Epaper – April 5-2022 LHR by Pakistan Today

Tuesday, 5 April, 2022 I 3 Ramzan, 1443 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XII No 277 I 12 Pages I Lahore Edition

SC to ContInue proCeedInGS on deputy SpeAker’S rulInG todAy g

Justice Munib questions deputy speaker ’s constitutional authority to pass the ruling

Opposition deliberately didn’t attend parliamentar y committee for security meeting: Justice Bandial

ISLAMABAD

Staff RepoRt

He Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the hearing and ignored a plea by PPP’s counsel seeking the formation of a full court to hear the suo motu case pertaining to the ruling issued by the National Assembly deputy speaker which dismissed the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial had earlier in the day said the court would issue a “reasonable order” on the issue today. His remarks had come as a larger bench of the Supreme Court – comprising the CJP, Justice Ijazul Ahsan, Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel, Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail — took up the matter. During the proceedings, Justice Ahsan noted that there were violations in the proceedings of the no-trust resolution. Justice Bandial observed that a debate before voting on the no-confidence motion had been clearly mentioned in the law but didn’t take place. Meanwhile, Justice Akhtar questioned the deputy speaker’s constitutional authority to pass such a ruling. “I don’t think the deputy speaker had the authority to pass such a ruling,” Justice Akhtar said, adding that only the speaker could do so. “The deputy speaker only chairs the session on the non-availability of the speaker,” the judge said. During his arguments, Farooq H. Naek, who was representing the PPP and other opposition parties, contended that the ‘threat letter’ on the basis of which the ruling was passed was never shown in parliament. Here, the CJP observed that the deputy speaker’s ruling mentioned the meeting of the parliamentary committee for security. “The opposition deliberately didn’t attend the meeting,” he said, adding that the matter of the letter was put forth there. “This needs to be answered by all political

Imran nominates former top judge Gulzar Ahmed as interim prime minister Justice Munib questions deputy speaker’s constitutional authority to pass the ruling ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

parties,” the CJP said, adding that the parliamentary committee meeting was important. Naek pleaded the court to issue a verdict on the matter today, pointing out to the bench that the president had already asked for names to appoint as caretaker prime minister. But Justice Ahsan said it was impossible to pass the verdict today, adding that the apex court’s decision would have far reaching outcomes. “We respect the opinions of political parties.” “We can’t pass a decision in the air,” Justice Bandial said, adjourning the hearing till 12pm on Tuesday. earlier, Naek had urged the CJP to form a full court bench to hear the matter, saying that the case concerned complex matters of the law and therefore all judges of the apex court should sit on the bench. The CJP, however, asked Naek if he had objections to any judge on the fivemember bench. “If there is a lack of confidence in any of the judges, the bench will rise,” Justice Bandial said. To this, Naek said he had full confidence in all judges on the bench.

Justice Bandial said forming a full court bench would impede proceedings of other cases. When PTI’s counsel Babar Awan took the rostrum, the chief justice said that he wanted to hear the petitioners first. “If you want to give a statement, you can,” Justice Bandial told Awan, who informed the court that the party was ready for the next election. “The court will only review the speaker’s ruling, not political statements,” the chief justice remarked, reiterating that the court would give a “reasonable decision”. Naek told the court that the requisition notice for the NA session and no-confidence motion were submitted on March 8. “The speaker was bound to convene the session within 14 days but the meeting was called on March 27,” he said. However, Justice Mandokhail pointed out that the case did not concern when the NA session was summoned while Justice Akhtar said that the speaker had provided reasons for the delay.

The prime minister proposed the name of former chief justice Gulzar Ahmed for the office of the caretaker leader of the nation, announced Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Fawad Chaudhry Monday. The development came hours after the president wrote to Imran Khan and the former National Assembly Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif to propose names of candidates for appointment as the caretaker prime minister under Article 224-A (1) of the Constitution. The letter observed that the National Assembly and the federal cabinet had been dissolved under Article 58(1) on Sunday. But added that Khan would continue to hold office until the caretaker prime minister’s appointment is made under Article 224-A(4). Khan was de-notified late on Sunday as a result of the dissolution of the parliament, which he recommended to the president, according to an announcement by the Cabinet Division. He will, however, continue to serve as acting premier until a caretaker prime minister is appointed to hold fresh elections. “Caretaker prime minister shall be appointed by the president in consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition in the outgoing NA as per Article 224-A(1) of the Constitution of Pakistan,” the letter read. In the letter, Dr Arif Alvi told the two that in case they do not agree on the appointment within three days of the dissolution of the National Assembly, they shall forward two nominees each to a committee to be constituted by the speaker, comprising eight members of the outgoing assembly, or the Senate, or both, having equal representation from the treasury and the opposition.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

Tuesday, 5 April, 2022 | LAHORe

news

PTI rEady To SharE NSC MEETINg MINuTES wITh SC: QurEShI ISLAMABAD

StAff RePoRt

AKISTAN Tehreek-e-Insaf Vice Chairman and former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Monday that PTI is ready to share the minutes of National Security Committee (NSC) meeting held on the “threat letter” and “foreign conspiracy

with SC. The former federal minister made this statement while talking to the media outside the Supreme Court. “If court asked, we are ready to share NCS meeting minutes over foreign conspiracy with the apex court,” Shah Mehmood Qureshi told media. He further said that the government issued a strong demarche on the base of

Imran has imposed ‘civilian martial law’, declares Shehbaz

NSC meeting. On March 31, Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting in Islamabad to take the top civil and military leadership into confidence over the “threat letter” and the “foreign conspiracy” behind the no-confidence motion against him in the National Assembly. Top civil and military leadership

including federal ministers, services chief and DG ISI were among the attendees of the meeting. It is pertinent to mention here that a fivemember larger bench of the Supreme Court on Monday resumed hearing into a suo-moto notice over ruling from Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri against no-confidence motion with Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Umar Ata Bandial.

PML-N seeks lawyers’ advice over fears of Punjab Assembly dissolution

ISLAMABAD

LAHORE

StAff RePoRt

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif Monday criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan for what de declared was the imposition of a “civilian martial law” in the country, terming the move “thoroughly unconstitutional”. Addressing a press conference, flanked by Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Jamiat Ulema-eIslam-Fazl (JUI-F) MP Asad Mehmood, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui and Balochistan National PartyMengal (BNP-M) leader Akhtar Mengal, he said Khan, along with his party members, has challenged and violated the Constitution of Pakistan. “April 3 will be remembered as a black day in the history of Pakistan,” he said, adding that Khan imposed a so-called civilian martial law, recalling former strongman Gen. Pervez Musharraf also took a similar measure on November 3, 2007. He termed the four-year tenure of the PTI-led government a period of “an individual government, totalitarian and fascist” in nature. On March 24, former speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser granted leave to the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, according to the will of the House. Recalling Sunday’s ruling of the deputy speaker regarding the no-confidence motion, he asked: “If Qasim Suri termed the motion as ‘unconstitutional’, why wasn’t it raised earlier?” “PTI used Article 5 to prevent themselves from the embarrassment that they would have faced after their defeat in case of voting on the no-confidence motion,” Sharif said. Regarding the “foreign threat letter” controversy, the former leader of the opposition in the National Assembly said that Pakistan’s Ambassador in Washington Asad Majeed Khan hosted a farewell dinner on March 16 and invited some US officials, including those who were accused by Khan.” Moreover, he added that, in his tweet, the ambassador thanked Donald Lu for good relations and cooperation. “If the letter was dated March 7 and highlighted the involvement of Donald Lu, why was the ambassador acknowledging the US official during the dinner on March 16,” he highlighted, questioning why Lu was invited for the dinner if had in fact threatened Pakistan. The PML-N leader said if they had received the “foreign letter” on March 7, then “why did they not highlight this issue earlier?” “According to the speech given by the former NA deputy speaker, all Opposition leaders became traitors,” he said, adding that yesterday’s NA proceedings made a joke of the Constitution of Pakistan, laws and Parliament. Regarding former information minister Fawad Chaudhry’s claims about challenging the speaker’s ruling, Sharif said: “It is right that no one can challenge the proceedings of the House but the Constitution was blatantly violated, does it have any protection?” He said that the matter is in the Supreme Court and hence, “I will not talk much about it.” To a question, Sharif refused to become part of any consultation for an interim setup including an interim prime minister and said they await a decision from the apex court against “subversion” of the Constitution. He said he would not become part of the consultation for the interim prime minister. “The president has subverted the Constitution and now we await a decision against it from Supreme Court,” he said. “Sunday [April 3] was the darkest day in the history of Pakistan,” Mahmood said, adding that Khan is trying to pressurise the institutions.He said they [the joint Opposition] will not accept international pressure being imposed under the garb of a “threat letter”. He suggested the higher courts of Pakistan hold Khan accountable for his statements regarding the credibility of judges.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has contacted legal experts and sought their advice over likelihood of dissolution of Punjab Assembly, sources reported on Monday. PML-N leaders are of the view that Usman Buzdar could not recommend dissolution of the assembly as caretaker chief minister. “The party leadership has directed its parliamentary party members to keep staying in Lahore,” sources said. Uzma Bukhari said that the deputy speaker adjourned the assembly session without any reason. “There was only one

agenda in the assembly session Sunday, which was the no-confidence motion,” PML-N leader said. “We expect all types of steps from the government including dissolution of Punjab Assembly,” PML-N leader Uzma Bukhari said. It is learnt that Prime Minister Imran Khan today summoned former chief minister Usman Buzdar to discuss matters pertaining to the Punjab CM election and party’s current political situation in the province. Sources privy to the development told ARY News that the former Punjab chief minister will brief the prime minister about party’s position and numbers game for the election of new CM of Punjab.

PM calls on opposition to prepare for elections ISLAMABAD StAff RePoRt

While expressing wonder over the opposition parties’ protests, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday advised them to go to the court of the public and contest the coming general elections. During his televised public interaction in Aap Ka Wazir-i-Azam, Aap Kay Saath, the prime minister said that during the last three and half years, the opposition only wanted to get NRO 2.0 and their whole efforts revolved around this objective. When he had announced elections, so what the opposition was doing in the Supreme Court, he said, and questioned why they wanted restoration of the National Assembly. Their efforts were focused on returning to power so that they could do away with the National Accountability Bureau by securing NRO-II. Responding to various public queries, the prime minister said the opposition leaders had always played fixed matches and now their efforts were afoot to secure

their vested interests by ending the corruption cases. Replying to a query of a caller, the prime minister said that in the next elections, they would give party tickets to those persons who only thought of the country. It was better to lose than emerge triumphant with such “turncoats”. He said the recent issue of the purchase of loyalties of the members of the parliament by the opposition, the democratic values in the country had been marred. The prime minister informed that tonight along with his party leaders and workers would participate in a protest procession outside the Red Zone in Islamabad to register protest against the opposition for playing part in the foreign conspiracy. He said that he had complete confidence in the nation to reject those elements who had sold out their loyalties for their petty personal interests. The prime minister urged the people to hold peaceful demonstrations against such shabby tactics of horse-trading. The letter which was shared in the National Security Committee and a parliamentary committee

Elections to be held on EVM: Faisal Javed ISLAMABAD APP

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Senator Faisal Javed Khan has said that general elections would be held on Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) and overseas Pakistanis would be able to cast vote via internet voting. In a statement, he said that “PTI kicks off its election campaign and Parliamentary Board to be formed soon”. He added that the ideological and die-hard workers of the party should be given top priority. He also called the opposition to get ready for the polls.

was clear evidence, which also proved the opposition’s role in the foreign planned conspiracy to topple the government through a vote of no confidence. He said the speaker had rejected their vote of no confidence on such basis, adding that he wanted everyone to hold protest so that the parliamentarians and political parties should have fear of public reaction and they should budge from indulgence into such acts. The prime minister further urged the people to stand with virtue and negate vices by resisting the dacoits and thieves. He said the opposition had fears that if the PTI government completed its tenure, their political gimmickry would end forever like in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where, in the second phase of local government elections, people had voted for the PTI, eliminating all other political parties. The prime minister said that for the last 30 years, the opposition leaders had been ruling the country and turned the country into beggars. Referring to PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif’s comments over “beggars not choosers” the prime minister said such

leaders had turned the nation into beggars by serving the foreign agenda and securing their personal interests. The prime minister said he wanted to make it clear that he had never been against any country. He opposed the USled war in Afghanistan, but he had never been anti-US. He further said he wanted good relations with all the countries based on mutual respect, adding that he would not accept any policies which were against the interests of the people of Pakistan. “Death is better than such servitude,” he maintained. The prime minister said that it was an insult to the whole country when a ruler of 220 million people held talks with the president of a powerful country by holding a paper in his hand. He said Quaid-e-Azam had been a leader who was respected by all his opponents due to the lofty qualities of his character. The prime minister criticized the performance of the Sindh government by terming it as ‘worst’ because it had failed to alleviate poverty and unemployment in the province.

Punjab Assembly may be dissolved soon: report LAHORE StAff RePoRt

After the abrupt dissolution of the National Assembly, Punjab Assembly is also likely to be dissolved soon, reports citing sources revealed on Monday. President Dr Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly on the advice of Imran Khan as the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government evaded the noconfidence motion against the prime minister. Punjab Governor Omar Sarfaraz Cheema may ask former Punjab chief minister Usman Buzdar to take charge as caretaker chief minister, they added. Meanwhile, the newly-appointed Punjab governor has been summoned to Islamabad where he will meet Khan today. Sources close to the matter said the premier would guide Cheema over the strategy to be applied next amid the ongoing political turmoil. Meanwhile, Khan also summoned Buzdar and PTI leader Mehmood ur-Rasheed to the federal capital. In the meeting, they will discuss options to deal with the political crisis in Punjab, while the two leaders will brief the prime minister on the numbers game in Punjab.

