Efforts urged to boost Pak-Afghan trade

PESHAWAR: Pakhtun Think-Tank Chairman Syed Akhtar Ali Shah has said that addressing challenges to trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan will help both the governments to revive economic ties.

He was addressing the Pak-Afghan Peace Conference organised by Bacha Khan Trust Foundation Network on the theme of “People-to-People Contact in relation of Politics and Economics.”

He said that Pakistan remained Afghanistan’s largest trading partner until 2015. He said the volume of trade had reached to the tune of $3 billion, but it dwindled to $8 million due to growing political tension between the two countries. Akhtar Ali Shah said that Pakistan and Afghanistan had common poets, writers and philosophers like Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi Balkhi, Jamaluddin Afghani, Rehman Baba, Hamza Baba and Ghani Khan.

The two countries also shared poets and musicians, including Khyal Mohammad, Rafiq Shinwari, Ustad Shahwali, Qamar Gula, Gulnar Begum, Sardar Ali Takkar, Naghma and Nasha Nas, he added. While sharing history, he said, it was also important to observe that both the countries share a dismal record in the area of gender equality and governance. “Both Pakistan and Afghanistan appear at the top of the list whenever a ranking for poor governance or gender discrimination was done by international bodies,” he said, adding, instead of interfering negatively in the affairs of each other’s countries, one should address the commonly shared problems with positive cooperation and mutual assistance.

Writer, poet, columnist Younas Qayasi laid to rest: Senior journalist and noted literati Younas Qayasi was laid to rest here on Saturday. He was 76. He had died Friday night after protracted illness. He had been a patient of asthma for the last more than a decade and complication from this and other diseases had rendered him weak and vulnerable. A large number of people from different walks of life attended his funeral in the cemetery of his village Hazar Khwani. Later, he was laid to rest at the nearby Rahman Baba graveyard. The presidential award winning journalist, playwright and poet Younas Qayasi left behind a son and three daughters. His son Raheel Qayasi is also a journalist. He was the author of more than 30 drama serials. He was also the author of some popular Pashto songs, including the one “Moong yoo da Khyber zalmi Pakhto zamoonga shan de, Moonga Pakhtana yoo pa watan mo zaan qurban de”.

Younas Qayasi was a prolific writer and poet in three languages – Pashto, Hindko and Urdu. He worked for a number of newspapers and also wrote columns. He was an active member of the Khyber Union of Journalists and Peshawar Press Club. He wrote scripts for movies and penned songs as well. The journalists’ bodies offered condolences on his death to his family. Awami National Party (ANP) head Asfandyar Wali Khan expressed grief and sorrow over Younas Qayasi’s death. Appreciating the writing skills of Younas Qayasi, the ANP chief said his dramas, poetry and columns were unique for the society. He expressed sympathies with the bereaved family.