Pakistan Press on: Gendered Lens, KP, Turkiye, Pakistan: New Age Islam's Selection, 16 April 2025
By New Age Islam Edit Desk
16 April 2025
Carbon Markets with A Gendered Lens
What Is KP’s Mining Bill?
Turkiye-Pakistan Energy Ties
Hard Iran-US Nuclear Talks
Lamenting A Glorious City
Justice Within Reach
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Carbon Markets with A Gendered Lens
By Sadia Ishrat Satti
April 16, 2025
Carbon markets are emerging as an essential financial mechanism in the global effort to combat climate change. By assigning a monetary value to carbon emissions, these markets incentivise emission reductions while supporting sustainable development goals through compliance and voluntary frameworks.
As a cornerstone of the Paris Agreement’s objectives, they mobilise resources for initiatives like reforestation and clean energy projects, contributing to poverty alleviation and environmental integrity. Although this market instrument is being widely used, the rising problem with this market is equitability, particularly gender equity.
According to the UN, women comprise 80 per cent of those displaced by climate change, yet they receive less than 10 per cent of climate finance a stark gap. This will further deteriorate if gender-responsive climate finance instruments are not mainstreamed particularly for the Global South.
One of these instruments is gender-responsive carbon markets. These markets go beyond traditional carbon trading by intentionally empowering women and marginalised groups as leaders, beneficiaries, and decision-makers in climate projects. Far from being a mere moral imperative, this approach boosts project success carbon credits with gender equity certifications selling for 78 per cent more than standard offsets, proving that inclusion drives both impact and profit.
What are gender-inclusive carbon markets? These innovative markets embed principles of gender equity into their frameworks, ensuring marginalised groups – especially women – actively participate and benefit from climate initiatives. Women disproportionately affected by climate change play significant roles in environmental stewardship and resource management. Integrating gender equity into carbon projects amplifies effectiveness by fostering women’s leadership, improving adaptive capacities, and creating economic opportunities through projects like clean cookstoves and reforestation.
South Asia is progressively integrating gender-inclusive financial services within climate and carbon projects to address systemic barriers faced by women and enhance their participation in sustainable development. Women, who disproportionately bear the impacts of climate change, often face limited access to financial resources and decision-making roles. Innovative strategies across the region have demonstrated measurable success in bridging these gaps, fostering both economic empowerment and climate resilience.
One notable example is India’s Kashi Hills REDD+ initiative, Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) enable 5,000+ women to access microloans for sustainable livelihoods like agroforestry. By pooling small savings ($1/month), they invest in forest-friendly businesses, boosting incomes by 30 per cent while reducing deforestation by 15 per cent.
Another project operates in several developing countries, including Ethiopia, India and South Africa, under the Fair Climate Fund initiative. This programme utilises blockchain-based payments to directly transfer carbon revenues to women’s mobile wallets, improving transparency. In Andhra Pradesh, this cut payment delays by 90 per cent, while in Ethiopia, it increased women’s participation in clean cookstove projects by 50 per cent. These initiatives not only enhance women’s financial independence but also contribute to broader climate goals by encouraging sustainable practices.
While countries like India have made strides in gender-responsive climate finance, Pakistan has significant potential to adopt similar approaches. Clean cooking initiatives and renewable energy projects could serve as entry points for empowering women to participate actively in climate-smart solutions. For example, introducing micro-loans for clean energy entrepreneurship or agroforestry projects could provide Pakistani women with opportunities to engage in sustainable livelihoods while addressing systemic barriers such as restricted financial access.
Digital payment systems could also be leveraged to ensure transparent benefit-sharing mechanisms that allow women to control earnings securely. These measures align with Pakistan’s climate goals while advancing broader social objectives like poverty alleviation, gender equality (SDG 5), and climate action (SDG 13). By adopting gender-inclusive strategies inspired by neighbouring countries, Pakistan can unlock co-benefits that strengthen community resilience, promote sustainable development, and accelerate progress toward global climate targets.
