Category: 1. Pakistan

Pakistan’s ruling parties, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), announced on Saturday that they will jointly contest the upcoming by-elections, signalling a strategic alliance ahead of crucial polls.

The agreement was unveiled at a joint press conference, where leaders of both parties said the cooperation would extend to national and provincial assembly seats. The alliance comes after several constituencies fell vacant following the conviction of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders in connection with the May 9, 2023 riots.

Under the schedule released by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), by-elections for NA-66 Wazirabad, NA-129 Lahore-XIII, and PP-87 Mianwali-III are slated for September 18. A second phase covering NA-143 Sahiwal-III, NA-185 DG Khan-II, PP-203 Sahiwal-VI, NA-96 Faisalabad-II, NA-104 Faisalabad-X, and PP-98 Faisalabad-I will follow on October 5.

“Both parties (PPP and PML-N) have agreed to contest the by-elections together,” said Hanif Abbasi, a PML-N leader, who also holds the federal railways portfolio.

Both parties made the decision in the country’s best interest, he said. “We are allies, and the leadership of both parties has shown maturity.” PPP leader Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said that both parties had reached a seat-adjustment formula, under which the candidate from the party that finished runner-up in the previous general election would be fielded again from that particular constituency.

“We welcome the PML-N delegation and have finalised the electoral arrangements amicably,” he said and also thanked Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for his role in finalising the agreement.

It was so far not clear if the PTI would contest the elections as Imran Khan has left the decision about taking part in the polls to the senior leaders of the party.

The 72-year-old cricketer-turned-politician has been behind bars since August 2023 after he was booked in multiple cases.

On May 9, 2023, Khan’s party workers vandalised a dozen military installations, including the Jinnah House (Lahore Corps Commander House), Mianwali Airbase and the ISI building in Faisalabad, some 130 kms from Lahore.

The Army headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi was also attacked by the mob for the first time, protesting Khan’s arrest.

Last month, different courts announced verdicts in the cases filed after the violence, convicting leaders and workers including the leader of opposition in the National Assembly Omer Ayub Khan and leader of opposition in the Senate Shibli Faraz.

Earlier last year, after the February general elections, Imran Khan had called the PML-N and the PPP ’mandate thieves’ alleging that they stole his party’s seats by manipulating results.

With inputs from agencies

Lahore High Court (LHC) Justice Khalid Ishaq has dismissed pleas of former opposition leader in Punjab Assembly Malik Ahmad Khan Bhachar and ex-MNA Muhammad Ahmad Chatha challenging the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) notifications de-notifying them.

The judge observed that that since the petitioners were fugitives from justice, they could not invoke the court jurisdiction for judicial review.

The court concluded that the ECP notifications impugned through the constitutional petitions were linked to conviction of the petitioners.

Also Read: Govt ‘completely non-serious’ on 27th Amendment, new provinces: Rana Sanaullah

The respondents questioned that the maintainability of the petitions on the ground that the petitioners were convicts who had not surrendered themselves to the due process of law, were at large and their perpetual arrest warrants had been issued. Therefore, they were not entitled to invoke the extraordinary constitutional jurisdiction of the court in terms of Article 199 of the Constitution.

The additional attorney general for Pakistan contended that the jurisdiction of judicial review could not be invoked in favour of the petitioners as it was not meant to act in aid of a fugitive from justice. A citizen seeking revision of an order has to satisfy at the outset as to how he is entitled to such a remedy when he is guilty of setting a judicial order at naught by fleeing after conviction.

In addition, the additional attorney general submitted that the jurisdiction under Article 199 could not be invoked by a fugitive. The law officers representing the ECP adopted similar submissions.

The petitioners’ counsel argued that irrespective of conviction, civil rights of a person were protected and disadvantage, if any, for being a fugitive, only related to the case in which the petitioners had been convicted and not all other cases.

The petitioners had challenged their disqualification and sought halting of by-polls in their constituencies.

Their counsel had argued that no proceedings could be initiated against an assembly member without a reference sent by the speaker.

