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  • As glaciers melt, ice hockey in Gligit-Baltistan raises awareness on climate change


As glaciers melt, ice hockey in Gligit-Baltistan raises awareness on climate change

A girl waves the national flag of Pakistan on an ice rink in Skardu district, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, on January 25, 2022. (Photo courtesy: Pamir Times)
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Updated 27 January 2022
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As glaciers melt, ice hockey in Gligit-Baltistan raises awareness on climate change

  • Baltistan Ice Hockey Championship 2022 was held in Skardu on Jan. 25-26, with teams named after glaciers
  • Pakistan is home to 7,253 glaciers, with more glacial ice than any other country on earth outside the polar regions
Updated 27 January 2022
Nisar Ali

ISLAMABAD: With its first ice hockey tournament, Skardu Valley, the main gateway to Pakistan's highest peaks and glaciers, is trying to promote awareness on climate change, which is increasingly affecting the region's ecosystem.

Pakistan is home to 7,253 glaciers, with more glacial ice than any other country on earth outside the polar regions. But studies show that climate change is “eating" them away at a dramatic rate. Pakistan's northern region of Gilgit-Baltistan is home to most of the country's glaciers.

The Baltistan Ice Hockey Championship 2022 was held in Skardu on Tuesday and Wednesday, featuring four teams, each named after a glacier.

“First time in the history of Baltistan, we organized a mega event Baltistan Ice-Hockey Championship 2022,” Waqas Johar, assistant commissioner Skardu told Arab News on Wednesday. "We organized this two-day event to create awareness about climate change."

He said climate change is indeed a significant challenge for the region

"Climate change is real. It is a global challenge that threatens the very existence of the earth in the coming years. Gilgit-Baltistan, home to the largest glaciers outside the polar regions, is highly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change. The fragile ecosystem of Gilgit-Baltistan needs urgent attention."

Besides its awareness raising goal, the championship also aimed at promoting winter tourism.

“Such events play a very important role for the promotion of winter tourism and awareness about climate change,” Gilgit-Baltistan Tourism Minister Raja Nasir Ali Khan told Arab News. “We have been celebrating winter festivals like ice-hockey, ice climbing, skiing etc. in Hunza and other districts of Gilgit region. Now, the first time we are organizing ice hockey in Skardu.”

Known for its picturesque landscapes, Gilgit-Baltistan, a mountainous area bordering Afghanistan and China is Pakistan’s favorite tourism destination and was listed by Forbes among the ten “coolest places” to visit in 2018.

"Gilgit-Baltistan is blessed and filled with natural beauties," Khan said. "Here is also lots of opportunities in the tourism sector not only in the summer."

The Baltistan Ice Hockey Championship has also attracted foreign visitors.

“I am visiting the Gilgit-Baltistan region to support communities coming outside in winter, learning about activities and sports they can do in winter,” Canadian High Commissioner in Pakistan Wendy Gilmour told reporters in Skardu, as she came for the competition on Tuesday. 




Canadian High Commissioner Wendy Gilmour and Gilgit-Baltistan Tourism Minister Raja Nasir Ali Khan watch a match during the Baltistan Ice Hockey Championship 2022 in Skardu district, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, on January 25, 2022. (Photo courtesy: Pamir Times)

“Ice-hockey is Canadian passion we are so pleased to see happen here in Gilgit-Baltistan. It’s such an amazing beautiful area. It’s very wonderful to see girls, boys and the youth of this region come outside, learn about their environment, learn about types of things that we can do in winter."

Muhammad Shareef Sadpara, ice hockey trainer, said there were plenty of opportunities for winter sports in the region, where future athletes could be groomed.

“If the governments’ support continues, residents of Baltistan region make the country proud through their talent," he said. "There is no dearth of talents among the people.”

