KARACHI: Every year in Pakistan, while televisions boom with the news of Eid moon-sighting, one southern fishing town still feels the nostalgia of old Arab cannons going off to announce the holy festival.
The city of Gwadar, a natural hammerhead-shaped headland, was relinquished by the Sultanate of Oman in 1958 when Pakistan purchased it for Rs5.5 billion. The city is central to the multi-billion-dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and is situated on a tapered and sandy 12 km long strip that links the Pakistani coast to rocky outcroppings in the Arabian Sea.
Before Pakistan took reign of the fishing town, rituals in the area were a mix of local and Arab traditions, locals say.
“In our childhood... we would stand at a distance and witness the scene,” Hasan Ali Sohail, an author and local historian, told Arab News.
First, nitrous would be put inside the cannon and then sacks pressed inside to strengthen it, he said.
“All those sacks would fly skyward and when they would fall down, we would run, pick them and run toward our homes while shouting,” Sohail laughed. “This was an expression of happiness in those days.”
“The scene is still fresh in my mind despite the passage of over seven decades.”
A cannon would be placed right in front of the residence of the Wali-e-Gwadar (administrator of the city) he continued, and when the moon of Ramadan or Eid would be sighted, the people would be informed through the firing.
“When the Arab soldier would get news of the moon-sighting, a rod on fire would be inserted inside the cannon, and when the iron branding reached the sacks, he would run back and stand at a distance.”
Muhammad Akbar, 80, who was a young fisherman then, has similar memories of the Eid cannon.
“I still remember that on one Eid, while I accompanied my father for deep sea fishing, we heard the sound (of the cannon), and we turned back and anchored our fishing boat, and hurried toward home,” Akber said.
Despite the passage of time, all the old rituals haven’t faded, and some links with the former state have stayed strong.
“We still break our fasts like Arabs,” Akbar told Arab News.
Unlike the rest of the country, the people of Gwadar consume a substantial quantity of dates and lassi (yogurt-based drink) during Ramadan and have their dinner after Tarawih prayers. Sukoun, an Arabian dish, is also made and shared by the people of the town.
Noor Mohsin, a local journalist, told Arab News that thousands of Gwadar locals possess dual Pakistani and Omani nationality and live and work between the two countries.
“There is a strong bond the people of Gwadar feel with Arabs... which will always remain intact,” Mohsin added.
In Pakistan’s Gwadar, every Eid brings nostalgia for an Arab cannon blast
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In Pakistan’s Gwadar, every Eid brings nostalgia for an Arab cannon blast
- Gwadar, once a tiny fishing town and now a port city centric to the multi-billion dollar CPEC, remained part of Oman from 1783 to 1958
- Thousands of Gwadar locals have dual Pakistani and Omani nationality, and continue to live and work between the two countries
Pakistani interior minister, KP CM vow to improve coordination amid surge in attacks
- Five Chinese nationals were killed in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday in a bombing
- Interior minister, KP chief minister vow to bring perpetrators of attack to justice
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s interior minister and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Thursday vowed to strengthen coordination between the center and the province to improve the law-and-order situation, the KP CM’s office said, amid a surge in terror attacks in the province.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvy arrived in Peshawar to meet Gandapur on Thursday to review the province’s law and order situation two days after five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani driver were killed in the country’s volatile northwest.
The incident took place in KP’s Shangla where a bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into the vehicle of Chinese engineers and construction workers on Tuesday.
The attack occurred in an area vital to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which encompasses various mega projects crucial for Pakistan’s economy. The victims were en route to Dasu Dam, Pakistan’s largest hydropower project, when they were targeted.
“To improve the law-and-order situation in the province, both agreed to improve the coordination between law enforcement institutions on the federal and provincial levels,” a statement from the KP chief minister’s office said.
The two condemned the attack on the Chinese nationals and expressed their condolences to Beijing and the families of those who had been killed in the attack.
“The two expressed their resolve to bring all those involved in the incident to justice and put an end to terrorism,” the statement said.
Gandapur said it was his government’s top priority to ensure law and order in the province and to safeguard people’s lives.
Pakistan’s foreign office said on Thursday that Islamabad had enhanced the security of Chinese nationals after the attack.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said both Pakistani and Chinese governments were in contact after the tragic incident on March 26, adding they were fully committed to bringing the terrorists, along with their facilitators and abettors, to justice.
No group had claimed responsibility for the attack but suspicion was likely to fall on separatists and the breakaway Gul Bahadur faction of the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP.
The TTP is a separate group, but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban.
The TTP denied being behind the suicide bombing in a statement Wednesday, saying: “We are in no way related to the attack on the Chinese engineers.”
Tuesday’s attack came less than a week after Pakistani security forces killed eight Balochistan Liberation Army separatists who opened fire on a convoy carrying Chinese citizens outside the Chinese-funded Gwadar port in the volatile southwestern Balochistan province.
Pakistan says security of Chinese nationals enhanced after deadly attack
- Pakistan’s foreign office says the government fully understands Chinese security concerns after the attack
- It points out Pakistan has built a fence, introduced one document regime to secure its border with Afghanistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office said on Thursday the government has further enhanced the security of Chinese nationals only days after a deadly suicide bombing killed five of them along with their Pakistani driver in the country’s volatile northwest.
The incident took place in Shangla, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into the vehicle of Chinese engineers and construction workers on Tuesday.