Cheema has replaced Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar as the new Punjab governor, soon after the latter was sacked on Sunday morning. The federal government sacked Sarwar as political tensions reached a pinnacle ahead of the vote on the notrust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan. Sources within the federal government said that Sarwar has been removed from his post on PML-Q leader Chaudhry Parvez Elahi’s request, for allegedly campaigning for Hamza Shahbaz in the election of the chief minister. The ex-governor, addressing a press conference shortly after being sacked, said if there is a foreign conspiracy against the incumbent government then it was electing Buzdar as the chief minister. Sarwar said that despite having several prominent candidates, including Fawad Chaudhry, Imran Khan decided to pick Usman Buzdar as the chief minister — as only he could move Punjab towards the goal of “Naya Pakistan”. “All of PTI workers — in Punjab — and the federal ministers complained to us whether this was the Pakistan that we wanted where the chief secretary and inspector general are changed every three months,” the former governor said.

Tuesday, 5 April, 2022 | LAHORe

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alEEM KhaN ChIdES PM IMraN, CallS hIM ‘INSINCErE To NaTIoN’

NEwS DESk BDUL Aleem Khan, a disgruntled PTI leader and MPA from Punjab, on Monday criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan and accused him of not being “sincere to the

nation”. Earlier, Aleem, who is a former senior provincial minister, had taken a position against the party by deciding to support the joint opposition in the Punjab Assembly. Talking to the media in Lahore on Monday, he said he regrets dedicating 10

years of his life to the party. “I have supported the PTI with great loyalty, hard work and kept my ego aside. We thought there would be a Naya Pakistan in the face of Imran Khan. I’m sad that the person I spent 10 years of my life for is not sincere with the nation,” he said. He lashed out at the former government and PTI leader for calling him a “traitor” and said it is “unfortunate” that they are resorting to maligning him. He rued that he had been branded a “traitor to the PTI” as he called out his critics and claimed that no one in the party had

sacrificed more than him. He issued a challenge to the prime minister to bring forth any evidence of corruption against him, for which he said he was imprisoned for six months. “Why wasn’t a reference made against me? What proof do you have? Bring it in front of the nation and tell them that these were Aleem Khan’s misdoings and corruption … I promise that if I turn out to be lying then I will shoot myself.” he said. He levelled a number of allegations against Sardar Usman Buzdar as well, saying that he was involved in bribery over transfers

and postings in Punjab. He also accused Farah Khan, an associate of the first lady, of being complicit in these transfers. He said any investigation would uncover who she (Farah) was forwarding the money of her alleged corruption while responding to a question about whether the first lady was also involved in supporting Farah. Aleem criticised the prime minister for Sunday’s dissolution of the National Assembly as well, questioning what had stopped him from doing so before. He said that the premier could not dissolve the assemblies once a no-confidence resolution

Us oﬃcial avoids question on regime change conspiracy in Pakistan

APP The Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asia at the US State Department Donald Lu skipped the question when asked about the regime change conspiracy in Pakistan. The State Department official, during his visit to India, was engaged for an interview by the Indian daily Hindustan Times and was questioned for his conversation with Pakistan Ambassador in Washington saying that Pakistan would face difficulties in case Prime Minister Imran Khan survived the no-confidence motion. “Imran Khan seems to suggest that you had a conversation with the Pakistani

SC holds full court reference on retirement of Justice Baqar ISLAMABAD NewS DeSk

A full court reference was held here on Monday in the Supreme Court on the eve of retirement of Justice Maqbool Baqir. The reference was attended by all the judges of the Supreme Court and large number of lawyers. In his farewell speech at the full court reference, Justice Baqar, who is set to retire on Tuesday, said that the exclusion of certain judges from hearing sensitive cases on account of their independent and impartial views has an adverse effect on the impartiality of judges and added that the practice has also tarnished public’s perception about the independence of judiciary. “Another vital aspect which, even though it pertains to the internal dynamics of the judiciary, has a very serious bearing on its independence, impartiality, and integrity is the issue of assignment of cases. The United Nations Special Repertoire on the independence of judges has urged for a fair and objective criterion for the assignment of cases which would protect judges from undue interference,” he added. Addressing the reference, Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan said: “Justice Maqbool Baqar has an excellent judicial career behind. It will be injustice if Justice Baqar’s role during the PCO period is not referred,” the AGP said. “The dictator was not aware that he will be awarded punishment over breaking the constitution,” he said. “Nowadays Article 6 is being conveniently referred for use against political opponents,” he said. “The 2007 episode will have to be kept in mind for understanding Article 6,” the AGP added.

ambassador in the US and told him that if Imran Khan survives the no-confidence motion, Pakistan is in trouble and the US won’t forgive Pakistan. Any response?,” the interviewer asked. In response, Donald Lu, who is considered the author of the official communication to Pakistan, avoided direct reply rather only could say, “We are following developments in Pakistan and we respect and support Pakistan’s constitutional process and the rule of law.” Asked whether he had such conversation, the US official skipped the question again to say, “That’s all I have for you on that question.” On March 27, Prime Minister Imran Khan had told a public gathering in Islamabad that his government had received an official communication from a foreign country, seeking his ouster else Pakistan would be in trouble. Other than Donald Lu, the US State Department Spokesman Ned Price also responded the same question in a similar way. “Well, we are closely following developments in Pakistan, and we respect (and) we support Pakistan’s constitutional process and the rule of law,” the spokesman said in reply to a question at his daily press briefing. The same question was asked at the White House press briefing, and Communications Director Kate Bedingfield, said, “There is absolutely no truth to that allegation.” The threatening communication was also discussed at the 37th meeting of the National Security Committee which expressed grave concern at the communication, terming the language used by the foreign official as undiplomatic. The committee also termed it a blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan, which was unacceptable under any circumstances. Pakistan also handed over a demarche to the US diplomat to convey its concerns to the country through diplomatic channels. Prime Minister Imran Khan viewed that the no-confidence motion submitted by the opposition parties against him was also part of the same conspiracy hatched by the US. He believed that the objective behind the efforts for his ouster was the independent foreign policy being towed by his government on regional and international issues.

Court reserves verdict on petition to reject Sharif’s bail LAHORE INP

A special judge in Lahore Monday reserved his verdict on the petition filed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), seeking rejection of the bail of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president Shehbaz Sharif in a money laundering case. During the hearing, the prosecution prayed to the court to cancel the extension in bail granted to the PML-N president on March 25, arguing that legal requirements were not met while doing so.

Amjad Pervez, Sharif’s counsel, on the other hand, gave references to different court verdicts to support his contention that the court could grant an extension to his client. Calling the FIA’s bail cancellation application unjustified, Pervez prayed to the court to reject it. He went on to say that if the agency had objections to the bail extension, it should have approached the Lahore High Court (LHC). He further said that such extensions had been granted in the past as well, and there was nothing new in it.

No concept of suspension of $6bn Pakistan’ EFF program, says IMF SHAHzAD PARAcHA The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that there is no concept of suspension within its $6 billion Pakistan Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program. The IMF on Monday in a statement said that “the Fund looks to continue its support to Pakistan and, once a new government is formed, we will engage on policies to promote macroeconomic stability and enquire about intentions visa-vis program engagement adding that there is no concept of suspension within IMF programs”. On the other hand, the Ministry of Finance also said that the “Finance Division and IMF remain engaged in data sharing and reform discussions as part of EFF and there is no truth to speculation about the suspension of the program”. “IMF has confirmed the same and also

clarified that it remains committed to Pakistan’s macroeconomic stability”, it stated. The statement of the IMF comes in the aftermath of President Dr Arif Alvi’s dissolution of the National Assembly following the dismissal of the no-confidence against Prime Minister Imran Khan. It is pertinent to note that the IMF had expressed its reservations over the government’s announced amnesty scheme and shared doubts over the financial impact and financing sources of the prime minister’s relief package on electricity and petroleum prices. The IMF and Pakistan teams are in negotiations for the last one month to complete the seventh review. It is worth mentioning here that the IMF had in June 2019 approved a three-year, $6 billion loan “to support Pakistan’s economic plan, aimed at returning sustainable growth to the country’s economy and improving the standards of living”.

was submitted against him. Responding to Aleem’s press conference, PTI spokesperson Shehbaz Gill refuted his claims regarding the prime minister. He said Aleem was a close member of the PTI and should have aired his concerns while he was still with the party. Gill said there was “no doubt” that Aleem had supported the party but did so out of his own will and no conditions were set between him and the prime minister. Gill also called on Aleem to provide proof for his allegations against Farah Khan and CM Buzdar.

Pakistan singer arooj aftab wins first grammy LAS VEGAS: Brooklyn-based Pakistan-origin vocalist Arooj Aftab on Sunday scored her first Grammy, winning a prestigious trophy for her song “Mohabbat” in the Best Global Performance category. The 37-year-old — who has lived in New York for some 15 years — has been steadily gaining global attention for her work that fuses ancient Sufi traditions with inflections of folk, jazz and minimalism. She’s also up for the coveted Best New Artist prize, which will be presented during the main Grammy telecast later Sunday. “I am beyond thrilled,” the artist told journalists backstage at the pre-gala ceremony, at which the vast majority of awards are handed out. “It feels great.” “I’ve been very nervous all day. And we’re off to a good start.” Born to Pakistan parents in Saudi Arabia, Aftab spent her teenage years in Lahore before relocating to Boston’s prestigious Berklee School of Music to study music production and engineering. She released her third studio album “Vulture Prince” to critical acclaim, and gained even more attention after former US president Barack Obama included the track “Mohabbat” on his 2021 summer favourites list. Aftab has performed at a number of major New York venues including Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art, also opening for Mitski at The Brooklyn Steel in 2018. Speaking to AFP in the days leading up to the Grammys, Aftab praised her fellow artists nominated for Best New Artist, a crop that includes favourite Olivia Rodrigo along with rappers Saweetie and The Kid Laroi. “We’re all so cool — the group itself is kind of like a win,” she said. AfP

Tuesday, 5 April, 2022 | LAHORE

04 NEWS

KP Chief MiNister to LAy fouNdAtioN stoNe of swAt MotorwAy PhAse-ii Next weeK PESHAWAR

aziz buneRi

HE Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan will lay the foundation stone of Swat Motorway Phase-II next week. The Chief Minister also directed the concerned quarters to expedite progress on Dir Motorway project’s PC 1 for acquisition of land so that physical work on the project

could be initiated. He was chairing the meeting of the Pakhtunkhwa Highways Authority to review progress on different road projects including Swat Motorway Phase II and Dir Motorway. Briefing the meeting about progress on Swat Motorway Phase 2, it was informed that 88 km long motorway from Chakdara to Fatehpur would be constructed at a cost of Rs58 billion adding that concessionaire agreement had been signed for the execution

of the project. It was informed that Rs6.7 billion has been released for the acquisition of land for the project. Moreover, section 4 had been imposed for land acquisition. Initially Swat motorway will consist of four lanes but will be extended to six lanes in future. It will have Nine interchanges at Chakdara Interchange, Shamozai Interchange, Barikot Interchange, Mingora Interchange, Kanju Interchange, Malam Jabba-University of Swat Interchange, Sher

Palam Interchange, Matta Khawazakhela Interchange and Madin-Fatehpur Interchange. Some eight bridges would be constructed on the Swat River. Construction of four rest areas at different locations is also part of the project while link highways would also be constructed on need base. Briefing the huddle on Dir Motorway, the PHA officials informed that Expression of Interest for 30 km long Dir Motorway, Chakdara to Rabat, has been floated. This

road project will have three interchanges, four flyovers, 24 bridges, two underpasses and two tunnels. The Chief Minister has termed these projects as a “milestone” for the sustainable development of Malakand division as it will help to promote tourism, trade and business activities. He said, “Besides providing transportation facilities these projects will also create employment opportunities for the local people.”

British Council trains 100 emerging young women for leadership role APP

Another ‘Changa Manga’: PML-N shifts MPAs to secret place before Punjab CM election LAHORE Staff RepoRt

In view of the election of the Punjab chief minister on April 6, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Sunday night shifted all its members of the Punjab Assembly (MPAs) to a secret location so that they could go to the assembly on the election day together, sources said. The decision to keep all PML-N MPAs in one place was taken as a precaution. Those who were shifted to a secret location also included Khawaja Salman Rafique, Hameeda Waheeduddin, Akhtar Ali, Mian Abdur Rauf, Pir Ashraf Rasool, Mirza Javed, Malik Asad Khokhar and others. The provincial assembly’s session held Sunday (April 3) for the election of a new chief minister had to be adjourned.

