Epaper_24-04-26 KHI

RAWALPINDI

in a statement According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) senior army commanders visited the martyrs’ families at their hometowns to express condolences pay tribute and pledge unflinching support on behalf of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) In response the families of the martyrs expressed gratitude to the army for its support and respect during their time of grief Highlighting the significance of honouring martyrs and veterans the ISPR emphasized that Shuhadas (martyrs) and Ghazis (war heroes) are the pride of the nation and their respect and honour is binding on each Pakistani “We must never forget that the peace and freedom we enjoy today is due to the ultimate sacrifices rendered by these brave sons of soil said the statement The statement concluded with a heartfelt tribute to the families of the martyrs: “We as nation salute Shuhada families for sacrificing their loved ones for Pakistan

COMMENT

Raisi in Pakistan

IR A N I A N President Ibrahim Raisi ended his four-day three–city visit to Pakistan with the shadow of the USA not entirely removed from the relationship between the two neighbours Though Iran has said it has completed work on its gas pipeline to Pakistan Pakistan has not and Iran has threatened to impose the penalties provided in the agreement

Pakistan has pleaded that it does not want to have US sanctions imposed on it Pakistan continues to court the USA and avoid its ire while Iran has challenged it for years While the joint statement said there had been an agreement on the pipeline the absence of details indicated that there had not been any substantial agreement This split on the USA has had strong regional implications Iran has grown closer to Russia and China, and drawn away from India It is not that Pakistan is opposed to Russia or China, or friendly to India, but the big difference in the relationship is the USA Another point where Iran opposes the USA is Israel Again, Pakistan is not on the USA s side in this, though it is not actively antiIsrael Iran is engaged in a confrontation with Israel, which has led to the exchange of missiles, but the fears of a general expansion of the Gaza conflict have not yet taken place

One of the areas the two countries are focusing on is trade, and a Free Trade Agreement has been pending It has still not been agreed, but its absence is shown up by the smuggling which goes on both sides An FTA would go a long way to providing a legal outlet for what is clearly pent-up demand It would also help in the management of the border between the two countries Border management was also an issue that was discussed Both countries, in neighbouring provinces, share a common problem, Baloch separatism So far, the separatists are not coordinating, but that is no reason why the two governments should not

This was the issue which led to both countries bombarding each other, going after the safe havens of their separatists on the other side of the border This visit should have helped convince the two that

Iof

election That involved no less than 68 phases with over 173

voters from a population of 361

This time there will be only seven phases as in

year there will be around 968 million voters, about 150 million up from the last exercise, in 2019 Though the poll has missed being the first billion-voter election, it is likely that the next poll, due by 2029 will be There were 109 million votes cast in 1951-52 There were 614 7 million in 2019 which indicates about 700 million in this election

Even though there will be far less than a billion ballots cast in this and a few succeeding elections, counting the votes will remain a huge challenge India is thus one of the countries using electronic voting machines

One of the almost iconic practices it is meant to guard against is booth capturing where a candidate s supporters take over the booth and then stuff the ballot boxes with pre-stamped ballots EVM is shut down if voting is faster than five votes a minute, meaning that there is no way of stuffing One can t even do a bit of fancy techno-fraud, because the unit shuts down at any attempt to alter the programme after it is once installed

One of the big differences between 1952 and 2024 is the number of state legislative assemblies also going to the polls, Back then, all did The old legislatures had been elected in 1946, and were past their sell-by date Then there were all of the princely states which had now acceded to the IIndian Union, which were wholly or partly now forming states and which lacked legislatures

This time around only four states (Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Odisha and Sikkim) will go to the polls while 25 by-elections to state legislative assemblies have also been scheduled

As in 1951-2, the preceding Lok Sabha has not been dissolved, neither by the Prime Minister nor by the expiry of its tenure That means that there will be a brief period when one Lok Sabha will be going into the sunset and another preparing to take over The sitting Lok Sabha will automatically expire on June 16 With the polls will be over on June 1, counting is planned for June 4, with the results coming in later, but without the urgency of having to fill an empty Lok Sabha This is best when there is to be no change in government

change is expected In 2019 the BJP won 303 of 546 seats, but its allies took its National Democratic Alliance to 353 This time, it is aiming for 400 on its own Nehru’s Congress party has gone through many vicissitudes, down to the dynasty having given up the Congress party which after four generations of Nehrus and Gandhis has since 2022 as President Mallikarjun Kharge Indira Gandhi Jawaharlal s daughter is assumed to have started the dynasty, because she became PM When she was assassinated, her son Rajiv became PM, and when he in turn was assassinated, his heirs took over the party with first his widow Sonia becoming party President and then son Rahul However the two Congress PMs after him Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh did not come from the family

