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In Pakistan’s southwest, Royal Palace of Kalat where Jinnah was weighed in gems

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Updated 13 August 2022
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In Pakistan’s southwest, Royal Palace of Kalat where Jinnah was weighed in gems

  • Jinnah visited the Khan of Kalat for the first time in 1945 while the independence movement was at its peak
  • Second visit was after partition to collect donations so Bank of England could print currency for the new nation
Updated 13 August 2022
SAADULLAH AKHTER

QUETTA: A sprawling palace in Pakistan’s southwest, hemmed in by scenic mountains and apple orchards, has a special connection to the country’s founding father, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

The princely state of Kalat is in Pakistan’s largest but most impoverished province of Balochistan, and acceded to the dominion of Pakistan on March 27, 1948, after having declared independence earlier on August 15, 1947. The accession was a stormy affair, and insurgencies continue in Balochistan to this day against the state of Pakistan.

But before partition, Jinnah twice visited the Royal Palace of Kalat, built over 8,000 square feet of land, and home to the ruler of the princely state, the Khan of Kalat. The building’s design is inspired by the upper deck of a ship on which the Khan went for the first time on a Hajj pilgrimage. Before the royal residence was built, the rulers of the area had lived in the ancient Mirri Fort which was flattened in a devastating earthquake that shook the region in 1935.

“Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah visited the Royal Palace of Kalat in 1945 and 1948,” Prince Agha Umar Jan Ahmedzai, the Khan’s grandson, told Arab News in Kalat. “During Mr. Jinnah’s two visits, he was welcomed by the people of Balochistan because we knew he was leading a sacred cause for the Muslims of the British-ruled Subcontinent.”




The image shows the exterior view of the Royal Palace of Kalat in Pakistan's Balochistan province on August 5, 2022 (AN Photo)

Ahmedzai said Kalat had played a major role in strengthening the country and was instrumental in getting Pakistan over 40 percent of its land in the shape of the resource-rich province of Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by area.

According to the prince, Jinnah spent two days in the newly constructed palace during his first visit, and returned three years later for an entire week.

The Khan of Kalat had designated two of the most luxurious rooms on the top floor of the palace for Jinnah and his sister, Fatima Jinnah, and offered them expensive gifts of gold and gemstones when they visited.

“Mr. Jinnah came with his sister Fatima Jinnah to the Royal Palace of Kalat [in 1945] where my grandfather weighed [him] and donated him gems according to his weight,” Ahmedzai said. To Fatima, the Khan gave an expensive necklace. 




Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah (left) and his sister Fatima Jinnah (right) are pictured with the Khan of Kalat in Pakistan's Balocistan province. (AN Photo)

He added that the founder of Pakistan also sought donations during his second visit to the palace in 1948 since the Bank of England had inquired about gold reserves before printing currency notes for the new nation.

“There was a currency problem when Pakistan came into existence and Quaid-e-Azam came here in distress, saying he had gone to businessmen of Karachi but could not gather the gold which was required for currency deposits [with the British],” Jan said.

“So, almost 1,360 kilograms of gold was given by Khan Ahmed Yar Khan [the Khan] for the printing of currency.”

“This house has overall a lot of importance. In Pakistan’s existence … definitely there is a big role of the Baloch people and this house.”

In Jinnah’s memory, the royal family has preserved all the items Jinnah used during his stay in the palace.

Saeed Ahmed Naichari, whose family has served the palace for four generations, said his job was to brief tourists about the history of the place.

“Even the overcoats worn by Muhammad Ali Jinnah still hang in the wardrobe,” he said as he gave Arab News a tour of the palace.




The picture taken on August 5, 2022 shows an overcoat worn by the founder of Pakistan, Muhmmad Ali Jinnah, during his visit to the Royal Palace in 1948, in Kalat, Pakistan, on August 5, 2022 (AN Photo)

“Our family looks after this house,” Ahmedzai added. “This is not just our house but this is a house of the Baloch nation. When you go to someone’s house, you cannot enter the gate but this house is open for everyone. And it is open for all Balochis, Pakistanis and for everyone who wants to visit it.”

