• The powerful forces within Pakistan continue to seek control over the province’s resources and to direct them from outside.
• Karachi, the queen’s jewel of the province, is once again in danger. The Ranjit mindset establishment is in a constant struggle to wear the queen’s jewel on its head.

Dr. Shahban Sahito

Some moments come to a nation that awaken it to understand its weaknesses and rise again. These moments come when a nation is hit by opponents who want to see it become weaker and more dependent on them. Unfortunately, colonialism came to an end with the promise of political stability and prosperity. The newly created, so-called independent states that emerged from colonial rule soon entered a new era of internal colonial structures and functions. People were dealt with strictly under the rule of new political elites in the name of the independence that had been granted. People were under the false consciousness that independence would improve their lives and social conditions. It was totally faint and fake.

Sindhis were among the most wretched people in the subcontinent under British colonial rule. The British left them deprived and snatched everything from them. Their identity was suppressed when Sindh was merged into the Bombay Presidency for nearly a hundred years. It was kept isolated from the benefits of development while its resources were exploited. Its politics was ceased and directed by the Presidency. They cried for decades, but their cries fell on deaf ears. When the sovereignty of any territory is undone, political and economic decisions are made by non-residents who may have never even seen or visited the territory. So it happened with Sindh and the Sindhi people during the colonial era.

The wretched people of Sindh, observing their oppressed social and economic conditions, turned against the yoke of colonialism. They resisted every oppressor, whether insider or outsider. Sindh was among the large Muslim-populated areas of the subcontinent under British colonial rule. Therefore, the Sindhis decided first to seek separation from the Bombay Presidency and later to pursue a sovereign status. Throughout history, the people of Sindh had maintained an old consciousness of their homeland under despotic rulers. They were often weakened by foreign and barbarian invaders but remained sovereign under various forms of rule. The same happened when the British conquered Sindh in 1843.

Sindh was ravaged by all means. It again aspired to rise, but its political fate remained under the powerful tyranny of the British. Its people’s struggle did not become extinguished. They continued to strive to regain their sovereignty, at least by separating from the Bombay Presidency first. Their posterity succeeded after 90 years of an untiring movement. In 1936, Sindh emerged as a separate province under the Government of India Act of 1935.

It was too late for Sindhi politicians to build a strong province and a strong assembly for the future. The House of the Sindh Assembly remained divided because of political disputes that had emerged and grown during the Bombay Presidency. Unfortunately, the Bombay Presidency was under the control of the British and an allied Hindu elite that was socially and economically dominant in the region. Later, when the province came out of the Bombay Presidency, political wrangling between the two communities remained a major obstacle to running and controlling the affairs of the province. Muslim Sindhi politicians were too hasty to take control of the province from the Hindu Sindhi minority, who were more powerful and prosperous than the Sindhi Muslims. Owing to their majority, Sindhi Muslims needed alliances to come to power and dislodge the religious minority from control over political decisions.

In the beginning, until the 1936 elections, the Sindhi majority came to be elected in large numbers under the Sindh United Party, but Congress and Hindu elected candidates did not favor forming the government with them. The elected members of the Assembly were subjected to horse-trading, with members switching their loyalties away from their parties. Eventually, Khan Bahadur Allah Bakhsh Soomro emerged as the first Chief Minister of Sindh.

Throughout this period, the Assembly remained polarized, and political conspiracies were engineered by the British-appointed Governor. The political landscape was divided, and members switched their loyalties day and night. In the meantime, Indian politics took a new shape, and two major parties based largely on Hindu and Muslim political identities grew stronger. The provinces with Muslim majorities became increasingly involved in communal politics. Sindh was already politically fragile and therefore particularly vulnerable to this communal polarization.

Sindhi Muslims, when they saw an opportunity for political bargaining, allied themselves with the All-India Muslim League to gain support for their provincial agenda, but this alliance soon drifted apart. The Muslim politician G.M. Syed, who was a leading figure of the Muslim League in Sindh, crafted a resolution in favor of Pakistan, a new independent state for Muslims in the subcontinent.

The politicians of the province were too hasty in responding to the reality of minority dominance and the power of the feudal class. Until then, almost all politicians in Sindh came from the feudal class of the province. They were enraged by the discrimination they perceived from the Hindu minority, who shared the same cultural and linguistic identity as the Sindhi Muslims. But events turned them blind to the reality that the fundamental division was also a matter of class rather than merely communalism. Their irrational political realism led them into coming darkness.

They eagerly supported the Pakistan movement, while many were less aware of the consequences of its eventual impact. Once it was accomplished, Sindhis found themselves marginalized within the new country, and much of what they had expected was left unrealized.

Since partition and the creation of the new country, the province and its people have been pushed against the wall. They have struggled greatly to come out of this situation, but little has changed. As time has passed, many Sindhis have felt increasingly disgraced, fragile, depressed, oppressed, and suppressed within the country. Now, they feel that their territory is their only remaining hope: Sindh itself. Yet, despite this, they are no longer a majority in their beloved homeland.

It is now up to the weak Sindhi political leadership to determine how it can protect and maintain the territorial integrity of Sindh. At the same time, powerful forces within Pakistan continue to seek control over the province’s resources and to direct them from outside. Karachi, the queen’s jewel of the province, is once again in danger. The Ranjit mindset establishment is in a constant struggle to wear the queen’s jewel on its head.

Read: Sindh at the Crossroad

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Dr. Shahban Sahito is an Assistant Professor at Department of International Relations, University of Sindh, Jamshoro

The post Sindh: From British to Internal Colonialism first appeared on Sindh Courier.

• Psychosocial support must be readily available not just in major urban centers like Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad but also in rural districts such as Umerkot, Tharparkar, Badin, Sanghar, Larkana, and other underserved areas.

Ali Nawaz Rahimoo

Suicide, a tragedy of profound complexity, poses one of the most harrowing public-health challenges to societies worldwide. Behind each loss, a person, a family, and an entire community bear the burden of unanswered questions. Despite its pervasive impact, suicide often remains shrouded in an oppressive mist of stigma, shame, and misunderstanding.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 720,000 individuals succumb to suicide annually, with approximately 73% of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. The WHO also estimates that for every complete suicide, more than 20 people attempt it, though this ratio can vary significantly by region. These numbers underscore that suicide is not merely an individual or familial concern; it is a grave public-health issue necessitating a collective response from governments, healthcare providers, educational institutions, communities, and civil society.

Rarely is suicide attributable to a single factor; it is a multifactorial phenomenon stemming from a convergence of societal, economic, and individual psychological pressures. Mental health conditions, such as depression and other disorders, are significant risk factors. However, social and economic stressors like financial hardship, unemployment, marital discord, domestic violence, relationship problems, loneliness, social isolation, bullying, academic pressures, substance abuse, and prior history of trauma or abuse may drive vulnerable individuals to seek refuge in an act of final despair.

