Pakistan Press on: Balochistan, Justice, Bandung: New Age Islam's Selection, 21 April 2025
By New Age Islam Edit Desk
21 April 2025
The Sun Rises On the Power Grid
Balochistan’s Tipping Point
Justice or Manipulation?
Cementing A Green Future
The Leadership Deficit
Bandung Declaration Revisited
Credibility Deficit
Promise and Peril
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The Sun Rises On the Power Grid
By Dr Khalid Waleed
April 21, 2025
The economic landscape constantly evolves through innovation and obsolescence – a process economist Joseph Schumpeter called ‘creative destruction’.
New technologies and models replace outdated ones, as seen in the historical transition from the steam engine to the internet. Today, Pakistan’s power grid is undergoing a similar shift, driven by the rapid rise of rooftop solar. This decentralised generation model challenges the centralised utility structure, offering both opportunity and disruption.
Schumpeter’s theory explains how capitalism thrives on disruptive change, driven by innovation, profit motives and competition. In Pakistan, falling solar PV costs and rising grid tariffs are fueling this transformation. Consumers are becoming ‘prosumers’ – generating their own power – and are fundamentally altering the traditional electricity paradigm.
From an energy economics standpoint, this represents a transition in the structure of electricity supply from a natural monopoly to a more contestable and distributed generation model. Historically, the electricity sector operated under cost-of-service regulation due to the characteristics of a natural monopoly – high fixed costs, indivisibility of capital and economies of scale. However, existing scientific literature suggests that distributed generation technologies such as rooftop solar inherently disrupt these assumptions by reducing the minimum efficient scale required for market entry and introducing competitive pressures on previously monopolistic utilities.
Historically, disruptive technologies often face resistance. The 19th-century Luddite movement, where textile workers destroyed machines that threatened their jobs, exemplifies this pattern. While Pakistan’s solar shift is different, similar tensions persist. Power utilities, fearing revenue losses and underutilised assets, may view decentralised solar with apprehension. Stakeholders may cling to cross-subsidisation mechanisms and legacy infrastructure to protect vested interests. However, the Luddite example underscores the futility of resistance; what is needed instead is a managed transition that balances innovation with social impact.
Pakistan is experiencing a sharp rise in rooftop solar adoption, disrupting its power sector. Net-metering capacity jumped from 5MW in 2017 to 2,451MW by FY2024, reaching 4,135MW by December. At the current pace, it may surpass 14,000MW by FY2034. This surge is fueled by soaring grid tariffs (Rs47/kWh in 2024), falling solar panel costs, favourable net-metering policies, and an unreliable grid.
However, this growth challenges grid finances. In FY2024, net-metering reduced sales by 3.2 billion kWh, shifting Rs101 billion in fixed costs to other users – raising average tariffs by Rs0.9/kWh. By FY2034, the impact could rise to Rs545 billion and Rs3.6/kWh. These pressures stem not just from solar, but also from entrenched inefficiencies and outdated tariff structures.
Rooftop solar also strains conventional plants. Reduced grid demand has led to costly part-load operations – Rs55.67 billion in Partial Load Adjustment Charges (PLAC) in FY2023–24, up from Rs46.59 billion in FY2022–23 – violating economic dispatch principles. DISCOs, whose revenues depend on volumetric sales, will be hit hard. While they pay Rs6,460/kW/month in capacity charges, they recover only Rs200–500/kW/month from consumers, creating a tariff mismatch that worsens circular debt and threatens privatization plans. Technically, net metering introduces grid issues like back-feeding, causing voltage fluctuations and operational challenges in a system built for one-way flow.
The discourse around rooftop solar must also acknowledge technical challenges associated with solar net-metering. One prominent issue is ‘back-feeding’, a condition where surplus solar-generated electricity flows back into a distribution grid originally designed for one-way transmission. Unregulated back-feeding can lead to voltage fluctuations, grid instability and increased operational complexity for distribution companies. Recently, we saw in Sri Lanka the Ceylon Electricity Board’s (CEB) appeals to all rooftop solar system owners across the country to voluntarily switch off their systems during daytime hours – till 3pm each day – from April 13 to April 21.
To manage such challenges, countries like Australia have begun charging solar prosumers a fee for using the grid essentially as a virtual battery, highlighting that even mature renewable energy markets must address these complexities.
However, it is critical to contextualise the Australian experience. Unlike Pakistan, Australia does not face pronounced tariff anomalies, widespread systemic inefficiencies or entrenched capacity trap problems.
Understanding Pakistan's electricity consumption mix is essential for appreciating the impact of rooftop solar. In FY2023–24, the household sector emerged as the largest electricity consumer, accounting for approximately 50 per cent of total consumption. Up to 60 per cent of Pakistan’s electricity consumption comes from unproductive sectors, with only about 18 per cent attributed to the industrial sector. Rooftop solar offers a potential solution to this imbalance by reducing residential demand and, in the long run, making grid power more attractive and affordable for industrial users.
