Pakistan Taliban vows to step up war for free homeland, tells Pakistani soldiers to give up arms.(photo:IN)
Since 1990, at least 65 people have been lynched on false blasphemy charges across the country. Several dozens men and women remain on death row. Last year, 330 people were accused of blasphemy in 180 cases. In Punjab, there are 587 prisoners in various jails, of these 515 are under trial, including 508 male, six female, and one juvenile prisoner, all charged with blasphemy … A special report on Pakistan’s blasphemy cases by Dr Sakariya Kareem
A mentally disturbed woman was falsely charged and sentenced to life imprisonment under draconian blasphemy law in Pakistan in the latest in a series of punishments meted out by the state against women, minorities and other deprived sections of the society.
The woman, accused of burning pages of the Quran, strongly refused to dishonour the holy book but the judge was adamant to believe the prosecution story despite several flaws. The foremost being that the complainant was the local police which was not present at the time of alleged incident. A neighbour had complained to the police but was not listed as the complainant.
In March 2024, two students, aged 17 and 22, were given life imprisonment for sharing an alleged blasphemous media on WhatsApp. Both the youngsters denied the charges but the judge was not inclined to believe them, as always.
A month earlier, in February, a tiny ray of hope came in the form of the Supreme Court Chief Justice setting an Ahmadi man free in a blasphemy case. There was a sudden outburst of protest among the Sunni community. The fire was stoked by extremist group, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) which took to the streets in different parts of Pakistan against the Chief Justice. In several madrasas across Punjab, protest meetings were held where threats were issued to the Chief Justice.
The protests spread like wildfire across the country–Ahmadi places of worship were demolished in Karachi, in Bahawalpur, an Ahmadi leader was shot, in Kotli graves were destroyed and in Faisalabad, a protest was organised outside the biggest hospital. A year ago, a rampaging mob, led by TLP leaders, had torched several churches, Christian homes and shops in Punjab over false blasphemy charges. The two of the accused have since been released from charges.
One recent incident summed up the vicious atmosphere in Pakistan. In Lahore’s Ichhra market, one young woman came out to shop when she was surrounded by shouting, aggressive men. Her fault was that she wore a dress with Arabic notings printed on it. The mob accused her of blasphemy although the word had a connection with Islam. The horrified woman could have been lynched there and then but for a brave young woman police officer who confronted the mob and took the girl away to safety.
She could have become just another statistic–the number of persons killed in blasphemy cases. Since 1990, at least 65 people have been lynched on false blasphemy charges across the country. Several dozen men and women remain on death row. Last year, 330 people were accused of blasphemy in 180 cases. In Punjab, there are 587 prisoners in various jails, of these 515 are under trial, including 508 males, six females, and one juvenile prisoner, all charged with blasphemy.
Between 1987 and 2023, over 2,449 people had been accused of blasphemy–the highest number of accused were 1,279 Muslims, followed by 782 Ahmadis. The highest number of cases (1770) were reported in Punjab (72%).
The state is not merely a spectator in this morbid game. It is complicit, an active partner in enforcing a series of laws that favour false accusations and put innocents on the gallows. Or being lynched or shot as former Punjab Governor Salman Taseer had been. He was killed by his bodyguard who blamed him for supporting a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, accused of blasphemy. His death led to the birth of TLP, an extremist group which the state has been using to punish minorities for raising their voice against injustice in a country which is increasingly becoming a radical Islamist state.
Extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances continue in Balochistan: rights body(IN)
The everyday experiences of religious minorities in Pakistan, is an unending saga of violence, discrimination and exclusion. They suffer from a lack of access to education, sanitation, transportation and health care, to occupational discrimination and more direct experiences of violence such as abductions and forced conversions, accusations of blasphemy, targeted killings, and frequent attacks on their places of worship …. Writes Dr Sakariya Kareem
The Pakistani ambassador’s elicitation of the inauguration of the much-awaited Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at the United Nations received what it deserved, a caustic response. India’s permanent envoy to the world body, Ruchira Kamboj, said that Pakistan, like a ‘broken record’, remains stagnant while the world progresses. In her blistering counter, Ambassador Kamboj declared that Pakistan had a ‘limited and misguided’ perspective on matters related to India. She said, “It is unfortunate indeed to witness this delegation’s limited and misguided perspective on matters relating to my country, the more so when the General Assembly considers a matter that demands wisdom, depth, and a global outlook from the entire membership, perhaps not the forte of this delegation.”
