g PROTESTS INVOLVED TRAINED MISCREANTS AND ILLEGAL AFGHANS UNDER LEADERSHIP OF MURAD SAEED: SPOKESPERSON K P G O V T ’ S R E S O U R C E S M I S U S E D I N P T I ’ S
ISLAMABAD
S TA F F R E P O R T
TH E Interior Ministry has claimed that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government s resources were used indiscriminately during the protests that took place in Islamabad, following a call for demonstrations by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)
A spokesperson for the ministry stated that the protests involved trained miscreants and Afghan nationals unlawfully staying in the country, including 1,500 absconders and miscreants, under the leadership of Murad Saeed, who it stated was a proclaimed offender
He said that during the violent protests law enforcement agencies including police and Rangers refrained from using live ammunition to disperse the crowds Furthermore, the military was not deployed to manage the violence, with its presence limited to securing key installations,” the ministry added The spokesperson claimed that armed guards accompanying PTI leadership and armed protesters opened indiscriminate fire which escalated the violence PTI leadership, according to the ministry, opted to flee rather than address the situation at hand In response to the allegations circulating on social media, the ministry stated that PTI had launched a concerted propaganda effort falsely accusing law enforcement agencies of causing deaths during the protests However, hospital administrations in Islamabad have denied these reports, with the ministry highlighting that old and AI-generated false
videos were being used in the propaganda The ministry further noted that PTI s protests had resulted in an estimated 192 billion rupees in daily losses to the country s economy It condemned the actions of PTI and its social media operatives stating that those behind the “creation and spread of fake news and divisive narratives would be held accountable under relevant laws
The statement also highlighted that the people of Pakistan, including the citizens of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, strongly reject the violent and extremist tactics used by PTI in its political protests reaffirming their commitment to peace and stability Moreover a press release by the ministry addressed the events of November 26, when protesters breached the Red Zone, defying orders from the Islamabad High Court Violent clashes ensued with protesters using firearms, tear gas, stun grenades, steel sling shots, and nail-studded batons against law enforcement agencies Additionally, 39 lethal weapons including 18 automatic weapons were recovered from the protesters with several of the apprehended offenders identified as foreign nationals As for the material damages, the ministry estimated the losses to be in the hundreds of millions, with at least 11 law enforcement vehicles including prison vans
Two soldiers mar tyred, eight Khwarij ter rorists killed in two KP ’s IBOs
Khyber District three Khwarij were sent to hell while two were apprehended by the security forces, it further said During an intense fire exchange, Captain Muhammad Zohaib Ud Din (Age: 25 years, resident of: District Lahore) who was leading his troops from the front fought bravely paid the ultimate sacrifice and embraced shahadat These khwarij were involved in numerous terrorist activities against the security forces as well as innocent civilians “Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other kharji found in the area as security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve, the ISPR news release said President, PM commend security forces for twin operations President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Min-
ister Muhammad Shehbaz
haibuddin and soldier Iftikhar Hussain who were martyred during the operations, and acknowledged their sacrifices, President Secretariat Press Wing and PM Office Media Wing in separate press releases said
SBP GOVERNOR CALLS ON BANKS TO EMBRACE TECHNOLOGY AND STRENGTHEN SUPPORT FOR AGRICULTURE, SMES
g E-COMMERCE GIANTS LIKE AMAZON AND WALMART REAP REWARDS AS ONLINE SPENDING JUMPS
Inept,
unprofessional, untrained manpower spoiling BRT ser vice
of taking action or slamming the arrogant personnel supported them and told him to file a complaint against them on the CM s Complaints Portal He said that now being disgruntled of the constant mistreatment at the hands Zu security staff he has repaired his abandoned motor cycles to use it for commuting to his office Same is the case with hundreds of regular commuters of the service and they are mulling over abandoning the use of BRT service When this scribe asked a Zu Security personnel about their professional training and particularly friendly treatment of the commuters he on condition of anonymity said that they are being told that no one should pass through without their manual body search either the passerby is even their father
against the metro bus services of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad and Lahore wherein the fare per one commuter or ridder is Rs 30 while in BRT Peshawar is charging Rs 60
There are also other complaints of the unprofessional approach of the management and operation on the pattern of the omni buses is resulting in overloading and crowding the buses as time duration of departure of buses is long and due to the monopoly of the BRT service on the public transportation
of millions of rupees that are install at the gates Talking to this scribe, Aslam an employee of a public sector organization expressed his displeasure over the treatment accorded to the commuters at BRT stations by the Zu Security personnel He said that the security staff often check them manually despite adherence to the standard security standard operating procedures (SOPs) followed by the security personnel at all sensitive installations and facilities like airports railway stations and hotels not only in Pakistan rather across the world When asked about filing a formal complaint against the security personnel with the management of the BRT, he said that he had even talked to the incharge of the Zu Security he instead
