KARACHI: King Charles III of the United Kingdom sent a message of sympathy to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday, expressing sorrow over the human loss and devastation caused by monsoon rains in Pakistan, as the nationwide death toll climbed to 750 since the season began.

The message came amid one of Pakistan’s deadliest monsoon seasons in recent years, marked by erratic and increasingly intense weather patterns scientists attribute to global climate change. Annual rains are vital for agriculture and rural livelihoods, but rising temperatures have triggered more frequent and destructive flooding across South Asia.

While the rains began in Pakistan earlier than usual on June 26, they intensified sharply on August 15 with powerful cloudbursts in northern Pakistan. Flash floods, landslides and collapsing homes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province alone have killed more than 380 people in under a week.

According to a situation report released by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Wednesday, 43 people were killed in the past 24 hours alone due to rain-related incidents across the country.

“The scale of devastation caused by this flooding is truly heart-breaking,” King Charles said in the message, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office. “We feel for all those who have lost their loved ones, homes, and livelihoods.”

“With so many families in the UK maintaining close ties with Pakistan, we extend our heartfelt sympathy to them as well,” he added. “We stand in solidarity with the people of Pakistan during this most difficult time.”

The king also praised the efforts of emergency responders, volunteers, and local communities working to rescue and support those affected, calling their courage “a candle in the darkness.”

He extended special prayers and appreciation for the resilience of the flood-hit communities as they faced recovery and rebuilding challenges.

The monsoon crisis in Pakistan is not confined to the north.

The country’s commercial hub Karachi was lashed by rain for a second straight day on Wednesday, inundating roads and bringing much of the city to a standstill.

Local officials said 17 people were killed, mostly by electrocution and related accidents.

HYDERABAD, Pakistan: On a busy street in Pakistan’s southern city of Hyderabad, the red-brick façade of Besant Hall now stands with quiet dignity, its symmetry and arches evoking a bygone era.

For much of the last century, the colonial-era landmark embodied the city’s intellectual and political energy. But in recent decades, the building fell into despair, its walls cracked, doors eaten by termites and halls used as a den by addicts.

Named after British socialist and theosophist Annie Besant, the hall was inaugurated by her in 1917 during the height of the Indian independence movement. For decades it remained a space for reformist gatherings, but its fortunes declined after the partition of the Subcontinent in 1947. By the 1980s, it was reduced to a marriage hall before being abandoned entirely.

In 2019, the Endowment Fund Trust (EFT) of the Sindh provincial government stepped in, launching an ambitious restoration project. The task was painstaking: red bricks were brought from Lahore to replicate its original look, layers of lime and cement that had dulled its character were replaced, and termite-infested windows rebuilt. Archivists salvaged fragile materials, some so badly infested they caused skin reactions in handlers.

Today, Besant Hall has been returned to life. Its rooms once again ring with the voices of students, scholars, and artists. The restored structure now houses the Jehangir Siddiqui Children’s Library and the Syed Abdullah Shah Scholar Library, and regularly hosts book readings, exhibitions, and cultural programs.

“This building, Besant Hall, was given to Annie Besant on lease in 1901 by Col. Alcot,” said Sobhia Ali, the director who now oversees the revived cultural center. She did not provide Alcot’s full name, but records show a Col. Henry Steel Olcott, co-founder of the Theosophical Society, of which Besant was a member. He died in 1907.

“When we received the building in 2019, it was full of cracks and in a very poor state… It had become a haven for drug addicts. We wiped everything out, restored it, not only restored the architecture but also its cultural and traditional value.”

The building, with its Roman-inspired entrance and Tudor-style windows, is one of Hyderabad’s most significant surviving colonial relics, and a lasting reminder of the woman it was named after.

SOCIALIST, THEOSOPHIST, WOMEN RIGHT’S ACTIVIST

Besant’s influence in South Asia was profound.

A British socialist, theosophist, and women’s rights activist, she became the first woman to preside over the Indian National Congress in 1917 and was a leading figure in the Home Rule Movement. The campaign sought self-governance for India, inspired by similar struggles in Ireland and other British colonies.

According to historian Dr. Kaleemullah Lashari, theosophy — an occult movement originating in the 19th century with roots that can be traced to ancient Gnosticism and Neoplatonism — took root in the Subcontinent by the early 1900s, after Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. Besant’s arrival in 1893 gave the movement new vigor.

“Many of its offices were established in various cities, with people showing great cooperation. In Karachi, our Theosophical Hall, located in front of Radio Pakistan, is quite well-known,” Lashari said. “Similarly, it also started in Hyderabad, where there was already a movement related to women. Our Hindu women in Hyderabad were very active, socially engaged.”

Author and historian Dr. Zaffar Junejo, whose book Hyderabad and Beyond was published earlier this year, said the hall’s history is entwined with the city’s colonial rise.

“The defeat of Sindh’s Talpur Mirs in 1843 sealed its future within the British Empire. By the 1920s, wealthy Sindhi Hindu merchants, known as Sindhworkies, had transformed Hyderabad into a commercial hub,” Junejo said.

“It is no wonder that [Indian polymath] Rabindranath Tagore called Hyderabad the most fashionable city in all of India.”

Besant Hall, alongside Homestead Hall, also became a vital stage for reformist debate. Its significance deepened when Besant herself launched the Home Rule Movement from its platform. The space was also remarkable for its inclusivity: Muslim leaders such as G.M. Syed and Hyder Baksh Jatoi joined Hindu intellectuals in theosophical sessions, making it a rare non-denominational forum.

“One could say that Besant Hall became an ideal place for educational, social, cultural and political activities,” Junejo said.

But the hall did not survive unscathed through the decades. In the 1990s, ethnic violence between Sindhis and Urdu-speaking migrants reduced its library and reading hall to ashes. Later, land mafias attempted to seize the property.

The EFT’s 2019 intervention, under a 10-year agreement with the Hyderabad district government and the Theosophical Society, marked a turning point.

Today, the hall’s legacy has been reclaimed. Children study in its libraries, community groups gather for cultural events, and Hyderabadis once again see the red-brick landmark as a living part of their city’s story.

“We have not only restored its architecture but also revived the tradition and the original purpose for which Annie Besant had this building constructed: intellectual gatherings, academic and cultural activities and cultural reforms,” Ali said.