Abidi’s murder a result of possible infighting within MQM — Police

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Former MNA of MQM, Ali Raza Abidi, was laid to rest in DHS graveyard after his funeral was offered at Imambarhagh Yasab in Karachi on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2018. (AN photo by M.F. Sabir)
Updated 26 December 2018
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Abidi’s murder a result of possible infighting within MQM — Police

  • Ex-lawmaker who was killed last night laid to rest in DHA’s graveyard
  • Video surfaces showing group’s self-exiled founder asking followers to kill leaders associated with different factions

KARACHI: The murder of Ali Raza Abidi is most likely the result of infighting within the various factions of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), a senior counter-terrorism official said on Wednesday.
Fearing a return of violence to Karachi, where peace has been restored after years of bloodshed from 2009 till 2014, senior counter terrorism officer, Raja Umar Khattab said that 2013 — when targeted operations began to rid the city of violence — was the deadliest year with 3,251 killings.




Abidi was shot multiple times outside his residence in the Khayaban-e-Ghazi neighborhood of DHA on Tuesday night by unidentified assailants. (Screengrab from a video provided by Sindh Police)

Abidi was shot multiple times outside his residence in the Khayaban-e-Ghazi neighborhood of DHA on Tuesday night by unidentified assailants. His funeral prayers were offered on Wednesday afternoon. Allama Hassan Zafar Naqvi led the prayers at the Imambargah Yasrab, which was attended by senior leaders of the MQM-Pakistan, relatives, friends, and political and social figures of the city.
“The murder of Abidi is most likely the outcome of internal differences,” Khattab said, adding that the “incidents which occurred over the last couple of days is indication of the more violence. Law enforcement agencies are, however, ready to curb violence.”
“Two trained killers carried out the shooting within 10 seconds and escaped,” Khattab said.
Citing details of the forensic report, the official said that the weapon used to murder Abidi matched the pistol used in the killing of Ehtisham , who was killed by Irfan . Irfan is believed to be associated with the MQM.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) South Karachi, Pir Muhammad Shah said that the investigation is being conducted from three angles. “We are investigating the murder from three angles; personal enmity, political, and sectarian,” Shah told Arab News.
“We have the technology, which will help us identify the killers. The footage we have got will definitely take us to the killers,” Shah said.
The official said that Abidi’s guard, identified as Qadeer, has been taken into custody as he fled instead of retaliating. SP Investigation Tariq Dharejo told Arab News that the statements of seven persons, including the guards, have been recorded.
A high-level security meeting at the CM House also cited political reasons as the motive for the murder.
“They [The intelligence agencies[ also pointed out making and breaking in some parties was also leading to violence,” a statement issued by the CM House said, adding that “police and Rangers have made some important arrests and they are sure that some solid clues would be unearthed to arrest the killers.”
It was also highlighted at the meeting that due to hate speeches being broadcasted from London, certain party workers were being instigated to murder their opponents.
“At this the chief minister directed Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah to talk to the Foreign office in Islamabad to raise the issue with the British embassy,” the statement added.


Pakistan’s Punjab deploys over 43,000 police personnel for security on Eid Al-Adha

Updated 40 min 13 sec ago
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Pakistan’s Punjab deploys over 43,000 police personnel for security on Eid Al-Adha

  • Punjab Police places province on “high alert” amid deteriorating security situation across Pakistan
  • Police personnel deployed to secure 28,074 mosques and 890 open-air Eid prayer venues, says report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Punjab has deployed over 43,000 police officers and personnel across the province for the Eid Al-Adha holidays, state-run media reported, with police placing the province on high alert amid the prevalent security situation in the country.

As per a report in the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) on Friday, the police personnel have been deployed to secure 28,074 mosques and 890 open-air Eid prayer venues.

Pakistan has seen a surge in militant violence in recent months. Scores of citizens have been killed in the past in militant attacks that have targeted mosques and tourist destinations on public holidays.

“According to the Punjab Police spokesperson, a comprehensive security strategy has been formulated to ensure the safety of mosques, Imambargahs, Eid congregations, and the general public,” APP said on Friday.

The report said 445 Quick Response Force (QRF) teams will be stationed to enhance security readiness while 11,912 metal detectors, 225 walk-through gates and 10,466 CCTV cameras will be utilized during Eid prayers.

