DAWN Editorials - 26th April 2025
Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2025 1:23 pm
Time for restraint
THESE are dangerous times in the subcontinent, and there is a need for both Pakistan and India to show restraint, and handle the post-Pahalgam developments with sense. Sadly, India has upped the ante by blaming Pakistan for the tragedy, without providing credible evidence of this country’s alleged involvement in the brutal slaying of tourists.
Moreover, there have been shrill calls — particularly in the Indian media — for ‘revenge’ against Pakistan. This, along with New Delhi’s condemnable measures against Pakistan, such as holding the Indus Waters Treaty ‘in abeyance’ and further downgrading ties, has created an incendiary atmosphere.
Pakistan understandably announced countermeasures, though perhaps it should have refrained from cancelling the visas of visiting Indians. On Friday, there were reports of gunfire across the LoC — fortunately, the exchange did not develop into a larger confrontation. But in such circumstances, when mutual trust is low and emotions, fuelled by irresponsible rhetoric, are high, chances of miscalculations increase significantly. It is because of this volatile situation that the UN chief has asked both governments to “exercise maximum restraint”.
Neither country can afford another war. Since independence, Pakistan and India have fought three major and several minor wars. It is time again to give diplomacy a chance. Unfortunately, many in New Delhi do not see peace with Pakistan as an endeavour worth pursuing, while the BJP-led regime’s deplorable actions in held Kashmir have contributed to the stifling atmosphere in the disputed region. Unless India realises that force and threats will not bring peace, the cycle of bloodshed will continue.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has rightly asked India to share any evidence it may have of Pakistan’s alleged involvement in the Pahalgam atrocity “with us and the world”. Unless India does so, the opinion that the Modi government is using this country as a scapegoat for its own security failures will only be strengthened. Even voices within India are calling upon the government to probe the intelligence failure. And if any reliable leads are provided linking rogue militant elements to the incident, Pakistan should follow up with its own investigations.
The Indian media should also reconsider its jarring approach to all things Pakistan. The media plays a central role in framing public discourse. Sadly, most mainstream outlets in India have displayed an aversion to journalistic ethics, outdoing each other in hyper-nationalistic rhetoric. These hijinks can have detrimental real-world effects on regional peace.
Instead of fanning the flames, both sides, particularly India, need to bring down the temperature. Once the nationalistic din dies down, India must accept the fact that without a just solution to the Kashmir issue, peace is impossible.
Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2025
A wise decision
GOOD sense seems to have finally prevailed, with the federal government deferring the planned canal projects, including the controversial Cholistan canal, for now. Following a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday, the government said it will undertake the projects only if a consensus among the provinces is achieved. A meeting of the Council of Common Interests will be convened next week regarding the issue. “...[W]e unanimously decided that no new canal will be constructed till the decision of the CCI,” Mr Sharif told a joint press conference along with Mr Bhutto-Zardari. Given the sensitivities of interprovincial water distribution, a wiser political leadership would have pre-empted the public outcry over the canal projects by taking the contentious Cholistan scheme to the CCI for a consensus decision even before initiating the work on its feasibility. That it took months of protests across Sindh against the Cholistan canal, the complete blockade of industrial and other supply chains to and from Punjab for the last week and a half, and the PPP’s ‘threats’ of quitting the coalition before the government took a step back shows that the actual decision-making powers regarding the project lie somewhere else.
That the matter has been referred to the CCI, the highest constitutional forum empowered to decide disputes that involve the provinces, indicates that the doors to an arbitrary decision on the scheme may have been closed. So far so good. But the pause does not necessarily guarantee that the project has been cancelled altogether. Still, the canal plan is unlikely to move forward anytime soon, at least not unless a solid, independent technical study of the proposed water channel is carried out and the buy-in of all the provinces, especially Sindh, achieved. This development should be enough to reassure the protesters who should lift the blockade of the national highway to allow smooth cargo and passenger movement between Sindh and Punjab. No doubt the episode has left a bad taste in the mouth and had added to the federation’s strain. However, the PM’s word on the issue should be respected. One also hopes that the PML-N will do better and avoid such controversies in the future.
Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2025
‘Fake’ Pakistanis
THE revelation is shocking. Hundreds of individuals holding Pakistani passports who were detained by the Saudi government were discovered during investigations to not be Pakistanis at all, but Afghans who had managed to fabricate their national identity and obtain travel documents from Pakistan. The Senate Standing Committee on Interior was told on Thursday that the Saudi authorities had flagged a total of 1,296 Afghan nationals who had acquired Pakistani passports through fraudulent means, ostensibly with the help of local collaborators exploiting weaknesses in the national identity registration system. Informed sources say there was a loophole in the family registration process, which Nadra recently closed, and which allowed new family members to be registered under a Pakistani national’s family tree based on fabricated, union council-issued birth certificates. This was exploited by foreigners to register themselves as members of Pakistani families and then use these altered records to acquire CNICs and passports on which they travelled abroad.
It is no wonder that Pakistanis have been facing immense difficulties securing visas to travel abroad. Issues like these are bound to make even the most ‘brotherly’ of nations view visitors from this country with deep suspicion, and one cannot really blame them. After all, if Saudi Arabia alone has been able to nab hundreds of Afghans who had successfully given Pakistani authorities the slip, there may be many more in other parts of the world. Such actions — be they taken by any foreign national on Pakistani soil — represent a major liability for this country. Any crimes they commit or trouble they cause besmirch Pakistan’s image and create difficulties for its citizens. The authorities must, therefore, take action against such individuals and their accomplices. Nationality records must be thoroughly reviewed to identify travellers suspected of having acquired Pakistani documentation through illegal means, and they should be asked to provide proof of their citizenship. It is also important to identify local collaborators and give them exemplary punishments. Foreign trust will not be restored unless there is transparent action.
Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2025
THESE are dangerous times in the subcontinent, and there is a need for both Pakistan and India to show restraint, and handle the post-Pahalgam developments with sense. Sadly, India has upped the ante by blaming Pakistan for the tragedy, without providing credible evidence of this country’s alleged involvement in the brutal slaying of tourists.
Moreover, there have been shrill calls — particularly in the Indian media — for ‘revenge’ against Pakistan. This, along with New Delhi’s condemnable measures against Pakistan, such as holding the Indus Waters Treaty ‘in abeyance’ and further downgrading ties, has created an incendiary atmosphere.
Pakistan understandably announced countermeasures, though perhaps it should have refrained from cancelling the visas of visiting Indians. On Friday, there were reports of gunfire across the LoC — fortunately, the exchange did not develop into a larger confrontation. But in such circumstances, when mutual trust is low and emotions, fuelled by irresponsible rhetoric, are high, chances of miscalculations increase significantly. It is because of this volatile situation that the UN chief has asked both governments to “exercise maximum restraint”.
Neither country can afford another war. Since independence, Pakistan and India have fought three major and several minor wars. It is time again to give diplomacy a chance. Unfortunately, many in New Delhi do not see peace with Pakistan as an endeavour worth pursuing, while the BJP-led regime’s deplorable actions in held Kashmir have contributed to the stifling atmosphere in the disputed region. Unless India realises that force and threats will not bring peace, the cycle of bloodshed will continue.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has rightly asked India to share any evidence it may have of Pakistan’s alleged involvement in the Pahalgam atrocity “with us and the world”. Unless India does so, the opinion that the Modi government is using this country as a scapegoat for its own security failures will only be strengthened. Even voices within India are calling upon the government to probe the intelligence failure. And if any reliable leads are provided linking rogue militant elements to the incident, Pakistan should follow up with its own investigations.