In a highly hypocritical move by Pakistan, its ambassador spoke deprecatingly about the consecration ceremony of Lord Ram temple, while speaking about combating Islamophobia. In her response to the Pakistani delegation’s duplicitous stance on religion, India’s ambassador stressed that India strongly condemns all forms of religiophobia, be it anti-Semitism, Christianophobia, or Islamophobia, as much as it stands against all anti-Hindu, anti-Buddhist, and anti-Sikh sentiments.
Pakistan’s perfidious policy of attacking India, is an attempt to distract from its own systematic violation of human, political, and economic rights of the people of Balochistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Gilgit Baltistan. The Baloch ethnic group, comprising a third of the population, has faced long-standing marginalisation due to discriminatory policies by the Pakistani government. Balochistan witnesses arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances of political and human rights activists. These actions by state agencies have escalated tensions and violated fundamental human rights.
Furthermore, reports highlight the daily dumping of mutilated bodies of missing persons, enforced disappearances, and inhumane torture of Baloch political activists since 2005. Baloch activists have also criticised Pakistan for exploiting Balochistan’s resources without regard for its citizens’ lives. Amnesty International has expressed concern about human rights violations in Balochistan province, which have escalated in recent months.The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) reports have found numerous cases of arbitrary arrests, detention, torture, extrajudicial executions, and ‘disappearances of Baloch people. Victims include women, children, and political activists.
Most recently Pakistani intelligence agencies are behind the enforced disappearance of Sargodha Medical College student Khudadad Siraj. Even as the Pakistani Ambassador was preaching on human rights at the UN, Baloch Students at the University of Sargodha have been protesting against Siraj’s enforced disappearance, demanding that the Pak state release their fellow student.
A similar situation of discrimination and human rights violations exists in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB). Residents are deprived of their fundamental rights, including civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, as well as the right to development. Peaceful activists, members of civil society, and even religious minorities face targeting by state and law enforcement agencies, often with impunity. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has earlier raised serious concerns about human rights violations in PoK. There are fears that those subjected to enforced disappearances from PoK may have been detained in military-run internment centres within Pakistan.
There is credible information about enforced disappearances of people from PoK. These include individuals who were held in secret detention, as well as those whose fate and whereabouts remain unknown. Some of the disappeared individuals were associated with Pakistani security forces, and in many cases, victim groups attribute these disappearances to Pakistani intelligence agencies.
A peaceful march led by women human rights defenders in Islamabad, known as “the Baloch Long March,” has aimed to raise awareness about ongoing repression and human rights violations in Balochistan. However, Pakistani authorities have always responded with excessive force, including tear gas and water cannons.
Gilgit-Baltistan
Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), has a region with a complex history of grappling with issues related to legal rights, democratic representation, and the well-being of its population. Local body elections have not been held in GB for the past 14 years, affecting democratic representation and governance. Throughout 2022-23 protests erupted across GB against land grabbing, cuts in subsidised wheat, and long load-shedding hours. The Pakistani state has responded by arresting protestors on false terrorism charges. Journalists like Muhammad Ali Alam and Ali Mujeeb faced intimidation, threats, and even kidnapping attempts by the Pakistani state for highlighting human rights violations.
Recently while speaking at the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Chairman of the United Kashmir People’s National Party (UKPNP), Sardar Shaukat Ali Kashmiri, highlighted the issue of the worsening human rights situation in POK and GB. He lamented that in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, “residents are deprived of their fundamental rights, including civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, as well as the right to development. Peaceful activists and members of civil society are targeted by state and law enforcement agencies, and extremist outfits with impunity.”
Jamil Maqsood, the secretary of foreign affairs for the United Kashmir People’s National Party (UKPNP) highlighted the challenges faced by the people of PoK and GB stating that, instances of restricted political freedoms and limited representation are a symptomatic of Pakistan’s policy in the region and that “despite the region’s strategic significance, there is a pressing need for inclusive development policies that prioritise the well-being of the local population. Socially, the people of these regions deserve equitable access to education, healthcare, and other basic services.”
The percentage of Hindus in Pakistan has witnessed a persistent decline due to ongoing discrimination and forced conversion. Instances of forced conversions and marriages are rampant in rural and backward areas. Disturbing cases have emerged where Hindu women are kidnapped, raped, or forcibly converted to Islam. Overt, state-sponsored discrimination persists, depriving Hindus of their fundamental human rights. Authorities often fall short in providing adequate protection and holding perpetrators accountable. Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have an oppressive impact on religious minorities. These laws are often misused and lead to severe consequences for those accused.
