PM REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO DEEPENING HISTORIC AND
FRATERNAL TIES WITH TURKMENISTAN
g SAYS PAKISTAN VALUES ITS LONGSTANDING TIES WITH TURKMENISTAN, WISHING TO FURTHER CONSOLIDATE COOPERATION, ESPECIALLY IN TRADE AND ECONOMIC SECTORS
g UNDERSCORES PAKISTAN’S INTEREST IN ENHANCING REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY WITH TURKMENISTAN THROUGH BOTH LAND AND SEA ROUTES
g PRESIDENT BERDIMUHAMEDOV A SSURES TURKMENISTAN EQUALLY KEEN TO BROADEN COOPERATION WITH PAKISTAN ACROSS MULTIPLE AREA S OF MUTUAL INTEREST
Faisal Siddiqi represented the petitioners, while Additional Attorney General Rana Asadur Rehman opposed the appeal s maintainability Justice Kakar also noted that while litigants often choose their own strategies the Supreme Court would not undermine the authority of the trial court Separately the presence of
ISLAMABAD s ta f f r e p o r t Pakistan on Thursday welcomed a resolution adopted by Afghan scholars against the use of Afghanistan s soil for cross-border attacks and called on the Afghan Taliban leadership to provide written assurance” committing to an end to such activities, having clear indications of Indian involvement The Foreign Office described the move as a positive development while reiterating that past commitments had often gone unfulfilled, underlining Pakistan’s insistence on official, written guarantees from Kabul
Pakistan issues demarche to Nor wegian envoy over ‘unwarranted’ attendance at cour t hearing
ISLAMABAD
s ta f f r e p o r t
Federal Minister for Interior and Narcotics
Control Mohsin Naqvi held a key meeting with European Union Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner in Brussels, where both sides discussed coordinated measures to curb illegal migration, combat human trafficking, and deepen bilateral cooperation During the meeting Commissioner Brunner highly appreciated Pakistan s efforts noting a 47% reduction in attempts to reach Europe through illegal routes over the past year He termed Pakistan s actions exemplary and praised the government for its strong crackdown on human smugglers Commissioner Brunner announced that he would visit Pakistan soon to acknowledge the country s efforts against illegal migration and to hold direct consultations on future strategies Minister Mohsin Naqvi informed the EU side that 1,770 human smugglers and their agents have been arrested in Pakistan this year reflecting the government s zero-tolerance policy against illegal migration Both sides agreed to further strengthen a joint and coordinated strategy against illegal migration, human trafficking, and drug smuggling They also decided to increase cooperation including intensified information sharing Mohsin Naqvi said Pakistan is playing a leading role globally against human trafficking and narcotics control He added that the nexus between smugglers, drug mafias, and terrorists poses a serious challenge for every country stressing that close international cooperation is essential to counter these threats Both Pakistan and the European Union reaffirmed their commitment to continue
PSX announces Top 25 Companies; Engro, FFC and HBL among
Another textile firm halts operations of 85 looms in Faisalabad
Turkiye delegation explores defence, aviation par tnerships in meeting with Commerce Minister
on Thursday to explore industrial technological and investment cooperation across multiple sectors According to an official statement, the delegation included senior executives from Turkiye’s aviation aircraft manufacturing aerospace engineering drone technology defence systems automotive engineering and advanced materials industries The group conveyed strong interest in joint ventures, technology transfer and establishing manufacturing capabilities within Pakistan
The Turkish representatives briefed the minister on Turkiye’s expanding aviation and defence industries and highlighted existing international partnerships expressing willingness to deepen such collaborations through Pakistan
Welcoming the delegation Jam Kamal Khan reaffirmed Pakistan s commitment to strengthening economic and industrial ties with Turkiye He noted the longstanding goodwill between the two countries
and underscored opportunities for cooperation in aerospace defence production minerals development and dual-use manufacturing Pakistan s engineering capacity and abundant critical mineral resources, he said, provide a strong base for such partnerships