In Punjab’s provincial capital Lahore, over 9,000 personnel will be assigned to secure more than 5,000 Eid gatherings, the spokesperson confirmed.

“Inspector General of Police (IGP) Punjab Dr. Usman Anwar has ordered heightened security measures for Eid-ul-Adha, citing the current national security situation,” the report said.

Additional police will be deployed at parks and recreational spots during the Eid holidays to ensure public safety.

The Punjab Police chief also issued a strict warning against one-wheeling, aerial firing, kite flying and rowdy behavior, the report said, stating such acts will not be tolerated.

He stressed all mosques, Imambargahs and Eid grounds must be thoroughly checked and cleared before Eid prayers. High-security mosques and Imambargahs (in category A) will have snipers posted on rooftops while plainclothes commandos will be deployed inside Eid congregations, the report said.

“The IG [inspector-general] also directed the Additional IG Traffic to personally oversee the traffic management plan across Punjab, ensuring smooth flow of traffic during Eid,” APP said.

It said police have been ordered to take preventive measures to combat street crimes and highway robberies, while extra personnel will be posted at key locations to maintain traffic flow during the holidays.

“Special instructions have been issued to ensure tourist safety in Murree and other tourist destinations,” it said. “Authorities are required to enforce SOPs for vehicle entry and exit in Murree, the IG added.”


‘The Pakistani Vibe’: Inside the imagined worlds of renowned art director Hashim Ali

Updated 07 June 2025
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‘The Pakistani Vibe’: Inside the imagined worlds of renowned art director Hashim Ali

  • One of Pakistan’s most renowned Pakistani visual artists and art directors, Ali is known for creating visually stunning and intricate sets
  • Ali has worked on some of Pakistan’s biggest music videos and fashion shows, bringing centuries-old aesthetics to modern storytelling

LAHORE: Tucked away in a quiet lane in Pakistan’s cultural capital of Lahore, Hashim Ali’s studio feels less like a workspace and more like a time capsule from the Mughal era.

Large Persian rugs are spread out on the floors and ornate jharokhas overlook walls painted in beige and maroon and covered in wood panels and miniature paintings, creating a world suffused with nostalgia and opulence. Every corner of the studio reflects the vision of an art director who doesn’t just design sets but builds atmosphere. The space is both sanctuary and stage, where centuries-old aesthetics come vividly to life in the service of modern, visual storytelling.

One of Pakistan’s most renowned Pakistani visual artists and art directors, Ali is a Visual Communication Design graduate from the prestigious National College of Arts (NCA) institute in Lahore. Over the years, he has come to be known for his work in fashion, film, and music and is celebrated for his creative vision and attention to detail, particularly in creating visually stunning and intricate sets. His ability to blend historic grandeur with modern maximalism has won him several accolades over the years, including the Fashion Art Director award at the 2024 Hum Style Awards and the Pride of Performance Award in 2021.

In an interview with Arab News at his studio in Lahore’s posh Gulberg neighborhood, Ali, 34, said his passion for visual storytelling came from a history of childhood bullying.

This photo shows a generic view of Pakistani art director Hashim Ali’s studio in a quiet lane in Lahore. (AN Photo)

“When you are bullied, you have to make [up] stories, you have to read stories, so I would get lost in fairytales,” he said.

“I would just start imagining what this world is, what these people are, what is this fantasy that exists out of this world? It started from there.”

The stories he read, full of mythology and folklore, led him to start thinking about his identity as a Pakistani and a South Asian.

“Then I was like, ‘Why can’t we rebuild these memories and these spaces and these places?’”

Pakistani art director Hashim Ali speaks during an interview with Arab News at his studio in Lahore on May 27, 2025. (AN Photo)

Ali’s own studio is a recreation of spaces of the past, a Mughal court in miniature — crafted not from marble and sandstone, but from cardboard, fabric, and imagination. With hand-painted arches, makeshift jalis, and richly colored drapes, the space evokes the grandeur of a bygone empire while laying bare its theatrical artifice. The illusion is deliberate: a paper palace blurring the line between history and performance and reflecting South Asia’s enduring nostalgia for lost splendor and the way identity in the region is often reconstructed through fragments — of memory, of myth, of art.

