ISLAMABAD: Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged Pakistan this week to reform its colonial-era land laws which the watchdog said were being used to forcibly evict low-income residents, shop owners, and street vendors to make room for public and private development projects.
The latest HRW report titled “I Escaped With Only My Life: Abusive Forced Evictions in Pakistan” details alleged widespread and abusive forced evictions that the rights body said disproportionately affected the most economically and socially marginalized communities in Pakistan. Authorities had evicted thousands of people without adequate consultation, notice, compensation, resettlement assistance, or means of redress in violation of their basic rights, the document said.
Forced eviction is defined as “the permanent or temporary removal against their will and without the provision of, and access to, appropriate forms of legal or other protection.”
“The Pakistani government urgently needs to reform its colonial-era land laws so that they are equitable, transparent, and in line with Pakistan’s international obligations,” HRW Senior Counsel Saroop Ijaz said.
“The authorities should ensure that no one is made homeless due to eviction, compensate the loss of land, and provide for the resettlement of those displaced.”
The government and police have not yet commented on HRW’s latest report, but officials have said in the past they were only removing structures that “encroached” on public lands or state property, which they deem both necessary and justified. Encroachment is a crime under several provincial and regional laws, and those convicted face fines or even prison sentences.
In its report, HRW interviewed at least 36 victims of forced evictions in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi who alleged that police used excessive force to remove tenants and, in some cases, also made illegal arrests. Interviewees also said there was “little consistency and less rationale” for evictions on the pretext of anti-encroachment drives. Victims said police were arresting and prosecuting those who resisted evictions, while corruption in land acquisition, and poor land registration mechanisms made it impossible for them to prove ownership of their land.
“Many of those evicted, in addition to losing their homes, frequently lose their livelihoods and access to essential public services, such as schools and health care,” the report said. “These practices worsen social and economic inequalities, disproportionately burdening people and households with low incomes, and who often are ethnic minorities.”
Pakistan’s colonial-era Land Acquisition Act (LAA) 1894 provides the template for public land acquisition in the country more than a century after its enactment.
“The law and others based on it give the government almost exclusive authority to decide what falls within its scope and to displace people with minimum procedural safeguards that are contrary to international human rights law and standards,” the report added.
Human Rights Watch urges Pakistan to reform land laws amid eviction drives targeting urban poor
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Human Rights Watch urges Pakistan to reform land laws amid eviction drives targeting urban poor
- Watchdog says authorities should ensure no one made homeless, compensate loss of land, provide resettlement
- Officials have said in the past they are only working to remove structures that “encroach” on public lands, state property
New head coach Gillespie vows consistency in Pakistan Test side
- Gillespie will start two-year tenure with two-match series against Bangladesh next month followed by three against England in October
- Pakistan will also tour South Africa for two Tests in December before hosting the West Indies in as many Tests in January next year
KARACHI: Former Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie Sunday vowed to make Pakistan a consistent side after taking charge as red-ball coach with a hectic six-month schedule in focus.
The 49-year-old will start his two-year tenure with a two-match series against Bangladesh next month followed by three against England in October — both at home.
Pakistan will also tour South Africa for two Tests in December before hosting the West Indies in as many Tests in January next year.
Gillespie, who arrived early Sunday, said Pakistan are a “talented” side but need consistency.
“How can they be more consistent is one thing that I am hoping I can find some solutions for,” Gillespie told a news conference.
He hoped Pakistan can improve on their fifth position in the current World Test Championship cycle, competed by nine teams since 2019.
“Ultimately we want to win games of Test cricket,” said Gillespie.
“There are skillful cricketers here, how can we play as a team and perform well against good quality international oppositions and that’s going to be the key for us.”
Hailing from one of Australia’s best Test sides in 1990s and 2000s, Gillespie played 71 Tests, 91 one-day internationals and a solitary T20I in a successful career.
He coached Yorkshire to win the English County Championship in 2014 and 2015.
Gillespie was hired to improve Pakistan’s Test side that lost 1-0 to Australia in 2022 before suffering their first-ever 3-0 home white-wash at the hands of England the same year.
Pakistan were routed 3-0 in Australia last year — their sixth series white-wash in Australia since 1999 — which Gillespie believed was not one-sided.
