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ICEP Dawn Analysis

DAWN EDITORIALS PLUS OPINIONS
DECONSTRUCTION

Dated: Friday 03 July, 2020

BY: ICEP Analysts Rabia Kalhoro & M.Usman.

ICEP Dawn Analysis

Note:
We pick out Opinions from different Newspapers
related to:

#Competitive Exams
#Essay Writing
#Current Affairs
#Historical episodes
#Pakistan Affairs
# General Knowledge
# Global Issues
# Geopolitics
# International Relations
# Foreign Policy

ICEP Dawn Analysis

Aviation challenge | Editorial
Introduction:

BY dropping a bombshell (make overwhelming surprise) on the floor of the

National Assembly last week, Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan opened a
Pandora’s box(producing complications) of problems that the government seems
ill prepared to tackle.

▪ Since it has come to light that one-third of pilots in Pakistan allegedly have
‘dubious credentials’, international aviation regulators have barred (stopped)
PIA flights as more than half of the suspicious licences are held by the national
carrier’s pilots.
▪ The UK and EU’s civil aviation authorities have withdrawn PIA’s permit to
operate from their airports. Moreover, UAE aviation authorities have sought to
confirm the credentials of Pakistani flight operations officers and aircraft
engineers who hold licences issued by Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority.

Critical Analysis of the Issue:

There is no doubt that strict action must be taken against those who are proven to
have secured licences through fraudulent (through fruad) means. Even if the
licences are genuine, which appears to be the case for some, pilots must be penalised
(punish) if it is proved that they cheated in exams. No leniency (looseness) should
be allowed to those who have committed wrongdoing as it is a question of the safety
of millions of travellers. However, the government’s handling of the scandal has
been disastrous. The fact that a list of pilots was drawn up and made public at a
stage when an investigation was still underway shows how little thought the
government put into this matter.

▪ Mr Sarwar was keen to clarify that no new licences were issued by the PTI
government, but in his attempt to draw attention to the poor decisions of past
rulers, he inadvertently (mistakenly) dealt a death blow (idiom:caused to
add more problem) to hundreds linked to Pakistan’s aviation industry —
many of them having earned their licences and degrees through legitimate
means. All the pilots — and now even other aviation staff — are being judged
for having ‘acting fraudulently’ even before the investigation results.

Way Forward:

With this fresh blow, the credibility of all Pakistani pilots and engineers has been
called into question (raise concern about) internationally. Yet, the story of the rot
within PIA and the CAA is not just about pilots. The saga(story) spans decades and
is fraught(full) with monumental mistakes made by those in the administration itself.

▪ It is unfair to cast doubt on every pilot and technician simply because the
government decided to blurt out (speak unthinkingly) the workings of a
pending investigation. The minister could have approached PIA with the
information and given it a chance to suspend flights rather than letting it be
banned. The names should have been made public after the probe concluded
and action taken against guilty individuals. Unfortunately, it is too late to undo
the damage. The task ahead is more challenging still: an intensive review of all
protocols and staff training — as well as the planes themselves — is in order.
The government must see this crisis through to its logical end.

ICEP Dawn Analysis

Kashmir’s children |Editorial
Introduction to the issue:

THE list of atrocities(cruelty) carried out by Indian forces in India-held Kashmir

seems to be getting longer, while it appears that New Delhi’s military machine has
thrown all ethics to the wind.

Key Points:

▪ In a recent gun battle between Indian paramilitary forces and Kashmiri fighters
in Sopore, security men reportedly dragged a civilian, Bashir Ahmed Khan,
out of his vehicle and shot him in front of his three-year-old grandson.
Extremely disturbing images of the toddler sitting on his murdered
grandfather’s chest have been widely shared and illustrate the
savagery(brutality) India is willing to resort to, to keep its grip on the
occupied region.
▪ Unfortunately, it seems that Kashmiri children are now used to seeing the
bodies of their fathers, brothers and other relatives as India seeks to
subdue(conquer, control) the Kashmiri struggle for freedom and dignity
through colonial-era violence. Though local police say reports of this
atrocity are ‘false’, hundreds took to the streets for Bashir Ahmed’s
funeral, demanding justice and freedom.

Detailed Analysis:

If such a reprehensible (blamable) act had taken place in any other location, there
would be a firestorm in the international media — and rightly so — over exposing a
child to brutal violence perpetrated by representatives of the state. But when it comes
to IHK, as well as Palestine, it seems the world plays by different rules. This blatant
hypocrisy must end. Those responsible for this murder, and the brutalisation of a
minor, must be brought to justice.

▪ But can justice be expected from a dispensation that considers violence against
civilians in occupied Kashmir legitimate? According to rights groups, over 30
civilians have been killed in Indian military operations in IHK since
January.
▪ Even the UN secretary general has taken notice of India’s violence against
children in the region. In a report released last month, António Guterres asked
India to do more to protect children from violence in the disputed region, while
adding that minors had been detained by Indian security forces in IHK.

