Epaper_23-08-22 KHI

PM K AK AR REITERATES GOVT’S RESOLVE TO PROTECT MINORITIES

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JARANWALA

He said this during a solidarity visit t o t h e J a r a n w a l a w h e r e a t l e a s t 1 9 c h u r c h e s w e r e t o r c h e d b y a v i o l e n t m o b o v e r b l a s p h e m y a l l e g a t i o n s o n August 16

Speaking at a gathering of the Christian community, the premier emphasised unity among different faiths E x p r e s s i n g d e e p s o r r o w o v e r t h e t r a g i c i n c i d e n t i n F a i s a l a b a d d i s t r i c t s J a r a n w a l a P M K a k a r s a i d t h a t s u c h i n c i d e n t s h i g h l i g h t p r e v a i l i n g s o c i et a l a i l m e n t

“If any individual is found committing injustices against the lives or property of minorities the state will stand in solidarity with the minority brethren he added

He said that there exists no place in t h e c o u n t r y w h e r e C h r i s t i a n b r e t h r e n are not an integral part Quoting verses from the Holy Quran he reminded the respect accorded to Hazrat Isa (AS) and Bibi Maryam

He questioned why the two faiths who share similar beliefs would be at odds with each other Extremism holds no affiliation with any religion, sect, or region ” he added

He further said that the shared responsibility of safeguarding the rights of minorities rests upon all citizens

Taking to X formerly Twitter Kakar who was sworn in as caretaker prime minister on August 14, had earlier announced that he will visit the site of the incident today

“I’m heading to Jaranwala to meet and empathise with our Christian

brethren,” he tweeted

More than 80 Christian homes and 19 churches were vandalised when thousands rampaged through a Christian neighbourhood in Jaranwala last week Terror and panic gripped the town for hours as the mob equipped with batons, push carts and patrol cans stormed the neighbourhood, ransacking homes and vandalising places of worship while

chanting slogans of a right-wing party

Reports that a copy of the Holy Quran had been desecrated were broadcast from mosques, with one cleric telling his followers it was Better to die if you don’t care about Islam”

The mob attack was widely condemned by political and religious leaders of the country as well as by civil society and the army chief

Since then, a cleric is among a dozen people being investigated for using mosque loudspeakers to order protests against alleged blasphemy by Christians which erupted into mob violence in Punjab earlier this week a senior police official said That cleric should have understood that when you gather people in such a charged environment in a country in which people were already very sensitive about (blasphemy) it is like adding fuel to fire Punjab IGP Usman Anwar told AFP during an interview

He said the cleric was one of 12 people who were being investigated for using mosque loudspeakers, while more than 125 people have been arrested linked to the vandalism that followed thanks to the use of facial recognition technology mobile phone geo-fencing and data gathered from social media

At its peak, more than 5,000 people had poured into the neighbourhood from other districts with smaller mobs spreading to narrow alleys where they ransacked homes Christians who fled in their hundreds have criticised police for failing to protect their property, with some sheltered by their Muslim neighbours

Public debt: How did the PDM

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lar belief, the revenue deficit is not only due to the public’s refusal to pay taxes but also stems from a deeper problem within the National Finance Commission (NFC) The NFC by allocating only 2-5% weightage to tax revenue, has failed to incentivize tax collection and tax generation in Pakistan’s provinces (who the world bank estimates to have a potential of accruing billions of dollars worth of taxes) Therefore when the Finance Minister is compelled to announce the resource provisions to the Provinces in the Federal Budget Pakistan’s domestic debt figures immediately increase This is aggravated by the growing net difference between our imports and exports, which drives our external borrowing and thus, raises our external debt

Moreover as long as Pakistan’s external account does not become self-sustaining i e exports do not exceed imports Pakistan will be looking towards external dollar financing, some of which is bound to be in the form of debt

Therefore without structural changes to our commissions economy and consumption patterns the debt stock in absolute terms is simply bound to increase without a direct fault of the government in power Debt to GDP Ratio: A Better Measure

SC registrar returns Imran’s plea for ‘right to fair trial’

ISLAMABAD S TA F F R E P O R T

The Supreme Court s (SC s) Registrar Office on Monday refused to entertain a petition challenging ‘political victimisation’ and denial of ‘right to fair trial’ over rejected pre-arrest bail pleas of ousted prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan A constitutional petition was filed before the top court on Imran s behalf seeking relief in cases wherein his pre-arrest bail pleas were rejected on technical grounds

The petition invoked Article 184(3) of the Constitution of Pakistan with prayer to protect the fundamental rights of the petitioner and set aside the trial court s dismissals of pre-arrest bail pleas

It further moved the court to restrain the relevant authorities from arresting the PTI chief in cases where his pre-arrest bail applications were dismissed without due consideration of cases merits, thereby ensuring his rightful access to fair trial ” according to the notice issued by the SC registrar office

between patterns of domestic and external debt can be seen as an unfair representation of a government s actual economic performance and here’s why:

Pakistan’s Debt Stock in Absolute Terms

Firstly the total amount of debt stock (money borrowed is more than the money repaid) in Pakistan will definitely continue to grow for the next few decades regardless of how efficient a government is The inevitability of the debt stock is a consequence of the country s inability to generate a revenue that is higher than its spending, which results in it borrowing money Contrary to popu-

Instead of looking at figures that are predestined to show an increase the debt crisis can be more realistically assessed through the debt to GDP ratio By comparing what a country owes with what it produces the debt-to-GDP ratio reliably indicates that particular country s ability to pay back its debts

To illustrate Figure 1 depicts precisely the stark difference between presenting public debt as a percentage of GDP versus in absolute terms While the trend for total public debt is a consistent increase from 2009 and 2018 the debt to

criticising the PDM-stint are failing to account for is that even though the total amount of debt increased by a greater amount during the PDM government total debt as a percentage of GDP was 75 8% in March 2022, while on the contrary, it is currently at 73 6%, which means that Pakistan is actually at a better position to repay its public debt after the PDM government than it was after PTI s rule

It is important to note here that the debt stock during this period is more domestic than external, which has its own set of problems, but these problems supersede the binary of “better or worse than the previous government Accounting for Currency Devaluations: The Best Measure

However, measuring Total Debt as a percentage of GDP without accounting for changes in exchange rates especially when the changes are as drastic as they were in the last 1 year is still a simplistic and more importantly, unrepresentative measure This is because while the total external borrowing may have actually increased by a small amount in dollar terms due to the rupee devaluation between the two time periods when the figures are converted to rupee terms and compared, the difference may appear to be exponentially larger than it actually is This is perhaps the reason why PDM’s public debt figure appears to be as staggering as it is especially when compared to 2022 s statistics– it may very well be that this overly pronounced figure of Rs 63 trillion is simply a consequence of the exchange rate increasing from Rs 205 in July 2022 to Rs 285 in July 2023

Let me explain Public Debt includes the total amount of money borrowed and required to be paid back This is further divided into domestic debt, which is money owed to lenders within the country in the country s own currency and external debt which is money borrowed from foreign lenders, including commercial banks, governments, or international financial institutions in foreign currency (usually USD)

g P m K a K a r d e P lo r e s s u c h i n c i d e n t s h i g h l i g h t ‘ P r e va i l i n g s o c i e ta l a i l m e n t ’ g W h y t W o fa i t h s W h o s h a r e s i m i l a r b e l i e fs W o u l d b e at o d d s W i t h e a c h ot h e r; a r g u e s P m C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 02 S P E C I A L R E P O R T C O N T I N U E D O N PA G E 03

ISL AMABAD ATC GRANTS POLICE

3-DAY PHYSICAL REMAND OF IMA AN MA ZARI, ALI WA ZIR IN SEDITION

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

AN Islamabad anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday granted police three-day physical remand of human rights lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and former lawmaker Ali Wazir in a sedition case

Wazir was arrested on Saturday while Imaan was picked up from her home in the early hours of Sunday On Saturday two first information reports (FIR) were registered against the two at Islamabad s Tarnol police station and Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) police station

The arrests were made two days after a public meeting organised by the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) Wazir a PTM member and Imaan had both addressed the rally Videos circulating on social media showed speakers criticising the military establishment over enforced disappearances

On Sunday, the two were presented in the court of Judicial Magistrate Ihtasham Alam Khan

According to the detailed court order the investigating officer (IO) requested a 10-day physical remand in the sedition case, registered under Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), 1997 The judge had granted one day’s remand and ordered police to present the two before an anti-terrorism court on Monday (today)

Subsequently the two were produced by police in the court of ATC judge Abul Hasnat Zulqarnain earlier today Before the hearing began, Imaan embraced her mother

Shireen Mazari and became teary eyed

Imaan’s legal team, including Zainab Janjua and Mirza Asim Baig were present for today s hearing Taking the rostrum Janjua argued that police had already been given one-day remand of her client

Fatima case: DIG

Sukkur confirms ‘sexual assault’ on minor maid

Police have not yet found anything she said, adding that officials had also not investigated anything related to Imaan

“Imaan Mazari is not running away

She is here ” she argued The counsel also pointed out that officials had seized Imaan s mobile phone and laptop adding that two cases of a similar nature had been registered against her client

The lawyer insisted that it was not necessary for her client to remain in police custody and asked the court to remand her in judicial custody “What are the allegations against Imaan Mazari? the judge asked At this Prosecutor Raja Naveed said that a rally was held in Islamabad where anti-state speeches were made

The prosecutor also pointed out that a similar case had been registered against Imaan in 2022 He said that officials had not seized more evidence from the suspect and also had to conduct her photogrammetric test and voice matching test as he urged the court to grant police physical custody

He stated that officials also had to trace more suspects through Imaan and Wazir

However Janjua interjected and wondered why officials had not presented evidence against his client Why hasn t the photogrammetric test or voice matching test been done as yet? she asked Her speech is there on social media

Her laptop and mobile phone are also with the police,” the lawyer pointed out “What will you achieve by keeping her in [police] custody? she asked adding that officials wanted to prove that Imaan was a terrorist

The lawyer also pointed out that Imaan was taken into custody while she was in her sleeping suit and was also brought to court in the same “The police have perhaps forgotten that they also have mothers and sisters at home the lawyer said

SUKKUR: Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Police Sukkur Javed Jiskani on Monday confirmed ‘sexual assault’ on minor maid Fatima, who died in Ranipur’s Pir Haveli The issue initially came to light after video clips of Fatima s body bearing severe torture marks went viral on social media In the video the seriously injured girl was seen struggling to sit up on her bed but collapsed DIG Sukkur division, Javed Jiskani said the medical report has confirmed the physical and sexual assault of Fatima The top court further said DNA samples have been collected from the residents of Ranipur Haveli and after the report the culprit who raped Fatima will be identified The DIG Sukkur further said after the incident, two residents of the Haveli are missing He vowed to bring the culprits to justice no matter how ‘powerful’ they are Earlier Police arrested the medical superintendent (MS) of the Ranipur Rural Health Centre Ali Hassan Wassan for facilitating the prime suspect Asad Shah and hiding facts in the housemaid Fatima murder case The body of child maid Fatima was exhumed for post-mortem examination and the samples of the body were collected on Saturday in the presence of medical board members and a Judicial Magistrate According to the initial post-mortem report the body of Fatima was in its initial phase of decomposition Her face was blue on the one side and green on the other, according to report “There were torture marks on the body including eyes, waist, forehead, feet knees and hands ” S ta f f R e p o R t

ECP’s fresh delimitation notification challenged in LHC

LAHORE: The notification outlining the fresh delimitation of constituencies has been challenged in the LHC The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had previously announced a new delimitation of constituencies in preparation for conducting general elections utilising digital census data On Monday, a concerned citizen lodged a petition against the decision made by the commission The petitioner urged the high court to render the fresh delimitation notification null and void

The petition contended that the ECP had issued the notification pertaining to the new constituencies unlawfully Therefore, the petitioner sought a declaration from the court that the notification concerning constituencies be invalidated Furthermore the petitioner called upon the court to issue an immediate injunction to halt the implementation of the notification linked to the delimitation S ta f f R e p o R t

CASE

Imaan s legal team then sought permission from the court to meet their client

She fainted yesterday We were unable to meet her at the police station,” the lawyer said “Imaan Mazari wants accountability of institutions for which she is being called a terrorist she said However prosecutor Naveed said that to criticise the head of the institution was to criticise the institution itself He then sought 10-day physical remand of both Imaan and Wazir

At this point during the hearing, Wazir came to the rostrum and said “When I organised the gathering [in Islamabad] I received a call from the caretaker government who told me that we cannot organise it We said that we want our voice to reach Islamabad The interim government gave us three locations [but] we said that we must hold the gathering in Islamabad ” he added Wazir insisted nothing wrong was stated during the public meeting

After hearing the arguments the court reserved its verdict and subsequently, granted police three-day physical remand of Imaan and Wazir

F I R S R E G I S T E R E D : Two first information reports (FIR) had been registered against the two on Saturday at the Tarnol police station and CTD police station

The first FIR was registered on the complaint of Tarnol Station House Officer (SHO) Mian Mohammad Imran under Sections 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon) 149 (unlawful assembly) 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions) 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 395 (punishment for dacoity) 440 (mischief committed after preparation made for caus-

ing death or hurt) and 506ii (criminal intimidation) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC)

The FIR said that the complainant on Friday at 5pm was present with other police officers at Tarnol Phatak Chowk to maintain peace and calm during a rally of the PTM

It said that the rally led by PTM chief Manzoor Pashteen, including Wazir and Imaan, began moving from the spot allocated to it in violation of its no-objection certificate

The SHO said when the police officers attempted to stop the rally from moving towards Islamabad then the rally s 700-800 participants armed with sticks confronted the officials He said that upon being stopped after attempting to move towards Islamabad again the crowd blocked both lanes of Grand Trunk (GT) Road by placing containers and staged a demonstration while traffic was completely blocked

SHO Imran said when the PTM leadership and supporters were asked to open GT road for traffic, the rally participants attacked the police while issuing threats of dire consequences broke mirrors of official vehicles forcefully shut down shops and a petrol pump and snatched anti-riot kits from the police

The second FIR was registered on the complaint of Inspector Mohammad Ashraf under PPC Sections 124A (sedition) 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon) 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 153 (inciting to riot), 153A (promotion of enmity between groups) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) Sections 7 (punishment for acts of terrorism) and 11 (power to order forfeiture) of the Anti-Terrorism Act read with Section 21i were included as well

The inspector said he was present at Tarnol when a PTM rally of around 900950 people blocked GT road He said Pashteen, Imaan and others had spoken against state institutions and their heads in their speeches attempted to incite rebellion weaken the army compel officers to abandon their duties promote terrorism warned of dire consequences for the judiciary and called on people to engage in civil war and strife The FIR specifically pointed out Pashteen and Imaan for attempting to create distance between Pakhtuns and the army and spreading fear in the public by threatening of marching towards Islamabad

