Pakistan's first lady to open Sufism research center in Lahore
Pakistan's first lady to open Sufism research center in Lahore/node/1866986/pakistan
Pakistan's first lady to open Sufism research center in Lahore
This undated file photo shows Bushra Imran, wife of Pakistan's prime minister Imran Khan, during her interview with Hum News. (Photo courtesy: Hum News)
ISLAMABAD: A new Sufism research center will be established in Lahore by Bushra Bibi, the wife of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, the prime minister's office said on Friday.
Sufism is a mystical form of Islam, a school of practice that emphasizes the inward search for God. Prior to her marriage with Khan, the first lady was known as a Sufi scholar, spiritual mentor and faith healer.
"It has been decided to set up Sufi science and research centers across Punjab on the special interest of First Lady Bushra Imran. In the first phase, Sheikh Abu Al-Hasan Ash-Shadhili Sufism Research Center will be launched in Lahore," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement on Friday.
Ash-Shadhili was an influential 13th-century Islamic scholar from Morocco.
"The research center will conduct research on Islam, Sufism, religious thought, tolerance, and modern sciences," the statement said, adding that through collaboration with Pakistani and foreign universities, the center in the future will offer undergraduate and graduate programs in Islamic philosophy.
According to the press release, the center will offer scholarships to poor students as part of the first lady's "pro-poor and pro-education initiatives is underway to provide equal opportunities for development to disadvantaged sections of the society."
ISLAMABAD: Seven militants were killed in two separate counter-terror operations in southwestern Pakistan on June 2, the military’s media wing said on Tuesday as Islamabad battles insurgency in its Balochistan province.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said five militants were killed during an intelligence-based operation in Balochistan’s Machh town located in the Kachhi district on June 2. The same day, it said two other militants were killed in a separate IBO in Margand area located in Balochistan’s Kalat District after security forces discovered a “terrorist” hideout.
The ISPR said weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the slain militants, who it alleged were actively involved in numerous militant activities.
“Security forces of Pakistan are determined to eliminate the menace of Indian-sponsored terrorism from the country,” the military’s media wing said. “And reaffirm the nation’s unwavering resolve to bring the perpetrators of Indian-sponsored terrorism and their facilitators to justice.”
Pakistan’s security forces have been battling an insurgency in Balochistan, the country’s most impoverished province, for years. Separatist militants have often targeted security forces, police, foreigners and ethnic Punjabi commuters and workers, who they see as “outsiders,” by wresting control of highways and remote towns in the area.
Pakistan has repeatedly rejected allegations by ethnic Baloch militant groups that it denies locals a share in Balochistan’s mineral and gas resources. The government points to various health, educational and development schemes in Balochistan that it supports.
Balochistan has seen a spike in militant violence in recent days. An IED blast killed two tribal leaders and injured seven others on Saturday in a remote mountainous town in Quetta district.
Pakistan’s military accuses India of funding and training ethnic Baloch separatist outfits, the most prominent of which is the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), to carry out attacks on Pakistani soil. Delhi rejects the allegations and accuses Pakistan of stoking militancy in the region of Kashmir that India administers.
In March, BLA fighters stormed a train in Balochistan and held hundreds of passengers hostage before the military launched an operation to rescue them.
ISLAMABAD: A high-level Pakistani delegation set up by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif this week briefed members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) at the United Nations, calling for the resumption of a “comprehensive dialogue” with India to resolve the Kashmir dispute and other issues, Pakistan’s mission to the UN said.
Led by former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the nine-member parliamentary delegation arrived in New York on Monday as the first stop in a diplomatic mission to present Pakistan’s position in world capitals following Islamabad’s recent military conflict with India. The group headed by Bhutto Zardari will visit New York, Washington DC, London and Brussels. Another delegation, led by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Syed Tariq Fatemi, will also visit Moscow.
Tensions between Pakistan and India are high after they struck a ceasefire on May 10 following the most intense military confrontation between the nuclear-armed neighbors in decades. Both countries accuse the other of supporting militancy on each other’s soil — a charge both capitals deny.
The latest escalation last month took place following weeks of tensions after India blamed Pakistan for supporting an April 22 attack on the Kashmir territory it governs that killed 26 tourists. Pakistan denied involvement in the incident and called for an international probe. Both countries traded missiles, artillery fire and drone strikes before Washington brokered a ceasefire on May 10.
“He [Bhutto Zardari] reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to peace, restraint, and diplomacy, and called for the restoration of the Indus Waters Treaty, full respect for the ceasefire, and the resumption of a comprehensive dialogue with India, with the resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute at its core,” Pakistan’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations said in a statement on Monday.
Members of a high-level Pakistani parliamentary delegation, led by former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari (fifth from right), pose for a picture in New York, US, on June 2, 2025. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Following the attack at the Pahalgam tourist resort in April, India suspended the decades-old Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan. The move drew a sharp response from Islamabad, which said any attempts to divert or stop the flow of its waters by India would be considered an “act of war.”
About 80 percent of Pakistani farms depend on the Indus system, as do nearly all hydropower projects serving the country of some 250 million.
“Mr. Bhutto expressed grave concern at the unilateral suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty — a move that Pakistan considers a blatant act of weaponizing water and a violation of international and treaty obligations,” the statement said.
The former Pakistani foreign minister thanked OIC countries for their efforts and role aimed at de-escalation, mediation and ceasefire during the conflict. He highlighted that the only path to peace was in dialogue, engagement and diplomacy.
