Pakistan Press on: Darkness, Climate, Trump, Mineral, Sabeen: New Age Islam's Selection, 24 April 2025
By New Age Islam Edit Desk
24 April 2025
The New Age Of Darkness
Is Our Solar Ready For Climate Extremes?
Governance On The Brink
Trump’s First 100 Days
Underspending Climate Funds
Canals And Minerals
Our Friend Sabeen
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The New Age Of Darkness
By Kamila Hyat
April 24, 2025
In Pakistan, 65 per cent of the population is currently aged under 30 years. Sixty-three per cent of this population is aged between 15 and 30 years. In other words, most of them belong to the generation titled ‘Gen Z’, which has become the focus of global attention, notably after the airing of the British television series ‘Adolescence’. We need to take note of the discussion generated by the series in Pakistan as well.
While many believe that the dark contents of social media are restricted to the West, the truth appears to be quite different, according to the limited research conducted on the issue. This is significant given that 31 per cent of Pakistanis own smartphones, according to data collected in 2024 and the number is especially high amongst younger people. This is the age group most exposed to darkness on the internet and spaces where evil in various forms lurks.
This is not evil in the sense of pornographic content or other similar material. In recent years, there has been a growth in secret languages used by younger people, particularly among themselves. There is also the use of symbols, which they comprehend but which parents may not be familiar with. A blue pill, for example, suggests the availability of a particular substance, a black phone suggests a dealer is available, and there are other words and emojis which characterise an individual as being attractive or unattractive.
All this has created a curious culture in which individuals who do not seem able to attract the opposite gender to themselves to talk or socialise with are labelled ‘incel’. This essentially stands for involuntary celibacy, but is used more broadly in Pakistan for men/boys in particular who are seen as being uncool or not able to obtain female/girl friends of any kind.
The world of incel is also extremely violent and misogynist, with women undermined and disrespected, feminists looked upon with hatred and animal cruelty encouraged as a sign of being macho or being the kind of alpha male young boys or young men apparently wish to be. Coupled with the paternalistic misogynist culture that already exists in Pakistan, this creates a very dangerous environment.
Incel groups appear to be increasing in Pakistan and one was uncovered in 2019 at a university in Lahore by a few male students who found that at least 600 persons, mainly fellow students, mainly male but also females, were involved in an incel group which attacked female students and put out abusive videos of animals being tortured in various ways as well as vile comments directed at those who they saw as enemies. There have also been cases of women and young girls being harassed and bullied by those who are members of such groups. In other cases, men who are seen as being unable to make female friends are the ones targeted for harassment.
Parents, teachers, counsellors, and other people engaged with young people need to be more aware of what we are doing when we put a smartphone, a tablet or a laptop in the hands of a child or a young person. There is growing evidence that this can be dangerous. The availability of the phone or other high-tech instruments and the material on it exposes children, who are not yet mature, to the dangerous cultures of various kinds.
In Karachi, a young man linked to the case of Mustafa Amir, another young man allegedly involved in the sale of drugs online, has said that he was selling drugs on Snapchat. There are also many other forums in which drugs are sold and then used by young people of all kinds.
This, then, is the dangerous world in which young people live. Their secret lives online are often unknown to parents and, at any rate, the words and emojis used would not be understood by most adults who stand outside Gen Z while the upcoming Gen Alpha, the group of people born after 2010, are thought to be somewhat less involved in dark internet cultures but, of course, vulnerable to them as they grow older and gain access to the internet.
Countries such as Britain have tried to restrict the number of screen hours available to children under the age of 16. But this will be a very difficult rule to enforce in that country or others that have put in place similar legislation. It will be almost impossible to enforce in Pakistan, where parents are less literate and less aware of what kind of symbols and dangers exist on the internet.
One result of the bullying and harassment young people face online and encounter on all kinds of forums, including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and other forums such as Reddit, is bullying based on their appearance and their ownership of various items. The result is a breakdown of mental health among young people, with global research suggesting that Gen Z, or people born in the late 1990s to the mid-2000s, are the most anxious generation of our time and need major help with mental health.