In remote, underprivileged areas, the crisis is often exacerbated. Limited access to psychiatric and psychological professionals, distance to healthcare facilities, pervasive poverty, lack of awareness, and social stigma act as formidable barriers preventing individuals from accessing help in the early stages of their distress.

This realization highlights the critical need for suicide prevention efforts to transcend merely treating mental illness. It demands a multifaceted approach that addresses the complex web of social, economic, psychological, and community factors influencing an individual’s well-being.

Pakistan suffers from a lack of a comprehensive national suicide surveillance system, which limits our ability to accurately gauge the magnitude of this problem. Under-reporting, due to stigma and socio-cultural factors, along with inconsistencies in how deaths are classified, create a distorted picture. Thus, we are often presented with disparate and contradictory figures from various sources, including studies, media reports, and official statistics. Instead of relying on incomplete or misleading information, Pakistan desperately needs a transparent and nationally coordinated system to collect accurate data on suspected suicides and attempts.

Mental health services in Pakistan remain predominantly concentrated in major metropolitan areas. Access to specialized psychiatric and psychological care in smaller towns and villages is severely limited, resulting in gross inequities. An individual living in a remote village might have to travel for hours to reach a mental-health professional, a delay that can be fatal for someone experiencing an immediate crisis.

Suicide prevention should therefore focus on integrating mental health services into district hospitals, basic health units, and the primary healthcare system.

Doctors, nurses, lady health workers, community health workers, and other frontline healthcare providers must be adequately trained to identify warning signs, offer basic psychosocial support, and refer individuals to appropriate specialists. The WHO also emphasizes the importance of integrating mental health into primary healthcare in Pakistan and enhancing task-sharing between different cadres of health workers.

Suicide is preventable, and prevention begins with the fundamental principle that individuals experiencing suicidal thoughts need our support, not our judgment. Families and communities must be educated and empowered to take warning signs seriously. An individual exhibiting signs of hopelessness, acute distress, withdrawal, or self-harm should not be dismissed with platitudes about resilience or blamed for their predicament. Instead, they must be listened to, supported, and connected with professional help.

Effective suicide prevention requires comprehensive clinical assessment, timely counseling, and treatment for underlying mental health conditions, crisis intervention, and ongoing follow-up. The WHO recommends evidence-based interventions, such as improving access to emotional support and minimizing availability of lethal means during times of crisis. Schools and universities play a crucial role in establishing counseling services, providing confidential referral systems, and promoting awareness programs so students can seek help before their struggles escalate. Workplaces also have a responsibility to offer employee support and mental health services.

Encouraging initiatives exist in Pakistan. Fatima Jinnah Women University, in collaboration with the Pakistan Institute of Living and Learning and the Global Mental Health Research Group at the University of Manchester, has established the National Centre for Research on Suicide Prevention (NCRSP). This center is dedicated to research, evidence generation, prevention strategies, service models, public awareness campaigns, and policy advocacy

However, isolated initiatives, while laudable, are insufficient. Pakistan needs a unified national suicide prevention strategy encompassing data collection, research, public awareness campaigns, crisis intervention services, access to treatment, referral systems, and post-attempt care. The integration of mental-health services at the district level is critical.

Psychosocial support must be readily available not just in major urban centers like Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad but also in rural districts such as Umerkot, Tharparkar, Badin, Sanghar, Larkana, and other underserved areas. The initial step towards prevention is breaking the silence. Suicide is not a subject that families, schools, media organizations, or governments should shun. Open and responsible discussions can de-stigmatize the issue and encourage individuals to seek help. The media also carries a significant responsibility. Its coverage should focus on prevention, warning signs, and available support, avoiding sensationalism, unnecessary details about methods, and language that glamorizes or normalizes suicide.

Every life lost to suicide is a personal tragedy for a family and a loss to society. Pakistan must move beyond statistics and address this crisis with compassion, reliable data, accessible treatment, and sustained prevention programs. The ultimate goal should be to ensure that no person dies simply because help was unavailable when they needed it most. This requires a shift from silence to conversation, from stigma to support, and from fragmented efforts to a comprehensive national strategy for suicide prevention.

Read: Ending Child Marriage in Pakistan

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Ali Nawaz Rahimoo, based in Umerkot, Sindh is a social development professional. He can be contacted on anrahimoo@gmail.com 

The post Suicide: An Unspoken Crisis first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Dr. Muhammad Mataro Hingorjo | Ireland

Sindh is passing through one of the most sensitive moments in its history. What is happening today should not be dismissed as ordinary government business, media drama, or merely a rivalry between political parties. The unity, identity and future of Sindh are at stake.

There is growing and, Sindhis believe, artificially engineered discussion about creating new provinces or administrative units within Sindh. The position of the Sindhi people must be absolutely clear:

Sindh is not merely a province or an administrative unit. It is an ancient civilization and the historic homeland of the Sindhi people for thousands of years. Sindh is indivisible. We will never accept the division of our homeland.

The current confrontation between PPP and MQM in the Sindh Assembly should not make Sindhis complacent. Many see it as political theatre that risks creating the impression that nothing fundamental is at stake, while much deeper interests may be involved.

This is not simply a conflict between political parties. Many Sindhis believe that the fragmentation of Sindh ultimately serves powerful forces within the Pakistani establishment, particularly the military establishment, by making Sindh easier to control politically and economically.

A fragmented Sindh would weaken the collective political strength of its people and potentially make its land, cities, coastline and natural resources easier to control. The weakening of the indigenous connection between the Sindhi people and their historic homeland could have consequences for generations.

Karachi is central to this question. Karachi is the historic capital of Sindh and, for Sindhis, the only city in the province with metropolitan facilities, institutions and opportunities on such a scale. Losing Sindh’s political and constitutional ownership of Karachi would therefore be an enormous loss for Sindh and for future generations.

This is why Sindhi intellectuals, writers, poets, lawyers, students, academics, journalists, professionals and the Sindhi diaspora across the world must wake up and pay attention.

This is not a call for hatred against anyone. It is a call for awareness, unity and peaceful democratic resistance to every attempt to divide Sindh.

Political parties may compromise. Governments may change. Leaders may come and go. But once a historic homeland is divided, the consequences can last forever.

Sindh is not a collection of administrative units to be rearranged according to the interests of powerful institutions.

Sindh is the historic and indivisible homeland of its people.

We are at a critical stage of history.

Sindhis everywhere must wake up, stand together and organize peaceful, democratic resistance—before it is too late.

Read: Mythical Supremacy and Settler Mentality

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Dr. Muhammad Mataro Hingorjo is a Family Physician originally from village Dhandhi Hingorja, Tharpakar, Sindh, currently residing in Limerick Ireland.

