Express Tribune Editorials 4th March 2025
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2025 3:28 am
Abandoned daughters
The bodies of five newborn girls, discarded like garbage and mutilated by stray animals in Sialkot, reveal a horrifying reality of Pakistan's deep-seated disregard for female life. This is a symptom of a society's moral deprivation, where daughters are still seen as burdens, where gender preference is so deeply entrenched that some choose to kill rather than raise a girl.
While the police have launched an investigation, scouring CCTV footage and using intelligence networks to trace those responsible, or so they claim, the real question that should be asked is: what drives parents to abandon their own blood in such a brutal manner? Even more horrific is the fact that this is not an isolated incident. Across Pakistan, baby girls are frequently left to die in dumpsters and deserted streets, yet the nation remains disturbingly silent. The law already criminalises infanticide, but weak enforcement and societal complicity allow this cruelty to persist. Therefore, harsher penalties for infanticide and child abandonment must be reinforced, ensuring that those who commit such crimes are held accountable. The government must go beyond arrests and also focus on prevention. Safe havens - such as the cradles placed outside Edhi centres - must be expanded so desperate parents have alternatives. Religious leaders, too, must speak out, making it clear that Islam condemns the killing of children, regardless of gender.
Beyond policy measures, there must be a fundamental shift in how daughters are perceived in society. A key driver of gender discrimination is the belief that daughters are financial liabilities, often due to cultural expectations surrounding dowry and limited economic opportunities for women. To counter this, the government should invest in initiatives that empower women economically, such as vocational training programmes and incentives for female entrepreneurship. When families see that daughters can contribute financially, the stigma surrounding their birth may begin to fade.
Rising tide of terrorism
As terrorists continue to strike at will – mainly in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces – the month of February witnessed more civilian deaths than of soldiers. According to the findings of Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based think tank, February 2025 marked the first month since August 2024 in which civilian casualties (55) surpassed those of security forces (47) in a total of 79 terrorist attacks.
A closer look at the figures shows that of the 55 civilians losing their lives in terrorist attacks in the country in the month February, 35 – nearly two-thirds – fell victim to Baloch insurgents, mostly in ethnic attacks. In one such attack, seven people hailing from Punjab were shot dead in Barkhan district of Balochistan on February 18. Before that, on February 14, as many as 11 coalmine workers, hailing from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, lost their lives when the vehicle they were travelling in was hit by a roadside explosion in Harnai district of Balochistan.
Such ethnic attacks are not isolated incidents. The previous year witnessed nearly half a dozen attacks targeting people based on their ethnic backgrounds. People have been offloaded from buses and executed after their identity cards are checked; targeted at construction sites; gunned down at barber shops; etc. While the ethnic attacks continue in Balochistan with impunity, the state seems to have no answer to them.
The state's response has so far been reactionary, as against the need for a comprehensive and coordinated security strategy to deal with the rising tide of terrorism. Such a strategy should prioritise operations based on intelligence input as well as addressing the grievances that fuel violence in the restive province. The lack of an effective action not only raises questions about the capacity of the state to prevent terrorist attacks, but also sends a wrong signal to people that they have to arrange for their security themselves.
Blackout bravado!
It seems internet shutdowns are a new-normal, be it a democratic or an autocrat dispensation. An earth-shaking report by 'Access Now' has surprised the pundits of civil liberties by pointing a finger at India. New Delhi was found to be on the oppressive side of the divide by scuttling dissemination of information, despite being the world's largest democracy. An independent profiling of its record reveals that it indulged in a minimum of 84 shutdowns in 2024, the highest of any elected government, and surprisingly France was also seen rubbing shoulders in the race.
Myanmar, unsurprisingly, found a second berth among countries that believe in cracking down hard on social media and free flow of information, with Russia and Ukraine leaping into making their presence felt in restricting online discourses. It is painful to learn that the governments are increasingly becoming intolerant, and digital blackouts to suppress dissent are in vogue. The New York-based digital rights group documented 296 internet shutdowns across 54 countries in 2024, and the trend seems to be irreversible.
Pakistan was the third contender in pushing political activism to the wall, as it posted an utterly autocratic behaviour during the year 2024 with 21 internet shutdowns. The most condemnable act was during the general elections of February 8, 2024 when a blanket closure of the internet was imposed, and the ballot was maneuvered in a shameful manner. Moreover, off and on internet suspension or slowdowns were witnessed whenever the opposition rallied for its due space, and fundamental rights of free flow of information, freedom of speech and association were barred.
The closure of VPN, outlawing of social media website 'X', and a ban on Instagram were the order of the day, as WhatsApp users were seen struggling to have access with voice and pictures delivery. To compound the situation were anti-media libel laws such as PECA, bolstered with a firewall, putting freedom of the press to a naught. Despite its economy nosediving, Pakistan had the audacity to take on a staggering loss of $1.62 billion owing to various digital restrictions.[/size][/size]
The bodies of five newborn girls, discarded like garbage and mutilated by stray animals in Sialkot, reveal a horrifying reality of Pakistan's deep-seated disregard for female life. This is a symptom of a society's moral deprivation, where daughters are still seen as burdens, where gender preference is so deeply entrenched that some choose to kill rather than raise a girl.