However, the family has been closely associated with the Congress since the time of Jawaharlal s father Motilal Motilal, a prominent member of the Allahabad High Court Bar, had bexcome President of the Congress At that juncture from the 1930s he hobnobbed quite a lot with the Hindu Mahasabha which through various twists and turns became the Jan Sangh and then flowed into the BJP

It is commonly assumed that the BJP is merely the political arm of the RSS; but that is not really correct The RSS was merely one of the strains of militant Hinduism rising up under the knowledge that the British were leaving It is instructive that it was an RSS worker Nathuram Godse who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi in 1948 He did so because he and his political mentor, Vir Savarkar, who had been a Mahasabha leader, and who formulated the ideology of Hindutva and its central idea of a Hindu Rashtra, were opposed to Gandhi’s agreement to Partition After Gandhi’s assassination Nehru who had inherited his father s political position was left unchallenged in the party as well as the government He was equally responsible for Congress accepting the Partition Plan which so incensed Godse and Savarkar, but he escaped Gandhi s fate It should be noted that where his father had hobnobbed

F o r

generation, and though the Nehru-Gandhis provide the sole example of the Prime Ministership of a country going to three generations, even though Bilawal Zardari Bhutto in Pakistan has got his hat in the ring and so does Saeb Wazed in Bangladesh

The implications are dangerous for

in visiting Iqbal Park

field of education in Pakistan Women and young girls in our society are expected to do household chores to be housewives to take care of their husbands and to mother their children Males have a greater role in determining their fate and take the important decisions of their life which includes the decisions as regards their education, marriage, job and their movement outside home Many women in Pakistan, especially those in rural areas don’t have the right to choose what is right for them Owing to these harmful gender dynamics a good number of young age girls in Pakistan are deprived of their right to acquire education, a right which is bestowed upon them by the religious teachings One of the major challenges in the way of removing gender inequality in education is poverty The World Bank considers poverty as one of the most important factors that determines whether or not a girl can attend a school or college The girls in poor families are less likely to attend schools Their parents, already mired in financial constraints, hesitate to incur any financial burden, no matter how small it is, due to the education of their daughters To cope with this challenge parents can

The BJP has still not accepted the Partition And has no pressing reason to do so There is some hope that a PML(N) government and a BJP government could come together for peace, but that seems misplaced There was little beyond tokenism ever achieved with Nawaz Sharif in office in Islamabad, and Modi and Vajpayee in New Delhi Even when the military ruled in Pakistan under Musharraf only tokens were achieved For Pakistanis the cacophony of the elections should not hide the fact that both the BJP and Congress are true patriots The first wants Partition undone, the second broke Pakistan in 1971, and still glories in that The writer is a member of staff T

In 1952 there was no change expected as Jawaharlal Nehru and the Congress were expected to win They did winning 364 seats out of 489 apart from 10 appointed members (now abolished) Again, no

be incentivized by giving them conditional cash transfers for sending children to school with a premium on girls Moreover providing free meals in schools especially in girls schools to students can also positively contribute in this regard Another obstacle widening the gender gap in education is early marriage According to a report of the World Health Organisation (WHO) 21 percent of girls in Pakistan get married before reaching the age of 18 This raises the female dropout rate as the pressure from society prevents girls from attending school after marriage The life of girls moves from playing and studying to responsibilities of married life To protect girls from early marriage we need new laws, which raise the minimum age of marriage for girls from 16 to 18 Besides there is also a need to strictly implement existing laws such as Article 25A of the Constitution which gives the right to education to all girls between the ages of five to 16 The security issue also affects gender parity in schools Girls are harassed on their way to school and in the school The security concerns of parents increase when the schools are at a distance Given this the girls are prevented from attending the school by their family members The provincial governments will have to take some measures in this respect, such as improving transportation facilities for female students and teachers, as has been done in KPK, and creating a safe environment in schools for female students by building boundary walls around schools Cultural norms and conservative attitudes toward gender roles also reduce enrolment and increase the dropout rate of girls from schools Women are normally expected to prioritize domestic responsibilities like household chores, taking care of family members and child-bearing over their education They are thought especially in rural areas to be in the four walls of the house and their movement outside the house becomes a matter of honour for male members of the family Pursuing university level education by females is also discouraged due to conservative mindset in the society as they are believed to become less desirable as wives if they do so Such thinking of the people is mainly constituted by misinterpretation of Islamic teachings It is be-

lieved by a certain section in society that Islam makes males dominant over females and the latter are bound under the religious teachings to serve their family members inside the four walls of the house and their movement outside the house is restricted This is a total misconception Islam gives women the right to take important decisions of their lives themselves Like males, they also have the right to get an education The need is to promote the true teachings of Islam in society and remove such cultural norms that hinder girls education