International Community must step up to derail India’s atrocities in IHK:

The fact is that since those that call the shots in New Delhi can do little to
dampen(discourage) the Kashmiris’ desire for freedom, they tend to target the most
vulnerable to vent (release) their frustration. Much more needs to be done by the
international community to let India know that violence against civilians —
specifically violence against children — will not be tolerated. Indeed, it is more than
ironic that a country that proudly flaunts (show-off, display) its ‘democratic’
credentials does not flinch (doesn’t feel hesitant) when exposing Kashmir’s
children to violence.
ICEP Dawn Analysis
Freedom for Iqbal | Editorial
Introduction to the Topic:

THERE are far too many harrowing (extremely upsetting) stories of people
languishing (desiring help) in jail for decades in this country before being
discovered one day and set free. This is no less than a tragedy where sometimes a
lifetime has been spent under the shadow of an impending execution. Freedom is
ultimately the triumph of human hope. Or of common sense.

Key Note:

▪ In recent days, the story has repeated itself yet again. Muhammad Iqbal was
17 when he was arrested and sentenced to death — a punishment that should be
abolished altogether — in 1998.
▪ It took the law of the land almost two decades to decide that the prisoner
was eligible to benefit from a law enacted a couple of years later which
allowed reprieve, even in retrospect (in the past), to juvenile (young)
offenders.

Detailed Analysis:

This sword hanging over his head, ie the death sentence, should have been
rescinded (cancelled, removed) then and there under a presidential notification of
2001, which provided remission to all juveniles sentenced prior to the ordinance.
That didn’t happen. Justice Project Pakistan, the group that helped the now middle-
aged man win freedom, has mentioned some of the efforts made to ensure justice for
Iqbal. Letters written to the authorities as far back as 2003 were cited and appeals for
leniency were filed in the months leading to the Lahore High Court commuting the
death sentence to life imprisonment in February, and then finally culminating
(ending) in his release on Friday.

Conclusion: Way Forward

The case once again calls for a campaign to find similar cases inside jails all over
Pakistan and relieve the suffering of prisoners.

▪ It doesn’t quite befit any country in this day and age to just wait for these
‘chance’ incidents to occasionally provide comfort to our conscience.
▪ It also doesn’t suit the system of justice to be going off in various directions in
an effort to ‘reform’ while the basic mechanism which anchors civilisations
and law and order remains sadly absent.

There is so much that is wrong with our prisons and overall justice system that needs
to be corrected.

ICEP Dawn Analysis

Decentralised governance | Dawn Opinion
Altaf Hussain Khosa

TOPIC : Decentralised governance in Pakistan : prospects

and challenges

NOT too long ago, the defunct local government representatives of Punjab appealed
to the chief justice of Pakistan, through the national print media, to restore LGs
(Local governments) , which were suspended by the government in May 2019.
They took the stance that LGs could serve better during the current public health
emergency than the bureaucrats working at the local level who were unable to tackle
the social and economic predicaments (difficult situation) of the public.

Local government can serve the interest of general public effectively

Notwithstanding the political motives behind the request made at this juncture,
there is a genuine need for decentralised governance. Through their vast public
representation, LGs could effectively sensitise the general public about their rights
and responsibilities within community organisations, besides mobilising resources to
curb the enormity of the crises.

Decentralization : the need of an hour for Pakistan’s national integration

In the post-industrialised world, the devolution of power and resources to smaller

administrative and political units is considered the foundation stone of good
governance, leading to development at the grassroots. Even China, despite its
unitary constitutional system, has developed a robust set-up of LGs which
accommodates 89 per cent of the total number of public-sector employees. The role
of provincial governments in China is limited to looking after and guiding LGs on
behalf of the central government.

ICEP Dawn Analysis

Absence of inclusive institutions in Pakistan since its inception hampered
growth

The absence of devolution of political, administrative and financial authority to

smaller regional units has been the main hurdle in the way of providing essential
services at the local level in Pakistan. It is alienating the people from the state and
its institutions. Decentralisation in the first decade of the country’s
independence could have been the solution to many geographical,
administrative, social and economic problems. But the leadership of that time
neglected the importance of inclusive governance, and boosted the centralised civil
and military bureaucracy to overcome these problems. This strategy led to
untoward(unfortunate) historical incidents, alongside poor development.

The absence of devolution is alienating the people from the state.

Article 140-A demands local government

Article 140-A of the Constitution requires the provincial governments to

establish LGs in their jurisdiction. Historically, this has not been implemented by
the civilian political government due to the controversial division of power and
responsibilities among the three tiers of government, ie federal, provincial and
local. However, three military dictators who ruled the country in different eras
established the third tier of governments to seek legitimacy internationally as well as
nationally at the grassroots. Thus, the major national power players, including its
military, civil bureaucracy and political class, have tried to shape Pakistan’s
sociopolitical structure according to their interests rather than align it to a
broad socioeconomic vision of development. This irrational competition among
national institutions has thwarted (delay) Pakistan’s way to achieve sustainable
development.

Devolution reforms in Musharraf’s regime contributed somewhat to betterment

of Pakistan ‘s macroeconomic indicators

The devolution reforms introduced during the reign of Gen Pervez Musharraf
could be considered a commendable effort to strengthen local democratisation in
Pakistan. These reforms gave some good results vis-à-vis development at the
grassroots level. There may have been involvement of international political factors
during the devolution period that might have contributed to the betterment of
Pakistan’s macroeconomic indicators. But the outcome of this macroeconomic
growth was the expanded network of basic facilities including education, health,
roads, safe drinking water, etc as a lot of public resources were transferred from the
top to the bottom level.

