Pakistan

.

LAHORE: A legislative bill seeking five years in prison for the perpetrators of forced conversions was formally submitted to the Punjab Assembly on Tuesday. Chairman of the Standing Committee on Minority Affairs, Falbous Christopher, submitted the Punjab Protection of the Rights of Religious Minorities Bill 2026. The bill will now be referred to the Standing Committee on Minority Affairs, where it will be discussed and reviewed. After this process, the bill can be tabled in the provincial assembly. Under the proposed bill, a copy of which is available with Dawn, perpetrators of forced conversion could face up to five years in prison as it formally defines forced conversion as a criminal offence. According to the bill, whoever “compels or attempts to compel” a person belonging to a religious minority with threats, undue influence and coercion to change their religion “shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to five years and with fine”. Voluntary conversions without such pressure were excluded. ...

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday chaired a high-level meeting to review the petroleum products supply chain and assess ongoing austerity and conservation measures in view of the evolving regional situation, directing authorities to finalize proposals aimed at providing further relief to low-income segments of society.

Sindh Information Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon announced that all educational institutions across the province will resume in-person classes starting April 1.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday instructed that stringent measures should be taken against the smuggling and “illegal hoarding” of petroleum products, a statement issued by his office said. The statement was released by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) after the premier chaired a meeting in Islamabad with a focus on the petroleum products’ supply chain and austerity measures that were announced in view of the ongoing Middle East conflict. The conflict began with the US and Israel launching attacks on Iran on February 28. The world has faced a fuel crisis since, primarily resulting from the disruption of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz — a corridor that had been the route for 20 per cent of global liquified natural gas and a quarter of seaborne oil until the war began. In view of the situation, the government announced unprecedented austerity measures on March 9 and initially also hiked petrol and diesel prices by Rs55 per litre. But, according to PM Shehbaz, he has rejected proposals for a further h...

State Minister for Interior Tallal Chaudhry said on Tuesday that all the suspects involved in the killing of a prominent businessman in Islamabad during a dacoity had been arrested. Police said on Monday that a businessman identified as Amir Awan was murdered during an alleged dacoity at his farmhouse located in Orchard Scheme. Political figures, VIPs and big-shots, including an adviser to the prime minister, own property in the neighbourhood where the incident took place. In a press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday, Chaudhry addressed the incident and said, “The suspects belong to the Mansoor Khan gang … They are from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The dangerous nature of the gang had prevented the local police from arresting them. Afghanis, as well as other people, are included in the gang.” He said the safe city cameras and the professional attitude of the Islamabad police contributed to arresting the suspects. He said that the Islamabad inspector general, on the directions of the interior minister, personally moni...

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Tuesday assured his “full support” to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi for the “resolution of all legitimate issues”, according to the finance ministry. The meeting comes a day after President Asif Ali Zardari chaired a meeting in Islamabad with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the chief ministers of all provinces, including Afridi. His presence was considered significant, as he usually does not attend such meetings due to the political differences of his party, the PTI, with the ruling alliance. In a post on the social media platform X on Tuesday, the finance ministry said that Aurangzeb held a meeting with CM Afridi at the Finance Division “The meeting was held in a cordial and constructive atmosphere. The chief minister apprised the finance minister of various economic and financial issues being faced by the province,” it said. It stated that Aurangzeb assured CM Afridi of “his full support for the resolution of all legitimate issues”, adding that he a...

Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz trade route in the Middle East war is driving up the costs of shipping fuel and goods around the world, industry data shows. Prices have risen because of falling capacity, with ships staying put in the Gulf for fear of attack if they set sail. Other ships are taking long, costly alternative routes to avoid the strait — while the reduction of oil flows has raised the price of boats’ fuel. “We’ve had to stop bookings … from and to the upper Gulf region because we can’t get the ships in nor out,” said Rolf Habben Jansen, chief executive of major container shipping line Hapag-Lloyd last week, estimating the war had driven up costs by “$40, 50 million per week”. “A big chunk of that is bunker fuel prices, but also in categories like insurance or container storage and inland transportation, we have seen costs go up, and we have six ships that we cannot use today, which reduces the available capacity,” he told a news conference. Here are five data indicators of how the crisis ...

