DAWN Editorials - 15th January 2025

[faheemustad]

Missing justice

IT has taken a tour of Pakistan’s provinces for Chief Justice Yahya Afridi to be “jolted” by the crisis of enforced disappearances. The issue has long been an open wound in Pakistan’s body politic, one that successive chief justices have observed with varying degrees of concern but insufficient action.

The CJP told reporters that complaints from bar associations across the country have “disturbed” him but that it is imperative to also “hear the other side”. However, these cases have languished in various courts for years. Why has the judiciary not been more proactive in addressing them?


Chief Justice Afridi’s position that such cases fall under the high courts’ jurisdiction per Article 199 of the Constitution, while technically correct, risks becoming another bureaucratic shield behind which justice can continue to be delayed. The Supreme Court’s apparent reluctance to “interfere” with subordinate judiciary must not result in it abdicating its role as the ultimate guardian of fundamental rights. The mathematics of delay is simple but devastating.

Each day a person remains missing represents 24 hours of anguish for their families, who are left to navigate a labyrinthine legal system that seems designed to exhaust rather than deliver justice. The high courts, already burdened with backlogged cases, have treated these cases as routine litigation rather than the human rights emergencies they are.

While the CJP’s broader vision for judicial reform — including plans for financial aid to underprivileged litigants and the professional development of district judges — is commendable, it should not distract from the immediate need to address enforced disappearances. The comparison of the SC to the Titanic, requiring time to change course, is unfortunate given how long the court has had to adjust its heading on this issue. The judiciary must recognise that its institutional credibility is intrinsically linked to its handling of missing persons cases.


Each delay not only denies justice to the affected families but also erodes public faith in the legal system. If the high courts are indeed the appropriate forum for these cases, then the SC must at least ensure they are heard with the urgency they deserve. What Pakistan needs now is not merely acknowledgment of the problem but a clear timeline for addressing it.

The ‘jolt’ should translate into concrete directives to high courts to expedite these cases, with regular monitoring of progress. The time for careful deliberation has long passed — what is needed now is swift action to ensure that Pakistan’s missing persons are either produced before the courts or their fate explained to their families. Anything less would represent a continued failure of justice and a tacit acceptance of practices that have no place in a democratic society.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2025


Racist talk

WHEN racist tropes are amplified by the expansive reach of social media, the affected communities face real-world danger. That is why it is important to address the narrative — being pushed principally by X owner Elon Musk — seeking to vilify British-Pakistanis over the UK’s past child grooming scandal. The crimes of those involved are indefensible and they must face justice; however, this does not mean that dark forces should be allowed to exploit this tragedy, and malign whole communities. In this respect, the Foreign Office has condemned the “racist and Islamophobic” narratives in the UK, while calling out efforts to demonise the “large and diverse” British-Pakistani community. Though the crimes in question date back to 2008, Mr Musk has of recent chosen to dredge up the Rochdale case and go after ‘Pakistani grooming gangs’, while accusing Labour — including the current British prime minister — of covering up the matter as British-Pakistanis form a major voting bloc for the party. The Conservatives and the British far right, have jumped onto the Musk bandwagon, bringing the grooming issue back into the spotlight.

Of course, in the face of spin doctoring, facts are of little value. While most of the perpetrators of the Rochdale atrocity were indeed British-Pakistanis, a 2020 UK Home Office study said that “group-based child sexual exploitation offenders are most commonly white”. Yet those looking to target Muslims or Pakistanis cherry-pick information, or manufacture alternative ‘facts’ to suit their dangerous agendas. For example, after three little girls were brutally murdered in the British town of Southport, disinformation was spread that the perpetrator was a Muslim migrant. Though patently false, this rumour led to intense anti-Muslim rioting. According to one researcher, posts suggesting that the crime was carried out by a Muslim or a migrant received 27m impressions. It is particularly dangerous when a man with obscene wealth — and running one of the world’s largest social media firms — chooses to amplify hateful and divisive rhetoric. It should be remembered that similar propaganda was used by the Nazis to justify the extermination of Europe’s Jews. Therefore, progressive forces must counter this hateful campaign of the far right and big tech with solidarity and the truth. Those involved in wrongdoing should face the law regardless of their ethnic origin or religious background. But whole communities cannot be vilified.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2025


Faceless customs

THE launch of the faceless customs assessment system as part of the government’s Tax Transformation Plan is a significant reform that makes use of technology to maintain anonymity in the customs process to determine taxes on import shipments. The initiative was launched last month at the Karachi port, which handles the bulk of imports before their transportation to the rest of the country. The system in Karachi is set to become fully functional from next month. In the interim, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wants the initiative to be extended to other upcountry ports and border stations to streamline imports. Under the project, customs appraisement functions would be relocated outside the customs collectorates.

Under the initiative, a goods declaration or bill of entry submitted by an importer or his agent is randomly assigned to an assessing officer, who is physically located at a customs station, which is not the port of import in the automated system, for appraisal of duties and taxes. Thus, it separates the assessment process from the physical location of the port through the use of technology. In this way, it also delinks the goods’ clearance procedure from the geographical location where the goods are available for examination, increasing transparency in tax assessment. The introduction of faceless customs assessment is expected to usher in a significant change in the overall working of the customs department and facilitate trade by reducing the goods’ clearance time, besides improving efficiency and transparency. Other advantages include reduced discretion for customs officials in appraising import duties and taxes, and fewer chances of corruption and tax evasion by ending collusion between officials and importers/ agents. The results so far are said to be encouraging, and underscore how digitisation and technology to reduce human interventions can help the government plug tax evasion and under-invoicing of imports to boost its revenues.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2025