Prominent scholar honors Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Pakistani poet who wrote odes to Gaza

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Updated 12 February 2024
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Prominent scholar honors Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Pakistani poet who wrote odes to Gaza

  • Palestinian author Dr. Nimer Sultany attends Lahore’s annual Faiz Festival, holds panel with Palestinian students 
  • Faiz penned powerful poems giving voice to the pain, anger, and resilience of Palestinian people and children 

LAHORE: Prominent Palestinian scholar Dr. Nimer Sultany honored one of Pakistan’s greatest poets, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, during a visit to Lahore this month, remembering his odes to the Palestinian cause and people and the friendships he developed with the territory’s poets and political leaders.

Sultany, who holds a Doctor of Juridical Science degree from Harvard Law School, was in Lahore on Sunday to attend the Faiz Festival, an annual cultural event that honors the life and work of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, one of Pakistan’s most renowned Urdu poets, intellectuals and political activists. 

On Sunday, he appeared on a panel called ‘Lahu Ka Parcham: Palestine-Everyday Battles’ in conversation with three young Palestinian students currently enrolled at Pakistani universities. The panel was hosted by Dr. Osman Siddique, an author and law professor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences.

“I’m very pleased to be here at the Faiz Festival [in Lahore] and that’s because of the connection that Faiz, as one of the great poets of Pakistan, [had] with the Palestinian revolution and the Palestinian movement for liberation,” Sutany, at present a Reader in Public law at SOAS in London, told Arab News in an interview. 

Faiz had close ties with Yasser Arafat, former chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), and named one of his grandchildren after the Palestinian politican leader. He was also close to the celebrated Arab poet Mahmood Darwish, regarded as Palestine’s national poet. During his years in exile, Faiz also met Edward Said, the towering Palestinian intellectual, through a common friend Eqbal Ahmad, another Pakistani scholar and activist.

In 1978, during his exile in Beirut, Faiz became the first non-Arab editor of Lotus, a magazine of Afro-Asian writers, after its editor, the Egyptian writer Youssef Al-Sebai, was assassinated in Cyprus.

Marred by his own exile and loss, Faiz penned powerful poems giving voice to the pain, anger, and resilience of Palestinians. Memorable odes included “Falastini Bachche Ke Liye Lori” (A Lullaby for Palestinian Children) and “Falastini Shohda Jo Pardes Mein Kaam Aae” (Palestinian Martyrs Who Died Abroad).

“Not only did he [Faiz] write poems for Palestine but he also lived, in fact, in Beirut in the late ‘70s, early 1982, until Israel invaded Lebanon and then he, alongside other Palestinians there, had to leave Beirut and Lebanon,” Sultany said.

“So this form of solidarity [by Faiz], this form of intertwinement of the cause of human freedom generally and Palestinian freedom specifically which we personally cherish and we would like to maintain it, and foster it.”

Sultany said he was grateful to the Pakistani people’s continuing solidarity with Palestinians:

“Anything that the Pakistani government and the Pakistani people can do, to alleviate the suffering in Gaza and Palestine more generally, would be much appreciated because these acts of solidarity show that the people who are being brutalized, who are under the genocidal war, under apartheid, they know that they are not forsaken and people elsewhere in the world sympathize with them and, to the extent they can, help as much as they can to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinians.” 

Palestinian students who were part of the panel also shared their experiences of living under Israeli occupation and praised their Pakistani peers for their support. 

Mahmoud Younis, a student at the University of Central Punjab in Lahore, described the daily anguish of Gazan students living in Pakistan who did not know if their families were alive amid Isarel’s relentless military campaign in Gaza, in which over 28,000 Palestinians have been killed since Oct. 7. 

The Israeli bombardment and ground offensive began after Hamaz carried out an attack on Isarel in October, the deadliest day for Israel in decades, with around 1,200 people killed and some 240 seized and taken as hostages into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

“For two weeks, they [Palestinian students] don’t know if their families are alive or not, so it’s very difficult,” Younis said. 

