Flood-hit Pakistanis still waiting on promised rebuild 

In this photograph taken on May 9, 2023, flood-affected victims rebuild their house in Dadu district of Pakistan. (AFP/File)
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Updated 07 June 2023
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Flood-hit Pakistanis still waiting on promised rebuild 

  • The monsoon deluges last summer submerged a third of Pakistan, killing 1,700 people and displacing 8 million more 
  • Scientists say climate change making seasonal rains heavier and more unpredictable, raising urgency of flood-proofing 

DADU: Noor Bibi lost her mother, her daughter and the roof over her head in the catastrophic floods that drowned Pakistan last summer. 

One year later she remains homeless, living with the remnants of her family in spartan tents marking where the village of Sohbat Khosa was gutted by the deluge in southern Sindh province. 

Noor, a farm worker approaching her 60s, prays for “someone with righteous thoughts that will help us build some good houses in an elevated place.” 

“If it flooded again, we would not bear such big losses,” she told AFP. 

But government pledges to rebuild flood-ravaged swathes of Pakistan so they are resilient to future extreme weather have largely failed to materialize. 

The monsoon deluges of last summer submerged a third of the country, killing 1,700 people and displacing eight million more. 

Climate change is making those seasonal rains heavier and more unpredictable, scientists say, raising the urgency of flood-proofing the country. 




In this photograph taken on May 9, 2023, flood-affected victims walk through the compound of their damaged house in Dadu district of Pakistan.(AFP)

A failure to do so will be most acutely felt by the poor, who tend to live in the most vulnerable areas. 

Here in Dadu district, which was heavily flooded, no rehabilitation is visible. Rare pieces of public infrastructure remain in disrepair and housing reconstruction is left to locals or NGOs. 

In January, Islamabad announced a “Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Framework” valued at $16.3 billion, but it remains confined to paper. 

International donors have also pledged $9 billion, but most of the cash will come in the form of loans. 




 In this photograph taken on May 9, 2023, a flood-affected village lies in ruins in Dadu district of Pakistan. (AFP)

Villagers’ crops were swept away in the floods, depriving them of livelihoods that might have allowed them to pave their own way to recovery. 

With pooled funds, the residents of Sohbat Khosa only raised enough for a toilet and water tank. 

Their best hope is the Alkhidmat Foundation, a Pakistani NGO, which plans to build around 30 new homes. 

“The government seems to not exist here, and if anything is done by the government, that is only corruption,” said Ali Muhammad, a coordinator for Alkhidmat in Dadu. 




 In this photograph taken on May 9, 2023, a flood-affected village lies in ruins in Dadu district of Pakistan. (AFP)

Pakistan is currently mired in dual political and economic crises that have brought all public initiatives to a standstill. 

But decades of entrenched corruption and mismanagement are also to blame. 

“Building back better is expensive, and the amount of damage is colossal,” Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari told AFP. 

He said he “can’t speak to what the federal government has done,” but in Sindh province, controlled by his party, “we’ve started a couple of initiatives.” 




In this photograph taken on May 9, 2023, a flood-affected victim rebuilds his house in Dadu district of Pakistan. (AFP)

“One is the financing of the reconstruction of houses, through NGOs and charity organizations,” he said. 

However, Alkhidmat, like two other NGOs interviewed by AFP, has not received any public money and relies entirely on private funds. 

Thanks to Alkhidmat’s efforts, a few dozen homes have been built in the district, but it’s nowhere near the two million damaged or destroyed in the floods. 

The village of Bari Baital, submerged until November, is expected to eventually host 80 houses built by the foundation — far too few for its thousands of inhabitants. 

To resist future rains they are raised on brick pillars, and built with reinforced roofs and water-resistant cement. 

“People are completely unaware of climate change,” said village teacher Imtiaz Ali Chandio. 

All they know is that their village has been a “passage for floods for centuries,” he said. 

But moving is not an option, meaning the scenario will likely soon be repeated. 




In this photograph taken on May 9, 2023, flood-affected victims rest inside a temporary shelter in Dadu district of Pakistan. (AFP)

“Where else could we go?” asked Abdulrahim Brohi, who already weathered catastrophic floods in 2010. “Everything of ours is here.” 

