ISLAMABAD, AUG 4 /DNA/ – Hartwig Schafer, South Asia Regional Vice President (SARVP) visited Ehsaas offices, this morning. Senator Dr. Sania Nishtar, SAPM together with Ehsaas team welcomed the World Bank’s South Asia Regional Vice President and his delegation. She briefed them on the deep-rooted reforms embedded in the design and roll out of Ehsaas programmes, policies, reforms and initiatives. Hartwig Schafer congratulated Ehsaas for leading an incredible role not just amid COVID-19 pandemic but also in building back better post-COVID.

The meeting aimed to discuss the Bank’s ongoing engagements with the government of Pakistan’s Ehsaas. “Many lessons can be learnt by developed and developing countries from the social protection and poverty alleviation experience of Ehsaas”, commented Schafer.

Schafer assured full assistance of the World Bank to antipoverty efforts undertaken under Ehsaas. He also praised the Ehsaas 50% plus benefits policy for women and girls which aims to create a conducive sociocultural and economic environment to ensure women and girls can participate in all spheres of public and private life.

Hartwig Schafer was leading a delegation consisting of high-ranking officials from the World Bank- Najy Benhassine, Country Director; Gailius J. Draugelis, Operations Manager; and Amjad Zafar, Senior Social Protection Specialist. From Ehsaas, Secretary Ismat Tahira and Additional Secretary Captain (Retd) Saeed Ahmed Nawaz also joined the meeting.

While briefing the delegation, Dr. Sania outlined ten major foundation stones laid out under Ehsaas to make the programme transparent, inclusive resilient and results driven. She highlighted, in particular, the governance and integrity policy; Ehsaas 50% plus benefits policy for women; culture of delivery tied to policies, frameworks and strategies; institutional consolidation of executing entities; Ehsaas National Socio-economic Registry; One Window operations; transparency measures; digitally enabled systems and dashboards; expert committees; and design stamped roll out of multisectoral programmes that enabled Ehsaas to reach out to 40% of the country’s population.

Further, Dr. Sania shared the women centric policy of Ehsaas that poorest families are given a higher amount for educating girls and are offered support through higher secondary school levels. Also, girls are given a bonus on the completion of 5th grade based on the understanding that this will enable continuation of education to the secondary level. She also lauded the World Bank’s support to Ehsaas programme since its launch in 2019.

Schafer is on the visit to Pakistan between August 3-8, 2021. During his visit, the delegation is meeting with key counterparts about the upcoming country partnership framework as well as government of Pakistan’s ambitious reform on human capital, and economic and inclusive growth in Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD, AUG 4 /DNA/ – Tactics to change demographics of the occupied valley which have been a linchpin of the BJP’s Hindu-supremacist agenda in post-August 5 Indian Occupied Kashmir were denounced by speakers at the 15th meeting of Institute of Policy Studies-Working Group on Kashmir (IPS-WGK).

The agenda of the meeting organized by IPS was to discuss Indian attempts to change the demography of Kashmir during the last two years. Among the speakers were Syed Abrar Hussain, former ambassador and vice chairman IPS, Iftikhar Gillani, a senior Kashmiri journalist, Farzana Yaqoob, former AJ&K minister and General Secretary IPS-WGK, Ambassador (r) Tajammul Altaf, senior research associate at IPS, Advocate Nasir Qadri, International Law Expert from Legal Forum for Oppressed Voices of Kashmir (LFOVK), and Naufil Shahrukh, GM Operations at IPS. The session was chaired by IPS Chairman Khalid Rahman.

It was observed during the discussion that under the new laws imposed by the Modi government, domicile certificates are being awarded to a number of individuals from outside the valley as any person who has studied or lived in the region for 15 years is now eligible for domicile. Even the children of Indian government employees who have served in IOK for ten years are eligible to purchase land and properties.