Big blow to development was rolling back of inclusive institutions

After Musharraf’s departure in 2008, the rolling back of this effective system of
inclusive governance by central- and provincial-level politicians and bureaucrats
dealt a big blow to development. Like many good things, which evolve gradually,
this system could also have been improved. But its abrupt abolition by the elected
civilian governments in connivance(conspiring) with the bureaucracies, without
assessing its real impact and efficacy, has badly impacted the provision of basic
services to citizens. Many experts opine( express a view) that central- and
provincial-level politicians and bureaucrats jointly resist devolution because it
disrupts the political economy of corruption.

ICEP Dawn Analysis

Goals unachieved due to centralized government

Pakistan could not meet the targets of the UN Millennium Development Goals due to
inefficient public-sector management. The biggest goal now is to achieve the
Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

How devolution of power can better serve provincial and local governments

• There is a dire need to reinvent governance by reviving the LG system in a real

sense, on the pattern of developed countries.
• There must be constitutional protection for LGs, and elections for the latter
should be held after a fixed period of time.
• Funds received by provincial governments from the federal divisible pool must
be distributed on the same lines among district governments in the provinces.
• Every district’s funds should be ring-fenced to stop their diversion to large
districts of powerful politicians.
• It will overcome a sense of deprivation among people of the backward districts.

Suggestions : How bureaucracy can play vital role in implementing

decentralized government

Bureaucracy, being the sole implementation agency of the state, must work under the
subordination of politically elected leaders without biases. There should be extensive
training for local elected representatives in the areas of human resource management,
public policy, sustainable development and law. Currently, most employees working
in district governments belong to the provincial governments. It is essential that there
should be a separate district personnel group.

With the growth of print, electronic and social media in the last two decades, the
political consciousness of the Pakistani citizenry has grown enough to enable them to
elect better leaders and hold them accountable at the local level. Apart from the
public accountability of local elected leaders, there should be close monitoring of
their performance through federal and provincial government vigilance agencies.
Impartial, honest and competent government officers should monitor development
projects at the local level. Despite providing financial and administrative powers, if
elected local representatives still fail to improve the social development indicators of
their constituencies, there should be a quick mechanism to hold them accountable.

Devolution is the key to equity, social development and national integration.

Multicultural and multi-ethnic developing countries like Pakistan will have to
opt for this inclusive governance and development strategy, sooner rather than
later.

The writer is a governance and development analyst.

ICEP Dawn Analysis

Why Trump’s So-Called Maximum Pressure Strategy Isn’t
Working on Iran |Foreign Policy

Topic : Iran Is Becoming Immune to U.S. Pressure

Trump’s so-called maximum pressure campaign has
empowered hard-line figures in Tehran, marginalizing those
eager to take the diplomatic route.
By Sina Toossi

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf gives an address during the 2017 Iranian presidential
election in Tehran on May 14, 2017.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on June 5 that Iran should not wait until
after the presidential election “to make the Big deal,” but can get a “better deal”
with him now. Trump’s remarks came after a recent prisoner swap, which saw
detained U.S. Navy veteran Michael White released from Iran in exchange for Iranian
American doctor Majid Taheri. However, while Trump may want to negotiate with
Iran and reinforce his self-avowed reputation as a deal-maker before the U.S.
election, his “maximum pressure” policy has all but eliminated the chance for U.S.-
Iranian diplomacy in the months to come.

Iran has proven resilient in the face of U.S. pressure. While many ordinary
Iranians are suffering, the economy is not in total free fall, as many in Washington
hoped for. Instead, the country has shown signs of economic recovery, with domestic
production and employment increasing. According to Iran’s Central Bank chief
Abdolnaser Hemmati, Iran’s nonoil gross domestic product grew by 1.1 percent last
year. Prominent Iranian economist Saeed Laylaz also contends that Iran’s economy
can weather the coronavirus pandemic and may experience growth this year despite
the virus.
ICEP Dawn Analysis
Trump’s bellicose (quarrelsome) rhetoric and actions have not made Iran more
inclined to do a deal, but they have undermined any Iranian officials who supported
negotiations with the United States. Whether wittingly or not, Trump’s policy
decisions have closed the potential for diplomacy. The political cost one faces in
Tehran for arguing in favor of negotiations is now simply too high. This is evident in
how Iranian officials have reacted to the recent prisoner exchange.

Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, one
of the highest decision-making bodies in Iran, said in response to Trump’s offer
for a deal, “The exchange of prisoners is not the result of negotiations & no talks
will happen in the future.” Shamkhani’s remarks reflect a consistent line in Tehran:
Negotiations with the United States are off the table. Even moderate President
Hassan Rouhani’s foreign minister, Javad Zarif, and spokesperson Ali Rabiee
now maintain that prisoner swaps can occur without negotiations.

The situation was different just a few months ago. The only other time the United
States and Iran exchanged prisoners under the Trump administration was in
December 2019, when Iran released Princeton doctorate student Xiyue Wang for
Iranian scientist Masoud Soleimani. Unlike the recent White-Taheri exchange, the
December swap also saw high-level meetings between U.S. and Iranian officials, a
rare instance of bilateral U.S.-Iranian talks under the Trump administration. The
United States has called for such a meeting again, but Iranian officials
now accuse it of sabotaging diplomatic efforts.