The gruesome lynching of a Sri Lankan factory manager in Sialkot, Punjab province, underscores the danger of state-sanctioned religious hate. Priyantha Kumara, a Christian, was brutally killed by a mob for removing stickers featuring Quranic verses from factory machinery. The incident reveals how far the nation has descended into an abyss.
A flood-affected woman prepares food in Jamshoro district in Pakistan’s Sindh province on Sept. 8, 2022. (Str/Xinhua/IANS)
Pakistan was the first, and so far only country to officially declare Ahmadis as non-Muslim. Subsequent policies have served to reinforce their outsider status. For example, in order to receive a passport, all Pakistani citizens are required to sign a formal declaration of heresy toward Ahmadis, proclaiming the leader of the Ahmadi movement to be an “imposter prophet” and his followers non-Muslim.
Even as spiritual month of Ramzan is being observed around the world, in Pakistan a video now gone viral on the internet shows a mob beating up a#Christian sanitary worker in the city of Gujranwala.
While Islamabad claims its Hindu community is safe, reports of their leaving persist, and many Pakistani Hindus seek refuge in India due to safety concerns. For instance, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, 18 Hindu refugees from Pakistan were granted Indian citizenship during a camp organised by the district collector’s office. Gujarat’s Minister of State for Home, Harsh Sanghavi, conferred citizenship upon these individuals and encouraged them to contribute to India’s development journey. So far, 1,167 Hindu refugees from Pakistan residing in Ahmedabad district have been granted Indian citizenship. The Indian government has relaxed norms for Pakistani nationals belonging to minority communities who seek refuge in India.
Enforced disappearance represents a continuing violation of various rights, including the right to life and the prohibition of torture or cruel treatment. The situation in Balochistan, PoK and GB remains deeply concerning, and efforts to address human rights violations must continue to ensure justice and accountability.
The everyday experiences of religious minorities in Pakistan, is an unending saga of violence, discrimination and exclusion. They suffer from a lack of access to education, sanitation, transportation and health care, to occupational discrimination and more direct experiences of violence such as abductions and forced conversions, accusations of blasphemy, targeted killings, and frequent attacks on their places of worship.
In fact duplicity manifests itself in many forms, which are palpable in Pakistan’s internal and external relationships. While talking about Islamophobia in the UN, the Pakistani government is in reality practising an unannounced ban on international Christian missionaries visiting Pakistan. Furthermore Pakistan never criticises or highlights the brutal way in which Beijing is repressing Uyghur Muslims.
Islamabad’s charade of trying to project itself as the global leader of the anti-Islamophobia crusade begs exposure.
The aerial strikes reportedly were in response to last week’s Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) attack on Pakistani armymen in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mir Ali region…reports Asian Lite News
Tensions simmered in the South Asian neighbourhood as Pakistan on Monday launched airstrikes in the border regions of Afghanistan, reportedly killing at least eight civilians, including three children.
Confirming the aerial strikes in the Khost and Paktika provinces, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that “such incidents can have very bad consequences which will be out of Pakistan’s control”.
According to TOLO News, the Taliban said they have responded to these attacks and targeted Pakistani military centres with heavy weapons.
Mujahid said the bombardment began at around 3 a.m. (local time) and targeted the houses of civilians in the Barmal district of Paktika province and the Afghan Dubai area of Sepera district in Khost province.
Calling the “reckless action” a violation of Afghanistan’s territory, he said that “Pakistan should not blame Afghanistan for the lack of control, incompetence, and problems in its territory”.
The aerial strikes reportedly were in response to last week’s Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) attack on Pakistani armymen in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mir Ali region.
Seven soldiers, including a Lieutenant Colonel and a Captain, were killed in the attack that was denounced by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Vowing retaliation, President Zardari said: “Pakistan has decided that whoever will enter our borders, homes or country and commit terror, we will respond to them strongly, regardless of who it is or from which country.”
Meanwhile, as several media outlets in Pakistan reported that TTP commander Abdullah Shah was killed in the Pakistani airstrikes, Mujahid said in the statement: “The person named Abdullah Shah, who the Pakistani side claims was targeted in the incident, is in Pakistan.”
This came even as a video went viral on X showing a man, identifying himself as Shah, saying: “Whatever propaganda is being spread against me is baseless.”
The TTP, also known as the Pakistan Taliban, became active in 2007 and operates across the porous border with Afghanistan, even as the Taliban denies harbouring them.
The group has been responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in Pakistan, targeting both the military establishment and civilians.
