DAWN Editorials - 7th August 2025

[zarnishhayat]

Second chances FACING the ignominy of the state auctioning off its assets, Bahria Town has appealed for another chance to settle its debts. Few could have imagined that the controversial real estate developer would one day be humbled thus. It was, after all, considered untouchable for a large part of its history.

Yet on Tuesday, as its chairman issued a lengthy statement beseeching the state for “serious dialogue and a dignified solution”, it seemed that Bahria Town might finally be feeling the heat. “[…] We assure you that we will participate in any arbitration and implement its decision 100 per cent. […] If the arbitration decision requires payment of money from our side, we will ensure its payment, God willing,” the statement read. It was prefaced with a long account of Bahria Town’s ‘contributions’ to Pakistan, as well as a lament on the dire straits the company now finds itself in.

One wonders if the many citizens dispossessed by Bahria Town’s aggressively expansionist real estate projects have felt schadenfreude over its predicament. As part of several investigations into the developer’s activities, this publication came across scores of accounts of citizens who had been rendered helpless by Bahria Town’s immense clout and heft. Even the Supreme Court had struggled, during its examination of the developer’s BTK project, to account for the impunity it enjoyed during its expansion, which was aided by unprecedented levels of government corruption and state connivance.

But though the settlement Bahria Town eventually agreed with the apex court to atone for its misdoings had seemed relatively modest at the time, it seems it continued to haunt it. For some reason, Bahria Town never made good on its commitments and began defaulting very early on against scheduled payments. Why this did not invite the court’s scrutiny sooner has never truly been explained.

The state now wants Bahria Town to pay, and is willing to exercise all options at its disposal. The Bahria Town chairman suggested in the past that the developer was being targeted due to his refusal to become party to the Al Qadir Trust case against former prime minister Imran Khan. That case revolved around assets worth £190m seized from Malik Riaz by the UK government and repatriated to Pakistan, which the present government believes were misappropriated to ‘benefit’ Bahria Town by adjusting them against its dues to the Supreme Court. The authorities are now even seizing Bahria Town properties tied to other cases.

But if the present regime at some point offers some ‘benefit’ to Bahria Town in return for Mr Riaz’s ‘cooperation’, it would be considered guilty of the same malfeasance it accuses Mr Khan of. Justice demands that Bahria Town be prosecuted fairly and fully by the authorities — independent of all other considerations.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2025

IHK tinkering SIX years after India’s attempts to create new ‘facts’ on the ground by bifurcating held Kashmir into the union territories of Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh, and discarding the disputed region’s limited autonomy, New Delhi continues to dream up new schemes to further complicate this decades-old issue. But the truth is that unless there is a solution based on justice, the Kashmir question will remain unresolved, and the occupied region’s people will continue to suffer due to India’s machinations and oppressive rule. The newest plan reportedly in the works is to grant occupied Jammu statehood. The Indian media reported that meetings have apparently been held at the top level to discuss the scheme. Here, Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar alluded to the development while speaking at a rally in Islamabad on Tuesday. India can divide and subdivide occupied Kashmir into as many bits and pieces as it wants; but it does not take away from the fact that Kashmir remains a disputed territory in the eyes of the world. While the Kashmiris’ plight may not attract global attention — just as countries watch Israel carry out a genocide in occupied Gaza without doing anything about it — even India’s closest foreign partners will not contest the fact that Kashmir remains a disputed region as per international law.

After Aug 5, 2019, India has attempted to change the demographic profile of held Kashmir, along with employing brutal tactics to keep its population in check. It has also held onto many powers, turning the region’s legislative assembly into a largely symbolic institution. Yet these moves have not resolved matters. Last year’s legislative elections returned parties that campaigned for the restoration of statehood for the entire disputed territory as it was pre-2019, even though they remained loyal to New Delhi. This means that India’s moves to scupper Kashmir’s autonomy and dilute its unique identity face rejection across the political spectrum — from freedom fighters to loyalists. The Indian supreme court is due to hear a plea to restore IHK’s statehood. But hopes should not be high. The solution to the Kashmir imbroglio is political, and must be acceptable to all main stakeholders — the Kashmiris, Pakistan and India. Any attempts at gerrymandering the disputed region’s boundaries, or disenfranchising its people, will only prolong the crisis, and worsen the atmosphere of mistrust in South Asia.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2025


Trading babies CHILD trafficking is the most repellant avatar of human sale. Not new to Pakistan, it reduces minors to easy commodities. In this context, the FIA’s arrest of Dr Mubina Agboatwala, who heads the NGO HOPE, following complaints by US consulate authorities about her alleged role in the “illegal business of trafficking minors” is unsettling news. The complaint, according to the FIR lodged, lists three adoption visa cases, noting that the centres named in the application did not show any record of the infants. Reportedly, the social welfare department said that HOPE was not a Pakistani orphanage and had “no provision in its constitution for adoption of children”. Interestingly, the objection was sent on Sept 15, 2023 to the agency.

Pakistan’s ‘good Samaritans’ are often in the spotlight. Last year, rights activist Sarim Burney was arrested on a “human trafficking complaint” by US officials. There is silence around his case. It is too early to say whether the charges against Dr Agboatwala are correct. But it should be mentioned that the FIA asserted that HOPE had given “abandoned babies” to families of a community abroad. The NGO, according to the FIA, has not presented proof that these babies were discovered near its premises. Such charges require diligence as little victims are regularly traded not just for illegal adoptions, but also for beggary, child labour, organ transplant and to work as drug mules. Although the anti-trafficking laws are in place in the country, the odious practice persists owing to weak implementation. It is the FIA’s responsibility to ensure that these complaints are investigated rigorously and prosecuted transparently, with solid evidence collection. The courts should not show leniency in crimes against minors. To uproot the baby black market, international engagement is mandatory so that global humanitarian regulations are observed. The state must shield its children.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2025