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                        <title>News Opinion &amp; Reviews - The Express Tribune</title>
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                        <description>The Express Tribune keeps you up to date with all the latest happenings from Pakistan and across the world!</description>
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			<title>Talk first, sue later</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613336/talk-first-sue-later</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613336/talk-first-sue-later#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 26 20:49:20 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Mohsin Saleem Ullah]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2613336</guid>
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				<![CDATA[If mediation can help two adversarial countries find common ground, why are we so reluctant to use it closer to home?]]>
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				<![CDATA[There is something quietly remarkable happening on the world stage right now, and Pakistan is at the centre of it. As the United States of America and Iran inch toward a negotiated resolution of their conflict, it is Islamabad, not any other country, that has emerged as the trusted go-between. Pakistan has hosted high-level talks, shuttled proposals between two sides that do not even speak to each other directly, and done what seasoned diplomats describe as the hardest thing in any dispute: made both parties feel heard without fully siding with either.

What made Pakistan credible was not military strength or economic leverage. It was neutrality, access, and the willingness to sit in a room and listen. In other words, it was mediation. Now here is the question worth asking: if mediation can help two adversarial countries find common ground, why are we so reluctant to use it closer to home?

Pakistan&#39;s courts are carrying a weight they were never designed to bear. Over 2.3 million cases are pending across the country&#39;s judicial system, with the heaviest burden falling on district courts where ordinary citizens, not corporations or governments, come seeking justice. Many of these people will wait years. Some will wait longer than that. And a significant portion of these cases are civil disputes that, at their core, do not need a judge to declare a winner. They need someone to help both sides find a way forward.

That is precisely what mediation does, and it does it better than most people give it credit for. Mediation is not the soft option. It is not what you resort to when you have already lost. It is a structured process where a neutral third party helps disputing parties reach an agreement on their own terms. The outcome belongs to the people in the room. That sense of ownership is exactly what makes it work. And when people shape the resolution themselves, they tend to honour it.

The alternative that gets mentioned most often is arbitration. And while arbitration has its place, particularly in complex commercial matters where a binding decision is genuinely needed, it is far too heavy a hammer for most everyday disputes. Arbitration is, in essence, a private courtroom. It involves legal submissions, appointed arbitrators, procedural timelines and costs that can rival regular litigation. One party still walks away having lost. Relationships that could have been preserved are not. And in Pakistan&#39;s context, enforcing an arbitral award can itself become a fresh source of litigation.

Mediation, by contrast, is faster, cheaper and far more likely to produce an outcome both parties can live with. It does not clear your name or establish legal precedent, which is why it is not the right tool for every situation. But for the enormous volume of property disputes, commercial disagreements and civil matters clogging our district courts, it is a far more sensible first step than filing a case and joining a queue that stretches into years. Even in my professional practice, I prefer to include tailored mediation clauses in every contract I draft or review, not as boilerplate, but because a responsible lawyer&#39;s job is to keep clients out of court, not lead them into it.

When Pakistan stepped in between Washington and Tehran, it did so because it had something both sides needed: a relationship with each, no hidden agenda, and the patience to hold space without forcing a premature conclusion. The same principle applies in a boardroom or a family property dispute. The mediator does not win or lose. They create conditions for resolution.

Undoubtedly, Pakistan has demonstrated on a global stage that this approach works. What truly needs to change is the instinct, from the moment a dispute arises, to reach for dialogue before reaching for a lawyer. Our courts are exhausted. Our litigants are tired. And somewhere between those two truths lies an answer we already know how to use.]]>
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			<title>Three crises, one silence</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613338/three-crises-one-silence</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613338/three-crises-one-silence#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 26 20:49:20 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Dr Rakhshinda Perveen]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2613338</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Suicide, femicide, filicide]]>
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			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Suicide

May 18, 2026. The Federal Shariat Court restored Section 325 of the Pakistan Penal Code. No protests. No emergency session. No coalition demanding reversal. A law that criminalises surviving a suicide attempt came back with less noise than a routine budget notification and that quietness tells you everything about whose lives this country considers worth protecting.

Section 325 was never Islamic in origin. It was lifted from British colonial legislation in 1860, inherited at Partition, and never examined because the people it harms have never been a constituency worth fighting for &ndash; those in psychiatric crisis, women with nowhere to go, transgender persons surviving without documents or shelter, men undone by debt. The court said decriminalisation was against the Quran and Sunnah. Classical Islamic jurisprudence says otherwise: legal responsibility requires sound intellect, severe mental illness suspends accountability, and preservation of life is a foundational obligation of the law. None of that was apparently the point.

The law does not fall on everyone the same way. Women facing domestic violence and/or workplace harassment and torture, transgender people with no institutional safety net, men without social capital or legal recourse &ndash; all they meet this law at their most exposed. For a woman already running from her home, surviving now carries a criminal charge. That is not protection. That is the state deciding her crisis is her fault.

Femicide

We are not short of coverage. Femicide appears on Instagram, in television segments that run the story for two days and move on, in donor reports that circulate at hotel conferences and then get filed. What it almost never appears in is a parliamentary debate where someone actually has to answer for the numbers, or a meeting of lawyers and judges asking why conviction rates are so low that most perpetrators walk free, or a civil society campaign that does not shut down the moment the donor money runs out.

Femicide in Pakistan is not hidden. It is managed. Women and girls are disproportionately its victims. The attention spikes when a case is upsetting enough to hold an audience and evaporates when it is not. The institutional response in between is silence the kind that gets called normalcy.

Filicide

This is where the failure is most complete and most invisible because we have not even built the language for it. A parent kills a child. Our vocabulary gives us qatl, gives us saffak in a headline, gives us a moral verdict applied almost exclusively to mothers, and stops there. The word filicide, as used in psychiatry and law, demands a different set of questions: what broke down, and when, and who was supposed to notice and did not?

Pakistan has no postpartum mental health screening system. The Thinking Healthy Programme &ndash; developed and clinically tested here, endorsed by the World Health Organization as part of its global mental health programme, proven to achieve remission in three out of four women with perinatal depression &ndash; is not systematically implemented in the country that produced it.

Women in postpartum psychosis, women ground down by domestic violence and economic dependence, women with no shelter bed and no helpline that answers they become the headline. Saffak. The headline does not ask what came before. Neither does the planning commission. Neither does the funded project that will close regardless of what the data is still showing.

We built a programme the world adopted and did not use it ourselves. That is not an oversight. That is a decision about whose suffering counts.

I have worked on these three issues for over thirty years. Most of that work has been done outside funded projects, outside donor priority lists, outside the rooms where decisions get made. I am not saying this for sympathy. I am saying it because the pattern matters.

All three crises share the same mechanism of neglect. Attention arrives when there is a project behind it. The project has a three-to-five year life. When it ends, data collection stops, coalitions disperse, recommendations sit in reports no ministry requested. The problem continues on its own schedule.

So here is what needs to happen, and none of it requires a new idea. Lawmakers need to stand on the floor of the National Assembly and name femicide as a legislative emergency not in a press release, on the floor, with conviction data demanded from the relevant ministries. Benches and Bars need to publicly examine why perpetrators of gender-based violence routinely avoid punishment. Section 325 needs to be repealed and replaced with mandatory psychiatric evaluation and care for anyone who survives a crisis, regardless of gender. Postpartum mental health screening needs to be mandated through the lady health worker network that already reaches rural communities. A national database on femicide, filicide and suicide - disaggregated by sex, gender identity, relationship to the perpetrator and province - must exist, be publicly accessible, and be updated annually.

These are not proposals. They are the minimum. The question is not whether anyone in a position of power knows they are needed. The question is whether anyone in that position will act when there is no grant cycle, no donor delegation, no conference deadline making it temporarily convenient to care.]]>
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			<title>An original institution</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613333/an-original-institution</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613333/an-original-institution#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 26 20:49:20 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Muhammad Hamid Zaman]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2613333</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Twenty-two years ago, in 2004, I met Syed Babar Ali for the first time]]>
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				<![CDATA[Twenty-two years ago, in 2004, I met Syed Babar Ali for the first time. I was a post-doc at MIT, and through colleagues and friends, had heard about a new initiative in Pakistan to start a school of science and engineering. This was a topic dear to me, and the idea to create an institution in Pakistan that prioritised basic science at the undergraduate level was as exciting as it was unbelievable. I was not sure I belonged in those conversations, but those who had been thinking about it for a while were exceptionally generous to let me in those early meetings in Boston.

Though I had not met Babar sahib personally, I had heard about him. In the mid-1990s, when a friend went to LUMS in their new undergraduate programme in CS, I was intrigued by what was being created. I saw Babar sahib&#39;s smiling picture in the brochure and somehow that image stayed with me. A few years later when I was at MIT, I got to meet two of his granddaughters who were undergraduates there, and I was so touched by their kindness and good nature.

