Express Tribune Editorials 21st August 2026

Horrible hockey show

Pakistan's disastrous run at the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup was capped off with a 5-3 defeat to arch-rivals India, in which the boys in green were thoroughly outplayed. The Pakistan team was knocked out with just a solitary point to show - from a draw against Wales. While nobody seriously expected Pakistan to seriously challenge for the trophy, as the most successful team in World Cup history, there was still hope that the team would hold its own. Instead, the latest disappointment extends an inglorious period in the national hockey team's history, failing to make the podium in 32 years since winning the 1994 World Cup. The national hockey team's early successes are why it earned the status of our national sport, while the last 30 years of failure are why many young people are dumbfounded when they learn cricket is not the official national sport.

For anyone under 30, the national hockey team is not made up of world beaters. It is a team that failed to even qualify for two of the last four World Cups, and the limited success it has had at lesser events has been tainted by extreme inconsistency. Amazingly, the World Cup performance is still an improvement over what happened during the FIH Pro League earlier this year, when Pakistan lost all 16 matches and had an astounding net goal difference of -57.

Many former players and commentators have blamed the Pakistan Hockey Federation for failing to build a system that nurtures talent and helps develop competitive teams. Making matters worse is the dictatorial manner in which the board treats players - players were forced to cook their own meals and wash dishes at a guest house after the federation failed to fund a proper hotel. When Captain Ammad Butt complained in public, he was suspended, even though the suspension was quickly withdrawn.

However, even with a broken system, we would expect a team of notable talents to still be able to band together and put up some memorable flourishes. Instead, the bottom-of-the-barrel performances suggest the team also lacks raw talent and skills. The nation that once gave the world some of the finest hockey ever played now struggles to field a world-class first eleven.

PPP's locus standi

The PPP is thinking out loud, apparently seeking a pound of flesh from its ally at the Centre, the PML-N. Its position on the floor of the house that no legislation will be passed without consensus does not raise eyebrows. But interestingly, it has come at a time when the demand for new provinces is on the table. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the PPP chairman, has tried to take the high moral ground by saying that no decision on new administrative units will be made in contravention of the people's desire. That squarely means the PPP will resist new delimitations in Sindh, where it commands a majority. That is tantamount to having your cake and eating it too. The Bhutto party, which has ruled the province for nearly two decades at a stretch, seems unbothered by its dilapidated status. Now it is set to obstruct moves by other political forces in the province for its devolution into smaller administrative units.

The federal coalition partner flexed its legislative muscles too, objecting to the tabling of the bills in the parliament, stating it wasn't taken into confidence. Yet, it voted for the bills, invoking the law of necessity. In other words, the PPP is desperate to play on both sides of the wicket. Its hobnobbing with the PTI after more than three years of estrangement is also a case in point. That, however, is a good omen for political stability, meant to bring the opposition along on proposed new legislation. How that impacts the PML-N is anybody's guess, as Bilawal's body language suggests that he is keeping his options open, including potentially going solo or aligning with the PTI.

Bilawal's new stance does little to alleviate the political instability prevailing in the country; rather, it sets up fresh stumbling blocks against systemic reforms and necessary power-sharing through new administrative units.

Rise in oral cancer

Oral cancer cases in Sindh have risen by roughly 25% over the past five years, and doctors treating the disease describe a pattern of younger patients that did not exist a decade ago. Clinicians have consistent explained the core reason. Gutka, mawa, paan, chhalia, mainpuri and naswar remain in daily use across large parts of the province.

WHO has recorded Pakistan's oral cancer rate among men as the highest in South Asia. In Karachi specifically, doctors have put the local rate as high as 30% of all cancers diagnosed in the city, against a national figure closer to 4%. The Karachi Cancer Registry recorded nearly 66,000 mouth cancer cases in the province between 2017 and 2021 alone. What makes this rise difficult to accept is that Sindh already legislated against the substance most consistently linked to it. The Sindh Assembly passed the Gutka and Mainpuri Act in 2019, banning the manufacture, storage, sale and use of both products, with prison terms of one to three years for violators. The Sindh High Court has since ordered repeated crackdowns and demanded reports on police officers allegedly protecting the trade. None of this has translated into a functioning ban. Part of the problem is also that Sindh lacks the treatment infrastructure that would make early detection meaningful. There is no dedicated cancer hospital, and that radiation therapy cannot meet current demand.

Public information campaigns have a role to play, and health workers deserve credit for continuing to run them despite years of limited results. But the record makes clear that awareness alone has not moved the underlying numbers, because the products driving the disease remain freely available and the law meant to remove them has not been enforced. Sindh has spent five years demonstrating what happens when a law exists on paper without being enforced on the ground.