The minister encouraged Turkish companies to view Pakistan as a strategic production and export hub for markets including ASEAN Africa the Gulf and South Asia He also emphasised exploring trilateral and multilateral arrangements to leverage the strengths of both nations
He briefed the delegation on Pakistan s new initiatives, including the expanded Karachi Expo Centre project and increased coordination between the commerce ministry defence production ministry and national technology institutions
The Turkish side appreciated Pakistan s strategic direction and signalled readiness to pursue longterm cooperation in aviation, defence manufacturing, engineering and advanced materials, in addition to expressing interest in improving banking and trade facilitation mechanisms
Both sides agreed to advance sector-specific engagements strengthen B2B linkages and explore investment-led industrial partnerships to expand bilateral trade and technological collaboration
Former spymaster Faiz Hameed sentenced to 14 years on four charges including violation of
litical engineering done by Faiz and General (r) Qamar Jawed Bajwa
for the
derscores that Faiz Hameed’s actions were illegal adding that Hameed would still have
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tained that while the
significant, the
not yet concluded Nation suffered for
due
Faiz s political engineering, says Kh Asif Tarar Defence Minister Khawaja Asif and Federal Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, in their separate statements issued on Thursday, welcomed the court-martial of ex-ISI chief Faiz Hameed Asif said that for years the nation would pay the price for the po-
rulers God fearing
On the other hand, Tarar, in his statement said that today that man was punished who had crossed the Red Line by misusing his authority Nobody is above the law The verdict was given against him on the basis of evidence, he said, adding that the ex-general was provided
above Pakistan “Verdicts in some of the May 9 cases are still awaited he said and added The decision in journalist Arshad Sharif s death case is also pending The
COMMENT
Avoiding smog
The Punjab EPA has denied a repor t rejecting its narrative without any evidence
H E Pakistan Air Quality Initiative s report
TAir Pollution: A National Landscape Report on Health Risks, Sources and Solutions has apparently pointed out the obvious: that polluting activities are the main causes of pollution, that the winter smog that has developed of late is caused by local economic activity and urban design, in Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi-Islamabad and Gujranwala More controversially though, it has not blamed the smog on Indian farmers burning their stubble, which seems to be an article of faith for the Punjab Environmental Protection Agency The PEPA spokesman has said that PAQI does not have access to the data it claims to have used PAQI says the report is based on satellite-based aerosol sets chemical transport modelling and real-time monitoring
However, the spokesman did not even to claim that the Agency had any alternate data of its own In other words, the citizen was supposed to reject claims saying they were based on data in favour of claims which did not even claim to be based on data
The EPA’s insistence that smog was caused by cross-border burning of stubble seems both politically motivated and a cop-out After all, if the smog can be blamed on something out of the government’s control, then the government (and the Agency) cannot be blamed for neglecting their duty Which is precisely what the PAQI says is happening The report mentions a number of steps which should be taken with transportation industry and brick kilns providing the overwhelming majority of pollutants The report does not mention it, but without a swift mass transition to electric vehicles, it will not be possible to eliminate the smog (it does speak of the need for conversion, but just as one of the measures) The EPA is speaking of installing emission-control equipment, saying that 80 percent of industries had done so
The PEPA should either get hold of data of its own, or be ready to rely on that provided by others It must stop acting as a cheerleader for industry and other polluters because the crisis is only going to get worse The report rejected the one-size-fits-all solutions in favour of a specific targeted solution for each city This may be the source of the EPA s concern: it needs a simple explanation, like crossborder stubble burning , for a complex phenomenon
Dedicated to the legac y of late Hameed Nizami Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor
M A Niazi Editor Pakistan Today Babar Nizami Editor Profit
Talking at cross-purposes?