The post A Wake-Up Call to Sindhis first appeared on Sindh Courier.

• The government should map and investigate complaints against practitioners who operate as fraudulent healers.

By: Ramesh Raja

There is something deeply unsettling about a business that advertises itself on the walls of our towns. A name, a mobile number and a promise: cure illness, remove black magic, break a “bandish”, bring back a lover, save a marriage, solve family problems or change a person’s destiny. Such advertisements can be found not only in the remote areas of Tharparkar, Umerkot and Mirpurkhas, but across Sindh and increasingly in major urban centers. Karachi, too, is visibly crowded with such wall chalking and advertisements.

This is not merely a story about superstition. It is a story about fear, desperation, poverty, weak scientific literacy, failures of healthcare and the commercial exploitation of human vulnerability.

The Business of Human Desperation

Who goes to a bhopa? The answer is more complicated than simply saying “uneducated people”. A young man desperately trying to marry the woman he loves may go there after facing family opposition. A woman trapped in a troubled marriage may seek help because she cannot discuss her private problems openly. Parents may take a child whose behaviour has changed. A couple struggling with infertility may search for an explanation after exhausting their savings on treatment. Someone suffering from anxiety, depression, sleeplessness or an unexplained illness may be told that they are under the influence of black magic or an evil force.

At the moment of desperation, certainty becomes powerful. The bhopa offers an explanation where the patient has none, attention where institutions may have offered little, and hope where the family sees despair.

That is where a spiritual practice can become a commercial enterprise.

The initial visit may lead to repeated consultations, amulets, rituals, special prayers or other paid remedies. Fear can create dependency, and dependency can create a steady source of income. When a person’s most intimate anxieties become the raw material of a business, the matter moves beyond personal belief and enters the territory of public protection.

Why Are People Turning Away from Doctors?

It would be intellectually dishonest to blame everything on superstition while ignoring the failures of the formal healthcare system.

Many ordinary citizens feel that doctors do not have enough time to listen. Consultations can be hurried. Diagnostic tests and medicines are expensive. Patients may move from one doctor to another, spend money they cannot afford and still remain uncertain about what is wrong with them. For a poor family already struggling with inflation, even a routine medical consultation can become a financial decision.

Read: Labelled As Witches In Rajasthan, Women Face Harassment, Torture And Ostracism

There is another problem: dignity. A person who walks into a doctor’s office may receive ten minutes of clinical attention. A person who visits a bhopa may be listened to for an hour. The latter may ask about the family, relationships, dreams, fears and private troubles. The explanation may be scientifically wrong, but the emotional attention is real.

This is an uncomfortable lesson for modern healthcare: when institutions stop listening, people begin listening to anyone who will.

Women and Young People Are Particularly Vulnerable

The most sensitive cases often involve women and young people. Love, marriage, infertility, domestic disputes and family opposition are subjects that many cannot discuss freely. Social stigma can make professional counselling inaccessible or unacceptable.

A young couple facing resistance to marriage may be promised that a ritual will change the family’s mind. A woman experiencing marital difficulties may be told that another person has cast a spell on her husband. A distressed family may interpret psychological illness as possession.

Once fear enters the household, rational discussion becomes difficult.

The consequences can be serious. At their worst, such beliefs may lead to humiliation, physical violence, financial exploitation, abandonment of medical treatment and severe psychological trauma. There have also been tragic reports of deaths associated with alleged supernatural or faith-healing practices. Every such case deserves proper investigation rather than being dismissed as a private family matter.

This Is Not an Attack on Faith

There must be a clear distinction between faith and fraud.

Sindh possesses an extraordinary history of religious tolerance, Sufi traditions and cultural pluralism. Religious belief, prayer, spiritual comfort and traditional practices are part of the social fabric of the region. The issue is not whether people should be allowed to pray or seek spiritual guidance.

The issue begins when any person, whether presenting himself as a bhopa, religious figure, traditional healer or spiritual practitioner, uses supernatural claims to deceive people, extract money, threaten them, encourage violence or prevent them from obtaining legitimate medical treatment.

Nor should every mullah, pundit or religious scholar be labelled a bhopa. Such sweeping accusations are neither fair nor useful. The standard should be conduct, evidence and the law.

The Walls Are Telling Us Something

Perhaps the most remarkable feature of this phenomenon is its openness. These practitioners do not necessarily operate from hidden locations. Their names and telephone numbers are often written prominently on walls, poles and public spaces. Their locations may be widely known within neighborhoods.

That raises a simple but uncomfortable question: if the business is visible to ordinary citizens, why does it remain so difficult for the state to see it?

The recent initiative of Sindh Assembly Member Surendar Valasai, who has urged the Chief Minister of Sindh to act against fraudulent and exploitative bhopas, is therefore timely. But the issue must not be treated as a problem belonging only to Tharparkar, Umerkot or Mirpurkhas. It is a much wider social problem. From small rural settlements to Karachi, the same advertisements and claims can be found.

Education Alone Will Not Be Enough

Scientific education is essential, but simply telling people to “stop believing” will not solve the problem. A person needs an alternative.

If affordable healthcare is unavailable, provide it. If doctors do not have enough time to listen, improve patient care. If psychological problems are routinely misunderstood, expand counselling and mental-health services. If women cannot discuss sensitive matters safely, create confidential support systems. If inflation is making healthcare unaffordable, strengthen public hospitals and primary healthcare.

People do not abandon superstition merely because a scientist gives them a lecture. They abandon harmful practices when knowledge becomes accessible, healthcare becomes affordable, institutions become trustworthy and society provides safer answers to difficult questions.

The State Must Break the Chain of Exploitation

The government should map and investigate complaints against practitioners who operate as fraudulent healers, monitor misleading public advertisements, and take stern legal action wherever fraud, coercion, violence, financial exploitation or obstruction of legitimate medical treatment is established. Police and district administrations should not wait for a tragedy before acting.

But policing must be accompanied by prevention. Schools should strengthen scientific and critical thinking. Health departments should conduct public-awareness campaigns. Media organizations should expose fraudulent claims responsibly. Religious and community leaders who reject exploitation should be encouraged to speak clearly against practices that endanger human life.

The objective should not be to wage a war against faith. It should be to protect people from those who turn faith into fear and fear into money.

The Real Question

The growing presence of bhopas tells us something uncomfortable about our society. People are not simply buying supernatural cures. They are buying certainty, attention, confidentiality and hope. And if a desperate citizen finds all four more readily from an unqualified practitioner than from a doctor, counsellor or public institution, then the problem is bigger than the practitioner. It is a failure of the system around that person.

The time has come to stop treating every tragic incident as an isolated case. Sindh needs a coordinated response that combines law enforcement, affordable healthcare, scientific education, counselling, public awareness and social reform.

