Punjab administration suspends 15 officials in relation to Murree tragedy

A vehicle is pictured after getting stuck in snow along a road after a heavy snowfall in Murree, around 70 kilometres (45 miles) northeast of the capital, Islamabad, Pakistan, on January 8, 2022. (AFP)
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Updated 20 January 2022
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Punjab administration suspends 15 officials in relation to Murree tragedy

  • The decision was taken on the recommendation of an inquiry committee which probed the deaths of 23 snow-tourists in the popular resort town
  • The Punjab chief minister says he has fulfilled his promise to carry out a transparent inquiry into the incident and bring those responsible to justice

ISLAMABAD: Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar said on Wednesday his government had taken action against 15 senior officials who were found guilty of negligence by an inquiry commission probing the deaths of snow-tourists at a popular Pakistani resort town earlier this month.

The five-member committee was set up by the provincial administration last week after 23 people, including women and children, lost their lives amid a snowstorm in Murree.

Most of the victims suffered hypothermia as temperatures fell to -8°C (17.6°F). Officials said some died of carbon monoxide poisoning from running their car heaters while their mufflers were choked by snow.

The committee finished its investigation on Sunday and presented its report to the province's chief executive earlier today.

"In light of the committee's recommendations, we are taking action against 15 officials," Buzdar said in a televised announcement. "Among them, we have suspended the Rawalpindi division commissioner and sent him to the federal administration with a recommendation of a disciplinary action."

Other officials held responsible for the tragedy included Rawalpindi's deputy and assistant commissioners, city police officer, chief traffic officer and the director of Punjab's provincial disaster management authority.

The provincial administration also took action against several administrative officials based in Murree, including the resort town's assistant commissioner, assistant superintendent police, divisional forest officer, district emergency officer and in-charge of the Rescue 1122 service.

"I had promised the nation to conduct a transparent inquiry into the Murree tragedy and bring those responsible to justice," the chief minister continued. "I also went there [Murree] myself to evaluate the situation. And now I have fulfilled my promise."

 

 

The inquiry committee compiled its findings after recording statements of tourists along with administrative officials belonging to various government departments.

The Islamabad High Court recently blamed the entire government machinery for the tragedy, pointing out there were not enough preparations in place to deal with such an emergency while specifically blaming the National Disaster Management Authority for the oversight.


Police arrest two for allegedly poisoning Pakistani TikToker Sumeera Rajput to death

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Police arrest two for allegedly poisoning Pakistani TikToker Sumeera Rajput to death

  • Sumeera Rajput, who had over 58,000 followers, was found dead at her home in Ghotki on Friday
  • A post-mortem of Rajput’s body has revealed that she had died of poisoning, a police official says

KARACHI: Police have arrested two suspects for allegedly poisoning a local TikTok star to death in Pakistan’s southern Ghotki district, officials said on Saturday.

Sumeera Rajput, who had over 58,000 followers and one million likes on TikTok, was found dead at her residence in the Bago Wah area on Friday afternoon, according to Imran Qureshi, a senior superintendent of police (SSP) at Sindh police’s media and public relations wing.

Police arrested two suspects, Babu Rajput and Muhammad Imran, for poisoning the content creator and lodged a case against them on the complaint of the deceased’s sister.

“A post-mortem of Sameera Rajput has been conducted, which has revealed that she died because of poisoning,” Qureshi said in a statement. “Further investigation is underway with the arrested suspects.”

TikTok has more than 60 million users in Pakistan, many of them young women and teenagers. Rajput’s death is the second such incident in as many months in the country.

On June 2, Sana Yousaf, a 17-year-old content creator, was shot dead at her home by another social media influencer, Umar Hayat, 22, after she rejected his repeated advances, according to Islamabad police chief Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi.

Yousuf, originally from the scenic northern region of Chitral, was known for promoting traditional Chitrali music and dress through her videos. She also advocated for girls’ education.

Hours before her murder, she had posted a photo celebrating her birthday with friends.


Pakistan deputy PM says hopeful of finalizing US trade deal ‘in days’

Updated 23 min 17 sec ago
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Pakistan deputy PM says hopeful of finalizing US trade deal ‘in days’

  • The US is Pakistan’s top export destination, with shipments totaling 5.44 billion dollars in fiscal year 2023-2024
  • Deputy PM Ishaq Dar says both sides have recently held discussions relating to textiles, digital trade and agriculture

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, said on Friday that his country was hopeful of finalizing a trade deal with the United States “in days.”

Pakistan and the United States (US) have been engaged in talks after Washington announced a 29 percent “reciprocal tariff” on Pakistani exports in April. Islamabad said the move, paused in June for a 90-day period, may undercut its fragile, export-led recovery.