There needs to be far greater awareness of this in our country. Too often, phones or tablets are handed over to children as young as three or four, without realising what possible damage lies in the virtual space that these children have access to and how they will grow with its darkness in the years to come. Phones are an easy way to parent a child and give the parents time to use their own phones or engage in other activities. But there has to be a realisation that this can be extremely dangerous. Currently, in schools, parents often refuse counselling sessions on drugs and the use of social media. This needs to change. Only if adults are aware and conscious of what is happening can children and young people be made safer and given the help that they need.
It is good to see the issue being discussed on various forums in Pakistan as well, notably after the release of ‘Adolescence’. But the debate needs to be stressed out far wider and an understanding reached of how various income groups and various categories of children or teenagers may be vulnerable to a phenomenon which takes place within their homes, but in a world that's beyond their age group and truly look inside.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1304456-the-new-age-of-darkness
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Is Our Solar Ready For Climate Extremes?
By Sadia Ishrat Satti
April 24, 2025
Islamabad’s weather turned wild in just a few minutes. One moment, it was a normal afternoon; the next, huge hailstones started crashing down, smashing car windshields, breaking windows and, most worrying of all, destroying solar panels all over the city. People watched in shock as their solar rooftops, symbols of the city’s green progress, were left covered in broken glass and twisted metal. This storm wasn’t just a surprise; it was a wake-up call for everyone living here.
Over the last ten years, Islamabad has become a model for clean energy in Pakistan. Solar panels have popped up on homes, businesses and commercial buildings. Many of us have felt proud seeing our city shine with new technology and hope for a cleaner future. But now, after this sudden hailstorm, we’re left wondering: are these solar panels strong enough to survive the kind of extreme weather that climate change is bringing more often? The damage is everywhere – panels shattered, frames bent and power knocked out in many neighbourhoods.
It’s not just about the cost of repairs or the mess to clean up. This storm has shown us that our plans for a greener future have weak spots we can’t ignore. Most solar panels are built to handle normal rain and sun, and maybe some small hail. But the recent storm was on another level, with hailstones as big as golf balls – much bigger than what most panels are tested for. As weather like this becomes more common, we need to ask ourselves how safe our future is if our clean energy systems can’t handle these storms. Islamabad’s experience is a warning for all of us to rethink how we protect our green investments.
The hailstorm hit Islamabad’s solar panels hard and caused a lot of damage. Across key sectors – including G-6, G-9, F-10, E-11 and G-11 – rooftop solar panels and solar carports, particularly those supporting electric vehicle charging stations, were broken or ripped off where they were attached. The hailstorm was so strong that it twisted and bent the metal frames holding up the solar panels, making many solar setups stop working completely. Because of this, homes and businesses that depended on solar power lost electricity for a long time, which made the situation even harder after the storm.
Preliminary estimates place financial damage in the tens of millions of rupees since repairs are needed not just for the panels but also for the frames and other parts that hold them up. With so many solar panels out of action, several neighbourhoods are now facing long power cuts, showing just how easily the city’s green energy system can be disrupted.
The storm dealt a severe economic blow to households that had invested in rooftop solar systems, highlighting two key vulnerabilities. First, the financial loss has been staggering. Many families who installed solar panels as a long-term investment for energy savings and sustainability are now facing unexpected repair and replacement costs running into hundreds of thousands of rupees per household. For middle-income families, in particular, this damage is not just a technical disruption but a direct hit to their savings and financial planning. Insurance coverage for such climate-induced damage is often limited or non-existent, compounding the burden.
Second, the storm ended up highlighting the growing unpredictability of climate change and its direct impact on household-level economic and energy security. What was once seen as a stable and self-reliant source of clean electricity became non-functional within minutes, leaving households in the dark – literally and figuratively.
This incident raises urgent questions: Are household-level solar systems, as currently designed, resilient enough for the extreme weather Pakistan is beginning to experience? Islamabad’s experience is a stark reminder that without climate-resilient infrastructure, even the most well-intentioned clean energy transitions may falter when nature strikes back.
Most solar panels use tempered glass designed to resist moderate hail, but industry standards like UL 61730 typically test for hailstones only up to 25 mm – far smaller than the golf-ball-sized hail that battered Islamabad. In recent years, manufacturers have prioritised cost-cutting by producing larger panels with thinner glass, which has made them more fragile. Even when panels appear intact after a storm, micro-cracks caused by hailstones larger than three centimetres can silently degrade performance, reducing energy output and shortening the system’s lifespan. The debate around the cost and benefit analysis of having more weather-resilient panels or more efficient panels is now more important.