Special cour t grants Qureshi’s 4-day remand to FIA under secrets law

ISLAMABAD: A special court in Islamabad, formed on Monday to hear cases filed under the Official Secrets Act, has granted Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) four-day physical remand of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mahmood Qureshi in a cipher case Qureshi who was arrested on Saturday by the FIA was presented before the special court today for the hearing of a cipher case registered under the same act Judge Abual Hasnat, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) judge, conducted the hearing on the case registered against Qureshi under the Official Secrets Act At the outset of the hearing the FIA prosecutor sought Qureshiĺs 13-day physical remand for the recovery of the alleged missing cipher while his counsel Shoaib Shaheen opposed the FIA s plea After hearing the arguments, the court reserved the verdict on the FIA’s plea After a while the judge announced the reserved verdict and ordered the FIA officials to present Qureshi before the court on August 25 (Friday) Earlier Judge Hasnat ordered expelling unauthorised people from the courtroom, prior to the start of the in-camera hearing Staff RepoRt

NAB inquir y repor t declares Par vez Elahi guilt y of corruption

LAHORE: The inquiry report of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) issued on Monday declared Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Central President and former Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi of alleged corruption in award of contracts The NAB report released here stated that the PTI leader approved 116 development schemes for Gujarat in collaboration with his close aides

ISLAMABAD S ta f f R e p o R t

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) top decision0-making body the Core Committee on Monday strongly condemned the inhuman and vindictive actions of jail authorities against PTI Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan in Attock jail and vowed to take up the issue of President Alvi’s breach of orders in the apex court

In a handout issued here by the party s media wing the PTI said that the the inhuman and vindictive actions of jail authorities against PTI Chairman were now testified by Additional District and Sessions Judge (AD&SJ)

Shafqatullah Khan who lamented that former prime minister was detained in horrible conditions as a CCTV camera was installed in front of his cell leaving no privacy PTI Core Committee in its meeting here on Monday a report submitted by the AD&SJ Shafqatullah Khan highlighting mistreatment of the PTI chairman in the Attock jail

The participants stated that the PTI core committee had been pointing out these inhuman, immoral and ill-treatment being meted out to Imran Khan in jail for long but now it was also confirmed by the AD&SJ in his report, who certified that the complaints of PTI Chairman were completely true as he was being kept in condition against Pakistan Prison Rules 257 and 771

However, PTI Core Committee stated that despite these repressive, brutal and coercive measures, the PTI Chairman was in high spirit who was sticking to his principles like a rock

On the occasion they strongly condemned the illegal arrest of PTI Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi by

the FIA and the ill-treatment meted out to him in captivity

During the meeting, they discussed the President Arif Alvi s tweet and the subsequent situation pertaining to the approval of the draft amendments to the Army Act and the Official Secrets Act threadbare They categorically rejected the Ministry of Law s notification regarding formation of a special court to hear cases under the Official Secrets Act

The participants of the meeting said that the appearance of Qureshi before the special court and holding in-camera hearing after the President s tweet and his clear position was really concerning adding that legislation without the assent of the President could not complete They said that in the first round of legislation, applying the principle of “deemed to have been approved” to a draft law without the assent of the President was a clear deviation from the Constitution and rules and regulations

The meeting said that the draft amendments to the Army Act and the Official Secrets Act were sent to the President on August 8 and the after the dissolution of the National Assembly on the recommendation of the Prime Minister on August 9 the Parliament was incomplete for the approval of the two amendment bills PTI Core Committee said that as a result of President s clear refusal, issuance of notification of amendment drafts was a serious mockery of the Constitution and law which was condemnable and punishable crime They said that the sole aim to accelerate coercive measures and reprisal actions under the guise of the unapproved bills was to crush the future of Imran Khan and his party PTI Core Committee said that the PTI would approach the Supreme Court for the solution of this

serious constitutional and state crisis

and to bring those responsible to book

In the meeting, they also discussed various aspects of the hearing of the appeal against the sentence of PTI Chairman in the Toshakhana case along with the hearing of his appeal in Islamabad High Court scheduled for today (Tuesday) They vowed that the PTI legal team would fight his case vigorously hoping that the series of revenge and discriminatory implementation of the law would come to an end and justice would be provided The meeting stated that the continued worst reprisal actions against the PTI workers and leaders were also discussed in detail

It strongly condemned the sealing of Usman Dar s house and factory once again in sheer violation of the court orders They also strongly denounced the state brutalities against senior parliamentarian Sardar Nasrullah Drishak and his family in South Punjab

During the meeting, they reiterated the demands of the formation of a highly empowered judicial commission to prove into the cipher in order to bring the truth before the nation The participants vowed that they would not accept any unconstitutional attempts to delay the holding of elections beyond mandatory 90 days deadline PTI core committee held detailed discussion over the party organizational matters, expressing satisfaction on their performance regarding the effective achievement of the goals besides paying tributes to the officials Moreover they also considered various options for upholding supremacy of the constitution, rule of law, restoration of democracy, protection of people’s right to vote and active participation of the people in the movement for real freedom

The former chief minister was also involved in misuse of the authority and office the report added The NAB accused him of using his influence to award contracts of schemes to his favourite contractors The report stated that Parvez Elahi awarded contracts through his frontmen and received bribe and kickbacks

The report said the ex-chief minister issued funds in advance to receive kickbacks He diverted funds allocated for other schemes to his approved plans He misused his position as the head of the province and received kickbacks, the report added S ta f f R e p o R t

SC registrar returns Imran’s plea for ‘right to fair trial’

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It further mentioned that misconceiving multifarious prayers have been made in one Constitution Petition and that the petitioner has not approached any other appropriate forum available under the law for the same relief without justifying why he has not done so Article 184(3) of the Constitution stipulates that for the court to have original jurisdiction on a matter the matter needs to be of public importance and it must involve a violation of fundamental rights as enshrined in the Constitution Imran was arrested for the second time in three months on August 5 2023 after a district and sessions court sentenced him to three years in prison in the gifts repositary case The party has challenged the trial court s ruling before the Islamabad High Court Shortly after the verdict, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) disqualifiedthe PTI chief for five years and revoked his status as a returned candidate from NA-45 Kurram due to his conviction in the Toshakhana case Over 150 cases have been filed against the PTI chief since he was ousted from office in April 2022 through a vote of noconfidence

20-year- old girl ‘missing’ from Pir ’s mansion in Ranipur

RANIPUR ag e n c i e S

A 20-year-old girl was reportedly missing from Pir Syed Sohail Ahmad Shah s mansion in Khairpur s Ranipur Sindh

The girl hailed from Meena village in the Qamber area and was handed over to the Pir by her parents until a domestic dispute between the two parties was resolved, say media reports

According to the parents Pir Shah had

asked for the girl to be left at his mansion until their dispute was resolved However they claimed that they received a call all of a sudden mentioning their daughter s disappearance The parents lamented that despite searching the mansion and its surroundings several times they were not informed about her whereabouts

They further added that the Ranipur police station did not lodge a complaint regarding their daughter s case despite several attempts

The girl s family protested against Pir Shah and demanded the Sindh caretaker chief minister and the police immediately recover their daughter

Earlier this week, a 10-year-old maid passed away under mysterious circumstances at the residence of an influential person in the same area of Ranipur

Initial findings revealed that the unfortunate incident occurred within the premises of Pir Asad Shah Jilani s Haveli

According to police sources, CCTV

footage from the house s bedroom revealed the distressed condition of 10-yearold Fatima Marks of torture were clearly visible on the victim s body in other footage that went viral on social media following the tragic incident

However the mother of the deceased stated in her testimony that her daughter was working at Shah s house when she passed away The parents of the girl denied any occurrence of torture, claiming that Fatima was ill and receiving treatment

hore police submitted a report signed on August 17 informing the court that the suspect had been handed over to the military The report said both Niazi and Haider were arrested from Abbottabad s Mirpur police station by Sarwar Road police in a terror case The report said that two letters were re-

custody ture of lawyers during a PTI rally Niazi was one of the lawyers representing him Earlier this year he was also part of the legal team in a case filed by PTI leader Asad Umar s wife seeking her husband s recovery after he had courted arrest In the petition filed on August 19, Muhammad had named Punjab Inspector General Dr Usman Anwar Lahore Capital City Police Officer Bilal Siddique Kamyana the Sarwar Road station house officer (SHO), and the provincial and federal governments as the respondents in the case The plea had urged the court to direct the

which respondents to “immediately produce” his son and release him accordingly It further requested that the PTI advocate s detention be declared illegal, unlawful and without lawful authority and that an inquiry be initiated into the illegal, unlawful and withoutlaw authority actions of the respondents” Muhammad recalled that Haider “a lawabiding citizen and [a] professional member of legal fraternity had been abducted illegally It further said the police gave no reason for the abduction and did not present any search warrant, arrest warrant or any grounds of arrest”

UNDERSTANDING K-ELECTRIC’S CAYMAN LEGAL BATTLE

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In my evaluation this ruling undoubtedly favours the applicant, IGCF SPV 21 Limited, asserts Rabel Z Akhund, Founder & Managing Partner at Akhund Forbes

He further clarifies, “While not legally binding on Pakistani courts the directives issued to other shareholders notably Al Jomaih Power and Denham Investments as outlined in the order pertaining to the cessation of ongoing proceedings in Pakistan leave no room for ambiguity A failure to comply potentially exposes them to repercussions within the Cayman courts pending any appeals that the Other Shareholders may choose to pursue within the Cayman courts and the eventual outcome of such appeals ” Akhund cautions

Profit has already covered how the matter has gotten to this point whereby both parties would need to selectively highlight portions of a court s decision

H E A R I N G B O T H S I D E S O F T H E A I S L E

How then have these stakeholders responded to the clarion call of the Cayman Grand Court s pronouncement?

This court order merely documents the Court s previous judgement of July 20, 2023 In effect, the Cayman court has only partially granted the relief sought by AsiaPak and recognises that there are important public policy matters which the Pakistan courts and authorities must be allowed to determine and are bound to take very seriously Shan Abbas Ashary Chief Investment Officer at the Al-Jomaih Group and Non-Executive Director of K-Electric, clarifies

“K-Electric is an important asset and Al Jomaih and Denham remain committed to the people of Karachi and the success of K-Electric In recognition of that point the Cayman Court permits the Pakistan Proceedings to continue with the Government of Pakistan through the Privatization Commission and Power Division Secretaries, NEPRA and SECP, Ashary continues

“We are grateful to the Cayman Courts for recognizing that this is a sensitive matter for the people and Government of Pakistan with implications for national security Nothing in the 16th August Order can be implemented till a second Hearing takes place which is scheduled for sometime in October Ashary adds

On the flip side of the legal spectrum, how does AsiaPak interpret this?

“Firstly, the Cayman court’s verdict is unequivocal

It affirms that the initial shareholders Al Jommaih the Kuwaitis, and ourselves are bound by the shareholders agreement, which is under the jurisdiction of Cayman law and English law, and adjudicated by Cayman courts Consequently, the Sindh High Court lacks jurisdiction in this matter Any objections must be redirected to the Cayman court Shehryar Chishti CEO of AsiaPak Investment the parent of AsiaPak commences with a clear stance The court abstains from dictating the Government of Pakistan, SECP, or the Privatisation Commission

The Government of Pakistan retains its prerogative to act ” Chishti elaborates

Public debt: How did the PDM gov t do?

nority shareholders had no privilege to launch or prolong proceedings in Karachi, including the stay order against K Electric s directors, Ijaz unpicks

“It allows minority shareholders to proceed against the government of Pakistan, SECP, and the Privatization Commission for regulatory matters But this exemption doesn t encompass shareholding disputes adds Ijaz Given the complexity Profit went and got a third opinion on the matter as well The granting of injunctive relief is indicative of the court s acknowledgement of two separate jurisdictions, clarifies Sarjeel Mowahid, a partner at a prominent law firm

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 01

External debt is required to be paid back in the dollars and therefore, likely to be earned in dollars as well which means that unless the state aims to convert domestic earnings into USD dollar amounts then the accounting of external debt is not entirely sensitive to exchange rate valuations as is popularly assumed This means that converting external debt to domestic currency for the sake of calculation of the debt-to-gdp ratio, would sometimes add an undue exchange rate bias

The difference in Pakistan’s external debt expressed in USD and PKR for 2022-2023 in Figure 2 clearly presents the problem at play It depicts that external borrowing under PDM s government from 2022 to 2023, actually decreased by $5 Billion USD, however since the multiplier amount (exchange rate) increased by almost 23%, when the same figure is converted and presented in PKR terms the external debt is seen to have increased by Rs 9 trillion

I N T E R P R E T I N G T H E C AY M A N G R A N D C O U RT S D E C I S I O

N

“Legally ‘judgement’ and ‘decree’ or ‘order ’ are often used interchangeably yet they convey distinct nuances A judgement is an anthology of arguments judicial scrutiny, and decision logic, explains Salman Ijaz, a partner at KhanIjaz

A ‘decree’ or ‘order,’ in contrast, is “a concise opus, often confined to a page encapsulating the judge’s pronouncement based on these arguments ” Ijaz explicates

The Court s proclamation on the 20th of July was its judgement while its declaration on the 16th of August was its decree or order This ultimate order essentially embodies the decision that had already been reached by the Cayman Island Court in its judgement on the 20th of July, 2023 “The decree doesn’t alter the court’s tenets It’s a jurisdictional assertion that the mi-

General Tyres accused of evading mandator y PSQCA registration since 2016

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The notice by PSQCA specifically referenced relevant sections of the Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority Act-VI of 1996 which unequivocally prohibit the production sale and storage of unregistered items

Failure to heed the notice could potentially expose General Tyres and Rubber Company (GTR) to legal repercussions In line with the PSQCA Act-VI of 1996, non-compliance may result in imprisonment of up to one year, substantial monetary fines or a combination of both Recognizing the potential consequences PSQCA advises GTR to promptly halt the production and sale of unregistered tires and initiate the requisite application process to obtain certification from the authority

This situation not only highlights the responsibility of manufacturers in upholding regulatory standards to ensure consumer safety and product excellence, but also poses a critical juncture for General Tyres as it responds to these allegations Industry stakeholders and consumers are closely watching the unfolding developments in this significant case Insider sources introduce an intriguing dimension to the narrative suggesting possible complicity within PSQCA’s ranks on the matter of registration of locally produced tyres Allegedly certain officials at PSQCA have been implicated in facilitating the evasion of mandatory inspections and registrations for financial gain, purportedly accepting kickbacks and bribes from companies This revelation raises questions about the integrity of the regulatory process itself and highlights the need for thorough investigations In response to inquiries, the official spokesperson from GTR confirmed the receipt of the notice The company pledged to provide a suitable response as required

Moreover the spokesperson asserted that the company already adheres to international quality standards for its tire products

T E M P O R A L S U S P E N S I O N : I M P L I C AT I O N S O F A P E N D I N G H E A R I N G

“The sixth paragraph elucidates that the ruling will remain in abeyance until a subsequent hearing takes place Ijaz elucidates This naturally begs the question: why necessitate another hearing when the court has already passed two judgements on the matter? The solution to this puzzle is tucked away in the fifth paragraph of the order

“The court bears the responsibility of ascertaining the entitlement of damages and costs for the majority shareholder in this instance AsiaPak who also happens to be the applicant Ijaz puts succinctly This entire order, at least from my interpretation, will remain dormant until a subsequent hearing has been convened to deliberate these issues and applications,” Ijaz adds Only after this impending hearing or in the event of any other court order will this order genuinely spring into action The respondents the minority shareholders will then find themselves duty-bound to comply with all these proclamations They will be obliged to retract proceedings in Karachi and will be barred from instigating any analogous proceedings in any court other than those in the Cayman Islands or English courts

As Afghanistan slashes coal prices again, can cement and power companies profit?