should take as an attack on itself especially in civil-
WH E N DG ISPR Lt Gen Muhammad Sharif Chaudhry called Imran Khan a mental patient in his recent press conference he indicating that the institution s patience had run out with the name calling by PTI founder Imran Khan, and it was being replied to Even between politicians, such an exchange is unheard of, let alone between a political leader and a permanent state official It is to the credit of Field Marshal Asim Munir that he has not replied in person However if state officials do not reply to being called anything they are also not targets of such verbal attacks It is all very well speaking of libel suits, or of prosecutions for criminal libel, but government servants are expected to avoid such actions This has been respected by non-permanent officials those who hold elective office whether in government or opposition This they have done in the interest of neutrality An opposition MPA anxious to tear into the local DC might find, as an MNA years later, selected for ministerial office, that officer now an additional secretary, with whom he is thrown into contact daily, quite frequently one-on-one Politicians have chewed out officials before but it has never involved name-calling such as Imran indulged in and it has always been a face-to-face exercise, never a social-media post It has also been ensured by politicians that they deliver their tirades to the right person The Sindh Health Additional Secretary will be more surprised than anything else if the Punjab Agriculture Minister was to take him to task On both counts Khan was out of line He might resent the fact that Field Marshal Asim Munir was Chief of Army Staff but he could only have expressed his resentment personally, but not over the social media Besides, he lacked the locus standi, being an out-of-office politician That he is a jailbird was no help Officials also try to avoid saying things that they might regret later However for the first time an official replied Usually if a superior (not just a politician) goes overboard in that face-to-face encounter, the officer at the receiving end may reply in kind If the chewing-out is in the form of a letter, the officer may reply in the same terms
The DG ISPR was not personally targeted (not until after the press conference) so it must be seen as a sort of indirect reply Since it came through the public relations branch of the institution it should also be seen as a collective reply, which in turn means that the institution as a whole felt the need to respond Imran’s posts were thus not seen as merely a personal attack but as an attack on the institution
To be fair to Imran he probably had more experience dealing with officials who stood only for themselves When a superior officer chews out a junior, it is not seen as something his institution
T h e p r i c e o f p r o t e c t i o n i s m
ian institutions When the KP Agriculture Secretary draws the ire of his minister, the whole department is not necessarily condemned However, the military works differently The Chief of Army Staff is supposed to represent the whole institution That creates a particularly insidious situation The COAS may personally be inclined to forgive such a verbal assault but cannot One of the functions of a service chief is to carry along its personnel If the institution is attacked, it does not matter if it is by an attack directly or on a symbol, there will be unrest which can only be stilled by taking some action Imran may remember from his playing days the fervent appeals by his own openers not to bowl short against the other side especially if they had a couple of fast bowlers of their own And then those same openers asking him to bowl some short stuff at the opposing openers after they had been on the receiving end in their own innings He might in particular remember the tour of the West Indies in 1976-77 when they gave debuts to Colin Croft and Joel Garner who would form perhaps the most formidable pace quartet ever when combined with Andy Roberts and Michael Holding, who missed the series because of injury One consequence of the press conference has been a renewal of calls for the PTI to be banned The Punjab Assembly went so far as to pass a resolution making this call The PML(N) seems more inclined to this course of action than its coalition partner the PPP because while the PML(N) President the PM and Punjab CM had a meeting on this issue the PPP has held no similar consultation It should be noted that if the PTI has not been banned so far, it is probably because of the PPP The PPP should know After all its banning of the National Awami Party in 1975 had only temporary consequences The party first returned almost immediately as the National Democratic Party which merged into its present shape, the Awami National Party, in 1986 The lesser attempts to oust the PTI, such as denying the use of its symbol, have also not worked Formation of such parties as the PTI Parliamentarians and the Istehkam Pakistan Party have not proven much of a dent though they did provide a refuge of people who had left the PTI Imran is clearly unhappy that Field Marshal Munir has become Chief of Defence Forces, an appointment which is combined with that of Chief of Army Staff That appointment is for five years, until November 2030 Initially appointed COAS in November 2022 for a three-year term This became five
