Mahira Khan faces backlash over Gaza fundraiser appearance

SWABI: Tobacco growers in Swabi took to the streets on Monday, protesting against what they described as unfairly low purchase prices for their crop and demanding enforcement of the official rate announced by the Pakistan Tobacco Board. The protest was held outside the Swabi Press Club, where farmers were joined by political and social activists as well as members of the local community. Growers said they were being offered as little as Rs350 per kilogram, despite the official rate of Rs750 per kilogram. During the demonstration, tobacco grower and former ANP district general secretary Haji Tameez Khan burned around 500 kilograms of his tobacco crop to highlight the financial pressure facing farmers. Speaking at the protest, Khan said the cost of producing tobacco had reached nearly Rs750 per kilogram, making offers of Rs350 to Rs400 per kilogram unsustainable for growers. He said farmers had already suffered substantial losses in the previous season and were now struggling to clear debts owed to labourers and suppliers. Khan said tobacco was a major cash crop and generated significant revenue for the cigarette industry, yet farmers remained uncertain about receiving a price that covered their production costs. He warned that continued failure to address the issue could lead more growers to adopt similar forms of protest. The protesters also criticised the Pakistan Tobacco Board and tobacco companies for failing to resolve the pricing dispute. They called on the authorities to ensure that tobacco-buying companies adhere to the officially approved rate and protect farmers from losses. National Awami Party district chairman Masood Jabbar said tobacco was a key source of income for Swabi’s farming community. He warned that failure to address growers’ grievances could lead to wider protests across the district, with more farmers expected to join future demonstrations.

JERUSALEM: Israel has withdrawn the entry permits of several American Jewish activists who took part in protests in the occupied West Bank against attacks on Palestinians and damage to their property, according to a report by US Jewish publication The Forward. Among those affected was activist Sam Sherman, who said his travel permit was canceled while he was participating in a seven-week volunteer programme in Masafer Yatta, where he had been working alongside Palestinian residents. Sherman told the publication that several members of his group received cancellation notices within minutes of one another. He said Israeli soldiers, police and armed settlers had photographed his passport during confrontations that he described as being initiated by settlers. According to Sherman, the activists had been peacefully spending time with local Palestinians but were treated by Israeli authorities as though their presence itself constituted a serious offence. The reported permit cancellations come amid continued tensions in the occupied West Bank, where confrontations involving Palestinians, Israeli settlers and security forces remain a major source of concern.

Lahore: An important consultative meeting of the Core Committee of the Pakistan Association of Alternative Medicine (PAAM) was held, in which the “Policy Draft and Working Paper” was finalized to make the country’s alternative medicine sector namely Homeopathy, Herbal, and Unani economically self-reliant and to transform it into an international industry. During this meeting, PAAM Core Committee members Dr. Tariq Mahmood Chaudhry and former Director of Homeopathy at the Punjab Health Department, Dr. Jamil Akhtar Ghauri, met with PAAM President Kashif Aslam Malik and held deep consultations on the framework of the proposed federal ministry. According to the text of the policy draft, more than 80 percent of the world’s population relies on alternative and natural methods of treatment. China earns an annual export profit of 60 billion dollars from this sector, and India earns over 5 billion dollars in valuable foreign exchange. In contrast, despite having abundant natural resources and hundreds of thousands of qualified doctors, Pakistan accounts for less than 0.5 percent of the global market due to the lack of an independent federal ministry. The working paper prepared by PAAM highlights that establishing an autonomous federal ministry could be the fastest way to pull Pakistan out of its economic crisis and boost exports. The PAAM leadership has presented three-year economic targets to the government and parliament, setting the export target at 200 million dollars for the first year, 500 million dollars for the second year, and aiming to exceed 1.5 billion dollars in the third year through international trade agreements and Business-to-Business (B2B) partnerships. Another key feature of this policy draft is that commercial herb farming will be initiated nationwide under the new ministry, directly benefiting the rural economy and local farmers. Furthermore, this initiative aims to eliminate Pakistan’s reliance on expensive imported raw materials for the allopathic industry, making the country truly economically independent. During the meeting, the PAAM leadership emphasized that the alternative medicine sector is facing a severe crisis due to the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan’s (DRAP) hyper-focus on allopathic brands and bureaucratic red tape. They noted that introducing a one-window operation under an autonomous ministry would ensure medicine quality complies with World Health Organization (WHO) and International Herb Pharmacopeia standards, while also reducing public healthcare expenditures at the government level by up to 50 percent through the provision of affordable alternative medicines. Following the completion of the policy draft, PAAM has demanded a joint emergency meeting of the Senate and National Assembly Standing Committees on Health and Commerce, the formation of a dedicated task force, and a special export package for alternative medicine manufacturers. The Chairman and Core Committee of PAAM reaffirmed their commitment to presenting this policy paper to the Prime Minister of Pakistan and the Federal Cabinet very soon to make the country self-sufficient on both economic and medical fronts.