Monday, 1 November, 2021 I 25 Rabi-ul-Awwal, 1443 I Rs 40.00 I Vol XII No 123 I 48 Pages I Islamabad Edition
TLP caLLs off ProTesTs afTer reaching undiscLosed agreemenT wiTh governmenT
ISLAMABAD
T
staff RepoRt
He proscribed Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) called off their sit-in last night on Sunday as per its agreement with the government. As per the sources, the proscribed organisation has agreed to call off its intended long march and sit-in protests, adding that it has also agreed to take part in mainstream politics in future. The government, on the other hand, has agreed to release all arrested workers of the proscribed outfit while those who are in custody over terrorism and other serious offences will have to seek relief from the courts, sources stated. Sources further revealed that the proscribed organisation called off its sit-in protest after the government agreed not to take any action against protesters. Former Ruet-e-Hilal Committee chief Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman has agreed to act as the TLP’s guarantor while Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs
Ali Muhammad Khan have signed the agreement with the TLP on behalf of the government. TLP, GoVT REACh AGREEMENT: Officials from the PTI government’s negotiating team held on Sunday a press conference to update the public about their talks with the proscribed TLP. The foreign minister and National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser were present on behalf of the government at the press conference, while Mufti Muneeb-urRehman was also present. Rehman started the news conference held in Islamabad, saying talks with the banned TLP have been “successful” and that an “agreement” had been reached. He said that the agreement reached with the government was not a victory or defeat of any individual, but a victory of Islam and Pakistan. Rehman shared that a steering committee has been constituted under the agreement which will be headed by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan, while Mufti Ghulam Ghous Baghdadi from TLP will join the committee. He said the committee will be-
coronavirus in
PakisTan
CONFIRMED CASES:
1,273,078
LAST UPDATED AT 7:43 AM ON OCTOBER 31, 2021
DAY'S DEATH TOLL:
NEW CASES:
11
733
RECOVERED:
DEATHS:
1,221,535 28,449 SINDH:
PUNJAB:
469,960
440,139
KPK:
BALOCHISTAN:
177,968 AJK/GB: 34,477/10,390
33,248 ISLAMABAD:
106,896
come active from today and start its work. “The government of Pakistan and the TLP had a detailed discussion under the environment of mutual trust, and an agreement has been reached between the two sides,” Rehman announced, clarifying that the talks did not take place under any duress or in an atmosphere of tension. He said that rationality had prevailed over sentimentalism and a consensus had been reached between the government and the banned TLP movement. The ministers stated that the terms and conditions of the deal would be disclosed at an “appropriate time”, without further elaborating. “The agreement was reached and signed following detailed talks between the government and TLP leadership. Its practical manifestations would be visible within a week or 10 days […] The agreement has also the endorsement of TLP head Saad Rizvi,” said Rehman. Qureshi, Qaiser and Khan represented the government during the negotiations. Rehman, who played a role in reconciliation along with Saylani Welfare Trust chief Bashir Farooq Qadri, told the media that under the agreement, a steering committee has been formed and will be headed by Khan to oversee the implementation of the agreement “in letter and spirit”. The committee would also comprise Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat, federal interior secretary and Punjab home secretary. While Mufti Ghulam Ghous Baghdadi and engineer Hafeez Ullah Alvi will represent the TLP at the body. “It becomes functional today,” he added. Praying for the policemen and protestors who were killed during the violent demonstrations, the cleric thanked the government, opposition and media for giving peace a chance and calling for avoiding the use of any force.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 04
Saudi Vision 2030 provided opportunities to materialise Naya Pakistan: Imran ISLAMABAD app
Owing to Saudi Arabia’s complementarities in the socioeconomic fundamentals, Vision 2030 provided Pakistan with opportunities to engage with Riyadh in realising the ambitious Naya Pakistan plan, Prime Minister Imran Khan said. Vision 2030 is a strategic framework to reduce Saudi Arabia’s dependence on oil, diversify its economy, and develop public service sectors such as health, education, infrastructure, recreation, and tourism. “I must say there are significant complementarities in the socio-economic fundamentals of the Naya Pakistan and the Saudi Vision 2030. Both lay emphasis on economic opportunity and diversity, domestic growth, modernisation and development, and trade linkages and connectivity,” the prime minister said in an interview with Riyadh-based Al Riyadh newspaper published Sunday. The prime minister said Pakistan could contribute manpower — both skilled and crude — in addition to sharing its expertise in other sectors including information technology, infrastructure development and agriculture. He said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy historical fraternal ties,
PDM holds anti-inflation rally in DG Khan
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
more inside
Two civilians killed, three FC soldiers injured in motorcycle bomb blast in Panjgur Balochistan
DG KHAN news desk
The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) held a rally in Dera Ghazi Khan on Sunday as a protest against record inflation during the PTI government’s tenure. PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif along with PDM Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman arrived at the venue on Sunday evening. Additionally, the rally had Rana Sanaullah, Awais Laghari, Captian retd Safdar Hussain, and other leaders in attendance. On the other hand, Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s absence was noted from the rally. It is to note that she did not post anything related to the rally on her social media, as well, which hinted at an alleged rift within the PML-N. Spokesperson Punjab Government Hassan Khawar in this regard claimed that Shehbaz Sharif and niece Maryam were never united and neither will be in future. At the rally, Shehbaz Sharif while addressing the rally claimed that his presence at the rally doesn’t account for reminding people about the proj-
rooted deep in common faith, shared history and mutual support. Both countries have stood by each other, through thick and thin, regardless of the change in leadership. “We never had the reason to reposition our relations with Saudi Arabia in the wake of regional or international developments — in the past as well in as contemporary times. Relations between the two countries have withstood the test of time,” he remarked. Khan said both the countries had a special bond for seven decades now. “It is now our earnest desire to transform this relationship into a deep, diverse and mutually beneficial strategic partnership. We are now working to consolidate historical gains by exploring new and nonconventional areas of cooperation. We want our trade relations and investment cooperation to be commensurate with excellent political relations.” Khan said during his recent visit to Saudi Arabia, he had the opportunity to attend the first Saudi-Pakistan Investment Forum in Riyadh wherein he stressed the importance of engaging the private and corporate sectors of the two countries to realise the untapped potential in the fields of trade, business and investment.
STORY ON BACK PAGE
ects that PML-N government had carried out in the region. However, ironically, his speech was based on exactly the same stance, while naming all the projects PML-N governments did in the region. Shahbaz Sharif went on to state that a large number of people showed up for the PDM rally is a proof that people want Imran Khan government to go home. He stated that because of inflation, people want to overthrow the incumbent government. “Petrol and electricity
[prices] are falling on people like bombs. People must take to the streets now,” he stated while adding that the prices for sugar, flour, ghee, and medicine were going up under the incumbent government and would further increase if he were allowed to continue. Similarly, PDM Chief Fazlur Rehman lashed at the government for its economic and foreign policy debacles. He stated that Asia is advancing but no one is ready to build trade with Pakistan.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 03
PM Imran Khan determined to turn Pakistan into Islamic welfare state: Murad Saeed STORY ON PAGE 02 in today’s issue
attention Some readers have complained that they are not getting the magazine with their newspaper copy. Please call or WhatsApp us at the following number to register a complaint. Contact: 0307-7338168 irfan.farooq@pakistantoday.com.pk
02
Monday, 1 November, 2021 | ISLAMABAD
NEWS
PM IMrAn KhAn dEtErMInEd to turn PAKIStAn Into ISlAMIC wElFArE StAtE: MurAd SAEEd
M
NewS DeSK
InISTER for Communications Murad Saeed Sunday said on Sunday that Prime Minister Imran Khan was determined to turn Pakistan into an Islamic welfare state on the model of ‘Riyasat e Madina’ and the government and had taken various measures for the welfare of needy people. While addressing a public meeting at Marghuz here, he said all the citizens of Punjab would be provided health cards by end of the current year. “Welfare and well being of the people is priority of the government.” He said the biggest beneficiary after completion of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would be Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He added that the PM provided free health facilities to the people, adding people support Imran Khan because he cared for the labourers and daily wage earners. The minister recalled that the Health Insaf Card was initiated form the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and now the cards would be distributed among all people of Punjab. He said when the government of Pakistan Tehreek i Insaf (PTI) was formed, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was badly affected due to the war on terrorism but now with the grace of Allah the province was peaceful and tourism activities had increased manifold. Murad said the PM made stance of Pakistan clear before the world on the issue
of sanctity of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and raised the issue at all international forums. He said in the past era, the rulers signed expensive energy agreements to stuff their own pockets. The opposition put pressure on the PM to impose a complete lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic but Imran Khan felt the difficulties and problems of poor people and did not go for absolute lockdown. Murad said opponents of the government did not care about the people but were running a movement to protect their loot and plunder. Inflation was an international issue and those blaming the government of PTI should be ashamed of themselves, he remarked. The minister said during the previous government, the province was afflicted with terrorism, people of Malakand were made homeless and on that occasion people of Swabi opened their doors for them and he was thankful for this gesture. When some elements were linking Islam with terrorism, at that time Imran Khan came forward and stressed that Islam was a religion of peace, he recalled. He said sugar mills were owned by Zardaris and Sharifs, so if they had love for people they would have reduced prices of sugar. “They do not love people but love future of their children.” He said nawaz Sharif went abroad but even after such a long time could not complete his medical treatment.
Four killed, nine injured in passenger van crash ISLAMABAD StAff rePort
At least four people were killed and nine others injured in a vehicle crash in Punjab on Sunday, said rescue officials. The accident took place when a passenger van carrying around 20 passengers turned turtle in the Attock district, rescue officials in the area told media. Police said the over-speeding van overturned after the driver lost control over the vehicle due to brake failure. The ill-fated passenger van was on its way to Rawalpindi district when it met the accident. Following the crash, police along with rescue teams reached the spot and shifted the injured to a nearby hospital where several of them are said to be in critical condition.
FFC Secures Best Corporate Excellence Award Fauji Fertilizer Company (FFC) has won best Corporate Excellence Award in Fertilizer Sector for 7th consecutive year as adjudged by Management Association of Pakistan (MAP). Brig AsratMahmood (Retd), the Company Secretary, and Syed Imran Rizvi, Head of Shares, received the award. This award is an acknowledgement of Best Management Practices, distinguished Corporate Governance, Industrial Laurels and Shareholders’ Value that FFC has been maintaining since its inception. Pr
Taliban pledge gas pipeline project’s security in Afghanistan KABUL AnAdolu Agency
Mohammad Yaqoob, the acting Taliban defense minister in the interim Afghanistan administration, said he has taken direct charge of security for the multibillion-dollar Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India (TAPI) gas pipeline project. Yaqoob, the son of the Taliban’s founding leader, Mullah Omar, made the comment following a meeting with Turkmenistan’s Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov, who arrived in Kabul in the morning for talks on the project and bilateral relations with Afghanistan. “I am directly responsible for and overseeing the security of the TAPI project. We will not hesitate to make any sacrifices for the implementation of this national project,” Yaqoob tweeted after meeting with Turkmenistan’s top diplomat at the presidential palace in the capital. The visiting Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan also met with Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund, acting prime minister of the Taliban’s interim administration at his office. “During the meeting, both sides discussed bolstering relations,
economic, trade, security, and humanitarian assistance,” said Zabihullah Mujahed, the Taliban spokesman and deputy minister for information and culture. In 2018, Afghanistan hosted top officials from Turkmenistan, Pakistan, and India back for the groundbreaking ceremony of the TAPI project, which will also connect the four countries with roads, railways, and fibre optics. The mega project, which connects energy-rich Central Asia with energystarved South Asia via Afghanistan, was envisioned in the 1990s and practical work on it began in 2015. In line with this $10 billion project, up to 33 billion cubic meters of gas would be carried from the Galkynysh gas field in Turkmenistan to the town of Fazilka in Indian Punjab via the 1,814-kilometer pipeline passing through Afghanistan and Pakistan. Afghanistan is expected to earn $500 million annually from this project. Alongside TAP, another project named the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan 500 kilovolts Line (TAP-500) will transfer Turkmenistan’s electricity to Pakistan through Afghanistan. This project would also generate $110 million annually as transit-free for the country. Kabul and Ashgabat have also agreed to build a 13kilometre railway link between the two countries.
