Supreme Court allows federal agents to cut razor wire at US-Mexico border
Ruling seen as win for Biden administration amid dispute with Texas over ‘inhumane’ fence that has injured migrants. The United States Supreme Court has ruled that Border Patrol agents may resume cutting a razor wire fence that Texas installed on its border with Mexico to deter migrants and asylum seekers from entering the country. The 5-4 ruling on Monday was a victory for the administration of US President Joe Biden, issued in the midst of an ongoing legal battle that saw a federal appeals court force agents to stop cutting the fence last month. For more than two years, the Republican governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, has sought to bar migrants and asylum seekers from entering the US, unspooling razor wire that extends over 46km (30 miles) of its border with Mexico along the banks of the Rio Grande river and has left people injured and bloodied. Border control has historically been the legal domain of the federal government. The US Department of Justice argues that the fence has sown chaos, impeding it from carrying out controls along the border. “Texas’s political stunts, like placing razor wire near the border, simply make it harder and more dangerous for front-line personnel to do their jobs,” White House spokesperson Angelo Fernandez Hernandez said. Andrew Mahaleris, Abbott’s spokesperson, said the absence of razor wire and other deterrents encourages people to risk unsafe crossings and makes the job of Texas border personnel more difficult. “This case is ongoing, and Governor Abbott will continue fighting to defend Texas’s property and its constitutional authority to secure the border,” he said. Court battle The fencing at issue in the dispute was installed on private property along the Rio Grande by the Texas National Guard. Texas sued the Biden administration in October, asserting that US Customs and Border Protection agents had no right to cut fencing that it said had been erected with the permission of landowners. In November, US District Judge Alia Moses criticised the administration for failing to stem migration but said the federal government enjoyed “sovereign immunity” protecting it from civil lawsuits and criminal prosecution. A federal appeals court later granted Texas’s request to block federal agents from “damaging, destroying or otherwise interfering with” the razor-wire fencing while the case played out. Lawyers for the Biden administration this year requested it be lifted, arguing there was no indication the wire had stopped migrants from entering the US. They said the new barriers also prevented border agents from monitoring and responding to emergencies. The fence has been criticised by Mexican officials as a violation of international law. Texas’s border with Mexico spans 1,930km (1,200 miles) in total. Operation Lone Star The fence is part of a wider state effort to take control of Texas’s borders. Operation Lone Star, launched in 2021 with significant public support, pushes the legal boundaries of what a state can do to control immigration. The operation, which has cost more than $4.5bn so far, also includes a floating barrier installed in the Rio Grande. Democratic legislators Sylvia Garcia and Joaquin Castro, both members of the US Congress from Texas, last year decried the “barbaric” string of buoys, which are linked with “chainsaw devices” to stop crossings. Everyone needs to see what I saw in Eagle Pass today. Clothing stuck on razor wire where families got trapped. Chainsaw devices in the middle of buoys. Land seized from US citizens. Operation Lone Star is barbaric — and @GovAbbott is making border communities collateral damage. pic.twitter.com/PzKyZGWfds — Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) August 8, 2023 As the number of people crossing the US-Mexico border continues to surge, the Texas operation has become a flashpoint in immigration policy with critics decrying the “inhumane” measures. Abbott has used the fentanyl crisis to justify his measures, citing a rise in drug smuggling. While Republicans have criticised the Biden administration for the rising numbers, there is also pressure from within the Democratic Party. Politicians like New York City Mayor Eric Adams are slamming the president for not doing more to address irregular immigration as his city struggles to provide housing and other services for the new arrivals. Former President Donald Trump, whom Abbot has backed to be the Republican candidate in November’s presidential election, has made immigration a key plank of his bid to retake the White House. Adblock test (Why?)