But none of this had prepared me for my first meeting with Babar sahib. I knew of his success in business and was aware of his extraordinary philanthropy. What I was not prepared for was his humility and his genuine interest in learning. I remember him asking me questions about research culture, inquiry and higher education that no one had ever asked me. I was used to be in places where there were others who knew so much more about these things than I did, and I knew that I had nothing new to offer. But Babar sahib had different ideas &ndash; he was genuinely interested in what I had to say, and his follow-up questions showed sincerity in learning that I had not experienced before. In many ways, this was very unsettling. I did not know many successful businesspersons in Pakistan who cared about education, and those who did were involved to the extent of writing cheques. But this was completely different: it was authentic, honest and showed a commitment that was infectious. If I was curious about the new project before, I was now committed to helping it succeed.

Over the last two decades, I have become a part of that project. I am not sure if I have shaped it in any way, but it surely has shaped me. Among the most prized outcomes of my engagement with LUMS is that I have gotten to know Babar sahib not just as a supporter of higher education and as a champion of excellence, but as a person. In Babar sahib, I have gotten to know someone who is genuinely curious and is enthusiastic about new ideas. Babar sahib often tells me the story of my own PhD advisor, Steve Berry, who, when asked by Babar sahib what a modern chemist should read, immediately said &quot;Shakespeare&quot;. I am not sure very many educationists in Pakistan would find that idea acceptable. But Babar sahib knew the value of building bridges, traversing boundaries and recognising the value of creativity beyond disciplines. I carry that spirit in every endeavour I am involved in. I have spent endless hours with Babar sahib asking him about people he met, people many of my generation no longer recognise. Through his extraordinary memory, I have been reintroduced to Mian Iftikharuddin, Sir Zafarullah Khan and so many others. Babar sahib&#39;s stories are personal, vivid and funny with crisp detail. I do not know of anyone who can quote both Bulleh Shah and Hafez, and can seamlessly stitch Farsi, Punjabi, Urdu and English in a single sentence. Above all, from Babar sahib I have learned the value of decency, dignity and treating people with respect.

I met Babar sahib in Lahore last month, and just as he did twenty-two years ago, he surprised me with his knowledge, his curiosity and his genuine interest in learning more. I am never quite prepared for the wisdom that I get from him, but I eagerly look forward to each meeting.

Babar sahib celebrates his 100th birthday this month &ndash; I know I am not the only one who has become a better person in the last 100 years.]]>
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			<title>The cost of never finishing the story</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613337/the-cost-of-never-finishing-the-story</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613337/the-cost-of-never-finishing-the-story#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 26 20:49:20 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Syed Jalal Hussain]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2613337</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Deep beneath the deserts of Chagai lies one of the world's largest deposits of copper and gold]]>
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				<![CDATA[Deep beneath the deserts of Chagai lies one of the world&#39;s largest deposits of copper and gold. For decades, that wealth remained untouched, waiting to be transformed into jobs, exports, public revenue and economic opportunity. By 2011, that moment appeared to have arrived. Investors had committed billions of dollars, agreements had been negotiated, plans drawn, and what promised to become one of the largest foreign investments in Pakistan&#39;s history seemed ready to move from ambition to reality.

Instead, the project became trapped in a cycle that has come to define much of Pakistan&#39;s economic experience. The mining lease was refused, litigation followed, international arbitration followed litigation, and by the time the dispute ran its course Pakistan was facing a penalty of almost six billion dollars. More than a decade later, Reko Diq returned under a revised structure, new partners and fresh guarantees.

Throughout those years, the copper remained exactly where it had always been. Governments changed. Political narratives evolved. Legal positions shifted. The geology did not.

The story of Reko Diq is usually told as a dispute over contracts and mining rights. In reality it is the story of a country that repeatedly discovers opportunity but struggles to sustain commitment long enough to convert opportunity into prosperity.

In Why Nations Fail, Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson argue that economic growth depends less upon the abundance of resources than upon institutions capable of creating stable rules of the game. Investment flourishes when businesses believe that the rules governing economic life will remain broadly consistent regardless of who occupies office. When those rules are repeatedly contested, rewritten or reversed, uncertainty shapes behaviour in ways that gradually undermine growth.

Pakistan&#39;s economic history offers a vivid illustration. Perhaps the most insightful description came from an unlikely source. In his memoir Sultan, Wasim Akram writes: &quot;People complain that the Pakistan team is not consistent. But the country itself is not consistent. Nothing in Pakistan happens the same way twice. On no institution can you entirely rely, and that goes right to the top.&quot; He then noted that during his playing career he served under thirteen captains, ten coaches and nine PCB chairmen. It is a cricketing anecdote that doubles as a national diagnosis.

Over the decades, successive governments have arrived promising renewal and a decisive break from the past. Economic frameworks that should have survived electoral cycles instead became vulnerable to political contestation. The result has been a country that frequently changes direction before travelling far enough to discover whether it was moving in the right one.

The consequences are visible across the economy. IPPs were once promoted as the answer to Pakistan&#39;s chronic energy shortages before becoming the subject of intense controversy. Agreements were revisited, contracts renegotiated and policy frameworks reconsidered, while circular debt expanded and electricity tariffs climbed. For many businesses, success increasingly depended upon navigating uncertainty rather than improving productivity.

Over time, this uncertainty began shaping individual choices as well. Textile investors expanded into Bangladesh, technology professionals established themselves in Dubai, while doctors, engineers and entrepreneurs sought opportunities in the UK, Australia and elsewhere. Their decisions reflected more than higher salaries or better public services. At a deeper level, they represented a search for predictability, or environments in which long-term decisions could be made with reasonable confidence that tomorrow&#39;s rules would resemble today&#39;s.

That search is visible every morning outside embassies and visa centres across Pakistan, where long queues form before dawn and families invest years of savings in the hope of securing opportunities abroad. Others take more desperate routes, boarding overcrowded boats in pursuit of futures they believe cannot be built at home. The tragic images that periodically emerge from the Mediterranean are reminders of how deeply the search for certainty has embedded itself within the national psyche.

The instinct that drives migration operates in much the same way for investment. Capital can navigate inflation, political competition and economic shocks. What it struggles to navigate is uncertainty about the rules of the game. A mining project unfolds over decades. Infrastructure investments span generations. Such commitments become possible only when investors possess confidence that the framework governing their decisions will endure beyond the tenure of any particular government.

Viewed through this lens, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif&#39;s repeated call for a Charter of Economy deserves more serious consideration than it often receives. The significance of the proposal lies in its recognition of the central problem. Pakistan&#39;s economic challenge is not merely the quality of individual policies. It is the fragility of those policies and the ease with which they become casualties of political transition.

What Pakistan requires is something broader: a Charter of Economic Development, a domestic grand bargain through which the country&#39;s powers-that-be agree to protect a limited set of economic fundamentals from the turbulence of everyday politics. Long-term contracts entered into by the state would remain secure regardless of political transitions. Energy, taxation and investment frameworks would be insulated from abrupt reversals. Independent regulators would be protected from political interference. Public-private partnerships and privatisation decisions would cease to become casualties of retrospective scrutiny each time power changes hands.

More importantly, such a charter must emerge from a wider political settlement requiring earnest engagement between government and opposition, with both sides accepting that perpetual confrontation carries economic costs borne by the entire country. No investor can be expected to think in decades when political actors remain locked in struggles measured in weeks. A sustainable economic future requires agreement on a limited set of national economic priorities that remain beyond the reach of partisan conflict.

Pakistan possesses many of the ingredients for economic success: a young and entrepreneurial population, vast untapped mineral wealth, strategic geography and a globally connected diaspora. The challenge has never been discovering opportunities.

Reko Diq will eventually produce copper. Pakistan&#39;s deeper challenge is extracting something Chagai cannot yield &ndash; confidence that contracts will survive governments, that policies will survive elections, that the rules of the game will survive the players.]]>
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			<title>Global issues and vertical integration</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613163/global-issues-and-vertical-integration</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613163/global-issues-and-vertical-integration#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 26 01:25:30 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Shahid Javed Burki]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2613163</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Economic historians coined the phrase 'vertical integration' to understand the rise of Rockefeller's oil conglomerate]]>
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				<![CDATA[Economic historians coined the phrase &#39;vertical integration&#39; to understand the rise and domination of John D Rockefeller&#39;s oil conglomerate, Standard Oil. By the 1890s, Rockefeller&#39;s company sold 84 per cent of all petroleum products in America. In 1904, the investigative journalist Ida Tarbell published a two-volume account of America&#39;s first billionaire and detailed how he crushed his rivals with ruthless and unjust tactics. The author carefully distinguished what happened in the light and what happened in the dark. &quot;This huge bulk, blackened by commercial sin, has always been strong in all great business qualities - in energy, in intelligence, in dauntlessness. It has always been rich in youth as well as greed, in brains as well as unscrupulousness.&quot; Ten years after the book was published, Rockefeller rose to infamy for the Ludlow massacre in which company sponsored attacks on striking Colorado miners resulted in the deaths of at least 20 people, including 11 children. However, Rockefeller and his heirs gave millions of dollars to charity.