Pakistan’s electricity tariff structure is characterised by an increasing block tariff (IBT) for residential consumers, where the per-unit cost rises with higher levels of consumption. This structure incorporates subsidies for ‘protected’ and ‘lifeline’ consumers with very low consumption levels, typically funded through cross-subsidisation from high-end consumers. The average electricity rate for lifeline and protected consumers is around Rs10/unit, while for high-end consumers it can reach as high as Rs47/unit.
The increasing adoption of rooftop solar by high-end consumers, who previously contributed significantly to the cross-subsidy pool, is now jeopardising the financial sustainability of this system. From an economic efficiency perspective, this results in a distortion in marginal cost pricing. Addressing this imbalance may require a shift toward cost-reflective tariffs or targeted subsidies funded through fiscal resources rather than embedded cross-subsidies.
The only way forward is to adopt a prudent policy framework for Pakistan’s power sector, one that strategically employs the dual approach of ‘Sunrise and Sunset’. This approach emphasises nurturing a conducive regulatory, technical and financial environment for the ‘Sunrise’ by accelerating rooftop solar adoption through streamlined net-metering policies, targeted incentives, affordable financing, supportive grid modernisation and tariff rationalisation that encourages productive electricity demand.
Concurrently, the policy must facilitate the ‘Sunset’ – the systematic early retirement or phased closure of fossil fuel-based generation assets, particularly coal-fired power plants, using innovative global mechanisms such as Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs), Energy Transition Mechanisms (ETMs), or ‘coal-to-clean’ credit initiatives.
By integrating these parallel strategies, Pakistan can effectively redirect investments from outdated fossil fuel infrastructure towards decentralised renewable energy systems – managing economic disruption, ensuring social equity and advancing a resilient, sustainable and affordable energy future.
This transformation exemplifies a broader shift in the generation mix and capital formation, as outlined in energy economics. Investment in capital-intensive centralised generation is now being challenged by decentralised, modular technologies with lower capital intensity and reduced lead times. It is also important to understand the utility of distributed solar as a transformative tool at the intersection of economy, energy and environment.
Rooftop solar offers significant environmental benefits, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and cutting carbon emissions, both critical to climate change mitigation.
While some argue that net metering primarily benefits the wealthy, the reality in Pakistan is different: most adopters are middle-class families that have invested their hard-earned savings for energy security in the face of rising tariffs and unreliable grid supply. Solar is not a luxury; it is a necessity-driven choice for a more resilient and sustainable future, one that can ultimately enhance productive demand within the power grid.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1303395-the-sun-rises-on-the-power-grid
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Balochistan’s Tipping Point
By Dr Sharmila Faruqi
April 21, 2025
Balochistan is not a fringe story. It is the litmus test for Pakistan’s democracy, justice and national cohesion. Sprawling across nearly half of the country’s landmass, rich in copper, gold, gas and cobalt, and positioned at the doorstep of global trade routes, it should have been the crown jewel of Pakistan’s economic future. Instead, it has become a byword for alienation, insurgency, and silence.
For decades, Balochistan has been viewed as a security threat rather than a political and developmental partner. That mindset has fractured trust and widened the fault lines between state and society. What began as tribal demands for rights has evolved into a generational insurgency. Young, educated Baloch – frustrated by injustice and disillusioned by broken promises – are being drawn into militancy. But the most alarming shift is the invisible hand behind it.
Foreign interference – especially from India's RAW – has played a central role in fueling terrorism and instability in Balochistan. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a designated terrorist organisation, has carried out deadly attacks on security forces and infrastructure, often with the help of funding and sanctuary provided across the border in Afghanistan. These networks mislead, radicalise and arm Baloch youth to wage war not for their rights, but for someone else’s geopolitical designs. This is not resistance but exploitation. These foreign-sponsored insurgents may claim to be liberators, but in reality they are predators feeding on despair.
The killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti in 2006 was a turning point that ruptured whatever fragile trust existed between Balochistan and the federation. His death ignited a broader wave of armed resistance, radicalised segments of the youth and became a lasting symbol of state repression in the Baloch political imagination. It marked the beginning of a more dangerous, entrenched phase of conflict – one the state has yet to recover from.
Some of the loudest voices that claim to represent the Baloch cause – including the tribal sardars – live in marble mansions in Geneva, London and Dubai while their people suffer in mud homes without schools, hospitals or clean water. The Baloch child has no access to a library, while his so-called liberators deliver speeches from luxury suites abroad. So, in that context, it is not just the state that must answer for Balochistan’s tragedy; it is also those who turned their struggle into a lifestyle brand, profiting off the pain of their own people.
Just last week, Army Chief General Syed Asim Munir declared, “even ten generations of terrorists cannot harm Balochistan” – a powerful reaffirmation of the military’s pivotal role in safeguarding Pakistan and defeating terrorism. The armed forces have held the line with immense sacrifice and resolve. But lasting peace demands more than security operations. Force can neutralise insurgents, but only justice, inclusion and dignity can win hearts and secure the future.