GB’s legendary mountaineer Little Karim passes away ISLAMABAD Ghulam abbaS

After fighting liver disease for year, world famous legendary mountaineer Muhammad Karim breathed his last at the Combined Military Hospital in Rawalpindi on Monday. He was 72 and under treatment at the army hospital for the past two months. After renowned mountaineers like Hassan Sadpara and Ali Sadpara, Pakistan lost another world famous mountaineer and climbing expert Abdul Karim, known as “Little Karim” who passed away in Rawalpindi. The funeral prayer of Karim was offered at Sofia Masjid in Rawalpindi on Monday. Karim, who hailed from the Hushe valley of Ghanche district of Gilgit Baltistan, was suffering from a liver disease but, as per doctors, due to his age, a transplant could not be possible. He holds the world record for climbing the 8,035 meters high Gasherbrum 2, without supplementary oxygen. Abdul Karim was known as “Little Karim”, a name given to him by the leader of a French expedition in 1979. In 1985, French documentary maker Laurent Chevallier shot a documentary based on Karim. In 1997, the same filmmaker shot another documentary based on the mountaineering legend, this time titled ‘Mister Karim’. As per reports, initially he was rejected as porter by a team by looking at his stature that he would not be able to carry 25 Kg of weight up to the base camp of K-2. Though he was in his teens, he looked like a 10 year old boy due to his appearance. A Swiss team ran out of porters and took him along. In the same trip he managed to summit a 7000 meter peak. The Spanish team wrote a book about the life of little Karim and also made a film in 2000 the film was seen on the big screen in Spanish Cinema. According to a report Karim also made a name for himself when he climbed the 8,035 meter-high Gasherbrum 2 without supplementary oxygen and set a world record in the process.” In February, pictures of an ailing Little Karim started making rounds on social media, further highlighting the plight of the heroes of the country. The late mountaineer’s son also spoke about the family’s hardship in a video message, while announcing that they will auction an original Real Madrid football jersey, gifted to Little Karim by Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, just to meet medical expenses. Karim was an avid Ronaldo fan and was able to meet the football star during a visit to Spain in 2018. “My name is Muhammad Hanif. I am the son of the international hero ‘Little Karim’.

Celebrating the launch of its ‘Women in Leadership’ programme in South Asia, the British Council has reiterated its commitment to take more effective initiatives to increase women contribution towards nation building through women empowerment. The British Council hosted a digital event across South Asia to celebrate the launch of its ‘Women in Leadership’ programme, a training programme for women in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The training programme was

launched under which a network of 100 young women leaders in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom was built. The programme offered 100 emerging young women leaders (25 each from the four states) a learning opportunity through an eight-week online, self-access leadership course to become more effective in leading interventions to support gender equality and women’s leadership within their sectors. Representatives from British Council, Clore Social Leadership UK, SoLF, Women in Leadership participants, and other experts participated in the event.

The event was moderated by Sidra Iqbal, a celebrated broadcast journalist and media personality from Pakistan while Jehan Ara, Founder and CEO of Katalyst Labs was the keynote speaker. A panel discussion also took place where stakeholders shed light on the factors hindering gender parity and women decision-making roles. The discussion called for more vigorous efforts to ensure an enabling environment for capacity building of women. The panellists included Coordinator Nijera Kori, Bangladesh, Khushi Kabir; Member of Youth Advisory Group on

Climate Change, India, Archana Soreng; Country Director Marie Stopes Society, Pakistan, Asma Balal; and CEO Chrysalis, Sri Lanka, Ashika Gunasena. During the event, inspirational stories of women, who have been part of the Women in Leadership programme, were also showcased. The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. It builds connections, understanding and trust between people in the United Kingdom and other countries through arts and culture, education and the English language.

China, Pakistan must not allow floating clouds to block our vision DR. WAng Xu Recently, the opposition tabled a no-trust motion against government led by Prime Minister Imran Khan in the National Assembly. President Dr. Arif Alvi dissolved the National Assembly, and the political uncertainty is growing in Pakistan. Pakistan is the only all-weather strategic cooperative partner of China. The political instability in Pakistan is always a cause for concern. However, with the time-honored history and solid foundation of friendship, and having just celebrated the 70th anniversary of the establishment of formal diplomatic ties, the two countries are confident enough to maintain and shape the steady development of bilateral ties that have been friendly for generations, regardless of the international and domestic political changes. Chinese President Xi Jinping described China and Pakistan as good brothers and good partners sharing a special friendship. In the history, no matter how international and regional situations change, China and Pakistan have always stood by each other, sharing joy and sorrow, understanding and supporting each other’s core interests. This is because the two countries have a high degree of consistency in safeguarding their joint and regional common interests of development and security. During the Cold War, China and Pakistan supported each other to break the geo-containment of the superpower, worked together in safeguarding regional peace and stability in South Asia. Two countries cooperated with each other to promote the normalization of China-U.S. relations, which changed the global landscape of Cold War at one stroke. Since the turn of the century, both countries have supported each other in formulating and implementing counter-terrorism strategies in accordance with their respective national conditions, and have jointly opposed “double standards” and “stigmatization” in counter-terrorism by international and regional hegemonism. In the past decade, the U.S. adjusted its global strategy to promote great power competition in the name of “AsiaPacific Rebalancing” and “Indo-Pacific strategy”, and even hastily withdrew its troops from Afghanistan in disregard of the ground reality, resulting in political, economic, security and humanitarian

crises. As neighbors of Afghanistan, China and Pakistan have always supported the political settlement on Afghan issue, taking into full consideration the historical and practical factors of the Afghanistan, and have been cooperating with each other to promote the postwithdrawal era of Afghanistan from chaos to stability and prosperity. In the meantime, the cooperation between China and Pakistan in the field of development, especially the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), has injected new impetus into the in-depth development of bilateral relations. In April 2015, President Xi Jinping paid a historic state visit to Pakistan. Both leaders agreed to upgrade the bilateral relationship to an all-weather strategic cooperative partnership and continue to promote the construction of the CPEC, building a closer China-Pakistan community with a shared future in the new era. The CPEC has brought 25.4 billion dollars in direct investment to Pakistan, created more than 70,000 jobs directly, and launched a large number of social and livelihood priority projects. It has helped the Pakistan solve the problem of insufficient installed capacity for power supply, improve domestic transportation, promote the Gwadar port toward the goal of a logistics hub and industrial base, and achieve a period of stable and rapid economic growth. China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs no matter how po-

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litical changes have taken place from time to time in Pakistan. The first highest level official contacts between Prime Minister Mohammad Ali Bogra and his Chinese counterpart Zhou Enlai, during the Bandung Conference in 1955, enhanced mutual understanding and trust. It was at this meeting that the “Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence”, one of which is “non-interference in each other’s internal affairs”, became the consensus among Afro-Asian countries in handling inter-state relations. This not only lays the foundation for China-Pakistan friendship, but is also the reason why China-Pakistan relationship has become a model of friendly exchanges between countries with different social systems. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Pakistan’s political situation has gone through different periods, but maintaining China-Pakistan friendship has always been the consensus of all political factions and social segments in Pakistan. The friendly relations between the two countries have kept growing from strength to strength. In fact, the past eight years since the construction of the CPEC was launched, have been a time of empathy, mutual trust and support between China and Pakistan. In these eight years, Pakistan has undergone two power transitions of government. Nevertheless, CPEC has always maintained a mutually beneficial and win-win development direction and a stable and far-reaching development momentum. The cooperation and mutual trust between the two sides transcend party differences in Pakistan, which also shows that the construction of CPEC gives no preference to cooperation with any certain faction, political party or region in Pakistan, the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits has always been open to the whole Pakistani nation. The current political scenario in Pakistan is rather complicated, which is a result of the accumulation of contradictions over a period of time, but so far it has not affected the overall development of China-Pakistan relations. Recently, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Pakistan and attended the 48th Sessions of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC, reaching an important consensus with

Pakistan on deepening strategic cooperation between the two countries under the current international and regional situation. China expressed its unwavering adherence to the policy of friendship with Pakistan. While Pakistan reaffirmed that ironclad friendship between Pakistan and China serves as the cornerstone of bilateral relations, Pakistan has always been firmly committed to upholding the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries. There have been speculations on CPEC at time by seizing the chance of political changes in Pakistan. The CPEC has not regressed, but has made significant progress. From time to time Pakistan’s economic development has been affected by political factors, and China has always held a positive approach towards this. However, unlike some other major powers or international institutions, China has never attached political conditions, set political agendas or exported political models to aid or cooperation projects. CPEC is new to the field of international economic cooperation, which requires close cooperation between two countries with different histories, cultures, social systems, development paths and stages. It is normal for different voices in this process, and the construction of the CPEC is not vulnerable to criticism as a snowflake. But the consensus between China and Pakistan in seeking development and stability has never been shaken, and the desire to promote the CPEC to achieve more comprehensive, sustainable and high-quality development has never wavered. On March 29, Foreign Minister of Pakistan Shah Mahmood Qureshi arrived in Tunxi, Anhui Province to attend the Third Foreign Ministers’ Meeting Among the Neighboring Countries of Afghanistan and the “Neighboring Countries of Afghanistan Plus Afghanistan” Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue. This is another important engagement between two countries after State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s recent visit to Pakistan. The two meetings between China and Pakistan’s Foreign ministers in less than 10 days reflects the highlevel strategic coordination and solid mutual trust between the two countries. The Author is Executive Deputy Director of Centre for South Asian Studies, Peking University

Tuesday, 5 April, 2022 | lAhoRe

news

Smeda Ceo quits in protest for ‘abrogation of the Constitution of Pakistan’

AlwAyS dId lICIt woRk, mAde deCISIonS on meRIt: BuzdAR LaHore INP

news desk In a rare development, the Small & Medium Enterprise Development Authority (Smeda) Chief Executive Officer Hashim Raza resigned from his office under protest for ‘abrogation of the Constitution of Pakistan’ in Sunday’s National Assembly proceedings. “Whatever happened in the NA session (called for voting on the no-trust motion) amount to abrogation of the Constitution of Pakistan 1973 under which the Rules of Business for the public servants have been framed. This abrogation of the constitution may impact the administrative affairs of public servants,” Mr Raza stated. “Since the situation has left a question mark on the administrative structure and work of the public servants under the rules of business, it is better to quit,” the Smeda chief said with a heavy heart. He said senior officers running the government machinery were worried over the situation.

IHC seeks written arguments in PeCA case isLamaBad APP

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday sought written arguments from petitioners in the cases challenging amendments in the Prevention of Electronic Crime Act (PECA). Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the petitions filed by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), the Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) and other journalists’ bodies. The court was told that Attorney General of Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan could not attend the proceedings due to his engagements in the Supreme Court. After this, the court sought written arguments from the respondents and adjourned the case till April 7.

IHC adjourns case against Rana Shamim till April 26 app The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday adjourned hearing of a contempt of court case against ex-chief judge Gilgit Baltistan Rana Shamim in his controversial affidavit matter till April 26. Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the case. Additional Attorney General (AAG) Qasim Wadood, Rana Shamim and others appeared before the court. The AAG informed the court that the Attorney General for Pakistan could not attend the proceedings due to his engagements in the Supreme Court. At this, the court adjourned the case till April 26. It may be mentioned here that the IHC initiated the contempt of court proceedings against Rana Shamim after his affidavit was published in a newspaper, accusing ex-chief justice Saqib Nisar of influencing a case involving former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz.

ORMER Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar on Monday said that he always did licit work and made decisions with consultations while ensuring merit. Addressing a farewell ceremony organised in his honour to mark his services, the former chief minister said that he is answerable to Allah Almighty as well as to the people and asserted that nobody was ever approached to do anything wrong. My conscience is satisfied as anyone’s self-esteem was not hurt and all the people

were respectfully treated, he further said. He mentioned that no one was subjected to any sort of political vengeance. I don’t believe in personal projection nor did I do so as I silently performed my duties, he said. A mistake could occur as I am a human being, he remarked and noted that he never hesitated to make difficult decisions. “I have tendered resignation in the larger public interest and extended full support to the decision made by the prime minister. I am also thankful to the government machinery for extending support to fulfil the mission of public service, he said and impressed upon the civil servants to continue to serve the public. I would al-

“You can argue whether the reasons provided were correct or incorrect,” Justice Akhtar told Naek. Meanwhile, Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan said they would implement whatever decision is given by the Supreme Court with regard to the ruling against the no-trust vote. The attorney general was speaking after visiting the court to attend the hearing of a larger bench against the ruling of the deputy speaker to reject the no-confidence motion. The court, after hearing the preliminary position on the petition issued notices to the AGP Khan, secretaries for the home and defence ministries. The opposition had expected to take power on Sunday after muster-

ways strive for the welfare of the people,” he concluded. Speaking on the occasion, Chief Secretary Kamran Afzal said that Usman Buzdar always guided in the discharge of duties in the best manner. “My experience of working with him was very pleasant as Usman Buzdar gave freedom to work and gave priority to merit. He guided and extended full support, Afzal added. IG Police Sardar Ali Khan said that Usman Buzdar taught them how to go through difficult times with patience. Several senior officers of different provincial departments attended the event.

Fazlur Rehman says ‘must uphold constitution first, move towards polls later’ news desk Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) chief Fazlur Rehman said Monday that the Opposition could move toward elections once the Constitution has been upheld in the country. Fazl’s comments came after Deputy Speaker National Assembly Qasim Suri dismissed the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday, saying it was backed by “foreign powers”. Following this, the prime minister was

quick to address the nation and congratulate them for “their success” as he asked Pakistanis to gear up for the elections. The storm had not settled yet but the prime minister went ahead and advised President Arif Alvi to dissolve the National Assembly, who within a short time, followed suit and dissolved it. The matter is in the Supreme Court. In his press conference today, a charged Fazil said in 1988, Balochistan’s assembly was dissolved but the court restored it. “The court should take action

Imran nominates former top judge Gulzar Ahmed as interim prime minister Continued from page 01 The members of that committee from the treasury and opposition benches are to be nominated by the prime minister and the leader of the opposition, respectively, in pursuance of Article 224-A(1). “It is worth stating that the Constitution has empowered the president, under Article 224-A(1), to appoint a caretaker prime minister in consultation with the prime minister and the leader of the opposition in the outgoing NA,” a separate handout issued by the President’s Secretariat said. Sharif, meanwhile, declared the whole process “illegal” and said he would not take part. He insisted the president and the prime minister had broken the law and questioned how they could approach the opposition. PICKING A CARETAKER According to the Constitution, the new elections will be held under a caretaker prime minister in the next 90 days after the dissolution of the Parliament, Karachi-based legal expert Ismat Mehdi told Anadolu Agency. Khan and Sharif will jointly pick the caretaker premier, he said, explaining the government and opposition will propose three candidates each, with one to be picked for the post. However, if the two sides cannot agree on a name, the matter will go to a parliamentary committee, which comprises of Treasury and opposition lawmakers, and remains functional despite the assembly’s dissolution. If the parliamentary committee also cannot reach a consensus, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) will do the job.

