Young people applying for entry-level jobs in Sindh’s bureaucracy have been protesting that only 70 out of over 4,300 of them have passed the exam held by the Sindh Public Service Commission.

They sat ten written papers for the Combined Competitive Examination (CCE), whose shockingly slim number of successful candidates was announced on May 6. This is how assistant commissioners, assistant directors and section officers at Grades 16 and 17 are hired. Lower than 16 is for drivers and clerks hired in the districts. The highest grade is 22. Think chief secretary level.

The SPSC typically passes at least five candidates per seat in its written examinations. However, according to spokesperson Hifzullah Kaka, that doesn’t necessarily apply to the CCE. Nevertheless, the 2024 results still struck protesters as impossible to accept.

Alarm bells started ringing when the detailed marks certificates were uploaded after the results were announced. For instance, the 100-mark optional subject Criminology with a single exam paper was shown as two papers worth 200 marks in the detailed marks certificates. “At first, we thought it might be a mistake,” said Farman Ali, a candidate leading the campaign. “But it wasn’t limited to Criminology. We saw the same issue in Environmental Science as well.” SPSC spokesperson Kaka did not respond to a request for clarification and declined to comment, saying that the matter was in court. When Dawn visited the SPSC on August 5, guards did not permit entry.

By May 7, the day after results were uploaded, social media was flooded with allegations of manipulation to pass a favoured few. That’s when the Sindh Students Action Committee got organised, according to one of the protestors, Wajahat Ahmed. A rally was held after which the protestors decided to keep up the pressure by refusing to move from outside the SPSC head office on Hyderabad’s Thandi Sarak.

The backlash prompted the SPSC to lean on anti-terrorism laws. Among those it acted against was a US-based journalist and YouTuber, Imtiaz Chandio, who, along with two social media activists, Fayyaz Hussain Shar and Rafiullah Qureshi, was booked in a terrorism case for spreading “false propaganda and inciting” the candidates. SPSC Assistant Secretary Muhammad Mustafa registered an FIR at the GOR police station citing multiple sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act and the Anti-Terrorism Act.

On May 13, a rally drew students from across Sindh, who marched from Hyderabad’s Daudpota Library to Thandi Sarak. The next day, MQM-P lawmaker Maaz Mahboob submitted a resolution in the Sindh Assembly against the results, expressing “grave concern over the alleged irregularities, violations of merit and lack of transparency.” The resolution demanded that the disputed results be suspended immediately and an independent forensic audit of the examination process, marking system, and merit list be conducted by the Punjab Forensic Lab or any other impartial institution.

On May 14, protesters launched the Movement for Restoration of Meritocracy, a broader campaign against what they describe as nepotism and the erosion of merit in public recruitment. Its name appears inspired by and rhymes with the famous Movement for the Restoration of Democracy, or MRD, launched in the 1980s to challenge the military regime. Its slogan claps back at the SPSC’s press release telling future candidates to sit the upcoming examinations with “zeal and zest”. So the MRM banners say, ‘Restore meritocracy with zeal and zest’, according to Farman Ali. He works as a grade 11 clerk at the Federal Board of Revenue. “Being a government employee, it is difficult to execute protests and raise a voice,” he said. “Since the intensity of injustice was high, I risked all that.”

Landing in court

The protests swelled, and students filed petitions challenging the results. A few days later, the Sindh High Court suspended them and summoned SPSC officials with the complete examination record. It said everything would be on hold.

“According to the interim order, further appointments and proceedings based on the [CCE-24] results were halted,” Advocate Kamran Ali Isran, one of the lawyers representing the candidates, told Dawn.

On May 22, the court extended the suspension till June 9 as the SPSC said that the record had been sealed in compliance with the court order. The court wanted the SPSC to explain how it addressed complaints that it was not being transparent. A month later, the court told a district and sessions judge to collect the examination record of the candidates who had failed CCE-24, seal it on the spot and bring it to the next hearing.

In response, the SPSC went to the newly created Federal Constitutional Court to challenge the Sindh High Court’s orders through its lawyer Advocate Hafiz Ahsaan Ahmad Khokhar. It argued that the exam was held transparently, fairly and in line with the laws that applied: the Sindh Public Service Commission Act, 2022, and the Recruitment Management Regulations, 2023.

By July 16, the federal court suspended the Sindh High Court’s interim orders for an inquiry, a stop to interviews of successful candidates and a recheck for failed candidates. With those orders lifted, the SPSC went ahead with interviewing the 70 successful candidates.

As the hearings continue, so do the protests, which have spread to Nawabshah, Ghotki, Qambar, Umerkot, Islamkot, and Gambat. “In Sindh, wherever you go, knock on any door and ask, you will find someone who has been a victim of the SPSC,” says Zabiullah Mastoi, one of the participants in Hyderabad.

According to journalist Imdad Soomro, who has covered SPSC for over a decade, the commission has long been a source of concern. “When I investigated it, I found that around 40 per cent of appointments were political, 40pc were made based on money, and only 20pc were on merit,” he claimed. “Gradually, merit came down to around 5pc, while the rest were political appointments or based on money.” Candidates who perform exceptionally well in the written examination are often eliminated at the interview stage, while those with lower written scores are given higher marks in the viva.

The protesters say the court proceedings have done little to help. The camp continues, with candidates insisting they will stay until their demands are met: scrap the CCE-2024 and hold fresh exams, the chairman Muhammad Rizwan along with all commission members should resign, and an independent judicial commission should investigate SPSC examinations and recruitments for grades 16 and 17 over the past five years, among others.