To reduce the gender gap in education targeted interventions are needed, which include tailored programmes for recently dropped out girls and programmes of literacy for young girls who left education years ago– a literacy numeracy and life skill programme would be a more targeted approach for this group Besides in order to increase the number of schools promoting Public Private Partnerships (PPPs), as is done in Punjab in primary education, and expanding it to other levels of education, may yield positive results in terms of enrolment of girls in education Additionally better management of public schools particularly those in rural areas can also contribute to enhanced girls enrolment Currently 2 5 percent of GDP is allocated to the education sector, which is far from the 4 percent international average This should be increased to 4 5 per cent as per the recommendations of the World Bank to narrow the educational gaps and ensure quality education for all especially girls Girls education needs to be given top priority The education of girls is a primary catalyst for personal growth, social advancement and economic development Promoting girls’ education is not just a matter of giving the right of education to girls rather it is a transformative mission that can yield dividends to a nation on multiple fronts whether political economic or social and has an impact on many aspects of human development Without prioritising girls education, a nation will not be able to compete with other economies of the world and the dream of its progress will always remain a dream

i t a l f o r C P E C a n d B R I

Aof the Wakhan Corridor, a highway linkage between Tajikistan and Pakistan through Azad Kashmir could be established, creating a significant opportunity for enhanced trade and economic activity in the region This route could

facilitate the trade of various goods such as minerals, textiles, agricultural products, and manufactured goods Central Asian states could export natural resources such as oil gas and minerals while importing goods like textiles machinery and electronics

Though the trade volume would depend on several factors such as infrastructure capacity, ease of trade regulations, and market demand However, with the potential opening of new trade routes and access to the warm waters of the Arabian Sea through Karachi and Gwadar Port trade volumes could be substantial

If CPEC were extended through Afghanistan to Central Asia, the benefits for Pakistan could be significant It could further enhance Pakistan’s strategic position as a trade hub increase connectivity with Central Asian markets and boost economic growth

In dollar terms the benefits could include increased revenue from transit fees expanded trade opportunities, and improved economic ties with regional countries This would strengthen Pakistan’s geopolitical position and the development of infrastructure along this route would stimulate economic growth

create job opportunities and foster cultural exchanges and people-to-people connections, contributing to greater understanding and cooperation in the region

Additionally, the corridor would provide Central Asian states with a shorter and more efficient route to access international markets via Gwadar Port which is strategically im-

portant due to its location at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz It would enhance its strategic importance by providing an alternative route for trade that bypasses traditional chokepoints and improves connectivity between South Asia Central Asia and the Middle East facilitating greater economic cooperation and integration in the region

For Afghanistan, the direct access to China through the Wakhan border would enable Afghanistan to carry out its entire trade of over $1 3 billion with China through this route As a result Pakistan could potentially experience a reduction in its geopolitical advantage and security leverage over Afghanistan Alternatively Afghanistan would reduce its dependence on Pakistan and vulnerability to disruptions in transit trade, thus weakening Pakistan’s ability to use security concerns Afghanistan would potentially seek closer ties with other regional powers diminishing Pakistan s geopolitical leverage in the region

For China, the opening of the Wakhan border would give a much-needed boost to extending Chinese reach to diverse markets as part of the Belt and Road Initiative However security and cross-border terrorism will continue to be Beijing s primary focus

Therefore the opening of the road will largely depend on the ability of the Taliban to maintain control over Afghan territory, prevent the emergence of any real threat to China’s domestic security by groups and militants inside Afghanistan and Chinese willingness to set up a border control regime and construct necessary infrastructure such as roads highways and bridges to link Afghanistan with China through the Wakhan Corridor After the opening of this trade route, all traffic originating from Afghanistan for China either via sea or through the Karakoram Highway will be diverted toward the Wakhan border This route will assume high significance as China is increasingly tapping many areas of Afghanistan for mining precious and rare minerals China has signed impressive deals, including a $10 billion deal for access to lithium deposits in Afghanistan and a $3