To move forward, words must turn to action. President Asif Ali Zardari, in his first term, tried to recalibrate the federal relationship with Balochistan. He publicly apologised to the province and introduced the Aghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan package, followed by the historic 18th Amendment, returning provincial control over key subjects. Recently, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s cabinet approved the diversion of Rs300 billion from petroleum development levy savings toward critical infrastructure projects in Balochistan, including the long-delayed dualization of the deadly N-25 Highway (Quetta–Karachi via Kalat and Khuzdar), completion of Phase II of the Kachhi Canal, and the solarisation of agricultural tube wells across the province – marking a rare but meaningful step towards correcting decades of developmental neglect.
Development must begin with education. Balochistan has the lowest literacy rate in Pakistan and an even more appalling gender gap. Investment in primary schools, vocational training, teacher recruitment, and digital access is critical. Education isn’t a favour; it is a constitutional right and the best shield against extremism. The province’s mineral wealth – copper, gold, coal and lithium – has the potential to transform its fortunes. But projects like Reko Diq and Saindak must not enrich federal coffers or foreign companies at the expense of locals.
Balochistan must own its resources. Royalties must be fairly distributed. Jobs must go to locals. Environmental protections must be enforced. The newly proposed ECODEC (Economic Corridor Development and Coordination Authority) can be a transformative body, but only if it includes Baloch stakeholders at every level and operates transparently under parliamentary oversight.
None of this can succeed if the youth of Balochistan are treated as suspects rather than citizens. The solutions offered – truth commissions, infrastructure, jobs – must never be used as tools of suppression. They must empower, not pacify. They must offer healing, not humiliation. We also need political inclusion. Akhtar Mengal, Mehmood Khan Achakzai and Dr Abdul Malik Baloch have all remained committed to parliamentary engagement despite provocation and marginalisation. Their presence in the democratic process is a necessity. These are not separatist leaders but constitutionalists. Strengthening them is our last bridge to peace.
So what is the way forward? We need an immediate national consensus on Balochistan that transcends politics. We need a Truth and Reconciliation Commission – independent, credible and backed by civil society – to investigate enforced disappearances and recommend justice. We need a restructured Aghaz-e-Haqooq package, tied to local governance, audited annually and implemented with provincial consent. We need a localised hiring framework for every national project in the province, with quotas for education, health and infrastructure. We need constitutional safeguards for Baloch identity, language, culture and heritage. We need to internationally expose and dismantle foreign-funded terror networks operating against Pakistan from Afghan and RAW-sponsored channels.
The path forward demands courage – not just from the Baloch, but from the state itself. Courage to acknowledge past mistakes. Courage to invest in people, not just projects. Courage to differentiate between those misled and those malicious. We must launch a comprehensive truth and reconciliation process, not to whitewash the past, but to reckon with it. Enforced disappearances must end. Missing persons must be accounted for. Compensation, where due, must be paid not with pity, but with dignity.
We need a Balochistan where a young student chooses a university over a mountain cave, where a labourer chooses employment over exile, and where a mother sees opportunity, not disappearance, when her child steps out of the house. This is not a utopia. It should be an obligation.
Let Balochistan be a region that no foreign hand can poison, no sardar can monopolise and no insurgent can hijack. Let it be governed by the people, for the people, with the full trust and protection of the federation. That is how unity is earned, not imposed.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1303396-balochistan-s-tipping-point
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Justice or Manipulation?
By Barrister Asad Ul Mulk
April 21, 2025
Most enlightened people in Pakistan know Chief Justice Muhammad Munir for his controversial decision in The State v Dosso which paved the way for martial laws, but few realise that it was far from his solitary mistake.
Some mistakes are bigger than others. And then there are mistakes which are of historic proportion, and Dosso represents precisely such a mistake. Munir is not the only judge to have made a mistake of historical proportions. Chief Justice Roger Taney of the United States in Dred Scott v Sandford (1857) made a historical mistake when he justified slavery, segregation and denied basic rights to black African slaves, perpetuating the US Civil War (1961-1965).
But Munir and Taney are distinguishable, for Taney made a singular historical mistake, whereas Munir had a history of undermining the judicature. George Curtis, who argued before Taney on behalf of Dred Scott wrote: “He was indeed a great magistrate, and a man of singular purity of life and character. That there should have been one mistake in a judicial career so long, so exalted, and so useful is only proof of the imperfection of our nature”.
Munir, conversely, was not a one-time manipulator of the law. From the time he became chief justice of the Lahore High Court in 1949, Munir began to develop jurisprudence where he deferred to the executive even where it placed restrictions on the liberty, movement, free speech or expression of citizens such as in Ali Muhammad v the Crown (PLD 1952 Lahore 573), The Crown v Faiz (PLD 1952 Lahore 222), Mazhar Ali v Governor of the Punjab (PLD 1954 Lahore 14), Maududi v Government of Punjab (PLD 1954 Lahore 172).
Rather than view the relationship between the three pillars of state – executive, legislature and judicature – as providing checks and balances, Munir viewed the role of the judiciary as a facilitator of the executive.