Dr. Mahrang Baloch: A child of resistance for Pakistan’s ethnic minority

Updated 6 sec ago
AFP
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Dr. Mahrang Baloch: A child of resistance for Pakistan’s ethnic minority

  • 32-year-old, arrested last month, is one of Pakistan’s most recognizable protest leaders representing ethnic Baloch minority
  • Security forces are fighting a decades-long insurgency by Baloch separatist militants, led by Balochistan Liberation Army
Updated 6 sec ago
AFP

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Dr. Mahrang Baloch has risen to become the young face of a decades-old movement against rights abuses since she discovered her father’s tortured body when she was a teenager.
The 32-year-old, who was arrested last month, is now one of the country’s most recognizable protest leaders representing the ethnic Baloch minority.
“Our father made the decision for us when he dedicated himself to Baloch rights. And after him, we all embraced his philosophy and committed ourselves to this struggle,” Mahrang wrote to her family from the cell where she is being held in the provincial capital Quetta.
She was charged in March with terrorism, sedition and murder, according to the police charge sheet seen by AFP.
Balochistan province, a sparsely populated, rugged region that borders Iran and Afghanistan, is the poorest in the country despite being rich in untapped hydrocarbons and minerals.
Security forces are fighting a decades-long insurgency by Baloch separatist militants, led by the Balochistan Liberation Army, which accuses authorities and outsiders, including Chinese investors, of exploiting the region.
Rights groups say the violence has been countered with a severe crackdown by authorities that has swept up innocent people. State authorities deny involvement in rights abuses in the province. 
According to Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, an NGO, 18,000 people have disappeared in the province since 2000, figures disputed by the authorities.
Mahrang founded the Baloch Unity Committee (BYC) after her brother disappeared for four months in 2018 to mobilize the relatives of victims of alleged extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, and other arbitrary arrests.
“Mahrang is the child of resistance against brutal state oppression,” former senator Afrasiab Khattak told AFP.
A spokesperson for the Balochistan government told AFP that “activists are making claims without any grounds” about rights abuses and enforced disappearances.

“SHE CARRIES THEIR PAIN”

Mahrang first began campaigning after the disappearance of her father, defying tribal tradition in a region where less than one in three women can read and write to leave home and demand answers from the authorities.
“We could see her blocking the roads crying and pleading for her father, even when there was a police vehicle coming, she was still standing bravely in front of every obstacle,” said Naseem Baloch, president of the Baloch National Movement, who has been in exile in Europe since 2011.
The bullet-riddled body of Mahrang’s father was finally identified one July night in 2011, scarred by torture and wearing the same clothes he was kidnapped in.
“My brother fainted when he saw him,” her 26-year-old sister Nadia told AFP. “Mahrang then replaced our father. She helped our mother feed us with her medical scholarships and continued her fight for the Baluchi cause.”
Not only did she carry on the struggle, she radically changed the Baloch movement, according to her classmates.
“Before, everyone was afraid to speak to the media, but Mahrang led the way and succeeded in having her brother released, so now families dare to denounce these kidnappings,” Naseem Baloch said.
Above all, Mahrang and Nadia Baloch did not hesitate to voice their accusations that the security services were behind her brother’s kidnapping.
Mahrang broke taboos as a student, too. She led protests against her Quetta university after staff were caught secretly filming women on campus to blackmail them.
 With a father killed, a brother kidnapped and a childhood spent in poverty, Mahrang’s story resonates with families in rural Balochistan.
“People identify with Mahrang because she carries their pain,” her sister said.
Mohammad Gul, a 55-year-old relative, said: “Baloch people see her as a ray of hope — a true leader challenging those who are responsible.”
Baloch armed groups demand independence, sometimes with spectacular attacks such as a deadly train hostage-taking in March, but the BYC advocates non-violence and a negotiated solution within the framework of the federal state.
Mahrang gained international attention after leading a “Long Baloch March” of more than 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) from Balochistan to the national capital Islamabad to denounce the alleged extrajudicial execution of a young Baloch man.
Her activism earned her a place among Time Magazine’s 100 Most Promising People of 2024 — an award she was unable to receive because authorities prevented her from leaving the country.
Her marches are attended by thousands, almost exclusively women, who stage days-long sit-ins.
“They are less likely to be beaten, arrested, or kidnapped,” explained Ayesha Siddiqa, a political scientist now based in London.
However, many women protesters have been imprisoned in recent weeks.
Mahrang has already “prepared the family” to continue the fight, said her sister Nadia.
“Perhaps one day, she will be kidnapped or killed,” she said.
 

