr Dogar asked the speaker to withdraw the suspension orders of both legislators, stating that the opposition members were ready to become a part of the house business advisory committee to discuss the ways and means to improve the atmosphere in the assembly. He expressed the hope that the speaker would take steps to take the members from both sides on board in order to improve the environment.
The chief whip of the opposition party also welcomed the visiting Iranian president and lauded Iran for giving a “befitting response” to Israel that, he said, was “the biggest terrorist” in the world.
Speaker Ayaz Sadiq explained that when he received an invitation from the Iranian president for a meeting, he told them that he would come with a parliamentary delegation representing all the parties. He expressed his pleasure that both the government and the opposition members gave a ‘positive message’ to the Iranian president that despite having differences within themselves, they were united for the cause of Pakistan and to give honour to the guests.
PPP’s Naveed Qamar and Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar of the PML-N welcomed the opposition’s offer for cooperation and endorsed its demand that the disciplinary action taken against the two PTI MNAs should be withdrawn.
JUI-F lawmaker
Earlier, Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Fazl) lawmaker Aliya Kamran while speaking on a point of order asked the speaker to expel MNA Sadaf Ihsan from the house after the Supreme Court’s decision of suspending the Peshawar High Court’s verdict in her favour. She said the JUI-F had actually given ticket to another woman with the same name, but she could not submit her nomination papers.
She alleged that taking advantage of the situation, Ms Ihsan “fraudulently” managed to seek the NA seat on the JUI-F reserved seat.
The JUI-F member, sitting on the opposition benches, asked the speaker to declare her “alien” and order her expulsion from the house.
However, Ms Ihsan, who was sitting on the treasury benches, claimed she had been awarded the ticket by Maulana Fazlur Rehman himself. She said she had come to the assembly for the cause of Pakistan and her constituency, Lakki Marwat.
Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2024
JERUSALEM: The head of Israeli military intelligence has resigned after accepting responsibility for the failures that allowed the devastating Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct 7, the military said on Monday.
Major General Aharon Haliva, a 38-year veteran of the military, was one of a number of senior Israeli commanders who said they had failed to foresee and prevent the deadliest attack in Israel’s history.
“The intelligence division under my command did not live up to the task we were entrusted with. I have carried that black day with me ever since,” he said in a resignation letter released by the military.
He will remain in post until a successor is named. Israeli media and commentators expect further resignations once the main military campaign in Gaza wraps up.
US hints at sanctioning Israeli military unit over abuses in West Bank
The Oct 7 attack badly tarnished the reputation of the Israeli military and intelligence services, previously seen as virtually unbeatable by armed Palestinian groups like Hamas.
In the early hours of the morning, following an intense rocket barrage, thousands of fighters from Hamas and other groups broke through security barriers around Gaza, surprising Israeli forces and rampaging through communities in southern Israel.
Some 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed in the attack, most of them civilians, and around 250 were taken into captivity in Gaza, where 133 remain as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
The head of the armed forces, Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi, and the head of the domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, both accepted responsibility in the aftermath of the attack but have stayed on while the war in Gaza has continued.
By contrast, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far not accepted responsibility for the Oct 7 attack, although surveys indicate that most Israelis blame him for failing to do enough to prevent or defend against it.
In response to the attack, Israel launched an offensive against Gaza that has so far killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, and left the densely populated enclave in ruins.
US sanctions
The United States appears close to sanctioning an Israeli military unit over alleged human rights violations in the West Bank, a move the Israeli prime minister angrily denounced as “the height of absurdity”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hinted at such steps when asked by a reporter in Italy about reports that his department had recommended cuts in military aid to an Israeli unit involved in violent incidents in the West Bank.
Blinken, without providing details, said his department was conducting investigations under a law that prohibits sending military aid to foreign security units that violate human rights with impunity.
He then added: “I think it’s fair to say that you’ll see results very soon. I’ve made determinations; you can expect to see them in the days ahead.”
In late 2022, the State Department directed embassy staff in Israel to investigate alleged abuses in the West Bank by the army’s ultra-Orthodox Netzach Yehuda battalion.
That included a January 2022 incident when a 78-year-old Palestinian American died of a heart attack after being detained.
Although the allegations precede the Hamas attacks and Israel’s retaliatory war in Gaza, the suggestion of any sanctions against Israeli forces drew an angry response from PM Netanyahu.
“In recent weeks, I have been working against the imposition of sanctions on Israeli citizens, including in my conversations with senior American government officials,” he posted late on Saturday on social media platform X.
“At a time when our soldiers are fighting the monsters of terror, the intention to impose a sanction on a unit in the IDF is the height of absurdity and a moral low. The government headed by me will act by all means against these moves.”
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant similarly slammed the possibility of sanctions, after discussing the issue with army chief Herzi Halevi.
He urged Washington “to withdraw its intention to impose sanctions” on the battalion.
The Axios website, citing three US sources with knowledge of the matter, reported Saturday that Blinken was expected to announce sanctions against the battalion “within days.”
Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2024
QINGYUAN: Floods swamped cities in southern China’s densely populated Pearl River Delta following record-breaking rains, sparking worries about the region’s defences against bigger deluges induced by extreme weather events.
The province once dubbed the “factory floor of the world” is prone to summer floods.
Since Thursday, Guangdong has been battered by unusually heavy, sustained and widespread rainfall, with powerful storms ushering in an earlier-than-normal start to the province’s annual flooding season in May and June.
In Qingyuan, a relatively small city of four million, residents counted their losses. “My rice fields are fully flooded, my fields are gone,” Huang Jingrong, 61, told Reuters.
Over the weekend, waterways in Guangdong overflowed including the river near Huang’s village.
Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2024
NEW YORK: Donald Trump engaged in a multi-layered conspiracy of fraud, lies and cover-ups, prosecutors said on Monday during opening arguments in the first ever criminal trial of a former US president.
Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo said Trump falsified business records to buy the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels over a 2006 sexual encounter that could have impacted his 2016 presidential bid.
“This case is about a criminal conspiracy and a cover-up,” Colangelo told the jury of New Yorkers in a Manhattan courtroom. “It was election fraud, pure and simple.”
Trump, 77, dressed in a dark blue suit and blue tie with an American flag pin on his lapel, sat at the defence table flanked by his lawyers, staring straight ahead as the prosecutor delivered his opening remarks.
Ex-president accused of multi-layered plot of fraud, lies, cover-ups
The case poses substantial risks to the Republican presidential candidate coming less than seven months before his November election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.
Prosecution witnesses are expected to include Daniels and Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen, who arranged the alleged “hush money” payment to the adult film actress. “President Trump did not commit any crimes,” Todd Blanche, one of his attorneys, said in his opening statement.
“The Manhattan DA should never have brought this case. I have a spoiler alert: there’s nothing wrong with trying to influence an election,” Blanche said. “It’s called democracy.”
David Pecker, former publisher of the National Enquirer tabloid, was the first witness called by prosecutors, who allege he was used to ward off negative stories about Trump, a policy known as “catch and kill”.
Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2024
NEW DELHI: India’s main opposition Congress party petitioned the Election Commission on Monday to act against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making what it said were “deeply objectionable” comments about Muslims that violated election laws.
Modi, who is seeking a rare third consecutive term, referred to Muslims as “infiltrators” during a campaign speech on Sunday, drawing widespread criticism from opposition groups.
In his speech, Modi said the Congress election manifesto promised to confiscate and redistribute the wealth of Indians, which it denies.
Modi said if the party adhered to remarks in 2006 of then Congress prime minister Manmohan Singh that minority Muslims should have the “first claim on resources” to share in the fruits of development, then wealth would be distributed to “infiltrators” and those who have “more children”.
They have also criticised Muslims for their higher birth rates and invoked fears that India’s Muslim population would overtake that of its majority Hindus.
Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said Modi’s “deeply objectionable” statement violated sections of the law that prohibit candidates from asking people to vote or refrain from voting for anyone on the grounds of “religion”, “community” or “religious symbols”.
Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2024
MALE: The party of Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu won control of parliament in a Sunday election landslide, results showed, with voters backing his tilt towards China and away from regional powerhouse and traditional benefactor India.
Muizzu’s People’s National Congress (PNC) won 66 of the first 86 seats declared, according to the Elections Commission of Maldives results, already more than enough for a super-majority in the 93-member majlis, or parliament.
The vote was seen as a crucial test for Muizzu’s plan to press ahead with closer economic cooperation with China.
The PNC and its allies had only eight seats in the outgoing parliament, with the lack of a majority stymieing Muizzu after his presidential election victory in September.
In 93-member parliament, Muizzu’s party wins 66 of the first 86 declared seats
The main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) — which had previously had a super-majority of its own — was headed for a humiliating defeat with just a dozen seats.
Muizzu, 45, had been among the first to vote on Sunday, casting his ballot at a school in the capital Male — where he was previously mayor — and urging Maldivians to turn out in high numbers.
“All citizens should come out and exercise their right to vote as soon as possible,” Muizzu told reporters.
The Maldives — a low-lying nation of some 1,192 tiny coral islands scattered some 800kms across the equator — is one of the countries most vulnerable to sea level rises caused by global warming.
Muizzu, a former construction minister, has promised he will beat back the waves through ambitious land reclamation and building islands higher, a policy which environmentalists argue could even exacerbate flooding risks.
Muizzu won last September’s presidential poll as a proxy for pro-China ex-president Abdulla Yameen, freed last week after a court set aside his 11-year jail term for corruption.
Indian troops leaving
This month, as campaigning for the parliamentary elections was in full swing, Muizzu awarded high-profile infrastructure contracts to Chinese state-owned companies.
His administration is also in the process of sending home a garrison of 89 Indian troops who operate reconnaissance aircraft gifted by New Delhi to patrol the Maldives’ vast maritime borders.
The outgoing parliament, dominated by the pro-India MDP of Muizzu’s immediate predecessor Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, has sought to disrupt his efforts to realign Maldivian diplomacy.
Since Muizzu came to power, lawmakers blocked three of his nominees to the cabinet and refused some of his spending proposals.
“Geopolitics is very much in the background as parties campaign for votes in Sunday’s election,” a senior Muizzu aide told AFP ahead of the poll, asking not to be named.
“He came to power on a promise to send back Indian troops and he is working on it. The parliament has not been cooperating with him since he came to power.”
Solih was also among those voting early and expressed confidence his party would emerge victorious. There was no immediate reaction from his party to their poor showing in Sunday’s vote.
Election chief Fuad Thaufeeq said after polls closed that turnout had already reached 73 per cent of the 284,663 electorate when half an hour of voting remained.
Muizzu’s prospects received a fillip with the release of his mentor Yameen from house arrest, on Thursday.
A court in the capital Male, ordered a retrial in the graft and money laundering cases that saw Yameen being sent behind bars, after he lost a re-election bid in 2018.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024
TOKYO: Two Japanese military helicopters apparently collided before crashing into the sea, leaving at least one crew member dead and seven others missing on Sunday, officials said.
The crew member was initially rescued, but he did not survive, according to a spokesman for Japan’s Self-Defense Force (SDF) who confirmed the late Saturday incident to AFP.
The helicopters appear to have crashed during night-time training of countering submarines off the Izu Islands in the Pacific Ocean, officials said.
Defence Minister Minoru Kihara said rescuers “spotted what are believed to be part of the aircraft in the sea, and we believe that the two helicopters crashed”.
One crew member dies shortly after being rescued
“At this point, the cause is unknown, but firstly we do our best to save lives,” he said before he told the media that the crew member who was rescued “was confirmed dead”.
The minister said the authorities “discovered the flight recorders in places close to each other,” and so “possibility is high that [the two helicopters] collided.”
“The flight recorders are being analysed” while officials are interviewing crew of a third helicopter that was joining the drill but was not involved in the accident, chief of staff Ryo Sakai of the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) told reporters.
Communication with one chopper was lost at 10:38pm off the island of Torishima, and a minute later an emergency signal was received from this aircraft, broadcaster NHK reported. Some 25 minutes later, at around 11:04pm, the military realised that communication with the other aircraft was also lost in the same area.
The Mitsubishi SH-60K helicopters from the MSDF are mainly based on and operate from naval destroyers.
The MSDF said as there were no other aircraft nor vessels in nearby waters, involvement of another country in the incident is unlikely, NHK added.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024
TEHRAN: In his first public comments since Tehran launched an unprecedented direct attack on Israel, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday praised country’s armed forces for their “success”.
Khamenei praised the armed forces, in a meeting with Iranian military commanders, for their “success in recent events”, a week after the country’s first-ever direct attack on Israel from its own territory.
“The armed forces showed a good image of their abilities and power and an admirable image of the Iranian nation,” Khamenei said.
“They also proved the emergence of the power of the Iranian nation’s determination at the international level.”
“The armed forces’ recent achievements have created a sense of splendour and magnificence about Islamic Iran in the eyes of the world,” Khamenei said in quotes posted on his official X account.
Israel claimed it intercepted 99 per cent of the more than 300 drones and missiles fired at it, with the aid of the United States and other allies and that those which got through caused only minor damage.
Addressing his country’s attack on Israel, Khamenei said “the issue of the number of missiles fired or the missiles that hit the target” was “secondary”.
“The main issue is the emergence of the willpower of the Iranian nation and the armed forces in the international arena,” he said, according to his official website.
Khamenei thanked the country’s armed forces for the attack, saying the country had demonstrated its power.
“In the recent operation, the armed forces managed to minimise costs and maximise gains,” he added, urging military officials to “ceaselessly pursue military innovation and learn the enemy’s tactics”.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024
KABUL: One person was killed and three others were wounded in an explosion in Kabul, Afghan police said on Sunday, with the Islamic State group claiming responsibility for the sticky bomb attack.
The improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated in the Kot-i-Sangi neighbourhood, near an enclave of the historically persecuted Shia Hazara community, which has been targeted by the militant group in the past. “The sticky bomb was planted on a minibus,” Kabul police spokesperson Khalid Zadran said in a statement late on Saturday.
“The driver of the vehicle lost his life, and three other civilians were injured.” Security personnel were investigating the incident, the statement added.
The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility on its Telegram channel, saying a minibus carrying Hazaras was blown up as it passed through a Taliban checkpoint. The attack “led to its destruction and the killing and wounding of around 10” people, the IS statement said.
The number of bombings and suicide attacks in Afghanistan has reduced dramatically since the Afghan Taliban ended their insurgency after ousting the US-backed government and returning to power in August 2021. But several armed groups, including IS, remain a threat.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024
BEIJING: Severe floods “seen around once a century” are expected to hit parts of southern China, state media said Sunday, as heavy rains prompted authorities to step up disaster precautions.
Major rivers, waterways and reservoirs in Guangdong province are threatening to unleash dangerous floods, forcing the government on Sunday to enact emergency response plans to protect more than 127 million people.
Calling the situation “grim”, local weather officials said sections of rivers and tributaries at the Xijiang and Beijiang river basins are hitting water levels in a rare spike that only has a one-in-50 chance of happening in any given year, state broadcaster CCTV news said on Sunday.
Guangdong officials urged departments in all localities and municipalities to begin emergency planning to avert natural disasters and promptly disperse disaster relief funds and materials to ensure affected people have food, clothing, water and a place to live.
The province, a major exporter and one of China’s main commercial and trading centres, has seen torrid downpours for several days and strong winds due to severe convective weather, which has also affected other parts of China.
A 12-hour stretch of heavy rain, starting from 8pm on Saturday, battered the central and northern parts of the province in the cities of Zhaoqing, Shaoguan, Qingyuan and Jiangmen.
Almost 20,000 people have been evacuated in Qingyuan, according to state media, and some power facilities in Zhaoqing were damaged, cutting power to some places.
About 1,103 schools in Zhaoqing, Shaoguan and Qingyuan will suspend classes on Monday, Chinese state radio said.
Raging muddy flood waters swept one vehicle down a narrow street in Zhaoqing, showed a video released by Hongxing News.
Authorities in Qingyuan and Shaoguan also suspended ships from travelling through several rivers. Many hydrological stations in the province are exceeding water levels, weather officials warned, and in the provincial capital Guangzhou, a city of 18 million, reservoirs have reached flood limits, city officials announced on Sunday.
Data showed 2,609 hydrological stations with daily rainfall greater than 50mm, accounting for about 59pc of all observation stations.
In neighbouring Guangxi, west of Guangdong, violent hurricane-like winds whipped the region, destroying buildings state media video footage showed. Some places have also experienced hailstones and major flooding, CCTV said.
As of 10am, 65 landslides were recorded in the city of Hezhou located in Guangxi, state media reported. Landslides injured at least six people and trapped others, state media reported on Sunday.
CCTV said on Sunday that rains had sparked landslides affecting six villages in the northern Guangdong town of Jiangwan, “causing people to become trapped”.
No deaths were immediately reported and the total number of trapped people was not specified.
Weather forecasters are expecting heavy rain through Monday in Guangxi region, Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang provinces.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Foreign Affairs Ishaq Dar on Sunday said that Pakistan had dispatched 8th tranche of humanitarian assistance for the people of Gaza.
The 400 tonnes assistance consisted of winterised tents, tarpaulins, blankets, medicines and food supplies which would be sent through the sea, the foreign minister posted on his X account.
The shipment will be received by the Pakistani ambassador at Port Said, Egypt, and handed over to the Egyptian Red Crescent for its onward delivery to the people of Gaza.
“Pakistan remains committed to addressing the urgent humanitarian needs of our brothers and sisters in Gaza,” Mr Dar added.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024
GAZA: Health workers have uncovered at least 50 bodies of people killed and buried by Israeli forces at a hospital, in the southern city of Khan Younis.
But while Israeli military said it was checking reports about the recovery of 50 bodies, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared far from being willing to respect the United Nations resolution calling for a ceasefire, saying he would fight against sanctions being imposed on any Israeli army units.
Israel’s invasion has so far killed 34,097 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry.
Separately, the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Saturday that at least 14 people were killed during an Israeli raid on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli army said it killed 10 people during the operation at Nur Shams camp.
Another mass grave
“Inside the Nasser Medical Complex there are mass graves dug by the Israeli occupation … we were shocked by the presence of bodies of 50 martyrs in one of the pits yesterday,” said Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the Gaza civil defence agency.
“We are continuing the search operation today and are waiting for all graves to be exhumed in order to give a final number of martyrs.”
He said some of those killed had been tortured.
“There were no clothes on some bodies, which certainly indicates (the victims) faced torture and abuse,” Mr Bassal said.
In a separate statement, Hamas condemned the “mass grave of those executed in cold blood and buried with military bulldozers in the hospital’s courtyard”.
It said more than 50 bodies had been recovered there.
Several of the bodies wrapped in white shrouds were later collected by relatives, said an AFP photographer who reported that civil defence workers were seen exhuming bodies from the courtyard on Sunday.
Israel carried out deadly strikes in Gaza, first responders in the war-battered Palestinian territory said, as violence flared in the occupied West Bank.
The bodies of 13 people, mostly children, were recovered after an Israeli strike hit the home of a family near the southernmost Gaza city of Rafah, the agency said. Other people were believed to be under rubble.
A separate Israeli strike on a home in the Rafah area killed at least three people and wounded others, the civil defence agency said.
Resident Umm Hassan Kloub, 35, said her children screamed when they “woke up to a nightmare of an explosion”.
“Every second we live in terror, even the sound of Israeli aircraft doesn’t stop,” she said.
“We don’t know whether we will live or die. This is not life.”
Netanyahu vows to resist sanctions
On Saturday, Axios news site reported that Washington was planning to impose sanctions on Israel’s Netzah Yehuda battalion for rights violations during an operation in the occupied West Bank.
“If anyone thinks they can impose sanctions on a unit of the IDF, I will fight it with all my strength,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
His remarks came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hinted at such steps when asked by a reporter in Italy about reports that his department had recommended cuts in military aid to an Israeli unit involved in violent incidents in the occupied West Bank.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024
WASHINGTON: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has stated that the process of privatising PIA will be finalised by the end of June or early July, with Islamabad airport potentially following suit shortly after.
“The government has no business being in business,” the minister declared at a Saturday afternoon news briefing, explaining the government’s plan to divest from state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
“We expect the bids for PIA to come in the next two to three weeks, and by the end of June or early July, we can move it to the investors,” he said. “The Islamabad airport would be the next,” he added, “followed by the airports in Karachi and Lahore.”
Mr Aurangzeb did not respond when asked if Pakistan was also selling its skies to the bidders.
Airlines pay overflight fees to the governments of each country they fly over on their routes. This covers the use of air traffic control and other navigation services.
The minister did not explain if the government would retain some shares in PIA after privatisation or sell all its shares.
Mr Aurangzeb concluded his visit to Washington on Sunday with a busy week of 62 meetings — explaining decisions, making pledges, and seeking understanding with multilateral and bilateral donors.
The finance minister and his team were in Washington this week to attend the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. They also conducted a series of bilateral meetings with visiting finance ministers, heads of financial institutions, and senior US officials.
His meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu drew significant attention in Pakistan, as former prime minister Imran Khan accuses Mr Lu of toppling his government. When asked about this particular meeting, Mr Aurangzeb, however, pointed out that visitors do not determine whom they meet; rather, it is the hosts who decide.
At his news conference at the Pakistan Embassy, Mr Aurangzeb reiterated his position that Pakistan did not need new prescriptions to fix its economy, stating, “We need to implement the plans we make.”
He highlighted three main planks of his economic strategy: expanding the tax net, implementing energy reforms, and privatising the SOEs.
The government, he said, had prepared short, medium, and long-term strategies for expanding the tax net.
“It’s quite clear that there’s a gap between policies and implementation,” remarked Mr Aurangzeb when asked why Pakistan has failed to resolve this long-standing issue.
“For instance, litigation in the tribunals, manned by the FBR and the law ministry, took forever,” he added.
“We have asked them to make decisions in the next three or four months, even if it goes against us,” he said. “We have also shortlisted consultants for end-to-end digitalisation, which would definitely improve tax collection.”
He said the government was also expediting the process for identifying people who lived beyond their means, and they would soon be brought under the tax net.
He stressed that providing energy — petrol, gas, electricity — to both domestic and commercial consumers was necessary for uplifting the economy. “If we cannot get this right, we cannot increase our exports,” he said.
Mr Aurangzeb said the government was already taking steps to stop leakages and theft of electricity and to move distribution into the private sector. “The direction is very clear,” he declared.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024
ISLAMABAD: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is set to arrive in Pakistan today (Monday) for a three-day official visit, the Foreign Office said in a statement on Sunday.
“President of the Islamic Republic of Iran will undertake an official visit to Pakistan from April 22 to 24, 2024,” the official statement said.
This visit, the first by any head of state to Pakistan after the Feb 8 general elections, comes amid escalating tensions in the Iran-Israel conflict.
During his visit, the Iranian president will be accompanied by his spouse and a high-level delegation comprising the foreign minister, other cabinet members, senior officials and a large business delegation.
Mr Raisi will meet President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani, and National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq. He will also visit Lahore and Karachi and meet with the provincial leadership.
“The two sides will have a wide-ranging agenda to further strengthen Pakistan-Iran ties and enhance cooperation in diverse fields including trade, connectivity, energy, agriculture, and people-to-people contacts,” the Foreign Office said.
“They will also discuss regional and global developments and bilateral cooperation to combat the common threat of terrorism,” it said, adding that the two countries enjoy strong bilateral ties anchored in history, culture and religion. “This visit provides an important opportunity to further strengthen Pakistan-Iran relations,” it said.
Mr Raisi’s visit to Pakistan had been in doubt as Middle East tensions rose after Iran launched an unprecedented missile and drone attack on Israel a week ago in retaliation for an airstrike on the Iranian consular building in Damascus earlier this month. Then, on Friday, central Iran received what was presumed to be an Israeli attack.
Tehran has played down the apparent Israeli attack and indicated it had no plans for retaliation, a response that appeared gauged towards keeping the Gaza war from expanding to a regionwide conflict.
Pakistan has called on all parties in the Middle East to “exercise utmost restraint and move towards de-escalation”.
Cross-border strikes
Mr Raisi’s visit is also significant as Pakistan and Iran seek to mend ties after tit-for-tat missile strikes in January. The cross-border strikes stoked regional tensions already inflamed by the Gaza war.
Tehran carried out the strikes against an anti-Iran group in Pakistan the same week it targeted Iraq and Syria. Pakistan responded with a raid on “militant targets” in Sistan-Balochistan province.
Both countries have accused each other of sheltering militants in the past.
Iran-Pakistan pipeline
Pakistan is also counting on a joint gas project with Iran to solve a long-running power crisis that has sapped its economic growth.
A $7.5 billion Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline intended to feed Pakistani power plants was inaugurated with great fanfare in March 2013. But the project immediately stagnated following international sanctions on Iran.
Tehran has built its own section of the 1,800-kilometre pipeline, which should eventually link its South Pars gas fields to Nawabshah.
In February, the outgoing caretaker government in Pakistan approved the construction of an 80km section of the pipeline, primarily to avoid the payment of billions of dollars in penalties to Iran due to years of delays.
Washington has warned that Pakistan could face US sanctions, saying it does not support the pipeline going forward.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024
ISLAMABAD: In the run-up to the finalisation of the federal budget for 2024-25, the Ministry of Finance has asked all ministries, divisions, departments, and self-governing entities to surrender by May 15 the funds that they think cannot be utilised within the current fiscal year, ending June 30, 2024.
Under the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) of 2019, all entities established or operated with public funds are required to surrender their surplus funds each year by May 31 for the closing of fiscal year books. This surrender of funds serves as the basis for the approval and allocation of funds for the subsequent fiscal year.
However, the Accounting Policies and Procedures Manual (APPM) of the federal government requires that such un-utilised funds or those anticipated to remain un-utilised should be surrendered latest by May 15 each year. Therefore, the finance secretary has instructed all counterparts in other ministries to adhere to the APPM for greater clarity.
As a result, the deadline for surrendering unutilised funds has been advanced to May 15, in view of upcoming negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a 24th bailout programme. The allocations for both development and non-development expenditures for the next fiscal year will be based on actual expenditures in the current year.
IMF negotiations prompt deadline shift to surrender unused funds
In an order, the finance ministry has asked all the principal accounting officers “to ensure that all surrender orders are issued and communicated to” the director of budget computerisation latest by May 15 for entry into the central budget software system, SAP. The order applies to all ministries, divisions, their attached departments and subordinate offices, and autonomous organisations as required under Section 12 of the PFMA.
Under the financial rules and PFMA 2019, an amount included in the original approved budget is required to be given back to the Ministry of Finance as the custodian of the federal finances “because it has not or will not be spent in the financial year by the entity”.
Section 12 of the PFMA 2019 binds that “all ministries, divisions, their attached departments, and sub-ordinate offices and autonomous organisations shall surrender to the Finance Division [by thirty-first day of May each year], all anticipated savings in the grants or assignment accounts, or grant-in-aid controlled by them”.
In an exceptional case of exigency, the Finance Division has the power to extend the prescribed time limit before the close of the financial year. The Finance Division is also required, under the section to communicate the acceptance of such surrenders before close of the financial year and where requirement is justified, shall provide for equivalent amount in the next financial year’s budget.
Under the APPM, any spending entity required to undertake work or incur expenditure on behalf of another must exercise proper budgetary control over the funds provided by the principal authority.
It is mandatory for the entity incurring the expenditure to ensure that the funds provided by the principal entity are not exceeded, the money is spent for the intended purpose, and any anticipated savings are promptly surrendered back to the principal entity. The principal entity is then required to communicate the grant within which expenditure may be incurred to the concerned spending entity and issue the required approval for expenditure to be incurred by a nominated authority in that entity.
APPM’s Section 3.3.12.6 binds all such entities to surrender all anticipated savings to the government immediately as they are foreseen, but no later than May 15 each year.
“Savings from funds provided after May 15 must be surrendered no later than 30 June,” it reads, instructing the principal accounting officers to exercise stringent controls in the spending of all potential or actual savings.
Under these rules, no savings could “be held in reserve for possible future excesses”, and expenditure postponed could not be reallocated to meet new items of expenditure, or expenditure must not be incurred simply because funds may be available within a particular grant. “Grants that cannot be properly utilised must be surrendered,” it said.
Earlier last year, as required under the PFMA 2019, the government compelled all ministries, divisions, the four provinces, Azad Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan to immediately surrender their working capital and surplus funds kept for investment, and deposit the money into the single treasury account of the federation.
Article 78 of the Constitution stipulates that all funds received by or on behalf of the federal government are deposited either as part of the Federal Consolidated Fund (FCF) or the Public Account of the Federation (PAF). The cash balances of both FCF and PAF are maintained under central account No.1 (non-food) at the State Bank of Pakistan, while Article 79 requires the custody and payment of moneys from and to the central account to be regulated by an act of parliament.
The Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), passed by the parliament in 2019 at the requirement of lending agencies, now governs all matters related to the FCF and PAF. It requires the operations of the FCF and PAF to vest in the finance division under the overall supervision of the federal government.
Furthermore, Section 23(2) of the Act also “requires that no authority shall transfer public moneys for investment or deposit from the government account, including the assignment accounts, to any other bank account without prior approval of the federal government”.
On top of that, Section 45 of the Act provides overriding effect over all other laws, and any law inconsistent with this Act, while Rule 4(4) of Cash Management and Treasury Single Account Rules 2020 stipulate that no authority shall transfer public money in contravention of sub-section (2) of Section 23.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024
NEW DELHI: Amid reports of violence and damage to voting machines in the Manipur state torn by months of ethnic clashes, India will rerun voting at 11 polling stations in the northeastern state on Monday.
The main opposition Congress party had demanded a rerun at 47 Manipur polling stations, alleging that booths were captured and elections were rigged.
However, election authorities declared the voting void at the 11 locations and ordered fresh poll, the chief electoral officer of Manipur announced.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is forecast to win a rare third term on the back of issues such as Hindu nationalism.
Clashes among armed groups and attempts to take over polling stations under heavy security were reported on the very first day of voting on Friday in the Manipur state.
Despite the threat of armed clashes that have killed at least 220 people in the past year, voters turned out in large numbers.
Manipur has been roiled by fighting between the majority Meitei and tribal Kuki-Zo people since May. It remains divided between a valley controlled by Meiteis and Kuki-dominated hills, separated by a stretch of no-man’s land monitored by federal paramilitary forces.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: At least three people, including two Customs officials, were slain in an attack near Bannu Road late on Saturday, according to police.
This was the second attack on Customs officials in Dera Ismail Khan in five days.
A police spokesman said the Customs officials were travelling in a vehicle when armed assailants opened fire near Yarik Toll Plaza.
Two Customs officials, including inspector Husnain and constable Ziad Khan, lost their lives in the attack.
A civilian, whose identity was yet to be ascertained, was also killed.
According to APP, two Customs officials were also injured in the attack.
The bodies and injured officials were shifted to the D.I. Khan District Headquarters Hospital.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Ghulam Ali, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi strongly condemned the attack and expressed sympathy to the victims’ families, APP reported.
Mr Naqvi paid tribute to officials “who sacrificed their lives to prevent smuggling” and vowed strict action against smugglers.
On Wednesday, five Customs officers were gunned down in an ambush during an intelligence-based operation within the remits of Daraban police station.
A civilian and a minor girl were also killed in the attack.
The slain officers belonged to the Customs’ Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation (Peshawar) and were conducting an IBO when they were ambushed by unknown assailants, an official statement issued by Customs said.
FC official martyred
In a separate attack on Sunday, a Frontier Corps (FC) personnel was martyred after being fired upon by unknown assailants in D.I. Khan’s Kulachi tehsil.
The martyred soldier was on leave from duty when he was gunned down.
A police official said the FC personnel, identified as Mohammad Zubair, was sitting at his brother’s mobile shop when the attackers opened fire.
He was martyred on the spot.
KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur condemned the attack and expressed his sympathy and condolences to the martyr’s family.
“We share the grief of the bereaved family,” CM Gandapur said in a statement.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024
ISLAMABAD: The ruling PML-N seemed to be in a commanding position after the close of polling, as by-elections were held in 21 constituencies across the country, initial and unofficial results showed on Sunday.
In Punjab, the election was held on 12 provincial and two national assembly seats, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the election was held on four seats, two seats in Balochistan, and one National Assembly seat in Sindh was also up for grabs.
As per a preliminary count, the PML-N appeared to be leading in all constituencies in Punjab, except Rahim Yar Khan.
In Sindh, the PPP candidate was the likely winner whereas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, PTI-backed candidates were leading on two seats in D.I. Khan and Kohat, with PTI-backed Faisal Amin Khan Gandapur securing victory in NA-44, as per the unofficial result released by the returning officer in D.I. Khan.
Although parts of Punjab and KP saw across-the-board suspension of mobile and internet services and the army was deployed for security purposes along with police and civil armed forces, the by-polls witnessed multiple incidents of violence, leading to the death of a PML-N supporter in a clash outside a Narowal polling station.
In Sheikhupura, four people were wounded whereas PML-N and PPP supporters clashed in Rahim Yar Khan.
Punjab
The NA seats on which by-elections took place included NA-119 (Lahore) and NA-132 (Kasur), while the Punjab Assembly seats for which the by-polls took place included PP-22 (Chakwal), PP-32 (Gujrat), PP-36 (Wazirabad), PP-54 (Narowal), PP-93 (Bhakkar), PP-139 (Sheikhupura), PP-147, PP-149, PP-158, and PP-164 (Lahore), PP-266 (Rahim Yar Khan) and PP-290 (Dera Ghazi Khan).
In Punjab, the turnout was low as key leaders stayed away from electioneering. However, the polling exercise was marred by allegations of rigging, with the PTI claiming to be at the receiving end.
A supposed ‘confession’ by a presiding officer at a polling station in Lahore was circulated with the claim that he had obtained the signatures of agents before the end of polling, while a video clip supposedly showing irregularities at a Wazirabad polling station also circulated on Sunday.
The PTI alleged that the presiding officer for polling station-127 in Lahore’s PP-149 had made polling agents sign the Form-45 before the culmination of the polling and the officer was quoted as “admitting” the irregularity arguing that “he had done so to save time”. PTI-SIC candidate Zeshan Rashid staged a sit-in at the polling station to protest this transgression.
In Gujrat, former Punjab chief minister Parvez Elahi’s wife Sumera Elahi alleged that ballot papers were snatched and stuffed into ballot boxes in favour of PML-Q’s Musa Elahi, a nephew of ex-CM Parvez, at the Kathala polling station while the police ignored this practice. PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan and opposition leader in the national assembly Omar Ayub Khan along with other party leaders also reached Gujrat to monitor the situation.
The Lahore police also arrested former PTI MPA Shabbir Gujjar from the Valencia Town polling station apparently without any charge.
Likewise, a video clip showed the recovery of dozens of ballot papers purportedly from the presiding officer of a polling station in PP-36 Wazirabad. In Rahim Yar Khan, the PPP workers alleged that PML-N supporters attacked them with batons to push them away from the polling stations where the PPP candidate was winning.
They claimed that a female polling agent of the PPP was also “kidnapped by the ruling party supporters”. By the filing of this report at 11pm, the ruling PML-N was leading all the electoral contests except in Rahim Yar Khan.
Balochistan
In Balochistan, elections were held on PB-22 (Lasbela) and PB-20 (Wadh), whereas re-polling was held in PB-50 (Qila Abdullah) amid some reports of violence.
According to the unofficial result, PML-N’s Nawabzada Zareen Magsi won from Lasbela with 49,777 votes while independent candidate Shahnawaz Hassan got 3,869 votes. In Wadh, Mir Jahanzeb Mengal obtained 30,455 votes while Shafiq Mengal got 14,311 votes.
In Lasbela, Mir Hassan Jamote who was contesting the by-election on the PPP ticket withdrew from the contest in favour of Zareen Magsi on the directive of President Asif Ali Zardari. Nawabzada Zareen Magsi is son of Mir Aamir Magsi, a leader of PPP Sindh and son-in-law of ex-CM Jam Kamal.
In Qila Abdullah, armed men barged into polling stations during the re-polling, prompting a notice from the ECP chief, Sikandar Sultan Raja who asked the police chief to submit a report in this regard. “Strict action should be taken against those who are responsible for entering the polling stations,” he told the Balochistan IGP.
In a press conference, Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) leader Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal claimed that armed men entered polling stations and took hostages.
The Awami National Party leaders shifted the blame and said the PkMAP was behind this incident. However, the polling continued.
The Supreme Court had ordered re-polling in the constituency when the election commission’s decision regarding re-polling in 12 polling stations was challenged. The apex court rejected the decision of the election commission and ordered re-election in the entire constituency.
