Editor’s Pick

The houbara bustard hunting season is once again imminent and these migratory birds will be hunted by assorted dignitaries and ‘notables’ from the Arabian peninsula and the Gulf region. Up to 17 permits a year are issued, allowing permit holders to hunt up to 10 birds a day in specified areas, a number that is reportedly widely flouted. Also flouted ...

The political turmoil in Islamabad seems to have eclipsed all other crises in the country. Amongst these is the religious extremists’ assault on education in Balochistan, which is gaining ground. A school in Turbat, district Kech, was torched by an outfit calling itself ‘Al Jihad’ late on Monday. The militants left pamphlets in the area warning people not to send ...

Though Pakistan is not a failed state, it has large areas which have become either paralysed or seemingly amputated. One such is the rule of law in Balochistan which to all intents and purposes lies beyond the Pale, that mythical fence beyond which darkness prevails. No crime is too heinous or too grisly to avoid prosecution. Murder, rape and robbery ...

It is a struggle to get an education in Panjgur district of Balochistan. There are 23 private English-medium schools and coaching centres and early this year they began to receive threats from a group calling itself Tanzeem-ul-Islam-al-Furqan. This group wanted the schools to stop teaching English and end co-education. Eventually after bus and taxi drivers and students and school principals ...

In a rare instance of communities pushing back against threats by extremists, the schools that were closed in Panjgur, western Balochistan, are again open. In early May, pamphlets were distributed threatening violence if the schools did not stop co-education and what was described as a ‘Westernised’ curriculum (the schools all taught English as a second or third language). Girls’ education ...

Editorial  The Express Tribune The spraying of acid on four women at a bazaar on the outskirts of Quetta on July 21, followed by a similar one on two women in Mastung, did not fit the usual profile. Acid attacks, the number of which has been rising in the country are generally intended to settle a personal dispute or some ...

Editorial Daily Times Fundamentalist vigilantes have once again taken to their old practice of forcing women to stay at home and remind them that if they ever have to venture out, it should not be without a male relative. This group of psychopaths typically hibernates throughout the year and suddenly becomes active when Eid arrives, using it as a convenient ...

Editorial Daily Times  The passing away of Nawab Khair Bux Marri, Baloch nationalist leader of towering standing and chief of the Marri tribe, brings to a close an entire era of struggle under his leadership and guidance against the usurpation of the rights of the Baloch people and the repressive policies of successive regimes in Pakistan. Born in Kohlu, Marri Area ...

The Baloch Hal Editorial Nawab Khair Baksh Marri, the prominent Baloch nationalist leader finally passed away without brokering a deal with any of the Pakistani governments to end the  ongoing conflict in Balochistan. The veteran Baloch leader, who passed away on Tuesday, remained firm on his demand for a free Baloch country. His commitment to his principles has transformed him into ...

Editorial Daily Times At least 23 people have died and several wounded in a suicide attack in Taftan, Balochistan on Sunday. These were not ordinary people. They are paying the price for being Shias and for performing undeterred their religious rites for years now. It is not the first time that the Iran-Pakistan highway has been used to kill Shia ...