Epaper_23-05-21 ISB

LEGAL PROCESS OF MAY 9 RIOTERS’ TRIAL UNDER ARMY LAWS HAS COMMENCED: COAS

g VOWS TO DEFEAT ALL ENEMY DESIGNS WITH SUPPORT OF THE NATION

wreath at the Martyrs’ Monument.

CHIEFof Army Staff (COAS) Gen Asim Munir has said the “legal process of trial against planners, instigators, abettors and perpetrators involved in May 9 tragedy has commenced under the Pakistan Army Act and Official Secret Act as per existing and established legal procedures derived from the Constitution of Pakistan”.

The army shared this information while addressing garrison officers and soldiers at the Corps Headquarters in Lahore, a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

The statement said the COAS emphasised that the “army draws its strength from people and any effort to drive a wedge between the army and the people of Pakistan is an act against the state which is neither tolerable nor condonable under any circumstances”.

“Hostile and inimical forces and their abettors have been trying hard to create confusion through fake news and propaganda but all such designs of the enemy

will be defeated with the support of the nation,” he added.

Later in the day, COAS Gen Asim Munir visited Lahore and a laid floral

g

PROFIT INP

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday asserted that the government was making all possible efforts to steer the economy of the difficult situation in order to put it on the path of sustainable economic growth.

Addressing the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), the finance minister said that friendly countries were expected to materialize their commitments with Pakistan that would pave the way to close the deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and revive the economy.

He said that in 2016, Pakistan was a rising economy as it was expected to become the world’s 18th-strongest economy, but was now facing serious economic challenges.

He said that Pakistan would not default and the government was making all possible efforts to steer it out of a difficult situation in order to put it on the path of sustainable economic growth. He lauded the initiative of ICCI for hosting an Iftar dinner for diplomats.

Speaking at the occasion, Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, President ICCI urged the government to ensure consistency in economic policies that would enable the business community and investors to invest in Pakistan with confidence. He assured that the business community would fully support the government in its efforts to revive the economy.

He highlighted the business and investment opportunities in Pakistan for diplomats and said that Pakistan was a huge market of over 220 million consumers and offered great investment opportunities in various sectors of its economy.

He said that foreign investors should transfer technology to Pakistan and explore joint ventures and investments in areas of interest.

Faad Waheed, Senior Vice President ICCI said that Pakistan needed exports to overcome its foreign exchange crisis and hoped that the foreign diplomats would fully cooperate with Pakistan in realizing this goal.

Engineer Azhar ul Islam Zafar, Vice President ICCI thanked the chief guest, diplomats and all the participants for attending the Iftar dinner.

He said that if the government created a more conducive business environment, the private sector would be able to improve the health of the economy.

According to the statement, the army chief paid rich tributes to the shuhada (martyrs) who sacrificed their lives for the motherland.

He was given a briefing on the events of May 9, the statement said, adding that the COAS also paid a visit to Jinnah House and an army installation that were “blatantly attacked and vandalised by politically motivated rioters”.

The COAS also visited the Qurban Lines in Lahore today where he paid homage to martyrs of police and “appreciated the professionalism and restraint exercised by them during the riots/ vandalism”.

The ISPR said the COAS assured that law enforcement agencies had the army’s full support for their capacity enhancement, intelligence sharing and training.

“Later, the COAS also visited Services Hospital Lahore and inquired about the well-being of DIG Ali Nasir Rizvi who was injured by political miscreants during the May 9 incident,” the statement concluded.

Judicial Commission formed to probe veracity of audio leaks

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The government on Saturday constituted a judicial commission comprising three senior judges tasked with probing the veracity of recent audio leaks and “their impact on the independence of judiciary”.

According to a notification issued by the government — a copy of which is available with Dawn.com — the commission will be headed Justice Qazi Faez Isa, senior puisne judge of the Supreme Court, and also comprise Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Aamer Farooq as well as Balochistan High Court Chief Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan.

Following the notification of its establishment, the government instructed the commission to promptly commence an inquiry and to conclude the investigation within 30 days.

“However, if the commission requires further time, the federal government shall grant it,” the notification added.

The series of audio leaks first began last year when private conversations featuring key government and opposition figures — including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, PTI Chairman Imran Khan, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, and others — surfaced on social media.

However, the commission formed has been tasked with probing only the recent round of audio leaks that began this year and either pertain to the judiciary or involve sitting and former judges.

In February, audios allegedly involving a sitting judge of the Supreme Court were leaked, leading to demands from the legal community for an investigation and appropriate measures if the leaks were verified. The leaked audios were claimed to contain conversations

between the judge and prominent politicians as well as specific lawyers. They quickly spread across social media and mainstream media platforms.

In April, another leaked conversation stirred up a storm in the country’s political landscape featuring a conversation between two women, one of whom is said to be the mother-in-law of a top-ranking serving judge of the Supreme Court, while the other is spouse of one of the PTI’s legal advisers — Khawaja Tariq Rahim.

While the identities of the women in question could not be independently verified, the clip — which had been widely circulated on social and mainstream media — evoked a stern reaction from across the political divide, along with calls for a thorough probe.

In the same month, two audios linked to former chief justice Saqib Nisar were leaked. One audio implicated his son, while the former top judge questioned the authenticity of the other audio, which allegedly featured a conversation between him and PTI’s legal adviser Khawaja Tariq Rahim.

According to the government notification, a wide circulation of controversial audios had been “witnessed on the national electronic, print and social media, allegedly regarding the Judiciary and former Chief Justices/Judges,

conversation raising serious apprehensions about the independence, impartiality and uprightness of the Chief Justices/Judges of the Superior Courts in the administration of justice.”

It said such audio leaks had “eroded public trust and serious concerns have been raised by the general public regarding independence, impartiality and uprightness of the chief justices/judges of the superior courts”.

Furthermore, the notification highlighted the significance of the judiciary as one of the main pillars under the Constitution. It expressed concern that when the independence of the Judiciary is compromised, it undermines society’s confidence.

The notification stated, “The society’s confidence is deeply affected when the independence of the judiciary is tarnished, as it plays a pivotal role in upholding the rule of law and ensuring justice for all.”

Under the terms of reference in the notification, the government mentioned each of the aforementioned audio leaks.

The commission is entrusted with the responsibility of investigating whether any violations have occurred in relation to “the administration of justice, the independence of the judiciary, the right to a fair trial, and the equality of citizens”.

Maryam urges Ulema’s role for promoting tolerance, harmony in society

Chief Organiser and Senior Vice President Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Maryam Nawaz called upon Ulema and Mashaikh on Saturday to play their crucial role for promoting tolerance and harmony in society, saying that they have a strong voice in the country.

Addressing a meeting organised by the PML-N Ulema & Mushaikh Wing Punjab chapter, she said the religious scholars’ support and role was needed to educate people in the current challenges afflicting the nation.

She regretted that country’s religious, social and moral values were under attack by a political party through a planned conspiracy. She added that it was part of big conspiracy against Pakistan, under which the PTI received foreign funding. She claimed that religion was also used for political ambitions by that party.

The PTI used religion to accuse political opponents for its vested political interests, she said adding that the PML-N leadership remained the target of extremist elements in the country which were under influence of hateful religious propaganda. Even Federal Minister Ahsan Iqbal fell victim to that propaganda, as he was shot at and injured by the extremist elements, she recalled. Even the sanctity of holy sites in Saudi Arabia was not protected as party’s activists abused the PML-N leaders at such sacred places under a hate element, spread by the PTI leadership.

She said that the entire PML-N leadership faced the worst victimisation during the PTI government, but they bravely faced the accountability process. However, nothing was proved against any party leader as all cases were politically motivated. But when PTI chief Imran Khan was asked about his misdeeds and corrupt practices, he attempted to create chaos in the country by attacking the state properties including military installations. Women and youth were also used as a shield and their minds were poisoned just to use them for political gains. Children of the party’s rank and file were forced into political activities and agitation while his (PTI chief’s) own children were living abroad. When the police force went to Zaman Park for arrest of Imran Khan, they were attacked by ‘miscreants’ from inside his Zaman Park residence, and they had to come back. The PTI chief was arrested in the AlQadir Trust scam, the land for which had been provided to the PTI chief as bribe.

She said that the PML-N party workers and followers had always been peaceful in political activities, gatherings as these were only PTI workers who created unrest in the name of political activity on instruction of their party head. She said that the PMLN believed in supremacy of the law as the party had spearheaded a movement for restoration of judiciary. She regretted that memorials of martyrs, who rendered their lives while protecting the homeland, were attacked by ‘miscreants’ on May 9. There were ample evidence available that the PTI ‘miscreant’ were involved in attacks on the army installations and Jinnah House.

She alleged that the PTI chief was mastermind behind the May-9 incidents, as he had been planning for long for the reaction in case of his arrest. Terrorists were also found at Zaman Park, while petrol bombs were prepared by their party men, she said and added that it was not a peaceful political party rather a group of conspirator. The people were now leaving the PTI due to party’s anti-state policies, and many more were ready to leave it in the coming days, she added.

Poor patients be provided modern medical facilities at PKLI on priority basis: PM Shehbaz

LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday here reviewed the ongoing programmes for the medical treatment of poor people at the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI).

While chairing a meeting at the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute, he said poor patients should be provided uninterrupted modern medical facilities on a priority basis.

He further directed that the administrative processes for acquiring the latest medical equipment should be completed as soon as possible.

A comprehensive strategy should be devised for ensuring international standard technical education at the nursing college, he added.

The prime minister further directed that arrangements for maintaining cleanliness in the Institute should be improved.

Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Provincial Health Minister Dr Javed Akram, Chairman PKLI Dr Saeed Akhtar, Chief Secretary and other officials attended the meeting.

The prime minister also talked to patients and the doctors working at the institute. He said the doctors should sincerely use the available resources for the treatment of poor patients.

The institute was set up with a lot of hard work for gaining blessings of Allah and for providing the best medical treatment to the needy patients, he said adding the federal and provincial governments were striving to make the institute fully functional.

Balochistan.

The prime minister paid tribute to the martyred jawans of Pakistan Army including Sepoy Zameer Ahmad, Sepoy Mudassar and Lance Naik Abdul Qadeer, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release. He said that the entire nation saluted the sacrifices of their shuhada.

He prayed for the high ranks of shuhada and expressed condolences to the bereaved families.

The prime minister also prayed for the early recovery of the injured.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), earlier in a press release, said that three soldiers of the Pakistan Army embraced martyrdom on Saturday while bravely thwarting terrorists’ attack on the security forces’ post in Zarghoon, Marget area of Balochistan while a terrorist was also killed during the ensuing fire exchange.

g SAYS HOSTILE FORCES, THEIR ABETTORS TRYING HARD TO CREATE CONFUSION THROUGH FAKE NEWS, PROPAGANDA

‘eroding trust in superior judges’

Ishaq Dar says efforts underway to put economy back on track

SAYS PAKISTAN WOULD NOT DEFAULT AS ALL POSSIBLE EFFORTS BEING MADE TO STEER IT OUT OF DIFFICULT SITUATION

CJ ORDERS PUNJAB IG TO RECOVER IMRAN RIAZ BY MONDAY ‘AT ANY COST’

LAHORE

Staff RepoRt

THELahore High Court (LHC) on Saturday ordered the Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) to recover and produce anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan by Monday (May 22) ‘at any cost’.

LHC Chief Justice Ameer Bhatti resumed hearing on the case seeking the recovery of anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan and asked Punjab Inspector General of Police Dr Usman Anwar to produce him by May 22. The court directed the IG Police to produce the anchorperson on May 22 as the court expressed its commitment to take the case to its logical end and ensure ‘justice’ to the aggrieved family.

The court adjourned the hearing until May 22.

During the proceedings, Punjab Inspector General (IG) of Police Dr Usman Anwar presented a report on the progress of the anchorperson’s recovery in the court.

“It is being said that a police vehicle was used in Imran Riaz’s abduction, but this is false,” the IG claimed, adding, “No police vehicle has any connection with Imran Riaz’s kidnapping.” At that, the LHC CJ asked, “How can you say there is no connection?” The IG replied that CCTV footage showed that the police vehicle spotted at the site of Imran’s arrest was not there when he was taken away. He further told the court that the interior ministry had been approached for help in the case, adding that geofencing was being carried out to identify people who took away

Imran. “It is being said that Imran Riaz was taken forcibly, but it doesn’t seem so,” the IG said. Following that, the LHC CJ directed that the CCTV recording be played in the court. Imran’s lawyer, Azhar Siddique, presented his arguments after that, saying that his client was first surrounded from all sides and then taken away in a vehicle.

During his arguments, Justice Bhatti enquired from the IG about security arrangements outside the jail — from where Imran was shown being taken away in CCTV footage played at the last hearing.

The IG told the court that usually there were no security arrangements outside the jail. “We make security arrangements outside the jail if the need is felt.”

On this, Siddique said, “The jail IG says their duties are limited to within the prison.” He further said a raid was initially

conducted at Imran’s residence in Lahore for his arrest, adding that “police’s ill intentions are now out in the open”.

The LHC CJ then addressed police, saying, “You first conducted a raid at Imran Riaz’s house and then arrested him in Sialkot. “Submit a written reply to the court, explaining why you conducted a raid at Imran’s house.” He directed police to recover and present Imran before the court by Monday in any case.

“Previously, you used to ask for [more] time. I am now giving you time,” he said, adjourning the hearing till Monday.

FIR OF SENIOR JOURNALIST’S ABDUCTION

The first information report (FIR) of Senior journalist and anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan has been registered on his father’s complaint. As per details, the DPO Sialkot

Pakistan urges international action against Israel storming of al-Aqsa mosque

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Pakistan expressed strong condemnation on Saturday over the storming of al-Aqsa mosque by a member of the government of Israel and members of the Knesset, its parliament, who were accompanied by occupation forces.