The speakers rued the fact that Indian army and paramilitary forces, which have already illegally occupied tens of thousands of acres of private and public land, have been given legal impunity against usurping and occupying any land which they deem ‘strategic’ under new laws.

Nasir Qadri opined that Urdu is no more the only official language of the valley as the government has added Hindi, Dogri, English and Kashmiri as other official languages. He chastised the government’s action of setting up the Jammu and Kashmir Industrial Development Corporation that can acquire any land in the disputed valley. The corporation, he added, can use the government to invoke a land acquisition law if so needed, placing it above the law as no court can take action against the corporation in this regard.

Commenting on the findings of the former Indian foreign minister Yashwant Sinha-led commission, Concerned Citizens Group, which visited the valley recently, Iftikhar Gillani maintained that the demand for restoration of special status of the valley echoed among the people of Jammu and Kashmir including Ladakh as per the report issued by the commission. He also said that Kashmiris termed the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A as imposition of Hindutva agenda of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Kashmir.

The session was told that the Indian government is bringing officers from outside the valley amid very thin representation of Kashmiri Muslims in the bureaucracy to run the government machinery. Moreover, a panel headed by a top police officer will review cases of government employees in the IOK who could be sacked under a law in the Indian Constitution.

Under new laws, applications for government jobs will now undergo harsher scrutiny as applicants are directed to produce a comprehensive ‘satisfactory report’ from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for selection.

Regarding the new media policy, the experts said that now a mid-level bureaucrat will decide whether the news is ‘fake’ or passes the government’s test. The new policy, as mentioned by the speakers, will deprive newspapers and publications of government advertisements for non-compliance. Furthermore, several journalists have been booked under an anti-terror law as punishment.

Abrar was of the view that abrogation of Article 370 and 35A was indicative of Indian designs to change the demography of IOK as 1.8 million bogus or fake domiciles have already been issued till February 2021. He emphasized the need for action on part of Pakistan to unveil nefarious Indian designs and show to the world the real face of India.

Concluding the session, Khalid Rahman underscored that the resistance sentiment among Kashmiris still prevails despite coercive actions and a narrative war is going on to create discouragement among the people of Kashmir across the LoC. He perceived the beginning of a new phase of struggle in IOK in the post-August 5 scenario. He warned against Indian designs of opening embassies of foreign countries in the valley to give legitimacy to its claims on IOK, and urged the government of Pakistan to expedite its actions on the diplomatic front.=DNA

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Islamabad -/DNA/ – Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani reached Tehran on a two-day visit, along with a Parliamentary delegation. Pakistan Envoy to Tehran H.E Rahim Hayat Qureshi and Chairman Iran Pakistan Parliamentary friendship goup Ahmad Amir-Abadi Farahani received the Parliamentary delegation, headed by Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani, at the airport.

 The delegation, led by the Chairman Senate, will attend the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi.

During his two day stay in Tehran, Sanjrani will call on Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Chairman Senate is also expected to hold meetings with other key political figures.

On behalf of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Chairman Senate Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani represents Pakistan in the swearing-in ceremony.

Senators Dilawar Khan, Senator Ahmad Khan, Senator Muhammad Abdul Qadir and other senior officials of the Senate are also part of the delegation.

Earlier in the day, Chairman Senate, along with the delegation, reached Mashhad via chartered Plane. Deputy Governor Mashahd and Counsellor General Arif Bhatani welcomed the delegation at the airport. Chairman Senate also paid homage to the shrine of Hazrat Imam Raza.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has reportedly used an Israeli spyware known as Pegasus to spy on most members of the Saudi-backed Yemeni government.

An investigation published last month by 17 media organizations said the Pegasus spyware, made and licensed by Israeli company NSO, was used by the UAE to monitor and spy on the ministers of the internationally recognized government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi.

The wiretapping activities reportedly targeted the Yemeni president and his family members, former Prime Minister Ahmed Obaid bin Daghr, former Foreign Minister Abdul Malik al-Mikhlaf, and current Minister of Youth and Sports, Naif al-Bakri.

