Dawn Editorials & Opinions
A successful programme hinges on a
Covid concerns - Newspaper -
DAWN.COM
Editorial 28 February 2021
WITH every form of restriction now
effectively lifted in the country after an
assessment of the Covid-19 situation,
the weeks ahead present a new challenge
for the government. As schools, cinemas
and mass indoor gatherings such as
weddings begin to return to the pre-
Covid era, a successful vaccine roll-out
is imperative. In the UK, where both
national morale and the economy have
taken a colossal hit due to record deaths
and cases, a successful inoculation drive
is restoring hope and trust. Pakistan has
been fortunate, that despite a weak and
unsophisticated healthcare system and a
large population, it has reported a far
lower number of deaths and cases when
compared to several higher-income
countries. The exact reason for this is
yet to be determined. But while experts
scratch their heads, and factors such as
herd immunity and a young population
are mulled over, the authorities cannot
be complacent. The Covid-19 nightmare
is far from over. Therefore, the
resumption of regular commercial
activities must go hand in hand with a
mass vaccination programme..
Join my WhatsApp Group for daily DAWN Editorials & Opinions
with Urdu meanings of difficult words
WhatsApp at 03428003702
public awareness programme, a
streamlined monitoring and distribution
strategy and transparent
communication. Thus far, China’s
Sinopharm has arrived in Pakistan with
over half a million doses. Covax has
donated 17m doses which the
government expects will arrive in phases
from March to June. While the vaccine
is being administered to healthcare
workers across the country, registration
rates remain low. Healthcare workers in
some areas have shown reluctance citing
several concerns, including fears about
side effects and lack of information
about efficacy. Here, the government
must do more to raise awareness and
build confidence so that people
understand that the benefits of getting
the vaccine outweigh the perceived
risks. Secondly, systems in place from
past vaccination programmes must be
made use of. This includes a plan for
how budgets will be used as well as one
for the detection and monitoring of new
cases in order to determine the extent to
which the population is protected. Third,
a daily update on vaccinations is
imperative, as it will not only build
transparency but also reinforce the idea
of how central the vaccine is to
resuming normal activities..
Page 1 of 15
 Dawn Editorials & Opinions