“Somewhere else people won’t accept us,” added Brohi, who estimates his age to be between 50 and 60. “We don’t have resources to rebuild our houses here, so how can we afford land somewhere else?” 

Prized by tourists for its scenic mountain vistas, the Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan was also hit hard by last year’s floods. 

Hundreds of hotels, restaurants, businesses and homes perched on the banks of the Swat river were swept away as ferocious waters were funnelled down the ravine. 

To prevent a repeat of the disaster, authorities have “imposed a complete ban on the construction of any sort of building on the river,” said Irfanullah Khan Wazir, Swat’s deputy commissioner. 

Nonetheless, in Bahrain, a small resort town once half underwater, the government’s writ is so weak that builders are riding roughshod over the ban. 

A number of shops, restaurants and hotels have been renovated or rebuilt just meters from the coursing water. Even the mosque has been rebuilt on the same spot where it was heavily damaged. 

“People are doing illegal construction on weekend nights, but [authorities] are not paying any heed — their silence is baffling,” said hotel manager Zafar Ali. 

His own property is under construction 20 meters (65 feet) from the river, in a zone he says is authorized. 

It is now protected by a flood wall twice the height of the previous one. Economic considerations also prevented them from relocating away from their waterfront vantage. 

“Tourists want to be able to open their windows and see the river outside,” Ali said. “Those built further away struggle to cover their expenses.” 

Locals in Swat also condemned the inaction of authorities. The main road following the river has been reopened, but whole sections of tarmac remain torn away. 

Compensation schemes have been limited to certain people who lost their homes. They are granted 400,000 rupees ($1,400), nowhere near enough to rebuild. 

Muhammad Ishaq, a tailor in Bahrain, built his house near the river for easy access to the water. He watched as his home was swallowed by the floods, and has since been forced to move in with his father further up the mountainside. 

Life there is harsher, he told AFP, but even if he manages to rebuild, he knows he “will have to stay away from the river.” 


Pakistan court remands ex-PM Khan’s acquittal petition to trial court in graft case

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Pakistan court remands ex-PM Khan’s acquittal petition to trial court in graft case

  • Khan and his wife are accused of receiving expensive land through trust as bribe from real estate tycoon
  • IHC has instructed Pakistani trial court to announce decision on Khan’s acquittal petition, says his party

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Thursday remanded former prime minister Imran Khan’s acquittal petition back to a trial court in a corruption case in which he is accused of receiving land as bribe from a real estate tycoon, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said. 
The corruption case against Khan, or the Al-Qadir Trust case as it has become popularly known, involves accusations that the former prime minister and his wife, Bushra Bibi, set up a charitable trust named Al-Qadir in 2018 as a front to receive valuable land as gift from real estate developer Malik Riaz Hussain. 
The Al-Qadir Trust runs a university outside Pakistan’s capital Islamabad devoted to spirituality and Islamic teachings, a project inspired by Khan’s wife who has a reputation as a spiritual healer. Khan and his wife deny any wrongdoing, saying that charges against them are politically motivated. 
In August, the IHC issued a temporary stay barring a trial court from issuing the final order in the case. The former prime minister filed an acquittal plea, which was turned down by an accountability court in September.
“IHC two-member bench has remanded the acquittal petition by Mr. & Mrs. Khan back to the trial court in Al-Qadir Trust case,” the PTI said in a statement. 
The party said the defense counsel had argued that “no personal gains” received by Khan could be established in the case and that the trustees had not benefitted from any transaction. 
“IHC has instructed the trial court to announce the decision on the acquittal petition,” the PTI said. “We are hopeful it’ll lead to ordering the release of both Mr. & Mrs. Khan.”
HOW DID THE BRIBE ALLEGEDLY WORK?
Pakistan’s government says the controversy originated with 190 million pounds repatriated to Pakistan in 2019 by Britain after Hussain forfeited cash and assets to settle a British probe into whether they were proceeds of crime.
Instead of putting it in Pakistan’s treasury, Khan’s government used the money to pay fines levied by a court against Hussain for illegal acquisition of government lands at below-market value for development in Karachi.
Pakistan’s then interior minister Rana Sanaullah said Hussain gave the land to Khan through the Al-Qadir Trust in exchange for that favor. 
Khan, who was removed from office after losing a parliamentary vote in April 2022, continues to remain popular among the masses. He has been languishing in jail since August 2023 after being convicted in four cases. Pakistan’s courts suspended two of the verdicts against Khan while he was acquitted in the remaining two.
Since his ouster from the Prime Minister’s Office, Khan has led a campaign of unprecedented defiance against the country’s powerful military, whom he accuses of colluding with his political rivals to orchestrate his removal and keeping him imprisoned. 
The military and incumbent coalition government deny Khan’s allegations vehemently.


