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Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Pakistan's GB bans construction of new hotels around lakes, earning praise from environmentalists, residents
KHAPLU, Gilgit-Baltistan: Environmental experts, residents and activists have praised the government's move this week to ban the construction of new hotels around lakes in Pakistan's northern Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region for five years, noting it would help protect the area's natural sites. Pakistan's mountainous GB region is home to over 13,000 glaciers, more than any other country apart from the polar regions, as well as picturesque lakes, orchards and mountains. As per the GB Tourism Department, over one million tourists visited the area in 2024. The rise of tourism in the area has led to the construction of new hotels, which have sparked concerns of increasing pollution, waste, lack of regulation and straining of water and power resources in the area. A video by foreign vlogger George Buckley in June, showing allegedly untreated sewage being discharged into the region's picturesque Attabad Lake, went viral on social media. It prompted calls for thorough checks and inspections of hotels in the area. 'Gilgit-Baltistan is becoming a forest of concrete due to the influx of tourism,' Syed Asrar ul Hasnain, an official of GB's Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), told Arab News over the phone. 'The region was going toward an unregulated type of development. Due to this situation, our department sent a recommendation to the government to ban the issuing of NOCs [no objection certificates] for the new construction of hotels,' he added. Hasnain vowed that authorities would ensure that hotels that were already functional in the region would also be monitored. 'The main objective behind the ban is the protection of natural beauties and the environment,' he said. 'And initially, the ban is for five years.' Kamal Khan, commissioner for the Baltistan region, said the construction of new hotels near lakes and 'environmentally sensitive regions' in all four districts of the Baltistan region has been banned as well. He stressed that sewerage treatment plants (STPs) should be part of hotels constructed near water bodies. '[Unfortunately], the operational hotels don't have STPs in the region,' Khan said. 'And after filling the pits, the sewage water is mixed in the water body, and it is hazardous for human life and health.' Noting that GB has a 'fragile environment,' Khan vowed to protect it through such measures. 'We have directed all existing and functional hotels to make STPs in their hotel, if the hotels have a high number of rooms,' the commissioner said. 'If they do not implement our order, we will seal the hotels.' 'GOOD OMEN' Dr. Salaar Ali, head of the Department of Environmental Science at the University of Baltistan, appreciated the government's move, saying it would help protect the natural environment. 'The lakes are not only a tourist destination, but many like Sadpara Lakes are a source of drinking water for the residents,' Dr. Ali told Arab News. 'And the protection of these lakes and areas should be our priority.' He also called on authorities to ban the use of motorboats in the region, saying they were responsible for littering in freshwater bodies. Kiran Qasim, a resident of Gilgit and a journalist, described the ban as a 'very effective' measure, saying it would also help mitigate the effects of climate change. 'The construction around natural lakes also disturbs plants, birds and fish, etcetera,' she explained. 'Instead of imposing a ban for only five years, the ban should be for a long period.' Zahoor Ilahi, a social activist from Hunza Valley, said authorities should promote environmentally friendly constructions such as huts. 'On the other side, multi-story buildings are dangerous for our environment,' he said. 'And there should be no exception for big investors. Laws should be implemented equally.' Manzoor Hussain, the president of the Hotel Association of Hunza, described the ban as a 'good omen' but echoed the same concern. 'We second this move, but there should be no difference between the rich and the poor,' Hussain said, calling on authorities to seal hotels that don't meet environmental standards. 'The laws should be implemented to protect the environment, in a real manner, not just to get fame on social media,' Hussain said.
Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
Japan PM Shigeru Ishiba faces reckoning in upper house election
TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba faces a reckoning from voters on Sunday with upper house elections that could end his premiership and see a right-wing populist party make inroads. With many Japanese hurt by rising prices, especially for rice, opinion polls suggest that Ishiba's governing coalition could lose its majority in the upper house. This could be the final nail for Ishiba, having already been humiliatingly forced into a minority government after lower house elections in October. 'Ishiba may need to step down,' Toru Yoshida, a politics professor at Doshisha University, said. Japan could 'step into an unknown dimension of the ruling government being a minority in both the lower house and the upper house, which Japan has never experienced since World War II,' Yoshida said. At one of Tokyo's polling stations on Sunday, 54-year-old voter Atsushi Matsuura said 'Commodity prices are going up, but I am more worried that salaries aren't increasing.' Another voter Hisayo Kojima, 65, expressed frustration that the amount of her pension 'is being cut shorter and shorter.' 'We have paid a lot to support the pension system. This is the most pressing issue for me,' she said. Ishiba's center-right Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has governed Japan almost continuously since 1955, albeit with frequent changes of leader. Ishiba, 68, a self-avowed defense 'geek' and train enthusiast, reached the top of the greasy pole last September on his fifth attempt and immediately called elections. But this backfired and the vote left the LDP and its small coalition partner Komeito needing support from opposition parties, stymying its legislative agenda. 'Energy prices have swung sharply in recent months, as the government has flip-flopped between removing aid for household energy bills and adding new supports,' said Stefan Angrick at Moody's Analytics. Out of 248 seats in the upper house, 125 are up for grabs on Sunday. The coalition needs 50 of these to keep a majority. Not helping is lingering resentment about an LDP funding scandal, and US tariffs of 25 percent due to bite from August 1 if there is no trade deal with the United States. Japan's massive auto industry, which accounts for eight percent of the country's jobs, is reeling from painful levies already in place. Weak export data last week stoked fears that the world's fourth-largest economy could tip into a technical recession. Despite Ishiba securing an early meeting with US President Donald Trump in February, and sending his trade envoy to Washington seven times, there has been no accord. Trump poured cold water on the prospects of an agreement last week, saying Japan won't 'open up their country.' 'We will not easily compromise,' Ishiba said this month. Ishiba's apparently maximalist strategy of insisting all tariffs are cut to zero – although this could change post-election – has also drawn criticism. 'How well his government is able to handle negotiations over US tariffs is extremely important, as it's important for the LDP to increase trust among the public,' Masahisa Endo, politics professor at Waseda University, said. The last time the LDP and Komeito failed to win a majority in the upper house was in 2010, having already fallen below the threshold in 2007. That was followed by a rare change of government in 2009, when the now-defunct Democratic Party of Japan governed for a rocky three years. Today the opposition is fragmented, and chances are slim that the parties can form an alternative government. One making inroads is the 'Japanese-first' Sanseito, which opinion poll suggest could win more than 10 upper house seats, up from two now. The party wants 'stricter rules and limits' on immigration, opposes 'globalism' and 'radical' gender policies, and wants a re-think on decarbonization and vaccines. Last week it was forced to deny any links to Moscow – which has backed populist parties elsewhere – after a candidate was interviewed by Russian state media. 'They put into words what I had been thinking about but couldn't put into words for many years,' one voter said at a Sanseito rally.