Pakistan is one of the leading countries with child sexual abuse (CSA) in the world where around 550,000 (0.55 million) children, both boys and girls, are annually raped, but hardly a few hundred cases of sexual abuse come to the surface.
Last week Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency claimed to have arrested from Peshawar, the leader of a gang involved in sexually abusing children and recording obscene videos of minors at gunpoint. On March 17, another case in Kohat came to light where six persons were found assaulting a 13 year old boy for days and threatened to upload the immoral act on social media if he dared disclose the matter to anyone.
Pakistan is one of the leading countries with child sexual abuse (CSA) in the world where around 550,000 (0.55 million) children, both boys and girls, are annually raped, but hardly a few hundred cases of sexual abuse come to the surface. Pakistan ranks third globally in online child abuse. More than 12 cases of child abuse are reported daily in Pakistan. In 2022, a total of 4,253 cases of child abuse were reported, with half of them being sexual abuse. In 2023, there were 2,227 abuse victims, with 54% being girls. Reported cases include sexual abuse, abductions, missing children, and child marriages. Despite being widely prevalent it is rarely recognized as a social problem.
Among the most notable cases are those of Zainab Ansari, a minor girl, who was raped and murdered in Kasur in 2018; Faizan Muhammad, a nine-year-old, suffered a similar fate in Kasur in 2019. At the time of her death, Kasur was often referred to as “the child abuse capital of Pakistan”, due to the horrifying revelation in 2015 that a paedophile ring had sexually abused 280 children from impoverished areas on the outskirts of the city, filming and selling videos of the assaults. More recently in August 2023, a minor girl named Fatima Phuriro was allegedly brutally tortured and raped in a Haweli (mansion) in Sindh’s Ranipur. The postmortem report confirmed the torture and rape. Pir Asad Shah Jilani, accused of selling a live video of the sexually abused child on the dark web, was implicated in this case.
But according to Prof Naeem Zafar, a leading child rights activist, “Child sexual abuse which we see through media is just a tip of the iceberg, as, according to our research, over five lakh and fifty thousand children, both boys and girls are sexually abused — in fact raped in Pakistan every year.” At the 26th Biennial International Conference in Karachi, Prof. Zafar, said that despite having laws in place for child protection, they are not implemented and child sexual abuse often goes unnoticed or no action is taken by the authorities as children are considered as “property” of their patents. Dr Kishwar Enam from Aga Khan University, while discussing child marriages in Pakistan, said that one in six children in Pakistan are married off in their childhood.[1]
The Zainab Alert Bill passed in the National Assembly following eight-year-old Zainab’s rape and murder in Sukkur in 2018, remains words on paper and is yet to be implementation. The failure of the authorities to restrict movement of sex offenders has had serious repercussions in the past. In August 2022, a rapist convicted in Rawalpindi, moved to Peshawar where he raped three minor girls before gruesomely killing two of them.
In its half-yearly report, Islamabad-based NGO Sahil, operating since 1996, said a total of 2,227 cases of child sexual abuse were reported to the authorities between January and June 2023.[2] The Sahil report further said almost 75 percent of these cases were reported from Punjab, the country’s most populous province.
The absence of an official database for paedophiles coupled with a weak legal system, allows for these heinous crimes to last for years. The conviction rate in children’s sexual abuse cases is not even 2 percent and due to social and economic pressures faced by the families of the victims, and the stigma associated with sexual abuse, most of these cases, which do go through legal processes, are settled by compromise between the two parties. According to a report presented in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly, regarding cases of child sexual abuse during the past three years in Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan, only 5 per cent of the accused were convicted, while the remaining were either released due to improper investigations or were still awaiting decisions.
Speaking to DW, Hasnain Muqqdas a survivor of sexual abuse, from the Kotly Satiyan area of Punjab says that he has no hope that justice will be delivered. “In my case, despite the fact that the sexual abuse was filmed and went viral, the perpetrators have been released,” … “The police did not even bother to carry out a forensic investigation of the video. This was really very disappointing.”
A documentary ‘Streets of Shame’ directed by Emmy Award-winner Mohammed Naqvi and written by Jamie Doran, highlights how Pakistan as a country is in denial, turning a blind eye to the sexual exploitation of tens of thousands of poor and vulnerable children. It focuses on the north-western city of Peshawar, where it is estimated 9 in every 10 street children have been sexually abused. In towns and cities across Pakistan, tens of thousands of vulnerable young boys have become the victims of paedophile predators who seem to have nothing to fear from the law. It’s an open secret that few acknowledge publicly and even fewer want to do anything about. In a society where women are hidden from view and young girls deemed untouchable, the bus stations, truck stops and alleyways have become the hunting ground for perverted men to prey on the innocent. In one survey alone, 95% of truck drivers admitted having sex with boys was their favourite entertainment. The documentary former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan says he’s shocked by the footage shown: “I must say I know it happened, but I didn’t realise it happened to the extent you are saying.”[3]
A lack of monitoring of places such as religious seminaries and detention centres also makes it possible for perpetrators to target children. The true scope of the child abuse crisis in Pakistan remains unknown.