South Asia’s gender-inclusive approaches differ from other regions like Africa or Latin America by emphasising community-led solutions tied directly to financial inclusion. For instance, carbon credits with gender co-benefits sell for significantly higher prices – up to $12/ton compared to $7/ton for standard credits, highlighting the economic value of inclusion.
South Asia attracts three times more private investment for gender-focused carbon projects than conventional ones. By learning from regional successes, Pakistan can craft tailored strategies that address its unique challenges while fostering transformative change.
Women face significant challenges in participating equitably in carbon markets, particularly in South Asia, where deep-rooted gender inequalities intersect with climate vulnerabilities. According to the World Bank report, limited land rights and decision-making power are among the most pressing barriers, as only 12 per cent of women in South Asia own land. This exclusion locks women out of agroforestry and renewable energy projects that require land ownership.
Inadequate access to information and capacity-building opportunities further restrict women’s involvement. Rural women spend 5–8 hours per day on unpaid care work, leaving little time for training or engagement in carbon projects. A survey in Bangladesh revealed that 80 per cent of women living in carbon project areas had never heard of carbon credits, highlighting the information gap that prevents them from fully understanding or contributing to market mechanisms. Coupled with time poverty due to traditional gender roles, these limitations perpetuate exclusion from climate action and decision-making processes.
Financial exclusion is another critical barrier. The IFC Gender Finance Gap Report states that women are 28 per cent less likely than men to access formal credit for climate projects. This disparity limits their ability to invest in climate-smart initiatives such as clean energy or reforestation efforts. Discriminatory norms further exacerbate this exclusion by marginalising women’s voices in project design and implementation. For instance, women farmers plant trees but men sign the carbon contracts, underscoring the systemic design blind spots that render women’s contributions invisible.
Gender inclusion strengthens both the environmental and economic impact of carbon markets. Projects with active female participation consistently outperform others – women-led forest conservation initiatives see 64 per cent higher success rates, while clean cookstove programs with women trainers achieve 40 per cent greater adoption. This shows how empowering women enhances project effectiveness while advancing climate goals.
Policy frameworks are beginning to recognise these benefits. Pakistan’s National Climate Gender Action Plan (2023) mandates at least 30 per cent of women’s participation in climate finance programmes, setting a precedent for integrating gender equity into national strategies. Innovative solutions are also emerging across South Asia to address systemic barriers and amplify women’s roles in carbon markets. For example, the W+ Standard quantifies gender impacts by measuring outcomes such as hours saved via clean cookstoves and translating them into economic value. Blockchain traceability systems have increased women’s benefit shares from carbon projects in Kenya from 18 per cent to 52 per cent.
Pakistan's first carbon market policy, introduced during COP29 in Baku, represents a significant step in the country's climate action strategy. The policy aims to achieve climate targets, promote green investments, and foster a low-carbon economy through mechanisms like cap-and-trade and voluntary carbon markets. It focuses on sectors with high emissions reduction potential, such as energy, agriculture, waste management, and forestry, while attracting both domestic and international investments. This policy aims to ensure environmental integrity, drive economic development and promote equitable benefit-sharing. By establishing a transparent regulatory framework, the policy seeks to incentivise businesses to adopt eco-friendly technologies and monetise emissions reductions.
Despite its comprehensive approach to climate action, the policy lacks explicit integration of gender perspectives. While it emphasises social equity and community benefits broadly, there is no mention of specific measures to address gender disparities or promote women's participation in carbon market initiatives. This omission risks overlooking the unique vulnerabilities and contributions of women in climate adaptation and mitigation efforts. A gender-sensitive approach could enhance the policy's inclusivity by ensuring equitable access to resources, decision-making roles, and benefits for women in affected sectors like agriculture, energy, and forestry.
To fully unlock the potential of gender-inclusive carbon markets in the country, policymakers must mandate gender quotas in project staffing and benefit-sharing mechanisms while developing SDG-aligned pricing models that reward co-benefits like those certified by the W+ Standard. Investing in mobile-friendly carbon literacy programmes for rural women can further bridge information gaps and foster inclusive participation. Women-led carbon projects could be the triple wins – for climate, communities and credit buyers.