The Foreign Office issued a press statement urging the international community to take immediate action to halt the increasing Israeli transgressions in the occupied territories. The violation of the sanctity of al-Aqsa mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam, is viewed as yet another reprehensible event in a series of escalatory Israeli actions that display a lack of respect for the religious sentiments of over 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide.

The Foreign Office emphasised that such acts are in direct contradiction to the fundamental rights of freedom of expression, religion, and belief for the Palestinian people. These actions not only defy humanitarian and

human rights laws and norms but also perpetuate further tensions in the region.

Pakistan reiterated its unwavering

Prioritizing salaries: KP’s four-month budget to exclude new projects

PESHAWAR aziz BuneRi

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has issued a directives to all administrative departments, urging them to refrain from including new development projects in the upcoming budget and instead prioritize payment of salaries to project employees. The caretaker KP government has planning an estimated budget of Rs30 billion, which will be presented for a four-month period leading up to the general elections. In correspondence sent to all departments, the planning and development (P&D) department highlighted that the forthcoming developmental budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 will not incorporate any new projects. Moreover, a significant portion of funds will be allocated to projects that are in the final stages of completion. The P&D has further emphasized that priority will be given to projects falling under relief agencies and public sector development programs, ensuring a smooth allocation of funds. Additionally, an evaluation of approved developmental programs from various departments is scheduled to take place during a meeting on Monday.

Family: Christian boys accused of blasphemy after argument with policeman

LAHORE MonitoRing RepoRt

Two Christian boys, one of them a minor, have been arrested and charged with blasphemy after a minor altercation with a police constable in Lahore earlier this week, reports citing sources said. According to Babar Sandhu Masih, his 18-year-old son Adil Babar and their 14-year-old neighbour Simon Masih were arrested by the Race Course police on the complaint of police constable Zahid Sohail, who accused them of disrespecting the prophet. “Adil and Simon were standing in the street talking to each other when Sohail picked up a fight with them, alleging that they had committed blasphemy,” said Masih, who works at an auto workshop as a car painter. “When elders of the neighbourhood asked Sohail to substantiate his accusation with the evidence, he failed to satisfy them and left,” Masih said. He added that the Race Course police raided the locality later that evening and arrested Adil and Simon. “The boys were booked under Section 295-C of the blasphemy law,” he said. Section 295-C of Pakistan’s blasphemy statutes prohibits disrespect of the prophet and is punishable by death. Masih said that Adil had left school some years ago and was training with him to become a car painter. “A judge sent the two boys to prison on judicial remand on Friday. The allegation against Adil and Simon is completely baseless and we hope the court will provide justice to us. “Adil’s mother is a heart patient and doesn’t yet know what has happened to him. I don’t know how she will react when she comes to know that our youngest son is in prison on such a serious charge,” he said.

FALSE ACCUSATIONS

Several people have been lynched or killed unlawfully over false accusations of blasphemy in Pakistan. Last week, a court released on bail a Christian woman charged with blasphemy after she and a Muslim coworker were accused of intentionally burning papers containing Quranic verses.

said that the abduction FIR of Senior journalist Imran Riaz Khan was registered at the Civil Line police station. He said that abduction sections are included against “unknown persons” and a committee comprised of IT specialists and police officers has been constituted for the release of Imran Riaz Khan.

It is pertinent to mention here that the police have launched a crackdown on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders and workers following the ‘violent protests’ held after the arrest of party chairman Imran Khan by Islamabad High Court in the AlQadir Trust Case.

The protests were held in remote and major cities as the party workers are agitated due to their chairman’s arrest, with Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad summoning the armed forces to ensure law and order.

support for the Palestinian cause and renewed its call for the establishment of a viable, independent, and contiguous Palestinian State based on the pre-1967

borders, with Jerusalem as its capital. This comprehensive and just solution remains the only way to resolve the long-standing Palestinian issue, the statement said.

The statement came after hundreds of Jewish pilgrims, including members of the Israeli parliament, embarked on tours of the mosque compound situated in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Known as the Noble Sanctuary among Muslims, this revered site holds the status of being the third holiest in Islam, while also bearing significance for Jews as the Temple Mount — a remnant of their faith’s ancient temples.

Although the visits proceeded without any major incidents, Palestinians expressed their discontent over the increasing number of Jewish visitors to the compound, especially those who openly violate the ban on non-Muslim prayers in the area.

The presence of Jewish pilgrims has stirred strong emotions among Palestinians, fueling concerns over the potential for further tensions.

CJP Bandial constitutes seven regular benches for next week

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Saturday has constituted seven regular benches at the principal seat Islamabad to hear a number of important cases during the next week, starting from Monday.

Comprising Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar, a three-member bench on Tuesday (May 23) will hear review petition filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan seeking review of April 04 verdict regarding holding of Punjab Assembly elections on May 14.

The first bench is comprised of Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial and Justice Athar Minallah while the second bench is comprised of Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, Justice AminUd-Din Khan and Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar.

The third bench is comprised of Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Shahid Waheed. Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi will form the fourth bench while fifth bench will consist of Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail. On Friday (May 26), the fifth bench will consist of Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail.

The sixth bench will comprise of Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Sayyed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi while the seventh bench will comprise of Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah and the said bench will hear cases after 11:30 am.

The benches will hear many important cases including service and pension matters of government employees, educational institutions matters, labour cases, appeals against death sentences and life imprisonment, appeals against acquittal of accused in murder and corruption cases, bails/cancellation of bails appeals in NAB cases, election petitions of different politicians, NAB appeal seeking cancellation of Bail of Noor Muhammad Lehri as he being

Superintending Engineering-I, Quetta has accumulated asests beyond his known source of income, NAB appeal against acquittal of Naveed Akhtar and others as the respondents cheated some people in order to receive a huge amount under the grab of fake Travel Agency, on the commitment that accused would send them for performance of Hajj/Umrah, NAB appeal seeking cancellation of bail of Mazhar Hussain Asif as the respondent has allegations of accumulation of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, NAB appeal seeking freezing of accounts of Nadeem Hameed Sheikh as the accused used their respective offices to cheat and defraud public by raising funds from the general public through their companies which is the domain of M/s NLRL, NAB appeal seeking cancellation of bail of Noor Ahmed as respondent being Qanoongo was involved in commission of corruption and corrupt practices by means of tempering in the land revenue record through fake entries and illegal allotments, NAB appeal seeking cancellation of bail of Sahibzada Muhammad Sadiq as father of the accused has the possessor rights as Bazger for cultivation of some Govt Land situated at Mouza Nawaz Ghundi, Tehsil Kuchlak Distt. Quetta and the accused executed an illegal agreement regarding sale of Govt Land with co-accused developer/partner, for establishment of JTM and Mega City Housing schemes Kuchlak, despite the fact that no land is/was entered in his name in the revenue record, NAB appeal seeking cancellation of bail of Zahoor Ahmad as respondent was working as Junior Cleark in Sports Board, Punjab and involved in misappropriation of funds of Youth Festival Punjab, in the year 2019.

According to cause lists, no adjournment on any ground will be granted and no application for adjournment through fax will be placed before the court. Furthermore, if the counsel is unable to appear for any reason, the advocate-on-record will be required to argue the case.

LHC suspends preventive detention of 123 PTI activists

LAHORE Staff RepoRt

The Lahore High Court (LHC) made a significant decision on Saturday by suspending the detention orders of 123 Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf (PTI) workers from Faisalabad under the notorious Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) law. The verdict came in response to a plea filed by former minister Farrukh Habib, seeking the recovery and release of the detained PTI workers. Justice Anwar ul-Haq Pannu presided over the hearing and ordered the immediate release of the PTI workers while suspending their detention orders. In a related development, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) also suspended the detention orders of around 150 PTI leaders and workers in the province under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance. The bench, consisting of Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim and Justice Sahibzada Asadullah, declared that the petitioners, if not required in any other cases, should be freed from different prisons. The court further stipulated that each petitioner should provide two surety bonds of Rs200,000 for their release. The arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan from the premises of the Islamabad HighCourt (IHC) on May 9 sparked violent clashes throughout Pakistan. Protests erupted in various cities, with party workers expressing their anger over their chairman’s arrest. Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Islamabad witnessed demonstrations, leading to calls for the armed forces to maintain law and order. During a protest by PTI workers, army installations and the Corps Commander’s house in Lahore came under attack.

FIR of suicide attack on JI chief registered at CTD police station

ZHOB Staff RepoRt

The first information report (FIR) of the suicide attack on convey of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Ameer Sirajul Haq was registered on Saturday at the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police station in Zhob district. A day earlier, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Ameer Sirajul Haq survived unhurt a suicide attack on his convey on the way for a public gathering in Zhob. Six persons had injured in the attack while vehicle of the JI chief was damaged slightly. According to preliminary police investigation, two kilograms of explosives was used in the suicide attack, but luckily the ball bearings remained intact due to which the damage remained minimal. The police said a hand grenade was recovered from the scene and the body of the deceased attacker was shifted to DHQ hospital for medico-legal formalities. Following the attack, the All Parties’ Action Committee has announced a complete shutdown strike for Sunday.

Octogenarian architect working to flood-proof Pakistan

KARACHI afp

At 82 years old, architect Yasmeen Lari is forging the way in fortifying the rural communities living on the frontline of climate change.

Lari, Pakistan’s first woman architect, has ditched a lifetime of multi-million dollar projects in the megacity of Karachi to develop pioneering flood-proof bamboo houses.

The few pilot settlements already constructed are credited with saving families from the worst of the catastrophic monsoon flooding that put a third of the country underwater last year.

“We continued to live in them,” said Khomo Kohli, a 45-year-old resident of Pono Colony village, which is a few hundred kilometres outside of Karachi.

“The rest of the residents had to move onto the road where they lived for two months until the water receded.”

Now, Lari is campaigning to scale up the project to one million houses made from affordable local materials, bringing new jobs to the most vulnerable areas.

“I call it a kind of co-building and cocreation, because the people have an

equal part in embellishing it and making it comfortable for themselves,” she said.

The architect, who trained in the United Kingdom, is behind some of Karachi’s most notable buildings, including brutalist constructions such as the Pakistan State Oil headquarters, as well as a string of luxury homes.

As she was considering retirement, a series of natural disasters — including a massive 2005 earthquake and 2010 floods — stiffened her resolve to continue working with her Heritage Foundation of Pakistan, which manages her rural projects.

“I had to find the solution, or find a way by which I could build up the capacities of people so that they could fend for themselves, rather than waiting for outside help,” she told AFP.

“My motto is zero carbon, zero waste, zero donor, which I think leads to zero poverty,” she said.

TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES

Climate change is making monsoon rains heavier and more unpredictable, scientists say, raising the urgency to floodproof the country — particularly as the poorest live in the most vulnerable areas. Pakistan, with the world’s fifth-

largest population, is responsible for less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions but is one of the nations most vulnerable to the effects of extreme weather. Pono Colony, with around 100 houses, was developed just months before catastrophic monsoon rains arrived last summer and displaced eight million people.

The village’s elevated homes are protected from rushing water, while their bamboo skeletons — pierced deep into the ground — can withstand pressure without being uprooted.

Known locally as “chanwara“, the mud huts are an improved take on the traditional single-room houses dotted along the landscape of southern Sindh province and Rajasthan state in India.

They require only locally available materials: lime, clay, bamboo and thatching. With straightforward training to locals, they can be assembled at a cost of around $170 — around an eighth of the cost of a cement and brick house.

In rural Sindh, tens of thousands of people are still displaced and stagnant water stands in large parts of farmland almost a year after the country’s worst-

ever floods.

The World Bank and Asian Development Bank in a joint study estimated Pakistan sustained $32 billion in damage and economic losses and would require $16 billion for reconstruction and rehabilitation.

ROYAL RECOGNITION

Lari recalls working on social housing in Lahore in the 1970s, when local women pored over her plans and probed her on where their chickens would live. “Those chickens have really remained with me, the women’s needs are really the uppermost when I’m designing,” she said.

This time around, the redesign of traditional stoves has become a significant feature — now lifted off the floor. “Earlier, the stove would have been on the ground level and so it was immensely unhygienic. The small children would burn themselves on the flames, stray dogs would lick pots and germs would spread,” said Champa Kanji, who has been trained by Lari’s team to build stoves for homes across Sindh.

“Seeing women becoming independent and empowered gives me immense pleasure,” Lari said.

VANDALISM ON MAY 9 ‘ENGINEERED’ TO DISCREDIT, ELIMINATE PTI: IMRAN

g

Says

PDM

seeks to label PTI as proscribed organisation as they fear contest in elections

LAHORE

Staff RepoRt

FORMERprime minister Imran Khan on Saturday alleged that the recent acts of vandalism on May 9, were a deliberate and orchestrated scheme aimed at discrediting the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to pave the way for branding it as a proscribed organisation.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan made the remarks during a speech delivered from his residence in Zaman Park, Lahore on Saturday.

According to Khan, the incidents were part of a larger conspiracy to undermine PTI’s standing.

“This was a well-planned conspiracy intended to weaken and eliminate PTI. The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) knows that they cannot defeat PTI in elections. Therefore, they seek to label our party as a proscribed organisation. It is unfortunate that a party that has maintained a peaceful demeanour for over 27 years is being portrayed as a terrorist entity.”

Denouncing the allegations that he failed to condemn the violent protests as a “blatant lie”, Khan emphasised that during his appearance at the Supreme Court, he promptly expressed his unequivocal opposition to all forms of violence.

“I was shot, did I ever ask [party workers] to engage in violence? I mentioned the intelligence officer’s name, but did

anyone do anything or set fire to any government buildings? When I got out, I came to know [about the violent protests]. I explicitly stated that I strongly condemn such actions. I have never given permission to my people to do anything other than peaceful protests,” he said.