Rouhani’s rhetoric around the time of the December swap also suggested he was
more open to a new round of negotiations with the United States. Rouhani explicitly
declared in the lead-up to the swap that Tehran had not ruled out talks and that
negotiations could be “revolutionary.”

Then, in late December, Rouhani traveled to Japan in a trip that Japanese media said
was greenlighted by Washington. There was speculation that the trip could have
led to a “small deal” between the United States and Iran, with Iranian
media reporting that Japan could get a U.S. waiver for importing Iranian oil
and release billions of dollars in frozen Iranian oil revenues. Such a deal could
have built confidence and met Rouhani’s precondition of sanctions removal for
negotiating with Trump.

However, any hope that the positive diplomatic momentum built in late 2019 would
lead to diplomatic progress between the United States and Iran was crushed in early
January, with the U.S. assassination of Iranian military commander Qassem
Suleimani. Many millions thronged Iran’s cities calling for revenge after the killing.
Rouhani defiantly exclaimed in February: “They thought that with maximum
pressure they can take us to the table of negotiation in a position of weakness …
this will never happen.”

The political climate in Iran has since decisively turned hostile to any talk of
negotiating with the United States, reestablishing a taboo that existed for years
before the nuclear negotiations during the presidency of Barack Obama.

“Negotiations and compromise with America, the focal point of global

arrogance, are useless and harmful,” said Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s new
parliamentary speaker, in his first speech to the body, “Our strategy toward the
terroristic America is to complete our vengeance (retaliation) for the blood of
the martyr Suleimani.”

ICEP Dawn Analysis

Ghalibaf, a former commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and an old
friend of Suleimani, unsuccessfully ran against Rouhani in both Iran’s 2013 and 2017
presidential elections. He assumed his parliamentary post in May, after parliamentary
elections in February that swept conservatives to power. Importantly, that
conservative victory occurred amid record-low turnout in the election and the
widespread disqualification of reformist and moderate candidates by the Guardian
Council.

Nevertheless, the total capture of parliament by conservatives cements the

marginalization of reformists such as Rouhani and his allies that began after Trump
scuttled the 2015 nuclear deal. Rouhani had sunk all his political capital into
negotiating the accord and promised it would give the Iranian people major economic
dividends.

Ghalibaf has now replaced Rouhani’s ally Ali Larijani as parliamentary speaker.
Meanwhile, the judiciary, considered one of the three branches of government in
Iran alongside the presidency and legislature, is being run by Rouhani’s other
former 2017 rival, conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi.

The changing political winds are significant for the future of Iranian foreign policy.
Within the byzantine Islamic Republic system, Rouhani managed to forge
necessary consensus on negotiations with the United States during the Obama
administration, which included nods of approval from both the Supreme National
Security Council and the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Unlike his hard-
line predecessor, the boisterous (stormy) and belligerent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
Rouhani formed a cabinet of many U.S.-educated technocrats and his ambitions laid
squarely on securing Iran’s economic integration to the world. For a time, Rouhani
was riding high in public opinion polls, but that has dramatically reversed.

Ghalibaf, while not as aggressively ideological as Ahmadinejad, has made it clear

that he will do everything in his power to ensure Rouhani remains a lame duck for the
rest of his presidency. In his first address as parliamentary speaker, he lambasted
(beat unmercifully) Rouhani’s administration for its “focus on the outside [world]”
and not believing in “the principles of jihadi management.”

Ironically, Ghalibaf himself has been described as a technocrat, drawing from

his 12-year run as mayor of Tehran. During his tenure, he oversaw the
construction of major infrastructure projects, voiced support for the nuclear
deal, and participated in international summits such as the World Economic
ICEP Dawn Analysis
Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where in 2008 he called for international
investment in Iran.

However, political expediency (advantageousness) compels Ghalibaf to oppose

Rouhani for the rest of his term, which ends next year. As parliamentary speaker,
Ghalibaf presides over disparate conservative factions, ranging from the
fundamentalist Front of Islamic Revolution Stability to the free-market-oriented
Islamic Coalition Party. Targeting Rouhani and his agenda is an easy and effective
way for Ghalibaf to unite conservatives behind him. Above all, the goal will be to
obstruct Rouhani’s ability to negotiate with the United States and restore the political
fortunes of his camp.

Trump is mistaken if he believes “maximum pressure” is getting him closer to a

deal with Iran. The policy is not leading to Iran’s capitulation or collapse, but
entrenching U.S.-Iran hostilities and keeping the United States perennially at the
cusp (point) of war in the Middle East. Trump, who ran in 2016 on getting the
United States out of costly Middle Eastern wars, nearly went to war last June and
again in January over his decision to escalate with Iran.

An alternative approach is possible but requires Trump to ditch maximum pressure

and rebuild the trust necessary for successful negotiations. International relations and
the real estate market are not similar. Bullying and bluster do not win deals;
mutual respect and “win-win” compromise do. Trump has styled himself as a
deal-maker, but ahead of the November election he has zero foreign-policy victories
to his name. If he wants any semblance (impression) of a positive foreign-policy
legacy, he needs to get off the path to war and on a path to negotiations with Iran.