This attitude of the BRT top management and security personnel is even the violation of their own adapted and advertised security code of conduct The service is regularly demonstrating it through playing a video asking the commuters to take out metal-oriented articles from their pockets and then pass through the walk-through-in gates But the security personnel are bent upon the humiliation of the commuters while the management has turned deaf ears to the public complaints in this regard Following the operation of the BRT service, the commuters have no alternative vehicular transport as the provincial government has established the monopoly of the public sector transport service and has banned the issuance of route permits to any vehicle on the routes on which BRT is operated
The provincial government has fixed highest fare for the BRT service than other provinces, particularly
The service is defending the overloading saying intra-city bus services are used to overloading all over world Such kind of ads is regularly played on the monitors installed on the buses Since initiation of work BRT Peshawar, which the leadership of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) claims as their flagship project is tainted with alleged corruption and malpractices The total cost of the project has become a secret for the people as the provincial administration is not ready to reveal its exact cost while the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has claimed the recovery of Rs168 5 billion in the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Peshawar project
The bureau also helped the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government avoid a Rs31 5 billion claim lodged by contractors in the International Court of Arbitration (ICA)
NAB launched an inquiry in 2018 into the illegal awarding of contracts misuse of government funds and submission of fraudulent performance guarantees by contractors involved in the BRT project After a period of stagnation, the investigation gained momentum, resulting in significant financial recovery
Hike in petrol
IT and Telecom minister pledges to overhaul Pakistan’s internet infrastruc ture
PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has called for political stability, to be achieved through dialogue or force, in an address on videolink on the occasion of the PPP founding s 57th anniversary on Saturday, his call was a comment on the recently ended PTI attempt to hold a sit-in in Islamabad, which was dispersed by force in the wee hours of Wednesday He would naturally have to support the line of the government which he supports but supporting it from outside gives him a degree of freedom to criticize the government However he clearly came out on the side of the government As a result the PTI has perhaps only Maulana Fazlur Rehman on the government side to support it
The ruling PML(N) has already made it obvious that it wants KP CM Ali Amin Gandapur ’s government removed and replaced by Governor ’s rule, and the PTI banned It had let it be known that it was only the need to get its allies to agree that stopped it Mr Bhutto Zardari is holding out what may indeed be last call for dialogue, as force would then be the alternative Mr Bhutto Zardari also expressed the need for a second National Action Plan (NAP) to handle the situation This was a clear reference towards the real reason why the KP government might be dismissed: the sectarian violence in Kurram the ex-FATA district where over 100 people have been killed in the ongoing violence Meanwhile PTI
Vice-Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi said while talking to the press after a court appearance in Lahore that banning the PTI or sacking the KP government would be huge mistakes
Though the path of force remains, it should be left as the prerogative of the state The path of negotiation is the political one The PML(N) has never refused to talk with anyone Mr Qureshi cannot be considered to have made a talks offer, but he did ask that he be allowed to meet PTI founder Imran Khan so as to argue his view that a dialogue for national reconciliation needed to be held Mr Khan should realize that even wars end with a dialogue: for what are surrender negotiations but a dialogue? His refusal to talk except on his own terms, with his main demands already accepted, has brought about the present situation, where the PTI is trying to recover from its biggest setback since 9 May 2023
Dedicated to the legac y of late Hameed Nizami Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor
M A Niazi Editor Pakistan Today Babar Nizami Editor Profit
L
Isuch measures only exhibit incompetence and unwillingness on the part of the authority, which finds school activities and more than 10-hour shop openings as primary reasons for the spread of poisonous air that Lahore breathes annually during winters The issue of suffocating smog is systematic and perpetual, demanding calculated and long-term measures to be addressed
Technically, in winter, a warm layer of air traps smog and particulate matter near the ground atmosphere and the conversion and accumulation of these particles worsen the climate Further as cold air travels slowly it does not let these toxic particles disperse This is the main reason why air quality worsens
and
mind
efficiencies as the
for this malaise Over the years
blueprints have
s resolve
projecting the Punjab