Because superstition becomes truly dangerous when it stops being merely a belief and becomes an organized business exploiting vulnerable human beings.

And when that business is openly advertised on our walls, perhaps the first question we should ask is not why people are going there, but why we have allowed the road to remain open.

Read: Nara Expressway: Lifeline of Progress

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The author of this article, Engr. Ramesh Raja, is a Civil Engineer, visionary planner, PMP certified and literary enthusiast with a passion for art and recreation. He can be reached at engineer.raja@gmail.com  

The post When Superstition Becomes a Business first appeared on Sindh Courier.

By: Ramesh Raja

Sindh’s history, economy and civilization have always been inseparably linked with water. Among its most remarkable watercourses is the Nara, whose origins go far beyond the modern irrigation system. The historical Nara was essentially a natural flood and inundation channel connected with the ancient Hakra river system. During periods of high Indus floods, surplus water moved southward through this natural depression towards the Dhoro Puran and ultimately the Kori Creek and Rann of Kutch. Historical records describe the Nara as a floodwater channel rather than an originally engineered perennial canal. During the nineteenth century, British engineers progressively transformed it into an irrigation waterway by providing a controlled connection with the Indus near Rohri. With the development of Sukkur Barrage in 1932, the Nara became one of the principal perennial canals of Sindh. The modern Nara is therefore the product of a remarkable transformation from natural flood channel to major irrigation artery. The historical Nara-Puran corridor, extending southward towards the Rann, offers an extraordinary foundation for a new regional development vision.

From Sukkur to the Rann

Today, the Government of Sindh Irrigation Department records the Nara Canal at approximately 364 kilometers, with a designed discharge of around 13,649 cusecs and a gross command area exceeding 2.2 million acres. Its extensive network of branches, distributaries and minors supports agriculture across a large part of Sindh. Historically, however, the Nara waterway continued considerably farther south. Historical irrigation records have placed the old Nara course at approximately 560 kilometers from Rohri towards the Rann of Kutch, through the Dhoro Puran system. For a modern planning concept, therefore, a Sukkur-to-Rann corridor of roughly 500–560 kilometers could be studied, although the 560-kilometre figure should be regarded as a tentative development-corridor estimate rather than a formally surveyed historical canal length. The proposal would follow the broader historical Nara-Puran geographical corridor while connecting with the present Nara Canal and its irrigation network.

The Nara Express Highway

The proposed Nara Express Highway could become a new north-south transportation and economic spine for Sindh. The concept would involve developing a modern highway broadly along both banks of the Nara system wherever technically, hydraulically and environmentally feasible. It would not necessarily remain immediately beside the canal throughout its entire length; alignment would be determined through detailed surveys of canal right-of-way, settlements, flood levels, wetlands, agricultural land and environmental constraints. The corridor could connect the Sukkur and Khairpur region with Gambat and other Upper Sindh settlements, then extend towards Sanghar, Khipro, Umerkot, Mirpurkhas and the southern Nara landscape, with carefully planned connections towards Tharparkar and the Rann. Strategically designed interchanges and feeder roads could integrate surrounding towns and villages. The highway would provide an alternative north-south route to existing highways, particularly N-5, improving traffic distribution, reducing pressure on congested routes and providing greater resilience during floods, accidents and other disruptions.

Agriculture, Industry and Rural Economy

The strongest economic justification for the project would be agriculture. The Nara irrigation command supports millions of acres, yet agricultural prosperity depends equally upon efficient transportation, storage, processing and access to markets. The proposed highway could therefore be developed with a chain of agricultural logistics centers containing collection yards, grading and packaging facilities, cold storage, warehouses, truck terminals, livestock markets and food-processing units. Khairpur could be strengthened as a major date-processing and export center, while Sanghar and surrounding areas could support cotton, wheat, sugarcane, chillies and other crops. Mirpurkhas could benefit from improved mango and horticulture logistics, while Umerkot and Tharparkar could develop livestock, dairy, vegetables and desert products. Designated industrial and energy zones could also connect the corridor with Sindh’s gas-producing areas and renewable-energy potential. The highway would thus become a farm-to-market and market-to-industry connection, creating employment and reducing transport losses.

Water, Wildlife and Tourism

The Nara corridor could become one of Pakistan’s most distinctive scenic routes, combining flowing water, green agricultural fields, date plantations, wetlands, sand dunes, desert landscapes and rural Sindhi culture. Riverside parks, viewing platforms, family picnic areas, rest areas, walking and cycling tracks and cultural centers could be developed at carefully selected locations without interfering with irrigation operations. The ecological dimension could be equally important. Existing wetlands and wildlife habitats could support controlled eco-tourism, bird-watching and fisheries development. Where scientifically confirmed crocodile habitats exist, protected crocodile conservation and viewing centers could become unique attractions rather than sites of uncontrolled interaction. The historical relationship between the Nara and the Rann also provides an opportunity to examine modern flood-management measures. Detention basins, restored wetlands, controlled drainage channels and flood-storage areas could potentially provide additional protection during exceptional floods while supporting groundwater recharge and biodiversity. Such measures must, however, be based on detailed hydrological and environmental studies.

A New Vision for Sindh

The Nara Express Highway should not be conceived simply as another road project. It should be planned as a Nara Economic, Agricultural, Tourism and Ecological Development Corridor, bringing together transport infrastructure, agriculture, industry, tourism, and wildlife and water management. Its network could include modern carriageways, service roads, bridges, agricultural logistics parks, cold-storage facilities, tourism centers, riverside parks, fisheries facilities, wildlife conservation areas, truck terminals, emergency services, EV charging stations and renewable-energy zones. Such a corridor could connect communities that remain economically distant from major markets and create a new tourism circuit from Sukkur and Rohri through Khairpur, the Nara wetlands, Sanghar, Khipro and Umerkot towards Thar and the Rann landscape. The idea deserves a comprehensive feasibility study by the Government of Sindh in coordination with the Irrigation Department, NHA, Planning and Development Department, Environment, Wildlife and Tourism authorities. The Nara once carried surplus waters of the Indus towards the Rann. A modern Nara corridor could carry something equally valuable in the twenty-first century: people, agricultural produce, investment, tourism and opportunity. It could transform an ancient waterway into a new economic spine for Sindh while preserving the history, ecology and landscapes that make the Nara unique.

Read: Past Wars Still Cost the Earth

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The author of this article, Engr. Ramesh Raja, is a Civil Engineer, visionary planner, PMP certified and literary enthusiast with a passion for art and recreation. He can be reached at engineer.raja@gmail.com  

The post Nara Expressway: Lifeline of Progress first appeared on Sindh Courier.

