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“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 Chinese Hanzi script on banners and boards, only to be informed that it is the Uyghur script that I’m seeing.

I meet Dilnar and Yasmin Jahan, who say they are Uyghur but not Muslim. Dilnar has visited Islamabad and developed a liking for Pakistani food. Although Yasmin has not been to Pakistan, but she speaks excellent Urdu. She happily drops her real name, Lily, to proudly carry the name given to her by her Urdu teacher in Beijing.

Women in this region usually retire at 55, while the men work for another five years

Sunny, Dilnar and Yasmin accompany us to the Wu Yi Tongxiangdong Mosque in the 12th Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

It is a rural area surrounded by orchards and farms. Unlike everywhere else in China, there is no big electronic screen to introduce you to the place with a short documentary, nor is there a rotating Lazy Susan on the dining table.

It is Friday afternoon. Chen Yun, the Imam of the mosque, offers you the bounties of nature and savoury items prepared by the mosque volunteers. “They were so looking forward to meeting you all that they delayed going home after Friday prayers to prepare this humble spread for you,” the Imam tells our delegation of journalists from Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Sunny leans forward to ask me if women in Pakistan pray in mosques. I explained to her that we can be in some of our mosques, but not together. Just then, the Imam tells us that his mosque is also for men only. He also says that there are around 25,000 mosques in Xinjiang, but when I ask about the number of Imam Bargahs, he says: “None. The Muslims here are all Sunni”.

On the urban side, the strikingly majestic Erdaoqiao Mosque is surrounded by the bustling Grand Bazaar, beckoning all, especially tourists. Noticing me peering into his shop of beaded jewellery more than once, the shopkeeper gestures for me to come inside, calling out: “Andar ajao Behen [Come in Sister]!”

Not sure I heard him right, I ask if he just spoke in Urdu? “Haan haan [Yes yes],” he says. His name is Aziz and he picked up Urdu in Islamabad where he ran a shop around 15 years ago. “But that was a long time ago,” he says, adding that he is now permanently stationed in Urumqi. “I’m very happy with my life in China,” he tells me.

That evening on our bus ride back to our hotel, Sunny sings to us. “It means: I love Xinjiang and Xinjiang loves me,” she translates.

Does she really? From what I hear, women in the Autonomous Region retire at 55, while the men retire at 60. “Most of us are grandmothers by the time we are 50 and by then we are looking forward to retirement, which allows us quality time with our grandchildren, and pension, which comes a day or so before the start of a new month. It is good money for doing no work,” she winks before taking out her phone and showing me a picture of her daughter, Jamila, looking smart in an Emirates airline stewardess’s uniform. Sunny also has a four-year-old grandson.

Muslims also get to enjoy more holidays on their festivals and ceremonious days. “Where we get something like three days off from work, the others get only a day off,” Sunny smiles.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2026

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ISLAMABAD: The National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) on Wednesday launched a new chipless National Identity Card (NIC) built around a secure QR code, replacing the imported microchip used for the past 14 years.

The card has been manufactured domestically by the National Security Printing Company (NSPC) in Karachi in line with Nadra’s technical and security specifications, a statement issued by the authority on Friday said.

Instead of a chip, the card will carry a secure QR code that can be scanned and verified on a smartphone through Nadra’s Pak Identity (PakID) mobile application, it added.

The federal government approved the issuance of the new card on February 23 this year.

The code will contain the cardholder’s information and photograph.

According to Nadra, this will allow institutions to enter individuals’ names, addresses and other identity details more easily and consistently in their systems while reducing data entry errors.

The card will also display a family number and symbols to denote persons with disabilities, senior citizens, organ donors and citizens of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The cardholder’s name and address will be printed in both Urdu and English, Nadra added.

The visible and covert security features of the card have been “updated to meet current requirements and align with domestic manufacturing capabilities”, the statement said.

Nadra said the chip-based Smart NIC introduced about 14 years ago could not be fully utilised as chip readers and supporting infrastructure were never widely available. The QR-based card addresses this gap, being verifiable through an ordinary smartphone or software connected to a camera, it said.

Telecom operators, banks, hospitals, the Pakistan Railways, police and other authorised institutions will also be provided with software to read and verify the QR code, Nadra said.

The rollout will be phased, with the QR code-based card replacing the standard CNIC from Friday, it said, adding that from January 2027, it will be issued for all categories, including NICs for Overseas Pakistanis (Nicops) and Juvenile Cards. In the final phase, the Pakistan Origin Card (POC) will also transition to the chipless format, according to the statement.