Though cases in the country remain low,
the story did turn grim during the first
and second peaks. Today, anecdotal
accounts of severe Covid-19 symptoms
and deaths are not uncommon. Testing,
however, remains abysmally low at
between 30,000 and 40,000 daily. For a
population of over 200m, of which 70m
have been identified by the government
as potential vaccine recipients, this
figure is a tragedy. Increased testing is a
must if the government wants to
continue to keep commercial activities
going. Failure to ensure this will mean
we might be forced to face yet another
peak — especially if the vaccination
programme is slow..
Published in Dawn, February 28th,
2021.
FATF decision - Newspaper -
DAWN.COM
Editorial 28 February 2020
THE decision taken by the Financial
Action Task Force to keep Pakistan on
the grey list until June, despite the
country making significant progress on
the recommended actions, has
disappointed many. There are examples
where other nations were taken off the
list of countries under enhanced
Join my WhatsApp Group for daily DAWN Editorials & Opinions
with Urdu meanings of difficult words
WhatsApp at 03428003702
monitoring by the global watchdog
although they did far less than
Islamabad which worked hard to tighten
its anti-terror-financing and money-
laundering controls over the last two
years. Pakistan has complied with 24 out
of the 27 actions suggested by the
FATF. One hopes that it acts vigorously
in the remaining areas to be taken off the
grey list soon. The FATF announcement
that Pakistan has made “significant
progress” even if some “serious
deficiencies” remain in the mechanisms
to eliminate terror financing, and the
government’s view that the country
would not be put on the blacklist again,
has been a ray of hope for all
concerned..
At the same time, the FATF decision
should jolt the authorities out of their
complacency. There is no option but to
work quickly and show progress on the
rest of the FATF action plan. Even
though doing so will not be easy for the
state, it is clear that unlike previously,
the world wants complete compliance
with the global body’s exacting
standards this time around. The FATF
president’s statement that the watchdog
will verify the completed actions and
members of the task force would vote
(to remove Pakistan from the list of
Page 2 of 15
 Dawn Editorials & Opinions
countries on the grey list) “as soon as
they improve their investigations and
prosecutions of all groups and entities
financing terrorists and their associates
and show [that] penalties by courts are
effective” underlines this new reality. It
goes without saying that complete
compliance will bring its own dividends
for the economy. The increasing inflow
of remittances through legal channels is
only one of the many economic benefits
that Pakistan stands to reap from
adopting global standards on illicit
financing. Last but not the least, the
battle to stay out of the grey list in future
will not end once Pakistan is taken off
it. There is bound to be a tough struggle
for a much longer time until the world
learns to look upon this country as a
responsible and trustworthy partner in
the international fight against
terrorism. The end of the endeavour to
get off this list is in sight and the
country must leave no stone unturned to
reach its goal..
Published in Dawn, February 28th,
2021.
Join my WhatsApp Group for daily DAWN Editorials & Opinions
with Urdu meanings of difficult words
WhatsApp at 03428003702
Underfunded police - Newspaper -
DAWN.COM
Editorial 28 February 2021
FOR decades, successive governments
in the country have talked about police
reforms. While the latter are essential, it
is absurd that politicians should harp on
about enhancing the capabilities of the
police without ensuring a commensurate
increase in crime-fighting
resources. Indeed, the required funds are
missing in the police budget though
crime figures keep pace with an
increasing population. According to a
report published in this newspaper, the
Islamabad police can only spend Rs400
on average per case — around 8,750
cases were investigated last year. For the
current fiscal, the capital’s police must
work with a meagre sum of
Rs3.5m. Understandably, the lack of
funds impacts the overall quality of
investigations since Rs400 is not even
enough to cover the cost of one out-of-
city raid while the processes involved in
forensic investigations such as
fingerprint processing, lab tests, crime
scene mapping and sketching of
suspects cost thousands of rupees. It is
no wonder then that, according to the
report, police officials resort to asking
complainants for money or pay out of
Page 3 of 15
 Dawn Editorials & Opinions