Read: Imran’s nephew Shershah sent on five-day remand in May 9 riots case

They contended that the lawmakers had been disqualified without being given an opportunity to be heard, which violated the principles of natural justice.

The ECP had disqualified the petitioners following their conviction in May 9 cases by the anti-terrorism courts.

The trial court had handed down 10-year imprisonment each to them.

PESHAWAR – The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has announced deducting salaries of government and semi-government employees to raise emergency funds for relief and rehabilitation efforts across the flood-hit region.

According to an official notification from Finance Department, grades 17 and above officers will have two days’ salary deducted, while employees in grades 1 to 16 will contribute one day’s basic pay. The deductions will be applied to the August 2025 payroll and will cover employees of all government, semi-government, and autonomous institutions in the province.

Finance Department stated that the decision was unanimously approved during a recent provincial cabinet meeting. The funds raised will be used to provide affected families with temporary shelter, food, medical aid, and other essential services, as well as to support reconstruction and rehabilitation initiatives.

Recent heavy rains and floods in KP districts have caused significant loss of life and widespread damage to homes, roads, agricultural land, and critical infrastructure, prompting urgent government action.

KP government emphasized that this initiative reflects a collective effort to provide immediate relief to flood victims and accelerate recovery in the hardest-hit areas.

Heavy rains, flooding in Pakistan caused widespread devastation and so far 368 people died in KP, with 182 injured, over 1,300 homes damaged, and nearly 100 schools destroyed. Children are particularly vulnerable due to displacement, disrupted education, and limited access to safe water.

Urban flooding in Karachi claimed at least six lives, while Punjab saw extensive flooding along the Indus and Chenab rivers, displacing more than 2,300 families and damaging thousands of acres of crops.

South Asian nation continues to face increasingly severe monsoon seasons, with erratic rainfall patterns and climate change heightening risks to lives, livelihoods, and long-term recovery.

Pakistani Ministers give up one-month salary to help flood-stricken families

Two large lakes have emerged following glacial outbursts in Gilgit-Baltistan’s (GB) Ghizer district following flooding caused by heavy rain this month, regional officials said on Saturday.

A glacial burst, or glacial lake outburst flood (glof), refers to an outburst of water from a glacial lake which could lead to severe flooding downstream. At least 200 people were rescued after a glacier burst in GB, blocking the Ghizer River a day prior.

Due to yesterday’s glacial burst, water containing debris and heavy stones fell into the river and stopped it from flowing for eight to nine hours.

“The water remained standing, causing river water to spread for seven kilometres and become an artificial lake,” provincial government spokesperson Faizullah Faraq told Dawn.com.

Meanwhile, the GB Disaster Management Authority (GBDMA) said that the Ghizer River changed course in the district on August 4 and began flowing over the Gilgit-Chitral Road.

“A lake measuring 2,000 feet long and more than 50 metres wide has emerged in Khatam village as a result of the flood debris, due to which the Gilgit-Chitral Road is still closed,” GBDMA district official Ghufranullah Baig told Dawn.com.

“This lake has affected a small settlement nearby, while trees and a large area of ​​land have been submerged.”

Asraruddin Asrar, a prominent social figure from Ghizer, told Dawn.com that lakes being formed by natural floods in the area were an ongoing phenomenon for a long time.

“Khalti Lake was formed in the 1980s; it still exists and has a great reputation in the area as a tourist attraction,” he said. “Sost Lake came into existence in the 1990s, and a lake was also formed at Haim last year as a result of floods. The largest number of lakes is found in Ghizer district.”

In 2010, a landslide in Attabad blocked the Hunza River, resulting in the renowned Attabad Lake, which is a popular destination for tourists.

Pakistan is home to over 13,032 glaciers, the largest reservoir of glaciers outside of the polar regions. However, experts have warned that about 10,000 glaciers in Chitral and GB have been reported to be receding due to climate change–induced temperature rise.

