DAWN Editorials - 31st March 2025

[zarnishhayat]

Eid amidst crises

WHILE the more fortunate will be sharing the joys of Eidul Fitr with their families, many in the Muslim world will be observing the festival in the shadow of genocide, starvation and war. Therefore, as we celebrate, let us not forget the people of occupied Palestine and Kashmir, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and other Muslim-majority regions whose lives have been shattered by bloodshed and aggression. The people of Gaza have little to celebrate as Israel shattered the fragile ceasefire on March 18, and resumed its genocidal war against this forsaken territory. Over 900 people have been massacred since the truce fell apart, while overall more than 50,000 Palestinians have been slaughtered by Israel in Gaza since Oct 7, 2023. People in the occupied West Bank have it only marginally better as Tel Aviv launches blood-soaked forays into the territory at will.

Elsewhere in the Muslim world things are equally grim. For example, while the people of Syria may have ousted long-time strongman Bashar al-Assad last December, stability eludes the country, while militants allied to the government have been accused of carrying out sectarian massacres of the Alawi community. Moreover, Israel has enlarged its occupation of Syrian territory, along with knocking out much of Damascus’s defensive capabilities, to ensure the Arab state cannot resist Israeli aggression. Israel — arguably the biggest obstacle to regional peace — has also bombed Beirut after things largely quietened down following last November’s truce between the Zionist state and the Hezbollah movement. In Yemen, the US has been conducting air strikes against the Houthis to apparently punish the group for its anti-Israel rhetoric and blockade of the Red Sea. Over 50 people, including civilians, have been killed in the American attacks. Meanwhile, the people of occupied Kashmir continue to be denied their fundamental rights, while Indian Muslims are feeling increasingly marginalised by an Islamophobic government that flaunts its Hindutva credentials. There is also no solution on the horizon for Sudan’s bloody civil war, which has dragged on for two years.

Sadly, there has been no unified Muslim response from the ‘ummah’ — principally in the shape of the OIC — to most of these crises, other than hollow statements, thoughts and prayers. Israel, with the help of the US, has been pulverising the Palestinians of Gaza, while Tel Aviv violates Syrian and Lebanese sovereignty with impunity — but there is no collective pushback from the Muslim world. In fact, Muslim states that have established ties with Israel have not felt it convenient to suspend diplomatic relations until Tel Aviv permanently stops the slaughter. Non-Muslim states such as South Africa, Brazil and Colombia have arguably done much more in solidarity with Palestinians. Until the Muslim world takes practical steps to end these atrocities, these besieged populations will see no joy.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2025


Women’s rights

PAKISTAN’S legal system has issued some important rulings in recent days concerning women, which deserve more discussion and debate on mainstream media. For example, in what can be seen as a strong affirmation of gender equality, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court held last week that a woman’s legal rights cannot be tied to her marital status. The court’s observations — that a woman’s legal rights, personhood and autonomy are neither erased by marriage nor should they depend on it, and to assume that a married woman is financially dependent on her husband “is legally untenable, religiously unfounded and contrary to the egalitarian spirit of the Islamic law” — may seem like common sense, but they challenge patriarchal attitudes that are not often discussed and which passively undermine women’s autonomy in everyday life. In particular, the court’s observation that excluding married daughters from entitlement to job quotas usually reserved for compassionate causes “reveals a deeper structural flaw grounded in patriarchal assumptions about a woman’s identity and her role within the legal and economic order” cuts right to the heart of this problem.

The ruling has followed on the heels of another verdict issued some days earlier by the Federal Shariat Court, in which the FSC condemned customs that deprive women of their inheritance as ‘unlawful’ and directed provincial authorities to initiate criminal proceedings against those who perpetuate such practices ‘as a moral obligation’. But though both courts have reaffirmed that women’s rights are non-negotiable, has society at large also received this important message? Patriarchal attitudes are often so entrenched that they colour individuals’ judgement about what is right and wrong without them realising it. It would be quite helpful, therefore, if judgements such as these, and others which directly impact women’s rights, were to be given more airtime in the media. Doing so could help empower more women to identify situations in which they are being wronged and encourage them to seek their rights through the law if necessary. The courts alone cannot change society, but if the message they are sending is heard by all, it could trigger positive change.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2025


Not helping

THE continued detention of Baloch Yakjehti Committee leaders — including Dr Mahrang Baloch in Quetta and Sammi Deen Baloch in Karachi — is yet another misstep by the state in its fraught relationship with the people of Balochistan. Dr Baloch has been booked under terrorism, murder and attempted murder, incitement to violence and rebellion, creating disorder and promoting racial hatred, and property damage, among other clauses. This is a sweeping set of charges against a woman known for her unarmed and democratic campaign against enforced disappearances. Sammi Baloch, who was protesting Dr Baloch’s arrest, was herself detained under the MPO, just hours after a court ordered her release. She was earlier arrested for violating Section 144. The BYC has emerged as a civil society platform that has mobilised Baloch youth, particularly women, around demands for justice, constitutional rights and an end to enforced disappearances. Instead of welcoming this nonviolent civic awakening in a province wracked by insurgency and violence, the state has responded with force and criminalisation. Protests, court orders and even strikes across the province have not moved the authorities, who seem intent on silencing the BYC through repression.

If the state is truly committed to peace in Balochistan, it must draw a line between militancy and legitimate protest. While terrorists must be pursued with the full might of the state, Mahrang Baloch and Sammi Baloch are not terrorists. They are citizens demanding their constitutional rights: the right to move freely, assemble peacefully, and speak without fear. Their immediate release, along with other detained BYC members, is essential, not only as a matter of justice but as a first step in healing decades of mistrust. Organisations like the BYC and mainstream leadership deserve engagement. The way forward lies not in suppression, but in listening — and ensuring that peaceful, democratic voices are heard, not jailed.

Published in Dawn, March 31st, 2025