The then heir (now king) to the Saudi throne Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud picked up several districts in Balochistan in addition to two others and a tehsil in Punjab.

The ruler of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan bagged four districts in Sindh, as many in Punjab and upwards of six in Balochistan.

Read: Saudi Royal on Houbara Bustard hunting spree in Balochistan

Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum got one district in Punjab and a couple more in Balochistan, while Bahrain’s King Sheikh Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa did rather poorly with only one district.

Qatar’s ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani did a little better with a district each in Sindh and Punjab.

These details are part of an official list concerning the parcelling out of vast tracts of land across the country to Gulf royalty and members of their families that the media made public last November.

Going through them, Pakistanis would be justified in wondering whether the government was pondering the efficacy of princely kingdoms.

Also read: Arabs visiting 'development sites' not hunting Houbaras: Govt official

In fact, this was an account of what areas have been allotted to which foreigner to hunt the houbara bustard.

The latter is an endangered migratory bird whose numbers are decimated by hunters who are, year after year, given special permission by the government to kill it even though the hunting of the species is in contravention of both domestic and international laws.

Efforts to prevent this from happening again this year have met with mixed success so far.

Soon after the licences were issued in November, the Balochistan High Court cancelled the allotments made by the provincial government.

Also read: Hunting permits for migratory birds challenged in IHC

Apparently, though, the latter approached the Supreme Court to challenge the move, and while the outcome is yet to be decided, media reports from the area speak of some hunters having arrived already.

On Wednesday, the hunting permits were challenged in the Islamabad High Court and a hearing has been fixed for next week.

It is to be hoped that the outcome is one that protects the bird. In our case, special permits for hunting an endangered species only underscores the state’s cravenness.

Why this timidity from a country that roars so often about its sovereignty and strength?