Sina Toossi is a senior research analyst for the National Iranian American Council.

ICEP Dawn Analysis

State of the World Population 2020: UNFPA | Article

Why in News
Recently, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has
released the State of the World Population 2020 report,
titled ‘Against my will: defying the practices that harm women
and girls and undermine equality’.

▪ It highlights at least 19 human rights violations against women and

focuses on the three most prevalent ones, Female Genital
Mutilation (FGM), extreme bias against daughters, in favour of
sons and child marriage.
Key Points
▪ Global Data:

o The number of missing women has more than doubled over the past
50 years, who were at 61 million in 1970.

• Missing females/women: These are women missing from the

population at given dates due to the cumulative effect of
postnatal(after birth) and prenatal sex selection in the past. The
phrase was coined by Indian Amartya Sen.
o In Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan excess female
mortality of girls below 5 years of age was under 3%.

• Excess female mortality: It is the difference between observed

and expected mortality of the girl child or avoidable death of
girls during childhood.
o According to estimates averaged over a five year period (2013-17),
annually, there were 1.2 million missing female births, at a global
level.
▪ Pakistan's Specific Data:

▪ Pakistan is the sixth most populated country in the world, with an

estimated population of 195.4 million. The total fertility rate is 3.8
children per woman, 31 per cent higher than the desired fertility by
women. Compared to similar countries in Asia, Pakistan’s
demographic transition has been considerably delayed by the slow
onset of a fertility decline. Pakistan will continue to experience a
significant population growth due to its population momentum,
irrespective of the trend in fertility.

ICEP Dawn Analysis

 ▪ Pakistan faces challenges resulting from the delay in reducing
fertility, including gaps in fulfilment of women’s reproductive rights,
the need for significant expansion of
infrastructure and services to serve a larger population, the difficulty
in achieving education goals with the growth of its school-aged
population and a less favourable age
structure for economic development. These call for greater
investments in reproductive rights for improved population
outcomes.

▪ Female Genital Mutilation: Global Data

What is FGM:
o It involves the partial or total removal of external female
genitalia or other injuries to the female genital organs for non-
medical reasons.
o The practice has no health benefits for girls and women and can
cause severe bleeding, problems in urinating, cysts, infections, as
well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn
deaths.
o An estimated 4.1 million girls will be subjected to female genital
mutilation in 2020.

Types of FGM:

1. Type one: Clitoridectomy – partial or total removal of the clitoris

2. Type two: Excision – removal of the clitoris and inner labia (lips),
with or without the outer labia
3. Type three: Infibulation – cutting, removal of part or all of external
genitalia and stitching or narrowing of the vaginal opening
4. Type four: Any other type of intentional damage to the female
genitalia (burning, scraping, piercing)
ICEP Dawn Analysis
▪ Extreme Bias against Daughters, in favour of sons:

o An extreme and continuing preference for sons over daughters in

some countries has fuelled gender-biased sex selection or extreme
neglect which leads to girls’ death as children, resulting in missing
females.

• The report examines the issue of missing women by studying

sex ratio imbalances at birth as a result of gender-biased sex
selection as well as excess female mortality.
o The advent of technology and increased access to ultrasound
imaging allow parents to terminate a foetus after knowing its gender.

• Due to this, the number of girls missing due to female foeticide

exceed those that are missing because of postnatal sex selection.
o These skewed numbers change the population proportions and
result in ‘marriage squeeze’.

• Marriage squeeze: It happens when prospective grooms far

outnumber prospective brides, which further results in human
trafficking for marriage as well as child marriages.
o These violations result in fewer choices for females and putting
them under the sexual, economic and legal control of
men, curbing their human rights.

▪ Child Marriage:

o Every day, around 33,000 girls under age 18 are forced into
marriage, usually to much older men.
o In Pakistan, child marriage is directly linked to poverty, poor
education and geographic location and the rural and urban divide.
▪ Covid-19 Induced Challenges:

o The economic disruptions and income-loss because of the Covid-

19 pandemic are likely to increase violence against girls and
women due to intensified unwantedness of daughters and gender
discrimination.
o The Covid-19 pandemic threatens to reverse the progress made in
ending some harmful practices worldwide.

ICEP Dawn Analysis

 o In Pakistan, Covid-19 has reduced access to contraception
and abortion services, which is likely to lead to an increase in
unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions.

▪ Initiatives Appreciated:

o The report pointed out that successful education-related interventions

include the provision of cash transfers conditional on school
attendance or support to cover the costs of school fees, books,
uniforms and supplies.

Way Forward
▪ The problem should be tackled by eliminating the root causes, especially
gender-biased norms.
▪ People must foster respect for women and girls, by changing attitudes
and practices that commoditize them.
▪ People must protect women and girls by enforcing laws against practices
like child marriage and female mutilation and also by changing attitudes
and norms.
▪ Governments must fulfil their obligations under human rights treaties
that require the elimination of these practices and rituals.

o Countries that have ratified international treaties such as

the Convention on the Rights of the Child, have a duty to end the
harm, whether it’s inflicted on girls by family members, religious
communities, health-care providers, commercial enterprises or State
institutions themselves.