Engineer Zamrak Khan Piralizai of the ANP and Mirwais Achakzai of the PkMAP were vying for this seat. On February 8, the former was elected to this seat for the fourth time.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
In KP, by-elections were held in NA-8 (Bajaur), NA-44 (D.I. Khan), PK-22 (Bajaur) and PK-91 (Kohat). The situation largely remained peaceful barring minor altercations at some polling stations. Voters and supporters of various candidates complained about sudden changes to some polling stations in Khar and Sadiqabad areas of the Bajaur district.
Workers of different political parties, however, said the turnout was lower than expected, while the participation of women voters was even lower. Polling staff at several polling stations for women told Dawn the number of women voters was “very low”.
In NA-8, the competition according to the unofficial initial results, seemed to be between PTI-backed Gul Zafar Khan and the independent candidate Mubarak Zeb Khan, younger brother of the slain PTI leader Rehan Zeb Khan. Mubarak Zeb Khan was reportedly the winner in PK-22 as well.
The NA-44 seat became vacant when Faisal Amin’s brother and Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sardar Ali Amin Khan Gandapur vacated it.
According to unofficial results of all 358 polling stations issued by the Returning Officer, PTI-backed Faisal Amin Khan Gandapur secured 66,332 votes while his runner up candidate Abdur Rasheed Khan Kundi of PPP bagged 21,972 votes.
The overall voter turn out remained quite low which was 24.40 per cent.
Sindh
In Sindh, PPP’s Khursheed Ahmed Junejo was ahead with 15,932 votes from 65 polling stations according to the unofficial results from NA-196 in Shahdadkot. Mr Junejo bagged 15,932 votes from 65 polling stations out of the total 303 polling stations in Shahdadkot.
Our correspondents in Bajaur, D.I. Khan and Kohat also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024
BAGHDAD: One person was killed and eight were wounded in an overnight explosion at an Iraqi military base housing a coalition of pro-Iranian groups, officials said on Saturday.
The full details remain unclear hours after the blast hit the Kalsu military base in Babylon province south of Baghdad, where regular army, police and members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces, or Hashed al-Shaabi, are stationed.
It comes days after Iran launched an unprecedented assault on Israel which reportedly responded with a drone strike on the Islamic republic, amid tensions fuelled by the Gaza war.
The Iraqi security forces’ media unit said “an explosion and a fire” hit the Kalsu base in the early hours of Saturday, leaving one person dead and eight wounded.
Kalsu base houses regular army, police and other forces; US military denies its forces are behind the strike
Air defence command reported “no drones or combat aircraft in the airspace of Babylon province before or during the explosion”, it added in a statement.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Shortly after the explosion, the US military said its forces were not behind a reported strike in Iraq. “The United States has not conducted air strikes in Iraq today,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) posted on social media platform X, adding that reports that American forces had carried out a strike were “not true”.
When reached by AFP, the Israeli army said it “does not comment on information published in foreign media”.
In a statement, Hashed al-Shaabi said an “explosion” had inflicted “material losses” and casualties, without giving a number. The group said investigators had been sent to the site.
On Saturday morning, however, the Hashed issued another statement that referred to a meeting between its chief of staff and investigation committees “on the site that has been attacked”.
‘Odious crime’
An interior ministry official had initially reported an “aerial bombing” on the site.
“The explosion hit equipment, weapons and vehicles,” said the source.
An Iraqi military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject, said the overnight explosion had occurred in “warehouses storing equipment”.
Responding to questions from AFP, neither the interior ministry official nor the military official could say who may have been behind the alleged bombing.
“We will retaliate against whoever is behind this aggression,” Hashed al-Shaabi commander Abu Alaa al-Walai wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Those involved in this odious crime will pay the price.”
On Friday, strikes blamed on Israel targeted a military base near the city of Isfahan in central Iran. The explosion came in response to Tehran’s unprecedented attack on Israel last weekend, in retaliation for a deadly strike on Iran’s embassy in Damascus.
Iraq’s foreign ministry expressed “strong concern” on Friday over the blast in Iran, warning of the “risks of military escalation which threatens security and stability in the region”. “This escalation must not be allowed to divert attention from what’s happening in the Gaza Strip,” it said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani is in Washington, where he met US President Joe Biden this week.
Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2024
PERUGIA: The rise of artificial intelligence has forced an increasing number of journalists to grapple with the ethical and editorial challenges posed by the rapidly expanding technology.
AI’s role in assisting newsrooms or transforming them completely was among the questions raised at the International Journalism Festival in the Italian city of Perugia that closes on Sunday.
What will happen to jobs?
AI tools imitating human intelligence are widely used in newsrooms around the world to transcribe sound files, summarise texts and translate.
In early 2023, Germany’s Axel Springer group announced it was cutting jobs at the Bild and Die Welt newspapers, saying AI could now “replace” some of its journalists.
Generative AI — capable of producing text and images following a simple request in everyday language — has been opening new frontiers as well as raising concerns for a year and a half.
One issue is that voices and faces can now be cloned to produce a podcast or present news on television. Last year, Filipino website Rappler created a brand aimed at young audiences by converting its long articles into comics, graphics and even videos.
Media professionals agree that their trade must now focus on tasks offering the greatest “added value”.
“You’re the one who is doing the real stuff” and “the tools that we produce will be an assistant to you,” Google News general manager Shailesh Prakash told the festival in Perugia.
The costs of generative AI have plummeted since ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late 2022, with the tool designed by US start-up OpenAI now accessible to smaller newsrooms.
Colombian investigative outlet Cuestion Publica has harnessed engineers to develop a tool that can delve into its archives and find relevant background information in the event of breaking news.
But many media organisations are not making their own language models, which are at the core of AI interfaces, said University of Amsterdam professor Natali Helberger.
The disinformation threat
According to one estimate last year by Everypixel Journal, AI has created as many images in one year as photography in 150 years.
That has raised serious questions about how news can be fished out of the tidal wave of content, including deepfakes.
Media and tech organisations are teaming up to tackle the threat, notably through the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity, which seeks to set common standards.
From Wild West to regulation
Media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders, which has expanded its media rights brief to defending trustworthy news, launched the Paris Charter on AI and journalism late last year.
“One of the things I really liked about the Paris Charter was the emphasis on transparency,” said Anya Schiffrin, a lecturer on global media, innovation and human rights at Columbia University in the United States.
AI editorial guidelines are updated every three months at India’s Quintillion Media, said its boss Ritu Kapur. None of the organisation’s articles can be written by AI and the images it generates cannot represent real life.
Resist or collaborate?
AI models feed off data, but their thirst for the vital commodity has raised hackles among providers. In December, the New York Times sued OpenAI and its main investor Microsoft for violation of copyright.
In contrast, other media organisations have struck deals with OpenAI: Axel Springer, US news agency AP, French daily Le Monde and Spanish group Prisa Media, whose titles include El Pais and AS newspapers.
With resources tight in the media industry, collaborating with the new technology is tempting, explained Emily Bell, a professor at Columbia University’s journalism school. She senses a growing external pressure to “Get on board, don’t miss the train”
Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2024
RIYADH: Dubai’s flagship carrier Emirates and sister airline flydubai have restored normal operations after heavy rains caused severe flooding across the United Arab Emirates earlier this week, the airlines said on Saturday.
Emirates cancelled nearly 400 flights and delayed many more as a result of a record storm that hit the desert city of Dubai on Tuesday, said a statement released by the airline’s president, Tim Clark.
Due to the impact of the storm, the airline suspended check-in for passengers departing from Dubai and halted its transit operations through Dubai International Airport, a major global travel hub, leaving thousands of travellers stranded.
The airport has struggled to return to normal operations after the storm flooded taxiways, forcing flight diversions, delays and cancellations.
Flydubai also returned to its full flight schedule from the airport’s Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 on Saturday following the weather-related disruption, a spokesperson for the airline said.
Clark said Emirates had provided 12,000 hotel rooms and 250,000 meal vouchers to customers who were affected. He added it would take days to clear the backlog of rebooked passengers.
The UAE has suffered the impact of the flooding for days, with roads between the city and Abu Dhabi still partially under water as of Saturday. In Abu Dhabi, some supermarkets and restaurants faced product shortages, unable to receive deliveries from Dubai.
Researchers have linked extreme weather events such as Tuesday’s storm to climate change and anticipate that global warming will lead to higher temperatures, increased humidity and a greater risk of flooding in parts of the Gulf region.
A lack of drainage infrastructure to cope with heavy rains in countries such as the UAE can put them at particular risk of flooding.
Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2024
RAFAH: Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Saturday an overnight Israeli strike killed nine members of a Palestinian family, including six children, in the southern city Rafah.
Separately, Israeli troops killed 10 people in the occupied West Bank.
Five children aged one to seven and a 16-year-old girl were among the dead, along with two women and a man, according to the city’s Al Najjar hospital.
“Nine martyrs including six children were pulled out from the rubble after Israeli air forces struck a house of the Radwan family in Tal al-Sultan in Rafah,” Gaza Civil Defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said in a statement.
Outside the hospital an AFP journalist saw people grieving over small body bags. A woman stroked a dead boy’s forehead as planes rumbled overhead.
10 killed in West Bank attack; Erdogan urges Palestinian unity after meeting Hamas chief
“People were sleeping peacefully,” said neighbour Abu Mohammed Ziyadah.
“As you can see, there were no militants, not even male adults, except for the head of the family. They were all women and children.”
The Israeli army killed 10 Palestinians in an ongoing raid around Nur Shams, a refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank.
Journalists heard gunshots and saw houses hit by blasts as Israeli drones flew overhead and armoured vehicles moved through the camp.
The Israeli army said that over more than 40 hours it had eliminated 10 fighters and made eight arrests around Nur Shams. It said eight soldiers and a police officer were wounded.
The Palestinian health ministry said it had confirmed 11 wounded in the Israeli raid, seven of them “wounded by live gunshots”. It said a paramedic shot while trying to get to the wounded was among them.
Erdogan-Haniyeh meeting
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Palestinians to unite amid Israel’s war in Gaza following hours-long talks with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul on Saturday, his office said.
Erdogan said Palestinian unity was “vital” following the talks at the Dolmabahce palace on the banks of the Bosphorus strait, which Turkish media reports said lasted more than two and a half hours.
“The strongest response to Israel and the path to victory lie in unity and integrity,” Erdogan said, according to a Turkish presidency statement.
As fears of a wider regional war grow, Erdogan said recent events between Iran and Israel should not allow Israel to “gain ground and that it is important to act in a way that keeps attention on Gaza”.
With Qatar saying it will reassess its role as a mediator between Hamas and Israel, Erdogan sent Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to Doha on Wednesday in a new sign that he wants a role.
“Even if only I, Tayyip Erdogan, remain, I will continue as long as God gives me my life, to defend the Palestinian struggle and to be the voice of the oppressed Palestinian people,” the president said on Wednesday when he announced Haniyeh’s visit.
Fidan on Saturday held talks with visiting Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, with both men emphasising the need to deliver more humanitarian aid to devastated Gaza where the threat of famine looms.
Turkey is one of Gaza’s main humanitarian aid partners, sending 45,000 tonnes of supplies and medicine in the region.
Last year, Erdogan likened the tactics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to those of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and called Israel a “terrorist state” because of its offensive against Hamas after the group’s October 7 attacks on Israel.
Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2024
WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives on Saturday with broad bipartisan support passed a $95 billion legislative package providing security assistance to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, over bitter objections from Republican hardliners.
The legislation now proceeds to the Democratic-majority Senate, which passed a similar measure more than two months ago. US leaders from Democratic President Joe Biden to top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell have been urging embattled Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to bring it up for a vote.
The Senate is expected to pass the measure next week, sending it to Biden to sign into law.
The measure includes some $60.84bn for Ukraine as it struggles to fight off Russian invasion. The unusual four-bill package also includes funds for Israel, security assistance for Taiwan.
“The world is watching what the Congress does,” the White House said in a statement on Friday. “Passing this legislation would send a powerful message about the strength of American leadership at a pivotal moment. The administration urges both chambers of the Congress to quickly send this supplemental funding package to the president’s desk.”
Some hardline Republicans have voiced strong opposition to further Ukraine aid, with some arguing the US can ill afford it given its rising $34 trillion national debt.
“It’s not the perfect legislation, it’s not the legislation that we would write if Republicans were in charge of both the House, the Senate, and the White House,” Johnson told reporters on Friday.
Representative Bob Good, chair of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, told reporters on Friday that the bills represent a “slide down into the abyss of greater fiscal crisis”.
Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2024
ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: As 21 national and provincial seats go to by-polls today (Sunday), the interior ministry has allowed the suspension of mobile internet services to “maintain law and order” in 13 districts and tehsils in Punjab — on the recommendations of the provincial government — as well as approved the deployment of the army as the quick response force.
The Punjab home department had on Friday written a letter to the interior ministry stating that the by-elections had been scheduled for April 21 (Sunday) in Punjab’s four districts and nine tehsils and there was a need to suspend the mobile internet services to maintain law and order and avoid any untoward incident.
The home department sought the suspension of mobile internet services in Gujrat, Kasur, Sheikhupura and Lahore districts as well as in Talagang, Chakwal, Kallar Kahar, Ali Pur Chatha, Zafarwal, Bhakkar City, Sadiqabad, Kot Chutta and Dera Ghazi Khan City tehsils.
Sources in the home department said the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority would surely suspend mobile internet services to maintain law and order.
All set for polling for 21 National Assembly, provincial seats today; cellular internet services to go out in Punjab for ‘law and order’ reasons
Army troops as QRF
The interior ministry also decided to deploy the army and civil armed forces at a request made by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) almost two weeks ago.
As per an order issued by the interior ministry, under articles 220 and 245 of the Constitution and sections 4 and 5 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, the government would use the armed forces as a quick response force.
It stated that the civil armed forces and the Pakistan Army units would be used as second and third tiers of security and would be available till April 22.
“The exact number of troops, date/period, area and mode of deployment would be worked out by the ECP in consultation with all concerned stakeholders based on ground requirement/assessment,” the order read.
A PTI spokesman said the electoral rules and regulations were being flouted as was the case during the general elections, besides victimising the party leaders, workers and supporters.
‘Unconstitutional and illegal’
The PTI, however, termed the move as a preparation to steal the by-elections. Its spokesperson said the suspension of internet services in districts and tehsils, where by-election had been scheduled for Sunday, was not only unconstitutional and illegal, but also a move “to steal the elections”.
Reacting to the Punjab government’s move, the PTI’s central media department has alleged that the establishment was preparing to steal the by-elections through an “unholy alliance” of the Election Commission of Pakistan, and ‘unelected’ governments at the Centre and in Punjab.
According to a code of conduct issued by the ECP, the armed forces and civil armed forces will ensure a secure and peaceful environment during the by-elections. The security forces will ensure a secure environment for easy access of voters to the polling stations, wherein the police will be first-tier responders while the “civil armed forces/armed forces as second- and third-tier responders, respectively”.
The troops would provide security to enable district returning officers (DROs), returning officers (ROs), presiding officers (POs) and polling staff in the accomplishment of their assigned tasks. .
“In case, the presiding officer does not act to prevent the commission of any reported irregularity/issue /malpractice, the security staff will immediately inform the returning officer concerned.”
It read, “[They will] not disallow any eligible voter to enter the polling station, except the ones found in possession of weapon or explosive or undesirable items or ones who create disturbance and incitement to act of violence or an action which are prejudice to national safety/interests of Pakistan.”
The troops cannot assume the duties of polling staff. “Not take into his/her custody any electoral material including ballot papers marking aid stamps, official code mark stamps, electoral rolls, ballot boxes Form-45 and Form-46 etc,” it added.
Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2024
LEAKS from the Faizabad commission report have opened a can of worms about an event that gripped the nation some seven years ago, but one that can hardly be dismissed as a ‘thing of the past’ given the long shadows it cast on the delicate issues of civilian supremacy, the role of the military establishment, mass media censorship and the competence of government machinery to handle a crisis.
The purported leaks, specifically the revelation that the commission has exonerated Gen Faiz Hameed, raised eyebrows especially when viewed against the backdrop of PML-N’s stance over the past few years on the establishment’s alleged interference in civilian affairs — as well as on the across the board accountability.
Former premier and party supremo Nawaz Sharif on several occasions had decried a “state above a state” and in a pre-election interview with Dawn reiterated his desire to see accountability across institutions.
Yet when individuals who played a key role in the 2017 PML-N government were given an opportunity to record statements about the establishment’s alleged role in the dharna, they preferred to take responsibility for how the sit-in ended, but stayed mum on who was behind the sit-in in the first place.
Incumbent Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has dismissed the commission itself as being “non-serious” and has been publicly saying the same in recent months. In a conversation with Dawn, Mr Asif said the members who spoke to him had “no depth” and were busy in “chit chat”.
Ahsan Iqbal, one of the key figures nominated by then-PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to negotiate with the TLP protesters at the peak of the 20-day protest said, “The report must be made public. Selective and distorted leaks are giving the wrong impressions.”
When pressed to reflect on his role during that period, and whether he is proud of the way the government handled it, Mr Iqbal told Dawn, “There was a sequence of events during a very volatile situation, and there was a threat of sectarian violence. If it had been badly handled, God forbid, Pakistan would have become worse than Lebanon. The government had no other option, no room to manoeuvre. We had two choices: let it linger or defuse the situation.
“We had exhausted all options. They [the protesters] didn’t listen. The Islamabad administration failed to break up the sit-in. So it was an extreme measure to involve senior military officers.”
Was it impossible to find a solution without them, given that the deal struck with the TLP was far from a victory for the government as it sacked a minister and walked away from the episode utterly dejected?
“The military establishment has clout, and of course, our security institutions play a role. Sometimes their presence itself is a deterrence. Things were not working out for us, so we had to escalate things as a response,” he said.
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who was prime minister at the time, said the military and intelligence services were involved in the negotiation process after the Islamabad High Court intervened. Before that, his strategy, “was to wear out the protesters through attrition”.
Mr Abbasi’s responses to the commission’s questionnaire are limited, and on talk shows in recent days he has reiterated that given the sanctity of the office he occupied, he did not engage in speculation on issues he did not have evidence of.
But how much authority did he have during the sit-in, and over how the negotiations went?
“I had and exercised all the authority available to my office as PM. We had a strategy, it may not have been a strategy that was liked by everybody, but it was the strategy of my government. All actions taken by Ahsan Iqbal or the negotiation team including Gen Faiz during the negotiations are my responsibility; we had opted for attrition to avoid loss of life and negotiate with them [TLP] on our terms. But the IHC gave unrealistic directions to remove the protesters without using force.”
He added, “The Islamabad police and administration under threat of being held in contempt by the High Court, made an ill-planned hurried attempt to remove the protesters and failed. After this failure a larger meeting involving senior Punjab government officials and army and intelligence personnel was held to devise a plan to de-escalate and resolve the situation.”
So was it ever in the back of his mind during this negotiation process, when he engaged key military and intelligence officials, that perhaps elements in the security establishment were behind the dharna in the first place? And did Mr Abbasi share this with the commission?
‘Not an isolated event’
“Of course the question of who was behind the dharna was a consideration when we managed the situation. How did the situation snowball? There were many considerations — but the office I held does not allow me to speculate about things when there is no direct evidence. However, the dharna was not an isolated event, this was the same timeframe in which the Balochistan government literally vanished, the Senate elections were manipulated, and the Senate chairman election produced an impossible result.
“I did also wonder if the petition on the dharna to the Islamabad High Court was a collusion of some sort, but again I have no evidence. But it is clear that the High Court’s decision completely negated the government strategy to effectively manage the situation. The interference in executive authority by the High Court undermined the writ of the government and necessitated the involvement of the Army and the intelligence agencies at the highest level to resolve the situation.”
Mr Abbasi went on, “The army is part of the government’s executive authority; the speculation that this process was driven by Gen Bajwa is not correct. Overall, how this event ended is not a matter of pride, the negotiation process undermined the government’s authority, but we were able to resolve a situation which had great potential to escalate.”
On the question of minister Zahid Hamid’s resignation, Mr Abbasi said, “the High Court decision left us with no option but to accede to the demands of the dharna [organisers]; the state failed to maintain its authority. Whether the dharna and the consequent events were by design or default, one can only speculate.”
A commission doomed to fail?
Political analyst Zahid Hussain said it was “well known that the orchestration of events was done by the establishment” and that though the PML-N did not publicly say it, privately its members acknowledged that.
“Despite the commission set out by the SC to investigate the dharna, it seemed that nobody wanted to delve into that subject matter,” Mr Hussain said.
“The terms given to the commission by the SC were meant to determine the culprits behind the dharna. However, it appeared that the terms of reference were limited and did not specify the individuals involved. There were doubts about the power of the commission itself, comprising former police officers and bureaucrats. Now some of those who were interviewed, such as Khawaja Asif, revealed that the people interviewed did not have specific questions asked of them. Thus, the commission’s findings lacked clarity on who was behind the events.”
He added, “Now that the PML-N is back in power, they seem hesitant to upset relations with the establishment and are not clear on their stance.
When asked what he makes of Mr Abbasi’s position, given that he is no longer a member of PML-N and is poised to launch his own political party, Mr Hussain said, “I think Abbasi has been candid, it’s quite difficult for anyone in that capacity to blame any organisation without substantial evidence.”
“The ruling of the Supreme Court, particularly by [Chief] Justice [Qazi] Faez Isa, was seen as more damning, as it named individuals. But commissions in our country are not truly independent, and they are influenced by the government in power — ironically it is the same government that suspected the establishment of wrongdoing, but prefers not to go into that now.”
Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2024
ISLAMABAD: In his second letter to the top judge, former prime minister Imran Khan has urged Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa to take notice of the “excesses” of the state and ensure the supremacy of the Constitution.
The PTI founder, who is incarcerated in Adiala Jail, listed several issues that, according to him, required the CJP’s intervention. These include the letter of the high court judges claiming meddling by intelligence officials in the judicial affairs, the May 9 cases against PTI supporters, a face-off between the army and police officials in Bahawalnagar, non-allocation of reserved seats to the PTI, the Toshakhana case against ex-PM Nawaz Sharif, and the rigging allegations levelled by the former Rawalpindi commissioner, Liaquat Chatha.
“Inaction on your part and that of the Supreme Court in the face of each of the aforementioned matters of grave importance would exacerbate the constitutional crisis the country is already faced with and push it closer and closer to the abyss,” the letter stated.
This was the second letter by Imran Khan to CJP Isa since November last year. In his previous letter, he requested the top judge to protect the party’s fundamental rights. CJP Qazi Faez Isa, in response, through a press release from his office stated that he would “neither be pressurised nor favour anyone”.
In the fresh letter, Mr Khan said the “new lows to which the state of the rule of law and supremacy of the Constitution has fallen in Pakistan have caused the gradual emergence of the law of the jungle and the enactment of the primitive doctrine that might is right”.
“I have no doubt that if our Superior Judiciary, with your good-self at its helm, would not meaningfully intervene as the custodian of the Constitution and the ultimate arbiter of justice, and if the foregoing situation were to prevail, it would be fatal to any civilised order in the world,” Mr Khan feared.
About the May 9 cases, Mr Khan claimed that “the State, however, is acting as judge, jury and executioner in all these trials; first, directly through military courts, on the constitutionality of which the Supreme Court has been dragging its feet for longer than it should, and, secondly, in an indirect manner, by holding guns to the heads of the subordinate court judges who are conducting the trials.”
“As, what I believe to be the majority of our populace, faces the wrath of the State, now is the time for you to prove whether your declared belief in the principles and values espoused by Pakistan’s founding fathers, and your proclamation of the supremacy of the Constitution, are for real or were mere hollow rhetoric,” Mr Khan said.
He also reminded the CJP about the reference filed against him in the Supreme Judicial Council.
“When, a few years ago, you [CJP] were faced with the wrath of the State in the form of a reference in the Supreme Judicial Council, you waxed eloquent on various forums about how your late father was a close associate of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and how the two historic figures espoused the same principles and values. Similarly, last year, while speaking in the joint sitting of parliament…you held the Constitution in your hand in full public view, and proclaimed that this book was your guiding light after the Holy Quran and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH),” he stated.
He ended the letter with a quote from scientist Albert Einstein: “The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.”
Bushra Bibi’s medical
In a related development, Bushra Bibi’s medical was held at Shifa International Hospital Islamabad.
The PTI alleged that the former first lady was ‘poisoned’ as shown by the check-up.
A representative of the hospital, however, said that it “does not share” information about patients because of privacy concerns.
Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2024
WASHINGTON: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb revealed on Saturday that an IMF team is anticipated to visit Pakistan by mid-May to negotiate a new long-term process, aiming to secure a staff-level agreement by mid-July.
Speaking to US-Pakistani media at the conclusion of his week-long visit, the minister mentioned the Fund’s intention to expedite the process. “The contours of the new programme will shape up later. We will start getting into granularity of the programme by mid-May,” he added.
Addressing journalists at the Pakistan Embassy, Mr Aurangzeb expressed the hope that the IMF’s board of governors would convene to consider the last tranche of the current programme by the end of this month, with the final installment released shortly thereafter.
Pakistan is seeking a $6-8 billion new loan package from the end. In earlier statements, he said Pakistan would prefer a long-term, preferably a three-year programme.
Aurangzeb says debts can be repaid only after CPEC-II
But when asked at Saturday’s briefing, Mr Aurangzeb said he would not speculate the size or the duration of the programme yet.
Second phase of CPEC
Earlier, Mr Aurangzeb informed a Chinese television audience that Pakistan can repay its debt to China only after completing the second phase of CPEC.
The minister’s candid remarks followed discussions with key financial institutions like the IMF and World Bank, alongside senior US officials in Washington this week.
Explaining his stance on this sensitive issue, Mr Aurangzeb said: “CPEC was a champion project for Pakistan, and a lot of infrastructure was created during its first phase. Now, what’s supposed to happen was for us to go into CPEC Phase 2, which was and remains the way we monetise that infrastructure because that’s where the special economic zones come in.”
The minister elaborated that through these special economic zones, Pakistan was to attract further Chinese investment.
Emphasising the necessity of completing this process, the minister stated: “There’s a lot of discussion about how you are going to repay the debt, that’s how it was supposed to happen.”
He expressed gratitude to the Chinese government and banks for their assistance in debt servicing, noting, “But ultimately, these debts have to be paid. And that’s only going to be there when we get phase 2 going in real earnestness.”
In an earlier meeting with Chinese Finance Minister Lan Fo’an in Washington, Mr Aurangzeb commended China’s invaluable contribution to Pakistan’s development through initiatives like CPEC.
He discussed Phase-I’s focus on infrastructure-building and Phase-II’s emphasis on special economic zones and relocation of Chinese private-owned companies, as per a statement issued by his office.
Mr Aurangzeb expressed gratitude for Chinese support, particularly its SAFE deposits. He informed his Chinese counterpart about Pakistan’s broader IMF programme and its interest in accessing the Chinese bond market with a Panda Bond.
On Saturday, the finance minister met representatives from S&P Global and Fitch Ratings, sharing the country’s positive indicators under the IMF’s SBA.
He also highlighted the ongoing reforms in taxation, energy, and privatisation across short-, medium-, and long-term horizons.
Additionally, the minister discussed the alignment of the World Bank’s agenda with government priorities, including climate change and digitalisation.
He mentioned potential Saudi investments and addressed concerns from rating agencies regarding the external side, inflation, primary balance, and interest rates.
Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2024
ISLAMABAD / WASHINGTON: Pakistan rejected the “political use of export controls” after the United States imposed sanctions on four entities for their alleged involvement in supplying “missile-applicable items” to Pakistan’s ballistic missile programme, the Foreign Office said on Saturday.
The US State Department claimed on Friday evening that the entities — three Chinese and one from Belarus — were particularly assisting Pakistan’s long-range missile endeavours.
The statement specified that “the ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behaviour”.
The entities facing sanctions include the Belarus-based Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant, the People’s Republic of China-based Xi’an Longde Technology Development Company Limited, Tianjin Creative Source International Trade Co Ltd and Granpect Company Limited.
As per the sanctions imposed under Executive Order 13382, all property and interests in property of the designated entities that are in the United States or under the control of US persons are now blocked. Furthermore, any individuals or entities with ownership, directly or indirectly, of 50 per cent or more by the designated persons are also subject to these sanctions.
These measures prohibit transactions involving any property or interests in property of designated or blocked persons unless authorised by the Office of Foreign Assets Control or exempt. This includes contributions and provision of funds, goods, or services to or from any blocked person.
Moreover, the entry of designated individuals into the United States has been suspended under Presidential Proclamation 8693.
The US government explained that “the integrity of these sanctions lies not only in the ability to designate and add persons to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, but also in the willingness to remove persons from the list in accordance with the law”.
Following the sanctions, FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch issued a statement, saying: “We reject political use of export controls. It is well known that the same jurisdictions, which claim strict adherence to non-proliferation controls, have waived off licensing requirements for advanced military technologies for some countries.”
She added that “such discriminatory approaches and double standards” undermine the credibility of non-proliferation regimes and also the objectives of regional and global peace and security by “accentuating military asymmetries”.
Ms Baloch said that such listings of commercial entities took place in the past as well on allegations of links to Pakistan’s ballistic missile programme “without sharing any evidence whatsoever”.
Washington alleged that it had sanctioned Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant for supplying special vehicle chassis used as launch support equipment for ballistic missiles.
Xi’an Longde Technology Development Company Limited, the US claimed, supplied equipment including a filament winding machine. The winding machine is said to be essential for producing rocket motor cases.
Tianjin Creative Source International Trade Co Ltd is accused of providing stir welding equipment and a linear accelerator system, technologies assessed by the United States as pivotal in manufacturing propellant tanks and inspecting solid rocket motors, respectively. These items were suspected by US to be intended for Pakistan’s Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco), which develops and produces MTCR Category I ballistic missiles.
Granpect Company Limited is alleged to have supplied to both Suparco and NDC testing equipment for large diameter rocket motors, which are crucial for the missile development process.
The spokesperson said Pakistan was ready to discuss end-use and end-user verification mechanisms so that legitimate commercial users were not hurt by the “discriminatory application” of export controls.
‘Carrot & stick policy’
Shuja Nawaz, a fellow at the South Asia Center of the Atlantic Council in Washington, told Dawn that “the nub of US sanctions on four entities allegedly supplying missile technology to Pakistan is captured in its stated aim: the ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behaviour.” But he also noted that the sanctions directly punished Pakistan for pursuing the development of missiles.
Mr Nawaz suggested that Pakistani authorities should also “ask themselves who inside Pakistan provided the information to American authorities?”
Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2024
PESHAWAR: With nearly two dozen lives lost in a single day, death toll from the inclement weather in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa climbed to 59 on Saturday, according to the provincial disaster management authority (PDMA).
Officials and rescue sources said life came to a standstill in some areas as the current spell of rains continued to wreak havoc on the fourth consecutive day, claiming at least 21 lives and leaving many houses damaged.
Most of the deaths were caused by roofs collapse, road accidents and drowning. Among the victims were mostly women and children.
The rains also resulted in power breakdown in some localities. Besides, traffic on various roads remained suspended due to windstorm coupled with heavy showers during the day.
Data collected from rescue workers and officials indicated that four people were killed in Bajaur, three in Mardan, two each in Malakand, Khyber, Swat, Lakki Marwat, Upper Dir and Mohmand, and one each in Lower Dir and Bannu.
In Bajaur, an elderly couple was among the four people killed in rain-related incidents reported from the Lowisam locality of Khar tehsil and Malasaid area of Salarzai tehsil, according to Rescue 1122.
Similarly, three persons were killed and three others suffered injuries when the roof of their house collapsed in Camp Korona area of Mardan.
A house collapsed in the Sharifabad area of Dargai, in Malakand district, leaving two people dead and another injured. Also, two persons died when the roof of their house collapsed due to heavy rain in Kabal tehsil of Swat. On the other hand, two children died after being caught in a storm while travelling to Swat from the Nehagdarra area of Upper Dir.
In Lower Dir, a resident of Amlok Dara village, Syed Rashad aka Fauji, drowned in the Shamshi Khan Talash stream while attempting to cross it, residents and police said.
Two children drowned in a canal in Haramatala area of Lakki Marwat district on Saturday.
In Mohmand district, two girls were killed and nine others injured in separate rain-related incidents on Saturday. Tehsildar Halimzai Muhammad Siyar Khan said a house collapsed in Sagi Payan area of Safi tehsil due to heavy rain, killing Habiba. Her father Mumtaz Khan, mother, brother Hamza and five other people suffered injuries in the tragedy.
Lower Mohmand assistant commissioner Sadam Hussain Memon said a house collapsed in Pandilai, resulting in the death of a 13-year-old Zuhra, daughter of Mohammad Deen.
Similarly, another woman died in the Hassan Khel area of Bannu district when the roof of her house collapsed.
In Khyber district, separate roof collapse incidents claimed two lives.
Besides rendering many families without shelter, the current spell of rains, which continued to lash intermittently KP areas since Thursday, also caused suspension of traffic on Karora-Chakesar road in Opal area and Bisham-Khormang road, besides causing power breakdowns.
Ibrahim Shinwari in Khyber, Fazal Khaliq in Swat, Fauzee Khan Mohmand in Mohmand, Anwarullah Khan in Bajaur, Gohar Ali Gohar in Malakand, Jamal Hoti in Mardan, Ghulam Mursalin Marwat in Lakki Marwat and Haleem Asad in Lower Dir contributed this report
Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2024
THE rooftop of Vaqar Zakaria’s home in Islamabad is strewn with photovoltaic panels that he says have lowered his electricity bill to virtually nothing. This is countered by the stark contrast in his rising gas costs. “From a steady Rs800 a month, it has risen to Rs4,000 in the last six months,” he says.
Mr Zakaria, head of environmental consulting firm Hagler Bailley Pakistan, is fortunate to have a gas supply at home. His situation highlights a nationwide energy paradox, where advancements in one sector are negated by crises in another.
“If only Pakistan had imported Iranian gas back in the late 1990s when there were no sanctions,” Mr Zakaria told The Third Pole, recalling a time when prices were far cheaper “at just $2 per million British thermal units (mmBtu)”.
A participant in some of the early discussions, Mr Zakaria remembers strategising over the proposed 2,775km pipeline that promised to link Pakistan’s energy supply directly to Iran’s abundant gas reserves.
Between the threat of US sanctions on one side and possible Iranian penalties on the other, experts question whether the ‘Peace Pipeline’ will be a panacea for the country’s energy crisis
The long-term project, which came to be known as the ‘Peace Pipeline’, has faced significant delays due to geopolitical pressures, sanctions on Iran and financial hurdles within Pakistan.
Iran’s proven natural gas reserves, estimated at 1,203 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) as of December 2021, are second only to Russia.
Ten-year wait
In February this year, the caretaker government decided to dust off the 2009 agreement, approving the construction of the first phase or 80km stretch (of the total 780km pipeline) from the Iranian border to Gwadar.
Meanwhile, Tehran has issued a deadline: finish the pipeline segment by March 2024 or incur financial repercussions amounting to nearly $18bn — a sum that could prompt international arbitration.
“We are very reluctant to take this drastic step,” Hassan Nourain, the consul general of Iran in Karachi, told The Third Pole, adding, “but the gas company of Iran is a national company and belongs to the people of Iran. It invested $1bn years ago. Now, the Iranian parliament is pressuring the government to decide the fate of this project”.
Iran had already fulfilled its part of the agreement by completing 1,100km of pipeline from the South Pars gas fields to the Pakistan border. Then in 2014, it extended the deadline by an additional decade, on Pakistan’s request, he added.
But Islamabad is also feeling the pressure from the US. Last month, Donald Lu, the US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia cautioned Pakistan against importing gas from Iran, as it would expose it to US sanctions.
In response, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch made a case for national sovereignty; since the pipeline is being built within Pakistani territory, “we do not believe that at this point there is room for any discussion or waiver from a third party”, she said.
Nonetheless, Thomas Montgomery — the acting US mission spokesperson in Pakistan — offered the following words of caution: “We advise anyone considering business deals with Iran to be aware of the potential risk of sanctions.”
The US has been pushing Pakistan to seek green alternatives; through its development agency it has helped add almost 4,000 MW of clean energy to Pakistan’s grid since 2010.
Speaking in a personal capacity, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed of the ruling PML-N highlighted the tension between national sovereignty and the US: “We invite its meddling by abdicating our own autonomy for decisions on our core interests.”
Despite the warnings from its longstanding ally, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told The Third Pole that the energy infrastructure project would proceed, signalling Pakistan’s intention to assert its autonomy: “We will go ahead with construction of the pipeline,” he said.
Waiver favour
While Pakistan grapples with Iran’s deadline, the land in Gwadar earmarked for construction has yet to be acquired, according to government insiders.