“They have uprooted 600 olive trees in my home village since October,” Izzeldine Ayaad, a student of the University of Lahore (UOL), saud. “Six hundred olive trees are not Hamas; they don’t have an ideology or a religion. This is simply an empire expanding its land at the cost of Palestine.”

Ibrahim Bilal, a Palestinian civil engineering student, said he had organized many protests in Pakistan and participated in numerous campaigns to help his people. 

“Speaking of my experience with my Pakistani friends,” he said, “I have seen the support [for Palestine] in every eye I have seen here in Pakistan.”


Saudi Arabia’s KSrelief sends thousands of relief kits for flood-hit northwest Pakistan 

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Saudi Arabia’s KSrelief sends thousands of relief kits for flood-hit northwest Pakistan 

  • KSrelief dispatches 10,000 non-food item kits and 10,000 food packages for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
  • Torrential rains and cloudbursts have killed 377 people alone in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since last week 

ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) on Wednesday dispatched a large-scale emergency relief convoy for thousands affected by devastating floods in northwestern Pakistan.

Torrential monsoon rains and cloudbursts have triggered floods in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, damaging critical infrastructure and killing hundreds. Monsoon rains since June 26 have killed 707 people in Pakistan, with KP accounting for the highest number of deaths at 427. According to KP’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), 377 people, including 294 men, 50 women and 33 children, have died and 182 others have been injured in rains and flash floods across several districts since last week.

A large-scale emergency relief convoy carrying food items, tents, solar panels and kitchen utensils was dispatched from Islamabad by KSrelief. The ceremony was attended by Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki, Pakistan’s Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Rana Sanaullah and KSrelief Pakistan Director Abdullah Al-Baqami.

“I think relations between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are very unique,” Malki told Arab News after the ceremony. “We always stand with Pakistan in thick and thin.”

Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki (left) and Pakistan’s Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination Rana Sanaullah are pictured during a ceremony to handover relief aid for flood victims donated by the Saudi government, in Islamabad in August 20, 2025. (AN Photo)

He said Saudi Arabia’s king as well as its Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman always want to support Pakistan, adding that relations between the two countries “will grow to new heights in the future.” 

The relief convoy comprises 10,000 Shelter non-food item (NFI) kits and 10,000 food packages. Each shelter kit includes solar panels with LED lights, two thermal blankets, plastic mats, durable kitchen sets, water coolers, and antibacterial soap, the agency said in its press release. 

It said each food package weighs 95 kilograms and contains wheat flour, sugar, lentils, and cooking oil, adding that all items were carefully chosen to address the immediate nutritional needs of families affected by the floods.

Sanaullah thanked the Saudi government for always standing by Pakistan during its time of need. 

“Saudi Arabia has always been standing by Pakistan in difficult times,” Sanaullah told reporters. “The relations between the two countries are like those between two brothers,” he added.

Relief packages by KSrelief are pictured in Islamabad, Pakistan, on August 20, 2025. (AN Photo)

KSrelief said the aid distribution will be carried out in collaboration with Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), the Relief, Rehabilitation and Settlement Department (RR&SD), and KSrelief’s implementing partners, Hayat Foundation and Peach and Development Organization.

Over the years, KSrelief has launched numerous projects across Pakistan in food security, health, shelter, education, and disaster response— deepening the bonds of friendship and brotherhood between the two countries.

“The dispatch of this convoy stands as another milestone in this enduring partnership, providing urgent relief to families affected by the devastating floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” the Saudi agency said. 

The annual monsoon rains are vital for agriculture, food security and the livelihoods of millions of farmers in Pakistan, though in recent years they have caused intense flooding and landslides amid shifting weather patterns that scientists attribute to climate change worldwide.