During a press conference at the Geneva Press Club, Dr. Naseem Baloch, Chairman of the Baloch National Movement (BNM), urgently appealed to the international community for intervention in Balochistan. Addressing journalists, he shed light on the significant challenges faced by the Baloch nation and called on the United Nations to champion their cause.
Dr. Baloch emphasized the dire need to end systematic injustices and violations against the Baloch people, stressing that global attention is crucial for their plea of freedom and justice to be acknowledged and acted upon. He highlighted Balochistan’s rich cultural heritage, marked by resilience and a longstanding struggle for self-determination.
Providing historical context, Dr. Baloch mentioned the 1947 declaration of Balochistan’s independence, followed by its occupation by Pakistan in 1948. He underscored the continuous resistance of the Baloch nation against this illegal invasion and brought attention to severe human rights violations, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and torture.
Expressing grave concerns over enforced disappearances and mass graves, he condemned the Counter-Terrorism Department’s involvement in fake encounters, perpetuating a cycle of injustice and violence against innocent Baloch civilians. He also highlighted the media blackout in Balochistan, emphasizing the need for international intervention to address human rights violations.
Dr. Naseem Baloch
Jamal Baloch, media coordinator of the Paank, Baloch National Movement’s Human Rights Department highlighted the issue of continued disappearance and the torture inflicted upon the families of the victim. He emphasized how consistent threats, harassment, and physical violence are some of the many ways used by the state to spread terror in the minds of the innocent Baloch. If the victim or his family refuse to comply, then he /she becomes the target of fake encounters.
Karlos Zurutuza, international journalist when questioned about the loss of life and territory in Balochistan, shed light on the resource-rich land which is still under the atrocious regime of the state. Lack of basic amenities to the residents despite being the richest province of Pakistan is what calls for attention. He also highlighted the plight of journalists who are either abducted or suppressed by the agencies to refrain them from covering the ground reality.
Dr. Naseem concluded the press conference by calling for collective action against Pakistan in favor of Balochistan, expressing hope that their plea would resonate globally. The conference was part of BNM’s three-day advocacy initiative during the 55th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
The campaign began on March 11, 2024, with BNM’s 4th International Conference on Balochistan at the Geneva Press Club. Distinguished personalities conveyed their perspectives, extending sympathy and unwavering support for the Baloch nation. The momentum will continue with events at Broken Chair over the next two days as part of the ongoing campaign.
Pakistan, over the years, has made the law against blasphemy so retrogressive that more often than not people charge others, especially minorities, of blasphemy for revenge, taking over property or forcibly marry… writes Dr Sakariya Kareem
In Sindh, Pakistan, the Hindu community lives under constant fear of being accused of blasphemy by radical Muslims and extremist groups like Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), all of which enjoy patronage from the Islamic state.
Even for those who have been discharged by the court for being wrongly accused of blasphemy, there is constant danger of being lynched.
Take the case of Notan Lal, Principal of a private school and a resident of Ghotki, Sindh. In 2019, some of his students accused him of blasphemy. It was not an ordinary accusation–the charges would lead to life imprisonment or even a death sentence under the most heinous penal clauses in the world. Pakistan, over the years, has made the law against blasphemy so retrogressive that more often than not people charge others, especially minorities, of blasphemy for revenge, taking over property or forcibly marrying.
Notan Lal’s case triggered an orgy of violence in Ghotki. Hindu temples were razed. Hindu families were attacked and driven to fear. The school where Notan Lal worked was attacked by arsonists. The attack against Hindus was led by Mian Mithoo, an influential Sunni leader who have been accused of promoting forcible abduction, rape, conversion and marriage of young Hindu girls. A fact-finding committee, appointed by the Ministry of Human Rights, concluded that the attacks on temples and riots were premeditated, politically motivated and had tacit political support. In 2022, Notan Lal, a father of four children, was sentenced to life.
Early this month, a High Court judge threw out the case against the Hindu teacher on the grounds of the case was being investigated shoddily and prosecution failures to produce material witnesses to prove the charges against the teacher.
