Dawn Editorials 18th October 2025

Farm sector crisis

A REPORT submitted to parliament by the finance minister exposes the grim state of Pakistan’s agriculture sector. It points out that the sector, often touted as the economy’s ‘backbone’, has fallen to pieces, unleashing what many term as a broader rural crisis. The report, submitted in response to information sought by a senator on the state of farm credit, gives a detailed account of collapsing agriculture credit, crop failure, low yields and farmer migration to cities. While the situation has been compounded by extreme weather events caused by climate change and ongoing economic troubles, as stressed in the report, the crisis in the farm sector is structural. The report also seeks to exonerate the government of any blame for the current state of the rural economy by holding farmers, if partially, along with natural disasters and the economic downturn, responsible for a complex structural problem rooted in decades of state neglect.

Successive governments have failed to invest in rural extension services, encourage farm credit and crop insurance, promote mechanisation and technology adoption, or develop drought- and pest-resistant seed varieties. Each administration has responded to the recurring agriculture crises with short-term fixes, including indirect subsidies that rarely reach smallholders, instead of addressing the structural flaws. The absence of credible market reforms and long-term planning has left the farm economy stagnant, unproductive and vulnerable to both climatic and economic shocks behind which every government seeks to conceal its failures. Now that the farm productivity crisis is morphing into the larger problem of the exodus of rural populations to the cities, the authorities must move beyond their rhetoric. Pakistan needs a coherent rural development strategy that combines climate resilience with financial inclusion, technological support and market reforms to revitalise agriculture to raise rural incomes and alleviate poverty. Without a paradigm policy shift, the so-called backbone will continue to crack under the weight of state neglect.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2025

Family matters

IT seems that the elders of the Bhutto and Sharif clans have sorted out the bitter differences that had erupted between the two ruling parties last month, ostensibly over how the distribution of relief to the victims of the recent Punjab floods should be managed. To wit, the PPP had insisted that the authorities use the Benazir Income Support Programme system to distribute aid to affected citizens, but the PML-N government in Punjab had responded with a hard ‘no’, saying it would work out its own mechanism for the distribution of relief goods. What followed was a sustained exchange of rather nasty rhetoric between the second-tier leadership of both parties. At its nadir, the cold war between the two parties saw elaborate press conferences being held almost every day, in which one party would denigrate the other at length. It was most unfortunate that this political drama ended up distracting the public’s attention from the plight of flood-affected citizens, and it remains unclear how much aid actually reached citizens while the parties were bickering over how it ought to be delivered. But it seems that good sense has now prevailed, and the parties may be ready to move on.

The prime minister seems to have intervened and given some assurance to the PPP that the BISP will be utilised, as wished. According to the PPP’s information secretary, this assurance was extended directly to the PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. What will be interesting to see, however, is how the prime minister sells this concession to his niece, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. Ms Nawaz had been rather confrontational earlier while asserting Punjab’s prerogative over deciding how aid would be distributed. At one point, she had even raised the highly contentious topic of the Cholistan canals project, which had previously sparked widespread protests in Sindh, questioning the opposition to it and famously remarking that, “It is my water, my money; everything is mine”. It is quite disappointing that what should have been an opportunity to join forces for public service was spoiled thus. It seems both parties were eager to take credit from flood-ravaged families, and each thought their way of doing it would secure their individual political interests. Now that they have realised they may have erred, they should make amends. They must look past such petty conflicts if they are to hold the government together.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2025

The TLP issue

THE state’s crackdown on the TLP is in full swing. On Monday, members of the far-right party and LEAs clashed in Muridke, as the state aborted the group’s attempt to march on Islamabad, apparently to protest in front of the US embassy in ‘solidarity’ with Gaza.

From then onwards, the TLP’s leaders have reportedly gone underground, thousands of supporters have been rounded up, while the group’s mosques and madressahs are being seized by the state. Unlike previous clashes between the TLP and the government, this time it appears that the rulers aim to dismantle the religiously inspired party permanently. On Friday, the Punjab information minister said the summary to ban the TLP had been sent to the centre. Earlier, several federal ministers said that the crackdown would not relent. This would be the second ban in the TLP’s turbulent decade-old history.

However, simply publishing a notification in the official gazette may not be enough to deal effectively with the TLP phenomenon. In Pakistan’s history of far-right religious activism, most sectarian and jihadi groups have belonged to the Deobandi or Ahle Hadith schools, while there have also been a few prominent Shia militant groups.

The TLP, meanwhile, represents the Barelvi school, and has used emotive topics such as blasphemy and other sensitive religious issues to mobilise the public. Its history is certainly problematic. It has on numerous occasions clashed with the law, while its role in organising mobs has also been troubling.

Moreover, it has supported violent campaigns against minority groups, including Christians and Ahmadis, particularly in Punjab, targeting the places of worship of these communities. The TLP is also a major political force, getting millions of votes in the last general elections. Therefore, while an official clampdown may provide temporary relief, it might not produce long-term results.

Banning groups in Pakistan has not proved effective in countering extremist violence. For example, the first major bans were put in place during the Musharraf regime. Many of the groups remain active more than two decades after they were ‘banned’, changing their names several times.

If the state really wants to address the issue of the TLP and other violent groups, instead of bans, it should focus on prosecuting the leaders and activists who promote and participate in violence and who actively engage in hate speech. Because the state has been weak thus far in enforcing the law, powerful violent groups have gained the confidence to continue with their disruptive activities. Groups must be free to organise, but no one can be allowed to advocate violence against any community, or endorse hate speech.

Moreover, protests must remain peaceful. If the state ‘bans’ groups, then loses interest and starts looking away, these outfits will re-emerge, and the cycle of violence and confrontation will continue in perpetuity.

Published in Dawn, October 18th, 2025