Rights activist Gulalai Ismail was arrested by Islamabad police on Tuesday, her father, Professor Muhammad Ismail, told Dawn.com on Wednesday. According to Professor Ismail, the activist was picked up from outside the National Press Club in Islamabad while she took part in a protest against the controversial death of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) leader Arman Loni in Balochistan on Saturday. …

News Desk Child sexual abuse cases are on the rise in Pakistan. In Islamabad only, 300 cases of child sexual abuse were registered over the last five years, while another 260 cases went unregistered, a Senate panel was informed on Monday. Over 3,440 cases of child abuse had been reported last year, according to data collected by a non-gove­rnmental organisations. …

PM directs the planning ministry to ensure availability of funds for GB projects, wheat subsidy; appreciates PML-N govt’s performance in GB; calls for better coordination, CM apprises Khan of GB apprehensions, concerns.

  Ali Ahmed Jan & D.W.Baig ISLAMABAD, Oct 3: Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman has expressed serious concerns over PTI government’s decision to slash funds for projects approved by the previous PML-N government under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) and suspending supply of wheat to the GB on subsidised rate. According to media reports, the federal government …

Staff Report Islamabad, Oct 2: A woman from Gilgit-Baltistan is waiting for relatives at Edhi Home, H-8 Sector, for four days. The woman, in her early 30s who speaks Shina language, reportedly seems to be mentally-disturbed. The Golra police found her at G-13 Sector and handed over to Edhi Home officials. However, when this reporter tried to meet her to get …

HAH Special Islamabad:  Amid strong protests from the indigenous people over the much-touted Gilgit-Baltistan Order 2018 that was unveiled by former Prime Minister in the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly last month, a UN human rights watchdog has highlighted violation of fundamental rights in G-B, including the restriction on freedom of expression, misuse of anti-terror laws against political and social activists. Residents of G-B …

Ali Ahmed Jan The much-awaited Gilgit-Baltistan Champions League (GBCL) kicked off with a greater participation of the enthusiastic and talented teams from over two dozen universities and colleges of twin cities of Islamabad-Rawalpindi and Lahore. The opening ceremony of the third season of the mega event was held at the Open Air Theatre of the Pakistan National Council of the …

HAH Special Report ISLAMABAD: Suppression of critical thinking and scientific enquiry have given rise to the current social and political malaise in Pakistan, says Prof Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy, a famed physicist and social activist. He held the establishment-centred feudal dominated political system for the intellectual decay and suffocation in the country. “Pakistani society is afflicted by a culture of rote-learning …

Pakistani leftwing working-class women organized rallies in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi for equal space, rights and against patriarchy, exploitation and religious extremism HAH Special Report Islamabad Women organizations around the world mobilised Thursday to celebrate International Women’s Day with Pakistani activists mostly socialist and working-class organisations marching in Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi against rising violence, capitalism, feudal and tribal customs, …

High Asia Herald Report ISLAMABAD In the neonatal intensive care department of an Islamabad hospital, scrawny infants struggle for survival — victims of a vacuum in resources and education in the country with the highest newborn mortality rate in the world. “In Pakistan, a baby dies every second minute,” says Haider Shirazi, head of the neonatal department at the Pakistan …

Special Correspondent Lawyers of Gilgit-Baltistan held a protest rally outside Chief Court Gilgit on Friday against the arrest of a senior lawyer and socialist leader Ehsan Ali. They chanted slogans against the police officers and district administration for instituting FIRs against their leader on trumped-up charges and subsequently putting him behind bars. They marched from the city to the chief …

Ammar Rashid To rescue Pakistan’s crumbling education system, students, as the primary stakeholders of the system, must be allowed to speak, peacefully organise and have a say in decision-making about matters that determine their future The police brutality against students at Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) on Monday was a vivid illustration of Pakistani authorities’ approach to students — one reeking of …

Aasim Sajjad Akhtar AND so Nawaz, Maryam and Safdar have been indicted. All while reconciliation between Maryam and Hamza is in the works. And all while Safdar’s hateful speech in the National Assembly continues to create ripples inside and outside the N-League inner circle. For good measure, Imran’s troubles in the Supreme Court are also in the headlines. Will we …

Correspondent GILGIT, Oct 6: The federal government has approved the establishment of a special protection unit (SPU) in Gilgit-Baltistan for providing security to foreigners working on the mega China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project as well as tourists visiting the region. “The steps are being taken to foil the conspiracies being hatched by the country’s enemies against the CPEC project,” GB’s …

Amir Hussain Nihal There are fairies, demons, witches and flying saucers in the valleys surrounded by the gigantic mountains and snowy peaks of Hunza. This is how grandmothers used to narrate stories to their grandchildren in Hunza valley not very long ago. But this practice has now slowly faded, leaving an unquenchable thirst in the inquisitive mind to explore the …