By addressing systemic barriers and scaling innovative solutions, Pakistan can transform its carbon markets into powerful tools for advancing both environmental sustainability and social equity. The recently issued Pakistan policy guidelines for trading in carbon markets include gender equality as one of the co-benefits of carbon credits but future iterations of the policy should have a dedicated gender lens for carbon trading to harness the benefits of gender-inclusive carbon markets.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1301729-carbon-markets-with-a-gendered-lens
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What Is KP’s Mining Bill?
By Barrister Dr Mohd Ali Saif
April 16, 2025
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill 2025 is an update to the 2017 law, with the primary objective to attract domestic and foreign investment, enhance transparency, and curb illegal mining to leverage the province's vast mineral resources for economic development.
This comprehensive legislation, detailed in a recent white paper, addresses governance, enforcement and economic development while prioritising transparency and environmental responsibility. Definitions have been sharpened and key roles now require qualified mining engineers or geologists selected on merit. The appellate tribunal, previously chaired by the secretary of minerals, will now be led by a former high court judge to ensure impartiality. New bodies, such as the Mineral Investment Facilitation Authority and a Mineral Testing Laboratory, aim to attract investors and enhance technical oversight.
The 2025 bill extends its reach across the province, with special provisions for merged districts and sub-divisions until December 31, 2030, ensuring a gradual integration that respects local customs. The bill emphasises transparency through a legally binding online Mining Cadastre System, mandates environmental and social safeguards and prioritises community rights, CSR and local employment.
Similarly, it aims to establish a Special Mines Force to prevent illegal mining and the establishment of an independent Mines Appeal Court for fair justice. The Special Mines Force is a key provision in the bill, aimed at enforcing regulations and curbing illegal mining. The force is designed to combat illegal mining and stop the 'mafia' occupying mineral resources in KP, particularly in the merged tribal districts, where an estimated 3,500 mines are dormant or unregulated.
It will be a uniformed unit with powers to register FIRs, make arrests and halt illegal mining activities, including seizing equipment. The force will operate under the KP Mineral Development Authority, a new body proposed in the bill to oversee licensing, permits and enforcement. A Special Court for Mines and Minerals will ensure swift trials within 120 days, supported by dedicated police stations. This contrasts sharply with the 2017 law's lack of robust enforcement, promising a crackdown on unauthorised activities.
The controversy relating to fewer benefits for local communities is likely due to differing political interpretations of its provisions, particularly in merged districts, where communities have historically relied on mineral resources. The 2025 bill significantly enhances benefits for local communities compared to the 2017 law by prioritising their access to mineral titles, protecting customary shares and ensuring environmental restoration. Through the minimum local content requirements, the act provides for mining companies to prioritise local employment, procure goods and services from nearby businesses and invest in community development projects like schools and healthcare facilities. It also includes a 10 per cent non-contributory free-carried interest for the province, generating revenue that can fund regional infrastructure. Unlike the 2017 law, which lacked explicit mandates, the 2025 bill ensures that communities, especially in merged districts, benefit economically through jobs and contracts.
The bill has sparked political controversy with various critics voicing concerns about federal overreach. One of the controversies pertains to Section 6(i), which allows the licensing authority to implement not only the recommendations of the Mineral Investment Facilitation Authority (MIFA) but also the suggestions of the federal mineral wing. Given that mining is a provincial subject under the 18th Amendment, this clause has sparked concern over federal overreach into KP’s legislative and administrative domains.
However, the bill explicitly states that the Licensing Authority may "implement recommendations of the Mineral Investment Facilitation Authority and may implement suggestion of the Federal Mineral Wing in relation to the powers and functions of the Licensing Authority" (Section 6(i)). This has been framed as a discretionary provision, not a mandatory one. The bill also emphasises provincial autonomy by requiring the Licensing Authority to ensure consistency across provinces (Section 6(2)(d)), which aligns with the 18th Amendment's devolution of mining to provinces. The Federal Mineral Wing's role is advisory, and its suggestions are subject to provincial approval, ensuring the province retains ultimate control.