What one then sees is not just a recreation of the past but a reinterpretation, inviting a dialogue between heritage and reinvention:

“If Hollywood can create all of this [set design] and we think as Pakistanis that we can’t do any of this, then we’re at fault. Because we did create the Taj Mahal. We did create the Lahore Fort … If we could do it then, we can do it now.”

“COMBINED MEMORY”

One of Ali’s most cherished creations was the set for the song “Pasoori,” the first Coke Studio number to hit one billion views on YouTube Music and the most searched song globally on Google in 2022, the year of its release.

Ali, the production designer and art director of the set, crafted it as a communal space, with the bohemian aesthetic of the set, characterized by vibrant colors and eclectic elements, complementing the song’s fusion of reggaeton beats with classical South Asian instruments like the rubab.

This photo shows a generic view of Pakistani art director Hashim Ali’s studio in Lahore. (AN Photo)

Ali describes the aesthetic as “the Pakistani vibe,” exemplified by a new generation that had grown up in the era of globalization and social media and was reclaiming public spaces and dressing up and conducting themselves in ways that merged their cultural heritage with contemporary elements.

“It’s so interesting that now when I’m sitting and I’m scrolling on Instagram or TikTok and I see these reels of girls wearing either ‘saris’ and ‘ghagras’ and they’re dancing in Lahore, in old Lahore,” Ali said.

But the project closest to Ali’s heart is hidden away in the winding, narrow streets of Lahore’s historic Gali Surjan Singh near Delhi Gate. It is a concept store, Iqbal Begum, imagined as a tribute to his late dadi or grandmother, a mathematics teacher who passed away in 2014.

The store has been built in a centuries-old home that Ali rented from a woman who has lived there before the partition of India in 1947 and the creation of Pakistan. The walls are adorned with framed pictures of Iqbal Begum and the shop strewn with things that belonged to her, including old table clocks and dial phones and a tub of Nivea cream, a bottle of Oil of Olay lotion, and a coin purse framed together.

Photo frames of Pakistani art director Hashim Ali’s grandmother hang on one of the walls of his studio in Lahore. (AN Photo)

Ali remembered growing up surrounded by the stories his grandmother told him, including about the violence of the partition.

“She told me a story about how she lost her favorite pen and our house was burned down in front of her eyes and the sense of belonging started happening,” Ali said.

“From that story, this thing of holding on to objects, holding on to people, holding on to stories became very important.”

The concept store is thus not only a way to tell the story of Iqbal Begum but also to create shared memories.

“So, for me, every time I tell a story, I’m passing on my memory to someone else, and when they go and tell someone, in a way, it’s almost like my dadi is still alive,” Ali added.

Pakistani art director Hashim Ali gestures during an interview with Arab News at his studio in Lahore on May 27, 2025. (AN Photo)

And the process is two-way, because people show up with their stories also and can connect with the items they see in the store: “Then it becomes like a combined memory.”

Ultimately, it all connects back to the idea of Pakistan for Ali and to preserving its national, personal and collective histories into tangible, emotionally resonant experience.

“I kind of equated it to the bigger grandparent or the larger mother, which is Pakistan, that slowly, slowly all these amazing things that Pakistanis and Pakistan has done, we’re slowly letting them fade away,” he said.

“The idea from this dadi telling stories to a child has become about this child telling those stories or trying to tell those stories to the world and saying, ‘Hey, we’re Pakistan and we’re a beautiful country and we do all these things apart from what you’re used to hearing about.’.”


Pakistan’s first post-Hajj flight to arrive in Karachi on June 11

Updated 07 June 2025
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Pakistan’s first post-Hajj flight to arrive in Karachi on June 11

  • Air Blue flight PA-1766 scheduled to arrive in Karachi with 148 pilgrims on board, says religion ministry
  • Pakistan concluded pre-Hajj flight operations last month, with over 115,000 pilgrims arriving in Saudi Arabia

KARACHI: Pakistan’s first post-Hajj flight carrying pilgrims back to the country is scheduled to arrive in the southern port city of Karachi on June 11, a letter issued by the religion ministry said this week.

Pakistan concluded its 33-day pre-Hajj flight operation last month, with more than 115,000 pilgrims transported to Saudi Arabia for the annual Islamic pilgrimage.