Back at home, Notan Lal and their family are haunted by an equally deep rooted fear of being attacked by militant groups. The local community wants security for Lal. They fear that powerful Sunni groups could either frame him on trumped-up charges or kill him brutally.
Such fears are widespread in the Hindu community in Sindh. In Kandiyari Sanghar for instance, a woman and her three children were abducted. The main accused is an influential cleric in the region, Maulvi Mula Baksh. Her husband has been trying his best to file a criminal complaint but without any success so far. The police, as often in cases of atrocities against Hindus, are doing everything possible to fudge the case.
Members of the Bheel community in Sindh have also been protesting for long against forced acquisition of their land by local Muslim communities. Their houses have been demolished or burnt by marauding Muslim locals. The community lives under constant fear.
The fear stalks Hindus elsewhere too in Sindh. Young girls and women, even married, constantly face harassment from Muslim men; many of them are abducted, raped and forced to convert before being forcibly married. Police, judiciary and political authorities are equally complicit in these heinous crimes.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif speaks in an interaction with foreign media in Islamabad, Pakistan, Aug. 30, 2022. (Photo by Ahmad Kamal/Xinhua/IANS)
The government officials, responsible for supplying adequate wheat flour to the people, failed on several counts, forcing people to come out into the streets, blocking highways, for weeks before the government capitulated. Many of the officials were involved in hoarding and smuggling wheat flour and did not bother about the people … writes Dr Sakariya Kareem
Pakistan officials, tasked to look after the welfare of the far-flung region of Gilgit-Baltistan, are playing with the lives of hard-pressed people with their callous attitude and behaviour. The region lacks power and water, good roads and essential services. Thanks to the bureaucracy, the region has become one of the poorer regions of Pakistan, another Balochistan in the mountains!
Bureaucrats, mostly on deputation from mainland Pakistan, care nothing about the well-being of the people who have been battling against all odds for basic living standards for a long. For several months, they have been seeking government help to provide adequate wheat flour. The government, on the other hand, had withdrawn the subsidy on wheat prices which was like a lifeline for thousands of poor and needy residents of Gilgit Baltistan.
The government officials, responsible for supplying adequate wheat flour to the people, failed on several counts, forcing people to come out into the streets, and blocking highways, for weeks before the government capitulated. Many of the officials were involved in hoarding and smuggling wheat flour and did not bother about the people.
The same inertia is being shown in other fields of public work. In the case of water and power, even the Chief Minister experienced bureaucratic ineptitude recently. The Chief Minister, Haji Gulbar Khan, had summoned a meeting of water and power officials recently but the Chief Engineer, Water and Power, Baltistan Region, chose to remain absent. This angered the CM and he asked his Minister of Planning and Development Raja Nasir Ali Khan to sanction the guilty officer. The Chief Minister said the absence of the Chief Engineer would only add to the woes of the people of the region.
This is only one of the several instances of officials from mainland Pakistan employed in Gilgit Baltistan behaving like `kings`, proving time and again their nonchalant attitude towards public welfare. The local people believe that this attitude has increased over the years as the government does not recruit the youth from the local area for the region’s requirements. Most of the officials are deputed from Punjab and other regions in Pakistan. These officers are so arrogant that they do not bother to consult or talk to the local communities about public welfare projects.
There was some relief when the federal government issued the Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order 2009, paving the way for the decentralisation of power to the local assembly and municipal bodies. Nothing happened thereafter. Only the bureaucracy became more powerful and authoritative. Secretaries became virtual rulers of the region and officers working under them assumed the role and power of municipal departments. There have often been clashes between officials and the local population. In one recent incident, an Assistant Commissioner of Gojal sealed a restaurant. His rude behaviour and threatening tone went viral on social media forcing his boss to cancel the sealing order.
The bureaucratic apathy, promoted by successive federal governments, has pushed the region into deeper poverty, inadequate access to basic services such as healthcare, education and clean water besides a higher rate of unemployment among the youth. The region suffers from poor infrastructure and roads, persistent power shortages and bad internet connectivity, making Gilgit Baltistan one of the poorest regions in Pakistan.
Political instability, unmanageable inflation, and rising religious extremism are the major factors that are driving Pakistanis out… writes Dr Sakariya Kareem
The recent case of a Pakistan airline employee getting vanished in Canada to get settled in the country highlights the growing trend of brain drain in Pakistan amid hostile domestic conditions. Even unqualified workers are trying to break into foreign countries for livelihoods. The number of Pakistani citizens leaving the country for a better life elsewhere has seen a sharp increase. In 2023, about 860,000 highly qualified and skilled professionals left Pakistan, which was 60,000 higher than a year ago and the highest since 2015.