The reconstitution of MIFA under Section 19 has also sparked controversy. The body, previously composed of seven members including the minister for mines and minerals development, is now set to expand to 14 members, including five provincial ministers. The bill also allows the MIFA chairperson to co-opt any person as a member, a move critics say opens the door to politicisation and non-transparent appointments.
It should be clear that the expansion of MIFA to 14 members, including provincial ministers and a federal representative (Section 19(2)), is intended to enhance coordination and stakeholder representation. The inclusion of federal input (clause (l)) is limited to an "invited" member, preserving provincial dominance. The chairperson's power to co-opt members (Section 19(3)) is balanced by the requirement for transparency in MIFA's annual reports (Section 20(3)), which must be publicly disclosed via the Mining Cadastre System (Section 9(5)).
Private sector stakeholders have also voiced concerns over Section 2(kk), which mandates joint ventures with government-owned companies for any large-scale mining project involving capital investment of Rs500 million or more. Critics argue that if this decision is left to the discretion of the government, without a clearly defined partnership ratio or conditions, it will act as a barrier to free market participation thereby deteriorating investor confidence.
It becomes increasingly important to clarify that the requirement for joint ventures with government-owned companies in large-scale mining (capital investment greater than Rs500 million) is made clear by the proviso that terms and conditions, including partnership ratios, will be "determined by government" (Section 2(kk)). This allows flexibility to negotiate terms case-by-case, rather than imposing rigid ratios. The exemption for cement factories and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minerals Development and Management Company (Section 46(6)) indicates targeted applicability, not a blanket barrier to private investment.
Similarly, critics have also argued about the bill’s treatment of strategic and rare earth minerals. These are to be defined and notified by the provincial government, or on the guidance of the federal mineral wing via MIFA. The lack of clear definitions or fixed criteria in the bill has led to apprehensions that valuable mineral resources may fall under central control.
However, strategic minerals are explicitly listed in Schedule I (Paragraph 9), while rare earth minerals are defined as those declared by the provincial government via gazette notification (Section 2(sss)). The bill does not cede control to the federal government; instead, KP retains authority to designate and regulate these minerals (Section 27(2)). MIFA's role is advisory (Section 20(1)(k)), and final decisions rest with the provincial government.
Finally, multiple clauses further extend advisory powers to the federal mineral wing on key operational and financial matters such as royalty structure, pricing formulas, model agreements, licensing authority powers and mining application systems.
The federal mineral wing's advisory role in royalty structures (Section 19(f)), pricing formulas (Section 19(g)), and model agreements (Section 19(i)) is contingent on MIFA's review and recommendations. For instance, royalty rates are prescribed by the provincial government (Section 84), and MIFA's recommendations must align with KP's policies (Section 20(1)). The Mining Cadastre System (Section 9) and licensing processes (Section 6) are provincially administered, ensuring federal input remains non-binding.
The new framework calls for the establishment of Auction Committees at both the provincial and district levels to manage transparent and competitive mineral rights auctions. Also, a defined mortgage mechanism, allowing mineral title holders to secure financing through their own assets without mortgaging the mineral title itself.
The bill balances provincial autonomy with pragmatic collaboration, ensuring KP's control over its mineral resources while allowing for structured federal-provincial dialogue. It sets a bold vision for sustainable growth. Key safeguards include discretionary language, transparency mechanisms and provincial oversight. Concerns over federal overreach or investor barriers are mitigated by the bill's explicit provisions for provincial discretion and case-specific flexibility.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1301730-what-is-kp-s-mining-bill
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Turkiye-Pakistan Energy Ties
By Alparslan Bayraktar
April 16, 2025
For years on end, Turkiye and Pakistan have enjoyed the agency of brotherly relations. Not only have we been historically bound, but we have also streamed rivers into seas with cooperation and partnerships, from cultural to economic to language and energy. Just two months ago, we were here for the visit of President of Turkiye, HE Recep Tayyip Erdogan and how glad I was to be back in the beautiful city of Islamabad for the Pakistan Mining Investment Forum.