CONTIUED FROM BACK PAGE

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) permits the purchase of Afghan coal only if the landed cost is lower than that of imported coal from other sources ” clarifies Dr Fiaz Chaudhry Director of the LUMS Energy Institute and former Managing Director of the National Transmission & Despatch Company With a spot rate of 1$:Rs 297 13 Indonesian coal equates to a free-on-board price of Rs 21 467 per ton rendering it significantly cheaper than the rates quoted for Afghan coal Consequently, it s a non-starter in terms of electricity generation Now, what about cement companies?

Bonanza for North based companies

“The move is positive for North based cement companies and will potentially translate to a reduction of Rs 5 500/ton (assuming an exchange rate of 1$:Rs 296) adds Ghani This paints a rosy picture for companies The term Northern region companies is a reference to those enterprises nestled in the upper reaches of Pakistan s cement sector This sector, a mosaic of 16 companies, is neatly partitioned into two distinct regions: North and South The North, a vibrant tapestry of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir contrasts with the South’s expanse of Sindh and Balochistan However this rosy scenario is marred by one glaring issue: these cement behemoths are already awash with more capital than they can effectively deploy and their sales appear to be stagnating This conundrum has been previously explored in depth by Profit for those interested Moreover, 2023 has seen these cement companies not only developing a penchant for doling out dividends but also displaying an insatiable appetite for share buy-backs

Figure 2 also helps us assess the devaluation impact on total public debt calculations, which amounts to approximately Rs 11 Trillion as is shown in Figure 3 The mathematical working provided below shows that the increase in Pakistan’s total public debt is Rs 7 6 Trillion when devaluation is accounted for What this means is that if Pakistan s external debt in 2022 was calculated under 2023 s exchange rate, then the difference between the total debt in both years would be Rs 7 trillion less than if the depreciating rupee is accounted for

Another way to interpret this difference is through the starkly different debt to GDP ratio it provides Let s assume Pakistan s GDP size in 2023 is $380 Billion USD At current 2023 exchange rates, Pakistan s total debt to GDP ratio in USD terms [ (External Debt in USD + Internal Debt in USD*285)/(GDP in USD)] is $221 Billion/ $380 Billion 58% however under 2022 exchange rates (1 USD: 205 PKR) the ratio is $126 Billion/ $380 Billion 33 2% This means that there is a high probability that the concerning difference in 2022 and 2023 debt figures are simply a result of the volatility of Pakistan s currency, and do not reflect the actual patterns of borrowing occurred in the last 15 months

W H Y I S T H I S A P R O B L E M?

The consequences of misrepresenting the total debt incurred by a government extend beyond mere political point scoring Not accounting for changes in exchange rates has the potential of contributing further to Pakistan’s endemic problem of artificially overvaluing the Rupee As explained above the Rs 18 trillion difference in 2022 and 2023 public debt is very likely a result of Pakistan s depreciating exchange rate

However, if the PDM government continues to be criticised for this figure, it might signal to other governments that currency pegging or fixing the PKR to USD value will improve their performance metrics

In reality this is perhaps one of the reasons that has led Pakistan s economy to being where it currently is Shaping our economy to be import dependent and consumption based has meant that Pakistan’s economic growth has thrived when dollar denominated goods have become cheaper This has caused a consistent stream of Finance Ministers aiming to keep the dollar cheap against the rupee despite the serious trade deficits that we have had to incur in the process Ultimately, this has resulted in exchange rate explosions, in the form of drastic rupee devaluations in the internal market The focus, therefore, should be on encouraging governments to allow the currency to adjust according to free market forces as opposed to forcing them to fall back to old politically beneficial, short-term policy patterns

Sindh govt ignored SC orders to compensate affectees of anti-encroachment drives. What happens next?

CONTIUED FROM BACK PAGE

The Provincial Coordination & the Implementation Committee – PCIC was established by the federal and provincial governments for Karachi’s transformation plan In the committee s 5th meeting held in May 2021 it was decided that there has to be a resettlement program for the people who have been affected by the demolitions carried out by the Government of Sindh during their no-stones-left-unturned anti-encroachment drive in and around the Gujjar Nala Mehmoodabad and Orangi Nala

In June 2021 the Supreme Court issued an order directing the Sindh government to ensure alternative housing for displaced individuals within three months and to halt all further demolitions until this provision was met Regrettably the Sindh government did not adhere to this mandate Instead demolition persisted in some areas and the implementation of the resettlement plan for affected individuals was also significantly delayed Scrutinising a government resettlement project which aims to effectively resettle the almost 1 lakh affectees of the Gujjar, Orangi and Mehmoodabad demolitions Despite being well over halfway through the project s designated timeline there exists no tangible evidence to support the notion that the project is proceeding according to its budgetary phases or will achieve its intended completion by the stipulated deadline of June 2024

An examination of the Government of Sindh s budget records brings to light the significance of this issue A sum exceeding Rs9 423 billion has been earmarked for the dedicated Project Implementation Unit (PIU) operating under the Commissioner ’s office This unit bears the responsibility not only for successfully executing the housing scheme within a two-year timeframe but also for efficiently distributing the necessary rent checks to the impacted households However, following the issuance of the second monthly rent payment, no further disbursements have been made

ence hosted at the Karachi Press Club During this crucial event, a significant announcement was made: they conveyed their intention to initiate legal proceedings by filing a petition under the Contempt of Court Ordinance 2003 against the Chief Minister of Sindh Murad Ali Shah

Essentially, the SC had made an order in 2021 by which the Sindh government was supposed to compensate victims of anti-encroachment drives and the chief minister was supposed to submit regular progress reports to the court He failed to complete this court mandated task

The petition underscored the need for the government to address the issue of missing rent cheques of PKR 15,000 intended as monthly payments for the past two years, and to fulfil its obligation of providing suitable housing within the stipulated two-year period subsequent to the court s verdict

Nevertheless despite the passage of two years, a majority of the affected individuals remain devoid of any assistance beyond a solitary rent payment Adding to this predicament a mere 8% of the total budget assigned by the Government of Sindh (GoS) for alternative housing has been disbursed leaving the affected residents without shelter in the face of escalating inflation and the looming climate crisis Over this biennium, the GoS has taken an active role in spearheading anti-encroachment campaigns, yet its efforts have faltered in delivering proper rehabilitation

On June 23, 2021, UN Special Rapporteurs issued a public statement addressing the “Resettlement of Affectees of Gujjar, Mehmoodabad & Orangi Nullahs” initiative aimed at assisting locally displaced persons (LDPs) or affectees They noted that these demolitions have been carried out with little to no notice to the affected residents, with no regard for different degrees of tenure they may hold, and with disparate provisions for redress and compensation ”

water connections This government provision of essential utilities serves as further evidence that the authorities had not only actively supplied amenities to households previously deemed “encroachments ” but had also assisted residents in maintaining their livelihoods within the area for decades only to abruptly decide to displace them

If these residents were indeed settled unlawfully, the fact that they were granted access to electricity, water, and gas services introduces ambiguity regarding their classification as encroachments Remarkably even a family residing in Wahid Colony since 1925 – spanning generations that navigated through the almost a century

These rehabilitative measures were not decided by this committee on its own volition or ordained by the Sindh government out of the kindness of their hearts These steps were taken in compliance with the court order which also admonished these residents of these nullahs in the first place The endorsement of the resettlement scheme took place in December 2021, with its inclusion in the Annual Development Plan (ADP) of the Sindh Budget This developmental endeavour is valued at PKR 9 423 billion The slated date for its culmination is June 30 2024, as detailed in the Government of Sindh s budget documentation

The resettlement is intended to encompass a total land area of 258 23 acres, accommodating 6 500 housing units Each unit will span 80 square yards The official allocation breakdown can be found below:

The ADP Budget Book for 2023-24 and the GoS Finance Dashboard highlight a significant gap between the estimated cost of PKR 9 423 billion for the scheme and the actual expenditure which stood at only PKR 42 million as of June 30th 2023 Furthermore according to the Budget Book the Government of Sindh (GoS) intends to allocate merely 8% of the total cost, signifying that only an 8% financial progress will be achieved by the designated deadline of June 30 2024 Internal reports from the KBT survey reveal that only 35% of the affected individuals have received the first rent check out of the 24 payments promised to them in anticipation of the construction of alternative housing However, a staggering 72% of

those who did receive the checks were unable to convert them into cash, undermining the very purpose of such compensation

S

We spoke to independent researcher Sadya Siddiqui, who works closely with the legal team of KBT She told us, that from the Sindh Finance Department’s dashboard it is apparent that in March 2023, an amount of PKR 200 million was reallocated from the Resettlement scheme to facilitate the completion of a road project in Sukkur District referred to as the Construction/Rehabilitation of the Primary Secondary Roads in Sukkur District

While the reallocation of funds from one scheme to another is a common practice this instance raises concerns The resettlement scheme is directly linked to the critical provision of shelter in accordance with the Supreme Court s directive in its June 2021 order This reallocation starkly underscores the apparent indifference of the Provincial Government toward the demolitions’ affected individuals whom the Government itself recognizes as displaced persons

With a re-appropriation of Rs 20 crores and a mere Rs 4 2 crores expended on the project itself, significant doubt and disbelief are cast over Murad Ali Shah’s statement made on August 17, 2023 This declaration was given to the media just outside the Supreme Court Registry in Karachi where he asserted that exhaustive efforts were being exerted to aid the affectees since the June 2021 verdict was delivered

Furthermore, the PIU has engaged a consultant who is concurrently offering comparable services to the Malir Development Authority (MDA) Notably in 2021 the unit established an internal timeline of 18 months for the completion of the physical construction process Alongside this, the unit formulated a budget-allocation breakdown for its own operations:

resettlement of the affectees of natural nallas/storm drains of metropolis However, it is clear that no progress was made by the local government in response to the same

On Tuesday, January 25, 2022, a tragic incident occurred in Gujjar Nala resulting in the loss of a 45-year-old life due to the collateral effects of demolition work Strikingly there were no emergency services available on-site despite the Government of Sindh s (GoS) active involvement in the area and its awareness of the risks and hazards The deceased, a father of seven children, was the sole breadwinner of his household

This is not the only such case Over the years following the demolitions and the subsequent resident-led protests a number of instances of police brutality have been documented An internal KBT report mentions that as many as 21,000 children would be put out of school and under the open sky as a result of this anti-encroachment drive which was undertaken by the GoS in 2021

W H AT N O W?

On 17th August 2023 Murad Ali Shah and Murtaza Wahab came to the court and presented their explanations in front of the bench The court order explains that the Chief Minister expressed regret for not filing the monthly progress reports and explained why the project timeline was not followed The court also further ensured through verbal agreement with Murad Ali Shah, Murtaza Wahab and other officials of the GoS present in court that they will commit to the complete disbursement of rent checks within the next 30 days

In addition Murad Ali Shah Murtaza Wahab and the Chief Secretary of Sindh Govt proposed two distinct alternatives for the resettlement and rehabilitation of the affected individuals Firstly, the Government of Sindh (GoS) could allocate funds for the purchase of land and construction for the affected individuals Alternatively the GoS could assign 80 sq yard plots to the affected individuals in the Malir Development Authority, with the construction costs being covered separately

The nation’s poor children

How long must we keep failing them?

PA K I S TA N’S child rights situation is a dire nightmare, with Fatima becoming the second young victim within three weeks, illustrating the disturbing agenda of an influential elite aiming to strip children of their humanity A tragic case emerges from the haveli of Pir Asad Ali Shah Jeelani in Ranipur, Khairpur district where the 10-year-old domestic worker faced alleged rape and torture tragically resulting in her parents being summoned to collect her lifeless body Pir Asad Ali Shah Jeelani is currently in police custody and acknowledges the practice of sending children to work at the haveli The Sindh Human Rights Commission highlights significant gaps in the initial police report urging the incorporation of appropriate legal clauses As investigations unfold, three additional arrests have been made by the Ranipur police, and a medical board of four experts has been assembled to perform an autopsy on Fatima s remains Concurrently, a woman in Islamabad faces similar charges for mistreating her 13-year-old maid

Despite Pakistan’s ratification of the ILO’s Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, aiming to eradicate the most heinous child labor practices, the plight of vulnerable children continues to worsen The ILO’s 2004 assessment revealed over 264 000 child laborers in domestic settings across the country This dire reality calls for a renewed comprehension of child rights as their absence breeds widespread exploitation and abuse Achieving this understanding hinges on making justice transparent and equitable through proper trials of accused parties ensuring that wrongdoers face consequences regardless of social status Moreover, aligning legislation with international commitments is crucial

Implementing proactive measures such as community vigilance, involving the monitoring of suspicious activities, would empower disadvantaged communities in both rural and urban areas The recently leaked video documenting Fatima’s torment underscores the need to categorically ban child labor Her suffering would have gone unnoticed without this evidence Pakistan must confront this crisis head-on prioritizing the well-being and rights of its young citizens A concerted effort to enact meaningful change is imperative incorporating not only legal reforms but also cultural shifts in perception It is time for Pakistan to rise against the exploitation of its children and create a future where their rights are safeguarded ensuring that tragedies like Fatima s become relics of the past

Arif Nizami (Late)

Founding Editor

Yousaf Nizami Editor

M A Niazi Joint Editor Umar Aziz Executive Editor

Summra Hamid

IN D I A, as the world’s largest democracy, boasts a rich tapestry of cultures and faiths with a thriving economy and Western alliances India is known as world s 8th most diverse and multicultural nation but is openly practicing violence against its Muslim population The rise of Hindutva ideology under the leadership of Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has become alarming Hindutva a far-right Hindu nationalist supremacist belief system has raised fears about the inequality and persecution faced by minority communities in India Therefore this article delves into the implications of Hindutva ideology on minorities and the inequalities they endure since India’s independence in 1947

