KARACHI: Pakistan’s biggest cricketing event kicked off on Saturday with music and fireworks in Karachi after the edition was suspended last year following the coronavirus outbreak.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement prior to the opening ceremony that it would allow 20 percent of stadium capacity during games — 7,500 fans in Karachi and 5,500 fans in Lahore — to cheer on their favorite T20 teams for a month of cricket played in two cities.
Last year, four matches were played in empty stadiums before the league’s suspension.
Performances by pop stars Atif Aslam, Imran Khan, Humaima Malick and PSL 6 anthem artists, Naseebo Lal, Aima Baig and Young Stunners marked the launch of the sixth edition of the annual cricketing competition at the national stadium in Karachi. They were, however, played on screens as artists did not perform live due to coronavirus health guidelines.
“Pakistan has opened the doors to the rest of the world and PSL was proud to lead this resurgence of international cricket,” PCB chairman Ehsan Mani during the ceremony.
“The best team will lift the trophy on March 22,” Mani said, as he thanked overseas players who arrived in Pakistan to take part in PSL matches.
The opening ceremony was followed by the first match of the season in which defending champions Karachi Kings are playing against Quetta Gladiators.
The first 20 matches will be played in the national stadium Karachi between Feb. 20 and March 7. The teams will then depart for Lahore to play the remaining 10 league matches and four playoffs.
The tournament will conclude with a final match at Lahore’s Qaddafi stadium on March 22.
Pakistan Super League launches with star-studded ceremony, first playoff today
https://arab.news/86h9d
Pakistan Super League launches with star-studded ceremony, first playoff today
- PSL opening ceremony featured Atif Aslam, Imran Khan, Humaima Malick, Naseebo Lal, Aima Baig and Young Stunners
- In first match, defending champions Karachi Kings take on the Quetta Gladiators
Pakistan PM to meet chief justice amid allegations of intelligence meddling in judicial matters
- The meeting was scheduled following the top court’s deliberations over the accusations made by six high court judges
- The judges had complained of coercion by intelligence agencies in a letter to Supreme Judicial Council earlier this week
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is scheduled to meet Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa today, Thursday, apparently to discuss the allegations made by six Islamabad High Court (IHC) judges in a letter about intelligence agencies’ meddling in judicial affairs.
The meeting is expected to take place a day after the Supreme Court held a full court meeting to deliberate on the issue without issuing a statement or decision.
The six judges, out of a total IHC strength of eight, sent a written request to the Supreme Judicial Council earlier this week to hold a judicial convention to discuss how intelligence agencies put judges under pressure and coerce them to issue desired verdicts.
“The prime minister, along with the attorney-general of Pakistan, is scheduled to have a meeting with the chief justice on the court’s premises at about 2pm today,” the attorney-general’s office confirmed to Arab News over the phone.
It declined to provide further details about the agenda of the meeting.
Prior to the development, Pakistani bar associations called for a transparent inquiry into the matter while reacting to the letter.
“The concerns highlighted in the letter are indeed grave and warrant immediate attention,” Pakistan Bar Council said in a statement, demanding an investigation into the matter by a three-member committee of the Supreme Court judges.
“The contents of the letter depict a troubling narrative of attempts to undermine autonomy of the judiciary and influence judicial proceedings for political ends,” it continued.
The six judges provided various examples of alleged interference, including a case concerning Pakistan’s imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan. They informed that when two of the three judges on the bench deemed a plea to disqualify Khan for allegedly concealing his paternity of a daughter as not maintainable, they faced pressure from “operatives of the ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence]” through their friends and relatives.
The judges also mentioned incidents where their relatives were abducted and tortured and their homes were secretly surveilled, aiming to coerce them into delivering favorable judgments in specific cases.
The Islamabad High Court Bar Association and legal experts also demanded an investigation into the issue, calling it a “serious threat to rule of law and independence of judiciary.”
Speaking to Arab News, Justice (r) Shaiq Usmani said the Supreme Judicial Council had the power to summon anybody, examine the record and evidence and record statements of those involved in a matter. He said it should take the lead and investigate the matter raised by the IHC judges.