Schools in Sindh and Balochistan will resume classes from April 1 (Wednesday) and follow a five-day working week amid the fuel crisis, the provincial governments said on Tuesday. On March 9, the Balochistan provincial government had announced that educational institutions, including schools, colleges and universities, would remain closed from March 10 to March 31 due to the global fuel crisis triggered by the US-Israel war on Iran. According to a notification posted on the provincial government’s X account, it was announced that “all schools (public and private) in Balochistan shall re-open with effect from April 1 (Wednesday)”. However, it added that due to the current fuel situation, “all schools (public & private), the provincial directorate, divisional directorates and the district offices of the School Education Department shall observe a five-day working week (Monday to Friday)”. Saturday and Sunday will remain off, the notification said. “All examinations/assessments shall be conducted as per the notif...

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of the suspension of sentence applications filed by Imran Khan and his spouse, Bushra Bibi, in the £190 million case, after the defence counsel sought time to obtain fresh instructions from his clients. A division bench headed by IHC Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar and including Justice Muhammad Asif presided over the proceedings. During the hearing, defence counsel Salman Safdar appeared alongside National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Special Prosecutor Javed Ashraf and prosecutor Rafay Maqsood. The hearing was also attended by the PTI founder’s sisters, Aleema Khanum, Uzma Khan and Noreen Niazi. At the outset, the NAB prosecutor argued that two separate applications for suspension of sentence had already been filed, stressing that such pleas could not be heard without issuance of notice in the main appeals, particularly after recent amendments to the NAB law. He urged the court to proceed with arguments on the appeals if t...

‘Hunuz Dilli dur ast’, which translates to Delhi is still far away, is a phrase deeply rooted in South Asian history. Legend has it that when Sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya was threatened by Sultan Ghiyasuddin Tughluq, he responded with these words. The sultan never made it back to Delhi; he died on his return journey. Another popular anecdote recounts Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor, dismissing the advancing British with the same phrase. History, of course, proved otherwise. Together, these stories illustrate the best and possibly the worst of human nature. On the one hand, they reflect hope; a belief that circumstances may improve even in the face of danger. On the other hand, they illustrate the dangerous optimism that leads societies to ignore looming crises until it is too late. That same instinct has long shaped the global response to climate change. No longer a distant abstraction Since at least the 1930s, scientists have warned that environmental degradation and rising greenhouse gas emissio...

The outgoing head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) supporting Palestinian refugees said on Tuesday he wanted an investigation into the killing of nearly 400 UNRWA staff during the conflict in Gaza. “I believe that we need to have a panel … a high-level panel of experts to look into the killing of our staff,” Philippe Lazzarini told reporters in Geneva. Speaking at a press conference on the last day on the job as UNRWA commissioner general, the 62-year-old Swiss national condemned the fact that “more than 390” of the agency’s staff had been killed since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023. “Many others have sustained life-changing injuries or have been arbitrarily detained and tortured,” he said. He said an investigation was needed not just into the killing of UNRWA employees but also of other UN staff, stressing: “There have been other UN colleagues who have been also killed. “And we have to look also at the extraordinary, large-scale destruction of the agency, of UN premise...

The United States said on Monday it respected Israel’s right to set its own laws after its parliament introduced the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of killings, a move sharply criticised by European nations and rights groups. “The United States respects Israel’s sovereign right to determine its own laws and penalties for individuals convicted of terrorism,” a State Department spokesperson said. “We trust that any such measures will be carried out with a fair trial and respect for all applicable fair trial guarantees and protections.” The United States is the only Nato country that still practices capital punishment. It has long been the key diplomatic and military supporter of Israel. Meanwhile, the European Union condemned Israel’s approval of the bill, terming it “discriminatory”. “The death penalty bill in Israel is very concerning to us in the EU. This is a clear step backwards — the introduction of the death penalty, together with the discriminatory nature of the law,” EU spokesman Anouar El An...