“As an observer from outside, I think there were some moments in games where Pakistan were on top but could not finish well,” Gillespie reflected.
Pakistan squandered good positions in the second Test in Melbourne and the third in Sydney through crucial dropped catches, leaving them tagged as a poor fielding side.
He said Pakistan needed to be smart to counter what he termed England’s “very aggressive” style of playing Tests, dubbed as “Bazball” after their coach Brendon McCullum’s nickname.
“England will be a challenge, no doubt about that. But I think we are certainly up to it,” said. “We are going to play very smart.”
Smarting from a first round exit in both the ODI World Cup last year in India and Twenty20 in USA and the West Indies last month where South African Gary Kirsten was head coach, Pakistan will begin their Test series against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi from August 21-25.
The second Test is in Karachi from August 30 to September 3.
They face England in three Tests starting in Multan (October 7-11), Karachi (Oct 15-19) and Rawalpindi (October 24-28).
In Pakistan’s Quetta, traditional drinks are perfect cure for parched throats and scorching heat
- Locals turn to traditional sugarcane and apricot juices to beat the scorching heat in southwestern Pakistan
- Juice sellers say despite soaring inflation, number of customers have almost doubled due to the heat wave
QUETTA: Come summer season, Hajji Baz Khan is a busy man. Eager to beat the heat and satiate their parched throats, hundreds of customers throng his shop daily for a tall glass of sugarcane juice. Khan repeatedly directs the servers at his shop to take customers’ orders, as the sound of a machine crushing the sugarcane for juice fills the air.
This is usually the scene at “Quetta Juice” shop on Jinnah Road, a busy place during summers in Pakistan’s southwestern city of Quetta. Pakistan has been in the grip of severe heat since May, with temperatures in the southern parts of the country soaring as high as 52 degrees Celsius. In Quetta, the temperature frequently crossed 40 degrees Celsius over the past few weeks.
And as the temperature rises, so does the number of customers at Quetta Juice to quench their thirst.
“Sometimes we face a shortage of glasses due to the large number of customers in the summer peak days,” Khan, 58, told Arab News. “Because people consider sugarcane juice as the source to beat the [high] temperature.”
Sugarcane juice is a popular drink in Pakistan during the summer season. The juice is extracted on the spot by feeding sugarcane stalks into a machine, which is freshly squeezed out and served with ice cubes.
Pakistan’s macroeconomic crisis and double-digit inflation have made life for businesses difficult. Khan, who has been running the famous sugarcane juice shop since 1985, said he has to buy 40kg of sugarcane for Rs2500 ($9). And to make matters worse, the government has approved a surge in power tariffs.
“But yet my business is doing well, we are selling a single glass of sugarcane juice for 90 rupees ($0.32),” Khan said. “During the summer season, we use more than 100kg of sugar cane regularly for the traditional drink.”
Iftikhar Parvez, who traveled from Pakistan’s eastern city of Faisalabad to meet relatives in Quetta, couldn’t help but stop for sugarcane juice after visiting the nearby bazaar.
“In the summer season, the throat remains dry hence people prefer to drink sugarcane juice,” he said.
Wakeel Ahmed, a 44-year-old resident of Balochistan’s Sibi city who was visiting Quetta, said he had stopped for a sugarcane juice drink as he was suffering from low blood sugar.
The drink, he said, refreshed his mind and soul.
“Medically, sugarcane juice is very healthy for the human body and doctors always suggest it for hepatitis B and C patients,” Ahmed said.
‘KUSHTA’
While yogurt-based lassi, lemon sodas, milkshakes and fresh juices are popular in summer, another drink “kushta,” prepared with dried apricots and a mixture of salt and sugar, is also a much-relished beverage in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.
Ikram Ullah, 21, has been selling the drink for the last five years every summer.
“The residents love to drink apricot juice which gives me an earning of Rs3000 ($10.80) a single day,” he told Arab News.
“When there is any public activity in the city, I sell two 35-liter jars of apricot juice. But normally, I sell one.”
