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Footprints: SPEAKING URDU IN XINJIANG

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Sunny (Rahiman Ma) in the front joins in a Mongolian folk dance during a visit to the Xianghe community in Urumqi. —Photo by the writer “ASSALAM-o-Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah-i-Wa Barakatuh.” This is how our tour guide greets us soon after landing at Urumqi Airport. She introduces herself as ‘Sunny’, and then tells us that her given name is Rahiman Ma. “You are Muslim?” I ask. “Alhamdolillah yes,” she smiles and nods. Urumqi, the capital and largest city in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwestern China, has an estimated population of 4.4 million people including a robust Muslim population of Uyghur, Hui, Mongols, Kazakh and Kyrgyz Muslims, that amounts to around 12 per cent of the city’s total number of people. Over the course of the next three days, I encounter many more Muslims in the city, as well as several others with Muslim-sounding names who said that they don’t follow any religion. I also notice some Arabic writing along with the Chine...
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Taliban support

THE latest UN monitoring report analysing the activities of several transnational terrorist groups is unequivocal in its assessment: the Afghan Taliban “have continued their support” to the banned TTP. Though the report says that the regime in Kabul has taken some tepid steps to control its TTP comrades, this is clearly not enough, as the continuing reign of terror orchestrated by the TTP in Pakistan shows. Moreover, the document also confirms that Taliban-ruled Afghanistan remains a safe haven for a number of lethal terrorist groups, posing a grave security challenge to regional countries. These outfits include IS-K, Al Qaeda — which includes AQIS, its Indian subcontinent arm — and ETIM. The report says that IS-K poses the biggest threat to both the Taliban regime and the broader region, despite suffering setbacks due to the kinetic action taken by Pakistan as well as Kabul. Some parts of the report deserve particular attention. For example, it says...
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Pakistan Army major general appointed new force commander of UN mission in Western Sahara

Pakistan Army Major General Jawwad Ahmed Qazi has been appointed the new force commander of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (Minurso), the Permanent Mission of Pakistan to the UN announced on Thursday. In a social media post on X, Pakistan’s mission said, “UN Secretary General António Guterres has appointed Major Gen Qazi of Pakistan as the new force commander of Minurso.” “With over 35 years of leadership and operational experience in the Pakistan Army and UN peacekeeping, Major Gen Qazi brings extensive command, field and international experience to the mission,” the mission said. According to Pakistan’s mission, Major Gen Qazi has previously served in senior leadership roles, including command, staff and instructional positions, both in Pakistan and abroad. His previous appointments in Pakistan include general officer commanding of an infantry division, force commander in the Northern Areas and direc...
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AJK outlook

AS the staggered polls for the AJK Legislative Assembly enter their final stretch, it appears that the PML-N is in a commanding position, and is already working on a governance plan for the region. Marred by violence as well as allegations of rigging by the PPP — the PML-N’s coalition partner at the centre — these polls have not been without controversy. Re-polling will be held at some polling stations in Bagh over the weekend, while votes will be cast in seven constituencies of Poonch division on Aug 20 or Aug 21 . Polling was postponed in these constituencies due to the volatile law and order situation. The AJK polls have exposed a widening gap between the PML-N and PPP, with the latter claiming that the AJK Election Commission had not ensured transparent polling. PML-N leaders, however, have downplayed these concerns, saying that their party head Nawaz Sharif will choose the next AJK prime minister. While the PML-N’s lead looks unassailable at this...
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AJK polls: Rathore’s LA-17 Haveli victory disputed, local PML-N announces indefinite strike

MUZAFFARABAD: A controversy emerged on Wednesday after the returning officer (RO) issued Form 27 declaring PPP’s Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, the sitting AJK prime minister, the winner from LA-17 (Haveli), despite rival PML-N candidate Engineer Mohsin Aziz being assured that the form would not be issued until the Election Commission took up his complaint. The development triggered fresh tensions in Haveli district, where PML-N workers announced a complete shutter-down strike and protest from Thursday (August 13) for an indefinite period. At a meeting in Forward Kahuta, chaired by PML-N Haveli president Syed Abid Bukhari, participants demanded that the Election Commission open all polling bags from LA-17, order a recount and determine the result on the basis of the original results issued by presiding officers at the polling stations. They warned that the scope of the protest would be expanded if the demand was not accepted. Polling in the constituency had been held on Monday amid seriou...
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Mideast outreach

OVER the past few days, Pakistan has been going the extra mile to assure Iran that the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement it signed last week with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye poses no threat to Tehran. In a recent telephone call, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi that the pact is “not an instrument of confrontation”. Moreover, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told the cabinet that the agreement is “entirely for defence purposes”. Tehran seems to have understood the messaging, as the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said his country had no reason to believe the pact was aimed at encircling it, and that it showed that countries of the region could not depend on the American security umbrella. Perhaps the reason for speculation surrounding the deal was the mutual defence component, which says that an attack on one signatory is an attack on all. Considering the targeting of US military assets in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf st...
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Why the Middle East war still convulses the oil market

After more than five months of conflict, oil markets continue to surge and tumble over the latest developments in the US-Iran clash, including United States President Donald Trump’s shifting pronouncements. What is behind the market’s volatility? The ‘shock’ of Hormuz While the potential vulnerability of the Strait of Hormuz has long been viewed as a risk, oil markets have still been caught off guard by Iran’s ability to largely close the crucial waterway . “What really shakes the market are surprises… and the Hormuz closure was a shock,” said Jim Burkhard, head of global energy crude oil research at S&P Global. Brent oil prices surged more than 13 per cent in the immediate aftermath of the US-Israeli siege against Iran on February 28. Since that time, prices have been jolted in both directions as the conflict has dragged on. “Number one, it’s the complete unexpectedness, unfamiliarity with what we are seeing,” Bob McNally, president of the Rapidian Energy Group and a forme...
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