Photojournalist Motaz Azaiza evacuates from Gaza
His coverage was often raw, unfiltered videos about the civilian impact of Israeli air strikes. Photojournalist Motaz Azaiza, who has been documenting the impact of the war in the Gaza Strip, has left the enclave and headed to Qatar. Azaiza announced on Instagram on Tuesday that he was leaving the besieged strip before boarding a Qatari military airplane at Egypt’s El Arish International Airport. However, it is unclear how he was able to leave Gaza or why he has evacuated. “This is the last time you will see me with this heavy, stinky [press] vest. I decided to evacuate today. … Hopefully soon I’ll jump back and help to build Gaza again,” Azaiza said in a video. So, I had to evacuate for a lot of reasons you all know some of it but not all of it. Thank you all Pray for Gaza. pic.twitter.com/sIqULe9d5V — MoTaz (@azaizamotaz9) January 23, 2024 The 24-year-old Palestinian captured the attention of millions globally as he filmed himself in a press vest and helmet to document conditions during Israel’s war, which has killed more than 25,000 people in Gaza. Israel launched its offensive after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,139 people and taking more than 200 people captive. Azaiza’s coverage often took the form of raw, unfiltered videos about injured children or families crushed under rubble in the aftermath of Israeli air strikes. He said he has had to “evacuate for a lot of reasons you all know some of it but not all of it”. In his post, he was seen on a video about to board a grey plane emblazoned with the words “Qatar Emiri Air Force”. “First video outside Gaza,” he said in one clip, revealing that it was his first time on a plane. “Heading to Qatar.” He also shared a video of the inside of the plane as it landed in Doha. Since the start of the war, the photojournalist has amassed millions of followers across multiple platforms. His Instagram following has grown from about 27,500 to 18.25 million in the more than 100 days since October 7, according to an assessment of social media analytics by Al Jazeera. His Facebook account grew from a similar starting point to nearly 500,000 followers. He now has one million followers on X, formerly known as Twitter. As well as his social media posts, Azaiza has produced content for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNWRA). Social media users thanked Azaiza for his coverage of the war, many saluting him as a hero. “Thank you for everything you have done, you have moved mountains , what you have done in the last 100 days people can’t do in their whole lifetime. You were a pivotal voice in showing the world the Israeli atrocities in Gaza. Wishing you well and safety,” one user said on X. Thank you for everything you have done, you have moved mountains , what you have done in the last 100 days people can’t do in their whole lifetime . You were a pivotal voice in showing the world the Israeli atrocities in Gaza . Wishing you well and safety ✊🏻🇵🇸 — Abla #FreePalestine (@falstinya1948) January 23, 2024 “I’m so glad you had the opportunity to get out, God willing, YOU WILL RETURN TO A FREE PALESTINE,” wrote another. “We love you so deeply,” American musician Kehlani wrote, adding, “Thank you for your humanity.” “Frame that vest. It’s the armor of one of history’s greatest heroes,” comedian Sammy Obeid said. Adblock test (Why?)