While the police have launched an investigation, scouring CCTV footage and using intelligence networks to trace those responsible, or so they claim, the real question that should be asked is: what drives parents to abandon their own blood in such a brutal manner? Even more horrific is the fact that this is not an isolated incident. Across Pakistan, baby girls are frequently left to die in dumpsters and deserted streets, yet the nation remains disturbingly silent. The law already criminalises infanticide, but weak enforcement and societal complicity allow this cruelty to persist. Therefore, harsher penalties for infanticide and child abandonment must be reinforced, ensuring that those who commit such crimes are held accountable. The government must go beyond arrests and also focus on prevention. Safe havens - such as the cradles placed outside Edhi centres - must be expanded so desperate parents have alternatives. Religious leaders, too, must speak out, making it clear that Islam condemns the killing of children, regardless of gender.
Beyond policy measures, there must be a fundamental shift in how daughters are perceived in society. A key driver of gender discrimination is the belief that daughters are financial liabilities, often due to cultural expectations surrounding dowry and limited economic opportunities for women. To counter this, the government should invest in initiatives that empower women economically, such as vocational training programmes and incentives for female entrepreneurship. When families see that daughters can contribute financially, the stigma surrounding their birth may begin to fade.
Rising tide of terrorism
As terrorists continue to strike at will – mainly in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provinces – the month of February witnessed more civilian deaths than of soldiers. According to the findings of Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based think tank, February 2025 marked the first month since August 2024 in which civilian casualties (55) surpassed those of security forces (47) in a total of 79 terrorist attacks.
A closer look at the figures shows that of the 55 civilians losing their lives in terrorist attacks in the country in the month February, 35 – nearly two-thirds – fell victim to Baloch insurgents, mostly in ethnic attacks. In one such attack, seven people hailing from Punjab were shot dead in Barkhan district of Balochistan on February 18. Before that, on February 14, as many as 11 coalmine workers, hailing from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, lost their lives when the vehicle they were travelling in was hit by a roadside explosion in Harnai district of Balochistan.
Such ethnic attacks are not isolated incidents. The previous year witnessed nearly half a dozen attacks targeting people based on their ethnic backgrounds. People have been offloaded from buses and executed after their identity cards are checked; targeted at construction sites; gunned down at barber shops; etc. While the ethnic attacks continue in Balochistan with impunity, the state seems to have no answer to them.
The state's response has so far been reactionary, as against the need for a comprehensive and coordinated security strategy to deal with the rising tide of terrorism. Such a strategy should prioritise operations based on intelligence input as well as addressing the grievances that fuel violence in the restive province. The lack of an effective action not only raises questions about the capacity of the state to prevent terrorist attacks, but also sends a wrong signal to people that they have to arrange for their security themselves.
Blackout bravado!
It seems internet shutdowns are a new-normal, be it a democratic or an autocrat dispensation. An earth-shaking report by 'Access Now' has surprised the pundits of civil liberties by pointing a finger at India. New Delhi was found to be on the oppressive side of the divide by scuttling dissemination of information, despite being the world's largest democracy. An independent profiling of its record reveals that it indulged in a minimum of 84 shutdowns in 2024, the highest of any elected government, and surprisingly France was also seen rubbing shoulders in the race.
Myanmar, unsurprisingly, found a second berth among countries that believe in cracking down hard on social media and free flow of information, with Russia and Ukraine leaping into making their presence felt in restricting online discourses. It is painful to learn that the governments are increasingly becoming intolerant, and digital blackouts to suppress dissent are in vogue. The New York-based digital rights group documented 296 internet shutdowns across 54 countries in 2024, and the trend seems to be irreversible.
Pakistan was the third contender in pushing political activism to the wall, as it posted an utterly autocratic behaviour during the year 2024 with 21 internet shutdowns. The most condemnable act was during the general elections of February 8, 2024 when a blanket closure of the internet was imposed, and the ballot was maneuvered in a shameful manner. Moreover, off and on internet suspension or slowdowns were witnessed whenever the opposition rallied for its due space, and fundamental rights of free flow of information, freedom of speech and association were barred.
The closure of VPN, outlawing of social media website 'X', and a ban on Instagram were the order of the day, as WhatsApp users were seen struggling to have access with voice and pictures delivery. To compound the situation were anti-media libel laws such as PECA, bolstered with a firewall, putting freedom of the press to a naught. Despite its economy nosediving, Pakistan had the audacity to take on a staggering loss of $1.62 billion owing to various digital restrictions.[/size][/size]