Political instability, unmanageable inflation, and rising religious extremism are the major factors that are driving Pakistanis out. Inflation had crossed 37 percent in May 2023 even as food inflation reached an all-time high of 48.65 percent. Joblessness and low wages added to the problem further. Sana Hashim, a digital marketing professional, said “A salaried individual like myself is really struggling because prices have skyrocketed in recent months. My income hasn’t increased, but the inflation has.”
How serious the brain drain in Pakistan has become can be gauged from the fact that a whopping 2.5 million Pakistani workers left the country in the past five years. Pakistan ranked 161st in the last published Global Human Development Index and 102nd out of the 125 countries in the latest Global Hunger Index. Young business development professional Atiya Khan, who works in the UAE, does not want to return to Pakistan. “From security to the economy there are many repelling factors, which push youngsters like me away from my homeland,” she said.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif
Unemployment is a big issue in Pakistan as around half of young people do not have jobs. International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated an unemployment rate of 8.5 in 2023. This factor is crucial for the exodus of the Pakistani youth to the Middle East and Western parts. “There are nearly 200 universities in Pakistan many of which award degrees in disciplines for which there are no jobs in the market,” said Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry, a former Pakistani foreign secretary. “Having spent considerable sums on education, not finding a well-paying job is a deeply frustrating experience for a young person. The lucky ones who find jobs are also frustrated because of abysmally low salaries.”
The actual number of Pakistanis leaving the country appears to be higher than the official number as many resorted to illegal means to enter prosperous foreign lands. In June 2023, around 350 Pakistani migrants died when the boat they were travelling to enter Greece illegally sank.[2] Frontex, the European Union’s border and coast guard agency, said 5,000 Pakistanis were detected on the “central Mediterranean route” into Europe in early 2023.
Pakistan has a long history of brain drain for which political instability and economic uncertainty are responsible, said former bureaucrat Zafar Aziz Chaudhry. “Given our deteriorating civil and economic conditions where there are not enough jobs to cater to our surging population, nor are there adequate laboratories or research centres where new advances in fresh discoveries of knowledge could be taken up and tested, most of the fresh youth, seeing a dismal picture at home, leave their country in frustration for greener pastures looking for a better future,” he said.
Highly skilled workers, especially, healthcare professionals are not interested in working in Pakistan due to unfair remuneration, low incentives, and bleak future prospects. ”Common drivers of brain drain in Pakistan are long-term governance issues, quality of living, financial instability and worsening infrastructure. Further, insecurity and the dwindling law and order conditions in the country encourage individuals to move overseas for a more stable life,” reads a report by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE).
The prolonged economic crisis and political instability have left Pakistan’s governance and civic infrastructure in a dire situation. Karachi gynaecologist Afsheen Akbar said “It is painful to see some of our best doctors move to the US, but can we blame them? The conditions at public hospitals are often dire, and the health workers get paid so little.”[3] The desperation in Pakistan is growing, said Imran Khan, country director for Pakistan at the United States Institute of Peace. “We know that it is a combination of a lack of decent work and a general disillusionment about the future of the country which pushes young Pakistanis to use dangerous and illegal migration as a means to a better life,” he said.
In another setback to Imran Khan, IMF refuses to interfere in Pakistan’s electoral dispute, reports Asian Lite News
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has refused to interfere in Pakistan’s domestic policies after Imran Khan-founded Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf demanded it review the country’s February 8 polls before sanctioning any new economic package, the Express Tribune reported.
However, the IMF has encouraged Islamabad to hold ‘fair resolution’ of all electoral disputes.
This comes after incarcerated former PM Imran Khan penned a letter to the IMF, urging the global lender to give the poll results a thorough once-over before cutting any new cheques for Islamabad.
“If the country gets a loan in such a situation, then who will return it?” he questioned, expressing concerns that such a loan could lead to an increase in poverty.
Khan warned that without substantial investment in the country, the burden of loans would continue to rise, underscoring the need for political stability.
While breaking its silence on the PTI’s attempt to involve the global lender in political matters, an IMF spokesperson instead showed readiness to negotiate the next medium-term programme with the newly-elected government.
“The IMF, as an international institution with a narrow mandate on economic issues, does not comment on domestic political developments,” said the IMF spokesperson while commenting on the letter written by the PTI.