Iran executes 2022 protester for murder
Human rights advocates criticise Mohammad Ghobadlou’s conviction, saying he did not get a fair trial. Iran has executed a man who ran over and killed a policeman, and injured five other people, during nationwide protests in 2022. Mohammad Ghobadlou was executed on Tuesday after being found guilty of the killing during mass protests two years ago, according to the judiciary’s Mizan news agency. However, human rights advocates criticised his conviction, saying he did not get a fair trial. “After being upheld by the Supreme Court, the death penalty against defendant Mohammad Ghobadlou has been implemented early this morning,” Mizan reported. The policeman was killed amid the huge protests that followed the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish-Iranian woman who was arrested for violating Iran’s strict dress code for women. Ghobadlou was initially sentenced to death in November 2022 after being convicted of “corruption on earth” for attacking police in Tehran with a car. The Supreme Court granted him a stay of execution in February 2023, and later ordered consideration of his mental health, according to Mehr news agency. Mizan reported on Tuesday that the Supreme Court had upheld the death sentence, which was carried out under Iran’s Islamic law of retribution. Hundreds died during the 2022 protests, including dozens of security personnel, and thousands were arrested over what officials labelled as foreign-instigated “riots”. Ghobadlou is the eighth person executed after being convicted of murder or other violence against security forces during the demonstrations. ‘Unfair sham trials’ However, human rights group Amnesty International said the 22-year-old’s right to a fair trial was violated, and his bipolar condition was not taken into consideration by the judicial system. “Ghobadlou received two death sentences after grossly unfair sham trials marred by torture-tainted ‘confessions’ and failure to order rigorous mental health assessments despite his mental disability,” Amnesty said. However, Mizan said claims of mental disability were wrong. Ghobadlou, it noted, had allegedly rejected the suggestion during his trial. Earlier this month, dozens of people, including Ghobadlou’s family, demonstrated in front of a prison in the Iranian city of Karaj against his sentencing as well as that of another young man. “My child is sick, he has a medical file, but they don’t want to accept,” Ghobadlou’s mother shouted in one video of the event at that time, which was verified by Al Jazeera. Iran executes more people per year than any other country except China, according to Amnesty, and usually does so by hanging. Adblock test (Why?)
Turkey’s parliament set to vote on Sweden’s NATO bid this week: Reports
Turkey endorsed Finland’s membership bid in April but, along with Hungary, has kept Sweden waiting. The Turkish parliament is set to debate Sweden’s NATO membership bid after months of delays that have strained Ankara’s ties with its Western allies, with a vote expected this week. The debate in the Grand National Assembly is due to take place on Tuesday, state media reported, with a vote likely the same day. The AFP news agency reported that the vote could be held on Thursday. Turkey’s ratification would leave Hungary as the last holdout in an accession process that Sweden and its neighbour Finland began in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago. However, on Tuesday, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he had invited his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson, for a visit to negotiate his country joining the military alliance. Today I sent an invitation letter to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson @SwedishPM for a visit to Hungary to negotiate on Sweden’s NATO accession. — Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) January 23, 2024 Finland became the 31st member of the alliance last April. Its membership roughly doubled the length of NATO’s border with Russia and substantially strengthened the defences of three small Baltic nations that joined the bloc following the Soviet Union’s collapse. Sweden and Finland pursued a policy of military non-alignment during the Cold War era confrontation between Russia and the United States. However, Russia’s invasion of its western neighbour set off Europe’s biggest and most brutal land battle since World War II, upturning geopolitical calculations. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s resistance to Sweden’s NATO accession reflected his more nuanced stance towards Moscow. Ankara has profited from maintaining – and even expanding – trade with Russia while at the same time supplying Ukraine with drones and other essential arms. Erdogan has also been one of the few NATO leaders to hold regular meetings and phone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Turkish media reported that Putin could make his first wartime visit to Turkey next month. US fighter jets Erdogan’s objections to Sweden’s bid initially focused on Stockholm’s perceived acceptance of Kurdish groups that Ankara views as “terrorists”. Sweden has responded by tightening its antiterrorism legislation and taking other security steps demanded by Erdogan over the members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which the European Union and the United States also list as a “terrorist” group. Sweden and NATO members Finland, Canada and the Netherlands also took steps to relax Turkey’s arms export policies. The Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee approved the Swedish bid last month after Erdogan forwarded it to parliament in October. However, Erdogan has since demanded that Washington follow through on its pledge to deliver a batch of F-16 fighter jets for Turkey’s ageing air force. Erdogan last month discussed his demands by telephone with US President Joe Biden. US officials argued that Turkey’s request could win the required congressional approval if Sweden’s NATO accession goes through – a position reaffirmed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during a visit to Istanbul this month. “We have not parsed words about how ready we are for Sweden to formally join the alliance,” said US Department of State deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel after news emerged that Turkey was finally ready to ratify the Swedish candidacy. “We have long felt that [Sweden] has met its commitment and we look forward to this process moving forward.” Adblock test (Why?)