Turkish-Pakistani energy relations have dived into a deeper route than ever before. From deep-sea drilling and seismic research to know-how transfer in critical minerals and electricity production. On my recent trip, it was an honourable experience to meet with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and sign off on the Memorandum of Understanding where Turkish Petroleum will jointly bid with the national oil companies of Pakistan in the Indus offshore basin. We look forward to this exciting opportunity that will open doors to decades long partnerships. I would like to congratulate my counterpart, HE Minister of Oil Ali Pervaiz Malik, on this outstanding cooperation.
But we are not limited to oil and gas, Turkiye and Pakistan are also working together in know-how transfer for critical minerals. Both countries have significant reserves and the development of these sites will offer a strategic value chain benefiting both nations. Similar to the gold rush of the mid-19th century, we now live in the age of ‘critical minerals rush’. Nations that control the supply of their critical minerals, including rare earth elements, will hold the competitive advantage.
Turkiye has developed a simultaneous understanding of performing strategic and collaborative paths to reach the growing energy demands of our populations and industries. Over the last two decades, Turkiye has realised a reform that has attracted over $100 billion of investments into its electricity markets. As a result, the country now enjoys a competitive market that incentivises new investments and provides affordable prices for its citizens. Pakistan today is on the verge of a similar reform. We are ready to share our experiences and fully support the Pakistani leadership for their determination.
The recent developments in our relations will benefit not only both nations but add to the stability and prosperity of local economies and the region as a whole. A strong Turkiye-Pakistan partnership is one full of opportunities. Long live the people of Pakistan and Turkiye, long live Turkish-Pakistani brotherhood.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1301731-turkiye-pakistan-energy-ties
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Hard Iran-US Nuclear Talks
Zahid Hussain
April 16, 2025
THE ongoing indirect nuclear talks between America and Iran are inching forward with the two sides agreeing to meet for the next round this week. Both countries described the meeting in Oman as “constructive”.
It was the first high-level engagement between Washington and Tehran since 2018 when Donald Trump, during his first presidency, had pulled the US out of the 2015 nuclear agreement, promising to negotiate a “better deal”.
Last weekend’s meeting, which lasted for over two hours, took place with the two delegations sitting in separate rooms relaying messages through Oman’s foreign minister. While the Iranian delegation is headed by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi America is being represented by Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff. The two also spoke very briefly after the meeting. The very fact that the two sides have agreed to meet again is seen as encouraging.
But there’s still a long way to go and hurdles to cross before a deal is possible. President Trump’s announcement of “direct talks” with Iran came during a joint presser at the White House with the visiting Israeli prime minister who has been urging the US to destroy Iran’s nuclear capability through military action. Trump’s offer to talk was mixed with the threat of force. He has repeatedly warned of military strikes.
While willing to talk, Tehran rejected any engagement under coercion. Iran has linked direct talks to the easing of sanctions. Both parties then settled for indirect talks that has helped break some ice and paved the way for the next engagement.
A major reason why the Oman meeting ended on a positive note was that Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff refrained from repeating the president’s threats that Iran would face “great danger” if the talks weren’t successful. “In my opinion, as the first meeting, it was a constructive meeting held in a very peaceful and respectful environment, because no inappropriate language was used,” the Iranian foreign minister said.
No doubt, this is a promising start to extremely complicated negotiations, which demand patience. Both sides have displayed pragmatism by keeping the door open for further engagement. But the onus lies on the Trump administration to lift some of the sanctions on Iran in order to move to direct talks that Witkoff describes as key to concluding a possible deal.