“The Supreme Judicial Council should record statements of all those involved in this matter besides examining the available evidence to fix responsibility,” he said. “The whole process could be completed in an in-camera inquiry with integrity and without sensationalizing the matter.”
First Pakistani female Diana Legacy Award winner hopes to spotlight other humanitarians in her country
- Alizey Khan, a law graduate, has been combating food insecurity by distributing ration bags and cooked meals
- Previously, a survivor of the 2014 Army Public School shooting received the award for his deradicalization work
ISLAMABAD: A 26-year-old Pakistani humanitarian worker became the first woman from her country to win the Diana Legacy Award in recognition to her social services this month, prompting her to describe the achievement as an opportunity to bring broader recognition to other people working in her field.
The Diana Legacy Awards are presented biennially, honoring the achievements of 20 young leaders worldwide. This year’s edition of the awards coincided with Lady Diana’s 25th anniversary.
Alizey Khan, the young Pakistani humanitarian worker, is a law graduate who got the award from Prince William on March 14 at a ceremony held in London.
Khan established the Ruhil Foundation in 2016 to combat food insecurity by delivering ration bags and cooked meals to those in need. She did extensive work during the COVID-19 pandemic before providing food and other relief items to flood-hit families in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan provinces.
Speaking to Arab News on Wednesday, she pointed out that many women in Pakistan were engaged in remarkable humanitarian and welfare efforts and deserve global acknowledgement.
“They have not received the same recognition or exposure,” she said. “Therefore, I am grateful for this award as it shines a spotlight on the valuable contributions of Pakistani women. Hopefully, it will encourage more women to step forward, receive nominations and gain recognition through prestigious international awards.”
According to the Diana Award website, Khan’s organization delivered 5,500 monthly food parcels and 10,000 meals between April 2016 and March 2022. It also expanded its focus to education and shelter by raising over $150,000.
Additionally, Khan’s humanitarian venture financed 200 weddings, distributed 600 sanitary pads, provided 1,100 blankets in winter, disbursed 1,000 interest-free emergency loans and gave monthly stipends to 25 transgender people and widows during the same period.
She said that she felt exceptionally proud when it was announced during the award ceremony that she was the first woman from Pakistan to receive the honor. Previously, only one Pakistani, Ahmed Nawaz, who survived the 2014 Army Public School shooting, received the award in 2019 for deradicalization efforts.
“I received the award due to my consistent involvement in humanitarian efforts as I commenced my humanitarian work at the age of 16, and over the past decade, I have significantly expanded both the scope and reach of my initiatives,” she said, adding that youth was considered a positive factor since the jury valued young individuals dedicated to community welfare.
Speaking about her work over the years, she said her primary focus had been on food distribution among deserving individuals that involved several transgender people and widows.
Additionally, her organization provides complete meals at weddings for underprivileged families, having already supported about 200 of them.
“We also undertake the adoption and reform of various orphanages, ensuring their efficient and effective operation by connecting them with our network of donors,” she added.
For the Diana Award, Khan said an individual’s work should demonstrate sustainability and impact over a prolonged period of time.
“Among the 20 recipients of the Legacy Award this year, I had raised the most funding for my projects, enhancing their impact and sustainability,” she added.
Khan said the award offered more than just recognition since it also included a two-year mentoring program with regular sessions with individuals in one’s own field.
“Participants have access to programs where they can connect with experts in the field and access fundraising opportunities,” she continued, adding the attention garnered in the field of welfare work aided in the growth and sustainability of one’s initiatives.
Meet Abullatef Alrashoudi, the Saudi baker making it big in Paris
- The former surgeon turned Cordon Bleu graduate incorporates flavors from his homeland into his high-end bakes
LONDON: Five years into his medical career, Saudi surgeon Abdullatef Alrashoudi hung up his stethoscope for the final time.