Monday, 1 November, 2021 | ISLAMABAD
NEWS
03
TLP uses ILLeGaL sofTware To aMPLIfy aGenDa, ManIPuLaTe socIaL MeDIa TrenDs
T
App
HE Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) is exposed to be using illegal software to amplify its agenda and manipulate social media trends, with the tech experts urging the social media companies to improve their governance and take down fake accounts. The proscribed outfit, which has created uncertainty in the country due to its violent protests, is mainly banking upon fake news and trends to provoke the religious sentiments of the people and trigger violence which has also claimed the lives of the policemen. The economic loss worth Rs 35 billion so far is apart from the life loss. In an extensive study to investigate the platform manipulation, the G5 Internet Observatory, examined 322,999 tweets (including retweets) for three hashtags run by TLP including #Labbaik Namoos-eRisalat March, #Jangon Walay Nabi ki Aamad and #Kal Tak Mua’hida Pora Karo, besides another 26,491 tweets concerning #FATF. Three hashtags run by TLP and though each one was trending on different day but they follow similar pattern of surging at the early phase and dying down as the day progresses. In total, the Observatory carried out the analysis based on 349,490 tweets across the
four hashtags. The G5 Internet Observatory – a digital forensic arm of Islamabad Policy Research Institute – carries out studies on “Internet using data & analytics to develop insights for policy & public interest besides “research on bias, polarisation, fake news & platform manipulation.” According to the study, the TLP’s three hashtags, though trending on different days, but followed a similar pattern of surging at the early phase and dying down as the day progressed. The conversation over FATF’s decision on greylist spurred an organic debate which managed to evolve at its natural pace with recurring crests and troughs. “The similarity in pattern reveals a concerted and coordinated effort to push certain narrative because at the peak of a trending hashtag more than 400 tweets were posted in each minute which equals to approximately 7 tweets a second,” the study revealed. While examining the aspect of the prevalence of humans and bots to manipulate the platform, it was revealed that hundreds of the users were classified as more likely to be a bot. The red, orange, and yellow dots classify a user as more likely to be a bot. “Another feature that makes TLP trends more of a coordinated platform manipulation is the lack of sparsity of the network which in other words mean everyone or most of the
nodes (users) are linked to each other either through retweeting the same content, having other people in their follower’s network or by liking tweets by users belong to the same network. On the other hand, the FATF network looks very sparse with fewer connections and more green and blue dots that indicate the prevalence of human-like accounts (users),” according to the Observatory. Few people excessively push and amplify TLP’s narrative by manipulating the platform which is enabled by different affordances and features of Twitter
The Observatory also highlighted an important aspect concerning the governance of Twitter like taking down such accounts that actively use their platform in artificial narrative amplification “which according to its policies is prohibited.” It observed that a lot of such accounts continued to work without facing any consequences. In contrast, it said the FATF graph shows a completely different picture where with a relatively stable growth of accounts that were created over the span of one year. The study reveals that before every
Sehat Insaf cards to be issued across Punjab by year end: Farrukh Habib newS DeSk Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib said on Sunday that Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf (PTI) government has been making all out efforts to facilitate the common man in the country. He said that the government was going to launch ‘Food Support Programme’ for low income groups within the next few days under which a targeted subsidy would be provided through Ration Cards like Kissan cards, Social Security Cards and Health Cards. Addressing a public gathering after inauguration of different uplift schemes in NA-108 here tonight, he said that Prime Minister Imran Khan wanted to materialize the dreams of small income groups of having their own house. He said that 57,000 applications had so far been received by the commercial banks, for about Rs 200 billion loans, for low-cost houses. He said that so far loans worth Rs 180 billion have been approved and Rs 19 billion were disbursed among people. He said that this was a unique step of the incumbent government which would materialize the dream of the common man of having own house, land and roof. Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting Farrukh Habib said that like KPK, Sehat Insaf cards would also be issued to the entire population of the Punjab province by end of current year by the Punjab government. The card holder could get health facilities up to Rs.1 million during one year from the doctor or hospital of their own choice, he said. He said that the government was fully aware about inflation in the country, adding that the 50-year
record of hike in prices got broken at world level. He said that the price of petrol per barrel had risen from $40 dollar to 85 dollars. The rate of a container of cooking oil had risen from $500 dollar to 1200 dollars in the international market. He said that the government was not charging Rs 50 tax on per liter petrol from people like former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. “We are providing maximum relief in petroleum prices to people by reducing taxes”, he added. Farrukh Habib said that the PTI government had revived the textile and power looms sector, adding that the country’s textile exports were increasing and record taxes were being deposited by the exporters and industrialists. He said that farmers were prospering due to the policies of government. He was also hopeful of sugarcane prices reduction as the crushing season will start in November. He said that a considerable increase has also been witnessed in cotton crop in the country as its production increased from 6 million bales to 9.5 million bales. The production of maize increased by 18 percent and rice by 19 percent in the country, he said. He said that for the first time in the country’s history, olive trees were being planted and an amount of Rs 1 billion had been allocated for enhancing olive oil production. Minister of State Farrukh Habib said that after 1967, no big dam was constructed by past governments but the PTI government was constructing 10 new dams including Diamer Dam, Bhasha Dam, Mohmand Dam and Dasu Hydropower Project. He said that 10,000 megawatt cheap
electricity would be generated in the country after completion of the dams. He said that all sectors in the country including automobile, cement, engineering, construction and energy were flourishing and the country’s economy was strengthening. He said that the PTI government believed in practical measures and improving the living standard of people in the country instead of raising hollow slogans. Farrukh Habib said that development of his constituency and resolving outstanding issues of the people was among his top priorities. He said that funds of Rs 12 million would be spent on the construction of sewerage line from Ganesh Mills road to Shafi Chowk and Gyan Mills. He said that railway road would also be constructed after getting its NOC. He said that water filtration plants would be installed at every union council in constituency NA-108 adding that some of the plants had already been made functional. “Neat and clean recreational environment is the right of people and more parks would be developed in the constituency to facilitate the people”. He said that several steps had been taken for the development of district Faisalabad. Earlier, Farrukh Habib inaugurated different uplift schemes costing Rs 70 million in constituency NA108. The schemes included reconstruction of government civil dispensary in factory area, sewerage line from Ganesh Mills road to Shafi Chowk and Gyan Mills, carpet road from Aziz Colony & Lal Mills Chowk, PPC streets and various other uplift schemes in factory area and Sir Syed Town.
Saudi Vision 2030 provided opportunities to materialise Naya Pakistan: Imran ContInueD froM pAge 01 “I am confident that the Investment Forum would usher in a new dynamism in our investment cooperation,” he said. To a question, the prime minister commended the Saudi leadership for introducing reforms in various sectors under Vision 2030. During his visit, the two countries had discussed ways to strengthen and enhance economic and trade relations by exploring areas of investment and opportunities available under Vision 2030 and Pakistan’s development priorities emanating from a shift from geopolitics to geo-economics, Khan said. Regarding the Middle East Green Initiative Summit on climate change, he said it demonstrated the commitment of the Saudi leadership to take tangible steps for effectively tackling the challenge of Climate Change. “Green Saudi Initiative” and “Green Middle East Initiative” are remarkable initiatives for the preservation of nature and climate not only in Saudi Arabia but in the entire region, he said. “The threat that
climate change poses to this planet is real and it is high time for concerted actions in the right direction.” He said Pakistan had also been working on similar projects including Clean and Green Pakistan and Billion Tree Tsunami. “We believe that our priorities and goals converge in this regard and we can therefore learn from each other and extend our mutual support to mitigate the impacts of climate change,” he said. About the role Pakistan and Saudi Arabia could play for the unity of the Islamic world, the prime minister said that as an important member state of the OIC, Saudi Arabia had always played a major role in uniting Muslim countries and highlighting the issues plaguing the Ummah. At the 47th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in 2020, the largest Islamic bloc unanimously adopted Pakistan’s initiated resolution on the rising tide of Islamophobia. “The rising threat in the West towards Islam is a universal point of concern. We believe in harmony and
peaceful coexistence as terrorism has never been and shall never be the true face of Islam,” he stated. He said the Kingdom was home to the holiest Islamic sites, therefore, it has a natural leadership role to play for the Muslim world and Pakistan shall be at the forefront to collaborate in the endeavour. Commenting on the financial assistance by Saudi Arabia, Khan said: “I am extremely grateful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the recent announcement to deposit $3 billion and financing $1.2 billion refined petroleum products during the year. This generous budgetary support will help the balance of payment of Pakistan in the backdrop of rising commodity prices globally.” He said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia had longstanding and historic fraternal relations, rooted deep in common faith, shared history and mutual support. Riyadh has always extended generous support to Islamabad in its difficult times. “The latest generous gesture by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reaffirms the all-weather friendship between the two states,” the prime minister added.
campaign launch, the TLP makes accounts in bulk which of course are used for amplification purposes but some of the accounts that are left unchecked by Twitter or don’t get banned continue taking part in other similar campaigns run by the group. Before launch of every campaign, the TLP people make accounts in bulk which are used for amplification purposes The study also recommended the social media companies to deploy more resources in preventing the manipulation of their platforms; pay attention to non-English and international right-wing actors and incorporate local laws and governance structures in the countries they operate. According to Twitter’s help center explaining its policy guidelines, “You may not use Twitter’s services in a manner intended to artificially amplify or suppress information or engage in behavior that manipulates or disrupts people’s experience on Twitter… You can’t mislead others on Twitter by operating fake accounts… You can’t artificially amplify or disrupt conversations through the use of multiple accounts or by coordinating with others to violate the Twitter Rules. It also disallows “using a trending or popular hashtag with an intent to subvert or manipulate a conversation or to drive traffic or attention to accounts, websites, products, services, or initiatives.”
Dengue claims another life in Islamabad, taking tally to 13 ISLAMABAD INP
Another man suffering from dengue fever died in Islamabad Saturday, taking the tally to 13. 102 more were diagnosed with the mosquito-borne disease in the capital during this period, health officials said. They further said the tally of people succumbing to the disease in Islamabad this season has risen to 13 after the latest death. Dengue fever cases are rising in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Islamabad at an alarming rate. Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection that is common in warm, tropical climates and often peaks during rainy seasons, states the World Health Organisation (WHO). Once bitten by a dengue-infected mosquito, the virus takes four to 10 days to develop and affect the body. Its symptoms can be mild, similar to the common flu, or severe such as fever, headaches, pain behind the eyes and nausea.
PDM holds anti-inflation rally in DG Khan ContInueD froM pAge 01 He added that because of the government, so many people have become jobless. Fazlur Rehman went on to state that only after Pakistan builds a strong economy, it would be able to form an independent foreign policy. PML-N’s Marriyum Aurangzeb claimed that the public gathering would prove to be a referendum against “the cruel government.” When asked about the possibility of bringing PPP back into the PDM fold, Rana Sanaullah stated that they did not have time for appeasing anyone, adding that it was the right time to overthrow the government. It is pertinent to note that the preparations for the rally started on Sunday morning. Organizers hoisted banners, flags of various PDM constituents and placards on major roads in the city. The rally brings the political battle to home turf for Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar who hails from DG Khan. On Sunday he said public gatherings and protests would not put the country on the path to progress. “There is no room for anarchy in the country and this is not the time for demonstrating negative politics.” On the contrary, Punjab CM Usman Buzdar stated that he expected the opposition, especially PDM, to act responsibly. “Pakistan’s vital interests must be held above everything else,” Buzdar stated. Spokesman Punjab Government Khawar stated on Sunday evening that the PDM rally had been a failure as it had failed to draw a large crowd, adding that there were fewer people than the chairs arranged at “a small gathering place.”
04 NEWS 1st November 2021_Layout 1 10/31/2021 11:58 PM Page 1
Monday, 1 November, 2021 | ISLAMABAD
04 NEWS
ECP rEfuTES JAmShEd IQbAl ChEEmA’S AllEgATIoNS
T
News Desk HE Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has rejected Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Food Security Jamshed Iqbal Cheema’s alle-
gations. It is to note that Cheema was Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate for NA-133 by-elections. As per the ECP, the proposers for Jamshed Iqbal Cheema are voters of NA-130 since 2018. On the contrary, the proposer of the PTI candidate has stated that he is resident of NA-133 and was unaware of how his vote had been transferred to NA-130. He went on to add that his whole family’s votes are still registered in NA-133. Earlier, the nomination papers of PTI candidate Jamshed Iqbal Cheema for NA-133 by-election were rejected by the ECP.
PML-N’s Naseer Bhatta had argued that Bilal Hussain, the proposer of Jamshed Iqbal Cheema and his wife
Pervez Khattak’s nephew Ahad Khattak joins PPP
Musarrat Jamshed Cheema is a resident of NA-130, while the constituency of election is NA-133. Under section 60
Removal of blockages from Punjab roads, rivers begins
News Desk News Desk Defence minister Pervez Khattak’s nephew Ahad Khattak and his political allies have recently joined the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP). Khattak’s nephew revealed that he has left the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) after consultation with his political allies and colleagues. Earlier today, Ahad Khattak, son of PTI’s MPA Liaquat Khattak, with his political associates have joined the PPP. In this regard, Ahad stated that he took the decision because majority of the people from his constituency support him. While adding that PPP gave respect to him. On the occasion, PPP’s Nayyar Bukhari stated that he welcomed Ahad Khattak in the party, adding that the PPP is becoming strong. He went on to assure participation in the local bodies elections, while revealing that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto will address in Manki Sharif in Nowshera, KP.
of the Election Act, the proposer should be from to the election’s constituency. Under the election rules, Jamshed Iqbal Cheema and his wife are not qualified for contesting election. In this regard, the nomination papers of Jamshed and Musarrat should be rejected. The ECP announced the decision over the NA-133 by-election by rejecting the nomination papers of PTI candidate Jamshed Cheema and his wife. In this regard, the returning officer stated that the proposer of the PTI’s Jamshed Cheema and his wife is not from NA 133. Earlier in the 2018 elections, PML-N s Pervaiz Malik was victorious with more than 89,000 votes, while Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) candidate Ejaz Chaudhary had secured more than 77,000 votes. It is pertinent to note that the Election Commission had fixed Decemeber 5 for by-poll in NA133, and also issued code of conduct.
After the agreement between the government and the banned Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), the Punjab authorities on Sunday evening started removing containers and other barricades from different roads of Rawalpindi and other cities, including GT Road. According to official information, the government provincial ordered removal of containers and other blockades from roads leading to Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Jehlum and other cities. Containers on Murree Road and Faizabad Square were removed with the help of a crane by the traffic police today evening. The Rawalpindi traffic police also removed the diversions leading to the Saddar and other link roads. Traffic on the 9th Avenue Signal to Stadium Road was also opened. The Grand Trunk Road was opened in Jhelum, Gujrat and Gujranwala. The containers
placed on the River Jhelum Bridge have also been removed. A ditch dug out at Srai Alamgir near Jhelum has also been filled up. Earlier on Sunday noon, the Chenab River bridge and various sections of GT Road remained closed with barricades to stop TLP long march. GT Road was closed at several points while land routes to Gujarat, Jhelum and other citieis were also closed. As a result, people faced problems in commuting. Pakistan Rangers also set up a red line at a distance of 500 meters from the Chenab River. However, the hardline Pakistani Islamist group TLP called off the long march to Islamabad today after reaching a deal with the government. Former chairman of Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Mufti Muneeb announced at a press conference today that talks between the government and the banned TLP had been successful and an agreement had been reached. He termed the agreement as the victory of Islam and Pakistan.
Speaker NA Qaiser urges global community to cooperate with Afghanistan lahore APP
Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaiser Sunday said that Pakistan is playing crucial role in the establishment of durable peace in Afghanistan and urged the world community to promote cooperation with it in all sectors including trade. Addressing a public meeting at Marghuz, district Swabi, the Speaker National Assembly said that the restoration of peace in Afghanistan will usher progress and development in the whole region. He said that our businessmen will get access to the market of Central Asian States and help promote business activities. Besides, CM Mahmood Khan, Federal Minister, Murad Saeed, Provincial Ministers Shahram Khan Tarakai, Taimur Saleem Jhagra and MPA Aqibullah were also present on the occasion. Speaker NA said, a new era of progress and development has begun in the country and now Pakistan will give a changed look. He said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan the country has been put on track of development. He said that the present government was inherited numerous crisis that was battled by it bravely. He said that the completion of projects initiated under the auspices of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will increase economic activities and people will get employment opportunities. He said that during the present government district Swabi has been given unprecedented funds. Asad Qaiser said that before the present government, no big ministry was given to Swabi and for the first time the district was given such important representation. He said that he had remained Speaker of KP Assembly for five years and since the last three years, he is the Speaker of the National Assembly. He said that for the first time, Pakhtuns have been given honour and the representatives of the province were given big posts. He said that the journey of the development of Pakhtuns has begun and now they are not behind anyone in any sector. Speaker stated that Pakhtuns have voted for Imran Khan twice and will vote for him in future too. He concluded by stating that he is in politics for the service of his area and people of the district.