The latest example of vertical integration is billionaire Elon Musk, the world&#39;s richest man who is about to launch his Initial Public Offer, the IPO, valued by the market at more than a trillion dollars. He has built, during and after his association with President Donald Trump, highly profitable businesses in several sectors of the United States economy. He is now going public by launching a programme to have individual investors invest in his growing empire. He is already a household name by virtue of having launched Tesla, his electric automobile which has sold millions of cars not only in the United States but also in Europe and Eastern Asia.

He is now working on building a big business in what is called low-Earth orbit, or LEO. This is vast open territory capable of providing limitless energy drawn directly from the sun. It is now being exploited by SpaceX, a company founded and developed by Musk. Musk&#39;s game plan was revealed in a writeup that announced his move into LEO. As Clive Irving wrote in an article published by The New York Times on June 5, 2026, &quot;SpaceX has a near monopoly of using LEO as a kind of mother lode, a vast network of satellites and rockets that places them in orbit. Merging SpaceX with the artificial intelligence startup xAI would result in the most ambitious, vertically integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth. Vertical integration is the code word for controlling every stage of extraction business from source to market. Controlling LEO from launchpad to electricity generation could indeed be transformative. In the global scramble for new energy sources, SpaceX vows to meet the rapacious energy demands of AI data centres by moving them into space.&quot; From space, Musk would use vertical integration to influence - and possibly control - a lot that happens on Earth.

In the aerospace sphere, Musk&#39;s SpaceX has earned the status of a national asset, hailed as such by President Trump. Billions of dollars of government money have flown into the company. Musk is basing his ambitions in space on his rocket Starship. It was originally advertised for the eventual exploration of Mars, Earth&#39;s neighbour in the solar system of planets. The demand for artificial intelligence may not be as large as what Musk&#39;s IPO values the vertically integrated system at. Vertical integration may not sustain and maintain complex data centres in space. The IPO he is planning to launch will give one person using vertical integration the power to control not only what he produces on Earth but also to control space.

There are many differences between Rockefeller and Musk. The former and his children gave millions of dollars to charity. Musk has shown no interest in following the Rockefeller example. What the billionaire has shown is that pairing of great wealth can go along with moral destitution. To go back to Clive Irving&#39;s account of the rise of Musk, &quot;Until now this has always been a uniquely American problem to reckon with. This time, though, it impacts terrestrial geography and becomes, literally, stratospheric.&quot;

After leading its European allies to victories in the two theatres on which the Second World War was staged - one in Europe and the other in East Asia - the United States could have become the undisputed world leader. Instead, it practised what is now called vertical integration. It created a set of institutions in which it had a prominent voice but not a dominant presence. The global institution-based world order it sponsored had other participants. The United Nations had all independent nations across the globe as its members. It entrusted maintenance of global peace to one UN body - the Security Council - in which five permanent members had the right to veto the resolutions it was presented to approve. China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States were the veto-holding authority in the Council. The economic and financial institutions - the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank - had governing boards in which the United States was a member. The IMF was headed by a European and the World Bank was chaired by an American.

Both institutions had international staff that exercised a fair amount of power. The United States could not - and mostly did not - interfere with the working of the international staff. It tried to do that in the fallout of what came to be called the Tiananmen Square Crisis resulting from the use of military by the Chinese authorities to control protesters who were demanding the creation of a political order in which the people had some say. Hundreds of people were killed when the troops opened fire. The United States attempted to use international institutions to punish the authorities in Beijing. I was then the Director of the World Bank&#39;s China programme. I refused to follow US directions, a defiance that Washington attempted to punish me for by having the Bank&#39;s President move against me. That the president refused to do. Vertical integration did not work in my case.

International vertical integration has collapsed under the leadership of Donald Trump, America&#39;s current president. He has a strong preference for using his personal authority to influence world affairs. His decision to attack Iran on February 28, 2026, has set the global system on fire. The way Trump is governing does not conform to global vertical integration.]]>
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			<title>Shibboleths and scamdemic in corporate India</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613164/shibboleths-and-scamdemic-in-corporate-india</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613164/shibboleths-and-scamdemic-in-corporate-india#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 26 01:25:30 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Adeela Naureen &amp; Waqar K Kauravi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2613164</guid>
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				<![CDATA[Shibboleths are words, customs or behaviours that distinguish members of a particular group from outsiders]]>
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				<![CDATA[Shibboleths are words, customs or behaviours that distinguish members of a particular group from outsiders. The term originates from a story in the Hebrew Bible, where the Gileadites used the pronunciation of the word shibboleth (meaning &#39;ear of grain&#39; or &#39;stream&#39;) to identify their enemies, the Ephraimites, who could not pronounce the initial &#39;sh&#39; sound and said &#39;sibboleth&#39; instead.

Shibboleths could act as group identity markers, signalling insider status: today in subcultures, professions or online communities, Shibboleths are being associated with digital tribalism.

Since the return of RSS to power in India in 2014, the entire ecosystem has been erected around the concept of Shibboleths. Whether these are the bhakts of RSS&#39;s shakhas marauding the countryside or godi media blabbers spewing Islamophobic hate and venom on almost an hourly basis, one finds the use of Shibboleths in almost every walk of life.

Cybercrime Magazine suggests that over $1 trillion is annually lost to online fraud and corporate malpractice, terming it as &#39;scamdemic&#39;. Some experts suggest that most of the global scamdemic has some direct or indirect link to corporate India. Corporate India has become infamous because of scamdemic; especially the pampered Gujarati businesses who now monopolise the Indian economy and have built a fa&ccedil;ade of grand empires of Adanis and Ambanis, courtesy of Mr Modi. The latest is Mr Rajesh Mehta of Rajesh Exports.

The journey of Rajesh Exports started from a jeweller&#39;s shop which grew into the largest gold refinery in India, and by 2019, the world&#39;s largest - especially after acquiring Switzerland-based gold giant, Valcambi. Rajesh built his reputation as a humble guy who would not use smart phones, would travel in normal Corolla cars and would wear local stitched suits, but this ploy was part of the &#39;scamdemic&#39; that has penetrated every business house in India.

The allegations against Rajesh Exports centre on a claim by India&#39;s market regulator, SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India), of misrepresentation of nearly 99.8% of its consolidated revenues over a five-year period, amounting to approximately $158 billion.

On June 3, 2026, SEBI issued an interim order against Rajesh Exports Ltd (REL) and its Chairman, Rajesh Mehta, highlighting a series of grave financial irregularities including massive revenue misrepresentation. Between FY21 and FY25, 97-99% of REL&#39;s consolidated revenue was attributed to its overseas subsidiaries, particularly Switzerland-based Valcambi. However, Valcambi&#39;s own audited standalone accounts showed revenues of only a few hundred crore rupees, creating the massive discrepancy that SEBI has flagged as potential fraud.

REL claimed to have a ?1,035 crore investment in &#39;gold mines in Africa&#39;, but was unable to provide any documentation or linkage in its financial statements. Rajesh Mehta also used non-cooperation and obstruction as delaying tactics and incidentally the state appeared helpless in taking him to task. The notorious ED (enforcement directorate) which has been extensively used to break opposition members and force them to join BJP was also found missing in the case of Rajesh Mehta. Whether it was Modi&#39;s connection or BJP&#39;s patronage, only time will tell.

These actions allowed REL to portray an &quot;inflated and misleading picture&quot; of its financial health, resulting in an estimated wealth erosion of ?12,726 crore for shareholders. Rajesh Exports has denied all charges of wrongdoing. However, SEBI has taken strong interim regulatory actions, including barring Rajesh Mehta from buying, selling or dealing in securities until further notice.

The fallout has been immediate and severe: the company&#39;s shares hit the lower circuit on the BSE, and the shareholder base, which had expanded to over 200,000, has seen a significant loss in market value.

From Adani&#39;s money laundering scams published by the Hindenburg reports to Mehul Choksi&#39;s and Nirav Modi&#39;s fraud in the diamond business, and from Vijay Mallya to Rishi Agarwal, there is a laundry list of scams and shibboleths reflecting the weak links of Indian economy. As projected by Rahul Gandhi, India is staring at a catastrophic economic tsunami in coming days, and it&#39;s entirely up to the people of India to heed the call.