stubble burning and brick kilns within and surrounding areas of Lahore, safe disposal of industrial wastage, and SOPs to regulate business activities in the city Unfortunately, the realization of this framework also appears to be paralyzed by the chronic dilemma that defines the state of governance in Pakistan since its inception The gap between policy framing and implementation has been colossal with political interests, bureaucratic incompetence, and public unawareness being the predominant causes of the bitter air engulfing Lahore for so long Adding to the conundrum is the unchecked urban sprawl that has engulfed the city over the years Lahore s rapid urbanization while displaying a facade of growth and expansion has largely been unregulated The mushrooming of unplanned housing societies and illegal construction practices has not only strained the city’s infrastructure but also aggravated the environmental crisis Tree-cutting to make way for development projects coupled with a lack of green spaces in new urban areas has further reduced
the analysis by Rockström et al is the
the
IN a report published in November by Climate Action Tracker and titled 1 5-aligned 2035 targets for major emitters and Troika countries the main carbon emitters currently have been identified, some of which are also those countries like the USA, which have traditionally been the among the main polluters The report indicates in this regard This briefing focuses on seven large emitters (China the United States India the European Union Indonesia Japan and Australia) and the COP Troika countries (the UAE, Azerbaijan and Brazil) that, together, were responsible for 63 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2022 These countries need to show international leadership in order to drive climate action including setting ambitious 2030 and 2035 emissions reduction targets and strengthening their domestic mitigation measures to meet those targets It is a shame then that developed countries in general, and the main polluters in particular have not committed to providing $1 3 trillion annually, when this is what is necessary to effectively keep global warming below the much-needed level of 1 5°C a threshold beyond which climate change will inflict irreversible changes on our planet Regarding these dreaded changes a recent Financial Times (FT) published article Climate change is a
It is nothing shor t of a trag edy that developed countries in the recently concluded COP29 meetings have only set $1 3 trillion as a targ
of
trial
5°C, as
the
Agreement of
Crucially, they argue, if we blow through this limit, as we are close to doing, we are in danger of crossing four irreversible tipping points: collapse of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets; abrupt thawing of the permafrost; death of all tropical coral reef systems; and collapse of the Labrador Sea current All this would put us in a new and very dangerous world Instead, developed countries have agreed to a paltry amount of $300 billion, where also that amount is to be reached up till 2035! This is indeed insufficient as the ‘Third report of the independent high-level expert group [IHLEG] on climate finance’ clearly pointed out External finance from all sources international public and private along with others will need to cover $1 trillion per year of the total investment need by 2030 and around $1 3 trillion by 2035 We argue that cross-border private finance can meet about half of these needs given the changing nature of investment opportunities This would imply a 15- to 18-fold increase on current levels Given their important direct and catalytic role the IHLEG and the G20-mandated Independent Expert Group (IEG) on multilateral de-
a h o r e a n d t h e s p e c t r e o f t o x i c a i r
the city s ability to combat pollution naturally
The so-called development the Punjab government brags about in electoral canvassing comes to naught when gauged against poor governance in the face of deregulated urbanization, environmental crises, illicit construction practices, swelling inequality rising crime and a dysfunctional education structure among other loopholes The issue of smog is emblematic of the broader governance failure and reflects a lack of foresight in addressing pressing urban challenges Therefore, the course correction should be judicious, continual, and inclusive This involves institutionalizing policy frameworks that are viable rational and reflect the voices of concerned stakeholders including discipline experts civil society and the masses The incorporation of the masses is indispensable, as their unsustainable practices beget an enormous portion of toxic pollution For instance, more than five million motorbikes ride on Lahore’s roads If the government can ensure sustainable and economical public transport facilities in tandem with running awareness campaigns this issue could drastically be mitigated Industries, too, must be mandated to adopt sustainable practices, with stringent measures in place to penalize non-compliance The role of regulatory bodies here cannot be overstated Regular inspections and the introduction of modern technology for emission control can go a long way in mitigating industrial contributions to smog Similarly, stubble burning, which remains one of the critical causes of smoke, requires localized awareness campaigns coupled with legal directives to ensure binding compliance
It is also essential to address the role of domestic energy consumption in worsening air quality The use of inefficient heating methods and reliance on solid fuels for cooking in most parts of the city adds significantly to particulate matter in the air To do away with this unsustainable practice, promotion of cleaner energy alternatives and subsidizing renewable energy