However, there is no sign yet that Trump would agree to suspend sanctions. Tehran has also made it very clear that it would not accept any restrictions on its peaceful nuclear and missile programmes that Trump has been insisting on. Trump had struck down the 2015 nuclear deal in 2018, claiming it had not curtailed Iran’s missile programme and regional influence. More recently, he threatened Iran with “bombing the likes of which they’ve never seen before”.
Formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear agreement was signed in July 2015. It was a landmark accord reached by Iran and six world powers (P5+1). Besides the US, these countries included Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.
The JCPOA came into effect in January 2016. As per the deal, Iran agreed to limit its nuclear programme and to allow extensive international inspections of its facilities. This was in exchange for billions worth in sanctions relief, although the US administration maintained curbs on financial transactions, which have deterred global trade with Iran.
One of the reasons that pushed the Obama administration to striking the deal was the fear that Iran had come very close to assembling a nuclear bomb. The agreement prevented this from happening. Iranian leaders, however, insist that they never had any intention of going nuclear.
While the 2015 agreement was largely welcomed by the international community, it came under attack from Israel and Saudi Arabia. Those opposed to it said it showed too much leniency to Iran and asserted that while it could delay things, it would not prevent Tehran from making a bomb in the future. Israel wanted the complete destruction of Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Not surprisingly, Trump’s decision in 2018 to exit the Iran nuclear deal was welcomed by Israel. The withdrawal rendered the JCPOA ineffective, leaving no option for Tehran but to reactivate its uranium enrichment programme.
In early 2023, UN inspectors reported that Iran had enriched trace amounts of uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels, leading to international concern. In a report in February this year, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran had enriched 274.8 kilograms to up to 60 per cent — with 90pc needed to develop nuclear weapons.
President Joe Biden linked Washington’s return to the JCPOA to Iran’s “strict compliance” with the deal. But the talks between Iran and America could not reach any conclusion, with Biden imposing fresh sanctions on Iran.
Over the years, Israel has repeatedly targeted Iran’s nuclear programme but has failed to dismantle it.
The worsening security situation in the Middle East with Israel’s prolonged genocidal war in Gaza and non-stop military strikes in Lebanon and Syria has compelled Iran to strengthen its defences. It is an extremely combustible situation and any American or Israel military action against Iran can trigger a wider conflagration.
Since returning to power, President Trump has been threatening Iran with military action but has also kept the door open for talks. Some back-channel contacts seem to have worked, with the two countries at least agreeing to indirect talks. According to some analysts, Trump’s real bottom line is that Iran must completely dismantle its nuclear programme as well as abandon its missile programme.
Iran has said this time it has come to the table with an open mind but has also made it clear that such US demands would leave it defenceless. Tehran wants to limit the talks to the nuclear issue. It’s certainly a good start, but one is not sure whether it will end up in an agreement, given Trump’s ever-changing stance.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1904583/hard-iran-us-nuclear-talks
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Lamenting A Glorious City
Shahab Usto
April 16, 2025
IT is a city that houses major financial, capital, and industrial services and labour markets, and provides livelihoods to millions of people.
It generates more than half the total federal taxes, and serves as the principal gateway to the country’s goods, services and transportation. It has preserved its unique multiethnic and cosmopolitan milieu, and was once known as the ‘glory of the East’ for its pristine beauty, cultural diversity, and excellent services.
Should such a city be left to its fate — condemned to suffer bad governance, a broken infrastructure, unplanned growth, unclean water, untreated sewage, ethnic divides, political violence, and, above all, an apathetic and extractive class of administrators and ‘stakeholders’? Yes, you guessed correctly. This city is Karachi, which has been treated in a deplorable fashion by, among others, its ‘own people’.
Modern metropolises are living testaments to higher forms of civic life, besides being the engines of economic growth and cultural effervescence. They are cherished by their denizens for their identity, success, quality of life and the provision of livelihoods. They are run by elected representatives with the help of a well-regulated bureaucracy. Professionals, academia, businessmen, corporations, and even cultural leaders play their due role in framing policies and managing civic bodies. There are independent courts and regulators to enforce private rights, and public order.