Topics: PakistanAt75 Khan of Kalat Royal Palace of Kalat Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Pakistan warns Indian suspension of Indus Waters Treaty could set precedent for China

Updated 8 sec ago
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Pakistan warns Indian suspension of Indus Waters Treaty could set precedent for China

  • New Delhi suspended the river-sharing agreement after a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir
  • PM Sharif’s aide says Pakistan is discussing the situation with friendly countries and the United Nations
Updated 8 sec ago
Hasaan Ali Khan

ISLAMABAD: India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) could set a precedent for China to block the Brahmaputra River, a senior aide to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif warned on Friday, potentially putting New Delhi in a difficult position.
India relies on rivers that originate in China, particularly from the Tibetan Plateau, where major waterways like the Brahmaputra and Sutlej rivers begin.
China’s dam-building activities and lack of a formal water-sharing agreement have raised concerns in India about future water security during floods or droughts. The absence of binding treaties leaves India vulnerable to upstream decisions made by Beijing.
In 2016, China blocked the flow of the Xiabuqu River, which feeds the Brahmaputra, as part of a hydropower project in Tibet after a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir.
“If India does something like this that they stop the flow [of rivers] to Pakistan, then China can also do the same thing,” Rana Ihsaan Afzal said while speaking to Geo News. “But if things like this happen then the entire world will be in a war.”
The IWT is a landmark water-sharing agreement signed in 1960 between India and Pakistan, brokered by the World Bank, to manage the use of rivers flowing through both countries from the Himalayas. Under the treaty, India was granted control over the three eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas and Sutlej — while Pakistan received rights over the three western rivers — Indus, Jhelum and Chenab.
Despite multiple wars and ongoing tensions, the treaty has largely held as a rare example of sustained cooperation.
However, India on Wednesday suspended the six-decade-old river-sharing treaty with Pakistan as part of a series of measures following a deadly militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, for which it holds Islamabad responsible.
Pakistan has denied any involvement in the attack, in which gunmen killed 26 people at a tourist site in Pahalgam, a scenic town in Anantnag district, marking the deadliest assault on civilians in the country in nearly two decades.
Highlighting that India’s actions threatened the food security of 250 million people, Afzal said under international water laws, upper riparian countries cannot “stop” water but may only “regulate” it.
He added that upper and lower riparian countries coexist peacefully across the world and warned that India’s threat could undermine the entire system of peaceful water-sharing mechanisms, potentially escalating tensions toward conflict.
“This will not be easy at all,” he said. “The United Nations and lower riparian countries throughout the world will raise their voice against it.”
Afzal confirmed that Pakistan was engaging friendly countries through diplomatic channels and was also in contact with the UN.

Topics: Indus river Pakistan India

Pakistan PM hails negative SPI inflation, says economic indicators improving

Updated 53 min 4 sec ago
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Pakistan PM hails negative SPI inflation, says economic indicators improving

  • SPI focuses on short-term price movements that affect low- and middle-income households most directly
  • Shehbaz Sharif says the government wants to pass on the benefits of improving economy to the public
Updated 53 min 4 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday expressed satisfaction over the annual decline in Pakistan’s Sensitive Price Index (SPI), which he said had fallen to -3.52% in April 2025, compared to 26.94% in the same month last year.
The SPI measures weekly changes in the prices of essential items such as food, fuel and utilities across various consumption groups. Unlike the broader Consumer Price Index (CPI), which captures overall inflation, the SPI focuses on short-term price movements that affect low- and middle-income households most directly.
“The [SPI] rate stood at 26.94% in the same month last year, whereas in April 2025, it has been recorded at minus 3.52%,” the prime minister said in a statement issued by his office.
“The country’s economic indicators are improving with each passing day,” he added. “The government is making every effort to ensure that the benefits of these improving economic indicators reach the public.”
Sharif also commended his economic team for their efforts in stabilizing the economy and curbing inflation.​
In May 2023, Pakistan experienced its highest recorded inflation, with the CPI reaching 38% year-on-year, driven by surging food and energy prices.
The recent decline in the SPI indicates potential relief for consumers,​ though the government continues to face challenges in managing the economy, including meeting fiscal targets and securing external financing.

Topics: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Pakistan economy

VISA to triple Pakistan office size, partner with 1-Link, PayPak — finance minister

Updated 25 April 2025
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VISA to triple Pakistan office size, partner with 1-Link, PayPak — finance minister

  • Muhammad Aurangzeb hails company’s role in advancing digital payments and financial inclusion
  • The finance minister also assures the US financial services company of the government’s full support
Updated 25 April 2025
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Thursday US financial services company Visa will triple the size of its office in Pakistan and collaborate with the country’s first-ever domestic payment card scheme, 1Link and PayPak.
Visa Inc. is a global payments technology company that operates one of the world’s largest electronic payment networks, enabling consumers and businesses to make payments using Visa-branded credit, debit and prepaid cards.
Visa doesn’t issue cards itself but partners with banks and financial institutions to do so. 1Link and PayPak is similar in concept to Visa or Mastercard but is designed specifically for local use within Pakistan.
The Pakistani minister, currently in Washington, appreciated Visa’s role in the digitalization of his country’s economy during a meeting with the company’s regional vice president, Andrew Torre.
“He [Aurangzeb] noted that Visa’s decision to triple the size of its office in Pakistan and its collaboration with 1Link and PayPak would contribute significantly to promoting financial inclusion, e-commerce, transaction security, and payment gateways in Pakistan, as well as facilitate remittances,” the finance ministry said in a statement issued after the meeting.
It added the finance minister also assured the company of the government’s full support in resolving any issues faced by them.
Aurangzeb’s meeting with Torre came as the country works toward a more inclusive and digitally empowered economy, with government backing and private sector innovation aligned.

