DAWN Editorials 8th August 2026

Danger ahead

PAKISTAN has already paid a heavy human price this monsoon, even as another dangerous spell approaches. NDMA figures covering June 26 to Aug 7 record 151 deaths — 73 of them children — and 448 injuries, besides damage to more than 1,200 houses and dozens of bridges and kilometres of roads.

Chitral shows how quickly such destruction multiplies into other emergencies. Glofs, cloudbursts and flash floods have washed away bridges and severed roads, leaving communities unable to reach healthcare. Attendance at Lower Chitral’s district headquarters hospital has fallen by around 55pc, while patients from some isolated villages have stopped arriving altogether.

Doctors are already reporting gastroenteritis and dysentery and fear outbreaks of typhoid and malaria. Pregnant women unable to reach hospitals face particular danger, while post-traumatic stress is emerging among disaster-hit communities. The situation shows us how extreme weather kills not only through torrents and collapsing homes, but also by cutting people off from medicines, clean water and timely treatment.

NDMA, Rescue 1122, district administrations and the National Highway Authority have been involved in evacuations, relief distribution and restoration work. But each disaster exposes the distance between issuing warnings and protecting people. Chitral residents have complained of slow road clearance, delaying access to villages where medical needs are mounting. Warning equipment in parts of KP has previously been damaged or stolen, pointing to weaknesses in maintenance and local ownership.

District authorities must know which settlements require evacuation, where residents will be taken, how alerts will get to people without mobile connectivity and how food, medicines and medical teams will reach communities. Such plans must be prepared before an emergency, not improvised after valleys are cut off. Medical camps, safe-water points and emergency stocks should be positioned in vulnerable valleys.

There is particular urgency now. PMD’s Aug 7 outlook warns of moderate to heavy rainfall over the upper catchments of all major rivers from Aug 10 to 13, including KP, GB, Azad Kashmir, Islamabad and upper Punjab, with river and tributary flows expected to rise. Authorities should use this window to pre-position heavy machinery, boats, temporary bridges, fuel, food, drinking water, medicines and mobile clinics. Pregnant women, elderly people and patients requiring regular treatment should be identified for early evacuation, while alternative communication systems must be ready where conventional networks may fail. Shelters should be accessible and evacuation routes communicated before conditions deteriorate.

Pakistan cannot control the monsoon or the instability of its glaciers. But it can control how seriously it acts on warnings. With the warning already given, the task now is to ensure that the next spell does not deepen an already heavy human toll.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2026

Israeli impunity

ANY hope that Hamas’s decision to disarm would lead to a breakthrough has been dashed for one simple reason: Israeli impunity. Tel Aviv has reacted to the Palestinian group’s announcement by saying it would not withdraw from Gaza until there was ‘genuine’ disarmament. What this actually means is that Israel has no intention of ending the occupation. Frustration at the Zionist state’s intransigence has been expressed by eight Muslim states, including Pakistan, that recently issued a statement condemning Tel Aviv’s violence in Gaza. Israeli attacks on health facilities and civilian targets were particularly highlighted in the statement, whose signatories include Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkiye. According to Unicef, Israel has killed 300 children over the last 300 days. Such a ‘ceasefire’, the UN agency said, “is failing children”. Meanwhile, the situation in the occupied West Bank is not any better, with violent settler attacks continuing. The settler community in Israel is known for its extremism and use of violence against Arab civilians. They aim to uproot the Palestinians from their ancestral lands and cement the occupation. While the Israeli state claims to investigate such attacks, this means little when rabid supporters of the settler movement sit in the cabinet. The statement by Muslim states also highlighted the situation in the West Bank.

The Muslim states have urged the UN Security Council to compel Israel to fulfil its obligations. This is wishful thinking, because if the UN and the international community had played their role, there would have been no campaign of extermination in Gaza, and the tens of thousands of Palestinians murdered by Israel since 2023 would have been alive today. If the Muslim world wants to end the carnage in Gaza and the West Bank, it must take practical steps against Israel, such as a diplomatic and trade boycott. Resolutions and condemnations will not save the Palestinians from Israeli terror. Moreover, President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace must be asked what it aims to do to make Israel honour the Gaza peace deal. It is clear that Tel Aviv does not intend to stop its murderous campaign in the Strip. The Palestinians have been making concessions for peace. It is now time Israel’s Western benefactors asked it to put its money where its mouth is.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2026

Flawed investigations

THE botched case of a young Karachi businessman, Mir Raza Ali, who died under suspicious circumstances, took a new turn recently when his parents alleged kidnapping, torture and murder, while the police, at least initially, leaned towards suicide. The police surgeon questioned the post-mortem report on television; the deceased’s father filed a plea seeking exhumation of the body and the constitution of a medico-legal board. A day after the court’s permission, exhumation was postponed after the family objected to the sudden reconstitution of the board.

Regrettably, reports submitted by medico-legal surgeons have been disputed with disturbing regularity in the country. Criminal cases rest on their findings. Any loopholes can bury justice for victims and their kin. Yet, not only have these assessments often been flawed, pressure is exercised to have the evidence altered. An inaccurate record of a victim’s wounds hinders the dispensation of justice. Medical examiners in such a critical area cannot cut corners. Moreover, forensic personnel in the country often falter in reconstructing the physical attributes of offenders or victims, and find it difficult to recreate a crime scene accurately. In Pakistan, many of them barely meet the minimum qualification for the task. Evidence-gathering should be strengthened by organised databanks in all the provinces to facilitate speedy collation. Meanwhile, specialised education should be ensured for all police officers involved in investigations and medico-legal cases. All big hospitals should have their own forensic units. Health experts have long demanded modernised medico-legal services with advanced verification methods, upgraded apparatus and enhanced techniques. Post-mortem reports, or medico-legal certificates determine the course of investigation and prosecution. Flawed documentation shields criminals and punishes the innocent. Systemic reform needs political commitment. The government is not oblivious to the faults in our system. It must commit to closing the gap.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2026