The IMF said that it received a letter from a PTI spokesperson on February 28 regarding the Fund’s engagement with Pakistan under the programme, as reported by Express Tribune.
Notably, PTI has throughout termed the Feb 8 polls as ‘disputed’ while alleging a lack of ‘level playing field’. The party claims to have won about 177 seats as against 92, which were notified by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) as independently elected members of the National Assembly. The PTI has also claimed to have documentary evidence of rigging in the elections and demanded that the IMF should play a role in conducting the investigations.
“Given the importance of the institutional environment for economic stability and growth, we do encourage the fair and peaceful resolution of all electoral disputes,” said the IMF spokesperson.
The IMF’s current USD 3 billion short-term bailout package is expiring before the middle of next month and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has already given a go-ahead to the Finance Ministry to begin discussions for signing a new Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
The last EFF had expired in June without the disbursement of the USD 2.6 billion loan amount due to Pakistan’s failure to meet the programme conditions.
The last loan tranche of $1.2 billion of the current programme remains undisbursed and the IMF is waiting for the formation of the federal cabinet before sending a mission to Pakistan.
“We look forward to engaging with the new government to complete the second review under the current Stand-by Arrangement and, should the government request, support the formulation of a new medium-term economic programme,” according to the IMF spokesperson.
The spokesperson said that the IMF’s aim is to support the implementation of strong policies to deepen financial stability, address long-standing economic and underlying balance of payments challenges, and restore sustained and inclusive growth for the benefit of all Pakistani citizens, Express Tribune reported. (ANI)
A candidate must receive 169 votes in the 336-member parliament to be elected premier…reports Asian Lite News
Shehbaz Sharif, the joint candidate of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP), and Omar Ayub, the nominee of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-backed Sunni Ittehad Council, have both filed nomination papers for the position of Prime Minister of the country, reported ARY News on Saturday.
The nomination papers were received by the Secretary of the National Assembly. A candidate must receive 169 votes in the 336-member parliament to be elected premier.
According to ARY News, PML-N and its allies, including the Pakistan People’s Party, claim to have enjoyed the support of over 200 lawmakers.
Whereas, independent candidates backed by Imran Khan’s PTI won the most MPs with 93 in the February 8 elections.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s Sardar Ayaz Sadiq was elected as the 22nd speaker of the National Assembly (NA) on Friday.
Raja Pervaiz Ashraf presided the National Assembly (NA) session to elect a new NA speaker. The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) protested throughout the session, reported ARY News.
The speaker’s election was conducted via a secret ballot. The lawmakers voted one by one.
PML-N candidate Ayaz Sadiq received 199 votes, while Aamir Dogar from the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) received 91 votes. Following Raja Pervaiz Ashraf’s formal pronouncement, Sardare Ayaz Sadiq was sworn in as the next speaker of the NA.
PPP’s Bugti elected as Baloch CM
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) candidate Sarfraz Bugti was elected as Balochistan Chief Minister on Saturday, bagging 41 votes in his favour, reported The News International.
The Balochistan Assembly elected Bugti, with 41 votes in his favour, while four lawmakers skipped the voting.
PPP candidate Bugti is now set to take the oath today at the Governor’s House at the swearing in ceremony.
Balochistan Governor Abdul Wali Kakar will administer the oath to the newly-elected chief minister, according to The News International.
He submitted his nomination papers before the deadline’s end on Friday after his party’s chairman, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and co-chairman, Asif Ali Zardari, named him as their CM nominee.
Moreover, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders have also supported him, including Nawab Sanaullah Khan Zehri and Sardar Sarfaraz Chakar Domki.
Reportedly, Bugti resigned as the caretaker interior minister in December last year and joined the Bilawal-led party.
He has also pledged to take all parties on board for development and prosperity in Balochistan and launched efforts to improve governance to resolve other issues, The News International reported.
After submitting his nomination papers on Friday, he said that the PPP believes in dialogue and has always resolved issues through negotiations.
He further urged the dissatisfied people to join the mainstream and play their role in the country’s development.
The newly elected Chief Minister emphasised the need for talks with the opposition parties for the development of Balochistan.
He said positive criticism would be welcomed and urged that destructive politics be avoided in the broader interest of the country, as reported by The News International.
He added that a consensus would be developed with the opposition to bring Balochistan forward and his door would always be open for talks.
He said a roadmap would be shared for sustainable development and resolving the common challenges of the province, but added that he had no idea of the two-and-a-half-year government formula.
Moreover, Bugti thanked the PPP chairman and co-chairman for nominating him for the chief minister’s position. (ANI)