Senior leader Pakistan Muslim League PML-N Khawaja Ahmad Hassan organized a convention in honor of NA-130 local body representatives. Khawaja Saad Rafique attended the convention as Chief Guest. Mayor Lahore Colonel Retired Mubashir Javed, Deputy Mayor Mian Tariq, Ejaz Hafeez Mushtaq Mughal, Rao Shahabuddin, Mehr Mahmood, Hajiullah Rakha, Nazir Khan Swati, MPA Rabia Farooqi, MPA Ramzan Siddique Bhatti, Syed Tauseef were present at the LG Convention. Local body representatives belonging to NA-130 participated in the local body convention. PR
TLP calls off protests after reaching undisclosed agreement with government CoNtiNueD from page 4 He said the terms of the agreement would be shared at a suitable time. Rehman also thanked Prime Minister Imran Khan for forming the committee and later “empowering and trusting” it to help resolve the dispute amicably. He said the agreement was reached before further deterioration of the situation. “The agreement does not indicate a victory or defeat […] rather it is the victory of the nation,” he remarked. Rehman told the media the talks were held in a relaxed and responsible atmosphere without any pressure and lauded the contribution of all clerics to achieve the objective. He said the dispute turned violent when the emotions overpowered the sanity, however, it has been resolved with prudence. He also urged the media to portray the agreement in a positive to contribute to the sincere efforts of the committee which held negotiations for 12-13 hours straight. He said the agreement would be differ-
ent from its predecessors which were turned down, or were not implemented on, hours after their signing. Qureshi also thanked the clerics, who met the prime minister on Saturday and assured their support, who played their part to steer Pakistan out of an ordeal. He said the committee was formed after the National Security Committee decided to prefer the course of dialogue and resolve the issue prudently. Keeping in view the mandate, he said the committee worked to address the perturbance among the people and do away with the situation which had led to the killings, losses of properties and economy. Qureshi said the course of dialogue was opted keeping in view the national interest as any violence could appease none but the anti-state elements. In the latest protest, a march from Lahore to Islamabad along GT Road, TLP militants repeatedly clashed with police, paralysing traffic as they threatened to blockade Islamabad if their demands were not met.
On Wednesday, four policemen were killed and hundreds wounded when militants opened fire with automatic weapons. No one has been arrested over the killings. Three policemen died in earlier clashes in Lahore. A report, citing people familiar with the development, claimed the hardline religious group decided to call off the long march on Islamabad after a new deal was reached between its leaders and the government. The group prepared to march on Islamabad on Thursday despite last-minute negotiations with the government that a minister said were deadlocked. Thousands of members of the proscribed group had been gathered since last Friday on a highway, just outside Lahore, with a series of demands including the release of their imprisoned leader, Saad Hussain Rizvi. They began marching north towards the capital Thursday night after a series of deadly clashes with police the previous evening but have since camped near Wazirabad city after Rangers, called in
CMYK
Wednesday to maintain law and order for a period of 60 days, marked a so-called red line about 500 metres from the Chenab toll plaza and put up a notice nearby warning the protesters “not to breach the line or face consequences”. Reports further said the protestors will end their sit-in from the city near GT Road. Meanwhile, the government will complete the legal formalities to release the workers and supporters of the group it arrested for violating the law and indulging in violent activities. Per the report, the latest round of talks was held late Saturday night between a ministerial-ranking government team and the top leadership of the group. TLP FIASCO: The violence erupted after the government of Prime Minister Khan said it would not accept the group’s demand to close the French embassy and expel the envoy. Khan’s decision infuriated supporters of the party who over the weekend suspended their march to Islamabad to give the government three days to consider their de-
mands but resumed it later, accusing the government of “lies and deceit”. The party started demanding the expulsion of the ambassador in October 2020 when French President Emmanuel Macron defended blasphemous caricatures as freedom of expression. Macron’s comments came after a young man beheaded a French school teacher who had shown caricatures in class. The images were republished by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to mark the opening of the trial over the deadly 2015 attack against the publication for the original caricatures. Since then, Rizvi’s party had been threatening a march toward Islamabad, which it launched last week amid clashes that killed several people, including police officers, in Lahore and elsewhere. Rizvi’s party gained prominence in the 2018 general elections, campaigning on the single issue of defending the blasphemy laws, which calls for the death penalty for anyone who insults Islam and the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
Monday, 1 November, 2021 | ISLAMABAD
PIDE tO HOst 35tH AGM AnD COnfErEnCE Of PsDE In PEsHAwAr
P
AKISTAN Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) has announced it will host the 35th Annual General Meeting and Conference of the Pakistan Society of Development Economists (PSDE) on “Opportunities to Excel – Now and The Future” in collaboration with the IMSciences Peshawar from 23 to 25 November 2021 in Peshawar. The spokesperson of PIDE while talking to a group of journalists here on Sunday stated that the PSDE after holding all but one conferences in Islamabad has decided to take its conferences to different cities of Pakistan. The objective is to involve the locals of the city and a wider segment of the society in the debates that the PSDE seeks to generate. It is in this spirit that this year’s conference of the PSDE is being held at Peshawar. It is hoped that the local academia, policymakers and the
business community will actively participate in the conference. The Spokesperson further stated that Pakistan is experiencing a youth bulge for over a decade now but has not been able to reap demographic dividend so far because young people lack the opportunity to let their talent flower. According to the spokesperson, PSDE wants Pakistan to be a place that allows people to, identify, avail, and maximize opportunity.
APHC condemns use of brute force against IOJK people In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) has expressed grave concern over the deteriorating situation in the territory where normal human life has become highly vulnerable to the Indian forces. The APHC spokesman in statement issued in Srinagar strongly condemned the use of brute force against the people belonging to all walks of life, including employees, students, journalists, labourers and businessmen and reiterated the unwavering commitment of the freedom-loving people of Kashmir to take the ongoing resistance movement to its logical conclusion. Freedom from forcible and illegal occupation of India is the only priority of the freedom-loving people of Kashmir, so the question of any surrender before Indian military might does not arise at all, affirmed the spokesman. Terming the prevailing situation in the territory as most critical, he said the Indian forces have let loose a reign of terror in the nook and corner of the territory and despite the presence of one million Indian forces, patrolling in and around the dwellings, the brave people of Kashmir dare to challenge their brutalities with their open chests. The spokesman said, people have rendered unprecedented sacrifices for their inalienable right to self-determination since the Indian illegal military occupation in 1947 and their heartwrenching sufferings at the hands of forces continue as before. The APHC spokesman urged the United Nations to take serious measures to fulfill the commitments of resolving Kashmir dispute in accordance with its own resolutions and allow people of Kashmir to exercise their right to self- determination as per their aspirations. While expressing deep concern over the widespread genocide and the worst kind of human rights abuses perpetrated by the Indian forces in IIOJK, said it is the moral and legal obligations of the United Nations to stop genocide of the freedom-loving people of Kashmir and put pressure on India to honour the human values and rights as guaranteed by the Human Rights Charter of 1948. app
city notes M a niazi
t
HERE was clearly a conspiracy by India to work against Imran Khan. The craven way that it capitulated against Pakistan in the T20 match in Dubai showed that it was doing its best to spoil his image. By letting Babar Azam win that match, they actually managed to create another challenger for Imran. It was perhaps bad enough that India had allowed Shaheen Afridi to take those top order wickets. Shaheen, it should be remembered, is the likeliest candidate to be selected in place of Imran, being a personable fast bowler. Of course, he hasn’t built a cancer hospital yet, but give him time. Of course, that match helped solve some mysteries that were puzzling us. For example, it explained to us all that any voodoo dolls with pins stuck in time that were not (repeat NOT) found outside PM’s
How would this happen? What is the role of the state, markets, and society in identifying, allowing, and maximizing ‘opportunity’? This would be the focus of debate for the 35th AGM and conference of the PSDE. T h e PIDE and PSDE also want to examine the society and economy in the context of the 4th Industrial revolution and what opportunities the revolution offers and what the society needs, to let people
avail the opportunities and embrace the revolution. PIDE’s spokesperson further added that the Pakistan Society of Development Economists (PSDE) is the only Pakistani professional association of economists and other social scientists. It provides an institutional framework for professionals to further their research. The society was formed in 1982 and is housed in the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE). The Society provides a platform for academics and policy-makers to exchange ideas on the pressing economic and social problems facing Pakistan. It provides an important forum through the Annual General Meetings and Conferences for professionals from economic and social fields, policymakers, businessmen, and various schools of interested observers to debate emergent issues. aziz Buneri
Curtailment of administrative powers of principals irk staff The curtailment of administrative powers of the heads of the educational institutions by the concerned authority in its new centrally control policy has affected the day to day affairs and caused resentment among the staff. According to an official source, the Federal Directorate of education (FDE) in a new policy has further curtailed the administrative powers of head of the educational institutions. The Principals have been asked to grant only one casual leave in a month to his or her staff. The staff can grant one additional casual leave in case of emergency if evidence is provided. The Principals are not allowed to grant more than two casual leaves to their staff in a month. In case of more than two, the case will be sent to the respective Area Education Officer (AEO). In a similar move the procedure to allow fee concession for children of staff which was so simple has now been made complicated involving FDE bureaucratic protocols. Earlier, Principals granted the fee concession to the employees of FDE and institutions after verification of documents. But now FDE staff will have to go through far longer procedures to seek a minor fee concession for their children. Earlier, FDE has fixed identical timings and duration of periods for schools and colleges which was also not a rational decision. Schools and colleges are different on the basis of students of different age groups. Colleges should follow the university Calendar instead. A Principal of a college said, “The excessive involvement of FDE in institutions’ matters through Area Education Officers (AEO) is causing an immense resentment among the Principals. These posts have been occupied by irrelevant officers since the last four years or more despite a number of eligible and qualified officers in the department. Those occupied positions are of grade 19, on which some non-cadre and junior officers of below rank have been posted who are exercising their powers on the behalf of FDE. They take all the decisions and decide how to implement them. Principals are
not supposed to take any initiative and are to do whatever they have been directed, the principal said while talking to APP. A clerk of a college said, “Concentration of administrative powers with FDE creates delay in performance of work because of transmission of letters from and to the schools/colleges. Quick decisions are not possible which also results in delay of official work. Our college attendant got a reply from FDE through AEO after 20 days that his leave cannot be granted while he had already availed leave. Centralization of powers is the problem, not the solution, he added. The elected president of the teaching community, Dr. Rahima Rahman said, “New casual leave protocol has irked teachers. Resentment of teachers has been observed against the new casual leave policy enforced by FDE”. “Moreover Division of administrative powers between FDE and educational institutions has created an imbalance in the structure of the organization. If educational institutions are given some degree of authority and local autonomy, it will bring FDE closer to the teachers and will improve their morale”, Dr. Rahima said. app
NEWS
05
Building on Pakistan’s ties, Palestine sees China engagement to ‘tell our story’ ISLAMABAD anadolu agency
The people of Palestine are ready to engage with the Chinese government and people to “tell them our story,” speakers and experts told an Istanbul conference. However, a formal engagement with Beijing also requires platforms and vibrant activism, they added. “We are ready and willing to engage with Chinese lawmakers to explain our story,” said Sheikh Hamid Al-Ahmar, addressing the first international conference on China and the Palestinian cause. AlAhmar is the president of the Association of Parliamentarians for Al-Quds. He also said Palestinians need to “take into consideration China’s Belt and Road Initiative which requires pure environment without violence and support from everybody.” “We can build on Pakistan’s relation with China to help Palestine,” he suggested. “Parliamentarians for Al-Quds look forward to an invitation from the Chinese side to engage with them on Palestine,” he added. Mousa Abu Marzook, the vice-president of the Palestinian group Hamas, said Palestinians have “ethical, most organized resistance which defends our people.” “Latest battle for Al-Quds is another example of it,” he said. Earlier this year in May, Israel launched fresh attacks on Gaza Strip, killing nearly 300 people, including women and children, and left behind a trail of destruction. Health centres and media offices, as well as schools, were among the structures targeted. Calling Hamas a “main player” in the Palestinian conflict, Marzook said the group has a relationship with “many people in public as well as behind the cameras, we appreciate that gesture.” He said Palestinians look to a multi-polar world “where we do not have to face wrongs done by the US,” warning China that its “relations with Israel may have short term benefits but it will harm in longer term.” “Roots of terrorism lie in Israel,” Marzook alleged. “We have historic relations with China and want Beijing away from Israel (…) And we want to enhance bilateral relations with Beijing,” he added. Referring to the withdrawal of US-led foreign forces from Afghanistan, Marzook said Beijing is going to “fill gap vacuum like this.” He told Anadolu Agency that Hamas enjoyed the relationship with Chinese people in the past “but it has come down in past one decade because of growing Beijing-Israel relations and opposition by the Palestinian Authority to our relations with Beijing.” “After the battle of Saif Al-Quds, they (Chinese) contacted us and we are going to make good relations with China,” he added, referring to the latest attacks by Israel against Gaza. China would need allies in new Cold War era Sami Al-Arian, Palestinian academic and activist, told the conference the US “will not allow China to yield influence,” referring to forming of new military alliances around China by Washington. “The US is forming military alliances to besiege China,” he said, adding that Washington “does not allow any country to be neutral.” “Australia wanted to remain neutral but was forced to choose between security and trade,” he said, referring to the recent AUKUS military pact among the US, UK, and Australia. Al-Arian said that the US has 11 military fleets and “seven are rotating around the world while Washington is now building Blue Water Navy.” Keeping in view the situation which the US is creating around China, alArian said, “Beijing would need allies to ward off the pressure on China in new Cold War era.” “Supporting the struggle of Palestine along the struggle of Kashmiris in their struggle against fascist India would endear China to the Muslim world and defeat the attempt (of the US) to isolate China. But China also needs to resolve the problem of the Uyghurs in a balanced and fair way to receive the support of the Muslim world and beyond,” said Al-Arian, who is also a public affairs professor at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University. “China has to choose to side with people,” he added. Referring to the economic cooperation of countries like Turkey, Pakistan, and Iran with China, al-Arian said: “This could turn into possible military alliances.”
wHEn CHEErInG BECOMEs DAnGErOus House bore the name of Virat Kohli, not of anyone else. Virat Kohli is going to have a hard time whenever he gets back to India. It’s just possible he could win the Cup, but never play Pakistan again. Look, if Pakistan and India get into the semis, and India wins its, but Pakistan loses; India could face a team from the other group in the Final. But does Kohli think losing to Pakistan can be wiped out by winning? Not for Narendra Modi. Nor for the millions who follow him. Instead of burning him in effigy, maybe they’ll just burn him. An indication of how seriously the match was being taken is the fact that India has gone after all those who celebrated the Pakistan victory. There’s especially some strongarm tactics being used in Kashmir. Of course, we’re upset, but let’s imag-
ine the boot on the other foot. If India had won, and some minority member in Sindh had celebrated, would the local SHO have allowed his not knowing the difference between a run and a goal stopped him from registering a case. I wonder why those Kashmiri young men don’t try finding out how much they need to buy off the cops. Cops on both sides of the border love the father of their nations, both of whom are depicted on the respective banknotes. At the moment, the police forces of both countries are deprived of any share in the Cup. The Indian police can probably console themselves that when Kohli comes back they can stick pins in him, only stopping when they have extracted the requisite amount. Pakistan then beat New Zealand, perhaps because they had a point to prove about security. And also to show the world
CMYK
that New Zealand’s real fear, when they cancelled that tour of Pakistan; having the pants beaten off them. I hope no Pakistani fans in India had to face police wrath for celebrating. And I wonder what happened in Kabul after Pakistan beat them. Did anyone there realise that the Afghans had done quite well to force Pakistan to make such heavy going, but they did lose. Problem is, any Afghan nabbed for celebrating te Pakistan win might well turn out to be a member of the Taliban. Speaking of cricket, what do Shoaib Akhtar and Madame Noor Jehan have in common? Well, both are important components of the national heritage, and both were trashed. Shoaib was trashed on TV by anchor Nouman Niaz, while Noor Jehan by ex-rocker Ali Azmat. Ali Azmat has issued
at least two statements apologizing, Nauman none. Away from cricket, in Quetta, the CM was replaced. Jam Kamal, the country’s only third-generation CM, resigned just ahead of a no-confidence motion, and Quddus Bizenjo was elected in his place. Bizenjo is the same guy who replaced Sanaullh Zehri back in 2018 just months before the House’s term expired. After the election he became Speaker. The Speakership has been a hidden bomb ever since Manzoor Wattoo became Punjab CM in 1992. Even now, eyes are on Punjab Speaker Ch Pervez Elahi, who has been CM, and would like the office again. So what does the Balochistan Assembly do? Make ex-CM Jan Jamali Speaker. Jam Kamal may covet the spot, now that he has time on his hands.
