DAWN Editorials - 9th August 2025

[zarnishhayat]

Harvesting the poor THE shocking rescue of a young man, bound to a stretcher and moments away from having his kidney stolen in a Bahria Town house in Rawalpindi, should have been unthinkable in 2025. Instead, it is the second such bust in the city in a single week — proof that Pakistan’s organ trafficking industry is thriving under the nose of the state. The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act was passed 15 years ago to end the exploitation of the poor for profit. Yet the law is little more than paper when such rackets can operate undetected in an upscale housing society, complete with medical equipment, anaesthetic supplies and qualified surgeons. That such professionals — sworn to protect life — are repeatedly implicated points to the chronic failure of the health authorities to address the issue. The Human Organ Transplant Authority and its Punjab counterpart are equally culpable. Their job is to regulate transplants, vet donors, and investigate suspicious activity. Their inability, or unwillingness, to catch such operations before a crime is in progress makes them look like little more than rubber stamps. And then in this vacuum, law enforcement just happens to stumble upon victims by chance rather than based on intelligence reports.

Eradication requires dismantling the networks — and that means arrests leading to convictions, not quiet settlements. Surgeons involved should be permanently struck off the medical register. Private clinics and hospitals found complicit must be shut down, with owners facing asset seizure. Cross-agency task forces should be empowered to raid without political clearance, and fast-track courts must ensure swift, exemplary sentences. Preventing exploitation requires ending victim recruitment through awareness, tighter recruiter oversight and stronger medical ethics. The state must also work with international agencies to disrupt cross-border transplant tourism. Unless the networks profiteering from such a deadly trade are effectively neutralised, the next knock on the door may come too late.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2025

Indo-Israel nexus THE cosy ties between India’s ruling BJP — Hindutva’s political wing — and Zionist Israel is hardly a secret. But recent developments regarding this sinister alliance should serve as a wake-up call for Pakistan, particularly where its defence is concerned. As per the Indian media, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday met New Delhi’s ambassador to his country, as well as Indian journalists. According to the reports, the Israeli leader praised the role weaponry manufactured by his country played in the recent armed conflict between Pakistan and India. “The things we provided before worked very well on the field,” he said, with apparent reference to India’s aggression against Pakistan in the shape of Operation Sindoor. The media reports say that Israeli drones and missiles were used by India during combat. ISPR had earlier confirmed that Israeli drones deployed by India had been shot down. None of this should come as a surprise, as India is reportedly the world’s top importer of Israeli weaponry. But the trade is not one-way; India also ships armaments to Israel.

Some may argue that the Indo-Israeli arms trade is simply business; Israel will sell its deadly wares to any interested party, while India will similarly trade with whomever it wishes based on commercial considerations. But there is a deeper ideological link here. Both Hindutva and Zionism are racist, exclusionary ideologies that thrive on violence and terror. This is despite the fact that Hindutva’s ideological fathers had great respect for Nazism and European fascism. In the current era, both Israel and India tar the Palestinian and Kashmiri freedom struggles, respectively, with the ugly label of terrorism. In fact, some Indian officials and academics have publicly said the Israeli ‘model’ should be replicated in held Kashmir. It is also a fact that the BJP-led regime has said almost nothing about Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and several Indian leaders have expressed solidarity with Israel. In short, the BJP’s India has fully renounced Gandhian and Nehruvian solidarity with Palestine, and unreservedly backs Israeli oppression. Pakistan needs to be wary of this growing nexus, as it poses a major threat to its security. The recent revelations indicate that Israel is directly aiding India in its aggressive forays against Pakistan, hence this country must remain alert and strengthen its defences, while keeping foreign allies in the loop.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2025

Market opportunity US PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s decision to slap a punitive 50pc tariff on certain Indian imports — doubling the previous rate — has stunned South Asia’s largest economy.

The additional 25pc marks a sharp escalation in Washington’s trade offensive against New Delhi, which is a member of several US-led economic and security alliances. The trigger appears to be India’s continued purchase of cheap Russian oil and its reluctance to open its market to American agricultural products. The move makes India the most heavily taxed US trading partner in Asia. Globally, it joins Brazil at the top of the Trump administration’s tariff list.


Unless New Delhi can broker a breakthrough in the ongoing trade talks before the new levies take effect later this month, the impact on India’s economy can be severe. Moody’s estimates that India’s real GDP growth could drop by 0.3 percentage points from its current forecast of 6.3pc for the fiscal year ending March 2026.

A BBC report notes that nearly all of India’s $86.5bn in annual goods exports to the US could become commercially unviable if the tariffs remain in place, with Indian exporters warning they cannot absorb more than a 10-15pc increase in tariff costs. India’s hopes of expanding bilateral trade with the US from $190bn to $500bn now appear unrealistic.

However, the consequences of the move go beyond India’s export sector. The levies risk derailing India’s ambition to develop its manufacturing base, particularly in sectors such as electronics. Japanese brokerage firm Nomura likens the effect to a ‘trade embargo’, warning of a sudden stop in affected export flows. In the long term, the fallout may extend to investment flows.

When commercial and other factors dim a country’s appeal as a manufacturing hub, it is inevitable that others will step in to fill the vacuum. The question then arises: will Pakistan’s trade benefit from the high tariffs imposed on India’s import? In theory, yes. Pakistan’s exports to the US face lower tariffs than countries like Vietnam and Bangladesh. And the development could open up space for manufacturers, particularly in textiles and clothing.


In practice, however, the odds are stacked against us. Pakistan remains constrained by chronic dollar shortages, an unfriendly business climate, policy unpredictability, an underdeveloped industrial infrastructure, and high costs of doing business driven by expensive energy and limited access to raw materials.

Pakistan may want to benefit from this opening in the American market and attract FDI in export-oriented industries but without acting quickly to implement serious policy reforms, cut red tape, ensure policy stability and build investors’ confidence regarding the security of their capital, it will not be able to do so.

The global supply chain shift — accelerated by President Trump’s tariffs — is already underway. Without credible policy reforms, Pakistan can only watch from the sidelines.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2025