When the first vacancy occurred in the Federal Court in 1951, Munir by virtue of his seniority was the obvious choice, but he declined elevation, choosing instead to remain the chief justice of the Lahore High Court, which in his view was far more prestigious and powerful. Justice Cornelius was elevated instead.
In 1954 as the retirement of Chief Justice Sir Abdul Rashid approached, the four senior judges of the Federal Court in order of seniority were Justices Akram, Shahabuddin, Cornelius and Sharif. However, Munir managed to bypass them all. He colluded with Governor General Ghulam Muhammad to entrap Justice Akram. A note was put up through the law ministry indicating the possibility of requesting the British government to appoint a Law Lord from the House of Lords as the chief justice.
When Justice Akram learnt of this, he reviled at the prospect, and approached the governor general not to tread down such a path, as it would reflect poorly of Pakistan, and offered to relinquish his own claim on the position so long as the appointee was a Judge from Pakistan. The conspiracy was executed to a tee, and it paved the way for Munir to be appointed.
When the case Federation of Pakistan v Maulvi Tamizuddin (PLD 1955 FC 240) reached the Federal Court, Munir stayed in constant touch with the governor general, to whom he was beholden, and told him, that to forge a majority Justice Shahabuddin had to be removed from the bench as he had the ability to influence other judges’ opinion.
Ghulam Muhammad impressed upon Shahabuddin to assume the position of the governor of East Bengol as a matter of national duty. While very reluctant, Shahabuddin eventually relented, and was replaced by Justice Rehman, who Munir had already calculated would side with him. The judgment which upheld the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly was a blow to democracy and invitation to authoritarianism.
Then came The State v Dosso (PLD 1958 SC 533) in which Munir employed Hans Kelsen’s theory of revolutionary legality to justify Pakistan’s first coup d'etat, an exercise which Kelsen reproached as according to him assuming the validity of the grundnorm was a political act, beyond the reach of legal science, and the ‘efficacy’ of coercive orders did not ipso-facto settled the question of their ‘legality’.
Dosso was not an isolated mistake of Munir, it was the culmination of a propensity to appease and manipulate which he had repeatedly brandished, evinced by his remark “the writs being enforceable, who was to enforce them, and was the Court itself in a position to punish the contempt”.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1303397-justice-or-manipulation
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Cementing A Green Future
By Ebadat Ur Rehman Babar
April 21, 2025
The cement industry in Pakistan is at a critical juncture. As one of the major contributors to the national economy, the sector faces mounting challenges, rising coal prices, increasing environmental regulations and global pressure to reduce carbon emissions.
To maintain its competitiveness and ensure long-term viability, the industry must embrace energy-efficient production methods. The reliance on coal, especially imported African and Afghan coal, presents financial risks that could be mitigated by adopting more energy-efficient technologies.
By optimising energy consumption, cement manufacturers can reduce costs, lower carbon emissions and align with sustainability goals – all while ensuring compliance with emerging international trade regulations.
Coal remains the primary energy source for cement production in Pakistan, with prices varying significantly. African coal is priced at $198 per ton, Afghan coal at $162 per ton, and domestic Pakistani coal is the most affordable at approximately $93 per ton. Given this heavy dependence on coal, optimising energy consumption per ton of clinker is crucial for reducing costs and mitigating price volatility.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, clinker production must reduce its energy intensity by 0.8 per cent annually, reaching a global average of 3.2 gigajoules (GJ) per ton of clinker. This transition can be facilitated by integrating biomass and renewable waste into the energy mix. Cement production requires 3.6 to 4.0 GJ per ton of clinker, making fuel costs a significant part of production expenses.
At present energy consumption levels, the cost per ton of clinker is $31.70 using African coal, $25.94 with Afghan coal, and $14.99 with Pakistani coal. By reducing energy consumption to 3.2 GJ per ton by 2050, these costs could decrease to $25.36, $20.75, and $11.99 per ton, respectively, offering substantial savings across the industry.
Implementing an annual energy intensity reduction of 0.8 per cent to 1.0 per cent would help Pakistan’s cement industry lower costs considerably over the next 25 years. Such a shift would allow manufacturers to hedge against unpredictable fuel price fluctuations while keeping production costs competitive.
Even in the short term, a modest reduction in energy intensity can yield noticeable savings. For example, by 2026, energy consumption per ton of clinker could drop from 4.0 GJ to 3.97 GJ, and by 2030, it could reach 3.84 GJ. As companies transition to more energy-efficient processes, these savings will compound, improving both operational profitability and long-term financial stability.
On a national scale, the cost advantages of energy efficiency become even more apparent. The cement industry in Pakistan currently spends approximately $224,336 per day on African coal-based energy, $183,547 on Afghan coal, and $106,049 on Pakistani coal. By implementing energy efficiency measures, these figures could drop to $179,468, $146,838, and $84,839, respectively, offering savings of $44,867 per day for African coal, $36,709 for Afghan coal, and $21,209 for Pakistani coal.
