DAWN Editorials - 24th January 2025

[faheemustad]

Digital dragnet

CONSIDERING the extensive damage it has already wrought to Pakistan’s digital aspirations, one would have expected this government to have picked up a few lessons along the way. Not so, it seems.

The latest bright idea from its policymakers is to turn the digital ecosystem into even more of a minefield, with fresh laws that can and very likely will be weaponised against any citizen who refuses to toe state-set lines.

The Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Bill, 2025, passed by the National Assembly on Thursday, seems aimed at providing new means to state authorities for cracking down on various digital platforms and the ‘mischief makers’ who use them.


The amendments seek to jail those who spread disinformation for three years, replace the FIA’s notorious Cybercrime Wing with a brand-new investigation agency, and establish a new authority with the power to partially or fully block social media platforms that do not comply.

Peca, since its introduction in 2016, has been widely criticised as a black law created mainly to punish dissent. In the eight years since its enactment, it has been used extensively against politicians, journalists, rights activists, and even ordinary political workers to impress the might of the Pakistani establishment onto those who dare to challenge it.

It has condemned those it has touched to incur immense personal, professional and psychological costs, yet not a single meaningful step has been taken to address or even limit its abuse.

Indeed, the country’s three biggest political parties have each contributed to either implementing or augmenting Peca to make it even more dangerous than it should have been.

The law’s apparent fixation with the criticism of state institutions and their functionaries is indicative of the simple fact that the interests it seeks to protect are not public or national interests, but the vested interests of the country’s power elite.

There are examples aplenty of individuals who have been harassed over Peca complaints based on highly frivolous reasons to support digital rights activists’ assertion that this law needs to be revised and retrenched, not expanded.

With the country’s justice system in a shambles and the authorities time and again displaying an abject lack of regard for due process or human rights, there is a very strong likelihood that the amendments made to Peca by the government can and will be abused by the authorities.


There is no doubt that the rise of social media has greatly complicated some of the challenges faced by modern nation-states and created the potential for unprecedented instability. However, it would be folly to attempt to tackle these challenges with blunt tools like Peca.

The Pakistani state must stop inflicting wounds on itself and learn to resolve its internal issues through social and political means.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2025


USC closure

THE PML-N government seems to have finally firmed up its mind on the future of the Utility Stores. The cabinet has formed a committee led by the industries and production minister to frame a ‘comprehensive’ strategy in the next seven days to ‘promptly’ shut down the loss-making Utility Stores Corporation, and absorb its employees in the federal surplus pool or post them against vacancies in other departments. The idea is to eventually sell the assets and properties owned by the USC across the nation as part of the plan to cut wasteful public expenditure. The corporation is one of the many white elephants the government has been struggling to save from extinction in the name of providing relief to the low-income segments of the urban populace at the expense of taxpayers. This was in spite of the Utility Stores run by the 53-year old USC having lost their utility years ago, with rapid urbanisation and population growth making it impossible for the authorities to extend the network of subsidised groceries to the targeted communities. Mismanagement and corruption to the tune of billions of rupees plaguing the corporation reinforces the case for its privatisation.

The strong case for the corporation’s closure notwithstanding, the government has the responsibility to find an effective mechanism to help low-income households battered by years of soaring costs of food, healthcare, education, housing and transport, and stagnating wages. With Ramazan just around the corner and the prices of food being gradually jacked up by traders, the urgency of finding a way to ensure provision of essential kitchen items to this segment of the population cannot be overstated. That said, the provincial governments have now a bigger, rather central role to play in providing economic relief to citizens since the passage of the 18th Amendment. It, however, is sad to note that in spite of spending billions on food subsidies and Ramazan bazaars every year, no province has been able to evolve a durable mechanism to support the low-income, inflation-stricken households. This calls for devising an effective framework wherein the authorities can ensure provision of essentials for the urban population at below-market rates while ensuring the quality and minimum burden on public finances. The Punjab government’s ‘model bazaars’ project in Lahore and other cities is one such example.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2025


Hindu exodus

THE vision of this country’s founding father was that of a Muslim-majority state where members of all religious communities could live in security, and with dignity. Sadly, we have come quite far from that noble vision, as the plight of Sindh’s Hindus illustrates.

According to a recent study by the HRCP, a number of factors are fuelling the Hindu exodus from Sindh towards India. It should be noted that Sindh is host to the largest number of Hindus in Pakistan.

The HRCP says that the key reasons forcing Sindhi Hindus to migrate from their ancestral land are forced conversion and marriage of girls and young women, kidnapping of Hindu individuals, as well as the generally poor law and order situation in the province.


Moreover, economic issues are also causing Hindu Pakistanis to leave the country. As HRCP head Asad Iqbal Butt observed, there were reports that around 300 people left Kashmore alone for India last year, but the actual number may be higher.

It was also mentioned at the study’s launch that while wealthier Hindus led relatively comfortable lives across the border, poorer members of the community were living in refugee camps.

It is also true that India is encouraging this trend; in 2024 the Citizenship Amendment Act took effect in that country, which allows non-Muslims from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh facing ‘persecution’ in their home countries to seek Indian citizenship. Muslims from these states are pointedly excluded.

Hindus are an essential part of Sindh’s culture, and Pakistan’s religious tapestry. The fact is that there is no state-sponsored anti-Hindu campaign in the country. Rather, extremist elements and criminals are targeting the community.

But the state cannot absolve itself of the responsibility to protect Hindu citizens, and assure them of safety. The key factors behind the exodus need to be addressed, while those Pakistani Hindus that have left for India should be given an amnesty, and allowed to return home.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2025