Earlier this month, a glof from the Shishper Glacier tore through Hassanabad Nullah, swee­ping away part of the Karakoram Highway and destroying public and private properties.

A glacier burst in Bagrot Valley caused the death of one person on August 1, while his father was injured, according to the regional government’s spokesperson.

KARACHI: The counter-terrorism department (CTD) in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province on Saturday accused India’s external intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), of orchestrating the killing of a “prominent welfare worker” in May, saying they had arrested six suspects for their links with Indian operatives.

Abdul Rehman alias Razaullah Nizamani, 50, who was known for his welfare and philanthropic work, was shot dead in Sindh’s Matli town on May 18. Following the incident, Indian media claimed the deceased was a key member of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a proscribed group that had been active in the disputed Kashmir region.

Speaking at a press conference in Karachi, Azad Khan, the additional inspector general of CTD in Sindh, said their investigation revealed that Rehman’s “extraterritorial killing” had been orchestrated by a RAW handler, Sanjay Sanjeev

Kumar, also known as ‘Fauji,’ from a Gulf country. There was no immediate comment from the Indian side.

“This is a case of extraterritorial killing,” Khan said, adding that Kumar orchestrated the killing through a man, named Salman, who hailed from the Sheikhupura district in Pakistan’s Punjab province.

“He sent Salman, after paying him a huge amount, and the other group, four other people. And they went to Hyderabad, stayed there for five, six days and they carried out this killing.”

Pakistan has previously accused India’s intelligence agency of being involved in killings inside Pakistan, saying it had credible evidence linking two Indian agents to the deaths of two Pakistanis last year.

RAW spent a “significant” amount of money on the operation and sent funds through banks and multiple channels to Salman and his associates, according to Pakistani CTD officials, who presented record of purported transactions and travel history of suspects.

A case relating to terrorism financing has also been registered against the suspects and their handler after the discovery of these financial transactions, they added.

Khan said the killing was part of India’s “cowardly retaliation” after a four-day military standoff with Pakistan in May, in which Islamabad claimed victory by saying that its air force had downed six Indian fighter jets, including the French-made Rafales. India has acknowledged the losses but did not specify the number.

“Indian media expressed immense satisfaction over this targeted killing and began spreading propaganda,” Khan said.

The suspect, Salman, arrived in Karachi on May 12 and checked into a hotel in Hyderabad with four accomplices, Umair Asghar, Sajjad, Obaid and Shakeel, according to investigators. The group surveyed the target in Matli for five days before the attack. After the killing, Salman flew out from the Karachi airport to a Gulf country and later fled to Nepal.

During this time, Khan said, Kumar remained in constant touch with the team.

The CTD, working together with federal intelligence agencies, arrested four suspects in Karachi on July 8. Two other suspects, Arsalan and Talha Umair, were arrested on Aug. 17 and Aug. 23, respectively, according to the official.

Authorities recovered two pistols used in the killing, a motorcycle and mobile phones from arrested suspects.

“When we arrested the suspects, it was done based on technical grounds,” Khan said, adding that CCTV footage, eyewitness account and recovered weapons linked them to the killing.

Indian media outlets have reported nearly 20 such killings in Pakistan, including in major cities like Karachi and Rawalpindi, in recent years, claiming the deceased had been linked with militant groups operating in Kashmir.

Kashmir has been divided between Pakistan and India since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both sides claim the territory in full but rule it in part and have fought multiple wars over it.

New Delhi has long accused Pakistan of fanning an insurgency on its side of Kashmir. Islamabad denies this and maintains that it only offers moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmiris.

“This is the first time the actual hit team was arrested,” AIG Khan said, referring to previous cases in which the arrested suspects had only surveyed targets for the hitmen.

A Sindhi separatist group also facilitated the attack, while the prime suspect, Salman, remains at large after fleeing to Nepal, according to Khan.

“It is essential that he be arrested,” Khan said, urging Pakistani federal authorities to raise the case at international forums dealing with terrorism financing.

“Our role is limited to investigation and collecting evidence. This case now needs to be taken forward by the Government of Pakistan.”