The attack occurred in an area vital to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which encompasses various mega projects crucial for Pakistan’s economy. The victims were en route to Dasu Dam, Pakistan’s largest hydropower project, when they were targeted.
“I can reassure you that Pakistan has further enhanced the security of Chinese nationals,” foreign office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told reporters in a weekly media briefing in Islamabad.
She said both Pakistani and Chinese governments were in contact after the tragic incident on March 26, adding they were fully committed to bringing the terrorists, along with their facilitators and abettors, to justice.
“At this point, we are focusing on investigating the terror attack and ensuring that the dead bodies of the deceased are transported to their home country,” she added. “This is the first priority at this stage.”
Asked about the security concerns raised by the Chinese officials following the attack, Baloch said the Pakistani government fully understood their concerns.
“We are engaged with the Chinese officials at very senior level to discuss the arrangements for the safety of Chinese nationals and for the investigation of this particular terror incident,” she informed.
The foreign office spokesperson said Pakistan would continue to work with the Chinese authorities to ensure the safety and security of Chinese nationals, projects and institutions in Pakistan.
“We have no doubt that the … terror attack [in Shangla] was orchestrated by the enemies of Pakistan-China friendship and together, we will resolutely act against all such forces and defeat them,” she emphasized.
In response to a question regarding Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif’s statement regarding the necessity for stronger border controls between Pakistan and Afghanistan, she clarified he was elaborating measures already taken by Pakistan to regulate travel between the two neighboring countries.
“Pakistan-Afghanistan border is an important border, and Pakistan has, over time, taken several measures to secure the border, including erecting a fence along the border,” she continued.
“Pakistan has also introduced one document regime under which individuals can travel to Pakistan on the basis of valid visas on their passports,” Baloch added.
Pakistan’s top court conditionally allows military courts to declare reserved judgments in May 9 cases
- Supreme Court says judgments can only be announced in cases in which people can be released before Eid Al-Fitr
- Attorney general says 20 people can be released before the Muslim religious festival is celebrated next month
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday allowed military courts to announce judgments reserved in cases against civilians linked to the May 9 violence that erupted last year after the brief detention of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on corruption charges.
Demonstrators, identified with Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, targeted government buildings and military installations, notably setting ablaze the official residence of a senior army general in Lahore.
This incident prompted a significant crackdown on PTI leaders and supporters, with the government facing allegations of arbitrary arrests and custodial torture, which it denied.
Following the May 9 events, military authorities sought to prosecute civilians involved in the assaults on its properties nationwide. However, the move was challenged, and a five-member Supreme Court bench deemed civilian trials in military courts unconstitutional in October.
The government has since appealed the decision.
The Supreme Court said during the hearing today that only the verdict in those cases should be announced in which the people on trial can be released before the Eid Al-Fitr festivities next month.
“Twenty out of 103 suspects involved in the May 9 incidents will be released before Eid,” Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan told the court. “These 20 individuals will be released following the established procedure.”
The PTI has complained of being unjustly targeted by state institutions since the downfall of its administration in a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022.
Khan himself remains behind bars in a high-security prison in Rawalpindi after being convicted in a number of cases in recent months.
Pakistan seeks swift implementation of Security Council’s ceasefire resolution in Gaza
- The foreign office asks Israel’s ‘backers’ to force the Netanyahu administration to end the Palestinian ‘massacre’
- It also seeks lifting of the ‘inhumane siege’ of Gaza to ensure smooth flow of humanitarian assistance to people
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office on Thursday called for the swift implementation of the United Nations Security Council’s ceasefire resolution in the Gaza Strip to end Israel’s relentless military campaign against the people of Palestine which has lasted for over five months.
Israel launched its campaign after a surprise attack was initiated by Hamas on Oct. 7 in response to the deteriorating condition of Palestinian people living under Israeli occupation. Since then, Israel has killed over 32,000 Gaza residents, most of them women and children, by targeting hospitals and residential neighborhoods.
The Security Council demanded an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas earlier this week in what was viewed as a massive legal blow to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration that has been widely accused of running a genocidal campaign against Palestinians.
However, Israel has continued to carry out its operations in the area.
“It has been three days since the adoption of the UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine,” the foreign office spokesperson, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, said during her weekly media briefing. “However, the Israeli war on the people of Gaza continues unabated and the Palestinian people continue to face starvation and genocide.”
“We call on the backers of Israel to urge Israel to bring an end to the massacre of the Palestinian people, lift the inhumane siege and allow humanitarian assistance in all parts of Gaza,” she continued. “The international community must redouble its efforts for a just and durable solution to the Palestine question and for the creation of a of an independent viable sovereign and contiguous Palestinian state along pre-1967 borders with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.”
A day earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also mentioned the UN resolution at an iftar-dinner hosted by the foreign ministry to honor the members of the diplomatic community in the country, calling for an immediate ceasefire.
“I would like to reiterate Pakistan’s firm support for the people of Palestine in their just struggle for their inseparable right to self-determination and we all hope and to make our sincere efforts that this UN Security Council’s resolution is implemented in latent spirit immediately and brutality against the Palestinians must end henceforth,” he said.
Pakistan PM arrives at Supreme Court to meet chief justice amid intelligence interference claims
- 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 arrived at the Supreme Court of Pakistan to meet Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa on 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 was scheduled 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 earlier in the day.
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.”