Dawn Editorials 9th September 2025

Leaky state

THE authorities should not feign alarm: after all, they have been repeatedly warned against the compulsion to ‘keep files’ on all and sundry — guilty and innocent alike.

Invasive surveillance and data-gathering on citizens creates a massive liability because the state must assume all responsibility for the information it collects. There can be extreme consequences in case of failure, and this is precisely what has happened in the latest leak of citizens’ personal data, which not only compromises thousands of ordinary citizens, but government officials and federal ministers as well.

Peel back the headlines, and the questions left are why were such extensive details — including what mobile SIMs they own, what their CNICs look like, their call logs, identity documents, and even their international travel histories — being collected, and who was doing the collecting? More gravely, how did all this data leak into the open? Were those doing the spying also compromised?

The National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency has now formed a special team to investigate the matter on the special directives of Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, whose own data is said to be among the caches being sold freely on the web, sometimes for as little as Rs500. The relevant press release issued by his ministry promises that those involved in the data leak will be identified and brought to justice. If, indeed, anyone is caught — and that is a big if — the damage may already be done by the time they are brought to justice, mainly because the government is not in any position to secure the leaked data and prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. All of the compiled information is now reportedly just a Google search away from cybercriminals. Therefore, instead of finding scapegoats, the authority would be better served with a bit of self-reflection.

Investigating how the data leaked will be important, but it would seem much more necessary for the state to ask itself why it needs such expansive surveillance of its own citizens.

Clearly, the premise it works on is that nobody can be trusted; however, as the repeated leaks of sensitive data continue to show, even security agencies cannot be trusted to be fully ‘secure’ themselves.

Secondly, why are our national cybersecurity capabilities so weak that massive breaches of sensitive data continue to occur with such alarming frequency? It may be recalled that, just a few months ago, the National Cyber Emergency Response Team warned that the login credentials and passwords of 180m Pakistanis were exposed online. Last year, it emerged that data on 2.7m citizens had been compromised due to weak cybersecurity controls at Nadra. When even citizens’ fingerprints can be put up for sale, what is safe? And what can the state be trusted with safekeeping?

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2025

Cancer burden

IT has been a long time coming. Finally, Pakistan is set to create a national cancer registry after President Asif Ali Zardari signed into law a bill reorganising the National Institutes of Health. The NIH will now be tasked with maintaining a central database of cancer cases. The hope is that this registry will provide a clear picture of the country’s true cancer burden. At present, the numbers are guesswork. The Global Cancer Observatory recorded 178,388 cases in Pakistan in 2020, but these were largely based on the Punjab Cancer Registry, which covers only parts of Lahore and central Punjab. Extrapolating from such a narrow base to a country of 240m people is a recipe for undercounting. Official figures almost certainly underestimate the problem. The result is that health policy is crafted in the dark, treatment capacity is misallocated and awareness campaigns are scattershot. A functioning national registry could change this. By recording confirmed cases, deaths, recoveries and demographic data — such as age, gender and location — policymakers will have a sharper tool for designing prevention programmes and allocating resources. Researchers will gain access to a dataset that can identify patterns — whether in lifestyle, environment or genetics — that raise cancer risk. International donors and research bodies, long wary of our patchy data, may be more willing to invest in programmes once the scale of the problem is better understood.

But registries are only as good as the systems that feed them. Previous attempts at a national registry failed for lack of resources and institutional coordination. Pakistan’s health infrastructure is fragmented, underfunded and overly reliant on ad hoc donor projects. Rural areas, where medical records are sparse, will be particularly difficult to capture. Ensuring patient privacy, as the bill promises, will also be vital to maintaining public trust. The registry, in short, is a necessary but insufficient reform. It will provide the map. But maps are useless without vehicles to traverse them — and without leaders willing to steer those vehicles towards meaningful progress. Pakistan must pair this initiative with stronger cancer screening programmes, more oncology centres outside big cities and expanded palliative care. Cancer is rising sharply in low- and middle-income countries. Without investment in treatment and prevention, Pakistan risks turning this new database into nothing more than a bleak national roll-call.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2025

Sign of hope

HALFWAY through the T20 tri-nation series final, it seemed as if Pakistan had not done enough. Afghanistan were in the ascendancy in Sharjah and Salman Ali Agha’s men needed someone to step up — a match-winner. Enter Mohammad Nawaz: the spinner, who took five wickets, completed a hat-trick and secured a thumping 75-run victory for Pakistan. Salman’s men had mastered the conditions — and a turning pitch. Their triumph augurs well for the upcoming T20 Asia Cup, which will also be held in the UAE. Pakistan are a team in transition, having dispensed with batting stalwarts Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. Yet, this was their 10th victory in 14 T20 Internationals since Mike Hesson took over as limited-overs head coach. However, those games were against the likes of Bangladesh, the West Indies, Afghanistan and the UAE. Bigger tests await Pakistan in the Asia Cup, especially the clash against arch-rivals and world champions India — the first game between the neighbours since the four-day conflict this year. In a relatively straightforward group, which includes Oman and the UAE, this is the fixture that will indicate where Pakistan stand. The T20 World Cup will be held next year and the Pakistan Cricket Board wants to maximise the number of matches to help the team gel further. Pakistan host South Africa across three formats, including a three-game T20 series, starting October and will then host Sri Lanka and Afghanistan in a tri-series the following month.

The aim now should be to trust the head coach and the process. The PCB has been trigger-happy in Mohsin Naqvi’s tenure as chairman, with a revolving door for coaches, players and selectors. Coach Hesson has shortlisted players that he feels will take the T20 team forward. In the victory against Afghanistan, Pakistan showed adaptability. It was not about being gung-ho from the first ball. Salman said Pakistan was finally in good shape. Now the emphasis should be on continuity.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2025