TAXILA: In the archaeological city of Taxila, some 32 kilometers northwest of Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, lives an eye doctor of Indian origin, the country’s first female ophthalmologist, who has saved hundreds of thousands of people from visual impairment and continues her crusade against blindness despite crossing her retirement age.
Dr. Pramila Lall, 87, was born in Kerala, India, in 1932. She immigrated to Pakistan in 1957 after receiving MBBS from the Christian Medical College and marrying her Pakistani classmate, Dr. Ernest Lall, who advised her to become an eye specialist. Since then, she has dedicated her life to the cause and is said to have conducted over 500,000 surgeries, the highest number of such operations performed by any single doctor in Asia.
In 1987, Lall became member of the American Academy of Ophthalmologists, and the London Royal College of Ophthalmologists awarded her a fellowship in 1990.
Hailing from a family of academics, she recently narrated her journey from India to Pakistan while talking exclusively to Arab News at the Christian Hospital, Taxila, which was built in 1922 by missionaries.
“When I was young, I had a speech defect. I couldn’t speak out. If the teacher asked me anything, I would know the answer, but I closed my mouth, put my head down like I didn’t know it. It used to make me very ashamed of myself. My only hope was to be a veterinarian and take care of animals since I didn’t need to talk to them,” Lall said while she sat on her favorite black chair next to an old eye examination equipment.
“It was my mother,” she continued, “who told me: ‘You don’t take care of animals; you take care of human beings. You’ll become a doctor.’ My father said, ‘No, we don’t have money to send her to a medical college.’ But my mother said, ‘This daughter of mine is going to do medicine.’”
Lall enrolled in the medical school where she met her future husband, a Pakistani “Punjabi boy” who told her that there was “a lot of eye work required across the border” and advised her to do her residency in ophthalmology.
“I came to Pakistan on the 27th of September, 1957, at 4 o’clock in the evening. I was wearing a sari I didn’t have any socks on my feet and no shoes. I had only chappals, because in India that’s what we used all the time. We wore chappals and we wore saris.”
She had Pakistani visa stamped on her Indian passport and was accompanied by her husband. At the Amritsar border, she said, an “Indian immigration officer said, ‘Two doctors going off to Pakistan. We need doctors in India. You people better not go, you better stay in India.’”
Crossing over, the Pakistani immigration official said: “Welcome to Pakistan. We need doctors in this country.” It was a big welcome, she added, though she had to change her nationality within the first six months to permanently stay in the country.
Since then, Lall has returned to India once to receive the Paul Harrison Award in 1985 after previously being denied entry in 1965 when the two South Asian rivals suspended diplomatic relations while fighting a full-scale war.
“We needed to get an Indian visa to collect an award. The [Indian] embassy officer said, ‘You are a Pakistani. How come you are getting an award from India?’ I had to explain to him, that we came from India. We studied in Vellore, our work was there, training was there, and that was the reason why the Indians were giving me the award because I had done so much for the prevention of blindness in Pakistan. Only then he understood why I wanted to go to India,” Lall said, adding she did not have the urge to return to her country of origin. “Whatever I have are my staff and my friends in this country,” she said.
In 2002, President General (r) Pervez Musharraf gave her Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, an award of excellence conferred by the state, and she capitalized on the opportunity by requesting him to allow Christians to vote.
“When I got the award, I thanked the president and said I had one request: ‘I want you to do something for the rights of the minorities. We are not allowed to vote.’ He said, ‘I’ll do something about it,’” Lall said, smiling.
Discussing her career, she said there came a time when she was not able to take the pressure and influx of patients. She also faced hardships during the 1965 and 1971 wars since she was treated as a suspect due to her Indian origin.