Since the rise of Hindutva ideology Narendra Modi and the BJP have openly championed Hindutva ideology seeking to establish a Hindu Rashtra (Hindu Nation) and promoting the concept of Akhand Bharat (Undivided India) This ideological shift and hate speeches in public against minorities have led to growing concerns about the safety and existence of minority groups including Christians Muslims Sikhs Dalits and others Scholars and human rights activists have expressed alarm over the implications of this ideology, as it echoes sentiments of supremacy and poses a threat to the secular fabric of Indian society The roots of communal tensions between Hindus and Muslims in India can be traced back to the colonial era and the partition in 1947 The trauma of partition which led to the creation of Pakistan has perpetuated mistrust and animosity between the two religious communities Some argue that the Hindutva ideology has capitalized on this historical context, stoking religious divisions for political gains

Recent examples which prove that this government s behaviour towards Muslims and minorities is discriminatory include the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) The Modi government potentially targeted Muslims and created a divide among communities Furthermore the government’s response to communal violence like the Delhi riots of 2020 exposed the government as being

noeuvre over and over T h e n a t u r e o f t h e s t r a t a g e m i s t h i s : t h e m a n starts every discussion on religion by claiming to be an atheist If the conversation goes according to his plan and does not derail i n t o t h e u n d e s i r e d t e r r i -

t o r y, w e l l a n d g o o d T h e p l a n c o u l d n o t b e a n y s i mp l e r : T h e t h e i s t i s c h a l -

lenged to produce his proof

O f c o u rs e , n o r e a s o n a bl e

m a n c a n h av e a ny t h i n g

ag a i n s t p r e c i s i o n – i n f a c t

i t i s c r u c i a l t o b e p r e c i s e

FR O M time immemorial, theists have been accused (often justifiably so) of wearing their religion on their sleeve In recent years atheists have well and truly snatched this particular distinction away from the theists although they are known to take exception to the word religion being used to describe their beliefs Notwithstanding their loud protestations, the way they acquire/defend/present their beliefs is quite indistinguishable from what they attribute to and criticize the theist for

To d a y I p r o p o s e t o h i g h l i g h t a r u s e t h a t w a y too many atheists are apt to resort to Like all deceptions, they probably end up duping themselves t h e m o s t U n f o r t u n a t e l y, t h e y m a n a g e t o f o o l plenty of others as well, which prompts me to add r e s s t h e i s s u e O n e r e a s o n t h e y p e r s i s t i n t h i s practice is that for every occasion their ploy is recognized and pointed out as what it is they manage to pull it off successfully on ten other occasions L i k i n g t h e s e o d d s , t h e y k e e p r e p e a t i n g t h e m a -

f o r t h e e x i s t e n c e o f G o d T h e u n d e s i r e d t e r r i t o r y refers to his adversary aski n g h i m t o b r i n g h i s p r o o f a g a i n s t t h e e x i s t e n c e o f God In case the discussion g o e s o ff - s c r i p t i n t h i s w a y t h e m a n s i m p l y t a k e s o n e s t e p b a c k w a r d s a n d c l a r if i e s t h a t h e i s a c t u a l l y a n a g n o s t i c , a n d t h e r e f o r e t h e o n u s o f p r o o f l i e s w i t h t h e theist, because it is the latter w h o i s m a k i n g a p o s i t i v e c l a i m B u t t h e a g n o s t i c s t a n c e i s n e v e r h i s d e f a u l t p o s i t i o n ; i t i s a l w a y s h i s f a l l - b a c k o p t i o n I n w h a t follows, I will have more to s a y o n t h e m e t h o d b e h i n d this apparent madness I t i s q u i t e u n d e r s t a n da b l e w h y h e s t a r t s o ff a s a n a t h e i s t o n l y t o c h a n g e i n t o a n a g n o s t i c ( i f c h a l l e n g e d ) i n s t e a d o f c o m i n g clean from the start Unfortunately for him, agnosticism does not quite fit the bill To be an agnostic, f o r h i m , i s i n f i n i t e l y l e s s f u n t h a n i t i s t o b e a n a t h e i s t T h e ‘ I d o n ’t k n o w ’ s t a n c e s o u n d s w a y t o o b l a n d s o m e t h i n g t h a t s o m e h o w d o e s n o t q u i t e d o h i s i n t e l l e c t j u s t i c e T h e a b s e n c e o f c o n v i c t i o n m a k e s t h e t a s k s o f b e i n g a s s e r t i v e p r e t e n d i n g t o k n o w b e t t e r t h a n t h e t h e i s t , h i t t i n g t h e l a t t e r o v e r

i n s u ch d e b a t e s – bu t o n e h a s p e r fe c t r i g h t t o b e s u s p i c i o u s w h e n s o m e b o dy t a k e s r e f u g e i n s u ch n i c e t i e s a t s u ch a l a t e s t ag e , r e l u c t a n t ly, a n d w h e n h e i s l e f t w i t h n o a l t e r n a t i v e I t i s q u i t e u n d e rs t a n d a bl e w hy h e s t a r t s o f f a s a n a t h e i s t , o n ly t o ch a n g e i n t o a n ag n o s t i c ( i f ch a l l e n g e d ) i n s t e a d o f c o m i n g cl e a n f ro m t h e s t a r t U n fo r t u n a t e ly fo r h i m , ag n o s t i c i s m d o e s n o t q u i t e f i t t h e b i l l To b e a n ag n o s t i c , fo r h i m , i s i n f i n i t e ly l e s s f u n t h a n i t i s t o b e a n a t h e i s t T h e  I d o n Ê t k n ow Ê s t a n c e s o u n d s w ay t o o bl a n d , s o m e t h i n g t h a t s o m e h ow d o e s n o t q u i t e d o h i s i n t e l l e c t j u s t i c e T h e a b s e n c e o f c o nv i c t i o n m a k e s t h e t a s k s o f b e i n g a s s e r t i v e , p r e t e n d i n g t o k n ow b e t t e r t h a n t h e t h e i s t , h i t t i n g t h e l a t t e r ov e r h i s h e a d a n d r i d i c u l i n g h i m s o mu ch m o r e d i f f i c u l t t o p u l l o f f

his head and ridiculing him so much more difficult t o p u l l o ff A n a d d i t i o n a l b e n e f i t o f a t h e i s m i s t h e e l e m e n t o f i n d e p e n d e n c e a n d t h o u g h t f u l n e s s s t i l l t h o u g h t t o b e a s s o c i a t e d w i t h i t s o m e t h i n g t h a t s t a r t e d i n t h e t i m e s w h e n g o i n g a g a i n s t t h e i n h e r i t e d a n d t r a d i t i o n a l b e l i e f s a cc o m p a n i e d g r e a t r i s k t o o n e ’s v e r y l i f e o n a c c o u n t o f i t s r a r i t y a n d w h i c h c o ns e q u e n t l y r e q u i r e d a l o t o f courage Though all that has c h a n g e d i n v e r y b a s i c m e as ure as far as vas t territories o f t h e e a r t h a r e c o n c e r n e d , a t h e i s m c o n t i n u e s t o b e a f a s h i o n s t a t e m e n t i n m a n y c i r c l e s r e g a r d l e s s B e i n g a m e r e a g n o s t i c i n s t e a d o f a n atheist, robs him of all these c h a r m s H e i s a l l t o o a w a r e o f i t , a n d t h a t i s w h y h i s p r e f e r r e d s t a n c e , h i s f i r s ts e r v e s o t o s p e a k i s a l w a y s a t h e i s m U n t i l h e i s c h a ll e n g e d t o b r i n g e v i d e n c e that warrants his conviction t h a t i s A g n o s t i c i s m , o n i t s p a r t o ff e r s t h e g r e a t m e r i t t h a t t h e o n u s o f p r o o f c a n b e p l a c e d s q u a r e l y o n t h e t h e i s t a n d w i t h i m p u n i t y ( F o r a l l i s v a r i o u s m e r i t s t h i s i s s o m e t h i n g a t h ei s m f a i l s t o o ff e r )

That said, if the man happens to have a discussion with somebody else the very next day, he is certain to start from the atheist position all over again For he hopes that his opposite number on that particular day will lack the presence of mind to call him out; to demand evidence to support his stance

Having discussed these issues for a quarter of a century now, I am all too aware of a popular variant of the response employed by the atheist when he finds his back against the wall in this way This variant, though it may sound different on first hearing, is essentially identical to the first Instead of owning up to being an agnostic really he may press into service some fancy jargon comprising nice distinctions: definitions of implicit/explicit weak/strong and narrow/broad atheism, that is Of course, no reasonable man can have anything against precision –in fact it is crucial to be precise in such debates –but one has perfect right to be suspicious when somebody takes refuge in such niceties at such a late stage reluctantly and when he is left with no alternative For in comparison an upright man would be expected to come clean from the get-go; instead of opening proceedings by resorting to trickery, only to hide behind agnosticism or fancy qualifiers appended to the term ‘atheism’ in the event of somebody putting him on the spot

The author is a connoisseur of music literature and food (but not drinks) He can be reached at www facebook com/hasanaftabsaeed

E d i t o r ’ s m a i l

ignorant towards the minority’s rights Along with these, the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir verifies that the governmental decisions towards the minorities particularly Muslims are biased and particularly referred to the BJP-led Hindutva ideology

Minority marginalization and violence under the BJP rule has caused an increase in the incidents of communal riots and violence against minorities

It has been noted that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is united by an extremist ideology rooted in religious nationalism commonly referred to as Hindutva The Human Rights Watch reports indicate that communal riots have increased by 6 4 percent since Modi took power, with the majority of cases of violence against minority communities being underreported The growing intolerance and hostility towards other ethnicities have exacerbated the sense of insecurity among minorities

One of example is the February 23, 2020, communal violence in Delhi that killed 53 people, 40 of them Muslim Instead of conducting a credible and impartial investigation it was alleged and later proved in the documentary India; The Modi Question that the BJP leaders incited violence and police officials were complicit in attacks Another incident reported was the mass protest, by the farmers, vilifying minority Sikh protesters and opening investigations into their alleged affiliation with separatist groups

The plight of women from minority communities in India faces additional challenges often becoming victims of violence, harassment, and even rape at the hands of extremist mobs Besides this brutal behavior, law is also missing for the Muslims in India The incident of Gujrat riots in 2002 and then the release of 11 jailed men in Gujarat who were accused of brutally killing 13 members of a Muslim family including a three-year-old girl, and raping the mother of the child, serves as a distressing confirmation of the perceived absence of justice for Muslims in India

Along with these, on 31 July 2023 the BJP-affiliated group brutally murdered two Muslim men in Haryana provides evidence of a biased rule of law by the BJP-led government towards the minorities These incidents further highlights the prevailing gender inequality and discrimination, particularly within the context of Hindutva ideology, as the lack of adequate protection and justice exacerbates the vulnerability of women and those belonging to minority communities

The spread of Hindutva ideology is not confined to India alone Its influence has been observed in other parts of the world For instance, the manifesto of a far-right Norwegian mass murderer mentioned Hindutva and expressed support for the deportation of Muslims from India and from Europe which further proves that the ideology is not limited to India only

The Hindutva violence is not only limited to Muslims or Christians, but its intolerance against other ethnic groups and other minorities

has skyrocketed as well The extent of violence associated with Hindutva differs across different communities affecting Christians, Dalits and Muslims The government under Modi s leadership has asserted that nearly 2 million Muslims whose families have roots tracing back generations in Bangladesh do not hold rightful Indian citizenship These individuals have been relocated to what the government refers to as transit camps or mass detention centers, a situation reminiscent of treating them as refugees

The unchecked ascent of Hindutva ideology gives rise to grave human rights concerns, and recent events of ethnic violence in Manipur on 3 May 2023 further proves it to be true Women in Manipur were subjected to harassment and forced nudity which not only violated human rights but also infringed upon women s rights This state-sanctioned support for such actions has eroded the very notion of self-determination in India

It is essential for the international community to hold India accountable for violating the principles of human rights women s rights equality and tolerance for all its citizens

Despite the widespread attention given to Islamic extremism as a global threat, the resonance of Hindutva ideology highlights its significant potential consequences on a global scale which surprisingly remains largely unnoticed and unaddressed The international response to the situation in India has been relatively muted Economic interests, political alliances and regional interests have contributed to downplaying the issues related to Hindutva ideology and its impact on minority communities within India and Kashmir Some countries including the US have prioritized their economic relations with India over raising human rights concerns leading to criticism from human rights advocates As US trade with India is estimated $146 1 billion in 2019, which is an empirical evidence that explains the US tilt towards India

The rise of Hindutva ideology under the BJP rule in India poses a significant threat to the country s multicultural fabric and the well-being of its minority communities The growing intolerance, violence, and discrimination against these groups underscores the urgent need for global attention and action Despite India being the world’s largest democracy its so-called democratic practices are questionable Its emergence as an economic powerhouse should not divert attention from critical human rights concerns The violations of human rights and the ongoing Muslim genocide within India and Kashmir must be addressed earnestly Minorities should be granted security and religious freedom and the imposition of Hindutva ideology on minorities should be discouraged on the global platforms True democracy and progress can only be achieved when the rights of all individuals, regardless of their faith or ethnicity, are safeguarded and respected The international community, including Western allies like the US must prioritize human rights and equality when engaging with India and any nation facing similar challenges

S e n d y o u r l e t t e r s t o : L e t t e r s t o E d i t o r Pakistan Today 4 - S h a a re y F a t i m a J i n n a h L a h o re P a k i s t a n E - m a i l : l e t t e r s @ p a k i s t a n t o d a y c o m p k L e t t e r s s h o u l d b e a d d re s s e d t o Pakistan Today e x c l u s i v e l y

Streets of parking lots?