How doctors in Gaza persevere amid Israel attacks
“No doctor wakes up in the morning and says: ‘I’m going to amputate a child’s leg without anaesthesia.’” “You don’t want to watch children suffer,” Dr Amber Alayyan with Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, tells Al Jazeera. The measured cadences of the voice of the charity’s deputy programme manager for Palestine suggests just how inconceivable it is for her, as a doctor and a mother, to cause pain to a patient and to a child. Yet it is the moral conflict her colleagues in Gaza face daily, minute by minute, as they try to treat unprecedented numbers of injured people flooding into the Gaza Strip’s barely functioning hospitals. Your natural instinct is to take care of people… to protect people. … You’ve been trained over and over and over and over for years. by Dr Amber Alayyan As doctors in Gaza are forced to make split-second decisions on who to save and who to let die, on whose pain to relieve and whose they do not have time to, it is that innate instinct and their Hippocratic oath that is assailed by decisions they never thought they’d have to make. Burdened with personal losses and struggling to operate under unrelenting Israeli bombardments, this is the story of how medical workers are fighting to keep Gaza’s healthcare system going. How Gaza’s healthcare system has been destroyed It is nearing midnight in Gaza and Mohamed S Ziara, a Palestinian doctor, is on a WhatsApp call to Al Jazeera. His tone is soft and unaffected by the rumbling explosions and pop of gunfire that can be heard in the background. The plastic surgeon is working 12- to 14-hour shifts, six days a week at the European Gaza Hospital (EGH) in Khan Younis, where he treats up to 15 cases a day. Ziara describes the healthcare situation as “catastrophic”. “It doesn’t match anything I’ve seen before, even with previous escalations and war,” says Ziara, who has worked during Israel’s assaults on Gaza since 2014. He has been posting about Israeli attacks near the EGH and the conditions inside on his Instagram account. The widespread damage caused by Israeli attacks since October 7, following Hamas’s surprise attacks on Israel, has led to a shortage of medical staff and supplies and an urgent need for fuel, electricity and water. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), only 15 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functional – nine in the south and six in the north. From October 7 to November 24, there were 74 Israeli assaults on health facilities with 30 hospitals attacked in Gaza, according to Insecurity Insight, a humanitarian association that collates data on threats facing people in dangerous environments. Northern Gaza, including Gaza City, has borne the brunt of attacks on the healthcare sector, but as the war has progressed, previously designated safe areas south of Wadi Gaza have come under Israeli fire. The map below summarises the Israeli attacks on Gaza’s healthcare sector during the first seven weeks of the war. The hospitals that have been attacked most often include: al-Shifa Hospital – attacked 12 times al-Quds Hospital – attacked nine times Indonesian Hospital – attacked nine times Nasser Hospital – attacked three times Insecurity Insight documented at least 26 other hospitals from across the Gaza Strip that were attacked by Israeli forces over the same period. These repeated attacks came during an Israeli order on October 13 that instructed all 22 hospitals in northern Gaza to evacuate to the south within 24 hours. The WHO described the order as “impossible to carry out” and “a death sentence for the sick and injured”. Israel’s raid on al-Shifa Hospital One of the first hospitals to come under fire was al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest medical facility, located in the Remal neighbourhood in Gaza City, where Ziara worked before EGH. “I remember that I was watching TV, and the spokesman of the [Israeli] army was asked twice about the possibility of bombing the hospital, and he replied that everything is possible,” Ziara says. Israeli soldiers flanked al-Shifa Hospital on three sides on November 15 and then stormed the complex after Israeli accusations that it was serving as a Hamas command centre. “We have never seen any military action or military activity inside the hospital,” Ziara says, adding that he thought the threat to the hospital was merely propaganda from the Israeli army. “We never thought that they would reach the hospital and that we’d evacuate patients and the injured.” Several doctors, including Norwegian Mads Gilbert, who has worked in Gaza for several years, have said they had not seen any evidence of military activity at the hospital during the war. After the storming of al-Shifa Hospital, a number of United Nations missions were carried out in cooperation with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) to evacuate patients and healthcare workers. The same exercise has been attempted more recently at hospitals in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza and Khan Younis in the south – namely Al-Aqsa, Nasser and EGH – due to ongoing hostilities nearby. Ziara says he witnessed drone attacks on al-Shifa Hospital. “They were shooting at people. They injured many. They shot a missile at the hospital garden and killed about four