Micheal Kugelman, director of the Wilson Centre’s South Asia Institute in Washington, summarises the predicament: “Pakistan is seemingly caught between the devil and the deep blue sea — build the pipeline and risk being sanctioned, or don’t build it and get slapped with a massive fine.”
Ahmad Irfan Aslam, the former law minister in the caretaker government that greenlighted construction of the 80km section of the pipeline, points out Pakistan’s reliance on the US for “everything from economic bailouts to its security”. He warned any waiver request would necessitate complex negotiations.
“We cannot bear American sanctions. We will present our stance to the US,” Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik told journalists last month. “Iran has been told multiple times that we need their gas.
We want to complete this project but without any sanctions,“ he had said.
Mr Montgomery confirmed Pakistan has yet to present a formal waiver request. With Pakistan in a tight spot, Mr Aslam suggested exploring a deadline extension and seeking a waiver, which “would require support from both Saudi Arabia and the UAE.”
But as tensions mount in the Middle East over the war in Gaza, with new US sanctions against Iran announced on April 18, Mr Kugelman said it was unlikely that the US would grant Pakistan a sanctions waiver to proceed with the project.
Economic feasibility
Pakistan has around 19.5 Tcf of proven gas reserves, sufficient for just 12 more years, based on current annual consumption levels.
“The only advantage to have Iranian gas is if there is a guarantee of firm supply at favourable rates,” said Haneea Isaad, an energy finance specialist at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
Although Khawaja Asif said the government was “looking towards raising funds from international banks”, Mr Zakaria warned that securing investment may prove challenging.
“Neither the development finance institutions nor western and Middle Eastern banks will lend for the project in view of US sanctions placed on Iran, which will also make it difficult for Pakistan to pay for the gas received from Iran,” he said.
Pakistan’s best bet may be to build the pipeline with financing from China or some other external source, notes Mr Kugelman.
Among possible funders is Russia. Senator Mushahid Hussain told The Third Pole that, “Russia has offered to fund the initial $160m for the 80km of Pakistan-Iran pipeline.”
Iran, said its consul general, “would be happy to provide technical and engineering support in building the pipeline”.
But Pakistan faces a complex energy transition, marked by growing demand and discussions centred on the immediate challenges of costs, legal action and geopolitical dynamics.
As Islamabad prepares to host Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on an official three-day visit from April 22, Isaad warns against viewing Iranian gas as a panacea for Pakistan’s energy needs, emphasising it is “another imported
commodity and subject to geopolitical considerations and linked to global oil prices“.
Published in collaboration with The Third Pole at Dialogue Earth. A detailed version of this article can be accessed on their website and Dawn.com
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2024
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Friday sharply criticised Israel for its flagrant violations of international law and urged the UN Security Council to intervene, hold Israel accountable, and assist in restoring global peace and security.
“Instead of showing restraint and upholding international law, Israel has brazenly continued with its blatant violation of international law,” said FO spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch when she was asked at the weekly media briefing to comment on the reports of Israel executing strikes against Iran.
Media reports earlier quoted US and Israeli officials claiming that Israel had carried out “missile and drone strikes” targeting Isfahan and Tabriz.
While avoiding directly commenting on those reports, the FO spokesperson said the situation was still being assessed. “We would comment when there are more details,” she added.
However, she reiterated Pakistan’s concern over the escalation in the region.
With Tehran, which retaliated following an airstrike on its consulate in Damascus, downplaying the attack being claimed by Israel, it appears that its restrained response may have temporarily averted the risk of a regional war for now.
Besides echoing global calls for de-escalation between Israel and Iran, including those from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and a joint G7 communique, Ms Baloch also highlighted the need for urgent international efforts to prevent the expansion of hostilities in the region and to secure a ceasefire in Gaza.
She repeated Islamabad’s criticism of Israel’s attack on Iranian consulate in Damascus, terming it “irresponsible and reckless” action that further vitiated security in an already volatile region. “We reiterate our call on the UN Security Council to prevent Israel from its adventurism in the region and to hold it to account for its violations of international law. The council should actively contribute to efforts for restoring and maintaining international peace and security,” the spokesperson said.
‘Deep disappointment’
The FO spokesperson expressed Pakistan government’s “deep disappointment” after the US vetoed a resolution that would have granted full UN membership to Palestine. “We regret the US decision to veto the draft resolution granting full membership of the UN to Palestine,” she said.
She said: “The people of Palestine have an inherent right to live in a sovereign, independent, and contiguous state within the borders of June 4, 1967, with Al-Quds Al-Shareef as its capital.”
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2024
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was apprised on Friday that government officials were facilitating elements involved in the misuse of Afghan Transit Trade for smuggling.
During a meeting chaired by the PM on smuggling, a committee report was presented, according to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). “The committee identified the elements involved in the misuse of Afghan Transit Trade for smuggling and the officers facilitating them,” the report stated.
The PM was informed that a list of smugglers, hoarders, and their facilitating officers had been forwarded to law enforcement agencies and provincial governments.
Consequently, the PM directed the removal of the identified officers from their respective posts and the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against them.
Shehbaz orders removal of officers found involved, accelerating anti-smuggling drive
During the meeting, the prime minister paid tribute to Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Syed Asim Munir for his full cooperation with the government in its endeavour against smuggling.
The report of the investigation committee, headed by A.D. Khawaja, was presented at the meeting.
Calling for punishment to smugglers and drug dealers, the prime minister asked the law ministry to carry out legislation immediately for this purpose.
The PM emphasised more effective and swift monitoring of the sale and smuggling of Afghan Transit Trade goods in the country, calling for a third-party audit of the monitoring system.
PM Shehbaz ordered the complete elimination of sugar smuggling and immediate release of funds to examine the prevalence of drug consumption. The meeting was apprised of smuggling, misuse of Afghan Transit Trade, drugs, sugar, wheat, fertiliser, petroleum products, and illegal weapons.
The meeting was informed that law enforcement agencies raided a godown of smuggling goods a couple of days ago in Mastung, seizing goods worth over Rs10 billion.
Later, an EU delegation led by Ambassador Riina Kionka paid a courtesy call on PM Shehbaz. The prime minister appreciated the EU’s continued support through the GSP Plus scheme and expressed interest in engaging with the EU’s Global Gateway Strategy through the European Investment Bank.
The EU ambassador briefed the PM on cooperation initiatives, including ongoing dialogues on migration and mobility issues, and facilitating European businesses in Pakistan. Progress on the resumption of flights from Pakistan to EU countries was also discussed.
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2024
ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court administration has sought suggestions from the judges of IHC and subordinate judiciary by April 25 to counter the alleged meddling of intelligence agencies in judicial affairs.
Sources in the judicial bureaucracy told Dawn that in compliance with the Supreme Court order passed in the suo motu proceedings initiated on a letter of six IHC judges, the administration sought suggestions, proposals from the judges to counter external interference in judicial matters.
In its April 3 order, the SC had asked the Pakistan Bar Council, Supreme Court Bar Association, high courts and the federal government to suggest institutional response and mechanism to address issues like the ones raised in the letter [of IHC judges] and ensure that such issues do not arise in future.
The IHC registrar’s office sought the judges’ proposal by April 25, the deadline initially set by the apex court. The administration would then submit a consolidated report to the SC, the sources said.
In their letter, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani, Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, Justice Babar Sattar, Justice Sardar Ejaz Ishaq Khan, Justice Arbab Mohammad Tahir and Justice Saman Rafat Imtiaz had hinted at the alleged involvement of ISI in judicial matters.
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2024
QUETTA: The road link to many areas of Balochistan couldn’t be restored till Friday as rains and thunderstorms continued in different areas of northern and southern Balochistan during the last 24 hours.
The border district of Chaman continued to witness disaster as flash floods entered the town from Khozak and other mountain ranges.
The deluge also damaged the Quetta-Chaman highway, cutting off traffic between the two cities.
Trucks carrying Afghan Transit Trade goods were stuck near Qila Abdullah and Chaman, and they are waiting for the road to be cleared.
Officials in Chaman said Levies and other forces had reached the people stranded in hilly areas and “are making all-out efforts” to restore traffic on the highway.
They added that the bodies of a woman and a child were recovered from a seasonal stream.
They died after the vehicle they were travelling in was swept away in flash floods as the driver tried to cross a gushing seasonal stream.
“The bodies were handed over to the family,” the official added.
The provincial capital, Quetta, didn’t receive any rainfall during the last 12 hours , but overnight heavy rain damaged mud houses on the city’s outskirts.
Water was yet to be drained from some areas of the city as drains failed to evacuate the water due to blockages.
Some parts of the Makran region were still cut off from Karachi as a key bridge in the Basool area of Ormara, on the Makran Coastal Highway, had been washed away by flash floods.
All traffic has been suspended as an alternative route was yet to be constructed.
The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) said a team headed by its chairman, Aurangzeb Khan, visited Daak and Mal in Noshki district, which were badly affected by the downpour.
Hundreds of people who were rendered homeless during the inclement weather were given tents, food and drinking water, the PDMA said.
Meanwhile, the Meteorological Centre of Balochistan has advised the authorities to remain vigilant during the next 48 hours.
It has forecast more rain with thunderstorm in Quetta, Ziarat, Chaman, Pishin, Qila Saifullah, Chaman, Qila Abdullah, Mastung, Sherani, Zhob, Musakhail Barkhan, Khuzdar, Kalat, Noshki, Sibi, Kohlu, Dera Bugti, Loralai and Harnai in next 24 hours.
During the last 24 hours, the weather remained cloudy and it rained in most parts of the province.
The highest rainfall was recorded in Samungli at 25mm, Kalat 23mm, Dalbandin 21mm, Barkhan 16mm, Zhob13 mm and Panjgur 5mm.
More than 20 people have died and 15 injured due to roof collapses, lightning strikes and other mishaps since heavy rain and thunderstorms started in the province last week.
The situation is grim in Chaman, where a large number of mud houses were swept away by flash floods on Thursday triggered by heavy rainfall on surrounding mountains, Deputy Commissioner Atha Abbas Raja had told Dawn over the phone.
He said gushing water has also badly damaged roads, cutting Chaman off from other areas of Balochistan and suspending transit trade with Afghanistan.
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2024
NEW DELHI: Elections to the 18th Lok Sabha kicked off on Friday across 21 Indian states covering 102 seats of the 545-member house, and although voters queued up in searing heat across much of the country to record an overall voting of over 60 per cent, absent from the fray was any sign of a Modi wave.
The first of the seven-phase polls saw eight seats in the politically crucial western Uttar Pradesh in the contest. The state sends 80 MPs and is regarded as a must-win for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bid for a third consecutive term.
His Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had grabbed 62 of the seats in 2019, mainly riding the military standoff with Pakistan, which he exploited with posters seeking votes in the name of the army.
The 2014 elections were buoyed by the communal polarisation instigated in Muzaffarnagar with false stories of Muslims abducting Hindu girls. This time the key BJP plank of Ram temple in Ayodhya has evidently failed to enthuse the voters. Moreover, this time around the Jat community of farmers that stood with the BJP is standing in solidarity with fellow farmers in Haryana and Punjab fighting for rights promised by the Modi government but never implemented.
In the first phase, polling held for 102 seats of 545-member Lok Sabha
A discussion in Bijnor by The Wire news portal with a mix of religious and caste representatives revealed a marked absence of a Modi wave. The ‘wave’ delivered him victories in the most populous state, including his own constituency of Varanasi. Now, a Brahmin interlocutor in the discussion described himself as a hardcore supporter of the BJP who would not vote for the party this time.
His young son too will not vote for Mr Modi, citing corruption in the electoral bond scheme and the jailing of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The wife would not vote for Mr Modi over price hike, he said.
A triangular contest in western Uttar Pradesh involves the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) of former Dalit state chief minister Mayawati, the Samajwadi Party of the INDIA opposition cluster and the BJP. Ms Mayawati’s decision to go it on her own could damage INDIA candidates in western UP, and that rather than a Modi surge could deliver him several of the seats, though not all.
According to The Indian Express, which filed a spot report from Rajasthan by Neerja Chowdhury, “unlike the last two general elections, when the BJP swept Rajasthan, this time a contest is a possibility in nine to 10 Lok Sabha constituencies”.
An entrepreneur at Mandaava, in Jhunjhunu, told Express: “Had Modi not been there, it would have been difficult for the BJP to win. This time, there is no junoon (enthusiasm).”
A BJP leader articulated the sense on the ground, saying; “It may not change the direction of the wind, but shifts are being felt this time.”
This is how a political observer was quoted as describing it: “When you look at it closely, these fights do not reflect a fight between the BJP and the Congress nationally. It is a heavyweight candidate or a local group rivalry that seems to be overtaking the Modi factor, converting it into a takkar (contest).”
In the last two general elections — which the BJP swept, winning 25 out of 25 seats in Rajasthan — the Modi factor was able to subsume these local issues and may yet do so in many constituencies. “Modi thoda struggle mein aa gaye hain (Modi is struggling a little),” said a shopkeeper, a pro-BJP Brahmin manning a shop near the famous Khatu Shyamji Mandir in Sikar district, where, in the middle of a hot afternoon, hundreds of devotees were trying to catch a glimpse of the highly revered local deity.
Clash, bomb blast
West Bengal has elections in all seven phases, ending with the last on June 1. It recorded a turnout of 66.34pc till 3pm. However, polling was marred by violence in the Cooch Behar seat, The Hindu said. Both the TMC and the BJP clashed and lodged 80 and 39 complaints against each other respectively related to poll violence, voter intimidation, and assaults on poll agents, sources from both parties said.
In strife-torn Manipur, around 63.03pc of the over 1.544 million voters exercised their franchise till 3pm. In Chhattisgarh, more than 58pc of the electorate cast their votes in the first four hours of polling in the Naxal-hit Bastar Lok Sabha constituency where an assistant commandant of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was killed when an improvised explosive device planted by Naxalites went off in Bijapur district.
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2024
ISLAMABAD: National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq on Friday suspended the membership of two Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers for the current session for “eroding the sanctity” of the assembly by “indulging in rowdy behaviour” during President Asif Zardari’s address to the joint sitting of parliament on April 18.
The speaker read out his ruling regarding the suspension of MNAs Jamshaid Dasti from Muzaffargarh and Muhammad Iqbal Khan from Khyber after seeking approval of the house on a motion through a voice vote minutes before the culmination of an eventful sitting, marred by separate protests by members of the opposition PTI, the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F), and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) on different issues.
The house also witnessed two token walkouts and as many failed attempts to disrupt the proceedings by pointing out the lack of quorum.
The PTI and PPP members staged token walkouts as a mark of protest when the speaker did not give them the floor to respond to each other on the issue of the president’s address, whereas the JUI-F lawmakers protested against the speaker’s act of administering the oath to Sadaf Ihsan, who had been declared the winner by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on a reserved seat for women from KP on the JUI-F ticket.
Dasti, Iqbal barred from current session; action taken for misconduct during president’s address; NA witnesses two walkouts as opposition members continue noisy protest
Speaking on a point of order soon after the oath, JUI-F’s Noor Alam Khan termed the speaker’s act “illegal and unconstitutional”, stating that a case was pending before a court of law and party chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman had already informed the ECP that Ms Ihsan had not been issued the ticket.
As a mark of protest, he pointed out the lack of quorum, but the speaker declared the house in order after a headcount.
MNAs’ suspension
Before reading out his ruling, the speaker stated that he had been forced to take action against the two MNAs when they crossed “all the limits” and that he was doing so with a “painful heart.”
Mr Sadiq announced that the two MNAs “be suspended from the services of the assembly for remainder of the session” and asked them “to forthwith withdraw the precincts of the assembly”.
“I had been showing patience, but today I will not do it,” said the speaker when the PTI members lodged noisy protest when he didn’t give floor to PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan. However, later, he gave the floor to Mr Khan, who said that his party did not consider Mr Zardari a legitimate president.
Walkouts
PPP members, led by party chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, staged a walkout when Mr Khan lashed out at Mr Zardari for keeping the office of the party’s president, declaring that he did not represent the federation.
MNA Sharmila Farooqui was given the floor by the speaker to respond to the PTI chairman, but as soon as she took the floor, Mr Bhutto-Zardari with his sister Aseefa, started walking out of the assembly. At this point, PPP’s Shazia Marri pointed out lack of quorum to compel the speaker to adjourn the sitting.
Playing intelligently, the PTI members, who had already been protesting against the speaker for not giving them the floor, also staged a walkout to compel the speaker to adjourn the sitting without giving his ruling to suspend the two party MNAs.
Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar then went to the PPP members and succeeded in bringing them back to the house. Seeing the PPP members returning, the PTI members also came back and started raising slogans. The speaker declared the house in order and subsequently gave his ruling.
There was a rumpus in the house due to noisy protest by the PTI members when Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, on a point of order, started lambasting the opposition benches and targeted former prime minister Imran Khan.
Criticising the PTI members for “hooliganism” during the joint sitting and in the presence of diplomats, the minister said Imran Khan had been jeopardising the country’s foreign interests by issuing directives from Adiala Jail.
Security situation
Responding to a calling attention notice regarding the recent terrorist attack on a bus in Noshki, Balochistan, and Kashmore in Sindh, where an operation against the robbers was underway, Law Minister Tarar said the federal government was providing full assistance to the provincial governments to deal with the security situation.
The NA will reconvene on Monday evening.
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2024
PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has directed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister and cabinet to convene the assembly session within a fortnight to ensure that those elected on reserved seats for women and non-Muslims take oath.
A PHC bench comprising Justice Syed Mohammad Attique Shah and Justice Shakeel Ahmad, in its 24-page detailed judgement on three identical petitions filed by around 20 MPAs-elect of the opposition in KP, also ordered the provincial assembly speaker to administer the oath to the said MPAs-elect in the session to be requisitioned in accordance with the court order.
While the bench in its March 27 short order had not issued any such directive to the CM and the provincial cabinet, the court in its detailed judgement ordered both to “take all material steps in terms of Article 109 along with all enabling provisions of the Constitution for summoning the session of the provincial assembly within fortnight positively, after receipt of this judgement, so that the oath is administered to the petitioners in term of Article 65 of the Constitution before the upcoming Senate election”.
The PHC in its short order had directed the speaker to administer the oath to the petitioners in the session convened for Senate election of April 2 and also to facilitate voting in the election. But the ECP had to postpone the Senate polls in the province making it conditional with the said oath-taking, as no session was convened by the KP government.
Now multiple petitions have been filed in the high court — one by the speaker requesting the court to review its order and others by the MPAs-elect seeking implementation of the short order and initiating contempt proceedings against the speaker and the deputy speaker.
The PHC in its judgement observed that owing to a dispute over allocation of reserved seats, with the exception of Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) that has a majority in KP Assembly, the present dispensation was resisting oath to those who represent marginalised communities in order to deny them the right to participate in the assembly proceedings and also to deprive them of exercising their right to vote in the April 2 Senate election in violation of the Constitution.
Referring to the notifications issued by the ECP of declaring the petitioners as MPAs elected on reserved seats, the court ruled that after receipt of the said notification, the assembly secretary was obliged under the law to have informed the CM to requisition the assembly session to administer oath to the petitioners accordingly, but he failed to discharge his constitutional obligations for reasons best known to him.
The petitioners, including Shazia Tehmas Khan and 19 other MPAs belonging to the PPP-P, PML-N, JUI-F and PTI-P, had requested the court to declare illegal and unconstitutional the failure of both speaker and deputy speaker to call the assembly’s sitting for administering oath.
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2024
KARACHI: A private security guard was killed in a suicide attack targeting Japanese nationals near Mansehra Colony in the city’s Landhi neighbourhood on Friday morning, officials said.
The five Japanese, travelling in a van to their workplace, escaped unhurt. Two passers-by were injured, one of them in critical condition. According to witnesses, the attack involved a suicide bomber and a second assailant who was shot dead by police.
No individual or group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
However, Raja Umer Khattab, a senior official at the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), claimed that one of the deceased attackers was a member of an outlawed Baloch separatist group from Panjgur.
DIG East Azfar Mahesar told Dawn the Japanese nationals were travelling from their residence in Clifton to the export zone when the attackers struck near Murtaza Chowrangi.
“All five Japanese remained safe. However, a private security guard accompanying them and two passers-by were injured,” Mr Mahesar, a retired army captain, said.
He said the guards and police responded swiftly, with a Sharafi Goth police patrolling unit managing to secure the Japanese and escort them to safety.
Investigators seized a submachine gun, a bag full of grenades and a motorcycle at the scene.
A police official, who asked not to be named, claimed that it was a “failed operation” by the militants. He claimed they had mistakenly targeted the Japanese nationals, assuming them as Chinese because of facial resemblances.
DIG Asif Aijaz Shaikh of the CTD told Dawn the van was armoured, which helped prevent casualties among the foreigners. He disclosed that the attackers used a motorcycle to carry out the bombing, adding that the rapid response of the patrolling police averted a greater tragedy.
Mr Khattab said the foreigners were travelling in three vehicles, including a Revo and a Fortuner, apart from the van that was targeted. The company’s senior officials and their guards were travelling in the other two vehicles.
He explained the attack began when the van slowed at a speed breaker, prompting the suicide bomber to detonate the explosives prematurely. Although the blast didn’t harm the Japanese nationals, an accomplice fired at least 15 shots from behind roadblocks, while the foreigners’ guards returned fire. Nearby police responded, and as the shooter focused on the guards, a police officer fatally shot him in the head.
Mr Khattab stated that much impact of the blast was absorbed by a passing van carrying bakery goods. Glasses on only one side of the foreigners’ van were broken.
The deceased guard was identified as Noor Mohammed, 45, who succumbed to injuries at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), where two other injured passers-by were also being treated.
Police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said one unidentified male body of the alleged suicide bomber was brought in fragments at the JPMC. Dr Syed said there were five pieces of the body of the suspected suicide bomber, but he was identifiable. Therefore, DNA samples were taken.
Another unidentified body of the attacker was also brought, who had received four bullet injuries. His DNA samples were also taken for identification. Both suspects were in their 30s.
Abid Farooq, an official of the Bomb Disposal Squad, told Dawn that a total of six hand grenades and four rifle grenades were recovered from the custody of both suspects.
BRA affiliation
Mr Khattab of CTD claimed that one of the suspects killed, identified as Sohail Ahmed from Panjgur district, was affiliated with the outlawed Baloch Republican Army (BRA).
The official claimed that Ahmed, who had been “missing” since 2022, was previously involved in the Baloch insurgency from 2008 to 13, later joined the Levies Force, and was dismissed in September 2023 after disappearing. Ahmed had reportedly joined the Majeed Brigade, a faction of the BRA, in 2021.
President, PM condemn attack
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the suicide attack and lauded police’s timely response by the to avert casualties.
In separate statements, both the president and prime minister said the timely action by the police averted a huge life loss and reiterated their firm resolve to wipe out terrorism from the country.
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2024
TEHRAN / JERUSALEM / DUBAI: Reports of overnight explosions in Isfahan that were termed an Israeli strike on Iran caused an initial flurry of activity on Friday, with the markets reacting sharply, airlines cancelling flights in the region and world leaders going into crisis-control mode.
But the limited scale of the so-called attack and the muted response from both Tehran and Tel Aviv — who have not shied away from ramping up the rhetoric in the past — indicated that there was no will on either side to further escalate the situation.
The apparent attack was the latest in a round of actions, set off by the killing of seven Iranian officers in an Israeli strike on an embassy compound in Damascus. Iran retaliated over the weekend with hundreds of drones and missiles, some of which are said to have reached targets inside Israel.
On Friday morning, US outlet ABC News reported Israeli strikes on Iran, while the Fars news agency said an explosion was heard at an airport in Isfahan, but the cause was not immediately known.
Several Iranian nuclear sites are located in Isfahan province, including Natanz, centerpiece of Iran’s uranium enrichment programme. But CNN quoted a US official as stating the target was not a nuclear facility, and the International Atomic Energy Agency also reported no damage to Iranian nuclear sites.
Israeli media also cited reports from the New York Times and the Washington Post, which quoted unnamed Israeli officials as confirming Israel was behind the attack, but did not report official confirmation of their own.
Israel has a long tradition of maintaining ambiguity over issues like nuclear weapons and intelligence operations and the silence appeared to be part of its messaging.
The Israeli military and foreign ministries declined comment and there were no immediate public statements from senior politicians apart from hardline security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, who sent out the one word message “Feeble!” on social media platform X. In departure for a White House that routinely weighs in on the latest developments in the Middle East, spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Friday they had no comment on reports of Israeli attacks in Iran overnight.
But according to officials quoted by NBC and CNN, the US received advance notice of Israel’s reported strike on Iran, but did not endorse the operation or play any part in its execution.
Iran’s muted reponse
Iranian media appeared to play down the significance of the strike. In official statements, there was almost no mention that Israel – or the ‘Zionist entity’ as it is usually called – was behind it. State television carried analysts and other pundits who all appeared be dismissive about the scale.
“There has been a remarkable fabrication to exaggerate the extent of the incident,” the semi-official ISNA news agency said, with one analyst telling state TV that “mini drones shot down by air defences in Isfahan were flown by infiltrators from inside Iran”.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters there were no plans to respond against Israel for the incident.
“The foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed. We have not received any external attack, and the discussion leans more towards infiltration than attack,” the official said.
Even Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi made no mention of the explosions, nor did he cut short his trip to the central province of Semnan, indicating that the country was not on high alert.
In comments made to the envoys of Muslim countries in New York, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said the drones caused no damage or casualties in Isfahan.
Iran’s army commander-in-chief Abdolrahim Mousavi attributed Friday’s explosions to “the firing of anti-aircraft defence systems on a suspicious object”. He said there was “no damage” and that investigations were underway to assess the scale of the incident, according to Tasnim news agency.
Iran’s space agency spokesman Hossein Dalirian, referring to a type of drone, said there was “a failed and humiliating attempt to fly quad-copters, which were shot down.” In a post on X, formerly Twitter, he denied Iran had been attacked from abroad.
Flurry of activity
Confirmed or not, reports of the suspected Israeli strike on Iran sent markets, airlines and world leaders into a frenzy on Friday morning.
Prices of oil, gold and equities seesawed during the trading session, crude oil prices surged as much as four percent on worries about supplies from the oil-rich region before turning lower as it became apparent the strike was limited and neither side appeared eager to escalate.
The initial rush for safety also saw the yen rally against the dollar and gold jump back past $2,400 per ounce, while the Swiss franc and US government bonds won support. They all later gave up much of those gains.
Asian equities bore the brunt of the shock of the news of the attack. European equities recovered to end the day mixed, with Wall Street stocks also mixed in late morning trading.
Meanwhile, most major global airlines cancelled flights into Israel and other destinations in the Middle East, but by the end of the day, most Gulf-based carriers — such as Qatar Airways, flydubai, Emirates, Etihad — had resumed their operations.
Calls for calm
Following the early morning reports of an Israeli strike, the international community sprung into action with a chorus of voices unanimous in their calls for de-escalation.
UN chief Antonio Guterres said it was “high time to stop the dangerous cycle of retaliation in the Middle East”, while European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen stressed the need for stability in the region.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called for calm heads to prevail across the region, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that de-escalation remained the order of the day.
Following a meeting in Capri, G7 foreign ministers also issued a statement, saying: “We urge all parties to work to prevent further escalation. The G7 will continue to work to this end.”
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2024
ISLAMABAD: As President Asif Ali Zardari attempted to make a case for political reconciliation in his address to a joint session of parliament on Thursday, PTI lawmakers responded to his overture with a full-throated ruckus, that continued throughout his speech.
President Zardari spoke for almost 20 minutes in his record seventh presidential address, with a portrait of his spouse ex-PM Benazir Bhutto placed by his side and his children Bilawal and Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari sitting in the front row.
The session was, however, skipped by the three service chiefs and two chief ministers — Maryam Nawaz and Ali Amin Gandapur. Even PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif was conspicuous by his absence.
During the speech, PTI members clamoured in front of the dais, shouting ‘Go Zardari Go’ throughout. At times, the president seemed to lose his train of thought, but remained composed and only acknowledged the protesters with a smile, ending his speech with a victory sign.
“In my considered view, it is time to turn a new page… The challenges we face are not impossible to overcome. They just require the fundamentals of meaningful dialogue and parliamentary consensus… We can effectively tackle our challenges and foster an atmosphere of mutual respect and political reconciliation,” he said.
President Zardari said the country needed to build its strengths by investing in people, focusing on public needs, and harnessing its resources to create pathways to inclusive growth.
Besides economic and tax reforms, he also urged the federal government to promote a working relationship with the provinces.
About climate change, the president said Pakistan had been devastated by the adverse impacts of climate change, especially the 2022 floods. “We urgently need to invest in climate-friendly and climate-resilient infrastructure to mitigate the rapidly compounding risks of risks of climate change.”
Regional peace
Referring to the surge in terrorism, which threatens national security as well as regional peace, he termed the problem a shared concern that required collective efforts for eradication. He urged the neighbouring countries to take “strong notice” of militant groups involved in attacks against Pakistan’s security forces and people.
President Zardari also thanked friendly countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, the UAE, China, Turkiye, and Qatar for supporting Pakistan through difficult times.
Speaking about the Kashmir issue, he called upon India to reverse all illegal measures taken on or after Aug 5, 2019. He also expressed deep concerns over the genocide of Palestinians by the Israeli forces in Gaza, saying Pakistan condemned the brutality and impunity of the occupation forces.
‘Tough time’
In a media talk outside the Parliament House, the PTI leaders boasted they gave a ‘tough time’ to President Zardari during his address. PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan justified the protest, saying the PTI would continue to pressure the government. “We gave him the 21-gun salute — the one they all deserve,” he quipped.
“The protest is for the restoration of democracy and strengthening of the parliament,” he claimed. “Zardari is not the legitimate president of the country, and the worst is that he is not even behaving in that manner.” He said Mr Zardari has not even resigned from the PPP co-chief position even though he was the head of the state and the symbol of the federation.
Barrister Khan said that the president of the country has to be “apolitical but Zardari sahib addressed the [PPP] public gathering” in Naudero. “Is that legal,” he questioned.
Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2024
QUETTA: Seven more people have been killed in accidents in Balochistan as heavy rains continue to inflict damages across the province.
So far, 17 people have died and 15 injured due to roof collapses, lightning strikes and other mishaps since heavy rain and thunderstorms started last week.
Separately, eight people were killed in two accidents as rainfall continued in several areas of Azad Kashmir.
The seven new deaths in Balochistan were reported from the border town of Chaman on Thursday.
According to Chaman Deputy Commissioner Athar Abbas Raja, the victims, including four women and two children, were travelling in a car which was swept away by a flash flood.
Family washed away in Balochistan border town; dozens stranded by urban flooding
A large number of mud houses have also been swept away by flash floods triggered by heavy rainfall on surrounding mountains, Mr Abbas told Dawn over the phone.
He said gushing water has also badly damaged roads, cutting Chaman off from other areas of Balochistan and suspending transit trade with Afghanistan.
A railway track was also affected, suspending the train service between Quetta and Chaman. Damage to another track at the Spintangi area in the Sibi-Harnai section has also suspended rail service between Sibi and Harnai.
The northeastern district of Harnai, which has been receiving heavy rain with thunderstorms for the last many days, has been cut off from Quetta and other areas as link roads were washed away by flash floods.
The link of Makran division with Karachi was also cut off after a bridge on the coastal highway between Ormara and Basool collapsed.
A small dam in Chaman burst as it received excessive rainwater during a downpour which started early Thursday morning and lasted for several hours.
Officials said that Pado Dam on the outskirts of border town was washed away, causing massive destruction in old and new Chaman.
The water entered human settlements and damaged houses, forcing the residents to flee to take refuge at safer places.
Flash floods also swept away eight cars parked in a showroom at Chaman Bypass, a senior official of Levies force said.
He added that life had been virtually suspended in Chaman as all roads were inundated due to urban flooding.
Roghani Road, Killi Roozudin, Killi Salehzai and other areas were badly affected with dozens of houses damaged.
Officials said personnel of Frontier Corps, Levies and local administration had launched rescue operations in the affected areas and were shifting stranded families.
Similar destruction of houses and roads was also reported in other areas as heavy rains continued in Ormara, Pasni, Jewani, Ziarat, Loralai, Musakhail, Barkhan, Dera Bugti, Kohlu, Sibi, Bolan, Noshki, Dalbandin, Washuk, Panjgur and areas bordering Iran and Afghanistan.
Eight killed in accidents
At least seven people were killed and 14 injured when a careened off a slippery road near Moiyan Khakheyan in AJK during heavy rain on Thursday, police and rescuers said.
The coach was travelling to the mountainous Kai Manja village from Garhi Dupatta when it met with the accident around 6pm, some nine kilometres away from its last destination, according to Muzaffarabad SSP Yaseen Baig.
The vehicle was overloaded when it veered off the narrow and slippery road amid downpour, the SSP said, adding that the vehicle fell hundreds of feet down into a ravine.
Four of the passengers died on the spot, while the rest were critically injured and moved to a hospital.
Two more victims succumbed to their wounds during the treatment, SSP Baig said, adding that two of the injured were still in critical condition.
One of the victims was living in a shack which the bus hit while plunging down, a rescuer told Dawn.
He said tiny hut was completely destroyed, leaving one of its occupants dead and others injured.
In a separate accident, a landslide along the Muzaffarabad-Mansehra road claimed one life on Thursday, triggering protest from drivers and locals for the construction of a tunnel.
Saddar Police SHO Manzar Chughtai told Dawn that a mini-truck, loaded with vegetables, fell off the road after being caught in the landslide at around 1:30am.
The truck driver, Mohammad Raqeeb, 32, died on the spot.
Tariq Naqash in Muzaffarabad also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2024
DERA ISMAIL KHAN: Seven people, including five Customs officials, were slain in an ambush during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Dera Ismail Khan, the department said in a statement.
A civilian and a minor girl were also killed in the attack, which took place within the remits of Daraban police station on Wednesday, according to local police.
The official statement issued by Customs said its officers from the Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation (Peshawar) were conducting an IBO when they were ambushed by unknown assailants at Daraban Road near the Sagguu village.
“All five officials embraced martyrdom,” the statement read.
As per the local police, the Customs officers were travelling in a vehicle when unknown armed assailants opened fire at it near the Sagguu area.
The driver lost control of the vehicle as a result of the indiscriminate firing and collided with another vehicle coming from the opposite direction.
The attackers managed to flee the scene before a heavy contingent of police and medical teams of Rescue 1122 arrived at the scene.
They shifted the bodies to District Headquarters Teaching Hospital Dera Ismail Khan.
Rescue 1122 Spokesperson Aizaz Mehmood said the Customs officials have been identified as Muhammad Aslam, Akbar Zaman, Aniyatullah, Shohab Ali and Attar Alam. The other man was identified as Sifatullah, and the minor girl as Laiba Bibi.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur strongly condemned the incident, expressed regret and directed the police to arrest the culprits and bring them to justice, Dawn.com reported.
Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2024
ISLAMABAD / WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday reached out to Pakistan regarding escalating conflict between Tehran and Tel Aviv, even as Islamabad stayed away from condemning the Iranian attack on Israel.
“US Ambassador Donald Blome met today with Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to discuss recent events in the region,” the US Embassy said in a statement.
FM Dar said he discussed “various aspects of Pakistan-US relations and recent global and regional developments” with Amb Blome without clearly saying what message the envoy had conveyed.
This was the first time that the US has publicly contacted Islamabad on the issue, since Israel hit the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing a number of its senior commanders deployed there, and the subsequent Iranian retaliatory drone and missile strikes against Israel.
The meeting, moreover, comes ahead of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s upcoming three-day visit to Islamabad, due to start from Monday.
Interestingly, while Amb Blome was meeting with FM Dar, Iranian envoy Reza Amiri-Moghaddam was also at the Foreign Office to discuss the details of President Raisi’s upcoming visit.
The US has signalled its desire to prevent further escalation in the current situation. Instead, it aims to concentrate its efforts on China and Ukraine. The ongoing crisis in the Middle East is diverting its focus, energy, time, and resources.
A Pakistani diplomat claimed that the US has not asked Islamabad anything regarding the conflict, but it is concerned about reports that Pakistan plans to go ahead with the stalled gas pipeline project with Iran. Therefore, Washington will be watching the Iranian president’s visit with great interest.
“Amb Blome conveyed the United States’ commitment to working with the government and people of Pakistan, underscoring that prosperity and security for Pakistan remains a top priority for the United States,” the US embassy said in its statement.
Amb Blome’s meeting adds an interesting layer, especially considering Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s ongoing discussions with the IMF in Washington on a potential follow-up programme to the previous $3 billion stand-by arrangement. The new IMF programme is believed to be crucial for the financially struggling country.
UN move
In a related development, Pakistan refrained from joining a UN move to condemn Iran’s attacks on Israel, signalling its desire to remain neutral on the issue.
