DUBAI: Dr. Farook Rasheed A Farooki was 29 years old when he left his home in Muzaffarabad- Kashmir to settle for a life as a young doctor in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
That was 45 years ago.
Soon, with his hardwork and excellent reputation, he became a naturalized citizen of the Kingdom. However, he says, his love for Pakistan always kept him grounded.
He finally decided to take the leap when, along with other like-minded Pakistanis, he established a charity hospital for kidney patients and named it as the Pakistan Kidney Center.
“In 1969, I came to Jeddah to look for a better life and got a job in the Ministry of Health. I worked there for eight years and then started my own clinic as a family physician. I worked very hard in my adopted country. And in return , I got a lot of respect and love. I was able to give a good life to my family,” the 76--year-old father of two said.
But that was not enough for him. “I always felt that I have a loan to pay to my motherland, where I was born and where I was educated.”
Eventually, he and his friend, Dr. Khaleelur Rehman, decided to establish two charity health projects in Pakistan — the Pakistan Kidney Center and Heath Mobile Units.
This was essential as Pakistan ranks eight in kidney diseases causing 20,000 deaths every year. Additionally, Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is rapidly growing in Pakistan, too.
“There are very few facilities available in our country, especially on the mountainous region. Patients have to travel a long way to major cities which add to the cost of their treatment. So we decided to build our center on the Silk Route’s main highway from Islamabad to Abbotabad, which is called Muslimabad,” he said.
The Pakistan Kidney Center was established in April 2015. With 14 machines, the facility provides 35 dialysis sessions on a daily basis.
“We successfully started our OPD with 14 dialysis machines [which works in two shifts] to take care of around 40 of patient every day. We maintain the highest standards. All machines are busy round the clock, so much so that we are now considering to start the third shift of dialysis,” Dr. Farooki said.
He added that the construction and operational costs of the facility cost him nearly Rs200 million. “Around Rs75 million was gathered through personal donations of board members and rest came from friends and philanthropists in KSA. Our current running cost is Rs2 to 2.5 million per month, out of which 25 to 30 percent is generated by center revenue. Rest comes from donations,” he said.
He has set his sights on launching a Mobile Health Unit next. “In the mountainous parts of Pakistan, there are no hospitals, no OPD facilities, or even trained medical staff. Hence, the only way to provide medical care they deserve is to reach them with Mobile OPDs on a regular basis,” he said, adding that “our mobile units travel to far-flung areas holding camps, providing medicine, and creating awareness about the prevention of diseases.”
His impending age and logistic challenges haven’t discouraged Dr. Farooki from serving his motherland. “I knew it won’t be easy. But nothing can stop me to help my people. Allah has given me the opportunity to serve my homeland. And I will do it with the best of my abilities till my last breath,” he said.
Dr. Farooki is not alone. Several other Pakistani expatriates in the Gulf voiced similar aspirations. Dr. Asjad Hameed, a famous diabetologist in the the UAE, is another such example.
Early this year, Dr. Hameed and his friends realized their six-year long dream by establishing a world-class diabetes hospital near Islamabad which they named The Diabetes Center.
Dr. Hameed, 51, has been working on curbing the nationwide epidemic of diabetes in Pakistan for more than a decade. Pakistan is one of the top ranked in the list of countries with diabetes where one out of five people suffers from the disease.
Dr. Hameed’s journey began in November 2011, when he decided to take the plunge. During a winter morning walk along the corniche, he shared his idea of establishing a hospital in Pakistan with two of his close friends.
Since then, there has been no looking back. “I initiated the project six years ago with my life’s savings of Dh300,000. We first launched a site clinic in Islamabad in 2012, where more than a 100 patients visited per day. And in April 2018, our world-class hospital became operational,” the father of three said, adding that “till date, we have spent Dhs 25 million on the hospital and are treating 200 patients per day.”
“We [Pakistani Gulf expatriates] are not only the highest in providing remittances to the country, we also serve our country in many ways. Contributing to the health sector is one such example. There are many known and many unsung heroes from the gulf countries who are serving Pakistan in several ways,” Dr. Hameed said.
“Though providing quality health services to all Pakistanis is the government’s job, we as responsible citizens cannot sit back and see our brothers and sisters suffering. We may have left our homes for the better future. But our heart and soul is still there. We will continue to do whatever we can. Keeping our people healthy is certainly one of such responsibilities that we owe to our country,” he said.
According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) issued in 2017, Pakistan spent 0.5 to 0.8 percent of its GDP on health care for the past 10 years while the WHO benchmark of health expenditure is at least 6 percent of the GDP to provide basic and lifesaving services.
‘We may have left our homes but our heart and soul are still in Pakistan’
‘We may have left our homes but our heart and soul are still in Pakistan’
- Expatriates residing in the GCC look to pay back by contributing to the country’s health care sector
- Have played a crucial role in promoting quality facilities over the years
UK announces £108 million to support Pakistani businesses tackle climate change
- Funds will help businesses develop climate technologies, support Pakistan’s private sector
- UK government says program will support the creation of over 100,000 Pakistani jobs
ISLAMABAD: The United Kingdom (UK) government this week announced £108 million in funds to support Pakistani businesses adapt to climate challenges, saying that it would help them develop technologies and meet significant investments required to tackle climate threats.