06-07 Comments - 1st November 2021_Layout 1 10/31/2021 10:21 PM Page 1
Monday, 1 November, 2021
06 COMMENT
Will the AUKUS alliance provoke China?
TLP ends protest It’s over for now, but the future remains murky
T
he Tehreek e Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) has agreed to end its march on Islamabad after the success of the negotiations at Wazirabad. The government may well be satisfied that it has postponed the danger for now, but the cost has been heavy. For one thing, it was very significant that the details of the agreement were not made public, which made it clear that either the government had agreed to do things it was too embarrassed to admit, or it was the TLP that needed its blushes spared, because it had given up core demands, or perhaps both. For another, the replacement of the government’s original team by another, headed by Mufti Muneebur Rehman, shows the low credibility of government ministers. Statements of federal ministers during the protests showed that the Prime Minister lacked sufficient control over his Cabinet. The other main figure who had his image tarnished was Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, who was not only hapless, but was rejected as a negotiator by the TLP. Though the TLP has ended its protest, on unknown terms and after making unspecified commitments, it has emerged the gainer. Its imprisoned leader is likely now to be released, and that too with his visibility and his credibility enhanced. At the same time, there is nothing to guarantee that the TLP will not revive its demand for the expulsion of the French ambassador. It is likely enough that the government will give it cause. The secrecy surrounding the agreement will better allow the TLP to claim violation. The agreement is secret, but it should not include any immunity for those guilty of killing seven policemen. The killers of those who died during the previous TLP protests have still not been brought to book, and the addition of more policemen killed merely adds insult to injury. The doling of compensation and jobs to survivors does nothing to calm the rank and file of those who will have to put their lives on the line at the next violent protest. And past events indicate that the TLP protest may have ended, but can again be revived. even if it is not the TLP that takes to the streets, the government will need the police to control any crowd. It cannot afford to have any doubts about its reliability.
AUKUS may reflect US weakness more than strength
Dr MuhaMMaD akraM Zaheer
A
UKUS is a trilateral security agreement between Australia, the UK and the USA for the Indo-Pacific region. Under the agreement, the USA and the UK will help Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines. The agreement was designed to counter Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region. however, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson later told Parliament that the move was not intended to conflict with China. The agreement also includes cooperation on “additional cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and underwater capabilities”. According to the agreement, Australia will purchase modern and long-range capabilities for its air force, navy and army. The agreement is a big opportunity for these states with a like-minded alliance to promote security, prosperity and other shared interests in the Indo-Pacific region. The agreement will help Australia to build nuclear-powered submarines that are faster and harder to detect than those of conventional navies. These submarines can stay underwater for months and also can fire long-range missiles. however, Australia has declared that it has no plans to develop or to use nuclear weapons. Australia will become the seventh country in the world to operate nuclear-powered submarines. Apart from this technology and nuclearpowered submarines, Australia will also shared in cyber capability, artificial intelligence and other undersea technologies. The alliance reflects, in the view of several scholars and policymakers, that it would have to face challenges and resistance from the regional powers and their allies. The AUKUS agreement’s intentions may be to deter the growing influence of China in the IndoPacific region. When the USA was busy in the Middle east and Afghanistan, China was struggling to modernize and expand its nuclear capabilities so as to increase its influence in the region and beyond it as well. China has established significant involvement in the South China Sea which is a main concern of Western powers because a third of the maritime ship-
Inflation destroying everything PM’s rejection of fuel price hike may not last
B
Y rejecting the OGRA summary recommending a massive increase in the price of fuel, of over R 11 per litre, the Prime Minister indirectly acknowledged that fuel prices, and the inflation they represent, had reached intolerable levels. however, it is not likely that he will be able to resist the pressure to hike for two reasons. First is IMF pressure, where the Fund wants revenue raised, especially by such means as the government is using to stop the hike. Second comes the direction that oil prices are taking globally. When it is remembered that the rupee is declining against the dollar, the effect of any global increase is correspondingly magnified. Fuel prices make everything go up, because of increased transport costs, and they also drive up electricity prices, in the shape of the fuel adjustment surcharge. Whether it’s the surcharge or the tariff, the result is a higher power bill. Businesses pass that cost on to consumers in the shape of higher prices of all goods and services. The net result of all this is an increase in human suffering. The Prime Minister refused to impose a lockdown for the covid-19 epidemic because of his concern for the poor, so it is a safe assumption that he is concerned about this inflation. however, his Finance Adviser, Shaukat Tarin, has said bluntly that the situation will get worse before it gets better. his Planning Minister, Asad Umar, sees a change in March. Meanwhile, the poverty rate will go up, throwing millions more into it. A point has already been reached where suicides are on the up. A much larger number is having to cut down on meals, both quantity and quality. This too will spread. The PM should remember that he came to power not merely because he promised to end corruption, but because he said that by doing so, people would lead a better life. Instead, people find they are worse off than before. The day of reckoning at the hustings looms ever closer. Is there enough time for him to change the trajectory he is on?
The crisis over the DG ISI’s appointment is over
attiya Munawer
T
he government has finally notified the appointment of the Director-General of ISI, the country’s most important intelligence agency, after a long period of deliberation and unwarranted speculation across the country. According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s office, Prime Minister Imran Khan approved the appointment of the new DG ISI; and the names of the candidates for the post were sent in the summary of the Ministry of Defence. After interviewing him, Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmad Anjum’s appointment was approved. he is a three-star Pakistani Army General and will serve the post of Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) from November 20. It is a good thing that the name of the person recommended by the military leadership was approved. It will also give the impression that there is harmony in the civil-military leadership, and it will help to understand how to make things easier in the future. It is gratifying that the issue of the appointment of DG ISI has been settled amicably within the civilmilitary leadership but some politicians are seeking
Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor
Yousaf Nizami M. A. Niazi
Umar Aziz
Joint Editor
Joint Editor
Executive Editor
Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965
The agreement might also lead towards a Cold War mentality and ideological prejudgment. Chinese state media, particularly Global Times, took more extreme position on AUKUS and wrote that Australia’s deployment of nuclear-powered submarines will “potentially make Australia a target of a nuclear strike if a nuclear war breaks out, even when Washington said it won’t arm Canberra with nuclear weapons, because it’s easy for the USA to equip Australia with nuclear weapons and submarine-launched ballistic missiles when Australia has the submarines. As well as North Korea,he said the nuclear-submarines agreements may spark a regional arms race. Malaysia has also said the deal serves as a catalyst for a nuclear arms race and once an arms race started, it would be difficult to overcome. Although this is not the place to discuss the merits of this competitive version of the Australian National Strategy, it is worth noting that when Australia really relies on submarines, it will only face China. If the USA remains a major power in Asia then Australia has no need of them because the USA will be there. If the USA is not a superpower now, it will still be a part of the confrontation between Australian forces and the People’s Liberation Army. So it makes sense to upgrade all of Australian forces and capabilities to defend Australia. This also signals that the decline of the USA has started. The AUKUS controversy illustrates that close friends can be divided if trade concerns are at stake. But, Britain and the USA have other ideas, as their own military industry would be the one that would benefit from the deal the most as France had planned. But the most disturbing reality that emerges from this conflict is the deployment of nuclear ships in the Pacific. . Unfortunately, after false military adventures in the Persian Gulf and the humiliating defeat of the world’s strongest military in Afghanistan, it gives the impression that the Western bloc is now attempting to test the waters of east Asia and the Pacific Coast. It might be to take forward Obama’s “Pivot to Asia” policy rather than to relax military muscles. According to Carl von Clausewitz famous dictum “War is nothing but the continuation of policy with other means”. That is happening and I think such developments are an unending series of Tom and Jerry cartoons. The writer has a doctorate in political science and can be reached at akramzaheer86@yahoo.com
The matter was settled amicably
Dedicated to the legacy of late Hameed Nizami
Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad
ping of the world passes through it and there is $3 trillion trade in it every year. The strategy of AUKUS indirectly may protect the interest of America and europe by using the shoulder of Australia. With the submarine deal, Australia may feel secure from any aggression from the People’s Liberation Army after obtaining nuclear submarines. The two countries with nuclear weapons may not attack each other for fear of mutual annihilation but the controversy would create long distances for trade and investment activities among the regional and beyond the regional powers.however, the strategy carries many challenges in the region to the AUKUS alliance. Although the agreement is an attempt to draw a line before Chinese aggressive moves in the region occur, it separatse New Zealand and Canada from the USA, the United Kingdom and Australia who aretogether members of the alliance of intelligence-sharing, Five eyes. This machismo has been working during the Cold War and has proved a successful intelligence alliance. The AUKUS agreement will focus on military capability and intelligence sharing.The government of New Zeeland has responded that it would ban Australian submarines from its water under the present policy of banning nuclear-powered submarines and surface vessels. France has also angrily reacted and called back its ambassadors from Australia and the USA. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also stated that the AUKUS Submarines deal is a “stab in the back” for the strategic partnership between France and Australia. France thinks that if the deal goes ahead then the French defense industry would have gained much reward. A French official has stated that “We think that it would be a mistake for all europeans”. “We could turn a blind eye and act as if nothing had happened” The official said without elaborating that the european Union could play a strategic role in the Indo-Pacific region with the USA in terms of trade security, defense and defending freedom of navigation. On the other hand Beijing has condemned the AUKUS agreement and called it “extremely Irresponsible” because it may undermine the regional peace and stability with the intensification of an arms race in the region. Although US President Joe Biden has announced just a few weeks ago that the days of Washington’s foreign nation-building projects are over, it seems that Americans haven’t lost their appetite for global military adventures. China has also accused the AUKUS states of having a “cold war mentality”.
I
Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9
I
clarification from the Prime Minister on this issue, while some critics are also interpreting it as a setback for the PTI government and others have raised the question that if this is what was to be done, then why did the government delay? If there was an attempt to assert the authority of the elected Prime Minister and to establish a democratic tradition in the country, it should certainly be welcomed. however, the move, which has been the subject of speculation for nearly three weeks, appears to be at odds with the military leadership over the Prime Minister’s autonomy and authority. The Prime Minister and his envoys have been announcing that there is an ideal relationship between the civilian and military leadership, and following these assurances, the appointment of the same DG ISI is expressing the weak position of the Prime Minister. In this context, it would have been more welcome in terms of the continuity of the country and the democratic system if the differences in the bilateral meetings had been resolved instead of initiating a general debate on the appointment of the ISI chief. This did not happen, but the issue was deliberately protracted; giving the opposition a rare opportunity to speculate about the civilian and military leadership being on the same page. This aspect of the matter
Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545
was also echoed at the PTI parliamentary party meeting. Although the Prime Minister explained the situation at the meeting; and informed about the background of his desire to retain Lt Gen Faiz hameed in the post of DG ISI for some more time to play a strong role in the context of the changed situation in Afghanistan, there were still concerns about civil-military relations. There is no doubt that the country’s political and military leaderships are fully aware of Pakistan’s effective role for regional peace and stability in the context of the changed situation in Afghanistan and the role of the ISI in it. It is against the national interest for any misunderstanding between the civilian and military leadership over the leadership of the prominent institution to continue for a long time. It is good that the civilian and military leadership have settled the matter amicably through mutual consultation. After the amicable settlement, all the plans of anti-government and antinational elements to create misunderstandings in the civil and military leadership of Pakistan have come to a standstill. The snakes in the sleeve have not spared any effort to increase dissent. It is the wisdom of the Prime Minister that he has settled the matter amicably, albeit after a while. Also, the opposition should put national interests first, avoiding storms in a cup of tea based on their desires, as it is best for all.
It is good that the civilian and military leadership have settled the matter amicably through mutual consultation. After the amicable settlement, all the plans of anti-government and antinational elements to create misunderstandings in the civil and military leadership of Pakistan have come to a standstill. The snakes in the sleeve have not spared any effort to increase dissent.