SC to continue proceedings on deputy speaker’s ruling today Continued from page 01

ing enough votes to oust Khan, but the National Assembly deputy speaker refused to allow the motion to proceed because of “foreign interference”. Simultaneously, Khan asked the presidency — a largely ceremonial office — to dissolve the assembly, meaning an election must be held within 90 days. On paper, and pending any court decision, Khan will remain in charge for at least two weeks, or until an interim government is formed to oversee elections. On Sunday, the court had taken suo motu notice of the situation and after a brief hearing issued a written order in which the court said it would like to “examine whether such an action (dismissal of the notrust motion on the basis of Article 5) is protected by the ouster (re-

moval from the court’s jurisdiction) contained in Article 69 of the Constitution.” Article 69 of the Constitution restricts the court’s jurisdiction to exercise authority on a member or officer of Parliament with respect to the functions of regulating parliamentary proceedings or conducting business. “No officer or member of Majlis-i-Shoora (Parliament) in whom powers are vested by or under the Constitution for regulating procedure or the conduct of business, or for maintaining order in Majlis-iShoora, shall be subject to the jurisdiction of any court in respect of the exercise by him of those powers,” clause two of the law reads. The judges also ordered all state functionaries and authorities — as well as political parties — to refrain

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against the recent violation of the Constitution and not delay it.” The PDM chief lashed out at the deputy speaker for not taking the Opposition’s input while making the decision and censured the president for obeying the prime minister’s directives without asking any questions. “The entire country has been pushed into a crisis […] our only demand is that the deputy speaker’s ruling is declared illegal,” Fazl said, terming Suri’s decision as “controversial and unconstitutional”.

The PDM chief said the deputy speaker issued a “controversial” decision based on a “controversial letter” as he warned the PTI and the prime minister that the Opposition would “not back down”. “All of these unconstitutional moves are being made to come into power again — illegally,” the PDM chief said, adding that the prime minister has sought a safe exit by dissolving the assemblies. Fazl said the Opposition wants the courts to uphold the law and declare the deputy speaker’s decision illegal.

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06 COMMENT

Education and convenience

Constitutional violations Needed an urgent verdict

heN relations between countries deteriorate, it is not unusual for governments to express their reservations to a foreign ambassador about his government’s policies, even warn that relations could worsen if these policies remain unchanged. To accuse the opposition whose task is to criticise the government, even try to remove it through constitutional means when it fails to heed genuine criticism, of working on foreign agenda is sheer paranoia. The authenticity of the letter brandished by PM at the Islamabad rally has been challenged with a claim that words that were not part of the original diplomatic communication were added in it. It is also claimed that there was no mention in the NSC proceedings of any conspiracy being hatched or the opposition’s involvement in it as claimed by the PM. Without listening to the opposition, the Deputy Speaker dismissed the no-trust move followed by the PM’s advice to the President to dissolve the NA which was promptly accepted. Imran Khan has created a multi-faceted political, constitutional and economic crisis in the country just to remain in power. Instead of playing to the last ball, he has violated the basic rules of the game dealing a blow to the country’s constitutional system. The PM has dragged the US into Pakistan’s domestic political turmoil and called out the eU countries. he has thus wantonly alienated countries which are Pakistan’s biggest export destinations causing hazards for the economy. International financial services have reacted strongly to the development, pointing out that the ongoing political turmoil had already caused Pakistani currency to sink, questioned the government’s ability to continue to implement the reforms it agreed to with the IMF. Investors are concerned that the political struggle would distract the authorities from focusing on the yawning current-account deficit. Pakistan Stock exchange’s (PSX) benchmark KSe-100 index shed 1,250.07 points on Monday as the country faces an uncertain political situation. The case is with the SC for the last two days. Despite the court’s directive on Sunday regarding all orders and actions initiated by PM and President subject to court’s order, the PTI has nominated CJ (retd) Gulzar caretaker PM in response to the President’s move. Meanwhile the crucial issue is to undo the unconstitutional steps taken by government on Sunday before anything else.

An unfortunate combination

HasaN aFTaB saEED

he internet age had promised a great deal. It has no doubt delivered spectacularly on many fronts, but it has also become clear that the progress on some of the other fronts may never be nearly as spectacular. The spread of the internet has placed terabytes of data only clicks away from a large chunk of humanity. With this unprecedented and easy access to information, it seemed reasonable to expect an increase in the average level of general education among the masses and their competence to offer informed opinion on important issues. Sadly, this is where expectations deviated from reality. Because all that this easy access to gigabytes of information did was make good students better, and bad students worse. No doubt, it is true that in the pre-internet days a large body of information and knowledge was available only to a select few with access to books and libraries, and that too after the expenditure of much effort on the part of interested parties. Now, much of that material is available online, and a lot more in text, audio, and video form on every subject under the sun. This should have resulted in a marked improvement in the general edu-

MQM-London resurfaces

QM-P, created in 2016 out of necessity to distance the party from its estranged, unpredictable and exceedingly dangerous founder Altaf hussain, has over the years, secured a valuable space for itself in Karachi and Islamabad’s political arena. Its departure from the original MQM was the only way to survive politically as the party, after operating as a criminal organization that terrorized Karachi for over a decade through rampant gang violence, extortion and a general instillation of fear in the city, had to be acted against through a security forces operation. So severe was the damage inflicted by the Altaf hussain led MQM that the faction that emerged from the party’s split, MQMLondon, had been unable to rejoin active politics until yesterday, after a period of five years as it announced two senior leaders as members of its coordination committee. MQM-L will however still have to contend with a necessary ban on speeches by its leader by PeMRA, as he has on multiple occasions incited violence in Sindh’s capital. There is no harm in allowing MQM-L to restart its politics, as it is its right as a registered political party in the country to do so. however, there can be no allowances made for it to return to its old ways and create another security crisis that has to be dealt with. It must work within the confines of the law of the land and will have to be extra careful and conservative in its operations as it would already be treading on very thin ice. Recent political developments in Islamabad that have led to an alliance between the PPP and MQM-P have largely been welcomed as the agreement between the two major political parties in the city is, at least on paper for the time being, targeted towards better administration of the city leading to an improvement in governance and infrastructure development. The MQM-L undoubtedly still represents a section of the Muhajir community and therefore is a relevant player in Karachi’s political sphere. It should use this opportunity of reentering the political sphere by acting as a responsible political party that respects the rule of law to regain its position in Pakistani politics.

Covid and othEr faCtors: Global recovery from Covid-19 has been difficult as the recent Russian - Ukraine conflict has sent shock waves globally with oil prices rising considering Russia is the world’s second largest exporter of oil after Saudi Arabia. These have been rising due to increasing sanctions on Russia from The United States of America and other countries with additional ones like Shell intending to close in Russia. The closure of major banks like Goldman Sachs would also make it difficult for Russia to repay its debts, especially as Russia has $600 billion in foreign reserves which is now difficult to take out due to external sanctions and the fact that these are based in other countries. This will further reduce supply with increasing food shortages due to the ongoing conflict is also causing food and other essentials’ shortages in Ukraine

Yousaf Nizami Umar Aziz Executive Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

hIS article will address the consequences of Covid-19 and other global affairs impacting economics, individuals and governments. It will also demonstrate how governments and businesses have responded to these.

Covi19 and EConomiEs: Covid-19 has disrupted economies to a great extent. Lockdowns have reduced demand and damaged businesses with increasing government public spending that would rather be allocated to the provision of education or other public sector expenditures. Changes in the workplace have created fear due to increasing hybrid working as protecting data is now more vulnerable to unfair exploitation from external sources. It has also increased burden on employers for taking strong measures like providing vaccinations and safety guidelines, further reducing growth due to costs. With the recent lifting of Covid-19 restrictions for instance, introducing the ‘Living with Covid’ strategy in england has resulted in prices soaring as demand is increasing, creating uncertainty once again considering the already rising prices with the UK with inflation at a 30-year high. This has been most evident in the real estate sector as demand for houses has been rising due to increasing remote working in contrast to the inability of suppliers keeping up with the demand. As a result, interest rates have also been rising with the SBP increasing the discount rate between September and December 2021 and the UK increasing rates to 0.5% in February 2022, a second hike in three months.

Founding Editor

Joint Editor

The author is a connoisseur of music, literature, and food (but not drinks). He can be reached at www.facebook.com/hasanaftabsaeed

Hira rasool

Arif Nizami (Late)

Joint Editor

Learning is such an exciting and meaningful process precisely because it can never be free of stumbling blocks and difficulties that at times seem all but insurmountable. There is just no way around it.

And other factors aﬀecting global economy

Dedicated to the legacy of late Hameed Nizami

M. A. Niazi

a prophetic tradition from Imam Shafi’i. he had planned to perform Umrah on his way to Yemen. When he reached Macca however, he came to know that Imam Shafi’i was also there for Umrah. he therefore made it a point to pay Imam Shafi’i a respectful visit. The man who had accompanied Imam Ahmad remarked that it was fortunate for them that Imam Shafi’i was there in Macca, because now they did not need to travel all the way to Yemen in the South. Imam Ahmad told his companion that looking for convenience was not the correct attitude on the part of any serious-minded student. That he intended to go to Yemen as originally planned and benefit from his distinguished teacher at the latter’s residence. With this he gave a valuable lesson to all students to guard against indolence. The lesson is as valid today as it was all those centuries ago. Movements in education that advocate making life easier for students by spoon-feeding them everything are non-starters because they fail to take the ill effects of intellectual sloth into consideration. The student makes real progress only when he allows his intellect to be challenged. he may be spoon-fed all sorts of facts and explanations, but he is unlikely to appreciate all that information unless he has brought himself to the stage where he appreciates the difficulty or the question to which answers are being provided. Learning is such an exciting and meaningful process precisely because it can never be free of stumbling blocks and difficulties that at times seem all but insurmountable. There is just no way around it. Always on the lookout for convenient shortcuts is rarely beneficial in any activity of life, education being no exception.

Impact of Covid-19

Opportunity to rejoin conventional politics

Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

cation level of the public, had there not been a simultaneous trend that offsets this gain. Where previously the problem was that there was too little information, the difficulty now is that the information available is too much. The wheat needs to be separated from an ever-increasing quantity of chaff – a herculean ask in an atmosphere crawling with fake news, orchestrated trends, and misleading thumbnails. In the pre-internet days, it needed hard work to access information. Today, it takes hard work to keep all the false data at bay and not be affected by the rampant misinformation coming from all directions. Being wellinformed was always hard work; and that remains the case today despite all the technological advances. When something appears to have become easier, it is almost never good news. While it is true that becoming reasonably knowledgeable on most topics today can simply be a matter of carefully watching a few videos instead of poring over page upon page of thick tomes found in obscure library shelves. Technology has no doubt made life much easier in this respect. however, ease is a notoriously relative term, because what is felt to be easy today may be felt by the same person to be difficult tomorrow. So it is that the apparent ease in accessing information has done nothing for the attention span of the public. In the first phase, videos were welcomed as a marked improvement on text. Then it transpired that the same videos were felt to be too much to watch if they happened to be more than ten minutes long. Now even ten minutes is way over the average attention span. Indolence has this way of creeping into one’s attitude and then spreading all around. This is why good rarely comes out of ease – in education as in any other sphere of human activity. Imam Ahmad ibn hanbal’s biographers have chronicled the great man’s travel to Yemen to learn

Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

considering property and building damage, impacting households. These have weakened global trade as well as Ukraine amounts to a large share of global wheat, accounting to seven percent as reported in 2019, affecting dependent economics on imports the most. Further political chaos in Pakistan due to opposition parties joining to implement a ‘no confidence motion’ against the current prime minister Imran Khan has seen national protests, damaging global relations negatively as Imran khan blames foreign conspiracy and funding behind this motion. Political change of power in Afghanistan has also damaged growth with one newspaper source raising concern over how let alone economic decline, Afghanistan is at collapse in terms of growth. These factors affect medium sized businesses more severely in comparison to global corporations.

19 loans and schemes by governments were also introduced to assist employers providing employees and some firms are considering permanent hybrid working with increasing innovation as adapting to new styles is now the new norm. however, the drawbacks with these new innovative working styles like increasing vulnerability to privacy leaks should also be assessed. Support has been given to Ukraine with the UK sending military and additional equipment, further pledging $100 million in the World Bank package. Pakistan has also assisted through humanitarian aid with major european members like France providing additional aid which would lessen the severity of this conflict.

