Convict Trump
AFTER a five-week trial saga, a New York jury on Thursday found former US president Donald Trump guilty of falsifying documents before the 2016 elections in the infamous ‘hush money’ case, revolving around an alleged liaison with an adult film actress. This makes him the first American president — serving or former — to have been found guilty of committing a crime. Will this spell the end of Trump’s second campaign for the White House? Right now that is the question that has gripped America, and many observers across the world. An unrepentant Trump has proclaimed his innocence, and his lawyers have said they will appeal the conviction. While theoretically, the ex-president may go to jail, commentators say it is more likely that the maverick politician will be given a lesser punishment, such as a fine, when he is sentenced next month. But as per the peculiarities of the US legal and electoral systems, even a criminal conviction is not enough to keep Trump from the presidential race. Many a politician across the world — including in Pakistan — will hail these peculiarities, and pray for the day their own electoral laws and legal systems reflect such flexibility.
While some undecided voters in the US may be put off by Trump’s conviction, hard-core MAGA supporters will rally around him, treating him like a political martyr. The ex-president has said on record that his legal troubles are the result of a “deep state” conspiracy targeting him. The Republican Party has already closed ranks behind him after the conviction. The current resident of the White House is not enjoying robust ratings in opinion polls, and a Trump-Biden rematch in November is likely to be close. Yet after the circus-like atmosphere around the hush money trial subsides, America, and the rest of the world, will have to consider the very real possibility of a second Trump term, and all that comes with it.
Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2024
Torching girls’ schools
PAKISTAN has, in the past few weeks, witnessed ill-omened reminders of a demoralising aspect of militancy: the war on female education. On Thursday, armed men set fire to a girls’ middle school in Surab district of Kalat Division in Balochistan, reducing the staff room and other areas to ashes. This was the third such arson attack in May. A girls’ institution was torched in North Waziristan’s Razmak area on Tuesday where a former teacher has been arrested. The dropout rate for girls after primary school is dismal in the country, becoming the reason for the dearth of girls’ institutes in many parts, especially Balochistan. Hence, the female students enrolled in these institutions are doomed to a life without learning. While North and South Waziristan have endured frequent militant strikes on girls’ facilities recently, Balochistan had been safe from the brutal campaign for a few years. Now it seems that radical elements are determined to enforce mediaeval norms everywhere, even if it means causing damage and endangering lives.
What will be the likely fallout of such attacks? Families will keep their children at home, and once again, access to schooling and empowerment will elude thousands of girls in the tribal belt and Balochistan. Moreover, the ban on female education and businesses by the Taliban government in Afghanistan has given new strength to primitive attitudes. This is further complicated by the state’s timidity towards extremist elements, which amplifies all expressions of zealotry and its devastating impact on the country’s social, political and economic growth. Pakistan cannot afford to slide into violent extremism again. It must take urgent steps — more arbitrations and heightened pressure, safety measures for girls’ faculties and a comprehensive security strategy — to explicitly reject fanaticism. Militancy, in all its forms, excludes girls and women from educational participation, thereby aborting prospects of a large-scale socioeconomic revival. The state ought to recognise these attacks as a warning and do the needful so that terrorist threats and networks are pulled to pieces for good. A passive approach will create irreversible damage, such as a trust deficit between the people and the state, along with mass hesitancy to educate the girl child. The country has a moral obligation to safeguard every child’s academic freedom and equality of opportunity. It must fulfil its duty.
Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2024
Another approach
IN recent times, there has been growing concern over the misuse of social media for orchestrating defamatory campaigns against the government, judiciary, military, and even journalists and private individuals. The state has responded with various legislative measures, such as the broadening of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act and, more recently, the defamation law passed by the Punjab Assembly.
There has been heated debate on the appropriateness and effectiveness of these actions, and even as they agree that something must be done to check the abuse of social media platforms, rights activists and journalists have correctly warned that any measures to check unlawful and destructive activity must be calibrated so that they are not used to restrict constitutional freedoms of speech and expression. No one denies the problem; the difference is in the approach proposed to be taken to address it.
One of the country’s most powerful forums recently issued a strongly worded statement on ‘digital terrorism’, highlighting the gravity with which it views deviant activities online. The forum’s concern over the abuse of social media is shared by all, including the media, but equating social media dissent with acts of terrorism seems to be problematic.
Pakistan has endured a long and painful struggle against militancy and terrorism, marked by the loss of thousands of lives. Conflating the genuine threat it poses — and which the nation continues to face — with the online actions of a few misguided individuals or miscreants seems to be taking the matter too far. Instead, the authorities would see better results in taking a more reflective approach. It seems crucial in this respect to acknowledge that the polarisation in our society is not solely a result of what is being said on social media. Neither can members of the ruling class, be they civilians or military officers, distance themselves from what is happening — they are a part of the same society as their critics.
The extreme emotions currently being expressed online seem to be a reflection of the deep social and political angst that has engulfed the country. Unless the root causes of this instability are addressed, ordinary people can be expected to continue to act in ways that are detrimental to both the state and society. That is why merely labelling critics as ‘digital terrorists’ and initiating a new crackdown seems unlikely to bear results; instead, it could even exacerbate the discontent.
What is needed, instead, is a broader, inclusive debate on how we as a nation can manage and mitigate the challenges posed by social media while respecting freedom of expression. Side by side, a softer, more empathetic approach is required to mend the rifts within society. It is only with patience and fortitude that this issue may be resolved.
Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2024