Pakistan stocks close at 150,591 record high on corporate earnings, institutional buying

Updated 15 min 38 sec ago
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Pakistan stocks close at 150,591 record high on corporate earnings, institutional buying

  • Financial analyst describes market participation as “vibrant,” with total volume of shares traded surging to 662 million
  • Rally comes amid signs of stabilization in economy after IMF bailout, credit rating upgrades from international agencies 

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed at a record high of 150,591 points on Wednesday, with a leading brokerage firm attributing the surge to strong corporate earnings and institutional buying. 

The bullish trend at the stock market picked up from Tuesday, when the benchmark KSE-100 Index ended the session at 149,771 points. Analysts said the surge was driven by strong institutional inflows, which powered gains in the banking and cement shares. 

The bulls showed no signs of fatigue despite the floods on Wednesday, notching an intraday record high of 1,490 points before settling at 150,591 when trading ended, up by 820 points or 0.55 percent from the previous day’s close. 

“The upward momentum was underpinned by better-than-expected corporate earnings and a strong liquidity push from local institutions, lifting the benchmark to uncharted heights,” Karachi-based brokerage firm Topline Securities said in a statement. 

It noted that investor confidence remained “buoyant” as market heavyweights attracted “robust flows.”

Topline Securities described the market participation as “vibrant,” saying that traded volume surged to 662 million shares and at a value of Rs40.5 billion [$143.46 million]. 

“BOP [Bank of Punjab] led the volume chart, with 52 million shares changing hands during the session,” it concluded. 

Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad took to X on Tuesday to attribute the bullish trend at the stock market to Pakistan’s “rising global credibility, home-grown structural reforms agenda with positive macroeconomic outlook” that he said had turned into strong investor confidence. 

 

 

The PSX rally comes amid signs of stabilization in Pakistan’s economy after the country secured a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout in September 2024 and saw recent upgrades by international ratings agencies.

Inflation has eased from a peak of 38 percent in 2023 to 4.1 percent in July 2025, while the rupee has stabilized against the dollar.


Germany charges Russian suspect over Daesh ties, planned move to Pakistan for training

Updated 20 August 2025
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Germany charges Russian suspect over Daesh ties, planned move to Pakistan for training

  • Suspect, a Russian national, was arrested on Feb. 20 at the capital’s airport as he prepared to board a flight
  • He has now been indicted on charges of supporting foreign terror organization, preparing serious act of violence

BERLIN: German prosecutors announced terrorism charges Wednesday against a man who they say may have planned to attack the Israeli Embassy in Berlin and intended to join the Daesh group in Pakistan.

The suspect, a Russian national identified only as Akhmad E. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested on Feb. 20 at the capital’s airport as he prepared to board a flight. He has now been indicted on charges of supporting a foreign terrorist organization, attempted membership in such a group, and preparing a serious act of violence.

Federal prosecutors said in a statement that the suspect initially planned to carry out an attack in Germany, possibly on the Israeli Embassy. He allegedly found instructions for making explosives on the Internet but was unable to pursue the plan because he couldn’t get a hold of the necessary components.

At the same time, the suspect was allegedly translating propaganda into Russian and Chechen for Daesh. Prosecutors said he intended to join the group in Pakistan and get military training, and that he financed the trip by taking out two contracts for expensive smartphones, which he then sold.

He allegedly sent a video declaring loyalty to the group to a suspected Daesh member outside of Germany shortly before his departure.

The indictment was filed earlier this month to a court in Berlin, which will now have to decide whether to send the case to trial.


Pakistan invites US investors as bidding opens for oil, gas blocks

Updated 20 August 2025
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Pakistan invites US investors as bidding opens for oil, gas blocks

  • Pakistan petroleum minister tells US Chargé d’Affaires government conducting bidding round for oil and gas exploration blocks
  • Relations between the two countries, long marked by tensions over counterterrorism efforts, have warmed under Trump presidency 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s petroleum minister on Wednesday invited US companies to take part in a fresh round of oil and gas exploration bids, underscoring growing economic cooperation between Islamabad and Washington after years of strained ties.

Pakistan–US ties have swung between cooperation and distrust over the last decade, with relations particularly frayed under President Joe Biden.