The US is Pakistan’s top export destination, with shipments totaling $5.44 billion in fiscal year 2023-2024, according to official data. From July 2024 to February 2025, exports rose 10 percent from a year earlier.

Speaking at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington, the Pakistani deputy premier said both sides have recently held discussions relating to textiles, digital trade and agriculture.

“Pakistan seeks better market access in the US. On our part, we are working toward granting greater market access to the US products in the large Pakistani markets,” he said.

“We hope to conclude a mutually beneficial trade agreement at the earliest, hopefully in days not in weeks.”

Under US President Donald Trump, Washington has attempted to renegotiate trade agreements with many countries that he threatened with tariffs over what he calls unfair trade relations. Many economists dispute Trump’s characterization.

Dar also met Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday.

“Met with Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister @MIshaqDar50 today to discuss expanding bilateral trade and enhancing collaboration in the critical minerals sector,” Rubio said on X.

“I also thanked him for Pakistan’s partnership in countering terrorism and preserving regional stability.”

The Pakistani foreign ministry also said Dar “appreciated the pivotal role” by Trump and Rubio “in de-escalating tensions between Pakistan and India by facilitating a ceasefire.” The State Department statement did not mention India.

Trump has repeatedly taken credit for the India-Pakistan ceasefire he announced on social media on May 10 after Washington held talks with both sides. India disputes Trump’s claims that the ceasefire resulted from his intervention and trade threats.

An April 22 militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir killed 26 men and sparked heavy fighting between the nuclear-armed Asian neighbors in the latest escalation of a decades-old rivalry. India struck Pakistan on May 7 and the two nations exchanged hostilities, killing dozens across three days. The ceasefire was declared on May 10.

New Delhi blamed the April attack on Pakistan, which denied responsibility and called for a neutral investigation. Washington condemned the attack but did not blame Islamabad.


For one filmmaker, telling Pakistan’s untold stories has become a path to healing

Updated 30 min 50 sec ago
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For one filmmaker, telling Pakistan’s untold stories has become a path to healing

  • Insulting remark pushed Athar Abbas to leave corporate job, find healing in the stories of strangers
  • Abbas’s social media documentaries spotlight working-class lives, mental health stigma in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Mobile phones, data cables and memory cards sprawl across the editing table in Athar Abbas’s modest Islamabad apartment.

It’s an organized chaos the 38-year-old filmmaker fully embraces — a far cry from the mental turmoil that once engulfed him.

Abbas, a former commercial producer, now documents the lives of ordinary Pakistanis in short, emotionally charged videos he publishes on social media. His mini-documentaries — raw, personal and deliberately unpolished — have attracted tens of thousands of followers across platforms, racking up over a million views in the past year.

But Abbas’s foray into digital storytelling wasn’t born of ambition. It was a survival tactic.

He began filming after quitting his job at a construction company, where a senior colleague dismissed his work as “pathetic.”

The insult gnawed at his confidence and spiraled into a depressive episode. Eventually, Abbas turned to the one outlet that had always brought him calm — the camera.

“I picked up my camera and started making stories,” Abbas told Arab News. “And unintentionally, I realized that maybe for an artist, there’s no therapy greater than his art.”

Pakistani filmmaker and content creator Athar Abbas speaks during an interview with Arab News in Islamabad on July 18, 2025. (AN Photo)

Pakistan, a country of over 240 million people, faces a chronic shortage of mental health services.

According to the World Health Organization, more than 24 million people in Pakistan are in need of psychiatric support. Yet the country has only around 500 trained psychologists and 400 psychiatrists, roughly one mental health professional for every 260,000 people.

The stigma around mental illness remains deeply entrenched, especially for men. Talking about emotional vulnerability is often seen as weakness, a perception Abbas says is reinforced in professional environments.

“He feels that his manly personality will be affected,” he said, referring to why many Pakistani men hesitated to express emotions, especially those that communicated perceived weakness.

“So he doesn’t even share that he has a problem with something.”

In Pakistan’s corporate sector, long working hours, harsh managerial practices and lack of mental health policies have contributed to high stress levels.

A 2024 review by the Pakistan Society of Human Resource Management found that most companies lacked formal emotional wellness programs.

Creative professionals, Abbas said, often bore the brunt of toxic leadership.

“If you talk to anyone in the creative field, they will tell you they are distressed because of senior management’s behavior,” he said.

“Unfortunately, it greatly affects mental health.”

A separate 2025 study in the Pakistan Social Sciences Review noted that while some younger professionals are more aware of mental health issues, institutional support remains weak, leaving them vulnerable to burnout and depression.