people staying there who had evacuated or were refugees,” he says. This satellite image shows al-Shifa Hospital and the surrounding neighbourhood in Gaza City on November 11, 2023 [Maxar Technologies via AP] Healthcare attacks and ‘war crimes’ Assaults such as those seen on al-Shifa Hospital have raised questions about the legality of attacks on healthcare facilities. International humanitarian law, based on the Geneva Conventions, stipulates that hospitals are considered “civilian objects” and receive de facto protection. Despite that prohibition, Israel has continued to target healthcare structures and workers. “The UN has been very clear that hospitals, civilians and healthcare workers should be protected, and we continue to call for their protection. They’re not a target,” Dominic Allen, the UN Population Fund’s representative for Palestine, tells Al Jazeera. Human Rights
Israel reportedly pushing deal for captive release without ending war
A US envoy is visiting Egypt, Qatar to try to broker the deal as pressure rises on Tel Aviv to bring captives home. Israel is reported to have readied a proposal for a two-month truce that aims to secure the release of captives held by Hamas but without ending the war in Gaza. US and Israeli press reported late on Monday that Tel Aviv is optimistic that it could conclude a deal with the help of the US. The plan comes against a backdrop of intensified combat in southern Gaza as well as increasing pressure on the Israeli government to find a deal to bring the captives home. US website Axios quoted Israeli officials as saying that the proposal has been presented by Tel Aviv to Hamas through Qatari and Egyptian mediators. It includes a two-month truce during which all Israeli detainees in Gaza will be released. Israel’s Channel 13 reported that the principles of the deal consist of three to four stages of captive release. Meanwhile, the Israeli military would withdraw from some areas of the enclave, but without ending the war. Reports suggest that the US is pushing the plan with regional partners. The White House’s Middle East coordinator, Brett McGurk, is now in Cairo to discuss the deal, with plans to continue to Qatar. Phases Reporting from East Jerusalem, Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker said that the proposal included plans to release captives in phases, starting with women and those over 60. A second phase would see a handover of female soldiers and men deemed as non-soldiers by Hamas. The third phase would include male soldiers and bodies remaining inside Gaza. Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers could be redeployed away from some urban areas to allow Palestinians to return home. “Of course, the question is what do they have to return to,” said Dekker. Families of captives and supporters shout slogans as they protest to call for the release of captives taken during the deadly October 7 attack by the Palestinian armed group Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, January 6, 2024 [Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters] In Israel, the families of the captives have been applying increasing pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree a deal. Amid the ongoing bombardment of Gaza, they worry that time is running out to bring their relatives home alive. On Monday, dozens of relatives stormed a parliamentary committee meeting, demanding that the government seek a deal to win their loved ones’ release. Stuttering A weeklong truce in November saw the release of around 100 of the 240 or so captives taken by Hamas on October 7. Efforts to put another pause or even ceasefire in place have been stuttering since. But Israel is facing mounting impatience as it ignores calls to scale back its onslaught. The EU on Monday gave Tel Aviv’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz short shrift as he pitched the construction of an artificial island in the Mediterranean near the Gaza coast as a hub for the enclave’s commercial relations with the rest of the world. But facing political pressure and demands from hardline coalition partners, Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to press ahead with the offensive until Hamas is crushed. The reports of the truce negotiations come amid an intensification of fighting in southern Gaza, with the hundreds of civilian casualties adding to the death toll in the enclave, which local authorities now say tops 25,000. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said early on Tuesday that its headquarters in Khan Younis had been shelled. Writing on X, the NGO said that the shelling coincided with “intense gunfire from Israeli drones, resulting in injuries among internally displaced individuals who sought safety on our premises”. UN agencies and aid groups have sounded the alarm about the growing threat of disease and famine in Gaza, where 1.7 million people are estimated to have been displaced from their homes. That makes a cessation of fighting ever more urgent, and there will be hope that alongside the pressure from the families, recent troop losses could give added momentum to efforts towards dialling down the conflict. On Tuesday, the Israeli military reported it lost at least 21 soldiers in one of the deadliest attacks on its troops since the war began three months ago. Adblock test (Why?)