Washington repeatedly pressed Islamabad to crack down on militant sanctuaries in Afghanistan while accusing Pakistan’s intelligence services of maintaining links with the Afghan Taliban, which Islamabad denied. Pakistan, for its part, bristled at being sidelined in US strategy for Afghanistan’s exit in 2021 and later faced criticism over human rights, democracy and nuclear security. The Biden administration’s limited economic engagement and security downgrades added to the estrangement, leaving ties at their lowest point in years before the recent thaw under the second presidency of Donald Trump.

Last month, Trump granted Pakistan a reduced 19 percent tariff rate on exports, one of the lowest in South Asia, and Washington and Islamabad are also currently negotiating investments in rare minerals, hydrocarbons and cryptocurrency, among other areas. Trump also took credit for a ceasefire between India and Pakistan after the Asian neighbors engaged in hostilities in May following an April attack in India-administered Kashmir.

“Talking to the US Chargé d’Affaires Natalie A. Baker in Islamabad, [Minister for Petroleum] Ali Pervaiz Malik emphasized opportunities for international cooperation and investment in the oil, gas and mineral sectors,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.

Malik welcomed the “strong interest” of US investors in Pakistan’s energy sector, adding that the government was conducting a bidding round for onshore and offshore oil and gas exploration blocks. 

“This bidding round is a great opportunity for international partners to invest,” Malik told Baker, according to the report.

The US envoy said American firms were “showing keen interest in Pakistan’s oil, gas and mineral sectors, in line with President Donald Trump’s vision,” Radio Pakistan said. 

She added that the embassy would “facilitate direct connections between American and Pakistani companies in the exploration and production sectors.”

The outreach comes as Islamabad seeks to revive its struggling energy sector and broaden sources of foreign investment to shore up its $350 billion economy. Pakistan remains heavily dependent on imported liquefied natural gas to meet domestic demand, straining foreign exchange reserves, while local production of oil and gas has stagnated for years.

BROADER PARTNERSHIP

Pakistan’s finance ministry said in a statement last month following a final round of talks in Washington on a trade deal to lower tariffs and increase investment that the pact “marks the beginning of a new era of economic collaboration especially in energy, mines and minerals, IT, cryptocurrency and other sectors.”

Islamabad described the deal as a marker of a broader partnership with Washington, and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, who led the final round of talks, said there was a larger economic and strategic agreement.

“From our perspective, it was always going beyond the immediate trade imperative, and its whole purpose was, and is, that trade and investment have to go hand in hand,” he said, in video-taped remarks after the Washington talks.

Pakistan had faced a potential tariff of 29 percent, which was later suspended — as with other nations — to allow trade talks up to an Aug. 1 deadline.

Islamabad’s trade surplus with Washington was around $3 billion in 2024, mainly due to textile exports. The US is Pakistan’s biggest market for textiles.

Last month, Trump also trumpeted a pact to help develop Pakistan’s oil reserves.

“We have just concluded a Deal with the Country of Pakistan, whereby Pakistan and the United States will work together on developing their massive Oil Reserves,” Trump wrote on social media in July. 

“We are in the process of choosing the Oil Company that will lead this Partnership.”

In a message on the occasion of Pakistan’s Independence Day on Aug, 14, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington looked forward to exploring cooperation with Pakistan on critical minerals and hydrocarbons.

Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Jam Kamal has said Islamabad will offer US businesses opportunities to invest in mining projects primarily in the southwestern Balochistan province through joint ventures with local companies, providing concessions such as lease grants.

The province is home to key mining projects, including Reko Diq, run by mining firm Barrick Gold, and believed to be one of the world’s largest gold and copper mines.

