Year 2020: A topsy-turvy year

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For many, the year 2020 was not good as the entire year was mainly affected by the pandemic Coronavirus (COVID-19), which started in Wuhan city of China at the end of 2019 but spread over the entire world at the start of the New Year. In the initial months, Iran and Italy were the two major countries, which were worst hit by the pandemic COVID-19 after China. These affected countries, however, were controlled soon with the imposition of strict lockdowns.  

Soon, the virus spread over to the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Africa as a forest fire. Pakistan received the virus through Pakistani pilgrims who returned from Iran and Saudi Arabia. The first patient who tested COVID-19 positive had come from Iran.

Pakistan has to impose a lockdown in March, which continued till August, but it was not so strict as people did not completely observe the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). The working class especially daily wage earners were the worst-hit section. Although the federal government had announced a one-time cash grant of PKR 12,000 to support the poor from the economic shocks of lockdown, this support could not reach to the majority of the population as the Prime Minister himself admitted that the government did not have data of 80 per cent workers.

The government also failed to impose SOPs due to a lack of cooperation from the masses. Media reported skirmishes between people and police, especially when police restricted people from going to mosques to offer Friday prayers.  

The virus’ intensity declined in July, but it suddenly increased again by the end of October and more people tested positive and the average number of deaths due to the virus increased manifold. This intensity of the disease still prevails on the last day of the year 2020. New norms of working from home, wearing masks most of the time and social distancing have now become part of our daily lives. We also worked from home till August when the government lifted the lockdown.

The year made a big impact on my personal life as I lost my mother on June 26. She suffered a stroke attack on 24^th June but could not survive and breathed her last within two days in the hospital. It was a big setback for my entire family. My father had already left the world in 2006.

Our family also witnessed some happy moments as well on the occasion of the wedding ceremony of my nephew Mairajuddin who got married on 12^th December.

The year 2020 would always remain in our memory with a lot of changes in the world’s politics. It was also the US elections year, in which Joe Biden won the election and in February he would become President of the world’s only superpower.

Politically, in Pakistan the opposition parties formed the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), a grand alliance to topple PM Imran Khan’s government, which according to them has failed to deliver as the economy is in shambles and prices of essential items have skyrocketed. A series of public rallies were held across the country despite strict COVID warnings by the government.

The government stuck to its anti-opposition stance and many politicians were put behind the bars by National Accountability Bureau, which it has never proven. Nawaz Sharif had to leave the country to get his medical treatment in the UK, but he refused to return due to the government’s policies. He was already convicted of his corruption and was behind the bars.

Pakistani economy continued to suffer amid COVID-19-related lockdowns when common people suffered a lot. People witnessed a steep rise in prices of all essential goods when sugar and wheat prices went higher due to scandals in these two commodities, involving powerful personalities of the ruling political party. The government failed to provide any relief to the people and it continued its anti-public decisions like increases in petroleum, gas and electricity prices. It seemed the government machinery was not concerned with the common people’s problems.

With the dawn of the sun of the New Year 2021, it is hoped that situation would be improved in Pakistan and in the entire world.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Mir's Mini Forest

Just drive about 17 kilometres from Fateh Chowk Hyderabad towards Tando Muhammad Khan, and you can find a small green spot known as Mir’s Mini Forest along the road on the left side. A canal carrying fresh water drawn from Indus’s Kotri barrage is irrigating the land forest. An oasis between the agricultural lands of big landlords of Hyderabad, the Mir’s Mini Forest is a piece of green pastures, where an ecosystem is developed for growing trees and natural habitat for birds.

Spread over about 5 acres of land the Mini Forest is also a display centre for urban forestry.

With a variety of trees (about 400 different trees), the mini forest is a brainchild of a progressive landlord Mir Shah Mohammad Talpur. Although this forest is not designed on the pattern of the Urban Forest method of Miyawaki on which our other friend Shahzad Qureshi has already established an Urban Forest in Clifton Karachi, Mr. Talpur has also planned to utilise the Miyawaki method in the future expansion of his current forest.

Invented by Japanese Doctor Akira Miyawaki, who is a botanist and professor since 1980, urban forestry has an edge to grow trees rapidly in a natural environment. Using the Miyawaki methodology, one can create native urban forest ecosystems much more quicker. 15 to 30 different species of trees and shrubs are planted together, and the Miyawaki method suggests that each plant helps others to grow in a much faster speed. This plant community works very well together and is perfectly adapted to local weather conditions. It would take about 200 years to let a forest recover on its own, but with the Miyawaki method, a similar result is achieved in 20 years.

Mr. Talpur has learned the Miyawaki method from a trainer who came from India and he has also set up a small display at a piece of land of 3 by 3 meters by planting different types of trees by digging three feet and then replacing it with different grades of earth. “It requires a lot of investment and manpower for using the Miyawaki method and for the time being I have only two employees to look after this mini forest so this mini forest is grown on the traditional method,” he said.

He has imported many varieties from different countries and grown a number of local fruit trees as well.