I
Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk
I
The writer tweets @AttiyaMunawer
Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk
06-07 Comments - 1st November 2021_Layout 1 10/31/2021 10:21 PM Page 2
Monday, 1 November, 2021
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
Horrifying health conditions in Sindh
A golden chance for Pakistan An exchange of visits by Pakistani and Bangladeshi PMs would be good for the region Pathik hasan
B
ANGLADeSh Prime Minister Sheikh hasina Wazed has invited Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to visit Bangladesh. She was talking to Pakistan’s high Commissioner to Bangladesh Imran Ahmed Siddiqui during their meeting in Dhaka on October 25. Pakistan PM Imran Khan should utilize this golden opportunity to visit Bangladesh for strengthening ties. Sheikh hasina also reiterated her government’s desire for stronger trade ties and economic collaboration with Pakistan. And that is the peak of the practice. Recent relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh from 2013-2020 have not been good, but in the changed situation, this time the opponent, Bangladesh invited Pakistan. Thus, Pakistan should pave the way to smooth the strained ties. Policymakers of Pakistan should visit Bangladesh as soon as possible to pave the way. Recent incidents in Bangladesh surrounding the violent acts during the hindu festival of Durga Puja have indeed created some distance between New Delhi and Dhaka. This followed issues like India’s National Register of Citizens and the Citizenship Amendment Act, which had already caused tension between Bangladesh and India. Delay in the resolution of long-pending issues like the signing of the Teesta water-sharing deal despite Dhaka’s persistent demands, the killing of civilians across the Bangladesh border, as also the onion crisis, have sowed some distrust between the two longtime friends. Pakistan must utilize this opportunity. Relations with Pakistan were strained almost seven years ago over the trial of crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 war of liberation. Pakistan then opposed the trial. Against this background, the two countries reciprocally expelled diplomats for non-diplomatic behavio4r. The post of Pakistan high Commissioner in Dhaka was vacant for almost two years from February 2016. high Commissioner Imran Ahmed Siddiqui came to Dhaka in January last year after the Bangladesh government approved his agrément (letter of acceptance). he met the Prime Minister for the second time on October 2021 after taking charge. Bangladesh-Pakistan relations have been deteriorating since 2009. Relations between the two countries continue to deteriorate. however, from 2020, Islamabad-Dhaka began to come closer. And then this invitation seems to be quite significant. Such an incident has taken place in the diplomatic context of the world, as is now being practiced in the international arena. A few days ago, Imran Khan also invited Sheikh hasina to visit Pakistan. The influential hindustan Times published a report in its Bengali edition on October 28.earlier, in a meeting with the Prime Minister on December 3, the high Commissioner also expressed Pakistan’s interest in advancing relations with Bangladesh. Pakistan wants to improve relations with Bangladesh. The country’s Prime Minister Imran Khan has already sent a message to Prime Minister Sheikh hasina. A few months ago, President Arif Alvi ordered the Pak envoy Imran to bolster the ties between Pakistan and
Bangladesh during the meeting in March, 2021. Prime Minister Imran Khan had in July, 2021 spoken to his Bangladesh counterpart over the phone and expressed his government’s desire to “deepen fraternal relations on the basis of mutual trust, mutual respect and sovereign equality”. Then there was Pakistan and Bangladesh’s mango diplomacy with each other in July and August. high Commissioner Siddiqui handed over the message to Prime Minister Sheikh hasina at Ganobhaban on October 25. On the other hand, Prime Minister Sheikh hasina highlighted Bangladesh’s policy of maintaining good relations and friendship with all.shhe said Bangladesh’s foreign policy formulated by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is ‘friendship with all, not enmity with anyone’. On the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of Independence and the Year of Mujib, Bangladesh last March invited the leaders of India, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, except Pakistan, to Dhaka. however, the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan sent a video message on the occasion. Now PM hasina herself has invited PM Imran to visit Bangladesh. PM Imran Khan and the policymakers of Pakistan should understand the geopolitical scenario in the region. They should utilize this opportunity because Pakistan needs Bangladesh. Pakistan needs Bangladesh’s support in common international regional forums. Bangladesh is going to become a South Asian economic star. Increasing trade ties with Bangladesh would be beneficial for Pakistan. however, Pakistan needs friends in the region. After the meeting, the Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim told reporters that Prime Minister Sheikh hasina had told the high Commissioner that South Asian countries should be freed from the curse of hunger and illiteracy and in the work for the welfare of the people of the region, Pakistan and Bangladesh with other regional countries should work bilaterally. The high Commissioner handed over the original copy of the message of the Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan to Sheikh hasina. he also gifted a photo album, painting and video footage of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s visit to Pakistan as
the Prime Minister of Bangladesh to attend the 1974 summit of the Organization of the Islamic Co-operation (OIC). The Prime Minister thanked the high Commissioner for handing over the historical monument of Bangabandhu. The Prime Minister commended the publication of a calligraphy book in Bengali, in Pakistan on the occasion of the golden jubilee of Bangladesh’s independence. Ambassador at Large Mohammad Ziauddin and Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister. Ahmed Kaikaus was present at the time. According to the Pakistan high Commission, high Commissioner Siddiqui thanked the Prime Minister for supporting the implementation of his diplomatic mandate in Bangladesh. expressing hopes for further development of Pakistan’s bilateral relations with Bangladesh, high Commissioner Siddiqui said his country’s Prime Minister Imran Khan had invited Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh hasina to visit Islamabad. Prime Minister Sheikh hasina has accepted the invitation. The visit will encourage the two countries to work for mutual benefit and deep understanding. everyone is monitoring whether Imran Khan accepted the invitation. India in particular is looking into the matter. however, Sheikh hasina did not announce any date for the visit. Sheikh hasina is optimistic about strengthening trade relations with Pakistan. If Pakistan visits Bangladesh this time, there may be various agreements which would be mutually beneficial for both states. By forming an alliance, Bangladesh, China and Pakistan can work closely for ensuring the greater interest of the triad to some extent for the region. Pakistan can offer Bangladesh to utilize Gwadar port and CPeC. Pakistan would be able to resolve the bilateral problems between Bangladesh and Pakistan. Pakistan should fulfill the demand of Bangladesh, because Pakistan has a lot of responsibilities towards Bangladesh. however, Pakistan should utilize this golden opportunity for its own interest. PM Imran Khan should visit Bangladesh as soon as possible. Pakistan should remember that such an opportunity doesn’t come again and again.
If Pakistan visits Bangladesh this time, there may be various agreements which would be mutually beneficial for both states. By forming an alliance, Bangladesh, China and Pakistan can work closely for ensuring the greater interest of the triad to some extent for the region. Pakistan can offer Bangladesh to utilize Gwadar port and CPEC. Pakistan would be able to resolve the bilateral problems between Bangladesh and Pakistan. Pakistan should fulfill the demand of Bangladesh, because Pakistan has a lot of responsibilities towards Bangladesh.
The writer can be pathikhasan1141@gmail.com
reached
at
To save one human life is to save the whole humanity & hospitals are regarded as the life saving places in the world. On the contrary, if you have a round to the hospital in interior Sindh, you would lose your faith in the aforementioned dogma. The condition of majority of the hospitals is so pathetic that one can’t even imagine in this era of science & technology. Most of the hospitals lacks infrastructure needed for medical assistance. The wheel chairs & stretchers are found in pitiable condition, which can hardly be moved. The medicine facilities are only available at the medical stores available in the vicinity of hospitals. The oxygen masks are shifted to patient to patient which is an open violence of code of patient care. Most of the doctors have completely forgotten the hippocratic oath as many of them are busy in making money at their private medical centres. The concerned health department must devise out a tangible & feasible plan for providing the basic necessities in hospitals & Doctors Monitoring Unit may also be activated to ensure the doctors’ presence in OPD timings. health is the basic right of a person. Without a sound body and sound mind a man cannot lead a happy life. It is imperative for a person to be in good health in order to live a life that has happiness engulfed within it. Would you ever be able to work hard if your health is falling? Would you be able to spend happy moments with your family if you are not healthy? Well! the answer to such questions is clearly a “No”. It is actually the duty of the government to make necessary arrangements so that each individual of a state may lead a healthy life. The Sindh province of Pakistan is facing a lot of health problems. There are a lot of ailments that are prevalent in this province that need to be addressed immediately so that the menace of ailments may be taken away from this province. here are some main problems that this province is facing. The kids of this age at Sindh are not as healthy as their forefathers used to be. The kids are a prey to many diseases. The main reason behind their being vulnerable towards the diseases is that they do not receive any vaccination. The Sindh government doesn’t make proper arrangements for the vaccination of the kids that in turn causes them to suffer dangerous diseases. Moreover, there is no clean water to be drunk by the kids that causes them a great number of ailments. To their ill fate, even the food is not clean as Sindh is the province with great number of industries that adds much to the pollution level of the cities and villages of Sindh. The health facilities concerning pregnancy are too low in Sindh. There is no good facilities for the reproductive care at Sindh. Majority of the women of Sindh have to face serious problems in their pregnancies. Most of the backward areas of the Sindh are totally nill at maternity care. They lack health professionals and true knowledge about pregnancy. every year, due to this problem, many of the women along with their fetuses die. In some of the cases, the doctors fail to save the new born baby and label that mishap as the decision of fate even though that is caused by their own lack of knowledge. every year the population of Sindh Province is defied by the hepatitis. To be precise, about 2.5% people suffer from hepatitis B and 4.9% of the total population of the Sindh province suffer from hepatitis C. The Sindh government promised to give adequate medical facilities and treatment to the people infected with this heinous viruses but all of the patients did not receive any treatment. Out of 75,000 patients only 11,000 received the treatment. here it is to be told that the Sindh government does not take any serious step to eradicate this menace. Sajjad HuSSain CHEEHani agra, SindH
Illegal fishing at Makran coast FIShING is one of the predominant occupations of the population along the Makran coast. One of the key reasons behind this is the lack of alternate career options. Moreover, most fishermen’s ancestors have been engaged in fishing as the source of their bread for centuries, so they are deemed experts and decide to turn their expertise into a lifelong occupation. This is to draw the attention of the government that illegal fishing by illegal boats and trawlers is being carried out at Makran coast. A meeting was held in this regard, where the fisheries department stated that we have several difficulties in stopping the illegal fishing in Balochistan waters due to lack of manpower and speedy patrolling boats. however, the officials of department despite facing difficulties had taken effective measures against illegal fishing and trawlers boats. Additionally, the illegal fishing trawlers do not only deprive the local fisherman, but it also harmfully affects the marine life and Balochistan’s resources. The meeting was informed that a vessel monitoring system would be installed on boats and all local fishermen would be asked to ensure registration of their boats. The chief secretary Rana remarked that the agency concerned should take strict actions against illegal trawlers and unregistered boats coming for fishing in Balochistan’s water. Thus, the fisheries department should develop its capacity to curb illegal fishing in Balochistan waters and added the provincial government should extend all sort of cooperation in this regard. earlier in August, the Balochistan chief secretary has said that government has taken immediate steps for stopping illegal fishing at the Makran coast. The government will take legal action against those who have given permission for fishing to foreign trawlers in this coastal area. Presiding over a meeting in the port city of Gwadar, he said that allowing illegal fishing in Arabia Sea close to Makran coast was depriving local fishermen of opportunities to earn their livelihood. Chief secretary Mathar Niaz Rana briefed the meeting on the Gwadar port and CPeC projects as well as the projects initiated with the collaboration of provincial and federal governments. he said these projects would be completed soon. he said the projects were launched for welfare of the people of the area and that the government was taking steps for development of the fisheries sector. The meeting was informed that immediate steps had been taken to solve the problem of drinking water shortage in Gwadar. Mr Rana said the provincial government was trying to bring improvement in other sectors by utilising all available resources. he said the provincial government was aware of problems of the people and was making serious efforts for solving them. “We are launching various projects for resolving the issue of water shortage in Gwadar keeping in view the future requirements of the port city,” he said. Additionally, the fishermen in Balochistan who are running their bread and butter through this occupation lament that they aren’t officially categorized as laborers. Being denied even this status, the fishermen are essentially deprived of the little few benefits that such official categorization may offer. It is natural, then, that one of the key demands of the fishermen along Makran coast is to be given the status of laborers. abdul raHman SHaHbEEr TurbaT
08 WORLD VIEW 1st November 21_Layout 1 10/31/2021 10:20 PM Page 1
Monday, 1 November, 2021
08 WORLD VIEW
The wesT causeD The cliMaTe crisis. iT shoulD now Pay To clean uP The Mess AT COP26 A PLAN IS URGENTLY NEEDED THAT WILL ALLOW AFRICA TO DEVELOP AS WELL AS ADAPT TO GLOBAL HEATING
Guardian
w
lazaRuS chakweRa
heN will rich countries take responsibility? Last week, ahead of Cop26 in Glasgow, it was revealed that many of them had lobbied against the UN’s climate recommendations – namely that urgent action is needed. At the same time, some questioned the need to fund poorer countries to adapt to the effects of climate change – despite the failure by developed countries to deliver the $100bn (£75bn) they had pledged. Africa has done little to create the climate crisis. Yet the locust plagues in the horn of Africa, the first climate change famine in Madagascar and the water crises in southern Africa are all evidence that my continent is al-
ready paying the price of others’ emissions. The fund that some would like diminished is not charity, but a cleaning fee that must be paid. To compound this, wealthy countries are also imposing energy transition on Africa that risks doing great harm. several governments and multilateral lending institutions are banning funding for fossil-fuel infrastructure – and encouraging others to follow suit. This may sound logical on paper, but it rules out transitioning through natural gas, the cleanest fossil fuel. And in practice, it only applies to poor countries, while richer countries face few bans on developing or importing gas. Africans have a right to electricity. But renewables cannot yet fully service their needs and aspirations. storage technologies are not advanced enough to make solar, wind and other intermittent energy sources dependable. Access to electricity – one of the UN’s sustainable development goals – means more than charging a phone through a solar panel. It is about the on-demand, sustained and intensive energy needed to power industrialisation, build infrastructure, create jobs and ultimately lift citizens from poverty. Africa is the world’s least electrified continent and almost 600 million people lack reliable access. If, excluding south Africa, sub-saharan electricity consump-
Palestinian resistance poetry by Mahmoud Darwish
Middle easT MoniTor
M
Sayid MaRcoS TenóRio
AhMoUD Darwish is the most internationally-renowned palestinian poet and writer, although still little-known in Brazil. he is the author of 30 poetry books and eight prose books, translated into more than 40 languages, and winner of the Cultural Freedom prize, the Lannan Foundation (Us), the Lenin peace prize (former the soviet Union) and was appointed a Knight of the order of Arts and Letters by France. his works in the 1960s and 1970s reflect his opposition to the occupation of his homeland. “he was the prince of words, and his name was Mahmoud Darwish,” said Lebanese novelist elias Khoury. Darwish was a poet of enormous sensitivity with a fighting spirit who used poetic phrases such as: “how can a handwrite if it’s not creative when making coffee.” In addition to writing the resounding Declaration of Independence for palestine, proclaimed by the leader of the palestine Liberation organisation (pLo) Yasser Arafat, on 15 November 1988, in Algiers, Algeria, he has always taken a firm stance in defending the liberation of palestine. Therefore, he withdrew from the organisation after the oslo Accords, signed in 1993, which he called “a give-and-take” between the pLo and Israel. Darwish considered the oslo Accords to be “the greatest recklessness ever committed by a leader [Arafat] to their people.” Darwish was born in the palestinian village of Al-Birwa, Galilee, in 1941, to a sunni family of small farmers. he was the second of eight siblings. The village where he was born was occupied and razed to the ground by the Zionist occupation forces in the Nakba process in 1948. This led the Darwishes to take refuge in Lebanon for a year, where they began to live as “foreigners”. Upon returning, the poet found that his Al-Birwa home had been replaced by a Jewish colony with the new name of “Ahihud”. he was arrested several times between 1961 and 1967 for reciting poetry and travelling between villages in occupied palestine “without authorisation” by the forces of the “Jewish state”. his poem “Identity Card”, which was turned into a protest song, resulted in his house arrest order. After these persecutions and arrests, Darwish was forced into exile, which took him to places like Cairo, Tunis, Moscow, Beirut, and paris, returning only in 1996, when he was authorised by the occupation to attend a funeral. The expulsion of palestinians is a recurrent theme in Darwish’s work. he portrays the trajectory
of anguish, pain, and suffering due to deaths and expulsions since the creation of the “state of Israel” and calls palestine the “lost paradise” and the “land of divine messages revealed to humanity”, as described in palestine’s Declaration of Independence. his work reveals the unbroken and unaltered organic relationship between the palestinian people, their land, and their history. The Brazilian audience will be able to become acquainted with this poet of the palestinian soul with the launching of the book Memória para o esquecimento (Memory for Forgetfulness) (editora Tabla, 216 pages), published on 22 october 2021. The presentation was made by safa Jubran, who translated the book into portuguese, and by professor Geraldo Campos, a dear friend, coordinator of the Centre for Arab and Islamic studies at the Federal University of sergipe. This is one of three works by Darwish available to Brazilian readers, published in Brazil by editora Tabla. The book recounts personal memories of 6 August 1982, coincidently, the anniversary of the Us terrorist attack on hiroshima. This was one of 88 days of the siege in which Zionist state jets dropped bombs on Beirut, killing people – a reality Darwish experienced closely during his exile in Lebanon. The book reminisces on the meaning of exile – and not the diaspora – and on the role of a writer in times of crisis and war. his work expresses his love for palestine and its people, who “have existed and resisted” for over 73 years. The published books make up for an absence of works by Darwish in portuguese, such as those published last year: Da presença da Ausência (In the presence of Absence), translated directly from Arabic by Marco Calil; and onze Astros (eleven stars), translated by Michel sleiman. Another book by Darwish published in Brazil is A Terra nos é estreita e outros poemas (The earth is close to us and other poems). Darwish’s work is permeated with the testimony of life and struggle, marked by the suffering in exile and the attempt to uproot the palestinian people from their land. The author’s poems and stories bring an intimate feeling that is the same as that of the palestinian people, in which resistance, by all means, is the only way to survive and the only way to free palestine from the Zionist colonial occupation. Darwish has never renounced his status as a resistant palestinian national poet, making it clear in every line of his work that the suffering of the palestinians is not just of those who live under occupation or in exile. such torment belongs to everyone, since the crimes perpetrated daily by the Jewish state are crimes against humanity. The question present in Darwish’s work is one that everyone asks: Why would palestinians have to recognise the state of Israel in the territory of historical palestine without defined borders and in permanent expansion, and accept small islands of land as if palestine were a ministate? The author himself answers this in his poem “Identity Card”: “Is the government going to take away the rocks from me, as they told me?” Then he writes at the top of the first page: “I hate no one, no one I steal. But if I am hungry, I will devour the usurper’s flesh. Beware! Beware of my hunger, Beware of my anger!”