Topics: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb

Pakistan Senate rejects Indian attempt to link it to Kashmir tourist attack

Updated 25 April 2025
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Pakistan Senate rejects Indian attempt to link it to Kashmir tourist attack

  • Deputy PM Ishaq Dar says India must be held accountable for its acts of ‘terrorism’ in Pakistan
  • He also reaffirms Pakistan’s ‘moral, political and diplomatic’ support to the people of Kashmir
Updated 25 April 2025
Usama Iqbal Khawaja

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Senate on Friday unanimously passed a resolution condemning what it called India’s “frivolous and baseless” attempts to link Islamabad to a deadly shooting in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, rejecting the allegation and accusing New Delhi of using “terrorism” as a political tool.
India has blamed Pakistan for the attack in the scenic town of Pahalgam in Kashmir’s Anantnag district, where gunmen killed 26 civilians on Tuesday in the deadliest assault on non-combatants in nearly two decades.
Pakistan has denied any involvement in the incident, with Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar reading out the resolution in the upper house of parliament that was later adopted by all the lawmakers.
“The Senate of Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestation, emphasizes that killing of innocent civilians is contrary to the values upheld by Pakistan [and] rejects all frivolous and baseless attempts to link Pakistan with the Pahalgam attack of 22nd April 2025 in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
The resolution denounced India’s suspension of the decades-old Indus Waters Treaty and reaffirmed Pakistan’s support for the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination.
It also accused India of waging a “mala fide campaign” to malign Pakistan.
“The country’s sovereignty, security and interests demand that India should be held accountable for its involvement in different acts of terrorism and targeted assassinations on the soil of other countries, including Pakistan,” Dar continued.
He also reaffirmed Pakistan’s “unwavering moral, political and diplomatic support for and commitment to the Kashmiri people’s just struggle for realization of their inalienable right to self determination.”

Topics: Senate of Pakistan Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar Pakistan India Ties

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Detained Pakistan rights activist Dr. Mahrang Baloch launches hunger strike

Updated 25 April 2025
AFP
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Detained Pakistan rights activist Dr. Mahrang Baloch launches hunger strike

  • Baloch, 32, was arrested last month on charges of terrorism, sedition and murder
  • Dozen UN experts called on Pakistan in March to immediately release Baloch rights defenders
Updated 25 April 2025
AFP

QUETTA: Detained activist Dr. Mahrang Baloch, one of the leading campaigners for Pakistan’s Baloch minority, has launched a hunger strike along with other detainees, her sister told AFP on Friday.
Mahrang Baloch, 32, was arrested last month on charges of terrorism, sedition and murder.
In her native Balochistan, an impoverished province that borders Afghanistan and Iran, security forces are battling a growing insurgency.
Rights groups say the violence has been countered with a severe crackdown that has swept up innocent people. Authorities deny heavyhandedness. 
Mahrang’s hunger strike “is aimed at denouncing the misconduct of the police and the failure of the justice system to protect... prisoners,” her younger sister, Nadia Baloch, said.
Nadia said the hunger strike was launched on Thursday after the attempted “abduction” of one of the Baloch detainees.
Mahrang’s organization, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), said the inmate was beaten by security officials and taken from the prison to an unknown location.
A security official said the detainee was moved to another prison and denied any mistreatment.
BYC said four other detained Baloch activists have joined the hunger strike.
“All of them are peaceful political workers, imprisoned for raising their voices... Their only ‘crime’ is organizing peacefully in an environment saturated with state terror and violence,” the group said.
Activists say in the crackdown against militancy in the region authorities have harassed and carried out extrajudicial killings of Baloch civilians.
Pakistani authorities reject the “baseless allegations.”
A dozen UN experts called on Pakistan in March to immediately release Baloch rights defenders, including Mahrang, and to end the repression of their peaceful protests.
UN special rapporteur for human rights defenders Mary Lawlor said she was “disturbed by reports of further mistreatment in prison.”
The judiciary has declined to rule on Mahrang’s detention, effectively halting any appeal and placing the matter solely in the hands of the provincial government.
Insurgents in Balochistan accuse outsiders of plundering the province’s rich natural resources and launched a dramatic train siege in March, during which officials said about 60 people were killed.

Topics: Dr. Mahrang Baloch Mahrang Baloch

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