QUETTA: Hundreds of protesters have set up a protest camp in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta demanding authorities to disarm the counter-terrorism force in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, weeks after an alleged “custodial death” of a young man in Turbat district.
Officials of the Balochistan Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) had arrested 24-year-old Balach Baloch on Nov. 20 in possession of five kilograms of explosive materials, who confessed his involvement in militant attacks, according to the CTD. On Nov. 23, the CTD said Baloch had been killed in a raid on a militant hideout in Turbat that was conducted on his pointation.
The youth’s death under the circumstances led to massive protests in Turbat and other areas of the province last month, with relatives saying the deceased had not been involved in any unlawful activities and was picked up by the CTD on Oct. 29. Baloch’s family and members of the civil society held a sit-in in Turbat for 13 days to protest what they called his “custodial death” and demand action against CTD officers involved in it.
On Dec. 6, the protesters, including women and children, set out on a 766-kilometer-long march from Turbat to the provincial capital of Quetta, demanding justice for Baloch and disarming the Balochistan CTD. They arrived in Quetta late Monday and attempted to march toward the city’s ‘Red Zone,’ which is home to important government offices, to set up a protest camp, but the authorities intercepted them on Quetta’s outskirts.
Speaking to Arab News on Tuesday, Gulzar Dost, an organizer of the march who traveled from Turbat to Quetta, said they would not return until their demands were met by the government.
“We are demanding a reversal of the charges against Baloch, disarming of the CTD in Balochistan and production of missing persons in courts instead of killing them in fake encounters,” he said.
Dost said three protesters, including a woman, were also injured after the police tried to stop the marchers in Sorab area of the Kalat district.
The protesters say they were forced to march toward Quetta after authorities failed to follow a Nov. 25 order by a Turbat district court to suspend four CTD officers behind the killing.
On Monday, the Balochistan High Court also ordered the police’s Crime Branch in Quetta to lead the investigation into the alleged ‘fake encounter’ and take the case from the Turbat CTD police station. The court was hearing a petition filed by Baloch’s father, Maula Bakhsh.
Police in Turbat have separately lodged a case against the CTD team that is accused of killing Baloch.
Provincial authorities in Balochistan say the protesters have the right to march, but they will not be allowed to enter the Red Zone.
“The protesters have a democratic right for a long march but we won’t come under any pressure. We will not allow any protest inside the Red Zone,” Balochistan Information Minister Jan Achakzai told reporters after talks with protesters in Quetta.
“An FIR (police case) has been lodged against the CTD officers and we have constituted a fair investigation team to probe the allegations.”
After the registration of the FIR, Achakzai said, the protesters did not have any reason to protest and lay further “unreasonable” demands.
The provincial government has also deployed a heavy contingent of security forces around the Red Zone and blocked the roads with containers to keep the protesters from entering the area.
Balochistan, which shares a porous border with Iran and Afghanistan, has been the scene of a low-level insurgency by Baloch nationalists for around two decades.
The separatists say they are fighting what they see as the unfair exploitation of the province’s wealth by the federation. The Pakistani state denies it.
Last week, a bomb attack killed a CTD officer in Khuzdar district of Balochistan. The outlawed, Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack that killed CTD officer Murad Jamot.
Protesters call for disarming counter-terrorism force after youth’s ‘custodial death’ in southwest Pakistan
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Protesters call for disarming counter-terrorism force after youth’s ‘custodial death’ in southwest Pakistan
- Balach Baloch, 24, was killed during a Nov. 23 raid conducted on his pointation to arrest militants in Balochistan’s Turbat district
- The incident sparked massive protests with relatives calling it ‘custodial death,’ government maintains Baloch was involved in attacks
Pakistan telecom operators agree to block mobile connections of tax non-filers — regulator
- Last month, the tax regulator said it had decided to block mobile connections of 500,000 people who did not file tax returns
- The FBR has communicated the first batch of 5,000 non-filers to telecom operators for blocking of their mobile connections
ISLAMABAD: Telecom operators in Pakistan have agreed to block mobile phone connections of individuals who had not filed their income tax returns for Tax Year 2023, the country’s tax regulator said on Saturday, with the first batch of non-filers, including 5,000 individuals, already communicated to the operators.
Pakistan’s narrow tax base and enduring tax evasion issue have often led to the problem of insufficient revenue collection. The shortfall exacerbates the government’s tendency to run a high fiscal deficit, often financed through domestic and international borrowing.
In Dec., the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) said the country had a “very narrow tax base” of around 5.2 million people in 2022, out of a population of 240 million people and it had planned to add 1.5 million new taxpayers to the existing base during this fiscal year.