T H E R E s e e m s t o b e n o w r i t o r g o v e r n a n c e a s f a r a s t h e t r a ff i c a n d c a r p a r k i n g i s s u e s a r e c o n c e r n e d i n a r e a s a r o u n d B a h r i a U n i v e r s i t y i n I s l a m a b a d P a r k i n g h a s b e c o m e a m a j o r i s s u e f o r u n i v e r s i t y c a m p u s e s a s e n r o l l m e n t s h a v e g r o w n o v e r t h e y e a r s a n d t h e a v a i l a b i l i t y o f p a r k i n g s p a c e s h a s n o t b e e n a b l e t o k e e p p a c e w i t h i t S t u d e n t s c o n t i n u e t o s t r u g g l e t o f i n d p l a c e s t o p a r k , w h i c h c a u s e s p a r k i n g v i o l a t i o n s a n d p a r k i n g i n s t r e e t s a n d r o a d s , v i o l a t i n g t h e r i g h t s o f t h e r e s i d e n t s o f s u c h a r e a s

We the residents of sector F-8/2 main Margalla Road and all the connecting streets are facing a huge difficulty in even walking from one place to another as all the streets roads parking spaces grounds and parks in the vicinity are full of parked vehicles

It is a huge challenge for the residents to drive through those closely parked vehicles to go about their life

The students and drivers of private taxis and vans are difficult to interact with due to their short-tempered ill-mannerism Such interactions only add to the frustration

The same is the case in areas like Ayub Market and the adjoining roads and streets where vehicles of a private company are parked in every nook and corner A few lawyers are the lone exception who are allowed to park their own vehicles in the area The prevailing situation indicates a collapse of governance, and calls for some immediate intervention from the respective university administrations, district management and, indeed the Capital Development Authority (CDA)

M IRFAN SIDDIQUE

ISLAMABAD

Universit y politics

P U N J A B University the country’s oldest university is in a seriously dismal condition these days Petty politics that has been the hallmark of university administration especially when it comes to matters related to the appointments on top slots is only hurting students on the campus

Recently, the campus witnessed two student factions settle their mutual scores as the administration looked as helpless as ever There has been an environment of fear on the campus, with students facing problems in leaving or entering the premises

The chairman of a student group was arrested from the campus without any formal first information report (FIR) and three leaders of another group were also arrested

This made their supporters furious and they rushed to close canteens and gates of the university, which, as could be expected, only added to the misery of the rest of the students The two student factions accuse each other of being backed by probable candidates for the top academic post at the university

Meanwhile the administrative functions on the campus have been stopped with no one ready to take responsibility for anything All official work remains in a limbo putting the future of thousands of students at risk If this is the situation in one of the most prestigious institutions of higher education in the country, there can be little optimism about the other such institutions existing in the land

The mainstream media is also responsible for the current crisis since there has been no mention in its content regarding the prevailing situation at the university It remains preoccupied with politics which is understandable but what is not understandable is; why just politics?

The students of the prestigious university want the administrative chaos to be taken care of without delay Once that is done, the rest of the things can be sorted out by any efficient management It is the only university in the city within the reach of students from middle class families and no student wants it to fall prey to the ugly elitist politics MUHAMMAD ISHAQ LAHORE

Dedicated to the legac y of late Hameed Nizami

Living in India under the fascist BJP regime

Can Netanyahu normalize Israeli-Saudi relations?

f r o m t h e n o r m a l i z a t i o n o f r e l a t i o n s w i t h I s r a e l i n

terms of technology intelligence sharing and above a l l r e g i o n a l s e c u r i t y R i y a d h a l s o k n o w s t h a t I s r a e l w a n t s n o r m a l i z a t i o n a s m u c h i f n o t m o r e t h a n t h e y themselves In addition, the Saudis know how much t h e B i d e n a d m i n i s t r a t i o n w o u l d l i k e R i y a d h a n d J e r u s a l e m t o r e a c h a n a g r e e m e n t b e c a u s e i t w o u l d g r e a t l y s e r v e t h e U S ’s o v e r a l l r e g i o n a l g e o s t r a t e g i c i n t e r e s t s T h i s i n c l u d e s c u r b i n g C h i n a ’s i n f l u e n c e containing Iran s nuclear weapon program weakening e x t r e m i s m a n d s t a b i l i z i n g t h e r e g i o n t o e n s u r e t h e U S l o n g - t e r m u n c h a l l e n g e d p o w e r o v e r a r e g i o n o f pivotal strategic importance

Knowing how much both the US and Israel would benefit from normalization and how eager they are to conclude such an agreement the Saudis put forth three major requirements from the US as a prerequisite to normalizing relations with Israel:

PR I M E M I N I S T E R Netanyahu faces a historic opportunity to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia and set the country on an unparalleled path of progress, security, and peace But for that to happen Netanyahu will have to agree to accept the Saudis’ reported demand to establish a path that will lead to the end of the occupation and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state Given, however, Netanyahu s personal legal woes and his dependence on the most hard-core racist government in Israel’s history to stay in power, will he sacrifice his personal interests by accepting the Saudi demands, which would certainly precipitate the collapse of his government and force him to face his legal peril? His other choice would be to forfeit such a historic opportunity by continuing to pursue policies that will dismantle Israel s democracy, convert Israel into an autocracy, intensify the violent conflict with the Palestinians, and put Israel always on the defensive while its enemies lay in wait

Saudi Arabia is the de facto leading Arab state and is representative of Sunni Islam Whether or not the Saudis care about the Palestinian cause they cannot simply abandon the Palestinians to their own devices and still claim the leadership role they highly covet The Saudis cannot and should not, under any circumstances, agree to normalize relations with Israel unless the Netanyahu government agrees to end the conflict with the Palestinians based on a two-state solution

For the Palestinians Saudi Arabia offers the last hope to protect their national interests Should the Palestinians feel abandoned by the Saudis and have nothing left to lose, they will feel that they have no choice but to resort increasingly to violence against the Israelis with the intent of destabilizing the region and disrupting the normalization process between Israel and the Gulf states especially Saudi Arabia The Palestinians know that should a major conflagration ensue between them and Israel the Arab states will have little choice but to land on their side

T H E A D VA N TA G E S T O S A U D I A R A B I A :

Saudi Arabia knows how much it can benefit directly

Guaranteeing Saudi Arabia s national security along the line of the US commitment to NATO, where an attack on any member state constitutes an attack on all member states, including the US

Providing nuclear facilities for civilian purposes including the production of clean energy and for medical purposes along with the prestige that goes with it

Approving the purchase of the US most advanced weapons systems, including the F-35 airplane among other arsenals

The Saudis are fully aware that President Biden wants to secure a major win just before the elections by building on the Abraham Accords Obviously, they are in a position to hand him such a win provided that he meets their requirements

Regardless of how desirable and far-reaching the implications of normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia are, for President Biden it remains an extremely difficult task to achieve due to two major factors First the Saudis conditional requirements from the US will certainly evoke significant Congressional resistance But if the deal ends the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on a two-state solution, over which many Democratic leaders including Senators Chris Van Hollen and Tim Kaine insist the Senate will more than likely approve it with some modifications because they understand and appreciate how significantly it will benefit the US geostrategic interest

Finally, ending the occupation will restore IsraelÊs moral foundation, mitigate the poisonous hatred between Israel and the Palestinians, restore the dignity and the integrity of the Israeli military, and most importantly, end the dehumanization of Palestinians under occupation

major concession to the Palestinians especially one that would lead to the creation of a Palestinian state In addition Netanyahu s current coalition partners vehemently oppose any major concession to the Palestinians and any such move could lead to the dissolution of his government should Netanyahu make even a partial concession, such as the freezing of settlement expansion or ending any further annexation of Palestinian territory Juxtaposed to the position of Netanyahu and his government it is critical for the Israeli public and a few of the less extreme members in the government to understand how paramount the consequences are for Israel’s future should it normalize relations with Saudi Arabia

T H E A D VA N TA G E S T O

I S R A E L: It is hard to exaggerate the enormous advantages Israel would reap To begin with it will open the door for normalization of relations with most if not all of the Arab and Muslim-majority states, end once and for all Israel’s isolation, and dramatically strengthen its national security as normalization of relations would inevitably entail security collaboration

the export of military hardware will exponentially grow along with foreign investments making the country an economic powerhouse with a corresponding political influence With that Israel s friendship and collaborative relations with the US and the EU will reach new heights and dramatically enhance their shared regional geostrategic interest and mitigate any friction in policy or strategy in dealing with any regional conflict

Finally ending the occupation will restore Israel’s m o r a l f o u n d a t i o n m i t i g a t e t h e p o i s o n o u s h a t r e d b etween Israel and the Palestinians restore the dignity and the integrity of the Israeli military, and most imp o r t a n t l y, e n d t h e d e h u m a n i z a t i o n o f P a l e s t i n i a n s under occupation

Should an agreement be reached, given the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflicting issues Saudi Arabia and the US should establish a road map and timeline for the implementation of the various components of the agreement while monitoring the progress made to ensure that both sides are fully complying with the provisions included therein Moreover, the IsraeliPalestinian peace agreement should be enshrined in a treaty between the two sides that binds future Israeli and Palestinian governments and is guaranteed by the US and Saudi Arabia

I concede that the prospect of Netanyahu changing his position is remote But given his inflated ego and his concern over his legacy, coupled with increasing pressure from the US, there might be a small chance that he changes his mind albeit such a leap is laden with considerable personal risk The question is will he nevertheless muster the courage and rise to the historic occasion show statesmanship and leave a legacy of one who sacrificed himself politically for the sake of the nation?

QUARTERLY

TH E Abraham Accords, like all milestone diplomatic agreements, have had a major impact on many countries and not just those that signed on to them India is one nation that benefits from the agreement which was signed in 2020 between Israel the United Arab Emirates Bahrain Sudan, and Morocco, normalizing these countries relations with Israel and generating hopes of fostering peace and prosperity in the region The Abraham Accords help advance key Indian foreign policy goals and principles and they boost New Delhi’s relations with the US and Middle East And by embedding India a key trade partner with the Middle East deeper in the diplomatic and commercial architecture of the region, the Abraham Accords pave the way for more trade and economic growth

MOMENTUM FOR MINILATERALISM AND

MULTIPOLARITY: The Abraham Accords enable New Delhi to establish new multilateral partnerships with Israel and with Indian friends in Arab countries that now have formal relations with Israel One of the first such arrangements to emerge from the Abraham Accords was the quadrilateral grouping known as I2U2, comprised of India, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and the US New Delhi has long had close bilateral ties with the other three but never a formal four-way partnership In recent years India has robustly pursued these minilateralist groupings which have become a major feature of the current era of international relations New Delhi still values its role in larger, more traditional groups, from the UN to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization but it is expanding its participation in smaller setups These include trilateral arrangements with the US and Japan; with France and Australia; and with Australia and Indonesia as well as the Indo-Pacific Quad Indian diplomats tell me this is part of a broader strategy to work with close bilateral partners to secure new accords with like-minded third and fourth countries India’s motivation for embracing minilateralism beyond a desire to increase its global engagement is rooted in its desire for multipolarity Since independence Indian governments have sought to promote a more balanced world order one manifested as a range of power centers diffused throughout the world and maintained through multilateral cooperation This preference for a large global balance of power is one reason why despite its muted stance India opposes the war in Ukraine The conflict which could deepen cashstrapped globally isolated Russia s dependence on China one of Moscow s only remaining powerful allies risks creating a new Russia-China entente a fearsome bilateral alliance that would clash with more multilateral but less powerful groups of countries I2U2 dovetails nicely with India’s preferences about the world order It brings together a superpower a regional power a rising power and a major economic player; it establishes links between governments from three different regions; and it revolves around trade and development cooperation, not countering other countries or groupings

ADVANCING STRATEGIC AUTONOMY: I2U2, and

The second and more daunting difficulty President Biden faces is Netanyahu’s objections to making any

And since any Israeli-Saudi agreement will have to include a definitive roadmap to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it will pull the rug from underneath Israel’s staunch enemy Iran and its proxy Hezbollah, and force Hamas to reconsider its militant posture toward Israel Moreover Israel s export of technology and other scientific knowhow in all fields of endeavor along with

I doubt he will, but miracles do happen, and Israel today is desperately in need of one

Dr Alon Ben-Meir is a professor of international relations at the Centre for Global Affairs at NYU He teaches courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies alon@alonben-meir com

A b r a h a m A c c o r d s b o o s t I n d i a ’ s p r o s p e c t s i n t h e M i d d l e E a s t

The normalization agreements are helping to advance India’s economic and foreign polic y goals

any similar initiatives that may emerge from the Abraham Accords and feature India, also help advance New Delhi s core foreign policy principle of strategic autonomy India wants to maintain maximum flexibility to engage with as many international actors as possible and for that reason it eschews camps and alliances and any type of entity that is pitted against another This is why balancing has long been a core element of Indian foreign policy: It manages relations with many rival pairs the US and Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia, and the Israelis and Palestinians, among others I2U2 is not an alliance, and it has no military-related components or objectives Unlike the Indo-Pacific Quad which revolves around countering China I2U2 is not meant to target any one country Israel and the UAE are in fact strengthening commercial cooperation with China Some observers have wondered if I2U2 is meant to present a common front against Iran, which strongly opposed the Abraham Accords This is unlikely, however, given that Abu Dhabi seeks workable relations with Tehran

I2U2 doesn’t appear to have any unifying cause at all which critics suggest could threaten the group s sustainability However one could also argue this gives I2U2 more flexibility to adjust its purpose and goals I2U2 members have also agreed to emphasize cooperation in areas ranging from food security and climate change to health, space, and infrastructure The group’s initial projects both to be based in India focus on developing and financing food parks and a renewable energy project These are noncontroversial activities that tie in to broader global priorities All of this benefits India s strategic autonomy: It keeps New Delhi out of great power politics or any alliance-like commitments, while encouraging the type of cooperation unlikely to anger key partners or rivals, for that matter

EXPANDING GEOGRAPHIC PARAMETERS OF THE US-INDIA PARTNERSHIP: Strategic autonomy may prevent India from joining alliances but it doesn t preclude it from pursuing deeper relations with top partners, including Washington The Abraham Accords, by enabling the US and India to partner formally with Israel and some of its neighbors, allow Washington and New Delhi to broaden the geographic bounds of partnership This helps India expand its global reach but also deepen its relationship with the US

In recent years shared concern about China has fueled the US-India partnership This means that the IndoPacific a term used by Washington and New Delhi to describe much of East and Southeast Asia and some of South Asia has become the prime theater for US-India strategic cooperation It is here that the US and India have ramped up military training exercises pursued partnerships with other countries in the region (such as the US-Japan-India trilateral, and the Quad), and laid out a formal policy (known as the Indo-Pacific strategy) to counter China’s power However, strategic partnerships aim to broaden subject areas of cooperation (which the US and India have done in recent years through increasing collaborations in energy technology and climate change mitigation) but also geographic areas of cooperation This is why New Delhi and Washington both support cooperation regionally, and globally Admittedly, some geographic spaces are less likely

Despite all these benefits for India, it would be wrong to suggest this is a simple case of New Delhi free -riding off the Abraham Accords Indeed, the oppor tunities that spring from the Accords are fraught with geopolitical landmines

to engage in bilateral cooperation In Central Asia, Washington has too light of a footprint, and in Latin America, New Delhi’s presence is too modest By contrast, Europe, where many countries share views with the US and India on the Indo-Pacific is emerging as a new space for USIndia cooperation The Middle East a region that both the US and India view as strategically significant and which is home to close partners of both Washington and New Delhi, also has high potential for US-India collaborations

ENHANCING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE MID-

DLE EAST: Today New Delhi arguably accords more strategic value to the Middle East than to any other region aside from the Indo-Pacific It is home to Egypt Israel Saudi Arabia and the UAE all close or fast-growing Indian partners

