Learning from China for economic prosperity 

An eight-member medical board has found that Mir Raza Ali died from a gunshot wound to the back. The board also found several serious injuries on his body from before death. This discovery changes the direction of a case that has drawn wide attention. The report came after a court ordered his grave to be opened at Karachi’s Rehmanial Masjid Graveyard. Doctors found a small entry wound on his upper back. The bullet broke a rib, tore through the heart, and exited from the chest. Doctors also found blood collected under the skin. This shows the injury happened while he was still alive. The doctors found more injuries too. They found bruises on the skull, a broken nose bone, and swelling on the face. There was also a crack running along the back of the skull, filled with dried blood. Marks were found near the throat area as well, though decay in the body made some tests harder to complete. The board has not given a final cause of death yet. Doctors have sent skin, muscle, hair, and bone samples for further testing. This new report turns the case from a missing person search into a suspected murder investigation. The Sindh government deserves credit here. By backing a court-ordered exhumation and a full medical board review, it has given this case a real chance at truth and justice. This kind of careful, science-based approach is exactly what difficult cases like this need. But what we need is a clear and reliable system for postmortem examinations across the board. Every case deserves properly trained doctors, modern lab facilities, and independent oversight from the start. Delays and unclear reports only hurt victims and their families. The Sindh government should build on this case by setting fixed rules for exhumations and postmortems, so families never have to wait years for the truth.

The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement has reached a new level of importance. US President Donald Trump has publicly welcomed the pact between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye. This is not a small development. When the president of the United States acknowledges a regional defence framework, it sends a signal to the whole world. It tells other nations that this agreement carries real weight, not just symbolic value. Trump called it a step toward greater regional security. He said it shows Middle Eastern and regional states are willing to strengthen their own ability to protect themselves. This recognition matters. It places the pact on the global radar. It also gives Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye a stronger diplomatic standing as they build this new framework of cooperation. The agreement was signed in Makkah on August 7, bringing together Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and President Erdogan. It focuses on collective deterrence, defence planning, intelligence sharing and strategic coordination. Erdogan himself has called it a message for global peace, especially given rising US-Iran tensions. Yet a serious question remains unanswered. Where is the response from the Gulf Cooperation Council? Where is the voice of the Arab League? Both organisations represent the wider Arab and Gulf world. Both have a direct stake in regional security matters. Their silence on such a major defence pact is puzzling. This agreement was signed in Saudi Arabia, a leading GCC member. It naturally affects the interests of every Gulf state. Yet there has been no clear statement, no formal reaction from these key regional bodies. This silence raises real concerns. Does it suggest internal disagreement among Gulf states? Does it hint at hesitation to publicly support a pact that includes Türkiye and Pakistan? Or is this simply strategic caution before making a formal position? Whatever the reason, this silence cannot continue indefinitely. Regional stability requires clarity, not ambiguity. The GCC and Arab League must break their silence soon. Their voice matters just as much as any global power’s approval.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has made an urgent appeal that the world cannot afford to ignore. Speaking at a ministerial meeting on Jerusalem in Amman, he called on Arab and Islamic countries to unite in defence of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the rights of the Palestinian people. His words carry weight because the situation on the ground demands nothing less than a serious response. For years, Israel has pushed forward with settlement expansion, annexation efforts and the forced displacement of Palestinians. These actions are not minor administrative matters. They are direct violations of international law and multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions. Yet the international community continues to watch from the sidelines, offering statements of concern without any real consequences. This silence is not neutral. It is complicity. Al-Aqsa Mosque holds deep religious and historical significance for Muslims across the world. Any attempt to alter its status or restrict access to worshippers is an attack not just on a building, but on the dignity and faith of over a billion people. Dar is right to demand unrestricted access to Jerusalem’s holy sites and to warn that continued violations could inflame tensions far beyond the region. Gaza remains a humanitarian catastrophe. Even after a ceasefire, millions of Palestinians face hunger, displacement and constant insecurity. A ceasefire on paper means little if people cannot eat, find shelter or live without fear. The world celebrated the ceasefire as a diplomatic win, but celebration cannot replace action. Promises must be followed by real relief and real accountability. Pakistan has consistently stood by Palestine, and this position deserves respect. The demand for an independent Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, is not a radical idea. It is a long-standing international consensus that keeps getting delayed by powerful nations unwilling to pressure Israel. The new mechanism agreed upon in Amman to document Israeli violations at holy sites is a welcome step. But documentation alone changes nothing if the world refuses to act on the evidence. Muslim countries must move beyond statements and coordinate real diplomatic pressure. The people of Palestine have waited long enough for justice. The world’s continued hesitation to hold Israel accountable is not just a policy failure. It is a moral failure that history will not judge kindly.