Topics: Pakistan Dr. Mahrang Baloch Baloch Yakjehti Committee

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Pakistan Stock Exchange seeks Islamic finance expertise from Malaysia

Updated 7 min 11 sec ago
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Pakistan Stock Exchange seeks Islamic finance expertise from Malaysia

  • PSX welcomes delegation of Malaysian scholars to foster collaboration between Shariah-compliant capital markets
  • Since launching first Ijarah-based sukuk in 2008, Pakistan has issued Ijarah sukuk worth over Rs6.5 trillion as of August 2024
Updated 7 min 11 sec ago
Ismail Dilawar

KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday welcomed a delegation of Malaysian Shariah scholars and professionals as the country seeks to advance its Islamic finance sector and foster cross-border collaboration between Shariah-compliant capital markets.
PSX and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) have been striving in recent years to promote an Islamic capital market and create the enabling environment for the growth of Shariah-compliant investment.
Shariah lays down certain principles with regard to financial contracts and the conduct of business and trading in general. In particular, Shariah prohibits any transaction that involves an element of interest (riba). In order to ensure Shariah compliance of a product or service, it must be free from such prohibited elements and conform to other requirements of Shariah. Various stock exchanges, including PSX, have designed and launched products and services that cater to the specific requirements of Shariah.
PSX lists Shariah-compliant shares, sukuk (Islamic bonds), Islamic Exchange Traded Funds (Islamic ETFs), and Islamic Real Estate Investment Trusts (Islamic REITs). It is also deemed permissible as per Shariah for investors to subscribe to the Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) of Shariah-compliant securities. In addition, PSX offers Shariah-compliant indices comprised of shares of listed companies that meet certain predefined Shariah and technical screening criteria. A Shariah compliant facility to finance the purchase of shares is also available, through the National Clearing Company of Pakistan Limited (NCCPL), called Murabahah Share Finance.
Welcoming the visiting delegation from Malaysia, PSX Chairperson Dr. Shamshad Akhtar expressed hope for greater collaboration between the Islamic finance sectors of the two countries.
“Pakistan is also witnessing a growing demand for Shariah-compliant investment avenues,” PSX quoted Akhtar as telling the delegation. “With over 50% of listed companies on the exchange being Shariah-compliant, PSX offers a compelling platform for faith-based investments, including equities, sukuk, Islamic mutual funds, and ETFs.”
Since launching its first Ijarah-based Sukuk in 2008, Pakistan has issued Ijarah sukuk worth over Rs6.5 trillion as of August 2024.%
“The continued expansion of Islamic finance institutions, diversified asset classes, and investor-friendly regulatory frameworks are contributing to the sector’s momentum,” the PSX statement added.
Tariq Naseem, Head of Islamic Finance at SECP, provided an in-depth briefing to the visiting dignitaries regarding the progress and advancements in Islamic finance within Pakistan’s capital markets and non-banking financial sectors, particularly regulatory reforms and developments in the Islamic financial services industry undertaken to cater to both local and international market needs. The discussion also addressed the potential for enhanced collaboration between Malaysia and Pakistan in promoting Islamic finance on a global platform.
Farrukh H. Sabzwari, Managing Director and CEO of the Pakistan Stock Exchange, expressed his aspiration to benefit from Malaysia’s expertise in Islamic finance for the advancement of Pakistan’s capital market.
Sabzwari said only 0.14% of Pakistan’s population constituted the investor base, compared to 1% in Bangladesh, underscoring the significant potential for growth. He said approximately 80% of daily transactions at PSX were Sharia-compliant.
“Concluding the event, PSX management reaffirmed the Exchange’s dedication to building a robust Shariah-compliant capital market while highlighting the efforts of the PSX Shariah Focus Group — a multi-stakeholder platform comprising industry leaders, Shariah scholars, and financial experts — working collectively to foster an inclusive, faith-based financial system,” the PSX statement added. 
Pakistan’s government has failed to achieve a target set by the central bank to increase the share of Islamic banking deposits in the country by 50% by January this year, according to official documents seen by Arab News this week, as Islamabad attempts to rid the country’s banking system of interest.
Pakistan’s Federal Shariat Court (FSC) directed the government in April 2022 to eliminate interest by 2027. Following the order, the government and the State Bank of Pakistan have taken several measures ranging from changing laws in October 2024 to issuing sukuk bonds to replace interest-based treasury bills and investment bonds.
According to a presentation shared by the SBP with bankers in August 2024, a copy of which Arab News has seen, the central bank set an “indicative target” for the government to increase the share of Islamic banking deposits to 50% by January 2025, 65% by January 2026, 80% by January 2027 and 100% by December 2027. 
Pakistan, however, missed this target and was able to increase the market share of its Shariah-compliant banking deposits to only 24.9% by December 2024, the document stated.

