DAWN Editorials - 9th March 2025

[zarnishhayat]

Torkham dispute

THE Torkham crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan has remained closed for two weeks, after a dispute over border demarcation escalated into armed clashes between security forces of both states. While this impasse threatens to further degrade Pak-Afghan ties, the closure and associated hostilities are also having a negative economic and social impact on ordinary people in both countries. Up until Thursday, there was exchange of fire, at times heavy, between Pakistan’s security forces and Afghan Taliban troops. Thankfully, the guns have remained silent since, but the threat of fresh hostilities looms large unless a lasting solution to this dispute is found. Commerce is central to the local economy, but all cross-border trading has been suspended since the initial closure. Moreover, residents of border villages have said their homes have suffered damage in the crossfire, and villagers have been asked by the authorities to vacate the area for safer locales. There have also been reports of loss of life due to the violent cross-border exchanges. While some efforts had been made to negotiate a settlement, these parleys were suspended when the exchange of fire picked up pace.

The Torkham dispute — and indeed all the controversies concerning the Pak-Afghan frontier — needs a permanent solution so that people’s lives are not upended by closures and violence every few months. Pakistan needs to address this issue at higher levels with the Taliban authorities, with a clear demarcation of the frontier so that disputes do not arise. Long closures translate into hefty economic losses for locals and traders dependent on cross-border commerce. Pakistan and Afghanistan must also reach an amicable solution so that there is a mutually agreed regime in place concerning the documents required for border crossing. Pakistan cannot compromise on its security, and the border must be monitored for malign actors. But ordinary citizens in the two countries should not have to suffer frequent closures.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2025


Targeting students

THE Trump administration’s mission to ‘Make America Great Again’ is well underway, and, in true Trumpian logic, it entails the immediate dismantling of everything that made America ‘great’ in the world’s eyes. Be it insulting steadfast American allies and berating them at international forums; rolling back USAID and the ‘soft power’ it helped project in developing countries; upending global markets with ‘America first’ policies; cheerleading xenophobes, neo-Nazis and rabid Islamophobes; or gleefully dismantling various domestic initiatives aimed at fostering a more equitable and inclusive culture and society, America under Donald Trump seems intent on tearing up the image it had built for decades in the post-World War II world. Now, the administration has turned its attention to American universities, globally regarded as some of the best centres of learning. In an effort to punish these institutions, apparently for promoting progressive ideas which the MAGA movement considers antithetical to its mission, the State Department has started using AI to identify so-called ‘Hamas supporters’ among the tens of thousands of their foreign students. It intends to either deport those already present in the universities or cancel their visas, preventing their return.

In American right-wing and ultra-Zionist rhetoric, a ‘Hamas supporter’ is often used to deride anyone who voices sympathy for ordinary Palestinians. Unfortunately for those who came up with this policy, anti-Israel sentiment is quite strong even among the American Gen Z, ie, those of university-going age. A Harvard poll last year said only 29pc of American youth aged 18-29 years trusted Mr Trump on Israel-Palestine, while a poll conducted by The Economist said 49pc of them believe there is a genocide ongoing in Palestine. It seems likely, therefore, that this policy will polarise the country further. Meanwhile, it will send a message to bright students from around the world that they and their ideas may no longer be welcome in America. This human capital may go elsewhere to pursue their education, creating lasting linkages with countries other than the US. The result is likely to be a proliferation of newer perspectives, which would gradually erode the US’s hegemony on global thought and innovation. With the rise of Mr Trump, it has often seemed as if the world may be witnessing the end of another empire. The most unexpected part? How self-inflicted this decline appears to be.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2025


Banning groups

THE Punjab government has released a list of ‘banned outfits’, warning the public that giving money to these groups is a crime punishable under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. Numbering some 84 groups, the list mirrors a similar inventory of supposedly proscribed outfits maintained by Nacta.

While these organisations — ranging from religiously inclined and sectarian armed groups to ethno-nationalist separatists — are supposed to be out of commission, in many cases this is not true, and they operate with relative impunity.


The rationale behind the Punjab administration’s move seems to be the fact that as many people give zakat and other donations during the ongoing month of Ramazan, care should be taken so that people’s charity does not end up in the coffers of terrorists. While this is a noble aim, the bigger question is why such a large list of terrorist outfits still exists, and why these groups have not been permanently disabled.

As Pakistan faces multiple terrorist threats, the state’s approach of banning groups, and then letting them operate with new monikers, must be revisited if we are sincere in our counterterrorism endeavours. For example, some groups on the list have gone through several name changes since the Musharraf era: their names change, but their leaders, operatives and ideologies remain the same.

Moreover, while the state has banned sectarian groups, they still freely organise and hold massive rallies in Pakistan’s cities. Similarly, while those peacefully struggling for their rights get the rough end of the stick from the state, violent elements — such as the ladies and gentlemen of Islamabad’s Lal Masjid — are treated with kid gloves, with the state ‘negotiating’ with those who have threatened it on multiple occasions. Until this glaring disconnect is addressed, Pakistan can ban a thousand groups, but militant violence will not come down.


If the state has banned a group on paper, this means it has sufficient evidence of wrongdoing against it. The logical corollary should mean cases against the leaders and financiers of such violent groups, so that they are prosecuted and jailed. Though some jihadist leaders have been prosecuted, many others remain free. The battle against violent extremism will be a long and hard one, and will require long-term efforts such as promoting genuine moderation in society, as well as deradicalisation campaigns.

But the first steps of this long struggle must be defeating terrorist groups in the field, and ensuring that banned groups are actually banned. If groups are able to re-emerge under new names and continue their destructive activities, all efforts to fight terrorism will fail despite the loss of tens of thousands of precious civilian and security personnel’s lives.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2025