The country is trying to build hospitals, schools and jobs for its people. But there is a big problem. The government does not have fresh data on how many people live in the country and what they need. The last full population and health survey was done in 2017 and 2018. This survey is supposed to happen every five years. It has now been many years since it was updated. This is not a small issue. It is a serious weakness that can damage the whole planning system of the country. The Senate Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Special Initiatives raised this concern in a recent meeting. The committee, led by Senator Quratulain Marri, asked why the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics had not completed a new survey on time. This newspaper believes this question deserves a clear answer, not delays. Without updated data, the government is working blindly. It cannot know exactly how many hospitals are needed. It cannot know how many schools should be built. It cannot know how many jobs must be created. Planning without correct numbers is like building a house without knowing how many people will live in it. The committee was also told that a huge amount of money, around Rs1.68 billion, has been spent on importing contraceptives for population welfare programmes. Yet the committee was not satisfied with the answers given about how these contraceptives are being used and how many people are benefiting. This raises a fair question. If the government cannot explain how money is being used, how can citizens trust that the programme is working well? The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics must complete its new survey quickly. The Ministry of National Health Services must explain its spending clearly. Delay and confusion only weaken public trust and hurt the people who depend on these services the most.

Pakistan and Iran have once again promised to work more closely together. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and his Iranian counterpart Eskandar Momeni met in Islamabad and spoke about border security, fighting terrorism, stopping drug trafficking, and tackling illegal immigration and human trafficking. All of this sounds good on paper. But Pakistan has heard such promises before, and the real question is whether this meeting will lead to actual change on the ground. The Pakistan-Iran-Afghanistan border region has long been a weak point for both countries. Smugglers, drug traffickers, and militant groups have used this stretch of land for years, often moving freely between borders that are poorly monitored. Simply agreeing that better coordination is needed is not enough. What Pakistan and Iran actually need is a clear plan, with deadlines and shared resources, to secure this border properly. Intelligence sharing only works if both sides act on the information they receive, not just discuss it in meetings. The timing of this visit also deserves attention. Tensions between the United States and Iran have grown sharper in recent days, with military exchanges raising fears about wider instability in the Middle East. In such a moment, Pakistan’s outreach to Iran is a sensible move. A stable and cooperative relationship with a neighbour that shares a long and sensitive border is simply good policy, regardless of what is happening between Iran and other countries. However, there is a risk that trade and economic cooperation will once again take a back seat to security talk. Pakistan and Iran have discussed expanding trade, transit, and agricultural cooperation many times in the past, yet actual trade volumes between the two countries remain far below their potential. If this relationship is to mean something for ordinary people, Pakistan must push harder to convert these diplomatic meetings into working trade routes, joint agricultural projects, and real economic opportunities.

The Supreme Court has given a landmark ruling on women’s rights. It has declared that a woman’s right to seek khula, or judicial divorce, is a constitutional right. The court said that violence against a woman for exercising this right is an attack on the Constitution itself. A three member bench dismissed the jail petition of convict Waseem Abbas and upheld his death sentence. Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar wrote the four page detailed judgment. The court said women are fully protected under Articles 9, 14 and 25 of the Constitution, which guarantee their security, dignity and equal rights. It said anyone who uses violence against a woman seeking khula will face the full force of the law, and called the killing of a woman for exercising her legal right an act of brutality and open defiance of the law. The court also ruled that a person involved in a cold blooded and planned murder does not deserve any concession. It clarified that the testimony of relatives cannot be automatically rejected in cases that happen inside a home. Forensic evidence, including a match between bullet casings and the weapon linked to the crime, gave conclusive proof against the accused. The court found no flaw in the lower courts’ decisions. According to the case record, Waseem Abbas shot and killed his former wife, Shehnaz Bibi, on October 11, 2020, about 48 hours after she obtained a khula decree from a family court. A trial court had sentenced him to death, and the Lahore High Court upheld that sentence. This judgment sends a strong message and gives justice in this one case. But the law alone cannot protect every woman in Shehnaz Bibi’s position. Many women never even reach the court, because they fear exactly this kind of violence at home. A verdict can punish a killer after the fact, but it cannot undo the loss of a life. To truly protect women, society itself needs to change how it views a woman’s right to leave a marriage. Courts can deliver justice, but only a shift in mindset, at home, in communities, and among families, can prevent the next Shehnaz Bibi.