tion tripled overnight powered by natural gas, global emissions would rise by only 0.62%. In addition to powering manufacturing, gas would also underwrite agricultural development and food security. energy-intensive irrigation systems will be needed to modernise farms. so too will synthetic fertiliser, the most efficient feedstock of which is natural gas. As droughts and crop failure become more common, both will be in ever greater demand to keep the continent fed. Dealing with climate change means also dealing with its consequences. efficient transport infrastructure, food security and reliable energy grids are all needed to mitigate against natural disasters such as droughts and flooding. The more developed a country, the more resilient. And if clean natural gas replaces charcoal and other poisonous biomasses for indoor cooking, hundreds of thousands of lives, mostly those of women and children, will be saved across the continent. Currently the favoured energy unit across the continent is the diesel-powered generator. Unless a reliable alternative is offered, this dirtier practice will persist – because a choice between no energy or dirty energy is no choice for individuals and businesses in the developing world. Importantly, tapping gas resources does not preclude
renewables in Africa’s energy mix. The continent already draws much from such sources. Malawi, for instance, gets more than 80% of its electricity from hydropower. A more nuanced approach is needed if climate equity and justice are to be respected. When the concepts were written into the 2015 paris accord to combat climate change, it meant two things. First, countries that had become rich through hydrocarbons had a duty to cut emissions faster to allow poorer countries to develop. second, those same countries had a responsibility to help undeveloped countries adapt to the adverse conditions they did not create. The impacts of the climate crisis are inherently unfair. They are spread unevenly across the globe, with Africa the continent most at risk. To strike a global deal in paris, these different rights and responsibilities, duties and obligations had to be weighed, debated and then ratified. But blanket gas bans for the developing world show the west has forgotten the first principle. Repeated failure to mobilise the promised billions in climate aid shows that it has ignored the second – not just an act of dishonour, but of betrayal as well. If countries with the greatest capacity to effect change do not, those with more modest means should not be expected to do so. At Cop26, the west must show that it is now fit for the challenge and will finally fulfil its obligations. only then will equity and justice become more than a mere slogan. Lazarus Chakwera is president of Malawi, chair of the 46-member Least Developed Countries and chair of Southern Africa Development Community.
Deflating the bogey of a rapidly growing Muslim population THE FALSEHOOD OF MUSLIMS OUTNUMBERING HINDUS IN THE NEAR FUTURE HAS FUELLED COMMUNAL PREJUDICE IN THE COUNTRY Tribune, india
J
Rahul Singh
oseph Goebbels, Adolf hitler’s Minister for propaganda, memorably said, “If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it, and you will come to believe it yourself.” one is reminded of this when hearing what a lot of people, not just the Bharatiya Janata party and its supporters, say about how India’s Muslim population is increasing at such a rapid rate that Muslims will outnumber hindus very soon. This false narrative is reinforced by the fact that a Muslim can legally have up to four wives. It stands to reason then, so the twisted logic goes, that many more Muslim babies are born than hindu babies. Nobody bothers to ask how many Muslims actually have more than one wife. In reality, very few. I personally don’t know of any. Do you? Anyhow, the myth of Muslims multiplying much more than hindus persists, fuelling communal prejudice. It is sad that Mohan Bhagwat, head of the Rashtriya swayamsevak sangh, has joined the chorus. Recently, while delivering the annual Vijay Dashmi speech at Nagpur, he said that there was a need for a “population policy” based on the “demographic changes and imbalance” in India’s population. What he meant by “imbalance” was that the hindu population was growing at a slower pace than that of Muslims. he also called for a policy to curb population growth that would apply to all communities. There can be no quarrel about the need to slow down the rise in numbers, and that all should take part in the effort. even though the country’s population growth rate has indeed come down in the past three decades or so, it is still unsustainable. It has not reached the desirable “zero growth rate”, or fertility replacement level, as has China’s. The United Nations estimates that between 2020 and 2050, there will be 27.3 crore more Indians on the planet, and that by 2027 — in just six years — we will exceed China’s population. Clearly, the Indian government, along with civil society, must do its utmost to slow down the rate of population growth. otherwise, we face a demographic disaster, not a demographic dividend. The truth of the matter is that after sanjay Gandhi’s ham-handed and coercive measures to enforce the family planning programme during his mother’s emergency rule (which was part of the reason the Congress lost the 1977 General election), all the political parties in power have been scared of pursuing an effective family planning programme. The short-sighted feminist lobby, too, has to share part of the blame. It has consistently opposed the implementation of contraceptive methods approved by the Who like injectibles for women, by saying that men should also contribute to family planning by undergoing vasectomies. That may be true, but it is unrealistic in India,
which is still very much a patriarchal society. As a result, the most common contraceptive method remains female sterilisation, which is irreversible, whereas there should ideally be a spread of reversible methods, including IUDs (intra-uterine devices), injectibles, the pill, and the use of condoms. This is the pattern followed by countries that have been successful in their family planning drive, such as Indonesia, Thailand and sri Lanka. on the question of Muslims outnumbering hindus in the near future, former Chief election Commissioner sY Quraishi, in his authoritative book “The population Myth: Islam, Family planning and politics in India”, exposes the Goebbelsian falsehoods promoted by the likes of Bhagwat, and which are unfortunately also believed by a large number of non-Muslims. Admittedly, the rate of growth of the Indian Muslim population is slightly more than that of hindus. But the gap between the growth rate of the two communities is getting narrower by the day. There is a predominant reason for this: education. By and large, the literacy rate of Muslims in India is lower than that of hindus. proof of the crucial role of education in the population debate is when you compare a highly-literate state like Kerala with states of that have poor literacy, like Uttar pradesh or Bihar. The Muslims in Kerala have a much lower population growth rate than hindus in Up or Bihar. As Muslims become more educated, and their healthcare improves, they will have smaller families. It’s as simple as that — except that communally-prejudiced people refuse to believe the linkage. Let me end by highlighting the poor leadership provided by prominent Muslims to their community on this vital issue. They should have a look around them, at the more progressive Islamic countries. In Tunisia, polygamy is banned by law. In Morocco, it is made so difficult for a Muslim to have more than one wife, that in effect very few do so. In Indonesia, the pro-active mullahs have been preaching the benefits of family planning from mosques for decades. In Iran, after the shah was overthrown, the fundamentalist Islamic rulers tried out a pro-natalist policy. They soon realised their folly. Today, Iran has among the most effective family planning programmes in the world. Ditto Bangladesh. These Islamic countries have actually been more successful in curbing their population growth rates than India. Not just that. Another major benefit is that the women in these countries play a bigger role in public life than Muslim women in India. Better education goes hand in hand with greater participation of women in running their countries. education empowers women. Azim premji, a Muslim, is one of the very few enlightened Indian entrepreneurs who understand the importance of education, and its connect with economic progress. he pours hundreds of crores into an educational foundation he has set up. The head of the progressive and wealthy Bohra community, the syedna, should do the same, as should other Indian business houses.
Monday, 1 November, 2021 | ISLAMABAD
NEWS
NO DIsRuPtION IN DIGItal BaNkING seRVICes POst CyBeR-attaCk ON NBP
corporate corner POWeR susPeNsION sCHeDules FOR 1st NOVeMBeR 2021.
ISLAMABAD
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 1st November, 09:00 AM to 02:00 PM, Mahfooz Shaheed, Sagri, Rawat, Major Hanif, Abrar Shaheed, Klar, Fazal Ahmed Shaheed, New Chawah, Ghazan Khan, Highway, Tramri / ISI, Karore, T&T , Shakrallah, F-10, G-9/1, I8/2, I-10/1, PHA-1, Dargah, Rahara, CM Pak Zong, Bahria Enclave, Isolation Hospital, Sunny Bank, Cecil, Kohala PC, Balawara, Bari Imam, Gulshanabad, Gawalmandi, Dhok Hasso, Ali Market, Azizabad, Captain Amir, T&T Wani, Chakra, Siham, Range Road, BB Shaheed, Haider Road, Tipu Road, Rehmatabad-1, Car Chowk, Jail Park-1, Morgah, Jhanda, Humayun, Adiala, Rajar, Qureshiabad, Ara Bazar, Sagri, Rawat, Major Hanif, Abrar Shaheed, Klar, Fazal Ahmad Shaheed, New Chawah, Bohi Ghar, Salar Gah, Model Town, Kashif Gul, Mix Industry, Kohistan Enclave, Hassan Abdal, Islampura, Brahma, Fawara Chowk, Sarka, Nad Topa, Hameed, Attock Cantt, Gharibwal, Mianwala, Jund-1 & 2, Dharnal, Ahmadal, Lani Wala, Fateh Jang, F-13 Garmala, Langarpur, Bolani, Kariala, Fatehpur, Kohar, Pakhwal, Pedial, Safdar Shaheed, Sanghoi, Nathwala, Mumtaz Shaheed, M. Riaz Shaheed, Gadari, Matwa, Jarmoot, Chappar Sharif, Kantrila , Smoot, Murid, Bhone, Line Park, Sarpak, Dhadial City, Dhadial Mughals, Daulatullah, Sarkal, Kachehri, Rawal, Jalalpur, Chawa Syedan Shah, Lillah Town, Hassal, Danda Shah Bilawal, Dhok Ghazni, Main Bazaar, Akwal, Bilalabad, Mayal, Vanhar Feeders, from 08:00 AM to 05:00 PM, Dharik, Bluetooth feeders and surrounding areas 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. Pr
FBR Registers Historic Revenue Collection Growth of 36.6 % from JulyOctober 2021
Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has released the provisional revenue collection figures for the months July-October of current Financial Year 2021-22. According to the provisional information, FBR has collected net revenue of Rs.1,841 billion during JulyOctober of current Financial Year 2021-22, which has exceeded the target of Rs. 1,608 billion by Rs. 233 billion. This represents a growth of about 36.6 % over the collection of Rs. 1,347 billion during the same period last year. The net collection for the month of October, 2021 realized Rs. 440 billion, representing an increase of 30.5 % over Rs. 337 billion collected in October, 2020. These figures would further improve before the after book adjustments have been taken in to account. On the other hand, the gross collections increased from Rs. 1,413 billion during July-October, 2020 to Rs. 1,932 billion in current Financial Year, showing an increase of 36.7 %. The amount of refunds disbursed was Rs. 91 billion during July-October, 2021 compared to Rs. 66 billion paid last year, showing an increase of 37.7 %. Pr
1
shAhzAD PArAchA
LINK, Pakistan’s first largest switch and payment system, confirms that there has been no disruption of any interoperable banking services during or after the cyber-attack on one of the major banks in Pakistan. All transactions, both financial (ATM cash withdrawal, 1IBFT – Inter Bank Funds Transfer and Bill Payments) and non-financial transactions (balance inquiry, title fetch and bill inquiry) are completely functional and safe. There was no downtime from Thursday, October 28, 2021, till now, and the transaction volumes suggest that customers are conducting transactions as usual. This clarification is to dispel all rumors and give comfort to all banking customers that Pakistan’s Payment Systems and Digital Banking is safe, as neither customer data is compromised, nor any compromise has been reported through 1LINK grid or its member banks. State Bank of Pakistan, 1LINK and all banks are closely monitoring the situation to ensure continued safety and soundness of the banking and digital payments system. Customers can comfortably conduct their transactions using their accounts, mobile apps, internet banking and debit and credit cards through all available channels: ATMs, POS terminals, internet banking, mobile banking, OTC and other digital means. However, customers are advised to practice extreme caution in safeguarding their digital credentials which are required to perform transactions, including ATM Pin, passwords, OTP. It is pertinent to note that 1LINK is Pakistan’s first PSO/PSP and largest switch and payment system, providing a host of valuable online banking services like
ATM switching, Bills Payment, Inter Bank Fund Transfer, Fraud Risk Management, Switch Dispute Resolution, Global Payment Schemes, PayPak- Domestic Payment Scheme. 1LINK is continuously evolving and adding new products and services to benefit the financial industry. CYBER ATTACK: Systems at the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) were breached Friday night in what the bank says was a cyber-attack, causing nationwide disruption of services at the state-owned bank. “In the late hours of October 29 and early morning of October 30, a cyber-attack on the NBP’s servers was detected which impacted some of it’s services,” the bank said in a statement. The bank stated that immediate steps were taken to isolate the affected systems and asserted that no customer or financial data had been compromised. Because of the cyber attack, a section of the computer system at the NBP was affected which may result
Over Rs22bln loans disbursed under KJP: official
ISLAMABAD APP
The government has disbursed soft loans worth over Rs22 billion under the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme (YES) of the Kamyab
Jawan Programme (KJP), Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar on Sunday said. In a press statement, he said there has been a significant increase in the loan disbursement
PEW sees no chances of oil, gas prices reduction on world market over next few years President Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW), Dr Murtaza Mughal has said that there is no chance of a reduction in oil and gas prices on the world market over the next few years which may result in a global recession. In a statement issued here on Sunday, he said that the global energy crisis with the potential to intensify Pakistan’s compounded crisis. Dr. Murtaza Mughal said that the government should redouble efforts to find oil and gas in the country and try to remove obstacles in import of gas from Iran and central Asia otherwise masses and economy will suffer. During the pandemic leading experts estimated that oil and gas demand will never reach the pre-pandemic levels which proved wrong and now increasing demand has created serious problems for oil importing countries, he added.