ing
Beijing has diversified its
relationships It has deepened
with
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Meanwhile Chinese firms have accelerated investment in Africa and South America securing new markets and resources This adaptation has blunted the impact of US tariffs Chinese exports to the USA have declined, but overall trade volumes have remained resilient More importantly, China has strengthened its position in industries that Washington hoped to dominate such as electric vehicles and renewable energy The irony is striking: while Washington talks of decoupling Beijing is embedding itself more deeply in global supply chains Recent research highlights another dimension of the problem Decoupling is only effective when US firms can shift production to countries that are both economically viable and politically aligned with the USA Simply having alternative suppliers is not enough Without political alignment, companies hesitate to move production This finding explains why decoupling has been uneven In sectors where allies such as Japan or South Korea can provide alternatives, US firms have reduced reliance on China But in industries where alternatives are limited or politically uncertain dependence on China persists The result is a patchwork decoupling that leaves US industry exposed The domestic consequences are becoming harder to ignore US industry is bearing the brunt of higher costs disrupted supply chains and lost markets The rhetoric of protectionism has not translated into a revival of manufacturing Instead it has produced frustration among business leaders and workers alike
The political narrative emphasizes sovereignty and security Yet the economic reality is one of diminished competitiveness US firms are struggling to match the scale and efficiency of Chinese production The promise of independence has turned into a burden of higher costs and reduced access to global markets The decoupling also carries global consequences International trade flows have been
destabilized Inflationary pressures have spread beyond the USA Financial markets have absorbed the shock of uncertainty, with investors wary of escalating tensions Allies are caught in the middle pressured to align with Washington while maintaining economic ties with Beijing
The broader risk is that decoupling undermines the stability of the global economy The integration of US and Chinese markets was a cornerstone of globalization Its unraveling threatens to fragment the international system For countries outside the US-China rivalry the consequences are unpredictable and potentially severe The evidence points to a failing strategy Protectionism has not delivered the promised benefits Decoupling has hurt American industry more than Beijing s China has adapted, diversified, and strengthened its position The USA has absorbed higher costs and lost competitiveness The political appeal of decoupling is clear It offers a narrative of strength and independence But the economic reality is stark US industry is paying the price for a strategy that prioritizes political symbolism over economic pragmatism
The path forward is uncertain Washington is unlikely to abandon decoupling given its political resonance Yet the pressure from industry and consumers will grow The challenge is to reconcile national security concerns with economic realities A more nuanced approach may be necessary, one that balances strategic independence with economic integration For now, the lesson is clear Protectionism is failing The attempt to decouple from China has hurt the USA more than Beijing The rhetoric of independence has collided with the reality of interdependence The cost is being borne not by Beijing but by US industry and consumers
The writer is a freelance columnist
For now, the lesson is clear Protectionism is failing The attempt to decouple from China has hur t the USA more than Beijing The rhetoric of independence has collided with the reality of interdependence . The cost is being borne not by Beijing but by US industry and consumers.
Accents don’t define
DR IMRAN KHALID
FR O M the dawn of human civilization long before Judaism Christianity Islam or Buddhism emerged to reshape the moral foundations of society, humanity lived under a brutal and irrational law: when one person committed a crime, entire tribes, cities, and nations were punished The crime of an individual became the burden of thousands A conflict between two men could trigger decades of warfare A single act of adultery could unleash generational blood feuds Ancient history is filled with examples of wars ignited by the wrongdoing of a few but fought by tens of thousands who had no connection to the original offense Around 1200 BCE the legendary Trojan War erupted because of the actions of one couple Paris and Helen but ended with the deaths of an estimated 40,000 to 100,000 warriors and the destruction of Troy In 490 BCE, the entire city of Miletus was destroyed by the Persian Empire in retaliation for the Ionian Revolt though only a handful of rebels had participated in the initial uprising In 586 BCE the kingdom of Judah was crushed and Jerusalem destroyed because King Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon; tens of thousands were exiled for the decision of one ruler These ancient precedents reveal an era dominated by collective vengeance rather than individual responsibility When Judaism arrived the moral code began to shift The Torah introduced the revolutionary principle that the children shall not be put to death for the sins of the father,” establishing that punishment must be confined to the perpetrators Christianity later reinforced this concept through the teachings of Jesus emphasizing forgiveness and individual accountability Islam too declared un-