With the recent lifting of Covid-19 restrictions for instance, introducing the ‘Living with Covid’ strategy in England has resulted in prices soaring as demand is increasing, creating uncertainty once again considering the already rising prices with the UK with inflation at a 30-year high.

thE positivE impaCt of Covid-19 and othEr issuEs: Despite the uncertainty, Covid has also made topics like climate change, unfair labor laws discussed on a global level. For instance, businesses are now expected to improve their corporate social responsibility even more which is why recently, British Airways have committed to reduce carbon emissions by investing in aircrafts that are 40% more efficient and improving flying ways to achieve this aim. Covid-

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

ConClusion: It is evident that despite the Covid cases, it is less likely to see more lockdowns considering the damage already caused to economic growth and the fact that the recent Omicron variant was not as deadly as previous strains. effective measures have also reduced Covid cases worldwide per the World health Organization though it is yet to be seen how fast paced governments are recovering with major uncertain conflicts causing unforeseen consequences increasing. The author is an LLB student from University of London

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

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Tuesday, 5 April, 2022

COMMENT 07 Editor’s mail Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively

Water management

Muddle of accountability Prosecuting white collar crime requires a very specific skill set and legal framework MoHaMMaD YaHYa FariD

CCOUNTABILITY is a job no one wants; those who do try their luck see an unceremonious end. While an ordinary criminal case would involve few pieces of evidence to corroborate the testimonies of even few witnesses, a regular corruption case is shaped by voluminous record of of banking transactions, financial statements, books of accounts, expert reports, contracts and agreements. It does not come as a surprise that a developed country like America with a fully functional system in place gets its 95% convictions in corruption cases through plea-bargain; prosecution is rarely done, accused confesses his crime, returns the looted money and walks free. Pakistan has witnessed a fair share of accountability hoo haa in the past few decades; not to mention the recent experiment of PTI government which came with the mandate of eradicating corruption. Investigations were carried out by FIA and NAB with utmost support of the Government and the establishment. Yet, once the Challans (investigation reports) were before the courts, the inherent weaknesses of both the investigations and the judicial system came into the limelight. eventually Shahzad Akbar had to take the brunt for the failure of the system. PTI’s accountability drive was not a novel one. Rather a fiercer attempt was made in the past. General Musharraf with his newly formed accountability arm NAB, headed by his hand-picked Generals, went after looted money with extreme ferocity. International consultants such as Broadsheet and International Asset Recovery (IAR) were hired. A new local team with representation from military was employed and special courts were established to swiftly deal with the prosecution of the cases. Yet, neither the cases came to an end nor was the accountability experience ever claimed to be reliable. Rather two decades after the Musharraf experiment, Pakistan had to pay a hefty fine of 28.7 million dollars for breach of contractual obligations with its hired international consultants This raises the same million-dollar question as to why accountability fails despite an unshakable belief in its importance. While all stakeholders are to be blamed, yet it must be borne in mind that compared to ordinary crimes, white collar crime is a specific niche within the law which is not only difficult to investigate and prosecute, but at times may be self-harming.

Black money and its preparators may be an asset for hidden yet official networks that work behind the veil purportedly in the interest of the state. Moreover, an accountability arm twisting has the tendency to halt an already crippled system. Speed money though a negative jargon at the least ensures that the system keeps on working. Accountability has unintended consequences for even those who were at the periphery of the crime.

to rely on investigator’s understanding. Many a times, the Investigation Officer (IO) has to step into the shoes of the prosecutor to help explain the case. It is desirable that prosecutor’s eligibility criteria should focus more on modern finance than law. long list of EvidEnCE: Whenever documentary evidence is presented before the court, the maker and the presenter has to record his/her statement. Similarly the same person has to be cross-examined by the accused lawyers. Major corruption cases have thousands of documents as evidence. Some of the documents are either completely irrelevant for the prosecution though important for the investigators. In practice, the prosecution puts forward the entire volume rather than vetting the documents and only presenting those essentially needed for building up the case. This voluminous evidence delays the case. Similarly there are certain documents on which both the parties are not at variance. An amendment must be made in the law to allow the presenter of such evidence to be not cross-examined or even examined when the accused has consented to the veracity of such document.

The most important stakeholder in the accountability drive is the government prosecutor mandated to present the case of the agency and assist the court in determining the guilt.

laCk of JudiCial training: Judges of the AntiCorruption Courts are chosen from the provincial or federal judiciary with no experience or training on white-collar crime. Imagine a judge hearing rent cases for a decade being posted at the anti-corruption court to hear billion dollar financial scams and go through complicated accounting sheets. Civil-Magistrate Judge examination entails criminal and civil law curriculum irrelevant for accountability judges. A person aspiring to become an accountability judge does not need to be tested in the field of family law or tenancy law. A separate stream within the judiciary trained and tested in the field of finance, accounting, economics, business law, corporate governance and banking can only ensure that accountability judges can effectively and efficiently determine the disputes and fix liabilities. Another option can be to have a panel of judges to sit on accountability courts with representation of finance or corporate governance experts on it.

To conclude, white collar investigation and prosecution has to be viewed not within the lens of a criminal lawyer shaped by the ordinary criminal law. Rather, it has all to do with modern finance, economics and corporate/business governance.

laCk of aCC o u n ta b i l i t y training to prosECutors: The most important stakeholder in the accountability drive is the government prosecutor mandated to present the case of the agency and assist the court in determining the guilt. Ordinarily, a criminal lawyer is assumed to be most suited for prosecution of white collar crime for his knowledge of criminal substantive and procedural law. Yet, in terms of facts, a white-collar crime is shaped by financial, accounting, banking and corporate governance matters. The prosecutors of FIA, NAB or Anti-Corruption establishment have an inadequate knowledge of financial matters and have

prinCipal issuEs of law: Double jeopardy is a concept in law which holds that no person can be tried twice for same offence. While the concepts might be valuable for ordinary criminal prosecution, in the context of white collar crime, double jeopardy is problematic. Many times, an investigation into one offence may be tied to facts which are already being tried in another offence. For reference, the looted money can be used to create assets in multiple places but the offence with which the looted money was generated maybe different. An offender may have committed ten offences to accumulate as asset. But once the acquisition of an asset becomes part of an investigation in a NAB or FIA case, the accused would take the plea of double jeopardy. There is a need to revisit conceptual elements of criminal law inorder to align them with modern white-collar crime investigation and prosecution. To conclude, white collar investigation and prosecution has to be viewed not within the lens of a criminal lawyer shaped by the ordinary criminal law. Rather, it has all to do with modern finance, economics and corporate/business governance. Our lawyers, prosecutors, investigators, judges and even the current scheme of law fails to treat white-collar crime as more than just a niche of criminal law resulting into faulty investigations and prosecution. The writer is partner of Farid & Farid Law Firm

WATeR-ReLATeD conflicts can be traced back to as early as 2500 BC in Mesopotamia. With time, these conflicts have only increased and are now ringing alarm bells around the world. The main factors contributing to water insecurity are climate change, fast-growing population, urbanisation, industrialisation, non-consented development of dams and diversions, meagre management, etc. Also, feeble organisations that are responsible for addressing water-related issues such as distribution have failed to play a decisive role. Water scarcity is affecting nearly 40% of the world’s population and is a source of exasperation for policymakers regarding a country’s integrity and stability. Around the world, several countries share more than 200 water bodies, which has given rise to unending debates and brawls. From the watersheds of the Nile (among its eleven riparian countries) to the Tigris and euphrates Rivers (Turkey, Syria, and Iraq), from the GangaBrahmaputra (India, Bangladesh, and Nepal) to Indus Basin (India, and Pakistan), from transboundary water disputes between Afghanistan and Iran to the water shortages and public discontent within a country including Yemen, India, Pakistan, etc. Increased climate threats have led to a strengthening of transboundary cooperation and have reduced the risk of violent conflicts. Thus, water diplomacy (the process of establishing technical and political collaboration over common waters) must also be promoted. Countries need to share expertise and work on the sustainable management of natural resources. This will help reduce the risk of conflict and improve water governance. If countries fail to improve water management cooperatively, it will result in global chaos. Access to clean water and safe sanitation will reduce the problems faced by the masses and avoid large-scale conflict. Countries should cooperate, negotiate, and develop harmony locally and internationally over water resource management. If the issue is not handled in a timely fashion, it will threaten global peace. Transnational organisations can play a crucial role in identifying and addressing the problems and risks concerning water security. INTIKHAB ULFAT KARACHI

Deplorable traffic in Sheikhupura SheIKhUPURA suffers from a severe traffic problem with the situation consistently worsening. Given that my house is situated near the railway station, I can confirm that the traffic situation is deplorable because of poor management. During the arrival and departure times of the train, the entire road is blocked with traffic because hundreds of passengers are entering or exiting the station. Street vendors and public transportation such as rickshaws and taxis parked near the station further add to the congestion. Across the city, an alarming rise in traffic accidents has been reported with dozens killed and many others injured. The absence of traffic police coupled with the non-implementation of traffic rules has led to serious traffic congestion. The crumbling infrastructure has failed to support the ever-increasing traffic. Most passenger buses and other heavy vehicles enter narrow roads and block them. Underage rickshaw drivers and motorcyclists violate traffic rules and further disrupt order. The situation is worse on the main highways as the traffic signals have been closed for several years now, which has caused regular traffic jams. The poor traffic conditions have made it extremely challenging for people to drive in the city and reach their destinations on time. Several hospitals are located close to the railway station because of which many patients being brought to the hospitals have passed away after being stuck in the traffic for hours. The relevant authorities need to draw up a plan to tackle the fast-deteriorating traffic situation. SYEDA ALISHBA SHEIKHUPURA

Animal rights ACROSS Lahore, I have witnessed both stray and pet animals being treated poorly. Unfortunately, animal abuse is commonplace across Pakistan because people have little understanding of animal rights. In markets, birds and other animals for purchase are kept in unhygienic and suffocating cages. Animals brought from abroad for Pakistani zoos are not provided with adequate food and are subjected to torture and isolation. horses, donkeys, and mules are invisible workers who are overburdened and underfed. To reduce the population of stray dogs, a country-wide campaign to kill stray dogs was undertaken. Giraffes, lions, and other wild animals have been taken in as pets. Removing wild animals from their natural habitats and placing them in unfamiliar conditions induces anxiety and stress within the animals. Pakistan is already facing the extinction of different species; the absence of animal rights and safety has further worsened the situation. Increased water pollution and chemical disposal have shrunken water bodies that have harmed aquatic species such as turtles, dolphins, etc. even welfare protocols for farm animals are not followed. To stop rampant animal abuse, provincial governments should develop laws and regulations to protect wildlife. An animal welfare committee should be set up, which should include activists and animal welfare organisations to form policies and strategies. URWAH BUTT LAHORE

Obsession with English eNGLISh is the most widely spoken language worldwide. It has approximately 1.5 billion speakers. It is the most dominant language around the globe. In Pakistan, english is also very popular among people. There are many reasons behind it. The most updated knowledge in the world is present in english. It helps the students to acquire and benefit from this knowledge. If any other language is used as a medium, it will become necessary to translate it into the required language. The translation process is very difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. The student will find it difficult to acquire the knowledge. It also helps them after their education to benefit from the best available opportunities which is a gateway for them to excel in their life. As english is the global language, it helps the students to communicate with people belonging to different countries. In Universities, the teachers are also advised to speak english because it will help Pakistan in inviting foreign students to study there. WAQAS PERVAIZ PAKPATTAN

08 WORLD VIEW 5th April 22_Layout 1 4/4/2022 10:33 PM Page 1

Tuesday, 5 April, 2022

08 WORLD VIEW

IndIa puts Itself fIrst

tribuNe, iNdia Mk BHAdRAkuMAR

ashington expects India to comply with its ‘sanctions from hell’ against Russia. This paradigm has been cast as a battle between democracies and autocracies. But India will not get swayed by such dissimulation. The fact that PM narendra Modi made a notable exception to receive the visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey lavrov for a 40-minute meeting against the tumultuous backdrop of global politics has conveyed a powerful message. Modi has underscored that India attaches the highest importance to relations with Russia in its global strategies. Indeed, it bears testimony to Modi’s warm personal relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and to the centrality he attaches to the strategic partnership with Russia in his own global vision. There couldn’t be a more definitive signal than what Modi gave — namely, that India’s strategic autonomy is non-negotiable and its national honour as a fiercely independent country is not up for bargaining. Hopefully, the curtain will now come down on western bullying. Equally, the readout of EAM Jaishankar’s meeting with lavrov suggests that an in-depth discussion on the ‘overall state of cooperation’ took place. EAM’s emphasis on a ‘stable and predictable’ bilateral relationship pre-

STANDS UP TO US BULLYING ON RUSSIA, TAKES FAR-SEEING STANCE ON UKRAINE THE WEST’S REAL AGENDA IS THE REIMPOSITION OF A UNIPOLAR WORLD ORDER TO PERPETUATE ITS DOMINATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL ORDER saged the confidence publicly expressed by lavrov that ‘a way would be found to bypass the artificial impediments which illegal unilateral sanctions by the West create. This relates also to the area of military and technical cooperation. We have no doubt that the solution would be found and respective ministries are working’. Jaishankar has skilfully navigated the Indian approach in a hugely transformative period in the international system and world order by viewing the paradigm solely through the prism of the country’s interests, as Modi would have expected. The national consensus will laud this. Fundamentally, what needs to be understood is that the confrontation brewing over ukraine for a decade is in reality about the contours of the world order. The spectre that haunts the West is that its five-century-old global domination has come under serious challenge as multiple power centres (such as china, India) have emerged in various regions. This is a last desperate throw of the dice, so to speak, to push back the forces of history. The West’s real agenda is the reimposition of a unipolar world order to perpetuate its domination of the interna-

Could Marine le pen really win the french presidency?