09
The PEW President said that oil companies were under pressure to improve the environment but cutting emissions therefore these companies reduced investment in the energy sector which plummeted to a fifteenyear low of 350 billion dollars last year. The latest OPEC report has said that the oil sector needs investment of almost 12 trillion dollars until 2045 otherwise prices will rise while Bank of America has predicted that oil prices can jump to 100 dollars a barrel by September 2022 or even before it, he maintained. Dr. Murtaza Mughal said that Pakistan badly needs gas from Iran and Turkmenistan as the LNG import project is suffering due to bureaucratic hurdles. Iran and Venezuela have ample oil and gas but both the countries are under sanctions, he said adding both the countries can stabilize the prices if sanctions
are lifted. Avoiding urgent action will help rising energy prices to seep further into Pakistan as the country’s economy is highly dependent on imports and fossil fuel supply security. “Rising prices of energy products will translate to higher inflation and being an importing country, Pakistan will be importing further inflation from abroad, said Dr. Mughal. He warned that the country might experience a shortage in food production, factories can be expected to shut down, and foodstuffs costs will soar even higher, not only due to the currency crash but also as a consequence of the global rising energy prices. Petrol, diesel prices hike burning a hole in common man’s pocket therefore the government should do something to save the poor from the shocks, he demanded. iNP
process under the KJP as a large number of young people had opened their own businesses after availing concessionary loans on merit. He said the government was making serious efforts for the welfare and prosperity of the youth. Loans up to Rs3 billion was being approved for the youngsters every month, he added. He said the government had achieved yet another milestone by disbursing soft loans amounting to over Rs22 billion in the last two years. Dar vowed to disburse loans amounting to Rs100 billion within the set time period. He also tweeted the success story of one Raj Kumar who expanded his fruits and vegetable business after getting soft loans under the KJP within a timeframe of two months. In a video message, Kumar from Islamkot taluka in the Tharparkar District in Sindh extended gratitude to Prime Minister Imran Khan and the KJP team for creating pro-youth opportunities.
in payment delays for thousands of public sector employees. The bank stated that remediation efforts were underway to secure the breach and essential services will be restored by Monday morning, inshallah. The management of NBP advised its staff to take extra care in ERM (enterprise risk management) and IBFT (inter-bank funds transfer) payment processing. The NBP headquarter also advised through a zoom session that server and all apps, email were down due to hacking attempts industry-wide, affecting other banks as well. “The services are now being gradually restored, first server-based branches are being restored and will be followed by VDI,” the NBP management communicated to its employees “As precautionary measures, please take extra care in ERM and IBFT payment processing. As advised, core banking/profile has not been affected and ITG HO is working and any further updates will be shared,” the NBP management said. Meanwhile, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Saturday also confirmed the news of the breach at NBP. In a tweet, the central bank said: “NBP has reported a cybersecurity-related incident which is being investigated, however, NBP has not observed any data breach or financial loss and no other bank has reported any such incident.” “SBP is monitoring the situation closely to ensure the safety and soundness of the banking system,” it said. The attack comes at a time when Pakistan is aggressively looking to adopt the digital mode of payments, with the regulators and authorities pushing for ways to increase documentation of the economy. Two months ago, data center at the Federal Board of Revenue was hit by a cyber-attack, bringing down all the websites operated by the board.
Pakistan reports 733 COVID-19 cases, 11 deaths in 24 hours Pakistan has reported 11 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 1,273,078. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 28,449 on Sunday. According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 733 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. Punjab remains the worst-hit province in terms of deaths followed by Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Till now 12,915 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab 7,567 in Sindh 5,745 in KP, 940 in Islamabad, 740 in Azad Kashmir, 356 in Balochistan, and 186 in GB. Furthermore 469,960 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 440,139 in Punjab 177,968 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 106,896 in Islamabad, 34,477 in Azad Kashmir 33,248 in Balochistan and 10,390 in GilgitBaltistan. Pakistan has so far conducted 20,799,170 coronavirus tests and 48,192 in the last 24 hours. 1,221,535 patients have recovered in the country whereas 1,402 patients are in critical condition. The COVID-19 positivity ratio was recorded at 1.52 percent So far, 70,139,040 people have received their first dose of coronavirus vaccine including 415,562 in last 24 hours. 40,016,932 citizens have been fully vaccinated while 373,474 received their second dose in last 24 hours. The number of total administered doses has reached to 103,514,198 with 754,680 in the last 24 hours. News Desk
Monday, 1 November, 2021 | ISLAMABAD
10 FOREIGN NEWS
Taliban say FailurE To rEcognisE ThEir govErnMEnT could havE global EFFEcTs KABUL
T
ReuteRs
HE Taliban called on the United States and other countries to recognise their government in Afghanistan, saying that a failure to do so and the continued freezing of Afghan funds abroad would lead to problems not only for the country but for the world. No country has formally recognised the Taliban government since the insurgents took over the country in August, while billions of dollars in Afghan assets and funds abroad have also been frozen, even as the country faces severe economic and humanitarian crises. “Our message to America is, if unrecognition continues, Afghan problems continue, it is the problem of the region and could turn into a problem for the world,” Taliban
French climbers missing after Mount Everest avalanche: report PARIS AFP
At least three French climbers were missing after an avalanche hit the area they were in near Mount Everest in Nepal, a media report said Sunday. The unnamed climbers were attempting to scale an approximately 6,000-metre (19,700-foot) peak near Everest, The Himalayan Times reported. Their tents and climbing material were spotted near the Minbo La glacier below Mount Amadablam by a rescue team early Sunday, the newspaper added, citing sources. A Department of Tourism official told the Himalayan Times that the climbers had not obtained permission from authorities to summit the mountain. All climbers in Nepal are required to apply for a permit from the government or the Nepal Mountaineering Association to scale the country’s peaks. Authorities were alerted to their situation after a plea from their families for a search mission to be launched, the publication added. It was not clear when the alarm was raised. No further details were released. Climbers have started returning to Nepal after the pandemic forced a complete shutdown of its mountaineering industry last year and devastated the tourism-dependent economy. The Himalayan nation of 30 million people reopened to tourists and scrapped quarantine requirements for vaccinated foreigners in September.
spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told journalists at a news conference late Saturday. He said the reason the Taliban and the United States went to war last time was also because the two did not have formal diplomatic ties. The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 following the September 11, 2001, attack after the then-Taliban government refused to hand over al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. “Those issues which caused the war, they could have been solved through negotiation, they could have been solved through political compromise too,” Mujahid said. He added that recognition was the right of the Afghan people. While no country has recognised the Taliban government, senior officials from a number of countries have met with the movement’s leadership both in Kabul and
abroad. The latest visit was by Turkmen Foreign Minister Rasit Meredow, who was in Kabul on Saturday. The two sides discussed the speedy implementation of the TurkmenistanAfghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline, Mujahid said earlier on Twitter. China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, met Taliban officials in Qatar earlier this week. Mujahid said on Saturday that China had promised to finance transport infrastructure and to give Kabul’s exports access to Chinese markets via neighbouring Pakistan. Mujahid also spoke at length about the issues facing border crossings, particularly with Pakistan, which have seen frequent closures and protests in recent days. The crossings are crucial for landlocked Afghanistan. He said serious talks on the matter were held when Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had travelled to Kabul last week.
China rejects US intelligence report on Covid origins as ‘political and false’ AgencIeS Beijing has lashed out against a US intelligence review into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic, calling it “political and false” while urging Washington to stop attacking China. The Chinese foreign ministry’s retort came on Sunday, days after the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a fuller version of its findings from a 90-day review ordered by president Joe Biden. The paper said that, without new information, intelligence agencies would not be able to offer a better judgment on whether the virus emerged via animal-tohuman transmission or a lab leak. It added that China’s cooperation would probably be needed to reach a conclusive assessment on origins, although it emphasised that Beijing continued to “hinder the global investigation”. The lab-leak theory says the virus was spread from a research facility in Wuhan, the city where the contagion was first reported. The theory remains unsubstantiated, and China has repeatedly re-
jected it. Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in a statement Sunday that China had expressed firm opposition
to initial findings published in the summary report in August. “No matter how many times this report is published and how many versions
are concocted, it cannot change the nature of this being entirely political and false,” Wang said. He added that the fact intelligence agencies were tapped in origin-tracing efforts was “ironclad proof” of politicisation, and urged the US to “stop attacking and smearing China”. Beijing has come under pressure to consider a fresh inquiry into the origins of the pandemic after a delayed and heavily politicised visit by a World Health Organization team of international experts that failed to conclude how the virus first broke out. But Chinese officials have resisted this, often maintaining that calls for further information were motivated by politics. In August, Biden said China was withholding critical information on the origins of Covid-19, adding that Chinese officials had worked to prevent access for international investigators. Although Biden’s review was launched while the lab-leak theory gained momentum, the report noted that most agencies believed the virus was not genetically engineered.
Saudi-Iran ‘proxy wars’ play out in embattled Lebanon RIYADH AFP
Financially crippled Lebanon finds itself in a new tugof-war between regional kingpins Saudi Arabia and Iran after Riyadh and other wealthy Gulf states expelled the Lebanese envoy, analysts say. The crisis erupted Friday when Saudi Arabia gave Lebanon’s ambassador 48 hours to leave the country, recalled its envoy from Beirut and suspended all imports from Lebanon. The Saudi foreign ministry said the measures were taken after “insulting” remarks made by a Lebanese minister on the Yemen war, but also due to the influence of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Shi’ite movement Hezbollah. The group, it said, controls Lebanese ports and “hijacks” the government’s decision-making in Beirut. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait were quick to follow suit. The crisis is a fresh blow to Lebanon, a country in financial and political turmoil where a fragile government is struggling to secure international aid, namely from wealthy Arab neighbours. But remarks by Information Minister Georges Kordahi, in an interview recorded back in August, aired on Monday, slamming the Saudi-led military intervention against Iran-backed Huthi rebels in Yemen, undermined these efforts. Kordahi said the Huthis were “defending themselves […] against an external aggression”, sparking angry rebukes from Saudi Arabia and its allies and calls in Lebanon for his resignation. Analyst Karim Bitar said Kordahi’s remarks were just a trigger for a looming geopolitical showdown. The escalation “has very little to do with what this mediocre minister of information said… (and) every-
thing to do with the Saudi-Iranian tug-of-war that has been ongoing for the past few years”. ‘Battlefields’: “Kordahi was only a pretext for something that was long in the making,” he said. Lebanon is “one of the battlefields between Iran and Saudi Arabia” along with Syria, Yemen and Iraq, where the two regional rivals support opposing sides, Bitar added. Riyadh’s move also reflects the kingdom’s determination to push Lebanon “to take a harsher line on Hezbollah”, he said. Hezbollah wields considerable influence in Lebanon, where it holds seats in parliament and has been designated as a terrorist group by Saudi Arabia and much of the West. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati has said he “regrets” the Saudi decision, and urged Riyadh to reconsider its move. He did not explicitly call for Kordahi’s resignation but said he did not speak in the name of the government. He urged the minister to “take into consideration Lebanon’s national interest… in order to appease ties with Gulf countries”. Kordahi was nominated by the Marada Movement, a Christian party allied to Hezbollah and led by Suleiman Franjieh. The minister has refused to apologise — as both Hezbollah and Franjieh rejected calls for his dismissal. With Lebanon in the grip of an economic and financial crisis — seen by the World Bank as one of the world’s worst since the 1850s — the diplomatic row becomes all the more damaging. ‘Paying the Price’: It comes as Sunni kingpin Saudi Arabia and Shi’ite-majority Iran have been holding talks for months to ease tensions after a five-year rift.
The arch-rivals broke diplomatic ties in 2016 after protesters attacked Saudi diplomatic missions in the Islamic republic following the kingdom’s execution of a revered Shiite cleric. Bitar said the latest crisis is also linked to these negotiations between Riyadh and Tehran, with Lebanon “paying the price”. “When two elephants fight, it’s the grass that suffers and Lebanon for the umpteenth time in its history is the grass that is suffering when these proxy wars become more intense,” he said. Lebanon’s diplomatic fallout with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait also comes at a critical time for the small Mediterranean country. Mikati’s fragile government has not met for three weeks amid a campaign spearheaded by Hezbollah to remove a judge investigating last year’s devastating blast at Beirut port, accusing him of political bias. “Lebanon needs a cabinet and gains nothing by shooting itself in the foot as it finds itself in the midst of a regional clash,” said Michael Young, an analyst with the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Centre.
“Since the Saudis regard Lebanon as an Iranian card, they feel it makes sense to behave toward the country” in its current manner, he added on Twitter. But he warned that “by isolating Lebanon, they will only ensure that Iran and its local proxies tighten their control” over the country.
Monday, 1 November, 2021 | ISLAMABAD
SPORTS 11
BABAr AzAm’s mothEr dIschArgEd from hosPItAl, rEcovErIng At homE LAHORe
P
News Desk
AKISTAN cricket team’s skipper Babar Azam’s mother has been discharged from the hospital and is on the path to recovery. The news was shared by Babar Azam’s manager, Talha Aisham, on Instagram. “Alhamdulillah, the mother of Kaptaan Babar Azam is home and recovering well with your prayers,” he wrote. “We, as a family, are grateful to everyone for their gra-
cious prayers and love. Shukriya and Duaain,” he wrote. Babar Azam also shared a picture on Twitter of himself standing with his, taken before she fell ill. Thanking for all the sacrifices she made for him he wrote: “The first bat I purchased was of 1500 PKR. This was your entire saving but you gave it to me. You believed in me when others didn’t. Every inch of mine is indebted to you. I love you so much.” It had been earlier reported that Pakistan cricket team’s captain Babar Azam’s mother
was on a ventilator when he played the T20 World Cup match against arch-rivals India, his father revealed. Azam scored 68 not out and shared an opening stand of 152 with Mohammad Rizwan (79 not out) as Pakistan trounced India by 10 wickets in Dubai last Sunday. Azam Siddique, his father, said in an Instagram post that his son played all three games this week “in severe distress”. “It’s time for my nation to know some truth. Congratulations to all of you on the victory in the three games,” Siddique wrote.