Wakhan Border The distance between Badakhshan Province and Xinjiang s capital Urumqi via the Wakhan Border is approximately 600800 km, whereas the distance from Badakhshan s capital, Faizabad, to Urumqi via KKH is approximately 1500 km This means that all

IT h e d ev e l o p m e n t o f t h e Wa k h a n C o r r i d o r h a s t r a n s i t i o n e d f ro m a m e r e d i s c u s s i o n t o a t a n g i b l e p o s s i b i l i t y. T h i s v i t a l ro u t e i s s e t t o o p e n s o o n , p r e s e n t i n g Pa k i s t a n w i t h n u m e ro u s s t r e n g t h s , w e a k n e s s e s , o p p o r t u n i t i e s , a n d t h r e a t s . I t i s i m p e r a t i v e fo r t h e g ov e r n m e n t o f Pa k i s t a n t o p ro a c t i v e ly p o s i t i o n i t s e l f t o a s s e s s t h e c u r r e n t s c e n a r i o a n d f u t u r e p ro s p e c t s . A c o m p r e h e n s i v e v i s i o n , m i s s i o n , s t r a t e g i e s , a n d p l a n s h o u l d b e d ev e l o p e d t o f u l ly ex p l o i t t h e p o t e n t i a l o f t h e Wa k h a n C o r r i d o r a n d l ev e r a g e t h e s t r a t e g i c s i g n i f i c a n c e o f t h e r e g i o n , w h i c h i s a t t h e c e n t e r o f i m p e r i a l a m b i t i o n s a n d g e o p o l i t i c a l c o m p l ex i t i e s . AL

said these were people whose motto was We are five ours are 25 That referred to Muslim men supposedly marrying four times and having 25 children

In his subsequent speeches, he continued pitting Hindus against Muslims with the help of innuendos such as pink revolution (non-vegetarianism) and white revolution (vegetarianism) or graveyards (referring to the Muslim burial practices) and crematoriums (referring to the Hindu practice of burning remains)

In Sunday’s speech, Modi directly referred to Muslims as “those who produce more children” and “infiltrators” evoking a sinister conspiracy theory that the Muslims are outsiders and aim to outnumber the Hindu majority

The prime minister is clearly playing a dangerous game, turning the election into a war between Hindus and Muslims, and the BJP is openly calling itself the party of Hindus It is not wrong to conclude from his speech that he has accepted that his voters are only Hindus Other leaders of his party have made that clear as well

Last year Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma declared that he did not want the votes of Miya (Bengali-speaking Muslims)

Some analysts feel that the BJP has become desperate as it has not received the expected support in the first phase of the elections

This desperation has driven it to try its old formula of Hindu polarisation by generating the fear of a Muslim takeover of India

But if we look at Modi s speeches since the beginning of this election campaign, we can see that right from the start, he has been giving statements that portray the opposition parties as anti-Hindu For example he said the Congress manifesto bore the imprint of the Muslim League referring to the political party founded under British colonialism to secure Muslim rights He also claimed that the opposition leaders had the mindset of Mughals, India’s 16-18th century Muslim rulers and that they insulted Hindus by eating fish during sacred Hindu occasions and eating meat during the Hindu holy month of Sawan He said they do so to please their own voters Who can these voters be but Muslims? That the opposition leaders are indulging in anti-Hindu practices to appease Muslims is a completely absurd assertion given that the opposition also needs Hindu votes and cannot

afford to do anything to alienate them But lack

of logic has not stopped Modi and the BJP from repeating these claims in an attempt to provoke Hindus against Muslims This is a clear violation of the ECI’s Model Code of Conduct according to which no one is allowed to solicit votes or campaign on religious or communal grounds

It is also a violation of the People s Representative Act, which treats communal propaganda as a crime The law says, Appeals by a candidate, or any other person with the consent of a candidate to vote or refrain from voting on the ground of his religion race caste community or language is a corrupt electoral practice If found guilty under this provision an individual can face up to six years in jail