By: Ramesh Raja

Good news is emerging for Sindh and Pakistan’s maritime future. China has shown fresh and serious interest in the development of Keti Bunder Port, opening the possibility that a historic but long-neglected port at the mouth of the Indus Delta could once again become an important maritime gateway. On 24 August 2026, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) presented a Conceptual Master Plan for Keti Bunder Port to President Asif Ali Zardari. The proposal envisages a new deep-water maritime gateway with multiple terminals, logistics facilities and supporting infrastructure. Its proposed Phase-I includes a 500-metre multipurpose quay, with a preliminary engineering cost estimate of approximately US$522.34 million. The President called for continued technical coordination to refine the plan and determine an appropriate implementation and financing framework. It is important, however, to distinguish between a conceptual proposal and a finalized project. Keti Bunder has not yet become a modern deep-sea port, and the US$522.34 million is a preliminary Phase-I engineering estimate, not an announced Chinese financing commitment. The project remains at the conceptual and planning stage, but Chinese technical interest has nevertheless given fresh momentum to the idea of reviving Keti Bunder as a major maritime gateway.

Pakistan’s Coastline and Sindh’s Maritime Potential

Pakistan possesses a strategically important coastline along the Arabian Sea. Commonly cited figures put the country’s coastline at approximately 990 kilometers, extending across Sindh and Balochistan, with about 270 km along Sindh and 720 km along the Makran Coast of Balochistan. This coastline provides Pakistan direct access to the Arabian Sea and the wider Indian Ocean, placing the country close to major international maritime trade routes. Pakistan’s three principal commercial seaports are Karachi Port, Port Qasim and Gwadar Port, of which Karachi Port and Port Qasim are located in Sindh and Gwadar in Balochistan. Sindh also has several smaller fishing harbours, jetties and coastal landing facilities, particularly around the Indus Delta, including Keti Bunder and Shah Bunder. If the proposed development succeeds, Keti Bunder could eventually give Sindh a third major commercial maritime gateway, alongside Karachi Port and Port Qasim. Its strategic importance becomes even greater when viewed in relation to Pakistan’s neighbouring landlocked countries. Afghanistan has no coastline, while Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are also landlocked. Pakistan’s ports therefore have the potential to provide these countries with access to the Arabian Sea and international maritime trade.

Keti Bunder’s History and Its Present Condition

Keti Bunder is located in Thatta District, Sindh, at the southern end of the Indus Delta where the river meets the Arabian Sea. It is not a newly conceived port. It is a historic maritime center whose rise and decline were closely connected with the changing channels of the Indus. The Indus Delta has historically produced and destroyed ports as river channels shifted, sediment accumulated and the coastline changed. Earlier ports such as Shah Bunder and Vikkur Bunder declined as navigation conditions changed, while Keti Bunder emerged as an important commercial center. During its prosperous period, Keti Bunder connected the Indus Delta with maritime trade across the Arabian Sea, while agriculture and fishing supported the local economy. But the same geography that created its prosperity eventually contributed to its decline. Changes in the Indus river system, sedimentation, reduced freshwater flows into the lower delta and the rise of Karachi as the dominant commercial port of Sindh all contributed to Keti Bunder’s loss of importance. Today, Keti Bunder is not comparable with Karachi Port or Port Qasim in international commercial operations. It primarily serves the local fishing economy and small-scale maritime activities. Its present significance is therefore largely related to fishing, local coastal activity and maritime security. Yet the location remains strategically valuable because of its direct relationship with the Indus Delta and the Arabian Sea.

From Fishing Harbour to Deep-Sea Maritime Economic Corridor

The proposed revival of Keti Bunder is much broader than simply constructing a new quay. The Sindh Government has been considering a wider maritime and economic development corridor, potentially involving fisheries, seafood processing, logistics, industrial development, energy infrastructure and a future commercial deep-sea port. The proposed development could include modern fishing harbours, fish auction and landing facilities, cold storage, seafood processing, deep-sea commercial berths, container and multipurpose terminals, warehouses, logistics facilities, industrial zones and energy-related infrastructure. Such development would need strong road and potentially rail connectivity. The principal road corridor is Karachi → N-5 → Gharo → N-110 → Keti Bunder. The Karachi–Gharo section follows the National Highway N-5, while N-110 is the Gharo–Keti Bunder Highway, approximately 90 km long. This provides a definable connection between Keti Bunder and Pakistan’s national road network. The concept should therefore be viewed as port + road + rail + logistics + industry + energy + fisheries, rather than simply a harbour project. A successful port is an economic ecosystem in which cargo, industry, transport, storage, energy and maritime services reinforce one another. Keti Bunder’s location could eventually support a trade corridor extending from Central Asia and Afghanistan through Pakistan to the Arabian Sea, providing landlocked countries with an alternative maritime gateway to global markets.

The Engineering and Environmental Challenge

The greatest challenge facing Keti Bunder is also the most important engineering question: water depth and sedimentation. Gwadar benefits from a naturally favourable open-coast deep-water setting, while Karachi has a naturally sheltered harbour that has subsequently been extensively engineered and dredged. Keti Bunder, in contrast, lies within the sediment-rich Indus Delta. Modern dredging can create a deep navigation channel, but the real question is whether the required depth can be maintained economically and reliably year after year. The project therefore requires detailed hydrographic surveys, bathymetric mapping, sediment-transport modelling, navigation-channel design and maintenance-dredging studies. Capital dredging is only one part of the cost; annual maintenance dredging could become a decisive factor in the port’s long-term economics. Coastal protection will also be critical. Depending on detailed studies, the project may require breakwaters, revetments, riprap protection, jetties or other shoreline-protection structures. However, such structures must be designed carefully because altering natural sediment movement in the Indus Delta could transfer erosion or deposition problems to neighbouring areas. Equally important is environmental protection. The delta’s mangroves, tidal creeks, mudflats and fisheries are valuable natural assets that protect the coastline, support biodiversity, store carbon and sustain local communities. Any future Keti Bunder port must therefore be based on integrated coastal-zone management, environmental impact assessment, climate-resilience studies and meaningful consultation with fishing communities. The ultimate test will not simply be whether a deep-water port can be constructed, but whether it can be operated and maintained economically without damaging the ecological and social systems on which the Indus Delta depends.