The exposure of a fraudulent company like Rajesh Exports would have profound implications for India&#39;s economic standing and credibility. A fraud of this magnitude would not only trigger a statistical shock but also erode the foundational trust that underpins the nation&#39;s economic reputation. The immediate effect would be a significant downward revision of India&#39;s historical GDP growth rates. The key link is that India&#39;s official GDP estimates have, since 2015, relied heavily on the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the same database containing the financial reports of corporate entities like Rajesh Exports.

The National Sample Survey Office had found that 36-45% of companies in this database were &quot;untraceable or wrongly classified&quot;, calling into question the reliability of the entire dataset used for GDP calculation. The Rajesh Exports fraud would confirm the presence of intentionally falsified data within this system. If the database used for GDP calculation is significantly contaminated with non-existent or &quot;shell&quot; companies, the growth numbers for the private corporate sector, and thus India&#39;s overall GDP, could be overstated.

Any value added from Rajesh Exports&#39; inflated revenues would have been included in the national accounts for multiple financial years. Removing this fictitious value would result in a one-time, downward revision of GDP figures for those years, effectively forcing India to publicly admit that past economic growth was overstated.

The fraud recalls past crises like the Satyam scandal (2009) and the multiple high-profile bank loan defaults involving diamond and aviation tycoons which already placed India in a higher &quot;risk perception&quot; bracket. The exposure of the data gap for a top 5 Indian company by revenue would be seen as a massive governance failure, potentially diverting future investment flows to countries with more transparent accounting systems.

At an international level, partners and multilateral institutions like the IMF and World Bank would demand greater methodological transparency before using Indian data in their reports and projections. India&#39;s ability to benchmark itself in global indices on ease of doing business would be severely undermined.]]>
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			<title>Exams in summers: an ordeal or adventure</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613162/exams-in-summers-an-ordeal-or-adventure</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613162/exams-in-summers-an-ordeal-or-adventure#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 26 01:25:30 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[M Nadeem Nadir]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2613162</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Our students deserve all the accolades because of the ordeals they go through to pursue their academic dreams]]>
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				<![CDATA[Our students deserve all the accolades because of the circumstances, ordeals indeed, they go through to pursue their academic dreams. We make them experience all the discomfort - or adventures, as per some Pollyannas - of practical life. I felt like prolonging the prologue to the length of an elegy on the pain, anguish and agony they face in their student life, but the gravity of the issue pulled me back. The circumstances that threw me into the melancholic abyss are related to the ongoing exams for higher secondary education in Punjab. Remember that after completing this level of education, the students pursue their professional studies in arts, medicine, engineering or technology.

Sweltering heat, peak power loadshedding, insufficient facilities, a student-unfriendly environment at the examination halls and poor real-life planning are a few inhibitors that turn the exams into a ring of fire that students have to squeeze themselves through to be declared an educated community in whose hands lies the future of our country.

First of all, the academic calendar for the higher secondary classes must end in spring and examinations must be held in March. The weather during this part of the year is most suitable for studies and students. Even if educational institutions are occupied with the teaching of remaining classes in the morning, their space, which remains unoccupied after regular working hours, can be utilised for exams in pleasant weather.

To hold exams after school time will also solve the problem of scarcity of supervisory staff, consisting mostly of teachers who would be readily available in the evening after paying their teaching duties in the morning at their respective institutions. Another solution is that the examination boards can even book marriage halls to hold examinations to make the most of favourable weather in March and April.

If at all it is inevitable to hold exams for higher secondary classes in the dog days of summer because of the length of the academic year and the queued exams of other education levels, then there must be some interdepartmental communication and coordination between the education department and the electric power suppliers at the local level. The exam date sheet must be shared with the power suppliers to ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity during exam hours. Imagine the suffocating milieu when the electricity goes off in long, big halls filled to the capacity with poor ventilation, dim light, faulty fans, a shortage of cool potable water and no alternative source of electricity in hot and humid days. Lo and behold, our students are initiated into practical life, a bit too early. The majority of students get panicked. Don&#39;t say the students hailing from underprivileged communities stand privileged here because such circumstances are not unseen for them. The age bracket they fall into must still be considered a tender age.

As the exam centres are usually government educational institutions, the dearth of facilities there shocks students, particularly the students from moderate to high-end elite institutions. Imagine, yes, again, how would a student who spends most of his time in spaces with an uninterrupted power supply deal with the absence of such facilities? We can&#39;t slight them as luxuries when we try and gauge their gravity at the crucial juncture of his academic sojourn.

One may argue that talking of such facilities is crying for the moon, given the poor availability of the necessities of life to all and sundry. Nevertheless, to reposition exams to the part of the academic year supporting exam-friendly weather falls in our ambit. One wonders why private educational institutions, particularly the elite ones, are not used as exam venues where the availability of facilities is much better than that at the public educational institutions. The exam boards must allocate funds to facilitate the exam centres to arrange alternative sources of power supply like solar power, UPS or portable electricity generators. Also, the funds specified under the head of ice for cool water must be enhanced proportionately, as the reckoning of the funds isn&#39;t based on the actual cost.]]>
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			<title>Muharram security</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613335/muharram-security</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613335/muharram-security#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 26 20:49:20 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2613335</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Security during Muharram cannot be treated as a routine administrative exercise]]>
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				<![CDATA[Pakistan&#39;s long and painful encounter with sectarian violence is a reminder that security during Muharram cannot be treated as a routine administrative exercise. As the new Islamic year approaches and preparations for the mourning month intensify across the country, the state is right to place law-enforcement agencies on high alert. The deployment of police, Rangers and, where necessary, military personnel are essential safeguards against threats that have repeatedly targeted one of the most solemn periods in the Muslim calendar.

For much of the past four decades, terrorists have sought to exploit Muharram to sow fear and division. While Pakistan has witnessed a decline in large-scale sectarian attacks in recent years, complacency would be a grave mistake. Groups inspired by sectarian ideologies remain active, and transnational terrorist networks continue to view Pakistan as fertile ground for stoking religious discord. The deadly attack on an Imambargah in Islamabad earlier this year was a stark reminder that the threat has not disappeared. The challenge before the state is immense. Tens of thousands of mourning assemblies and thousands of processions will be held across the country during the first 10 days of Muharram alone. Punjab authorities have announced the deployment of over 124,000 police personnel to secure more than 47,000 religious gatherings, while similar arrangements are being made in Sindh, Balochistan and K-P. Surveillance cameras, aerial monitoring, control rooms, route security, rooftop deployment of snipers and specialised arrangements for women participants are all part of the security architecture being put in place. Worrying though is the conventional role of social media. A rumour originating in one city can inflame passions across the country within minutes. There can be no tolerance for those who use cyberspace to incite violence or promote communal hatred. However, the burden of maintaining peace cannot rest solely on the shoulders of the state. Religious scholars from all schools of thought have an equally important responsibility. Clerics participating in preparatory meetings across the provinces have pledged to promote inter-sect harmony and discourage rumours during their sermons.

Muharram commemorates sacrifice and steadfastness in the face of oppression. It should never become an occasion for hatred or violence. Pakistan&#39;s religious diversity is not a weakness to be exploited. The coming weeks will test the effectiveness of security institutions and the maturity of society itself.]]>
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			<title>Deal of the century</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613334/deal-of-the-century</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613334/deal-of-the-century#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 26 20:49:20 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2613334</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The United States and Iran have agreed to mend fences, and bring the war to a perpetual end]]>
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				<![CDATA[A deal has finally come through. The United States and Iran have agreed to mend fences, and bring the war to a perpetual end. It is an epoch-making moment, and Islamabad deserves full credit for that. The signing ceremony in Switzerland on Friday will see Pakistan act as host, crowning its rise as an essential force for global peace. It is worth noting that persuading these bitter adversaries to sign on the dotted lines of rapprochement was an arduous task. It required immense wisdom and sagacity from all stakeholders in the conflict, ultimately proving that diplomacy has triumphed over warmongering and brinkmanship.

According to the salient features of the preliminary deal consented to by both Washington and Tehran, a framework will be set into motion to end the war, lift the US blockade of Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, leaving the contentious nuclear enrichment issue for a later date. Perhaps Iran&#39;s guarantee that it will not pursue nuclear weapons, made on moral grounds, is the driving force behind the American reciprocity. Likewise, the fact that the compromise includes suspension of military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, must have come as a consolation for Tehran. Other critical elements of the deal include lifting sanctions on Iran and establishing a fresh roadmap for sustainable peace in the Middle East. However, it is not yet clear whether the jingoistic Jewish state is on board or not.

Amid this diplomatic breakthrough, Pakistan&#39;s unyielding commitment to bridging the deep-seated divide is worth acknowledging. Hosting the inaugural round of Islamabad Talks allowed the nation to effectively harness the synergies of the two warring sides and maintain the momentum of the peace process. The envelope was articulately pushed by Field Marshal Asim Munir as he undertook two visits to Tehran, and also remained in touch with the White House.