On Wednesday, the United States and 47 other countries circulated a statement unequivocally condemning attacks on Israel by Iran “and its militant partners”.
During the weekend, Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles, although most were intercepted with the help of the United States, Britain, France, and Jordan.
The statement initiated by the US permanent mission to the UN urged nations across the globe to condemn the Iranian action. Britain, France, Germany, and 47 states supported the US move.
A statement distributed by Pakistan’s permanent mission on Thursday expressed deep concern over the ongoing developments in the Middle East.
It pointed out that for months, Pakistan has emphasised the necessity of international efforts to prevent the expansion of hostilities in the region and to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza.
On April 2, Pakistan condemned an Israeli attack on an Iranian consular office in Syria as “a major escalation in an already volatile region”.
The statement highlighted that latest developments in the Middle East were the consequences of diplomatic breakdown. “These also underscore the grave implications when the UN Security Council is unable to fulfil its responsibilities of maintaining international peace and security,” Pakistan warned.
Pakistan reminded the international community that it’s “critically urgent to stabilise the situation and restore peace” and urged “all parties to exercise utmost restraint and move towards de-escalation”.
The United States and its allies also condemned Iran’s seizure of a Portuguese-flagged commercial ship near the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday and called for the immediate release of the ship and its crew.
Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2024
ISLAMABAD: Amid increasing fuel prices and the oil industry’s complaints over the rising influx of smuggled oil products, the government has expedited the process of deregulating petroleum product prices to shift the brunt of public criticism to oil marketing companies (OMCs).
In a directive, the petroleum division has asked the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) “to share a presentation on the analysis and implications of deregulation of petroleum products” within three days.
This should particularly cover the “in-country freight equalisation margins (IFEM) and other related aspects”, it said.
The directive came following instructions from the Prime Minister’s Office for urgent finalisation of a “deregulation framework for the petroleum sector”, a senior government official said.
The government has been under public criticism for rising petroleum product prices, even though it was not at liberty to change fixed tax rates on various products under the donor-dictated pricing mechanism.
The government’s only role at present is limited to announcing fortnightly fuel prices calculated by Ogra to pass on the impact of the international market and exchange rate to consumers.
The oil industry has also been criticising the government for doing little to stop the massive smuggling of low-quality and cheaper products, particularly from Iran.
This smuggling affects the regulated oil industry’s market share and profitability, and causes the government annual revenue loss of over Rs230 billion.
The industry had warned the government of its inability to upgrade its infrastructure to Euro-5 quality fuels when it had to compete with low-quality kerosene and benzene-grade smuggled fuels freely available across the country.
Pricing independence
An official told Dawn that while the final deregulation framework would come out with the approval of the federal cabinet and the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), the deregulation of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) pricing would mean an end of uniform pricing across the country and the oil companies would be free to set their own prices for different cities and towns.
Legally speaking, he explained, petroleum prices were already deregulated and the government notified only kerosene prices for the retail stage.
In case of other products like petrol, HSD and light diesel oil, the government only notified tax rates like petroleum development levy, customs duty and sales tax, etc. and fixed profit margins for dealers and marketing companies, while Ogra and the Ministry of Finance adjust the IFEM, which currently ensures uniform pricing across Pakistan.
Therefore, the Ministry of Finance normally announces ex-depot prices without notification, while petrol stations set their own retail prices.
On the other hand, the oil industry set its own rates for furnace oil and the high-octane blending component (HOBC) based on tax rates notified by the government.
Now, the government is likely to completely deregulate the prices of petrol and diesel, including commissions of OMCs and dealers, on the pattern of HOBC.
In the new framework, Ogra and the Competition Commission of Pakistan would have a greater role, notwithstanding their limited capacity and outreach, to ensure product quality, availability and competitive environment to avoid market collusion and cartelisation.
This would also mean that the IFEM mechanism would also be deregulated. This means the prices would significantly vary from one city to another and from one oil company to another.
Consumers close to ports and refineries would be at an advantage in getting products at cheaper rates, while those further afield would have to pay a higher price. The difference could vary between Rs3 and Rs8 per litre, depending on the actual transportation cost.
Warning from OCAC
The move comes at a time when the Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) — an association of over three dozen oil companies and refineries — warned the government early this week about “a serious threat to the opportunity of huge investment in the country due to the staggering influx of smuggled petroleum products from Iran”.
In a letter to the SIFC, the advisory council said that besides causing billions of rupees revenue loss to the government and forcing the local refineries to operate at unviable lower throughputs, the “menace of unabated smuggling seemingly under the patronage of official authorities is now reached to the extent that it may jeopardise opportunity of the forthcoming huge investment (worth $5bn-6bn) in refineries expansion and upgradation projects under the Oil Refining Policy for Upgradation of Brownfield Refineries, 2023” notified in February 2024.
It pointed out that the feasibilities of these upgrade projects were based on the optimum capacity utilisation of refineries.
“The smuggling of petroleum products, if continued, would seriously question the viability of these projects, forcing the prospective investors to review their decisions” to bring in huge investment and substantially increase production of deficit products and meet environment-friendly Euro-5 specifications.
Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2024
DUBAI: Dubai, a city in the desert proud of its futuristic gloss, was on Thursday busy clearing its waterclogged roads and drying out flooded homes two days after a record storm saw a year’s rain fall in a day.
Dubai International Airport, a major travel hub, struggled to clear a backlog of flights and many roads were still flooded in the aftermath of Tuesday’s deluge.
The rains were the heaviest experienced by the United Arab Emirates in the 75 years that records have been kept. They brought much of the country to a standstill and caused significant damage.
Flooding trapped residents in traffic, offices and homes. Many reported leaks at their homes, while footage circulated on social media showed malls overrun with water pouring from roofs.
Airport struggles to clear backlog of flights, many roads still flooded
Traffic remained heavily disrupted. A highway through Dubai was reduced to a single lane in one direction, while the main road that connects Dubai with the capital Abu Dhabi was closed in the Abu Dhabi direction.
“This was like nothing else. It was like an alien invasion,” Jonathan Richards, a Dubai resident from Britain, told Reuters.
“I woke up the other morning to people in kayaks with pet dogs, pet cats, suitcases all outside my house.”
Another resident, Rinku Makhecha, said the rain swamped her freshly renovated house she moved into two weeks ago. “My entire living room is just like … all my furniture is floating right now,” she said.
In Dubai’s streets, some vehicles, including buses, could be seen almost entirely submerged in water. Long queues formed at petrol stations.
Dubai airport had yet to resume normal operation after the storm flooded taxiways, forcing flight diversions, delays and cancellations.
Dubai Airports Chief Operating Officer Majed Al Joker told Al Arabiya TV he expected Dubai International Airport to reach 60-70 per cent capacity by the end of Thursday and full operational capacity within 24 hours.
Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2024
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday directed the authorities to expedite the pace of privatisation and outsourcing of the power distribution companies (Discos) during a high-level meeting regarding the power sector.
Presiding over the meeting, the prime minister emphasised the need to seek assistance from private sector experts and globally accepted models to improve the management affairs of the Discos.
He also instructed the preparation and presentation of a comprehensive plan in the next meeting to improve the power system in the country.
He said that reforms in the power sector would contribute to reducing the country’s circular debt. He also pledged not to allow electricity theft and other activities to harm the country’s treasury.
During the meeting, recommendations and measures to prevent power theft, reorganise the National Transmission and Dispatch Company, and implement new projects for electricity transmission were presented. The meeting was infomed that the Matiari-Rahim Yar Khan transmission line and Ghazi Barotha-Faisalabad line would be constructed to ensure power transmission from the southern part of the country.
The meeting was further informed that a comprehensive strategy had been evolved for the reorganisation of NTDC to reform the power transmission system and to minimise the government’s circular debts. The PM urged the completion of all reform initiatives within the stipulated time.
Saudi investment
In a separate meeting regarding Saudi investment, PM Shehbaz stated that he would personally oversee the Saudi investment projects and warned against any delays caused by red tape or outdated procedures.
He expressed gratitude to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for sending a high-level delegation, which is expected to initiate a new era of Saudi investment in Pakistan, trade partnerships, and business ties.
He commended the relevant federal ministers, the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), and other senior officers for their efforts in facilitating a mutually beneficial partnership during the visit of the Saudi delegation.
Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2024
RAFAH / UNITED NATIONS: Birds sang and planes rumbled overhead as Abdeljabbar al-Arja dug the remains of his dead neighbours from the rubble in Gaza.
An overnight Israeli strike hit the home where a displaced Palestinian family was sheltering in the southern city Rafah, relatives and neighbours told AFP as they scraped at the soil with their hands.
“We retrieved the remains of children and women, finding arms and feet. They were all torn to pieces. This is horrifying, it’s not normal,” Al-Arja said, adding that at least 10 people were killed in the blast.
Soon after the war began on October 7, Israel told Palestinians living in the north of Gaza to move to “safe zones” in the territory’s south like Rafah.
Guterres warns against ‘full-scale regional conflict’; Washington expected to veto Palestinian bid for UN membership
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has since vowed to invade the city, where around 1.5 million people live in shelters, more than half the territory’s population.
“How is Rafah a safe place?” said Zeyad Ayyad, a relative of the victims.
In a separate strike on a house in Rafah’s Al-Salam neighbourhood overnight on Tuesday, rescue crews recovered the corpses of eight family members including five children and two women, Gaza’s civil defence service said.
Meanwhile, senior US and Israeli officials held a virtual meeting on Thursday expected to include a discussion of both Israel’s plans for the southern Gaza city of Rafah and its consideration of a retaliatory strike against Iran.
President Joe Biden has urged Israel not to conduct a large-scale offensive in Rafah to avoid more Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza, where Palestinian health authorities say more than 33,000 people have been killed in Israel’s assault.
‘Brink of disaster’
At the United Nations, Secretary General Antonio Guterres painted a dark picture of the situation in the Middle East, warning that spiraling tensions over the war in Gaza and Iran’s attack on Israel could devolve into a “full-scale regional conflict.”
Guterres also said Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip had created a “humanitarian hellscape” for civilians trapped in the besieged territory.
“Granting Palestine full membership at the United Nations will lift some of the historic injustice that succeeding Palestinian generations have been subjected to,” special Palestinian Authority envoy Ziad Abu Amr told the Council.
“It will open wide prospects before a true peace based on justice.”
“The Middle East is on a precipice. Recent days have seen a perilous escalation — in words and deeds… One miscalculation, one miscommunication, one mistake, could lead to the unthinkable – a full-scale regional conflict that would be devastating for all involved,” he said, calling on all parties to exercise “maximum restraint.”
His speech came hours before a vote in the Security Council on a Palestinian bid for full UN membership.
Any request to become a UN member state must first earn a recommendation from the Security Council — meaning at least nine positive votes out of 15, and no vetoes — and then be endorsed by a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly. But the US has already voiced its opposition, meaning that the initiative that will likely be vetoed.
Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2024
ISLAMABAD: Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) said on Thursday it would work with Pakistan’s government “to understand its concerns” after authorities insisted an ongoing two-month ban was based on security grounds.
The platform has been intermittently accessible since Feb 17, when former Rawalpindi commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha made startling ‘revelations’ about alleged manipulation in the general election results and accused the chief election commissioner and chief justice of being involved in rigging.
“We continue to work with the Pakistani Government to understand their concerns,” X’s Global Government Affairs team posted, in their first comments since the site was disrupted.
The Interior Ministry said on Wednesday said X was blocked on security grounds, according to a report submitted to the Islamabad High Court where one of several challenges to the ban is being heard.
On the same day, the Sindh High Court ordered the government to restore access to social media platform X within a week.
“The Sindh High Court has given the government one week to withdraw the letter, failing which, on the next date, they will pass appropriate orders,” Moiz Jaaferi, a lawyer challenging the ban, told AFP.
The court’s order, issued on Thursday, said that the ministry’s letter did not give any reasons for why the platform was blocked, nor did it comply with the established rules for blocking of harmful online content.
“The court order gave the government one week to decide what it wants to do,” lawyer Jibran Nasir, another petitioner, told AFP.
Both the government and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had refused to comment on the outages for weeks.
“It is the sole prerogative and domain of the federal government to decide what falls within the preview of terms of ‘defence’ or ‘security’ of Pakistan and what steps are necessary to be taken to safeguard National Security,” said the interior ministry’s report, submitted by senior official Khurram Agha.
The interior ministry had earlier suggested intelligence agencies were behind the order.
The closure of a social media service “when there is request from any security or intelligence agency” is “well within the scope of provisions of the PTA act”, the report said.
Digital rights activists, however, said it was designed to quash dissent after February 8 polls that were fraught with claims of rigging.
Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2024
ISLAMABAD: Conceding regular overbilling by distribution companies and the power division’s total ignorance about the extent of defective meters, Power Minister Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari on Thursday hinted at reviewing electricity rates for solar, industrial and tribal region consumers to revive plunging electricity demand and counter rising capacity payments.
Speaking at a news conference, Mr Leghari also alleged that not only electricity thieves but also the officers and staff of his ministry and subsidiaries were causing around Rs560 billion annual loss. He vowed to end this menace that was becoming unaffordable to the nation and causing irreparable harm to the economy.
The minister said the distribution companies were losing Rs200bn on account of electricity units they bill but cannot recover, while another Rs360bn worth of units were lost to theft facilitated by “our officers and staff”. “It’s unacceptable,” he said.
He said the government would act against all those in whose jurisdiction such losses and theft were found. “The government would not be bowed down by protests. This is essential service” and 20pc staff and officers were involved in facilitating those losses at the cost of common consumers, he said.
He said the government was being blackmailed that fresh inductions could not be made to replace corrupt officials. “There’s no dearth of fresh engineers who have the relevant qualifications and can be trained to take over assignments,” he stressed.
Mr Leghari said the Discos staff from superintending engineers (SEs), executive engineers (XENs), sub-divisional engineers (SDOs) to linemen and meter-readers had time until April 23 to survey their respective areas and jurisdictions and remove kundas (illegal electricity connection). If they failed to do so, the government would send special teams and FIA officials to act against the staff.
He deplored that his ministry did not know how many meters were faulty. He said that on his inquiry, the power division reported that only 100,000 meters were defective in Discos’ jurisdiction. He said when he pushed if all other meters across the country were working fine, “we don’t know” was the answer.
Massive overbilling
The minister also conceded that overbilling worth “crores of rupees” was taking place in the Discos every month, not only in the domestic sector but also in other areas. He said massive overbilling was also going on in the agriculture sector, where people had shifted their tube-wells to solar power and transformers were lying idle, but millions of rupees worth of bills were being issued to them.
Mr Leghari’s position contrasts with the line taken earlier by the power division before he took over as federal minister. Last year, the power regulator Nepra accused the electricity distribution companies of massive overbilling after a detailed investigation.
The power division and its attached companies denied Nepra’s allegations. The division then formed its own “independent inquiry team”, which also confirmed Nepra’s findings, but the power division did not make the report public.
Mr Leghari said a strong roadmap for power sector reforms had been prepared based on the directives of the prime minister that would be made public in a few weeks to control power pilferage, overbilling, and circular debt. The minister also confirmed that about Rs1.9 trillion worth of bills were currently outstanding and the circular debt now stood at about Rs2.5tr.
In response to declining electricity demand partly due to the shift towards solar power, the government is contemplating rate reductions for industrial consumers and other incentives to encourage higher power usage.
The minister said about 6,800 MW of solar panels had been imported this year, and only 700 MW had gone into net-metering as more and more consumers were going off-grid. “We are seriously thinking about this,” Mr Leghari said.
Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2024
KARACHI / ISLAMABAD: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday directed the interior ministry to either justify the shutdown of social media platform X or rescind its Feb 17 letter directing the telecom regulator to ban the site.
The high court’s directions came two months after the interior ministry ordered the disruption of X, formerly known as Twitter.
Meanwhile, the ministry also submitted a detailed report before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday, insisting that the site was banned “in the interest of upholding national security, maintaining public order, and preserving the integrity of our nation”.
The social media platform X has been rarely accessible since Feb 17, when the PTI called for protests against the then-Rawalpindi commissioner’s admission of vote manipulation in the Feb 8 elections.
“The Sindh High Court has given the government one week to withdraw the letter, failing which, on the next date, they will pass appropriate orders,” Abdul Moiz Jaferii, a lawyer challenging the ban, told AFP.
During a hearing before a two-judge bench led by Chief Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi and Justice Abdul Mubeen, the high court also instructed the Ministry of Interior to submit reasons for imposing an official ban on X.
Advocates Jibran Nasir and Jaferii argued that the government had not provided any legal basis or substantial reasons for the shutdown of X, which they claim violates a prior court order dated Feb 22, thereby constituting contempt of court.
When the bench asked about the reasons behind closure of X, Additional Attorney General Zia Makhdoom contended that the social media platform was working a day ago. However, he sought time to get instructions from the respondents.
The petitioners’ lawyers argued that a huge fine could be imposed on social media platforms carrying misinformation and false news and the service providers were bound to issue a notice before shutting down a social media platform seeking a response, failing which the relevant platform can be closed.
Advocate Jaferii pointed out that before the emergence of the interior ministry’s Feb 17 letter, the PTA had even refused to admit the closure of X and the federal law officers used to mislead the court about the platform’s functioning through virtual private networks (VPNs).
The SHC chief justice said the institutions and courts were there for the benefit of the people and the supremacy of the Constitution. He noted that no justification had so far been produced in court for banning X.
He said the interior ministry must come up with reasons for writing a letter to the PTA for shutting down X or to rescind its Feb 17 letter; otherwise, the court will pass an appropriate order in the next hearing on May 9.
The bench was hearing a set of identical petitions filed against the suspension of mobile internet and broadband services during and before general elections, as well as the outage of social media platforms, including X, across the country.
At the previous hearing, the interior ministry informed the SHC that the social media platform X was blocked in February till further orders on the reports of intelligence agencies.
In its earlier interim order, the SHC directed the respondents to ensure the provision of smooth and uninterrupted internet services, as well as access to social media platforms, unless relevant laws were invoked and also specifically ordered to restore X if there was no justification or reasonable grounds for its closure.
‘Ban necessary to protect national integrity’
Meanwhile, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) received a detailed report from Interior Secretary Khurram Agha on Wednesday, defending the temporary suspension of X citing national interest and security concerns.
The report, submitted before IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq, said the social media platform was not registered in Pakistan nor was it under any obligation to comply with Pakistani laws.
It claimed that X had “not complied with the requests of Pakistani authorities” after the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA)’s cybercrime wing forwarded numerous requests via the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to take “significant action to block accounts involved in a defamatory campaign against the honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan”.
Noting that the FIA’s wing had initiated several FIRs against hundreds of Twitter accounts, the interior ministry asserted that the “lack of cooperation from Twitter/X authorities in addressing content that violates Pakistani laws and values further justifies the need for regulatory measures, including the temporary ban”.
“The government of Pakistan has no alternative but to temporarily block access/suspend the operation of this platform within Pakistan,” it said.
The report said the interior ministry had on Feb 17 asked for blocking of X immediately till further orders on the reports of intelligence agencies.
“The decision to impose a ban on Twitter/X in Pakistan was made in the interest of upholding national security, maintaining public order, and preserving the integrity of our nation,” it contended, adding that the decision was taken after considering “various confidential reports received from intelligence and security agencies of Pakistan”.
It emphasised that “hostile elements operating on Twitter/X have nefarious intentions to create an environment of chaos and instability, with the ultimate goal of destabilising the country and plunging it into some form of anarchy”.
“The ban on Twitter serves as a necessary step to disrupt the activities of these elements and prevent them from achieving their destructive objectives,” the report said.
It noted that X was neither registered in Pakistan nor had it signed an agreement to abide by local laws. It said the platform’s “failure to establish a legal presence or engage in meaningful cooperation with Pakistani authorities underscores the need for regulatory measures to ensure accountability and adherence to national laws”.
“The ban on Twitter/X serves as a necessary step to address this regulatory vacuum and compel the platform to respect the sovereignty and legal jurisdiction of Pakistan,” the interior ministry added.
It said social media platforms were extensively used to propagate extremist ideologies and fake information, adding that some miscreants were using social media as a tool to create a law and order situation and destabilise Pakistan.
It said the ban on X was not to restrict access to information but to streamline the use of social media platforms, and the interior ministry was under obligation to protect citizens’ rights and national interests.
It pointed out that TikTok was also banned earlier and was only restored after it agreed to abide by the law of the land.
Justice Farooq adjourned further hearing in the petition till May 2.
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2024
ISLAMABAD: Anticipating a bumper wheat crop, the federal cabinet on Wednesday decided to write a letter to all provinces to enhance their wheat procurement targets and set a good price for the commodity to facilitate farmers and ensure the availability of the staple in the market.
During a cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the Ministry of National Food Security and Research to work out an effective strategy in coordination with provincial governments for achieving the wheat procurement target.
“Bumper wheat crop is expected in the country and letters are being written to all four provinces to increase their wheat procurement target so that the farmers can get a better reward for their hard work,” Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said at a press conference after the cabinet meeting.
During the meeting, PM Shehbaz said Saudi investments to the tune of billions of dollars were expected to land in the country following a visit of the Saudi delegation led by its foreign minister. “We must ensure the completion of this investment in Pakistan with the same spirit and dedication,” he said, adding that there would be no hindrances.
“It is a good omen that Pakistan, a strategically located nuclear state, is in the news for good reasons, especially on the economic front,” he said, adding that the news about “improvement” in Pakistan’s economy from international institutions and journals was also encouraging.
At the presser, Minister Tarar revealed that a delegation of private investors from Saudi Arabia would also visit Pakistan soon and hold meetings for collaboration in various fields.
In response to a question about the Faizabad sit-in commission report which suggested legislation to regulate the intelligence agencies, the information minister said the federal cabinet did not discuss the commission’s report.
Cabinet decisions
The cabinet approved a bill regarding the establishment of the Institute of Modern Sciences in Wah Cantonment. In this regard, the prime minister directed to form a committee to further “improve the procedure” for establishing new universities and higher education institutions. The committee headed by the education minister would include the petroleum minister, the IT minister, and the attorney general for Pakistan as its members.
The cabinet, on the recommendation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, allowed former ambassador Manzoor Ahmad Chaudhry to receive the Commandeur de L’Ordre award from the government of Cote d’Ivoire in recognition of his services.
On the recommendation of the Ministry of Law and Justice, the meeting approved the conversion of Accountability Court-VIII Karachi to Special Court (Customs, Taxation and Anti-Smuggling-II), Accountability Court-III Hyderabad to Banking Court Mirpur Khas, Accountability Court-III Sukkur to Banking Court Ghotki, and Accountability Court-IV Sukkur to Banking Court Shaheed Benazirabad.
The cabinet also authorised the Special Court-II (Anti-Terrorism) to hear cases under the Official Secrets Act 1923.
The cabinet also approved signing a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, and the Qatar government regarding labour relations, inspections, and occupational safety and health. It was informed that currently, 300,000 Pakistanis were working in Qatar, who were sending foreign exchange worth Rs850 million to Pakistan.
The cabinet also approved the Federal Public Private Policy of Pakistan 2023-2028 on the recommendation of the Ministry of Planning and Special Initiatives. In this regard, the prime minister directed all the ministries to submit their proposals. The cabinet endorsed the decisions taken in its meeting held on April 4.
Chinese delegation
In a separate meeting with a delegation of Shanghai Electric Group led by Chairman Wu Lei, the PM assured him that the government would make no compromise on the security of Chinese workers in Pakistan.
PM Shehbaz said that the government would ensure all possible facilitation of Chinese investors to expand the ongoing projects. He urged the Chinese firms to convert power plants from imported to local coal and increase their investment in the coal mining sector.
The Shanghai Electric Group is currently working on the Thar coal mine development and a 1320MW coal power project. “The Thar coal projects executed by the group are annually saving around $400 million,” said a press release.
Development of Balochistan
In a meeting with Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, the prime minister said that the development of the province was among the top priorities of the federal government. He expressed deep grief over the rain-related losses and assured that the federal government would “support the provincial government in the rehabilitation of the affected people”.
PM Shehbaz maintained that the federal government would also support the provincial government in the education sector. He added the network of Daanish schools was being expanded to the province.
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2024
PESHAWAR: At least seven militants were killed in North Waziristan as security forces foiled a bid by them to enter Pakistan from Afghanistan, said the army’s media wing on Wednesday.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that a large quantity of arms and ammunition was also recovered from the militants by security forces following an intense exchange of fire in the Spinkai area of the district.
The statement said that the militants gunned down during the exchange of fire were trying to infiltrate the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, but their movement was detected by the troops in the Ghulam Khan area.
“The infiltrators were surrounded, effectively engaged and after an intense fire exchange, all seven terrorists were killed. A large quantity of weapons, ammunition and explosives was also recovered from the killed terrorists,” it read.
The statement said that Pakistan had consistently been asking the interim Afghan government to ensure effective border management on their side of the border to prevent the movement of militants entering Pakistan to foment terrorism.
“[The] interim Afghan government is expected to fulfil its obligations and deny the use of Afghan soil by terrorists for perpetuating acts of terrorism against Pakistan,” the statement said.
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2024
ISLAMABAD: A controversy over what apparently started as an internal dispute between a political party and one of its workers spilled over into the country’s highest court with a plea that someone it had not fielded as its candidate has managed to win the slot, allegedly through impersonation.
The Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) moved the Supreme Court against the Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) April 2 order which had led the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to reinstate Sadaf Ihsan as a member of the National Assembly.
Sadaf Ihsan is accused of stealing identity and impersonating another candidate actually fielded by the JUI-F on a reserved seat for women from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
It may be recalled that the ECP had earlier withdrawn the victory notification after the JUI-F disowned Sadaf Ihsan being a member of the party.
JUI-F claims Sadaf Ihsan ‘impersonated’ its actual candidate Sadaf Yasmin; assails PHC order after her notification by ECP
Moved through senior counsel Kamran Murtaza, the petition explained that JUI-F had submitted with the ECP separate lists of its candidates in order of priority for seats reserved for women and non-Muslims.
The petition pleaded that a list was furnished to the ECP containing all required details for three candidates, including Hina Bibi (Respondent 6). However, to the extent of Sadaf Yasmin — the original candidate whom Sadaf Ihsan apparently impersonated — only her name was added to the list because other details had not been conveyed by her to the party.
According to the petition, prior to the issuance of the notification of returned candidate, the ECP ought to have either rejected the list to the extent of Sadaf Yasmin or sought clarification from the party whether Sadaf Ihsan was Sadaf Yasmin or not.
The petition contended that the JUI-F informed Hina Bibi that Sadaf Yasmin had not submitted her nomination papers as she was living with her family in Karachi, and she had rather decided not to avail of the opportunity. Thus Hina Bibi should have been considered the third validly nominated candidate of the JUI–F.
At the time of submission of nomination papers, Sadaf Ihsan with the probable collusion of someone within the party — who knew that Sadaf Yasmin was not pursuing her nomination — decided to portray herself as Sadaf Yasmin, since her first name was identical.
Initially, the ECP issued a notification on Feb 22, in which two of the 10 seats were given, one to PML-N and the other to JUI-F. Both the returned candidates of these parties were the top priority candidates.
But after the Sunni Ittehad Council’s claim for allocation of reserved seats was decided against them, the ECP issued another notification on March 4, for the remaining eight seats for women from KP in which Naeema Kishwar, who was second in priority list of the JUI-F, was listed as the returned candidate of the party.
Hina Bibi filed an application on March 6 to the ECP while the JUI-F also filed an application against the March 4 notification.
Subsequently, the ECP issued a notification on March 11 suspending the notification to the extent of Sadaf Ihsan and also published a press release on March 12, citing that it had initiated an inquiry and will hear all the parties concerned before deciding the matter.
The press release also stated that the Returning Officer had been suspended as he should not have accepted Sadaf Ihsan as the JUI-F’s candidate.
Fearing the outcome of the hearing before the ECP, Sadaf Ihsan challenged the March 11 notification before the PHC without making the JUI-F a party in the petition, the JUI-F regretted.
Consequently, on April 2, a division bench of the PHC allowed Sadaf Ihsan’s petition.
The JUI-F emphasised that it was purely the prerogative of political parties to decide the candidature for the reserved seats of women in order of priority under Article 51(e) of the Constitution, Section 104 of the Elections Act, 2017 and Chapter VI of Elections Rules 2017.
The ECP can recall or amend a notification issued under Article 51 of the Constitution, read with Section 104 of Elections Act 2017 for reserved NA seats for women, if an impersonator has managed to get a reserved seat due to negligence of the Returning Officer, the petition said.
A political party and the rightful candidate cannot be deprived of a seat due to negligence on part of an ECP official, the petition bemoaned, adding that the claim of Sadaf Ihsan on the seat was a privilege granted by the party. Thus Sadaf Ihsan cannot claim rights on a seat before the PHC by going against the stance of her own party about her being an impersonator and her having no right to enforce for a reserved seat not meant for her, the petition emphasised.
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2024
WASHINGTON: In a meeting with the IMF chief and some members of its board of governors, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has reaffirmed Pakistan’s resolve to carry out “aggressive reforms” to stabilise its economy.
These discussions were part of a meeting of Middle East and North Africa (MENAP) ministers and governors with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva held on Tuesday.
Mr Aurangzeb “underscored aggressive reforms, including broadening the tax net, privatising loss-making SOEs, expanding social safety nets and facilitating the private sector,” his team said in a statement issued a day after the meeting.
The minister underscored the implications of geo-economic fragmentation on Pakistan and expressed gratitude to the IMF, multilateral development banks, and “time-tested sincere bilateral partners” for their unwavering support during these trying times.
He stressed the significance of reallocating a nation’s special drawing rights (SDRs) within the IMF to tackle economic hurdles effectively. Additionally, he highlighted the necessity of reassessing surcharge policies and giving precedence to the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) to address climate vulnerabilities.
Assures lender of broadening tax net, privatising SOEs, expanding social safety nets, facilitating private sector
The IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) has been in operation for more than a year, with the initial 17 countries securing commitments of financial assistance. Pakistan, identified as a low emitter yet severely impacted by climate change, is also seeking aid from this fund.
Advocating for a more proactive and responsive Global Financial Safety Net to address heightened risks, the minister applauded the IMF’s renewed focus on Capacity Building through Regional Capacity Development Centres (RCDCs).
The minister advocated for a proactive global financial safety net to address heightened risks and appreciated the IMF’s renewed emphasis on capacity-building through regional capacity development centres. He also stressed the importance of collaborative efforts for sustainable economic development.
Pakistan, in pursuit of another long-term package — its 24th thus far — from the IMF, has formulated a comprehensive economic recovery plan. This plan encompasses three primary components: taxation, energy, and streamlining the privatisation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs), including PIA.
The IMF board is scheduled to convene on April 29 to deliberate on releasing the final tranche of its current programme with Pakistan. Subsequently, discussions between IMF staff and Islamabad regarding the new package are anticipated to commence.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the IMF acknowledged Pakistan’s progress in meeting its conditions, while Pakistani officials advocated for a new plan tailored more specifically to Pakistan’s needs.
Later, at a JP Morgan Seminar on Pakistan’s Economic Policy Outlook, Mr Aurangzeb emphasised positive economic indicators such as the robust performance of the agriculture sector, decreasing inflationary pressures, a stable exchange rate, shrinking trade deficit, and robust remittance inflows.
He informed the participants that Pakistan was committed to engaging in a broader and extended programme with the IMF.
At a meeting with Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank Group, the minister emphasised Pakistan’s advancements under the nine-month SBA programme and the ongoing reforms in key sectors such as taxation, energy and privatisation.
Both parties acknowledged the necessity of establishing a 10-year rolling Country Framework Plan.
The World Bank president pledged his complete support for Pakistan’s reform initiatives and digitalisation efforts aimed at stabilising the economy and boosting revenues. Additionally, the minister extended an invitation for the president to visit Pakistan.
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2024
DUBAI: Two days on, highways in the UAE remained inundated and its major airport in chaos as the Middle East’s financial centre was gridlocked on Wednesday.
Storms hit the Emirates and Bahrain overnight Monday and on Tuesday, after lashing Oman, where 18 people were killed including children.
Police in the UAE said at least one 70-year-old man was killed after he was swept away in his car in Ras Al-Khaimah, one of the oil-rich country’s seven emirates. Power outages were reported in and around Dubai, which was dotted with flooded areas and submerged and abandoned cars.
One road tunnel near the airport was completely flooded to a depth of several metres.
Climatologist Friederike Otto, a specialist in assessing the role of climate change on extreme weather events, stated it was “highly likely” that global warming had worsened the storms.
The UAE also frequently conducts cloud seeding operations to increase rainfall. Bloomberg had said earlier that seven cloud seeding operations had occurred in the days before the storm.
Responding to reports of the UAE carrying out cloud seeding (spraying chemicals to increase rainfall), a senior weather forecaster at the Gulf state’s National Centre of Meteorology issued a clarification saying, “We did not use cloud seeding because (the storm) was already strong.”
The UAE saw record rainfall with 254mm falling in less than 24 hours in Al Ain, a city on the UAE-Oman border, according to the national meteorology centre.
That was the most since records began in 1949, before the UAE was formed in 1971. Long lines of vehicles along the waterlogged, six-lane expressways were witnessed, after the 259.5mm of rain.
Emergency response
As sunny skies returned, stories emerged of residents stuck in cars and offices overnight after torrential downpours and rolling black clouds.
Local media and social media posts showed significant damage across the country, including collapsed roads and flooded homes. The extent of the damage was not immediately clear as emergency workers sought to drain flooded roads across the country hours after the heavy rain subsided.
The UAE lacks much of the needed drainage infrastructure to handle heavy rain. It is not uncommon for roads to become partially submerged by water during extended periods of rainfall. It typically rains only a few times a year.
Iranian authorities said they rescued 21 Sri Lankan crewmen from a Cook Islands-flagged tanker sinking in the Gulf of Oman, the state news agency IRNA reported. The unnamed tanker suffered damage approximately 50km off the coast of Jask in Iran, the report said. Five of the crewmen received medical care from Jask emergency services and were in good physical condition. However, it did not say when the rescue took place.
International travel
Dubai International, the hub of Emirates Airline, said it was experiencing significant disruptions with flights delayed or diverted due to heavy rains. The airport had briefly suspended operations on Tuesday as the rains caused flooding across Dubai and elsewhere in the UAE.
Dubai’s flagship Emirates airline cancelled all check-ins as staff and passengers struggled to arrive and leave, with access roads flooded and some metro services suspended. At the airport, long taxi queues formed and passengers milled around, many growing increasingly frustrated as nearly every departure was repeatedly delayed.
“They are completely lost, its complete chaos — no information, nothing,” fumed one passenger, who did not want to be named, after a 12-hour wait.
Meanwhile, a large crowd gathered at a connections desk, clapping and whistling in protest at the lack of information.
Scores of flights were delayed, cancelled and diverted during Tuesday’s torrential rain.
Dubai International Airport said it was working to restore normal operations as quickly as possible, but added that the recovery would take some time.
Flights have been delayed/diverted and impacted by displaced crew, DXB said in a statement. The airport, the world’s busiest in terms of international flights and a major transit hub, advised passengers in Dubai not to come to the airport, in a post on social media.
Emirates Airline said passengers arriving to Dubai and already in transit would continue to be processed.
Separately, Egypt Air issued a statement notifying those concerned about the suspension of their flight operations between Cairo and Dubai. The airline said flights on this route will remain suspended until weather conditions in the UAE improve.
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2024
TEHRAN / JERUSALEM / BRUSSELS: Amid a diplomatic flurry aiming to calm a region already on the edge, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday his country would decide how to respond to Iran.
Tehran, however, said its military and air force were ready to confront any Israeli attack.
Israel faces pressure from its allies to refrain from striking back at Iran.
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock were the first Western envoys to visit Israel and urge calm, but Netanyahu told the visiting ministers that Israel “will reserve the right to protect itself,” his office said.
The German FM called for “prudent restraint”, saying the region must not slide into a situation whose outcome is completely unpredictable.
Meanwhile, Mr Cameron said that “we’re very anxious to avoid escalation and to say to our friends in Israel: It’s a time to think with head as well as heart.”
The US has already made clear it won’t join any attack on Iran and has called for de-escalation, as have a host of other Western and Arab leaders.
Israel’s military chief Herzi Halevi has already vowed “a response” to Iran’s first-ever direct attack, while military spokesman Daniel Hagari stressed that Tehran would not get off “scot-free”.
But it remains unclear how and when Israel might strike, and whether it would target Iran directly or attack its interests or allies abroad in places such as Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
A direct attack on Revolutionary Guards bases or nuclear research facilities within Iran is among the options Israel has to strike back.
