Pakistan News And Discussion-10

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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Arab sex drive pits Sindh with the Centre </b>
FT
Hamza Shaheryar
The issuance of hunting permits falls under the jurisdiction of the Sindh Wildlife Department; yet, this year alone, the foreign office has issued 23 permits to various rulers and members of the royal families of the Gulf States
   
Provincial officials of the inter-provincial coordination (IPC) department are set to take up Sindh’s complaint against the Foreign Office for issuing hunting permits to foreigners, particularly those from the Gulf countries. According to the law, only the Sindh Wildlife Department is allowed to issue hunting permits.

“Not just the foreign office, but the prime minister [Shaukat Aziz] himself asks for such permits when they are needed by the royal families,” said a Sindh Wildlife Department source.

However, while on the one hand Sindh complains of the Centre’s highhandedness in issuing permits to foreigners, the provincial wildlife department is itself guilty of defying a central agency’s directive asking not to issue permits for falconry. In fact, sources say the provincial department has issued hundreds of permits for catching and trading in falcons, a rare species now facing extinction.

The National Council for Conservation of Wildlife (NCCW) lately directed all provincial wildlife departments against issuing any such permits. Trading in the falcon has become a multimillion venture after Sheikhs from the Gulf States started coming to Pakistan to hunt the houbara bustard. The hunters use falcons to catch the houbara bustard whose meat is said to have aphrodisiac qualities.

Normally, the hunting season starts in the first week of November and ends on the last Sunday of February. According to the rules, only partridges, grouse, waterfowl and quail can be hunted. However, this year, to the great dismay of the Wildlife Department, the federal government issued at least 23 special houbara bustard hunting permits to various rulers and members of the royal families of the Gulf States.

Sources said a large number of foreigners, particularly from Gulf States, arrived in Sindh in November and are returning now, with the conclusion of the hunting season in February. In their four months here, foreigners have engaged in gaming in Badin, Thatta, Dadu and Thar districts.

Sources in the Sindh Wildlife Department say they approached IPC with a written complaint, which has been forwarded to Islamabad to be discussed in the inter-provincial meeting in April. “We have clearly stated that issuance of such permits falls in our jurisdiction while the foreign office has nothing to do with this,” said a source in the wildlife department. “The Foreign Office is issuing permits without knowing which areas are protected or where hunting conditions are suitable. These permits are issued at the union council level without considering whether the permit holders would remain in the limits of the union council.”

Senior officials of the Sindh Wildlife Department say they have expressed concern and discontent with Islamabad’s policy of issuing special permits to the royal families of several Gulf States for hunting houbara bustard.

Sources said nine permits had been issued to hunters from the UAE, four from Abu Dhabi and five from Dubai; six permits were issued to hunters from Bahrain and Qatar, two to Saudi hunters while the UAE president was also allowed to hunt in three provinces of the country.

List of Arabs given permits

UAE President and Abu Dhabi Ruler Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Hamadan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Lt-Gen Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister Sheikh Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler of Dubai Gen Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, member of Dubai’s ruling family Sheikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, deputy police chief of Dubai and member of the ruling family Maj-Gen Sheikh Ahmad bin Rashid Al Maktoum, director in the UAE Prime Minister’s Office Nasser Abdullah Hussain Lootah, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Brother of Khadim Harmain Al Sharifain Prince Naif bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, King of Bahrain’s uncle Sheikh Ebrahim bin Hamad bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain’s brother Maj-Gen Sheikh Mohammad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain’s brother Sheikh Rashid bin Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa, Bahrain’s Water and Electricity Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Salman Al Khalifa, a member of Bahrain’s ruling family, Sheikh Ahmad bin Ali Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s Defence Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Qatar Emir’s son Sheikh Jasim bin Hamad Al Thani, Qatar Emir’s brother Sheikh Mohammad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Prime Minister of Qatar Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani and Foreign Minister of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabber Al Thani.
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