Blighted by the vagaries of unplanned urbanization and unchecked industrialization, Pakistan’s commercial capital Karachi is among the most polluted metropolises in South Asia.

Already home to some 20 million people, the port city has little space left for the thousands turning up here every year in the hopes for a better future.

Still, though, construction of more residential and commercial spaces – of every size and design imaginable – continues unabated in every nook and corner of Karachi, driven as much by the unceasing demand as the ruthless greed for profit of real estate developers.

This relentless cycle has turned the coastal city, once known for its temperate climate and breezy evenings, into a concrete jungle gasping for fresh air, where trees and green spaces are reduced to almost a luxury.

However, there are still people striving to give Karachi a greener future, doing what they can in their limited personal capacities.

Sabir Gul is one such individual, who has taken it upon himself to care for more than 2,000 plants and trees in a high-end neighborhood in Karachi’s eastern district.

A retired gardener in his early 70s, Gul is part of a tree plantation campaign launched four years ago by Al-Khidmat Foundation, one of the country’s largest charity organizations.

He is caring for plants and trees in Mohammad Ali Society, which has gone from being one of the city’s cleanest and greenest residential areas to a maze of high-rises and glossy buildings in the past two decades.

Thousands of trees have been chopped down in the locality to make way for new houses and buildings, but Gul and the foundation are determined to undo at least some of the seemingly irreparable damage.

Every morning, Gul and his assistant load a big water tank onto a specially modified three-wheeled motorcycle and set out to water and check on all plants and trees in the sprawling neighborhood.

It takes them eight to 10 hours to cover the entire area, with an hour-long break for lunch and noon prayers.

“My love for plants prompted me to join this campaign,” said Gul, who worked as a gardener at a school in Karachi for 25 years and joined the foundation as a volunteer in 2010.

The love he speaks of is evident in how tenderly Gul, clad in a shalwar kameez with his gray hair and beard neatly trimmed, waters and prunes a plant on a narrow greenbelt along the busy Shaheed-e-Millat Road as honking vehicles whiz past.

“I have never taken it as a job; this is a cause. These plants are like my kids. I take care of them as a father,” he told Anadolu Agency.

Not just the government’s duty

Pakistan is among the 10 countries most at risk from climate change.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has taken up the issue and its related challenges at various global forums, calling for urgent international action.

At home, his government has been pursuing an ambitious “10 Billion Tree Tsunami” project that aims to restore the country’s rapidly depleting forest cover and also plant trees in urban settings.

Gul, however, believes that tackling the threat of climate change is “not just the government’s duty.”

“He [Khan] has his own domain and duties. But as a citizen, it’s my job to do my bit,” said the elderly volunteer.

Pakistan has recently launched an “Ecosystem Restoration Fund” to support nature-based solutions to climate change and facilitate environmentally resilient initiatives for afforestation and biodiversity conservation.

Under the project, some 15 protected areas are being developed across the country to conserve over 7,300 square kilometers (approximately 2,820 square miles) of land, which will also create over 5,500 related jobs./aa

Much more to be done

In the past decade, extreme weather patterns, floods, shrinking agriculture, sea erosion, and lingering dry spells have caused widespread migration within Pakistan, mainly to big cities such as Karachi.

For instance, estimates indicate more than 2 million people were displaced by floods that affected one-fifth of the country in 2010 and 2011, sparking massive a movement of people from rural areas to urban centers.

The growing need for housing has triggered a rush of construction in major cities, including Karachi, with the greatest casualty almost always being trees and green spaces.

“Every day, we see construction of a new building starting somewhere in Karachi,” Junaid Mukati, a local politician who is heading Al-Khidmat’s tree plantation drive, told Anadolu Agency.

“Nowhere are the authorities or citizens worried about how many trees and green spaces are being wiped out to make way for these new structures.”

Mukati said his organization has planted more than 8,000 trees during the ongoing drive, but acknowledged that “much more needs to be done.”

“But, as long as we have dedicated people like Gul, there will always be hope,” he said. ​​​​​​​

The Ministry of External Affairs in the past has asserted that India is proud of its secular credentials, its status as the largest democracy and pluralistic society with a longstanding commitment to tolerance and inclusion

A group of over 30 American lawmakers led by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has introduced a bill in the House of Representatives against growing incidents of Islamophobia worldwide.