A Historic Port with a New Strategic Future

Keti Bunder once prospered because of the Indus and the Arabian Sea. History turned it into a small fishing settlement, but its strategic location has never lost its importance. The new Chinese interest could now give this historic port another opportunity. CHEC’s presentation of a conceptual master plan marks an important step in bringing Keti Bunder back into Pakistan’s maritime development discussion. However, ambition must be matched by engineering realism, transparent feasibility studies and careful environmental planning. Before construction begins, Pakistan should establish the exact port location, natural bathymetry, offshore depth contours, approach-channel alignment, required navigation depth, capital and annual maintenance-dredging requirements, sediment behaviour, breakwater requirements, navigation safety, climate resilience, environmental impacts, road and rail requirements, cargo forecasts and the most appropriate financing and PPP structure. Pakistan should also ensure that the development complements rather than unnecessarily duplicates Karachi Port, Port Qasim and Gwadar. If properly planned, Keti Bunder could become more than a revived historic port. It could become an integrated maritime economic corridor connecting Sindh, Pakistan, Afghanistan and potentially Central Asia with the Arabian Sea and the wider global ocean economy. Pakistan’s approximately 990-kilometre coastline, including about 270 km in Sindh, gives the country a significant maritime advantage, while Sindh’s existing two major commercial ports, Karachi Port and Port Qasim, provide the foundation for further maritime expansion. Keti Bunder could eventually become a third major commercial gateway for Sindh. The Indus created Keti Bunder, the sea sustained it, and history changed it. Now engineering, investment and responsible planning may give it a new future.

Read: Sindh: Maritime Heritage and Economic Potential

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The author of this article, Engr. Ramesh Raja, is a Civil Engineer, visionary planner, PMP certified and literary enthusiast with a passion for art and recreation. He can be reached at engineer.raja@gmail.com  

The post Keti Bunder: Historic Port’s Maritime Future first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Ali Nawaz Rahimoo

Pakistan is at a crossroads. The challenge for Pakistan is no longer just about creating jobs. It is about creating an economy where people can create jobs for others. With huge numbers of Pakistan’s youth, low levels of formal employment and intense economic pressure, entrepreneurship needs to become a national priority

Small businesses, start-ups, family enterprises, farmers, artisans, digital workers and informal traders are a critical part of Pakistan’s economy. State Bank Pakistan (SBP) estimates that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) comprise “over 90 percent of total businesses in the country and are significant contributors to employment, wealth creation, and innovation in Pakistan”. But entrepreneurs who lead these businesses face a myriad of challenges, including lack of access to credit, inadequate skills, regulatory hurdles, weak infrastructure, and poor access to markets.

The challenge for Pakistan is no longer just about creating jobs. It is about creating an economy where people can create jobs for others. With huge numbers of Pakistan’s youth, low levels of formal employment and intense economic pressure, entrepreneurship needs to become a national priority. Pakistan needs to nurture enterprising youth and help them evolve into dynamic business leaders who can generate employment, wealth, and innovation.

For generations, parents have invested in a formal education for their children with the expectation of securing a stable government or corporate job. The education system has been geared toward preparing students for salaried employment. This has to change. Educational institutions need to encourage students to think not only about getting a job but also about job creation. There is a need for entrepreneurship literacy, starting with identifying problems and finding practical solutions.

Schools and universities can promote experiential learning through incubators and encourage students to explore how they can start businesses based on their skills and interests. Students can be supported in developing small-scale enterprises such as processing and preserving local products, livestock farming and breeding, making handicrafts, e-commerce, solar energy, mobile phone repair workshops, farm mechanization, tourism, digital content creation, and other related fields. Students need to understand that they can start small and grow bigger. Pakistan needs to create an environment in which the youth can become job creators as well as problem-solvers.

Educational institutions, domestic industries, and parents have to play their part in reshaping mindsets about entrepreneurship. Visionary entrepreneurs such as Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Narayana Murthy, Jack Ma, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Sara Blakely have disrupted global markets through their innovative ideas and transformed societies through massive job creation. Thus, Pakistan needs to facilitate an environment in which many young entrepreneurs can emerge and thrive.

Many countries have succeeded in promoting strong entrepreneurial ecosystems that have bred numerous businesses and job opportunities. Billionaires such as Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Richard Branson are products of successful entrepreneurial milieus operating in the US. Pakistan has to nurture its entrepreneurial soil in order to create more entrepreneurs. Pakistan needs not only to admire successful foreign entrepreneurs but also to celebrate its own successful domestic entrepreneurs.

Irregularity presents both a challenge and an opportunity. Small businesses dominate the informal sector in Pakistan due to factors such as the high cost of registration, taxation, and licensing. State Bank Pakistan (SBP) has acknowledged the high number of very small firms in Pakistan.

The government needs to make formalization easy rather than difficult for entrepreneurs. Young entrepreneurs need to be able to open a business in their locality, obtain a tax ID, open a business bank account, and access other financial services digitally.

The recent reforms in Pakistan’s SME policy, including the revised SME financing guidelines and the enterprise categorization, which have been reviewed and updated by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), are a good first step toward promoting a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem in Pakistan. For instance, in July 2026, SBP revised its SME definitions and classifications, including start-ups with less than five years of experience.

Entrepreneurship can take off not only in urban centers such as Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad but also in the rural areas.

For instance, in the province of Sindh, entrepreneurship can be harnessed in agriculture, livestock, fisheries, handicrafts, dairy, camel products, agro-processing, harnessing renewable energy, and tourism. Similarly, the people of Tharparkar have a wealth of traditional knowledge and skills in livestock production, handicrafts, and desert farming that can be commercialized, provided there are the right linkages for technology, processing, packaging, branding, and transport.

Instead of selling farm produce and livestock at local markets at the margins, rural entrepreneurs can think of value addition and targeting larger markets, both locally and internationally. Rural Pakistan needs to be connected to urban markets through roads and digital networks so that farmers, for instance, can sell their produce directly to processors and earn higher profits. Similarly, milk can be processed into various dairy products, and dates can be turned into packaged date products. Livestock products and handicrafts can provide entry points into specialty meat and dairy shops and boutique stores, respectively, in Pakistan and beyond. Rural entrepreneurship has the potential to alleviate rural poverty, with spillover effects on urban areas.

Women are Pakistan’s largest untapped economic resource. Women already run small-scale enterprises, make handicrafts, cook meals, and provide services, but they are mostly informal workers without access to financial services, such as accounts and credit. Pakistan needs to invest in enhancing women’s digital literacy, financial inclusion, market access, and capacity development. With the right support, women can scale their businesses substantially. Young entrepreneurs need to be mentored and nurtured, especially in the hinterlands.

The government has to create an entrepreneurial enabling environment rather than trying to be an entrepreneur itself. This includes facilitating easier regulatory approvals, promoting reliable electricity and internet supplies, strengthening property rights, reducing inspection costs, promoting digital payments and connectivity, improving road infrastructure, and reforming taxation to make it more business-friendly. Educational institutions, domestic industries, and parents have to play their part in changing social norms about entrepreneurship. Universities need to have incubators and business labs, and successful entrepreneurs need to mentor young would-be business leaders. Domestic industries need to create apprenticeship opportunities for young people.

Pakistan needs a comprehensive entrepreneurship promotion strategy that promotes linkages between education, finance, technology, markets, and regulations to foster dynamic entrepreneurial activity. The objective has to be for people to think of becoming job-generators rather than always being job-seekers. If Pakistan is to unlock the entrepreneurial potential of its vast youth population, it needs to create an environment in which a young person in a remote village has the same entrepreneurial opportunities as a young person in a major city. Pakistan’s future prosperity will increasingly be defined not by the size of the public sector and the number of jobs it creates but by how many Pakistanis can become job creators.