He said that PTI workers tried to stop people who set the sabre jet on fire stationed at a roundabout in Mianwali. “We used to see it with pride. The aircraft was made of aluminum, so how did it catch fire? It was set ablaze by those who had brought something with them,” he claimed.

The former premier said that the police could have apprehended him without resorting to violence. “Was it necessary to use force and brutality? Was I sitting there

as a terrorist? I am a former prime minister. They hit me on my head with a club,” he added. He said that PTI leaders including Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Yasmin Rashid and others were giving calls for a peaceful protest following his arrest.

“How did the Radio Pakistan building catch fire? The protest was happening somewhere else. Outside the residence of the Corps Commander, a person was seen instigating people, and as soon as the gate opened, he disappeared from the scene,” he alleged.

“I was arrested, and then the internet was shut down, and the media was also censored. After that, our people were apprehended. The entire senior leadership was captured, including those who were advocating for peaceful protests,” he said.

Imran stated that he issued a call for a peaceful protest, urging his followers to hold placards bearing the slogans “Save Nation, Save Constitution.” However, he expressed

Letter against proposed meeting: JKLF receives positive response from many G20 countries

ISLAMABAD

Staff RepoRt

The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) has received positive responses from many G20 member countries for the letter sent to them regarding their proposed working group meeting in Srinagar hosted by India. The JKLF chief spokesman Muhammad Rafiq Dar in a statement issued in Islamabad said most of the member countries while expressing their concern have written that we are looking into the matter seriously and a few of them have expressed their limitations.

He said the JKLF has also welcomed China on announcing her pulling out from proposed G-20 working group meeting hosted by India in Srinagar, the

China’s resilience, positive diplomacy, collective prosperity benefit world: report

ISLAMABAD

Xinhua

China’s national resilience, positive diplomacy and policy of prosperity for all have been benefiting the world and given it a reputation as a responsible player in the international arena, a report has said. China’s approach to addressing bilateral differences in trade and territorial realms through soft power is unprecedented, “and makes it a responsible player on the world stage,” said an editorial in The Express Tribune. “China’s Belt and Road Initiative to link five continents and over 100 countries and regions in commerce and connectivity is a landmark feast,” said the newspaper, noting China’s global development and security paradigms which shun warfare and encourage participating states to work for collective prosperity. The editorial highlighted China’s achievement in eliminating acute poverty by lifting more than 700 million people out of poverty in the last three decades.

capital city of Indian held Jammu Kashmir.

He, on behalf of people of Jammu Kashmir, expressed his gratitude to Chinese government on reiterating their official stand that Jammu Kashmir is a disputed State and that hosting of G20 working group meeting by India in Srinagar is illegal and uncalled for.

While terming the stand taken by China as realistic, pro-people and, in accordance with UN charter and UN resolutions on Jammu Kashmir, he thanked the Chinese government for upholding the rights of the people of Jammu Kashmir.

The spokesman appealed the rest of G20 member countries to follow the suit and help resolve the internationally recognized issue of Jammu Kashmir for

the sake of peace and stability in the region and for the sake of resumption of human rights of people of Jammu Kashmir. Meanwhile, JKLF acting chairman Raja Haqnawaz Khan in a statement reiterated party’s protest strike call from across the Line of Control on 22nd and 23rd May against India for hosting G20 meeting in the disputed territory.

He again appealed to people from both sides of LoC to peacefully express their dismay over the inhuman and undemocratic attitude of government of India against the people of Kashmir who are struggling for freedom of their motherland. He said it is in the interest of both India and Pakistan to accept the right to self-determination of the people of Kashmir so that they are able to decide about their fate.

Apiculture sector to thrive with Chinese know-how

ISLAMABAD

Xinhua

Pakistan has a huge potential in honey production but due to multiple factors local beekeepers are facing challenges that can be overcome by following the Chinese style of beekeeping, experts said.

Speaking at the China-Pakistan Apiculture Forum, experts from Pakistan and China said the bilateral apiculture cooperation is a way forward toward a successful honey production sector in Pakistan. Nadia Rehman, a member of food security and climate change of Pakistan’s Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, told the webinar that such cooperation will lead to knowledge sharing, research collaboration and technology transfer, and result in enhanced honey yield in the country.

She added that 390,000 people in Pakistan are involved in beekeeping and produce over 4,000 tons of honey annually, and if they adopt modern

technologies, honey production can surge to 70,000 tons a year and create about 87,000 green jobs.

Speaking at the event, Muhammad Naeem, vice chancellor of Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University in Rawalpindi, said many people from rural areas of Pakistan are associated with beekeeping which becomes a profitable business and a great source of livelihood.

The annual yield per colony was 30 to 35 kg, but recently due to climate change effects it decreased to 10 to 12 kg, posing a serious challenge for beekeepers to continue the business, he said. Naeem added that to help Pakistani beekeepers overcome the challenge, his university is helping them not only to increase the yield but also find alternative ways to earn money, by introducing Chinese technology.

Now a training course on beeeeping and honey processing technology for Pakistan is being held in which 39 participants from different universities, research institutes, beekeeping

associations, honey traders, and beekeepers are getting the most advanced knowledge of beekeeping from Chinese professors, Naeem said.

“As China is playing a leading role in the research and development of beekeeping in the world, the knowledge sharing by Chinese experts regarding modern beekeeping techniques can be very useful for Pakistani beekeepers and the scientific community,” he added.

Pang Chunxue, charge d’affaires of the Chinese embassy in Pakistan, told the webinar that agriculture is one of the pillar industries of Pakistan and a key area for bilateral cooperation between China and Pakistan.

“Agricultural cooperation is crucial to the high-quality development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. China is committed to supporting Pakistan in revitalizing its agriculture, livestock, dairy, fisheries and food processing sectors to attain sustainable growth and meet the challenge of poverty alleviation,” she added.

India to withdraw 2,000-rupee notes from circulation

PROFIT ReuteRS

India will start withdrawing its highest value currency notes from circulation, the central bank said on Friday, in a move that economists said could boost bank deposits at a time of high credit growth.

The withdrawal of 2,000-rupee ($24.5) notes – which the finance ministry’s top official, T.V Somanathan, said would not cause disruption “either in normal life or in the economy” – also comes ahead of elections in four large states at the end of the year and a national ballot in spring 2024.

Most of India’s political parties are believed to hoard cash in high

denomination bills to fund election campaign expenses to get around tough spending limits imposed by the Election Commission. Announcing the withdrawal, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said evidence showed the denomination was not being commonly used for transactions. The notes will remain legal tender, it added, but people will be asked to deposit and exchange them for smaller denominations by Sept. 30.

“The stock of banknotes in other denominations continues to be adequate to meet the currency requirement of the public,” the RBI added in a statement. The 2,000 rupee note was introduced in 2016 after the Narendra

Modi-led government abruptly withdrew 500 and 1000 rupee denominations in an effort to remove forgeries from circulation. There is little evidence that plan succeeded, but the move did create a systemic shortage of cash by taking away 86% of the economy’s currency in circulation by value overnight.

The government began issuing new 500 rupee notes days later, and added the 2,000 to replenish currency in circulation at a faster pace.

However, since then, the central bank has focused on printing notes of 500 rupees and below and has printed no new 2,000-rupee notes in the last four years. Pronab Sen, economist and

former chief statistician of India, called the withdrawal of the higher-value note “a sensible form of demonetisation.”

Karthik Srinivasan, Senior Vice President Financial Sector Ratings at ICRA, said banks’ deposit accretion rates “could improve marginally in the near term”. “This will ease the pressure on deposit rate hikes and could also result in moderation in short-term interest rates,” he added.

Indian banks have been reporting double-digit credit growth in recent months, notwithstanding 250 basis points of RBI rate since last May. Banks are raising deposits at a faster pace to meet the growing demand and tightening liquidity.

his dismay as numerous individuals were arrested solely for holding these placards.

He highlighted that in Pakistan’s history, he had never witnessed such deplorable treatment towards women. He emphasised that peaceful protest is a constitutionally protected right of the PTI and its supporters.

“I clearly state that if any member of the PTI is found involved in burning a vehicle or engaging in any other unlawful activity, inform us, and we will present them before the court ourselves,” he added.

Imran said that there is no law in the country at the moment and his only hope is the judiciary, adding that even judges are being pressured against giving relief to PTI.

He said that by not holding elections on May 14, the Constitution was broken.

US avoids comment on Pakistan-Iran border trade deal

ISLAMABAD MonitoRing RepoRt

In a significant development for Pakistan’s commercial relationship with neighbouring Iran, the inauguration of a cross-border marketplace has paved the way for enhanced bilateral cooperation. While this event unfolded, the United States chose to withhold any commentary on the evolving ties between the two nations. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran convened on Thursday for a meeting following the joint inauguration of the MandPishin border sustenance market. This step is seen as a concerted effort to bolster trade and strengthen the economic bonds between the two nations. When questioned about the meeting and the progress in Pakistan-Iran relations, a spokesperson from the US State Department told Geo News: “We are aware of this meeting. We do not have any comment to provide on the engagement.” The United States, however, emphasised the continued importance of its relationship with Islamabad, highlighting that fostering Pakistan’s economic growth, ensuring energy security, and promoting environmental sustainability remain paramount within the bilateral ties. These aspects are deemed as the “cornerstone” of the Green Alliance.

Pakistan, Russia sign protocol to boost economic cooperation

KAZAN, RUSSIA

Staff RepoRt

Federal Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar witnessed the signing of the Protocol relating to Customs cooperation between Ministry of Commerce Pakistan and Federal Customs Services of Russian Federation aimed at facilitating and reducing costs of trade between the two countries. The agreement was signed on the sidelines of Russia-Islamic-WorldEconomic Forum being held in Kazan, Russia. The Protocol covers Administrative Cooperation and Information Exchange under the unified Tariff Preferences of Eurasian Economic Union. The landmark Protocol is another important step in building the legal framework required for developing commercial relations between Pakistan and Russia. It would besides ensuring easy flow of goods also afford significant discount in customs duties for Pakistani products entering Russian market. The Commerce Minister is visiting Kazan to represent Pakistan at the 14th Russia-Islamic world Economic Forum held in Kazan. He held wide ranging discussions with HE Rustam Minnikhanov, Rais (Head) of Russian Republic of Tatarstan. The two dignitaries exchanged views on expanding economic relations between Pakistan and Russian Federation with special focus on Tatarstan.

Imran undergoes medical examination at Shaukat Khanum hospital

LAHORE

Staff RepoRt

Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) and former prime minister, underwent a medical check-up at Shaukat Khanum Hospital late on Friday night, his team confirmed on Twitter. The decision to transfer Khan to the institution he built in the 1990s was made after he experienced abdominal discomfort and complained of stomach pain. Upon his arrival at the facility, a team of healthcare professionals promptly commenced a comprehensive examination to identify the root cause of his discomfort. Multiple tests were conducted under the supervision of the attending doctors.

India wants normalisation of ties but ‘onus on Pakistan’: Modi

NEW DELHI agencieS

As the stalemate between Islamabad and New Delhi continues over bilateral relations, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has laid the sole responsibility for the normalisation of ties on Pakistan. India wants “normal and neighbourly relations”, Modi said in an interview with a Japanese media outlet while discussing New Delhi’s strained ties with its neighbours and key regional players.

“However, it is incumbent upon them to create a conducive environment free from

terrorism and hostilities. The onus is on Pakistan to take necessary steps in this regard,” said the Indian prime minister. It may be noted that Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has made it clear that Pakistan was willing to address any concerns that New Delhi might have but said Islamabad expected the same from the other side. On his maiden visit to India as the FM last month, Bilawal said that Pakistanís position on bilateral relations or a meaningful engagement with India remains the same as long as it reviews the unilateral actions taken on August 5, 2019.

Besides maintaining a rigid stance on

Kashmir’s status, India is also hosting the G20 tourism meeting in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) from May 22 to May 24.

Islamabad has repeatedly slammed its arch-rival since partition in 1947 for the move and sensitised the G20 members as well that their participation in the summit would be seen as an attempt to legitimise the human rights violations in Kashmir and vindicate the illegal Indian occupation of the region.

It may be noted that not only Pakistan but its main regional ally China ówhich also has hostile relations with India ó also

opposed the G20 summit in Srinagar, saying that it will not be a part of it.

The ties between the neighbouring countries became agitated, especially since a 2020 clash that left 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead in the first deadly battle between the nuclear-armed neighbours in decades.

While touching on India’s fraught relationships with Beijing, Modi said: “India is fully prepared and committed to protect its sovereignty and dignity.”

With the lingering Himalayan border standoff between the two countries, the Indian leader stressed New Delhi’s respect

for sovereignty, rule of law and peaceful conflict resolution.

“Peace and tranquillity in the border areas are essential for normal bilateral ties with China. The future development of the India-China relationship can only be based on mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interests,” he said.

Being a widely popular leader in his country, Modi who is the leader of rightwing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is eyeing a third stint in power.

Stepping up his international diplomacy, he noted that “normalising” the ties would benefit the wider region and the world.

Over-enthusiam

WHILEaction against the perpetrators of the May 9th carnage is needed, the execution may be going overboard. The aftermath of the violent protests that broke out after Imran Khan’s arrest have come and hit the former prime minister’s Pakistan Tehreek i Insaaf with the force of a wrecking ball.

Senior leaders including Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Shireen Mazari continue to be incarcerated under dubious circumstances and a great exodus is underway with many party members publicly parting ways with the PTI citing the events that took place after Imran Khan was whisked away by the rangers. What has been surprising however is the sheer brute force of the crackdown against the party’s rank and file.

In Lahore alone the full resources of the Punjab Police have been utilised to identify and capture as many of the people inside and near the home of the core commander which was ransacked as part of the protests. What is worse is that in cases where the police have been unable to trace the perpetrators, they have not been shy laying their hands on family members of the protesters including women and dependents.