It was this provision of the Act that led to

TH E most distressing fact of U S politics since Donald Trump arrived on the scene is the accelerating decline of political and legal norms It isn t all Mr Trump s fault His opponents have, in their obsession to take him down also stretched the law and degraded American institutions That’s where the courts are essential and Thursday s oral argument at the Supreme Court on presidential immunity from prosecution is a case in point We say immunity for Presidents because the future of the office is as much at stake as Mr Trump’s political fate In Trump v U S the former President is claiming he has absolute immunity from criminal prosecution Special counsel Jack Smith says Mr Trump has no more immunity than any average citizen

*** The burden on the Justices will be finding a balance that recognizes the unique duties of the Presidency while also holding Presidents accountable for genuine law-breaking A President needs to be free to make controversial decisions without having to worry that he’ll be prosecuted for them after he leaves office But he shouldn t be free to commit crimes that are unrelated to the office The Trump case will set a new precedent because no former President has ever been prosecuted Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon bravely and at great political cost before Nixon could be prosecuted for obstruction of justice But as it happens a precedent exists from that era that is highly relevant to the Trump case In Nixon v Fitzgerald (1982), the Supreme Court ruled that a President has “absolute immunity” from civil lawsuits for acts within the “outer perimeter of his presidential duties

of

at-

is considered an expert in dogwhistling He has mastered the art of insulting, mocking, and attacking Muslims without uttering the word Muslim For example during his time as chief minister of Gujarat state in 2002 riots took place that evicted thousands of Muslims from their homes and forced them into relief camps When the state government started demolishing these camps and faced criticism over it, Modi said he could not allow “children-producing factories” to operate Without uttering the word Muslim he

Mr Smith s

Muslims are keeping quiet, but so are the ECI and the cour ts In this deafening silence, we are mourning the death of democrac y in India

G aza protests grow at US colleges, thousands demonstrate in Brooklyn

5 ye a r s o n , P r e s i d e n t X i r e e m p h a s i z e s C h i n a ’s we s t e r n r e g i o n d e ve l o p m e n t s t r a t e g y

general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission just finished his inspection of central China s Hunan Province last month In Hunan he stressed vigorously energizing the central region and promoting the development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, aiming to bolster a more balanced regional development China’s western area consists of 12 provincial-level regions covering over 70 percent of the country s land area and containing 27 percent of China s population The western region is well-known for its abundant renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy, and various underground mineral resources such as rare earth bauxite coal and natural gas which accounts for more than 70 percent of the country s total reserves In March 2019, in a meeting of the CPC central committee for deepening overall reform chaired by Xi, a guideline for advancing the development of the western region in the new era was passed The guideline puts forward that by 2035 the western region will catch up with the eastern region in the fields of public service, infrastructure connectivity and people’s livelihood China’s eastern region recorded nearly triple the GDP of the western region in 2023 Five years on from the passing of this guideline, Xi pointed out that, though the western region has seen significant achievements it still faces many development challenges He urged the region to focus on its competitive local industries and accelerate its opening up Xi said at the symposium that the 12 provincial-level regions should dev e l o p m o d e r n m a n u f a c t u r i n g a n d s t r a t e g i c e m e rg i n g i n d u s t r i e s s u c h a s new energy and bio-medicine based on l o c a l c o n d i t i o n s a n d s p e e d u p i n d u strial transformation and upgrading He a d d e d t h a t t o u r i s m a n d o t h e r s e r v i c e s e c t o r s c a n b e d e v e l o p e d i n t o t h e r egion’s pillar industries

ternational logistics hub, a community in Jiulongpo District, and a digital urban operation and governance center Local officials introduced the development of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor urban renewal projects and city governance to him

Chinese President Xi Jinping visits an international logistics hub in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality,

April 22, 2024 /Xinhua Chinese President Xi Jinping visits an international logistics hub in southwest China s Chongqing Municipality

April 22 2024

Xi made it clear that China’s economy is transforming from high-speed to high-quality development so every region should develop its economy based on its specific conditions and play to its comparative advantages During his inspection in Chongqing, he visited an in-

The trade corridor is a major channel between China s western region and countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) It reached 490 ports in 120 countries and regions as of January and saw its cargo volume rise 21 percent year-on-year in 2023 according to the government work report of Chongqing Municipality Xi on Tuesday called on the region to

accelerate the building of the corridor and better integrate itself with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to promote the opening up of the region He had previously said that the active participation of China s western region in the BRI would greatly improve connectivity between China s eastern and western regions and between China and the outside world So far, the connectivity pattern has taken shape in the western region China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data shows that a total of 35 000 China-Europe freight trains have been launched from the western region in the past five years, accounting for 50 5 percent of the country s total In 2023, the total import-export volume of the western region increased 37 percent compared to 2019