The vulnerability of rooftop solar panels to hail damage is not just a matter of material strength but also design and planning. Low-angle, fixed installations – common on flat roofs in Pakistan – take the full brunt of hail impacts, whereas steeper or adjustable mounts can deflect hailstones more effectively. Despite this, resilient designs are often overlooked due to higher costs. Panels facing the direction of prevailing storms are especially at risk, making site-specific orientation and weather-informed placement essential.
Unfortunately, many systems in Pakistan lack basic protective features like reinforced frames or impact-absorbing shields. In the absence of mandatory resilience standards, cost-cutting prevails over durability. This has left thousands of households exposed to the very climate risks solar power is supposed to mitigate.
International cases show a clear path forward. During the March 2024 Fort Bend hailstorm in Texas, several solar farms withstood more than 500-year hail events by deploying automated ‘hail-stow’ systems that adjusted panel tilt to deflect damage. These systems demonstrate the value of operational readiness, not just hardware strength.
Technological advancements are rapidly improving panel resilience. AIKO’s panels with reinforced 3.2mm glass and impact-resistant polymers withstand hailstones up to 40mm. Methacrylate-based solar skins in Europe absorb impacts without compromising efficiency. Panels certified under UL 61730 and IP68 standards are tested for hailstones up to three inches at 88 mph. Smart solutions like Trina Solar’s AI-driven hail-stow systems offer dynamic protection without significant power loss, unlike fixed covers that block sunlight when deployed.
Globally, regulators are tightening standards and offering incentives for climate-resilient solar infrastructure. Pakistan must do the same. Adopting proven international standards, mandating climate-tested technologies and raising public awareness are essential steps. Without proactive planning and regulation, the country risks turning a clean energy promise into a liability in the face of accelerating climate extremes.
The recent hailstorm in Islamabad has laid bare a critical vulnerability in our green energy transition: the lack of robust standards and preparedness in rooftop solar infrastructure. To safeguard household investments and ensure long-term energy resilience, Pakistan must urgently introduce and enforce stringent insurance of panels and certification protocols for solar panels, mandating minimum impact-resistance thresholds that align with the realities of a changing climate. Public awareness campaigns should educate consumers on the importance of durable materials, panel orientation, and adaptive protection systems, empowering households to make informed choices.
Equally important is the proactive role of regulatory bodies – such as PPIB, Nepra and the Ministry of Industrial Production – in not only enforcing quality standards and resilient installation guidelines, but also facilitating the adoption of advanced technologies like AI-enabled stow systems and reinforced coatings. Without a coordinated push for quality assurance, awareness and regulatory oversight, the promise of rooftop solar risks being undermined by the very climate it aims to combat.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1304455-is-our-solar-ready-for-climate-extremes
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Governance On The Brink
By Abdullah Khalid
April 24, 2025
Pakistan today stands at a paradox. On the one hand, it boasts one of the youngest populations in South Asia, a resilient entrepreneurial class and a growing digital footprint. On the other, its governance infrastructure is creaking under the weight of outdated systems, fragile institutions and a deepening trust deficit between the state and its citizens.
Political instability, economic fragility and security concerns have all taken their toll, but beneath these symptoms lies a deeper structural challenge: a state struggling to govern, not just to rule. Without a radical rethink of our governance priorities, Pakistan risks permanent stagnation.
The country’s administrative architecture today reflects a fragmented, overstretched, and underperforming state. The 18th Amendment promised devolution and provincial empowerment, yet governance remains concentrated in centralised bureaucracies, operating through decades-old procedures, with little appetite for reform. The constitutional framework may have changed, but political and institutional behaviours have not.
While provinces have been granted greater legislative authority, actual control over fiscal resources, administrative autonomy, and public services remains uneven. The failure to institutionalise Provincial Finance Commissions (PFCs) means that even within the provinces, funds and functions remain tightly held at the top.
Local governments, the missing third tier, have been either suspended, dissolved or rendered toothless across most of Pakistan. This absence of grassroots governance is not accidental; it is the outcome of deliberate political choices to keep power and resources out of local hands.
Even at the federal level, critical platforms for collaborative governance, such as the Council of Common Interests and the National Economic Council, have been sidelined. What remains is a deeply centralised mindset that fails to respond to the demands of a diverse, young and increasingly urbanised population.