Topics: Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) Pakistan Malaysia ties Shariah Banking

Refugee brothers worry about future in unknown Afghanistan after expulsion from Pakistan

Updated 30 min 47 sec ago
Reuters
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Refugee brothers worry about future in unknown Afghanistan after expulsion from Pakistan

  • Mir Ali and Asal Mir expect Afghan government to provide them with land, homes and employment
  • Over 63,000 undocumented or refugee Afghans have returned from Pakistan in the first 12 days of April
Updated 30 min 47 sec ago
Reuters

ISLAMABAD: Many Afghans refugees are returning to a homeland that is completely unknown to them, as neighboring Pakistan launched a large-scale crackdown on undocumented Afghan nationals.
Earlier this year, Pakistan’s interior ministry asked all “illegal foreigners” and holders of Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) — a document launched in 2017 to grant temporary legal status to Afghan refugees — to leave the country before Mar. 31, warning they would otherwise be deported from April.
But for many of these refugees, this means uprooting from the only homes they’ve ever known.
Mir Ali was born in Murree, a mountain resort city in Pakistan’s Punjab region, where he spent his childhood and formative years. But he has no official Pakistani identity.
Standing at Pakistan’s Torkham border crossing point with Afghanistan, Mir Ali was reluctant to leave.
“I was not willing to come here (to the checkpoint) and leave but it was mandatory. My brother persuaded me to go back there (Afghanistan) and get the documents for my nationality. It will be a problem if I lose both nationalities,” the 23-year-old said, as he loaded his boxed-up-life into the back of a government-paid truck.
Over 63,000 undocumented or refugee Afghans had returned from Pakistan in the first 12 days of April, according to a joint UNHCR and International Organization for Migration (IOM) report published on Thursday.
It added that fear of arrest was the most common reason to return. Ali and his elder brother Asal Mir said they were leaving voluntarily.
“We were born in Pakistan, so why didn’t we get citizenship? So, maybe there is welfare in this (being expelled to Afghanistan) too,” said the younger brother.
The brothers were just two of hundreds of thousands of refugees who spent decades in Pakistan and were never granted citizenship, despite raising families and contributing to local communities.
Asal lived all four decades of his life in Pakistan and he said the way the government’s deportation order was issued affected him deeply.
With nowhere else to go, he could only now look toward Afghanistan for support — a country still reeling from economic collapse and political instability.
“The situation is worrying,” Asal said, uncertain about the future and his children’s education. “We’ll try to ensure they complete their education there (in Afghanistan).”
The brothers’ decision to relocate to Afghanistan comes as Pakistan resumed its deportation campaign targeting “illegal foreigners,” primarily Afghans, after a March 31 deadline passed, according to the UNHCR.
Islamabad said the expulsions were due to past militant attacks and crimes that it blamed on Afghan citizens, who form the largest portion of migrants in the country.
Afghanistan has rejected the accusations and has termed the repatriation as forced deportation.
Now with both brothers in Afghanistan, they can only remain hopeful despite an uncertain future.
“They have set up a program for us in Kabul and they will help us there,” Mir Ali said, switching to Pashto from Urdu language after arriving in Nangarhar. “We have nothing and ask for the government to provide us with land, houses and employment.”