Arab News
5 hours ago
- Arab News
Rights activists welcome Pakistan Senate move to scrap death penalty for two crimes
KARACHI: Rights activists in Pakistan on Saturday welcomed Pakistan's Senate decision to abolish the death penalty for two criminal offenses— publicly stripping women and harboring hijackers— but stressed the need for stronger legislation and better enforcement to ensure justice for survivors and prevent violence. The reform amends Sections 354-A and 402-C of the Pakistan Penal Code and replaces capital punishment with life imprisonment for the two crimes. Lawmakers say the move is part of a broader effort to align Pakistan's criminal justice system with international human rights standards, particularly under the European Union's Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+), which grants preferential trade access to countries that uphold certain rights commitments. 'Publicly stripping women of their clothes is one of the most heinous crimes and must be met with the harshest punishment,' Mahnaz Rahman, woman's rights activist and former executive director of the Aurat Foundation, told Arab News. 'While we strongly advocate for severe punishments for such acts, we do not support the death penalty for any crime, including this one.' She said life imprisonment itself was an 'extremely severe' punishment, though she insisted the change must be accompanied by comprehensive and robust legislation to prevent this and all other forms of violence against women. 'Ultimately, it is the effective enforcement of laws and accountability that will deter such crimes and help ensure that women feel genuinely safe and protected in our society,' she added. Sarah Belal, Executive Director of Justice Project Pakistan (JPP), said the reform aligned Pakistan's criminal justice system more closely with the principles of fairness and the rule of law. 'The death penalty has never been enforced for this offense, but its mere presence has discouraged convictions and denied survivors meaningful redress,' she said. 'Harsh punishments may appear tough, but they often let perpetrators walk free.' 'Removing the death penalty for these offenses does not mean they are being decriminalized,' she added. 'It simply means we are pushing for stronger, more proportionate implementation of the law.' Senator Talal Chaudhry of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party who introduced the bill said the amendments had been thoroughly discussed and approved by a standing committee with cross-party input. 'Replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment under both sections is part of Pakistan's legal reforms,' he said. The bill must now be passed by the National Assembly before it can receive presidential assent and become law. Under existing law, Section 354-A allows for capital punishment or life imprisonment for anyone who assaults and strips a woman in public, while Section 402-C applies the same punishment to individuals who knowingly harbor hijackers. The new bill eliminates the death penalty option for both. However, some lawmakers have voiced concern over the move. Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri of the Balochistan Awami Party warned that Pakistan's low conviction rates and weak enforcement mechanisms could make reduced punishments ineffective as a deterrent. 'This is not right,' she was quoted as saying by Dawn newspaper. 'This is not going to help the country or its people.' Chaudhry defended the move, pointing to the misuse of capital punishment laws enacted during the military regime of General Zia-ul-Haq. 'Life imprisonment is by no means a minor punishment,' he said, noting that the law had often been abused by police to settle personal vendettas. Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar emphasized that the changes did not affect death sentences for more serious crimes like murder or rape. 'We are only removing the death penalty from offenses that do not constitute the 'most serious crimes,' a key requirement under the GSP+ agreement,' he said in response to a query by Senator Shibli Faraz. Pakistan has long faced international scrutiny over its broad application of the death penalty. At least 31 offenses are currently punishable by death under Pakistani law. While executions have not taken place since 2020, over 6,100 people remain on death row, according to the Justice Project Pakistan. Between 2015 and 2019, more than 500 people were executed following the end of a moratorium in 2014. Senator Quratulain Marri of the Pakistan People's Party, a coalition partner of the ruling PML-N, said her party opposed the death penalty on principle. 'There are numerous studies on how capital punishment is not an effective deterrent,' she told Arab News. 'While the need for reforms cannot be ruled out, we have to consider bringing changes that better society in the long run. The aim is to rid society of the crime and not just the criminal.'