Every year Pakistan arranges special Hajj flights to facilitate thousands of Pakistani Muslims traveling to the Kingdom for the pilgrimage and back. The operation involves both government and private schemes, as well as coordination with multiple airlines to ensure smooth transit.

“The first Hajj flight of Air Blue Airline, PA–1766, is scheduled to arrive at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, on 11th June 2025 at 13:35 hours from Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, carrying 148 Hujjaj,” a letter written addressed to the airport manager at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport by the religion ministry said.

The letter said Riaz Hussain Shah Shirazi, the provincial minister for Auqaf, will welcome the pilgrims upon their arrival at the airport.

“You are kindly requested to make the necessary arrangements in accordance with past practices and provide intimation to this Directorate accordingly,” the letter added.

As many as 88,260 Hajj pilgrims arrived in Saudi Arabia via the government scheme through 342 flights from various cities of Pakistan this year while over 27,000 arrived via private tour operators.

The Hajj flights were operated by a range of air carriers including Pakistan International Airlines, Saudi Airlines, SereneAir, Airblue and AirSial.


From Pakistan to Spain via Canaries, smugglers using more dangerous migration routes

Updated 3 min 18 sec ago
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From Pakistan to Spain via Canaries, smugglers using more dangerous migration routes

  • Forty-four fellow Pakistani migrants died during 10-day failed crossing in January from Mauritania to Spain’s Canary Islands
  • Nearly 47,000 people disembarked in the Canaries in 2024, an increase from the nearly 40,000 in 2023, as per Spain

DERA BAJWA, Pakistan: It was supposed to be the final leg of Amir Ali’s monthslong journey to Europe. But he was nowhere near his destination, with only death in sight.

The 21-year-old Pakistani had been promised a visa and a flight to Spain. Yet six months, four countries and $17,000 later, he found himself crammed in a fishing boat in the Atlantic Ocean alongside 85 others, screaming for their lives as seawater sloshed over the gunwales.

Amir Ali, who survived a failed attempt to reach Spain by boat, walks down a street near his home in Dera Bajwa, a village in Gujranwala district, Pakistan on April 23, 2025. (AP)

Forty-four fellow Pakistani migrants perished during the 10-day failed crossing in January from Mauritania’s coast toward Spain’s Canary Islands.

The deadly journey cast a spotlight on how globalized and sophisticated smuggling networks on the West African coast — and specifically Mauritania — have become. Interviews with survivors and relatives of migrants who died revealed how smugglers have adapted to tighter border controls and anti-migration policies across the Mediterranean and North Africa, resorting to lengthier, more dangerous routes.

Ali’s odyssey began last July. After making an initial deposit of 600,000 Pakistani rupees ($2,127), he went to Karachi airport, where he was told to wait for a shift change before approaching the immigration counter.

“The smugglers had inside help,” he said. He and other migrants were swiftly put on a flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Amir Ali, who survived a failed attempt to reach Spain by boat, walks down a street near his home in Dera Bajwa, a village in Gujranwala district, Pakistan on April 23, 2025. (AP)

From there Ali boarded a second flight to Dakar, Senegal, where he was told someone would be waiting for him.

Instead, when he arrived he was told to go to the Senegal River bordering Mauritania, a seven-hour taxi ride north. He joined other Pakistanis traveling to the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott. In each country he passed through, bribes were demanded for visas, Ali said.

Imran Iqbal, 42, took a similar journey. Like Ali, he flew from Karachi to Senegal via Ethiopia before reaching Mauritania. Other Pakistanis Iqbal met, he said, traveled through Kenya or Zimbabwe enroute to Mauritania.

WAITING GAME

Once in Mauritania, the migrants were taken to cramped safe houses where smugglers took their belongings and deprived them of food. “Our passports, our money — everything,” Iqbal said. “I was essentially held captive,” Ali said.

Villagers walk a loaded cart through a wheat field in Gajju, Pakistan, passing a house owned by a family that settled in Europe, on April 16, 2025. (AP)

During the six months Iqbal and Ali were in Mauritania, smugglers moved them repeatedly, beating them to extract more money.

While he managed to get some money sent from Pakistan, Iqbal did not tell his family of his dire situation.

“Our parents, children, siblings ... they would’ve been devastated,” he said.

Ali said the smugglers lied to their families in Pakistan, who asked about their whereabouts and questioned why they hadn’t called from Spain.