their own pocket for routine procedures By-election fiasco - Newspaper -

that should be paid for by the
government. Considering that the
Islamabad police come under the
purview of the federal government, this
destitute state of the capital law-
enforcement agency could not be more
shocking. Even if the federal
government is struggling financially, it
should still be able to spare more funds
to meet the recurring expenses of the
police force of the nation’s capital..
Meanwhile, similar conditions persist in
the police forces of all
provinces. Effective and transparent
investigations are one of the primary
functions of any police force and if not
performed properly, they can have a
negative impact on the law enforcers’
public image. When police officials ask
complainants for money for routine
procedures, it only reinforces an
undesirable public image of the force,
and adds to demoralisation in the
ranks. An independent and effective
law-enforcement infrastructure is in
everyone’s interest. The public’s sense
of security and confidence in the police
force cannot be taken lightly..
Published in Dawn, February 28th,
2021.
Join my WhatsApp Group for daily DAWN Editorials & Opinions
with Urdu meanings of difficult words
WhatsApp at 03428003702
DAWN.COM
By Ahmed Bilal Mehboob
BY-ELECTIONS do spring surprises
occasionally but despite the uncertainty
about individual contests, these are
considered sedate affairs in a democracy
as, unlike a general election, the
formation of a government is not at
stake. The slew of by-elections held in
all the four provinces recently were no
exception..
The PPP not only retained all three
provincial and one National Assembly
seats in Sindh but also increased its
share of votes in all contests compared
to the 2018 general election. The JUI-F
won its provincial assembly seat in
Balochistan and considerably widened
its lead over its rivals..
The two upsets of the nine by-elections
were both witnessed in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa where the JUI-F narrowly
lost the National Assembly seat in
Kurram which it had won in
2018. Another, and major, upset
concerned the Nowshera provincial
assembly seat where the PML-N not
only unexpectedly defeated the PTI, but
also more than doubled the percentage
Page 4 of 15
 Dawn Editorials & Opinions
of votes gained in 2018. KP and
especially Nowshera is considered a
stronghold of the PTI and a PML-N win
in such a secure seat sent shockwaves
across the party structure..
The greatest volatility was, however,
witnessed in Punjab. Two seats, one
provincial and the other national, were
at stake in central Punjab which is
considered to be the PML-N
stronghold. The provincial assembly
seat in Wazirabad was retained by the
PML-N but not without a surprise. The
PTI almost doubled its percentage share
of votes while the PML-N share
decreased slightly..
The ECP must be
commended for taking
timely, decisive and bold
action..
The biggest surprise, though of a
different kind, was in store in the
National Assembly constituency NA-75,
now commonly known as the Daska
constituency. The seat was comfortably
won by the PML-N candidate in the
2018 general election with a margin of
around 40,000 votes..
The Daska by-election, in contrast to the
other constituencies, was marred by
Join my WhatsApp Group for daily DAWN Editorials & Opinions
with Urdu meanings of difficult words
WhatsApp at 03428003702
violence. Squads of armed men on
motorcycles were seen roaming in
Daska city and resorting to aerial firing
which scared away many voters. Two
persons died and many were injured as a
result of the firing at one
location. Eyewitness reports indicate
that the police did not make any serious
effort to check this wanton
vandalism. The Election Commission of
Pakistan (ECP) noted “…incidents of
murders, firing and injuries, bad law-
and-order situation in the subject
constituency creating harassment for
voters and other circumstances leading
to make the process of result doubtful/
unascertainable”..
As if the violence during the day was
not enough, a greater shock was yet to
come. According to the Election Rules
2017, the returning officer has to
communicate the provisional results to
the ECP electronically on or before 2 am
the day immediately following polling
day. It was probably at that time that the
RO noticed that the result of 20 polling
stations had not been received and their
presiding officers had gone
missing. Efforts to reach the missing
POs were unsuccessful. The chief
election commissioner, who was present
in his office at that time according to an
Page 5 of 15
 Dawn Editorials & Opinions

ECP press release, apparently smelt a rat
and contacted the chief secretary and the
district police officer around 3 am. Both
assured the commissioner that they
would ensure the safe recovery of the
POs and polling material but to no avail;
the chief secretary, as the commission
press release put it, had made himself
unavailable..
Repeated efforts were made by the ECP
to reach the inspector general of police,
divisional commissioner Gujranwala
and the deputy commissioner Sialkot on
their land and mobile lines but none of
them attended the calls according to the
press release, which for a welcome
change, was blunt in its narration of the
non-responsiveness of almost all
officials of the local and provincial
administration..
and the commission as required by the
rules, and the calls were not responded
to, almost all of them said that their
phone batteries were dead..
Most shocking was the discrepancy
between the results contained in the
Form 45 copies given to the PML-N
candidate and the ones submitted to the
RO for 18 polling stations by the POs
who had gone missing. This discrepancy
was highlighted in the RO’s report
which showed that the PML-N
candidate’s votes were decreased from
5,000 to 3,500; the PTI candidate’s
votes were increased from 6,705 to
12,763 and the rejected votes were
increased from 139 to 1,731. The ECP,
because of these apparent irregularities,
declared the by-election of Feb 19 for
this constituency to be void..

The statement went on to say that after
hectic efforts, the missing POs reported
to the RO at 6 am — 13 hours after the
close of poll although none of these
polling stations were more than an
hour’s drive from the RO’s office. The
RO’s report stated that the reason for the
delay given by almost all the ‘missing’
POs was the fog. When asked why
snapshots of the polling station vote
count (Form 45) were not sent to the RO
The blatant efforts to manipulate results
in the NA-75 by-election are extremely
worrying. It is for the first time since
1977 that such election-day
manipulation has been attempted with
the connivance of polling staff and the
local and provincial administration
although pre- and post-poll rigging has
been alleged in many past
elections. Any negligence in probing the
alleged irregularities will have