The Middle East is a critical source of Indian energy imports and infrastructure assistance, and a key supplier of water-saving agricultural technologies The Persian Gulf region hosts more than 8 million Indian workers many of whom send money back home that gets pumped back into the economy And unlike many Western partners Middle Eastern leaders with the occasional exception don t focus their attention on New Delhi s domestic policies, which Western countries have criticized as backsliding on democratic principles This is an additional advantage for New Delhi which resents external criticism of its domestic affairs

The Abraham Accords by enabling formal cooperation between Israel and a larger number of its Arab neighbors, provide India with more opportunities to engage multilaterally with key partners in a strategically significant region I2U2, for example, could be a springboard for more cooperation between India and Israel as well as Arab states (like the UAE) that only recently formalized relations with Israel and other Arab states (like Egypt) that normalized ties with Israel long ago Trade ties, in particular, stand to increase and in fact, they already have Over the Indian fiscal year that ended in March 2022, just 18 months after the Abraham Accords were signed, Indian trade with the Gulf Cooperation Council which includes Saudi Arabia and the UAE two key Indian partners exceeded $150 billion

Significantly Indian exports to the Gulf increased throughout the previous fiscal year by nearly 60 percent and its imports by 85 percent Not surprisingly, two of India s top trade partners, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and its third-biggest source of imports, Egypt, are in the Middle East Two-thirds of its imported crude oil and liquid natural gas imports are also sourced from the region

AIDING GLOBAL LEADERSHIP: One of the major criticisms of Indian foreign policy in recent years is that the country punches below its weight: It hasn t developed as deep a global footprint as one would expect from a country of its size and clout Even India’s current national security adviser has leveled this criticism Such reproach is nothing to sneeze at in 2023 India is now the world s most populous country and the fifth-largest economy, and New Delhi holds the G20 presidency This is why India is especially keen to ramp up its role on the world stage Its participation in I2U2 and any

similar entities emerging from the Abraham Accords helps advance this goal What makes I2U2 especially important in this regard is that its main objectives strengthening infrastructure, climate change, public health and technological developments mirror those of India s foreign policy on the whole India seeks to serve as a bridge between developed and developing countries which entails working with the US and Israel among other major economies to help address challenges that disproportionately impact developing nations These same goals, not coincidentally, animate the activities of other mini- and multilateral groups of which India is a member from BRICS to the G20 In effect the Abraham Accords have afforded India the opportunity to participate in new arrangements that reinforce its global leadership and the objectives that drive it

OPPORTUNITIES WITH CAVEATS: Despite all these benefits for India, it would be wrong to suggest this is a simple case of New Delhi free-riding off the Abraham Accords Indeed the opportunities that spring from the Accords are fraught with geopolitical landmines For example India s two main rivals Pakistan and China are key players in the Middle East Islamabad, like New Delhi, has close trade and energy ties with the Gulf states, and it depends on the remittances sent home by its millions of workers there Beijing meanwhile is increasingly influential in the region Not just as a trade partner and source of infrastructure assistance but as evidenced by its mediation of a recent Iran-Saudi Arabia agreement as a diplomatic powerbroker

Additionally, New Delhi will have to be careful about its engagements with Iran a top regional power that rejects the Abraham Accords even if Tehran’s reconciliation with Riyadh holds and India gains more diplomatic space to engage with Iran without antagonizing Saudi Arabia In recent years India has curtailed commercial relations with Iran formerly a top Indian energy supplier in order to comply with the US sanctions regime New Delhi will want to maintain that position, especially because it knows Washington is unhappy about its continued close relations with Moscow (India’s relations with Russia have long been closer than its relations with Iran) China s strategic partnership deal with Iran concluded in 2021 will further complicate India s relations with Iran For New Delhi, strengthening ties with the Middle East while tiptoeing around one of its most powerful states will be a delicate diplomatic dance These caveats aside India is poised to gain from the Abraham Accords and so is the world They can help advance New Delhi s foreign policy goals and fortify its role on the global stage They can also contribute to regional and global growth and stability by bringing together major economic players and, in the case of India, the world s fastest-growing economy to pursue trade and investment opportunities and to partner on delivering key public goods from clean energy technologies to pandemic vaccines

Michael Kugelman is director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center He is a leading specialist on Afghanistan India and Pakistan and their relations with the United States

CRIMES ‘BEYOND IMAGINATION’: SAUDI BORDER GUARDS KILLED HUNDREDS OF MIGRANTS, HRW REPORT SAYS

NEW YORK

A G E N C I E S

BE T W E E N March 2022 and June 2023, Saudi border guards killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants attempting to cross the border from Yemen into the oil-rich kingdom according to a new Human Rights Watch report released on Monday The report comes as Saudi Arabia implements an anti-migrant policy at home and a campaign to boost its image abroad

The rocky mountainous region around Sadaa – a hardscrabble city in northern Yemen right by the Saudi border – has turned into lethal terrain, according to human rights groups Bodies of dead or seriously wounded migrants, mostly from Ethiopia have been spotted in satellite imagery and social media posts from the border providing harrowing testimony of abuses notes the latest report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW)

“They Fired on Us Like Rain”, an HRW report released on Monday records widespread abuses committed on the Yemen-Saudi border between March 2022 and June 2023

Saudi border guards have used explosive weapons and shot people at close

range including women and children in a pattern that is widespread and systematic If committed as part of a Saudi government policy to murder migrants, these killings would be a crime against humanity ” notes the report

Over the past few months reports have been mounting of grievous violations on the migration track known as the Eastern Route or the Yemeni Route , which runs from the Horn of Africa, across the Gulf of Aden, through Yemen and into Saudi Arabia

A July 5 report by the Mixed Migration Centre an independent data institution within the Danish Refugee Council said Ethiopians were being systematically killed by security officials operating under Saudi Arabian state authority”

In October 2022 the UN published its Expert Communications by special rapporteurs and working groups highlighting cross-border killings using artillery shelling and small arms fired by Saudi security forces Nearly 430 people were killed between January 1 and April 30, 2022, according to the communique The latest HRW report provides witness accounts of Ethiopian migrants who tried to cross the border from Yemen to Saudi Arabia – and it makes grim reading ‘I saw 30 killed people on the spot’

In February 2023, a 14-year-old

Donald Trump says he won’t take par t in Republican debates

WASHINGTON

A G E N C I E S

Former US President Donald Trump said he would skip the upcoming Republican primary debates, citing his large lead in opinion polls as evidence that he was already well-known and liked by voters ahead of the 2024 election Trump has for months suggested he would likely pass on Wednesday night s debate in Milwaukee Wisconsin, arguing that it did not make sense to give his Republican rivals a chance to attack him given his sizeable lead in national polls

On Sunday, a CBS poll showed he was the preferred candidate for 62% of Republican voters with his closest rival Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at 16%

All other candidates in the primary race had less than 10% support The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had, Trump said on his social media app, Truth Social I will therefore not be doing the debates ”

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a question asking if the former president meant he won t be taking part in any of the Republican debates

The New York Times reported that Donald Trump sat for a taped interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that was expected to be posted online on Wednesday It was not yet clear where the interview with Carlson will be posted

Trump’s absence from this week’s debate could mean DeSantis will become the focus of attacks from other candidates looking to position themselves as the primary alternative to the former president The winner of the Republican nominating fight will take on Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 2024 election DeSantis campaign spokesperson Andrew Romeo said the Florida governor was looking forward to being in Milwaukee to share his vision for a possible presidency

No one is entitled to this nomination including Donald Trump You have to show up and earn it, Romeo said on X, formerly known as Twitter

In the most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll released this month Trump held 47% of the Republican vote nationally with DeSantis dropping six percentage points from July down to just 13% None of the other candidates due to attend the debate have broken out of single digits Donald Trump has a Friday deadline to voluntarily surrender in Fulton County, Georgia, after being charged last week in a fourth criminal indictment, for an alleged scheme intended to reverse his 2020 election loss to Biden

from Ethiopia s Oromia region identified in the HRW report as Hamdiya , attempted to cross the Yemeni-Saudi border in a group of around 60 people

The horror unfolded immediately after they crossed into Saudi territory when they came under attack by border guards Hamdiya told HRW

I saw people killed in a way I have never imagined, said Hamdiya I saw 30 killed people on the spot ”

In a bid to escape the repeated firing, the Ethiopian teenager crawled under a rock and at some point fell asleep I could feel people sleeping around me I realised what I thought were people sleeping around me were actually dead bodies I woke up and I was alone, she said Like Hamdiya, many witnesses claimed to have been shot with mortars or other explosive weapons by Saudi border guards ‘The dead bodies are there’ In one incident, a survivor recounted that he was part of a group of 170 people who attempted to cross the border when they came under fire “I know 90 people were killed because some returned to that place to pick up the dead bodies – they counted around 90 dead bodies he explained Another interviewee went to the Saudi border to collect the body of a girl

from his village Her body was piled up on top of 20 bodies, he said It is really impossible to count the number It is beyond the imagination People are going in different groups day to day The dead bodies are there ” While the exact number of migrants killed while crossing the border is impossible to determine, the HRW report was compiled from interviews with 42 Ethiopians or relatives of Ethiopians who attempted the border crossing The rights group also analysed more than 350 videos and photographs posted on social media or gathered from other sources in addition to satellite imagery Data gathering from the remote border area is hampered by the lack of international mechanisms to monitor the human rights situation in Yemen

Barely two years ago the UN Human Rights Council voted to disband the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen (GEE), an international investigating body, following a tireless lobbying campaign” by Saudi Arabia, according to a 2021 HRW statement

The decision has left no system of accountability in the world s poorest Arab nation ravaged by a civil war that has killed more than 150 000 people It is also failing citizens on another continent who are fleeing poverty and ethnic conflict

C hina lodges representations with par ties in C amp D avid summit on Taiwan question, S outh C hina S ea issue

BEIJING S TA F F R E P O R T

China expresses strong dissatisfaction and has lodged solemn representations with relevant parties after the leaders of the US Japan and South Korea smeared and attacked China on the Taiwan question and South China Sea issue during the Camp David summit, which seriously violated the basic norms governing international relations the Chinese Foreign Ministry responded on Monday

The Biden administration held the summit with the leaders of main US allies in Asia, South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday “The purpose of our trilateral security cooperation is and will remain to promote and enhance peace and stability throughout the region the leaders said in a joint statement, noting that they strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific ”

US President Joe Biden maintained as have US South Korean and Japanese officials, that the summit was not about China but was focused on broader security issues

Yet, the leaders in their joint summit concluding statement alleged China s dangerous and aggressive action in the South China Sea and reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait

We have noticed that the US said that the US-Japan-South Korea partnership is not directed against any country and China urges the US side to match its words with deeds, stop tarnishing

China s image and harming China s interests, stop creating division and confrontation and undermining regional peace and stability Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a press conference on Monday

Wang stressed that there are two trends in the Asia-Pacific region One is the efforts of regional countries represented by the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to strengthen solidarity and cooperation and promote regional economic integration

The other is an attempt to revive the Cold War mentality by inciting division and confrontation represented by the exclusive small circle of the AUKUS alliance the US-Japan-South Korea partnership, and the Quad mechanism It is a pity that the US is not seen in the former, while the latter views Washington as their central axis

Wang said that the Asia-Pacific region is a high ground for peaceful development and should not become a boxing arena for

China surprises with modest rate cut amid growing yuan risks

PR OFIT

R E U T E R S

China cut its one-year benchmark lending rate on Monday as authorities seek to ramp up efforts to stimulate credit demand but surprised markets by keeping the five-year rate unchanged amid broader concerns about a rapidly weakening currency

The recovery in the world s second-largest economy has lost steam due to a worsening property slump, weak consumer spending and tumbling credit growth adding to the case for authorities to release more policy stimulus

However downward pressure on the yuan means Beijing has limited room for deeper monetary easing, analysts say, as a further widening of China s yield differentials with other major economies could trigger yuan selloffs and capital flight

The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was lowered by 10 basis points to 3 45% from 3 55% previously while the five-year LPR was left at 4 20%

In a Reuters poll of 35 market watchers all participants predicted cuts to both rates The 10 bp cut in the one-year rate was smaller than the 15 bp cut expected by most poll respondents

“Probably China limited the size and scope of rate cuts because they are concerned about downward pressure on the yuan said Masayuki Kichikawa chief macro strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Chinese authorities care about currency market stability

Most new and outstanding loans in China are based on the one-year LPR, while the five-year rate influences the pricing of mortgages China cut both LPRs in June to boost the economy

major powers to wrestle still less a battlefield for a new cold war All attempts to mobilize a new cold war in the Asia-Pacific will be resolutely resisted by the countries and peoples of the region and all attempts to establish and maintain hegemony in the Asia-Pacific are doomed to fail

At present, the biggest threat to peace in the Taiwan Straits is the separatist activities and malicious support by external forces I f r e l e v a n t c o u n t r i e s r e a l l y c a r e a b o u t p e a c e a n d s t a b i l i t y i n t h e Straits they should abide by the o n e - C h i n a p r i n c i p l e , s t o p s u pporting Taiwan independence sec e s s i o n i s t s a n d t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s , and take concrete actions to safeguard regional peace and stability Wang noted Wang also pointed out that China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters China’s construction activities on its own territory and Chinese coast guard vessels rights protection and law enforcement activities in waters under China s jurisdiction are legitimate and beyond reproach

The onshore yuan eased in early trade to 7 3078 per dollar compared with the previous close of 7 2855 while benchmark Shanghai Composite index ( SSEC) and the blue-chip CSI 300 index ( CSI300) also declined The yuan has lost nearly 6% against the dollar so far this year to become one of the worst performing Asian currencies

The reduction in the one-year LPR came after the People s Bank of China (PBOC) unexpectedly lowered its medium-term policy rate last week

The medium-term lending facility (MLF) rate serves as a guide to the LPR and is widely read by markets as a precursor to future changes to the lending benchmarks China’s central bank has also pledged to keep liquidity reasonably ample and its policy precise and forceful to support the economic recovery amid rising headwinds according to its second-quarter monetary policy implementation report But the steady five-year tenor caught many traders and analysts off the guard, with some expecting the troubled property sector and rising default risks at some developers would have led to deeper cuts to the benchmarks We interpret the status quo of five-year LPR was a signal that the Chinese banks are reluctant to cut rates at the expense of rate differential margin, said Ken Cheung, chief Asian FX strategist at Mizuho Bank “It flagged a problem on the effectiveness of PBOC’s policy guidance pass-through into the market and the Chinese authorities may be lacking effective tools to stimulate the property sector and economy via monetary easing Cheung added that the unexpected rate outcome should be negative to China growth outlook and the yuan exchange rate”

The central bank said it will optimise credit policies for the property sector while co-ordinating financial support to resolve local government debt problems it said in a statement on Sunday

Xi depar ts for S outh Africa to attend BRICS Summit

BEIJING

S TA F F R E P O R T

Amid high global attention and expectations, Chinese President Xi Jinping left Beijing for Johannesburg on Monday for a state visit to South Africa and to attend the BRICS Summit to be held from Tuesday to Thursday