Mr. Talpur allows families and groups from Karachi and Hyderabad and other parts of the country on a prior booking system to visit and explore the mini forest, where local fruit trees, honeycombs, birds and flowers are grown in a natural environment and environment lovers can spend their day time to be with nature.

A group of nature lovers from Karachi at the platform of The Linkers visited Mir’s Mini Forest on Sunday, November 22, 2020, and explore its natural beauty. Pl. click on the link below to look at some pictures taken by the writer.

Click on this link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/LKK7cg8FH5QAsjcB7

Baba Island: Still Thirsty

Despite having a population of over 15,000, Baba Island near Keamari in Karachi is devoid of almost all basic facilities. Water is a nightmare for the people, who have been thirsty for years now, despite the fact a pipeline was laid by the former City District Government of Karachi led by Nazim Mustafa Kamal and a non-functional RO plant is there.

Named after Haji Ebrahim Shah Baba, the island is mostly inhabited by fishermen of Katchi-speaking Sindhis, whereas trading shops owners are from other communities as well like Urdu-speaking, Punjabis, Pushtoon, Balochs and even Bengalis.

Twin with another island Bhit, the Baba island comes under a constituency of PPP’s Karachi President Abdul Qadir Patel, MNA, who had promised to provide basic facilities at the time of each election campaign, but after the elections, he forgets the island and voters as usual. The island has a number of schemes (like a water tank, an RO plant etc) with an inauguration nameplate outside inscribed with the name of Abdul Qadir Patel.

Some private NGOs, however, have taken the task to provide education and health to a section of the population. For example, an NGO has adopted a government school to run it efficiently, and another NGO is running a medical dispensary with doctors and free medicines. But Baba island’s people buy water from private water suppliers who bring water in launch tankers from the Native Jetty hydrant.

A plastic drum with a capacity of 210 litres is sold at PKR 120 and if a porter drops it at one’s doorstep from the jetty it costs PKR 220 (PKR 100 labour cost). For a family of 10 persons, at least 2 such water drums are required. Most of the income of people goes to buying water. The majority of children suffer from malnutrition and adults have weaker physiques.

Dr. Yousuf, a local social worker and a former Union Council Nazim (2002) said a local company had installed a huge water purifier or Reverse Oasis (RO) plant, which ran for a while, but it is now laying idle as there is no staff to run and machinery has developed faults. Fresh investment is required to properly operate this RO project.

“The water pipeline installed during the Mustafa Kamal period had supplied water to the island for a brief period and right now there is no water supply through pipes,” said Dr. Yousuf.

An NGO of Navy’s retired officers is running a primary-cum-secondary school, which has constructed a beautiful building of over 20 classrooms and another Turkish NGO has recently provided quality furniture to the school. Dr. Yousuf supervises the school, which was being run by a Government employed head teacher. In fact, there are only three government primary teachers posted in this school, with over 800 children. The other teachers are employed by the ex-Naval staff NGO. 

The headmaster of the school claimed that his school is top in enrollment of children in the primary section in the entire Sindh province. “We have 10 classes only for Class-I,” he says with pride. It is in fact dedication of the headmaster who comes daily in the island from the central part of the city.

Similar is the situation in healthcare facilities. A dispensary with only one male medical doctor right now and a lady doctor who was on leave these days, is providing healthcare facilities to the entire island’s population. The NGO charges PKR 20 as an Out Patients Department fee to each visiting patient and provides medicines prescribed by the doctor free of cost. A maternity labour room and pathological laboratory is also part of this medical facility. Regular vaccination under Expanded Programme for Immunization (EPI) is also available in the dispensary.

Dr. Yousuf claims proudly that Baba island is now a Polio-free area as his NGO aggressively took part in each Polio-vaccination campaign. The girls of the island volunteered to administer the vaccination drops and no case of Polio is reported from the area this year.

When will Thatta Museum be opened?

An almost complete edifice and some replicas inside the “under construction” Thatta Museum are gathering dust as no one knows when it will be completed and opened to the general public.

One can still visit the brand new “City Museum Thatta” as an employee of the provincial Directorate of Archaeology, the only official, who is acting as a curator can welcome and show you the incomplete museum. He told me he also did not know about the fate of the museum.

“Due to the COVID-19 lockdown the work on finishing the inside remains unfinished,” the official said adding that the head office in Hyderabad can tell when it will be opened formally.

A brainchild of a veteran archaeologist Dr. Kaleem Lashari, the Thatta Museum is an attempt to depict the history and culture of the historic city since the invasion by Arabs of Sindh in 712 AD. It has placed some replicas of coins, clay potteries and dresses of ancient times.

A model of a carpenter’s shop with a model/sculpture and original utensils are placed at the entrance hall and a big boat depicting the love story Noori Jam Tamachi tale of Keenjhar lake is placed at the main hall. Some ancient manuscripts of the Holy Quran and religious books would be placed in viewers’ windows. Grave stones with inscriptions, Kaashi (glazed tiles) and carpet weaving loom can also be seen.

Pictures with profiles of Thatta rulers during the period of Mughals, Tarkhans, and Samas periods. Profiles of some major personalities like Doleh Darya Khan, and Makhdoom Muhammad Hashim Thattvi are on display.

According to the curator, the aim of setting up a separate museum in Thatta city was to educate people about the rich culture, traditions and history of this ancient city, which was once famous for religious educational institutions, trade and rich culture.

Necropolis of Malki, the largest graveyard of Pakistan is located juxtapose to the museum.

Another major museum in the district is also located in Bhambhor, which is an ancient city famous for famous folklore of Sasui Punhoo. The first mosque of Pakistan was said to be found here which was discovered from the remains of Bhambhor.

Jan Khaskheli: Poet historian of pain

By Muhammad Habib Sanai

Jan Khaskheli earns his bread by working as a full-time journalist and as a reporter he writes on very innovative topics such as birds and their habits, hidden aspects of ecosystems, plights of artisans, common men of rural areas, fisherfolk, agricultural workers, water situation, crop situation, environmental degradation etc., mostly in English and also sometimes in Sindhi. However, his first passion and love remained in Sindhi literature. Almost twenty years ago his first book of Sindhi short stories “Gum thiyal Manoo joSafarnamoo”, (Travelogue of a missing /disappeared person) was published that contained a collection of his short stories.

Now after a long break, his second book but first book of poetry entitledKhawaben je mosam jo hik geet (A song related to the season of dreams)has been published.  

This anthology contains 62 prose poems, which mostly were written during the eighties and nineties when he was living in Karachi. As a result, most of his poems are related to Karachi, which is in itself a big departure, especially in Sindhi poetry because prior to him no Sindhi poet has written about Karachi in that fashion or manner.

During his stay in Karachi from the mid-eighties to mid-twenties, he mostly worked with Sindhi newspapers, but he remained attached to Sindhi AdabiSangat’s Karachi branch, which was at that time, the most vibrant branch of Sindhi writers and literary leaning leftist and nationalist political workers. But he also remained active in Urdu literary circles and attended regularly meetings of Awami Adabi Anjman, the Literary committee of Karachi Press Club etc. Jan has now shifted in Hyderabad,

Some poems are long and some are short. The recurring theme is not personal wins and love longings, but socio-politico-economic situations and events occupy his poems. Manoj Kumar, who has written the preface of this book, has termed him as poet historian of pain.

The book starts with a poem about the poor women who got trampled while taking Eid gifts in Joria Bazar, Karachi on 14 September 2009:

To Moon

Attraction for wheat flour forced poverty to join a crowd….

Suddenly laughter of death frightened poverty

Hope got trampled …

Wheat flour got kneaded with bodies…

Now after a long break, his second book but the first book of poetry entitled Khawaben je mosam jo hik geet (A song related to the season of dreams) has been published.  

This anthology contains 62 prose poems, which mostly were written during the eighties and nineties when he was living in Karachi. As a result, most of his poems are related to Karachi, which is in itself a big departure, especially in Sindhi poetry, because prior to him no Sindhi poet has written about Karachi in that fashion or manner.

During his stay in Karachi from the mid-eighties to his mid-twenties, he mostly worked with Sindhi newspapers, but he remained attached to Sindhi Adabi Sangat’s Karachi branch, which was at that time, the most vibrant branch of Sindhi writers and literary-leaning leftist and nationalist political workers. But he also has remained active in Urdu literary circles and attended regular meetings of Awami Adabi Anjman, the Literary committee of Karachi Press Club etc. Jan has now moved to Hyderabad.

Some poems are long and some are short. The recurring theme is not personal woes and love longings, but socio-politico-economic situations and events that occupy his poems. Manoj Kumar, who has written the preface of this book, has termed him a a poet historian of pain.

The book starts with a poem about the poor women who got trampled while taking Eid gifts in Joria Bazar, Karachi on 14 September 2009:

Lyari, which is now a hotbed of gang wars, was once peaceful and cosmopolitan part of Karachi. He laments its present plight in one poem:

Pain is like bell  When it tolls in streets of Lyari,Leva dance is started. 

In another poem he talks about Manora and its surroundings:

 This sea and temple of Manora …
 And that church ….
 Oh Time come and use your full strength
 To quieten the violent sea
 And wipe out smell of hate. 

In various poems he has tried to depict the torment and anguish of Karachi and its residents:

Rose blooming season

 Today in our motherland
 Bullets are freely playing in streets
 … At city circle
 Along with heroes of stories, history,
 Songs and poems,
 Our longings are also burnt. 

Relations

 All dogs of city
 Have become guardians of hate
 And for wishing to dream
 Today have developed friendships
 Once again with stars. 

Story of a city

 Hundred kissable damsels  
 And branches of roses
 Fell down after getting injured
 Get trampled
 For their crime of love for life. 

He also speaks about the various ills afflicting our society such as honour killings, hunger, poverty, draught in Thar etc.

Hunger Either in Cold or in Hot Ways and markets give him a place Across the hub river, His Mother, Along with another minor son,  Peeping from the door holes  Will be waiting for son Might be she so hungry. 

Drought

Hearing crying of children,
 Prior to issuing of red milk
 From breast of any mother
 Feeble eyes shed tears 

Some poems discuss international events or personalities. Below are excerpts from a few poems having an international bent:

Tamil girl

 Over emaciated boat of longings
 A Tamil girl with gun
 Is following track of silence            
 Suicidal death is calling her. 

Nelson Mandela

In eyes of Mandela
 Those dreams still unfulfilled 
 Will dance in the streets
 After draping jewels of realization 

In the end, I am giving excerpts from some of his poems so that you can enjoy a variety of themes and images portrayed in them:

Short story of a long journey

 We singers of songs
 In the season of sorrows 
 Instead of laughter,
 Are humming Nohas/dirges
 Still
 Have not lost despite barking of dogs at every nook and corner
 Have not wavered
 We are travelling. 

Keenjhar

 From afar breast of Keenjhar 
 Seems like a desert
 Or a play ground
 Children get on boat and run
 Take fishing net
 Swing and sing
 All day they play in water
 At dusk boats are like nests 
 Of river birds. 

Bahrai Town Karachi & Supreme Court

Supreme Court of Pakistan on Tuesday ordered to hand over the money, provided by Bahria Town to an 11- member Commission, which is being formed to look after its disbursement on development projects of Sindh (half for Karachi and the remaining half for the entire Sindh). The money is being deposited by Bahria Town as a fine for illegally purchasing land from the provincial Sindh government in instalments.

According to the latest verdict on a petition for the implementation of an earlier verdict by the apex court the proposed Commission would be headed by a Chairman nominated by the Chief Justice of Pakistan and comprised of five voting members who are permanent residents of Sindh and have no political affiliations and six non-voting members. Who will decide about political affiliation is not specifically mentioned.

The Sindh governor and the chief minister would nominate one person each as a voting member, the attorney general for Pakistan and the attorney general for Sindh will also be included in the body.

Non-voting members will be the Sindh Chief Secretary, Finance Secretary, a senior member of the provincial Board of Revenue, senior officers assigned to Sindh in the office of the Auditor General of Pakistan, the Accountant General of Pakistan and Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan.

The SC implementation bench had on March 21 last year accepted Bahria Town’s offer to pay PKR 460 billion on account of the purchase of the land measuring 16,896 acres controlled by the Malir Development Authority (MDA), but with certain terms and conditions.

The SC accepted the offer on May 4, 2018 judgement, which had held the grant of land to the MDA by the Sindh government, its exchange with the land of private developer Bahria Town and anything done under the provisions of the Colonisation of Government Land Act 1912 by the provincial government illegal and of no legal existence. The land was granted for launching an incremental housing scheme, but the MDA exchanged it with Bahria Town to launch a scheme of its own, the SC verdict had regretted.

A villager narrates the ordeal of his family and relatives whose homes were destroyed by Bahria Town with support from Malir Police https://twitter.com/AwamiWorkers/status/1312408413129891845

A mixed reaction is coming from Sindh as the PPP supporters were happy that money is received for development projects in Sindh, however, the legal experts and rights activists believe this was tantamount to legalising Bahria Town’s illegal actions.

Malik Riaz of Bahria Town is still busy grabbing land from villages located around its huge real estate in Malir and Jamshoro districts and Sindh police is providing their all-out assistance to him and bulldozing the Goths.

Recently, Bahria Town in connivance with the local Police in the Malir district bulldozed Ali Muhammad Gabol Goth near Bahria Town. Villagers protested and civil society held a press conference at Karachi Press Club against the forcible eviction of villagers even a Sindh Minister stated in public that they would protect the villagers, but nothing happened and the entire village was razed. In the past, similar events happened in a number of villages.

The provincial Sindh Government is said to be a supporter of Bahria Town Karachi as PPP CO-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari is allegedly a partner of Malik Riaz in this project. The twin islands which the federal government is planning to offer for development are also said to be an extension of Bahria Town in Karachi.

Karachi Indigenous Rights Alliance has rejected today’s verdict and demanded the Supreme Court of Pakistan to refund back the money to Bahria Town and order the real estate tycoon to hand over the land to its old owners (villagers).

So far 44 villages have been destroyed by Bahria Town, which was early included in a topographic sheet of Karachi, prepared by Survey General of Pakistan 1965-69.

Gul Hassan Kalmati a member of the Alliance told this scribe that earlier the members of the alliance had met and they had a clear opinion on ownership of the land. They refused to hand over the land to the builder.

The Alliance members were of the opinion that this land was allotted illegally so should be taken back. “Some of our members were of the opinion that in case the money is eventually paid, this should entirely be spent on the development of Malir district.”

Sindh fails to protect honor of guests

Sindh government cannot absolve itself from the way its guest Cap. Safdar (husband of Mariam) was arrested by Sindh Police in a dreadful way early Monday morning.

It is after all Sindh Police have arrested him from the couple’s room in Hotel Avari Towers leave alone with allegations that some other forces had kidnapped the IGP to take this action (as the senior journalists Hamid Mir and Mubashir Zaidi‘s tweets state). Also, see this video

It is a scar on the face of the PPP’s provincial government as traditionally Sindhi people honour the guests at all costs. If such a situation arises they stand steadfast to protect the honour and lives of the guests.

We have many instances in the past were to protect the honour of guests, people have even taken weapons in hand.

PML (Nawaz) leader Zubair has confirmed his arrest and said he spoke to CM Syed Murad Ali Shah who has explained him.

https://twitter.com/FaizullahSwati/status/1318065055229947906?s=20

In this case, CM Murad Ali Shah and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari should have gone to the Police Station to get the guest released instantly. Imran Khan had once done this when PTI’s people were arrested in Islamabad when he was in opposition. Click for details

PML (N) Karachi leadership visited the police station to meet Capt. Safdar but they were not allowed

Shame on the Sindh government for its lame excuses!

Twin Islands on Sale

The entire Sindh is protesting against a recent move by the federal government to establish Pakistan Islands Development Authority (PIDA) apparently for the development of the islands on the Sindh and Balochistan coast. People in Sindh term the ordinance an attempt to take control of islands by the federal government, especially the twin islands near Karachi – Dingi and Bhandar located in the territory of Sindh.

President Dr. Arif Alvi had also chaired a meeting in Karachi in which top builders and estate investors including controversial builder Malik Riaz Hussain of Bahria Town also attended. The President had reportedly offered these two islands to national and international investors for investment and development. (Reported by official news agency Associated Press of Pakistan (APP))

Previously, these twin islands were also offered for sale on at least two occasions, but due to various reasons, the deals still needed to be finalised. The Sindh government had reportedly given official permission for the development of islands, which the provincial government later denied and also withdrew a notification issued in August in this regard.

Although the ordinance was issued on August 30, 2020, which needed formal approval by the Parliament to make it a law, the Pakistan Peoples Party has announced to oppose it at official forums.

The federal government has already advertised the post to appointment Chairman of the PIDA in the media and it is insisting to go ahead. These islands have also been taken over by Military authorities and common people are not allowed to access those islands, which are mostly inhabited. Local fishermen often use it as their halting spot and there is a Mazar of a Saint in one of the islands, where fishermen visit and an annual Urs is also held.

On October 15, 20202 an NGO of fishermen Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) organised a boat rally, which was attended by over 1100 rights activists and media persons and opposed federal control, but the Maritime Security Agency (MSA) and Coast Guards disallowed the boat riders to access to the islands. This was condemned by the rights activists.

The fishermen population of Sindh’s coast is vocal against the development of these islands as they fear losing their livelihood of fish catch as a result of the difficulty to access these islands. Fishermen of Gizri and other fishing localities have already lost their access to the beaches after the development of DHA colonies along the coast.

The environmentalists also opposed any development of these islands as they fear the loss of mangrove forest cover in the entire coast once development activities are initiated.

The federal government is adamant to hand over these twin islands to the builders especially its blue-eyed Malik Riaz of Bahria Town. An advertisement in the local newspapers published by Bahria Town indicated that these islands may attract huge international investment.

The Bahria Town had indicated launching an Island City where it plans to construct a World’s Tallest Tower, a World’s Largest Shopping Mall, a Sports City, Education and Medical City, International City, Media City and a 3.5km long, six-lane modern bridge built over the sea, which will connect Bahria Town Islands City to DHA Karachi.

A local lawyer Shahab Osto has challenged the federal government’s move to appoint PIDA Chairman and the ordinance in Sindh High Court.

Although a shutter-down strike and a number of protests have been held across Sindh, the provincial government seems reluctant to put a real pressure on the federal government to withdraw its plans as some believe that the Sindh government is already hand in glove with the Bahria Town management as it had already illegally allocated a huge land to the builder in Malir and Jamshoro districts. The fact was accepted by the Sindh government during the Supreme Court’s hearing in a case against Bahria Town.

Dalits at Islamabad roads to protest against death of 11 in India

Hundreds of low-caste Hindus or Dalits have reached Islamabad to hold protest demonstrations against the Indian government on the deaths of 11 people of a scheduled caste Bheel family in last August. On Wednesday (September 24), hundreds of participants tried to enter the Diplomatic enclave where mostly foreign missions are located to register a protest outside Indian High Commission, however, they were not allowed to enter due to security reasons.

They were later allowed to hold a sit-in in front of the Indian High Commission on Thursday. The sit-in is joined by Hindus and Sikhs from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Many Hindu leaders from Sindh attended the protest camp outside the Indian High Commission.

Chief Patron of Pakistan Hindu Council is talking to the media at the rally

According to a report by BBC at least 11 persons of a single peasant, family were found dead in an agriculture field in the Indian state of Rajasthan’s Jodhpur district on 9^th August. The Bheel family actually belonged to the Sanghar district in Sindh and had migrated to India from Pakistan in 2015 and only one member of the family now remained alive after the gory incident.

Local police in India have found pesticides near the bodies and it was presumed that they might have been poisoned due to personal enmity. Pakistan government has sought details of the case, but so far not shared by the Indian government.

This peasant family had migrated to India due to economic and religious reasons. Most of the Bheel family members were doing peasantry at agriculture fields in the Sanghar district, but due to a shortage of irrigation water and lack of employment opportunities, they were left unemployed for quite some time.

A female relative of the deceased Shrimati Mukhi, wife of Bhontrio Bheel in a press conference at Hyderabad (Sindh) Press Club told the media-men that she believed that the Indian agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) had killed her family through the goons of Rashtriya Swaya­msevak Sangh (RSS) after it failed to convince him to act as a spy against Pakistan (Dawn, dated September 7, 2020).

In Sindh peasants are mostly working as share-cropper under the Sindh Tenancy Act 1950 but there is no implementation of this law so their labour is exploited by influential landlords. The landlords often offer peasantry at lower rates (20 to 25 percent crop sharing basis instead of 50 percent under the law). The Tenancy Tribunals to settle the disputes under the Sindh Tenancy Act 1950 are non-functional in the province and there is no effective mechanism to fix their wages or to provide relief to them in case of a dispute. In some areas, the landlords employ peasants on daily wage basis at lower wages. Minimum wages are not paid to agriculture workers.

The unfortunate Bheel family had left their village Tajan Dahri, about 30 kilometers from Shahdadpur town in Sanghar district for India as a relative told BBC reporter in Hyderabad that in-laws of head of the family Tajan Bheel were living near Jodhpur India and they had asked to come there because of better employment opportunities in agriculture sectors in India.

Thousands of Hindu families have migrated to India in recent years due to various reasons including discriminatory attitudes toward religion basis to them in Pakistani society. In many cases, Hindu girls are abducted and when cases are registered with Police the girls often surface in the media declaring that she has got married and embraced Islam.

Two centres of (forced) conversion to Islam are notorious in Sindh which is located at Bharchoondi (led by Mian Mitho) in Ghokti district in upper Sindh and Samaro in Umerkot district (led by Pir Ayub Jan Sirhandi) in lower Sindh.

Earlier, only upper-caste Hindus used to migrate to India due to religious reasons, but now low-caste Hindus or Dalits (scheduled caste) have also started migrating to India as they feel insecure in Pakistan where an overwhelming majority are Muslims. Most Dalits prefer to settle in border Indian states like Rajasthan and Gujarat as their relatives are already settled there since partition.

The Indian government is not treating well to Pakistani Hindu migrants as many families have come back after migrating to India and complained about the bad attitude to of the Indian government.

Most Pakistani Hindus have to stay in asylum or as immigrants for decades without any right to do a job. They have to work at lower rates. There is a very harsh policy of the Indian government to provide citizenship to Pakistani Hindus.

The current protest in the capital Islamabad is arranged by Pakistan Hindu Council led by Patron-In-Chief Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani. Pakistan Hindu Council is a social welfare organisation of upper-caste Hindus/  The lower-caste Hindus have been complaining that the Council does not allow membership of scheduled caste Hindus due to the former’s monopoly.

In an earlier TV interview, Mr. Vankwani had severely criticized the Hindu families who are migrating to India (inducing the Bheel family). However, due to unknown reasons, Mr Vankwani has arranged these events at the capital.

A clip by Mr. Vankwani Here

Interestingly, over 100 buses full of scheduled caste Hindus arrived in Islamabad the other day as most of the participants were brought to capital for an “All Pakistan Tour” between September 22 and 27. There was no mention of participation in this rally in the invitation.

Although it is an encouraging sign that the ruling party Pakistan Tahrik Insaaf (PTI) has raised an issue of low-cast Hindu Dalits in Pakistan, otherwise, the representatives of the Pakistan Hindu Council are raising issues of only the upper caste.

A representative of lower caste Hindus complained that participants are not treated well in Islamabad as there was no proper arrangement for their stay or food in the Capital.

The main demands of the Pakistan Hindu Council are to give counselor access to Pakistan High Commission to the remaining members of the family and the Jodhpur police should share the FIR and Police report with Pakistani authorities.

August 11 QA speech: Missing direction

“You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed — that has nothing to do with the business of the State.”

These were the famous golden words of the founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah while delivering his speech at the first Constituent Assembly on August 11, 1947, three days ahead of actual independence on August 14-15.

In his speech Mr. Jinnah, in fact, laid the foundations of the principles for a new country by describing it as being a state with no business with any religion.

Before concluding his historic speech, Quaid-e-Azam stated: “Now, I think we should keep that in front of us as our ideal and you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State.”

But Quaid-e-Azam’s vision for a secular Pakistan was just ignored by his predecessors especially his Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, who even presented the famous Objective Resolution on 12th March 1947 few months after Quaid’s death, which made many clauses which clearly mention the state would be a Muslim one.

This Objective Resolution has remained part of all the Constitutions including the present one of 1973. The official name of the new country was described as the “Islamic Republic of Pakistan.”

“Wherein the principles of democracy, freedom, equality, tolerance and social justice, as enunciated by Islam, shall be fully observed” is one of the points of Objective Resolution states. The later amendments in the 1973 Constitution have further restricted the fundamental rights of non-Muslims. For example, a non-Muslim cannot become the President and Prime Minister of Pakistan according to the Constitution.

“A person shall not be qualified for election as President unless he is a Muslim of not less than forty-five years of age and is qualified to be elected as member of the National Assembly,” Article 41(2) of the Constitution states. 

Article 91(3) of the Constitution clearly describes: “After the election of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, the National Assembly shall, to the exclusion of any other business, proceed to elect without debate one of its Muslim members to be the Prime Minister.”

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had a different vision for a new state like Pakistan and he clearly described in his 11th August 1947 speech.

“We should begin to work in that spirit and in course of time all these angularities of the majority and minority communities — the Hindu community and the Muslim community — because even as regards Muslims you have Pathans, Punjabis, Shias, Sunnis and so on and among the Hindus you have Brahmins, Vaishnavas, Khatris, also Bengalese, Madrasis and so on — will vanish. 

Unfortunately, there is no hope for me that such angularities of the majority or minorities communities would vanish in Pakistan soon as we have actually missed the directions set by the Father of the Nation at the time of independence due to frequent military interventions and derailment of the democracy in Pakistan.

Even the Federation concept, described in the Objective Resolution was abandoned when the notorious system of “One Unit” was introduced on 22nd November 1952 in Pakistan thus all the federating units (provinces) and autonomous princely states were dissolved. “There will be no Bengalis, no Punjabis, no Sindhis, no Pathans, no Balochis, no Bahawalpuris, no Khairpuris. The disappearance of these groups will strengthen the integrity of Pakistan” the proponents of the One Unit scheme described it.

In fact Sindh, Punjab, then NWFP and Balochistan provinces were merged into a unit called West Pakistan. East Bengal province, which was in majority population wise was named as East Pakistan and both the units were given parity in the national resources. This decision was resisted by people in East Bengal, Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan.

Although after the 1971 War and the separation of East Bengal the four provinces were restored, the princely states were restituted.

The angularities pointed out by the Father of the Nation have further reshaped as the religious zealots have gripped their power in the state authorities and there is a visible discrimination with the religious minorities in the Constitution and the laws of the state.

Labnon govt. resigns after deadly explosion in Beirut

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The entire Lebanon government resigned on August 10 after protests over a deadly explosion in the port area of the capital Beirut on August 4. Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced his and the entire cabinet’s resignation at a broadcast published by the National News Agency in Lebanon, the state-run media outlet.

The Diab government had come under severe criticism after twin explosions near Beirut port in which over 160 citizens lost their lives whereas more than 6,000 were injured and over a dozen others were still missing after a nuclear-like blast in a storage house of a massive stockpile of the extinguishing chemical ammonium nitrate, which is the main component used for making fertilizers.

A day earlier of the entire government’s resignation, the Lebanon information minister Ms. Manal Abdel Samad announced her step down while apologizing to people for the government’s failure to protect their lives.

Intense protests had erupted in all over the country, with many calling for ministers’ “resign or hang,” according to NPR’s Ruth Sherlock.

The Lebanon government has set an unprecedented moral virtue and a sense of responsibility by presenting itself for accountability after the explosion despite the fact the Prime Minister stated while announcing his resignation that he was an “external victim of a corrupt and selfish political leadership”.

Such a demonstration of courage and steadfastness is seldom witnessed in most of the democracies especially in South Asian countries like Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan.

Pakistani people have endured many catastrophes due to human error and terrorism, but no government official has ever taken responsibility and resigned. Even after deadly railway accidents in the last two years the Railway Minister Shaikh Rasheed has always refused to resign or even take the responsibility.

Similarly, the shameless Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan put the entire blame of the crash of PIA passenger aircraft in Karachi on May 22 on the pilot. About 97 including passengers and members of crew had lost their lives due to crash in Model Colony near Karachi Airport.

The Minister event went to the extent to say at the floor of the National Assembly that many Pakistani pilots possess fake degrees and training certificates. This resulted in removal of Pakistan origin pilots from many international airlines. Later, he amended his statement, however the pilots had already suffered a lot and country’s name was dotted worldwide.

Nai Gaaj drowns or replenishes?

After years of droughts, the arid Katcho area in Johi taluka of Dadu district is facing flash floods caused by flowing of rainy riverine “Nai Gaaj” streaming down after torrential Monsoon rains on Khirthir hilly range in the West bordering Balochistan province on August 7th and 8th.

Thousands of people and hundreds of villages were inundated due to the sudden flowing of the hilly torrent, causing floods. Heavy losses of properties and livestock have also been reported.

Video clips were circulated on social media, showing some people climbing on trees to save their lives. These video clips also included appeals from men and women to the authorities to save them from the gushing water of Nai Gaaj. The hill torrent passes through the Katcho area enters Manchhar lake, and ultimately to River Indus via inundation canals.

Breaches reportedly occurred in the protective embankment (dyke) FB Bund, which protects major cities. These breaches posed a threat of inundation of Johi town, the major settlement in the area, but due to the quick intervention of the authorities to plug the breaches this threat was averted.

However, hundreds of villages were submerged due to the breach and they are still inundated people have taken refuge on the Bund (dyke) and waiting for relief assistance from the government. A video showing the local police stealing the relief goods which was provided by the provincial government.

The Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah visited the area on Sunday and inspected the relief and rescue operations.

Nai Gaaj is a major hilly torrent in Dadu’s Katcho area, which is often welcomed by people of the area as it replenishes the groundwater, which also irrigates the agricultural lands for bumper crops.

The biggest lake in Pakistan Manchhar is one of the main beneficiaries of the hilly torrents as it is facing a lot of pollution coming from the Main Nara Valley (MNV) Drain and defunct Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD), which carry industrial waste and sewerage water from northern areas of Punjab and Balochistan provinces.

According to senior journalist Aajiz Jamali, Nai Gaaj had caused flash floods in 1976, 1995 and 2010, which caused heavy destruction and loss of livestock and human lives.

The Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) had carried out two major projects in this area: Nai Gaaj Dam and RBOD, both are incomplete. Experts believe heavy corruption and inefficiency have caused the non-completion of these major projects. The RBOD is aimed at carrying the polluted water till the Arabian Sea and saving Manchhar lake, which is currently receiving that highly polluted water.

Local people consider the flood in Nai Gas as a blessing. According to them, due to faulty development policy of the government, the flood becomes a misery for the people.

Dream of a Digital Pakistan shattered

By Shujauddin Qureshi

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A tweet by Prime Minister Imran’s Special Assistant for Digital Pakistan Ms. Tania Aidrus on July 29, 2020, sharing her resignation, apparently being heartbroken by severe criticism of her citizenship status has shattered the dream of Digital Pakistan forever.

Pakistan government shared the list of Advisors and Special Assistants to the Prime Minister (SAPMs) who had huge properties and dual nationalities. Ms Aidrus was revealed as a citizen of Canada with a residentship of Singapore.

This resignation news has nothing to do with the so-called ban on the digital game PUBG by the federal government or a proposed ban on YouTube by the courts. Ms. Aidrus had opposed the ban on YouTube. She wrote in a thread of tweets: “Banning a platform like YouTube is not a solution. The 3 years when YouTube was banned in Pakistan it held back our content creator ecosystem which has just started to flourish now, creating employment opportunities for thousands. Our focus should be on ensuring better curation of content through policy and dialogue. Brute force measures like banning will not serve any purpose and will hold us back from achieving the vision of #DigitalPakistan.” Please click on this link

Pakistan has been striving hard to be included in the digital map of the world. Still, many powerful forces inside Pakistan have always hindered any such attempt at a higher level.

With joining of Ms. Aidrus as SAPM had raised hope for quick implementation of the state policies and infrastructures for a Digital Pakistan, but she faced a series of controversies from the start of her joining the DP programme.

First, the former Information Technology (IT) Minister Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui (belonging to the coalition party Muttahida Quomi Movement) resigned apparently for the rights of Karachi, but he was reportedly unhappy with the inclusion of Ms. Aidrus in her ministry.

Moreover, she also faced another controversy when a news item was published in the daily Dawn on June 26, 2020, revealing a controversy on social media, questioning the involvement of Tania Andrus, who is also a member of the board of directors of a company owned by Imran Khan’s aide and now the main accused in sugar scandal.

Only last year on December 5, 2019, Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the Digital Pakistan programme and nominated Ms Aidrus, a Google executive at that time who quit her position, to lead the initiative.

The inclusion of Ms Aidrus on the board of directors of a not-for-profit company the Digital Pakistan Foundation (PDF) had raised concerns, particularly one leading to a conflict of interest because of the lack of transparency around the foundation’s funding and operations.

Although someone else will replace Ms. Aidrus in the DP programme, there is no hope for Pakistan being digitalized in near future.

I am sorry for Sir Zeeshan Usmani, an IT expert and a visionary Pakistani living abroad as he had submitted very fruitful recommendations to Ms. Aidrus in a personal meeting with her at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad, which he had explained in his following YouTube video.

facebook.com/zusmani78/(opens in a new tab)

I am happy that we will soon see a revolution in the IT sector in Pakistan. But all this is devastating.

Had those recommendations been implemented Pakistan would be become digitalized very quickly. But the powerful mafia in the government was not ready to accept such changes and want to keep the country in the dark ages.