It was the morning of his 30th birthday, and an offer had recently landed in his inbox from Le Cordon Bleu, the prestigious Parisian culinary school that has trained luminaries from American chef Julia Child to Mary Berry, one of the original judges on “The Great British Bake Off.”
Now 34 and running his own café in one of Paris’ trendiest neighbourhoods, Alrashoudi looks back on that email as a turning point in his life.
“It was the biggest gift,” he says. “Baking had always been my dream, and medicine was showing me it was not the right path.”
After the switch, which he admits left his hospital colleagues “shocked,” Alrashoudi’s career has gone from strength to strength. Nine gruelling months studying bread dough, baking and boulangerie techniques led to spells working in leading Parisian restaurants — and finally to a place of his own.
LÂM — which combines Alrashoudi’s nickname ‘Latif’ and ‘âme’, the French word for ‘soul’ — has been open for just over six months, but is already welcoming a steady stream of regulars through the doors.
The airy, mineral green-fronted space sits opposite a bubble tea shop and art gallery in a “hip, up-and-coming” neighbourhood just off the French capital’s Place de La République.
In the window, a hand-built La Marzocco machine from Italy, in the same vibrant green as the Saudi Arabian flag, churns out rich cups of coffee from the high-end Parisian brand Coutume.
These aromatic brews are accompanied by delicate counter bakes that fuse traditional French techniques with enticing Middle Eastern flavours — the nutty richness of tahini, the sweet crunch of pistachios, the fragrant allure of rose.
Alrashoudi, who hails from the date-rich province of Al-Qassim but grew up in north Riyadh, explains that, instead of a cinnamon roll, the café serves a black-lemon version inspired by the Saudi dessert klēja, made with soft brioche dough, honey, and biscuit.
Other inventive options on the menu include zaatar and feta buns, bakes mixing chocolate and cardamom, plus a tahini cookie, for which he uses the classic French technique of burned butter to add “a deeper flavour”.
Since opening in September, LÂM has quickly become a popular spot. While most patrons are “local to the street,” Alrashoudi, who is fluent in French, is hopeful that the coming months will bring more Khaleeji visitors — especially in the run-up to the Olympics, which will be hosted in the city this summer.
But before millions of visitors from around the world descend on Paris for a month of sporting action, Alrashoudi is focusing on getting through Ramadan, with fasting hours in the French capital running from around 5.30 a.m. until 7 p.m. this year.
To mark the holy month, he is serving Saudi dates with every coffee, and plans to continue that after Ramadan finishes because it is “working really well” with customers.
And while you can take the baker out of Saudi, you can’t take the generous spirit of Saudi out of the baker. In keeping with the principles of hafawa (hospitality), Alrashoudi holds back a cup of coffee every night for a fasting Tunisian restaurateur working next door.
Alrashoudi has already become known in the neighborhood as ‘the Saudi chef’ and his customers are “always asking” about his homeland — particularly the cultural transformation that has swept through the Kingdom in recent years under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030.
The young baker credits much of his success to those changes. It was the Crown Prince’s own Misk Foundation that granted him a scholarship to study at Le Cordon Bleu alongside a group of other young Saudis, who have since gone on to lead kitchens in the Kingdom and beyond.
“When I was growing up many people did not know about Saudi, but in recent years that has changed,” says Alrashoudi, who acknowledges that LÂM is one of a small number of Gulf culinary spots around the world positively influencing perceptions of the region.
But despite growing representation of Khaleeji culture on the global stage, for most people Arabic cuisine still predominantly conjures images of Levantine dishes such as shawarma, hummus, and falafel.
This is reflected in the culinary landscape of major cities, with TripAdvisor figures revealing that London and New York City combined have only one Saudi Arabian restaurant, despite hosting hundreds of Lebanese and Egyptian eateries.
Alrashoudi believes this needs to change, particularly at a time when diners are increasingly interested in broadening their horizons.
“The government has been trying so hard to have people come and visit Saudi Arabia and to export our culture,” he says. “It’s where I am from and I love it — now it needs to be experienced by the world.”