Nadra clarified that all previously issued identity cards would remain valid until their expiry dates.

In February, the government notified amendments to the National Identity Card Rules, 2002 and the Pakistan Origin Card Rules, 2002 to modernise the country’s identity document framework. Part of these reforms included the statutory introduction of the QR code — a scannable barcode containing horizontal and vertical lines, dots, and patterns — as a defined security and verification feature.

The amendments further authorised the use of a QR code or “any other technological feature”, in lieu of the current microchip, enabling Nadra to adopt evolving verification technologies without repeated rule amendments.

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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 director general at the Ministry of Defence, it added.

Earlier in his career, he also served with the UN Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Sirmium (UNTAES) in Croatia.

“Pakistan takes pride in this appointment and remains committed to supporting UN peacekeeping and international efforts for peace and stability through deployment of mission-ready contingents and leaders who have vast peacekeeping experience,” it stated.

Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony largely controlled by Morocco, is the only territory on the African continent whose post-colonial status has not been settled.

Morocco has long been in conflict with the Algerian-backed Polisario Front, which seeks independence for the Sahrawi people.

It is claimed by the Polisario Front, which insists on the indigenous Sahrawi people’s right to a referendum on self-determination monitored by the UN.

Polisario is seeking independence and says Morocco should adhere to an agreement it accepted in 1991 that provides for a UN-supervised referendum on self-determination.

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LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday issued its final judgment in an eight-year-old public interest litigation concerning smog and environmental degradation in Punjab, reaffirming its directions and achievements during the marathon proceedings.

Justice Shahid Karim, who authored the judgment, described it as the “last judgment in the trilogy”, following two earlier reported rulings in 2023 and 2025 arising from the same continuing proceedings.

Justice Karim, who is due to reach superannuation on August 19, began his judgment with a line from the final song in the play Hamilton: “Legacy, what is a legacy? It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see. I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me.”

The judge noted that the judgment culminated the extraordinary and seminal work accomplished in a novel and paradigmatic manner through the judicial review of public actions.

“It does not mean that the goal has been accomplished. Far from it. Yet it sets the tone for future actions and lays the groundwork for building resilience and adaptation policies,” he added.

He said that, during the course of the proceedings, governments had come on board, though reluctantly at times, and pursued policies based on the court’s decisions.

He observed: “A robust culture of decision-making has developed with environmental and water conservation at its heart.”

Justice Karim held that there had been critical questioning of the court’s authority to continue the proceedings unabated for more than eight years.

“The short answer is the highly consequential issues animating and forming the core of this litigation,” he explained.

Key directions and their compliance reaffirmed and consolidated in the judgment included:

Smog as a calamity: On the court’s directions, smog was formally declared a calamity, with the Punjab Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) tasked with leading a dedicated control room for enforcement during the smog season.

Brick kilns: Every operational brick kiln in Punjab has been converted to Zig-Zag Technology to cut emissions and each kiln has been assigned a Unique Identification Number for digital monitoring by the Environment Protection Agency.

Stubble burning: The court raised penalties for stubble burning violations to Rs200,000 per acre after finding some districts were imposing fines as low as Rs50,000, and directed uniform enforcement across all Deputy Commissioners’ offices.

School transport: Private schools have been directed to arrange buses or vans for at least 50 per cent of their students as a condition for registration renewal, to be implemented in phases.

Water conservation: Amendments were made to LDA Building and Zoning Regulations making rainwater harvesting mandatory for new construction, and Gray Water Treatment Plants compulsory for all new commercial and residential building plans, with no building approvals to be granted without compliance.

As many as 563 service stations across Lahore now operate water recycling plants, cutting fresh water use per car wash by roughly 70pc (from 400 litres to about 120 litres). Ablution water recycling tanks have been installed at over 194 mosques, including a 60,000–70,000-gallon facility at Data Darbar.

Groundwater conservation: In compliance with the court’s orders, Wasa Lahore has collected over Rs3.35 billion in aquifer charges from bulk groundwater users since 2018.

Separately, 117 recharge wells have been installed across Lahore, while rainwater storage tanks — including a 4-million-gallon facility at Gaddafi Stadium — have been built to combat flooding and recharge aquifers.