ICEP Dawn Analysis

Education in Post Pandemic Era | Opinion

This Deconstruction is based on “Education in the post-pandemic

world cannot be the same again” which was published in The LiveMint
recently. It talks about the status of education in the post-pandemic
era.

Introduction:
Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented upheaval across all
industries, with the education sector being no exception. In such a difficult
time society and industries have sought to counter the disruptions caused by
the pandemic, through ‘great decentralization’ i.e. work-from-home or actually
work-from-anywhere.

Similarly, online education by most of the colleges and universities has been
becoming a norm. However, online education possesses some limitations
pertaining to the digital divide in Pakistan.

In this context, the government and other stakeholders should see this
disruption caused by pandemic as a good opportunity to improve the public
education system and aim to make it more egalitarian.

Associated Challenges with Online Education

▪ Digital Divide: While e-education is a privilege for the students from an
upper and middle class, it has proved to be a nuisance for students from

ICEP Dawn Analysis

 the lower middle class and people living below the poverty line.

o Many poor students who don’t have access to e-resources

(computers, laptops, internet connectivity) shall not be able to attend
classes from home.
▪ Commercialization of Education: With online education becoming a
norm in the post-pandemic era, there is a significant possibility of
corporate houses, technology firms and educational institutions working
much more closely together.
o Though this may have a big positive effect on the education sector, it
may further aggravate the ongoing commercialization of the
education sector and exclude the self-dependent tutors.
Steps To Be Taken
▪ Online Education as a common good: The Centre and the state
governments should start making access to technology universal and
more feasible in the public education system.
o Also, as part of Corporate Social Responsibility, private players
can involve tech-based organisations to make e-resources accessible
and available to students, especially in government and low-income
private schools.
▪ Expansion in the scope of Right to Education: The definition of the
right to education needs to expand and promote online education so that
it addresses the importance of connectivity and access to knowledge and
information.
▪ Valuing teaching profession: Digital innovation provides a remarkable
opportunity for the democratisation of education.
o However, there is a need to encourage conditions that give frontline
educators autonomy and flexibility to act collaboratively.
▪ Protection of the social spaces provided by education
institutions: Traditional classroom organization must give way to online
education. However, school or education as a social space (whereby a
student not just learns the academic knowledge but many social skills
also) is indispensable.
▪ Ensuring scientific literacy within the curriculum: This is the right time
for deep reflection on curriculum, particularly as a society still struggles
against superstitions and actively fights misinformation.
Conclusion
Covid-19 has shown the extent to which the Pakistan's system of education
exploits inequalities. Thus, there is a need for renewed commitments to the
synergy between the private and public education sector. In this context, there
ICEP Dawn Analysis
is a need to make education as a common good and digital innovation can help
in achieving the feat.

A popular epitaph
Asha’ar Rehman Updated July 03, 2020

The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.

PRIME MINISTER Imran Khan’s remarks in parliament about Osama bin Laden a
few days ago stirred a debate where the most efficient among his party loyalists
found it impossible to defend him. The gaffe was just too big, cried out the detractors,
who have found little reason to change the rather low view they have held of the PTI
chief all along.

Even his biggest supporters in the press corps — who would be found inventing all
kinds of explanations to counter the opposition’s assaults — could at best put it down
to a slip of the tongue. Which was rather disappointing, for this was an excellent
opportunity for everyone to discuss how much respect we Pakistanis afforded to
someone from among the famous company we enjoyed over decades.

Prime Minister Khan, inadvertently, called OBL a ‘shaheed’, to book the prime time
slot on channels and social media forums for the next few days. It was only a bigger
dilemma, the one that required trained Pakistani minds to think up scenarios of a
government without Mr Khan and/or his PTI, which finally pushed the shaheeds into
the background. The survivors for once snatched the attention from the martyrs.

These are not exactly the times for so-called neutral observers to write paragraphs
that can be interpreted as favourable to the ‘kaptaan’. The trend is to write about his
failures, his unfulfilled promise and about yet one more betrayal of the people by a
leader, lest these predictions about his fall come true. Likewise, in a given circle, it
would be a very unpopular statement to make if it was to be said that the Pakistani
prime minister’s remarks about OBL might for once have represented the sentiment
of a large number of his countrymen.

What would life be without its slips and the small clues these slips drop along the
way? I would venture a bold guess and ‘claim’ that the hasty honorific just lavished
on OBL sahib by our prime minister reflected the feeling of millions of Pakistanis
who have as yet not been able to distinguish between one individual going down at
the hands of foreign squads on Pakistani territory from another one taken out by
another set of raiders from abroad. They lack the facility and clarity of, say, a
Haqqani in choosing the right foreigners to align with at the right time.

ICEP Dawn Analysis

There are countless distressed souls wandering in this vast desert looking for the right
ideology. Who is a shaheed and who is not? The debate is endless, but those holding
the gun seem to be winning this one too.

The opponents of the popular shaheed theory on the right of the political landscape
are struggling to regain ground. The shaheeds of the left in Pakistan, exterminated as
they might have been on the basis of borrowed, extremist foreign notions of religious
purification or international conspiracy, do not command the kind of respect they
once did.