‘UNTOLD PAKISTAN’

For Abbas, the path to stability came through storytelling.

He launched a series titled Untold Pakistan, filming everything from a street vendor’s hustle to a single mother’s struggle for dignity. In one video, a man named Kamran Ali cycles from Germany to Layyah, Punjab, only to learn of his mother’s death upon arrival.

“Storytelling became a way to survive,” Abbas said.

This combination of screenshots, taken on July 26, 2025, shows stills from short videos by Pakistani filmmaker and content creator Athar Abbas. (Courtesy: Instagram/@athar.abbass_)

His films resist sensationalism. There are no stunts or celebrity cameos. Instead, they dwell in moments often overlooked: fatigue, memory, longing, resilience. The comment sections on his pages are peppered with viewers opening up about their own traumas, some for the first time.

Abbas recalls a message from a young man in Lahore who said one of the videos gave him the courage to speak to his father about something he’d been avoiding for a long time.

“That one message made all the late nights worth it,” Abbas said.

After 15 years of directing ads, music videos and corporate content, Abbas has no interest in going back. His priorities have shifted.

“I didn’t set out to become an influencer,” he said. “I just needed to breathe.”


Pakistan’s Air Karachi in talks with Chinese jetmaker for aircraft as it gears up for operations

Updated 26 July 2025
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Pakistan’s Air Karachi in talks with Chinese jetmaker for aircraft as it gears up for operations

  • New airline is backed by 100 Pakistani businessmen who pooled $17.6 million in seed funding
  • Air Karachi is also exploring aircraft deals with Boeing and Airbus to launch domestic flights

KARACHI: Air Karachi, Pakistan’s new private airline in the making, has engaged the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) for the supply of airliners to start its flight operations, the group chairman Hanif Gohar told Arab News on Friday.

Spearheaded by a group of leading businessmen from Pakistan’s southern port city, the airline is also negotiating with global aerospace giants like Boeing and Airbus for the acquisition of at least three passenger aircraft. It was launched in November 2024 by 100 stakeholders with Rs5 billion ($17.6 million) in seed money.

“We are talking with COMAC regarding the 919, as well as with Boeing and Airbus, to acquire the aircraft,” Gohar said, referring to a narrow-body passenger jet developed by China.

Business leaders in the South Asian nation have stepped up to fill the gap as the state-run Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has become a liability for the cash-strapped government, which is now making a second attempt to privatize the national carrier.

“We will start our flight operations as soon as we reach an agreement with any of the suppliers, whoever comes first,” Gohar said when asked about the timeline to start operations.

Gohar, a business tycoon himself, expects a deal within the next month.

He said Air Karachi would initially fly three aircraft domestically, and the fleet would later be expanded with four more planes to start international flights within a year.

The idea to launch a business-backed airline was conceived to develop an entity that can operate with efficiency and financial autonomy amid growing challenges faced by PIA.

Last month, Air Karachi received its Regular Public Transport (RPT) license from Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority.

The airline has been modeled after the success of Air Sial, another private carrier launched by industrialists in Sialkot, the manufacturing hub of Pakistan’s exportable sports and surgical goods.


Pakistan approves Skills Impact Bond for youth employment through private investment

Updated 25 July 2025
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Pakistan approves Skills Impact Bond for youth employment through private investment

  • New ‘pay-for-success’ model will fund market-relevant skills training for youth
  • PM Sharif calls for roadmap to boost domestic and overseas job opportunities

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday approved Pakistan’s first Skills Impact Bond, a new financing model aimed at mobilizing private investment to equip young people with market-relevant skills and improve their access to employment, both at home and abroad.

The approval came during a high-level meeting in Islamabad focused on youth employment. According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, the initiative is part of a broader government effort to align vocational training with labor market demands and make Pakistani youth self-reliant through entrepreneurship and income-generating opportunities.

The model, also known as “pay-for-success,” links funding to independently verified outcomes such as job placement or minimum income levels.

“Pakistan’s talented youth are the country’s greatest asset,” the prime minister said at the meeting. “By equipping them with education and skills tailored to market needs, we will transform the future of this nation.”

Sharif instructed federal ministries and agencies to accelerate skills training, expand employment outreach through digital platforms and present a comprehensive roadmap based on estimates of domestic and overseas job opportunities for Pakistani youth.

The prime minister approved a public awareness campaign to promote the use of the Digital Youth Hub, which has already registered over 500,000 users.

The platform currently lists over 47,000 job openings in Pakistan and more than 100,000 overseas, along with 2,000 scholarship opportunities.

He also emphasized preparing skilled workers specifically for international job markets and directed relevant departments to offer foreign language training for countries with high demand for labor.