The bill urges the State Department to include state-sponsored Islamophobic violence and impunity in its annual human rights reports.

The creation of the Special Envoy will help policymakers better understand the interconnected, global problem of anti-Muslim bigotry, the group of over 30 lawmakers said.

It will also establish a comprehensive strategy for establishing US leadership in combating Islamophobia worldwide.

Proponents of the bill, which requires the State Department to create a Special Envoy for monitoring and combating Islamophobia, have put India in the category of China and Myanmar for alleged atrocities against Muslims.

The Ministry of External Affairs in the past has asserted that India is proud of its secular credentials, its status as the largest democracy and pluralistic society with a longstanding commitment to tolerance and inclusion.

The Indian Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to all its citizens, including its minority communities, it has said.

It is widely acknowledged that India is a vibrant democracy where the Constitution protects religious freedom, and where democratic governance and the rule of law further promote and protect fundamental rights, the MEA has maintained.

Congresswoman Omar said, "We are seeing a rise in Islamophobia in nearly every corner of the globe."

A press statement issued by her office said that there has been a staggering rise in incidents of violent Islamophobia.

Whether it is the atrocities being committed against the Uyghurs in China and the Rohingya in Burma (Myanmar), the crackdowns on Muslim populations in India and Sri Lanka, the scapegoating of Muslim refugees and other Muslims in Hungary and Poland, the acts of white supremacist violence targeting Muslims in New Zealand and Canada, or the targeting of minority Muslim communities in Muslim-majority countries like Pakistan, Bahrain and Iran, the problem of Islamophobia is global in scope, it said.

The Combating International Islamophobia Act is endorsed by several organisations including the American Muslim Empowerment Network (AMEN), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT).

For over a decade, we have seen increasing incidents of violent Islamophobia both in the US and worldwide from the genocide of the Rohingya in Burma (Myanmar) and Uyghurs in China to the attacks on Muslim refugees in Canada and New Zealand, said Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky.

Nihad Awad from CAIR said that while global Islamophobia, anti-Muslim state policies and hate incidents have increased for the past two decades, the American Muslim community has consistently called for the creation of a special envoy position to monitor and combat this rising tide of hate.

Our nation needs better tools to combat Islamophobic state policies and violence in countries like China, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, the European Union and elsewhere, he said.

Global Islamophobia is not only a threat to the safety and security of Muslims here and abroad, it is also a threat to international religious freedom and democratic principles.

CAIR is calling on congressional leadership and the Biden-Harris administration to support the Combating International Islamophobia Act and make this special envoy position a reality," Awad added./FP

The UN said Friday it is worried about “Israel” declaring six Palestinian rights groups terror organizations. 

The UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory said in a statement that “counter-terrorism legislation must not be used to constrain legitimate human rights and humanitarian work.”

"The designation decisions published by the National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing of “Israel” list extremely vague or irrelevant reasons, including entirely peaceful and legitimate activities such as the provision of legal aid and the ‘promotion of steps against Israel in the international arena,” it said.

"The UN Human Rights Office calls on “Israel” to fully respect the rights to freedom of association and expression, without any interference or harassment against the organizations or their staff," it added.

In a separate statement, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said the move was another link in the chain of undermining the right to civil and human rights work in Palestinian territories.

The Geneva-based rights organization added that "the classification aims to prevent the documentation of Israeli violations and support their victims amid an absence of international response to that.”

The group urged the international community to pressure “Israeli” authorities to limit their policies in subduing critical voices of their practices and violations in Palestinian territories. 

Serious violation of international law

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh rejected the Israeli decision, calling it a serious violation of international law.

He called on the international community and all human rights organizations across the world to condemn the decision.

Israel accused the six groups of having links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a group banned by the Israeli military.

According to the Jerusalem Post, the Israeli Justice Ministry outlawed the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights, Al-Haq, the Bisan Center for Research and Development, Defense for Children Palestine, Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees.

The PFLP is the second-largest group in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and was elected as a member of the Legislative Council in the last parliamentary elections in 2006.

The “Israeli” army in July sealed off the offices of the UAWC, a Palestinian non-profit organization in Ramallah, central West Bank, for six months./agencies