New StateSmaN Ido Vock

ould she really do it? That’s the question causing jitters in Paris as a new poll this week showed Marine le Pen, the veteran far-right leader, within touching distance of the French presidency. According to the poll Emmanuel Macron, the incumbent, would win by just 52.5 per cent to le Pen’s 47.5 per cent in the runoff round of voting in the presidential election, due to be held on 24 April. The result would represent a drastic turnaround from the second round in 2017, when Macron was elected with 66 per cent of the vote to le Pen’s 34 per cent. What is driving le Pen’s impressive numbers? one of the most important factors is her ability to appeal to the supporters of the left-winger Jean-luc Mélenchon. According to the same Elabe poll, while 44 per cent of people who would vote for Mélenchon’s France unbowed party in the first round would have no preference in a Macron-le Pen second round, 77 per cent of those who do would choose le Pen over Macron. The figure is higher than other polls (and higher than the same poll puts support for le Pen among those who voted for Mélenchon in 2017) but is one indication of how crucial these voters will be to the election result. In 2017 Mélenchon refused to back Macron over le Pen in the second round, dealing a blow to the anti-le Pen “republican front”, according to which supporters of mainstream parties should unite against the far right in the second round of voting. By contrast, supporters of the smaller left-wing Green and Socialist parties split for Macron by over 80 per cent. likewise, 60 per cent of voters for the centre-

right Republicans would choose Macron. le Pen performs much better than any other potential second-round opponent of Macron. The incumbent would beat Mélenchon, the Republicans candidate Valérie Pécresse and the far-right firebrand Éric Zemmour with about 60 per cent of the vote, a considerably more comfortable margin than against le Pen. Whether le Pen can keep up her momentum will depend on her ability to avoid the kinds of gaffes that torpedoed her second-round hopes in 2017. A disastrous inter-round TV debate between her and Macron is particularly remembered as having exposed her as out of her depth to many voters. If she qualifies for the run-off, any hopes of winning it will depend on a good performance in the twoweek campaign between rounds. Moreover, with such good numbers, le Pen will be treated by her voters and the media as a credible potential winner rather than a no-hope curiosity. That will mean she will need to be able to credibly defend her policies and personality over the gruelling final weeks of the campaign. over a month into Russia’s war in ukraine, debate within France is turning away from the invasion to its consequences, in particular a cost-of-living crisis driven by high inflation and rising energy prices. While Macron benefited from being seen as an experienced statesman when the invasion of ukraine was top of the agenda, he is more vulnerable now that the debate has moved on to the cost of living. As such, le Pen’s longstanding strategy of pushing left on economic issues appears a wise choice. A debate focused on economic hardship also helps le Pen’s attempts to “de-demonise” herself by limiting the time spent discussing issues such as immigration and Islam, which remind voters that the far right remains the far right. Macron has refused to directly debate his first-round challengers. Though his allies argue that Russia’s war in ukraine means he is busy with the responsibilities of his office and has little time for politicking, there is a growing sense that he is ducking scrutiny with a minimal campaign. If his challengers can exploit perceptions of haughtiness and the cost-of-living crisis to further damage him, a contest which had appeared all but settled mere days ago now seems significantly more competitive.

tional economic and political order. While in delhi last week, uS deputy national Security Adviser daleep Singh blurted out the truth when he explained the raison d’être of giving a ‘financial shock’ to Russia’s central bank: ‘What we are doing is pushing Russia back decades. I think they’re going back to the uSSR, in terms of their technological sophistication, that reduces Mr Putin’s ability to exert influence and to exercise power on the world stage.’ Russia has become a thorn in the flesh because of its independent foreign policies that impede or block the West’s global policies to transfer wealth from resource-rich countries or to bully weaker countries into submission. on the other hand, in military terms too, Russia has obtained a superiority over hypersonic missiles which may give it a monopoly on nuclear-capable weapons in the foreseeable future. And on top of all this, Russia’s alliance with china and India can potentially become a game-changer for the economic order. The confidence in Washington that the sanctions would deal a lethal blow to Russia’s economy is shaky

already. Reuters reported on Friday that the rouble clipped its strongest mark since the ukraine conflict began on February 24, thanks to ‘a genuine improvement’ in the country’s finances and also due to capital controls. Russian stock indexes hit their highest since February 22. And, of course, Russia didn’t default on its debt repayments. Meanwhile, if Russia creates new facts on the ground to the east of dniepr river, we are looking at a new world altogether. At the end of the day, the uS leadership will not be taken seriously anymore, particularly in Europe. The frenzy of rage in Washington is self-evident. on a parallel track, the uS’ overuse of sanctions as a weapon to punish countries is also triggering a blowback. Raghuram Rajan wrote last week, ‘It is not impossible to imagine a country being subjected to economic warfare because of its government’s position on abortion or climate change, for example. A widespread fear of indiscriminate sanctions would lead to more defensive behaviour. Following the action taken against Russia’s central bank, china, India and many other countries will worry that their own foreign-exchange holdings (of advanced-economy debt) may prove unusable if a few countries decide to freeze their assets. More countries also might start exploring collective alternatives to the SWIFT financial messaging network.’ Gita Gopinath, the IMF’s first deputy managing director, has said the unprecedented financial sanctions imposed on Russia threaten to gradually dilute the dominance of the uS dollar and encourage the emergence of small currency blocs based on trade between groups of countries. In fact, the share of international reserves has fallen from 70 per cent to 60 per cent over the past two decades with the emergence of other trading currencies. The erosion in the status of the dollar as the ‘world currency’ would have profound geopolitical consequences. The sum of all outstanding debt owed by the uS federal government on February 1 surpassed $30 trillion for the first time. Government debt to GdP is expected to reach 138.10 per cent of GdP by the end of 2022. now, what happens if the uS cannot pay off its debt? The highly arbitrary, unlawful seizure of Russia’s central bank reserves shows that anything is possible. The uS has really ripped up the playbook. MK Bhadrakumar is a former Indian ambassador.

Why nigeria could be the next afghanistan THE U.N. REFUGEE AGENCY (UNHCR) ESTIMATES THAT BOKO HARAM ACTIVITIES HAVE INTERNALLY DISPLACED OVER 2.9 MILLION NIGERIANS. THE SURVIVORS OF VIOLENT ATTACKS ARE MOST OFTEN CHILDREN, WHO SUFFER THE LOSS OF LOVED ONES, LIVELIHOOD, ACCESS TO EDUCATION AND PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH, AMONG MANY OTHER CHALLENGES NewSweek RAcHEL MINER

IncE the chaotic withdrawal of united States troops from Afghanistan, thousands of Afghans belonging to religious minorities have been targeted, persecuted and killed for their faith. on the other side of the world, a similar scene is unfolding in nigeria, except without the same news coverage. Very few know the genocide unfolding at the hands of Boko Haram, known as the “nigerian Taliban,” and associated groups who are running amuck with seeming impunity amid limited government response. Boko Haram, a jihadist terrorist group whose name means “Western Education is Forbidden,” has targeted christians and nonconforming Muslims in north and central nigeria for the past 10 years. The u.n. Refugee Agency (unHcR) estimates that Boko Haram activities have internally displaced over 2.9 million nigerians. The survivors of violent attacks are most often children, who suffer the loss of loved ones, livelihood, access to education and physical and mental health, among many other challenges. Boko Haram frequently kidnaps young children and holds them for ransom, shuts down public schools and infiltrates existing gangs. They also radicalize large groups of young men to terrorize the northern regions of nigeria. To highlight one recent incident, in January 2022, Boko Haram attacked the village of Pemi in northeastern nigeria, kidnapping 17 girls, burning multiple churches and killing, in their own words, “many christians.” Attacks of this kind have become tragically commonplace. In April 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 young girls which prompted the international campaign #BringBackourGirls. The response was overwhelming but short lived. Hundreds of girls remain missing today, including leah Sharibu who was kidnapped from her school along with 110 other girls in 2018 by a Boko Haram faction. All the surviving girls were eventually returned to their families, except Sharibu, who continues to be held as a “slave for life.” Kidnapping continues both from Boko Haram and vigilante groups, becoming the

“fastest growing enterprise in nigeria.” nigerian security forces were stretched thin from countering gangs even before Boko Haram began to penetrate the country in 2009. In december 2021, 47 people were killed by Fulani gunmen aided by Boko Haram and their partner group Islamic State in West Africa Province. The long conflict between Fulani tribesmen and christian farmers is exacerbated by a scarcity of water and land, however, the united States commission for International Religious Freedom (uScIRF) argues that the conflict has inherent religious freedom undertones which must be directly addressed by the government. local terrorist and vigilante groups aren’t the only ones perpetuating religious freedom abuses. Government groups target individual “prisoners of conscience” for their faith or their lack of faith. Mubarak Bala, a prominent atheist, was persecuted intensely by his family and then arrested for a social media post regarding the afterlife that is against Muslim doctrine. The united States department of State can utilize their power and resources to continue to recognize the severe human rights abuses that occur in nigeria, and formally acknowledge the unfolding genocide through the mechanisms already in place. Each year the State department releases a report outlining religious freedom violations in every country in the world and assign country of Particular concern (cPc) status to those countries with particularly egregious religious freedom violations. cPc designation has enormous influence over u.S. foreign policy and international response. nigeria was designated a cPc in 2020, however, just days before the 2021 report was announced, nigeria was mysteriously removed from the cPc list. The removal of nigeria as a cPc will further shield nigeria from the public eye. In response to the State department’s removal, several dozen nGos and advocates signed a letter in december 2021 addressed to President Joe Biden, urging him to recognize the atrocities in nigeria and encouraging cPc designation. Additionally, seven Republican Senators stated in a letter addressed to Biden, “Religious people in nigeria face severe persecution at the hands of radical terrorist groups and even

their own government,” and further requested nigeria be restored as a cPc. In the meantime, non-governmental organizations (nGo) work with limited resources to respond to growing humanitarian needs in nigeria and advocate for more attention to these human rights abuses. My work as cEo of Bellwether International has put me in contact with countless courageous men and women in nigeria who risk everything to enjoy the basic rights and privileges that so many take for granted. one such group, Stefanos Foundation, recently reported on their extensive work in IdP (Internally displaced Person) camps saying, “We face several dangers ... danger of abduction, danger of targeting or attack and danger of creating unmet expectations such as not being able to meet all the needs of the IdPs. Sometimes promises are made of returning with more help but due to lack of funding, not keeping promises can also work against us.” There is also incredible risk of being hit by stray bullets from conflict or becoming a victim of land mines placed by terrorists and other vigilante groups. I asked the director of Stefanos Foundation, Mark lipdo, what motivated him to continue to help and he replied, “Helping others is, by extension, helping ourselves, as no one knows who will be affected next.” When freedom of religion or belief is protected for one, all are protected. The efforts of Stefanos Foundation and Bellwether International are supported through generous donations from the public and private donors, but there is an immense need for additional humanitarian resources and financial support. It is also critical to continue raising awareness on social platforms in order to help generate an international response, as we have seen with recent atrocities unfolding in ukraine. Additionally, individuals can contact their representatives and urge them to restore nigeria as a cPc. The international community can certainly do more than it is doing now. We need not repeat the mistakes of Afghanistan. Rachel Miner is the executive director of Bellwether International, an international human rights organization responding to freedom of religion or belief violations in pre- and post- genocide communities.

Tuesday, 5 April, 2022 | LAHORE

NEWS

HearinG for Ke petition for fCa for feB 2022 Held – expeCted impaCt pKr 1.29 per KWH

CORPORATE CORNER

KARACHI Press release

THB Global launched a unique home health care service in Pakistan under the name of Seha Care for overseas Pakistanis looking for quality home health care for family or loved ones in Pakistan

Under the approved mechanism outlined in KE’s Multi-Year Tariff (MYT) approved by NEPRA, KE petitioned for an increase of PKR 3.45 per unit to be passed on to consumers on account of fuel consumption in the month of February 2022. The hearing was held on April 4, 2022. A similar hearing was conducted for the Central Power Purchasing Au-

thority (CPPA-G) which represents state-owned entities in the country on March 31st 2022. KE’s petition for PKR 3.45 per unit was based on CPPA-G’s latest available fuel cost rate for the month of January 2022 at the time of filing of petition, however, the same is subject to actualization by NEPRA based on determination for CPPA-G, for which hearing was also done on March 31, 2022. After considering updated rate of CPPA-G discussed during the hear-

ing, the FCA for the February is expected to be Rs. 1.29 per unit. This increase has primarily been driven by 11% increase in the price of RLNG between December 2021 and February 2022 as well as increase in the cost of electricity purchased from the National Grid. Further, considering shortage of RLNG, consumption of Furnace oil also increased as compared to reference month of December 2021. Under the tariff mechanism, increases as well as decreases in cost

of fuels is passed on to consumers in their monthly bills based on prescribed formula. These charges are applied after NEPRA’s scrutiny & public hearings which are conducted independently for KE and state-owned entities (XWDISCOs). Alongside final approval on the cost to be charged to consumers, NEPRA also specifies the period during which these costs can be applied to consumer bills.

Archroma Pakistan awarded among top 5 companies at PSX Team Jaaz celebrates winning five awards at the Effie Awards Pakistan 2022.