Finally, on Jan. 2, Iqbal, Ali and the other Pakistani migrants were transferred to an overcrowded boat that set course for Spain’s Canary Islands.

“On the day of departure, 64 Pakistanis from various safe houses were brought to the port,” Ali recalled. “The Mauritanian police and port officials, who were complicit, facilitated our transfer to the boats.”

“What followed were the hardest 15 days of my life,” Iqbal said.

Imran Iqbal, who survived a failed attempt to reach Spain by boat, tells his story during an interview with The Associated Press in Gajju, a village in Gujrat district, Pakistan, April 16, 2025. (AP)

Mauritanian authorities have launched several investigations into smuggling networks and, in the past two months, heightened surveillance at the country’s borders and ports, according to a Mauritanian embassy official in Madrid who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to comment publicly.

While migration to Europe has been falling steadily, the Atlantic Ocean crossing from West Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands has reemerged since 2020.

Nearly 47,000 people disembarked in the Canaries in 2024, an increase from the nearly 40,000 in 2023, according to Spanish Interior Ministry figures.

An old map of Mauritania is displayed in a hostel in Nouadhibou, Mauritania on November 30, 2021. (AP/File)

Until recently, the route was mostly used by migrants from West African nations fleeing poverty or violence. But since last year, migrants from far-flung countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Yemen, Syria and Afghanistan have increasingly embarked on the fishing boats used to reach the European archipelago.

Smugglers connect with migrants locally in Pakistan and elsewhere, as well as on social media. Migrants post videos of their voyages on TikTok. Although some warn of the dangers, they also share idyllic videos of life in Europe, from Canary Island beaches to the bustling streets of Barcelona and Madrid. For many, Spain is just an entry point for continuing to France, Italy and elsewhere.

Chris Borowski, spokesperson for the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex, believes smuggling networks bringing Pakistanis and other South Asian migrants through the Canaries are still “testing the waters” to see how profitable it is.

However, experts at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Crime warn the route is here to stay.

“With the conflict landscape showing no sign of improvement, movement on the Canary Islands route looks set to increase,” the group warned.

“Because it remains the deadliest migration route in the world, this has severe humanitarian implications.”

The Atlantic Ocean crossing can take days or weeks. Dozens of boats have vanished.

A car is parked outside a big house in Dera Bajwa, Pakistan, that is owned by a family that settled in Europe, on April 23, 2025. (AP)

Exact figures don’t exist, but the International Organization for Migration’s Missing Migrants Project recorded at least 1,142 deaths and disappearances last year, a number it calls a vast understatement. Spanish rights group Walking Borders reported nearly 9,800 victims on the Canaries route last year — which would make it the world’s deadliest migration route.

Only a tiny fraction of bodies are ever recovered. Some shipwrecked vessels have appeared hundreds of thousands of miles away, in the Caribbean and South America.

The boat Ali and Iqbal boarded had a 40-person capacity but was packed with more than double that. Immediately, there were fights between the Pakistanis and the Africans on board, they said.

The Associated Press wasn’t able to locate non-Pakistani survivors to verify the accusations, but reports of violence on the Canaries journey are frequent even among those of the same nationality and ethnicity. Dehydration can cause hallucinations, exacerbating tensions.

“The weather was terrible,” Ali said. “As water entered the boat, the crew threw our belongings and food into the sea to keep the boat afloat.”

On the fifth day, a man died of a heart attack, Ali and Iqbal said. More people perished every day, their bodies thrown overboard; while some died from hunger and thirst, the majority were killed.

“The crew attacked us with hammers, killing 15 in one night,” Ali said. Both men showed photos of injuries others sustained, although AP couldn’t verify what caused them.

“The beatings were mostly to the head — so brutal that people started losing their sanity,” Iqbal said. They prayed for a merciful death, convinced they had little chance of survival.

On the 10th night, after dozens had died, lights appeared on the horizon. They shouted for help. At daybreak, a fishing vessel approached, handing them food and water before eventually towing them to the West African coast two days later. Forty-four Pakistanis had died.

A man drives in front of a house under construction in Dera Bajwa, Pakistan, that is owned by a family that settled in Europe, on April 23, 2025. (AP)

“Only twelve bodies returned to Pakistan,” Ali said. “The rest were lost at sea.”