Khan described the killing as part of a pattern of operations by Indian intelligence agencies abroad.

“Such acts fall under state-sponsored terrorism,” he said. “Our investigation has provided ample evidence of RAW’s involvement.”

In 2023, the United States and Canada accused Indian agents of links to assassination plots on their soil. India dismissed the allegation of its involvement in the killing in Canada as “absurd.”

In the case involving the US, India’s foreign ministry said it had set up a high-level committee to investigate the accusations, adding that the alleged link to an Indian official was “a matter of concern” and “against government policy.”

JAKARTA/MANILA: Asian activists are preparing to set sail with the Global Sumud Flotilla, an international fleet from 44 countries aiming to reach Gaza by sea to break Israel’s blockade of food and medical aid. 

They have banded together under the Sumud Nusantara initiative, a coalition of activists from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Maldives, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan, to join the global flotilla movement that will begin launching convoys from Aug. 31. 

Sumud Nusantara is part of the GSF, a coordinated, nonviolent fleet comprising mostly small vessels carrying humanitarian aid, which will first leave Spanish ports for the Gaza strip, followed by more convoys from Tunisia and other countries in early September.

The international coalition is set to become the largest coordinated civilian maritime mission ever undertaken to Gaza. 

“This movement comes at a very crucial time, as we know how things are in Gaza with the lack of food entering the strip that they are not only suffering from the impacts of war but also from starvation,” Indonesian journalist Nurhadis told Arab News ahead of his trip. 

“Israel is using starvation as a weapon to wipe out Palestinians in Gaza. This is why we continue to state that what Israel is doing is genocide.” 

Since October 2023, Israel has killed more than 62,000 Palestinians and injured over 157,000 more. As Tel Aviv continued to systematically obstruct food and aid from entering the enclave, a UN-backed global hunger monitor — the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification — declared famine in Gaza on Friday, estimating that more than 514,000 people are suffering from it. 

Nurhadis is part of a group of activists from across Indonesia joining the GSF, which aims to “break Israel’s illegal blockade and draw attention to international complicity in the face of the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.” 

“We continue to try through this Global Sumud Flotilla action, hoping that the entire world, whether it’s governments or the people and other members of society, will pressure Israel to open its blockade in Palestine,” he said. 

“This is just beyond the threshold of humanity. Israel is not treating Palestinians in Gaza as human beings and the world must not keep silent. This is what we are trying to highlight with this global convoy.” 

The GSF is a people-powered movement that aims to help end the genocide in Gaza, said Rifa Berliana Arifin, Indonesia country director for the Sumud Nusantara initiative and executive committee member of Jakarta-based Aqsa Working Group.  

“Indonesia is participating because this is a huge movement. A movement that aspires to resolve and end the blockade through non-traditional means. We’ve seen how ineffective diplomatic, political approaches have been, because the genocide in Gaza has yet to end. This people-power movement is aimed at putting an end to that,” Arifin told Arab News. 

“This is a non-violent mission … Even though they are headed to Gaza, they are boarding boats that have no weapons … They are simply bringing themselves … for the world to see.” 

As the Sumud Nusantara initiative is led by Malaysia, activists are gathering this weekend in Kuala Lumpur, where a ceremonial send-off for the regional convoy is scheduled to take place on Sunday, led by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. 

One of them is Philippine activist Drieza Lininding, leader of civil society group Moro Consensus Group, who is hoping that the Global Sumud Flotilla will inspire others in the Catholic-majority nation to show their support for Palestine. 

“We are appealing to all our Filipino brothers and sisters, Muslims or Christians, to support the Palestinian cause because this issue is not only about religion, but also about humanity. Gaza has now become the moral compass of the world,” he told Arab News. 

“Everybody is seeing the genocide and the starvation happening in Gaza, and you don’t need to be a Muslim to side with the Palestinians. It is very clear: if you want to be on the right side of history, support all programs and activities to free Palestine … It is very important that as Filipinos we show our solidarity.”