Read: Putting the Fire Safety First

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Ali Nawaz Rahimoo, based in Umerkot, Sindh is a social development professional. He can be contacted on anrahimoo@gmail.com 

The post Entrepreneurship for the Development first appeared on Sindh Courier.

it was not merely a fire that broke out

dreams were turned to ashes…

Nisar Banbhan

Hailing from Village Mir Muhammad Banbhan, Taluka Mirwah, District Khapurpur and based in Karachi, the capital of Sindh, Nisar Banbhan is a seasoned professional with nearly 25 years of multifaceted experience, encompassing 3 years in journalism and over two decades of service in a public sector organization. His extensive expertise spans content creation, scriptwriting, screenwriting, lyrics, poetry, and storytelling across multiple languages, including Sindhi, Urdu, and English. Nisar has honed his skills in writing articles, columns, and short stories, contributing to various national and regional media outlets. Additionally, he brings a deep understanding of program development, educational advocacy, and strategic planning, having led initiatives that promote quality education and foster community empowerment. His passion for literature and education merges seamlessly, enabling him to craft impactful narratives that resonate with diverse audiences while driving meaningful change in society. 

The Babies Who Never Even Got to See the World

In a nursery in Islamabad,

it was not merely a fire that broke out

dreams were turned to ashes,

prayers were silenced,

and the arms of mothers

were left empty forever.

Fourteen tiny lives, they say,

were swallowed by the flames

fourteen little souls

who had not yet seen

their mothers’ faces,

held their fathers’ fingers,

or whispered their first word

into the waiting world.

They were like

the first light of dawn,

fragile as drops of dew,

tender as unopened flowers,

each one a whole lifetime

wrapped inside a mother’s prayer.

For nine long months,

a mother had carried

another heartbeat beneath her own,

nurturing an entire universe

beneath her heart.

A father had already begun

building a sky of dreams

around a child

he had barely met.

Homes were waiting

for their first laughter,

courtyards for their first footsteps,

and hearts for a new beginning.

But they fell silent

before life had even

begun to speak.

Perhaps the fire began

with a faulty machine,

a single spark,

an electrical failure,

or a moment of carelessness.

But the death of fourteen newborns

cannot simply be called

an accident.

Fire may be an accident.

Smoke may be an accident.

A spark may be an accident.

But negligence

is the locked door

standing between life and death.

Negligence is the hand

that did not reach the alarm in time.

It is the emergency exit

that remained closed

when every second

was worth a life.

It is the moment

when a tiny child

needed a pair of arms

and no arms arrived.

We are told

that emergency exits were locked,

doors could not be opened,

and firefighters

had to break through a wall

to reach the nursery.

Then what were those exits for

if they could not become a way out

when life was running out of time?

What were the alarms for

if they could not cry out

before those innocent breaths

fell silent?

What were the safety systems for

if they could not stand

between the flames

and a newborn’s fragile life?

And where was the training

that should have taught

every hand in that ward

how to save a child?

But above all,

one question remains

Why were the babies the ones who died?

They could not run.

They could not open a door.

They could not call for help.

They were as helpless

as a bird beneath a storm,

as delicate as a flower

before the first touch of winter.

They had come into this world

only to learn how to live.

Today, somewhere outside a ward,

a father stands alone

empty hands,

tear-filled eyes,

and a question

burning deeper than fire:

Where is my child?

Somewhere,

a mother is crying

to hold her shattered world

one more time.

She carries no explanation

in her hands,

no consolation in her heart

only an empty lap,

a silent room,

and a question

no official file

will ever be able to answer.

O City of Power!

How many committees will be formed?

How many statements will be issued?

How many words of sorrow

will be written on official pages?

But committees

cannot return fourteen breaths.

Investigations are necessary

but before investigation,

there must be responsibility.

And after responsibility

there must be accountability.

These children

belonged to no politics,

no institution,

no ideology.

They were simply human.

A mother’s prayer.

A father’s hope.

A family’s first laughter.

A spring waiting to arrive

in a quiet courtyard.

They were fourteen little stars

waiting to rise

in the sky of their homes.

This tragedy

is not merely the tragedy

of one hospital,

one ward,

or one morning.

It is a question

written upon the conscience

of an entire system.

A hospital is not merely

walls, beds, machines and corridors.

It is a place

where people place their lives

into the hands of others

as a sacred trust.

And newborn life

is as fragile

as a drop of dew

resting on the edge of a leaf

one moment of negligence,

and the whole world

can disappear.

O fourteen little souls!

You never saw the world,

yet your silence

has made the world look at itself.

Your ashes have written

a question upon the forehead

of our history

a question

time itself may never erase.

Your mothers

will keep calling your names.

Your fathers

will keep searching for you.

Your homes

will keep waiting

for a laughter

that will never return.

Perhaps, before Allah,

you will raise your tiny hands

and ask:

“O Allah,

the world did not even give us

one chance to live.”

And perhaps

the mercy of God

will gather you gently

into His embrace

and whisper:

“Come, my innocent ones.

The world could not protect you.

I have called you

back to Me.”

But for those of us

who remain

tears are not enough.

Neither condolences,

nor official statements,

nor promises that disappear

when the headlines fade.

This grief

must become a promise.

A promise that in every nursery,

every hospital ward,

every place where a life

is entrusted to human care

emergency exits will remain open,

doors will open when seconds matter,

alarms will remain alive,

fire equipment will remain functional,

electrical and medical systems

will be inspected regularly,

staff will be trained for emergencies,

and evacuation drills

will be practiced in reality,

not merely recorded on paper.

Because safety

is not a clause in a file.

Safety is the first duty

we owe to life.

Every institution

is not merely the custodian

of a building.

It is the guardian

of the lives entrusted to it.

That is why this tragedy demands

a transparent and impartial investigation.

Every failure must be examined.

Every act of negligence

must be brought into the light.

Responsibility must be established.

And accountability must follow

not as revenge,

but as a warning

to protect the lives yet to come.

A mother should not be left

with an empty lap

and nothing but the advice

to “have patience.”

She deserves the truth.

She deserves justice.

And she deserves to know

that her child’s death

will not disappear

into the silence of paperwork.

O Allah

give these fourteen little souls

a place beneath

the vastness of Your mercy.

Give their mothers patience

when patience feels impossible.

Give their fathers strength

when words have failed.

And give us a conscience

that refuses to hide negligence

behind the convenient word

“accident.”

We pledge

that these children

will not be remembered

only through tears and condolences.