The law of tort has also provided people in such metropolises with a ‘sword and shield’ to protect and recompense them for losses and injuries suffered at the hands of inept and negligent public and private providers of goods and services.
More importantly, public assets, particularly land, are strictly regulated. Land is central to developing cities under a corresponding regulatory framework to ensure harmony and balance between growth and demography, aesthetics, and ecology. Water is another commodity which is treasured qualitatively and quantitatively. In recent years, the environment is increasingly taking the front seat in town planning and development.
But why is it that Karachi despite being the country’s economic hub continues to lack most of the attributes of great cities like London, New York, Paris, São Paulo, Tokyo, and even Mumbai? Unfortunately, Karachi mirrors the overall failures of governance. But are there any specifics reasons for the rot it suffers? Let’s examine the situation.
Karachi’s politics: Lenin defined politics as the pursuit of political power. In its true sense, this meant empowering the common man/ working classes. But, strangely, the city’s principal political parties, including the PPP, MQM, Jamaat-i-Islami, and ANP, have rarely sought to empower ordinary citizens. Nor have they contested elections on the urban agenda — development, security, services, entertainment, climate, etc.
In fact, Karachi’s politics has been historically marred by three maladies. A rigged electoral system, the state’s patronage to one or the other political force, and cyclical political violence. The politicians’ focus has largely been on securing a greater share of the city’s power and resources. The people are left to fend for themselves.
No wonder, no party has addressed the city’s most critical problem: developing a master plan for Karachi to ensure its orderly and regulated growth, both horizontal and vertical. The resulting policy chaos has allowed powerful vested interests to change rules at whim. Of late, the entire city has been ‘commercialised’, with no regard for the disastrous impact on privacy, planning or the environment.
Karachi’s elites: Like any other modern megalopolis, Karachi has resources. It possesses a range of elites consisting of business interests, rights groups, media houses, cultural icons, and various bureaucracies — provincial, federal, civil, military and corporate.
Equipped with such a powerful array of guardians and doorkeepers, the city should have been fortified enough to protect itself against continuing bad governance, policy chaos, and the merciless exploitation of its key resources — land, water, and the coastal belt. But deplorably, the city is in a mess. Half its population — about 12.5 million — lives in katchi abadis. The other half — regardless of class or position — also remains perennially starved of basic amenities, ie, clean water, sanitation, gas, electricity, and even a modicum of security and order.
Yet, the elites have rarely confronted the aberrant administration, barring some occasional stirrings triggered by natural calamities or utility breakdowns. Their studied indifference is puzzling. For they are consuming highly contaminated water, inhaling toxic air, living by a sea that receives 500 MGD of untreated effluent, which is destroying marine life and the mangroves, and they keep silent while the city’s lands — the most precious asset for present and future generations — are being grabbed by powerful private and institutional interests, including Bahria and DHAs.
Karachi’s commons: Thanks to an opportunist political leadership, and equally indifferent if not collusive sociocultural elites, the city’s poor and marginalised people — those who keep industry, trading, construction, services and labour markets running — are bearing the brunt of the ills afflicting Karachi.
Indeed, it is the poignant stories of these common men and women that are recorded in the annals of city’s regulatory failures, opportunistic politics, societal conflicts, cyclical violence, and governmental apathy. Yet these people of the working class and the white-collar community have no political representation or institutional support for their legitimate grievances to be redressed. Instead, their voices are gagged by a slew of oppressive laws — industrial, employment, and penal.
Even then, residents in katchi abadis and the suburbia are rising. Hordes of people, uprooted by terrorism in the north, or those seeking better jobs and opportunities, are coming to Karachi, raising a crucial question: given Karachi’s creaking infrastructure, limited resources, and eternally poor governance, how long can the city sustain the ongoing demographic shift?
Indeed, Karachi faces another lurking threat. The ongoing construction of new canals of the Indus river system will imperil even the city’s existing, much-stressed supply of water (650MGD) that it receives mainly from the Indus.