These savings could be reinvested in further decarbonisation efforts, infrastructure upgrades, and industry expansion. A more energy-efficient cement industry would be better positioned to withstand economic uncertainties while fostering innovation and sustainability.
Cement production is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions due to the energy-intensive process of clinker manufacturing. The industry currently emits 0.39 tons of carbon dioxide per ton of clinker, resulting in daily national emissions of 2,740 tons. Targeted energy efficiency improvements could reduce emissions to 0.31 tons per ton of clinker, cutting daily emissions by 548 tons. This reduction not only supports Pakistan’s climate commitments but also enhances the sector's ability to attract green financing and participate in global carbon credit markets. Companies that proactively decarbonise will gain a competitive advantage as sustainability becomes increasingly important in global business practices.
As global trade regulations evolve, Pakistan's cement industry must anticipate carbon-related tariffs such as the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which imposes additional costs on imports based on their carbon emissions. While CBAM does not yet apply to Pakistan’s cement sector, as the country does not export cement to the EU, similar regulations could be adopted by other nations in the future.
If Pakistan’s cement industry seeks to expand into European markets, adopting energy-efficient technologies and emissions reduction strategies early will be critical. Energy efficiency, therefore, becomes not just a cost-saving measure but a necessary strategy for market entry. Implementing energy-efficient technologies now will help meet global sustainability standards and ensure that Pakistan's cement manufacturers remain viable in an increasingly carbon-conscious global market. Without improvements in emissions intensity, Pakistan’s cement exports could become less competitive due to higher carbon-related costs imposed by CBAM and similar regulations in other regions.
Achieving energy efficiency in cement production requires sustained investment, innovation, and collaboration. Key strategies include adopting alternative fuels such as biomass and renewable energy, upgrading technologies like waste heat recovery systems and modern kilns, and using calcined clays to reduce energy use and carbon dioxide emissions.
Carbon dioxide sequestration technologies and carbon-infused concrete can further reduce emissions, while government incentives and green policies can accelerate this transition. As climate change poses significant risks, energy efficiency is not just an environmental obligation; it is a financial necessity. By embracing these energy-efficient practices, Pakistan’s cement sector can become a regional leader in sustainability, ensuring its long-term economic viability and resilience in the face of both climate change and market pressures.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1303398-cementing-a-green-future
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The Leadership Deficit
Maleeha Lodhi
April 21, 2025
PAKISTAN’S problems seem to multiply by the day and contribute to the country’s deepening polarisation and instability. Public protests, insurgency, militant violence, terrorism, centre-province friction, disputes over the sharing of water and government-opposition confrontation are happening all at once. This at a time when a fragile economy still has to make the transition to sustainable recovery from temporary stabilisation.
What does this say about governance and the country’s leadership? That despite self-congratulatory advertisements splashed all over the media, fundamental problems wait to be tackled and governance remains way short of public expectations. Billboards across Punjab and elsewhere trying to build personality cults do not add up to leadership. Nor do PR campaigns on television, which show power holders performing routine tasks, convince many people. They have a contrary effect by indicating over-anxious efforts to elicit positive public affirmation. Appreciation is earned by performance, not posters plastered along roads or 60-page supplements in newspapers touting achievements.
The plethora of challenges facing the country today calls for competent and bold leadership that understands Pakistan’s deep-seated problems and has the will and capacity to solve them. Muddling through economic, political and security challenges without a coherent plan or strategy doesn’t work. Nor does it inspire public confidence about the future. Already successive public opinion polls show a nation bereft of hope in the future. An Ipsos survey released last month, for example, found 70 per cent of people felt the country was going in the wrong direction.
Pakistan has had leaderless moments before. Individuals have ascended to the country’s highest offices in the past without having the capability or any idea about how to deal with long-standing challenges. Wielding power does not translate into leadership. That is why rule has not produced governance and the gap between challenge and response has grown larger. Politics has been more about power than public purpose. Today, leadership matters even more given the enormity and complexity of the problems at hand. The present vacuum in leadership is, therefore, especially telling and more consequential than ever before.
What kind of leadership does Pakistan need? What is competent leadership? What are the qualities that make effective leaders? It is, above all, having a vision that captures the public imagination and charts a way that goes beyond the moment to what is possible in the future. Effective leadership not only requires setting out a vision but also a strategy to implement it and forging national consensus to support it. Leadership means setting a clear direction, decisively embarking on a transformational path, showing courage and willingness to take risks and overcoming the resistance that inevitably comes from vested interests and entrenched elites. Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s leadership embodied these qualities and serves as an example of how impactful leaders can change the course of history. But most of those who came after him, including the current crop of leaders, have been both uninspired and uninspiring.
Leadership also involves setting the highest standards of integrity and having an unblemished reputation for probity. It means choosing a team that embodies qualities of both competence and integrity. Indeed, putting the right people in the right job is an essential attribute of a smart leader. A team should be predicated on merit and ability, not ‘connections’, personal loyalty or considerations of political patronage. Another ingredient of leadership is the ability to connect to citizens, show empathy for their concerns, understand their aspirations and respond to them. It means winning their trust and motivating them to support the leader’s transformational agenda.