“Mr. Bilawal Bhutto underlined that OIC has emerged as the moral conscience of the world in these difficult times and thanked the OIC member states for their steadfast support for the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” the statement said.
The statement said that the OIC’s permanent representatives appreciated Pakistan’s briefing and reaffirmed their solidarity with the country.
“They reiterated their concern over the worsening security situation in South Asia and stressed the importance of upholding the principles of the UN Charter and international law and in this regard, the sanctity of treaties, including the Indus Waters Treaty,” Pakistan’s permanent mission to the UN said.
Separately, the delegation also met Ambassador Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, president of the UN Security Council for June, according to a press release issued by
Bhutto Zardari’s residence, Bilawal House.
“The Pakistani delegation stressed that in the face of a growing trend of unilateralism and escalation, the Security Council must play its crucial role to ensure peace and conflict resolution,” it said.
The delegation urged the Security Council to play a “proactive role” in promoting de-escalation, ensuring respect for international law and treaties and facilitating peaceful resolution of disputes.
The statement said Birkett reaffirmed the Security Council’s commitment to upholding international peace and security in line with its mandate.
KARACHI: Around 213 inmates managed to escape from the Malir prison in Karachi last night after they were shifted outside their cells due to safety concerns when the city was shaken by tremors, Sindh’s top police officer said on Tuesday, confirming that one prisoner had also been killed.
Sindh Home Minister Zia-ul-Hasan Lanjar told reporters earlier that inmates at the Malir prison in Karachi panicked when tremors shook the city on Monday night. He said it became difficult to prevent around 1,000 inmates from escaping through the outer gate of the jail, which had been damaged by the quake.
“The incident occurred when prisoners were temporarily moved out of their barracks due to safety concerns,” Inspector-General Sindh Ghulam Nabi Memon told Arab News.
“Taking advantage of the chaos, around 1,000 inmates gathered at the jail’s main gate and 213 prisoners managed to force the gate open and flee.”
Memon said 78 of the prisoners who had managed to flee were re-arrested by police. In his interaction with reporters on Monday night, Lanjar confirmed that no “hardened criminal” had managed to escape the jail following the late-night chaos.
Memon said Malir prison houses small-time offenders, particularly those involved in narcotics and its consumption.
“The escapees were mostly from this category and their mob mentality played a role in escaping the jail,” he said.
He confirmed Lanjar’s statement that one prisoner had been killed as police attempted to maintain order following the jailbreak. The Sindh home minister had also said five persons, which included both prisoners and police officials, were injured in the clashes.
Pakistan to play in Sri Lanka at India-hosted Women’s World Cup
ICC introduced neutral venues to tournaments hosted by either neighboring India, Pakistan
Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan were last month involved in a four-day military conflict
Updated 03 June 2025
AFP
NEW DELHI, India: Pakistan will play their matches at this year’s Women’s Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka under an International Cricket Council deal that allows them to avoid playing in host nation India.
The refusal of India to travel to Pakistan for the men’s Champions Trophy earlier this year resulted in the ICC introducing neutral venues to tournaments hosted by either of the neighboring countries.
Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan were last month involved in a four-day military conflict, their worst since 1999, before a ceasefire was agreed.
Sri Lanka’s Colombo will join Indian host cities Bengaluru, Guwahati, Indore and Visakhapatnam in staging matches from September 30 until the final of the 50-over tournament on November 2, the ICC announced late on Monday.
Colombo will be Pakistan’s home for seven group games.
The first semifinal will take place in either Guwahati or Colombo, if Pakistan progress that far, on October 29 with the second semifinal a day later in Bengaluru.
The final will be in either Bengaluru or Colombo on Sunday, November 2.
“The venues for the knockouts are dependent on Pakistan qualifying,” the ICC said in a statement.
“Two alternative venues have been identified for one semifinal and the final.”
Eight teams will contest the World Cup — Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka.
Australia beat England by 71 runs in the final of the last Women’s World Cup, hosted by New Zealand in 2022.
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Hajj Mission Makkah has advised the country’s pilgrims to follow the directives issued by Saudi Arabia concerning the stoning of the devil or “Rami Al-Jamarat’ and animal sacrifice rituals during the annual Islamic pilgrimage, state-run media reported on Monday.
Hajj pilgrims take part in the symbolic stoning of the devil, which is among the final rites of the pilgrimage. Pilgrims throw pebbles at three pillars in Mina, performing the ritual during the three days of the Hajj starting on the 10th of Dhul Hijjah.
State broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported that each Maktab will have designated timings for the act of stoning the devil on the 10th of Dhul Hijjah.
“Every ‘Nazim’ [administrator] is bound to ensure that the intending pilgrims perform this ritual as per their allocated time slot,” Radio Pakistan said. “Therefore, all pilgrims are advised to proceed in groups under the supervision of their ‘Nazim’ as per schedule.”
The state broadcaster also reported that the Saudi authorities have set the time for sacrificing animals for Pakistani Hujjaj on the night between the 10th and 11th of Dhul Hijjah at 12:30 am.
“Hence, all pilgrims are urged to complete the ‘Rami’ of the first day before midnight,” it said. “Pakistani Mission has strongly urged the Hujjaj to strictly follow these instructions to avoid any untoward situation.”
During the Hajj pilgrimage, which concludes this year on Monday, June 9, pilgrims are required to sacrifice an animal.
Nearly 89,000 Pakistanis have traveled to Saudi Arabia under the government’s Hajj scheme and over 23,620 Pakistanis are performing the Hajj through private tour operators.