Protection of public green spaces: The court barred playgrounds and open spaces — including at institutions such as MAO College — from being used for weddings or commercial events, and directed authorities, including DHA, LDA, and the School Education Department to protect and maintain green cover.

Judicial review of development projects: The judgment also references two related rulings — the 2023 quashing of the Lahore Division Master Plan 2050 for violating LDA Master Plan Rules, and the striking down of land acquisition for a Gujrat Divisional Complex that would have required felling over 594 kanals of forest land — both cited as major environmental victories achieved through the same broader litigation.

In his concluding remarks, Justice Karim paid tribute to the Judicial Water and Environment Commission’s members — retired Justice Ali Akbar Qureshi, Syed Kamal Ali Haider, Hina Hafeezullah Ishaq, and Ch. Zulfiqar Ali — who served pro bono throughout the proceedings.

The judge recommended that they and several government officers involved in the implementation of the court’s directions be considered for civil awards.

The judge disposed of the main petition filed by Haroon Farooq in 2018, along with a dozen petitions subsequently filed before the court concerning water and environmental issues.

Justice Karim concluded the judgment with a poem by Amanda Gorman: “Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is time, that even as we grieved, we grew, that even as we hurt, we hoped, that even as we tired, we tried.”

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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 point, as we have stated before, government formation should only commence when polling has concluded in all constituencies. Furthermore, the election commission should thoroughly investigate all claims of electoral irregularities, as a controversial voting exercise will cast a long shadow over the next administration, putting its legitimacy into question.

While it is important for elections to be held even in the most difficult of circumstances, unless the polls are seen to be free and fair, the underlying problems fuelling public disaffection will become more severe. AJK has seen anti-government protests off and on for the past three years. Led by the now banned Joint Awami Action Committee, the protests picked up momentum in June this year.

There is no doubt that the violence associated with these protests and the incendiary rhetoric of some JAAC leaders are indefensible. But the protest movement itself cannot be brushed aside. True, some of the JAAC’s demands, such as the removal of refugee seats, concern constitutional matters, which cannot be settled through street power; these issues must be decided within the AJK legislature. But at the root of the protests of the last few years is a demand for good governance.

Unless elections are seen to be fair, and the next administration tries to resolve the protesters’ legitimate demands, political unrest in AJK is likely to continue, despite polls being held there. PML-N leaders have said the protesters’ “valid demands” will be addressed. Considering the sensitivity of the region, the electoral process must be marked by transparency so that there is general acceptance of the outcome. If the PML-N does take up the reins in Muzaffarabad, it must reach out to the PPP and other political players in the region, as well as peaceful protesters, to address all concerns in a democratic fashion.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2026

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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 serious allegations and counter-allegations of rigging by all three major contestants — PM Rathore of PPP, PML-N’s Aziz and independent candidate Khawaja Tariq Saeed.

Late on Monday evening, thousands of Aziz’s supporters gathered at the district courts, claiming that the results provided to polling agents by presiding officers on Form 24 showed their candidate leading Rathore by more than 8,000 votes, but that the RO was subsequently preparing the result in favour of the prime minister.

There were also reports of some people being injured during the demonstration.

The protest ended on Tuesday after Aziz said in a video message that the RO had given him a written undertaking that Form 27 would not be issued until the Election Commission in Muzaffarabad decided his claim.

On Tuesday, Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Ghulam Mustafa Mughal had told Dawn that the Commission would take a decision after the polling bags and relevant election records reached its office. He had reportedly given a similar assurance to Aziz over the phone.

The DRO, Waheed Mughal, and RO, Asheer Chughtai, both members of the subordinate judiciary, were evacuated from their offices in Forward Kahuta along with the polling bags with the help of the army’s Quick Response Force (QRF). They reached Muzaffarabad by midnight.

However, the RO subsequently issued Form 27 after midnight, dated August 11, declaring Rathore the winner with 33,872 votes. Aziz secured 32,354 votes, followed by Saeed with 12,538 and IPP candidate Amir Nazir Chaudhry with 5,405.

Hours later, PM Rathore said on X that his “remarkable victory had been officially notified”.

“LA-17 has spoken. I thank the people of Haveli and again pledge to serve them now and forever. I’m grateful to my party leadership, specially, Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Adi Faryal Talpur, for their trust, guidance and unending support amid every challenge we have faced,” he wrote.

The issuance of Form 27, however, failed to settle the dispute, with reports from Haveli suggesting that tensions were rising again.