The Indian media should also reconsider its jarring approach to all things Pakistan. The media plays a central role in framing public discourse. Sadly, most mainstream outlets in India have displayed an aversion to journalistic ethics, outdoing each other in hyper-nationalistic rhetoric. These hijinks can have detrimental real-world effects on regional peace.
Instead of fanning the flames, both sides, particularly India, need to bring down the temperature. Once the nationalistic din dies down, India must accept the fact that without a just solution to the Kashmir issue, peace is impossible.
Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2025
A wise decision
GOOD sense seems to have finally prevailed, with the federal government deferring the planned canal projects, including the controversial Cholistan canal, for now. Following a meeting between Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday, the government said it will undertake the projects only if a consensus among the provinces is achieved. A meeting of the Council of Common Interests will be convened next week regarding the issue. “...[W]e unanimously decided that no new canal will be constructed till the decision of the CCI,” Mr Sharif told a joint press conference along with Mr Bhutto-Zardari. Given the sensitivities of interprovincial water distribution, a wiser political leadership would have pre-empted the public outcry over the canal projects by taking the contentious Cholistan scheme to the CCI for a consensus decision even before initiating the work on its feasibility. That it took months of protests across Sindh against the Cholistan canal, the complete blockade of industrial and other supply chains to and from Punjab for the last week and a half, and the PPP’s ‘threats’ of quitting the coalition before the government took a step back shows that the actual decision-making powers regarding the project lie somewhere else.
That the matter has been referred to the CCI, the highest constitutional forum empowered to decide disputes that involve the provinces, indicates that the doors to an arbitrary decision on the scheme may have been closed. So far so good. But the pause does not necessarily guarantee that the project has been cancelled altogether. Still, the canal plan is unlikely to move forward anytime soon, at least not unless a solid, independent technical study of the proposed water channel is carried out and the buy-in of all the provinces, especially Sindh, achieved. This development should be enough to reassure the protesters who should lift the blockade of the national highway to allow smooth cargo and passenger movement between Sindh and Punjab. No doubt the episode has left a bad taste in the mouth and had added to the federation’s strain. However, the PM’s word on the issue should be respected. One also hopes that the PML-N will do better and avoid such controversies in the future.
Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2025
‘Fake’ Pakistanis
THE revelation is shocking. Hundreds of individuals holding Pakistani passports who were detained by the Saudi government were discovered during investigations to not be Pakistanis at all, but Afghans who had managed to fabricate their national identity and obtain travel documents from Pakistan. The Senate Standing Committee on Interior was told on Thursday that the Saudi authorities had flagged a total of 1,296 Afghan nationals who had acquired Pakistani passports through fraudulent means, ostensibly with the help of local collaborators exploiting weaknesses in the national identity registration system. Informed sources say there was a loophole in the family registration process, which Nadra recently closed, and which allowed new family members to be registered under a Pakistani national’s family tree based on fabricated, union council-issued birth certificates. This was exploited by foreigners to register themselves as members of Pakistani families and then use these altered records to acquire CNICs and passports on which they travelled abroad.
It is no wonder that Pakistanis have been facing immense difficulties securing visas to travel abroad. Issues like these are bound to make even the most ‘brotherly’ of nations view visitors from this country with deep suspicion, and one cannot really blame them. After all, if Saudi Arabia alone has been able to nab hundreds of Afghans who had successfully given Pakistani authorities the slip, there may be many more in other parts of the world. Such actions — be they taken by any foreign national on Pakistani soil — represent a major liability for this country. Any crimes they commit or trouble they cause besmirch Pakistan’s image and create difficulties for its citizens. The authorities must, therefore, take action against such individuals and their accomplices. Nationality records must be thoroughly reviewed to identify travellers suspected of having acquired Pakistani documentation through illegal means, and they should be asked to provide proof of their citizenship. It is also important to identify local collaborators and give them exemplary punishments. Foreign trust will not be restored unless there is transparent action.
Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2025