The Pakistan Stock Exchange’s benchmark index climbed by 1,900.34 points on Tuesday after witnessing a meltdown a day earlier. The KSE-100 index climbed by 1,900.34 points, or 1.29 per cent, to close at 148,743.31 from the previous close of 146,842.97. The index saw an intraday low of 147,743.67 points at around 9:30am. However, it then rose to an intraday high of 150,225.63 points at around 2:20pm, before settling at 146,842.97. On Monday, PSX came under extreme selling pressure, dragging the KSE-100 index below the 145,­000 mil­estone intraday. The benchmark KSE-100 index remained in negative territory from the beginning of trade, hitting an intraday low of 144,656.97, a sharp decline of 7,050.55. It then closed 4,864.54 points lower than the previous session. Ali Najib, Deputy Head of Trading at Arif Habib Ltd (AHL), said that since February 9, it has been the seventh consecutive Monday, excluding March 23, during which the market experienced significant sell-offs, mostly driven by adverse geopolitical dev...

Lahore Qalandars batter Fakhar Zaman has been suspended for two Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches after he was found guilty of breaching the code of conduct, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Tuesday. The incident occurred in the final over of Sunday’s match between Karachi Kings and Lahore Qalandars, with the former needing 14 runs to win. Fakhar, Lahore captain Shaheen Afridi and fast bowler Haris Rauf were involved in a brief discussion, during which Fakhar and Rauf passed the ball between them. The umpire then approached Rauf and asked to see the ball. Following consultations with the square-leg umpire, the officials awarded five penalty runs to Karachi and ordered the ball to be changed. The penalty proved costly as Karachi went on to chase down a target of 129 with three balls to spare, Abbas Afridi hitting a four and a six to seal a four-wicket victory. On Monday, the PCB had officially charged Fakhar with ball-tampering. In a press release issued on Tuesday, the PCB said, “Fakhar Zaman h...

LAHORE: An election tribunal on Tuesday dismissed an election petition against Information Minister Attaullah Tarar’s victory from NA-127 in the 2024 general elections as non-maintainable. The decision was announced by the tribunal, comprising retired justice Rana Zahid Mehmood, on the election petition filed by PTI-backed independent candidate Zaheer Abbas Khokhar, who had contested against Tarar. Khokhar had lost his election to Tarar with a margin of 15,980 votes as the latter bagged 98,210 votes against 82,230 of the former. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had also contested the 2024 general election from the same constituency; however, he stood third with 15,005 votes. The tribunal dismissed the petition on technical grounds, declaring it not maintainable for failing to comply with statutory requirements under the Election Act 2017. In his petition, Khokhar had alleged the impugned notification of the respondent’s victory was a result of “corrupt and illegal practices” committed on the polling day. H...

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has directed the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) to extend full cooperation to law enforcement agencies in tracing and deporting undocumented foreign nationals.

The Election Tribunal has dismissed a petition challenging the victory of Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ataullah Tarar from NA-127 in the 2024 general elections.

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Tuesday directed the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to immediately identify aliens who managed to illegally obtain Pakistani citizenship, and remove them from the national database. The minister, during his visit to Nadra headquarters, chaired a high-level meeting where he praised Nadra’s performance and effective public services, and directed it to fully support law enforcement agencies in the repatriation of foreigners illegally residing in Pakistan. Nadra Chairman Lt Gen Muhammad Munir Afsar briefed the Naqvi on the institution’s performance, as well as its ongoing and future projects. Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Director General Dr Usman Anwar and senior Nadra officials were also present on the occasion. Naqvi noted significant improvements in Nadra’s services over the past two years and directed that more modern services be introduced for public convenience. He also instructed Nadra to build state-of-the-art offices in major cities...

GILGIT: The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has warned about a risk of glacial lake outburst floods (Glof), flash floods, and landslides in areas of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from April 1-10. According to an alert issued by the NDMA, there was an “increased risk” of Glof, flash floods, mudslides and landslides in the vulnerable areas of GB and KP and the surrounding regions, particularly near the glacier terminus, due to the “expected widespread weather spell, especially from April 1 to 10”. “Over the past few days, temperatures over the northern mountainous regions remained above normal,” it pointed out. The NDMA advised local communities to remain vigilant, while the relevant authorities were requested to take precautionary measures to safeguard lives and infrastructure. In light of the prevailing situation, it urged all federal ministers and departments, provincial governments and their departments, as well as district and municipal administrations, to proactively monitor a...