DAWN Editorials - 6th August 2025

[zarnishhayat]

Bangladesh in limbo
A YEAR has passed since the people of Bangladesh rose in defiance of a brutal autocracy, bringing an end to Sheikh Hasina Wajed’s 15-year rule. The image of protesters breaching the gates of Ganabhaban, dancing in its halls and swimming in its lakes, captured not just the collapse of a regime, but the arrival of a rare moment of collective power. Now, the Ganabhaban has been turned into a museum. Yet the country is still stuck in a dangerous limbo. The caretaker government led by Muhammad Yunus, the elderly Nobel laureate and a widely respected figure, promised a reset. It swiftly banned Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League from politics and moved to prosecute her allies for crimes ranging from corruption to crimes against humanity. But a year later, the roadmap to democracy remains vague. Political groups that once stood shoulder to shoulder are now at odds. Disagreement over the scope of constitutional reforms — including proposals for a bicameral legislature and electoral proportionality — has mired the National Consensus Commission in deadlock. Meanwhile, instability is rising. Crime is up, the police are demoralised, and rival political factions jostling for dominance in towns and tenders alike. While economic indicators have improved — inflation is down, reserves are up — political legitimacy is lagging.

The revolutionaries of 2024 did not march for indefinite caretaker rule, nor for one unelected elite to replace another. Bangladesh needs an election — not in early 2026, as currently promised, but much sooner. The longer the wait, the more brittle the interim consensus becomes. Crucially, the credibility of that election depends not only on reform but on inclusivity. Banning large swathes of the political spectrum may please the revolutionaries, but it will not restore democratic normalcy. Delay too long, and Bangladesh risks repeating the very cycle it sought to break.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2025

Still in chains
THE media landscape in Pakistan has seen many ups and downs since independence. At times, there have been periods of ‘glasnost’, when the press has spoken with relative ease. But, all too often, the media has seen dark periods of censorship and violence, with journalists unable to express themselves freely. Through the decades, activists for media freedom, including the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists — which recently marked its 75th anniversary — have struggled to safeguard democratic rights. And while many battles have been won, the struggle for media freedom and democracy continues, with Pakistani society continuing to face challenges. To mark its 75th year, the PFUJ held a meeting of its federal executive council and issued the Karachi Declaration 2025. The document highlights the grave obstacles the Pakistani media continues to face in the current era, including legal attempts to silence critical voices. In particular, the PFUJ has deemed the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act, 2025, and the Punjab Defamation Bill, 2024, as “authoritarian” and designed to suppress voices. It has called for the withdrawal of these laws. It has also expressed concern over the “fabricated cases” and life threats journalists, media workers and content creators face, while demanding an end to retrenchments in the media industry.

While 75 years of activism do mark a milestone for the PFUJ, it is a sad fact that nearly all unions in Pakistan have been weakened, and media organisations work in an atmosphere of fear and self-censorship. Today, rights bodies limit themselves to issuing press releases, or staging token protests. While it is true that activists and journalists face threats from state and non-state actors, in previous decades, brave individuals and organisations confronted powerful quarters, often at great personal cost, in their defence of basic rights. The Ziaul Haq dictatorship immediately comes to mind — an era when journalists were lashed and jailed for confronting the military strongman. Today, as we face an equally suffocating atmosphere, journalists, rights groups and civil society must continue the struggle for a more egalitarian society, and democratic rights. A free press — which questions power and speaks up for the voiceless — is indispensable to a truly democratic dispensation. If the current set-up is serious about respecting basic rights, it must address the issues raised by the PFUJ and other groups, particularly regarding anti-media laws.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2025

Another Attempt
IT has taken the PTI two years to arrive at an impasse. Despite persistent efforts — big and small, peaceful and chaotic — the party has remained unable to secure the release of its founder.

Meanwhile, Imran Khan’s reluctance to engage in dialogue has only deepened his isolation. It is unclear how much longer the PTI can sustain its resistance, or how far its leader is willing to go.

So far, pressure and disappointment do not appear to have broken him. But with the party’s organisational capacity severely diminished, questions remain about how long its stand-off with the state can continue.

Aug 5 was supposed to mark a symbolic turning point: two years since Mr Khan’s arrest.

The party, whose ’final call’ to secure their leader’s release last November had ended in blood and tears, had been instructed to re-mobilise and demonstrate its vigour. From initial reports, it appears to have fallen rather short of its goals.

Will this lead to a reassessment within party ranks, or perhaps even by Mr Khan himself? It remains to be seen.

What is clear is that the state has responded to each attempt by PTI workers to mobilise with firm resistance and is likely to continue to do so in the future. The intent appears to be to discourage any agitation by repeatedly demonstrating the latter’s futility. However, its heavy-handedness has not won the state greater legitimacy or public favour.

On the contrary, each crackdown has further alienated segments of the public and accelerated the erosion of trust in institutions. Those in power are surely aware of this, but there is a certain resignation to the status quo that nobody, especially not the civilian leadership, wishes to challenge. This is why Pakistan seems to be going nowhere; there is no end to the crisis in sight, and this is how things may continue.

The PTI has certainly been subjected to extraordinary pressure, and many of the actions taken against its leadership appear deeply troubling. Any political party would feel compelled to assert its rights in the face of such repression.


Yet, the PTI also ought to have realised that every failed attempt to challenge the regime would only embolden the latter further. The announcement of yet another round of protests last month invited disbelief because the party never seemed to have the strength or the strategy to mount a credible challenge. The PTI has long suffered from a lack of internal cohesion and organisation, and it, therefore, seemed fanciful of its leader to trust it with launching a forceful nationwide movement when it has never been weaker.

The attempt now seems to have faltered, and Pakistan remains just as mired in political stagnation. Without any leverage, the PTI could soon face tough choices.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2025