DAWN Editorials - 21st March 2025

[zarnishhayat]

Personal priorities

IT has been a pattern. Ever since it returned to power in 2022, the ruling PML-N has allocated tens of billions from public funds each year to the Sustainable Development Goals Achievement Programme, ostensibly to shore up its own and allied parties’ sagging political fortunes.


SAP, as the programme is referred to, is the cover given to political development schemes sanctioned and overseen by parliamentarians in their respective constituencies. Such schemes have a long and controversial history and have been criticised as misuse of public resources by lawmakers, who often seek to use them to advance personal aims. Pet projects launched by them have often been found to be poorly conceived, ripe for exploitation and misaligned with the country’s overall development priorities.

Despite these concerns, the budget for such projects has been jacked up considerably in recent years. It has also been observed that SAP funds have been utilised to the greatest extent possible even when ministry-run development projects have faced sharp cutbacks.

At a time when the country’s economy is sagging, the climate wreaking havoc, and its people doing demonstrably worse each year on social indicators, whatever fiscal space there is for development spending should be utilised wisely and carefully. Regrettably, the government has been acting contrary to these principles. Instead of requiring all development projects to be requisitioned with detailed proposals and feasibility reports, as projects executed at the state level should be, it recently relaxed the rules to ensure that SAP funds are released without too many questions asked of lawmakers. It has now come to light that almost 96pc of SAP funds had been released by end February, within a few weeks of the SAP allocation being doubled from what was originally budgeted for the ongoing fiscal year. The logic of doing so deserves to be probed.


What makes it doubly problematic is that these disbursements have been made at a time when the country is facing a massive budgetary shortfall and has sharply curtailed spending under various important heads to remain within its means. Seen along with the eye-watering, almost 300pc increase in parliamentarians’ salaries approved around the same time, it raises valid concerns about the government’s priorities and whether it is managing Pakistan’s finances in the best interests of its citizens.

Factor in that legislators’ schemes, like much else, are being financed with expensive debt, and one gets an alarming picture of fiscal mismanagement at the highest levels of decision-making. One wonders how this helps the country’s case before the various institutions and friendly countries our government keeps turning to for handouts and loans. There was a time when the ruling class would at least worry about the optics of their decisions. Not anymore, it seems.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2025


Inheritance rights
THE Federal Shariat Court’s ruling that it is un-Islamic to deprive a woman of her right to inheritance is a watershed moment in Pakistan’s struggle for gender equality. For generations, women across the country have been systematically denied what is rightfully theirs, through coercion, social pressure and outright criminality. Although clear religious injunctions, as well as legal protections exist, numerous exploitative customs rob women of their share in property. The most common of these is haq bakhshwana, where women are forced to sign away their inheritance in favour of male relatives. In order to keep the property within the family, many women are married to their paternal cousins or forced into exchange marriages (watta satta). In extreme cases, women are symbolically ‘married’ to the Quran to permanently exclude them from any inheritance — an appalling distortion of religious beliefs. Women who insist on claiming their inheritance face threats, social stigma, or even violence. They may be labelled as greedy or disloyal and accused of breaking family ties. Some families sever ties with daughters or sisters who demand their share, making it an emotionally and socially costly battle.

The law, in theory, is clear. The Muslim Personal Law (1961) guarantees women their inheritance, and Section 498-A of the Pakistan Penal Code criminalises depriving women of their property rights. Additionally, the Enforcement of Women’s Property Rights Act (2020) was passed to facilitate women in reclaiming their inheritance. Yet, these legal provisions remain largely ineffective due to weak enforcement, judicial delays, and cultural resistance. Now, with the FSC’s unequivocal ruling, the state must take concrete steps to enforce these laws. A comprehensive awareness campaign should educate citizens about both the religious validity and legal protection of women’s inheritance rights. Law-enforcement agencies must be sensitised to treat instances of inheritance deprivation as criminal cases, rather than private family disputes. The judiciary should establish specialised tribunals to expedite inheritance cases. Government departments should monitor inheritance transfers, especially in areas where exploitative customs are prevalent, to ensure compliance with the law. The FSC’s judgement invoking “Amr bil Maroof Wa Nahi Anil Munkar” (enjoining good and forbidding wrong) as a state duty under the Enforcement of Sharia Act is particularly significant. It places responsibility on government institutions to actively protect women’s rights rather than remain passive observers.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2025


Anti-Muslim actions

MUSLIMS in India have endured incessant scrutiny of their nationalism. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s determination to impose Hindu-led majoritarianism on his country, which is visible in several instances of communal conflict, exploitation and divisive rhetoric, have placed great strain on the Indian social fabric. The clashes in Nagpur over rumours of desecration at a Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal protest calling for the tomb of 17th-century Mughal emperor Aurangzeb to be replaced with a memorial for Maratha rulers, confirm that the cycle of hate is strong. Over the last decade, the state’s tactics have become predictable with India’s political apparatus set on stoking friction through provocative agendas that divert attention from socioeconomic pressures and Mr Modi’s governance failures in order to influence electoral sentiments. The fact that the BJP’s hate-filled politics and the impression that Hindus are under attack has helped keep the party in power, clearly shows how prejudice poses a grave threat to India’s social stability.

India’s far-right rulers are once again casting Muslims as descendants of Mughals, and implying that the community should be penalised for past sins. In Mr Modi’s rule, the sociopolitical landscape has shifted dramatically; culture, history and religion are intertwined to the extent that films and festivals, such as Eid, Diwali, Holi and Christmas, have been communalised. But as hostilities heighten amid muscular Hindutva rampage, the muted response from the opposition parties and society is troubling. Their collective inability to protect social harmony, diversity and pluralism will bury Nehruvian social justice for good. At a time when calls for Muslim massacres and erasure of monuments and history are issued openly, the oil-rich Muslim fraternity and the global community must put their money where their mouths are, and stand by Indian Muslims. The deadly mix of fascism and Hindutva, if permitted to continue, will not spare other communities either.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2025