Iran holds military parade
Meanwhile, Iran celebrated the “success” of its drone and missile strike during its annual military parade on Wednesday, as Hamas termed Tehran’s actions a “legitimate and deserved” response to a strike on the Islamic republic’s consulate in Syria.
In its first reaction, Hamas said, “The response from the Islamic Republic of Iran confirms that the time when the Zionist entity could act as it wanted without accountability or punishment has ended.”
The operation dubbed Honest Promise “brought down the glory of the Zionist regime (Israel)”, President Ebrahim Raisi said at a military base on the outskirts of Tehran.
“This operation showed that our armed forces are ready,” he said in a speech addressed to the regular army and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“Any attack by the Zionist regime (Israel) on our soil will be dealt with a severe response,” state media quoted him as saying.
In his speech, Raisi also hit out at countries that had “sought to normalise relations” with Israel.
“These countries are now humiliated in front of their own people which constitutes a strategic failure for the regime” of Israel, he added.
Meanwhile, the commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force said at the same event that its warplanes, including Russian-made Sukhoi-24s, were in their “best state of preparedness” to counter any Israeli attack.
Air force commander Hamid Vahedi warned Iran’s enemies against making a “strategic error”.
“We are 100 per cent ready in all aerial fronts,” he was quoted as saying by ISNA news agency.
Wednesday’s parade saw Iranian forces showcase a range of military equipment, including drones and long-range ballistic missiles.
Among them were multiple versions of the Ababil, Arash and Mohajer drones as well as the Dezful medium-range ballistic missile and S-300 air defence missile system.
EU, G7 working on sanctions
Separately, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Brussels was also working to expand sanctions against Iran, including its supply of drones and other weapons to Russia and to proxy groups around the Middle East.
European Union leaders met on Wednesday to discuss stepping up sanctions against Iran to prevent a wider conflict in the Middle East, more than six months into Israel’s war in Gaza.
“The EU is ready to take further restrictive measures against Iran, notably in relation to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and missiles,” a draft statement said ahead of the summit.
Meanwhile in Italy, foreign ministers from the G7 nations gathered on Wednesday for talks dominated by the crisis in the Middle East. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is among those attending the meeting of the Group of Seven.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani confirmed they were “working” on some kind of sanctions against Iran.
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2024
NEW DELHI: India begins its crucial national elections on Friday amid hopes and fears for its troubled democracy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the most right-wing leader to head the country, is hoping to win a third consecutive term, the first time since Jawaharlal Nehru, while his rejuvenated rivals say he could lose.
Mr Modi says he is confident of getting more than 400 seats in the 18th Lok Sabha, a brute majority of in the 545-seat lower house, a feat achieved only once by Rajiv Gandhi.
The Bharatiya Janata Party hopes to increase its tally from 303 to 370, the rest coming from other members of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA). It is widely feared that Mr Modi would seek to use the majority to change the constitution to align with his idea of Hindu Rashtra.
Opposition sees an opening for itself in PM’s northern stronghold; Modi says he is confident of getting more than 400 seats in Lok Sabha
Mr Modi’s hitherto fractious rivals comprising regional parties plus the Congress, recently cobbled the India National Development Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc. They are pitching for the removal of the NDA from power for its “whimsical policies, narcissistic hegemony, communal avowal as well as violence against the minorities and the fear factor against any dissent”.
Ground reports say there is no Modi wave evident in any part of the country, but these are early days. The biggest chunk of seats will be in the fray on Friday, covering 102 races in 21 states. The remaining six phases of the polls, including the last leg on June 1, will make these the longest elections in memory. Security is cited as the reason, and it would involve the deployment of 3.4 lakh paramilitary forces in rotation.
West Bengal, where the Bharatiya Janata Party is hoping to expand from the 18 of 42 seats it won last time, would see polls in all seven phases. A maximum of 92,000 security personnel are likely to be deployed there.
The BJP had just two seats in the state in 2014.
The NDA is banking largely on the so-called Modi magic together with the Ram Mandir and the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. Every BJP leader is reinforcing Hindutva, which otherises the Muslims. The BJP’s manifesto is personalised as ‘Modi ki Guarantee’, with the programmes of a decade-long rule listed. The Congress’s promise of ten forms of justice has fresh appeal: “We promise you greater freedom, faster growth, more equitable development and justice for all.”
The rub however is in the numbers. Mr Modi’s 39 per cent votes got him 55 per cent seats in 2019. In so doing, he obviously won by dividing the 61 per cent votes cast for non-BJP parties.
The opposition sees in this a chance, which requires it to unite where it matters. The question is where would Mr Modi find the extra 67 opposition seats while not losing any of his to account for the BJP’s goal of hitting 370 without allies.
The opposition sees an opening for itself in Mr Modi’s northern stronghold. Much has changed since 2019 when he won all seven seats in Delhi, all 10 in Haryana, all 25 in Rajasthan, 25 of 48 in Maharashtra, 27 of 29 in Madhya Pradesh, all 26 in Gujarat, 62 of 80 in Uttar Pradesh, 22 of 40 in Bihar, all five in Uttarakhand and all four in Himachal Pradesh.
That adds up to 213 seats for the BJP from the northern stronghold. Elsewhere, the BJP picked up 25 out of 28 in Karnataka, eight of 21 in Odisha and four from 17 in Telangana. The BJP won two seats from 25 in Andhra Pradesh. It’s saturated in the north and in the absence of a divisive issue clicking, the chances are it could only go down from there.
In Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh the Congress has taken power since the last elections. The BJP might improve its tally in Andhra Pradesh where it has cobbled an alliance with the Telugu Desam. Wild guesses have been made, however. Rahul Gandhi says the Modi alliance could be restricted to 180, nearly a hundred short of a majority.
Shiv Sena’s Uadhav Thackeray on whose strength the BJP won handsomely in Maharashtra feels, not without a tinge of bitterness that the BJP would get just 45 seats. And the Trinamool Congress of West Bengal says it would get twice the number of seats than the BJP in the state, which should worry Mr Modi’s supporters.
After the Muzaffarnagar communal polarisation of 2014 and Pulwama-Balakot nationalist fervour fuelled his campaign in 2019, the Modi souffle has so far failed to rise again.
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2024
A fresh mass grave was found in Gaza Strip’s Al-Shifa Hospital this week, according to Al Jazeera.
The grave was found after some employees informed relief and rescue workers that an unspecified number of bodies were dumped in the hospital’s premises over the past few months because the incessant bombardment by Israel had made it almost impossible to ensure a normal burial.
The channel’s correspondent quoted an employee of the hospital as saying he was confident that another mass grave would be found at Beit Lahiya, a town near Gaza City which bore the brunt of Israeli bombing soon after the crisis unfolded on Oct 7.
According to the channel’s correspondent, Palestinian families have been visiting the hospital to find out whether the grave contains the bodies of their loved ones. Walid Radwa Ftima was one of them. He said he was able to identify the body of his mother thanks to a distinctive mark on her leg.
Israel’s onslaught in Gaza was triggered by the Hamas’ raid inside the Jewish state on Oct 7, which by its tallies killed 1,200 with 253 taken prisoner.
The subsequent bombardment has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, displaced the majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million people and caused a grave humanitarian crisis.
Israel has faced growing global opposition to the relentless bombardment of Gaza, which the United Nations and aid agencies have warned has pushed the north of the territory to the brink of famine. But Netanyahu rejected any claims about famine on Wednesday, saying Israel is doing “above and beyond” what is needed “on the humanitarian issue”.
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2024
ISLAMABAD: The military has reportedly formed an inquiry committee to investigate allegations of misuse of authority against former spymaster retired Lt Gen Faiz Hamid.
Media reports aired on Wednesday said the committee had been formed by the military as a gesture of self-accountability and will be headed by a serving major general.
They said the committee was formed in the light of directives of the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Defence.
The management of Top City, a private housing scheme, had levelled grave allegations against the former ISI chief, claiming that he had orchestrated a raid on the offices and residence of its owner, Moeez Khan.
In Nov last year, the Supreme Court had asked the owner of the housing society to approach the relevant quarters, including the defence ministry, for the redressal of his grievances against the former spymaster and his aides.
The newly constituted inquiry committee will prepare its report in the light of its findings and present it to the relevant authorities, reports said.
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2024
NEW YORK: The judge in Donald Trump’s historic criminal trial has warned the Republican presidential hopeful against intimidating jurors as seven panelists were chosen with unexpected speed following questioning by both sides.
There had been speculation that jury selection could take weeks in such a high-profile and sensitive case — the first criminal trial of a former US president, who also is running to return to the White House this November.
But Judge Juan Merchan ended the session on Tuesday, saying he was hopeful opening arguments could begin as early as on Monday next week.
After a preliminary phase in Trump’s trial in which prospective jurors could opt out if they felt unable to be impartial or had extenuating circumstances, defence attorneys and prosecutors began questioning the candidates in depth.
Seven panelists picked in historic criminal hush money trial
Twelve jurors in total are needed, and six alternates will also be chosen.
For Trump to be convicted of his alleged fraud in a scheme to cover up an embarrassing alleged extramarital encounter with a porn star, the jury must render a unanimous verdict. Even one dissenting voice would see him walk free.
Merchan cautioned Trump at one point that his muttering was audible to one juror who faced scrutiny over social media posts. “I will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom,” Merchan said.
Trump, 77, has been ordered by Merchan to be in court daily, putting a major hitch in his campaign plans.
“I should be right now in Pennsylvania and Florida — in many other states, North Carolina, Georgia — campaigning,” Trump said in angry remarks outside the court. He called Merchan “Trump-hating”.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden spent the day touting his economic policies in a visit to his birthplace in Scranton, Pennsylvania — a key swing state he narrowly carried in the 2020 election.
Merchan has warned Trump against repeating his frequent past attempts to turn hearings into impromptu campaign appearances with outbursts at witnesses and staff, as well as tirades on social media.
The judge has already scheduled a hearing next week to consider whether Trump should be held in contempt for violating a partial gag order restricting him from attacking individuals connected to the case.
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2024
DUBAI: A storm hit the United Arab Emirates and Oman this week bringing record rainfall that flooded highways, inundated houses, grid-locked traffic and trapped people in their homes.
At least 20 people were reported to have died in the deluge in Oman while another person was said to have died in floods in the UAE that closed government offices and schools for days.
The storm had initially hit Oman on Sunday before it pounded the UAE on Tuesday, knocking out power and causing huge disruptions to flights as runways were turned into rivers.
In the UAE, a record 254 millimetres (10 inches) of rainfall was recorded in Al Ain, a city bordering Oman. It was the largest ever in a 24-hour period since records started in 1949.
Experts say global warming leading to ‘extraordinarily’ warm water in seas around Dubai
Cloud seeding?
Rainfall is rare in the UAE and elsewhere on the Arabian Peninsula, that is typically known for its dry desert climate. Summer air temperatures can soar above 50 degrees Celsius.
But the UAE and Oman also lack drainage systems to cope with heavy rains and submerged roads are not uncommon during rainfall.
Following Tuesday’s events, questions were raised whether cloud seeding, a process that the UAE frequently conducts, could have caused the heavy rains.
Cloud seeding is a process in which chemicals are implanted into clouds to increase rainfall in an environment where water scarcity is a concern.
The UAE, located in one of the hottest and driest regions on earth, has been leading the effort to seed clouds and increase precipitation.
But the UAE’s meteorology agency told Reuters there were no such operations before the storm.
Climate change
The huge rainfall was instead likely due to a normal weather system that was exacerbated by climate change, experts say.
A low pressure system in the upper atmosphere, coupled with low pressure at the surface had acted like a pressure ‘squeeze’ on the air, according to Esraa Alnaqbi, a senior forecaster at the UAE government’s National Centre of Meteorology.
That squeeze, intensified by the contrast between warmer temperatures at ground level and colder temperatures higher up, created the conditions for the powerful thunderstorm, she said.
The “abnormal phenomenon” was not unexpected in April as when the season changes the pressure changes rapidly, she said, adding that climate change also likely contributed to the storm.
Climate scientists say that rising global temperatures, caused by human-led climate change, is leading to more extreme weather events around the world, including intense rainfall.
“Rainfall from thunderstorms, like the ones seen in UAE in recent days, sees a particular strong increase with warming. This is because convection, which is the strong updraft in thunderstorms, strengthens in a warmer world,” said Dim Coumou, a professor in climate extremes at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
‘Can’t create clouds from nothing’
Friederike Otto, a senior lecturer in climate science at Imperial College London, said rainfall was becoming much heavier around the world as the climate warms because a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture. It was misleading to talk about cloud seeding as the cause of the heavy rainfall, she said.
“Cloud seeding cant create clouds from nothing. It encourages water that is already in the sky to condense faster and drop water in certain places. So first, you need moisture. Without it, there’d be no clouds,” she said.
Global warming has resulted in “extraordinarily” warm water in the seas around Dubai, where there is also very warm air above, said Mark Howden, Director at the Australian National University’s Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions.
“This increases both potential evaporation rates and the capacity of the atmosphere to hold that water, allowing bigger dumps of rainfall such as what we have just seen in Dubai.” Gabi Hegerl, a climatologist at Edinburgh University, said that extreme rainfall, like in the UAE and Oman, was likely to get worse in many places due to the effects of climate change.
When conditions are perfect for really heavy rain, there’s more moisture in the air, so it rains harder. This extra moisture is because the air is warmer, which is because of human-caused climate change, she said.
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2024
WHILE it is too early to deduce a definitive political trend from the provisional results of Sunday’s 21 by-polls held so soon after the Feb 8 general elections, the exercise has once again emphasised the need for the state — particularly the ECP and the administration — to work on improving the credibility of the electoral process.
Five National Assembly seats were up for grabs, while the rest of the contests were for the provincial legislatures, 12 of those for Punjab Assembly constituencies. Just as allegations of rigging and irregularities had marred the Feb 8 polls, similar accusations were levelled in a number of constituencies during the by-polls, most of which were won by PML-N candidates.
An example was the ‘confession’ of a presiding officer at a Lahore polling station. The PTI might have played up these claims, but independent observers, too, were of the view that all was not well at many polling stations in Punjab. The ECP ‘took notice’ of the apparent electoral malfeasance and sought a report. Meanwhile, violence was reported from Narowal, resulting in the death of a man near a polling station.
Whereas the by-polls should have been a straightforward process, this was not to be. Clearly, the lessons of the Feb 8 polls, as well as earlier fiascos such as the 2021 Daska by-election, have not been learnt. Unless polls in Pakistan are transparent — and seen to be so — the country’s democratic evolution will remain slow.
The ECP bears the principal responsibility for ensuring this transparency; others in the government, state and bureaucracy also have a duty to promote electoral integrity. Unless the culture of violence and rigging is rooted out, so that the vote is the sole determinant and source of political power, the credibility of the electoral process in Pakistan will continue to remain under a cloud.
By-elections in Pakistan have generally attracted little voter interest, with voters often tending to cast their ballots in favour of the party already in the saddle. As per the provisional results, the PML-N secured two NA seats, while winning 10 provincial constituencies in Punjab. Many of these were seats that N-League candidates had already won on Feb 8.
Rather than reflecting any great triumph for the N-League narrative, as its leaders are claiming, the results are more an indication of the fact that voters want to maintain the status quo at this point in the electoral cycle.
Nevertheless, it is difficult to ignore the rigging claims, which also dominated the Feb 8 polls. They indicate that the electoral victory is not as clear as the ruling party is portraying. There is much time between now and the 2029 elections. This period should be used by all stakeholders to ensure the next elections are free of controversy.
Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2024
FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s reaffirmation that the process of disinvestment of the loss-making national carrier will be concluded by the end of June or early July reinforces confidence in the government’s commitment to privatisation. Reiterating the old refrain “the government has no business being in business”, Mr Aurangzeb declared that the country’s three main airports — in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi — are next on the list of privatisation. “We expect the bids for PIA to come in the next two to three weeks, and by the end of June or early July, we can move it to the investors,” he told a news briefing at the end of his weeklong visit to Washington to discuss a new and larger medium-term package with the IMF. It is encouraging to see the minister consistently underscoring the need for privatising state-owned enterprises, which are incurring massive annual losses of Rs500bn, and have become a source of systemic risk for the national budget as well as our creditors. Yet, he, like other government officials, has never elaborated if the authorities have a clear privatisation roadmap beyond the sale of PIA and the outsourcing of airports.
The current initiative on the privatisation of the national carrier and airports is understood to have been taken under the military-backed Special Investment Facilitation Council to hand over these assets to investors from friendly Gulf countries, probably in government-to-government deals. This has generated an impression that the civil and military authorities are in a hurry to disinvest these assets for raising a few billion dollars to ease pressure on the current account and budget. While taxpayers can no longer afford to finance the state-owned resource guzzlers, the hasty pursuit of privatisation, especially PIA, might cast serious doubts over the process even if these transactions are not challenged in the courts. Multilateral lenders like the World Bank have also cautioned against the perils of a chaotic privatisation process, advising the authorities to pursue disinvestment of these assets in a planned and structured manner through a revamped privatisation commission staffed with “able professionals who can prepare a financial model for each entity to be privatised”. Transparency and full disclosure in such transactions is crucial for inspiring public confidence in the process and avoiding complications or legal challenges for investors. This should also help the authorities fetch better prices for these assets.
Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2024
YET another animal — a lioness — is critically ill at the Karachi Zoo. The feline, emaciated and barely able to move, is suffering due to old age, according to the zoo director. However, this does little to explain the depth of neglect that has become a recurring theme at this facility. The lioness’s condition — which recently drew attention in a video on social media — is a grim reminder of past tragedies involving other creatures of the wild like elephants, lions, bears and even a young chimpanzee who died of a heart attack. Such incidents are not isolated to Karachi. Islamabad’s Marghazar Zoo was shut down after a landmark judgement, and transformed into a wildlife rescue centre following the global advocacy for Kaavan, the elephant. This not only alleviated the suffering of many animals but also set a precedent for how we should approach wildlife captivity.
Zoos, if unable to replicate near-natural habitats and ensure the welfare of their residents, should indeed be closed. The example of Islamabad should inspire Karachi to consider a similar path, possibly through privatisation, provided stringent reforms and oversight mechanisms are established. The Sindh High Court might consider intervening to safeguard these voiceless creatures, as their suffering reflects our failure as a society to protect the most vulnerable. The role of our zoos must evolve from being just exhibition spaces to centres for conservation and education. If we cannot meet these standards, it is perhaps time to rethink our approach to wildlife in captivity. Karachi Zoo must be reimagined as a sanctuary that genuinely contributes to conservation efforts, rather than being a place where animals merely survive. If we lack the resources or the will to provide for these creatures, we must have the courage to choose a kinder alternative. Closure or new management with strict oversight — anything less would be a disservice to the captive animals. Negligence is cruelty, and it must be stopped.
Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2024
THE US has done it again. While officially insisting it is committed to a peaceful resolution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, it rejected a pivotal step in the peace process itself. Its recent veto of the resolution granting full UN membership to Palestine stands in direct opposition to its professed support for a two-state solution. While 12 of the 15 members of the UNSC supported Palestine’s membership, the US stood alone, isolating itself while still claiming to promote peace. Its ambivalent behaviour continues to cast a long shadow over its role as a mediator in the conflict and this action has further undermined its credibility on the world stage. What’s more, leaked cables show that ahead of the vote, the Biden White House reportedly engaged in a covert lobbying effort to influence other countries to either vote against or abstain from voting. That has now come to pass. Washington’s actions are evidence enough that any shred of support for a two-state solution is conditional and heavily skewed in favour of Israel.
The US may be a world power, but it is bereft of moral authority. If it hopes to regain some measure of diplomatic integrity, it should stop turning a blind eye to Israel’s war crimes. It must address the ongoing extermination campaign in Gaza by Israel and its illegal settlement expansions. These actions, which violate international law, require active intervention by the US to halt. It can begin by putting an end to its Janus-faced policy. As long as it verbally tut-tuts Israel’s atrocities while, in the same breath, supplies arms to it, it is complicit. Such behaviour, unfortunate in its shortsightedness, only sabotages peace. It prioritises immediate political interests over a sustainable and just solution for the conflict. As the world watches, the credibility of the US as a champion of global peace and justice stands tarnished. It must at least live up to its own words.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024
IRANIAN President Ebrahim Raisi, who begins his three-day trip to Pakistan today, will be visiting the country during interesting times. While bilateral relations between both states are at a decent level, there is room for significant improvement. Moreover, Pakistan-Iran ties are closely monitored by some key Arab countries, as well as the US. Aside from the bilateral perspective, the visit is of significance as Iran and Israel have been trading blows over the past several days, while the Saudi foreign minister was in the country last week, bringing promises of significant investment to Pakistan. The kingdom’s de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman is also due here in the near future. Pakistan has often been caught in an uncomfortable position between its traditional ally Saudi Arabia, and its neighbour Iran, which is why visits by top Saudi and Iranian officials carry much weight, and require Pakistan to exercise deft diplomacy to maintain cordial ties with both Riyadh and Tehran. Though Saudi-Iranian ties have been improving after last year’s China-backed thaw, relations between them are by no means warm. Pakistan must be wary of these dynamics while calculating its foreign policy options with both sides.
Where bilateral issues are concerned, three areas are likely to dominate Mr Raisi’s visit: border security, trade and the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline. A manifestly ugly episode was witnessed in January when both sides traded missile fire. The incident was triggered by the Iranians, who fired into Pakistani territory claiming to have hit anti-Iran ‘militants’. Pakistan struck back, hitting Iranian territory, but both sides demonstrated maturity by climbing down and restoring ties. The Iranian president’s visit offers an opportunity to review mutual security protocols to ensure that the border areas are not used by non-state actors to threaten either country’s security. As far as trade goes, there is great potential, though the threat of foreign sanctions has dampened these prospects. These obstacles can be overcome by expanding border markets and opting for barter trade. Meanwhile, the stalled pipeline issue is amongst the major irritants standing in the way of better ties. While Pakistan has indicated it is ready to complete the much-delayed project, American officials have said this may attract sanctions against Pakistan. The country should not cave in to threats, and let Washington know that it must honour a sovereign agreement.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024
FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb says that the economy has the potential to grow 10 times its size to $3tr for Pakistan to become a high-middle-income country by 2047. That kind of growth or economic transformation is difficult to achieve but not impossible.
India accomplished this feat to become the world’s fifth-largest economy by increasing its GDP size from less than $275bn to over $3.7tr in 30 years after it began to implement reforms in earnest to overcome a severe crisis resulting from external debt. Ever since then, it has not returned to the IMF for help and is now well on its way to becoming the world’s third-largest economy after the US and China. The latter country has grown at a very high annual rate of 10pc for decades to transform itself into the world’s second-largest economy and rescue millions of its citizens from poverty.
There are also examples of countries from Southeast Asia, which were poorer and less developed than us a few decades ago but have surged far ahead now. Even if these economies have not fully overcome poverty or become high-middle-income nations, their examples show us the road to better days. But, living on borrowed money as we are, the periodic articulation of a desire to grow rich will not help.
If Pakistan is desirous of becoming a middle-income economy and halting the perennial cyclical crisis that has led Mr Aurangzeb to Washington to seek the country’s 24th bailout from the IMF, it must follow the path others have successfully taken. It has to honestly and diligently implement reforms to limit the role of government in the economy, encourage the private sector to lead growth, and integrate the economy with the region and global economy by breaking down barriers to trade and investment.
These reforms, however, will have to be based on enduring fiscal stabilisation policies. A similar message was conveyed by IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia director Jihad Azour the other day when he emphasised that giving precedence to reforms to revive the Pakistani economy was more important than the loan amount being negotiated. “What is important at this stage is to accelerate the reforms, double down on the structure of reforms in order to provide Pakistan with its full potential of growth,” he said.
The problem with us is that our ruling elite is still trying to find a way around the tough reforms that will hit their privileges. The creation of SIFC as an island of facilitation for certain foreign or local investors is one example of this attitude. But it will be difficult to carry on like this. With geopolitical rent becoming more and more difficult to draw, a debt-ridden country cannot daydream its way into becoming a middle-income economy.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024
THIS past week marked the beginning of the 100-day countdown to the Paris Olympics, with the symbolic torch-lighting ceremony. The Olympic torch will now travel through Greece before crossing the Mediterranean and proceeding to Paris for the start of the Games on July 26. Projections of victories and defeats during the world’s biggest sporting event are already underway. For the athletes, it is the final stretch of a four-year journey — three years in this case after the Tokyo Olympics were held in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic — of preparing for the Games. So far, only five athletes from Pakistan have secured direct qualification. There could be more participants once the wildcards are distributed after the end of the Olympic qualifying events, but the country’s hopes of halting a run of seven Olympic Games without a medal rest squarely on the broad shoulders of javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem. The 27-year-old, who won the silver at last year’s World Athletics Championships to punch his ticket to Paris, is participating in a five-week training camp in South Africa, a month after undergoing laser surgery on his right knee. Arshad’s achievements at the global level have come despite the fact that the only international standard javelin in his possession is out of shape. He has had to make the most of his limited opportunities to train abroad.
The situation of others is worse. The three shooters from Pakistan who have qualified for the Games — Gulfam Joseph, Ghulam Mustafa Bashir and Kismala Talat — have been training under a Russian coach in only Karachi. Equestrian Usman Khan, who has also qualified, has travelled the road of hardships on his own. There is a pressing need, especially on the part of the government, to do more for them. With sports becoming a symbol of soft power globally, the new government must dedicate time and effort, and most importantly finances, to this cause.
Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2024
THIS is a historic opportunity for the judiciary to define its institutional boundaries. It must not be squandered. With the Supreme Court’s next hearing on the Islamabad High Court judges’ ‘interference’ letter coming up on April 29, the Lahore High Court has convened a full-court meeting tomorrow to solicit suggestions on “how best to protect the independence of the judiciary”. The IHC has sought similar suggestions by April 25. Citing directions issued by the SC after its April 3 hearing of the letter case, the LHC says it seeks to “put in place a mechanism to affix liability for those who undermine such independence and clarify for the benefit of individual judges the course they must take when they find themselves at the receiving end of interference and/ or intimidation by members of the executive”. It is encouraging to see the two courts taking up the matter proactively, and it would be quite helpful if the remaining three high courts — Sindh, Balochistan and Peshawar — also joined the debate. The judiciary’s deliberations on how to protect its members from attempts to coerce and control them need full participation if it is to be hoped that the solutions distilled from these discussions will endure.
Meanwhile, in a related development, the Islamabad High Court Bar Association has, through a petition filed earlier this week, formally joined calls demanding a probe into the judges’ letter. The IHCBA, which describes itself as a “primary stakeholder” in the letter case, has demanded that, once the probe is completed, the apex court must “pass appropriate orders to affix liability for those who undermined the independence of judiciary”. Other bar associations have previously weighed in on the matter, and though their respective positions may be differentiated, it seems that all stakeholders do want this matter to be settled definitively. It would therefore perhaps be best, given the circumstances, that Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa formed a full-court bench to deliberate on the contents of the judges’ letter — something which he had indicated in the last hearing that he may do. Given the seriousness of the complaints brought forth and endorsed by six serving judges, a full court would give the matter a certain weightiness while also sending a signal to those still seeking to infringe upon the judiciary’s domain that any further ingress will not be tolerated.
Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2024
INDIA’S mammoth multi-stage elections have begun and the popular issues gripping the voters this time are unemployment, inflation and related economic despair.
This is far removed from the divisive polls of 2014 and 2019, and it is not because pro-Hindutva campaigners are not trying to kindle the fires of communalism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has personally signalled the intent by using an election speech to attack opposition leaders as Mughal-like meat-eaters, not just ordinary lovers of mutton and fish.
Despite the enormous funds and the hard advertising put into it, the controversial Ram temple inauguration is being listed by analysts as way down in the voters’ list of priorities. The perceptible absence of polarisation — usually derived from Muslim-bashing, often by falsely conjuring a Pakistan link — could bring surprises when votes are counted on June 4.
Consider the case of Navneet Rana, a feisty woman candidate for the BJP from Amravati in Maharashtra. She has been unfailingly reminding her supporters to not rest on their oars in the delusion that there is a Modi wave, or that he would see her through. “There is no Modi wave this time. Stay very vigilant.” The Rana video is not the only call to toil for BJP supporters.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is a member of the Rajya Sabha and she has been quoted as turning down the BJP’s offer to fight the Lok Sabha polls, saying she simply did not have the kind of money needed for the elections. This is being seen as an oblique criticism of the electoral bonds scam in which the BJP was a major beneficiary.
Ms Sitharaman is tame compared with her political economist husband Parakala Prabhakar. His book The Crooked Timber of New India: Essays on a Republic in Crisis is a critique of the Modi years and has predictably baffled many. Mr Prabhakar has claimed in TV interviews there would be no constitution if Mr Modi returned to power. However, he also predicts that the BJP would not cross 200 seats, 72 short of the halfway mark. Similar claims have been made by Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders.
Independent accounts by online media outlets and spot reports circulating on the alternative media channels are at variance with Modi-friendly TV anchors and they do not see easy victory for the prime minister.
Parallel accounts share much with the reliable pre-poll survey by the Lokniti-Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. Even as it places Mr Modi ahead of any rival for the top job, the survey lists issues in the elections that make him vulnerable. Barring a game-changing event like Pulwama or the Muzaffarnagar riots, these Indian elections look poised to surprise everyone in the fray and in the galleries.
Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2024
IS urban terrorism returning to Karachi? Yesterday’s deplorable suicide bombing attack on a van carrying five Japanese nationals in the city’s Landhi area comes two years after three Chinese academics were killed by a Baloch suicide bomber at the Karachi University. The Japanese autoworkers survived the attack, but one security guard died of his injuries. They were on their way to the Export Processing Zone. According to the police, the suicide bomber was killed in the attack and his accomplice was shot dead. Law enforcers also say that the collaborator fired 15 rounds and was equipped with grenades. While the Sindh chief minister has sought a report from the IGP, the slain associate is believed to have had links with a Baloch separatist outfit, underscoring the need for foreign nationals working on development and other projects in the country to be provided with an extra layer of security.
The violent incident cannot be taken lightly as it brings into question the vigilance and performance of the Counter-Terrorism Department and the intelligence machinery. Karachi was the venue of terror campaigns, political, sectarian and ethnic carnage for over two decades. Presently, brutal street crime afflicts it, costing too many lives daily. Therefore, law enforcement must evaluate its competence, especially when it is aware of sleeper cells in the metropolis, to keep the commercial nerve-centre from becoming an inferno again. Attempts to destabilise the city must be thwarted with precision. Although the reasons for this attack are unknown, security forces are duty-bound to intensify intelligence-gathering procedures, while the state must upgrade CT policies. Urban centres are seats of progress and power, thus hostile elements exploit flaccid security networks to target them. Moreover, the presence of paramilitary forces in Karachi should have neutralised militant groups. At a time when the economy is flagging and geopolitical temperatures are on the rise, Pakistan’s growth depends on a safe environment for foreigners and investment.
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2024
PRESIDENT Asif Ali Zardari seems to have managed to hit all the right notes in his address to the joint sitting of parliament this Thursday. Unfortunately, given where things stand, it is difficult to take much hope from his words. One of the key points of the president’s speech was that it is high time the country started moving beyond the extreme polarisation that has been plaguing it for a number of years now. This is, without doubt, something the country desperately needs as it struggles to cope with its spiralling social and economic crises. But the question remains: will Pakistanis trust Mr Zardari to lead the way? In our context, the president is the head of state and is meant to represent “the unity of the Republic”. As such, the office of the presidency must uphold national values and principles, and be seen to be above partisan politics. Unfortunately, in our history, hardly any president comes to mind who has managed to stay above the fray of politics — even after the president — ironically, Mr Zardari himself — put his signature to a constitutional amendment in 2010 that diluted the head of state’s considerable powers. Given the bitterness that prevails in the parliamentary opposition — and among political parties in general — can Mr Zardari, who remains PPP-Parliamentarians’ president, play a neutral role?
It was, perhaps, a reflection of these realities that his speech invited boisterous opposition from within parliament, while the three armed forces chiefs, the chief ministers of two provinces, and even the supreme leader of the PML-N, with whom the PPP is currently allied, remained no-shows. “In my considered view, it is time to turn a new page,” Mr Zardari remarked at one stage; at this point, however, this seems like wishful thinking. The players seem to be realising that the political stand-off is turning into an intractable mess. There can be no moving forward till important stakeholders are ready to make major concessions to each other, but nobody appears ready to do so. The Feb 8 elections had offered Pakistan its best chance yet of making a clean break from the turmoil that continues to grip the country. However, that opportunity was lost, following allegations of large-scale rigging that further soured the atmosphere. There now seems to be no easy way to break the deadlock.
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2024
THE Iran-Israel shadow war has very much come out into the open. Tel Aviv had been targeting Tehran’s assets for over a decade, particularly in Syria, taking advantage of the chaos engendered by that country’s civil war. Moreover, a number of Iranian scientists, especially those associated with the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme, had been assassinated within Iran in hits widely considered to have been orchestrated by Israel.
While the Iranians are known for their ‘strategic patience’, and for playing the long game, the April 1 Israeli strike on an Iranian diplomatic facility in Damascus, in which a number of senior Iranian generals were killed, had crossed a red line. There was tremendous pressure on Iran from within to reply to this Israeli transgression, and the ayatollah and his generals had to respond without triggering a major regional war. Tehran’s response came in the shape of the April 13 assault on Israel, a barrage that was short on destructiveness, yet scored a major strategic and PR victory for Iran. The suspected Israeli strikes targeting Iranian facilities in Isfahan early on Friday are the latest move on this dangerous chessboard.
While Tel Aviv has officially kept mum about the Isfahan misadventure — Israel rarely owns up to subterfuge outside of its borders — some politicians in the Zionist state have celebrated the attacks, while American media, quoting sources, have said this is Israel’s handiwork. The Iranians themselves appear to be downplaying the event, and an airbase and nuclear facilities in the area seem to be safe.
Once again, the clamour for ‘de-escalation’ has been echoing from global capitals. Surely a wider war is in no one’s interest — except perhaps for the extremists in Israel — but true de-escalation means Israel must start behaving like a normal state, not a rogue nation that threatens the entire region, as well as the forsaken Palestinians captive in the occupied territories.
The UN secretary general has said “one miscalculation … one mistake, could lead to the unthinkable”. But this is perhaps just what Benjamin Netanyahu and the cabal of zealots in the unruly coalition that backs him may want. After all, Israel has been facing global opprobrium for its butchery in Gaza, while PM Netanyahu is facing significant domestic opposition for his handling of the debacle.
Thus, a war with Iran may be a useful distraction to shift the focus from Palestine, and rally Israel’s Western friends behind it to protect the Middle East’s ‘only democracy’ against Tehran. Suffice to say, any scenario pitting the Israeli-Western collective against Iran and its ‘axis of resistance’ allies will result in an explosion in the Middle East, causing oil prices to skyrocket, and global trade to be upended. To avoid this, Washington, London and Brussels need to check Israel’s destabilising behaviour.
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2024
AFTER several rain-related deaths in KP in recent days, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority has sprung into action to minimise the chances of further loss of life, property, crop and infrastructure. Potential glacial lake outburst floods, caused by melting glaciers, are a principal concern, and administrations in nine districts have been directed to regularly monitor these rivers of ice in Chitral, Swat, Mansehra, Kohistan, Dir and Kurram, with the help of local communities, and report hazards. Once again caught unawares by unusually devastating rains in many parts of the country — especially Balochistan — it is time that the disaster management authorities reinforced flood monitoring systems in view of increasing extreme weather events that often unleash flash floods in the hilly areas and beyond.
Pakistan is facing a serious climate challenge, which is exacerbating its lingering economic crisis, and water and food insecurity, as well as increasing poverty. In September 2022, the country suffered massive losses of $30bn in crop and infrastructure damage, and lost 1,700 lives in unprecedented floods caused by record-breaking rains. Millions of people who had lost their homes and livelihoods then, still remain displaced after almost two years. The impact of increasing climate disasters is being aggravated by the rapid melting of Pakistan’s 7,000 glaciers as inundation caused by ‘outburst floods’ continues to endanger the lives and property of those living in the catchment areas, forcing local communities to migrate. A third of the country’s glaciers are projected to melt by the turn of this century, and saving them appears to be a lost cause. Therefore, it is imperative for disaster authorities to adapt their monitoring and response strategies as the first line of defence and improve risk management in general to contend with shrinking glaciers and climate-induced events overall. These strategies must focus on early warning systems to alert communities in time, create fiscal room to rescue and rehabilitate the affected people, and develop climate-resilient infrastructure.
Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2024
UNLESS the state is honest about the mistakes its functionaries have made, we will be doomed to repeat our follies. And when these mistakes concern national security and law and order issues, blame must be apportioned accordingly, and those responsible for negligence need to answer for their omissions. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court-mandated commission probing the violent 2017 TLP dharna in Islamabad has fallen short on many counts, and its findings are being pilloried by political observers. Instead of assigning responsibility in clear terms for the debacle, the report offers a milquetoast view of the dharna and its associated controversies. As Defence Minister Khawaja Asif claimed, the findings have “no authenticity or credibility”. Mr Asif had particular issues with the fact that the “main characters” in the drama did not appear before the commission, referring to then army chief Qamar Bajwa and Faiz Hameed, the retired general who was then serving as the ISI’s DG-C. Meanwhile, former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani observed that the report shifts blame to the Punjab government for the incident. There is much substance in this criticism. For example, then interior minister Ahsan Iqbal told the commission that Gen Faiz practically went over prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s head, as the deal with the TLP had apparently been sealed by the military before it was brought to the PM’s knowledge. Mr Abbasi was apparently not pleased with this development.
Instead of tiptoeing around such prickly matters, it is exactly these issues that the commission should have investigated, particularly the fact that the authority of the highest elected official of the land was overruled by a senior intelligence officer. The military has recently initiated a probe against Gen Faiz in a separate case of abuse of power concerning a housing scheme. Therefore, there is no reason why high-ranking former officers cannot answer queries regarding their role in the Faizabad debacle. This paper has always argued that all institutions need to operate within their constitutional limits, and probes such as these offer opportunities where those limits can be clearly defined. No institution should consider it a matter of ego; rather, answering questions and cooperating in such investigations should be looked upon as a matter of duty, for the betterment of the nation. To prevent a repeat of events like the Faizabad fiasco, a wider, more transparent probe is required.
Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2024
AS has become its modus operandi, the state is using smoke and mirrors to try to justify its decision to ban X, formerly Twitter. After weeks of denial and plain misrepresentation, including in statements made to the courts, the government recently owned up to blocking the popular social media platform for Pakistani users “in the interest of upholding national security, maintaining public order, and preserving the integrity of our nation”.
From representations made on behalf of the interior ministry before the Islamabad High Court, it appears that the ‘threat’ to Pakistan’s national security from X was flagged by intelligence agencies in a ‘confidential’ report.
The interior ministry thereafter cut off Pakistan’s access to X, seemingly without even bothering to fulfil all procedural requirements. One of the ‘justifications’ now being given by the government for this ‘punitive action’ is that X refuses to localise its operations here and “does not obey Pakistani laws”.
While the state is otherwise entitled and, indeed, expected to take any measures necessary to protect the country’s interests, it cannot do so without providing lawful justifications. In the current political climate, where there is widespread public dissatisfaction with the state’s policies, it is also rather difficult to take any claim regarding some unspecified ‘threat’ from social media at face value.
If there really was some clear and present danger to the country from the Pakistani people’s ability to access and post on X, which necessitated an immediate ban, this ought to have been spelt out for both the courts and the general public when the X ban was first challenged in the courts. Instead, as one recalls, the government’s representatives kept denying that a ban was even in place. When questioned, some of the caretaker ministers had smugly shrugged it off, telling those people who were affected to ‘live with it’ or use a VPN service.
It may be recalled that the X ban came in the midst of a raging controversy over the widespread manipulation of election results, right after a senior bureaucrat had issued a damning public ‘confession’ of his own complicity in the same. The correlation of these events, when seen in the broader context of the ongoing campaign to keep mass media in line and ‘under control’, would give anyone ample cause to doubt the government’s rather convenient ‘national interest’ justification.
As far as the government’s complaint regarding X’s refusal to open a local office is concerned, it should realise that global tech companies are very wary of markets where regulations are opaque and subject to official whims. No company will want to move to a country where the state can quietly shut down a major global service without justification or due process. Our decision-makers should realise the harm they are causing.
Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2024
THE next few years are likely to see Pakistan trapped in low-growth mode. International lenders maintain that economic growth in the country will remain subdued, hovering in the range of 1.8pc-3.5pc in the medium term because of plummeting investment, persisting fiscal and external imbalances, and a large state presence in the economy.
In its flagship World Economic Outlook 2024, released on the eve of the spring meetings of the World Bank Group, the IMF has predicted Pakistan’s economy will grow by 2pc this year and 3.5pc in the next. The estimates are based on the Fund’s recently concluded review of Pakistan’s macroeconomic position under the $3bn Stand-by Arrangement. Even these projections hinge on continued fiscal consolidation and a new IMF bailout. No wonder Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb is in Washington to lobby for a larger, three-year Fund programme of $6bn-8bn to support planned economic reforms.
As stated by him, the country will request a three-year programme “to help execute the structural reform agenda”. Referring to reduced market volatility and economic stabilisation achieved under the SBA, he said that market sentiment was more positive in the current fiscal year. “It’s really for that purpose that we have initiated the discussion with the Fund to get into a larger and an extended programme,” he explained.
If approved, it will be Pakistan’s 24th engagement with the IMF since 1958. Will this new programme break what the minister was reported to have referred to as the “chain of financial struggles and bailouts”?
The fact is that Pakistan has never been able to complete a longer programme with the Fund because of a breach in policy goals thanks to political reasons. What will be different this time around? So far, the minister has shown an understanding of the issues that have dragged the economy down and his commitment to implementing long-delayed structural reforms without any proviso.
“If we do not go through the structural reforms, unfortunately, we will still be looking at another programme,” he told an Atlantic Council meeting. He knows what needs to be done and said that Pakistan does not require “too many policy prescriptions”. The problems are well-known and the country is aware of what is needed to stabilise the economy. The challenge is follow-through and implementation.
Unlike his predecessors, Mr Aurangzeb intends to discuss the programme’s “growth aspects” with the IMF as well. But he has not elaborated on how he plans to grow the economy without breaching the programme policy steps that must focus on tough stabilisation reforms.
With the economy going through its worst crisis, the budget for next year is set to reveal how steadfast the government will be in its commitment to undertaking reforms, and how Mr Aurangzeb balances stabilisation with relatively faster growth.
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2024
THE sheer scale of the crisis is staggering. A new WHO report flags Pakistan as the country with the highest number of hepatitis C cases in the world and fifth overall in terms of the prevalence of the hepatitis B and C variants combined. With a total of 12.6m reported cases, of which 8.8m are of the C variant of the viral disease, and potentially millions more that remain undiagnosed, the country clearly has a severe health crisis on its hands. However, despite the fact that nearly 5pc of Pakistan’s population suffers from hepatitis B and C and trends show an increase in prevalence over recent years, the crisis is not being discussed enough, even though these diseases are preventable with a few precautions and treatable in many cases with medical interventions. Instead, the transmission of these viruses continues to increase because proper sterilisation techniques are largely not followed. Reused syringes, transfusion of unscreened blood and inadequate sanitary conditions can become the cause of disease transmission in healthcare settings. Elsewhere, seemingly innocuous items, such as a barber’s inadequately sterilised razor, can become the medium of transmission of the disease.
Pakistan must take inspiration from Egypt. Over the last decade or so, Egypt has been able to slash hepatitis C prevalence from over 10pc of its population to about 0.38pc. The WHO director general has ascribed its success to utilising “modern tools and political commitment at the highest level to use those tools to prevent infections and save lives”. It is worth pointing out that, in previous years, Egypt used to rank ahead of Pakistan in terms of hepatitis B and C prevalence. However, starting in 2014, the country launched a national campaign offering free testing and treatment for hepatitis C. It tested more than 60m people and treated more than 4m, of which 99pc were cured with locally manufactured antiviral treatments. Its enviable progress was made possible thanks to the rigorous implementation of improved patient safety practices and the implementation of universal injection and blood safety procedures. This is precisely the approach Pakistan needs to adopt. The country has already demonstrated its capabilities in handling national-level health emergencies during the Covid-19 outbreak. Health authorities must now treat endemic hepatitis B and C with the same level of urgency and eliminate these painful and potentially deadly diseases with the same urgency.
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2024
OVER the weekend, the world witnessed an intense spectacle when Iran launched its drone-and-missile barrage against Israel in response to Tel Aviv’s bombing of Iran’s consular section in Damascus. Most members of the international community counselled restraint. Western states, on the other hand, accompanied these calls with fulminations directed at Tehran for ‘daring’ to answer Israel in the same coin. Though most of the collective West does not want war with Iran, there were calls from Washington and certain European capitals for Iran to pay a price for targeting Israel. Unfortunately, while the Iranian projectiles targeted at the Zionist state have sparked moral outrage in Western capitals, there has not been similar condemnation of Israel’s murderous assault in Gaza, which has cost nearly 34,000 lives to date. These double standards are appalling.
Israel has continued its murderous campaign in the occupied territories despite a UN Security Council resolution last month calling for a ceasefire. Tel Aviv clearly feels it does not have to adhere to international law, and can trample it underfoot. This sense of exceptionalism is encouraged by Western ‘ironclad’ support for Israel, even as the latter indiscriminately murders women and children. Just on Tuesday, 20 people were butchered by Israel in Gaza’s refugee camps. Tel Aviv has not spared schools, hospitals or aid distribution centres. To the Zionist state, every human being in Gaza is a Hamas supporter, and thus liable to be slaughtered. UN observers have noted that since the Oct 7 attacks over 350 humanitarian sites have been targeted by Israel. Moreover, nearly 600,000 people are “one step away from famine”. Yet none of these grotesque transgressions by the ‘world’s most moral army’ are enough to arouse Western ire, though Iranian missiles crashing in the Negev elicit great shock. What is clear is that if the massacre in Gaza continues, the entire Middle East may soon be consumed by the flames of war.
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2024
A CLIP from a recent television talk show is doing the rounds on the banned platform, X. In it, a journalist/ commentator discusses how rumours of a possible extension for the Supreme Court chief justice have cropped up time and again.
The option was ‘discussed’ during the tenures of Saqib Nisar and Asif Saeed Khosa, he says. The present times are no different, it appears, for he mentions how the rumour has come up again and how he would be in favour of the current Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa accepting an extension.
However, he does hasten to emphasise that this was his personal opinion and nothing more. It is an important caveat because there are no reports of the chief justice being interested in such a move but this has not put an end to these rumours.
Such chitchat, like the monsoon cycle, is a seasonal occurrence. Whenever the moment is ripe, it seems to appear out of nowhere and pervades the air in Islamabad as does the humidity in those rainy days, before vanishing one day. Those of us who do not speak to the most powerful can never really understand how the rumours begin or end. But we do hear of them, as do most others.
This seasonal occurrence is not limited to the job tenure of those leading the robed men on Constitution Avenue. There are other positions of power, too, where during times of transition, rumours of an extension swirl around, sucking all the oxygen out of Islamabad and politics, as well.
How and why have these moments of transition turned into longer periods of instability?
It would not be wrong to say transitions at key positions have now become so critical that they turn into moments of instability for overall political and governance structures. And in these moments, little else is taken seriously.
Consider simply the previous transition last summer during the last few months of chief justice Umar Ata Bandial; the skirmishes between him and his successor took place in public. Letters were written by both sides, judges refused to sit on benches, cases of a political nature dominated the discussions and so on. There was considerable uncertainty and consequently, the Supreme Court appeared more like a public spectacle than a serious appellate forum.
The confusion and uncertainty only died down when the transition took place — and that too for just a short while. One reason for this could be the larger political situation but also because the current chief’s tenure is such a short one that it took barely a few months before the rumours of an extension erupted again. And along with it come the stirrings from within to reduce the chances of such a move. For many argue the dissent is more than just opinions about certain decisions or policies.
As mentioned, these uncomfortable transitions are not limited to the big white building on Constitution Avenue. They extend to other institutions too. Indeed, the military has proven to be just as vulnerable at times. Simply consider the tenure of Gen Bajwa; one interpretation of the political engineering of 2017 onwards is that the PML-N government under Nawaz Sharif may not have agreed to an extension, which was at the time easier to manage through a weak PTI government seen to be more dependent on the machinations of the establishment than solid public support.
And by then, even a weak and cornered PML-N was willing to back such a move, in order to repair its relationship with the powers that be. If this interpretation is to be accepted, the magnitude of the intervention in comparison to the goal is mind-boggling.
A similar explanation can also be found of the events leading up to the vote of no-confidence and its aftermath in 2022 — that it was manufactured (which many within the PDM government have now acknowledged) to ensure the PTI and Imran Khan were not in power to make the crucial decision in the November of 2022.
The point here is that one reason Pakistan is facing longer periods of instability is the frequency with which we experience longer and longer periods of uncertainty and jostling at the time of each critical transition. Ideally, this uncertainty should be limited to the political transition through elections, which would then yield a government to supervise the constitutional manner in which other transitions are managed.
However, what has happened instead is that the players are perhaps now all planning moves to influence or shape one transition in order to manage or orchestrate their own. The right chief can ensure the right election and the right election which brings to power the right set-up can then ensure the right chief.
And what this means is that, to a five-year period of an election cycle has now been added a three-year period of a chief’s tenure along with the possibility of an extension. If the transition at the Supreme Court also is beset with similar problems, we may just add a third cycle of uncertainty.
What this means is that the periods where the focus should be on governance and policymaking will end up becoming shorter and shorter. This does not bode well for a country whose crises continue to grow primarily because the political instability allows little time for mid- to long-term planning and implementation.
However, the larger issue here is to identify how and why these moments of transition have turned into longer periods of instability. It is not as if controversies were not present earlier — they were there, as were rumours of possible extensions. They have, nonetheless, become more intense now, as has the jostling.
Is it because the rules governing the transitions have weakened further (as has much else in society)? Or has more power been centralised in these positions, which, in turn, makes the appointments all the more crucial? Or is it that the jostling during these transitions has increased? It is hard to find a simple answer. As is the solution.
The writer is a journalist.
Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2024
WHEN Parakala Prabhakar published his essays in April last year in a book titled The Crooked Timber of New India: Essays on a Republic in Crisis, one ignored it on suspicion that as husband of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman he could not but be deviously trying to massage the anti-democratic image of the government his wife worked for.
Besides, one was already armed with terrific insights from scholars, activists, former bureaucrats and journalists into the irreparable damage the Modi government had done to India’s democracy to pay attention to Prabhakar. Modi violated the constitutional promise by wilfully hollowing out core institutions, chiefly parliament, the judiciary and just as brazenly the media, a plethora of writers were saying with conviction.
Aakar Patel’s seminal book, Price of The Modi Years, published in 2021, gave a blow-by-blow account of the subversion the prime minister was and is still busy carrying out. In many social indices Modi was shepherding India towards sub-Saharan figures. Paranjoy Guha Thakurta’s deep research into the Modi connection with the Ambani and Adani business houses resulted in two explosive volumes on energy deals.
Modi’s coal liberalisation in the middle of the Covid emergency brought censure from the UN secretary general who chided the government for barking up the wrong tree in the name of fighting the scourge. And there have been several exposés by the amazing alternative media on the omissions and commissions of the Modi regime. Probir Pukayastha was jailed for creating a platform for journalists and researchers to question the government on its delinquencies.
In the maze of these brilliant and credible critiques of a government that had acquired features of fascism, Prabhakar’s book got buried. Its importance dawned on some when he gave a TV interview to The Wire’s Karan Thapar recently, in which he asserted that Modi would not reach 200 seats, well short of the halfway mark of 272 in the elections currently underway. If he won, “it would mark the end of Indian democracy”.
In the maze of these brilliant and credible critiques of a government that had acquired features of fascism, Prabhakar’s book got buried.
Prabhakar’s account of the Modi years covers 2014 to 2022. In his victory speech in Gujarat after the 2014 results, as the book notes, Modi spoke of the good days ahead. In his address to parliament, he offered new hope to the poor and the disadvantaged. In the independence day speech, he promised to take everyone along and to give good governance through hard work and consensus.
“All the promises have been betrayed. Narendra Modi has squandered two massive national mandates and several state-level mandates. But the ruling party continues to be in a state of denial; it is, in fact, belligerent,” says Prabhakar.
A key objective for writing the book was to counter the disinformation carried relentlessly by 24x7 news channels. “It is equally necessary to foreground important developments so that they are not buried under the misinformation that our twenty-four-seven news cycles rain upon us without pause.”
Crooked timber was a phrase used by Emmanuel Kant: “Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made.” Prabhakar fondly picks quotations from world history. There’s a conversation he cites effectively from the movie Gladiator, the story of a failed slave uprising against imperial Rome. It encapsulates the razzmatazz associated with ‘Modi events’.
Two Roman senators were exchanging notes on the new emperor, Commodus, chiefly his promise to the people of a grand spectacle — 150 days of games.
“The walls of the city are being painted with enormous pictures of gladiators fighting wild animals in the Colosseum, its sand covered with blood. Senator One: One hundred and fifty days of games! Senator Two: He’s cleverer than I thought. Senator One: Clever? The whole of Rome would be laughing at him, if they weren’t so afraid of his Praetorians. Senator Two: Fear and wonder. A powerful combination. Senator One: You really think the people are going to be seduced by that? Senator Two: I think he knows what Rome is. Rome is the mob. Conjure magic for them, and they’ll be distracted. Take away their freedom, and still they’ll roar. The beating heart of Rome is not the marble of the Senate. It’s the sand of the Colosseum. He’ll bring them death, and they will love him for it.”
It’s a fair observation by Prabhakar about the veritable Colosseum Modi is turning India into.
An economist, Prabhakar notes how since the 1990s the number of people below the poverty line had increased. The country added 75 million to the world’s poor in 2021 alone and slipped to the 132nd position (out of 191 countries) in the UNDP Global Human Development Index for 2021-22. He exposes false claims put out with the help of tweaked statistics to enable Modi to present a rosy picture of the economy. But he is also a strong critic of the BJP’s bid to destroy India’s social fabric.
He describes an anti-Muslim gathering of Hindu holy men in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh — one of several. “One speaker urged Hindus to emulate what Myanmar had done to the Rohingya and ‘cleanse’ India of Muslims; another declared, ‘If 100 of us are ready to kill two million of them, then we will win and make India a Hindu nation’. Neither the state nor the central government condemned the remarks.”
In the national capital — where the police force is controlled by the Union home ministry — police silently witnessed street marches by militant Hindutva organisations with activists shouting slogans like ‘Hindustan me rehna hai toh Jai Shri Ram kehna hoga’ (If you wish to live in this country, you must say ‘Jai Shri Ram’), and ‘Jab mulle kaate jaayenge Jai Shri Ram chillaenge’ (When we slaughter the mullahs, they’ll scream ‘Jai Shri Ram’).
“None of these potential terrorists are in prison; they roam around free and emboldened.” A terrifying book, an unusual one, from the finance minister’s husband about Modi’s New India, written straight from the heart.
The writer is Dawn’s correspondent in Delhi.
jawednaqvi@gmail.com
Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2024
EUROPE destroyed itself and also the rest of the world as a result of World War II. Since it had colonies all over the world, they were also inadvertently drawn into the chaos.
Towards the end of the war, and especially after, Europe discovered the terrible physical and ‘moral’ cost of it. Europe had in the past two centuries devastated its colonies through highly rapacious and political processes supported by deep-seated racism. By the end of the war, the Europeans also discovered how the Jews, Gypsies, and Slavs had been placed in concentration camps and gassed and starved to death by the millions as they were looked upon as racially inferior to the Aryan race.
The Jews were an educated, financially powerful community with strong links to European and American politics, academia, and global financial institutions. As such, their inhuman extermination, and the large numbers involved, became the most important issue that troubled post-war Europe’s conscience. The devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki did not acquire the same importance in the European psyche.
Due to the tragic war and the racism that was part of it, the major powers (who had won World War II and who were largely European colonists) got together to create the United Nations and formulate its goals, rules, regulations, and covenants, which have grown over the years. The covenants have proposed equality of mankind, irrespective of caste, creed, or ethnicity, and sought to maintain the sanctity of national frontiers and guarantee that the causes and repercussions of World War II would never be seen again. The headquarters of the UN’s various agencies were for the most part located in European cities, and the initial formulations of the UN Charter and its supporting documents were developed by Western intellectuals, politicians, and academia. Thus, the UN was, for the most part, a European/ US construct.
Europe has dismantled its own value system.
As a result of the barbaric destruction of Gaza, the occupation of Palestinian land by Israeli homes, and the genocide that is accompanying it, Europe and the US, by supporting Israel’s war against Hamas and the Palestinian people have violated everything that the UN Charter promotes and which the Western colonial countries have supported not only internationally but also within their own countries. Post-World War II, they have promoted these values as their own and have considered countries and societies that violated them as ‘uncivilised’. So Europe has dismantled its own ‘civilisation’ and value system.
To assuage its post-war conscience, Europe developed two terms: one was ‘Holocaust’ and the other ‘antisemitism’. The Holocaust is used to describe the mass murder of ethnic communities that Europe carried out. Another term that has evolved is ‘antisemitism’, which means that anyone who acts or says anything that is anti-Jewish is anti-Semite. Almost all European countries have laws that can punish those who deny the Holocaust and/ or is antisemitic.
Israel and its supporters and benefactors have used these two terms to promote the concept that any individual or country that denies the Holocaust or says anything that is antisemitic is anti-Israel. The Western powers have supported this concept since the end of World War II.
This is ironic because many communities in the Global South, such as the Arabs, and the Muslims, were not involved in the Holocaust, but they have been accused of denying it. Similarly, they had nothing to do with the extermination of the Jews. Not only that, the Arabs themselves are Semites, and Islam is a Semitic religion. The Muslim faith is derived from Abraham, as is the Jewish faith. They are two branches of the same tribe. So history is a major casualty in the European narrative of this form of reasoning.
Another myth that has been promoted is the invincibility and discipline of the Israeli army. This has been proven by Israeli Western-supported victories because of which Arab countries have refrained from attacking Israel directly since 1967. Iran by its recent attack has shattered this myth and the denial of the Holocaust and antisemitism have become a joke universally but the price for this has been paid by the children and women of Gaza.
The public, especially the young, in most Western countries have protested against their governments’ support for Israel. This should not be allowed to fizzle out, as the anger against the Saudi crown prince for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi has — he is now the blue-eyed boy of the Western world. The formal and informal alliances that had been formed among opponents of Israel should be kept alive so that a positive change can take place in international media and the last remnants of colonialism can be wiped out, and a more equitable world created for the coming generation.
The writer is an architect.
arifhasan37@gmail.com
www.arifhasan.org
Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2024
A FRESH conflict has erupted between Punjab and Sindh on the issue of irrigating a new command area. Punjab’s irrigation department sought a water availability certificate from the Indus River System Authority to irrigate two million acres of land under the Smaller Cholistan scheme. The department’s presentation reveals that the feasibility studies of the Greater Cholistan and Smaller Cholistan schemes have been completed to bring a total of 6.6m acres of new land under canal command. Sindh’s objection was overruled at Irsa and the certificate was issued in favour of Punjab, but the province submitted a detailed note of dissent against the proposal.
Similarly, in August 2023, Wapda had presented a proposal on another forum to irrigate 6m acres of land in Cholistan through the Sutlej river on its left bank.
A drive for large-scale corporate farming has already kicked off. Sindh’s last caretaker government had leased 52,000 acres of land in six districts where the newly created Green Pakistan Initiative intends to experiment with corporate farming. Developing new command areas in Cholistan is also part of the mega farming campaign; $40 billion in revenue and the creation of millions of jobs are being touted under the initiative.
Undoubtedly, Pakistan has large swathes of barren land. But macro-scale farming needs large amounts of guaranteed flood flows and an extensive irrigation infrastructure. Officials in Punjab, it seems, are given to conjuring up numbers to claim the availability of surplus water whenever they want to advocate new upstream diversions. Sindh has always rejected this data and interpretation. The debate can be endless but it is undeniable that Sindh frequently encounters sub-optimal flows that have led to ecological devastation in the Indus delta.
Macro-scale farming needs large amounts of guaranteed flood flows.
For the Cholistan dream project, Punjab has proposed an elaborate web of reservoirs and link canals. New reservoirs at Midh Ranjha, Shah Jewna and Chiniot, and new barrages at Hasilpur and Bahawalnagar on the Sutlej, are part of the scheme. Additionally, a new 195-kilometre link canal from the Chenab river is proposed for conveying ‘perennial’ flows to the Sutlej. Punjab claims that regulated flows of the Chenab will feed the Sutlej, which will eventually irrigate the Cholistan command area through two new feeder canals.
The Punjab irrigation department’s proposals for the Smaller Cholistan scheme entail data on water availability. Water availability from the first week of July to the first week of September has been shown as Punjab’s share from the flood flows. These flows range from 4,137 cusecs to 4,122 cusecs. Developing such a huge command area on the assumption of the availability of flood flows negates the fundamentals of irrigation engineering. Indus data shows that from 2001 to 2022, flows below Kotri Barrage remained less than 10 million acre feet for nine years. Who can guarantee that the Chenab and Sutlej rivers will receive surplus flows every monsoon?
India is aggressively damming the Chenab. According to The Diplomat, over 70 major hydroelectric projects on the Chenab are at different stages. Although they are run-of-the-river projects, their reservoirs will hold water for weeks. Amid climatic vagaries and frequent upstream diversions, the reliance on flood flows for developing a massive command area lacks logic. What if a dry spell persists for a few years in the Chenab and the proposed three reservoirs are exhausted? Will the command area be left parched and the crops allowed to wilt? The Chenab and Sutlej flows eventually reach the Indus and the proposed scheme will reduce flows to Sindh.
Pakistan’s population is projected to cross 400m by 2050. This poses a challenge for food security. Hence, the objective should be to increase food production, which can be achieved without controversial projects.
According to a report by the Zarai Taraqiati Bank, the national potential for total grain production is 100,933,000 kilogrammes per year, whereas the actual national grain production from 2015 to 2016 remained 38,227,000 kg. This means that Pakistan is producing only 38 per cent of its actual potential. Moreover, Pakistan’s per acre yield of 1.05 tons pales in comparison with China’s 1.9. India obtains 1.1 tonnes. In rice, Pakistan’s per acre yield is 1.25 tonnes which is less than half of China’s 2.6 tonnes. Even Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India are ahead of Pakistan with 1.7, 1.6 and 1.3 tonnes per acre respectively. Hence Pakistan has the potential to double its grain production from the existing cultivable land.
It would be prudent for the decision-makers to avoid the wrong choices and make attempts to increase crop yield and production through improved farm practices, modern water application techniques and quality seeds.
The writer is a civil society professional.
nmemon2004@yahoo.com
Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2024
IT’S doublespeak that would have George Orwell slit his wrists with a sharpened quill: right after casting a veto against a draft resolution that recommended granting the state of Palestine full membership in the UN, the US ambassador said: “This vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood.” If we are to actually believe the words coming out of the envoy’s mouth it would mean that America just voted ‘no’ on something it claims to strongly support.
The US vetoes anything that goes against Israeli interests, interests which it values more than its diplomatic standing, global stability, or even the welfare of its own citizens. Since 1945, it has used its veto to block 34 draft resolutions to protect Israel, with most of them calling for Israel to respect international laws or condemning it for displacing Palestinians and building settlements in occupied territories.
The US also used its veto to block 46 resolutions on Israel. The first instance was in 1972 when it vetoed a resolution regarding Israeli air raids in Syria and Lebanon. Interestingly, this was the second-ever use of the veto by the US with the first being in 1970 to protect Britain from condemnation for not using force to overthrow the white supremacist regime of Rhodesia. Funny how history always comes more or less full circle.
Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives voted in a resolution condemning the chant ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’, as antisemitic and presumably a call for genocide, all the while funding and supporting an actual genocide in Gaza.
The US vetoes anything that goes against Israeli interests.
Speaking of antisemitism, the US Congress also conducted a hearing about how the hallowed halls of Columbia University have become hotbeds of hatred. Congressmen and women lined up to prove their allegiance to Israel by grilling the university administration on the measures taken to tackle antisemitism on campus. Representative Rick Allen, in a fascinating display of the brain rot that Christian Zionism can cause, quoted Bible verses from Genesis 12:3, “If you bless Israel, I will bless you. If you curse Israel, I will curse you”, before asking the Columbia president if she wanted her university to “be cursed by God”.
It was a bit much given that Columbia has gone out of its way to support Zionist students and staff, while clamping down on pro-Palestinian voices. In a move that, had it taken place in any other country would have invited immediate condemnation from the US, Columbia suspended protesting students en masse and had them arrested by the NYPD. The suspended students included the daughter of US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, just a day after Omar had questioned the Columbia administration about its treatment of pro-Palestinian voices. With every such action, the number of Americans opposed to Israel only grows.
Disquiet is increasing in Israel itself since the myth of Israeli invincibility was shattered first by Hamas and now by Iran. After Oct 7, the assurance that Israelis felt about being secure and separate from the Palestinians, caged as they were behind heavily guarded walls, brutalised as they were by a highly armed military, surveilled as they were by an infallible intelligence apparatus aided by the most cutting-edge technology available, all vanished like mist in the breeze.
With Iran’s retaliation, the confidence Israelis had in the impermeability of their air defences which, in their imagination, allowed them to strike outwards with impunity and with no fear of payback, has also been punctured.
Israel claims to have intercepted the majority of the drones and missiles fired from Iran, but the fact is that most of these were intercepted by the US, UK, France and Jordan. Israel also points to the relatively little damage caused by the strikes as evidence of failure, but the very fact that the Nevatim airbase, from which the US-supplied F-35 jets operate, was hit several times should come as a shock to the Zionist regime, given that this is, without doubt, the most highly defended military base in all of Israel. Not only is the best of Israel’s air defence deployed here, the base is also home to an US-supplied radar system as the TPY 2 X-band radar system, which is arguably the most advanced radar system the US has in its arsenal.
Less publicised were the drone attacks Hezbollah carried out on Israel during this time, penetrating deep into northern Israel and wounding dozens of Israeli soldiers, thus delivering the message that in any serious confrontation, it would rain down fire on large parts of Israel.
Perhaps this is why the Israeli riposte to Iran has so far been unimpressive, but no one should bet on Israel to show any restraint given the psychotic nature of its ruling class, military and public, and given that a decadent and decrepit empire will support them to the bitter end.
The writer is a journalist.
X: @zarrarkhuhro
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024
IN December 2023, Pakistan’s tax revenue reached $17.079 billion, marking a significant increase from the previous figure of $7.622bn reported in September 2023. Tax revenue data for Pakistan is updated on a quarterly basis, with an average of $10.565bn recorded from September 2000 to December 2023, spanning 94 observations.
What is even more significant is that only 2.74 million individuals in Pakistan file personal income tax, representing merely 4.1 per cent of the labour force and 1.3pc of the total population. It is pertinent to mention that 35pc of these individual filers are exempt from paying income tax as their income falls below the taxable threshold, resulting in zero tax liability for the year. Between 2008 and 2021, Pakistan’s federal government collected between 36pc to 39pc of its tax revenue from direct taxes, while the rest came from indirect taxes.
Expanding the tax net, equitable tax, restructuring the tax brackets, etc, have been part of conversations, but that is where such actions have stopped. We are still challenged by the small community of taxpayers, overburdened salaried class and large fields of agriculture and real estate being exempted. We have the super-impressive examples of Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea — economies that have risen on the basis of solid monetary policies, with far fewer resources.
Tax audits in Pakistan have long been associated with compromise, connivance, and rampant corruption. This pervasive culture not only undermines the integrity of the tax system but also perpetuates tax evasion, depriving the government of much-needed revenue. The discretionary powers wielded by tax officers further exacerbate the problem, raising concerns about their potential for abuse. The complexity of tax laws often hampers the effective enforcement of tax regulations, allowing for loopholes to be exploited.
Unlike human auditors, AI operates without bias or influence.
Pakistan’s population number goes in its favour. Imagine crowd-funding by 240m people. Imagine 50pc of the population paying taxes — Pakistan becomes the golden goose. This argument compels us to look for the quickest, and most effective transformative solution that can restore faith in the tax system and ensure compliance with the law — artificial intelligence (AI), a game changer in the realm of tax audits.
AI is not a mechanical way replacing human error, but a made-to-order algorithm that can cater to and adapt to all local frameworks with optimisation of service, transparency, and above all, accessibility. Smartphone penetration which is currently around 31pc needs to be supported to take it up to 100pc and then to use that platform for reaching out to the banked and unbanked, documented and undocumented, in order to bring them on board.
Unlike human auditors, AI operates without bias or influence. It adheres strictly to the provisions of the tax code, without succumbing to external pressures or considerations. By leveraging advanced algorithms and data analytics, AI can efficiently analyse vast amounts of financial data, identifying patterns and anomalies indicative of potential tax evasion. This analytical prowess not only enhances the effectiveness of audits but also serves as a powerful deterrent against non-compliance.
AI-driven audits prioritise transparency and accountability. Every decision made by the AI system is based on objective criteria, devoid of any subjective judgement or favouritism. This not only minimises the risk of corruption but also ensures fair and equitable treatment for all taxpayers.
Moreover, AI facilitates the simplification of tax laws by streamlining complex regulations into easily understandable guidelines. This not only reduces ambiguity but also empowers taxpayers to fulfil their obligations with confidence and clarity. Critically, AI-driven audits shift the focus from mere revenue generation to long-term deterrence of tax evasion. By identifying irregularities and enforcing compliance, AI helps create a culture of accountability and integrity within the tax system.
Additionally, AI improves data management by automating data ingestion, extraction, and organisation, facilitating a ‘no-touch tax return’ concept, and enhancing audit processes.
This is the only route for us towards equitability of taxation in Pakistan. With the right mechanics, we can investigate the integration of AI into tax audits for the much-needed paradigm shift.
By eliminating the spectre of compromise and connivance, tax revenue can be enhanced in selected fields. AI can expand the tax net, instil trust and confidence in the tax system and foster a conducive environment for economic growth and development. As we embrace the transformative potential of AI, we pave the way for a fairer, more efficient, and more equitable tax regime for all.
The writer is president of the Pakistan Tax Bar Association.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024
THE spectre of a wider conflict still looms in the Middle East after Israel’s ostensibly ‘limited’ attack on Iran. The escalatory cycle of retaliation pushed the region to the precipice of a regional conflagration. But both countries seemed to pull back from the brink amid global calls for de-escalation.
The latest escalation of violence was sparked by Israel’s April 1 air strike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus which killed seven members of the Revolutionary Guards including a top commander. This raised the stakes in a volatile situation with Iran retaliating with an unprecedented missile and drone attack targeting military installations in Israel. There were no casualties in what was a measured response. Iranian officials said it was not designed to inflict damage but send a message that Israel would have to pay for any action that breached Iran’s red lines. In response, Israel launched an undeclared drone strike at a military target in Isfahan, which also caused no damage. Iranian officials played down the “failed attack”, claiming three drones had been intercepted and indicating they had no intention to retaliate.
This marked the first direct military confrontation between the two adversaries who have long engaged in covert conflict. Israel has carried out assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists, sabotage and strikes on Iranian assets in third countries while Iran-backed armed groups have been firing rockets across Israel’s border, although there is little equivalence between the two. With this conflict out of the shadows, the rules of the game have changed in the Middle East.
Both countries have crossed each other’s red lines. Iran’s retaliatory action sought to establish a new level of deterrence aimed at preventing more Israeli attacks inside Iran and on Iranian assets elsewhere. Tehran had previously never directly responded to such attacks by striking Israel from Iranian soil. This changed equation prompted the leader of Israel’s opposition to claim that his country’s deterrence policy had been damaged. Israel’s counterstrike on Iran, however small, sought to limit that damage and restore deterrence.
Danger of regional conflict will not recede until the war in Gaza is ended.
Condemnation of Iran’s assault on Israel was fast and furious from the US and other Western countries, who did not bother to similarly denounce the first Israeli strike, which was in violation of international law and the Vienna Convention. But such censure was overshadowed by mounting international concerns that further retaliatory actions would trigger a full-blown regional war. Iran threatened to respond with “greater force” if Israel launched another attack.
All this created an explosive situation. With no country wanting a slide into dangerous escalation a flurry of public calls followed, including from Israel’s closest allies, urging restraint on Tel Aviv. The most significant message came from President Joe Biden who called for restraint but also served notice to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that if he went ahead with military action the US would not be part of it. Anxious Arab countries signalled they would not allow US military bases on their soil to be used in any attack on Iran. American officials repeatedly declared, “We don’t want to see a wider regional war.” Public opinion in America is strongly averse to involvement in a faraway, foreign war. This is also evident from the lack of public interest and waning political support for the Ukraine conflict. With a looming election, this poses obvious political risks for Biden.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council met in emergency session on April 14 to discuss the situation. The usual divisions were evident, which meant no Council statement was issued. The envoys of Israel and Iran traded threats and heated accusations, with the US representative lashing out at Iran. But Council members were unanimous in calling for restraint. UN Secretary General António Guterres told the meeting the region was on the brink and de-escalation was necessary as there was “a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict”.