With inputs from Reuters


Aid groups intensify flood relief in Pakistan, warn of long road to recovery

Updated 20 August 2025
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Aid groups intensify flood relief in Pakistan, warn of long road to recovery

  • Heavy monsoon rains since late June have killed over 700, devastated infrastructure in the country
  • Charity organizations say more funding needed for rehabilitation as homes, fields and roads lie in ruins

ISLAMABAD: Major Pakistani charities have intensified their relief operations in flood-affected areas, with representatives warning on Tuesday that significantly more funds will be needed during the rehabilitation phase to support thousands of people who have lost their homes and livelihoods.

Since late June, heavy monsoon rains have killed at least 707 people across Pakistan, damaged infrastructure and triggered flash floods and landslides in the country’s mountainous north, according to official data.

According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), nearly 400 people have died and 181 have been injured in northern Pakistan in the latest spell of rains that began last week, with Buner district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province emerging as the worst-hit, accounting for 225 of the deaths.

Pakistan’s commercial hub Karachi, in the southern Sindh province, also experienced flash flooding on Tuesday following intense downpours that killed at least eight people. However, the primary focus of the NDMA and major relief organizations remains the northern districts, where emergency supplies are being dispatched daily to flood-hit areas.

“Currently, around 6,000 volunteers are working across Pakistan, with more than 1,100 deployed in Buner alone and since August 15, we have spent over Rs250 million ($886,525) on aid supplies, and are intensifying our efforts,” Dr. Hafeez ur Rahman, the top Alkhidmat Foundation (AKF) official, told Arab News.

While Rahman said many individuals were still donating generously, he warned that the larger challenge lay ahead.

“Far greater support will be required for the post-flood rehabilitation of homes and businesses,” he said, noting that AKF had already begun collecting data on damaged houses and shops to assist their owners with rebuilding.

Volunteers walks with umbrellas to avoid rain as they survey the damaged areas, following a storm that caused heavy rains and flooding in Bayshonai Kalay, in Buner district, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, on August 18, 2025. (REUTERS)

In the immediate term, he added, the charity is focused on food and medical relief. Daily meals, crockery and clothes are being distributed, while volunteers are helping residents clear mud from homes to make them habitable again.

“Two mobile health units with full diagnostic facilities are operating round the clock, while a hospital in Buner provides comprehensive medical services, including surgeries,” Rahman said.

He feared a surge in waterborne diseases in the flood-affected areas, saying the charity was distributing bottled water, installing portable filtration systems and deploying a high-capacity water purification truck capable of treating 2,000 liters per hour.

Raza Narejo, the country director of Islamic Relief, an international humanitarian organization based in the United Kingdom, said his teams were working closely with local communities in Buner, Swat and Shangla districts of KP and were committed to long-term recovery.

“So far, we have generated £500,000 ($677,350) initially and we are aiming for more than £5 million ($6.8 million) overall response initially in life-saving phase and then recovery rehabilitation transitioning toward development,” Narejo told Arab News.

He stressed that rebuilding efforts would require major investment in not only shelters, but also in damaged irrigation systems, farmland and road networks. Delivery of aid remained difficult due to damaged roads in the hilly terrain, he noted, though coordination with local authorities and communities was helping overcome challenges.

Meanwhile, emergency teams in Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan regions from the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat (AKAH) have evacuated more than 3,000 people from high-risk areas and are providing food, tents and temporary shelter.

“AKAH is organizing safe shelter in schools, community buildings and with host families where a total of 100 families (800 individuals) have been supported with one month of food and non-food items,” the organization said in a statement.

AKAH’s community volunteers are also working to restore damaged drinking water supply lines, irrigation channels, roads and agricultural land under extremely challenging conditions. The charity plans to deploy 16,500 mobile health care units and deliver portable medical equipment to affected health facilities.

“Village Emergency Response Teams (VERT) have been on the frontlines in Diamer, rescuing residents and stranded tourists, delivering emergency supplies and evacuating the injured to hospitals,” the statement added.

The Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS), with support from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), has also activated its Emergency Operations Center.

“PRCS has deployed volunteers for flood awareness, conducted rapid needs assessments, and mobilized emergency stocks including water treatment plants,” the group said.