This raises critical questions: Will Karachi’s sociocultural and political elites rise to the occasion and save the city from the impending ‘water death’? Or will they remain characteristically indifferent to the worsening plight of this glorious city? Karachi is waiting for the answer.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1904584/lamenting-a-glorious-city
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Justice Within Reach
Rabiya Javeri Agha
April 16, 2025
LAST week in Islamabad, something rare happened. Judges, police officers, prosecutors, lawyers, policymakers, and rights experts gathered: not in the usual posture of mutual suspicion or institutional self-preservation, but in a shared moment of reckoning. Hosted by the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), with support from UNDP and the European Union, the conference titled ‘From Promise to Action: Advancing SDG 16 for Justice and Reform’ attempted an honest appraisal of the justice system, its myriad failures, and what it would take to do better.
We came together to ask a blunt question: how can we build a justice system that works for all Pakistanis: not only the connected, not only the wealthy, not only the men?
For decades, Pakistan’s legal and judicial apparatus has been held hostage by archaic laws, procedural absurdities, and deep structural neglect. It has rendered justice both elusive and exhausting. Yet, in those two days, something shifted. The tone of the discussions — frank, attentive, unembellished — reflected a shared discomfort with the status quo.
Everyone acknowledged the wide gulf between what is promised on paper and what is experienced in courtrooms, police stations, and prisons across the country. Hard truths surfaced. The exclusionary nature of the legal system, especially for women, religious minorities, the working class, and anyone without institutional backing, was put on record. We spoke of the criminalisation of poverty through laws inherited from colonial administrators who saw the poor as a threat to be managed, not as citizens to be served. Vagrancy laws, the rampant overuse of incarceration, and the disregard for rehabilitation were not treated as unfortunate side effects but as central features of the problem.
Yet there was also clarity, even imagination. Participants moved beyond diagnosis and began to outline the architecture of a better system. We spoke of rethinking policing; replacing violent, extractive models with public-centred frameworks grounded in rights and accountability. There was talk of strengthening oversight bodies, overhauling training protocols, and making space for independent community input. Judicial reforms, including the expansion of specialised courts for gender-based violence, were paired with legal aid proposals that included mandatory pro bono requirements; measures meant to shift the burden away from survivors and those least able to navigate the system.
Perhaps the most urgent conversations focused on incarceration. Pakistan’s prisons remain packed with undertrial prisoners, many of them young, poor, and legally invisible. The Juvenile Justice System Act, passed years ago, remains dormant in many parts of the country. The idea that punishment should be the last resort, not the default, has still not taken root. We heard proposals for income-sensitive bail systems, the revival of probation and parole, and community-level restorative justice approaches. Hence, the challenge is never a lack of ideas, but always the collective resolve to act on them.
The NCHR was encouraged to see the Federal Minister for Law and Justice and Human Rights, Azam Nazeer Tarar publicly commit to embedding the conference’s recommendations within the government’s reform agenda. That gesture matters. Reform does not happen through declarations alone; a concerted shift in political will is worth noting.
For the NCHR, this is what SDG 16.3 demands: not vague commitments to ‘access’ or ‘equity’, but an unwavering effort to build a justice system that is responsive, humane, and grounded in the lived realities of ordinary people. Our mandate — from investigation to capacity-building to policy advocacy — is shaped by that goal. But no institution, no matter how principled, can do this alone. This work requires a sustained, collaborative, multi-stakeholder front against impunity.
The outcomes of this conference must not gather dust. They are not static, one-off declarations, but ongoing, consistent demands. They insist on coherence across sectors, on bravery from those in positions of power, and on perseverance from those on the margins. They remind us that justice is not measured by how aggressively a system punishes, but by how steadfastly it protects dignity. They mark a shift: from fatigue to imagination, from resignation to resolve.
Justice in Pakistan has long been portrayed as a lofty abstraction; distant, delayed, denied. But last week, we saw something different. We saw what it might mean to make it real.
The question now is whether we will stay the course — collectively, consistently, and with the courage to see it through.
https://www.dawn.com/news/1904581/justice-within-reach
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