The root of it all is a political economy characterised by elite capture, institutional fragmentation and weak accountability. Political parties, rather than championing reform, have become vehicles of patronage. Bureaucracies, suffering from decades of politicisation, transfers and demotivation, are focused more on survival than service. Parliament, which should lead national dialogue on governance reforms, remains disengaged mainly from substantive debates beyond budget speeches and political theatrics.
The broader political instability has only worsened this drift. Governments have become too short-lived to pursue long-term reforms. Meanwhile, opposition parties often prioritise protest over policy. This cyclical instability has crippled policy continuity, disrupted institutional memory, and discouraged investment both domestic and foreign.
Compounding these governance challenges is the resurgence of terrorism in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Militancy, however, does not grow in a vacuum. It thrives in ungoverned or poorly governed spaces, areas where state presence is limited, services are scarce and justice is inaccessible. The inability to embed civilian governance in post-conflict or vulnerable regions is a national failure with grave security consequences.
Pakistan’s worsening economic outlook, which now indicates a positive change but has further constrained the state’s capacity to govern. With debt servicing and defence accounting for over 60 per cent of federal expenditure, little fiscal room remains for development, innovation, or human capital investment. Provinces, in turn, are often left waiting for federal transfers, while local tiers – where they exist – remain unfunded.
The National Finance Commission Award, last updated in 2010, no longer reflects demographic realities, fiscal needs or economic disparities. But political sensitivities have prevented any serious attempt at reform. This paralysis has produced a misaligned fiscal federalism, where responsibilities have been devolved but resources have not. Most troubling is the continued absence of functional Provincial Finance Commissions, denying local governments both the funds and autonomy needed to serve their communities.
Rebuilding governance in Pakistan requires more than cosmetic interventions. It demands structural change, political consensus, and sustained institutional commitment. Five strategic priorities can set the course.
First, a new NFC formula must go beyond population-based transfers. It should include incentives for provinces to digitise revenue, strengthen public financial management and devolve to local governments. A portion of federal transfers could be tied to performance indicators such as local government activation, education outcomes, and tax effort.
Second, all provinces must be legally bound to constitute and activate their PFCs. Local governments cannot function without predictable, formula-based transfers, where the only viable option is the formulation of the District Finance Commission. Political will, rather than technical capacity, remains the real barrier.
Third, a permanent national body mandated by parliament should oversee governance reform, civil service restructuring and federal-provincial-local coordination. Its mandate must be protected from political cycles and supported by all major parties.
Fourth, devolve functions, finances and functionaries to elected local governments with constitutionally protected tenure. Empowering cities and rural districts is no longer an option; it is instead essential for public service delivery, economic planning and disaster resilience.
Lastly, political parties must be incentivised to move beyond personality-driven politics. Strengthening intra-party democracy, enforcing party manifestos and building policy capacity within parties are long overdue reforms. Electoral oversight institutions, such as the Election Commission of Pakistan, must play a more assertive role in ensuring political accountability.
Governance in Pakistan suffers not only from resource shortages but also from a lack of imagination. The debate continues to oscillate between centralisation and devolution, without a clear model of cooperative federalism. It is no longer enough to tinker with laws or create task forces. What is needed is a governance philosophy anchored in citizen service, fiscal equity and institutional integrity.
Unless Pakistan invests in rebuilding the social contract from the union council to the national capital, it will remain stuck in a cycle of political instability, economic distress and administrative decay.
The time to act is now. Because in governance, delay is not neutral; it is destructive.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1304458-governance-on-the-brink
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Trump’s First 100 Days
By Muhammad Umar
April 24, 2025
President Trump’s second term is now 100 days in. The headlines have focused on tariffs, political theatre and executive orders. But for Pakistan, the most important shifts have happened quietly. A new window has opened in Washington, and for once, it is not about alliances or ideology. It is about clarity. That alone creates an opportunity.
Trump does not speak the language of traditional diplomacy. He has little interest in the rituals of statecraft or the pacing of bureaucracy. What he values is speed, leverage and delivery. He wants to know who he’s dealing with, what they bring to the table, and how fast they can execute. That directness may unsettle some governments. For Pakistan, it might be exactly what we need.