“I just wrote a small message to my father and said, ‘Enough of Taxila. We are going to Canada. We are going to work over there. We’ll get good money over there and we won’t have all this business of being in Pakistan.’ My father wrote back and said, ‘Have you forgotten? Once you put your hand to the plow, you don’t turn back. Stick to your job and have faith in God. That’s the most important thing.’ The Lord had saved me. I am in my 80s now, and I keep praying, ‘Lord! Use me as long as you can, but I am ready to go to you whenever you call me,’” she told Arab News.
Lall continues her mission, though she now feels lonely since her husband passed away in March this year, her children live in the United States, and there is no one left in her family in India.
“I have stopped doing surgery now for four years. But I keep training others who come here so they can develop their skills and be good surgeons. I don’t want to be a burden. I have only one woman [maid] at home and one dog. I keep telling her, ‘If any day you find I am not breathing properly, this is the phone number. You call this ward and tell them, Please come and see Mrs. Lall.’”
Woman of vision: A life spent preventing blindness in Pakistan
https://arab.news/yr5k4
Woman of vision: A life spent preventing blindness in Pakistan
- Dr. Pramila Lall is Pakistan’s first female eye specialist who has saved thousands from visual impairment
- The female ophthalmologist has conducted the highest number of eye surgeries in Asia
Four paramilitary soldiers killed by firing, IED blast in northwest Pakistan— police
- Levies personnel were in Dera Ismail Khan district from Balochistan to retrieve stolen vehicle, say police official
- Pakistan has suffered a surge in attacks in KP province since November 2022 after its truce with Pakistani Taliban ended
PESHAWR: Four soldiers of the paramilitary Levies force were killed after they were targeted by firing and an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in northwestern Pakistan’s Dera Ismail Khan district, a police officer said on Sunday.
According to D.I. Khan police officer Amer Khan, the four Levies personnel were in the district from southwestern Pakistan’s Khanozai area to retrieve a stolen truck.
Noor Ahmad Naib, Rasheed Zaman, Dawood Khan and Bilal Ahmad left for DI Khan on Feb. 1, the police officer said, adding that their vehicle was attacked in the district’s Daraban area.
“Upon initial reports, all embraced martyrdom due to firing followed by an IED blast,” Khan told Arab News.
So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack but suspicion is likely to fall on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or the Pakistani Taliban, who have launched attacks on Pakistan’s security forces and law enforcement personnel for over a decade-and-a-half.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militancy in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan, since a fragile truce between the TTP and the state broke down in November 2022.
The TTP and other militant groups have stepped up their attacks against security forces, besides targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials, in recent months.
Islamabad has frequently accused neighboring Afghanistan of sheltering anti-Pakistan groups that launch cross-border attacks. Afghan officials deny allowing the use of their soil against any country.
The latest casualties in the province come a day after the military said 18 Pakistani soldiers were killed in a militant attack in southwestern Balochistan province. The military said it had killed at least 23 militants in subsequent clearance operations.
Pakistan president approves judges’ transfer to Islamabad High Court amid judiciary row
- News reports say government aims to appoint one of the transferred judges as Islamabad High Court’s chief justice
- Islamabad Bar Council criticizes move as “affront to the independence of the judiciary,” undermines rights of legal fraternity
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari this week approved the transfer of three judges from the high courts of Sindh, Balochistan and Lahore to the Islamabad High Court (IHC), despite opposition from five IHC judges who had warned that the decision would not be in line with the constitution.
As per a notification from the Ministry of Law and Justice on Saturday, Zardari approved the transfers of Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar from the Lahore High Court (LHC), the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro and the Balochistan High Court’s (BHC) Justice Muhammad Asif to the IHC.
Local media reports had stated the government was considering transferring Justice Dogar as it wanted to elevate him to the post of IHC chief justice. Reports said incumbent IHC Chief Justice Aamer Farooq is expected to be elevated to the Supreme Court.
Five of the 10 IHC judges formally opposed Justice Dogar’s transfer on Friday. In a letter addressed to the chief justices of the Supreme Court, IHC, LHC and SHC, the judges said that if the decision to transfer the judge was to consider him as IHC chief justice, it would be “fraud on the constitution.”