equivocally in the Quran that no soul shall bear the burden of another and that punishment must be proportionate and directed only toward the guilty These religions attempted to end the age-old normalization of collective punishment Yet despite these divine instructions humanity repeatedly drifted back into the primitive instinct of retaliating against entire populations instead of targeting the individuals responsible for the crime Modern history, too, is littered with catastrophic examples of collective punishment When one person or one small group acted nations responded with wars that killed millions During World War I the assassination of a single man Archduke Franz Ferdinand on 28 June 1914 by a 19-year-old Serbian nationalist, led to a conflict that killed over 20 million people In World War II, the rise of a few extremist leaders drove humanity into the deadliest war in history killing an estimated 70–85 million people between 1939 and 1945 In 1937 after one Chinese soldier went missing near the Marco Polo Bridge Japan launched a full invasion that resulted in the deaths of 300,000 civilians in nanjing alone Again and again, the scope of punishment far exceeded the scope of the crime The 21st century has unfortunately normalized collective punishment in new and devastating forms After the 9/11 attacks in 2001 committed by 19 individuals the USA understandably pursued all those who plotted, supported, facilitated, or financed the attack Justice against the perpetrators was necessary and morally justified But the response soon expanded far beyond those responsible The invasion of Afghanistan in October
2001 resulted in more than 170,000 Afghan civilian deaths over two decades In March 2003, Iraq was invaded even though Iraq had no involvement in 9/11; the war killed between 300 000 to 600 000 Iraqis and displaced millions Libya was bombed in 2011 leaving 30 000 dead Syria s civil war ignited by a small protest in 2011 eventually claimed over 500,000 lives and displaced more than 12 million people half of the population These tragedies illustrate a dark truth: the punishment for the crime of a few was extended to entire nations
In the most recent and heartbreaking episode the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel killed around 1,200 Israelis and Hamas took approximately 250 hostages a horrific and indefensible act that demanded justice Yet the response unleashed upon the civilians of Gaza escalated into one of the deadliest campaigns of the 21st century
By late 2025 more than 70 000 Palestinians had been killed 75 percent of the population displaced, nearly all hospitals destroyed, food and medicine blocked, and children left freezing under plastic sheets in harsh winter rain Families buried under rubble newborn babies dying without incubators entire neighborhoods turned to dust this was not justice against the perpetrators but a sweeping punishment against an entire population for the crimes of a few
The world watched collective punishment become normalized once again Instead of targeting militants the response treated every man woman and child in Gaza as equally punishable an approach that contradicts not only international law but the core moral principles of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and every civilized system of justice ever established And now in november 2025 the USA
The question now is whether America, and indeed the world, will learn from histor y Will we continue to repeat the ancient mistakes of punishing nations for the crimes of individuals, or will we finally embrace the moral clarity that has been taught to us for thousands of years? The answer will determine whether humanity advances toward justice or falls backward into its brutal past
risks repeating this ancient mistake within its own borders After a lone gunman killed one national Guard soldier and severely wounded another, the USA had every right and duty to pursue the killer and anyone who supported or facilitated him The safety of US soldiers and citizens must always come first and no one can dispute that justice must be delivered swiftly and firmly But instead of targeting the perpetrator and his network, sweeping executive orders were issued that affected millions of immigrants who had no connection whatsoever to the crime Immigration processing was halted Asylum cases were frozen Green card holders
The structural ignorance behind declaring Islam ‘a death cult’
Why Melanie Phillips can publicly declare the West is ‘facing a death cult in the forces of Islam’ and receive no pushback