Page 6 of 15
Join my WhatsApp Group for daily DAWN Editorials & Opinions
with Urdu meanings of difficult words
WhatsApp at 03428003702
 Dawn Editorials & Opinions

disastrous consequences for future Crumbs of neutrality? - Newspaper -

elections and the democratic set-up.. DAWN.COM
By Abbas Nasir
The ECP must be commended for taking
timely, decisive and bold action. If more
THE fears of sceptical Pakistanis are
such attempts are to be forestalled, it is
easily allayed, with the latest prime
important that it takes the investigation
example being the stance taken by the
to its logical conclusion no matter how
Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)
high the trail goes. It is equally
in the presidential reference hearings
important that both the provincial and
before the Supreme Court and its
federal governments cooperate with the
decision over the alleged rigging by the
commission and immediately transfer
governing PTI in NA-75..
and suspend the officers identified by
it. Any reluctance by the government to Almost all analysts, this columnist
implement ECP directions will make the included, described the ECP stand as a
entire electoral process suspect.. watershed moment in the country’s
history. Some went as far as to make
Generally, the superior courts exercise
optimistic predictions of credible
restraint in hearing petitions challenging
elections in the future based on the
the ECP during an election cycle. Such
independence and courage displayed by
restraint would go a long way in
the ECP in these two instances..
establishing the long-needed writ of the
ECP.. Given our history of dysfunctional and
often compromised institutions, it was
The writer is president of the Pakistan
not surprising that so many people
Institute of Legislative Development And
became upbeat about the future
Transparency..
prospects at the first hint of a positive
president@pildat.org. sign. But wouldn’t it be imprudent to let
our imagination run away with it?.
Twitter: @ABMPildat.
This question has to be asked. Let me
Published in Dawn, February 28th, explain why. The pace at which the ECP
2021. has moved hardly inspires confidence,

Page 7 of 15
Join my WhatsApp Group for daily DAWN Editorials & Opinions
with Urdu meanings of difficult words
WhatsApp at 03428003702
 Dawn Editorials & Opinions

for example, in the former PTI leader case against him infructuous, saving him
Akbar S. Babar’s complaint in what is from facing disqualification as a senator
known as the PTI foreign funding case under Article 62-63..
or the dual nationality charge against
Minister Faisal Vawda.. All this is not to say that the recent turn
of events has not shown the ECP in a
One must assess the positive light. Equally, it is important to
opposition’s new-found see issues in perspective in order to
realisation that the avoid reading more into developments
establishment has suddenly than merited and averting serious
become neutral.. disappointment in the months to come..

Admittedly, Mr Babar’s complaint may By the same token one must assess the
require a painstaking trawl through opposition’s new-found realisation that
dozens of bank accounts, transactions the establishment has suddenly become
and forensic accounting skills but even neutral, and ask if this view is able to
then the time it is taking the ECP to withstand scrutiny. To me, it is neither
examine the evidence is enough to raise evident nor clear why such a change of
a brow or two.. heart may have happened. One can
speculate, of course..
As for Mr Vawda, not only is he one of
the prime minister’s favourites he also The then PML-N government, which
has powerful friends in the security spearheads the opposition PDM today,
establishment. So the fact that despite had a falling out with the security
having fined him several thousand establishment on account of mainly two
rupees for non-appearance and a prima factors. The first was the attempt by
facie open-and-shut case, the ECP has Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to bring to
not ruled in the matter.. justice former military ruler Gen Pervez
Musharraf..
And now he has been cleared to run for
the Senate. It is likely he’ll be While the general’s first trampling of the
elected. The moment he takes oath as a Constitution in 1999 was sanctified by
member of the upper house he ceases the Supreme Court, his second
being an MNA. Which may make the transgression in 2007 was not. This laid
Page 8 of 15
Join my WhatsApp Group for daily DAWN Editorials & Opinions
with Urdu meanings of difficult words
WhatsApp at 03428003702
 Dawn Editorials & Opinions