The announcement was made at the culmination of the two-day visit by British Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan Hamish Falconer to Islamabad on Friday.
The British government said the funding will support a first-of-its-kind investment facility to deliver climate technologies and private sector support in Pakistan. The program will be delivered in partnership with the International Finance Corporation.
“The UK and Pakistan are committed to tackling tomorrow’s threats today,” Falconer was quoted as saying by the British government on Friday.
“That’s why we’re investing in the expertise needed and supporting local businesses, alongside the Government of Pakistan, to get ahead of the challenges that climate change poses to the Pakistani people and the world.”
According to the Global Climate Risk Index, Pakistan is among the countries most at risk from climate change. The 2022 floods, which experts linked to global warming, impacted over 33 million people, resulted in more than 1,700 deaths and caused an estimated $33 billion in damages.
Pakistan’s economic struggles and high debt burden put a strain on its resources and impinged its ability to respond to the disaster.
Pakistan has also been grappling with increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, including droughts, heatwaves, and heavy rainfall. This year, the country experienced its heaviest April rainfall since 1961, with 59.3 millimeters recorded. Additionally, several regions faced severe heatwaves in May and June.
“The program will leverage the £108m the UK puts in to mobilize 5-6 times that amount of investment from the private sector and will support the creation of over 100,000 Pakistani jobs,” the British government said on its official website.
Pakistan and the UK enjoy strong military, economic and educational ties, with the latter hosting a large Pakistani diaspora.
Recent high-level visits by military leaders from both countries have signalled a deepening of defense ties and cooperation. The strong relationship is built on a shared history and the significant presence of a Pakistani diaspora in the country.
Cannot allow Islamabad protest, Pakistan interior minister tells ex-PM Khan’s party
- Jailed Imran Khan’s party has called for “long march” to Islamabad on Nov. 24 to demand his release
- Pakistani authorities block roads, seal off motorways ahead of opposition’s Islamabad protest
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday discussed the prevailing political situation in the country with former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Gohar Ali Khan, warning him that the government will not allow the party to stage a protest sit-in or rally in the capital.
Thousands of Khan supporters are expected to arrive in Islamabad on Sunday for a “long march” to the capital. The PTI’s march is primarily aimed at pressurizing the government to end the jailed Khan’s imprisonment, which has lasted for over a year, on what his party contends are politically motivated charges.
The party also aims to raise its voice against alleged rigging in the Feb. 8 general elections while calling for measures to ensure judicial independence, which it says has been undermined by the 26th constitutional amendment. The government denies this.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday directed the government to form a committee to hold discussions with the PTI. The court said that if no breakthrough was reached between the two parties, then the government would be responsible for maintaining law and order. It said that in that case, “no protest or rally or for that matter sit-in shall be allowed.”
“Mohsin Naqvi informed Barrister Gohar about the post-Islamabad High Court order situation,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported. “He said we are bound by the high court’s order and cannot permit any procession, sit-in or rally.”
The minister informed the PTI chairman about the engagements of the 80-member high-level delegation accompanying the president of Belarus, who will be in Islamabad from Nov. 24-27.
“Barrister Gohar said he will inform the Interior Minister about the final response after party consultation,” the state media said.
MOTORWAYS, MAJOR ARTERIES SEALED
Pakistan’s National Highways and Motorway Police (NHMP) said on Friday that motorways across the country leading to Islamabad have been sealed from various areas to protect people’s lives ahead of the PTI’s planned protest.
Authorities sealed off major arteries and roads with shipping containers leading to Islamabad from the surrounding Rawalpindi city, including at the Faizabad terminal, and other areas on Friday.
In a notification released on Friday, the NHMP cited intelligence reports that protesters were planning to disrupt law and order in the capital, adding that they would be armed with sticks and slingshots.
“To prevent any untoward situation and to protect the lives of the people, motorways have been closed from various locations,” the NHMP said.
“The lives and property of the people will be guaranteed at all costs. Those who take the law into their hands will be dealt with strictly.”
Hours earlier on Friday, the NHMP had shared a notification on social media platform X in which it had said that certain sections of the motorway were closed due to maintenance work. These sections were: M-1 Islamabad to Peshawar, M-2 Islamabad to Lahore, M-3 Lahore to Abdul Hakeem, M-4 Pindi Bhattian to Multan, M-14 Hakla to Yarik and M-11 Lahore to Sialkot.
As per local media reports, the Metro Bus service between the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi will be suspended on Nov. 24 while a ban on public gatherings has been imposed in Punjab from Nov. 23-25 ahead of the PTI’s march.
Earlier this week, Pakistan’s interior ministry had authorized the deployment of paramilitary Punjab Rangers and Frontier Corps troops in Islamabad to maintain law and order.
Pakistan’s parliament also passed a law earlier this year to regulate public gatherings in Islamabad, specifying timings for rallies and designating specific areas. The law prescribes three-year jail terms for participants in illegal assemblies and 10-year imprisonment for repeat offenders.