We have long struggled to define our place in the American conversation. For too many years, our story has been told by others. In Washington, think tanks and lobbying groups have shaped perceptions of Pakistan in ways that often do not reflect reality. But this administration is different. Trump is not interested in lengthy white papers or second-hand analysis. He is not guided by career diplomats or institutional inertia. He listens to those who bring results. This creates a rare opportunity for Pakistan to speak for itself, directly and confidently.
It also demands that we shift how we prepare. The US under Trump is not looking for friendship. It is looking for value. That may sound transactional, but it is also more honest than the vague talk of strategic partnerships that never quite delivered. If we want to be taken seriously, we have to define what we offer, not in sentiment but in specifics.
The 29 per cent tariff on Pakistani textiles earlier this year was a wake-up call. It reminded us that nothing is guaranteed. Preferences can be withdrawn, and assumptions can expire. But it also showed that Washington’s door is not closed. The administration is willing to listen, and even to reverse course, if a compelling case is made. That case cannot be built on grievance alone. It must rest on reform, compliance, and mutual benefit. In response to the tariffs, Pakistani ministries have begun engaging more seriously, signalling that the status quo is no longer acceptable. That urgency is good. But it must be sustained.
Security is another area where expectations have changed. Trump wants measurable outcomes, not open-ended promises. For Pakistan, this presents both a challenge and a chance. We can no longer rely on talking points. We need to show where our interests align and how we can deliver. In this regard, regional dynamics are shifting in our favour.
For years, American policy in South Asia tilted heavily toward New Delhi, often at Pakistan’s expense. But Trump does not believe in regional favourites. He believes in performance. That gives us an opening. If we position ourselves as a reliable partner on regional security, logistics, and intelligence, there is a path forward.
But this path cannot be walked passively. Pakistan has always waited to be invited. That habit no longer serves us. If we want to be in the room, we have to bring something to the table. That means showing up with well-defined proposals, backed by data and supported by policy. It also means doing the quiet work of reintroducing ourselves to American decision-makers – not just the ones in government, but in business, media and investment circles.
Narrative matters. And for too long, we have been letting others write ours. Trump’s administration is not interested in carefully worded memos or overproduced campaigns. It is looking for seriousness. If we can deliver that, we will be heard.
We should not overreach. This is not about flattery. It is about alignment. We need to be disciplined in what we ask for and clear in what we are willing to give. The future of our engagement with the US will not be shaped in headline moments. It will be built in quiet rooms, with competent people, realistic goals, and an understanding that this is a two-way street.
There are, of course, risks. Trump moves fast. If we delay or send mixed signals, we may find ourselves left behind. But we have seen that when Pakistan engages with purpose, the US responds. Whether in trade talks or regional dialogues, there is room for progress if we come prepared.
The biggest risk is to wait and hope. The bigger mistake would be to assume that this presidency will revert to the old model. It will not. The terms have changed. The style is different. But the door is open.
What we do next matters. This is a moment to move with intention. Not out of desperation, but because we are ready. Ready to lead with value. Ready to speak for ourselves. And ready to define a modern relationship with the world’s largest economy on terms that are clear, fair and forward-looking.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1304457-trump-s-first-100-days
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Underspending Climate Funds
Ali Tauqeer Sheikh
April 24, 2025
PAKISTAN’S inability to efficiently utilise allocated development funds is severely hampering our economic progress and climate resilience efforts. With more than $2 billion underspent annually, the country’s absorption capacity has become a critical bottleneck. Instead of reforming archaic processes, we have begun to blame our malaise on the absence of bankable projects.
Multiple documents have addressed the issue of underspending and project implementation delays in Pakistan. Numbers from the Economic Affairs Division show that rolled-over foreign assistance funds doubled from around $1.2bn in 2017-2018 to $2.1bn by 2022-2023. The annual rollover is higher than yearly IMF tranches.
The World Bank Implementation Status Reports flag implementation delays and disbursement challenges. As of 2023-2024, its Pakistan portfolio was $10-11bn, with disbursement rates averaging 15-20 per cent below target for several consecutive years. Its Pakistan Performance and Learning Review has noted slow implementation, with some $1.5-2bn in expected disbursements delayed. World Bank portfolio reviews have indicated that the percentage of projects requiring extensions has increased from 35pc in 2016-2018 to nearly 55pc in 2020-2023.