him open to treason charges. Initially,
Mr Sharif seemed reluctant but then
gave in to the pressure exerted by then
chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry..
Predictably, the establishment did not
take kindly to this. The second major
factor was Nawaz Sharif’s insistence to
the security establishment that the
policies of the past with regard to
supporting ‘patriotic’ militant groups
had no room in the post 9/11 world..
It was true that Pakistan’s immense
utility post 9/11 to the West was no
more. This was 2016 and challenges
such as the FATF were cropping
up. That the then prime minister asked
the security leadership to change tack
and the story reached the media was
seen as a public rebuke, enough to
trigger the process of his downfall and
forced exit from office. Panama Papers
provided the perfect pretext..
The civil-military leaders today take
pride in being on the ‘same page’ on
FATF. Ironically, the opportunity for a
head start was missed in 2016. Complex
policy changes to comply with FATF
demands have been rolled out and yet in
early 2021 the country has not come off
the watch list..
Join my WhatsApp Group for daily DAWN Editorials & Opinions
with Urdu meanings of difficult words
WhatsApp at 03428003702
Against this backdrop the PDM leaders
now say the establishment has suddenly
become neutral. It perhaps feels to some
that the campaign where Nawaz Sharif
and Maryam Nawaz Sharif did not shy
away from calling a spade a spade may
have put some powerful detractors on
the back foot..
Is that really the case? There is no
denying that this changed narrative got
considerable traction in central Punjab
which is always significant, being closer
to home than voices of defiance in
Khairpur Nathan Shah in Sindh, Awaran
in Balochistan or even the merged Fata
districts in KP..
But let’s be honest. The opposition
campaign was far from making a dent in
the pre-eminence of powerful
institutions. A few crumbs may have
been offered but is that neutrality? It is
not corruption or even mismanagement
which imperils elected politicians; it is
asserting civilian supremacy..
Look at Nawaz Sharif’s political
evolution. In the period he was amassing
his (currently controversial) fortune all
through the 1980s and partly 1990s, he
remained the establishment’s favourite
as the patriotic alternative to the defiant,
headstrong Benazir Bhutto..
Page 9 of 15
 Dawn Editorials & Opinions
The means through which he and his
family became immensely wealthy did
not become a sty in anyone’s eye. But,
yes, every aspect of his business and
personal empire became questionable
when he tried to exercise his
constitutional authority; and worse still
when he came of age as a democrat..
Believe me I’d be happy to eat my
words if this ‘neutrality’ is actually
realised and manifests itself in policy
changes. If it does, who will not jump
for joy as it would translate into
empowerment of the people of Pakistan,
stability, prosperity? I will believe it
when I see it..
The writer is a former editor of Dawn..
abbas.nasir@hotmail.com.
Published in Dawn, February 28th,
2021.
A case for love - Newspaper -
DAWN.COM
By Madeeha Ansari
A VIDEO went viral recently, of a
young child being brutally beaten by his
instructor in a madressah-style
setting. The more the little boy cried, the
more abuse he got to make him ‘stop’..
Join my WhatsApp Group for daily DAWN Editorials & Opinions
with Urdu meanings of difficult words
WhatsApp at 03428003702
The source of the video was unverified
so the real details will remain blurry —
but each frame contains a story from the
past and for the future. What did that
young man experience in his own
childhood, to make him feel entitled to
use violence as a strategy to ‘teach’ and
to ‘discipline’? How will that little boy
internalise the experience — and how
will he respond to others, the day he’s in
a position of relative power? When his
mind is numbed by fear, what else will
he learn in that class?.
The degree of violence may vary, but
corporal punishment as a strategy for
children is not the exception. According
to Unicef, about half the world’s
children are subjected to corporal
punishment at home, with about three in
four children between the ages of two
and four experiencing violent discipline
at the hands of parents and other
primary caregivers. There is less
research around schools, but corporal
punishment is a common tool used by
teachers for infractions as minor as an
untidy uniform to forgotten homework,
to not ‘knowing’ the answer. The
rationale would be that the pain or
shame of physical or verbal abuse would
lead to behaviour change — or
Page 10 of 15
 Dawn Editorials & Opinions
somehow bring a magical revelation
with all the answers..
It sounds obvious to say: it won’t..
Corporal punishment is not
the exception..
Instead, perhaps it is not fully
understood that violence in childhood
can have lifelong effects on physical
health, mental health, learning and
behaviour. Apart from the obvious threat
of injury from physical violence,
prolonged exposure to adverse
childhood experiences can cause long-
term health problems including obesity,
heart disease and diabetes. Traumatic
experiences in childhood can shape a
child’s brain architecture and response
to stress even as an adult. In particular, it
can shape the response to conflict —
children who learn violence can become
bullies in the playground — and in
life. Finally, violence in school spaces
can lead to poorer educational outcomes
and higher risk of dropout for children
who are already struggling to learn. One
reason for the widespread use of
corporal punishment is that in Pakistan,
there has been no legal barrier to
it. Campaigners such as Shehzad Roy
have made a compelling case to overturn
existing impediments and ban corporal
Join my WhatsApp Group for daily DAWN Editorials & Opinions
with Urdu meanings of difficult words
WhatsApp at 03428003702
punishment in schools, and only recently
a landmark bill was passed by the
National Assembly. However, there is a
long way to go — this is a hard-won
battle with limited geographical scope,
and historically there has been little
political will to actually push through
legal reform. Even while protection
from violence is a human right that
children are entitled to, the legal
landscape in Pakistan has provided
impunity to perpetrators..
Enabling environment aside, another
huge reason for the use of corporal
punishment as a strategy by both
caregivers and teachers is the lack of
knowledge around alternatives. There is
a perception that too much love can
spoil a child, that violence keeps
children ‘straight’. One response from
teachers in workshops we’ve held has
been that children don’t ‘learn any other
way’..
In fact, the science of brain development
demonstrates that love — and positive
approaches to discipline — can
transform a child’s path through
life. Early experiences can help
determine the person you’re going to be,
and love and care are essential in terms
of shaping a tender, sympathetic
Page 11 of 15
 Dawn Editorials & Opinions
understanding of the self, the world and
future relationships. Happy, well-
adjusted children learn and concentrate
better — and finding ways to reinforce
self-esteem and confidence can do
wonders for classroom performance..
Caregivers and teachers need to know
this. Politicians who should be
concerned about the future of a country
with alarmingly high, self-perpetuating
cycles of abuse — they should know
this. ‘Maar Nahi Pyaar’ should be a
slogan with universal resonance, that
everyone can get behind. More than that,
those entrusted with the care and
instruction of children should be
equipped with real, practical strategies
to teach and maintain discipline without
violence..
In Pakistan, corporal punishment being
taken too far has had documented and
dire consequences for children. There
have been reports of serious injury and
even death. That viral video, that
hideous police report by grieving
parents should not be the impetus for
taking legal and practical steps to protect
children. Why must we wait for the
unimaginable before we act?.
It should not be this hard to build a case
for love in childhood, and for
Join my WhatsApp Group for daily DAWN Editorials & Opinions
with Urdu meanings of difficult words
WhatsApp at 03428003702
overturning a culture where violence is
normalised. It is only by doing so that
we can look forward to a generation of
kinder, more empathetic adults..
The writer is founder of Cities for
Children, a non-profit that focuses on
street-connected children..
Twitter: @madeeha_ansari.
Published in Dawn, February 28th,
2021.
Economy, not culture - Newspaper -
DAWN.COM
Afiya S Zia
IN 2002, Gen Musharraf pulled a rabbit
out of the hat by substantially increasing
quotas for women’s seats in all
legislative bodies. This improved
Pakistan’s ranking significantly on the
Global Gender Gap Index. Decades on,
political empowerment is the only
indicator ranking us at mid-level, rather
than second last for everything else..
The culprits are not democracy or
corruption but the historical
misdiagnoses that ‘culture’ is a proven
obstacle to women’s progress, especially
their economic empowerment. Instead,
lack of social prestige, negative
Page 12 of 15
 Dawn Editorials & Opinions