Cop among two killed in separate IED blasts in northwestern Pakistan
- No group has so far claimed responsibility for blasts which took place in Bajaur tribal district
- Seventy-five police personnel have been killed, 113 injured in militant attacks in KP this year
PESHAWAR: A police constable and a civilian were killed in separate Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blasts in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, police said, as Islamabad struggles to contain surging militancy in its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.
The IED blasts took place in the northwestern Bajaur tribal district on Saturday morning, killing one cop and a civilian.
As per official data, 75 police personnel have been killed and 113 injured in militant attacks and targeted assassinations in KP province this year.
“Both blasts were reported in the premises of Loi Mamund police station earlier today,” Bajaur Police spokesperson Muhammad Israr told Arab News.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts so far.
“An IED was placed in front of the policeman’s house which detonated when he was leaving home for duty at around 9:30 am in Mena village of Loi Mamund,” Israr added.
He said the other blast took place around 8:00 am in Irab village, also located within the vicinity of Loi Mamund police station, in which one person was killed.
Israr said police have started investigating both incidents.
Pakistan blames the surge in militancy in KP province, which borders Afghanistan, on the Pakistani Taliban militants that it alleges have found safe havens in Afghanistan.
Kabul denies the allegations and urges Pakistan to resolve its security challenges on its own. Relations between the two countries have deteriorated since November 2022 when a fragile truce between the Pakistani state and the Pakistani Taliban broke down.
Mourners in Pakistan’s Kurram district demand inquiry after sectarian clashes kill 41
- Gunmen opened fire on vehicles carrying 41 members of Shiite community in Kurram district on Thursday
- Authorities impose curfew, suspend mobile phone services in district long plagued by sectarian clashes
ISLAMABAD: Mourners in northwestern Pakistan’s Kurram district on Saturday demanded the government hold a transparent inquiry into sectarian clashes that killed 41 people this week, as fear grips the restive area days after the attack.
Authorities imposed a curfew and suspended mobile phone services in Kurram district after 41 people were killed on Thursday when gunmen opened fire on vehicles carrying members of the minority Shiite community.
The assault, one of the deadliest such attacks in recent years in the area, took place in the district where sectarian clashes have killed dozens of people in recent months.
“A transparent inquiry of this incident should be carried out,” Hayat Abbas Najafi, one of the mourners, told Reuters at one of the district’s main towns Parachinar during a funeral ceremony.
“We call on the government as well as security institutions that Parchinar, which is a great part of Pakistan, should be saved from sectarianism and should be provided safety and security.”
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which came a week after authorities reopened a key highway in the region that had been closed for weeks following deadly clashes.
Previous clashes in July and September killed dozens of people and ended only after a tribal council called for a ceasefire.
Sajjad Hussain, another mourner, said among those killed were infants as young as six months old and women.
“They were innocent passengers. What was their fault,” he asked.
Shop owners in Parachinar announced a three-day strike on Friday to protest the attack while locals described an atmosphere of fear across the district following the incident.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi called the shootings a “terrorist attack.” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the attack, and Sharif said those behind the killing of innocent civilians will not go unpunished.
Shiite Muslims make up about 15 percent of the 240 million population of Sunni-majority Pakistan.
With inputs from Reuters
UAE promotes Arab culture and cuisine at three-day festival in Karachi
- UAE consulate in Karachi kicks off celebrations ahead of nation’s National Day
- UAE is one of Pakistan’s largest trading partners and major source of remittances
KARACHI: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Consul General in Karachi this week paid a visit to promote several stalls selling Arab cuisine and highlighting Arab culture at a three-day festival in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi, ahead of the Gulf nation’s National Day.
Sindh’s Culture Minister Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah inaugurated the three-day Sindh Craft Festival on Friday which showcases traditional shawls, quilts, handlooms, and caps made by artists from all over Sindh at Karachi’s famous Port Grand entertainment hub.
UAE Consul General Dr. Bakheet Ateeq Al Rumaithi visited the festival on Friday to highlight Arab cuisine and review stalls promoting Arab culture at the festival. The UAE consulate is gearing up for celebrations to mark the nation’s 53rd National Day on Dec. 2.
“Various stalls have been set up at Port Grand keeping in mind Arab culture,” the UAE Consulate in Karachi said in a statement on Friday.
Al Rumaithi noted that women, children and the elderly were all taking part in the three-day cultural festival.
“We have a centuries-old relationship with Pakistan which is strengthening,” he observed.
The UAE is one of Pakistan’s largest trading partners and a major source of foreign investment, valued at over $10 billion in the last 20 years, according to the UAE ministry of foreign affairs. The UAE-Pakistan trade volume rose to $7.9 billion in 2023, up 12 percent from 2022.
In May this year, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the Emirates had committed $10 billion to invest in promising economic sectors in Pakistan. The Pakistan Business Council (PBC), set up this September at the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also aims to increase Pakistan’s bilateral trade volume with the UAE to $40 billion in three years.
The UAE is also home to more than a million Pakistani expatriates and the second-largest source of remittances to Pakistan after Saudi Arabia.