Pakistan announces free business, visit visas for Bangladeshis with 48-hour processing time

Updated 35 min 16 sec ago
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Pakistan announces free business, visit visas for Bangladeshis with 48-hour processing time

  • Pakistan and Bangladesh were single country known as East and West Pakistan until Bangladesh was born in 1971
  • Historically strained ties have warmed since ouster of former PM Sheikh Hasina on Aug. 5 after student-led uprising

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Dhaka, Syed Ahmed Maroof, this week announced a new visa policy for Bangladeshi citizens, offering free business and visit visas with 48-hour processing time as both nations push to thaw historically frosty ties.
Pakistan and Bangladesh share a complex history, having been a single country known as East and West Pakistan until Bangladesh was born in 1971 after a war of liberation backed by Pakistan’s arch-rival and neighbor India. Nearly three million people were killed in the conflict.
Ties reached a new low in 2016 when Bangladesh executed several leaders of its Jamaat-e-Islami party on charges of committing war crimes in 1971. Pakistan called the executions and trials “politically motivated,” arguing that the convicts were being punished for taking a pro-Pakistan stance during the independence war.
The bitter ties have warmed since the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Aug. 5 after a student-led uprising in Bangladesh.
“I’m happy to announce that or to let you know that there are going to be no fees in two visa categories, one is a business visa and the other is a visit visa,” Maroof said on Wednesday.
“It’s a free-of-cost visa for Bangladeshis. Secondly, the visa is decided within 48 hours and thirdly, you don’t have to come to the Pakistan High Commission [to apply for the visa].”


He said Bangladeshi citizens who wanted to visit Pakistan needed to print out a form from the visa website that they would be required to present at the immigration desk in Pakistan in order to get a visa.
“But as a precaution, there are a few things they should always carry with them along with this paper,” he added. “They should have a proper verified place of where they will stay, in a hotel or with some friends or family, and a return ticket.”
Calling the new visa regime “pretty much straightforward and very simplified,” the official said the move would make travel much easier for Bangladeshis wishing to go to Pakistan.
“All in all, the new visa policy is amazing, wonderful and hassle-free,” Maroof concluded.
In September, Pakistan’s foreign office said Islamabad sought “robust, multifaceted relations, friendly relations” with Bangladesh to ensure peace and stability in the South Asian region.


Pakistan smashes Indian record by creating largest human image of waving flag

Updated 53 min 51 sec ago
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Pakistan smashes Indian record by creating largest human image of waving flag

  • Over 10,000 students participate in activity held during Punjab government-backed youth festival in Lahore
  • Record was previously held by India where 7,368 students formed the waving flag image in March this year 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan smashed India’s record by forming the world’s largest human image of a waving flag in the eastern city of Lahore city, with over 10,000 students participating in the activity this week, state-run media reported on Thursday. 

The new world record was made during the Lahore Youth Festival, organized by the provincial Punjab government and currently underway at the Fortress Stadium in Lahore.

“Pakistan has set a new world record by making the largest human flag,” Radio Pakistan said. “The record was achieved by the students of Army Public School Lahore who participated in the formation of the flag.”

The Guinness World Record website showed that the record for the largest human image of a waving flag was last held by India where 7,368 students formed the flag in March this year in Sonipat. 

State media in Pakistan widely reported on Thursday that Pakistan had now broken India’s record, with over 10,000 students from the Army Public School in Lahore forming the image of the nation’s flag. 

The national flag of Pakistan, also known as the Flag of the Star and Crescent, is made up of a green field with a stylized tilted white descending crescent moon, and five-pointed star at its center, and a vertical white stripe at its hoist-end. It was adopted by the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan Aug. 11, 1947, and became the official flag of Pakistan on Aug. 14, following independence from the British Empire. 

The flag is referred to in the third verse of Pakistan’s national anthem and is widely flown on several important days of the year, including Republic Day, Independence Day and Defense Day. It is also hoisted every morning at schools, offices and government buildings to the playing of the national anthem and lowered again before sunset.