The increasingly unpopular Netanyahu government came under domestic pressure to act, ostensibly to shore up deterrence as well as its own position, with much pressure coming from its far-right members. To discourage Netanyahu from escalatory action and prevent an expansion of the war, the US announced new sanctions against Iran’s drone manufacturers to “degrade its military capacity”. Britain followed suit while the EU is also poised to impose sanctions on Iran.
But these measures and entreaties did not dissuade the Israeli leadership from launching a military strike against Iran, although it neither confirmed nor denied it did this. US urgings may have persuaded Tel Aviv to moderate its retaliatory action. Israel maintained deniability so as not to provoke another Iranian response. Iranian officials for their part were quoted as saying they saw no need to respond to a “non-attack”. With the score even, there is some hope that the situation will calm down now and tensions will gradually de-escalate.
But the risk of miscalculation remains high in a fraught and volatile environment. Either side can still misread the other’s intentions and the situation can spiral out of control. Speaking in the Security Council, Guterres pointed to this: “One miscalculation, one miscommunication, one mistake, could lead to the unthinkable — a full-scale regional conflict that would be devastating for all involved — and for the rest of the world.”
That danger will not recede so long as the war in Gaza continues. Israel has taken this brutal war into the seventh month, with over 34,000 Palestinians killed and more than 76,000 injured by its relentless military onslaught, which has inflicted untold suffering on the people. It refused to comply with a UNSC resolution calling for a ceasefire during Ramazan, flouting international law. It defied all norms of humanity by blocking humanitarian assistance for desperate people facing famine. Meanwhile, talks in Cairo between Israel and Hamas for a durable ceasefire and release of hostages have ground to a halt. Qatar, which is mediating the talks along with Egypt and the US, is now signalling it may give up its mediatory role.
If the major powers don’t want the ongoing crisis to snowball into a regional conflict, they have to prevail on Israel to end its war in Gaza.
The writer is a former ambassador to the US, UK and UN.
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024
DESPITE the sweltering heat, there is tremendous energy all around the Galle Face Green, the famous sea front park, close to the presidential secretariat in Colombo. Young people are swarming around the fancy ice cream trucks, tourists are gushing out of the packed five-star establishments, while shoppers are thronging the entire area.
This positive energy is a far cry from the economic chaos that engulfed Sri Lanka only two years ago. Faced with a serious yet manageable set of economic challenges, the Lankan government mishandled the economic crisis by making poor, politically motivated choices, one after the other, forcing the island nation to declare bankruptcy.
Predictably, the economic crisis rapidly transformed into a political crisis. This same sea front park became the epicentre of anti-government protests. Soon, the president resigned and sought safety abroad, while, in one of the most-watched images around the world, the Sri Lankan people took over the President’s House in Colombo.
People may not remember, but this unfortunate chaos was very closely followed in Pakistan, especially as one mainstream political party, perhaps to regain lost leverage, repeatedly claimed that Pakistan was headed in Sri Lanka’s direction.
All that chaos now seems distant history as the sound of the gently crashing waves heralds serenity. According to the IMF, inflation has come down from 70 per cent to 5.9pc, while the economy has started expanding after one and half year of contraction. This economic turnaround might tempt some to conclude that stabilisation was always on the cards. Just like water in a vigorously shaken bottle calms down when left to rest on a table, all chaotic systems eventually find endogenous order, right? Wrong.
Sri Lanka’s remarkable economic recovery would not have come about without the tremendous leadership displayed by President Wickremesinghe.
Sri Lanka’s remarkable economic recovery would not have come about without the tremendous leadership displayed by President Ranil Wickremesinghe. Wickremesinghe, the nation’s veteran statesman, stepped up to the plate when no other political leader was willing to take the reins since the much-needed and IMF-supported economic reforms — more taxes, market-determined exchange rate and privatisation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) — were guaranteed to cost dearly in terms of political capital.
But, what was it about Wickremesinghe’s leadership style that enabled him to stabilise and then turn around an economy that had hit rock bottom? When this question was posed to experts at the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, they pointed to Wickremesinghe’s leadership and political experience as one of the main reasons behind economic stabilisation as it led to a calming of the nerves of various international lenders.
Also, despite little representation in parliament, Wickremesinghe was far more effective on the global stage. This arena became crucial for bringing the IMF to the rescue. Indeed, the IMF found a credible partner in the shape of Wickremesinghe, someone with economic policy experience who would not turn their back on the economic reforms required to put the South Asian nation on the path of sustainable economic recovery and growth.
Wickremesinghe’s leadership, experience, tact and credibility enabled him to rightly front-load the most painful part of the economic adjustment, namely a market-determined exchange rate that led to the Sri Lankan rupee losing half its value against the US dollar. For waiting for an optimal time for tough economic decisions would only have made the situation worse.
In addition, one reason behind the Sri Lankan economic turnaround was institutional structure. Since 1978, Sri Lanka has had very powerful presidents who are both head of state and head of government. Where Sri Lanka’s ‘executive presidency’, has been criticised by some for being overly autocratic, it enabled Wickremesinghe to push through his economic reform agenda that could have otherwise been stalled by a rowdy parliament.
This massive economic adjustment has extracted a steep social cost in Sri Lanka. A recent report by the World Bank revealed that poverty has increased from 11pc in 2019 to 26pc in 2024. Moreover, not only did inflation at 70pc negatively impact the quality of life, many small businesses have closed down permanently, while the country has suffered from significant brain drain.
Still, this Lankan tale may not necessarily have a happy ending. Instead, Wickremesinghe might actually end up looking a lot like a Shakespearean tragic hero, a noble figure who experiences a downfall as Sri Lanka still faces threats, which could very well bring the process of economic reforms to a halt.
The first threat comes in the shape of geopolitics as India has decided to lay claim to the small island of Katchatheevu, whose ownership India itself transferred to Sri Lanka in 1974. S. Jaishankar, India’s external affairs minister, belonging to the governing political party, the BJP, has suddenly started sounding bellicose on this issue implying foul play around the events that led to the handing over of the island.
It’s possible that this recent bluster is aimed at winning more seats in the coming elections, especially in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, where BJP won no seats in 2019. But, given Indian foreign policy’s newly found belligerence and previous Indian misadventures on the island, things — and the economy — could potentially go south.
The second threat comes in the shape of political uncertainty by way of the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections. High inflation and poverty have brightened the electoral prospects of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. Not only could the JVP become the largest party in parliament, its leader could also win the presidential elections. JVP has opposed the privatisation of even loss-making SOEs and its stated policies run counter to the ongoing economic reforms.
JVP may not win after all, but the burgeoning narrative of reversing ‘unjust’ economic reforms is certainly getting noticed. For this reason, Wickremesinghe is trying to convince legislators to provide legal protection to various economic reforms to ensure policy continuity before elections this year.
All said and done, the story of how Sri Lanka recovered from the worst economic crisis of its history has the ingredients of a Hitchcockian thriller. President Wickremesinghe has done wonders but it is not clear whether he will be able to avoid the fate of a tragic hero. Perhaps, Pakistan, too, needs a tragic hero to put its economy on a permanent journey towards economic reforms and recovery.
The writer completed his doctorate in economics on a Fulbright scholarship.
aqdas.afzal@gmail.com
X: @AqdasAfzal
Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024
FOR over six months, Israel has been on a killing spree in Gaza, bombing residential buildings, hospitals, mosques, even refugee camps. The overwhelming majority of casualties are civilians, mostly women and minors. Adding to Israel’s crimes against humanity are the restrictions on the Gazans’ access to humanitarian assistance, including food and medicine supplies, and the killing of aid workers. The harrowing details of the apocalyptic, famine-like conditions in Gaza are heartbreaking.
Initially, after the Hamas attack on Israel last October, Western countries justified the ferocious assault on Gaza’s people as Israel’s right to self-defence. However, when the bombings intensified and the killings multiplied, massive protests erupted across the world, including in major American and European cities. Public opinion in the West began to swing against the Israeli government for the brutalities it was committing. A series of Security Council resolutions were mooted, calling upon Israel to effect an immediate ceasefire, but the US veto prevented their adoption. In January, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel must take measures to prevent the crime of genocide against the Palestinians. The ICJ is now considering charges against Germany for facilitating Israel’s genocide by supplying weapons.
With public pressure growing, the US modulated its position and abstained on the Security Council resolution of March 25 that called for an immediate ceasefire. President Joe Biden’s calls for Israel to reach a deal with Hamas also became more emphatic. At home, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is losing popularity, and has been facing protests from the families of the hostages.
A desperate Netanyahu ordered an attack on the Iran embassy premises in Damascus on April 1, ostensibly to shift global attention from Gaza to Iran, and bring the US into the war. Iran gave a measured three-step sequential response through the launch of drones and missiles, some of which pierced Israel’s iron dome defence system and hit the intended target. There are reports of Israel’s missile strike near Isfahan, which Iran has downplayed.
In every scenario, Israel emerges as the loser.
The world now waits with anxiety as Iran and Israel weigh their options. Three factors are relevant. First, the US has made it clear to Israel that it is opposed to a wider war, even though the Western countries stand firmly behind Israel and are reinforcing sanctions against Iran. Second, both countries have tested each other’s offensive and defensive capabilities and Iran is satisfied that its deterrence has been established. Third, Israel’s effort to divert attention from Gaza and drag the US into the war have failed. Global attention will shift back to the situation in Gaza, in particular Rafah.
However, given that the war in Gaza is still continuing, further escalation of confrontation by other means cannot be ruled out. In the days ahead, Israel might carry out a major strike against pro-Iran militant groups, particularly Hezbollah in Lebanon, obliging Hezbollah to respond with force, aided by other militant groups in the area. If this confrontation expands, Iran would again get involved. In such circumstances, if Israel attacks the Iranian nuclear installations deliberately, covertly, or by mistake, the ambit of conflict would escalate sharply. A nuclear war would engulf not only the region but the entire world. The consequences of this scenario are so horrendous that Israel would be careful not to move in this direction.
A more likely scenario, however, is that Israel will continue its low-key attacks on Iranian regional proxies, coupled with intensified covert operations against Iranian assets, evoking similarly covert responses from Iran. Since Israel’s efforts to expand the ambit of war have failed, the US pressure on Israel would grow to end the war in Gaza, and allow humanitarian access, particularly because of America’s election dynamics.
In every scenario, Israel emerges as the loser. It has killed tens of thousands of innocent civilians, reminiscent of what the victims of apartheid and the Holocaust faced. Israel’s hubris about the invincibility of its military machine has been shattered. Given that Iran could penetrate Israel’s high-tech defence, the people of Israel are feeling increasingly worried.
The Arab countries have not been able to exert much pressure on Israel beyond efforts to facilitate negotiations for ceasefire. All said and done, Israel has failed to achieve its objectives of creating a ‘Greater Israel’ or eliminating Palestinian resistance. For its part, Pakistan can take pride in having extended consistent and unwavering support for the right of Palestinians to have a sovereign state of their own within pre-1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The writer is a former foreign secretary and chairman Sanober Institute, Islamabad.
Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2024
WE are living through a turbulent time in history. The changes that have taken place in the last 100 years are both a cause for celebration and a matter of concern. From the wounds of world wars to the economic transformation, and from the miracles of science and technology to the climate crisis — all are part of a lived experience that has altered the geopolitical and geo-economic landscape of the planet that we call home.
Today, we face a troubling convergence of climate crisis, armed conflict, soaring interest rates, and escalating debt burdens in many nations. The lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic has further exacerbated these challenges. This complex scenario poses significant obstacles to achieving the global climate objectives outlined in the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Broadly speaking, the challenges are myriad and solution pathways vary. However, there is a need for prioritising actions and coalescing multiple streams into a point of convergence for strengthening resilience. In moving forward, it is important to leverage learning to set priorities for an implementable action agenda. Right now, all actors should focus on designing their diplomatic strategies to increase space for multilateral discussions and action on climate and nature taking into account the need for:
It is going to be a decade of difficult decisions.
Increasing ambition on Nationally Determined Contributions and implementing commitments through national and subnational policies informed by the Global Stock-take and the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Emphasising the need to move away from current fossil fuel approaches in a just, orderly and equitable manner, making sure that ambition and commitments at the international level are implementable at the domestic level.
Unlocking finance and making it fit for purpose by building a fairer economic and financial system that ensures scaling up public and private finance and making it available equitably to meet the escalating need for mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage and nature conservation. This includes negotiations on a ‘New Collective Quantified Goal’ for climate finance, growing momentum for connecting the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and ongoing focus on the urgency for reform in the global financial architecture.
Accelerating technology development for transitioning to renewable energy and investing simultaneously in technologies for capturing and storing carbon dioxide emissions.
A sequence of events this year will provide opportunities to move forward on these priorities with a focus on implementation. This includes meetings of the G7, G20, UNFCCC work programmes and intersessional sessions in Bonn as well as the IMF-World Bank meetings, Clean Energy Ministerial and Summit of the Future on the road to COP29.
The year 2025 will mark the halfway point in this ‘critical decade’. It will also be the next forcing moment of the Paris Agreement ambition cycle with the parties expected to submit new and enhanced climate plans.
For countries in South Asia, this is going to be a decade of difficult decisions. Living on the arc of vulnerability that stretches from the cryosphere to the coast, the impacts on the Third Pole will not remain confined to the two billion people who share water, air and land resources. Its cascading impact will destabilise the global climatic regime, disrupt supply chains, and throw the global economy in a flux, creating conditions for conflict.
A South Asia caught in a climate crisis means pushing one quarter of the global population into turmoil. It also means depriving a large young cohort of a fair future and exposing women, who constitute approximately half the population, to higher risks.
Fintech provides yet another opportunity for bringing countries in South Asia on one platform. It is a critical component of any climate solution strategy to ensure a better, brighter and beneficent future. Fintech integration should not be seen only as an instrument for meeting climate targets but as an investment in regional peace, security and stabilisation.
We are living in unusual times where it is imperative to overcome divisions and work together to achieve objectives shared under the Paris Agreement. We need to uphold the spirit of deep cooperation that led to its conclusion in 2015, and see it as essential to any climate-win scenario.
Pakistan needs to plan for a future in which business as usual may not be the best option to cope with a future beset by challenges. This is a realisation that needs to be acknowledged across party lines, society and diaspora to survive this critical decade.
Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2024
NOTWITHSTANDING its unprecedented public support, the PTI is facing multiple dilemmas. Recent statements by its leaders, including the party’s founder Imran Khan, suggest its fight for survival and relevance will have to be fought on more than one front.
Against the backdrop of poorly informed reports and ‘analyses’ by various TV anchors that some sort of a deal was being negotiated between the establishment and the PTI leader, Imran Khan lashed out at the army chief during an interaction with the media present at one of his prison trials this week.
The ongoing estrangement between the PTI and the establishment is challenge enough for the political party and its leadership, given the ground reality in Pakistan where all mainstream parties, including Imran Khan’s, have strengthened the role of extra-parliamentary forces in the day-to-day running of government for narrow, temporary and, therefore, meaningless gains. The cumulative effect of their capitulation has been an ever-growing footprint of the establishment in the affairs of the state. Since the institution maintains that it is itself responsible for its own accountability, it is rarely held to account. Today, the challenge that is this hybrid system is staring all political parties in the face.
The PTI is confronting even greater challenges. One hint came from party leader Sher Afzal Marwat, who said in a TV interview that ‘Saudi Arabia was part of the US regime change conspiracy’ which led to the toppling of the Imran Khan government in the spring of 2022 in a no-confidence vote — this, as a high-level Saudi delegation was discussing multibillion-dollar investments in Pakistan.
Since he made this statement, predictably, denials have been issued by several party leaders. Mr Marwat himself clarified that what he said was his ‘personal opinion’ and not the party position. But any political commentator who believes Mr Marwat spoke for himself has to be naïve. He is very close to Mr Khan and is credited by many in the party as the man who energised the PTI ahead of the elections in the forced absence and imprisonment of the founder. In March, and again in April, the lawmaker was nominated by his party to run for the influential position of the chairman of the National Assembly’s Public Account Committee. This decision alone ought to clear the air regarding his proximity to the PTI supremo.
Donald Trump may have nice things to say about Imran Khan, but he likes the Saudis more.
The initial bonhomie between the Saudi crown prince and Mr Khan was evident during the prince’s visit to Pakistan. The then PM personally took the wheel to drive his august guest, who reciprocated by saying that Pakistan should see him (the crown prince) as its ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Soon after, relations between the two seemed to go downhill.
Speculation abounds about the reasons for relations turning sour. It includes a supposed conversation on board a Saudi royal business jet that the crown prince had placed at Mr Khan’s disposal to travel to New York to address a UN General Assembly session. Nobody has been able to draw an official response but the rumour was that Mr Khan made some unkind remarks about the Saudi royal and these were brought to the latter’s attention.
Whether the crew overheard them or the jet had bugging devices is unclear. What was evident was that, on the way back home, the jet returned to New York soon after take-off because the pilot reported a technical fault. And Mr Khan and his entourage had to make other travel arrangements.
There can be no doubt that PTI supporters among the overseas Pakistanis in the US, including many influential and wealthy figures, have been lobbying relentlessly for the party and their leader. This is in addition to work being done by professional lobbyists.
The result was the letter that a number of Congressmen/ women wrote to their administration in support of Imran Khan. A congressional committee hearing was also called where US Deputy Secretary of State Donald Lu was among those who testified.
It should be remembered that Mr Lu’s informal discussion with the then Pakistan ambassador to the US was cited by Imran Khan as evidence of ‘a US regime change conspiracy’ against his government. He waved a copy, ostensibly of the ‘cipher’ sent by the envoy detailing that conversation, at an Islamabad public meeting to add weight to his allegation.
While the joint letter and even the congressional hearing may have gone some way in ensuring that Congress members kept their wealthy donors and voters onside, their impact was minimal in securing any concession for the PTI or its founder.
The US presidential election, despite Donald Trump’s early lead over President Joe Biden in the opinion polls, will only be decided in November. Some PTI supporters are optimistic that a Trump win, a certainty for them, may translate into a change of fortunes for their jailed leader. They believe that the camaraderie on display between the two leaders at the White House meeting indicated that Donald Trump held Mr Khan in high esteem.
Against this backdrop, Mr Marwat’s views assume greater significance. Donald Trump may have nice things to say about Imran Khan, but he likes the Saudis more as they are crucial allies and a cornerstone of the US policy (under Biden and more so under Trump) in the Middle East. The Trump family, particularly the former president’s son-in-law, has business interests, which the Saudis can enhance immensely.
Even otherwise, the expectation of a change in the US leading to a change in Pakistan seems grossly unreal and exaggerated. Therefore, the safest bet for any party would be to rely on public support and make a concerted effort with political entities to drive meaningful change.
Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2024
THE Faizabad sit-in inquiry report is another chapter in the country’s probe commission history. However, it falls disappointingly short of fixing responsibility or uncovering substantial evidence.
Like its predecessors, the report has stirred controversy but has not reached a concrete conclusion. Key figures are now surfacing with ‘new facts’, suggesting that further investigation may be warranted. However, any such endeavour will likely meet the same fate as the report.
One significant critique of the report is its notable failure to address the Supreme Court’s explicit directive concerning the timing of and rationale behind the submission and the withdrawal of review petitions about its judgement.
Specifically, in its ruling on Nov 13, 2023, the Supreme Court anticipated that the inquiry commission would thoroughly investigate the factors contributing to the failure to implement the Faizabad dharna judgement and examine the context surrounding the submission and withdrawal of the review petitions. The report’s failure to adhere to this directive raises concerns about the thoroughness and impartiality of the investigation. The report risks its credibility and effectiveness by neglecting to address such a crucial aspect of the Supreme Court’s instructions.
The recommendations, outlined in the report, as conveyed by the media, lack exclusivity, having been previously suggested and incorporated into policy documents concerning the mitigation of violent extremism and internal security. Emphasising a ‘zero tolerance’ stance towards violent extremism, the report urges the government to reassess its policies and target the underlying causes of this threat. It advocates for enhanced coordination among the law-enforcement agencies, Pemra, and the interior ministry to monitor social media for content that breaches legal standards.
Furthermore, the commission identifies shortcomings in implementing the National Action Plan and proposes reforms within the criminal justice system to bolster the anti-terrorism agencies. In its concluding remarks, the report directs both the federal and provincial governments to actively monitor and prosecute individuals promoting hate, extremism, and terrorism.
The leaked report neglects the imperative for state institutions to abandon the use of religious and extremist groups for political purposes. The rise of the TLP exemplifies this trend, as its popularity is fuelled by emotional rhetoric rooted in radical ideology and its manipulation by state entities for political goals since 2018. Despite losing backing from these institutions in 2024, the TLP managed to amass even more votes, reaching 2.89 million, compared to the 2.2m votes it garnered in 2018. This highlights the urgent need to confront the fusion of extremist factions with political interests. Addressing this issue is crucial to safeguarding the integrity of political processes and preventing further entrenchment of radical ideologies within the political landscape.
There is an urgent need to confront the fusion of extremist factions with political interests.
The TLP’s support base remains steadfast, primarily due to its leadership’s effective utilisation of religious narratives, a practice the state has been unable to curtail. The influence of the leadership of banned groups, including sectarian outfits, has left its imprint on even the official counter-narrative strategy called Paigham-i-Pakistan, in which alterations have been made to appease the TLP leadership.
The TLP has never acknowledged this official narrative, nor has the state effectively employed its counter-narrative in the public sphere. The TLP has capitalised on the state’s inadequate response, refining its tactics and presenting itself as ‘modern’ by including the protection of religious minorities’ rights in its manifesto. However, it remains staunch in its core agenda regarding blasphemy.
Meanwhile, state institutions cannot combat ideology solely through administrative measures; instead, they must permit moderate religious scholarship to emerge in the country, offering a counterbalance to toxic narratives.
In his book The Fallacy of Militant Ideology: Competing Ideologies and Conflict Among Militants, the Muslim World, and the West, author Munir Masood Marath argues that ideology serves as the “centre of gravity” for terrorism and extremism, emphasising the importance of understanding militants’ belief systems to counter these threats effectively. Marath, a police officer, contends that societal and state perceptions of religious narratives are often oversimplified. Religious institutions play a pivotal role in shaping and propagating these narratives, with seminaries influencing students and local clergy (ulema) outside the formal education system, influencing society as a whole. This “informal religious indoctrination” arises from the marginalisation of religious education, leaving the secular population reliant on less qualified imams.
The state still needs to devise a comprehensive strategy to address the challenges of radical groups like the TLP effectively. State institutions believe they can manage extremism through engagement and disengagement tactics. However, genuine innovation arises only when academic campuses are granted the freedom to explore ideas, with the state as a guardian of this freedom. Otherwise, groups promoting exclusivity find favour with state institutions.
It is worth noting that sometimes these groups become overly confident and challenge the state’s authority or undermine its interests, as the TLP has done, making it tough to maintain smooth relations with the Western world.
The state institutions must acknowledge that despite the existence of 40,000 seminaries, 500 public and private religious institutions, and a vast network of religious groups and parties, Pakistan still needs to cultivate scholarly minds comparable to those found elsewhere.
Without addressing this deficiency, the state will continue to bow to radical groups, as in 2021 when the TLP took to the streets to pressure the government to expel the French ambassador. Despite efforts by police and paramilitary forces, they struggled to control the fanatical elements. Under pressure from the TLP, the government opted to remove several TLP leaders, including Saad Rizvi, from a terrorism watch list and rescinded the group’s proscribed status.
The sit-in commission report has brought attention to these compromises without holding anyone accountable, exonerating almost everyone involved in the 2017 sit-in. Consequently, this report has once again thrust the TLP into mainstream discussions as it seeks to garner attention in the mainstream media.
The writer is a security analyst.
Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2024
LAST month, UN Secretary General, António Guterres, called for “putting people first” in the global response to illicit drugs. Kicking off the latest session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the secretary general urged governments to balance approaches countering drug trafficking with investments in prevention, stressing rehabilitation, upholding the human rights of people who use drugs, and expanding treatment programmes and health services. The statement comes against the backdrop of an extremely complex landscape.
The World Drug Report 2023 shows that over the past decade the number of people who use drugs and those suffering from drug use disorders increased by 23 per cent and 45pc respectively. It is becoming clear that the extensive use of punitive enforcement in deterring drug use has just not worked. In fact, drug policies globally have fuelled overcrowding, arbitrary executions, extrajudicial killings, and human rights violations against the poorest and most vulnerable.
At the moment, 20pc of the global prison population have been sentenced for drug-related offences. Thirty-four countries retain the death penalty for drug offences — accounting for almost half of all executions. Punitive approaches addressing drug use deliver unequal outcomes for marginalised populations, women and youth. Over 35pc of women in prison globally have been convicted of drug-related offences, compared with 19pc of men.
Despite challenges, countries are moving towards a new way of working — one that puts people’s needs, health and human rights at the centre of drug-control policies. Pivoting the focus of drug control from punishment to mainstreaming evidence-based treatments addressing the needs of drug users has shown improved outcomes for drug use, health and well-being and reductions in future harm for individuals and society as a whole. Countries like Mexico are developing therapeutic justice programmes to strengthen alternatives to incarceration and promote responsible drug use. Ghana’s recent drug policy framework monitors better health outcomes, including harm reduction.
Drug-control policies must focus on people’s health, needs and rights.
The conversation is making its way across justice systems in Asia — where countries with the harshest drug policies can be found. In 2023, Malaysian lawmakers voted to remove the mandatory death penalty for drug trafficking. In India, a National Fund for Control of Drug Abuse has been established to support initiatives related to drug abuse prevention, treatment and rehabilitation.
Pakistan has also joined the movement by abolishing the death penalty for drug offences with the Control of Narcotic Substances (Amendment) Act, 2023. Notable efforts are being made in the country to shift towards evidence-based treatments, with Islamabad introducing the ‘Minimum Service Delivery Standards for Psychiatric & Addiction Treatment/ Rehabilitation Facilities’ in 2021.
The Anti-Narcotics Force is running four model rehabilitation centres and reported almost 22,000 people who had been voluntarily treated in these centres from 2005-2021. Much more needs to be done. There still remains an urgent need to counter over-incarceration for drug offences and improve access to health/ treatment for prisoners jailed for drug use, through the implementation of human rights-based sentencing guidelines and improved standards of healthcare in prisons.
Ministers, senior judges, policy experts, prosecutors, health professionals and human rights activists will convene in Islamabad from April 23-25 to drive the momentum in transforming drug policies pushing coercion and control to those based on health and human rights. Justice Project Pakistan is holding a conference titled ‘Reimagining Justice: Public Health and Human Rights Centred Drug Policy’ to take stock of regional and national best practices on a wide range of topics including sentencing for drug offences, over-incarceration for drug offences, and access to healthcare for persons who use drugs. The event, which will be held in person and online, aims to initiate a public dialogue on how the global drug problem can be solved by focusing on the health needs of people rather than coercion that has neither protected the welfare of people nor deterred drug crime.
More and more countries across the globe are adopting policies and practices that treat drug usage as a public health and human rights issue, and are applying evidence-based, gender-sensitive and harm reduction approaches. The data is clear — this is what works. If we are to finally solve the global drug problem, the momentum must keep building in the right direction. The time is now.
The writer is a lawyer and development professional.
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2024
THE country’s first tripartite labour conference, inaugurated by its first prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan, was held in February 1949. Subsequently, the government ratified ILO Conventions 87 and 98 relating to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
Pakistan has been an active member of the ILO since 1947 and has so far ratified 36 conventions, including eight out of 10 fundamental conventions and two governance conventions, which include Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention 1948 (No 87) and Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No 98). However, the record of our compliance with international labour standards is poor, specifically in the context of these conventions.
At the time of partition, unions existed only in the railways and the port; both in the public sector. Besides, labour associations advocating a socialist society in Pakistan dominated the labour movement, and those belonging to All Pakistan Confederation of Labour and the Pakistan Workers Union, led by Mirza Ibrahim, received financial assistance from the Soviet Union to promote communism. For over 30 years, Ibrahim remained at the helm. But, in a 1981 referendum, a rightist union affiliated with the National Labour Federation (NLF) defeated his union.
The unions in Pakistan thrived from the late 1960s to July 1977 when the PPP government was overthrown. Their leaders were strong and employers across the country had to face volatile situations, such as interventions in business management and manufacturing units by their unions.
Unions in Pakistan thrived from the late 1960s to July 1977.
Among several prominent leaders of workers’ federations, the more notable and wise were Jamaat-i-Islami’s (JI) Professor Shafi Malik and leftist Karamat Ali. Both encouraged union leaders and officials to acquire education and training. Malik acted on the advice of Maulana Maududi who upheld ‘the rights of others and own obligation’, contrary to what labour leaders of the time believed in. In 1956, Malik established the Pakistan Workers Training Institute in Hyderabad but it did not last long. However, his Pakistan Workers Training and Education Trust — WE Trust — recently completed 40 years of existence in Karachi.
As Malik joined the labour movement in the country’s early years, his role as a successful and upright leader of NLF was long and enviable. The key to his success was his education, intellect, temperament and problem-solving abilities; stupendous challenges came his way and he tackled them with astuteness to achieve his goals. Malik garnered applause and laurels for the JI, the kind it has not known in national politics. He was the federation’s president from 1969 to 1971, secretary general from 1971 to 1982 and was also re-elected as president until August 2000 when he chose to opt out.
Moreover, other than Pakistan Railways and PIA, unions associated with NLF were also part of the Collective Bargaining Agent in KDA, National Bank of Pakistan, Paracha Textile Mills, Pakistan Steel Mills, Pakistan National Shipping Corporation, Karachi Shipyard and the Pakistan Engineering Company among others.
Karamat Ali, on the other end, devoted his life to the dispossessed; he used political means and effectively orchestrated and led labour movements to serve the cause of the marginalised and those deprived of their lawful rights. Besides being a prominent trade unionist and rights activist, he has remained involved in Pakistan’s politics for a long time and has played a significant role for political parties and labour movements representing the leftist ideology.
Ali is the founder and director of the over four-decade-old Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research in Karachi. The institute’s achievements in the domain of labour research and education are commendable. He joined the Mujtahid Mazdoor Federation (MMF) constituted in 1969. It managed to mobilise and unite the workers of textile mills who were being exploited and deprived of proper wages and benefits by their employers.
Later, he merged the MMF with powerful federation leader Nabi Ahmad’s United Workers’ Federation. Their combination proved lethal and the two were able to attain much relief for distressed employees.
Despite their advancing years, both Malik and Ali remain fairly active in educating and training present labour leaders and people keen to learn the intricacies of industrial relations.
Although activities of labour federations and unions are dormant, unions exist and interact with respective managements. Hence, representatives responsible for communication with unions should keep abreast of changes in labour legislations and the industry to hone their skills in managing worker-employer relations.
The writer is a consultant in human resources at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi.
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2024
ISRAEL’S April 1 attack on Iran’s diplomatic compound in Damascus — which killed senior Iranian military commanders — was a clear and unprecedented violation of international law. It was an armed attack on both Syria and Iran whose sovereignty and territorial integrity were violated under Article 2(4) of the UN Charter. Diplomatic missions and consular premises in particular are inviolable under customary international law, as well as Article 22 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961 and Article 31 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963, both conventions which Israel is party to. Diplomatic missions are considered the sovereign territory of the sending state, and as such, Israel’s armed attack was technically conducted on Iranian soil as much as it was on Syrian territory.
The International Court of Justice has held the inviolability of diplomatic premises in all circumstances, including during international or non-international armed conflict. In the seminal ICJ case ‘Concerning the United States Diplomatic and Consular Staff in Tehran’ (1980), when armed Iranian students stormed and took over the US embassy in Tehran, the ICJ found Iran guilty of violating the law of diplomatic and consular relations and, inter alia, ordered the restoration of the US embassy in Tehran to US possession. More recently, on April 11, Mexico filed a complaint against Ecuador in the ICJ demanding its expulsion from the UN when Ecuadorian police stormed the Mexican embassy without the latter’s consent and arrested former Ecuadorian vice president Jorge Glas, who had been given political asylum by Mexico and was taking refuge in its embassy in Quito.
Under the law of armed conflict Iran, not just for the attack on its diplomatic premises but also for what it describes as “repeated military aggressions”, invoked its inherent right of self-defence codified under Article 51 of the UN Charter to strike Israel with over 300 drones and missiles 13 days after the attack. (A suspected Israeli attack on Isfahan has followed) Article 51 states “[n]othing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the UN Security Council [UNSC] has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security”.
Under customary law, an act of self-defence must be necessary and proportionate. Its necessity must be “instant, overwhelming, leaving no choice of means, and no moment for deliberation” as outlined by US secretary of state Daniel Webster in the 19th-century Caroline incident. However, the definition of what an instant response is, is based on state practice and can extend beyond days or even a few weeks following the triggering attack. For example, following 9/11, the US formally informed the UN it was invoking the right of self-defence when it attacked Afghanistan on Oct 7, 2001, which was considered a timely response by the UNSC.
Iran’s retaliatory strikes were an attempt to not appear weak in the eyes of the Iranian polity.
Virtually all projectiles fired by Iran towards Israel were intercepted by Israel, the US, UK, France, and Jordan, resulting in no fatalities and minimal damage to Israeli military installations. For many, the irony of the West’s failure to intercept a single Israeli missile or drone targeted at Palestine — many of them provided by the West itself — in the face of its demonstrated defensive capabilities was palpable; despite Western rhetoric on championing human rights and international law, it continues to proffer moral and materiel support to Israel in its pogrom against the Palestinians.
Iran claims it informed the US prior to initiating its attack, stating that it would be conducted in a manner to avoid provoking a response from Israel. Following the attack, Iran stated that its armed response was concluded and that it did not seek any further escalation, indicating that the attack was largely symbolic and its objectives were primarily political.
It appears that Iran is catering to its domestic audience; given the internal challenges the regime has been facing, including civil unrest attributed to economic meltdowns and political repression, one can argue that Iran’s retaliatory strikes were an attempt to not appear weak in the eyes of the Iranian polity.
Iran is also focused on regional dominance, with its influence established in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, and Iraq. Given the inability of the powerful yet fragile autocratic regimes of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, and the UAE to meaningfully intercede in the Palestinian genocide or take legal action against Israel, as has been commendably done by South Africa and Ireland against Israel for genocide, and Nicaragua against Germany for complicity in Israel’s genocide at the ICJ, Iran sees an opportunity to exert influence over the populations of these competing Middle Eastern countries, further consolidating its dominance. One silver lining emerging from the affair, however, is that progressive European states such as Spain and Ireland, have since become increasingly active in advocating for the formal recognition of Palestine as a high contracting party at the UN and public support in the US, particularly among young Americans, is shifting towards the Palestinians.
The biggest challenge facing the contemporary ‘rules-based world order’, however, is the abject failure of the UNSC to maintain international peace and security, its primary obligation and responsibility under the UN Charter. To date, no binding Security Council resolution has been issued under Chapter 7 in relation to Israel’s actions towards Palestine, which would come with the sanctions and enforcement powers necessary to prevent Israel from its genocidal campaign against the Palestinians. Should use of force by Israel or Iran be deliberated in the near future at the UNSC, the US, UK, and France would likely continue to veto any Chapter 7 resolutions against Israel as they have done in the past, while Russia and China can be expected to veto similar resolutions against Iran, especially after Israel’s attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus or Iran’s response.
With the proliferation of sophisticated weaponry, including nuclear weapons in Israeli and arguably Iranian hands now, proxy wars in the region are escalating into direct military confrontations between regional states. This trend represents a disquieting shift in the maintenance of global peace and security, and particularly for the people of Palestine, who have a vested right to sovereignty and self-determination.
The writer is former legal adviser to Pakistan’s foreign ministry, and faculty, Lums Law School.
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2024
IN recent years, the rule of law has become a buzzword in Pakistan’s political discourse, with a multitude of voices expressing support for this ideal.
For example, the election manifestos of all three major political parties — the PPP, PML-N, and PTI — contain claims of their commitment for ‘the rule of law’ and promises to prioritise it in their policies and legislation.
In practice, however, we see ‘the rule of law’ being weaponised and stripped of its fundamental values, taking on whatever meaning that fits the political objectives of those invoking it.
In its reply submitted before the Islamabad High Court earlier this week, for example, the Ministry of Interior defended its arbitrary ban on the social media platform X/Twitter, claiming the ban “upheld the rule of law and principles of democratic governance”.
We also hear government officials claim secret military trials of civilians accused of involvement in the May 9 riots and the conviction and seven-year sentence of Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi in a farcical case involving “fraudulently going through a marriage ceremony” are necessary for establishing “the rule of law” in the country.