US and UK carry out new attacks against Yemen’s Houthis
NewsFeed The US and UK militaries say they have conducted new air attacks against Houthi weapon sites in Yemen, as the group continues to target Red Sea shipping in protest over Israel’s war in Gaza. Published On 23 Jan 202423 Jan 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Israel, Gaza, Germany and the genocide in Namibia
[unable to retrieve full-text content] Germany joins Israel to deny the war in Gaza constitutes genocide against the Palestinians, but Namibia disagrees.
Race to find dozens trapped in southwest China landslide
Rescuers have been racing to find dozens of people trapped after a landslide struck a remote and mountainous part of southwestern China, killing at least 12. The predawn landslide buried 18 homes when it hit Zhenxiong county, in Yunnan province, on Monday. More than 24 hours after the disaster, state news agency Xinhua reported that rescue workers were in a “race against time” on Tuesday to find those still missing, after a night of subzero temperatures. Yunnan is among several provinces in China currently experiencing bitterly cold temperatures, according to the National Meteorological Centre. “Search and rescue efforts persisted through the night,” firefighter Li Shenglong told Xinhua. Two hundred emergency workers, including soldiers, were dispatched to the scene – a rural area surrounded by towering peaks dusted with snow – along with dozens of fire engines and other equipment. The area is covered in thick snow and rescuers were “using all kinds of tools to search for survivors” amid the debris, Xinhua reported. Wu Junyao, the director of the natural resources and planning bureau of Zhaotong, which includes the affected villages, said the disaster “resulted from a collapse in the steep cliff area atop the slope”. Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered “all-out” rescue efforts. Landslides are common in Yunnan, a far-flung region where steep mountain ranges abut the Himalayan plateau. China has experienced a string of natural disasters in recent months, some following extreme weather events such as sudden, heavy downpours. Rainstorms last September in the southern region of Guangxi triggered a mountain landslide that killed at least seven people, according to media reports. In August, heavy rains sparked a similar disaster near the northern city of Xi’an, killing more than 20 people. Adblock test (Why?)
Pakistan ex-PM’s party loses election symbol. Will it hurt its prospects?