Two things can be true at the same time. And while action against such violent protest is necessary, it should not so clearly be turning into a witch hunt. It should also not be forgotten that the investigations are being carried out by the same institutions that generated the missing persons problem. At first, mainly Pashtuns were targeted in the name of the War on Terror. Then Baloch were made to disappear in large numbers because of alleged ties to separatists. For the first time, Pakistanis from Central Punjab are being targeted, and even those still un-arrested know what it means not to have the protection of the law.

What is more, it is worth remembering that the original support base of the PTI were the urban educated elite and upper middle classes. Take the example of Khadija Shah. Considered a genius in the glitzy world of fashion, the daughter of former finance minister Dr Salman Shah, and the grandkid of former Chief of Army Staff General Asif Nawaz Janjua, Shah has been one of the many people hounded by law enforcement agencies for no crime other than being present at the scene of the violence outside the corps commander’s residence.

This indicates that the exercise is no longer about punishment, but taking a sort of revenge.

The pressure on the investigators to produce results seems to have gotten a little out of hand, as Mrs Shah’s past tweets are also being produced, which indicate both support for the PTI and criticism of the establishment. It almost seems as if the desire to punish the perpetrators of May 9 has been transformed into an excuse to take revenge for any past criticism of the establishment.

Is it possible that the quality of investigations indicates the quality of trial by military courts under the Army Act? It must not be forgotten that civilian judges are well aware of how klutzy civilian police investigations can be, and allow for that when trying cases. Here, the accused will not only find themselves facing ham handed investigations, but also judges who may well never have been in a courtroom before.

Apart from their previous record, the agencies are not inspiring confidence by their efforts. This is having the effect of creating an unjustified sympathy among the public for the attackers of May 9. Perhaps worse, if the investigations are not conducted properly, they may well lead to some of the genuinely guilty perpetrators escaping punishment because of the weakness of the cases being prepared. It should not be forgotten that the incidents of May 9 were not just evil, but also shattered national confidence in their armed forces. There is no need to railroad anyone. With investigations this badly conducted, what will the trials be like?

Dedicated to the legacy of late Hameed Nizami

Arif

Nizami (Late)

Founding Editor

Yousaf Nizami Editor

M. A. Niazi Joint Editor Umar Aziz Executive Editor

AN EXCHANGE LED POWER MARKET WILL TRANSFORM SOUTH ASIAN POWER COOPERATION

India needs power corridors in Bangladesh and Nepal

tricity trade with India. Bangladesh permitted the 21st Joint Steering Committee's meeting with India on power sector cooperation. At the meeting, it was agreed that a tripartite power purchase agreement (PPA) would be concluded soon between Nepal, India, and Bangladesh, to facilitate the transfer of 500MW of cross-border electricity from Nepal's 900MW Upper Karnali hydropower project.

India plans to explore all hydropower potentials in Arunachal Pradesh and other northeastern states. India has a total potential of 145,320 MW hydropower, but only 45,399.22 MW of the quantum was being tapped. But India needs to spend a huge amount of money to transmit hydropower from India's northeastern to northwestern region. But the geographical barrier has constrained India from untapping its potential. Eighteen projects above the capacity of 25 MW were now under construction across the Northeast in 2019.

CROSSBorder Electricity Trade (CBET) has been taking place between South Asian countries under bilateral Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) /Power Trade Agreement (PTAs) over the last decade.

Bangladesh and Nepal are waiting for India’s consent to start power export from Nepal to Bangladesh. India’s consent is necessary, as the transmission line has to pass through India, which stands between the two countries. Both Nepal and Bangladesh will sit on May 15-16 to advance the power export plan further.

The fifth meeting of the joint secretary-level Joint Working Group and the secretary-level Joint Steering Committee meetings will be held then.

Bangladesh will likely allow India to set up a 116200 km power transmission corridor connecting India's northeastern states, also known as the seven sisters. In return, India may allow Bangladesh to import power from Nepal and Bhutan using its transmission line, which has been under negotiation for years.

Technical data from the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) indicates that the capacity of the Bharamara-Baharampur transmission line is expected to increase from 2,400 MW to 3,200 MW soon. But Bangladesh imports 900-940 MW of electricity from India's Baharampur to Bheramara. Considering the unutilized 2,040 MW grid line between Bangladesh and India, the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) proposed finalizing the existing grid to supply imported electricity from the GUKUL project in Nepal ion 2022. In response, Indian NVVN stated that an agreement for additional power supply to Bangladesh using the Indian grid line could only be signed after finalizing the new transmission corridor between the two countries.

According to India's Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, the Indian authority can make cross-border trade where India is involved. There is a specific provision of a tripartite agreement that allows the Indian authority to sign the framework of bilateral agreements between the government of India and the governments of the respective neighboring countries. In other words, Bangladesh and Nepal must sign bilateral agreements for cross-border elec-

Knock on reconciliation

The Joint Steering Committee also discussed implementing a hydropower project in Bhutan through a tripartite investment between Bangladesh, Bhutan, and India. Nepal has an estimated hydropower potential of around 80,000MW, but the country can only produce around 2,000MW. Since 2019, Nepal has been exporting power to India at six Indian rupees per unit. Bangladesh imports 1,160MW of power from India through the Baharampur-Bheramara and TripuraCumilla cross-border grid lines. Bangladesh aims to increase the share of imported electricity in its energy mix up to 40 percent by 2041 when the total generation capacity will reach 60,000MW.

The northeastern region is India's main hub for increasing its renewable energy capacity. India needs to tap the unexplored natural resources of its Northeast. This region has a potential of 33,100 MW of hydropower. Still, it is untapped because of the low electricity demand, while the absence of a power grid hinders the supply of excess electricity to its western parts. Electricity transmission from northeastern India to western parts of India requires a corridor through Bangladesh due to geo-political boundaries.

Because India can achieve its untapped opportunities of hydropower from the northeastern region by establishing power transmission lines over Bangladesh, both Bangladesh and India should come forward to enhance their energy security based on reciprocity and enhance South Asian regional cooperation

India and Bangladesh want to substantially increase their share of renewable energy in the upcoming years. The Indian government has set an ambitious plan to generate 500GW from non-fossil energy-based sources by 2030, meeting 50 percent of energy requirements from renewables. Likewise, Bangladesh wants to increase the share of renewable energy in the country's power mix to around 40 percent by 2050 from less than three percent now.

Bangladesh has the potential to offer multiple electricity corridors for transmission. Arunachal Pradesh alone has a 50,000 MW hydroelectricity potential. According to Indian North Eastern Electric Power Corporation, the Indian North Eastern Region has the potential of about 58,971 MW of power, almost 40 percent of India's total hydropower potential.

This is why India wants to build power transmission lines for using the power corridor of Bangladesh to reduce the cost. In 2021, Bangladesh showed interest in the power corridor and expected to get 20 to 25 percent of the hydropower to be transmitted through the high-voltage gridline passing through its territory. The transmission line with the capacity of 6,000MW in Bangladeshi land may be 100km in length if it is built in Boropukuria and 200km if it is installed in Jamalpur, while a substation would be built in each route. Two possible routes of the transmission line are — from Asam's Bonga through Baropukuria (Dinajpur) or Jamalpur to Bihar's Punia and from Asam's Silchar via Meghna Ghat-Bheramara to West Bengal. There can be such high-capacity interconnectors in Tripura-Comilla, Bongaigaon (Assam)-Jamalpur/Dinajpur-Purnea (Bihar), Silchar (Assam), and Fenchuganj.

This deal will be fruitful only if India finally allows a power corridor to Bangladesh to import electricity from Nepal. Three grid-connected countries –Nepal, Bangladesh, and Bhutan can participate in the most competitive Day-Ahead Power Market on the power exchanges to either meet their power supply requirements or to replace costlier power in their portfolio. This South Asian Power Market can further expand and develop as more countries in the region are becoming connected. Along with getting the corridor, Bangladesh needs to ensure that it gets a fair share of electricity from India in return for establishing those transmission lines Because India can achieve its untapped opportunities of hydropower from the northeastern region by establishing power transmission lines over Bangladesh, both Bangladesh and India should come forward to enhance their energy security based on reciprocity and enhance South Asian regional cooperation.

The writer is a freelance columnist

WHATEVERhappened on May 9 across the country has not gone well, no matter how much it can be condemned but the public reaction has made it clear to everyone what is in the hearts of the people and what the people think. When the ruling coalition will make such decisions in an obscure sense, as seen during the past year, the fire of revenge flares up and all the politics will be closed in a hateful sentence that ‘now they will stay or we will stay’, then the same circumstances will persist. The people have been protesting for a long time and have been demanding what they want, now the elite or stakeholders have to decide whether they go in support of the general public or take a decision against the people.

This is not an old era, but a new era and now people are very politically conscious. In this era, like in the past, the people cannot be fooled by the art of governance and puppet shows, nor can closed-room decisions be imposed. Now the decisions will be made in the public square and the decisions of the general public will be accepted, so it is better to give a chance to the public consciousness and the prevailing method of checking

it is free and transparent elections. But, the ruling coalition will never give the people a chance to vote because they know that the decision of the people will come against them. Everything is being put at stake due to the fear of this defeat. On the one hand, violations of the constitution and law are being done and on the other hand, it is being brought before the public by creating conflicts in the institutions. This dispute has nothing to do with the public and the national interest. It is a clash of some personalities which has been turned into an institutional clash. In this turmoil, efforts are being made to suppress, humiliate and pressurize each other but in this whole fight, the country is losing. Does the ruling coalition have any perception of how the country’s borders will be protected during this fight? How will the back of the terrorists be broken, how will the country overcome the crises? Since, everyone is trying to destroy each other and interpreting this behaviour, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah says that Imran Khan has formulated gangs in every city, now no one will be spared and this means that they are now engaged in action against PTI workers across the country, but

No matter how bad the situation is at the moment, those who use the efforts of improvement should not be disappointed and should keep knocking on the closed doors of reconciliation, If the door of reconciliation is not opened even at the knock, then no one will come to save democracy and dictatorship will not take long to displace the democracy quietly, albeit its signs have started to be seen very clearly

there will be a backlash and once again the same old politics will be repeated by defaming each other. The people are drowning in the mire of rising inflation and unemployment and the rulers are trying to save their power. As one dispute after another is being raised in the country, the attention of the nation is being diverted from the real issues and being diverted towards personal disputes. The Pakistani nation has seen such a spectacle many times, the nation is being fooled in the name of getting rid of inflation- sometimes in the name of honouring the vote or sometimes in the name of bread, cloth, and house and sometimes in the name of Kashmir. Whilst all who advances to power start a campaign against the opposition and the opposition against government, in this country no one has ever thought about the people, here everyone takes turns and all the problems of the nation are put on the backburner. Even now, the direction the situation is taking, it seems that the game of turns is going to start once again. People are fed up with tried and failed scripts, this game of likes and dislikes and turns should stop now. The situation that has arisen after Imran Khan's arrest has left no peace. Where there was a happy festival in India, there was a lot of laughter all over the world but how strange it is that instead of learning from this, the ruling coalition is protesting against the Supreme Court. The ruling coalition should understand the gravity of the situation in the larger interest of the country and instead of doing anything to facilitate chaos, a way should be found to end the confrontation as if a fire is ignited, it can be extinguished in a few moments but it takes a lot of effort to put it out. Despite the government’s unconstitutional stance, the Supreme Court has repeatedly given an option to both the government and the opposition to find a way of reconciliation. No matter how bad the situation is at the moment, those who use the efforts of improvement should not be disappointed and should keep knocking on the closed doors of reconciliation, If the door of reconciliation is not opened even at the knock, then no one will come to save democracy and dictatorship will not take long to displace the democracy quietly, albeit its signs have started to be seen very clearly.

The writer tweets @AttiyaMunawer

Editor’s mail

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AI and Pakistan are not moving together

ARTIFICIALintelligence being the buzzword these days, everyone considers it incumbent upon them to comment on the rise of AI and the dangers, perceived or otherwise, posed by it without being cognizant of the technical details.

A case in point is the article ‘Promoting AI’ (April 17). Apparently, the article was penned with the intention of giving some background knowledge regarding the initiatives taken during the government that was led by the Nawaz faction of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) before 2018, including the establishment of national centres of excellence, especially in the domain of AI.

Having been part of the centre and leading a laboratory working on medical image processing and having won other funding in the same domain where AI is used to diagnose diseases through medical images, one can vouch for the lack of knowledge and under-standing of AI on the part of the writer concerned.

Despite advancements in AI and its manifestation in the form of ChatGPT, it is still in its early stages of development. Currently, very few domains are being extensively explored by AI experts due to various reasons, such as lack of human resources, lack of computational resources, which invariably are expensive, and, above all, the lack of available datasets that are the cornerstone of the development of AI pipelines. Ignored also is the fact that ChatGPT requires the use of at least 20,000 A100 GPUs with a capacity of five peta flops, where each one of them costs around $200,000. Such an exorbitant cost makes it the preserve of only a selected few.

It should also be remembered that it was developed in the United States, which has mastered both the software and hardware aspects of AI, and no other country can boast of matching its computational power as of now. Coming back to the scene in Pakistan, with its failing economy and with structural changes required, emerging technologies, such as AI, provide a beacon of hope to earn some hard cash. We have made great strides over the last few years, but relevant technical resources are not much to write home about. On top of that, we have great dearth of the required hardware resources, and finances available are miniscule both from the public as well as the private sector.

We still have to go a long way before any meaningful progress can even begin to take place, and that requires concerted efforts from all, including the government, the private sector, the academia and the entrepreneurs. However, any initiative taken by the government for the advancement of AI must have input from AI technical experts as well as people from other walks of life where the latter can probably shed more light on the ethical aspects of it. Right now what we have in the country has more of the ‘artificial’ than the ‘intelligence’ part of AI.

