DAWN Editorials - 19th January 2025

[faheemustad]

Kurram conundrum

THE validity of the claim by state functionaries that the violence in KP’s Kurram district stems from a ‘tribal dispute’ has been severely put to the test by recent events.

After an attack on a convoy in the Bagan area on Thursday led to the loss of security personnel, a counterterrorism operation seems imminent, and the state has prepared plans to shift civilians to safer areas. While tribal disputes over land and water have played a key role in exacerbating tensions in Kurram, the fact is that sectarian groups and terrorist outfits have exploited these differences to establish footholds in the district, as the state has fumbled for responses.

At least two security men were martyred in the convoy attack, which is the second of its kind; an earlier attack had targeted the then Kurram DC, who survived the ambush. In the latest outrage, militants looted the trucks carrying goods to Parachinar, while four drivers have been found dead, with their hands tied and their bodies bearing signs of torture.

Unfortunately, if the state — all institutions, including the centre, the KP government, and the security establishment — had moved with alacrity when violence initially flared up last year, such bloodshed could have been avoided. But it seems that the administration was in denial, letting the Kurram cauldron boil until it was ready to explode, which it certainly has. Now, thousands of people will be displaced as the security forces go after militants. Besides, matters will be complicated by the fact that the local militants — including those fighters allied with the banned TTP and IS-K — have ideological comrades just across the border in Afghanistan.

Sadly, the state took a slothful approach to addressing the underlying land and water disputes which have fuelled conflict. Moreover, the government displayed great callousness by allowing Parachinar to be blocked off from the rest of the country for months following the deadly targeting of a convoy in Lower Kurram in November. This resulted in a grave humanitarian crisis in Kurram’s main town, with children and newborns particularly affected due to lack of food and medicine.

But the state took its time to address the ‘tribal dispute’. Even the peace pact hammered out by a jirga on Jan 1 has failed to stem the violence, as the recent convoy attacks show, and now a CT operation is being seen as the last resort. If terrorists and sectarian groups — regardless of their confessional affiliations — had been neutralised earlier, we would not be at this juncture today.

Furthermore, the blockade of any region even for a single day should not have been tolerated by the state. The days ahead will tell whether the government succeeds in bringing peace to this forsaken area.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2025


EV policy

IT is pleasantly surprising that the authorities are moving with such purpose to potentially revolutionise transportation. Over the past few days, the government has announced a 45pc cut in the tariff for electric charging stations, quicker permissions for businesses looking to set up charging and battery-swapping facilities, and assistance in arranging green energy loans for owners of two- and three-wheelers to purchase batteries. On Thursday, Power Minister Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari also approached French ambassador Nicolas Galey with a proposal seeking support for transitioning small vehicles to electric technology. Previously, under its New Energy Vehicle Policy, unveiled in November, the government had announced it wanted 30pc of all vehicles on the roads to be electric by 2030. Under the policy, a subsidy of Rs50,000 for motorcycles and Rs200,000 for rickshaws had been earmarked with a total initial budget of Rs4bn, while the government had targeted the installation of 40 sites along the Karachi to Peshawar Motorway for EV charging stations and 3,000 charging stations nationwide. If these measures are rolled out consistently, cheaper and cleaner transportation could quickly be placed within reach of most Pakistanis, solving not one but three major challenges for the state.

Pakistan shells out about $6bn in yearly fuel imports while having a surplus installed electricity generation capacity. The latter has become a major burden for the exchequer owing to the capacity payments guaranteed to power generation companies, which raise tariffs if demand is insufficient. By pushing ordinary Pakistanis to adopt electric vehicles for everyday use, the government is aiming to not only reduce its fuel import bill but also to boost electricity demand and dilute the impact of capacity charges. This will have significant benefits for citizens, too: not only will the cost of adopting EVs be subsidised, but the lower announced tariff will also result in savings on fuel. Widespread adoption could also see electricity tariffs decline for everyone as higher electricity consumption dilutes painful capacity payments. There are also environmental benefits. According to government figures, transportation is responsible for 43pc of all airborne emissions in the country, and with major cities suffocating in smog, moving small vehicles to electric technologies will cut down a major source of pollution and allow citizens to breathe easier. Talk about a win-win solution.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2025


Varsity woes

GIVEN that most bureaucrats in our country are not really known for contributions to pedagogical excellence, it seems like a good idea to keep them away from the administration of higher education institutions and let professional academics do the job. This issue has flared up in Sindh in recent days, with teaching staff at public sector universities on strike since Thursday to protest what they see as an encroachment on the autonomy of their institutions via a proposed change to the Sindh Universities and Institutes Laws Act that will allow non-PhD candidates and bureaucrats to be appointed vice-chancellors of higher learning institutions. Their stance has been endorsed by the Higher Education Commission, whose chairman has criticised the plan as a “retrogressive step which will not only have serious consequences on the academic standards, but would also affect academic freedom and critical thinking”. Clearly, there needs to be reconsideration of its consequences.

Of all the challenges faced by higher education institutions in Sindh it is strange that the provincial government chose to focus its energies on who should oversee their affairs. After all, its concern for the welfare of higher education institutions could have been much better demonstrated by, for example, increasing the size of its budget for the sector and by providing much-needed resources to assist the universities under its purview in competing globally for the pursuit of academic excellence. Instead, while most public universities in the province paint a picture of neglect and general apathy, the Sindh government made it a bigger priority to make it easier to appoint individuals who do not meet commonly held standards for academic rigour to head their administrative affairs. How this will help higher education is difficult to understand. It is no wonder that key stakeholders are up in arms about the proposal. The provincial authorities should heed their concerns.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2025