In a video message recorded in Muzaffarabad, Aziz reiterated his allegation that the Form 24s handed to polling agents of all nine participating candidates contained the genuine results, while different figures were subsequently taken into consideration by the RO.

He offered to have just two polling bags, rather than all of them, opened from areas where he alleged the results had been changed. If his allegation proved to be wrong, he said, he would apologise and congratulate Rathore.

“If Faisal Rathore has won, why is he afraid of opening of polling bags and a subsequent recount?” he asked.

Aziz also claimed that the Election Act, 2020, made it obligatory for the RO to open polling bags following a complaint by any candidate. He said that when they asked Chughtai to take the step, the RO maintained that he was unaware of the provision and did not have a copy of the Act with him.

On Wednesday, senior lawyers Raja Sajjad Ahmed and Chaudhry Ghulam Nabi submitted an application to the chief election commissioner, seeking a recount of votes polled in LA-17 over alleged tampering with the results.

The Election Commission announced that it would take up the matter at 10am on Thursday.

In a post on X, PML-N leader and federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Tariq Fazal Chaudhry called for a transparent investigation into the rigging complaint filed by Aziz, saying he hoped the Election Commission would address the allegations regarding the Haveli constituency on merit.

Aziz, however, said he had little hope from the commission after what he described as its failure to prevent the issuance of the “unlawful Form 27”.

“I will take my case to the people’s court apart from the superior judiciary,” he said.

Meanwhile, Saeed also alleged tampering with his results and called for a recount. He claimed that he had won at nine polling stations, but the votes secured by him there had not been included in his tally and had instead been added to that of Rathore.

PPP calls polls ‘rigged and violent’

Against this backdrop, the PPP also criticised the conduct of the AJK elections, with a high-level meeting of the party in Islamabad describing the polls as “rigged and violent” and expressing serious concern over the role of the AJK Election Commission.

The meeting, chaired by PPP Women’s Wing president and AJK affairs in-charge Faryal Talpur, also criticised the phase-wise conduct of the elections and demanded the immediate completion of polling in the remaining two districts of the third phase and seven constituencies of Poonch so that the Legislative Assembly could be fully constituted.

The participants raised questions over the suspension of internet services, shortages of polling material and staff at some polling stations, and alleged inadequate security arrangements.

Talpur said the PPP was the representative party of the people of AJK and had continued to enjoy strong public support despite challenging circumstances.

On the other hand, Tariq Fazal Chaudhry said the PML-N had secured a clear lead in the elections and would have 24 general seats, with another six reserved seats, taking its strength to 30.

In his post on X, he said the AJK Assembly session would be convened next week for the swearing-in of members and election of reserved seats, followed by elections for the speaker and prime minister.

Chaudhry described the elections as free, fair and credible, saying there had been “zero tolerance” for misconduct or rigging. He cited the arrest of a candidate in LA-6 (Mirpur) for taking away a ballot box from a polling station as an example of action against electoral misconduct.

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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 states by Iran during the active phase of hostilities with America, observers have debated whether the signatories of the deal could step in militarily. However, the clarifications regarding Iran are welcome. In fact, what is needed is a new regional security architecture that binds the Arabs, Iranians and other states together.

Achieving this would be difficult, considering the pro-America stance of the GCC states. However, the American military footprint in the Gulf and larger Middle East may eventually shrink, which means that regional states will have to eventually work out a security framework amongst themselves. The Makkah pact could provide a blueprint for such defence cooperation. The Turkish president has already said that the pact is open to other countries.

If Iran were to be brought on board, it could significantly alter the regional security landscape. For this to happen, the existing high levels of mistrust between the Arabs, particularly Saudi Arabia, and the Iranians, would need to be reduced. But states such as Pakistan and Turkiye, which maintain cordial ties with both sides, can attempt to bridge the gap. As a CBM, Iran should open up the Strait of Hormuz, as its continued closure is battering Gulf economies. The Arab states should also pledge to disallow outsiders from staging aggression against Iran from their soil.

Instead of depending on extra-regional powers, the states of the Gulf and Middle East must themselves create a new security architecture. Not only would this reduce the tensions that exist between them, it could also serve as an expanded defence pact to deter Israel from attacking regional states. Tel Aviv has attacked Iran and its allies, as well as pro-America states like Qatar, hence an effective regional defensive bloc could make Israel think twice about its violent adventurism.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2026

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