DR AHMAD RAZA SHAHID ISLAMABAD

Irritated, frustrated

I am a working woman and my daily commute involves a distance of 40km. The situation on the roads caused by potholes and chocked sewers is a severe nuisance millions of people have to put up with every single day.

My daily commute runs from Gulshan-e-Iqbal all the way to I.I. Chundrigar Road, which is the main business hub of the city. Overflowing sewers made worse by the digging related to a bus transport project run all through the route. The standing water in front of the building housing the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is a major irritant because that portion of the road has always been a crowded intersection.

Over 75 years since the country’s independence, we have not been able to ensure traffic movement in the commercial and corporate hub of a city which happens to be the commercial, corporate and industrial hub of the country. That thought alone is enough to leave one irritated, frustrated and depressed. The relevant authorities should take immediate steps to improve the overall sewerage system of the city, and make Karachi a better, safer place to live in.

While action is necessary, law enforcement must be careful not to turn it into a witch-hunt

Let the people decide

SAMArA AShrAt

AttiyA MunAwer

Legions of Darkness

Pakistan has retrogressed, while the world has moved forward

THEfirst two weeks of May 2023 have transformed Pakistan beyond recognition. Without holding the Constitution is abeyance, as has been the case in past disruptions in democratic interludes (in Pakistan these are interludes, not a normal phenomenon), the country polity, security set up and freedom of speech are subject to the likes and dislikes of the established order. In any democratic polity, being removed from the treasury benches does not mean that the political life of the opposition benches is over. Despite the fact that the BJP in neighbouring India tried to replicate the Pakistani political model unsuccessfully, the Congress leadership played its cards well in political mobilization. The results have been setbacks in state elections; specifically the southern state of Karnataka. Here it seems that a party once out of favour is as good as a criminal.

How things stand for Pakistan; regretfully, the current flow of events suggests strongly that the country’s standing in the international comity of nations is bound to suffer in the short term as well as in the long run. The internet outage witnessed in the aftermath of the May 9 incidents cast a disturbing shadow on the day-to-day financial transactions taking place in Pakistan. The banking sector as well as the corporate society has come a long way to create an environment where a common man does not have to queue up for encashment of cheque, transfer or deposit of funds, payment of utility bills at the physical ’brick and mortar’ bank premises. All these facilities were ‘evaporated’ on the excuse of security imperatives in the closing hours of May 9/10. Banking and e-commerce monitoring infrastructures were quick to pinpoint that POS or point of sale transac-

tions showed a decline of 60 percent or so during the first few days of the ‘takeover’. If that was not enough, startup businesses like rental transport solutions, which depend heavily on mobile internet data packs connectivity were clueless, the operators; the bikers, as well as the clients; professionals and students depending upon that mode of transport. During the lockdown months as the result of covid19, a good number of educated Pakistanis well versed in vector graphic programs and linear video editing skills have found a way to earn foreign exchange through content editing and formulation. That content has been available as a job on websites like FIVERR etc. The impact on society and economy has been personal disposable income coming into the system as well as creation of economic activity. However, the above-mentioned sets of productive activity got a rude hit when the decision-making infrastructures accorded much more weightage to paranoid security concerns and egos, than the benefit in terms of economic gains.

The visible and invisible government reversed the situation reluctantly and half-heartedly three days later; with the internet competing in its slowness with similar reported speeds in Iran during the high point of anti-hijab riots there. It was not before the start of the week, May 15, when the PTA declared in its press note on Twitter that the ‘connectivity’ has been restored completely.

The reluctance over partial and complete connectivity is not ‘good news for e-commerce practitioners. In a few words, the most recent form of ‘hybridism’ might kill the economic growth cycles, if such outages are commonplace in future. The role of hybridism in this rests on the premise, where the invisible partner is calling the shots more assertively, while the visible partner; the civilian one pretends to sleep; not knowing;what is happening.

The hit on the political system is even graver than on the way of life. Pakistan has run through systematic

improvement in its democratic credentials, where the country was able to preserve a constitutional document, the 1973 Constitution, for 50 years. It has witnessed the military dispensations become mellower with the passage of time; where the political governments were able to have a complete run of five years, if not the same five years for the leader of the House. The current state of affairs has sent a very wrong signal to the world at large; to the people of the country at large; that the period of dictatorial rule in Pakistan has returned for times to come.

Predictably, the international watchdog bodies like Amnesty and local civil society setups like HRCP have been vocal over the establishment of courts which run parallel to the judiciary and have the built-in potential to cause gross human rights violations.

The current experiment with a new type of hybrid; whose resurgence was feared in these very columns, seems to have finally set in. The constitution apparently tells us that the Parliament and the cabinet are the deciding faces of the government. THey are where decisions are made for implementation. Pakista’sn experience of the last week suggests something else. To tread a cautious path; or to borrow a Pakistani terminology; rufaqa (colleagues) of the man on the top have become the decision makers. The creation of a parallel judiciary whose decisions cannot be challenged, as explained by the ‘compromised legal experts’, means Pakistan is being reset for another spell of judiciary, which has to be subservient to a certain power centre.

For a country on the economic crutches already, and dreaming to conquer the world international market, these are not encouraging signs; to say the least. The current set of political priorities have a greater negative impact on the polity, economy or the people’s general confidence on the state as a whole. Such a style of governance has all the ingredients to encourage centrifugal tendencies in the coming months and years.

Henry Kissinger, war criminal—still at large at 100

We now know a great deal about the crimes he committed while in office

to keep it secret spread paranoia within the administration, leading Kissinger and Nixon to ask J. Edgar Hoover to tap the phones of administration officials.

Daniel Ellsberg’s Pentagon Papers leak sent Kissinger into a panic. He was afraid that since Ellsberg had access to the papers, he might also know what Kissinger was doing in Cambodia.

NATION, US GreG GrAndin

HENRYKissinger should have gone down with the rest of them: Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Mitchell, Dean, and Nixon. His fingerprints were all over Watergate. Yet he survived—largely by playing the press.

Until 1968, Kissinger had been a Nelson Rockefeller Republican—though he also served as an adviser to the State Department in the Johnson administration. Kissinger was stunned by Richard Nixon’s defeat of Rockefeller in the primaries, according to the journalists Marvin and Bernard Kalb. “He wept,” they wrote. Kissinger believed Nixon was “the most dangerous, of all the men running, to have as President.”

It wasn’t long, though, before Kissinger had opened a back channel to Nixon’s people, offering to use his contacts in the Johnson White House to leak information about the peace talks with North Vietnam. Still a Harvard professor, he dealt directly with Nixon’s foreign policy adviser, Richard V. Allen, who in an interview given to the Miller Center at the University of Virginia said that Kissinger, “on his own,” offered to pass along information he had received from an aide attending the peace talks. Allen described Kissinger as acting very cloak-and-dagger, calling him from pay phones and speaking in German to report on what had happened during the talks.

At the end of October, Kissinger told the Nixon campaign, “They’re breaking out the champagne in Paris.” Hours later, President Johnson suspended the bombing. A peace deal might have pushed Hubert Humphrey, who was closing in on Nixon in the polls, over the top. Nixon’s people acted quickly; they urged the South Vietnamese to derail the talks.

Through wiretaps and intercepts, President Johnson learned that Nixon’s campaign was telling the South Vietnamese “to hold on until after the election.” If the White House had gone public with this information, the outrage might also have swung the election to Humphrey. But Johnson hesitated. “This is treason,” he said, as quoted in Ken Hughes’s excellent Chasing Shadows: The Nixon Tapes, the Chennault Affair, and the Origins of Watergate. “It would rock the world.” Johnson stayed silent. Nixon won. The war went on. That October Surprise kicked off a chain of events that would lead to Nixon’s downfall.

Kissinger, who’d been appointed national security adviser, advised Nixon to order the bombing of Cambodia to pressure Hanoi to return to the negotiating table. Nixon and Kissinger were desperate to resume the talks that they had helped sabotage, and their desperation manifested itself in ferocity. “‘Savage’ was a word that was used again and again” in discussing what needed to be done in Southeast Asia, recalled one of Kissinger’s aides. Bombing Cambodia (a country the US wasn’t at war with), which would eventually break the country and lead to the rise of the Khmer Rouge, was illegal. So it had to be done in secret. The pressure

On Monday, June 14, 1971—the day after The New York Times published its first story on the Pentagon Papers—Kissinger exploded, shouting, “This will totally destroy American credibility forever…. It will destroy our ability to conduct foreign policy in confidence…. No foreign government will ever trust us again.” “Without Henry’s stimulus,” John Ehrlichman wrote in his memoir, Witness to Power, “the president and the rest of us might have concluded that the papers were Lyndon Johnson’s problem, not ours.” Kissinger “fanned Richard Nixon’s flame white hot.”

Why? Kissinger had just begun negotiations with China to reestablish relations and was afraid the scandal might sabotage those talks.

Keying his performance to stir up Nixon’s resentments, he depicted Ellsberg as smart, subversive, promiscuous, perverse—and privileged: “He’s now married a very rich girl,” Kissinger told Nixon. “They started cranking each other up,” Bob Haldeman remembered (as quoted in Walter Isaacson’s biography of Kissinger), “until they both were in a frenzy.”

If Ellsberg gets away unscathed, Kissinger told Nixon, “it shows you’re a weakling, Mr. President,” prompting Nixon to establish the Plumbers—the clandestine unit that conducted buggings and burglaries, including at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Complex. Seymour Hersh, Bob Woodward, and Carl Bernstein all filed stories fingering Kissinger for the first round of illegal wiretaps—set up by the White House in the spring of 1969 to keep his Cambodia bombing secret. Landing in Austria en route to the Middle East in June 1974 and finding out that the press had run more unflattering stories and editorials about him, Kissinger held an impromptu press conference and threatened to resign. It was by all accounts a bravura turn. “When the record is written,” he said, seemingly on the verge of tears, “one may remember that perhaps some lives were saved and perhaps some mothers can rest more at ease, but I leave that to history. What I will not leave to history is a discussion of my public honor.”

The gambit worked. He “seemed totally authentic,” New York magazine gushed. As if recoiling from their own sudden doggedness in exposing Nixon’s crimes, reporters and news anchors rallied around Kissinger. While the rest of the White House was revealed as a bunch of two-bit thugs, Kissinger remained someone America could believe in. “We were half-convinced that nothing was beyond the capacity of this remark-

able man,” ABC News’ Ted Koppel said in a 1974 documentary, describing Kissinger as “the most admired man in America.” He was, Koppel added, “the best thing we’ve got going for us.”

We now know much more about Kissinger’s other crimes, the immense suffering he caused during his years in public office. He green-lighted coups and enabled genocides. He told dictators to get their killing and torturing done quickly, sold out the Kurds, and ran the botched operation to kidnap Chilean Gen. René Schneider (in the hope of derailing President Salvador Allende’s inauguration), which resulted in Schneider’s murder. His post-Vietnam turn to the Middle East left that region in chaos, setting the stage for crises that continue to afflict humanity. We know little, though, about what came later, during his four decades of work with Kissinger Associates. The firm’s “client list” has been one of the most sought-after documents in Washington since at least 1989, when Senator Jesse Helms unsuccessfully demanded to see it before he would consider confirming Lawrence Eagleburger (a Kissinger protégé and an employee of Kissinger Associates) as deputy secretary of state. Later, Kissinger quit as chair of the 9/11 Commission rather than hand over the list for public review. Kissinger Associates was an early player in the wave of privatizations that took place after the end of the Cold War—in the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and Latin America—helping to create a new international oligarchic class. Kissinger had used the contacts he made as a public official to found one of the most lucrative firms in the world. Then, having escaped the taint of Watergate, he used his reputation as a foreign policy sage to influence public debate—to the benefit, we can assume, of his clients. Kissinger was an eager advocate of both Gulf Wars, and he worked closely with President Clinton to push NAFTA through Congress.

The firm also made book on policies put into place by Kissinger. In 1975, as secretary of state, Kissinger helped Union Carbide set up its chemical plant in Bhopal—working with the Indian government and securing funds from the United States. After the plant’s 1984 chemical leak disaster, Kissinger Associates represented Union Carbide, brokering a paltry out-of-court settlement for the victims of the leak, which caused nearly 4,000 immediate deaths and exposed another half-million people to toxic gases.

A few years ago, much fanfare attended Kissinger’s donation of his public papers to Yale. But we’ll never know most of what his firm has been up to in Russia, China, India, the Middle East, and elsewhere. He’ll take those secrets with him when he goes.

Greg Grandin, a Nation editorial board member, is the Peter V. and C. Vann Woodward Professor of History at Yale University.

Here it is pertinent to note that a similar political culture was encouraged between 1977 to 1988; however, the inflow of foreign assistance due to Afghan War-1 as well as Gulf-based remittances saved the day, as no economic unrest erupted to give a fillip to the political discontent. Today, the economic benefit is absent. Any further encroachment into the domain of Parliament and judiciary; two purely civil society supported infrastructures, by the powers-that-be can produce undesirable responses in the society. Here it is pertinent to note that Pakistan’s GSPPlus status with the EU is to expire in December 2023, a great opportunity in the current economic mess. The formulation of Pakistan’s image as some nation-state like Myanmar or North Korea is not going to help the polity and the economy in the coming months.

With the incidents of May 9 to May 16, during which the action and reaction of various centres of power were witnessed by the bewildered nation, the writing on the wall seems more than clear. Pakistan has regressed back instead of moving forward. The trial of rioters might not be the last act of an encroaching deep state. It is reflective of the non-political way of solving a political puzzle. Regretfully, major component parties of the incumbent coalition like PPP always pride themselves to be ‘siasi log’ (political forces, apt to act politically), yet the arm twisting by the PDM and then the powers behind have removed any doubt about the country being a democratic entity.