Taj Muhammad, a resident of the city’s Sariab Road, said he was roaming through the bazaar when he came across a pushcart selling kushta. That was enough of a temptation for him to stop and drink a glass of fresh apricot juice.
“There are dozens of pushcarts in Quetta from the main city center to the end of Sariab Road selling this traditional drink because the demand for this beverage increases in the summer season.”
Pakistan’s free kidney hospital acquires four-star hotel in Karachi to expand services
- Trustee Shabbar Zaidi says SIUT will add 1,000 beds for patients after the acquisition of Regent Plaza hotel
- The building, a landmark located on the city’s main thoroughfare, will provide easy access to patients, he adds
KARACHI: The Sindh Institute of Urology & Transplantation (SIUT) has acquired Regent Plaza, a four-star hotel in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, to convert it into a health care facility to expand its free-of-cost services for patients, an SIUT trustee said on Sunday.
Founded by philanthropist and distinguished surgeon Dr. Syed Adibul Hasan Rizvi, SIUT stands as Pakistan’s foremost center for treatment of kidney-related diseases, providing free services such as dialysis and transplantation to patients who come from across the country.
Originally established as the urology department of Karachi’s Civil Hospital in 1970, SIUT attained autonomous status in 1991. The institute presently conducts up to 12 transplants weekly and achieved a milestone in 2003 by performing Pakistan’s inaugural liver transplant.
The Regent Plaza hotel occupies a prime location on the city’s main thoroughfare, Shahrah-e-Faisal, spanning an area of 13,200 square yards with a total covered area of 47,034 square yards. Last October, the hotel management informed investors of SIUT’s Rs14.5 billion offer to purchase it and on Saturday, the hotel’s face board was replaced with that of SUIT’s.
“With this new facility, we will add 1,000 beds to SIUT and this branch will offer all services,” Syed Shabbar Zaidi, an SIUT trustee, told Arab News on Sunday, emphasizing that acquiring a space on Shahrah-e-Faisal will provide easier access to patients.
The building, according to Regent Plaza official website, has 440 luxurious guest rooms, including presidential, executive and business suites, besides various other categories of rooms.
Asked about potential traffic snarl-ups due to the hotel’s conversion into a hospital, Zaidi said they would provide an alternate entrance to ensure a smooth flow of traffic on Shahrah-e-Faisal, a signal-free thoroughfare that connects the Karachi airport with the city’s main business hub and is frequented by hundreds of thousands of people daily.
“We will establish an entrance from another direction, eliminating any traffic disruptions,” he said.
The SIUT trustee emphasized that the hotel’s building was an ideal space and acquiring it would be highly beneficial for patients.
“With increased capacity, we will accommodate more patients while ensuring easily accessible facilities,” he added.
PM Sharif calls for improving goods transportation at Karachi port amid Pakistan trade push
- The prime minister says Central Asian states have expressed deep interest in using Pakistan’s ports for trade
- He asks authorities to keep Lyari Expressway open round the clock to ensure uninterrupted goods transportation
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed authorities to improve transportation of goods at the Karachi port during his visit to the southern Pakistani city, Sharif’s office said on Sunday, amid Pakistan’s push to boost trade to support its fragile economy.
The prime minister issued the directives at a meeting he presided over with regard to the Karachi Port Trust, Port Qasim Authority and Pakistan National Shipping Corporation in Karachi, where he is expected to meet the business community during the day-long visit.
Sharif said Pakistan held a key geographical position in the region and provided the most convenient sea trade route for the Central Asian states, citing his recent meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Central Asian leaders in Kazakhstan.
“Central Asian states have expressed deep interest in using Pakistan’s ports for trade,” the prime minister was quoted as saying by his office. “Through modern system at ports and improved access to them, Pakistan can earn billions of dollars in foreign exchange.”
He directed authorities to keep the Lyari Expressway open for cargo round the clock to ensure uninterrupted transportation of goods to and from the Karachi Port Trust.
The Malir Expressway should be connected with the seaport to ensure swift delivery of goods, he said, adding instructing officials to enhance railways’ capacity to shift goods to the Karachi port.
“He stressed the need to ensure early installation of state-of-the-art scanning machinery at the seaports and called for steps for the capacity building of Pakistani ports to take full advantage of their potential,” Sharif’s office said.
