Cruel dramas
THE storyline is old but its insensitivity is impossible to ignore. Our entertainment industry has, for long, used crimes against women as provocative ploys to spice up dramas. Its depictions are far from representative of a host of tragedies. So, we find ourselves hailing a ban to protect victims and crush the rape culture. On Wednesday, the TV drama Hadsa — clearly a misnomer, as there was nothing ‘accidental’ about the Motorway gang-rape in 2020, on which the serial was seemingly centred — was taken off air by Pemra. Criticism and complaints pertaining to the subject and its callous treatment prompted the action. While the regulator accurately observed that “showing such a serious crime could reopen the wounds of the victim”, linking it to “the country’s reputation” was unwarranted.
Contrary to the play’s unsettling title, rape has to be seen for what it is — a crime of power, not to be framed in a way that betrays the uninformed belief that the victim is ‘dishonoured’ by it. In fact, one-dimensional portrayals of the violated — from marital rape in intimate partner violence, domestic abuse to other atrocities — limit societal responsibility and trivialise the reform of male conditioning. Scores took umbrage at the serial’s shocking insensitivity as it spelt a disconnect with women’s grievances. Stories of women and transgender persons rarely explore complexities of gender, victimhood and healing in an artistic and concerned way. Instead of a sobering approach, our slant is mediaeval: even an extramarital liaison is validated for the male, becoming a tool to oppress. Transpeople are reduced to caricatures, with scripts replete with transphobic slurs and plots that treat their gender identity as a dirty secret, making them living taboos. We can only expect a shift if narratives originate from the survivor’s lens, wade into the criminal mind, and the audience sees the painful journey to recovery. Until then, the cost of an odious mix of fantasy and humiliation will remain a brutal culture.
Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2023
Hiding the truth
THE BJP government has pulled out all the stops since revoking held Kashmir’s special status in 2019 to convince the world that ‘all is well’ in the disputed territory. While the Indian leadership is expected to ramp up propaganda efforts to whitewash its brutal occupation of Kashmir, states and private entities the world over should not be supporting these dubious endeavours. In this respect, representatives of the Miss World Organisation were in IHK recently for a photo opportunity, with the chair of the beauty pageant telling the media that part of the events scheduled to be held in India later this year will include engagements in the occupied region. The chair added that “this is a blessed place for tourism”. That may be so, but tourist events and beauty contests should not be held in a location where the sons of the soil are treated as conquered peoples by the occupying power. There was later some confusion about holding the Miss World events in IHK, as a firm linked to the organisers stated that locations for the pageant had not been finalised. Perhaps this was an afterthought to dispel criticism of holding the event on disputed territory.
Earlier this year, the BJP also hosted a tourism-related event linked to the G20 in Srinagar. That affair was boycotted by G20 members China and Saudi Arabia. The international community must send a strong message to India that holding events in a contested region, where ordinary Kashmiris are suffocated in the name of ‘security’, is unacceptable. It is appalling that foreign organisations are harping on about the beauty of Kashmir as its people suffer at the hands of the Indian military machine. Can New Delhi really claim that IHK has been pacified when hundreds of thousands of its troops remain in the region? Even those within the Indian system acknowledge that the situation in Kashmir is far from normal. While hearing petitions related to the revocation of Article 370 in India’s supreme court, that country’s chief justice asked the government if there was a “time frame” for the return of IHK’s special status. India’s top judge also observed that “it [IHK] can’t be a union territory permanently”. Foreign entities must not support the BJP’s normalisation project in IHK that highlights ‘normalcy’ at the cost of Kashmiris’ rights.
Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2023
Continuous decline
THE bloodbath at the stock market on Thursday is just another grim reminder of all that is wrong with the economy. The fundamentals continue to worsen — faster than before — as the country hurtles towards yet another financial disaster amid political uncertainty.
The fresh losses suffered by the stock market over the last few days are just one symptom of declining economic conditions exacerbated by electoral uncertainty. The KSE-100 Index is said by market watchers to have lost almost 1,250 points over concerns of another potential hike in interest rates because of changing expectations regarding inflation as the rupee depreciates and power rates surge.
The already ‘fragile’ investor sentiment also took a hit after the caretaker finance minister warned of a further hike in electricity and fuel rates, and asserted that the government did not have the fiscal space for subsidies.
During her appearance before a Senate panel on Wednesday, she said there was little choice but to adhere to the IMF programme. Could the stock market bloodbath have been avoided had she not spoken the truth? Experts familiar with the state of the economy are not convinced.
Likewise, the exchange rate is again sliding after a brief respite following the approval of the new $3bn short-term bailout loan from the IMF. The rupee is under pressure due to the surging import bill, the international rise of the dollar, and the interbank market endlessly chasing the open market rate of the latter currency to keep the gap below 1.25pc to meet a key IMF goal.
The rupee has lost nearly 26pc of its value since the start of 2023. Again, could turbulence in the foreign exchange market have been prevented had the IMF not imposed its condition to narrow the gap between the interbank and open markets? Not without letting the gap between the two markets widen to an unsustainable level.
Investors have been closely monitoring the country’s balance-of-payments position because the next review by the IMF will not happen for a few months, and there is not much clarity over the planned investments from the Gulf nations. That means foreign capital inflows will remain subdued, at least over the next several months, which would prolong the pressure on the rupee.
The main question is: can the caretakers stop the economic decline? With their limited mandate and powers, it looks unlikely. The current state of the economy demands tough decisions that a temporary set-up is not capable of making.
The rupee will keep shedding value, inflation will remain elevated, and stocks will continue to suffer mounting losses unless the prevailing election uncertainty ends, and a stable new elected government takes over with the mandate to take difficult decisions. Meanwhile, we continue our journey towards a bigger economic disaster.
Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2023