The ADB’s Pakistan Country Partnership Strategy (2021-2025) has likewise highlighted implementation challenges as requiring attention. Its Country Operations Business Plan shows $800 million in delayed disbursements across infrastructure projects.
Several bilateral donors have expressed similar concerns of implementation delay. The EU’s evaluation reports have noted implementation delays affecting their development cooperation portfolio. Country evaluations by the UK’s FCDO, Germany’s GIZ and Japan’s JICA have identified absorption capacity as a recurring challenge. USAID, now closed, in its Pakistan Performance Management Plans documented challenges with timely fund utilisation.
Pakistan’s engagement with the Adaptation Fund, GEF and the Green Climate Fund has been particularly concerning. GCF’s $37m Transforming the Indus Basin with Climate Resilient Agriculture and Water Management project, for example, had disbursed less than 45pc of funds by its original completion timeline. GCF documents have explicitly mentioned absorption capacity as a constraint on scaling up climate finance in Pakistan.
One specific implementation challenge involved delays in establishing appropriate financial mechanisms. For several climate funds, Pakistan has experienced delays averaging six to eight months in simply establishing designated bank accounts with controls and reporting mechanisms.
These delays and absorption capacity issues have affected Pakistan’s competitiveness in accessing climate finance, especially as funds like the GCF increasingly stress implementation track records in their funding decisions. As global climate finance turns more competitive, our history of project delays has become a consideration in funding decisions.
Perilous cycle of emergency repurposing: Pakistan has established a concerning pattern of repurposing underspent development funds for emergency response over the past decade. During the 2010 floods that affected over 20m people, Pakistan redirected some $1.2bn from ongoing development initiatives towards emergency relief. When Covid-19 struck in 2020, Pakistan mobilised around $600m by tapping into underspent development funds across multiple donor portfolios.
After the 2022 floods, this pattern continued to an even greater extent. The BISP became a critical mechanism for delivering cash assistance to affected populations, with significant portions of this emergency response funding coming from repurposing previously allocated but unspent development funds. Around $850m from the World Bank’s portfolio and $500m from ADB’s ongoing projects were redirected towards the flood response.
Perhaps most concerning is that this recurring practice has created perverse incentives. With underspent funds becoming a de facto contingency resource for multiple disaster events, there is reduced urgency to address the underlying absorption capacity issues causing the underspending. This creates a dangerous cycle where development implementation challenges persist, leading to underspending that facilitates emergency response funding, while original development aims remain unaddressed.
This redirection of underspent development funds towards emergency response undermines Pakistan’s broader development agenda. When money intended for education, health, municipal services, infrastructure, or climate resilience is repurposed, it postpones projects that would have addressed the underlying vulnerabilities that make disasters so devastating — increasing vulnerability to future disasters. The practice also erodes the confidence of donors, who end up questioning the value of investing in long-term initiatives in Pakistan.
Throw-forward burden: The term ‘throw-forward’ used by Pakistan’s Planning Commission refers to the accumulated cost of incomplete development projects that have been initiated but remain unfinished, with their unspent costs carried forward into future fiscal years. By early 2024, an IMF report revealed that the federal development portfolio added 244 new projects worth Rs2.26 trillion in FY23 to a backlog of 909 projects costing Rs10.32tr. The backlog included hundreds of incomplete and maladaptive projects across infrastructure, social development and production sectors, with damaging implications for economic growth and public welfare.
This massive throw-forward reflects a chronic pattern of project initiation exceeding completion capacity. Politically motivated infrastructure projects account for the lion’s share. The Planning Commission’s 2023 report on implementation challenges for development projects described underspending as “a structural challenge affecting Pakistan’s development trajectory”. Internal assessments detail how system bottlenecks contribute to chronic underspending. It has expressed a growing concern, noting that the throw-forward has been increasing at a rate that outpaces growth in the annual PSDP allocations. This creates a troubling scenario where even if no new projects were initiated, it would take more than two decades of development budgets just to complete existing projects.
