DAWN Editorials - 22nd May 2025

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Justice for Noor

THE death penalty awarded to Zahir Jaffar for the brutal killing of Noor Mukadam in 2021 has been upheld by the Supreme Court. The court has reiterated that the murderer must pay for the crime with his life. It is, no doubt, a dire sentence — this paper, in principle, opposes capital punishment.

The judges, it must be noted, did commute the death sentence on the rape charge to life imprisonment, and the kidnapping sentence from 10 years to one. However, when it came to the murder charge, it appears they felt it necessary to match the severity of the crime with the severity of the punishment. Many well-wishers hope that the verdict will bring the Mukadam family some closure after their long ordeal to secure justice for their murdered daughter.

Noor’s brutal killing had shaken the Pakistani public out of its reverie to take note of the misogyny and domestic violence prevalent in society. The case had been closely followed. The evidence, eyewitness accounts, and sequence of events stitched together by the media from police reports had painted a deeply unsettling picture of Jaffar and the tragic circumstances surrounding Noor’s demise.

It was evident that her death was the result of not just one person’s malevolence, but a preventable tragedy caused by several individuals failing to do the right thing at the right time. These individuals seem to have been quite aware that a woman was being held against her will and likely being subjected to violence, but ignored her plight. It is unfortunate that their role in the murder never faced enough scrutiny; it would have helped establish that violence against women may be perpetrated by individuals, but it is enabled by society.

On a related note, it is also disappointing that the superior judiciary took so much time giving finality to the verdict. It ought to have taken the matter up with the urgency it demanded.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2025


Budget and climate

THE government’s plan to present a climate-focused budget for the next fiscal year is a paradigm shift in national economic planning. And a welcome one as it is about time that Pakistan’s enormous climate-related challenges were incorporated in its economic strategy, even though cynics argue that the policy shift is driven by liquidity compulsions to secure climate funds from the IMF. According to the minister of state for climate change, nearly 30pc of all public development projects for the next year will undergo a Climate Public Investment Management Assessment. This announcement came at a conference where experts highlighted Pakistan’s many challenges including increased vulnerability to climatic risks, which are affecting agriculture; constraints on development expenditure imposed by the IMF’s austerity programme; and the need to switch to renewable energy and transport electrification.

As one of the countries most affected by climate change, Pakistan has suffered massive economic and infrastructural losses due to recurring extreme weather events besides paying a heavy human cost. It may take decades before we can recoup the enormous losses suffered on account of natural disasters such as floods and droughts that have led to irreparable economic losses, even if it is hard to tell which of the two — climate change or terrorism — has proved more lethal for the people. But it is never too late to revise priorities. The brute reality is that the country cannot avoid the adverse impacts of climate change. Yet with the adoption of smart policies and allocation of maximum resources for climate adaptation and mitigation, we may still be able to substantially contain potential future losses. True, the government is facing a cash crunch but the IMF’s $1.4bn climate resilience facility can prove to be the starting point. Besides, the government can also slap carbon taxes on industrial and other polluters to not just raise revenues for investment in climate resilience initiatives but also force them to take action to adopt cleaner technologies and avoid punitive levies. In the past, we have seen private enterprises act swiftly when their businesses and profits were threatened due to demands for environmental-friendly practices by foreign buyers. Aligning the government system and policies with climate goals is not enough; it is also crucial for the private sector to make the required changes — whether motivated by incentives or driven by government pressure.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2025


Khuzdar atrocity

NO cause can justify the murder of innocent non-combatants, particularly children. That is why Wednesday’s suicide blast targeting a school bus in Khuzdar is particularly abhorrent.

Among the five confirmed victims were three children. A large number were injured — some of them are in critical condition. The military’s media wing and the Prime Minister’s Office have said India, through its proxies, is responsible for the terrorist act. Apart from attacks on security forces, numerous non-combatants have been killed in Balochistan’s separatist insurgency. The slayings of non-Baloch workers by separatist militants have been a particularly gruesome aspect of the ongoing insurgency.

The Balochistan chief minister has said the administration had intelligence that India was about to carry out destabilising activities, while ISPR had earlier this week stated 12 terrorists belonging to “Indian proxy” outfits had been eliminated in separate operations in KP and Balochistan.

While no group has as yet claimed Wednesday’s attack, there can be little argument with the fact that India and other hostile actors have been involved in fomenting trouble in Pakistan. The Kulbhushan Jadhav affair is just one glaring example. Given this trajectory, the state has reason to link yesterday’s atrocity to such proxies, especially if it has strong evidence that establishes their guilt.


The recent example of our eastern neighbour carries lessons: New Delhi started blaming Pakistan for the Pahalgam tragedy without a shred of proof. The Modi administration’s hysterical reaction to the atrocity in held Kashmir brought both states to the brink of a full-blown war. Pakistan must pursue a more rational course. Whatever evidence it possesses of Indian involvement should be taken up with New Delhi, and shared with the international community.

This would be the right course — unlike India’s post-Pahalgam narrative, which does not appear to have any serious takers in the comity of nations. The fact is that there is a real problem in Balochistan, and Pakistan needs to implement long-term measures to fix it so that no external or internal actors can exploit the situation. The issue then must be approached with sagacity by the Pakistani state.

There needs to be a counterterrorism component, as well as a political one, to Balochistan’s militancy problem. Those involved in killing innocents must surely be punished for their crimes. But without a political solution to decades-old grievances, a sustainable counterinsurgency strategy cannot be formulated.

For this, Balochistan’s nationalist parties must be brought on board. Simply branding all critics as ‘anti-national’ or ‘Indian agents’ will not bring peace to Balochistan. A process of reconciliation is sorely needed in the province — one involving non-violent political elements that agree to work within the bounds of the Constitution. A solely militarised response will be insufficient.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2025