In a notification released on Saturday, the Ministry of Law and Justice announced:
“In exercise of the powers conferred under clause I of Article 200 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is pleased to transfer:
Mr. Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, judge from the Lahore High Court to the Islamabad High Court, Mr. Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro judge from the Sindh High Court to the Islamabad High Court and Justice Muhammad Asif judge from the Balochistan High Court to the Islamabad High Court.”
Pakistan’s constitution empowers the president to transfer a judge from one high court to another after the concerned judge consents to the decision. The president can approve the transfer after consulting the chief justice of Pakistan and the chief justice of both high courts.
The Islamabad Bar Council unanimously rejected the president’s decision in a statement on Saturday.
“This decision is an affront to the independence of the judiciary and undermines the rights and representation of the legal fraternity in Islamabad,” the council wrote in a press release.
The council said it has convened an Emergent General House Session at 11:00 am on Sunday, along with the Cabinets of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association and the Islamabad District Bar Association, to deliberate on the “future course of action.”
“The Islamabad Bar Council urges the legal fraternity to unite in this critical time to uphold the sanctity of the judiciary and protect the interests of the Islamabad’s legal practitioners,” it added.
Pakistan’s FIA says key facilitator of Morocco boat tragedy arrested
- Several Pakistanis were on board migrant ship that sank off Morocco’s coast this month
- FIA says suspect Abdul Ghaffar involved in human smuggling in Mauritania, Burkina Faso
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) this week announced it had arrested a human smuggler who was the main facilitator of the Morocco boat tragedy in which several Pakistanis were killed this month.
Pakistan’s foreign office confirmed earlier this month that a migrant boat with several Pakistanis had capsized near the coast of Morocco en route to Spain. According to Moroccan authorities, 36 people were rescued from the vessel, which had departed Mauritania on Jan. 2. The boat had 86 migrants on board, including 66 Pakistanis, minority rights group Walking Borders said.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had instructed the government to take stern action against human smugglers involved in sending desperate Pakistani citizens on dangerous journeys to Europe via sea.
“The main facilitator of the Morocco boat accident, Abdul Ghaffar, was arrested at Islamabad Airport yesterday,” a statement from the FIA said on Saturday, adding that it has traced the gang of human smugglers involved in the incident.
The investigation agency said Ghaffar had been living in Mauritania since 2023 and had facilitated sending several Pakistanis to Europe. It said the accused’s father, Muhammad Sarfraz and close relative Munir Ahmed are also involved in human trafficking in Mauritania since 2018.
FIA said it had nabbed Ghaffar when he arrived in Islamabad on Friday with seven passengers. After being identified by the passengers, he was taken into custody and shifted to Faisalabad.
“Important evidence was recovered from Adul Ghaffar, the agent involved in human trafficking,” the FIA said.
The agency said it has evidence Ghaffar was in contact with an African human smuggler named Abu Bakar. It said upon initial investigation the FIA found out that Ghaffar and his accomplices were actively involved in human smuggling in the African countries of Mauritania and Burkina Faso.
“The suspects helped Pakistanis onto boats by luring them with promises of sending them to Europe, which resulted in the deaths of several Pakistanis,” the agency said.
The FIA said a case has been registered against Ghaffar and further investigations are underway. The agency said it expected more arrests after extracting information from the suspect.
“Strict legal action will be taken against smugglers who play with innocent lives,” the FIA vowed.
The Morocco boat tragedy highlighted the perilous journeys many migrants, particularly Pakistanis, undertake due to conflict and economic instability in their home country.
In 2023, hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel sank in international waters off the southwestern Greek town of Pylos.
It was among the deadliest boat disasters ever recorded in the Mediterranean Sea.