The list of targets for surveillance also included Information Minister Muammar al-Eryani, former Interior Minister Ahmed al-Maisari, former Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani, Director of the Office of the Yemeni Presidency Abdullah al-Alimi and former Transport Minister Saleh al-Jabwani.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, al-Jabwani said he was “not surprised” by the revelation as he was “expecting such actions from the UAE”.

“The UAE is a rogue police state which engages in all kinds of illegal work such as espionage, organized assassinations, building secret prisons, destroying the social fabric and dividing countries, which all was practiced in Yemen by the UAE,” said al-Jabwani, who served as a transport minister between December 2017 and December 2020.

According to leaks, the Pegasus spyware had been used in attempted and successful hacks of smartphones belonging to journalists, government officials and human rights activists on a global scale.

The UAE has denied the spying allegations, saying in a statement by the Foreign Ministry that “allegations… claiming that the UAE is amongst a number of countries accused of alleged surveillance targeting journalists and individuals have no evidentiary basis.”

The UAE is a member of the Saudi-led military coalition against Houthi rebels, which launched a massive air campaign against the Shia rebel movement in 2015 to roll back Houthi military gains in Yemen.

The Iran-aligned rebels overran much of Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014, forcing the Hadi government to flee to Saudi Arabia.

UNDER SURVEILLANCE

Al-Jabwani argued that he “knew from the first day” of his return from Saudi Arabia to the southern city of Aden to exercise his duties as a transport minister in December 2017 that he was “under surveillance by the Emirates and others.”

“I did not care because I had no secrets to hide. I used to go to work in the morning without knowing whether I would return home or not,” he said.

Al-Jabwani said that having his name on the list of targets for surveillance was a “normal act for the UAE” as it considers him a “number-one enemy” because of his stance against the UAE practices in Yemen.

“From the first moment of my work in the transport ministry, I expressed my views against the UAE frankly and publicly. Spying on us shows the devil nature of this country,” he opined.

Observers believe that the UAE started to spy on Hadi’s government after their dispute on the formation of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) in May 2017.

The dispute was triggered by Hadi’s dismissal of STC leader Aidarus al-Zoubaidi from his post as Aden governor.

“The UAE spies on everyone in Yemen, including Saudi Arabia, the legitimate government and leaders of its Yemeni ally, the STC,” Abdulsalam Muhammed, chairman of Abaad Studies and Research Center, told Anadolu Agency.

Since the UAE has its own strategy to control large parts of Yemen, “spying provides it with a lot of information about the government’s plans regarding military and political resolutions to normalize the situation in the liberated areas that might jeopardize the UAE’s interests in the south,” he said.

Over the past six years, the UAE has pursued an ambitious strategic agenda in the Red Sea, building military installations and securing control of Yemen’s southern coasts along the Arabian Sea in the Bab al-Mandab Strait and Socotra Island.

Muhammed claims that Abu Dhabi has “obstructed state projects” aimed at achieving economic and political stability in Yemeni areas liberated from Houthi rebels.

YEMENI SILENCE

The Yemeni government has yet to comment on the UAE spying allegations.

Al-Jabwani, however, believes that the government is “not going to make any comments on this issue”, claiming that Yemeni Prime Minister, Muin

Abdul Malik, is “participating in a similar program with the two countries of the Saudi-led coalition”, in reference to the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Similarly, Muhammed said it is “not surprising that the government did not comment on this matter” as it has not made statements on other major issues.

“The government knows that this issue is much related to the UAE’s relationship with Saudi Arabia, so it does not want to trap its main supporter, the Saudis, in the corner and prefers to be silent,” he opined.

As a consequence of this spying activities, the Yemeni government is “supposed to announce the end of the UAE’s presence in Yemen”, Muhammed said, but due to its “uselessness and lack of sovereignty, the government cannot comment on this matter.”