Judged against this criterion, it is apparent how far the country’s present leaders in power fall short of this test. The lack of vision is evident. But so is the absence of a comprehensive, coherent plan to address overlapping challenges. Firefighting problems is all that has been on display, which is a stopgap approach that doesn’t solve problems. No credible strategy has been evolved, for example, to deal with Balochistan, a province in turmoil and where public disaffection has reached a record high. The dispute over the sharing of water between the Punjab and Sindh governments remains unresolved, with federal government leaders looking the other way rather than resolving the canal issue.
No vision has guided the current leadership’s economic management, which has lacked a serious effort to tackle structural problems that have landed the country in perennial financial crisis. Government leaders remain trapped in a cycle of crisis management, prioritising short-term fixes over long-term solutions, and shying away from the bold reforms needed to break the dysfunctional status quo, unlock the country’s growth potential and promote sustainable development.
The weak legitimacy of government leaders has denuded them of credibility because controversy over how they were elected in a disputed poll never went away. Governance has been ad hoc and characterised by short-term thinking. The bloated team chosen to run the country does have a few competent professionals, but its overall character has been determined by factors other than merit; a telling example is that top positions are occupied by those with close family connections.
As for another crucial attribute of leadership, which is being able to inspire people and forge a strong connection and trust with citizens, this too is conspicuous by its absence. Instead, our leaders are increasingly disconnected both from facts on the ground and the needs and aspirations of ordinary people. They have shown little ability to enthuse and unite the country. They also lack communication skills needed in today’s world to reach out to and influence citizens.
In his seminal book Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy, Henry Kissinger wrote: “Ordinary leaders seek to manage the immediate; great ones attempt to raise their society to their vision.” Leaders shape history, he says, when they transcend the circumstances they inherit and carry their societies to the frontiers of the possible. Pakistan today yearns for such leadership with a vision to break from an unedifying past and create a hopeful future for the country. It’s time for citizens to make a collective effort to demand a better leadership.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1905602/the-leadership-deficit
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Bandung Declaration Revisited
Aisha Khan
April 21, 2025
THE Bandung Conference that took place 70 years ago in Indonesia in 1955 was a convening of 29 Asian and African states representing more than half the world’s population. The landmark event, organised by Indonesia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan, was an effort by newly independent countries to discuss common issues, including political independence, economic development and cultural cooperation.
In the following decade, as decolonisation progressed, friction among the member states created major schisms, resulting in the postponement of the second Asian-African conference planned to be held in Algeria in November 1965. Indonesia hosted the golden jubilee of the Asian-African meeting in 2005 to revive the spirit of Bandung. This resulted in the formation of the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership that expanded the agenda from merely non-alignment and anti-colonialism to broader cooperation under the banner of NAASP, with activities ranging from diplomatic training and technical cooperation to business forums.
While neither Bandung nor NAASP produced the desired results, the legacy of Bandung carries valuable lessons for peaceful coexistence. The core principles of solidarity, cooperation and mutual respect provide guidelines for addressing growing geopolitical tensions, deepening socioeconomic divisions and a roadmap for coping with a rapidly warming planet.
Looking at Bandung through the lens of climate change and the water security of South Asia can unlock many doors and help overcome barriers to tackling common challenges. As water, both in its frozen and unfrozen state (cryosphere and rivers), is critical for survival, it calls for a historical moment of reflection to look back in time at the vision of the then newly formed states and their engagement policy.
How can we use the spirit of Bandung to reignite our imagination and spur us to align our challenges with solutions that are anchored in, and reflective of, the ethos of Bandung?
Solidarity and collective action: Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh share transboundary rivers (Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra). As rivers have no borders, it is important to take collective action to ensure equitable and sustainable water distribution. The Bandung spirit of solidarity can be translated into collaborative water management with countries working together to address shared water challenges such as water scarcity, pollution and climate-induced floods, droughts and disasters.
Non-interference and sovereignty: Respecting the sovereign right of nations while also recognising the importance of interdependence among neighbouring countries is the hallmark of a successful foreign policy. Countries in South Asia need to renew their pledge to the Bandung Declaration and recognise that rivers are shared resources that require cooperative governance.
Peace and diplomacy: Bandung underscored the importance of peaceful coexistence and diplomacy in addressing complex and contentious issues. Water security in South Asia, particularly the management of cross-border river basins, requires a diplomatic approach to avoid conflicts and tensions. Regular diplomatic dialogues and negotiations modelled on the Bandung spirit could lead to long-term agreements that ensure water security for all countries and prevent the weaponisation of water in times of crisis.
Development and capacity building: One of the key pillars of Bandung was reflected in its emphasis on the need for economic development and capacity building to achieve self-reliance. In the context of water security, South Asian countries need to invest in sustainable water infrastructure for water storage, irrigation, treatment and conservation. Regional initiatives to build shared technical expertise, data-sharing platforms, and joint projects can help improve water management, reduce wastage, and optimise water use, particularly in the agriculture and industrial sectors.