Topics: expulsion of Illegal Immigrants Afghan refugee repatriation

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Pakistan says no new polio case reported in over two months

Updated 38 min 18 sec ago
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Pakistan says no new polio case reported in over two months

  • Total of 74 cases were reported in 2024, six cases confirmed this year
  • Pakistan and Afghanistan are last polio-endemic countries in the world
Updated 38 min 18 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has not reported a new case of polio since Feb. 10, Radio Pakistan reported on Thursday, after the country confirmed a total of 74 cases of the virus in 2024 and six this year. 
Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the last polio-endemic countries in the world. In the early 1990s, Pakistan reported around 20,000 cases annually but in 2018 the number dropped to eight cases. Six cases were reported in 2023 and only one in 2021.
But Pakistan’s polio program, launched in 1994, has faced persistent challenges including vaccine misinformation and resistance from some religious hard-liners who claim immunization is a foreign conspiracy to sterilize Muslim children or a guise for Western espionage. Militant groups have also repeatedly targeted and killed polio vaccination workers, including earlier this week when gunmen attacked a vehicle and abducted two polio workers in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“It must be ensured that every child under five years of age is administered the polio vaccine during the anti-polio campaign starting from April 21,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was quoted by Radio Pakistan as saying after he chaired a review meeting on polio eradication in which he was informed that “not a single case of polio had been reported in the country since February 10, 2025.”
Sharif directed authorities to ensure awareness and community mobilization regarding the upcoming nationwide anti-polio campaign from Apr. 21-27, during which the vaccine will be administered to 45 million children by over 415,000 vaccinators.
“Despite challenging conditions, the workers participating in the anti-polio campaign are playing a frontline role in the fight against this disease,” the prime minister added.
Polio is a paralyzing disease with no cure and multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine — along with completing the routine immunization schedule for children under five — are crucial to building immunity against the virus.
Pakistan has planned three major vaccination campaigns in the first half of the year.

Topics: Polio cases in Pakistan

Pakistan and Hungary scrap diplomatic visa requirement, sign cultural cooperation deals

Updated 49 min 13 sec ago
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Pakistan and Hungary scrap diplomatic visa requirement, sign cultural cooperation deals

  • The development took place as the two countries mark 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations
  • Hungarian foreign minister says Pakistan’s counterterrorism campaign is also protecting Europe
Updated 49 min 13 sec ago
Hasaan Ali Khan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Hungary on Thursday signed an agreement to abolish visa requirements for diplomatic passport holders of both countries, along with two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in the fields of culture and archaeology to enhance bilateral cooperation.
Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Péter Szijjártó is visiting Islamabad on the invitation of his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar with a high-level delegation, including 17 businessmen, to explore investment opportunities in the country.
The visit marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations, which have enjoyed cooperation in energy, with Hungarian company MOL Group actively investing in Pakistan’s oil and gas exploration sector since the early 2000s.
“We are happy that we were able to sign the agreement of lifting the visa requirements for diplomatic passport holders,” Szijjártó said during a joint news conference with the Pakistani foreign minister.
“We are also proud to be able to sign the agreements about cooperation in the fields of culture and archaeology.”
The Hungarian minister also praised Pakistan’s war against militancy in the region, saying his country valued and appreciated Islamabad’s efforts since they also contributed to Europe’s security.
“Regardless of all huge international efforts, there’s still a big threat of terror stemming from Afghanistan,” he continued. “And this threat of terror comes with the danger of launching of further illegal migratory waves toward Europe.”
Szijjártó’s remarks come at a time when Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in militant violence in its western provinces bordering Afghanistan, prompting security forces to launch intelligence-based operations and blame the administration in Kabul for “facilitating” cross-border attacks by militant outfits, an allegation the Afghan government denies.
Pakistan is also carrying out a deportation drive of “illegal immigrants,” mostly Afghan nationals, citing security reasons. The move is part of a larger repatriation drive that began in November 2023, with over 900,000 Afghans expelled from Pakistan since.
On the occasion, Dar said the signing of MoUs and the visa agreement would “deepen our government-to-government and people-to-people” connections on regional matters.
This visit marks Islamabad’s push to attract investment from European countries in its priority sectors to achieve sustainable growth after pursuing agreements in trade, energy, tourism, livestock, mining and minerals with regional allies, including Gulf countries in recent months.

Topics: Pakistan Hungary Ties

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