Sarah Javed breaks new ground as first Christian DC in Sindh
According to an official notification, Sarah, an officer of the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), has been posted as Deputy Commissioner of Sanghar district, replacing Shehryar Gul.
A CSS qualifier from the 2014 batch, Sarah has previously served as Assistant Commissioner in key areas including Karachi's Saddar, SITE area and Hyderabad. She also held the position of Additional Deputy Commissioner-I in Tharparkar for over a year.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, she was recognised with a national-level award for her work as part of the District South administration in Karachi.
The appointment follows recent efforts by the Sindh government to implement inclusive hiring policies.
Earlier this week, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah announced the recruitment of Kolhi, Bhil and Meghwar community members into the Sindh Police.
The chief minister also addressed concerns over kidnapping cases involving minorities, stating that while eight Hindus were kidnapped out of 310 cases in 2024-25, seven have been recovered.
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The Constitution construction became both an enabling and a disabling exercise in forging unity between provinces, one of which was separated by 1,000 kilometers of enemy territory. We were struggling with decision on what should be the national language. We attempted to impose Urdu upon a 100 percent Bengali population. Riots after riots dominated the political scene. The changes within the governments and of the governments in Pakistan were so sudden, rapid and regular that Nehru made a jovial remark that 'I m prepared to talk to Pakistan on all issues including Kashmir, but by the time I change my Sherwani (tunic) they change their government.' The nation, politics, economics and people were in absolute disarray. In view of the game of musical chairs that was being played out by the politicians, the armed forces sitting on the sidelines were slowly acquiring power to intrude in the political arena. Following the adoption of the 1956 Constitution, the Governor General Iskander Mirza was elected President by the Constituent Assembly. This period marked for serious skirmishes between the army and the government. President Mirza made a cardinal mistake of Himalayan proportion: he appointed the serving Army Chief, Gen Ayub Khan as the defence minister. In less than a year, in October 1958, Gen Ayub Khan deposed the President, imposed Martial Law and exiled Iskander Mirza. The curtain on the fragile and strong as a spider cobweb fortress of democracy fell, and was to last till the country's dismemberment in December, 1971. The decade between 1958 and 1968 was one of stability, economic growth and development. The political laboratory remained at work. They developed and brought in the concept of Basic Democracy. In other words, controlled and monitored democracy under a Presidential form of government was introduced. Again it withered away at great speed. In the neighbourhood, however, India kept building and consolidating its institutions. They were fortunate to have Jawaharlal Nehru rule without interruption for 17 long years. He set India's direction. Democracy gained a complete foothold. Ayub Khan and his team did extremely well in setting up industrialization. Pakistan emerged as a rising star of South Asia. Our Foreign Policy architects balanced themselves well between Washington and Beijing. The tight rope walk was a classic act without the cover of base nets. Z. A. Bhutto emerged as a young, charismatic and dynamic foreign minister. He framed closer relations with both Beijing and Moscow, alongside cooing up to the power across the Atlantic. Pakistan had gained a place and respect in the comity of nations. The misjudged war of 1965 with India put us behind economically. Ayub Khan was disappointed with its outcome. This started to tell upon his health. He became sick, frail and weak. Additionally, Z. A. Bhutto turned his guns on President Ayub following the Tashkent declaration. Bhutto resigned from the cabinet in protest. He became the leader of the masses, particularly the youth. He formed Pakistan People's Party. The mass agitation against President Ayub resulted in his resignation. Instead of handing charge to the Speaker of the Assembly, he stepped down by making way for the army chief, Gen Yahya Khan, who imposed martial law and announced elections. The decade of 1968- 78 made Pakistan witness its historic lows. The first-ever fair and free elections marked the beginning of the clash of egos. The refusal to give power to the elected representatives led to widespread rioting in the then East Pakistan, eventually leading up to calls for secession and independence. The enemy neighbour exploited our internal unrest .The 1971 war with India was a political and military disaster. The surrender that took place in Dhaka was the worst in the Muslim history. Bangladesh was created. Jinnah's Pakistan was dismembered. The intoxicated military junta handed power to the most popular ever leader of West Pakistan, Bhutto. As travesty of democracy, ZAB crowned himself as the first-ever civilian martial law administrator and President, in December, 1971. As part of his economic policy he nationalised key industries including banking. The move was popular but disastrous and its remnants still ails us. He restored dignity for Pakistan. He negotiated the release of over 90,000 Prisoners of War from India. He regained more than 5000 sq miles of territory that was lost in war. The greatest credit that ZAB deserves is that he gave hope to a nation in utter despair. He restored respect for the armed forces whose morale was at the lowest ebb. In the arena of foreign policy he gave fresh impetus to relations based upon mutual respect. He aligned the Arabs with us. He became extremely popular in the Islamic world. Pakistan under his leadership hosted the historic Lahore Islamic Summit under the aegis of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The ties with China were made more formidable. He exported manpower to the Middle East, a policy that continues to benefit us till date. He began the nuclear programme. All great leaders make small mistakes and end up with gigantic negative results. He called for snap elections, which he would have any case won hands-down but the over enthusiastic sycophants indulged in rigging the results. The consequence was mass agitation supported by dollars that came from somewhere, as he himself put it. Just when the talks with the opposition over re-elections were to be agreed and signed, the wily General Ziaul Haq arrested him in a coup and declared martial for the third time in the country's short history. (To be continued) Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