Abdullatef Alrashoudi’s orange saffron muffins
Ingredients:
200g sugar; zest of 2 oranges; 2 medium eggs; 105ml olive oil; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 300g all-purpose flour; 1/2 tsp baking soda; a generous pinch of salt; 60g almond flour; 120g buttermilk; 120ml orange juice; 20g sugar; a pinch of saffron
Instructions:
1. Mix 200g sugar with the orange zest until the mixture is fragrant and the sugar is slightly moist — this helps release the oils from the zest, packing a punch of orange flavor.
2. Crack the eggs into the sugar-zest mixture. Whisk vigorously until fully combined. Then add the olive oil while whisking. You want it all emulsified, giving your muffins a beautiful, light texture. Then add the vanilla essence.
3. In another bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and almond flour together.
4. Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients. Pour in the egg, oil, and zest mixture. Gently fold everything together — just enough to combine.
5. Fold in the orange juice and buttermilk. The mixture should now look golden. In a separate bowl, mix 20g sugar with the saffron to sprinkle on top of the muffins.
6. Spoon the batter into muffin tins. Sprinkle with the saffron-sugar mix. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 10-15 minutes, or until the muffins are golden and a skewer comes out clean.
New book delves into lives of modern Arab artists
- Lebanese art expert Myrna Ayad says she wanted to ‘focus on the person,’ not their work
DUBAI: Lebanese author and art expert Myrna Ayad recently released “Alcove,” a book of 30 essays exploring the lives of celebrated and forgotten modern artists from the Arab world. Ayad based her essays on intimate interviews with the artists’ relatives, students, and close friends.
“I was not after describing their work,” Ayad, who lives in Dubai, tells Arab News. “My aim was to focus on the person — what moved them, what affected them, how they lived, how they survived and why they persevered.”
The artists hailed from the Gulf, the Levant and North Africa, and were working between the 1950s and 1980s — a time when the MENA art scene was far smaller than it is today.
“Despite geography, they all knew each other and were friends,” says Ayad. “They exhibited alongside each other and deliberated together. In those days, there were key cultural capitals like Baghdad, Beirut and Cairo, so they would all gather there. They were likeminded people.” What also united them was a sense of struggle — be it political, personal or professional. “It was not easy at all being an artist in those days,” says Ayad.
They were also documenters of their time — depicting contemporary historical and political events.
“They addressed topics full-on,” says Ayad. “They had enough liberty and confidence to do that, which is why you find a lot of answers in modern Arab art.”
The term “alcove” derives from the Arabic word “al-qubba”, meaning a vault or a chamber. And the interviews Ayad conducted for the book unleashed a vault of memories for her interviewees. “All of the conversations were emotional,” she recalls. “I was on Zoom calls watching grown men cry.”
Here are five noteworthy artists featured in “Alcove.”
Abdullah Al-Shaikh (1936 – 2019)
The Iraq-born Saudi artist was an introvert who devoted his life to painting folkloric scenes, local landscapes and abstract compositions. “It was so fascinating for me that this man — who grew up in a relatively conservative environment — belonged to a family who didn’t object to art-making,” says Ayad. “He never did it for fame or fortune, he was just so committed.” Al-Shaikh held his first solo show in Alkhobar in 1981, when he was in his forties.
Jumana El-Husseini (1932 – 2018)
Hailing from Palestinian aristocracy, El-Husseini was exiled from her native land in 1948 and eventually settled in Lebanon. “Like other Palestinians, (her family) were dealt a catastrophic blow. They lost their home and Jumana never got over it,” says Ayad. “She channeled that pain into painting.” Many of El-Husseini’s artworks are landscapes of Jerusalem, where she was born. In Lebanon, she married, raised a family of three sons and received double degrees in political science and child psychology. But her heart was still in Palestine.
Nuha Al-Radi (1941 – 2004)
The Iraqi artist worked with a number of mediums, such as ceramics, painting and found objects. The daughter of an ambassador, Al-Radi lived a cosmopolitan life, residing in India, Lebanon and the UK. She was also a noted diarist, who wrote about daily life under the first Gulf War. In the politically turbulent early 2000s, she created “junk art,” making figurative wooden sculptures decorated with feathers and ornaments “in response to Western sanctions against Iraq,” according to her biography.