Multilateral water governance institutions: Inspired by Bandung’s principles of collaboration, South Asia can use it as an entry point for promoting hydro-solidarity and examine options for creating new and strengthening existing water governance mechanisms for collective decision-making.
Regional water-sharing framework: Changes in hydrology due to global warming and demand outstripping supply make water the foremost challenge for the South Asian region. Stand-alone approaches in water management will remain woefully inadequate to address the looming crises of floods and droughts. Building on the Bandung spirit to renew and enhance existing water-sharing agreements with a focus on equity and sustainability will contribute to peace. Countries can also develop new agreements for rivers where cooperation has been minimal. A regional framework could provide clear protocols for equitable water distribution, pollution control and addressing the impacts of climate change.
People to people connections: One of the successes of Bandung was the promotion of cultural exchanges and fostering ties between people. In the context of water security, cross-border water dialogues and shared environmental education programmes could help in de-escalating tensions through joint projects made scalable with international climate finance to support larger national and regional agreements.
Research and innovation: Building on the principles of the Bandung Conference, South Asian nations can establish joint technical and research initiatives focused on sustainable water management technologies, climate change impacts on water resources and innovative water-saving solutions.
Knowledge and experience sharing: Bandung was built on the shared experience of nations with a history of colonialism and a vision for peace and prosperity. With the world once again in turmoil, it is now not only appropriate but imperative to revive the spirit of Bandung to pave the way for a fair future.
Climate adaptation and resilience: Climate change and water security are two ends of a common threat. Both need to be addressed collectively to reduce water stress and foster partnerships to promote resilience.
In the shifting sands of global power dynamics, moral leadership from the margins as envisaged in Bandung is urgently needed. This is the time to converge the moral mandates of the Bandung Declaration with the Paris Agreement to craft a shared vision of justice and survival.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1905603/bandung-declaration-revisited
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Credibility Deficit
Naseer Memon
April 21, 2025
CONFLICT over the waters of the Indus is more than a century old.
British-era documents provide evidence that Sindh — when it was governed by Bombay — protested against the waters’ upstream diversion through a series of projects in the Punjab. The Bombay administration always viewed upstream diversion as detrimental to Sindh’s share, and argued against the construction of the Thal and Haveli canals in the 1920s.
The Punjab constructed canal colonies in the 1880s by diverting the water from the tributary rivers. Water withdrawal by Punjab during the Rabi season increased from 1,400 cusecs in 1867-68 to 28,000 cusecs in 1921-22. The Punjab’s canal-irrigated area swelled exponentially from three million acres to 14m acres between 1885 and 1947.
After the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty was concluded, Sindh lost a huge quantum of water as two big reservoirs and eight inter-river link canals were constructed to sustain the command areas of the three eastern rivers handed over to India.
Over the years, the water conflict snowballed into acrimony as the lower riparian accused the upper riparian of frequently breaching commitments and agreements.
The Pakistani Constitution provides instruments for conflict resolution.
However, institutions in this category have arguably lost their credibility in the eyes of the lower riparian, especially when a Supreme Court chief justice was seen to be passionately pursuing a funding campaign for new dams some years ago. Similarly, the complaint has been that the central government and its water management body Wapda act as an extension of the Punjab government.
The recent controversy over the construction of new canals on the Indus system has rattled Sindh. Unfortunately, two important dispute resolution forums — the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) and the Council of Common Interests (CCI) — suffer from a serious lack of credibility.
Irsa is mandated to regulate and distribute surface waters amongst the provinces as per the Water Apportionment Accord, 1991. In essence, it is an oversight entity meant to take decisions based on technical merit, and not the whims of the upper riparian. However, Sindh says that Irsa has succumbed to pressure and issued a water availability certificate (temporarily suspended by the Sindh High Court) for the Cholistan canal. Sindh’s concerns were overlooked by a majority vote at Irsa in favour of the controversial waterway, widening the province’s mistrust of the centre.
Earlier, Irsa had dangled the peculiar proposal of amending the law to make itself subservient to the centre. Shockingly, this was intended to render Irsa’s provincial representatives spineless before a mighty chairman to be appointed from the federal bureaucracy. The proposed amendment to the Irsa Act would have distorted the body’s federal character.
Sadly, no federal member has been appointed from Sindh in Irsa for the last 15 years. The seat has been occupied by Punjab-domiciled officers in violation of the law that makes the appointment of a federal member from Sindh mandatory.
The Sindh High Court recently issued a decree to implement Clause C of the executive order issued by former president Gen Pervez Musharraf in July 2000. The executive order — later protected under Article 270-AA of the Constitution — recognised Sindh’s vulnerability as the lower riparian and made the appointment of a federal Irsa member from Sindh compulsory.
The constitutionally empowered CCI is seen as underpinning the federation. Under Article 154, it is supposed to “formulate and regulate policies in relation to matters in Part-II of the Federal Legislative List and … exercise supervision and control over related institutions”.
