DAWN Editorials - 29th January 2025

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Cricket spin

PAKISTAN seemed to have found the blueprint for Test success at home: raging turners that had brought three wins in a row. After winning the opening game against the West Indies in their last series of the World Test Championship, they seemed headed towards ending a disappointing campaign on a high note. The West Indies, though, ended the two-match series on level terms, beating Pakistan in the final Test in Multan. The loss ensured the hosts finished at the bottom of the WTC table. It is a position they had not foreseen before the start of what was billed as a bumper home season, with skipper Shan Masood setting his sights on making the WTC final. Following a whitewash at the hands of Bangladesh, Pakistan turned to spin after losing to England in the opening Test of their three-match series. They fought back to win that series and were on top after the opening session of the second Test against the West Indies, only for the tourists to fight back and win their first Test on Pakistani soil since 1990.

Pakistan’s batting crumbled in the face of West Indies’ spin firepower while chasing 253. They fell 120 runs short. Later, Shan indicated that similar turning pitches — instead of flat tracks — were likely in the upcoming domestic season to give batters the practice to thrive in such spinning conditions. Perhaps if Pakistan had picked the best batters against spin, the outcome might have been different, but as the old adage goes, practice makes perfect. Amid murmurs of a two-tier Test system, Pakistan are looking to spin as the way to win at home. Shan already backs the system. Which tier Pakistan end up in could well be decided at the end of the next WTC cycle with their first Test series coming in nine months’ time, giving Shan and his fellow batters time to improve their prowess against spin.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2025


A second Nakba?

WHILE candidate Trump was able to get away with making outrageous statements on the campaign trail, what President Trump says will be construed around the world as American policy. In this regard, the US leader’s recent remarks about Gaza are deeply troubling. Over the weekend, Donald Trump suggested that the devastated Palestinian Strip be “cleaned out”, and its people be shipped off to Jordan and Egypt in a “temporary” move, or perhaps even something “long term”. These suggestions sound ominously like a plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza of its Palestinian inhabitants, and pave the wave for Israeli reoccupation. There has been opposition to this dubious plan across the board — with the exception of the Israeli far right. Egypt, Jordan, the Europeans as well as some of Mr Trump’s Republican allies have said the proposal is a non-starter, and it would be a bad idea to empty Gaza of its people. As some experts have noted, any forcible expulsion of the Strip’s people could be considered a crime against humanity. Of course, Israel has been committing plenty of crimes against humanity in Gaza over the past 15 months until the ceasefire took effect. But the Palestinians — by returning to northern Gaza in droves — have shown the world that even savage bombardment and starvation will not make them abandon their land. Their forefathers were forced off their land during the Nakba; the people of Palestine seem convinced not to repeat this dark chapter of history.

Wild ideas such as settling the Palestinians in other Arab states — some have even recommended dispatching them to Indonesia — are dead in the water. This land belongs to the Palestinian people, and the only viable and just option is the two-state solution where the Arabs rule over sovereign, contiguous territory able to sustain itself. Unfortunately, far too many amongst the Israeli elite, along with their fervent Zionist supporters in the American political establishment, wish to devour more and more Arab real estate to recreate the supposed biblical land of Israel. That is why the occupied West Bank, Gaza, Syria’s Golan and southern Lebanon are all on the wish list of Israeli extremists. If Tel Aviv were to go ahead with bringing the plans for a ‘Greater Israel’ to fruition, and if the US were to aid this dangerous endeavour, it would be a guarantee for setting the Mideast alight.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2025


PTI no-show

THEY waited for nothing. The PTI, making good on its threat to boycott the fourth round of negotiations between the opposition and the ruling parties, remained a no-show at the Tuesday session.

The government committee waited for about 45 minutes before the meeting was finally called off. It is hoped that this does not prove to be the end of the line for the process. National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, whose office has been hosting the negotiations, graciously left a door open for the PTI, expressing hope that it would realise that talks were still the only way forward.


However, the spokesperson for the government in the committee, Senator Irfan Siddiqui, had earlier taken a harder line over the weekend, warning that the dialogue would be called off if the PTI’s representatives did not show up for the meeting. Similarly, the PTI had shown rigidity in making the fulfilment of its demands a precondition for its attendance.

It is a shame that what had initially seemed to be a genuine attempt to solve problems with talks fizzled out thus. Both sides certainly lived up to their worst expectations of each other: the PTI exhibited fickleness by withdrawing suddenly and prematurely from the process, while the government demonstrated ill intent by first dragging its feet and then allowing a raid on the opposition committee spokesperson’s house.

Indeed, the outcome was always what had seemed to be the most likely one, even if it was not hoped for. It can only be prayed that both sides realise their errors and make amends to salvage the process. If they think bravado can hide the fact that they are individually weakened and need a breakthrough, they are mistaken. The two sides can continue to play their political cat-and-mouse games, but they will likely come full circle.


It had earlier been noted that the negotiations would have trouble continuing as long as the bigwigs from each party were not directly involved. Second- or third-tier leaders alone cannot take talks forward. They need a constant line of communication with their party’s leaders to discuss possibilities and get approvals.

In this case, the PTI’s negotiating team should have been allowed free access to Imran Khan, which it was not. It is strange that the government remained reluctant to facilitate their meetings and still expected a positive outcome from the talks.

There is no shaking off the growing impression that an entire country is being held hostage by the egos of a few powerful individuals. Bad laws continue to be enacted to prolong the status quo, and bad decisions keep delaying the possibility of a turnaround. This will have deeply negative effects on the health of the country for years to come.

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2025