For the people of Pakistan, metaphorically, the shadows of regimented rule are getting darker. The indifference can be killing for the younger lot of Pakistanis; whose honest reaction to the distribution of resources has already cost them dearly; for their lives and careers. The way forward needs to be a return to the dictates of constitutional rule, in letter and spirit; not rhetoric by all concerned.

The writer is a freelance columnist

US fails to break RussiaIndia ties – leaked Pentagon documents

The files shed new light on how Washington snoops on allies and foes alike to further its unipolar world agenda

RT Joydeep Sen GuptA

Acache of classified US documents leaked online last month has shed light on American intelligence gathered about other countries. Images of the covert files initially appeared on the messaging app Discord in January, but went unnoticed until March. Discord later put out an official statement condemning the leak. The documents consist of an elaborate timeline, dozens of military acronyms, including some items marked “top secret,” which give a detailed picture of the conflict in Ukraine, raging since February 24, 2022. “Top secret” is the highest level of classification. Some documents also contain the marking NOFORN, or “Not Releasable to Foreign Nationals,” meaning they cannot be shared with foreign intelligence agencies, including the Five Eyes alliance – the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand – according to the New York Times. Consider the documents’ take on India, which has been keeping its distance regarding the Ukraine conflict, and refusing to condemn its traditional ally Russia’s actions on global forums, including the United Nations (UN). The leak claims that the US influence on New Delhi is on the wane. India’s stance echoes those of other emerging powers such as Brazil and Egypt, amid Washington’s face-off with Russia and China. The US no longer reserves the bragging rights of an “unchallenged superpower” as far as India is concerned, while Washington pursues a unilateral hegemonic agenda. India, which is emerging as a leading voice of the Global South, is consistently steering clear of Washington’s foreign policy diktats. The Pentagon report illustrates that India has no intention of taking sides in the standoff over Ukraine, as New Delhi’s actions have demonstrated. India’s consistent outreach towards Russia –despite growing US pressure – came to the fore during National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s visit to Moscow in February, the leaks revealed. Doval met his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev on February 22, and assured him of New Delhi’s “support for Russia in multilateral venues”. Doval purportedly told Patrushev that India was working to ensure the Ukraine conflict would not come up in talks during the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi on March 1 and 2, despite “considerable pressure” to for the issue to be raised (India holds the rotating presidency of G20 and the summit will be held in New Delhi on September 9 and 10). Doval also told Patrushev that India “would not deviate from the principled position it had taken in the past.” India has been reluctant to invite Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky to the G20 summit, despite Kiev’s relentless efforts to get him on the elite globalist list. Besides, Russia-India ties have gained a new lease of life through growing trade. India and China have emerged as two biggest importers of Russian seaborne crude oil, breaking historical records, and cocking a snook at US-led sanctions. The leak has also shown that the US is a flagrant offender when it comes to eavesdropping on its key allies such as South Korea, the UAE, Israel and Ukraine, much to Kiev’s disappointment. Leading economies – from China and India to South America and the Arab world’s most populous nations Brazil and Egypt, along with Russia – were all also in the crosshairs of US snooping. The US appears to have hit a stumbling block in its attempts to “punish” Russia for the Ukraine conflict, resist China’s growing maritime muscle in the Indo-Pacific, and to take an aggressive stance against “authoritarian” regimes. Meanwhile, Pentagon officials have admitted that the documents are real. The FBI swung into action and arrested Jack Teixeira, a 21-year-old Massachusetts Air National Guard member. However, the accused’s audacious leak could inadvertently decide the outcome of the Ukraine conflict, and the US foreign policy overdrive might take the rap for a potential defeat.

For the people of Pakistan, metaphorically, the shadows of regimented rule are getting darker. The indifference can be killing for the younger lot of Pakistanis; whose honest reaction to the distribution of resources has already cost them dearly; for their lives and careers. The way forward needs to be a return to the dictates of constitutional rule, in letter and spirit; not rhetoric by all concerned.

WAGNER CLAIMS BAKHMUT CAPTURED, KYIV SAYS FIGHTING ONGOING

MOSCOW AGENCIES

RUSSIA’s private army Wagner claimed on Saturday the total control of the east Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the epicentre of fighting, as Kyiv said the battle was continuing but admitted the situation was “critical”.

Bakhmut, a salt mining town that once had a population of 70,000 people, has been the scene of the longest and bloodiest battle in Moscow’s more than year-long Ukraine offensive.

The fall to Russia of Bakhmut, where both Moscow and Kyiv are believed to have suffered huge losses, would have high symbolic value.

If confirmed, Bakhmut’s loss would allow Moscow to bring home a victory after a series of humiliating defeats.

It would also come before a major counteroffensive that Kyiv has been preparing for months.

US recession fears loom large over G7 summit

JAPAN AGENCIES

The announcement by Wagner came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky took part in the G7 summit in Japan.

The mercenary group’s boss Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed the city had fallen to his mercenaries in a video posted on

Telegram, in which fighters held Russian flags on the backdrop of ruins.

“Today on May 20, around midday, Bakhmut was taken in its entirety,” Prigozhin said in the video, adding that Wagner fighters would search the cap-

tured city before handing it over to the official Russian army.

“By May 25 we will completely examine (Bakhmut), create the necessary lines of defence and hand it to the military,” Prigozhin said. “We ourselves will go into field camps.”

Artillery sound could be heard in the background of Prigozhin’s video.

Ukraine, which earlier this month claimed successes in and around Bakhmut, said the fighting for the city was ongoing.

“Heavy fighting in Bakhmut. The situation is critical,” deputy defence minister Ganna Malyar posted on Telegram.

She said Ukrainian troops were “holding the defence” in the city’s “Airplane area”.

“As of now, our defenders control certain industrial and infrastructure facilities in the area,” she said. It was not possible for AFP to verify either claims.

– ‘Bakhmut meat grinder’ –

White House, Republican team say no progress in debt ceiling talks

PROFIT REUTERS

The talks have hung over Biden’s meeting with world powers in Japan.

China to promote cooperation, boost common development with Kyrgyzstan

BEIJING

STAFF CORRESPONDENT

China is ready to work with Kyrgyzstan to faithfully implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, promote high-quality development of allround cooperation and boost the nations’ common development, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Friday. Li made the remarks when meeting with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov in Beijing. The two countries’ leaders have jointly announced the building of a China-Kyrgyzstan community with a shared future of good neighborliness and shared prosperity, Li noted. He called on the two sides to upgrade trade cooperation, promote the construction of interconnectivity such as the China-Central Asia transport corridor, foster new highlights of cooperation including green energy and crossborder e-commerce, and deepen people-to-people and cultural exchanges on education, culture and tourism, among other areas. He also said that the two countries should continue enhancing security cooperation to ensure a stronger security barrier for their development and prosperity.

China is willing to work with Kyrgyzstan to implement the important outcomes of the China-Central Asia Summit, strengthen cooperation within the framework of the China-Central Asia mechanism and promote the greater development of China-Central Asia cooperation, Li added.

Noting that Kyrgyzstan-China relations are at their historical best, Japarov said the country is willing to deepen cooperation with China in political, economic and trade, people-to-people and other areas, strengthen coordination on international affairs, further advance bilateral ties, and join hands in responding to new challenges facing the world.

The U.S. president Joe Biden has arrived in Japan for the annual G7 summit and intends to cut his trip to Asia short and return to the U.S. on Sunday, since he has to continue negotiations with Congressional leaders on raising the country’s debt ceiling.

Debates over the debt ceiling have intensified over the past few weeks, putting the U.S. government under pressure to meet the deadline at the end of the month.

In a letter to Congressional leaders this Monday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the country could face a default on its debt obligations as early as June 1 if Congress fails to raise the borrowing cap. If that happens, the Department of the Treasury will likely be unable to fulfill all of the government’s obligations.

Since 2001, the U.S. federal government’s budget has run a deficit of nearly $1 trillion every year, according to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, a part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. However, starting from 2016, the growth in spending on Social Security, healthcare, and interest on the federal debt has exceeded the growth of federal revenue, resulting in a situation where the country spends significantly more money than it receives from taxes and other sources of income. To cover the shortfall, the government needs to borrow in order to sustain the payments that Congress has already approved.

A debt ceiling standoff

The U.S. government hit its $31.4 trillion borrowing limit in January 2023, amid a standoff between Republicans and Democrats on lifting the ceiling.

“Failure to meet the government’s obligations would cause irreparable harm to the U.S. economy, the livelihoods of all Americans and global financial stability,” Treasury Secretary and former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen wrote to Congress in January 2023.

“Indeed, in the past, even threats the U.S. government might fail to meet its obligations have caused real harm, including the only credit rating downgrade in the history of our nation in 2011.” Now, with the U.S. running up against the debt ceiling deadline, and negotiations between Congress and the White House remaining deadlocked, the issue of the debt ceiling has once again become a contentious topic. If the two sides can’t strike a deal to raise the country’s debt ceiling, millions of Americans will feel the impact. The White House states that throughout history, approaching the U.S. debt ceiling has proven to cause big disruptions in financial markets, adversely affecting households and businesses.

The threat of a U.S. default has always made Congress ultimately agree on a deal to raise the debt limit, according to Roger W. Ferguson Jr., an expert in the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), an independent and nonpartisan membership think tank based in New York. The letter from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California, photographed Friday, January 13, 2023, notifying Congress that the U.S. is projected to reach its debt limit on January 19, and will then resort to The letter from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California, photographed Friday, January 13, 2023, notifying Congress that the U.S. is projected to reach its debt limit on January 19, and will then resort to “extraordinary measures” to avoid default. /AP

A second meeting on Friday between White House and Republican congressional negotiators on raising the federal government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling broke up with no progress cited by either side and no additional meeting set. That came at the end of a day of acrimonious talks that were broken off for several hours, with less than two weeks to go before June 1, when the Treasury Department warned that the federal government could be unable to pay all its debts. That would trigger a calamitous default.

While the White House acknowledged that “serious differences” remained with Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, President Joe Biden said he still believed a default could be avoided.

“I still believe we’ll be able to avoid a default and we’ll get something decent done,” Biden told reporters in Hiroshima, Japan, where he is attending a meeting of leaders of the Group of Seven rich nations.

Republicans have said they would not approve an increase in the federal government’s borrowing limit without agreement on sharp spending cuts.

“There continues to be real … differences between the parties on these issues,” White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters earlier, also in Hiroshima. The lead Republican in the talks said no progress had been made on Friday.

“We had a very, very candid discussion talking about where we are, talking about where things need to be,” Republican Representative Garret Graves told reporters following a second brief meeting in the Capitol with White House officials.

“This wasn’t a negotiation tonight,” Graves said, adding the timing of the next meeting was not set.

He echoed remarks by House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy that progress needed to be made on changing the “trajectory” of U.S. government deficit spending and rapidly rising debt.

“We have to spend less than the year before,” McCarthy said.

A second Republican negotiator, Representative Patrick McHenry, said he was not confident the two sides could meet McCarthy’s goal of reaching a deal this weekend, which could then be presented to Congress for passage in coming days.

Senior White House adviser Steve Ricchetti left the meeting room telling reporters that he was “not assessing” the talks.

A meeting earlier on Friday ended abruptly with McCarthy telling reporters there had not been any “movement” from the White House toward Republican demands. U.S. stocks closed the week on a soft note after news of the stalled negotiations.

Republicans are pushing for sharp spending cuts in exchange for the increase in the government’s self-imposed borrowing limit, a move needed regularly to cover costs of spending and tax cuts previously approved by lawmakers.

Republicans control the House of Representatives by a 222-213 margin, while Biden’s Democrats have a 51-49 Senate majority, making it difficult to thread the needle with a deal that will find enough votes to pass both chambers.

Democrats have been pushing to hold spending steady at this year’s levels, while Republicans want to return to 2022 levels. A plan passed by the House last month would cut a wide swath of government spending by 8% next year.

That plan does not specify what spending would be cut, but some Republicans have said they would shield military and veterans programs. Democrats say that would force average cuts of at least 22% on domestic programs like education and law enforcement, a figure top Republicans have not disputed.

Some Republicans have criticized Biden for taking the trip to Japan at a key point in the talks.

Biden and McCarthy spent most of the year in an impasse with the White House insisting on a “clean” increase in the debt ceiling without conditions. Republicans said they would only vote for a deal that cut spending.

How US helping Ukraine acquire F-16s shows that for military aid, ‘no’ can become ‘yes’

The US has once again buckled under pressure from European allies and Ukraine’s leaders and agreed to provide more sophisticated weapons to the war effort. This time it’s all about F-16 fighter jets.

Ukraine has long begged for the sophisticated fighter to give it a combat edge as it battles Russia’s invasion, now in its second year. And this new plan opens the

door for several nations to supply the fourth-generation aircraft and for the US to help train the pilots. President Joe Biden laid out the agreement to world leaders meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, on Friday, according to US officials.

So far, however, the US has provided no details and said decisions on when, how many, and who will supply the F-16s will be made in the months ahead while the training is underway. Details on the training are equally elusive.

US officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss decisions not yet made public.

Still, with this decision, the Biden administration has made a sharp reversal, after refusing to approve any transfer of the aircraft or conduct training for more than a year due to worries that it could escalate tensions with Russia. US officials also have argued against the F-16 by saying that learning to fly and logistically support such an advanced aircraft.

While congratulating China on successfully hosting the China-Central Asia Summit, Japarov said it is believed that the mechanism is bound to become a major platform for international cooperation, contributing to regional and global peace and development.

Three takeaways from the China-Central Asia Summit

The China-Central Asia Summit concluded in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, on Friday.

During the summit, leaders of China and Central Asian countries signed and released the Xi’an Declaration of the China-Central Asia Summit and adopted a list of summit outcomes. Here are three takeaways from the summit. Building a closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future

According to the declaration, both sides agreed that China maintains fruitful all-round cooperation with the five Central Asian countries, which serves the fundamental interests of the six countries and their peoples.