For the first time in history, there are actually jokes about certain political leaders
who are pronounced as ‘living’ and still ruling hearts. As you observe the 43d
anniversary of the coup against Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in two days’ time, you could
mark it with a solemn recognition of the fast accumulation of those martyred by
foreign designs on the other side.This is symptomatic of the Pakistani truth, the
Pakistani confusion, if you like. There are huge empty spaces for new actors to
occupy and this is where the PTI has come in and done its politics, at a distance from
the old players.

Mr Imran Khan has revelled in this space created by the confusion about who is who.
He was able to create an option, a seemingly safe one, that could guarantee his
followers some violence-free time. That’s his territory. He mustn’t leave it egged on
by any false notions about having found new ideals and new ground to stand on.

The opponents are trying to attack the prime minister. Mr Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is
passionate in his pleas as he tries to separate and dissociate Prime Minister Khan’s
shaheed from his illustrious mother who went down bravely, refusing to cave in to a
new oppressive order. The PPP leader is aided by varied levels of enthusiasm by
other opposition politicians, which has been a problem in the way of a joint, strong
and sustained onslaught on the PTI government.

The opposition effort against the prime minister could actually have been much better
coordinated. Its attacks have been sporadic, and quite often it seems that there’s a
thought gap between the two biggest parties, the PML-N and PPP. This makes little
sense. At this particular moment, for instance, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, whose efforts
have the honourable prime minister mocking him, could well have liked some extra
support from the PML-N stalwarts.

It’s a wonder of Pakistani politicians that despite a somewhat loose opposition, the
discussion about the future of Mr Imran Khan continues to touch new intensity levels.
His own government’s simple follies are ‘seen’ by so many that there is little need for
any clever revelations of PTI misrule by the opposition here.

The press, the channels and social media are replete with questions — and in some
rare cases answers — about the ability and eligibility of the Imran Khan brand of
rule. There are these discussions about the minus-one formula and about the necessity
of having a political heir to Mr Khan.

Not just that, those with bigger intelligence and shorter tempers are once again out to
sell their ideas about a technocrat government, a presidential system, and whatever
they can think of in their moments of desperation. It’s a puzzle that is not going to
yield to easy mathematics, but when you do your calculations and your dislodging
and rearranging, keep in mind the countless Pakistanis who were cultivated in these
vast political spaces by the current prime minister of Pakistan. You can’t simply hand
them over their shaheeds and ask them to leave.
ICEP Dawn Analysis
To trust or not
Zubeida Mustafa July 03, 2020

Zubeida Mustafa

THE underlying cause of what is currently termed as ‘confusion’ in our political

discourse is a deficit of trust. Simply put, it is the paranoia that has subsumed people
from all walks of life, causing them to distrust others. Can you blame them when they
have been deceived so often?

Take the case of the pandemic. On June 19, a very eminent infectious diseases
specialist, Dr Naseem Salahuddin, wrote an excellent article in this paper explaining
the pandemic, the emergence of the novel coronavirus, Covid-19 and the need for a
lockdown. According to her, we have already crossed the Rubicon. She attributes the
failure to win the full cooperation of the masses on SOPs to “poverty, illiteracy and
dense populations” as well as “ingrained habits”. Hence she appeals for specialists to
be given the opportunity to explain what the pandemic really is.

True, the masses are now not paying much heed to the specialists and, as a result,
‘smart lockdowns’ have had to be imposed. It is not that the specialists have stopped
explaining their case on the media. Their mission has been hijacked by the wrong
people — conspiracy theorists and political leaders who claim to know better. Such
are the ways of Facebook and WhatsApp, the biggest nemesis of an uneducated
society. As a result, the masses who had responded quite responsibly initially are now
denying the very existence of the virus and accusing doctors of telling lies and killing
people with lethal injections. By bringing up the ‘lives vs livelihood’ debate, the
prime minister also took the focus away from the urgency of the matter. As a result,
the common man no longer believes what the specialists say.

ICEP Dawn Analysis

Given our dilapidated health delivery system, people have often been forced to
depend on quacks whose drips and injections have seemingly brought them relief
from pain. So they believe the quacks whom they trust. That is the basis of
credibility.

Our rulers are afraid of teaching our children to think critically.

This trust deficit is the direct offshoot of the politicisation of life in Pakistan. For
decades, leaders have fed us on lies so much that we have been left with no faith in
them.

Just a week after Dr Salahuddin’s article was published, the prime minister made one
of his rare appearances in the National Assembly. He had a lot to say, mainly about
his ‘achievements’. He also expressed his desire to see parliament functioning and
holding debates on national issues. Well said, Mr Prime Minister, that is what all of
us want. But soon after Mr Khan finished speaking, he walked away without waiting
to hear the leaders of the opposition parties. There could be no meaningful discussion
on the role of the army in politics or why the status of ‘shaheed’ was bestowed on
Osama bin Laden. Would that instil trust in people in a parliamentary democracy?
The prime minister and his henchmen are giving the wrong message.

It is just not democracy itself that is losing the trust of the people, but implicitly
anyone who is an expert in his field finds he is being doubted.