Taken together, these wars and inter ventions have killed well over four million people since 2001, the vast majorit y of them Muslim civilians
IPolitical Islam criminalised, prac ticing Muslims scrutinised,
organisations smeared, and finally Islam itself is recast by selfdescribed liberals as a “death cult ”
n new York City just one week before it voted for its first Muslim mayor in history British columnist Melanie Phillips declared that the West is facing a death cult in the forces of Islam The remark, reiterated repeatedly by British, European, American and Israeli voices, was made at a conference titled “Rage Against the Hate,” ironically patterned after the anti-racist 1990s band Rage Against the Machine known for its politically active anti-imperialist anti-capitalist members who openly protested state violence By contrast the conference represented the opposite axis of contemporary power: a platform aligned with state-security narratives, geopolitical propaganda, and a worldview that pathologises the very populations Rage Against the Machine defended The statement drew approving nods it didn’t require evidence despite being historically unfounded Such a sentence does not stand alone; it condenses a worldview built since the Second World War through war, repression, and the recasting of Islam as a civilisational threat
The remark is not interesting in itself; what matters is the architecture that made it legible, even comforting to an audience that sees no problem in labelling a global religion as inherently homicidal The same audience and commentator also accept other ahistorical claims such as there is no such thing as a Palestinian people or that people of European origins have a historical claim to the Holy Land
The appropriation of the progressive band s name for a conference preaching opposing politics is revealing The architecture that made the remark palatable is composed of an antagonistic political ideological military and institutional structure concealed behind a façade of a distorted notion of liberalism and speech against hate And it has produced an environment in which Islam is a death cult feels like a diagnosis rather than a reversal of reality
The transformation of Saudi Arabia over the last decade is often framed as a story of modernisation or liberalisation School textbooks have been revised certain passages and historical episodes removed or softened and religious institutions brought under tighter central control These changes did not respond to popular demands for reform so much as foreign ones, intended to pave the way for eventual normalisation with Israel American and Israeli commentators have celebrated these changes as “historic reforms ” Yet these reforms are inseparable from a broader project: the political disarmament of Islam in the very territory from which it originated The Saudi state has aggressively restructured religious life Independent scholars have been side-lined, sermons regulated, and religious doctrine channelled through state-sanctioned narratives Parallel to this ideological consolidation is the spectacle of liberalisation: concerts in al- Ulā carefully curated
pop stars, and a push to introduce alcohol beyond diplomatic circuits all to rapidly align Saudi identity with a global pattern established elsewhere the religious distinction of the country marginalised History has been marked unsafe but consumption encouraged; religious depth is threatening but superficial openness is marketable The result is a population that feels culturally Muslim while being severed from Islam’s ethical and political vocabulary a pattern seen earlier in post-Ottoman Turkey Saudi reforms do not abolish Islam but drain it of political force turning it into ritual and costume
If Saudi represents rapid reform Egypt represents sustained suppression The 2013 military coup that removed the country s first democratically elected president had unleashed a campaign that treated Islamic political identity as treason The Rabaa massacre was not simply an event; it was a manifesto It announced that the state was willing to kill its own citizens on an industrial scale to eliminate Islamic political agency
What followed was systematic Tens of thousands imprisoned Islamic organisations dissolved Activists disappeared Academics silenced Imams monitored Sermons standardised The Waqf (religious endowment system) lingers in paralysis Religious discourse reduced to state-authored scripts delivered weekly in mosques stripped of autonomy Leadership of Islamic parties with large constituencies was imprisoned or executed
What began as a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, metastasized into a campaign against any form of Islamic expression not curated by the regime But Egypt’s war on Islamic identity extended beyond bodies and institutions It became spatial architectural physical not only were the contemporary spaces of banned parties and organisations confiscated or destroyed but historic sites that testify to Egypt s long Islamic history were dismantled and demolished, including minarets and mausolea This is erasure: the destruction of environments that hold Islamic memory, the bulldozer becomes an instrument of ideological engineering, not just in Cairo but in the West Bank China India and beyond