These malpractices add to Pakistan’s mounting debt. Pakistan’s ability to efficiently utilise available funding will be crucial to securing additional resources. Addressing the root causes of implementation delays and building a robust absorption capacity is essential for sustainable development and climate resilience. By undertaking reforms to break the cycle of underspending and emergency repurposing, Pakistan can maximise the impact of international assistance and strengthen its position in the global competition for climate finance.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1906234/underspending-climate-funds
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Canals And Minerals
Khurram Husain
April 24, 2025
THE system is now under mounting pressure and has run into an entirely unnecessary impasse. The ‘system’ here consists of the unique configuration of power that emerged from the tainted elections of February 2024. In this configuration, everybody has been given just enough of a slice of power to obtain their buy-in, but not enough for any of them to become spoilers.
The PPP gets Sindh, Nawaz Sharif and family get Punjab, and the PTI gets KP, while Shehbaz Sharif sees his age-old wish to sit in the prime minister’s chair fulfilled. Balochistan remains an orphan in this configuration, like it has in most previous ones. It is the one province that needs an organic and rooted political process more than any other to arrest its spiral into insurgency.
Each party in this configuration brought its own limited agenda to the table. The PPP just wants to stay in power in Sindh. The Nawaz family wants to wean back the Punjab voter, which it lost to the PTI. It is not clear what exactly the PTI leadership in KP wants. They can’t seem to make up their minds whether they are part of the system of rule in the country, or an insurgent force out to topple it. And at the centre, the government of Shehbaz Sharif just wants to last its term by balancing the demands placed upon it by all its partners in the Assembly and its patrons in power.
Into this delicate configuration, where it is more or less each to their own, come two entirely unnecessary demands that have become lightning rods for discontentment. One is the canals project in Punjab, which has stirred the street in Sindh in a way not seen in decades. For almost a week now, the towns and cities of the province have been ablaze with protests, joined by civil society organisations including the big bar associations of Karachi.
The National Highway has been blocked in at least three places, halting the movement of cargo of raw materials to industry upcountry, finished goods for export orders from upcountry to the ports, oil movement, and all else besides. The Oil Companies Advisory Council has warned that 800 tankers are stranded between Sukkur and Larkana, and oil shortages could develop in Punjab and KP if the road is not opened up quickly.
The entire supply chain for industry is now disrupted as the protests have moved into their second week, and are escalating. Strikes have been announced by goods carriers, highways and key arteries have been blocked, and now there is talk of a province-wide general strike in the days ahead.
The PPP has found itself in the crossfire in all this. They gave a weak response to the initial announcement of the so-called Green Pakistan Initiative, which aims to build a series of canals in the Cholistan desert to irrigate arid land. Withdrawals of water from the Indus river system are a highly contentious issue in Sindh, which is the lower riparian and has already suffered heavily due to the drying up of water flows. It makes no sense to irrigate a desert with river water that is needed for agriculture downstream.
But in this configuration of power, where every member of the power system is in the game for their own interests, somehow it made sense to somebody in the so-called Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) to launch this project.
The minerals bill in the KP Assembly has turned into a similar lightning rod around which the discontents of this system — and they are legion — have been mobilised. The issue arose from the desire of the establishment to try and attract investment in the mining and minerals sector in Pakistan. In pursuit of this desire, bills were introduced in the provincial assemblies of Balochistan and KP. Both bills carry “the unmistakable imprint of the civil-military SIFC” according to an editorial in this paper, mainly because they allow for a door through which the federal government can encroach upon the mineral wealth of a territory, which is otherwise legally a provincial subject.
The Balochistan Assembly rubber-stamped the bill, but in KP it ran into stiff opposition. Initially, it was approved by the provincial cabinet, and the leadership of the PTI seemed to agree on ensuring its passage. But an uproar ensued when the provincial Speaker introduced it in the KP Assembly, with stiff opposition coming from the ANP and legislators from the merged districts. They were later joined by the JUI-F.
But here’s the rub. The combined voting power of all these parties is not enough to stop the passage of the bill should the Speaker put it up for a vote. With barely 20 members out of 146, they would be swept aside easily if the ruling party decides to see the bill through. But despite two attempts by the Speaker to hold meetings and hammer out a consensus, and despite high-level attempts by the PTI leadership of the province, the bill is still stalled mainly because the PTI leadership is unable to persuade its own members to vote in its favour. In the last attempt to forge a consensus, the Speaker said no further attempts to advance the bill could be made without the explicit authorisation of the party’s incarcerated chairman Imran Khan.