Tackling LahoreÊs air pollution requires a holistic approach that goes beyond temporar y fixes The government, private sector, and citiz ens must unite in adopting sustainable practices, advocating for policy reforms, and ensuring accountability Only then can we hope to see a future where LahoreÊs air is breathable and its citiz ens free from the spectre of toxic air that haunts us ever y winter It will be worse next year
technologies for households could make a considerable impact
It is not entirely Pakistan’s responsibility for the worsening air quality that looms overhead as more than 30 percent of its pollution drifts in from the Indian side The Indian government does not seem to concede this and often resorts to a hawkish stance, even when discussing an existential issue as significant as this It is encouraging to see the Punjab government’s environmental diplomacy when it approached an Indian state to evince the issue that both share equal complicity in and addressing it requires cohesive efforts Deplorably, their response was absurd, undiplomatic, and expected
Hence, for addressing the issue of air pollution India must set politics aside and cooperate with Pakistan in a constructive and amicable manner As Pakistan is there to persist and will always remain in its vicinity the advancement of India would be elusive unless it adopts corrective measures to tackle this shared and significant responsibility
Tackling Lahore’s air pollution requires a holistic approach that goes beyond temporary fixes The government private sector and citizens must unite in adopting sustainable practices advocating for policy reforms and ensuring accountability Only then can we hope to see a future where Lahore’s air is breathable and its citizens free from the spectre of toxic air that haunts us every winter
The writer is a freelance columnist
Pillars of progress
Qamar JaveD
Mental health in Pakistan: The unseen crisis
TH E human mind with its complex array of thoughts emotions and experiences, plays a pivotal role in shaping our actions, relationships, and overall well-being Yet, in Pakistan mental health an integral part of human health is often overlooked or misunderstood Far too often mental health struggles are dismissed as personal weaknesses or societal taboos, leaving those affected to face their challenges in isolation This silence around mental health, coupled with pervasive misconceptions, creates a harmful environment where individuals suffer without the support or understanding they need
Mental health challenges in Pakistan stem from a combination of socio-economic cultural, and systemic factors Poverty, unemployment, and economic instability contribute to chronic stress, often leading to anxiety and depression Societal pressures particularly around family honour and gender roles create immense psychological strain especially on women and youth The ongoing violence, political instability, and conflict have left many individuals, particularly children, with trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Lack of access to mental health professionals especially in rural areas and a cultural preference for religious or spiritual solutions over medical care further exacerbate the issue
The most significant barrier to seeking help for mental health in Pakistan is the deep-seated societal prejudice surrounding it Mental health issues are often seen as personal weaknesses moral failings or even as the result of supernatural forces Terms like pagal (mad) are commonly used in casual conversation, reinforcing harmful and dismissive attitudes Those who acknowledge
their struggles risk being ostracized, judged, or labelled as damaged This pervasive cultural mindset fosters an environment where seeking professional help becomes an act of courage frequently accompanied by fear of social retribution Families, too, contribute to this atmosphere of silence, often avoiding open discussions about mental health out of concern for how it might damage their social reputation or affect their children s prospects particularly in matters of marriage
The challenge is further exacerbated by a profound lack of awareness and education
Mental health is seldom discussed in schools, workplaces, or even within families, leaving many unaware of the signs and symptoms of mental illness Conditions like depression anxiety and other disorders are often dismissed as temporary phases or issues of personal willpower The absence of accurate information fosters misconceptions, making it more difficult for individuals to recognize when they need help or appreciate the importance of seeking professional care
This lack of understanding extends to healthcare professionals as well many of whom lack the training to properly identify and address mental health issues, leading to misdiagnoses or dismissive attitudes The systemic failures of Pakistan’s healthcare infrastructure exacerbate these challenges The country has an alarmingly low number of mental health professionals with only a few hundred psychiatrists and
an even smaller number of clinical psychologists to serve a population of over 250 million This severe shortage leaves large swathes of the population without access to professional care particularly in rural areas where healthcare services are already sparse Public mental health facilities are limited and often overburdened, while private services remain out of reach for the majority due to their high costs Consequently those who muster the courage to seek help often find themselves facing logistical and financial hurdles that are insurmountable Cultural and religious beliefs also intersect with mental health in complex ways While religious traditions emphasize compassion and community support mental health is often viewed through a lens of morality or spirituality rather than science Many turn to faith healers or spiritual leaders for solutions, seeking exorcisms or other rituals to cure mental
r t i v e e nv i ro n m e n t fo r s t u d e n t s t o s e e k h e l p .