Pakistan anti-graft body files reference against property tycoon over illegal transfer of Karachi land
- Malik Riaz Hussain and others are accused of having over 7,000 acres of government land transferred illegally to Bahria Town Karachi
- The development comes days after National Accountability Bureau said it had initiated process to seek Hussain’s extradition from UAE
KARACHI: Pakistan’s National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has filed a reference against real estate tycoon, Malik Riaz Hussain, and 32 other individuals over illegal transfer of government lands for a mega project in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, a NAB spokesperson said on Saturday.
Hussain, who currently lives in Dubai, is one of Pakistan’s wealthiest and most influential businessmen and the country’s largest private employers. He is best known as the chairman of M/s Bahria Town, which claims to be Asia’s largest private real estate developer and has projects in Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi and other cities.
NAB filed the reference in an accountability court in Karachi nominating Hussain, his son Ahmed Ali Riaz, former Sindh chief minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Sharjeel Inaam Memon, then local body minister and now information minister of Sindh, among 33 people for illegally transferring government land to M/s Bahria Town for its Bahria Town Karachi project in 2013 and 2014.
“Accused persons in connivance with each other illegally transferred the government land, initialy admeasuring 7220 acres, to M/s Bahria Town,” the anti-graft body said in the reference. “The said illegal transfer of government land to Bahria Town was made under the garb of adjustment/exchange/consolidation.”
It said the accused persons acted as an “organized syndicate” to cause cumulative losses of Rs700 billion ($2.5 billion) to the national exchequer, requesting the court to try them for committing the “offenses of corruption and corrupt practices.”
The development came days after NAB said it had initiated the process to seek Hussain’s extradition from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who was also charged in another land corruption case involving former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife.
A Pakistani court last month sentenced Khan to 14 years in prison and his wife, Bushra, to seven years, in the case in which they are accused of receiving land as a bribe from Hussain through the Al-Qadir charitable trust in exchange for illegal favors during Khan’s premiership from 2018 to 2022. Khan says he and his wife were trustees and did not benefit from the land transaction. Hussain too denies any wrongdoing relating to the case.
“We have written to the Federal Investigation Agency for the extradition,” a NAB spokesman told Arab News on Wednesday, adding that the FIA would now pursue the case.
Prior to that, Defense Minister Khawaja Asif confirmed that Pakistan would use its extradition treaty with the UAE to bring Hussain back.
Last month, NAB also cautioned people against investing in Hussain’s new real estate venture to build luxury apartments in Dubai.
“If the general public at large invests in the stated project, their actions would be tantamount to money laundering, for which they may face criminal and legal proceedings,” it said.
Hussain responded to NAB in a post on X, saying that “fake cases, blackmailing and greed of officers” had forced him to relocate from Pakistan because he was not willing to be a “political pawn.”
Pakistani PM hopes Sharaa assuming president’s office will bring peace to Syria
- Al-Sharaa was declared president for a transitional phase on Wednesday, less than two months after he led a campaign that toppled Bashar Assad
- Sharaa said he will form an inclusive transitional government that will build institutions and run the country until it can hold free and fair elections
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday welcomed Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s assumption of the office of the Syrian president, hoping it would lead to peace in Syria.
Sharaa was declared president for a transitional phase on Wednesday, less than two months after he led a campaign that toppled Bashar Assad.
He was also empowered to form a temporary legislative council for a transitional period and the Syrian constitution was suspended.
“We welcome Mr. Ahmed Al-Sharaa’s assumption of office as President of the Syrian Arab Republic during the transitional phase and hope that the new leadership will be able to bring peace, progress and prosperity to the brotherly people of Syria,” Sharif said on X.
On Thursday, Sharaa said he will form an inclusive transitional government representing diverse communities that will build institutions and run the country until it can hold free and fair elections.
He was addressing the nation in his first speech since being appointed president by the military command that ousted Assad in a lightning offensive last year.
The group that led the offensive, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, has since set up an interim government that has welcomed a steady stream of senior Western and Arab diplomatic delegations keen to help stabilize the country after 13 years of civil war.