Neither controversy was necessary. The canals are a vanity project and not worth stirring up the whole system for. And investments in minerals can be arranged easily with a few tweaks to the existing legislation from 2017, with no need to bring in new legislation. What is at stake here is obviously a federal government that wants to lay claim to deeply held provincial prerogatives — mineral wealth and water allocations. And for this reason alone the entire configuration of power built after the elections of 2024 is now being tested.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1906233/canals-and-minerals
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Our Friend Sabeen
Bina Shah
April 24, 2025
IN March, the founder of OpenAI, Sam Altman, announced his company had trained a new model that was “good at creative writing”. It was asked to write a metafictional literary short story about AI and grief.
The AI produced a technically correct piece of writing; writers and proponents of AI debated its literary merit and its usefulness to humanity for a week on social media. In my opinion, the piece was devoid of human emotion, merely a paean to the cleverness of machines and those who build them.
But the person who would have been able to give the most considered view because she was as great a humanist as she was a tech evangelist, was not available for comment. She had died 10 years ago, and all of us who loved her are still grieving her loss.
Sabeen Mahmud was killed on this day in 2015. She was the founder of Karachi’s cultural centre The Second Floor; she led a social and cultural renaissance in a country pulverised by political and ethnic violence and suffocated by religious intolerance. In a city where it was often difficult to breathe, the Second Floor was where breathing was not just encouraged, it was mandatory — along with thinking. Perhaps this kind of haven is hard to imagine today, when everyone has the world on a computer in their pocket.
But Sabeen lived in a moment when we were not encouraged to think for ourselves or express our individuality. This was the early 2000s, when dictatorship was benevolent and moderation was enlightened. Under the platitudes festered the same hard hatred and extremism that has shaped our country ever since its inception.
Although Sabeen’s murder was a great shock, it was no surprise that the person who robbed our friend of her life was an educated man, who adopted the guise of a man of faith with the soul of a killer. We Pakistanis live and die by our hypocrisies and contradictions. We take cover in the grey spaces that exist between the black and white of right and wrong. We think that by fulfilling the technicalities of morality, we can dupe God.
Killing someone is allowed if it is done in the name of the right ‘cause’. This was the bargain Sabeen’s killer made with the devil: it stole Sabeen, just like thousands of Pakistanis with hopes, dreams, aspirations, everything they could have achieved and contributed, experienced and enjoyed, unfulfilled, incomplete.
Sabeen accomplished a great deal in the short 40 years she lived on this planet. Everyone who knew her has a different story to tell about her optimism, her courage, her encouragement, her empathy. It’s important that we pass on that knowledge to others who didn’t know her, and who may not have even heard of her. This especially applies to young people, who Sabeen loved to guide and support, who are looking for role models and real-life inspiration. They can’t find it in our society among those they interact with every day.
Instead, they find it on a phone screen, written by an influencer, or a machine. What Sabeen gave us all, far more valuable than any money or assets, was hope that we could change for the better in whatever we aspired to do and be. She was an activator of dreams, a catalyst for action, a living example of love and solidarity.
If it were up to me, I would rewrite the history books to include Sabeen’s name among those we revere. I would award her the Sitara-i-Imtiaz posthumously, so that her contribution to Pakistan would be properly recognised by each and every citizen of this nation. I would name roads and schools after her. I would write her name in the sky every year on her birthday. She would probably not have wanted any of those accolades; she would have found them cumbersome and strange. She would still deserve them. Sabeen was someone this country needed then, and now more than ever: a mentor and a friend, not necessarily in that order.
I may not be as eloquent as an AI machine, but I do think often about grief when it comes to remembering Sabeen. Losing her brought me face to face with how it feels to lose a loved one — heavy, hopeless, unmoored from everything I thought was certain in this world, anchored to the temporality of our physical bodies, unable to escape the finality of our mortal end.
I miss her terribly — her laugh, her smile, her irritations, her craziness. I would not want to resurrect her with AI, as is the fad these days in those strange ghostly clips which re-animate dead celebrities; I’ll leave resurrection up to the Divine.
What I will do, though, is use my human gifts — remembrance, emotion, longing, love — to evoke the memories of what Sabeen was like, as a revolutionary and as a friend. And I’ll use my abilities as a writer — a human one — to make sure you know all about her too, long after both of us are gone.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1906231/our-friend-sabeen
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URl: https://www.newageislam.com/pakistan-press/darkness-climate-trump-mineral-sabeen/d/135285
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