BACK AT SQUARE ONE

News of the failed journey made international headlines, prompting a pledge by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to go after smugglers.

Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency has arrested dozens of people suspected of arranging the journey or connections to the smugglers.

A nationwide crackdown was already underway, but smugglers change locations to evade capture. In Europe and Pakistan, smugglers who are caught are primarily low-level operatives, resulting in limited impact on the overall business.

Staring at the mansions being built around his modest brick home in the Pakistani village of Dera Bajwa, Ali reflected on his wasted journey.

“These are the houses of those who made it abroad,” Ali said. “People like me see them and dream without thinking.”


‘Adornment’ of Eid meals: Meaty celebrations begin with aroma and activity at Quetta spice bazaar

Updated 07 June 2025
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‘Adornment’ of Eid meals: Meaty celebrations begin with aroma and activity at Quetta spice bazaar

  • Spice vendors at Sabzi Mandi become unsung heroes, supplying the flavor base for feasts shared by families across the country
  • Merchants say demand peaks from Balochistan’s interior as well as urban hubs in Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces

QUETTA: In the narrow, bustling lanes of a fresh produce market in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, the air is thick with the sharp scent of spices - cardamom, black pepper, cumin, and garlic - heralding the arrival of Eid Al-Adha, a time when food becomes a centerpiece of celebration and sacrifice.

At the heart of the activity is Haji Shair Ali, a 41-year-old spice merchant, carefully measuring out mounds of herbs and seasonings with practiced precision. Armed with a metal scoop and a timeworn grinder, he blends his signature spice mixes for the most anticipated meals of the year: kebabs, rosh, biryani, and stews crafted from the meat of sacrificial animals.

“For us the season lasts all year but during Eid al-Adha, demand for spices increases, particularly for barbecue and Pashtun rosh [slow-cooked mutton or lamb] spices,” Ali told Arab News, smiling through the scent of cumin and cloves at his shop in Quetta's Sabzi Mandi.

“Spices are the adornment of dining. If you cook meat without spices, it tastes bland. Thus, the dishes all depend on spices.”

In the weeks leading up to Eid, which will be observed in Pakistan on June 7 following the conclusion of the Hajj pilgrimage, Quetta’s spice trade sees a surge in activity. While much of the Sabzi Mandi is known for fresh fruits and vegetables, the spice vendors become the unsung heroes of the culinary celebrations, supplying the flavor base for feasts shared by families across the country.

Ali’s offerings include not just dry rubs and seasoning powders but also freshly made barbecue sauces, including a house specialty crafted with papaya and kachri, a spice made from wild melon that acts as a natural meat tenderizer.

“Along with kachri powder, we add black pepper, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, coriander and garlic,” Ali said, listing ingredients like a chemist revealing a secret formula.

While local buyers continue to crowd the stalls, orders now pour in from across the country. Merchants say demand peaks from Balochistan’s interior as well as urban hubs in Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and many spice shops now rely on online sales through social media pages to cater to a national customer base.

As the countdown to Eid continues, Quetta’s spice makers will remain at their grinders late into the night, ensuring every marinade and masala packet makes it to a family kitchen in time for the festival.

“I have prepared different spices for this Eid season, weighing more than 3,000 kgs because we have received many online orders from other cities,” Ali said. “During Eid al-Adha season, we work until midnight, even skipping meals. Ten people work in a single shop to prepare the spice orders in time.”

Customers like Shaharyar Khan, who was stocking up for a backyard Eid barbecue, said the quality during Eid was noticeably better.

“Normally it’s already good, but for Eid, they make it even better so the taste of the food is enhanced,” he said.

Despite the demand, rising prices have frustrated some buyers. Spice merchants attribute the cost increases to inflation, currency devaluation, and the rising prices of imported ingredients from countries like Vietnam, China, India, and Iran.

At the market this week, a kilo of barbecue spice sold for Rs950 ($3.38), up from Rs900 last year, while biryani spice mix was priced at around Rs1,400 ($4.98). Curry blends were going for approximately Rs1,200 ($4.27) per packet.

Still, many say the higher cost was worth it for the quality.

“Last year I bought one kilogram of barbecue spice for Rs900 and this year, it is for Rs950,” said Haji Ajmal, a customer from Kuchlak city near Quetta.

“It’s not a big difference if you compare it to the flavor you get.”