KARACHI Press release

Archroma Pakistan Limited (PSX: ARPL), is among the Top 5 companies in the Top 25 Companies Awards for the Year 2020 of the Pakistan Stock Exchange. This is the 19th time that Archroma has been awarded with Top 25 Companies Award, which is a

Vice-Chairman Descon Faisal Dawood signs the investment agreement with VAN and VG CEO Ahmed Umair, as part of Descon’s strategy to diversify into the agriculture sector.

pm relief package for electricity Consumers PRESS RELEASE In accordance with the decision of the Economic Coordination Council (ECC), K-Electric along with all other Distribution Companies (DISCOs) will be extending the PM’s relief package of Rs. 5 per unit reduction in electricity bills for the 4-month period March to June 2022. As per the decision, this package is applicable nationwide for commercial consumers with sanctioned load less than 5 kW and domestic non-ToU consumers having monthly consumption up to 700 units (except life-line consumers). As a responsible corporate entity, KE is taking all steps to ensure compliance with the Government’s decision in the interest of consumers. Fuel Cost Adjustments continue to be a regular process in Pakistan and variations in fuel costs are passed through to consumers as per the prescribed mechanism mentioned above.

power suspension schedules for today ISLAMABAD Press release

According to Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO)’s spokesman, System Maintenance/Development Work is in process. Therefore power supply of below mentioned feeders/areas will be temporary suspended as per given schedule: On 05th April, From 06:00 AM to 12:00 Noon, Captain Muhammad Akram Shaheed, Rohtas Feeders, From 06:00 AM to 11:00 AM, Industrial, DM Textile, Rata, Mangtal, Gulshanabad, BB Shaheed, Major Masood, Railway Colony, Muslimabad, Ahsanabad, Gulzar Shaheed, Dhok Hasso, A-Block, Sadiqabad, Affandi Colony, National Market, 4th Road, Abu Bakar, Asghar Mall Feeders and Surroundings will remain off. IESCO management apologizes to its esteemed customers for the power outage. If the work is completed ahead of time, the power supply can be restored even before the scheduled time.

recognition of its exemplary performance of sustainable excellence in terms of business development, profitable growth and financial governance, enhancing shareholders value’ and supporting UN Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs). Archroma Pakistan has shown consistent business growth in financial Year 2021 and achieved a substantial

Meta, NIBAF collaborate to up-skill women entrepreneurs

gross turnover with further improvement in the bottom-line profitability in comparison to previous financial year. Commenting on this achievement Mujtaba Rahim, President & CEO, Archroma Pakistan Limited stated “This significant award is a testament of the efforts made by the team and the contribution Archroma makes to the Pakistan economy.

Swvl Completes Business Combination with Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital NEW YORK

KARACHI Press release

Meta is collaborating with the National Institute of Banking and Finance (NIBAF), a subsidiary of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to train and up-skill Pakistani women entrepreneurs in order to foster sustainability and resilience of women-led businesses in the country. The program is being implemented under the ‘Business Resilience through Financial Education (BRFE)’ component of Meta’s flagship women empowerment program ‘SheMeansBusiness’. SheMeansBusiness was introduced in Pakistan in May 2020 in partnership with the SBP and USAID to bolster financial inclusion and resiliency of women-led businesses, particularly during the Covid-19 induced economic slowdown. Under the arrangement, Meta, in collaboration with National Institute of Banking & Finance (NIBAF), will be hosting a series of online training sessions to up-skill 3,000 women entrepreneurs who are part of NIBAF’s National Financial Literacy Program for Youth (NFLP-Y). The primary aim of the program is to strengthen women’s business financial understanding and help them grow their

businesses for enhancing their socioeconomic standing and role in the society. NFLP-Y program focuses on managing personal finances and has a wide reach within Pakistan. “Financial empowerment is one of the key drivers of women empowerment. NIBAF is excited to collaborate with META to strengthen the financial literacy and digital skills of Pakistani women. We hope that this partnership will help our women craft their own entrepreneurship journeys”, says Riaz Nazarali Chunara, Managing Director NIBAF. “We are excited to collaborate with NIBAF to foster financial education and training for Pakistan women entrepreneurs”, Beth Ann Lim, Director, APAC Policy Programs and Government Outreach – Meta said. “Financial education is crucial for sustainability and resilience of small and medium enterprises, especially when combined with digital skills. Over the last 2 years we’ve found that entrepreneurs that have adopted digital tools have been more resilient, financial education would further enable them to adapt and grow their businesses. I hope this arrangement goes on to make a significant difference for women led businesses in the country.”

Press release

Swvl Inc. ("Swvl" or the "Company"), a global provider of transformative tech-enabled mass transit solutions, today announced the completion of its previously announced business combination with Queen’s Gambit Growth Capital, the first special purpose acquisition company founded and led entirely by women (“Queen’s Gambit”) (NASDAQ: GMBT) following an extraordinary general meeting of Queen’s Gambit’s shareholders (the “Shareholders’ Meeting”) held on March 30, 2022. The combined company has changed its name to Swvl Holdings Corp. The Class A ordinary shares and warrants of the combined company will continue to trade on NASDAQ under the ticker symbols “GMBT” and “GMBTW”, respectively, through today. Tomorrow, April 1, 2022, Swvl Holdings Corp’s Class A ordinary shares and warrants are expected to commence trading on NASDAQ under the ticker symbols “SWVL” and “SWVLW”, respectively. Swvl received gross proceeds from the transaction of approximately $164.6 million from its upsized, fully committed $111.5 million PIPE and the receipt of approximately $53.1 million of cash from Queen’s Gambit’s trust account net of redemptions. In addition, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain closing conditions, after the closing of the business combination Swvl will have access to additional capital via an additional PIPE commitment of $10.0 million, which it expects to close in the second quarter of 2022, and a $471.9 million equity financing facility. Mostafa Kandil, Swvl Founder and CEO, said, “Completing our business combination with Queen’s Gambit is a tremendous milestone for Swvl and for sustainable mass transit globally. Mobility and the empowerment that comes with it should be a fundamental right for all. As a public company, we plan to build on Swvl’s exponential growth to date and proprietary tech-enabled platform, ensuring that underserved populations have access to solutions that are safe, convenient and affordable. In turn, we will leverage our bestin-class team, established partnerships and proprietary tech stack with differentiated solutions.”

Moot on globalizing lokloric wisdom concludes at IIUI ISLAMABAD Press release

The two-day International Conference on “Globalizing Lokloric Wisdom” on folk literature in Pakistani Languages at International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) that focused on storytelling, folk poetry, Sufi poetry, religious harmony in Pakistani languages and the impact of folk literature and topics related to folk literature in Pakistani Languages concluded here at Faisal Masjid campus. The speakers of the conference agreed that the cultural heritage of the world is facing the challenges of the digital age, in which folk literature and cultures will be able to survive only if they understand the requirements of the modern age. They opined that the prevailing harshness in societies global instability can be minimized through lokloric

These past two years have been a great challenge for the entire world and to pass through these challenging times with flying colors and get acknowledged for it, is truly a great honour for all of us. I take this opportunity to also congratulate all other organisations who have made it to this prestigious list and wish them great success ahead.”

wisdom. The conference that witnessed as many as 80 research papers was jointly organized by Iqbal International Institute for Research & Dialogue, IRD, IIUI, Department of English Literature, Faculty of Languages and Literature, FLL of the University in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission, HEC, Islamabad at Quaid-EAzam Auditorium, Faisal Masjid Campus, International Islamic University Islamabad. Speaking at the concluding ceremony of the conference, Rector International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) Prof. Dr. Masoom Yasinzai stressed upon presenting our folk literature and culture to the world using modern resources. He said that the international media portrays Pakistan as a terrorist and unsecure country but the reality is quite the opposite. Projection of our history, folk literature and culture can help us present our

real image that is all about peace and harmony, he added. On the occasion, he expressed his resolve that the International Islamic University would continue to play its role in preserving and promoting the traditions of the region. Dr. Yousuf Kushk, Chairman, Pakistan Academy of Letters said that

we are proud of Pakistan's cultural heritage and should remain so. He told the conference participants that a National Museum of Pakistani Languages will be set up in Islamabad soon. Dr. Yusuf lauded the efforts of the International Islamic University Islamabad for the revival and promotion of folk literature

and culture. Vice President (Academics), IIUI Prof. Dr. Ayaz Afsar and Vice President (R&E), Prof. Dr. Ahmed Shuja Syed also attended the conference and shared their views about the theme of the conference. Dr. Husnul Amin, Executive Director, Iqbal Institute for Research and Dialogue (IRD), IIUI, emphasized on promotion of folk literature. Dr. Husnul Amin congratulated the moderator of the conference Dr. Sheraz Dasti and the organizing team of the conference on this occasion. He vowed that IRD would continue such constructive collobarations. Dr. Najeeba Arif, Dean Faculty of Languages and Literature, FLL, IIUI during her speech elaborated folk-lore in detail. She added that the base of science is experience while folklore is the crux of human experience. She opined that while folklore is composed of experiences of centuries. Dr. Najeeba explained to the conference participants how folklore is the collective wisdom connected to experiences of human’s lives through various interesting examples.

Tuesday, 5 April, 2022 | LAHORE

10 FOREIGN NEWS

Russia Rejects ukRaine’s Bucha killings accusations

agencies

HE Kremlin on Monday rejected accusations that Russian forces were responsible for killing civilians near Kyiv and suggested that the images of corpses were “fake.” “We categorically reject all allegations,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists. Russian “experts at the ministry of defense have identified signs of video fakes and various fakes,” he said. “We would demand that many international leaders do not rush to sweeping accusations and at least listen to our arguments.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey

Lavrov called the situation in Bucha a “fake attack” during his meeting with United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths in Moscow on Monday, according to TASS News Agency. Russia’s Foreign Ministry has called for a special UN Security Council meeting on Monday to address what it called a “provocation by Ukrainian radicals” in Bucha. Recent media reports said Ukraine blames Russia for killing hundreds of civilians around towns outside the capital Kyiv like Bucha, as Russian forces withdrew. The intelligence agency of Ukraine’s

troubled sri lanka set for new cabinet and protests cOLOMBO

Defense Ministry said on Monday that Russian servicemen of 64 Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade are the “war criminals” directly involved in committing the killings of the Ukrainian people in Bucha. The allegations have soon drawn condemnation worldwide as the EU mulls stepping up sanctions. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Monday that Washington will ask the UN General Assembly to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday said he was “deeply shocked” by images of civilians killed and called for an independent investigation.

Iran blames U.S. for halt to Vienna nuclear talks, calls for political decision

AFP

agencies

Sri Lanka’s president was set to appoint a new cabinet Monday as security forces braced for possible violence with more protests expected against worsening shortages of food, fuel and medicines. Twenty-six ministers in the cabinet — all members except President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his elder brother Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa — submitted letters of resignation at a latenight meeting on Sunday. The move clears the way for the president to appoint a new cabinet on Monday — possibly including some of those who quit — as the ruling political clan seeks to shore up its position in the face of the economic crisis. The country is in the grip of an unprecedented shortage of food, fuel and other essentials — along with record inflation and crippling power cuts with no sign of an end to the economic woes. The situation is acknowledged by the government as the worst economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948, and it has announced it will seek a bailout from the IMF. Troops and police were placed on a high state of alert as a 36-hour curfew ended at dawn Monday despite intelligence reports warning of more unrest, a top security official told AFP. “Indications are that we can expect more demonstrations,” he said, reiterating that the military has been empowered to detain suspects under a state of emergency declared on Friday. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa imposed the emergency a day after a crowd attempted to storm his home in the capital Colombo. Throughout Sunday evening, hundreds of people staged noisy but peaceful demonstrations in towns across the island of 22 million denouncing Rajapaksa’s handling of the crisis.

The United States is responsible for the pause in talks between Tehran and world powers in Vienna aimed at reviving their 2015 nuclear deal, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Monday. “America is responsible for the halt of these talks … a deal is very much within reach,” Saeed Khatibzadeh told a weekly news conference. “Washington should make a political decision for the deal’s revival,” he said, adding that Tehran would “not wait forever.” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said on Sunday that the Vienna talks are close to an agreement, noting that Tehran has put forward its proposals and now the ball is in Washington’s court. Tehran’s remarks came after the U.S. urged Iran to make decisions on some remaining issues in the talks. The U.S. State Department said on Thursday that a small number of outstanding issues remain in the nuclear talks, adding that the onus was on Tehran to make those decisions. Iran has said that there are still outstanding issues, including Washington removing a foreign terrorist organization designation against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Washington recently confirmed sanctions on the IRGC would

hong kong leader carrie lam to leave office HOng KOng AFP

Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam announced Monday that she will step down in June ending a five-year term in office that saw democracy protests squashed and strict pandemic curbs plunge the business hub into international isolation. Ending months of speculation, Lam confirmed she would not seek a second term when a committee made up of the city’s political elite chooses a new leader next month. “I will complete my five-year term as chief executive on June 30, and officially conclude my 42-year career in government,” Lam told reporters. Lam said China’s leaders “understood and respected” her choice not to seek another term and that she wanted to spend more time with her family. “I have to put my family members first, and they feel it is time for me to return home,” she said. A career bureaucrat, Lam became Hong Kong’s first woman leader in 2017. The 64-year-old had dodged questions for months over whether she would run again and during Monday’s announcement, she revealed that had informed Beijing of her plans to quit more than a year ago. Hong Kongers currently have little clarity on who will be their next leader. The chief executive position is not popularly elected, one of the core demands of years of democracy protests which have since been crushed. Politics and Pandemic: Hong Kong’s number two official, John Lee, who has a background in security services, has been tipped by the local press as a likely contender. Another potential front runner is finance chief Paul Chan. Lam said on Monday morning that she has not yet received any resignations from her ministers, a step that cabinet members like Lee and Chan would need to make before running. Lam’s successor will take office on July 1, the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover by Britain to China. She leaves the office a divisive figure. Supporters see her as a staunch Beijing loyalist who steered the city through huge democracy protests and a debilitating pandemic. Critics, including many western powers, view her as someone who oversaw the collapse of Hong Kong’s political freedoms and its reputation as a stable regional business hub. After huge and sometimes violent protests swept Hong Kong in 2019 Beijing responded with a crackdown that has remoulded the once outspoken city into a mirror of the authoritarian mainland.

stay. Tehran has also been pushing for guarantees that any future U.S. president would not withdraw from the agreement. The extent to which sanctions would be rolled back is another unresolved issue. A meeting of the Joint Commission on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is held in Vienna, Austria, December 3, 2021. Under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran accepted some restrictions on the development

of its nuclear program in return for removal of UN and Western sanctions. However, then-U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the country from the deal unilaterally in 2018 and reinstated old and new sanctions against Iran. Tehran retaliated by dropping some of its nuclear commitments. Since April 2021, eight rounds of negotiations have been held in Vienna between Iran and the remaining parties to the JCPOA, with the U.S. indirectly involved, aimed at removal of sanctions against Iran and the restoration of the pact. The talks were halted last month after Russia reportedly demanded guarantees that the U.S.-led sanctions imposed over the Ukraine crisis should not affect its trade ties with Iran. Russia said later that it had written guarantees that it can carry out its work as a party to the JCPOA. In a phone conversation with Amir Abdollahian in mid-March, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China understands Iran’s reasonable concerns on the nuclear issue and supports its efforts to defend its legitimate rights and interests. China has also stressed that the concerns and demands of all parties to the Vienna talks must be addressed properly.