This is what I mean when I speak of lack of trust. How can this challenge be met?
The only determining factor that can mitigate the negative impact of our culture of
perfidy is enlightened and modern education that allows freedom of thought and
encourages the quest for the truth. Unfortunately, education too has become a victim
of political deceit and mendacity. So much was promised over the decades and so
little has been delivered. Hence the prime minister’s credibility is in danger when he
speaks of the ‘single national curriculum’ that is expected to make Pakistan an
educated country.

Education that is not doctrinaire and orthodox creates awareness, encourages research
and thus facilitates people’s understanding of all issues. It also equips youth with the
tools that enable them to ascertain the truth about a variety of issues ranging in the
present context from the coronavirus to parliamentary democracy and the killing of
Osama bin Laden.

Unfortunately, it is this awareness and understanding that the powers that be are
seeking to deny our children. The rulers want the youth to have enough literacy and
numeracy to make them serve as mere cogs in the wheels of the economy, and no
more. Our rulers are afraid of teaching our children to think critically or ask
uncomfortable questions. Since ideologising the curricula achieves this best, the first
step has been taken.

Even before the new curriculum was announced, the Punjab Assembly adopted the
Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board Amendment Bill on June 9. This has come
as a dire warning of what awaits our children. It prohibits any institution from
prescribing a book — the categories are so defined that they include virtually all
subjects — that has not been approved by the Muttahida Ulema Board Punjab. This is
a ruse to ideologise education even further. Forget the dream of giving students a
good education and the country a bright future.

ICEP Dawn Analysis

Protecting childhood
Madeeha Ansari Updated July 03, 2020

The writer is founder of Cities for Children, a non-profit that focuses on street-
connected children.

CHILDHOOD is a precious, fleeting experience. As we navigate our way through the

most extraordinary time in living memory, one of the most important things we can
do is to remember how this time will define the earliest memories for an entire
generation, growing up in the ‘new normal’.

To understand what the Covid-19 crisis has meant for children from all
socioeconomic backgrounds requires stepping out of our shoes and into smaller ones.
To varying degrees, it has meant: No school. No friends. Fear of hugs. Stressed
adults. Sibling care. More time. Less time. The trauma of unexplainable loss affecting
people in inner as well as peripheral circles, and an invisible terror that pervades
every space, spares no one — and is seemingly without end.

Hidden cost of Covid-19: Long-term effects of disasters and related school closures
on children

The reality of phenomena like ‘no school’ translates into learning losses from which
it may take years to recover. A study of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake by the Harvard
LEAPS project found that four years after the disaster, children who had missed three
months of school were 1.5 years behind where they should have been. Since students
were behind the curriculum when schools reopened, they continued to fall further
back. The story of education during the pandemic has not been a uniform one; those
for whom digital options are not viable have struggled to keep learning, and will
continue to do so unless low- or no-tech options are truly strengthened.

However, there is a radical argument to be made even for children who are soldiering
on with access to Zoom: perhaps we need to be worrying them less, and giving them
more space to play. Schools are closed and we urgently need to think about
mitigating imminent learning losses. But there is one big missing piece in the
conversation in Pakistan: children’s learning is affected by multiple factors, one of
which is well-being. There is a lot of science to support the positive impact of happy,
playful experiences on brain development for young children; they can provide
respite from the stressors of everyday reality, and can help build the resilience to
keep coping and hoping.

ICEP Dawn Analysis

 What has the crisis meant for children’s well-being?

Let’s then take a closer look at those who have been disproportionately affected by
the pandemic. Children in fragile households are experiencing even higher levels of
vulnerability. Those at risk of being forced into child labour are experiencing higher
push factors from families whose livelihoods are impacted. Those who were already
vulnerable to abuse are facing increasing risks due to stress faced by adult caregivers
— evidenced by more calls to children’s helplines globally. In India, calls went up 50
per cent during the height of lockdown, reporting cases from violence to child
marriage. Compounding these are real fears surrounding the virus, which may have a
lasting psychological impact. The motivation to engage with learning and return to
school, particularly for those already at risk of dropping out, will be even lower than
before.

In June, the Ministry of Human Rights launched a directory of organisations for

reporting abuse. There have been a number of other significant steps in an incredibly
short time span: a bill to declare domestic labour hazardous for children, and the
convening of an official National Commission for the Rights of the Child. In its first
public message, the NCRC stated, “it is adamant that the child be given the
environment that is needed to raise a productive citizen”.

If we care about creating that environment — making sure children are going to
school, learning all they can and able to be their best selves — it is crucial to
remember that this environment also includes social, mental and emotional well-
being. The lens of well-being is a powerful one that can impact all aspects of the
Covid-19 response and what comes after.

Public service messages, for instance, need not only include an emphasis on masks
and handwashing, but can actually be tailored to help both adults and children with
coping, even teach adults to support children better. Teleschool broadcasts could
incorporate a similar dimension, and take a more structured approach to boost
resilience. A big part of a return to school should go beyond basic literacy and
numeracy, to enabling teachers to be supportive attachment figures especially for
children facing difficult circumstances at home. And a common thread running
through these would be the provision of playful experiences for children to cope
better — and emerge stronger.

Protecting children’s rights can seem like a massive undertaking when there are so
many structural factors threatening them. Protecting childhood may seem like an
even more elusive idea. However, if we are able to step into smaller shoes, simple
solutions will suggest themselves as we walk through this extraordinary time.

ICEP Dawn Analysis