‘The rule of law’ is being weaponised, taking on whatever meaning that fits the political objectives of those invoking it.
Earlier, we saw Nawaz Sharif’s political opponents and detractors celebrate his lifetime disqualification from contesting elections after a determination by the Supreme Court that he was no longer ‘sadiq and ameen’ as a victory for ‘the rule of law’.
As these illustrations show, like in other authoritarian states, the rule of law has been distorted to mean ‘rule by law’ in Pakistan. It is used to justify the arbitrary implementation of bad laws without adequate safeguards for the protection of fundamental rights or meeting due process requirements.
The authoritarian reconfiguration of the rule of law as ‘rule by law’ appropriates the language and rhetoric associated with the emancipatory, liberal idea of this concept to consolidate state power, undermine democratic values, victimise political opponents, and impede the fundamental rights of citizens.
Unlike the rule of law, ‘rule by law’ is almost always associated with the use of law as an instrument to serve the ends of those in power. It allows the state to use law to control its citizens, but never allows law to be used by the citizens to hold the state accountable.
It is, therefore, important to understand what ‘the rule of law’ means and identify its core values. Doing so would allow more effective support of the legal and political reforms to advance it and challenge perversions of the rule of law rampant in our political discourse.
Although the concept of the rule of law can be traced back at least to ancient Greece, it has become much more widely discussed in the last three decades, with engagement from jurists, scholars, international organisations, as well as the United Nations.
For the UN, the rule of law is “a principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and entities, public and private, including the State itself, are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated, and which are consistent with international human rights norms and standards. It requires measures to ensure adherence to the principles of supremacy of the law, equality before the law, accountability to the law, fairness in the application of the law, separation of powers, participation in decision-making, legal certainty, avoidance of arbitrariness, and procedural and legal transparency”.
This definition encapsulates at least eight distinct but related principles.
The first principle captures the essence of the rule of law dating back to Aristotle: The rule of law is a “government by laws and not by men”, which means no one is above the law and all persons and institutions, including the state, are accountable to the law.
Second, the law must be publicly promulgated so that people know the consequences of their actions.
Third, the law must be appropriately defined and government discretion sufficiently limited to ensure the law is applied in a non-arbitrary manner. A.V. Dicey, for example, warned against laws that gave people in positions of power “wide, arbitrary, or discretionary powers of constraint”. Vague laws also undermine the rule of law because they leave the door open to selective prosecution and interpretation, based on discriminatory policies of government officials and the personal predilections of judges.
Fourth, the law must be applied equally and without discrimination to all persons in like circumstances.
This fifth principle embodies a substantive rather than a procedural guarantee of the rule of law, and provides that the laws in a society that honours the rule of law must be just and consistent with international human rights norms and standards. This substantive requirement is essential, as it distinguishes a government under the rule of law from a government operating with a rule by law. In a number of authoritarian states, for example, some of the elements of the rule of law are present, but unless the laws are just, society is not governed by the rule of law.
Sixth, legal processes must be sufficiently robust and accessible to ensure the enforcement of such laws and human rights protections.
Seventh, the independence of the judiciary must be guaranteed. This means judicial power must be exercised independently of other branches of the state, and individual judges must adjudicate matters before them impartially.
And eighth, citizens and other members of society must have the right to participate in the enactment and refinement of laws that regulate their behaviour.
These principles — and consequently, ‘the rule of law’ — are largely absent in Pakistan. Instead, the garb of the rule of law is being used to establish its very antithesis — ‘rule by law’.
The writer is a legal adviser for the International Commission of Jurists.
reema.omer@icj.org
X: @reema_omer
Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2024
IN his memoirs, Foundations and Form, Mukhtar Husain writes about his first school experience: “In 1955, I started attending Mrs Corks’ Private School which was run by a British lady, Mrs Corks. The Corkses lived in a stone house with terracotta roof tiles, located in its own enclave within our Colony and surrounded by a low wall. I was just five years old and hated going to school every morning. I would cry all the way and would go on crying in school as well. At times, I was so difficult that I was sent home during the mid-morning break. Shaukat Aziz [later on, the prime minister of Pakistan], who was perhaps a year older, was often asked to walk me home. But I settled down and soon I was doing well…”
I was curious to find out what upset Mukhtar at school. He told me that he had no idea. But I suspect it was the ‘strangeness’ of the language used at school which did not allow him to express himself fully. Being an intelligent child, he must have been frustrated. He was accustomed to speaking Urdu at home and the school was all English. A child cries when he feels insecure. Being away from the comfort zone of his home that has his mother’s reassuring presence can be quite distressing for a young child. Add to that the barrier of language that prevents the child from communicating with others, and the situation becomes quite distressing.
In any case, Mukhtar was fortunate to have an understanding teacher who sent him home when she felt that Mukhtar was inconsolable. He later adjusted, and to his credit learnt English, which is evident from the impeccable language of his memoirs.
Nearly 70 years on, education in Pakistan is in the doldrums. A major factor responsible for the mess is the bizarre and hybrid pedagogy that is employed in the low-fee private- and public-sector schools, with the exception of Sindh (however, there is little by way of education there). The language used by the teachers is commonly spoken by the population of the area where the school is located. The textbooks are in Urdu or English, which the students are expected to read, and then write their answers to the questions accordingly.
Our children grow up to be book-hating adults.
As a result, there is a lot of rote learning going on and hardly any original writing and critical thinking is taking place in our classrooms. We still have to decide which language is to be the medium of instruction and what is to be the role of the mother tongue in the education system.
Our educationists do not even know how a child learns a language and how it should be used in school to maximise the benefits of education. In a nutshell, the child learns a language the natural way, ie, by listening to it. This process begins soon after birth. Children pick up the language of their community by listening to their family members, and later on, in the marketplace playground, so to speak. They do not have to be taught grammar or syntax; these come naturally to them by listening to others. That is why everyone (if not handicapped) speaks a language even if he has not attended school. Literacy is another ball game and has to be taught in an organised setting.
By trying to introduce in our education system another language that is not familiar to the child, and through teachers who lack competency in the other language themselves, we confuse the language acquisition process.
The worst impact is on the child’s ability to read and her interest in books. Researchers say that the more children read, the more they know. This, in turn, enhances their cognitive development. It is also said that if reading is made an unpleasant and laborious exercise from the start a child would just not enjoy reading books. The fact is that a person who is an avid reader also enjoys it.
Our education system is destroying our children by thrusting on them a language unfamiliar to them. This is done prematurely, without paving the ground for it. It is done in most cases by teachers who are not proficient in the language themselves. The method is also wrong. Instead of focusing on the vocabulary and starting with the spoken language, we want to teach them literacy skills that can be tedious. It is no wonder then that our children shun books. They grow up to be book-hating adults.
Children are thus denied the experience of self-discovery that comes from reading books. This is a tremendous loss; the self-directed learning instinct is never kindled in them. Critical thinking that is innate to human beings is destroyed.
That would explain why the book industry in Pakistan is not doing well at all. When children have not been exposed to books in the language they can understand and enjoy, they grow up with no interest in them.
www.zubeida-mustafa.com
Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2024
KARACHI has been in the throes of brutal street crime including robberies, muggings and killings for several months. The recent killing of Syed Turab Hussain Zaidi for resisting robbery is a case in point. The situation has deteriorated to a point where even places of worship are not safe — recently, three worshippers at a mosque in Karimabad were stripped of their cash and valuables by a mugger.
While opposition leaders criticise the performance of the PPP government, officials are quick to lay the blame on multiple stakeholders, including the previous caretaker set-up, leading to the public’s loss of trust in the police and administration. According to a report in this paper, between 2022 and 2024, more than 250 people were killed and over 1,000 injured in street crime. Meanwhile, muggings are indiscriminate. From call-centre and night shift workers, students, and domestic help to clerics, shopkeepers and vendors, the menace has spared few. The alarming rise in violence is deeply worrying and the provincial government must address it as a top priority.
However, provincial administrators are still hopeful that certain interventions, including the swift implementation of the much-trumpeted Karachi Safe City Project, will make a difference. The multibillion-rupee venture aims to make city roads and streets safer with CCTVs and other monitoring apparatus. While these are a step in the right direction, the real concern is not about viewing a crime but responding to it with speed and competence on the part of law enforcers.
Instead of relying on a failed scheme, the authorities must focus on enhancing the training and fitness of cops, set higher standards for recruitment, and jettison political ‘recommendations’ to appease constituents.
It must also be kept in mind that Karachi comprises over 10,000 kilometres of roads and streets, along with other public spaces that require a vigilant eye — bus terminals, parks, playgrounds, pedestrian bridges, parking lots, open markets, etc. This figure does not include lanes and cul-de-sacs in the city’s dense urban neighbourhoods.
The surge in Karachi violence is deeply worrying.
Monitoring these vast spaces requires innovative strategies, which must begin with reviewing and modernising the current approach of the law enforcers. The traffic police, for instance, seldom apprehend swanky vehicles that flout the law, but pounce on smaller vehicles to add to their traffic challan list. Moreover, cars with tinted glass and large jeeps featuring gun-toting private guards break traffic signals and the law with impunity.
People are, therefore, forced to take their own measures. Many neighbourhoods have installed metallic barriers with private guards to close off streets. While the law does not permit restricting access to public spaces, resident groups see it as their sole option. Needless to say, this was the norm a decade ago when the city was gripped by political bloodshed; while the Karachi operation of 2014 did bring some relief, the situation worsened soon after.
Once again, gated communities and streets have returned to the city landscape as many believe that reduced access can staunch the onslaught of fierce violations. But sadly, these measures have only had a marginal impact as people cannot be confined in fortified precincts; they have to leave for work, or do chores, or get out of their homes for several other things. In so doing, the fragile law-and-order situation haunts them.
Besides, one of the fallouts of curtailing access to neighbourhoods is its effect on the urban poor. A research conducted by this writer some years ago revealed that the installation of barriers and other physical obstructions prevented mobile street vendors, greengrocers and pushcart operators from earning a livelihood from households in gated communities.
However, there are certain effective practices that residents can consider adopting. The Citizens Police Liaison Committee should take the lead and undertake neighbourhood surveillance with a local watch-and-ward system that is supported and assisted by residents.
In the past, this particular crime-control measure proved effective in many neighbourhoods. Several peri-urban settlements, such as Orangi Town, maintained a street chowkidari systemto keep an eye on visitors, passers-by and vehicles, so that suspicious movement and individuals could be apprehended.
The arrangement should be modernised and bolstered with surveillance devices. Furthermore, alarms and tracking tools fitted in cars and bikes, and advanced geo-fencing mechanisms can rein in street criminals.
But Karachi demands more than neighbourhood management. A multipronged policy that entails police reforms, addresses socioeconomic deprivation and convinces the public to trust the law enforcers could prove an effective solution.
The writer is an academic and researcher based in Karachi.
Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2024
WHY is renewable energy in the doldrums in Pakistan despite annual oil import bills of $27 billion? There are many explanations, but most common is the lack of finance. No one wants to invest.
Consider the case of Pakistan’s flagship 600MW Muzaffargarh solar power plant. In 2022 the government acquired over 2,500 acres of land, set a tariff, and invited international investors to bid on a capital-friendly Build, Own, Operate and Transfer basis. Not a single bid was received despite multiple rounds, contractual sweeteners, and an international roadshow to court investors. Recently, Shehbaz Sharif directed that the project be put up for auction yet again, and it remains to be seen if anyone bites this time round.
Why has no one wanted to put their money in this project? Analysts cite reasons ranging from the tariff being set too low (which it was) to policy and political instability and the ballooning circular debt. If even China can’t get paid on time despite sovereign guarantees, why would others feel secure?
These explanations make sense, but they do not go nearly far enough. The problem is much deeper than tariffs and Pakistan’s specific economic woes. A recent book (The Price is Wrong: Why Capitalism Won’t Save the Planet) by Brett Christophers offers some perspective on why wind and solar are unlikely to replace fossil fuels anytime soon unless radical changes are made.
The argument is simple: while the cost of renewable power is now lower than that of fossil fuels, renewables are not a profitable business. The particularities of the technology and consequent market structure are the causal factors here. Barriers to entry in solar and wind are significantly lower than oil and gas because of the decentralised and variable scales at which these technologies can be deployed. Renewables, therefore, do not lend themselves to monopoly power and protected high profits like oil and gas do. Also, capital investments for renewables are heavy upfront, with investors having to wait years — even decades — to turn a profit. The private sector is, therefore, unlikely to avert planetary crises unless incentive structures are transformed through extensive regulation or companies are ordered to serve national objectives like during periods of war.
What is needed is massive public-sector overhaul with a grassroots political movement shaping the goals of public administration.
This should be a wake-up call for those who are expecting private finance to play a major role in managing and mitigating climate change. So far Western governments have been wooing private finance with subsidies and various ‘treats’ on the understanding that once at scale, costs will come down, subsidies will be phased out and private companies will then get on with it. Christophers shows, however, that this is definitively not happening. Where subsidies have been wound down, capital has either stopped taking an interest or exited. Additionally, while the rate of renewable installation is at an all-time high, it is nowhere near what it needs to be to meet even the two-degree warming limit issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It is also highly geographically uneven. Sixty-four per cent of renewable capacity installed last year was in China. The G7 countries only accounted for 7.6pc between them. Interestingly, China also happens to be the only country in the world where private capital is not in charge of energy infrastructure. Is that a coincidence?
Not quite. The profit motive is important for the state-owned companies and state-owned banks running the Chinese power sector, but it is not dominant. The order of magnitude shift that we see in China’s renewable capacity is the direct result of a radically different mode of organisation, one in which the state directs production and the private sector and profits do not play the major role.
Despite our ‘brotherly’ relationship with China though, we in Pakistan remain in thrall to the idea of private sector-led development. International development star Stefan Dercon’s recent article in these pages repeated the same tired advice that we have been hearing for 40 years. But no matter how rotten the public sector is today, the task has to be to make it better. This is not because public sector ownership guarantees better social outcomes, but because it at least allows for the possibility of socially responsive and socially determined development.
Look at the power sector. Electricity demand dropped nearly 10pc last year. Prices are such that people cannot afford to electrify their homes and run their fans and fridges. In part this is because of high fuel prices, currency devaluation, and deteriorating plant efficiencies. These factors are obviously challenging but do not have to be crisis-inducing. It is the bait to lure private investment — such as 30-year power purchase agreements, sovereign guarantees, capacity charges, and dollar indexation — that turn it into a crisis. Making sure that capital gets its pound of flesh has crippled the country.
What is needed is massive public-sector overhaul with a grassroots political movement shaping the goals of public administration. And perhaps as globalisation falters and states engage more selectively with markets and each other, state-led development could become more viable. Cleaning up the mess in the power sector will create winners and losers, just as the operation of the mess itself does in no uncertain terms.
In the clean-up though, people and the environment need to be on the winning side. This is not wishful thinking; it is setting priorities. And renewables, despite their many problems, have a role to play on the winning side for economic, political, and environmental reasons.
The history of power sector reform in the country tells us, however, that private companies will not cough up money for renewable infrastructure unless the basic well-being of the population is mortgaged in return. To expect otherwise is foolish.
The writer is a researcher at the University of Bath, UK.
Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2024
SEHAT Sahulat is a great programme but universal health coverage has a much larger vision. Sehat Sahulat is a state-financed health insurance system for the curative care of hospitalised patients, whereas UHC means healthcare for all. After the universalisation of the Sehat Sahulat programme in the federal areas, KP and Punjab, the term ‘universal health insurance’ is increasingly being used in policy discussions. Many senior policymakers — bureaucrats and politicians — continue to equate UHI with UHC. Indeed, there is conceptual overlapping between the two but they are not the same. It is vital to understand the overlaps and distinctions as they can misguide policymaking. Let’s unpack this further.
The World Health Organisation’s definition of UHC is, “when all people and communities can use the promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health services they need, of sufficient quality to be effective, while also ensuring that the use of these services does not expose the user to financial hardship”.
There are four key interlinked components of UHC according to the above, universally accepted conceptualisation: accessibility to all people; access to needed health services; health services of quality; and financial protection of those who cannot pay.
Let me begin with the last one. Financial protection is one of the four main coverage goals of UHC, and it is particularly important for the poor. Once financially protected, one doesn’t have to make excessive out-of-pocket payments at the point of care, thus obtaining access to healthcare without experiencing financial hardship. Specific terminologies used by health economists for financial hardship are: ‘catastrophic’ and ‘impoverishing’ health expenditures.
Universal health insurance for hospitalised patients can’t be equated with UHC.
The key to protecting people in this regard is to ensure prepayments and pooling of resources for healthcare. Financial protection can be provided in different ways, one of which is state-financed health insurance, for example, the Sehat Sahulat programme. But there are also other ways to financially protect the poor in healthcare, including government-financed ‘free’ health services in public-sector facilities; health insurance systems in public and private sectors based on voluntary contributions; community health insurance schemes based on a free or co-payment basis, health services organised by not-for-profit organisations financed by local philanthropy or financing from international development partners.
Financial protection arrangements of one kind or another are aimed at primarily protecting the poor in order to ensure that the needed health services are not denied to them. It is critical for this purpose. But the government’s vision is for the entire population including those who cannot pay, who can partially afford and who can fully pay for their healthcare — “all people and communities … can use the health services they need” (the first and fundamental requirement of UHC). Hence, the implementation of UHC requires a broader vision, for which the most financially unprotected serve as a logical and ethical starting point. This is how the Sehat Sahulat programme was envisaged.
Another critical dimension for the governments is equity in healthcare, ie, the provision of individual healthcare services according to need and without distinction — including the ability to pay. In view of limited health budgets, the idea of essential or bare minimum health service packages has come into being, ie, the coverage of the maximum number of people with the provision of a limited number of the most important health services. Cost-effective services that are selected, align with the burden of disease. A per capita per year cost is then derived for delivering the package.
Pakistan has done well by developing packages for essential health services at the federal level as well as in the four provinces, but their implementation remains a challenge. These packages contain health services that must be made available at the five levels of healthcare: community level; the first level PHC facility; the secondary level (tehsil headquarter hospitals and non-teaching district level hospitals); tertiary level (teaching hospitals); and the population level (health promotion campaigns aimed at the population). It has been assumed that these packages are limited to only public-sector facilities. The Sehat Sahulat programme has its own offering of inpatient health services, which is not linked to the essential health service package that federal and provincial governments have developed to be purchased from the private sector.
The fourth component of the UHC concept is that health services should be “of sufficient quality to be effective”. Our healthcare system is geared to improve access and does not pay enough attention to the quality of the care provided. In this regard, it is very important to note what The Lancet Global Health Commission on high-quality health systems in the Sustainable Development Goals era: Time for a revolution concluded in 2018: more deaths in low- and middle-income countries now occur as a result of the poor quality of care rather than a lack of access to care.
Most health economists and public health experts see that we have prematurely universalised our Sehat Sahulat programme. What was conceived as a financial protection programme for the hospital-based treatment of poor patients to lower catastrophic and impoverishing out-of-pocket expenditures, especially in private hospitals but also in resource-scant public-sector hospitals, was opened to the whole population — primarily for political reasons. The result is that the programme has been facing fiscal difficulties and has been halted a few times in KP and Punjab. If serious attention is not given to this aspect, the sustainability of this otherwise wonderful programme will remain in jeopardy.
Instead of universalising ‘free’ hospital treatment for the entire population, it should be limited only to the poor and vulnerable. At the same time, the programme should be extended to provide financial protection of the poor so that they can access primary healthcare in the private sector. Attention should be paid to ensuring the quality of healthcare.
So, ‘universal health insurance’, however good it sounds, is neither financially sustainable presently, nor is the term interchangeable with ‘universal health coverage’.
The writer is a former SAPM on health, and professor of health systems at Shifa Tameer-i-Millat University.
zedefar@gmail.com
Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2024
IT was on Ashura, Aug 19, 2021, when nine-year-old Priya Kumari went missing. Just before her disappearance or abduction she had been happily helping her father — a syncretic Hindu who runs a sabeel every year in Muharram in Sangrar, a small town near Sukkur — serve sherbet to thirsty mourners. It is a curious case. For one, she ‘disappeared’ from a place that was thronged with hundreds of people, and yet, reportedly, the police found little by way of evidence or even a witness. And for another, her tragedy touches upon every element that has rent apart society, ie, faith, gender, class, and abuse.
Faith: Priya, a Hindu girl, was targeted when she was engaged in religio-cultural services for Muslims. She symbolised a tolerant tradition that goes back centuries, ie, peaceful cohabitation of various communities in Sindh, and beyond. In defiance of an obscurantist mindset that has spawned violence against religious minorities, she and her father transcended faith-driven fault lines. Her victimhood, therefore, not only exposes a corroded criminal justice system, but goes deeper into the conceptual recesses of a state caught between two conflicting philosophies. The state can either be viewed in terms of a benevolent democracy that accords equality before the law, and grants freedom of worship to every citizen, regardless of colour or creed. Or it can be seen as an ideological tool cast in the mould of a particular policy strand. Priya and many other individuals, groups and communities come under the latter.
Gender: Priya’s tragedy shows the threat to ‘gender justice’, which envisages the systemic removal of inequalities between men and women in both law and practice. She is among the countless children and women who are targeted for their gender, in different forms and to varying degrees. Thus, many of the better educated and more aware urban women are less vulnerable to extreme forms of gender crimes, though they may also face incidents of violence, abuse, or harassment. But the hotbeds of gender-based crimes are largely located in the rural and tribal areas where a combination of feudal, tribal, and obscurantist elements continue to regulate rural life, aided by an ineffectual or complicit state machinery.
Even here, the ratio of gender-based crimes — forced marriages, ‘honour’ killing, domestic violence, kidnapping for ransom, etc — is relatively higher among the half-literate and poorer sections. Clearly, the state has been criminally negligent in enforcing the rights of these hapless women — largely on account of the substantial influence that the local feudal-tribal patriarchy exercises over social policy and governance. But can the state flout local and international laws — particularly the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women that obligates states to protect women’s rights — just to appease its local surrogates?
The missing young girl’s tragedy can be seen from the lens of multiple societal factors.
Class: Priya’s plight also highlights the social angle of crimes against women. She comes from a poor family and is possessed of all the vulnerabilities that accompany indigence and disempowerment. Statistically, a majority of sexually victimised children come from poorer and underprivileged classes. Perhaps the offenders are emboldened both by the victim’s incapacity to bring them to justice, and the state’s routinely tepid response. As a result, these ‘ordinary’ cases are left undetected, or invariably ‘settled’.
Recently, we saw two instances of our lame-duck criminal justice system. In 2021, Nazim Jokhio, a wildlife activist, was brutally murdered near Thatta when he tried to stop the hunting of protected birds. His was, as they say, an open-and-shut case. But the powerful offenders were ‘pardoned’ by the victim’s family out of desperation and helplessness. In August last year, Fatima Fariro, a nine-year-old maid, died in mysterious circumstances in Ranipur, located near Khairpur. The investigation report (including the video footage of the crime scene) has attributed the cause of her death to the abuse and torture allegedly committed by her employer, an influential pir. But the prosecution remains to be concluded, despite the lapse of many months. It is feared that the delay, even if not intentional, will be used to settle the matter out of court.
Abuse: Priya’s case pertains to ‘disappearance’ or ‘abduction’, but abuse cannot be excluded. Child abuse is on the rise. Of the 2,227 abuse victims reported in 2023, more than half (54 per cent) were girls. Let’s not forget that children, like women, enjoy multiple protections under general, special, and international laws. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, in particular requires the state to ensure the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children. But it is unfortunate that child abuse, like forced disappearances, is rampant and neglected — more so if the victim comes from a poorer background. In fact, most successfully prosecuted cases are those vigorously pursued by the victim’s family; otherwise, they end up in the amnesiac entrails of our criminal justice system.
Priya is lucky that the media, civil society and political activists have kept her case alive. Recently, the government constituted another JIT under public pressure. But will the new JIT bear fruit in terms of recovering her and ensuring justice for her? The answer hinges on many variables, including the victim-family’s perseverance, the investigator’s diligence, the suspect’s clout, the prosecutors’ capacity, and more importantly, the court’s willingness to decide the matter expeditiously and justly.
In a curious way, Priya’s unexplained disappearance, Fatima’s unending prosecution, and the ‘pardoning’ of offenders by Nazim’s family reflect respectively the incapacity, dysfunctionality, and discomfiture of the entire criminal justice system — the law, police, investigation, prosecution, and adjudication. Ergo, a perception is gaining ground that our legal order has lost its effectiveness, hence, legitimacy. Desperate people are taking the law into their own hands. ‘Mob justice’ and vigilantism are on the rise. Which raises the critical question: can a state see stability and advancement without an effective and legitimate legal order?
The writer is a lawyer and an academic.
shahabusto@hotmail.com
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2024
AFTER many years of extreme uncertainty and political instability, it now seems like things are finally starting to move.
Two developments this week point to this. First is the visit of the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia, during which the talks seem to have focused in significant measure on some form of economic engagement between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The language used by the Saudi foreign minister at the joint presser at the conclusion of the visit was also unusually bullish on the prospects of growing the ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
The second development is Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s round of engagements in Washington, D.C., where he is attending the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank.
One thing he made clear in all his public engagements was the urgent need for a successor programme with the IMF as soon as the ongoing Stand-by Arrangement ended. He also made clear that talks on this had begun, and outlined three key areas that will be targeted for “structural reforms”: taxation, power and state-owned enterprises. His emphasis was on execution, indicating that he will press hard on the matters he commits to.
These are two very critical developments, although how far they are beneficial for the general populace remains an open question. For now, it is clear that the storms of uncertainty and the perilous brushes with default that have marked the preceding two years are now receding. This does not mean the country is in the clear. Any country that is busy negotiating a programme with the IMF cannot be described as being in the clear.
What it means is that sanity is returning, decision-making is beginning to articulate itself at the top, the correct priorities are being talked about by people who have clout and credibility within their own circle of peers, and foreign investors are beginning to look again at Pakistan’s prospects. In short, it means the gears are shifting.
There is a temptation that some in government are succumbing to. This is the temptation to declare victory. It is entirely premature for that at this point, and it is important to bear in mind that a country that is struggling to enter a long-term IMF programme cannot be described as a country that is in good health, or one whose authorities have much reason to celebrate. It means the bulk of the hard work lies ahead, and that the chances of failure are legion.
The finance minister said during one of his interviews in Washington that everyone knows what all needs to be done. The problem is in execution. He should have been asked what prevented preceding governments from executing the agenda he is chalking out, and what makes him so sure he will succeed where they failed. Sadly, this question never arose. Perhaps some TV anchors at home will pose this question to him upon his return.
It is important to bear in mind that a country that is struggling to enter a long-term IMF programme cannot be described as one that is in good health.
But for now, without popping any corks or fuelling undue optimism, it is possible to say that a direction is becoming visible. Three questions now arise.
What exactly is the shape of the Saudi ‘investment package’ that we are told totals $5 billion? How far will the Saudi or perhaps more broadly, the Gulf interest in Pakistan go? And most importantly, will all this really be beneficial for Pakistan?
Or are we simply going to repeat an old story where the government of the day fetches dollars from abroad, whether borrowed or begged, and burns them in the furnace of the country’s economic dysfunctions to produce a short-lived, feel-good, growth experience followed by a massive crash?
Twice we have repeated this story. First during the Pervez Musharraf years, and second in the years running from 2013 to 2017, when the third PML-N government of Nawaz Sharif ran the country. Both these periods were unique in one sense: the country was on an IMF programme, yet it registered high rates of economic growth. These are two antithetical outcomes. Fund programmes are designed to slow the economy to allow it to build reserves and fiscal buffers, while undertaking deeper reforms.
What happened in both these periods was that geopolitics trumped economics. In the first period, it was the post-9/11 bonanza and its associated inflows that were used to power an economic boom, with which a dictator struggling to find his feet procured his legitimacy.
In the second period, an elected government borrowed heavily from bilateral donors, especially China and the Gulf monarchies, to power a growth boom that clearly could not last, and whose bills would weigh heavily on the country for years thereafter, but nevertheless gave the government of the time enough material with which to portray itself as the party of growth and development.
It is critical that this story not be repeated one more time. The temptation to see the dollar inflows that may perhaps be materialising soon (there is as yet no guarantee that this will happen, but the indications are there) as fuel for a short-lived growth boom must be resisted. It should be the success of the underlying reforms, especially the extent to which they enable investment, whether foreign or domestic, that should be the driver of the growth to come.
A liquidity-fuelled boom could well break the Imran Khan fever that has gripped the electorate and weighs so heavily on the shoulders of the current rulers. But this will be much the same folly as the dictator using a short-lived economic boom to procure for himself an equally short-lived legitimacy.
The finance minister is right to point to the deeper reform agenda as the key to unlocking the economy’s potential. He is right to place the emphasis on execution, rather than endlessly discussing policy options. But it seems the most important constituency that needs to be persuaded of this may be his own cabinet members.
The writer is a business and economy journalist.
khurram.husain@gmail.com
X: @khurramhusain
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2024
IT takes three to tango in our part of the world. The US-Pakistan duo and the Saudi-Pakistan pair has become a threesome, choreographed by the US.
In 1950, prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan met US president Harry Truman in Washington, D.C. Three years later, in 1953, governor-general Ghulam Muhammad was hosted by King Ibn-e-Saud in Saudi Arabia. Since then, bilateral relationships between Pakistan and these countries, while shifting and erratic, have nevertheless maintained one golden vein of consistency: Pakistan has remained a poor supplicant and the richer two, patrons of the last resort.
US attitudes towards Pakistan have usually been determined by the policies of its presidents and by State Department mandarins. Occasionally, they would agree to disagree. The most notable occasion occurred in the 1970s during the Richard Nixon vs William Rogers bouts over contacts with China.
Saudi monarchs as a whole have remained partial towards Pakistan. Among them, the most unconditionally generous was King Faisal bin Abdul Aziz. It is said that he funded the 1974 Second Islamic Summit held in Lahore. He conceded its stage management to PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who acknowledged that concession by renaming Charing Cross as Faisal Square.
Pakistan has remained a poor supplicant.
Few will be aware that in 1974 King Faisal gave $100 million to be disbursed to any projects of PM Bhutto’s choice. The money went straight into the projects, without deductions for middlemen. Half of that — $50m — was given to the Mirpur Mathelo fertiliser project, which, even though it was not a joint venture, was renamed Pak-Saudi Fertilisers Ltd.
Again, in January 1975, King Faisal gave $10m for Pakistan’s earthquake victims in the Karakorams. (The US pledged only $25,000.) Such generosity did not go unpunished. King Faisal was shot four months later by his US-educated nephew Faisal bin Musaid Al Saud.
More recently, the Bin Abdul Aziz dynasty and Pakistan’s inextinguishable Sharif family have shown that they enjoy an almost umbilical relationship. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has famously called Pakistan his second home. To the Sharif family, Saudi Arabia is their first haven.
In 2019, the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited Pakistan during the tenure of PM Imran Khan. Their bromance appeared to yield the prospect of $20 billion in investments. Deals were signed, sealed but remained undelivered. As Napoleon once advised: “Promise everything, deliver nothing.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has received fresh assurances of financial support — this time $5bn — from the same crown prince. During their recent meeting, the prince reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s resolve never to leave Pakistan’s side and expressed his government’s boundless affection for the nation.
He sent a high-powered Saudi delegation led by Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah to grout that commitment. The composition of the delegation underscored the seriousness of its mandate. It consisted of the Saudi ministers of water and agriculture, of industry and mineral resources, the deputy minister of investment, and senior officials from its ministry of energy and the Saudi Fund for General Investments. It visited Pakistan this week, in the absence of our finance minister.
The Saudis came just when Pakistan genuflects before the IMF for the 24th time.
In 2023, the IMF agreed to the Stand-by Arrangement of $3bn. to rescue PM Shehbaz Sharif’s government. The Saudis greased the rails with a reclaimable deposit of $2bn to window-dress Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves.
This year, on March 13, ahead of the IMF mission’s visit to Pakistan from March 14 to 18, the finance ministry cheerfully announced that it had “met all targets for successful completion of the programme”.
Two days later, on the 15th, the IMF team expressed its displeasure over the ministry of finance’s announcement “that it had materialised all structural benchmarks, quantitative and indicative targets even prior to scrutinising and completion of the review by the Fund staff”.
According to one news report, the IMF review mission “grilled the finance ministry team in the maiden session of the review talks and everyone seemed clueless how to respond”. Finance Minister Aurangzeb assured the IMF that “such an episode would never be repeated in future”.
Shakespeare foresaw the IMF’s seemingly open-ended commitment to Pakistan: “’Tis not enough to help the feeble up, but to support them after”.
The fate of our application to the IMF will be known very soon, after April 20. The US will decide its next president at year end. Meanwhile, the US, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan continue to cavort in a three-party tango. To paraphrase the US singer Melody Gardot, Pakistan, on its own, may be “a bad walker [but] it can dance the tango”.
The writer is an author.
www.fsaijazuddin.pk
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2024
THE illicit global drug market, which is valued over $400 billion, is second only to the counterfeit products market in terms of the world’s main crime rackets. Cocaine, heroin, cannabis, and amphetamines are top sellers. Afghanistan leads in opium and heroin production, while Bolivia and Brazil are at the forefront of cocaine production. Mexico is a key player in cannabis and heroin circulation. The US is a leading market, which mainly receives drugs through Mexico. Canada is another market, to a smaller degree though.
The Golden Crescent, which includes Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan, serves as a significant centre for opium and heroin trade, fuelled as it is by regional politics and a legacy of conflict. In Afghanistan, the grip of the Afghan Taliban over key drug-producing regions further complicates the issue. Meanwhile, the international pressure is on Pakistan to escalate its anti-drug campaigns.
According to one estimate, just a decade ago, illicit drugs valued at $30bn flowed through Pakistan from Afghanistan, underscoring serious security threats at both the local and international level. There remains a degree of uncertainty about the effectiveness of current methods to combat drug trafficking, underscoring the urgency for worldwide collaboration and a concentrated effort to address the fundamental reasons and consequences of this deadly activity.
A 2013 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and Pakistan’s narcotics control authorities revealed that 6.7 million adults had used illicit drugs in the previous year, with cannabis use seen to be most common. Additionally, the recent World Drug Report of 2022 points to a worldwide uptick in the use of substances such as cannabis and amphetamines, which coincides with a rise in health emergencies, including hepatitis C and HIV, particularly among individuals who use drugs via syringes. This situation underscores the critical need for widespread public health strategies to address the alarming level of substance abuse in the country.
Not enough is being done to contain drug abuse.
Founded in 1957, the Pakistan Narcotics Control Board has been pivotal in the crackdown against illegal drugs. It joined the interior ministry in 1973 and went through several transformations before emerging as the Anti-Narcotics Force in 1995. The ANF aims to stop poppy farming and drug trafficking. Besides prevention and global partnerships, the ANF runs Model Addicts Treatment and Rehabilitation Centres, which have been treating over 14,000 people since 2005 by combining enforcement with rehabilitation.
A recent study has focused on Pakistan’s escalating drug overdose emergency, revealing that 700 people die each day due to drug overdose complications. Faced with around 7m regular drug users, 4m of whom favour cannabis and another 2.7m struggling with opioid addiction, Pakistan is grappling with a significant problem. Tackling this issue calls for a unified strategy that includes strict regulation, improved medical training, and a thorough revision of public health initiatives.
Centres for the treatment of drug addiction in Pakistan face substantial challenges. Both public and private facilities struggle with inadequate infrastructure, a lack of skilled professionals, and weak enforcement of sound management practices. Although we live in the 21st century, Pakistan still has not recognised drug addiction and rehabilitation as an official sub-specialty in psychiatry, while the absence of qualified drug addiction psychiatrists, especially when compared to branches like forensic psychiatry, is deeply worrying. Although mental health laws are in place, the lack of specific legislation for overseeing drug addiction treatment and its regulation means the field is not officially recognised.
This situation impedes the development of specialist training and programmes in the country.
Hospitals and pathology labs in Pakistan seldom conduct important tests such as breathalysers, drug screenings, immunoassays, let alone employ advanced techniques such as GC-MS. The country is also severely lacking in facilities for opioid substitution therapy, which incorporates medication.
Despite the availability of medications that can prevent drug relapse, their usage is uncommon, indicating a hesitation in adopting contemporary and evidence-based approaches to diagnosis and treatment.
Pakistan urgently needs a coordinated policy, better healthcare education, strong regulation, and uniform addiction treatment to halt the increasing number of deaths caused by overdose and substance abuse.
The writer is a secretary, Pakistan Psychiatric Society, Punjab chapter.
X: @AliBurhanMustfa
Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2024
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