Afghanistan at crossroads: China’s voice lending a helping hand Qian Feng The Third Foreign Ministers’ Meeting among the Neighboring Countries of Afghanistan has been successfully held recently. Focusing on the situation in Afghanistan and its future cooperation, the meeting issued a joint statement covering five areas: political and diplomatic fields, economic and humanitarian fields, counter-terrorism and security, refugees, and institution building. This not only clearly demonstrates the determination of the neighboring countries to strengthen communication and work together to help Afghanistan achieve stable development, but also conveys the concerns and expectations of the international community for Afghanistan. In the current complex and volatile international situation, the meeting provides new ideas for addressing security problems, which is not only significant to Afghanistan, but also important for the international community as a reference. The first Foreign Ministers’ Meeting among the Neighboring Countries of Afghanistan last September officially launched the coordination and cooperation mechanism for Afghanistan’s neighbors. At the time, the irresponsible withdrawal of the United States and its allies, coupled with the major changes on the Afghan political landscape, had left more than 30 million people in the country struggling to cope with multiple challenges, including, among others, humanitarian crisis, economic difficulties, livelihood problems and the COVID pandemic. In response, the country’s neighbors came to the political consensus of working together to help Afghanistan, believing that they as neighbors have a unique role to play in providing a favorable external environment for the stability and reconstruction of Afghanistan. This new mechanism is essential at this critical juncture when Afghanistan turns from chaos to peace. In less than a year, Afghanistan’s neighbors have held three foreign ministers’ meetings, reflecting the great importance they attach to the Afghan issue. Under the mechanism, a lot of fruitful work has been carried out and many important consensuses reached. At the same time, it has maintained active communication with the interim Government of Afghanistan and cooperated with various international mechanisms on the Afghan issue to bring about positive development of the overall situation in Afghanistan. The efforts have been widely recognized by the international community. Even as Afghanistan still faces severe challenges in many dimensions such as humanitarian crisis, economic recovery, counter-terrorism and national governance, what the United States does has aggravated the problems. In this February, US President Joe Biden signed

an executive order to “share” the $7 billion of assets deposited in America by the Afghan central bank, refusing to return them to the Afghan interim government. This move has been strongly criticized by Afghanistan and the international community. More worryingly, Afghanistan seems to be forgotten by the Western world in the wake of the Ukraine crisis. Today, more than 24 million people across Afghanistan need humanitarian support for them to survive, but the UN goal of providing $4.44 billion in humanitarian fund to Afghanistan has seen little progress. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), while watching out for Ukraine, had to appeal to the international community for support to the Afghans to prevent another humanitarian crisis. Therefore, this international meeting in China focusing on Afghanistan is ever more important and timely. This is a reminder to the international community that the Afghan issue is still high on the current international peace and security agenda. The world should not forget Afghanistan, and that the United States, the maker of Afghanistan’s problems, should not deliberately ignore and stay away from the Afghan issue. It is better for the doer to undo what he has done. The US and the Western world should take up their primary responsibility for the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan, and return the property of the Afghan people as soon as possible. To truly help Afghanistan get through the difficulties, the more efforts to alleviate the country’s humanitarian crisis, the better, and the fewer unnecessary moves to create troubles, the merrier. The Third Foreign Ministers’ Meeting Among the

Neighboring Countries of Afghanistan is another important contribution China makes to achieve enduring peace and stable development in Afghanistan. In order to make the Meeting even more productive, and promote the implementation of the outcomes of previous Meetings, China has been working for agreement to launch the mechanism for regular meetings among special envoys for Afghanistan of the neighboring countries, and establish three working groups on political and diplomatic, economic and humanitarian, and security and stability affairs. Foreign ministers from the Afghan interim government, Qatar and Indonesia were invited to the Meeting for the first time. And China presided over the meeting on the “China-US-Russia plus” consultation mechanism on Afghanistan. The world could see the diplomatic efforts China has made in this regard. It fully shows that no matter how the international situation may evolve and change, China, as a responsible country and one of the neighbors of Afghanistan, will not change its foreign policy towards its neighbors, nor its diplomatic principle for upholding justice. On the one hand, China acknowledges the efforts of the Afghan interim government from the perspective of history and development, and works with the international community to exert positive influence on the development of the situation in Afghanistan, and better integrate the country into the mainstream of the international community. On the other hand, China opposes the abuse of sanctions, commits to resolving differences through dialogue and consultation, and takes the meeting as an opportunity for all parties to build consensus, on the basis of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. China encourages Afghanistan to establish a more inclusive and open political architecture, take more moderate and steady internal and external policies, and combat terrorism effectively. Afghanistan has been through a long, dark winter and is now embracing a hopeful spring. There is reason to believe that the successful convening of the third Foreign Ministers’ Meeting among the Neighboring Countries of Afghanistan will bring new and greater hope for Afghanistan to get out of the current predicament and back on the track of sound development, and explore a development path that is in line with not only their own national conditions but also the trend of the times at an early date. The author is Director of Research Department, National Institute of Strategic Studies, Tsinghua University.

Tuesday, 5 April, 2022 | LAHORE

SPORTS 11

PCB haNDs NOCs tO shaheeN, RIzwaN aND OtheRs tO PLay COuNty IN eNgLaND

News Desk HE Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has granted permission to seven players to travel to England and participate in the 2022 county

season. Sources have revealed that all seven players including marquee players Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan will travel to England based on their respective

team schedules. Shaheen Shah Afridi will be representing Middlesex whereas Mohammad Rizwan will wear Sussex’s colors. The other five players include Azhar Ali who has been signed up by Worcestershire. Gloucestershire has secured the services of youngster Naseem Shah and Zafar Gohar. Experienced campaigner Mohammad Abbas will look to give

Hampshire an edge while Hasan Ali will be looking to regain form while representing Lancashire. The players have been granted No Objection Certificates (NOCs) based on their guarantee to return to Pakistan and report for international duty. Pakistan will face West Indies in a three-match ODI series, which has been re-scheduled for June in Rawalpindi. Following that, Men in Green will travel to Sri Lanka

the following month for two-Tests and three ODIs. The national team is scheduled to tour the Netherlands at the end of July, followed by the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka from July 27. The 2022 County Championship is scheduled to be the 122nd cricket County Championship season in England and Wales. The season is scheduled to run from 7 April to 29 September 2022.

New Zealand great Taylor in tearful farewell to international cricket HAMILTON AFP

An emotional Ross Taylor was given a standing ovation as the New Zealand great made an emotional farewell to international cricket on Monday after 16 years at the top. The visiting Netherlands team gave the 38-year-old a guard of honour as he came out to bat at number four in the third one-day international at Seddon Park in Hamilton. He was dismissed for 14, but the day belonged to Taylor, who announced in December that the series against the Netherlands would be his last hurrah. With his children on one side and teammates on the other, Taylor was in

tears before the match as the players

lined up for the national anthems.

The Seddon Park spectators rose to their feet and applauded generously as he came to the crease for the final time. Taylor bowed out of Test cricket in style in January, taking the last Bangladesh wicket to ensure New Zealand won the second Test in Christchurch and drew the series. Taylor has been a mainstay in the New Zealand batting order since making his debut in 2006, amassing a plethora of records and achievements. Among them are a New Zealand record 7,683 Test runs and he also scored the most runs for the country in ODIs. He also made the highest Test score in Australia by a visiting player — 290 at Perth in 2015.

Rampant Spurs go fourth in Premier League LONDON Agencies

Tottenham powered into fourth place in the Premier League with a 5-1 rout of Newcastle, while West Ham’s 2-1 victory pushed Everton deeper into relegation trouble on Sunday. Antonio Conte’s side staged a stirring comeback to make it five wins from their last six league games. Newcastle struck first through Fabian Schar, but Ben Davies equalised before the break in north London. Matt Doherty, Son Heung-min, Emerson Royal and Steven Bergwijn netted after half-time as Tottenham climbed above bitter rivals Arsenal on goal difference. Arsenal, who have two games in hand on Tottenham, can regain fourth place if they avoid defeat at Crystal Palace on Monday. Regardless of that result, Tottenham are firmly in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League, despite Conte’s claim that it would be a miracle to finish in the top four. “It’s very difficult to be in the race for the Champions League. We want to stay there until the end. We have to continue to play this way with intensity,” Conte said. “I’m very happy. I was happy before the international break. I said it was a pity we had to stop. I asked my players today to start in the same way we left. “We know we have eight final games. Arsenal has a good advantage but to play against us in this moment is not easy.” Newcastle snatched the lead against the run of play in the 39th minute when Schar’s free-kick from the edge of the area caught Hugo Lloris unsighted as it evaded the Tottenham keeper’s weak attempted save. But Tottenham were level four minutes later as Son’s teasing cross was glanced home by Davies from six yards for his first Premier League goal since 2017. Harry Kane was the provider when Tottenham moved ahead in the 48th minute, the England captain whipping over a fine cross that Doherty stooped

to head in from close range. Needing another goal to overtake Arsenal, Conte’s men struck again six minutes later as Kane’s pass picked out Dejan Kulusevski and his cross was slotted in by Son for his 15th goal this season. Emerson bagged his first Tottenham goal with a close-range finish from Doherty’s cross in the 63rd minute before Bergwijn came off the bench to drill home with seven minutes left. In turmoil when Conte arrived in November to replace the sacked Nuno Espirito Santo, Tottenham have renewed hope of an uplifting end to the season. At the London Stadium, David Moyes’ side moved up to sixth place thanks to Jarrod Bowen’s second-half winner on the forward’s return from a

month out with a foot injury. Aaron Cresswell had put West Ham ahead with a superb 32nd minute freekick before Mason Holgate equalised with a deflected effort soon after the interval. Everton were effectively out of the contest when Michael Keane was sent off midway through the second half. Everton’s fifth defeat in their last six league games leaves them languishing just three points above the relegation zone. Frank Lampard’s team have two games in hand on third-bottom Watford, but their proud record of playing in the top-flight every season since 1954-55 remains under serious threat. Lampard publicly questioned his players’ character after their FA Cup quarter-final thrashing at Crystal

Palace. They were more committed in their first outing since then, but there was no improvement in the worst away record in England’s four professional divisions this term. A trip to second-bottom Burnley on Wednesday looms as a vital clash in Everton’s fight for survival. “The reality is that we are in that kind of moment where everything is going against us, decisions, moments in games, red cards,” Lampard said. “I can’t fault the players, their character. The performance was really positive and we have 10 games to perform like that again.” Beaten in two of their previous three league matches, West Ham are just three points behind Tottenham and Arsenal.

Pakistan team to tour Netherlands for three ODIs News Desk The Pakistan cricket team is scheduled to tour the Netherlands to play three one-day matches in July. Sources privy to the matter said the ODI series was postponed two years ago for an indefinite period. However, the boards of both teams are ready for the tour and the dates will be announced soon. According to the sources, the Pakistan team is scheduled to play a series of two Tests and three ODIs in Sri Lanka in July-August. The team will participate in the Asia Cup 2022 which is set to take place in Sri Lanka from August 27. On the other hand, sources said that Pakistan and Afghanistan boards are holding talks regarding three ODIs between both the teams which are to be hosted by the latter.

Chennai skipper Jadeja not feeling the pressure despite winless IPL run New DeLHI ReuteRs

Ravindra Jadeja’s reign as Chennai Super Kings captain began with a hat-trick of defeats in the Indian Premier League (IPL) but the all-rounder says he is not feeling any pressure. Holders Chennai unveiled Jadeja as their new captain two days before the start of the tournament after the talismanic Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who led them to four IPL titles, relinquished the role. Chennai have since lost to Kolkata Knight Riders, Lucknow Super Giants and Punjab Kings but Jadeja did not want to link the defeats to the last-minute leadership change. “I have been preparing (for the role) since he (Dhoni) told me a few months ago,” Jadeja told reporters after Sunday’s 54-run defeat by Punjab. “So mentally I was ready to lead. I don’t have any pressure on me. I’m just backing my instinct and whatever thought comes in my mind, I always go with that.” Against IPL debutants Lucknow, Chennai posted 210-7 but could not defend that total. Dhoni was seen instructing bowlers and setting fields in that match, while Jadeja stood in the outfield. “It was a high-scoring game and it was crucial to deploy a better fielder at deep mid-wicket. From there, I could not communicate with the bowlers,” Jadeja said, adding that he had no problem with Dhoni handing out instructions. “He was giving his inputs. He’s such a vastly experienced captain and I think we are lucky to have such a great leader in our dressing room.” Chennai meet Sunrisers Hyderabad in their next match on Saturday and Jadeja said they need to end the winless streak as quickly as possible. “One win can get you the momentum and we are searching for that win. We need to find our rhythm. It’s a pretty experienced side, so everyone knows their game. It just needs to click,” added Jadeja.

Tuesday, 5 April, 2022

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad, for PT Print (Pvt) Limited. Ph: 051-2204545. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk