News:

1.  In the joint session of Parliament, Maulana Akbar Chitrali has refused to pay his one month’s salary to the government for the relief fund of Turkey and Syria. I don’t trust you.   So, I will give my salary to Al-Khidmat Foundation, the jamaat member said. (Islam Daily)

2. The incredible hike in the prices of gas has stunned people. They said the government is snatching away our bread from our mouths under the pressure of the IMF. The government has raised the prices of gas in different sectors from 16 to 124 percent! According to media reports the gas companies have to generate revenue of Rs.310 billion in six months. People said that now using gas is beyond our purchasing power. Meanwhile, the bakers have announced to increase the prices of bread because flour and gas have become costlier. (Intekhab Daily)

3. The Health Ministry and the pharmaceutical companies could not come to terms about the prices of medicines. Many important medicines have disappeared from the markets of Balochistan. According to the Pakistan Pharmaceuticals Association, there is a severe shortage of medicines for diabetes, cancer, blood pressure, mental disorders, and even fever. The containers of raw materials for medicines from India are not cleared because of a lack of dollars.  (Intekhab Daily)

4. The officers of the Balochistan government from Grade 19 to 21 have expressed concern over a 50% cut in their salaries for the Turkey and Syria earthquake fund. They said that most of them live on their salaries only and the sudden cut of 50 percent in their salaries will greatly upset their monthly budget. They said that the salary is the private property of a person and the provincial government can’t make any cut in their salaries without their permission. They said that they can give one to two days’ salary in the earthquake fund but not 50%. (Intekhab Daily)

5. Arbitrarily increased prices of petroleum products smuggled from Iran have increased the monetary problems of the fishermen of Gwadar. Overnight the price of Iranian Petrol increased from 150 to 230 rupees per liter. The rise in the price of petrol has increased the prices of fish because catching fish has become costly. The fishermen complained that a major portion of their income is spent on purchasing the costly Iranian petrol. They said that the Iranian petrol is bought at very cheap rates and then it is smuggled to Gwadar and sold at very high prices. (Intekhab Daily)
6. The federal cabinet has approved to receive additional 76 billion rupees from the public in the form of electricity charges. Additional collections from electricity consumers across the country, including Karachi, will be made in the next 4 months, the amount will be collected as interest on the power holding company’s loan. (Jasarat)

7. The Pakistani Embassy in Sweden has suspended visa operations after it was revealed that hundreds of visas were issued to Afghan nationals on fake documents. According to details, 1,600 visas were issued to Afghan nationals holding fake Swedish residence permits; all these visas were issued by the Pak embassy in Sweden. The Foreign Office has and instructed its missions across Europe not to issue any more visas to Afghan nationals. (Jasarat)

8.  A delegation of the US State Department will visit Pakistan this week in connection with the restoration of bilateral relations. According to the statement issued by the US State Department said that the delegation will meet with government officials, members of civil society, and the business community. (Jasarat, Jang)

9. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police are facing a shortage of officers, currently 77 officers from grade 18 to grade 21 are not available/not recruited. The total number of posts in the province from grades 18 to 21 is 198 but 121 officers are working. The provincial government has contacted the federal government to fill the shortage of officers immediately. (Jang)

10. US-Pakistan defense talks are ongoing in the Pentagon, in which defense and security cooperation is being discussed. The Pakistani delegation is led by Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Muhammad Saeed. Additional Foreign Secretary Mudassir Tipu is also participating in the talks. (Jang)

11. More than 8 months after the floods, many areas of Samaru, Kanri, Pithuro tehsils of the Umarkot district are marooned. Pabusar area of the Chhoor region is still submerged due to wrong planning of the district administration to extract the rainwater. Crores of rupees have been spent in the name of water extraction but this plan has failed. Several villages in Deh Alam Pali and Deh Debo of Umarkot are still submerged in rainwater.  In the Chhoor area all the roads are in a state of ruin. (Jang)

12. The staff of accountability court 1 and 3 protested against the behavior of the judge Farid Ahmad Qazi. They walked out and raised slogans saying the Judge keeps abusing the staff. The judge is misusing his position to arrange transfer postings of friends and relatives in various institutions. (Urdu Point)

13. Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) President Farazur Rahman has rejected the hike in gas prices by 124% by the Federal Cabinet. He stated that the increase is not acceptable and the Government should provide facilities to the industries in the economic crisis so that the economy cannot be stopped, but unfortunately the Government is increasing the difficulties of the distressed industries further on the terms of the IMF. (Urdu Point)

14. Haq Do Tehreek (Give Rights Movement) leader Maulana Hidayat Rehman is on a hunger strike in judicial lock-up against SSP Gwadar’s ban on people meeting him in jail. It should be noted that the Central Amir of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, Maulana Siraj-ul-Haq, is reaching Gwadar on Wednesday (today), who would go to meet Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman in jail. (Urdu Point)
15. On behalf of the Baloch Solidarity Committee, a protest was held in front of the Quetta Press Club against the attack on women and demanding the rescue of Abdul Hafeez Zehri who has been missing for the past two years. The protesters were led by Chairman Baloch Missing Persons, Nasrullah Baloch and Mama Qadeer. (Urdu Point)

16. Gwadar Commissioner said that 9 ships would reach Gwadar Port in the first week of March with 45000 metric tons of wheat. He added that from next month big trade activities would start at Gwadar Port. (Qudrat)

Editorials:

17. Following injustice being meted out on water issues, agriculture is getting grossly affected in Sindh. When there is additional water in the system due to rains, it is released to Sindh triggering flood but, when there is water shortage, Punjab blocks waters to Sindh leading to drought-like situation downstream, and Sindh crops get affected in such a situation. The farmers take to protests and others come on roads for drinking water. Indus River System Authority (IRSA) and federal government also do not take notice of such attitudes of Punjab against Sindh. The matter was taken up also in the national assembly’s Standing Committee on Water some time back, but to no avail. Last Saturday, Punjab’s irrigation department took away 3021 cusecs from Chashma Jhelum Link Canal. Earlier too, water was taken from this link canal during rabi season from October 1, 2022 to January 3, 2023; this way Punjab not only violated water treaty but also became instrumental in harming our agriculture that was already ruined during recent floods. IRSA and federal government must take note of Punjab’s high-handedness because such attitudes are also breeding more and more distrust between the two provinces, especially on water related issues. Sindh is being subjected to gross injustice on the water front.   (Pahenji Akhbar Edit, Feb.14)

18. It seems IMF is adamant on certain terms and conditions before agreeing to release next installments of loans. Neither our rulers nor economic experts are prepared to tell people what those terms and conditions are. Earlier, people were told that soon there will be implementation of announcements made in the Geneva donor conference and aid will start pouring in. But, so far neither anything has arrived from those announcements and nor installments of IMF loans are coming to the country. Our rulers and economic experts need to note that the country cannot be run with internal and external loans. We need to frame such policies which help country get rid of foreign loans and our economy becomes self-dependent and self-sufficient. (Kawish Edit, Feb.14)

19. We have never had politically and economically ideal conditions in the country. Democratically too, we were never ever independent and we never were economically stable to run the country without loans. One sentence that must have been heard over generation after generation is: We are passing through critical times. Need of the hour is one such leader like Zulfiqar Bhutto who can mobilize the country and take it on the road to progress. We do not want leaders who run away abroad in tough times. There is no ray of hope in sight today.  The leaders who talked big to bring about change in the country have miserably failed and turned out to be a disappointment. There is none left upon whom countrymen can pin hopes. History seems to be repeating itself. It seems we are back in times when Zulfikar Bhutto rose to mobilize people in West Pakistan and also succeeded in laying the foundation for making the country atomic power. It is the success of pro-democracy camp in the country that his grandson, Bilawal, is out today to resolve the country’s political and economic crisis.  We welcome him if he steps forward to play his role in taking the country out of crisis and look forward to his emerging as a big support for teeming number of oppressed in country. (Ibrat Edit)

20. Clean drinking water is a big issue in Thar.   It is the Thar peoples’ right to get potable drinking water. The Sindh government must direct private companies to set up RO plants right there. The private company that has been given this contract has still not done repairs properly. Villagers at Tharparkar have been complaining and demanding that faulty RO plants be set right immediately so that they can get potable water. (Sindh Express Edit)

21. The international rating agency Fitch has reduced the default rating of the country to -CCC.  Shortage of foreign exchange and the huge payback of the loans are the major reason for the downgrade. This step of the Fitch shows the alarming monetary situation of the country. The government is leaving no stone unturned to get a loan from IMF. It has agreed to follow all the conditions imposed by the IMF. The government wanted to introduce the new tax package through a presidential ordinance but the President refused to sign it and suggested getting it approved in Parliament. The economic situation is getting darker day by day. The new conditions of the IMF will not only increase inflation but prove dangerous for the industrial sector too and will increase unemployment. The government lacks any planning to handle the situation created after the implementation of the IMF conditions.  The future is in dark. (Edit-Dunya Daily)
22. Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has highlighted the need for charter politics, while speaking at the event Martyrs of Democracy Memorial (Shohda-e-Jmhuriyat Ki Yadgar).  His maternal grandfather was successful in giving a unified constitution to the country, his mother was successful in making the Charter of Democracy, now the heavy responsibility of understanding the matter is on his shoulders. There is a need for a new Charter of Politics to run the business of the state, in which every political party should contribute as per their ability. This effort can also prove to be helpful in providing the foundation of the Charter of economy going forward. With reconciliation and supremacy of the constitution, things can be expected to improve. (Edits – Daily Pakistan, Nai Baat)

23. Diamer Bhasha Dam Project was first inaugurated in 1998 by Nawaz Sharif and in 2006 Gen. Musharraf announced to restart the project after which the project was inaugurated once again in 2011 by Yousaf Raza Geelani. In 2008 the Diamer Bhasha Dam Project estimate was USD12 billion, though it was not in Pakistan’s capacity to complete the project alone and hence it approached the international agencies to fund the project. But then India started raising objections over the project and funds from international donors got stuck. In 2014, the PML-N government claimed that international financiers were ready to fund the project but it was not seen practically. In 2015, PML- government claimed that it had started acquiring lands for the project with Rs.5 billion collected from national resources; but the locals offering their lands denied getting compensation. In 2016, Nawaz Sharif again started the project, approving an economic package by the end of 2017. Then came CPEC and formal tenders were also issued but later those tenders were revoked as Pakistan was not able to meet stern conditions put forth by China. Pakistan has got the best climate, mountain ranges in the world, largest clean water reserves, our lands are fertile, but we waste millions of acres of water annually, we are unable to store water due to no proper planning. Instead of becoming self-dependent we are inclined towards dependency. This dam has great economic and geopolitical benefits. The Dam will reduce dependency on thermal power which will increase Pakistan’s forex, employment will increase, climate would normalize, and barren lands across Pakistan would become fertile. (Daily K2 Edit)

Columns:

24. A ‘Save Sindh’ rally was taken out jointly by Awami Tehreek and Sindhiyani Tehreek on February 12 from Regal Chowk to Karachi Press club. The marchers carried placards and banners that read “Save Sindh, Save Sindh Resources.”  The rally sent a clear message that no matter how much Sindh people are tired and exhausted because of multiple odds faced by them in day-to-day life, they are not dispirited and that they will keep fighting for their survival, for their rights, for their resources till last breath no matter how much they are sought to be pushed to the wall. Awami Tehreek’s call for protests on Sindh’s burning issues took the form of well-organized and peaceful protests; it was a wake-up call to Sindhis for protests ahead on issues concerning Sindh. This march will leave its mark for times to come. Pakistan came up as a result of the 1940 Lahore Resolution and also a historic speech by Jinnah on Aug.11, 1947 wherein he said Pakistan will be secular and democratic with a federal structure. But anti-Pakistan forces usurped power after formation of Pakistan and after keeping aside Jinnah’s principles and killing him by showing no petrol in ambulance carrying him to hospital, Sindh is being ruined and harmed by bringing one or other project or program every other day against it since then. The 18^th amendment gave some powers to provinces but that too is not being implemented in toto. PPP that always claims to be instrumental behind 18^th amendment has been ruling Sindh for 14 years. But, it has been compromising on Sindh’s interests for the sake of its political interests. PPP is one of the major parties in today’s PDM government in Islamabad. Recently a bill was passed by the federal government authorizing federal government rights on Sindh’s coastal places and PPP is one of signatories to that bill. Not just that; one PPP member, elected from Karachi, brought a bill in the national assembly seeking amendment in residence -related laws whereby any outsider staying at any place for six months will be treated as resident of that place. Another big trouble-maker for Sindh is digital census surveys. This is a totally unconstitutional survey. This census survey is being done without verification of credentials like domicile and nationality certificates. Hence, several illegally staying foreigners, from Afghanistan and other countries, and even militants will get a chance to enjoy status as Sindh residents. This is a serious matter and is as good as the issue of Sindh peoples’ survival. In 2018, Supreme Court, while hearing a case about lawlessness in Karachi, had ruled that illegally staying foreigners including Afghans be sent back to their countries because they were amongst major reasons for lawlessness in the province. But the Supreme Court order was not implemented No laws were framed for sending out these outsiders/foreigners. Actually, the census surveys should have been undertaken after sending out these illegally staying foreigners. The digital census surveys that will be done without any verification of documents is a part of a conspiracy to reduce Sindhis into a minority in the Sindh. The digital census survey is a disrespect to our constitution.   Participation by hundreds of people in Awami Tehreek’s rally in Karachi will go down as a big turning point in Sindh’s history of struggles.   (Atif Mallah in Pahenji Akhbar, Feb.14)

25. Recently, a Sindh Minister said flour is very much available in the market at government fixed rate of Rs.65 per kg. Maybe, he was getting it at this rate because he is a minister, but he is not aware of the ground realities that a common man is getting it at Rs.150 per kg.! If any flour mill or store sells flour at the government rate of Rs.65 per kg that flour is not fit for consumption and is harmful for health. Very poor people are seen in long queues even for this sub-standard flour. At times, it takes them more than a day to get even this kind of flour. People start thronging as and when any truck carrying such wheat arrives. Irrespective of whether we have substantial stock of wheat in warehouses or not, harvesting will start from March. Earlier, there were reports that wheat crop will be affected this season because of floods in Sindh. We are afraid whatever little crop is there, hoarders will try to stock that too which will only shoot up flour prices. Government should not just fix prices but it should also check if its orders are being implemented and if flour is available at the fixed rate in the market. Government should take strong note of wheat hoarding; let there be special courts to try and punish such hoarders. (Sindh Express, Gulam Hussain Lagari)

26. The fight between PTI on one side and 13 other parties in other side in PDM looks like a fight between two tribes pitted against each other for power. The major victim in this feud is the common man while political leaders have nothing to lose. In case conditions go out of control, political leaders have nothing to lose because they will just leave the country to settle abroad where they have stashed huge amounts. The common man cannot have such an option but has to live and die here be conditions in Pakistan. It is time our army plays its role. How long will the army play the role of meek spectator to worsening conditions in the country? People are fed up with politicians. It is not just politicians who are indulging in malpractices and corruption. The malaise is deep and widespread. Sadly, for the first time we are having a politician, Imran Khan, who is not ready for talks (with the government on national issues). How can political deadlock come to an end without talks amongst political parties? Imran Khan continues to hold the entire nation as a hostage. How come he is so powerful that he keeps talking and targeting every institution? He is speaking against the election commission. He shows no respect for the government. He takes names of officials in powerful agencies and talks against them. With whose backing he is doing all this? If the country is to be saved, then some arrangement will have to be done or else he alone can take big toll on the nation. He goes to the extent of saying: “If all four provinces are to be kept together, then hand over the country to me” He perhaps does not know that no one likes him in Sindh and Balochistan. Hence, handing power to him will be as good as inviting revolt in Sindh and Balochistan. His yes-men are feeding him with wrong feedback that he is a very popular personality in all four provinces. They are perhaps trying to take political mileage by making him a martyr. (Pir Makram Al Haque   in Ibrat)

27. We are about to get a mini-budget which only means more inflation and price rise. If our authorities keep following harsh terms and conditions of the IMF, it can make our people more of rebel-like and this will lead to conditions which instead of saving or making the economy can further derail our economy. People should be given some relief and not more burden in any form in the imminent mini budget. Putting any more burdens on them will be as good as denying people their right to live. (P. A. Chandiyo in Ibrat)

28. Imran Khan’s new narrative is that the US had not played a role in expelling him and Shehbaz Sharif was favorite of General Bajwa and the decision to make Shahbaz a Prime Minister was taken long ago. Probably, Imran has understood that he cannot gain power in Pakistan by opposing America. Now it is a very interesting situation. Imran says that the Army Chief is very powerful in Pakistan and without the Army Chief, nothing can be done. Imran Khan is lucky that his supporters believe in everything he says and don’t consider his U turn as U turn. Imran Khan’s anti-American narrative is very popular in Pakistan. It is due to the fact that for the first time someone has openly defied/ denied America. It is certain that Imran Khan would not have been so popular if he had not named the end of his Government as an American conspiracy. If he had stated on the first day that he was expelled by the Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, no one would have listened to him because this is not a new thing in Pakistan. If Imran Khan was allowed to complete the remaining one-and-a-half-year term, would he still say that he was a powerless Prime Minister? If he was a powerless Prime Minister, why did he not express it during his tenure? During those days, Imran used to meet the Army Chief daily and his party used to boast that the Army and the Government were on the same page. If despite all the praise then, why is he complaining now? (Nasim Shahid in Daily Pakistan, 14 Feb)

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