Late last month, the tax regulator said it had decided to block mobile connections of 500,000 people who had not filed their tax returns and has since engaged with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and telecom Operators to enforce its income tax general order.
“After several deliberations, the telecom operators have agreed to initiate the manual blocking process in small batches until their systems are fully equipped to automate it,” the FBR said in a statement.
“In this regard, the first batch comprising 5000 non-filers has been communicated to the telecom operators today for compliance regarding SIM blockage.”
Subsequent batches will be sent to telecom operators on a daily basis, according to the FBR. The operators have also started sending messages to non-filers regarding blocking of their connections.
The development comes amid efforts by the government to broaden the tax base, including digitalization of the tax collection system to prevent leakages as a large segment of the national economy remains undocumented.
Pakistan, which has been facing an economic meltdown, is also making efforts to introduce structural economic reforms. The South Asian country has to meet a primary budget deficit target of Rs401 billion ($1.44 billion), or 0.4 percent of its gross domestic product, for the current fiscal year before the government presents its budget in June.
Pakistan health ministry to launch national program to address malnutrition in country
- Pakistan has witnessed extensive consequences of malnutrition, including birth defects, impaired brain development, reduced work capacity
- Ministry says the government is cognizant of serious situation of malnutrition aggravated by global conflicts, climate change leading to food insecurity
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s national health ministry said on Saturday it had decided to launch a national nutrition program to address the issue of malnutrition in the country, in coordination with the planning ministry and provincial governments.
The decision was made at a maiden meeting of the National Nutrition Task Force, presided over by Health Secretary Nadeem Mahbub. The high-level task force was constituted on the directives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Pakistan has witnessed extensive consequences of malnutrition, including devastating birth defects for babies, impaired brain development in young children, and reduced work capacity among adults.
The health ministry said the incumbent government was cognizant of the serious situation of malnutrition aggravated by global conflicts and climate change leading to food insecurity and high inflation.
“The [task force] has been constituted to provide technical oversight and guidance on Nutrition Policy and programming, developing future directions and roadmaps for nutrition landscape in the country and facilitate and carry out inter-sectoral and multisectoral coordination and advocacy around nutrition,” it said in a statement.
The ministry said it had directed its nutrition wing to prepare a new PC1, planning tool for the development of a project, in coordination with the Planning Commission and the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) to avoid duplication and cover the areas and interventions which were not covered previously.
In his remarks, Additional Health Secretary Syed Moazzam Ali highlighted the importance of fresh data on malnutrition for proper policy and programming and stressed the need to carry out the National Nutrition Survey as soon as possible.
“Provinces are the real game changers in the success of any program and their strong collaboration and commitment toward nutrition programming is pivotal to address malnutrition in the country,” he said.
Special Health Secretary Syed Waqar-ul Hassan stressed upon the need for convergence of all sectors and stakeholders to address the root cause of malnutrition, highlighting that the ministry alone could not eliminate malnutrition.
The meeting was attended by country representatives of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), representatives from donor and UN organizations, international and national NGOs, line ministries and provincial government representatives along with academia.
Dr. Mehreen Mujtaba, nutrition director at the health ministry, shared Pakistan would hold its first-ever National Nutrition Conference in June-July, this year to get the guidance of local and international experts in the fields of health and nutrition, thanking participants for their valuable contributions to the meeting.
Ex-president Alvi denies being picked to head PTI amid reports of talks with army
- The statement came amid speculation about Alvi being made PTI chairman to resolve party’s issues with establishment
- These speculations create confusion in a party whose leadership is ‘wrongfully and unjustly incarcerated,’ Alvi says
ISLAMABAD: Arif Alvi, former president and a close aide of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, on Saturday denied being appointed chairman of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) opposition party.
The statement came amid widespread speculation about Alvi being made the PTI chairman to resolve the party’s issues with the powerful military establishment whom Khan has accused of sidelining him, according to some media reports.
The reports suggested the former president had been tasked with the “important” job following his meeting with Khan at Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, however, Alvi denied these reports.
“There is unnecessary speculation that Mr.@ImranKhanPTI intends to appoint me as Chairman of the party. There is no such thing being envisaged by my leader nor was it discussed in my meeting with him,” he said on X.
“These speculations create confusion in a party whose leadership is wrongfully & unjustly incarcerated.”
Alvi said the incumbent PTI chairman Gohar Khan was leading the party well. “I would like to put this inaccurate non-issue to rest with a clear denial,” he added.
