DAWN Editorials - 14th March 2025
Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2025 1:22 pm
Cohesive response
WITH a long history of terrorist attacks in the country, it is a pity that, instead of taking steps to pre-empt, or at least minimise, them, the government begins to calibrate some kind of a response only after the event.
A day after the terrorist hijacking of the Jaffar Express ended, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif headed to Quetta on Wednesday to take stock of matters, while the Foreign Office shared details of external involvement in the incident. Mr Sharif reiterated the need for national unity at this time of crisis, and acknowledged that the lack of development in Balochistan was an obstacle to eliminating terrorism. The FO, meanwhile, reaffirmed the military’s earlier assertion that the train hijacking had been coordinated from Afghanistan, while adding that “India is … sponsoring terrorism” in Pakistan.
The state needs to make it amply clear to foreign actors seeking to harm Pakistan that their efforts will be thwarted. Earlier, the government had repeatedly been raising concerns about the Afghan Taliban’s lack of action regarding TTP sanctuaries in Afghanistan. Now, it must strongly take up the issue of BLA terrorists being allowed to entrench themselves across the border and plan attacks on Pakistan. The Taliban should know that unless action is taken against all anti-Pakistan terrorists on Afghan soil, bilateral ties will not improve.
Similarly, Indian involvement in stirring trouble in Balochistan is not unknown. The Kulbhushan Jadhav episode, and the dossier that Pakistan handed to the UN, detailing India’s malign activities, should not be forgotten. It is regrettable that India has yet to learn to live like a responsible neighbour, and refrain from attempts to destabilise regional states.
The PM must follow up his visit with action. His mention of development is important, but along with kinetic measures, a national reconciliation effort to bring Balochistan in from the cold is required — an effort which should be led by parliament in particular, and the political class in general. While there is a visible security angle to the Balochistan crisis, at its heart it is a political problem, which needs a political solution. Of course, there can be no justification for terrorism, and Pakistan’s territorial integrity is a red line. But a solely militarised response has failed to deliver, which is why counterterrorism efforts must be complemented by political outreach in Balochistan.
Nationalists who believe in working within constitutional parameters must be allowed to spearhead the political process in the province, while lawmakers from across the country must stand in solidarity with Balochistan and its people, pledging that they will be given the security, development and rights that all Pakistanis should have. Several ‘Balochistan packages’ have been launched previously. This time, the state and politicians must move beyond clichés, and pursue a lasting solution.
Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2025
Agriculture tax
THE changes in the provincial agriculture income tax laws aimed at aligning their rates with the federal corporate and personal tax regime was the easier part. The harder part is the effective collection of the tax. This is the part that the visiting IMF mission, which is scrutinising the progress on the benchmark targets of its funding programme, has been discussing with the centre and provinces. The collection of agriculture income tax under the new legislations is scheduled to start from July. But none of the provincial governments appear to have the capacity or apparatus needed to effectively levy the new rates. Perhaps the issue is politically too explosive for them, especially Punjab and Sindh, that together contribute more than 90pc of the country’s farm output, to implement the tax anytime soon. This is despite the fact that effective taxation of agriculture income is a core condition of the IMF bailout and part of the overall tax system reforms. “…[T]he provinces will take steps to increase their own tax collection efforts … [on] agriculture income tax”, says the loan agreement.
How important farm tax collection is for the IMF can be gauged from the fact that the Fund’s review mission has spent nearly two days engaging individually with the provinces and holding a joint technical workshop to explore the way forward for an effective and uniform collection of this levy. Seemingly, all the provinces are in the same boat as far as their preparedness for agriculture income tax collection is concerned. This is not surprising given the fact that none of the provinces have ever prepared themselves for this task because it involves strong resistance from the growers’ lobby in the assemblies. Neither PML-N nor the PPP would risk losing their support by enforcing the law in the near future. Moreover, the effective enforcement of the tax requires capacity building of revenue officials to assess farm incomes that vary from region to region and crop to crop, digitisation of the land record, etc. Its collection will also be a challenge because a large portion of the agriculture market in the country functions outside the documented economy, and transactions are conducted in cash. While it is important for the IMF to continue to insist on early enforcement, it must also help develop a comprehensive framework for implementation.
Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2025
Closing the gap
PAKISTAN continues to struggle with gender inequality in its labour market. A new report by the ILO shows just how disparate incomes in the country’s workforce are. Women earn a mere Rs750 for every Rs1,000 that men make per hour of work, representing a 25pc gender pay gap that rises to 30pc when calculated on monthly wages. This places our gender wage inequality among the highest in the region, significantly worse than Sri Lanka (22pc), Nepal (18pc), and Bangladesh (-5pc). What is particularly troubling is that this disparity cannot be explained by differences in education, skills or job sectors. The vast majority of the gap is attributable to what the ILO diplomatically terms “unexplained factors” — more plainly, discrimination. This discrimination is most pronounced in informal and household employment sectors, where the pay gap exceeds 40pc.
There are, however, rays of hope. The gender pay gap has decreased from 33pc in 2018 to 25pc in 2021. More importantly, the gap nearly disappears in the formal economy and public sector, where labour laws are more rigorously enforced. This contrast offers a clear roadmap for addressing the problem. Pakistan needs to make certain that its provincial legislation is updated to fully comply with ILO Convention No 100, ensuring that “remuneration” encompasses all forms of compensation. Only Balochistan has explicitly incorporated the principle of equal pay for work of equal value — other provinces must follow suit and implement gender-neutral job evaluation systems. Additionally, the limitations on female employment in certain sectors should be critically reviewed, maternity leave policies harmonised, and childcare services expanded. Most crucially, existing labour laws must be enforced through robust inspection systems. The economic cost of gender inequality extends far beyond immediate wage differences. When half the population faces systemic barriers to fair compensation, the entire economy suffers. The path forward is clear; the question is whether we have the political will to take it.
Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2025
WITH a long history of terrorist attacks in the country, it is a pity that, instead of taking steps to pre-empt, or at least minimise, them, the government begins to calibrate some kind of a response only after the event.
A day after the terrorist hijacking of the Jaffar Express ended, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif headed to Quetta on Wednesday to take stock of matters, while the Foreign Office shared details of external involvement in the incident. Mr Sharif reiterated the need for national unity at this time of crisis, and acknowledged that the lack of development in Balochistan was an obstacle to eliminating terrorism. The FO, meanwhile, reaffirmed the military’s earlier assertion that the train hijacking had been coordinated from Afghanistan, while adding that “India is … sponsoring terrorism” in Pakistan.
The state needs to make it amply clear to foreign actors seeking to harm Pakistan that their efforts will be thwarted. Earlier, the government had repeatedly been raising concerns about the Afghan Taliban’s lack of action regarding TTP sanctuaries in Afghanistan. Now, it must strongly take up the issue of BLA terrorists being allowed to entrench themselves across the border and plan attacks on Pakistan. The Taliban should know that unless action is taken against all anti-Pakistan terrorists on Afghan soil, bilateral ties will not improve.
Similarly, Indian involvement in stirring trouble in Balochistan is not unknown. The Kulbhushan Jadhav episode, and the dossier that Pakistan handed to the UN, detailing India’s malign activities, should not be forgotten. It is regrettable that India has yet to learn to live like a responsible neighbour, and refrain from attempts to destabilise regional states.
The PM must follow up his visit with action. His mention of development is important, but along with kinetic measures, a national reconciliation effort to bring Balochistan in from the cold is required — an effort which should be led by parliament in particular, and the political class in general. While there is a visible security angle to the Balochistan crisis, at its heart it is a political problem, which needs a political solution. Of course, there can be no justification for terrorism, and Pakistan’s territorial integrity is a red line. But a solely militarised response has failed to deliver, which is why counterterrorism efforts must be complemented by political outreach in Balochistan.
