Dawn Editorials 8th October 2025

Fatal ‘honour’

MURDER for ‘honour’, executed by systems meant for women’s safety, is gender-based violence at its most brutal. Rights defenders have flagged a troubling surge in the tribal custom in Sindh — data says 105 female lives have been lost to karo kari so far this year. Police statistics reveal that most perpetrators were family members: 38 husbands, 24 brothers, six fathers, and others. The HRCP puts last year’s toll of ‘honour’ killings in Pakistan at 405; far higher than 226 in 2023. Activists believe the annual toll is close to 1,000 due to political abdication and negligible enforcement of accountability mechanisms. Most cases are either miscategorised or unreported. This evil will plague women until it is stripped of the label of ‘honour’, and seen as a manifestation of toxic patriarchal control.

The last time the state showed empathy and commitment was in 2016, when it plugged loopholes so ‘honour’ killers are not easily freed. Through Section 311 of the PPC, which deals with ‘fasad fil arz’, it was ensured that the state becomes an intervener when ‘honour’ killing happens and the complainant pardons the criminal. But legislation and subsequent amendments have fallen prey to shoddy application. Legal heirs of victims can defer penalty for murder. The way to stem this curse lies in corrective action, such as the urgent implementation of the 2019 Supreme Court ban on jirgas, access to education and awareness so that misogynistic customs are criminalised. It has been aptly observed that “karo kari is an industry” given the lucrative settlements: blood money and the exchange of women through jirgas. To prevent women from being treated as commodities, the state cannot postpone the provision of extended safety, shelter and free legal aid for survivors. Equally crucial is a sensitised and empowered police force, with witness protection programmes, for higher conviction rates. A woman’s choice should not be a death sentence.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2025

Deepening rift

THE alliance between the PML-N and PPP is in disarray. What began as a public spat over flood relief efforts in Punjab has snowballed into a full-blown confrontation between the two political parties, disrupting the functioning of parliament and, possibly, threatening the future of the coalition.

On Monday, both Houses of Parliament were forced to adjourn without transacting any business after PPP legislators staged walkouts in protest against the combative rhetoric of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, and the unsavoury remarks of her information minister against the party’s top leadership.

Ms Nawaz sees the PPP’s proposal to use the BISP network for assisting flood-affected populations in Punjab as an act of interference. She has also accused the party of exploiting the floods to gain political mileage. At the same time, she is using the rift to stir up nationalist sentiments in Punjab by reviving talk on the controversial canal-building project opposed by Sindh.

Her remarks appear to have touched a raw nerve within the PPP, which has responded with equal force. Its leaders have demanded an apology from the Punjab chief minister, warning the PML-N not to take their support in Islamabad for granted. PPP leader Sherry Rehman aptly reminded the coalition partner that “a coalition cannot be run by insulting others”.

With both sides trading barbs over flood relief efforts and the contentious canal project, routine legislative work is suffering amid repeated quorum disruptions and adjournments since the start of the current parliamentary session on Sept 29.

What makes this episode particularly troubling is its timing. The country is still reeling from the impact of the recent floods, and millions await help for recovery. Such a moment demands maturity from the ruling parties. Instead, their escalating hostilities threaten to further erode interprovincial harmony and weaken the federation itself. It is time both sides stepped back lest their feud spiral out of control.

Therefore, President Asif Zardari’s decision to mediate between the warring parties through the interior minister is a welcome step. Yet, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif’s alleged decision to back his daughter’s combative stance — apparently disregarding Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s request for his help in defusing the tension — is likely to exacerbate the rift. The question now is whether President Zardari can rescue this marriage of convenience, which is being consumed by mutual distrust, while Nawaz Sharif chooses to look the other way.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2025

Gaza’s future

TWO years after the Hamas attacks targeting Israel created shockwaves that rattled the Middle East, representatives of the Palestinian group and the Zionist state are discussing the modalities of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan in Egypt. It is difficult to say whether these parleys will lead to lasting peace, as Israel has an extremely unsavoury past when it comes to honouring commitments. Moreover, those that populate the current Israeli cabinet are no doves; many have spoken openly of obliterating the Palestinian people. Yet any chance of halting the genocide in Gaza, and bringing relief to its battered people, must be pursued.

Much has happened since Oct 7, 2023. For one, the modern era’s first live-streamed genocide has been carried out in the besieged Strip, executed by Tel Aviv and funded and defended by the West’s ‘liberal democracies’, while the Muslim world has looked on. This has resulted in over 67,000 Gazans being slaughtered, more than 20,000 among them children. Israel has used starvation as a weapon of war, committing crimes against humanity in full public view. Beyond the wasteland of Gaza, Tel Aviv has attacked and occupied Lebanon and Syria, traded fire with Yemen’s Houthis, and fought a devastating war with Iran. All these events are linked to the Oct 7 episode. Many ask what Hamas gained with its attack on Israel. While history will be the final judge, it must be remembered that for the past 18 years Israel has maintained a debilitating blockade of Gaza, in essence transforming the held territory into a giant concentration camp. With Gaza’s people living in subhuman conditions, the Oct 7 events were an explosive reaction to Tel Aviv’s brutality against the Palestinian people. Even as negotiations continue, the Zionist state has continued to kill Palestinians in Gaza, while ramping up oppression in the West Bank.

If the talks in Egypt do succeed, they may only lead to a temporary cessation of hostilities, until the next bloody episode, unless Israel commits to ending its impunity. Mr Trump’s plan is hardly a recipe for a just, lasting peace; it is in fact a humiliating band-aid designed to make the US president look like a global statesman, while the scheme is biased in Israel’s favour. Many tough questions remain unanswered, particularly regarding Hamas’s weapons, and Israel’s full withdrawal from Gaza. For any lasting peace, there must be accountability of Israel, and the monstrous crimes it has committed in Gaza. The world cannot simply forget the tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians starved and murdered by the Zionist regime. Moreover, Israel must commit to the two-state solution and a contiguous Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Unless a roadmap is created for a just peace, the current efforts will appear illusory, and collapse quite soon.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2025