DAWN Editorials - 25th April 2025

[zarnishhayat]

New Delhi’s ill-advised route

WITH South Asia hurtling towards a fresh crisis after the deadly Pahalgam militant attack, Pakistan must be prepared to handle Indian provocations in a measured manner.

After a meeting of the National Security Committee in Islamabad on Thursday, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and attended by the top civil and military leadership of the country, the administration has announced a number of steps designed to respond to India’s escalatory rhetoric in the aftermath of the tragic slayings in IHK. While stating in the official readout that “Pakistan unequivocally condemns terrorism”, the government elucidated a number of tit-for-tat measures. These include a warning to suspend bilateral accords, including the landmark Shimla Agreement, a ban on Indian aircraft over Pakistani airspace, closure of the Wagah crossing, and a reduction in the number of staffers manning the Indian high commission in Islamabad. Significantly, the meeting noted that any attempt by India to prevent the flow of water to Pakistan under the Indus Waters Treaty — which New Delhi has held ‘in abeyance’ — would be considered “an Act of War”.


The Indian state has certainly jumped the gun by blaming Pakistan for its own security lapses, and in the process bringing both states closer to conflict. The Indian media has not helped matters, with its armchair warriors baying for Pakistani blood, and banging the drums of war. India has blamed Pakistan for the tragedy without any credible evidence; in fact, the anti-Pakistan rhetoric began mere minutes after the killings in Pahalgam were reported.

Furthermore, the threat to discard the IWT cannot be taken lightly by Pakistan. As an agrarian state and the lower riparian, with millions depending on river waters for their livelihood, this is a matter of life and death for Pakistan, and illegally blocking river flows by India would be nothing short of a crime against humanity. Therefore, New Delhi must desist from this ill-advised path, and not tinker with the IWT.

From here, the ball is in India’s court. If New Delhi continues on its current path of sabre-rattling, or worse, indulges in military adventurism, the ensuing events may spell disaster for the region. Pakistan will defend its soil; no party should entertain ideas of violating this country’s frontiers. It would be better for the Indian state to reflect on the attack in held Kashmir and reconsider the misguided policies it has been pursuing in IHK. The fact is that Kashmir remains an internationally disputed issue, no matter what constitutional trickery India resorts to. If India continues to deny Kashmiris their fundamental rights, the cycle of violence will continue, and ties with Pakistan will remain bitter. Much will depend on which path India takes; the one of wisdom and reflection, or the one of jingoism and unending conflict.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2025


Wheat worries

PUNJAB’S farmers are enraged. They are not getting what they call a fair price for their wheat harvest this year due to the government’s decision to ditch its decades-old policy of fixing the minimum support price for the staple, besides stopping its grain procurement operations. This has left them at the mercy of the private sector, causing the ‘price to crash’ in the market. The Pakistan Kissan Ittehad, a body that represents a sizable number of growers from the province, has sounded a warning that farmers cultivating wheat may switch to other more profitable crops — causing food shortages — next year unless the government reverses its new policy. “Poor farmers are being strangulated [due to the wheat price policy shift] ... They are unable to meet their basic needs,” a PKI leader said at a press conference.

At the heart of the problem is the government’s unplanned, poorly coordinated withdrawal from the wheat market beginning last year to meet a key goal of the ongoing IMF programme. The sudden reversal of the policy that regulated the wheat supply chain since the 1960s has proved to be disruptive for the unprepared farmers. But this disruption is temporary, even if it takes a couple of years and market volatility to settle. Indeed, the country’s wheat procurement and price support system has historically helped farmers get prices higher than international prices for their produce while ensuring more or less stable flour rates for urban consumers. This has worked well for most stakeholders including big farmers, middlemen, flour millers, etc — at the expense of smallholders and the government, which had to beat massive costs to subsidise urban consumers and farmers. The system, which had become fiscally unsustainable due to its soaring subsidy budget and rampant corruption in its procurement operations among other factors, demanded that market forces be unleashed to correct the market’s course. Given the sudden shift in policy the price shocks being felt by the farmers are not unexpected. But returning to the old system is not an option. Rather, the government must fully deregulate the wheat supply chain and allow market forces to work to avoid such shocks in future and unlock the export potential of wheat and wheat-based products. Government intervention should be restricted to helping small farmers access cheaper credit, quality inputs and new technology to boost their productivity and incomes.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2025


Ending rabies

RABIES remains one of Pakistan’s most deadly, yet neglected public health crises. Across the country, hundreds die agonising deaths each year from a disease that is totally preventable. Sindh has already reported nine rabies cases this year. Victims from rural areas are unable to access life-saving treatment in time due to bureaucratic delays, underfunded hospitals and lack of political will. It is estimated that 2,000 to 5,000 people die from rabies annually in Pakistan, mostly from rural communities where awareness is low and the healthcare infrastructure poor. Victims often face severe shortages of post-exposure prophylaxis, are forced to travel great distances, and resort to questionable remedies before seeking proper care — usually too late. Compounding this is a surging stray dog population, inadequately controlled through humane means. Efforts to produce vaccines locally have also stumbled. Despite manufacturing some 80,000 vials of anti-rabies vaccine, the National Institute of Health has struggled to distribute them due to federal cabinet delays in setting official prices. This bureaucratic hurdle has hindered public hospital supplies, worsening the situation.

Yet, there are examples of effective action. The Indus Hospital’s Rabies Free Karachi initiative has shown that mass dog vaccination and sterilisation can curb rabies. Thousands of dogs have been treated in areas like Ibrahim Hyderi and Korangi, leading to reduced dog-bite cases. To its credit, the Sindh government-led Rabies Control Programme targets the vaccination and sterilisation of 125,000 dogs by mid-2025 and the creation of vaccination centres in 20 districts — but scaling these efforts is critical. The authorities must ensure uninterrupted vaccine supply, invest in mass dog vaccination, and conduct public awareness drives. Rabies deaths are not inevitable — they result from inaction. Without an immediate, coordinated effort, Pakistan risks falling behind the WHO global goal of zero rabies deaths by 2030. The government must act now — or stand complicit in every life lost.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2025