Article 155 delineates the CCI’s role in water-related conflicts, stipulating that “if the interests of a province, the federal capital or any of the inhabitants thereof, in water from any natural source of supply or reservoir, have been or are likely to be affected prejudicially”, the aggrieved party can lodge a complaint with the CCI.
Article 154 (4) stipulates that “the decisions of the Council shall be expressed in terms of the opinion of the majority”. Although Sindh has lodged a complaint against Irsa’s water availability certificate for the Cholistan canal, there is little hope of any solace. Going by the book, the CCI can simply outvote Sindh as four of the eight members of the present body belong to Punjab. One federal minister from KP is also a member of the ruling party. Such a skewed structure erodes the CCI’s impartiality and credibility.
In the spirit of the federation, sensitive matters should be settled with consensus at Irsa and the CCI. Amendments to the structure and rules of business to this effect have become necessary to restore the withered credibility of these institutions.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1905597/credibility-deficit
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Promise And Peril
Zarrar Khuhro
April 21, 2025
IF we are to believe the good people at Colossal Biosciences, dire wolves are walking the earth again after having gone extinct some 12,000 years ago. Dire wolves roamed the North and South American savannah from anywhere up to 250,000 years ago and resembled modern wolves except for their much larger head and much stronger jaws, which aided in hunting large prey. Their prey died out, due in part to loss of habitat and human intervention, and the dire wolf let out its last lonely howl around the time the city of Jericho was being built.
In what is being called biology’s ‘ChatGPT moment’, Colossal Biosciences extracted the genome of a dire wolf from a 72,000-year-old ear bone and a 13,000-year-old tooth and then edited the genes of a grey wolf to resemble that genome using the gene-editing tool CRISPR. They cultured cells into an embryo and transplanted that embryo into the wombs of two large dogs, and voilà! We have dire wolves!
Grey wolves were chosen because they share 99.5 per cent of their DNA with dire wolves; apparently that 0.5pc makes a lot of difference. Bear in mind that humans and chimpanzees share 96pc to 99pc of their DNA and humans and bananas share 60pc.
So somewhere in the future after we’ve wiped ourselves out, some enterprising alien species may try to bring us back by using a banana and whatever bits and pieces of us that are left to be displayed in some intergalactic zoo of failed species.
In the here and now, we have three (quasi) dire wolf cubs named Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi. While the first two are named after the mythical brothers, raised by a she-wolf and associated with the founding of Rome, Khaleesi is the Dragon Queen from the TV series Game of Thrones. Being a massive nerd, I have an issue with this because as we all (should) know, the dire wolf is the sigil of House Stark and not of the incestuous House Targaryen.
Beyond pop culture foibles, there is a lot of criticism from the scientific community, but Colossal Biosciences is continuing with their de-extinction project and plan to bring back the dodo, the Tasmanian tiger and — my personal favourite — the woolly mammoth. The first step in that latter direction has already been taken, with Colossal Biosciences editing ‘woolly’ genes into mice creating some incredibly cute furry little specimens.
The obvious question being asked is why we should try and bring back extinct species when we have so many existing species on the brink of extinction? I put this question to biologist Dr Faisal Khan, who countered by saying that it is important to have the tools and techniques in place so that, if needed, the same can be used to revive or revitalise dying species. For its part, Colossal Biosciences argues that engineering elephants to contain ‘mammoth-like’ traits could actually help mitigate existential threats like climate change by revitalising Arctic ecosystems.
While the debate rages on, there is no doubt that we have entered the era of synthetic biology, with all the promise and peril that it entails.
First, the promise. We know that different ethnic and racial groups metabolise medicine differently. Think in terms of how the dosage of cough medicine differs for children and adults due to the difference in weight and metabolism. Well, the same applies to humans with different genetic traits. For example, did you know that redheads need 20pc more anaesthesia than the rest of us? Or that some studies claim that black people exhibit different heart attack symptoms from white people?
Then we know that some people have genetic anomalies that cause them to have different percentages of liver enzymes, and since many medicines are metabolised in the liver, it means that such people may react differently to medication. The future promises us medicines and treatments that are tailored to specific phenotypes or even, eventually, to our individual genetic profile.
On the flip side, this will also almost certainly spur research into bioweapons that target specific ethnicities. In 1998, the Sunday Times cited Israeli and Western intelligence sources saying Israel was working on an ‘ethno-bomb’ that “would harm Arabs but not Jews” by “targeting victims by ethnic origin”.
Crops could be designed with in-built resistance to climate vagaries and disease, but could also be designed to fail, with the seeds being infiltrated into the target country’s supply chain. Then there’s insects, which could be gene-edited to reduce their ability to spread Disease (mosquitos and malaria) or even, as Japanese scientists did in 2010, to deliver vaccines. But they could also be easily engineered to spread disease and create pandemics. All that stands in the way of the coming bioweapon arms race is a vague adherence to moral and ethical codes, and we know how well those have worked in the past.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1905600/promise-and-peril
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