Mona Saudi (1945 – 2022)
The Jordanian artist, famed for her abstract marble sculptures, led a remarkable life, marked by rebellion and creativity. When she was just 17, she took a taxi from Jordan to Beirut to pursue her artistic career. “She grew up in a conservative environment. Her father forbade her from going to university,” says Ayad.
In Beirut, she mingled with artists and poets, and, in 1964, staged an exhibition in a café. The funds she made financed her studies in Paris. Saudi was also an activist who designed posters for the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
Asim Abu Shakra (1961 – 1990)
In his short life, the Palestinian artist used the cactus as a symbolic motif, representing resilience and toughness, in his emotionally-charged paintings.
“He was studying in Tel Aviv, Israel,” says Ayad. “Can you imagine what that did to him psychologically? He felt he had been uprooted and put in a box. He’s separated and alone.”
Abu Shakra died of cancer aged 29. “When the cactus became darker and darker in his paintings, that was when he was sicker and sicker,” Ayad says.
In Rawalpindi, 63-year-old drummer defies modernity to keep Ramadan suhoor spirit alive
- Imam Buksh roams Rawalpindi streets at night during Ramadan, waking up believers for pre-dawn meals
- Drummer says modern technology has threated the tradition but people still appreciate his suhoor wake-up calls
ISLAMABAD: The streets of Satellite Town, an old and upscale neighborhood in the Pakistani garrison city of Rawalpindi, reverberated with loud beats around 2am earlier this week as Imam Buksh pounded his colorful barrel drum with wooden sticks.
Houses and shops lit up behind the drummer and residents peeked out of their homes to catch a glimpse of the 63-year-old who daily roams the streets of Rawalpindi after midnight during the holy month of Ramadan, urging worshipers with his drum beats to wake up for the fast-keeping suhoor meal.
For decades a Ramadan tradition, the nocturnal practice finds itself at odds with modernity as old neighborhoods in the vast garrison city have made way for more modern housing colonies, and the drumbeaters’ usefulness has been eclipsed by TV, mobile phones and alarm clocks.
But Buksh is resolved to preserve the practice and continues his daily drum pounding from 2:30am until the Fajr prayers throughout Ramadan. For him, it’s a way to earn Allah’s blessings.
“I have been doing this here for approximately 16 years, to awaken people [for suhoor] which pleases Allah,” Buksh, who moved to Rawalpindi from the nearby Jhang district to work as a drum-beater at weddings, told Arab News on Monday.
“I fulfill my duty for Allah during the holy month of Ramadan and after completing my daily duty, I return to my place for rest every day … I used to do drum-beating in Rawalpindi back when there were only a few houses, and people used to give a rupee or a few coins as reward.”
Ramadan marks the month in which the Qur’an was revealed on Prophet Muhammad. Fasting, by abstaining from food and water from sunrise to sunset, is one of the five pillars of Islam, a grueling routine the devout repeat every day for a month.
In much of the Muslim world, particularly the Middle East, suhoor drummers call for people to wake up. Often people offer them money for their services.
“If someone gives something I accept it, otherwise I will keep going on my way as it makes me as well as people in the area happy,” Buksh said. “Many people are happy because of my drum-beating and request me from their rooftops to beat it more.”
He said he often got calls from people if he skipped a neighborhood.
“Just the other day, I received a call from someone in a colony where I used to beat the drum last year,” he said. “They asked why I had stopped coming to their area, and I explained that I cannot travel as much now.”
Buksh has four sons who have all followed in his footsteps. Two are drummers in the southern port city of Karachi, while two work from their hometown of Jhang.
Asked about his future plans, he said he wished to perform Umrah or a pilgrimage to the Muslim holy sites.
“I wish that someone would help me go to Umrah or pilgrimage to the holy places,” he said. “Wherever they can send me, I will pray for them and ask for more blessings for them from Allah.”