The visit is being widely welcomed by local scholars, who see it as a strong boost to deep-rooted China-South Africa relations as the two countries celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the bilateral diplomatic relations in 1998

Observers also believe that Xi s visit to the continent coming against the backdrop

of aggravating geopolitics can inject momentum into China-Africa cooperation, and help developing countries and emerging economies jointly seek an approach to address current global challenges

The ambiance of the BRICS Summit became palpable upon Global Times reporter s arrival at Johannesburg airport Posters and billboards publicizing the event can be seen everywhere

National flags of South Africa and China are fluttering atop roadside poles en route to Mahlamba Ndlopfu the official residence for the President of the Republic of South Africa in Pretoria

Local residents, when seeing visitors from China, extended warm greetings and expressed their affection for the remote country Many asked for a selfie with the reporter and told the Global Times they wanted to visit China one day underscoring the positive rapport between the two countries and peoples China is an important investor in South Africa and provides support to the infrastructure development projects including the Small Harbour Development Project, the TVET Refurbishment Project and the Mzimvubu Water Project, all of which are instrumental in job creation, according to a statement sent to the Global Times by Government Communication and

Xi will take place on Tuesday morning and discussions during Xi s state visit will explore further collaboration and partnerships the two nations can leverage to solidify existing diplomatic economic and people-topeople relations according to the statement Brotherly sentiments President Xi on Monday published a signed article in English entitled Sailing the giant ship of China-South Africa friendship

and cooperation toward greater success on major media outlets in South Africa

The ongoing visit is Xi’s sixth to the “promising land of the ‘rainbow nation, ” and Xi wrote that “Each of my visits to South Africa gave me new impressions But the deepest is invariably the brotherly sentiments we have toward each other Paul Tembe, author of the book Xi Jinping and Thriving China-South Africa Rela-

tions in the New Era was impressed by the warmth and close bond carried in Xi s article

“Whenever President Xi visits South Africa, he always brings gifts I am not referring to physical gifts but intangible symbolic gifts that expand our relationship Tembe told the Global Times on Monday in Pretoria

Xi wrote in the article that Our friendship has traversed a long span of time, citing examples of China s

What is BRICS, which countries want to join and why?

one-year rotating chairmanship of the group WHO ARE THE MEMBERS?

Brazil, Russia, India and China are the founding members South Africa the smallest member in terms of economic clout and population was the first beneficiary of an expansion of the bloc in 2010 when the grouping became known as BRICS

Together the countries account for more than 40% of the world population and a quarter of the global economy

Apart from geopolitics the group s focus includes economic cooperation and increasing multilateral trade and development

The bloc operates by consensus All the BRICS countries are part of the Group of 20 (G20) of major economies WHICH NATIONS WANT TO JOIN BRICS AND WHY? Over 40 countries including Iran Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Argentina

Algeria Bolivia Indonesia Egypt Ethiopia Cuba Democratic Republic of Congo Comoros Gabon and Kazakhstan have expressed interest in joining the forum, according to 2023 summit chair South Africa They view BRICS as an alternative to global bodies viewed as dominated by the traditional Western powers and hope membership will unlock benefits including development finance and increased trade and investment D is s a t i s f a c t i o n w it h th e g l o b a l o r d e r a m o n g d e v e l o p i n g n a t i o n s w a s e x a c e rbated by the COVID-19 pandemic when life-saving vaccines were hoarded by the rich countries Iran home to around a quarter of the Middle East s oil reserves has said it hopes the mechanism for new membership would be decided at the earliest Oil heavyweight Saudi Arabia was among more than a dozen countries that participated in “Friends of BRICS” talks in Cape Town in June It has received backing from Russia and Brazil to join the BRICS

Pakistan Print & Electronic Media Foundation & PNCA Organized an Art Exhibition on 10 Year CPEC

Celebration Chief Guest H E Yang Yundong Consul

General China Z H Khurram (President PPEMF)

Nusrat Mirza H E Sami Al Khanjari Consul General

Oman, H E P N K Jagath Abeywarna Consul General

Srilanka, H E Hasoud Kian Bakhsh First Consul Iran, Khursheed Hyder Barrister Shahida Jamil Madam

Shamona Riaz Laghari Syed Atif Ali Raheel Haider

Shabee Haider, Ali Shah,Syed Ali Zaheer, Sami

Ahmed, Abbas Shah, Aneel Usmani, Azra Bano, Huma Naz Juanid Ahmed Magan Singh Abdul Hameed I H Tipu Erum Khan Fasi Uddin Arshad

Hussain, Rida Alam, Fariha Aqib and other diplomat attended PR

WAPDA wins 2nd Mari Petroleum

A zadi Hockey Cup 2023

ISLAMABAD: WAPDA has won the second Mari Petroleum Azadi Cup Hockey Tournament as the curtain fell on the biggest national hockey event which ended

4 0 T H A N N I V E R S A R Y O F C H E V E N I N G S C H O L A R S H I P S M A R K E D B Y B R I T I S H H C

TH E 40th anniversary of Pakistanis awarded Chevening and Commonwealth scholarships was celebrated by the British High Commiss i o n e r J a n e M a

Monday

This year the UK awarded Chevening scholarships

to 46 outstanding Pakistani scholars through a highly competitive selection process This included two female Hindu students, and one trans woman, said a news release

The 23 Commonwealth scholars have also been selected from Pakistan with 21 scholars pursuing a Master’s programme and two pursuing a PhD programme These brilliant scholars were selected from across Pakistan

To honour the legacy of the late human rights champion Asma Jahangir, the British High Commissioner presented Asma Jahangir award to Chevening top ranking female scholar of the year

This year there was a tie and three talented females received this award including Anila Yousaf and Zaitoon Kareem from Baluchistan and Varsha Deepak from Sindh

The British High Commission launched the award in 2018 and since then nine female Chevening scholars have been awarded Asma Jahangir Scholarship

This is the first year that UK is offering Chevening scholarships provided by partners in the UK The first is with Swindon Town Football Club offering a 1-year Master s degree in Football Coaching or Science either at Solent University or the University Campus of Football Business at Wembley Stadium

The second is with the University of Essex, offering

Local bodies be allowed to focus municipal works:

K A R A C H I : Mayor Karachi Barrister Murtaza

has said that local bodies should be allowed to do municipal work, health and education are not the work of local bodies According to the constitution presidential powers cannot be delegated to any other person the presidency had returned the bill related to journalists with objection many projects will be completed in Karachi in the coming days, which will be inaugurated on a daily basis, PPP does not believe in lying foundation of development works, these views were expressed by Mayor Karachi Barrister Murtaza Wahab at Gulistan-e-Johar Chowrangi on Monday while talking to the media representatives on the occasion of the formal opening of the underpass to the citizens PR

AKU to train 300 govt. science teachers in Gilgit Baltistan

G I L G I T- B A LT I S TA N : In a major boost to the quality of education in government schools in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), the Chief Secretary’s Office has launched a capacity building programme for 300 government science teachers The programme is funded by the Federal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Islamabad (FBISE) and is being facilitated by the Aga Khan UniversityInstitute for Educational Development s Professional Development Centre North (AKUIED PDCN) headed by Dr Mola Dad Shafa The programme aims to improve the content knowledge and pedagogical skills of science teachers which will ultimately lead to improved student learning outcomes The training will cover a range of topics including: the latest science curriculum, effective teaching methods, assessment and evaluation, classroom management and professional development PR

Digital banking operations to commence soon in Pakistan

2 scholarships in either climate change or heritage and museum studies

British High Commissioner Jane Marriott CMG-

OBE said: On this auspicious year of the 40th anniversary of the Chevening programme I am proud we are sending 69 Pakistani students to the UK through the Chevening and Commonwealth scholarships

“The UK is renowned for its world-class higher education and these scholarships will benefit some of Pakistan’s brightest students In turn Pakistan will benefit from these students once they return to Pakistan and contribute to their various sectors They join over 2 000 Chevening and over 1,500 Commonwealth alumni in Pakistan, themselves a testament to the strength of the

Governor Sindh receives Saudi Hajj Minister

KARACHI P R

Sindh Governor Kamran Khan Tessori welcomed the Minister of Hajj and Umrah of Saudi Arabia Dr Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiyyah at the Karachi Airport It is pertinent to mention herevthat after a long time an important Saudi dignitary has come to Karachi, Dr Tawfiq bin Fawzan al-Rabiyyah, is also in charge of the holy mosques of Makkah and Madinah Governor Sindh thanked him for visiting Karachi On this occasion PakSaudi Arabia relations, measures to increase the same, investment opportunities in Sindh province and other matters of mutual interests were discussed in detail Governor

Sindh said that the people of Pakistan are grateful to Saudi Arabia for supporting them in every difficult time Kamran Khan Tessori said that the Saudi support for the people of Sindh province in floods and other natural disasters is also commend-

able Fireworks were also displayed on Shahrah Faisal for the delegation members The Governor Sindh drove the distinguished guest to his hotel He has also organized a reception for the honourable guest at the Governor s House tomorrow

NUST honours recipients of Pakistan

C ivil Awards 2023

ISLAMABAD S TA F F R E P O R T

The National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST) paid glowing tributes to its distinguished faculty and staff upon conferment of the prestigious Civil Awards 2023 by the President Islamic Republic of Pakistan, H E Dr Arif Alvi The Investiture Ceremony will take place on Pakistan Day, 23rd March, 2024 Meanwhile, Registrar NUST Engr Brig Muhammad Ashfaq Maitla has been conferred Sitara-e-Imtiaz (M), in recognition of his meritorious services during his illustrious career

Dr Faisal Shafait from NUST School of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (SEECS) and Dr Umar Shahbaz from NUST College of Electrical & Mechanical Engineering (CoEME) have been conferred the coveted Pride of Performance while Dr M Usman Akram from CoEME Dr Salman Raza Naqvi from NUST School of Chemical & Materials Engineering (SCME) Dr Haider Abbas from NUST Military College of Signals (MCS) and Ms Arooba Gillani from NUST Placement Office (NPO) have been conferred Tamgha-e-Imtiaz The awards have been bestowed in recognition of their exceptional contributions to higher education research and public service

Countr y can' t bear burden of anarchy: Faraz-ur-Rehman

KARACHI: The Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) has taken a significant step towards enhancing community welfare with the establishment of a novel committee in collaboration with the Rotary Club This partnership aims to bolster various social projects and promote joint initiatives that address critical needs within the region In a noteworthy announcement, KATI President Faraz-ur-Rehman revealed the formation of the committee during a ceremony held in honor of Rotary Club International Governor District 3271

Hanif Khan

The committee's core focus will span an array of activities including clean and green projects medical camps and overall social welfare programs Taking on the pivotal role of Chairman of the Coordination Committee is Wajid Hussain, a seasoned figure responsible for overseeing Clean and Green initiatives, Medical Camps, and Welfare projects under the able leadership of President Faraz-ur-Rehman

At the event attended by a distinguished gathering of business leaders and industrialists including KATI Senior Vice President Nighat Awan Vice President Muslim Mohammadi and Rotary Club Deputy Governor Imtiaz Shaikh the significance of this partnership was highlighted President Faraz-ur-Rehman emphasized that the synergy between KATI and Rotary Club signifies a commitment to continuous policy implementation for the betterment of the community President Faraz-ur-Rehman underscored the importance of collaboration, acknowledging the role of previous incumbents in supporting new leadership transitions He stressed the need for policy continuity to foster economic development within the country Rotary Club International Governor District 3271 Hanif Khan the chief guest of the event shared insights into Rotary Club's global impact With a presence in over 200 countries and boasting 1 4 million members Rotary Club has a rich history of humanitarian service dating back to its founding in Chicago in 1905 Governor Hanif Khan applauded Rotary Club s role in the successful campaign against polio, a disease that was once considered a global threat Through dedicated efforts and an investment of $2 7 billion, polio has been eradicated from most of the world However, challenges remain in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the disease persists PR

UK-Pakistan relationship ”

The scholars have chosen a diverse range of fields and institutions for their studies including education social justice architectural engineering and sustainability all aimed at addressing pressing global challenges and fostering innovation

Applications for Chevening Scholarships to study in the UK from 2024-25 open from 12th September and close on 7th November

To find out more about eligibility and to apply visit www chevening org

The applications for the Commonwealth Scholarships for 2024/25 are expected to open in late October or early November 2023 To find out more information, visit the CSC website

Development wor th Rs 3 billion at Gorakh Hill Station in past 9 years: Rafiq Ahmad Jamali

KARACHI P R

The Chairman Gorakh Hills Authority and former MNA Sardar Rafiq Ahmad Jamali has said that important steps have been taken to provide the best facilities for the entertainment and safety of tourists visiting the Gorakh Hills Station Sharing the details of the Development works at Gorakh Sardar Rafiq Ahmed Jamali said that rupees three billion were released during last nine years to the Gorakh Hill Authority from which 35 km 18 foot wide road has been widened/reconstructed from Wahi Pandhi to the 35 km point at a cost of 1000 million for safe journey of the tourist He said that 16 furnished duplex family resorts with 2 rooms along with lounge, terrace and viewpoints each have been completed along with 8 room fully furnished tourist hostel a huge Event Area restaurant tuck shop PD rest house fiberglass rest house Mosque various viewpoints with connecting internal roads, cricket ground, children s play area with swings and props etc, solar electric system for all huts, resorts and the restaurant, solar light poles Bar BQ spot mobile toilets dispensary with doctor ’s bungalow and residential quarters for employees have also been constructed

Over 18,000 consumers take advantage of facilitation offered at K-Electric's camps

KARACHI

P R

More than 18 000 customers including a large number of women have visited facilitation camps organised by K-Electric, where they have been provided with the facility of bill payment Visitors also submitted applications for new connections Immediate action was also taken on the complaint registered by the visitors Apart from this customers’ requests for instalment in electric bills were also entertained During the last two weeks 20 camps were established in various areas including Hanguabad Lyari, Eidgah Garden Malir, Future Colony Moinabad, Bin Qasim, Islamia Kasbah Orangi, Jamali Goth Gudap, Chinesar Goth Tipu Sultan, Union Council Office Landhi Tinki Ground Bahadurabad Fahad Square Johar Liaquatabad Baldia Banguria KElectric also requested local dignitaries and elected representatives to persuade residents in their areas to ensure timely payment of electricity bills KE emphasized that timely and full payment of bills is very important to ensure electricity supply

Delegation of industrialists meets S.M

is also looking after the affairs of Khushal Khan Khattak University Karak (KKKU) as acting Vice Chancellor The KUST has raised the standard of Innovative Research and Quality education during the current tenure of Prof Dr Sardar as VC that has resulted in improving the university ranking not only nationally but internationally Under his supervision KUST has been award “Best Financial Management” and “Best Quality Assurance” award by Government of Khyber Pkhtunkhwa PR