It is a no small wonder that from the rhetoric of destroying &quot;a whole civilization&quot; to assured prospects of reconciliation, diplomacy has come a long way. Also, the fact that the Gulf states, Iran and the US avoided a collision course, despite occasionally playing to the gallery, is a laudable treatise. Similarly, the roles played by China as an honest interlocutor and Russia as an alternative support system for oil supplies have been invaluable additions to the process of pacification. Likewise, the refusal by the European states to become part of jingoism and muster the courage to differ with their strategic ally, the US, are hallmarks of a new era in multilateralism. Last but not least, the profound commitment of T&uuml;rkiye, Qatar and Oman to act as catalysts for peace is highly commendable.

Now is the time for caution, ensuring that this broad-based understanding is tactfully converted into a final agreement within the stipulated two-month timeline. The least that is required is to ensure that Israel does not go on to spoil the hard-earned work. The onus, however, is on President Trump and this is where he will be tested for his leadership. The Gulf states and Iran too must strike bilateral accords, meant at scaling down the prevailing mistrust, apart from collectively working for a region that is at ease in supply chain and free from geopolitical irritants.]]>
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			<title>Fifty days on</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613159/fifty-days-on</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613159/fifty-days-on#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 26 01:25:30 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2613159</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Pakistani crew members remain hostage at sea with no visible breakthrough in negotiations]]>
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				<![CDATA[More than fifty days after their vessel was hijacked off the Somali coast, Pakistani crew members remain hostage at sea with no visible breakthrough in negotiations. Questions are mounting about how the crisis is being handled by the shipping company and relevant authorities. In a newly released video, the crew can be seen standing on the deck of the ship, directly appealing to the governments of Pakistan and Indonesia for urgent intervention.

What has sharpened concern is the reported breakdown in the negotiation process itself. According to the hostages, the shipping company has not engaged directly with the pirates. Instead, it has delegated negotiations to a third party. That arrangement has reportedly become the core obstacle. The pirates, according to the crew, refuse to recognise this intermediary and insist on direct talks with authorised representatives of the shipping company. As a result, no formal negotiation channel is currently functioning, leaving the situation in a deadlock. This impasse is an operational failure in a hostage crisis. In such situations, ambiguity over authority and representation effectively shuts down negotiation. When armed captors reject the designated interlocutor and no alternative is established, the burden falls directly on the hostages. The second layer of concern lies in the lack of clarity over institutional response. While the crew has now been in captivity for nearly two months, there is little publicly visible indication of a coordinated diplomatic or maritime effort to establish a recognised negotiating framework or to apply sustained pressure for resolution.

At stake are not only the lives of those on board but also the credibility of maritime employment protections for Pakistani seafarers operating in high-risk corridors. What is required now is the immediate establishment of a recognised negotiating channel, backed by coordinated diplomatic pressure. The foremost priority should be to bring the hostages home.]]>
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			<title>Students and drug addiction</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613160/students-and-drug-addiction</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2613160/students-and-drug-addiction#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 26 01:25:30 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2613160</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The magnitude of drug abuse among students in Karachi continues to get worse]]>
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				<![CDATA[The magnitude of drug abuse among students in Karachi continues to get worse, despite intervention efforts by the government and social welfare groups. While reliable data is hard to come by due to taboos around the subject, a 2024 survey by the Pakistan Narcotics Control Board found that 44% of university and college students were engaged in drug use, with one in five schoolchildren having experimented with drugs at least once. Anecdotal evidence from several sources suggests the numbers have gotten worse since then.

Part of the problem is also the sheer scale of drug abuse in the country, which recent events have shown was severely underestimated. The case of alleged cocaine queenpin Anmol alias Pinky is just one example. Her extensive network allegedly supplied drugs to affluent areas, including Defence and Clifton, and counted students among her customers. In fact, one of her associates was reportedly peddling narcotics on campuses in posh areas.

While arrests are necessary, the only solution to drug abuse is prevention and rehabilitation. The recent anti-drug policy formulated by Karachi&#39;s South Zone police in collaboration with 22 universities and schools provides a promising framework. Built on prevention, early intervention, parental engagement and rehabilitation, the policy mandates the formation of anti-drug committees comprising teachers, parents and law enforcers. Educational institutions must now implement regular awareness seminars, age-appropriate curricula on substance abuse, and, with parental consent, reasonable drug-screening programmes.

However, a policy on paper is insufficient. The Campus Security and Substance Abuse Watch Force, comprising 50 police personnel, must be expanded and properly trained. Law enforcement must also crack down on online drug sales, which have become a preferred channel for reaching students. Ultimately, schools, families and police must work as a single unit - because every student lost to addiction is a future we cannot afford to lose.]]>
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			<title>Modern Tech Leadership: Building Systems That Scale</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2545646/modern-tech-leadership-building-systems-that-scale</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2545646/modern-tech-leadership-building-systems-that-scale#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 13 May 25 18:54:31 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Shaukat Ali Khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2545646</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The author is Advisor to the President, Aga Khan University.]]>
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				<![CDATA[In the crucible of modern technology leadership, where AI advancements outpace human adaptation and market shifts occur in real time, a new paradigm has emerged. The most effective tech leaders no longer rely on individual brilliance alone; they architect organizational systems that transform pressure into performance.

Recent data reveals a troubling reality: 61% of tech executives report unsustainable stress levels (Harvard Business Review), while leadership fatigue costs the industry $300 billion annually in lost productivity (Deloitte). These numbers underscore a fundamental truth &mdash; the challenges of tech leadership have evolved beyond what any individual can manage through sheer willpower.

The unique pressures facing tech leaders manifest in three critical dimensions. Decision-making occurs against a backdrop of exponential data growth, with IDC reporting that global data volumes double every two years &mdash; a reality that leaves 49% of tech leaders experiencing decision paralysis (MIT Sloan). Alignment becomes increasingly fragile in distributed engineering teams, where Gallup finds only 28% of technologists feel deeply connected to their company&#39;s mission. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization documents a 35% surge in leadership burnout since 2020, particularly acute in the tech sector&rsquo;s always-on culture.

What separates thriving tech leaders from those who merely survive? The answer lies in systematic approaches to five fundamental pillars of leadership. Vision in technology organizations must be both aspirational and adaptable. McKinsey research confirms that tech companies with dynamic, clearly articulated visions grow 1.5 times faster than competitors. Microsoft&rsquo;s transformation under Satya Nadella exemplifies this principle, where reframing the company&rsquo;s mission around empowerment rather than devices catalyzed a trillion-dollar market cap surge while increasing engineering team alignment by 32% (Harvard Business Review).

Transparency serves as the operating system for modern tech organizations. In an industry where Gartner reports 70% of technical initiatives fail to meet objectives, Gallup data shows that teams with transparent leaders demonstrate 3.5 times higher engagement. This principle manifests in radical openness &mdash; from GitLab&rsquo;s 6,000-page public handbook to Datadog&rsquo;s transparent incident postmortems &mdash; practices that Aberdeen Group links to 47% higher shareholder returns in tech companies.

The velocity of technological change demands unprecedented decisiveness. Stanford research indicates that hesitation costs tech firms 30% in lost innovation speed, while Bain &amp; Company data reveals that leaders who make critical decisions within 48 hours of receiving data drive 40% faster growth. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang&rsquo;s 2006 bet on CUDA architecture, made against prevailing wisdom, demonstrates how such decisive leadership builds enduring competitive advantage in the AI era.

Resilience in tech leadership requires more than personal fortitude &mdash; it demands institutionalized systems for recovery. The Journal of Applied Psychology documents that resilient tech leaders drive 25% more innovation output, with MIT research showing 82% attribute their success to structured problem-solving frameworks rather than individual heroics. Apple&rsquo;s resurgence under Steve Jobs emerged not from charismatic leadership alone, but from implementing ruthless product prioritization systems that transformed a billion-dollar loss into a $350 billion valuation.

Stakeholder trust functions as technical debt for tech leaders &mdash; it compounds quietly but determines long-term viability. PwC&rsquo;s CEO Survey finds 85% of tech leaders directly link trust to valuation, a connection exemplified by AMD&rsquo;s Lisa Su, who rebuilt investor confidence through transparent technology roadmaps after near collapse. Edelman data confirms that tech companies maintaining high stakeholder trust achieve 2.5 times greater revenue growth during market fluctuations.