The six countries are determined to work together to rise to challenges and foster a closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future.

Taking the summit as an opportunity, a mechanism for meetings among the heads of state of China and Central Asian countries has been officially established, with the two sides – China and Central Asian countries – taking turns to host the biennial summit. All parties will accelerate the building of the China-Central Asia mechanism, establish a ministerial meeting mechanism as soon as possible in key and priority areas of cooperation, and give full play to the role of their foreign ministries, it said.

Hailing the significance of jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in leading international cooperation, the six countries agreed to coordinate their respective development strategies with the BRI.

Closer cooperation

Recognizing the huge potential in cooperation between China and Central Asia, the six countries decided to comprehensively increase the scale of trade and expand cooperation in emerging fields such as digital trade and the green economy, according to the declaration.

All parties are willing to promote the cooperation and development of infrastructure and engineering construction, accelerate the connectivity of digital and green infrastructure, and jointly advance the sustainable development of cooperation in infrastructure and engineering construction, it said.

The six countries agreed to hold the forum on industrial and investment cooperation between China and the five Central Asian countries on a regular basis, upgrade the investment agreements between China and the Central Asian countries, and encourage the expansion of industrial cooperation to enhance the level of regional industrial development. They also vowed to speed up the construction of the cross-border railway that connects China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

In terms of green development, they agreed to accelerate the modernization and building of existing port facilities for implementing “green channel” fast clearance of agricultural and sideline products at all border ports between China and the Central Asian countries. All parties will take effective measures to raise the cross-border freight volume to build an all-round, complex, three-dimensional, low-carbon and sustainable transportation infrastructure system between China and Central Asia.

Central Asian leaders highlight BRI; vow more cooperation with China

XI’AN STAFF REPORT

Leaders from the Central Asian countries stressed the importance of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and vowed support for the Xi’an Declaration during the China-Central Asia Summit on Friday in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province.

They spoke highly of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative.

They would take the 10th anniversary of the BRI as an opportunity to advance regional connectivity, deepen pragmatic cooperation in various fields and build a closer China-Central Asia community with a shared future.

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that the synergy of the potential of the Central Asian countries with the enormous economic opportunities of China can

lead bilateral partnerships onto a new, higher trajectory, and that comprehensive cooperation with China is a long-term stabilizing factor for Kazakhstan’s continuous progress.

In recent years, the BRI has promoted the building of modern transport infrastructure in many countries, he said. As a close neighbor and reliable partner of China, Kazakhstan will continue to take an active part in Belt and Road cooperation, he said.

Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov said that the implementation of the BRI fits the national development strategies of the Central Asian countries and will bring huge economic benefits.

He hailed the importance of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project, calling it an important link of the BRI as the implementation of the strategic project will benefit transportation of the Central Asia region and connect about 4 billion people.

Noting that agriculture is the

economic pillar of the Central Asian countries, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon said, “We are ready to cooperate with China in the field of agriculture to jointly address food security issues, introduce new agricultural cultivation and processing technologies, and attract investment.”

Greater connectivity in Central Asia is an important driving factor for reviving the Silk Road, he said, adding that the China-Central Asia partnership is increasingly important in view of the complex international environment.

Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov said that Central Asia and China have always had amity between their peoples, pragmatic cooperation and a good-neighborly friendship. The comprehensive potential of the five Central Asian countries and China, together with strong resource endowment, industrial foundation and technological reserve, opens up broad prospects for the economic development of both sides, he said.

CORPORATE CORNER

EFU wins CSR Award 2023

LDA CRACKS DOWn On LAnD-mAFIA; SEIzES mILLIOnS WORTh OF pROpERTIES

LAHORE SHAHAB OMER

THEofficials from the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) conducted a successful operation, reclaiming valuable assets worth millions of rupees from the clutches of the mafia whereas the operation targeted petrol pump sites and shops that had been unlawfully occupied and neglected by the mafia, Profit learnt here on Saturday.

EFU General Insurance Limited, has been recognized for its outstanding achievements in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The company was awarded by the CSR Award 2023 by the National Forum for Environment and Health (NFEH) in recognition of its commitment and dedication towards the development of local communities and the creation of a sustainable future.

EFU General’s CSR initiatives reflect the company’s values and commitment to promoting social responsibility. The company’s efforts towards education, health and the environment have been recognized and appreciated by various other stakeholders, which is a testimony to its dedication towards a sustainable development. PR

ICT Police hold road safety workshop for school students

IslAmAbAd: Islamabad capital police is striving to minimize the road accidents ratio by educating road users and ensuring strict implementation of traffic rules on roads.It was mentioned by education wing Sub Inspector Muhammad

Shafique Bajwa addressing in the concluding ceremony of one day road safety education workshop organized by Islamabad capital police education wing with the Cooperation of Road Safety Council of Pakistan at Al farabi Islamic School and Colleges, a police public relations officer said.He said that approximately 250 students and staff members participated in the workshop. The School administration appreciated the efforts of Islamabad capital police in maintaining traffic discipline in the federal capital.The special message of Chief Traffic Officer Islamabad Dr. Syed Mustafa Tanweer was also quoted on the occasion that valuable lives of citizens can be saved by obeying traffic rules. PR

Services of late Hakim Said for Pakistanis eulogized

KARACHI: Hamdard Foundation Pakistan president Ms Sadia Rashid has said that Shaheed Hakim Mohammad Said loved children who also loved him very much, as he wanted to lead them to modern education and it was his first wish to create a best literature for the children of the nation which could train them religiously, culturally and morally besides making them as good human beings.This she said while addressing the Hamdard Naunehal Assembly organized by Hamdard Foundation Pakistan, with the title of 70-year historical journey of the monthly Hamdard Naunehal magazine (1953 to 2023) and its importance in the present era, held at Naimat Begum Hamdard University General Hospital in Nazimabad. For love with children and their capacity building, Hakim Said started publishing Humdard Naunehal magazine in 1953 in order to develop children's moral training, character development and interest in studying, and this magzaine is still being published. Ms Sadia said that the written capital left by Hakim Sahib for adults and children in the academic field is a part of historical literature. PR

The spokesperson of LDA informed this scribe that the LDA officials, supported by a dedicated team, executed the operation with precision and efficiency.

“Their primary focus was a threecanal plot housing a petrol pump site in Main College Road Township. This particular property had been leased out but

suffered from persistent non-payment of dues. The LDA seized the site and repossessed it, ending the mafia’s unlawful hold over the valuable piece of land”.

“This petrol pump site had long been embroiled in legal battles due to continuous defaulting on lease payments. However, acting upon the directives issued by

Pak-China FTA2 key to revive denominated seafood catch

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Pak-China FTA2 is important one to implement as a priority to revive denominated seafood catch, say economic experts.

A meeting between the General Administration of China Customs and the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) held early this month to review the two clauses of FTA1, i.e., the addition of neglected Harmonized System (HS) Codes for a variety of seafood in fresh, frozen, or processed form, and Second to entertain Pakistani imports to China as duty-free as Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are allowed to do there.

The absence of HS codes is eclipsing Pakistani seafood exports and depriving the country of a great market share. With the activation of FTA2, Pakistani seafood export will soar, Said Vice Chairman of Pakistan Fisheries Exporters Association, Karachi, Mian Saeed Fareed while talking with Faiza

Tehseen, reporter to WealthPK.

Furthermore, he said that the Ministry of Commerce, Pakistan also neglected to add the HS codes of a variety of seafood items that were usually exported from here, i.e., ribbon fish, cuttlefish, squid, a few shells, and shrimp species.so, we emphasized making them a part of FTA2. Overall fisheries exports from Pakistan are about 400 million dollars per annum. I am in the seafood export business since 2004. I export multiple types of both fresh and frozen seafood items.

My specialty is in the export of crabs and shells. I export shrimp mostly to China, and Middle Eastern countries, while Crocker and crabs are my main exports to Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, etc. Other mix catches are exported to other countries as per demand. It is very important for our policymakers to add a variety of names with properly issued titles and HS codes to make Pakistani fisheries export versatile. It is important to boost the trade and business related to this sector.

Discussing the trade relief provided to ASEAN members on their imports to China, he said that we demanded the same privilege on our imports there. Imports from ASEAN countries in China are duty-free while Pakistani imports there are having duty charges. It increases the cost of imports from Pakistan and prices as well.

Although many aspects concerning FTA2 are still a subject to be discussed, the core ones were the two discussed above. China must support Pakistan being its neighbor and all times friend.

FTA2 is signed, and submitted to the Ministry of Commerce of Pakistan. It is not in operation yet but is expected soon. China is the main market destination to export Pakistani aquatic catch. If China coordinates properly, it will benefit both countries in the longer run. It will also help boost the exports and Pakistani fisheries sector, added Mian Saeed the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Legend International private limited, Karachi.

Minister asks doctor community to play role

for improving health sector

LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Caretaker Punjab Health Minister Dr Javed Akram has said that the doctor community should play its role for improving the health sector. He was addressing the two-day 8th International Family Doctors Conference 2023 as the special guest at a local hotel, here on Saturday. He congratulated the administration for organising the conference on an important topic and prayed to Allah for positive outcome of the confer-

ence. He said that there was an opportunity to learn a lot from medical experts during the conference.

The minister said that general practitioners were backbone of the health system. He said that in the past, primary angioplasty had been only available to the elite earlier, but now Alhamdulillah, this facility was available to patients in all cardiology hospitals of the province and so far 5,000 patients had been facilitated.

He said that public hospitals built at the cost of billions of rupees would be made beneficial for the common man.

BOOK REVIEW: ‘South Asian Filmscapes — Transregional Encounters’

SYED AFSAR SAJID

South Asian Filmscapes

Syed Afsar Sajid

Title: ‘South Asian Filmscapes — Transregional Encounters’

Published by: Oxford University Press, Karachi

Edited by: Elora Halim Chowdhury — Esha Niyogi De

Pages: 302 — Price: Rs.1295/-

The book being reviewed here is the maiden publication by SARMSNet (the South Asian Regional Media Scholars Network), an alliance set up by Elora Halim Chowdhury and Esha Niyogi De, co-editors of this volume. The former is professor of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at the University Of Massachusetts Boston (US), while the latter is a lecturer in English at UCLA (the University of California, US). It aims at ‘exploring cross-communal filmic-histories’ in reference to a bordered subcontinent.

As an anthology of essays, the book is intended to explore the diverse and dynamic film industries as well as film cultures of South Asia including India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh in detail while those of Sri Lanka and Nepal, in passing. It examines the socio-cultural and political contexts that shape and regulate the production, distribution, and consumption of films in the region.

The book comprises three parts, each containing five, six, and four essays respectively. Essays in Part I (titled ‘Nations and Regional Margins’) relate to independent film making in the context of national identity in Bangladesh (Hamidul Haq); a critique of two Pakistani films ’Saheli’ (1960), co-produced and directed by S.M. Yusuf, and ‘Neela Parbat’ (1969), produced and directed by Ahmad Bashir, within the framework of female friendship and forbidden desire (Kamran Asdar Ali); bringing back Sikhs into the mainstream of Indian cinema after the 1984 pogrom within the purview of the politics of picturization in Hindi cinema (Amit Ranjan); film making in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) and issues concerning the indigenous cinema’s challenge.

the Lahore High Court, the LDA teams took decisive action, executing the operation to restore the property to its rightful status,” he said.

The spokesperson further informed that the LDA teams also targeted 14 shops located in close proximity to the Walton Road Packages Mall.

“These shops had fallen into the hands of unauthorized occupants who had illegally seized the premises. By reclaiming and subsequently selling the shops, the LDA regained control over the properties, effectively ending the unlawful occupation. The seized shops had been a subject of prolonged illegal occupancy, causing significant financial losses and hindering lawful business activities. The operation carried out by the LDA aimed to curtail such illicit practices and enforce the rule of law,” he added.

Indian troops shot dead shepherd at LoC

MIRPUR (AJK) STAFF REPORT

Indian troops Saturday gunned down a grazer resident of forward village Lanjot, in tehsil Nakial in Kotli district of Azad Jammu Kashmir when he was feeding his cattle heads at the area close to this side of the Line of Control (LoC) in Nikayal sector.

According to details gathered by APP here Saturday, a local 32-year-old lad identified as Tarif s/o Muhammad Alam Mistri was found missing on May 19, 2023 –Friday as he had reportedly gone, the same day at about 0900 hours in the morning to the jungle to graze his goats besides wood cutting but he didn't return to his house. On Saturday, May 20, Indian troops deployed at the LoC, shot dead the grazer at the other side of the LoC in Maindher region of Indian-occupied Jammu Kashmir State. Tarruf was found missing after reportedly inadvertently crossing the thick jungles-clad forward area at the LoC while grazing his cattle heads. The victims left a widow and a 5-months old daughter, besides 07 siblings including 05 brothers and 02 sisters besides a father and a mother in his survivors.

JC MUST BE EMPOWERED TO PROBE ‘POWERFUL ELEMENTS’ BEHIND AUDIO LEAKS: IMRAN

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

REACTINGto a three-member judicial commission constituted by the “imported government” to probe audio leaks, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)

Imran Khan said that the commission must be empowered to investigate ‘powerful and unknown’ elements who tap and record telephone conversations of citizens including high public functionaries.

In a statement on Saturday, PTI Chairman said that the federal government has formed an Inquiry Commission under Section 3 of the Commissions of

Inquiry Act, 2017 to investigate the issue of Audio Leaks.

However, he said that the Terms of Reference (ToRs) formed by the federal government suffer from a deliberate omission.

Imran Khan went on to say that they failed to take into account the issue that who is behind unlawful and unconstitutional surveillance of PM office and sitting judges of the Supreme Court.

“The Commission should be empowered to investigate who are these powerful and unknown elements who tap and record telephone conversations of citizens including high public functionaries,” he added.