community perception, and work
conditions are major impediments to
Pakistani women’s waged
labour. Gossip and patriarchal control
should not be confused with immutable
culture..
The culture cudgel is a convenient
excuse used by unimaginative, lazy
officials and politicians who refuse to
incentivise women’s waged
labour. Offloading responsibility on
culture or waiting for macroeconomic
miracles or utopian level-playing-field
markets is erroneous. Change is
underway but unmeasured and blocked
by the culture argument..
There are no uniform or permanent
barriers across communities, districts or
provinces. ‘Culture’ is forsaken under
extreme poverty when women are
driven to distressed labour, including in
construction, although pragmatic
microfinance policies and home-based
work reinforce the culture paradigm..
What makes the women’s
movement weak?.
Many donor-funded reports on women’s
empowerment recall colonial-era
policies with local experts advising that
‘cultural and religious norms’ should not
Join my WhatsApp Group for daily DAWN Editorials & Opinions
with Urdu meanings of difficult words
WhatsApp at 03428003702
be upset. The result has been decades of
poultry rearing and home-based
embroidery projects while preserving
the patriarchal gendered order..
Despite their flaws, global ranking
reports reveal some stark findings that
are needlessly complicated by
international experts and standardised
solutions. Some indictments are as
follows..
First, most Pakistani women are not in
the workforce. The majority of the 20
per cent who are, labour in agriculture
(without minimum wages) while the rest
toil in informal and unsafe (mostly
manufacturing) sectors. Women are not
‘service sector-oriented’ but confined
due to lack of skills for higher paid
work. Gender segregated occupations
and lack of market access and mobility
are blamed on tradition instead of
negligent planning..
It is not culturally offensive to enforce
the living wage for all women
agricultural workers, securitise the
informal sector, upgrade domestic (not
MNC) labour laws with vigilant
regulatory mechanisms and feminise
markets with state support..
Page 13 of 15
 Dawn Editorials & Opinions