Header image: Protesters camp outside SPSC head office on Hyderabad’s Thandi Sarak. — All photos by Yumna Khan

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The government on Friday reduced the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs2.20 and Rs1.50 per litre, respectively.

Following the revision, petrol will retail at Rs327.62 per litre while HSD will cost Rs380.86 per litre. The government continues to levy Rs114 per litre in taxes and duties on petrol and Rs100 per litre on HSD.

According to the Petroleum Division’s notification, the new prices will apply from August 8 to 10.

The diesel price has come down from a peak of Rs520.35 recorded on April 3. Its price had started rising from Rs281 per litre after the US-Iran war broke out on February 28.

The petrol price had peaked at Rs458.41 on April 3 after beginning its upward trajectory from Rs266 in the first week of March.

Earlier, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik announced that fuel prices would now be fixed on a daily basis due to fluctuations in international market prices following renewed hostilities between Iran and the US.

The government had been announcing weekly revisions to fuel prices since early March, alongside measures for the conservation of fuel amid possible oil supply disruptions due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The federal government in April also announced targeted relief measures to provide subsidised fuel.

The petroleum minister stated that the cabinet and the prime minister had decided to give the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) the responsibility of deciding fuel prices on a daily basis based on international market trends.

The daily pricing decision was rejected by the All Pakistan Dealers Association, which said it would consider a protest plan.

Petrol is mainly used in private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws and two-wheelers, and changes in its price affect the middle and lower-middle classes.

Similarly, changes in diesel prices also impact the public at large, as it is mainly used in the heavy transport sector, power plants and large generators.

Petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) are the major revenue earners, with monthly sales of about 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes, compared to just 10,000 tonnes of monthly demand for kerosene.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye on Friday signed a joint defence pact in Makkah that empowers member states to treat an attack against one of them as an attack against all of them.

The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, which seeks to strengthen the collective security of the three states, was signed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Saudi Crown Prince and PM Mohammad bin Salman, and Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the “Makkah Al-Mukarramah Summit for Joint Defence” held at Al-Safa Palace.

Since the signing, experts, political figures and commentators have offered their views on the agreement, with many describing it as a significant regional development and a historic moment for the three countries.

‘Historic day’: Attaullah Tarar

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, while talking to a private TV channel, described the signing of the joint defence agreement between the three states as a “historic day” for Pakistan, saying the pact reflected growing recognition of the country’s defence capabilities and strengthened ties among the three nations.

Speaking about the agreement, Tarar said the defence cooperation framework would take relations between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye to a new level. He credited Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir with bringing the three countries together, saying they had an “ideal working relationship” and that their teamwork had contributed to recent successes.

An important milestone in defence cooperation: Saudi FM

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said the pact underscored the depth of the fraternal and strategic relations between the three countries.

He said the agreement marked an important milestone in their defence cooperation and embodied the three countries’ shared political will to safeguard security, support a more secure regional environment and pave the way for greater development and prosperity.

‘A good omen for the Muslim Ummah’: ex-minister

Former federal minister Khawaja Saad Rafique took to X and hailed the agreement as “a historic development and a good omen for the Muslim Ummah”.

“This agreement will prove to be a fundamental pillar for the stability, security and promotion of mutual brotherhood of the Ummah,” he wrote, praising the foresight of the three nations.

‘Welcome and timely development’

Former federal minister Mushahid Hussain called the agreement a “welcome and timely development at a crucial moment of turbulence and transformation”.

In a post on X, he noted that the Makkah Agreement came soon after Pakistan’s pivotal role in brokering the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between Iran and the US, as well as the launch of the Regional 4 Diplomatic Coordination Mechanism comprising Pakistan, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

“Today’s pact has a three-fold significance. This is the first Pan-Islamic military institutional initiative among three key Muslim countries, independent of the West,” he wrote.

“Second, this Muslim Defence Pact is [a] big blow to Israel and [the] ‘Abraham Accords’, as it would be an effective counter to Israeli expansionism,” Hussain added. “Third, it’s good for Pakistan’s security, given the emerging India-Israeli Axis, which has [the] backing of some regional regimes as well.”

A shift beyond the US

Andreas Krieg of King’s College London said the deal showed a clear desire to diversify alliances beyond the United States.

“Saudi Arabia, Turkiye and Pakistan are not trying to replace the United States. They are building the capacity to protect their interests when Washington cannot or will not do so.”

Riyadh, in particular, he said, “wants several layers of security rather than one American umbrella”, after the shock of the Iran war.

The deal will support Saudi Arabia’s ambitions to become an organiser of regional security and diversify its defence umbrella, while Turkey and Pakistan gain political clout and access to potential Saudi investments, he said.

Step towards regional security architecture

Ilhan Naz, the author of Old World Empires, took to X and called the agreement, “A positive development & another step towards a regionally owned and operated security architecture.”

Culmination of regional efforts already underway

Burcu Ozcelik, a Senior Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), called the pact the product of ongoing regional efforts and cautioned against reading into it as “evidence of a post-American Middle East”.

“If anything, it fits the broader US preference for greater regional burden-sharing, regional powers assuming more responsibility for deterrence and security while remaining embedded, to different degrees, within a US-centred security architecture,” she wrote on X.

“This is the culmination of regional efforts already underway. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan already have a mutual defence agreement, while Ankara, Riyadh and Islamabad have spent months discussing a trilateral framework,” Ozcelik added.

She noted that the signatories have their own sets of interests, priorities and existing commitments and that the agreement demonstrates a common direction. Still, the deal does not mean “unanimous consensus on all regional challenges or how to resolve them”.