PTI Chairman stated that this was se-

More than 500 women wanted by police in connection with May 9 violence: CM Naqvi

LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Punjab caretaker chief minister Mohsin Naqvi has said that over 500 women are currently being sought by the police in around 138 cases related to violent incidents occurred on May 9. In a statement, Naqvi emphasised that male officers have been instructed not to arrest women, but he emphasised the need for apprehend those responsible for vandalizing army installations at any cost. He called upon the authorities to ensure the arrest of women with the assistance of lady constables.

On the other hand the Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called for the government to uphold human rights while prosecuting the “more than 4,000 people” arrested in the wake of violent protests that followed former premier Imran Khan’s arrest on May 9. In a statement, HRW associate Asia director Patricia Gossman has said, “The Pakistani authorities should end their arbitrary arrests of political opposition activists and peaceful protesters.” Highlighting concerns about further violence between the police and PTI supporters, the HRW has said: “In dispersing violent assemblies, firearms may only be used when using less harmful means are not practicable, and only to the minimum extent necessary.”

It has mentioned the United Nation’s Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to call on the government to “display restraint and respect for human rights and the rule of law”.

PTI throws weight behind Jamaat candidate for Karachi mayorship

KARACHI STAFF REPORT

The race for the coveted office of Karachi mayor took an intriguing turn on Saturday after Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) announced its endorsement of Naeem ur-Rehman from Jamaat-i-Islami for the position.

A spokesperson for the opposition party confirmed the party’s support for Rehman, accusing the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of pre-vote rigging.

Following the hotly contested local bodies elections in the port city, the party of foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto emerged as the largest group but fell short of securing the required simple majority of 179 votes to claim the mayor’s office. Even with an alliance formed with Jamiat Ulema-e-IslamFazl (JUI-F) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the PPP will still need a minimum of 22 additional votes to reach the majority threshold.

In terms of seat distribution, the PPP currently holds the largest number of seats in the city council with 98, followed by Jamaat-e-Islami with 89 seats and PTI with 42 seats. However, no single party commands a simple majority in the city council. The spokesperson for PTI claimed that the PPP, in collaboration with the Sindh police, was engaging in the “abduction” of elected representatives of the party before they could be sworn into office.

These allegations were made in the context of the PTI’s contention that the PPP, having previously evaded municipal elections on four occasions, now seeks to hastily elect a mayor. In response to these concerns, the spokesperson revealed that the party has approached the court to address the matter. They emphasised the need for a transparent process to elect the mayor, asserting that both the PPP and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) were resistant to accepting the public mandate.

rious breach of privacy guaranteed under Article 14 of the Constitution.

“Not only those who illegally retrieve data through unlawful phone tapping and surveillance should be held accountable but those who through fabrication and tampering of different phone calls leak them on social media also need to be held accountable” he maintained.

Imran Khan said that democracies governed by the rule of law propose that the state should not arbitrarily intrude into certain aspects of life.

“Right to privacy and dignity guaranteed under Article 14 are patently infringed whenever the state unlawfully surveils an individual,” he added.

He said that some of the recent leaked calls were made over what was supposed to be a secure phone line in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Nevertheless, he said that they unlawfully were tapped and fabricated/tampered with. Seemingly, the elements behind such audacious tapping operate in a manner outside the command and even knowledge of the PM of Pakistan.

“Who are these actors who are above the law and outside the command of even the prime minister of the country, and who resort to such illegal surveillance with impunity? Such elements need to be held identified by the Commission,” he added.

Former Trump aide Bolton reaches out to Imran in sign of global backing

ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON

MUHAMMAD AHMAD SAAD

John Bolton, national security adviser to then US president Donald Trump, engaged in a conversation with Imran Khan, the chairman of Pakistan Tehreeki-Insaf (PTI), amidst political turmoil in the country, the opposition party said.

“Today, John Bolton, who previously served as the United Nations ambassador during the Bush administration and later as the National Security Advisor in the Trump administration, held a telephonic discussion with chairman Imran Khan,” tweeted Atif Khan, a Washington-based member of the party, late on Friday. While no details were provided regarding the nature of the conversation, it is understood the two discussed the highly charged political climate in Pakistan.

In

letter to PM Trudeau, 16 Canadian MPs raise alarms about ‘worst HR crisis’ in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Amid worst political turmoil and “what PTI calls reign of terror unleashed by the imported government” reached its climax, Canadian members of parliament urged their Prime Minister Trudeau to help address the escalating human rights violations in the country by reaffirming Ottawa’s commitment to justice, democracy, and human rights, both within Pakistan and globally.

A group of Canadian lawmakers expressed “grave concern over the worst human right situation unfolding in Pakistan” and sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Salma Zahid, a chair of the CanadaPakistan Parliamentary Friendship Group, penned a letter signed by 16 MPs to PM Trudeau regarding the ongoing crackdown by the PDM government on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) leaders and workers.

The letter from the Canadian lawmakers clearly reflected the growing global concern over the worst human rights situation in Pakistan.

The lawmakers’ concerns come amidst an ongoing crackdown by the PDM government on leaders and workers of PTI. It is to mention here that PTI chairman Imran Khan’s residence in Lahore’s Zaman Park was violently raided twice, besides detaining unlawfully over 7,500 party workers, including women and children.

Moreover, PTI top leadership was put in the jail in false and fabricated cases and party leaders were being pressurized and subjected worst oppression to change their loyalties.

The letter, signed by 16 Canadian lawmakers who are members of the Canada-Pakistan Parliamentary Friendship Group, highlighted the importance of the right to peaceful protest and strongly condemned all acts of violence, arbitrary arrests, and the urgent need for fair trials in the country’s civilian courts.

As representatives of their constituents, particularly thousands of Pakistani-Canadians, the lawmakers stressed the fundamental nature of democracy, the rule

of law, and freedom of expression in any society, underscoring the importance of upholding these principles without compromise in Pakistan.

They also highlighted a recent ruling by the Supreme Court (SC), which deemed the arrest of former premier and PTI Chairman Imran Khan ‘illegal’ and unjust.

They emphasised the importance of prompt and transparent court proceedings, allowing the independent legal system to carry out its duties. Recognising the longstanding friendship between Canada and Pakistan, the lawmakers urged PM Trudeau to reaffirm Ottawa’s commitment to justice, democracy, and human rights, both within Pakistan and globally.

They stressed the significance of Pakistanis having the autonomy to determine their own destiny through free and fair elections, governed by the principles of the rule of law and respect for human rights.

The Canadian lawmakers pledged to closely monitor the situation in Pakistan and maintain unwavering advocacy democracy. They anticipated a timely and substantive response from Prime Minister Trudeau, acknowledging that democracy and justice will ultimately prevail.

PM gets clean chit in another corruption investigation

LAHORE STAFF REPORT

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has exonerated Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif from any allegations of financial misconduct related to the Rs14 billion Ashianai-Iqbal housing scheme scandal.

In a supplementary investigation report submitted to an accountability court in Lahore, the dirty money watchdog declared both Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz innocent of charges in the money laundering case.

The bureau has previously al-

leged that Sharif, as chief minister of Punjab, first transferred the project from Punjab Land Development Company (PLDC) to Lahore Development Authority (LDA), then back to PLDC from LDA, “illegally” ordered it transferred to Paragon Housing Society and then kept it in public-private partnership (PPP) mode, interfered in board affairs and took measures apparently in violation of the law, and “illegally” cancelled the contract of Chaudhry Lateef and Sons in 2013.

However, according to the latest NAB findings, no evidence

was found to suggest any misappropriation in the tendering process for the housing project. It further claimed the project did not cause any financial loss to the national exchequer during its execution, and Sharif did not personally gain any monetary benefits.

The report also concluded that there was no indication of misuse of authority by Sharif and no element of deceit in his involvement with the project.

Previously, on May 10, the NAB submitted a report to the accountability court declaring Sharif, his son Hamza Shehbaz, and other individuals “innocent” in Rs7 billion references related to money laundering and alleged accumulation of assets beyond their declared means.

During the court hearing, the judge adjourned the case until May 27 after the defense lawyer, Amjad Pervaiz, mentioned the NAB’s clearance of Sharif and the other accused in the reference.

The lawyer expressed readiness to present arguments supporting the acquittal pleas, but the judge, citing health concerns, postponed the proceedings to the next hearing date.

A lifelong Republican, the party of Trump, Bolton served as White House national security adviser between April 2018 and September 2019 and is the author of “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir.”

In his long, frequently controversial career in government, he held senior positions in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and the elder George Bush. He is widely considered a foreign policy hawk, and is an advocate for military action and regime change by the US in Iran and North Korea. Last year, he created quite a stir when he casually admitted on television that he had helped plan attempted coups in foreign countries. Following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, he wrote an opinion column for the Washington Post in which he advocated the imposition of anti-terrorist sanctions on Pakistan and “accelerating” the tilt toward India to avoid a “new 9/11”.

The call between Khan and Bolton followed a tweet on Wednesday by the latter criticising the government’s decision to set up military courts to try civilian members of the public accused of “attacking” defense installations such as the General Headquarters (GHQ).

“The treatment of […] Imran Khan hinders relations and raises tensions. Civilians should not be tried in military courts where they have no access to basic rights,” he wrote. “The US has critical interests in Pakistan [and] continued instability and violence are not in anyone’s interests.”

Khan, who has publicly accused the US of colluding with the “local handlers” and the hodgepodge Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) coalition to oust him in April of last year, has been on a charm offensive lately.

The US chapter of his party has helped arrange inperson and telephonic contacts between prominent lawmakers such as Senator Jacky Rosen and Congressman Brad Sherman. Zalmay Khalilzad, former diplomat and the architect of US withdrawal from Afghanistan, also continues to dwell on the political tug of war, much to the chagrin of the Foreign Office, urging Islamabad to change the “disastrous” course.

Separately, earlier this month, the powerful Foreign Relations Committee of the US Senate urged Islamabad to de-escalate tensions between the government and PTI. The chairman of the committee, Senator Bob Menendez, in the statement said he was “closely monitoring the developments in Pakistan,” which he described as “concerning.”

The opposition party of the former prime minister has also hired a lobbying firm in the US to improve its relations with decision-makers in Washington after accusing the country of toppling its government.

Washington-based Praia Consultants LLC was signed on a six-month contract in February by the American chapter of the party for a fee of $8,333 a month. Lobbyists are paid persuaders who aim to influence government decisions, and often operate behind closed doors through quiet negotiations with politicians. They use a variety of tactics to construct their influence. Documents revealed that the contract, signed February 21, aims to promote the party’s image and improve its relationship with the US government and institutions. The results have been phenomenal and swift. Just this week, over 65 members of Congress expressed concerns about the volatile political situation in Pakistan and urged Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to pressurise the government of Shehbaz Sharif to improve the human rights situation in the country.

Pakistan reports fourth monkeypox case

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Pakistan on Saturday reported another case of monkeypox, originating from Saudi Arabia, taking the total infections to four.

Media reports said that the country reported its fourth monkeypox case as another passenger who arrived in the country from Saudi Arabia tested positive for the disease. It claimed that the patient, who landed at Islamabad airport from Makkah, was diagnosed with the disease. Meanwhile, the National Institute of Health (NIH) has also confirmed the development, saying that the patient had been shifted to the isolation ward of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad.

Imran misled people by posting AI-generated picture of woman on Twitter: Marriyum

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Minister for Information and Broadcasting

Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Saturday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan generated an image of a woman by artificial intelligence (AI) and shared it on his Twitter handle and ridiculed the security personnel by claiming his female supporters were being targeted by the law enforcement agencies (LEAs).

Addressing a press conference here, she said that in fact no such incident occurred and his lie was exposed by a television channel from France.

“On May 19 in a tweet, Imran Khan uploaded pictures of Rangers and police in front of a woman’s picture created by artificial intelligence”, she said, adding Imran Khan and his party tried to give a wrong impression that his party’s female supporters were victimized by the LEAs but the French TV channel revealed the truth. It categorically stated that no fundamental rights of anyone were violated during the crackdown on May 9 arsonists, she added. On the contrary, she said human rights of schoolchildren, patients in hospitals and general public were trampled by the PTI goons who attacked sensitive installations and public property on the behest of Imran Khan.

She said that the entire nation was dismayed over the attacks that Imran Khan had planned to avoid the cases of foreign funding, theft of Tosha Khana gifted and paternity issue of his daughter. The minister said that even the enemy could not do in 75 years’ history what Imran Khan did on May 9. Marriyum Aurangzeb said for the first time in the history of Pakistan, the uniform was mocked and the memorials of the martyrs were desecrated which caused jubilation in the neighboring country. Marriyum Aurangzeb said Imran Khan was the mastermind behind the May 9 arson attacks and his so-called condemnation of the tragic incidents would not absolve him of responsibility.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan’s dirty antics and tricks were continuing on a daily basis, she added.

Marriyum Aurangzeb said for the first time, Imran Khan had realized what were the consequences of palying with the law.

“Imran Khan had been planning such terrorist activities for the past 14 months when he was thrown out of power through the democratic process of no-confidence motion,” she said.

Terming the May 9 arson attacks as the darkest day in the history of Pakistan, she said that Jinnah House which was now Corps Command’s House, was burnt and the martyrs’ memorials were desecrated by the

PTI gangs on the behest of Imran Khan. The minister said that the miscreants of the PTI burnt schools, mosques, ambulances and public property, even they did not spare animals’ market. She said that the enemy of Pakistan was pleased with the act of Imran Khan as he did what the enemy could not do during the past 75 years.

Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the PTI’s senior leadership continued to infuriate and instigate the party workers during arson attacks. The whole nation was in a shock due to the tragedy of May 9, but on May 19 Imran Khan made “the drama of condemnation” to cover up his own crimes but he could not absolve himself from the responsibility.