“There was a big test at our house. On the day the match was against India, on that day Babar’s mother was on a ventilator.” Azam’s mother had undergone surgery. “Babar played all three matches in severe distress. I came here so that Babar may not get weak.” Pakistan have won all their three Super 12 games in the tournament and are well-placed to reach the semi-finals. They next face Namibia in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Afghanistan rocked as Asghar quits in middle of World Cup DUBAI AFP
Australia to take ‘two days off’ to ‘recharge batteries’ after England loss DUBAI AgeNcies
Skipper Aaron Finch said Australia will take two days off “to recharge the batteries” after suffering a brutal eight-wicket defeat to England in the Twenty20 World Cup on Saturday. Eoin Morgan’s England handed Australia their first loss – out of three – of the Super 12 stage after bowling them out for 125 in Dubai. England opener Jos Buttler smashed an unbeaten 71 off 32 balls to tear into the Australian bowling attack and race to their target in 11.4 overs. But Finch remains positive the team would bounce back in their next clash against Bangladesh on Thursday as they plan two days rest before returning for training. “I think we have got a couple of days off to refresh and recharge. The boys have been training really well and they deserve a couple of days off,” said Finch. “It was a quick turnaround from the Sri Lankan game to today. So recharge the batteries and then couple of really strong days of training and we will be back into it. “There is a lot of experience in the room. I am not concerned about carrying baggage into a different game against a totally different opposition.” Chris Woakes, who took two wickets including David Warner for one, and Chris Jordan (3-17) combined to rattle Australia and put them on the back foot at 51-5. Finch top-scored with 44 and shared a 47-run sixth-wicket stand with Ashton Agar, who made 22, before the wheels came off. Leg-spinner Adil Rashid trapped Marcus Stoinis for nought and returned figures of 119 form his four overs. “They are very well rounded. They have got a lot of bases covered in term of their quick, spin, death bowling and their batting is as powerful as anything,” Finch said in praise of his archrivals. “They are a dominant side, we have seen that for the last couple of years. We had a bad day as well.” Finch was reminded of Australia’s similar eight-wicket loss to England in the semi-final of the 2019 50-over World Cup in Birmingham. Woakes played a key part with figures of 3-20 from his eight overs that day. “Yeah, he’s a fantastic bowler. When there’s anything in the wicket in particular, he’s a beautiful bowler, presents the seam and can seam it both ways,” Finch said of the 32-year-old Woakes. “He challenged both sides of the bat tonight like he did in that game at Birmingham. Yeah, if we come up against him again, we’re going to need a bit of a better plan.” England stay top of Group 1 with six points, ahead of Australia and South Africa, who edged out Sri Lanka in the first match of the day.
Former Afghanistan skipper Asghar Afghan said he will retire after Sunday’s game with Namibia despite the T20 World Cup only having reached the midway point. “I will retire from all international cricket after the game against Namibia,” the 33-year-old said in Pashto in a video message on Facebook. “I want more and more youngsters to get the opportunity to play for Afghanistan. Therefore, it’s expected that tomorrow will be my last international match and afterwards I will resign.” Asghar skippered Afghanistan over all three formats of cricket for six years, before being acrimoniously sacked two weeks before the start of the 2019 World Cup in Eng-
land. He eventually won back the captaincy but was axed again in June this year after being blamed for the team’s poor form in a Test series in Zimbabwe. Asghar played six Tests, 114 one-day internationals and 74 T20 internationals in a career spread over 12 years. He scored 440 runs in Tests with one hundred while his tally in ODIs was 2,424 with a century and 12 halfcenturies. At the ongoing World Cup, Asghar scored 10 runs in the defeat against Pakistan in Dubai on Friday. “@ACBofficials welcomes and respects his decision, expresses gratitude for his services to the country,” tweeted the Afghanistan Cricket Board. “It will take a lot of hard work for young Afghan cricketers to fill his shoes.”
Afghanistan prove too strong for Namibia in one-sided T20 World Cup win
West Indies women’s cricket team to arrive in Pakistan today KARACHI News Desk
AgenCIes Seamers Naveenul Haq and Hamid Hassan took three wickets apiece to help Afghanistan crush Namibia by 62 runs in the Twenty20 World Cup in Abu Dhabi on Sunday and keep alive their hopes of progressing to the semi-finals. Naveenul Haq did the early damage with the new ball to derail Namibia’s chase, while Hassan ran through the middle order as their opponents could only muster 98-9 in reply to Afghanistan’s 160-5. Seamer Gulbadin Naib also picked up 2-19 in an inspired medium pace bowling performance from the Asian side. It was the second Super 12 win for the Afghans, who stayed second in Group Two behind Pakistan, who have won all three of their matches. Naveenul Haq dedicated his player-of-the-match award to former captain Asghar Afghan, who retired from international cricket after Sunday’s victory. “I made my debut under his captaincy, so I want to dedicate it to him,” the 22-year-old said at the presen-
tation ceremony. Earlier, Hazratullah Zazai and Mohammad Shahzad gave Afghanistan a solid start with a 53-run opening stand after captain Mohammad Nabi won the toss and opted to bat. Shahzad was happy to let Zazai take the initiative and farm most of the strike in the powerplay overs and went on the attack after his partner was out after a 27ball knock of 33. Afghan, who was given a guard of honour by Namibia’s players as he walked on to bat in his final appearance for Afghanistan, kept the scoreboard ticking after Shahzad had been dismissed for 45 off 33 balls. The former captain’s final innings was a useful 31 off 23 balls and he combined in a handy stand with current skipper Nabi to help Afghanistan up their scoring rate in the final overs. An emotional Afghan was given another guard of honour by his teammates as he walked off after getting out, caught at short third man while trying a reverse scoop shot off Ruben Trumpelmann. Nabi remained unbeaten on 32 off 17 balls.
The West Indies women’s cricket team will be arriving in Pakistan today to play an ODI series against the home side. The West Indies women squad will land at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi. As per the schedule, after spending three days in quarantine, the guest team will start training sessions at the National Stadium from November 4. During the Pakistan tour, the West Indies women’s cricket team will play three ODIs against the home team. The first clash between West Indies and Pakistan is scheduled on November 8. Both teams will face each other in the second match on November 11 and will play the last ODI of the series on November 14. Three PakisTan women’s crickeT Team member conTracT covid-19: Just a few days earlier three members of the national women’s team participating in the pre-West Indies series camp at the Karachi High-Performance Centre have tested positive for Covid-19, the cricket board said. “These members tested positive in the routine Covid-19 testing yesterday and are under a 10-day quarantine, which ends on November 6,” the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in its statement. The other squad members will remain in isolation until November 2 and undergo tests every alternate day, starting Friday, to stem any potential spread of the virus. As per the PCB Covid-19 Protocols, all squad members had joined the bio-secure environment after returning two negative tests. These squad members had been vaccinated for Covid-19 in May. Pakistan and West Indies will play three ODIs on November 8, 11 and 14 at the National Stadium in Karachi.
Monday, 1 November, 2021
prAyer Timings
NEWS
Two civilians killed, Three Fc soldiers injured in moTorcycle bomb blasT in Panjgur balochisTan BalOchistan
a
news desk
T least two people were killed and three FC soldiers injured in Panjgur Balochistan when a bomb concealed in a motorcycle went off in Panjgur’s Chatkan Bazaar area. As per sources, the blast killed two civilian passersby and wounded three Frontier Corps personnel. The area has been cordoned off by the security forces, while injured people were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital. Condemning the act, Balochistan Chief Minister Abdul Quddus Bizenjo said that targetting innocent civilians is a cowardly act. Panjgur district lies in the western Makran division of Balochistan. In the past, Chatkan Bazar had faced many terror attacks. Earlier in March 2019, at least two people were killed and nine others were injured in a motorcycle blast at the Bazaar. The bombing had caused a gas cylinder in a shop to explode, triggering a fire that destroyed five vehicles and three motorcycles.
New Zealand deals crushing blow to India with comfortable 8 wicket win
Dubai: New Zealand revived their Twenty20 World Cup campaign with a comfortable eight-wicket win over India, who succumbed to their second successive defeat of the tournament on Sunday. Daryl Mitchell made a fluent 49 and skipper Kane Williamson remained not out on 33 as New Zealand triumphed with 33 balls to spare to bounce back
from the defeat by Pakistan in their tournament opener. Earlier, pace bowler Trent Boult took three wickets in an inspired New Zealand attack as India limped to 110 for seven at the Twenty20 World Cup on Sunday. Boult returned figures of 3-20 and leg-spinner Ish Sodhi took two wickets
including Virat Kohli’s key scalp to deliver a huge blow to India’s hopes in the Super 12 clash in Dubai. Ravindra Jadeja hit an unbeaten 26 and Hardik Pandya made 23 to take the score past 100 as both teams look for their first win. Boult got Ishan Kishan out for four and nearly had Rohit Sharma on the
next ball but Adam Milne dropped an easy catch at fine leg. Milne, who replaced Tim Seifert as the only change in the New Zealand team from their opening loss to Pakistan, then gave away 15 runs from his first over with Sharma hitting the fast bowler for a four and a six. But the New Zealand pace bowlers kept coming at the Indian batsmen as Tim Southee got KL Rahul walking back for 18 with another pull shot that found the fielder. Sharma fell to Sodhi for 14, this time giving away a catch to long-on where Martin Guptill made no mistake. Sodhi dismissed Kohli for nine after the captain mistimed a shot to be caught at long on and walked back to stunned silence at a stadium packed with Indian fans. Pandya and Jadeja put up some resistance with a partnership of 24 that was broken by Boult who struck twice in his final over. Mohammed Shami, the only Muslim player in the India team, walked in to loud cheers after being mercilessly trolled following the 10-wicket defeat to Pakistan. Jadeja hit two fours and one six in his 19-ball stay. news desk
FAJR SUNRISE
ZUHR
ASR MAGHRIB ISHA
4:59
11:52
2:58
6:21
5:22
6:45
Taliban supreme leader makes first public appearance KaBUl Afp
Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada addressed supporters in the southern city of Kandahar, officials announced Sunday, his first public appearance since taking control of the group in 2016. Akhundzada has been the spiritual chief of the movement since 2016 but has remained a reclusive figure, even after his group seized power in Afghanistan in August. His low profile has fed speculation about his role in the new Taliban government — and even rumours of his death. On Saturday, he visited the Darul Uloom Hakimah madrassa to “speak to his brave soldiers and disciples”, according to Taliban officials. There was tight security at the event and no photographs or video have emerged, but a 10-minute audio recording was shared by Taliban social media accounts. In it, Akhundzada — referred to as “Amirul Momineen”, or commander of the faithful — gives a religious message. The speech did not touch on political organisation but sought God’s blessing for the Taliban leadership. He prays for the Taliban martyrs, wounded fighters and the success of the Islamic Emirate’s officials in this “big test”. Widely believed to have been selected to serve more as a spiritual figurehead than a military commander, Akhundzada’s statements will fuel speculation that he now plans to take a more central role in leading the new government. uNifyiNG fiGuRE: Akhundzada rose from lowprofile religious figure to leader of the Taliban in a swift transition of power after a 2016 US drone strike killed his predecessor, Mullah Akhtar Mansour. After being appointed leader, Akhundzada secured the backing of AlQaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, who showered the cleric with praise — calling him “the emir of the faithful”. This endorsement by Osama bin Laden’s heir helped seal his jihadist credentials with the Taliban’s long-time allies. Akhundzada was tasked with unifying a Taliban movement that briefly fractured during the bitter power struggle after Akhtar’s assassination, and the revelation that the leadership had hidden the death of their founder Mullah Omar for years. His public profile has largely been limited to the release of messages during Islamic holidays, and Akhundzada is believed to spend most of his time in Kandahar, the main city in the Taliban’s southern Afghan heartland. His last message was on September 7, when he told the newly appointed Taliban government in Kabul to uphold sharia law as they govern Afghanistan. Last week, Mullah Yussef Wafa, the Taliban governor of Kandahar and a close ally of Akhundzada, told AFP he was in regular contact with his mysterious chief. “We have regular meetings with him about the control of the situation in Afghanistan and how to make a good government,” he said in an interview. “As he is our teacher and everyone’s teacher. We are trying to learn something from him,” he added. “He gives advice to every leader of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and we are following his rules, advice, and if we have a progressive government in the future it’s because of his advice.”
G20 backs key climate target as UN talks open ROME Agencies
G20 leaders on Sunday committed to the key goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, but campaigners slammed a “lack of ambition” as make-or-break UN climate talks opened in Glasgow. Following a two-day meeting in Rome, the Group of 20 major economies agreed that keeping that goal, which had initially been raised in the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement would require “meaningful and effective actions”, according to the final summit statement. The leaders, whose nations between them emit nearly 80 percent of carbon emissions, also promised action on coal, but failed to set a clear target on another key goal, to reach “net zero” emissions. “We’re proud of these results but we must remember that it’s only the start,” said Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, host of the talks. Earlier, the COP26 climate talks opened in Scotland with a warning by summit president Alok Sharma that they were the “last, best hope” to keep the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 Celsius above pre-industrial levels. As an accelerating onslaught of extreme
weather events underscores the devastating impacts of burning fossil fuels, he said: “If we act now and we act together we can protect our precious planet.” KEEP 1.5 WiTHiN REaCH: In the statement, G20 leaders reaffirmed their support for the Paris agreement goals of keeping “the global average temperature increase well below 2 degrees and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels”. They added that “keeping 1.5 degrees within reach will require meaningful and effective actions and commitment by all countries, taking into account different approaches”, through the development of national plans that “align long-term ambition with short- and medium-term goals”. But experts say meeting the 1.5 degree target means slashing global emissions nearly in half by 2030 and to “net-zero” by 2050 and the G20 set no firm date, speaking only of reaching the goal of net zero “by or around mid century”. The leaders did agree to end funding for new unabated coal plants abroad, those whose emissions have not gone through any filtering process by the end of 2021. LaCKiNG aMbiTiON: Environmental campaign group Greenpeace slammed the final statement as “weak, lacking both ambition and vision”, saying G20 leaders
“failed to meet the moment”. “If the G20 was a dress rehearsal for COP26, then world leaders fluffed their lines,” said Executive Director Jennifer Morgan. Friederike Roder, senior director at antipoverty group Global Citizen, told AFP the summit had produced “half-measures rather than concrete actions”. However, French President Emmanuel Macron had earlier said it was too early to write off the success of the talks in Glasgow. More than 120 heads of state and government, including US President Joe Biden, India’s Narendra Modi and Australia’s Scott Morrison, are heading to the Scottish city. “Let’s not forget that in Paris, in 2015, nothing was decided in advance,” Macron told the weekly Journal du Dimanche. China, by far the world’s biggest carbon polluter, plans to make its economy carbon neutral before 2060, but has resisted pressure to offer nearer-term goals. India, meanwhile, argues that if net-zero by 2050 is the global goal, then rich countries should be carbon neutral ten years earlier to allow poorer, emerging nations a larger carbon allowance and more time to develop. DREaM biG: Earlier Sunday, Draghi, Prince Charles and Pope Francis had all called on G20 leaders, and by extension, the
wider group of world leaders meeting in Glasgow — to think big. Calling climate change “the defining challenge of our times”, Draghi warned: “Either we act now… or we delay acting, pay a much higher price later, and risk failing.” Prince Charles, a committed environmentalist and summit guest, had also re-
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
minded leaders of their “overwhelming responsibility” to keep climate change in check. Pope Francis, who is outspoken on the issue and received several G20 leaders at the Vatican this weekend, said: “This is a moment to dream big, to rethink our priorities… The time to act, and to act together, is now!”