‘Distinguished Icon’: Pakistan’s Mahira Khan honored with award by UK parliament

Updated 07 November 2024
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‘Distinguished Icon’: Pakistan’s Mahira Khan honored with award by UK parliament

  • Khan is one of the most popular and highest paid actresses of Pakistan, she has also worked in Bollywood 
  • In addition to acting, Khan promotes social causes including women and child rights, the refugee crisis

ISLAMABAD: British Parliament has bestowed an ‘Award of Recognition’ on Pakistani superstar Mahira Khan for “remarkable contributions” to global cinema and her role as a cultural ambassador, with the star saying the recognition was a win for “women’s empowerment.”

Khan is one of the most popular and highest paid actresses of Pakistan where she is the recipient of several accolades, including seven Lux Style Awards and seven Hum Awards. She has also made a mark in international cinema with her performances in ‘The Legend of Maula Jatt’ (2022) and Bollywood flick ‘Raees’ (2017) alongside India’s Shah Rukh Khan. In addition to acting, Khan promotes social causes such as women’s rights, the refugee crisis, and is vocal about issues such as child abuse and sexual harassment. Khan has worked with UNICEF since 2019 and was appointed as the national and global UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Afghan refugees in Pakistan in 2019.

A gathering was hosted by MP Afzal Khan at the UK Parliament to present her with the award, which recognized her as a “distinguished icon in the world of entertainment.”

“I am a proud Pakistani sitting here receiving this award,” Khan said in her speech at the ceremony. 

“I am very happy at receiving the award because this award is for women empowerment,” she later told reporters. “For me, since I started to work, I have worked with the aim to open doors for other girls, make things easier for them, so that when they come they don’t face the difficulties I did.”

Khan said there had been a lot of advancement in Pakistan’s showbiz industry in the last few years with greater gender equality and pay parity.

“There are women now who charge more than men,” she said. “There is pay parity.”

Dr. Sarah Naeem, the wife of the Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK, said Khan had become a role model for women and young girls in Pakistan “through hard work, dedication to profession and championing women’s rights.”

“Mahira Khan has demonstrated, through her international career, that Pakistani women are able to prove their mettle across borders,” Dr. Naeem added. 


Pakistan PM to visit Saudi Arabia Monday, reaffirm support for Palestine at international conference

Updated 07 November 2024
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Pakistan PM to visit Saudi Arabia Monday, reaffirm support for Palestine at international conference

  • Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh will bring together heads of state and governments from Muslim countries
  • Visit will be Sharif’s second trip to the kingdom within days, as both sides bolster economic collaboration

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will visit Saudi Arabia next week to attend the second Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh, the foreign office said on Thursday, where he will emphasize Pakistan’s unwavering support for Palestine.
The visit marks Sharif’s second trip to the kingdom within days, as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia strengthen economic ties, having recently signed 34 memoranda of understanding and agreements totaling $2.8 billion.
The summit, convened at Saudi Arabia’s initiative, will address escalating tensions in the Middle East, where Israel’s military operations in Gaza and Lebanon have intensified, while tensions between Iran and Tel Aviv have led to recent missile exchanges.
Foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch noted in her weekly briefing that the summit builds on the extraordinary gathering held on November 11, 2023, focused on Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
“Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif will visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to participate in the second joint Arab-Islamic Summit being held in Riyadh on 11th of November,” she said.
“Heads of state and government and senior officials from Arab League and OIC [Organization of Islamic Cooperation] member countries are expected to participate in the summit,” she added. “The prime minister will reiterate Pakistan’s full support for the Palestinian cause, calling for an immediate end to the genocide in Gaza.”
Sharif is expected to advocate for an urgent, unconditional ceasefire and a halt to Israeli military actions that threaten Middle Eastern security, according to the spokesperson.
Pakistan will also push for international protection for Palestinians and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
“On the sidelines of the summit,” Baloch continued, “the prime minister is expected to hold bilateral meetings with leaders from other Arab League and OIC member states.”
Amid ongoing Middle Eastern conflicts, Pakistan has dispatched over a dozen relief consignments to Gaza and Lebanon and provided diplomatic support, urging the international community to hold Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government accountable for its actions in the region.