DAWN Editorials – 1st Dec 2022

World AIDS Day

AS countries mark World AIDS Day on Dec 1, a timely report from Unicef has renewed concerns about the severe challenges Pakistan continues to face in understanding HIV and AIDS, removing stigmas associated with it, and providing adequate treatment for those afflicted with it. The report in question is quite sobering. It states that 110,000 children and adolescents were killed by the disease worldwide in 2021, while another 310,000 were infected. A senior Unicef official warned that: “Though children have long lagged behind adults in the AIDS response, the stagnation seen in the last three years is unprecedented […] Every day that goes by without progress, over 300 children and adolescents lose their fight against AIDS.” This is a grave matter, and we cannot ignore the report’s findings, thinking they do not apply to our context. In fact, Pakistan has, in the same time period referenced in the report, seen a major outbreak of HIV in Ratodero, Sindh, where more than 1,000 children were infected with the deadly disease in 2019 due to medical malpractice. Fifty-two of those children had passed away within two years, while the families of those who were living with the disease complained of not having the financial or public health resources to ameliorate their children’s suffering.

Recent reports in the local media have raised the alarm over a “sustained growth” in HIV-positive cases this year, citing Ministry of National Health Services data. Experts fear the disease may now be spreading to the general population from those who are considered traditionally at risk. The takeaway should be that the public needs to be urgently educated regarding the prevention of HIV and AIDS. Pakistan needs informed conversations about HIV to counter moral panic about the disease being the result of ‘immoral practices’. Such attitudes dehumanise those who suffer from the sustained and painful consequences of contracting HIV, add to their psychological trauma and unnecessarily complicate efforts to trace and contain or eliminate the disease completely.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2022


 

Quetta attack

ON Monday, while announcing that it was ending its ceasefire with the state, the banned TTP ordered its fighters to strike “wherever and whenever you can”. By Wednesday morning in Quetta, it was abundantly clear that these chilling instructions were being faithfully obeyed by the terrorist group’s cadres.

At least four individuals have died following a suicide attack on a law enforcers’ vehicle; the security personnel were reportedly deputed to guard polio teams.

In a statement, the terrorist group claimed the atrocity was ‘revenge’ for the killing of Omar Khalid Khorasani. The notorious militant was killed in a car bombing in Afghanistan in August.

The TTP’s violent campaign against the state had been picking up pace over the past few weeks, with the most significant attack coming in KP’s Lakki Marwat district last month, in which at least six policemen were martyred. But the Quetta attack signals the new beginning of a violent post-ceasefire campaign by the TTP, unless the security establishment and political leadership decide to strike hard and nip this evil in the bud.

The nation is, unfortunately, all too familiar with the TTP’s bloody history, and it would be foolishness of the highest order were the authorities to ignore the emerging threat.

After the ending of the ceasefire and before the Quetta attack, some in government had been advocating for continuing negotiations with the militants, with the special assistant to the KP chief minister telling a seminar in Peshawar that the TTP needed to be dealt with as per a “comprehensive approach and open mind”. The official was quick to add that the state should respond “vigorously” should the militants carry out attacks.

The fact is that the TTP were never serious about negotiations, and their demands — such as the reversal of the tribal districts’ merger with KP and the release of hardened terrorists — were unjustified and impossible to meet, for the state would have had to partially surrender its sovereign authority in order to please the militants.

From here on, the path ahead will not be easy, but difficult circumstances demand difficult decisions.

The political leadership, as well as the new military high command, must be clear about the goal: under no circumstances should the militants be allowed to re-establish a foothold in the country. The state needs to strike now, while the Afghan Taliban must be unambiguously told that their soil cannot be used to host anti-Pakistan terrorists.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2022


 

Punjab crisis

ADMINISTRATIVE chaos has ruled Punjab ever since the ouster of the PTI government in April, deepening the province’s governance crisis that has its roots in the set-up of former chief minister Usman Buzdar. The PTI’s latest decision to dissolve the governments in Punjab and KP, and resign from the other assemblies, in order to force the ruling alliance to hold early elections, will likely worsen the administrative turmoil in the province. PTI chief Imran Khan had announced his plans to quit parliament on the eve of the change of guard in the army, after he failed to get a date for early polls and an army chief of his choice even after months of campaigning on the streets. With the ruling PDM considering different options, including a vote of no-confidence against Chief Minister Parvez Elahi and governor’s rule, the PTI plan is feared to increase political and administrative turbulence.

How bad the administrative crisis is can be gauged from the fact that the province has had 28 higher education department secretaries, 10 primary and secondary secretaries and eight specialised health secretaries in the last four years under the PTI. In addition, there have been six chief secretaries and nine police chiefs. In the last eight months, we have seen that no bureaucrat or police officer worth their salt is prepared to serve in the top positions as chief secretary and IGP. Lately, these officers have proceeded on long leave. Almost every transfer and posting for important administrative and police positions is reportedly made on the recommendations of the PTI and PML-Q legislators and directly handled by the chief minister’s office.

Punjab comprises half the country’s population, and developments in the province influence how the rest of Pakistan fares politically and financially. With the bureaucracy under a cloud of uncertainty and senior officers apprehensive about their fate, provincial decision-making has been relegated to the back burner. It is not surprising to see governance suffer so much in recent months, despite the formation of a relatively stable government following high political drama in the provincial assembly during the election of the chief minister. It remains uncertain if Mr Khan can force early elections by quitting the legislatures and dissolving the Punjab and KP assemblies. What is certain though is that the move will aggravate the political and administrative chaos in the country in general and Punjab in particular, with governance suffering hugely. In a democracy, the place of a popular party like the PTI is in parliament. Whether or not elections are called early — this paper has suggested that they should be — the PTI should consider staying in the system and using it as the platform for its political demands. With governments in two provinces, it will have plenty of opportunities to serve its voters by improving governance to boost its electoral chances.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2022


 

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