A delegation of industrialists and businessmen met Caretaker Provincial Minister for Industries and Commerce SM Tanveer here at the minister block in which they discussed the problems of industry, industrialists and government measures to solve them S M Tanveer while talking to the delegation said that the problems of industrialists and industry are being solved on a priority basis The problems of industrialists are being solved through the platform of Punjab Chambers of Commerce Coordination Committee He said that a business support cell has also been established in the Chief Minister's office to facilitate one-window operation for the industrialists and a favorable environment has been provided for the promotion of industrial and commercial activities in the province

PRESIDENT ALVI SAYS SERVICES OF SECRETARY

WAQAR AHMED ‘NO MORE REQUIRED’

Aday after President Dr Arif Alvi’s exploded a ‘bombshell’ by claiming that his staff “undermined his will and command regarding his assent to the Official Secrets Act and the Pakistan Army Act the President s Secretariat followed up and said that the services of Secretary to President Waqar Ahmed were no more required” and sought a replacement

“In view of the definite statement of yesterday President’s Secretariat has written a letter to Principal Secretary to Prime Minister that the services of Mr Waqar Ahmed, Secretary to President, are no more required and are surrendered to the Establishment Division, immediately,” said a statement posted on the President of Pakistan’s official account on X (formerly Twitter)

It has also been desired that Ms Humaira Ahmed a BPS-22 officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service, may be posted as Secretary to the President, the

statement added President Alvi had on Sunday stirred a controversy by asserting that he had not personally signed two disputed pieces of legislation, namely the Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill 2023 and the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill 2023 a day after they were deemed to have become acts of parliament

Both the bills were approved by the Senate and National Assembly and sent to the president for his approval amid criticism by opposition lawmakers a few weeks ago

On Saturday, reports surfaced that the president had given his assent to both the bill only for him to claim the next day that he had not signed the bills and that his staff undermined his directives

B I L L D E B A C L E: The unprecedented claims made by the president opened the floodgates of claims and counter-claims, prompting a weekend presser by the caretaker ministers for law and information as well as a barrage of recriminations from the former ruling party PTI

In a tweet on X President Alvi had pointed the finger at his staff, saying he

SC to hear petition on Jaranwala rampage today

ISLAMABAD

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Monday fixed for hearing a petition related to the tragic incident in Faisalabad district s Jaranwala where at least 19 churches were torched by a violent mob over blasphemy allegations on August 16

The bench will be headed by CJP Bandial himself and comprised Justice Athar Minallah and Justice Shahid

Wahid The apex court has also issued notices to the relevant parties on the matter

More than 80 Christian homes and 19 churches were vandalised when thousands rampaged through a Christian neighbourhood in Jaranwala last week Terror and panic gripped the town for hours as the mob equipped with batons push carts and patrol cans stormed the neighbourhood ransacking homes and vandalising places of worship while chanting slogans of a right-wing party Reports that a copy of the Holy Quran had been desecrated were broadcast from mosques, with one cleric telling his followers it was “Better to die if you don’t care about Islam”

The mob attack was widely condemned by political and religious leaders of the country as well as by civil society and the army chief Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar stated that such incidents highlight prevailing societal ailment during a solidarity visit to the city earlier today

Speaking at a gathering of the Christian community the premier emphasised unity among different faiths

If any individual is found committing injustices against the lives or property of minorities the state will stand in solidarity with the minority brethren he added A cleric is among a dozen people being investigated for using mosque loudspeakers to order protests that erupted into mob violence, a senior police official said “That cleric should have understood that when you gather people in such a charged environment in a country in which people were already very sensitive about (blasphemy) it is like adding fuel to fire, Punjab IGP Usman Anwar told AFP during an interview

He said the cleric was one of 12 people who were being investigated for using mosque loudspeakers, while more than 125 people have been arrested linked to the vandalism that followed thanks to the use of facial recognition technology mobile phone geofencing and data gathered from social media At its peak, more than 5,000 people had poured into the neighbourhood from other districts, with smaller mobs spreading to narrow alleys where they ransacked homes Christians who fled in their hundreds have criticised police for failing to protect their property with some sheltered by their Muslim neighbours

was duped by the presidency staff who did not return the said unsigned bills despite repeated directives

As God is my witness, I did not sign Official Secrets Amendment Bill, 2023 and Pakistan Army Amendment Bill, 2023 as I disagreed with these laws ” the president had said in his tweet

He claimed he had asked his staff to return the bills unsigned within the stipulated time to make them ineffective but his staff did not do so and lied that the bills had been returned “I confirmed from them many times whether they [the bills] have been returned and was assured that they were However I have found out today that my staff undermined my will and command

As Allah knows all, He will forgive Insha Allah But I ask forgiveness from those who will be affected,” the president had written on X Hours after President Alvi’s statement a gazette notification issued by the Senate Secretariat surfaced stating that the two bills were deemed to have been assented by the president

According to the notification the Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill 2023 was deemed to have been approved by the president with effect from August 17 and the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill, 2023 from August 11 Section 6-A of the secrets act creates a new offence of unauthorised disclosure of the identities of members of intelligence agencies informants or sources

The offence would be punishable by up to three years in jail and a fine of up to Rs10 million

The Army Act paves the way for the punishment of up to five-year rigorous imprisonment to any person guilty of disclosing any information acquired in an official capacity that is or may be prejudicial to the security and interest of Pakistan or the armed forces

One of the amendments in the act accords more powers to the army chief and barred ex-servicemen from engaging in politics as well as taking up ventures which could come into conflict with the army s interest It also proposed imprisonment for defamation of the army

a s afghanistan slashes coal prices again, c an cement and power companies profit?

Not enough for the power sector to care

In a move to stay competitive amidst the global downturn in coal prices Afghanistan s Ministry of Mines and Petroleum has announced a significant reduction in the royalties for coal The royalties, previously set at 2,500 Afghani per ton, have been slashed to 2 200 Afghani Furthermore the customs duty has seen a substantial decrease from $45 to $30

The decision by the Afghan government seems to be a clear attempt to maintain the allure of its coal exports in a challenging market environment

These changes equate to a decrease of Rs 1,060 per ton in royalties and a decrease of Rs 4,400 per ton in customs duties,” explains Waqas Ghani, the Deputy Head of Research at JS Global Capital

As a result of these changes the price of Afghan coal is expected to hover around Rs 38 000 per ton Ghani adds However companies based in the southern regions of Pakistan may face slightly higher prices, Ghani adds further

Prior to this, Afghan coal commanded a price of approximately Rs 43 000 per ton to Rs 45 000 per ton for firms situated in the northern regions of Pakistan

However the cost escalated for those based in the southern areas owing to the increased expenditure on transportation

The question then is: will local cement manufacturers and power generation companies benefit from the Afghan government’s decision?

In the fiscal year of 2022-23 the power sector of Pakistan emerged as the primary consumer of coal with a staggering consumption of 7 297 million metric tons during the July-March period as reported in the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2022-23

Coal contributed to a significant 16% of the total electricity generated in the fiscal year 2023-24, amounting to 129 591 gigawatt hours However the decision by the Afghan government may not have a substantial impact on the energy sector

Local power generation primarily relies on imported non-Afghan coal and Thar coal Afghanistan, not being a significant global player, is unlikely to instigate price competition for market share,” elucidates A A H Soomro, an independent economic analyst “The impact would be negligible if at all ” Soomro further expounds I don t foresee a substantial benefit to the energy sector Imported prices are currently low and the energy sector is capable of procuring fuel, explains Fahad Rauf, Head of Research Ismail Iqbal Securities “The primary beneficiaries would be industries with captive generation ” Rauf asserts “Most of our coal plants are now considering incorporating some local coal into the mix i e Thar coal This would represent a significant development in terms of overall savings once implemented Rauf elaborates

However, it is likely that the Afghan coal might not end up in thermal power plants to begin with

general tyres acc used of evading mandator y pSQC a registration since 2016

GTR caters to a significant 80% of the total tire requirements for OEMs, boasting an extensive and diverse portfolio that encompasses vehicles ranging from cars and light commercial vehicles to trucks buses tractors and even CNG rickshaws

On the 21st of August a significant development unfolded in the corporate landscape of Pakistan KElectric made an announcement to the Pakistan Stock Exchange The announcement pertained to a decision handed down by the Cayman Grand Court a ruling that would influence the composition of K-Electric s Board of Directors This verdict was the outcome of a dispute between K-Electric s principal shareholders: IGCF SPV 21 and the duo of AlJomaih Power and Denham Investments IGCF SPV 21, Al-Jomaih Power, and Denham Investments collectively control KES Power a substantial shareholder in K-Electric To put it into perspective KES Power holds a commanding 66 4% of K-Electric s shares Within this consortium IGCF SPV 21 recently acquired by Shehryar Chishti s AsiaPak Investments boasts a significant 53 8% stake in KES Power The remaining 46 2% is divided between Aljomaih Power Limited, based in Saudi Arabia, and Denham Investment from Kuwait According to K-Electric’s notification the court has issued an injunction against Al-Jomaih Power and Denham Investments effectively suspending their legal actions against AsiaPak and enabling AsiaPak to appoint representatives to occupy the vacant seats on K-Electric s board However, here s where it becomes intriguing Both AsiaPak and the defendants (Al-Jomaih Power and Denham Investments) construe this ruling as a triumph for their respective factions

In an unexpected twist when the court s decision was published last week all parties involved celebrated Each party selectively highlighted aspects of the verdict that favoured them

Consequently, while K-Electric has disseminated the court’s decision it remains unclear who emerged as the true victor since all sides are claiming victory

Sutlej flooding breaks protective dykes, drowns villages in Punjab

PAKPATTAN

Flooding in Sutlej River has broken protective dykes and submerged several villages

The land link of several villages has disrupted in flooding in Sutlej forcing people to evacuate from their homes on their own without support from the authorities Flood affected people are trying to stop floodwater and save their villages on their own

Hundreds of acres farmland with standing crops has submerged in the water Several settlements including Shahoo Baloch, Baqarki, Mari Amb, Kot Bakhsha, Bheni Noor Jahanian and other villages have been under flood threat

Sutlej River has been in high flood at Sulemanki

Headworks with 1 46 271 cusecs inflow and outflow

The river has also been in high flood at Head Ganda Singh with 1,82,188 cusecs outflow The water level in Sutlej at Ganda Singh Wala has been as high as 21 90 feet A flood flow of 2,80,000 cusecs, released from India yesterday entered in Bahawalnagar district “After 35 years such big water flow has entered in Sutlej River This huge 2 75 Lac cusecs floodwater could wreak havoc in the area DC Bahawalnagar Zulfiqar Bhoon said in a video message to the residents of Sutlej River belt

(GTR) This notice centers around GTR s alleged failure to register its product range with the regulatory body since 2016, effectively bypassing the obligatory quality inspection and certification protocol mandated by PSQCA legislation

According to the official communication from PSQCA General Tyres has been directed to immediately halt all operations involving the manufacturing, sale, and storage of tires until the products receive official certification and bear the authority s mark The aim of this regulatory intervention is to enhance the quality and standardization of automotive tires available in the market General Tyres and Rubber Company (GTR) holds a pivotal position as the nation s premier automotive tire manufacturer serving as the primary supplier to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs)

As per the company it has garnered an enduring reputation for consistently adhering to global quality standards Aligning its products with original equipment (OE) specifications, GTR meticulously subjects its tires to rigorous testing in both Japan and Europe

GTR also has a large international footprint as it is underscored by its export of tires to various nations including Afghanistan Yemen Botswana Syria Nepal and Bangladesh A noteworthy highlight is the company s historical international involvement in the manufacturing and export of tires for Formula III racing cars to the United Kingdom, Italy, and Sweden during the period of 1988-1998

The PSQCA notice brings into focus the conspicuous absence of GTR s products within the mandatory registration framework This lack of certification and marking is viewed as a violation of PSQCA regulations, prompting the authority to take decisive action

He has advised the people to evacuate to relief camps or other safer places to avoid hazard “The people should also evacuate their cattle immediately from the area likely affected by the flooding he said A spokesperson of Punjab Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) earlier stated that the high flood flow in Sutlej will likely to pass through Islam Headworks on August 21 (today)

The Punjab PDMA said that the Office of the Indian Commissioner for Indus Water Treaty had intimated that Harike and Ferozepur Headworks in India “have entered into the flood regime” “The water will be regularly discharged on daily basis from the water works until August 21

Large-scale rescue, evacuation efforts continue in floodaffected areas

Large-scale rescue and evacuation efforts continued in the recent flood-affected areas in parts of Punjab, following the high-level floods in the Sutlej River at two points

Two years after a landmark judgement of the Supreme Court ordered the Sindh Government to pay compensation to affectees of an anti-encroachment drive, the SC has initiated contempt of court proceedings against the government and former Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah for not reasonably providing the ordered compensation

The 2021 ruling of the SC had held the government was mandated to provide dignified and honourable rehabilitation and resettlement for the victims of Gujjar Nala,

Orangi Nala and Mehmoodabad demolitions The CM was supposed to deliver monthly progress reports regarding the resettlement and rehabilitation strides for the impacted residents of these demolitions The problem of course resides within the concept of anti-encroachment drives that governments and bureaucrats seem to be far too happy to carry out These drives force residents out on the pretext of red-taping and leave countless people homeless and with their lives in shambles For years now the Karachi Bachao Tehreeek (KBT) has been fighting against such drives The organisation has been at the forefront of this

fight in the courts and on the streets

The problem of anti-encroachment drives

Let us go back to the origin of this current case In February 2020 the government of Sindh initiated a large-scale anti-encroachment operation along the Gujjar and Orangi Nullahs, in accordance with the Supreme Court order of August 2020 This demolition of houses and shops along two of the main storm water drains in Karachi began as part of the Karachi Transformation Plan – a joint initiative of the federal and provincial governments to improve the city s infrastructure and prevent urban

flooding The plan involved widening the nullahs by removing the encroachments on both sides which affected thousands of residents and businesses many of whom had been living there for decades With this objective in mind the Sindh government engaged engineering students from NED University to undertake a survey utilising satellite imagery, specifically focusing on residences erected along both sides of the twin drains The NED team performed a Global Navigation Satellite System survey to study the width and depth of the drain and they used drones for an aerial survey to map its route Astonishingly, they

did not physically visit the locations or engage with the residents whose homes were slated for demolition based on the findings of this survey

It has been alleged that the demolition was carried out without adequate consultation, compensation, or alternative housing for the affected people, violating their right to adequate housing and exposing them to health and security risks, even resulting in deaths This anti-encroachment drive faced strong and resilient resistance from the residents who staged protests and filed petitions in the courts to stop the operation

PARTIES HAVE DECLARED THE COURT TO HAVE RULED IN THEIR FAVOUR IN ROUND 2 OF BATTLE OVER CONTROL OF K-ELECTRIC