Wo r k p l a c e p o l i c i e s mu s t a d a p t t o p r i o r i t i z e m e n t a l h e a l t h by p rov i d i n g e m p l oye e a s s i s t a n c e p ro g r a m s , f l ex i bl e wo r k c o n d i t i o n s , f a i r w ag e s , a n d a c u l t u r e t h a t s u p p o r t s s e e k i n g h e l p M e n t a l h e a l t h r e q u i r e s a c o l l e c t i v e c o n s c i o u s n e s s s h i f t , r e c o g n i z i n g i t a s a s
HFrom Rosen s viewpoint, if something is online it has nothing to do with the real world except to undermine it
In keeping with her lack of nuanced curiosity, her defense of boredom conflates it with idleness She doesn’t explore why as she acknowledges citing worry beads and smoking we are less bored when our bodies are engaged in some activity whether her example of walking between terminals or my hobby of catching monsters in Pokémon Go True boredom is not idleness It is not the interstitial time that fosters creative daydreaming
Boredom occurs when you have nothing to do but sit or stand often while trying to pay attention to something that doesn’t engage your mind That’s why so many kids find school boring all the more so if they re staring at a screen without the stimulation of looking around the class Satisfied with blaming technological distraction for eroding empathy, Rosen misses the opportunity to delve into the relation between boredom and the body
our understanding of experience, however, we could use a great deal more moral panic if moral is understood as reminding us of our obligations to one another ” Unfortunately the book fails to meet an author’s obligations to the audience It is riddled with contradictions cherry-picked examples and question begging It is bereft of historical context And contrary to the promise of the subtitle it never reveals how Rosen imagines being human That ideal seems to involve writing handwritten letters to distant loved ones but not texts! never texts! and embracing the boredom of long lines at Disney World Rosen gives some of her most promising evidence short shrift She accords pandemic Zoom classes about a page She doesn t explore why online schooling is ineffective nor does she consider when instructional videos such as the how-to s found on YouTube do work Letting the abysmal effects of Zoom schooling stand in for all online instruction, she simply ignores the value of digital convenience for teaching such real-world skills as making a sewing pattern fixing a garbage disposal improving your passing game or tying a tie Perhaps she simply doesn t know that how-to videos are common on YouTube (Khan Academy also gets no mention either )
Nor does she consider some of the real-world activities that bored people especially young men have historically gotten up to Better to stay home playing video games whatever their limitations than to go looking for gays to beat up women to assault or terrorist cells to join
Rosen s strongest chapter is on the importance of face-to-face interaction I am a partisan for the face-toface,” she writes, effectively deploying scholarship on the human knack for reading faces and body language
“We are meant to look at one another and doing so triggers a host of physiological responses she writes citing a scientist s conviction that the way human brains developed must have been designed primarily for face-toface communication She declares, Facial expression is our primal language ” To understand ourselves in the world, we need to meet other people in person
But the very strength of that chapter reveals contradictions elsewhere Why in the next chapter does she complain that instead of begging a celebrity for an autograph we request a selfie ? A visual record of a faceto-face encounter is surely closer to that embodied experience than a scrawled bit of code that could have been done at a distance (or even, as she notes in the same chapter by autopen) Or consider the book’s most telling double standard: its nonchalance about traditional phone calls Rosen cites with concern a writer s gradual estrangement from talking to people on the phone in favor of texts and emails
communicating by
space a word Rosen employs without acknowledging its slightly archaic turn-of-the-century resonance as where you are when you re on the telephone By Rosen s standards, voice calls disordered our everyday experience Yet she treats them as the humane norm A video call, by contrast, restores face-to-face communication even if it’s not as good as being together in person It allows us to read expressions and body language and to see the cues that inform the give and take of conversation And unlike the traditional ringing phone, it is likely scheduled in advance rather than rudely interrupting the recipient
As her criticism of texting suggests, many of the faults Rosen finds in digital interactions are actually products of a much older technology the one she herself is employing: literacy Literacy allows us to communicate without meeting in person It permits escape from one s immediate surroundings, potentially into a vastly different environment It offers an alternative to enduring empty time As evidenced by the Protestant Reformation and the Thirty Years’ War, widespread literacy also undermines consensus reality As Madame Bovary warns it presents dangers to the weak mind