The most forward-thinking tech leaders recognize that sustainable success emerges from systems rather than individual brilliance. Harvard research demonstrates that structured decision frameworks reduce deliberation time by 50% &mdash; critical when AI models can obsolete strategies overnight. McKinsey findings show that teams with clear systems adapt 60% faster to disruptions like API deprecations or supply chain shocks. Even failures become accelerants when properly analysed. Stanford studies reveal that tech organizations conducting rigorous postmortems improve 30% faster after setbacks.

This new leadership calculus represents a fundamental shift in how tech organizations scale. The most effective leaders don&rsquo;t simply make better decisions &mdash; they build better decision-making systems. They don&rsquo;t just communicate; they engineer transparency into their organizational DNA. They recognize that in an era of continuous deployment and real-time market shifts, sustainable leadership comes not from being the smartest engineer in the room, but from creating environments where every engineer can perform at their best. As artificial intelligence reshapes the technological landscape, this systematic approach to leadership may prove to be the ultimate competitive advantage.

The data leaves little room for debate &mdash; the future belongs to tech leaders who architect organizations as thoughtfully as they design systems. In doing so, they transform the overwhelming complexity of modern technology leadership from a crisis to be managed into a competitive edge to be leveraged. The organizations that embrace this paradigm won&rsquo;t just survive the coming waves of disruption &mdash; they&rsquo;ll define them.]]>
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			<title>Hurdles in materialization of GCC’s economic ventures in Pakistan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2517229/hurdles-in-materialization-of-gccs-economic-ventures-in-pakistan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2517229/hurdles-in-materialization-of-gccs-economic-ventures-in-pakistan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 20 Dec 24 05:55:06 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Syed Ahmed Ali]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2517229</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Pakistan must boost economic productivity to enhance trade ties with GCC countries and ensure sustainable growth.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The organization of the Gulf Cooperation Council was formed in 1981 which consists of six states: Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. The Gulf region is one of the most resource-rich areas namely crude oil and gas. In recent years the GCC countries have reduced their dependency on energy trade and promoted economic diversification. To pursue their economic diversification initiative, GCC countries have engaged in cooperation with other regions such as South Asia, which offers key resources and technical expertise. Pakistan being a member state of the South Asian region, stands at the crossroads to either connect itself with external regions such as the Middle East or risk economic isolation.

Huma Yusuf in an article titled &ldquo;Wide Gulf&rdquo; analyzed the GCC approach to the South Asian region, which seems to develop economic relations with India while maintaining military cooperation with Pakistan on specific security issues alongside occasional economic packages to aid Pakistan&rsquo;s ailing economy. Pakistan&rsquo;s GCC policy prioritizes political and security issues over developing economic relations. As noted by Shashank Joshi, Pakistan&rsquo;s relations with Arab states seem to be military-centric. As a consequence, Pakistan&#39;s economy suffers from a lack of a conducive environment for economic productivity and regional integration.

Pakistan&#39;s economic cooperation with GCC states while still in its infancy does touch some important sectors which need to be explored. The most important sector between Pakistan and the GCC economic relations is the energy trade. In July 2023, Saudi Arabia announced that it would invest 10 billion dollars in Gwadar, Balochistan to construct an oil refinery, which would help with GCC energy exports in the South Asian region. In the same year, the UAE signed a memorandum (MoU) for the possibility of developing renewable energy in Pakistan. In 2016 Qatar became a major supplier of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to Pakistan through its LNG terminal agreement which was worth 15 billion dollars for a 15-year supply.

Apart from helping the energy sector, the GCC has also helped develop the Infrastructure of Pakistan, particularly in Azad Jammu and Kashmir. On the 22nd of October 2022, Saudi Arabia agreed to fund infrastructure projects in Neelum Valley and Muzaffarabad worth 30 billion rupees as a part of its Saudi Fund for Development (SFD). The SFD is a Saudi government assistance program that helps provide financial assistance to developing countries. Apart from providing financial aid to governmental projects, the GCC is a major investor in the real estate business in Pakistan. In 2013 Malik Riaz of the Bahria Group and Sheikh Nahyan of the Abu Dhabi Group invested 45 billion dollars in Pakistan&rsquo;s real estate industry, where they invested 10 billion dollars in Lahore and 35 billion in Karachi.

Apart from the real estate industry, the GCC countries have made a significant impact on various sectors of Pakistan&rsquo;s economy. In 2009 the Saudi government leased 500,000 acres of agricultural land from Pakistan to grow wheat as a means to ensure Saudi food security. Apart from the agricultural industry, the GCC supports Pakistani manufacturing by importing construction materials like cement. In 2004 Pakistan received a demand for cement of about 2000 tons per week from the UAE, which was supplied by Lucky Cement, DG Khan, and Attock In the field of fertilizer production Saudi Companies like SABIC have invested in Pakistan&rsquo;s fertilizer manufacturing through National Chemical Fertilizer Company (NFC).

The investments and economic aid provided by the GCC to Pakistan are channeled through joint cooperation organizations. One such organization is the UAE-Pakistan Assistance Program (UAE-PAP) which provided 200 million dollars of economic aid to Pakistan in May 2018. The objective of this funding was to provide humanitarian assistance to the vulnerable people in Pakistan. More recently, the Saudi-Pakistan Investment Conference announced a 20 billion investment, which covered diverse areas including energy, agriculture, and the environment.

Pakistan GCC trade relations are import intensive, where Gulf investors look to attract Pakistani investment in real estate, export their energy industry, and lease agricultural lands. In 2016 the trade deficit between Pakistan and GCC countries was 1.1 billion dollars, this increased to 1.3 billion dollars in 2020. The trade relationship between GCC and Pakistan is driven by rising imports and the depreciation of the Pakistani rupee which leads to the depletion of Pakistan&rsquo;s foreign exchange reserves. This vicious cycle of rising import costs and increasing foreign debt can only be mitigated through boosting economic productivity which is essential to have a long-lasting sustainable trade relationship with the GCC.

Pakistan faces significant challenges in its governance system to boost its economic productivity. Pakistan historically has inconsistency in its policy-making owing to political instability and frequent change in governments. Pakistan lacks a shared framework of economic policies shared by all stakeholders, which often leads to disruption of the previous policies initiated by the previous government. To make matters worse Pakistan&#39;s administration system suffers from red-tapism, where bureaucratic delays and complicated forms make it difficult for potential investors to invest.

Pakistan faces an acute energy crisis, where the cost of energy makes the cost of doing business too high. This leads to industrial regression where many investors look to set up their production plants where the energy costs are low. The use of renewable energy resources such as hydroelectric power plants can help reduce the cost of energy production. Solar panel technology for localized energy production is ideal in remote areas lacking grid connectivity. Energy costs can be reduced by using localized source fuels, such as Thar coal which is a cheaper alternative than foreign imported coal.

Pakistan needs export diversification, where the government needs to encourage the growth of new industrial sectors such as IT and the pharmaceutical industry. These industries produce greater value-added products which have a greater value meaning a greater inflow of foreign currency. Pakistan can help the growth of these new industrial sectors by providing export incentives such as reducing taxes on export industries. The government can also provide technical training services to help improve labor productivity.

Through these measures, Pakistan can improve its economic productivity and increase its foreign exchange currency reserves, which is important to build a more sustainable and long-lasting trade partnership with GCC countries. Such trade relations will help Pakistan&rsquo;s economy to grow and build stronger cooperation with the Gulf region.

The writer is an analyst on Middle East and South Asia]]>
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			<title>Schrödinger’s Cat and Pakistan’s Economy: Alive, dead, or both?</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2517054/schrodingers-cat-and-pakistans-economy-alive-dead-or-both</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2517054/schrodingers-cat-and-pakistans-economy-alive-dead-or-both#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 19 Dec 24 10:18:40 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Dr Aneel Salman]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2517054</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Pakistan’s economy is in flux, showing signs of life but facing challenges that keep it uncertain.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Imagine a cat in a sealed box, both alive and dead at the same time&mdash;Schr&ouml;dinger&rsquo;s famous thought experiment in quantum mechanics. Now replace the cat with Pakistan&rsquo;s economy, and you have a paradox that would make even Erwin Schr&ouml;dinger scratch his head.

Is Pakistan&rsquo;s economy thriving, or is it a mirage of temporary improvements? Like the metaphorical box, the truth only reveals itself once we look deeper. On the surface, Pakistan&rsquo;s economy seems to be showing signs of life. Inflation, which was roaring just months ago, has started to ease, particularly in food prices.

In November 2024, inflation dropped sharply to 4.9%, down from over 30% in 2023, providing relief to households that have struggled with sky-high grocery bills.
From a broader perspective, fiscal and external accounts appear to be turning a corner. The government&rsquo;s disciplined spending has led to a primary surplus, a feat that many developing economies struggle to achieve.