At the same time a monumental mosque was built in the desert in the new capital with total disregard to Egypt s rich and historically significant heritage of Islamic architecture The void created by eliminating Islamic visibility in education, charity, and political activity was filled by pyramid-side electronic music concerts during the unfolding genocide These measures build on decades when political Islam was scrutinised under Mubarak when even growing a beard could land someone in the offices of state security This has been imposed with the support and demands of the US and Israel
The suppression did not emerge suddenly after 9/11
In the mid-1990s, Egyptian thinker Mustafa Mahmoud one of the country’s most popular public intellectuals fell afoul of geopolitical sensitivities after publishing books critical of Israel The Anti-Defamation League sent a formal complaint to the Egyptian regime demanding Mahmoud be silenced; by 1999 the state complied, and he spent the last decade of his life isolated In the 1960s, he was also silenced by nasser, who targeted or executed thinkers framed as Islamist The suppression has outlasted regimes and transformed from one president to the next nearly always with foreign direction publicly or privately communicated Mahmoud was not an Islamist He was not militant He was not a threat He was simply a Muslim intellectual whose critique crossed an invisible line His fate demonstrates that long before the war on terror, mechanisms already existed to suppress Islamic thought when it conflicted
with Western or Israeli interests, or when it merely invigorated public discourse or intellectual life in Egypt
While Saudi and Egypt focus on internal containment the UAE which enthusiastically embraced normalisation with Israel through billions of dollars in contracts and shared military training has developed a specialty in exporting suspicion Over the last decade, the UAE has financed transnational campaigns to label Muslim nGOs, scholars, charities, and civic organisations in Europe and beyond as “extremist” or “Islamist,” often using defamatory dossiers compiled by private intelligence firms These documents frequently unverified sometimes fabricated have circulated in European ministries security briefings media outlets and think-tanks In many cases they shaped government policy and public narrative Muslim civil-society groups found themselves isolated, delegitimised, or raided based on reports funded by a Gulf monarchy with a clear ideological agenda An example of these smears is the case of UAE operative Amjad Taha who pushed fabricated extremism claims about Islamic Relief on UK media claims so false the broadcasters had to publicly retract them and pay damages
The UAE s project seems straightforward: weaken Islamic political expression everywhere, especially in the West, where Muslim civic institutions remain relatively independent By blurring the distinction between Islam Islamism extremism and terrorism the UAE helps construct a European and north American environment in which the mere presence of Muslims is treated as a threat
In the US, the machinery of Islamophobia became structural after 9/11, embedded not as an exception but as policy Surveillance programs, the Patriot Act, and “counterradicalisation” schemes normalised the idea that Muslim identity itself constituted a risk category This framework produced a two-decade pattern in which mosques student groups charities individuals and community organisations were subjected to disproportionate monitoring
The FBI s use of paid informants and manufactured plots targeting vulnerable individuals to produce “terrorism” cases became standard practice, creating a pipeline of fear and spectacle rather than security
The Trump administration s 2017 Muslim ban made explicit what had already existed: that travel family reunification and refugee status could be denied on the basis of religion and national origin alone Its legal codification, later upheld by the Supreme Court, signalled to the wider public that Muslims were an inherently suspect population
The effects were immediate: documented spikes in anti-Muslim hate crimes often undercounted or ignored by law enforcement airport profiling employment discrimination, and the stigmatisation of Muslim civic participation
Civil-rights groups such as CAIR themselves became targets of state-level attacks, legislative harassment, and defunding campaigns illustrating that even organisations advocating for constitutional rights could be recast as threats
Crucially these policies were not confined to one political camp Islamophobia in the US is bipartisan Democratic and Republican administrations alike engaged in anti-Islamic repression, and participated in the transnational effort led by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE to equate Islamic political expression with extremism
MANUFACTURED MILITANCY ENGINEERED
WARS: Any conversation about Islamic extremism that treats it as an organic feature of Islam ignores the extent to which Western and regional intelligence services have shaped the militant landscape for half a century