Their memory must become

a demand for safer hospitals,

a demand for open doors,

working alarms,

clear emergency routes,

trained hands,

and a system

that reaches the smallest breath

before it becomes silence.

Because grief

is not merely the water

that falls from our eyes.

Grief is a demand for truth.

And justice

is not merely the punishment

of those responsible.

Justice is also

making certain

that tomorrow,

some other mother’s arms

are never emptied

because we failed

to protect a life

placed in our care.

Fourteen little lives are gone.

But their silence

still speaks

Do not forget us.

Do not turn our deaths

into another statistic.

Do not let our silence

become ordinary.

Protect every life

entrusted to your care.

Because sometimes

the greatest measure

of a society

is not how loudly

it mourns its dead

but how fiercely

it protects

those who are still alive.

________________

Read: Sindh First, Sindh Forever

The post Babies Who Never Saw the World first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Sindh’s literary figures have long acted as the region’s moral baseline, using poetry and intellectual resistance to shield provincial identity against external political threats and territorial fragmentation.

By Noor Muhammad Marri Advocate | Islamabad

The literary tradition of Sindh has historically served as a shield against political and socio-economic marginalization. From the foundational humanism of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai to the anti-colonial resistance articulated by Hyder Bux Jatoi, writers and poets have functioned as the moral conscience of the region. Whenever the provincial identity or geographic integrity of Sindh faced existential threats, the literary community rallied public consciousness, transforming intellectual thought into popular resistance. In the contemporary political landscape, their mobilization of civil society against any administrative division or territorial fragmentation of Sindh remains highly commendable.

However, a rigorous analytical appraisal reveals a troubling structural contradiction in modern Sindhi intellectual discourse. While writers actively resist theoretical divisions of the province proposed by external actors, a dominant segment of the intelligentsia maintains an eerie silence regarding internal governance actions that cause far more immediate, material damage. By consistently avoiding direct critique of the provincial ruling party—the Pakistan People’s Party—intellectuals and commentators risk reducing public advocacy to selective, partisan rhetoric.

Historically, Sindh’s survival has relied on resource sovereignty, particularly along the lower riparian stretch of the Indus Basin. Yet today, the construction of six new canals under various corporate agricultural schemes, including downstream diversions, poses an immediate threat to the region’s agrarian ecology. Reduced water flow below the Kotri Barrage accelerates sea intrusion, drowning fertile coastal land in Thatta and Badin and displacing peasant populations. Similarly, the provincial government’s extensive allocation of thousands of acres of public, agricultural, and barren land to corporate entities disenfranchises local sharecroppers and smallholders. Handing over communal heritage under the guise of investment destroys rural economies far more permanently than a redrawn administrative map.

Furthermore, recent legislative shifts—specifically the passage and discussions surrounding the 26th and 27th Constitutional Amendments—represent an alarming centralized reconfiguration of federalism. These amendments threaten the provincial autonomy hard-won through the 18th Amendment, altering judicial frameworks and weakening local legal remedies against central resource allocations. Historically, whenever provincial leadership acquiesced to federal centralism—such as during the implementation of the One Unit scheme in 1955—the region suffered profound economic and political setbacks.

The division of a nation or a province does not occur solely through physical boundaries drawn on a map. It occurs organically when a region’s water is systematically diverted, its ancestral soil is transferred to corporate monopolies, and its constitutional safeguards are eroded with the implicit or explicit consent of its own elected executive. When writers choose to shield the provincial ruling elite from accountability—whether driven by institutional patronage, state-funded academies, or political alignment—they compromise their moral authority. An intellectual tradition that claims to protect the land while staying silent on the policies drying its rivers and privatizing its soil ultimately fails the very people it purports to serve.

Read: Baloch Insurgency: Changing Dynamics

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Noor Muhammad, Advocate and Mediator, Islamabad

The post Dilemma of Modern Intelligentsia first appeared on Sindh Courier.

• Sea intrusion and increasing soil salinity have further reduced the productivity of agricultural land in the Indus Delta and other coastal areas. Large tracts of fertile land have gradually become unsuitable for cultivation, forcing many farming families to abandon agriculture or seek alternative sources of income.

Noor Muhammad Talpur

There is no doubt that climate change is affecting the lives of millions of people across the globe. While some of its impacts are immediate and highly visible, others emerge gradually over many years. In many cases, the effects are subtle, making them difficult to assess until the damage has become extensive.

In Pakistan, the coastal belt has been among the regions most severely affected by climate change over the past few decades. The changing climate has caused widespread damage to agriculture—the backbone of the local economy—leading to declining livelihoods, increased poverty, and growing economic uncertainty for thousands of farming families.

The effects of climate change on agriculture, particularly rice cultivation, are clearly visible in the coastal region and can easily be documented through scientific field studies. Rice, once a reliable source of income for local communities, is becoming increasingly difficult to cultivate due to a combination of environmental and climatic challenges.

One of the major factors is the large-scale loss of forests and natural vegetation over recent decades. These forests once acted as natural barriers against strong winds and dust storms, protecting fertile agricultural land and supporting healthy crop growth. Their disappearance has exposed farmlands to extreme weather conditions, accelerating soil degradation and reducing agricultural productivity.

Water scarcity has become another serious challenge. Shortages of irrigation water during the sowing season often force farmers to plant rice later than usual. As a result, the crop matures during the monsoon season, when excessive rainfall, prolonged cloud cover, and cooler temperatures create unfavorable conditions for rice cultivation. This significantly reduces crop growth and yields.

Sea intrusion and increasing soil salinity have further reduced the productivity of agricultural land in the Indus Delta and other coastal areas. Large tracts of fertile land have gradually become unsuitable for cultivation, forcing many farming families to abandon agriculture or seek alternative sources of income.

Even when farmers manage to produce a successful crop, they often face another harsh reality. The rising cost of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, fuel, transportation, and agricultural labour has increased production expenses to such an extent that the income earned from the harvest barely covers the investment. Consequently, neither farmers nor landowners receive a reasonable return on their efforts, making agriculture an increasingly unsustainable livelihood.

Climate change is no longer just an environmental issue; it is a social and economic crisis that threatens food security, employment, and rural development in Pakistan’s coastal communities.

There is an urgent need for a comprehensive scientific study to assess the long-term impacts of climate change on the lives and livelihoods of people living in the southern coastal regions of Pakistan, particularly the Indus Delta. Such research would provide evidence-based insights into the scale of environmental degradation and help policymakers design effective adaptation strategies. Without timely intervention, the consequences for agriculture, biodiversity, and human well-being may prove far more severe than we currently realize.

Read: Sindh: Environmental and Weather Concerns

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Noor Muhammad Talpur is a development professional with extensive experience in Pakistan’s humanitarian and development sector.

The post Climate Change Destroys Coastal Livelihoods first appeared on Sindh Courier.