The current account has posted a surplus for three consecutive months, indicating improved external balances. Foreign exchange reserves have crossed $12 billion for the first time in over two years, reaching $12.04 billion in November 2024, reducing immediate fears of default.
There&rsquo;s even talk of Pakistan re-entering the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which could bring much-needed foreign portfolio investments.

The stock market has responded with renewed enthusiasm, with the benchmark share index hitting a lifetime high following the IMF&rsquo;s approval of a $7 billion bailout deal.
Corporate Pakistan, despite the recent turmoil, is cautiously optimistic. Banks have reported soaring profits, with some of the highest returns in Asia, due to high-interest rates and increased government borrowing.

The technology sector has attracted international venture capital, signalling confidence in the country&rsquo;s young talent pool. Agricultural reforms, including better irrigation and the introduction of high-yield seeds, are starting to pay off. In the FMCG sector, multinationals are reporting growth as consumer demand begins to recover. Meanwhile, automotive assemblers and manufacturers are ramping up production after a prolonged slump.

But here&rsquo;s the twist: Schr&ouml;dinger&rsquo;s cat is still in the box. Is this economic revival genuinely sustainable, or is it a temporary high? Much of the current stability hinges on policy measures that are inherently short-term. Import restrictions and remittance inflows have propped up reserves, but what happens when those restrictions are lifted? Is the economy fundamentally stronger, or are we just seeing a Band-Aid over a deep wound?

Debt remains the elephant&mdash;or perhaps the tiger&mdash;in the room. Pakistan&rsquo;s external debt obligations are massive, requiring substantial foreign exchange outflows. Without consistent export growth or foreign direct investment (FDI), the current account surplus could quickly vanish. The energy sector, despite progress in renewable projects, still struggles with circular debt and over-reliance on imported fuels, making it vulnerable to global shocks.

And let&rsquo;s not forget the perpetual wild card: politics. Policy consistency and investor confidence often take a backseat to political turmoil. In a country where ministers change faster than seasons, long-term economic planning is easier said than done.

So, what&rsquo;s the way forward for Pakistan&rsquo;s Schr&ouml;dinger economy? To truly open the box and find a thriving economy inside, Pakistan must shift from firefighting to systemic reform. Exports need to diversify beyond textiles&mdash;IT services, for instance, hold enormous untapped potential. Investment in renewable energy and domestic resources can reduce the dependency on volatile global fuel markets.
The tax system needs a complete overhaul.

Broadening the tax base by formalizing the informal economy is crucial. Digitization of tax processes has started, but enforcement and trust-building with businesses remain key. Regional trade offers another lifeline. Strengthening trade with Afghanistan, Central Asia, and even India could open up new economic corridors and stabilize supply chains.

Pakistan must also tackle inefficiencies in state-owned enterprises, which continue to bleed the exchequer. Privatization or restructuring, though politically sensitive, could reduce fiscal drag. Finally, political and institutional stability cannot be overstated. A consistent policy framework and good governance are critical to unlocking the country&rsquo;s potential.

As of now, Pakistan&rsquo;s economy remains in a superposition&mdash;alive, dead, or somewhere in between. The current signs are hopeful, but as any physicist&mdash;or economist&mdash;would tell you, the true state only reveals itself with time, data, and bold action. Until then, Schr&ouml;dinger&rsquo;s cat, or rather Pakistan&rsquo;s economy, keeps us guessing.

&nbsp;]]>
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			<title>Breaking free from inertia</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2573191/breaking-free-from-inertia</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2573191/breaking-free-from-inertia#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 19 Oct 25 19:19:25 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Nadeem Javaid]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2573191</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Pakistan finds itself unable to prosper]]>
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				<![CDATA[Pakistan once stood at the edge of promise - a young nation alive with ambition, industry, and the dream of joining Asia&#39;s rising tigers. But somewhere along the way, that energy dimmed. Growth lost its rhythm, and progress began to circle instead of climb. The country now finds itself caught in what economists call the Middle-Income Trap &mdash; a place where nations rise above abject poverty but fail to reach prosperity. In this zone, costs rise faster than productivity, innovation stalls, and ambition outpaces capacity. Pakistan, once a symbol of potential, risks becoming an example of inertia &mdash; not poor enough for aid, yet not strong enough to compete.

The trap captures countries that grow through low-wage manufacturing and basic exports but stumble when wages rise, and productivity fails to keep pace. Argentina, Brazil and Thailand have struggled in this space for decades. Pakistan&#39;s case is similar: an economy that moves, but no longer moves forward.

Take exports. Pakistan&#39;s total exports stood around $32 billion, barely changed in years. By contrast, Vietnam&#39;s exports crossed $354 billion, despite both economies starting at similar levels two decades ago. While Bangladesh and Vietnam diversified into electronics, garments and machinery, Pakistan remains locked into low-value textiles and primary commodities. Its inability to upgrade the export base has kept the external sector stagnant and vulnerable.

Human capital tells a similar story. Pakistan spends barely 1.5 per cent of GDP on education - among the lowest in Asia. Millions of children remain out of school, and even university graduates often lack market-relevant skills. Without investment in people, productivity cannot grow - and without productivity, prosperity cannot follow.

Institutional fragility compounds the problem. Every few years, the cycle repeats - IMF bailouts, currency shocks and short-term fiscal fixes. Political volatility and administrative discontinuity have turned policymaking into crisis management. Investors, both domestic and foreign, hesitate in such an environment. High interest rates, arbitrary taxation and poor contract enforcement have produced what might be called a &quot;fear economy&quot; - one where capital hides instead of builds, and risk-taking gives way to risk-avoidance.

Meanwhile, the informal sector dominates. More than 70 per cent of Pakistan&#39;s workforce operates outside formal structures - underpaid, unprotected and untaxed. This keeps productivity low and deprives the state of much-needed revenue. Weak public investment in infrastructure and services then reinforces the cycle of low growth and inequality.

But the most subtle trap is psychological. A comfortable middle class has learned to live with stagnation. Malls expand, cars multiply and consumption thrives, but innovation languishes. Too many seek safety in government jobs or overseas remittances, while too few take the risks that fuel enterprise. It is this quiet acceptance of &quot;just enough&quot; that makes inertia so powerful - and so dangerous.

History, however, offers a way out. South Korea in the 1960s was poorer than Pakistan but climbed out of poverty through export discipline, industrial upgrading and massive investment in education. China transformed from low-end assembly to global technology leadership through long-term planning and institutional focus. Malaysia avoided the trap by building a diversified, knowledge-based economy anchored in policy continuity and political stability. None of these transitions happened overnight; each demanded decades of consistent reform and national purpose.

For Pakistan, breaking free from inertia requires a similar commitment - not cosmetic fixes, but foundational change.

First, invest in people. Raise education and skills spending to at least 45 per cent of GDP. Focus on digital literacy, STEM education and vocational training through public-private partnerships that connect learning with livelihoods.

Second, reform the tax system. Agriculture, real estate and retail must enter the tax net. Simplify compliance through technology and transparency, broaden the base, and reduce distortions that punish the formal sector.

Third, empower cities. Urban centres generate nearly 80 per cent of GDP yet remain fiscally suffocated. Devolving authority to local governments, simplifying business licensing, and expanding microfinance - especially for women - can unleash immense productive potential.

Fourth, separate economic governance from political turbulence. The National Economic Council should guide long-term policy insulated from election cycles, ensuring continuity and coherence.

Fifth, engage the diaspora as partners, not just remitters. Pakistan&#39;s nine million overseas citizens can drive entrepreneurship, investment and technology transfer - injecting new ideas and capital into the economy.

Finally, open markets and ensure fair competition. Decades of protectionism and rent-seeking have entrenched inefficiency. Phasing out distortive subsidies, arbitrary tariffs and discretionary powers would reward productivity and innovation rather than privilege and influence.

Breaking free from inertia is more than an economic task - it is a national awakening. It means replacing short-term fixes with long-term vision, dependency with creativity, and fear with confidence. Pakistan cannot grow by surviving; it must thrive by transforming.

The choice is simple yet profound: remain comfortable in stagnation or embrace the hard climb toward renewal. The Middle-Income Trap is not an inevitability; it&#39;s a choice: to reform or to resign to mediocrity. The real trap isn&#39;t income; it&#39;s inertia. And only courage, consistency and commitment can break it.

The next generation of Pakistanis deserves more than survival. They deserve momentum - born of bold, consistent action, and the courage to leap forward rather than limp in circles.

The writer is the Vice Chancellor of the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) and Member at Planning Commission of Pakistan]]>
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			<title>Disaster, destiny and our responsibility</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2564513/disaster-destiny-and-our-responsibility</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2564513/disaster-destiny-and-our-responsibility#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 01 Sep 25 20:46:59 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[M Zeb Khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2564513</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The problem in Pakistan is not belief in destiny itself, but its misinterpretation]]>
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				<![CDATA[When a tragedy strikes in Pakistan, the most common reaction is: &quot;It was God&#39;s will.&quot; This simple phrase has profound power and implications. It helps people cope with unbearable grief, cushions them from prolonged trauma, and provides a collective psychological framework in which loss is given meaning. In a society where faith is deeply woven into daily life, belief in destiny is not just theology - it is therapy.