The Extinction of Experience contains truths of course Virtual communication is not as valuable as meeting in person (Trade shows and conferences continue for a reason ) Students who take notes by hand do tend to learn more than those who type Physical play is essential to human development and flourishing especially for children So is letting your mind wander
But nearly every page screams for serious critique Isn t something wrong when 53 percent of sixteen- to twenty-two-year-olds around the world say they would rather lose their sense of smell than their favorite personal technology?” This rhetorical question exemplifies the book’s problems The statistic comes from a 2011 Time re-
BEYOND BANS
dr Zafar Khan safdar
TWhite House says ‘not there yet ’ on G aza
ceasefire and hostage deal
oped, including the agreement with Lebanon,” he said “There is a desire to move forward on this I hope it can progress We are committed to the return of the hostages –- it
degree of flexibility from Hamas as a result of circumstances that have devel-
Goalkeepers: Ali Raza Faizan Janjua Players: Sufiyan Khan Aqeel Ahmed, Bilal Aslam, Nadeem Khan, Mohammad Zain, Wasim, Sami, Zakariya Hayat, Mohammad Imad, Hanan Shahid (Captain), Mughira, Rana Waleed, Hamza Fayaz, Basharat, Qayyum Dogar, and Saifullah
CORPORATE CORNER
PAKISTAN, UZBEKISTAN TO BOOST TRADE TIES THROUGH CARPET INDUSTRY:
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah addressed party workers and leaders during the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Foundation Day, emphasizing its historic achievements and unwavering commitment to democracy and public service
The Chief Minister paid tribute to the PPP s founding leader, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who established the party on November 30 1967 Shah praised Bhutto’s visionary leadership highlighting his iconic slogan Roti Kapra aur Makaan (Bread Clothing and Shelter), his struggle against dictatorships, and his efforts to elevate Pakistan to nuclear power “Shaheed Bhutto gave a voice to the people and empowered them through the power of their vote Shah remarked Shah criticized the judicial verdict that led to Bhutto s execution, labeling it a judicial murder, while welcoming the recent recognition of this injustice by the Supreme Court Regarding Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, Murad Shah commended her resilience in leading the party after her father's martyrdom He recalled her struggles against another dictator Zia-ulHaq and her historic role as Pakistan s first female Prime Minister The public stood by Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, and with their strength, she brought change to the country ” he added
development efforts in Jamshoro describing it as a PPP stronghold and crediting the party for the progress in the area “Jamshoro has set records in supporting the PPP and we will continue this tradition ” he stated Murad Shah paid homage to Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, lamenting her assassination in 2007 He praised President Asif
Zardari and Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari for their leadership in maintaining party unity
The Chief Minister highlighted
nis are among his top priorities
Vice Chairperson of the Overseas Pakistanis Commission (OPC) Punjab Barrister Amjad Malik stated that OPC Punjab and the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF) will work together to address the grievances of overseas Pakistanis
He added that the initiatives of former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif regarding overseas Pakistanis were exemplary and efforts will be made to restore these initiatives in their original spirit The establishment of the Overseas Advisory Council and District Overseas Committees, as well as organizing a convention for overseas Pakista-
Karachi During her address, Ms Shahina Sher Ali Provincial Minister for Women Development, emphasized the need for a zerotolerance policy towards gender-based violence (GBV) in workplaces Mr Rashid Ahmed Zardari, Secretary of the Women Development Department, highlighted the significance of the 16-day campaign stating “Every
He emphasized that the representation of overseas Pakistanis in Parliament is a pressing need Barrister Malik further stated that the creation of fast-track courts would help restore investor confidence allowing them to seek justice in these courts A grand event was organized in honor of Barrister Amjad Malik by Haroon Shah, a journalist returning from the UK, and Sardar Kamal Khan They congratulated him on assuming the position of Vice Chairperson of OPC Punjab The event was attended by individuals from various walks of life Senior Vice President of the Supreme Court Bar Association, Advocate Habib Qureshi, presented a welcome speech declaring Barrister Amjad
Malik s appointment a positive sign Journalist Haroon Shah, based on his two-decade-long association with Barrister Malik, expressed confidence in his ability to achieve significant results a sentiment supported by Sardar Kamal Khan Former diplomat and Government Additional Secretary Sajid Qazi welcomed Barrister Amjad Malik to Islamabad, recalling their 36year-long relationship dating back to their days at Government College Lahore He praised Barrister Malik s legal career Former diplomat Waqas Langah Director of the National Fund Tariq Mehmood Kiani, Barrister Hassan Mann, and Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan from Malaysia congratulated the organizers of the event