As the western region is the birthplace of China s great rivers such as the Yangtze River, Yellow River and Lancang River, and has many rare wild animals, Xi also vowed to safeguard national ecological security He stressed accelerating major projects for protecting and restoring ecosystems boosting the Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program to counter sandstorms and soil erosion in the northern region, and promoting energy saving and carbon reduction in traditional sectors, as well as the clean and efficient use of coal China started to implement the national strategy for the large-scale development of the western region in 2000 As of 2020, the average annual GDP growth of the region reached 10 2 percent, greatly closing the economic gap with other regions More than 21 3 million hectares of farmland have been converted into forests or grassland with the forest coverage rate surpassing 19 percent data from the National Development and Reform Commission shows

Bank Alfalah posts

Rs9,912b PAT in Q1’24

K A R A C H I: The Board of Directors of Bank Alfalah Limited (BAFL),

Faysal Bank unveils strong financial results for Q1’24

Pakistan renews pledge to malaria eradic ation on World Malaria D ay 2024

Today the Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination (M/o NHSR&C) alongside the Common Management Unit (CMU) for AIDS, TB, and Malaria, in partnership with World Health Organization-WHO, marked World Malaria Day 2024 with steadfast dedication to the global theme Accelerating the fight against malaria for a more equitable world : Gender, Health Equity, and Human Rights

Stressing the need to scale up malaria control and elimination interventions and raise awareness

Mr Syed Waqar Ul Hassan Special Secretary of the M/o NHSR&C addressed the lingering public health challenge posed by malaria, exacerbated by the 2022 floods He called for a united effort from all stakeholders including policymakers civil society organizations UN agencies NGOs communities and healthcare providers

Dr Razia Kaniz Fatima, National Coordination for Coordination Management Unit, AIDS, TB, and Malaria, shared that CMU in collaboration with the Provincial Programs and with the support of the Global Fund and partnership with the Indus Hospital and Health Network (IHHN) is providing free of cost malaria prevention diagnostic and treatment interventions through more than 5500 public and private healthcare facilities in farflung areas of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh With the GF support, about 11 1 million suspected were tested for Malaria, and 2 6 million confirmed cases were successfully treated during last year Further 6 1 million ITNs were distributed in 20 high burden districts Dr Fatima highlighted the importance of innovative measures and scale up of preventive services for Malaria Dr Luo Dapeng WHO Representative Pakistan reaffirmed

WHO's commitment to combat malaria and support initiatives for a malaria-free Pakistan He lauded the accelerated response of National and Provincial programs to combat malaria outbreaks during floods, while presenting an animated video providing a historical overview of the malaria situation Dr Shahzad Ali Khan, Vice Chancellor Health Services Academy emphasized the profound impact of malaria on individuals families and communities urging heightened political and social commitment to alleviate its burden He commended the tireless efforts of healthcare workers researchers policymakers and communities worldwide in the fight against malaria

demolishs Islamabad Tennis Club during anti- encroachment ac tion at Public Park: Tarar

vate Tv channel, Baqar

The sources privy to the development said that the MQM-P which had earlier refused to replace Kamran Tessori has now shown flexibility on the matter

The sources within the party said that Barrister Farogh Naseem has emerged as a strong candidate to replace Kamran Tessori for the slot It is pertinent to mention here that the ruling party in Sindh Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) had demanded Tessori s removal from office, accusing him of creating a political divide and further widening the gap between urban and rural areas of the province ” PPP Sindh General Secretary Senator Waqar Mehdi said that Tessori has not succeeded in closing the gap between the urban and rural areas and politics

In the reply the MQM-P termed Mehdi s statement as unnecessary and non-serious The PPP should address the growing sense of deprivation during its 15year rule in Sindh The PPP does not have the right to comment on the performance of Governor Sindh the MQM-P added

Earlier, it was reported that Justice Maqbool Baqar (Retd) has emerged as the frontrunner to become the next Sindh Governor Maqbool Baqar who has served as the caretaker chief minister of Sindh was being considered as the strongest candidate to succeed current Sindh Governor Kamran Tessori Speaking to a pri-

two countries If we were to improve our coordination, then we’ll be able to take care Otherwise, these forces will not give up,” Kasuri told the Global Times, noting that the issue of counter-terrorism cooperation will be among the prominent topics in future high-level exchanges between the two countries