The prime minister instructed authorities to decrease customs clearance time by installing modern equipment and machinery at the Karachi Port Trust and Port Qasim.
Pakistan aims to enhance its role as a pivotal trade and transit hub connecting Central Asian republics with the rest of the world by leveraging its strategic geographical position.
The South Asian country has invested in infrastructure projects like roads, railways and pipelines while seeking greater economic connectivity under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative. In April this year, Pakistan opened its trade gateway to Central Asia with first potato shipment to Tajikistan.
During his day-long visit, Sharif is expected to meet business community in Karachi — Pakistan’s largest financial and industrial hub and home to over 20 million people.
The city has a vibrant business community and several industrial sites, but its deteriorating law and order situation and poor infrastructure have frustrated traders, who have regularly sought interventions from the government to resolve some of the metropolis’ teething issues.
“He is also expected to meet a delegation of businessmen from the export and import sectors,” Sharif’s office said, adding that the premier would be briefed on increasing the country’s national income, facilities for the business community and reforms in the export and import sectors.
“Important decisions will be taken in this regard,” it added.
PROFILE: Dr. Mehmood Khan, Pakistan’s first scientist to be granted Saudi citizenship
- Dr. Khan has served in key positions in corporate, medical and scientific fields in a career spanning three decades
- Saudi Arabia has opened its citizenship to highly skilled professionals to attract and retain exceptional global talent
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani scientist Dr. Mehmood Khan this week became a member of a distinguished list of doctors, researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs from around the world who were granted Saudi citizenship, according to a list published by financial news portal Argaam.
An American national, Dr. Khan is currently the chief executive officer of the Hevolution Foundation, a non-profit organization that aims to increase the number of aging-related treatments, compress the timeline of drug development, and increase accessibility to therapeutics that extend a human lifespan.
A global non-profit organization headquartered in Riyadh with a North American hub, and an annual budget of up to $1 billion, Hevolution Foundation is the second largest geroscience funder with plans to open offices in other international locations. Geroscience is a field of biomedical research that seeks to understand how aging processes drive chronic diseases.
Dr. Khan was awarded Saudi citizenship after the kingdom opened its citizenship to highly skilled professionals as part of its Vision 2030, aiming to attract and retain exceptional global talent to enhance the kingdom’s economic and social development. A royal decree to this effect was issued in November 2021, allowing people belonging to specialized fields such as science, medicine, culture, sports and technology to apply for citizenship.
Dr. Khan, who earned his medical degree from the University of Liverpool Medical School in England, was also mentioned in the list of all the high achievers who received Saudi citizenship this week in Argaam.
“So I grew up in England, actually haven’t had a chance to grow up in Pakistan,” Dr. Khan said during an interview in 2015 at OPEN Silicon Valley, an international organization of Pakistani entrepreneurs. “Proud to be Pakistani [though].”
He advised budding corporate leaders and those aspiring to make a name for themselves in the medical field to take risks in life and pursue their passion.
“Do take risks. Do not be afraid to take risks and do the best you can but pursue your passion,” he said.
The Pakistani-American scientist has an impressive profile, having served in senior corporate and medical positions in a career spanning three decades.
Dr. Khan has served as the chief executive officer at Life Biosciences Inc, vice chairman and chief scientific officer of global research and development at PepsiCo. from 2007-2019, and as the president of global research and development at renowned Japanese company, Takeda Pharmaceuticals, from 2003-2008.
He has served as director of the diabetes, endocrine and nutritional trials unit at the prestigious Mayo Clinic and Mayo Medical School from 2001-2003.
Dr. Khan is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and a fellow of the American College of Endocrinology as well.
He was the chairman of the US-Pakistan Business Council from 2016-2019 and continues to remain a board member of Reckitt Benckiser, a globally renowned British multinational consumer goods company.
Dr. Khan advised people aspiring to achieve senior positions in the corporate and medical fields to “reinvent” themselves.
“You cannot be the same that you were 30 years ago,” Dr. Khan told OPEN Silicon Valley. “If I was still doing what I learned 30 years ago, I couldn’t even practice medicine, let alone do what I do today.”