Electoral symbols play an important role in a democratic process. As Pakistan gears up for general elections due next month, posters with party symbols can be seen plastered on utility poles and roadside walls across cities and towns. Political parties have kicked off campaigning, plastering walls with propaganda posters but the symbol of what many believe is the country’s most popular party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), seems to be missing, thanks to an unprecedented crackdown on the PTI and its jailed leader, former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Khan’s party has been barred from using the party symbol in the elections scheduled for February 8. PTI members and supporters say the blocking of its symbol, a cricket bat, is a ploy by the military-backed caretaker government to ensure the party’s defeat. Meanwhile, the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, has also alleged that seven of his party’s national and provincial assembly candidates have being assigned the wrong electoral symbols in the eastern Punjab province. Bhutto claimed the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) acted under pressure from former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has been accused of cutting a deal with the country’s military that controls most levers of power from behind the scenes. Sharif, who returned to Pakistan in October after several years of self-imposed exile, has rejected the allegations. So why are party symbols important, and will the ban on the PTI symbol harm the party? Why did PTI lose its bat? The ECP on December 22 omitted PTI’s bat symbol on the technical grounds that the party had not held intra-party elections – required under law. This rendered the party ineligible for having a symbol for the 2024 elections. An intra-party election conducted by the PTI on June 8, 2022 was not recognised by the ECP on the grounds that it was not “just and fair”. The ECP also passed similar orders against 13 marginal political parties. Critics and supporters of PTI have deemed it a deliberate attempt to curtail the party’s success in the elections. “The cricket bat was unjustly revoked through an illegal order,” PTI lawyer Syed Ali Zafar said. An attempt by the PTI to get the ban overturned failed as Pakistan’s Supreme Court last week upheld the election commission’s decision, which is significant to the PTI because it is reminiscent of Khan’s success as a former cricketer. Khan, who was the national team captain when the country won its only World Cup trophy in 1992, leveraged his successful sporting career to gather popular support as a politician. Supporters of Imran Khan install a giant bat symbol along a roadside in Karachi in May 2013 [File: Athar Hussain/Reuters] Arif Rafiq, president of Vizier Consulting, a New York-based political risk advisory company, said the decision to block PTI symbol is “politically motivated”. “They are part of a pattern of the Pakistani state using administrative measures, along with coercion, to deny PTI a pathway toward electoral victory,” he said, referring to the high popularity of Khan. Nadia Malik, Head of Geo Television’s election cell, says that intra-party elections are a farce in Pakistan but the ECP did not hold other parties accountable, letting them scot-free. “Losing a symbol is not something new in Pakistan but PTI can not even choose a different symbol for all their candidates,” as the deadline for that has passed, Malik told Al Jazeera. The ECP has defended its decision saying the elections will be further delayed if the process of changing symbols continues. To counter the confusion that this can create, the party’s social media team is working on a portal that allows voters to search for names and symbols of PTI’s candidates, Malik added. “PTI is really good at social outreach in that way.” But one in every two Pakistanis does not own a smartphone, making it difficult for the PTI to reach out to voters. “The end result of the ECP’s decision, and the Supreme Court’s ludicrous affirmation of it, is the disenfranchisement of millions of voters and the liquidation of the country’s largest party in the run-up to the polls,” Asad Rahim Khan, a constitutional expert, said. “Flaws in intra-party elections don’t merit such a disproportionate punishment anywhere in the actual law. Even otherwise, Pakistan’s Constitution and clearly developed jurisprudence favour political parties and their right to contest.” PTI Social Media Team has created a portal to search for candidate name & symbol. See video below showing a search for “NA1” & the results with candidate name & symbol. We are just waiting for data for each candidate before we go LIVE! #ChallengeAccepted #PrimeMinisterImranKhan pic.twitter.com/BhI4bOfIfJ — PTI (@PTIofficial) January 14, 2024 The story behind the PTI bat The slanted cricket bat symbol has a ubiquitous association with Khan’s party. However, the bat was not the party’s first symbol. Malik from Geo TV said that the party’s first symbol was a lamp. Before the 2013 elections, PTI wanted to use a double-balance scale as its electoral symbol, since it is the symbol of justice and “Insaf” roughly translates from Urdu to justice. However, the scales were the symbol of the Jamaat-e-Islami party in the 1970 general election. The legal battle for the symbol between the two parties ultimately tipped in Jamaat-e-Islami’s favour due to its historical claim on the scales. After the 1977 general election, the military government of General Zia-ul-Haq deleted several electoral symbols from the approved list of symbols, the scales being one of them. These were restored by the ECP in 2010. Why are electoral symbols significant? The symbols that look like mere minimalist line work hold high stakes in Pakistan. Malik, the journalist from GEO, pointed out that around 40 percent of Pakistan’s population is uneducated and voters who can not read rely on symbols to identify the party they want to choose on the ballot. “Even those people who can read names are not always as involved in campaigning, but they know their party’s symbol,” she said. She added that parties’ electoral campaigning