DAWN Editorials 13th August 2026

AJK outlook

AS the staggered polls for the AJK Legislative Assembly enter their final stretch, it appears that the PML-N is in a commanding position, and is already working on a governance plan for the region.

Marred by violence as well as allegations of rigging by the PPP — the PML-N’s coalition partner at the centre — these polls have not been without controversy. Re-polling will be held at some polling stations in Bagh over the weekend, while votes will be cast in seven constituencies of Poonch division on Aug 20 or Aug 21. Polling was postponed in these constituencies due to the volatile law and order situation.

The AJK polls have exposed a widening gap between the PML-N and PPP, with the latter claiming that the AJK Election Commission had not ensured transparent polling. PML-N leaders, however, have downplayed these concerns, saying that their party head Nawaz Sharif will choose the next AJK prime minister. While the PML-N’s lead looks unassailable at this point, as we have stated before, government formation should only commence when polling has concluded in all constituencies. Furthermore, the election commission should thoroughly investigate all claims of electoral irregularities, as a controversial voting exercise will cast a long shadow over the next administration, putting its legitimacy into question.

While it is important for elections to be held even in the most difficult of circumstances, unless the polls are seen to be free and fair, the underlying problems fuelling public disaffection will become more severe. AJK has seen anti-government protests off and on for the past three years. Led by the now banned Joint Awami Action Committee, the protests picked up momentum in June this year.

There is no doubt that the violence associated with these protests and the incendiary rhetoric of some JAAC leaders are indefensible. But the protest movement itself cannot be brushed aside. True, some of the JAAC’s demands, such as the removal of refugee seats, concern constitutional matters, which cannot be settled through street power; these issues must be decided within the AJK legislature. But at the root of the protests of the last few years is a demand for good governance.

Unless elections are seen to be fair, and the next administration tries to resolve the protesters’ legitimate demands, political unrest in AJK is likely to continue, despite polls being held there. PML-N leaders have said the protesters’ “valid demands” will be addressed. Considering the sensitivity of the region, the electoral process must be marked by transparency so that there is general acceptance of the outcome. If the PML-N does take up the reins in Muzaffarabad, it must reach out to the PPP and other political players in the region, as well as peaceful protesters, to address all concerns in a democratic fashion.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2026

Food costs

THE State Bank’s warning that domestic food prices could rise more than expected in the near term deserves urgent attention. In its biannual monetary policy report, the bank rightly points out that recent food inflation is no longer being generated only at home. It is increasingly being driven by forces beyond Pakistan’s control, particularly through energy, fertiliser and freight costs. The transmission mechanism is straightforward. The war in the region and disruptions to gas supplies from the Gulf are pushing up global energy and fertiliser prices. Both feed directly into the cost of cultivation and the transportation of food to markets. The shock travels from global energy markets to farm inputs and eventually to the price of food. By the time it reaches the market, it is already beyond the means of many households. More importantly, the country is exposed to both higher energy and fertiliser costs as well as a widening food trade deficit caused by weakening agricultural exports. This further reduces the foreign exchange earnings needed to finance an expensive food import bill.

The external shock is exposing vulnerabilities that have plagued the agriculture sector for several decades. The country’s irrigation system is inefficient and poorly modernised. Water losses are substantial, storage capacity is inadequate and crop choices remain concentrated in water-intensive staples. Farm productivity has not kept pace with population growth and climate volatility. Smallholder farmers are particularly exposed as they have limited capacity to absorb sudden increases in fertiliser, fuel or transport costs. A poor harvest or input-price shock can quickly become a debt problem for most. Climate variability compounds the difficulty. The possibility of an El Niño event next year, flagged by the SBP, complicates the food inflation outlook. With 46pc of the population reportedly facing hunger-like conditions, complacency is a luxury we cannot afford. Food inflation is not merely another component of the consumer price index. It has direct implications for poverty, nutrition and human capital. Pakistan cannot prevent regional wars or determine global energy prices. It can, however, reduce the extent to which an external energy shock becomes a domestic food crisis. The SBP has issued a warning. Policymakers must now act before the next external shock exposes the same weaknesses again.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2026

Denied a future

FIVE years after the Taliban returned to Kabul, the world is still issuing statements while a generation of Afghan girls is being erased from classrooms and public life. Unesco now says 2.4m girls have been denied secondary education, 200,000 more than last year. The number could rise to 4m by 2030. Afghanistan remains the only country where girls and women are barred from secondary and higher education. The cruelty extends to universities, many jobs, parks, gyms and public life. It is a systematic attempt to make half a population invisible. Yet the response from the UN, powerful capitals and institutions built to defend human rights has become a ritual of condemnation without consequence. Resolutions, reports and expressions of ‘deep concern’ cannot educate a child. If these bodies possess moral authority, this is where it must be exercised.

The West, above all the US, cannot pretend Afghanistan is somebody else’s problem. Washington led a war there for 20 years, spent blood and treasure ‘remaking’ the Afghan state, and repeatedly invoked the rights of Afghan women as evidence of progress before exiting in August 2021 as that state collapsed and the Taliban swept back into power. Whatever the arguments for ending an endless war, departure did not erase responsibility for those left behind. Nor should the passage of time normalise Taliban repression. The US, EU, UN Security Council, Muslim-majority states and Afghanistan’s neighbours should coordinate pressure. They must deny diplomatic legitimacy, preserve targeted sanctions, condition concessions on measurable restoration of women’s rights, expand scholarships and remote-learning pathways, fund Afghan women-led organisations and protect humanitarian aid from political bargaining. Countries with influence over the Taliban must actually use it. Afghan girls were encouraged for two decades to believe that classrooms, careers and public life belonged to them. The world cannot now watch those doors being bolted shut and call its helplessness diplomacy.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2026