Second, the success in mandating anti-
sexual harassment laws in the workplace
has gained us valuable points in global
rankings. However, slippery patriarchal
tactics mean that workplaces claiming to
observe this law use it as a fig leaf to
deny basic rights of maternity benefits,
childcare, equal pay etc. It’s become a
‘gender-pass’ for male employees and
owners to curb their harassment habits a
little but continue to exploit women’s
labour..
Equal pay and secure facilities for
women, affirmative action for minority
women, and quality childcare in state
and private sectors must be enacted with
strict penalties for violations..
Third, domestic and care work are
disproportionately women’s burdens but
not owning marital or family land and
assets lowers our ranking
drastically. Religious norms factor here
but mobile phone ownership is a secular
concern. Male restrictions on women’s
access to phones is not due to culture but
to maintain power over their
autonomy. Since few Pakistanis have
physical bank accounts, phones are a
critical entry point for financial learning
and economic empowerment..
Another ‘culture’ myth is that women
have no decision-making powers in the
household. In fact, data shows gender
equality in matters of purchases. It’s a
political failure to not recognise women
as economic actors. Rather than
infantilising them, women must be given
access to technology and bank account
drives should be on a scale similar to
voter registration campaigns..
Fourth, fertility rates are decreasing but
are globally high. Unmet contraceptive
needs and lack of childcare is a supply-
side failure hindering women’s
economic productivity. The skills and
remuneration of Lady Health Workers
must be upgraded while extending their
community services to include food
insecurity/ nutrition, disabled needs,
seniors’ health, and pre-school life
skills. A cost-effective grafting with the
Ehsaas programme could be considered..
Weaponising the culture argument
makes women’s movements weak and
prevents women from organising
collective action or gaining labour
rights. When men and the state use the
‘culture’ sword, they do a disservice to
their own future generations and the
nation’s global standing..

Page 14 of 15
Join my WhatsApp Group for daily DAWN Editorials & Opinions
with Urdu meanings of difficult words
WhatsApp at 03428003702
 Dawn Editorials & Opinions

It’s time to stop recycling cultural alibis

or waiting on complex
expertise. Radical changes in gender
policies require political decisions. We
have nothing to lose except our ranking
as last in the world..

The writer is author of Faith and

Feminism in Pakistan..

Published in Dawn, February 28th,

2021.

Page 15 of 15
Join my WhatsApp Group for daily DAWN Editorials & Opinions
with Urdu meanings of difficult words
WhatsApp at 03428003702