Alvi’s meeting with Khan came a day after the ex-premier reportedly turned down the Pakistani military’s demand to apologize for the violent protests, allegedly staged by his supporters over his brief arrest in a graft case, that targeted military installations and public property on May 9, 2023.
Hundreds were arrested in the aftermath and some were tried by military courts after the authorities promised to bring the perpetrators and instigators of the violence to justice.
During the alleged crackdown against the PTI, Alvi, who was the then president, was said to be making efforts to bridge the gap between his party and Pakistan’s powerful military.
Khan was ousted in 2022 after falling out with Pakistan’s powerful military leaders who many say backed him into power in 2018. In opposition, he waged an unprecedented campaign of defiance against the military establishment which has directly ruled the South Asian nation for nearly half of its history.
Arguably Pakistan’s most popular politician, Khan says the cases against him are “politically motivated,” aimed at keeping him from returning to power. The military denies it.
Chinese-Pakistani firm SLM Tyres to invest Rs300 billion in Pakistan
- The development came during SLM Tyres Chairman Jin Yongsheng’s meeting with PM Shehbaz Sharif in Lahore
- Jin lauded the government’s investment-friendly policies and appreciated the measures to prevent smuggling
LAHORE: Service Long March (SLM) Tyres, a Chinese-Pakistani joint venture, has decided to invest an additional Rs300 billion in Pakistan that will help create new job opportunities and increase its exports, Pakistani state media reported on Friday.
The development came during Service Long March Tyres Chairman Jin Yongsheng’s meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in the eastern city of Lahore.
SLM Tyres, a joint venture of Servis Group and Chaoyang Long March, is Pakistan’s first all-steel radial tire manufacturer for trucks and buses. It aims to provide “best value for money” tires to Asian and Western countries.
During the meeting, Jin lauded the Pakistani government’s investment-friendly policies and appreciated measures to prevent smuggling, the state-run APP news agency reported.
“Jin Yongsheng said that the new investment would help produce 1000 new jobs whereas the company’s exports from Pakistan might also reach $100 million annually by 2025,” the report read.
SLM ownership comprises 51 percent shareholding of Servis Group, 44 percent of Chaoyang Long March Co. Ltd. and 5 percent of Myco Corporation. The $300 million venture has been given the status of Sole Enterprise Special Economic Zone (SESEZ) by Pakistan.
Pakistan, which narrowly averted a default last year, thanks to $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout, is currently looking to attract foreign investment to support its fragile, $350 billion economy.
Over the last one year, the South Asian country has signed investment deals worth billions of dollars with friendly countries.
During Friday’s meeting, PM Sharif welcomed the decision of Service Long March Tyres Group to expand its operations in Pakistan, saying his government was taking measures on priority to boost investment in the country.
“A comprehensive framework was being shaped up to further facilitate the business community and the investors,” Sharif was quoted as saying.
More than 3,400 Pakistani Hajj pilgrims arrive in Madinah via 15 flights
- Pakistan on Thursday launched its pre-Hajj flight operation which will continue till June 9
- Out of all, seven flights were operated from Islamabad, Karachi under Makkah Route initiative
ISLAMABAD: More than 3,400 Pakistani Hajj pilgrims have arrived in Madinah via 15 flights during the first two days of the country’s pre-Hajj flight operation, Pakistani state media reported on Friday.
Out of these, seven flights were operated from Islamabad and Karachi under the Makkah Route project, an initiative of the Saudi government to streamline the immigration process for pilgrims.
Currently, only Islamabad and Karachi airports in Pakistan are functioning under the initiative to facilitate pilgrims during the Hajj days.
“Filled with excitement and devotion, the pilgrims, who have been preparing for this moment for years, stepped foot in the Prophet’s (SAW) city, marking the beginning of the Hajj season,” the state-run APP news agency reported.
“Approximately three million pilgrims from around the world, including 179,210 Pakistanis, will converge on the holy cities to perform the sacred Hajj.”
From the airport, the passengers were transported to residential buildings located in Markazia, some 20-minute away from the Prophet’s Mosque.
Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, and requires every adult Muslim to undertake the journey to the holy Islamic sites in Makkah at least once in their lifetime, if they are financially and physically able.
Pakistan has a Hajj quota of 179,210 pilgrims this year, according to the Pakistani religious affairs ministry. Of them, 63,805 pilgrims will be performing the pilgrimage under the government scheme, while the rest would be accommodated by private tour operators.
Pakistan began its pre-Hajj flight operation on May 9, which will continue till June 9. This year’s pilgrimage is expected to run from June 14 till June 19.