Nationalists who believe in working within constitutional parameters must be allowed to spearhead the political process in the province, while lawmakers from across the country must stand in solidarity with Balochistan and its people, pledging that they will be given the security, development and rights that all Pakistanis should have. Several ‘Balochistan packages’ have been launched previously. This time, the state and politicians must move beyond clichés, and pursue a lasting solution.
Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2025
Agriculture tax
THE changes in the provincial agriculture income tax laws aimed at aligning their rates with the federal corporate and personal tax regime was the easier part. The harder part is the effective collection of the tax. This is the part that the visiting IMF mission, which is scrutinising the progress on the benchmark targets of its funding programme, has been discussing with the centre and provinces. The collection of agriculture income tax under the new legislations is scheduled to start from July. But none of the provincial governments appear to have the capacity or apparatus needed to effectively levy the new rates. Perhaps the issue is politically too explosive for them, especially Punjab and Sindh, that together contribute more than 90pc of the country’s farm output, to implement the tax anytime soon. This is despite the fact that effective taxation of agriculture income is a core condition of the IMF bailout and part of the overall tax system reforms. “…[T]he provinces will take steps to increase their own tax collection efforts … [on] agriculture income tax”, says the loan agreement.
How important farm tax collection is for the IMF can be gauged from the fact that the Fund’s review mission has spent nearly two days engaging individually with the provinces and holding a joint technical workshop to explore the way forward for an effective and uniform collection of this levy. Seemingly, all the provinces are in the same boat as far as their preparedness for agriculture income tax collection is concerned. This is not surprising given the fact that none of the provinces have ever prepared themselves for this task because it involves strong resistance from the growers’ lobby in the assemblies. Neither PML-N nor the PPP would risk losing their support by enforcing the law in the near future. Moreover, the effective enforcement of the tax requires capacity building of revenue officials to assess farm incomes that vary from region to region and crop to crop, digitisation of the land record, etc. Its collection will also be a challenge because a large portion of the agriculture market in the country functions outside the documented economy, and transactions are conducted in cash. While it is important for the IMF to continue to insist on early enforcement, it must also help develop a comprehensive framework for implementation.
Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2025
Closing the gap
PAKISTAN continues to struggle with gender inequality in its labour market. A new report by the ILO shows just how disparate incomes in the country’s workforce are. Women earn a mere Rs750 for every Rs1,000 that men make per hour of work, representing a 25pc gender pay gap that rises to 30pc when calculated on monthly wages. This places our gender wage inequality among the highest in the region, significantly worse than Sri Lanka (22pc), Nepal (18pc), and Bangladesh (-5pc). What is particularly troubling is that this disparity cannot be explained by differences in education, skills or job sectors. The vast majority of the gap is attributable to what the ILO diplomatically terms “unexplained factors” — more plainly, discrimination. This discrimination is most pronounced in informal and household employment sectors, where the pay gap exceeds 40pc.
There are, however, rays of hope. The gender pay gap has decreased from 33pc in 2018 to 25pc in 2021. More importantly, the gap nearly disappears in the formal economy and public sector, where labour laws are more rigorously enforced. This contrast offers a clear roadmap for addressing the problem. Pakistan needs to make certain that its provincial legislation is updated to fully comply with ILO Convention No 100, ensuring that “remuneration” encompasses all forms of compensation. Only Balochistan has explicitly incorporated the principle of equal pay for work of equal value — other provinces must follow suit and implement gender-neutral job evaluation systems. Additionally, the limitations on female employment in certain sectors should be critically reviewed, maternity leave policies harmonised, and childcare services expanded. Most crucially, existing labour laws must be enforced through robust inspection systems. The economic cost of gender inequality extends far beyond immediate wage differences. When half the population faces systemic barriers to fair compensation, the entire economy suffers. The path forward is clear; the question is whether we have the political will to take it.
Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2025