The anti-Soviet jihad in the 1980s funded by the CIA, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan created an unprecedented transnational network of fighters, logistics, and ideology This was a Cold War project not a theological eruption The infrastructure built for that war later became the ecosystem from which post-9/11 militant groups emerged Israel s policies in Gaza during the 1980s follow the same logic: in an effort to weaken the PLO, it tolerated and indirectly strengthened Islamic charities that later formed the nucleus of Hamas In Syria, Abu Mohammad al-Julani’s transformation from al-Qaeda commander to a Western-courted “local actor reveals how flexible these labels become when geopolitics demands it And throughout the region the majority of those killed by so-called Islamist groups have been Muslims further undermining the notion that these movements reflect a civilisational impulse rather than a political field shaped by foreign states, ultimately for imperialist ends This manufactured landscape was then used to legitimise the largest continuous sequence of wars in modern Middle Eastern history The US invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, the destruction of Libya, the Syrian proxy war, the blockade of Yemen, and the ongoing devastation of Gaza constitute the dominant architecture of organised mass killing in the 21st century Taken together these wars and interventions have killed well over four million people since 2001 the vast majority of them Muslim civilians These were geopolitical campaigns carried out by nation-states American, British, Israeli, Russian, Turkish, Emirati, Saudi, Iranian under a civilisational narrative that cast Islam itself as the source of global disorder Seen against this backdrop describing Islam as a “death cult” is not merely wrong it is an inversion The overwhelming force reshaping the region has been state violence not scripture Islam is blamed for the consequences of wars waged overwhelmingly against Muslims FROM ISLAMISTS TO ORDINARY MUSLIMS: The conflict between Islam and the powers that smear it is ultimately economic and structural Islam’s moral and legal order rejects what modern capitalism depends on usury predatory
Qamar Bashir
Wang Yi calls for deepening China-Brunei mutually beneficial cooperation
SICPA Pakistan Marks 30 Years of Excellence and Par tnership
KARACHI
s ta f f r e p o r t
SICPA Pakistan, a trusted partner in secure identification, authentication and traceability solutions celebrated its 30th anniversary on November 27th 2025 a ceremony held in Karachi
The event was graced by Mr Jameel Ahmad Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) as the Chief Guest and attended by senior officials from the SBP, representatives from the Pakistan Security Printing Corporation (PSPC) and SICPA’s valued Brand Protection partners In his welcome address Mr Rizwan Butt Managing Director
SICPA Inks Pakistan (Pvt ) Ltd highlighted
SICPA s 30-year journey and its longstanding partnership with the State Bank of Pakistan and the Pakistan Security Printing Corporation Since its incorporation in 1995 as a provider of security inks for banknotes, SICPA Pakistan has expanded its capabilities significantly
18 Tharparkar Students
IMC sponsors underprivileged students for Markhor Project to promote education and inclusion
ISLAMABAD
s ta f f r e p o r t Indus Motor Company (IMC) commemorating thirty-five years of Toyota s presence in Pakistan, sponsored ten students from the Toyota Goth Education Program (T-GEP) to participate in the Markhor Project held from 01 October to 05 October in Manoor Valley Kaghan The program brought together ninety-one young leaders from across the country for an immersive experience focused on self-discovery, purposeful learning, and social contribution Reinforcing its commitment to empowerment and gender inclusion, IMC ensured that eight of the ten sponsored students were girls This reflects the company’s long-standing focus on expanding opportunities for young women IMC also served as the Official Women Leaders Partner for the 2025 Markhor Project marking another milestone in its efforts to advance female leadership in Pakistan Mr Ali Asghar Jamali, Chief Executive Officer of IMC, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to contributing to society Jazz, Ericsson sign strategic microwave frame contract to
PM
orders FBR
to ramp up drive for 11% tax-to - GDP target
g PREMIER SHEHBAZ CHAIRS WEEKLY REVIEW MEETING, PUSHES FOR AGGRESSIVE EXPANSION OF THE
Malik Minister of State for Finance Bilal Azhar Kayani, the Attorney General of Pakistan, the FBR Chairman and senior officials from relevant institutions CHAIRMAN WAPDA CALLS ON PM SHEHBAZ SHARIF Chairman Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) Lt General (retd) Muhammad Saeed on Thursday called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif During the meeting the chairman briefed the prime minister on the progress of WAPDA s ongoing development projects
IHC seeks govt, other respondents’ reply to plea against ‘unexplained’ black listing
, placement on the Exit Control List (ECL) or Passport Control List (PCL) Justice Soomro remarked that the
thorities and call for a compliance report
He further
faces opposition from Europeans who still seem to harbor illusions about the possibility of inflicting a “strategic
feat” on Russia and ending the conflict on their terms