But beneath this comfort lies a danger. By placing disasters solely in the realm of fate, we risk absolving ourselves of responsibility. Fatalism, when misapplied, can slide from a spiritual solace into a culture of complacency. Instead of asking hard questions about preventable causes, we retreat into resignation. Disasters become not moments of accountability but acts of destiny.

Consider floods. It is true that global climate change has placed Pakistan among the most vulnerable nations on the planet. These global forces are outside our immediate control. Yet, the devastation that follows each season of heavy rains is not a simple natural occurrence. It is compounded, amplified, and often manufactured by local realities.

Overpopulation has pushed communities into flood-prone areas, often along riverbanks where survival is precarious. Unplanned urban sprawl has overwhelmed fragile drainage systems. Deforestation in the north has stripped away natural barriers against floods and landslides. Poorly constructed homes collapse at the first touch of water, while weak infrastructure - roads, bridges and embankments - crumbles under pressure. Corruption and short-term politics mean that dams and canals remain mismanaged, and flood-prevention plans gather dust.

The same logic applies to other calamities. Road accidents are too easily accepted as &quot;God&#39;s will&quot;. But many stem from reckless driving, poorly enforced traffic rules, or vehicles unfit for the road. Factory fires, often deadly, are not acts of destiny but the result of absent safety standards and greed-driven shortcuts. Even terrorism, while politically complex, thrives when security lapses and governance failures create fertile ground. In each case, responsibility disappears behind the shield of fate.

Ironically, this is not what Islam teaches. The Qur&#39;an consistently calls for both reliance on God (tawakkul) and accountability for human action. &quot;Indeed, Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves&quot; (13:11). Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) famously advised a man to tie his camel before trusting in God&#39;s protection. The message is clear: trust in divine decree must go hand in hand with human responsibility. To rely on fate without effort is not faith - it is negligence.

The problem in Pakistan is not belief in destiny itself, but its misinterpretation. Instead of a balanced philosophy that combines spiritual acceptance with worldly responsibility, destiny has been reduced to an excuse. It allows individuals, communities and governments to evade accountability. It transforms what should be moments of collective learning into cycles of repeated tragedy.

The way forward requires a shift in mindset. Disasters must be understood not only as divine tests but as opportunities for reform. When floods strike, the question should not only be, &quot;Why us?&quot; but also, &quot;What must we change?&quot; When accidents occur, the response should not end at grief but extend to improving safety and enforcing laws. When violence erupts, society must hold accountable not only the perpetrators but also the structures that allowed it.

Pakistan cannot afford to treat destiny as a shield against responsibility. The Qur&#39;anic vision of humans as khalifa - stewards of the earth - places upon us a duty of care. This stewardship means planting trees instead of cutting them, enforcing safety standards instead of ignoring them, building resilient infrastructure instead of cheap structures, and investing in disaster preparedness rather than leaving everything to chance.

Disasters will always come. Climate change will make them more frequent, urbanisation will make them more complex, and global politics will make them more unpredictable. But whether they destroy us or strengthen us will depend less on destiny and more on the choices we make.]]>
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			<title>Gaza war - winning and losing</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2572800/gaza-war-winning-and-losing</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2572800/gaza-war-winning-and-losing#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 16 Oct 25 19:25:22 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Aneela Shahzad]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2572800</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The truth behind global politics is often obscured by power plays and egos, leaving the innocent to suffer]]>
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				<![CDATA[The upright never defeat evil, but they pretty much expose it. But evil, when exposed, even when drenched in ignominy, raises itself from its lewd bottomness, with the power of its dishonesty and deviousness, to heights of vainglory and fanfare - so that the distance between brazen tyranny and honourable virtue is so great that it is virtually unbridgeable.

This is not new; it is a repeated history. Over 3,000 years back, when Moses brought God&#39;s message, asking the Pharaoh to stop tyranny upon his people and give them their freedom; and proved his truth with the miracle of the staff - what did Pharaoh and his chieftains do with all the miracles? Even when their consciences were telling them that Moses had brought the truth, their self-interests, their gluttony and their rapacity forced them to turn over their inners voices and unite upon the evil that ensures them their worldly luxuries.

&#39;So, they disputed, one with another, over their affair, but they kept secret their whispers. They said: These two are magicians: their object is to drive you out from your land with their magic, and to do away with your most exemplary ways. So, put together your plan, and then assemble in ranks: He wins today who gains the upper hand,&#39; (TaHa;62-64).

Three lines from the Quran give a complete anatomy of the psychology in play. If you are for the overkill, the lavish overabundance, the excess powers, you suppress your morality. You malign the righteous as criminals, terrorist and &#39;magicians&#39;. And you unite with all the powerful, resourceful elites, ensure one another of the exemplary &#39;way of life&#39; and regimes you have, and put your plans together. And then you tell each other that you just need to win the moment - meaning that if you are able to show the people that your sorcerers are abler than the two brothers, the people will willfully accept your power.

Now, 3,000 years later, imagine Pharaoh&#39;s court and his chieftains, and imagine Sharm as Sheikh! And just imagine for yourself, who is the Pharaoh, who are the chieftains, who are the ones who aggrandise their tyranny as true power, and who are the sorcerers that make the people of the world believe that peace has been brought to war-torn Gaza!

Humanity looks with bewildered eyes - on Monday there was a ceasefire. On Tuesday, Israel shot down five more Gazans. On Monday, UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Tom Fletcher was excited about the humanitarian scale-up; on Tuesday, he said the organisation faced &quot;further setbacks to the implementation&quot;. On Monday, President Trump was hailed for the Gaza Plan; on Tuesday, he was threatening to disarm Hamas &quot;violently&quot;. And on Wednesday, Centcom chief Brad Cooper was calling upon Hamas to &quot;immediately suspend violence and shooting at innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza&quot;, both in Hamas-controlled areas and behind the so-called yellow line where Israeli troops are stationed. What was the peace deal then, if there was any?

The truth is that humanity was not told anything about the deal or what had been agreed to. On the face of it, it seems that Hamas was forced to hand over its only leverage, the hostages, in return for empty promises that most of us don&#39;t believe in. Was it a deal for letting Netanyahu go scot-free from all his court cases then, and let the Israelis pretend they have won? Was it just a prop-up to satisfy Trump&#39;s ego after he lost the Nobel peace prize? Was it a move to put a quiet on the Gaza front so that a full attack on Iran could be prepared for? Or was it just a commonplace sorcery, to stupefy humanity, while the genocide goes on in full? Or, was it a game of the survival for leaders, who want legitimacy in the eyes of their people, and who don&#39;t actually want an end to wars because they thrive on conflict and enmity.

Offensive realist Mearsheimer describes an anarchic world where every state is for its own and where states transfer the responsibility to act to other states while remaining on the sidelines - it&#39;s called buck-passing. So do we see the Muslim states passing the buck over to the Arabs? And the Arabs conveniently passing the buck onto Trump, who has no concern with the lives or welfare of the Palestinians, and who is best buddies with Netanyahu? So how does all this work? Are the states of the Ummah just thinking to keep passing the buck so that they can have peace in their states and have their multi-billion projects and their luxuries, while Gaza and the West Bank burn and bleed? How long will this work?

By the way, are the &#39;innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza&#39; that Brad Cooper mentioned Hamas was killing, not the IDF collaborators that they have prepared to wreak havoc in Gaza when they are gone? Are they not the same gangsters who have been looting the humanitarian aid at IDF&#39;s behest? If the Centcom chief wants to protect them, imagine what the calculus of peace drawn in his mind would be!

All this when the IDF forces still remain in two-thirds of Gaza; when humanitarian convoys are still not passing the check-posts; when Israeli leadership is repeating to this day that it won&#39;t have a Palestinian state; and that it is determined to destroy Hamas; and, in the words of Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza. The truth is that Israel sees every war as an opportunity for expulsion of Palestinians, just like in 1948 and 1967.

And the truth is that the US will never cut Israel&#39;s aid; Israel will blame Hamas for something, backfoot on the ceasefire, and the genocide will go on. Because, Israeli perspective is not peace and political stability in the region, its perspective is Zionistic, it is maximising Jewish control, minimising Palestinian presence.

So, the question every member of human society must ask is: is this the way global politics is being run - of satisfying egos of biggity men; of putting trade over human lives; of letting the killing of 70,000 people just for the imperialist dream of an ally? Is this the exemplary &#39;way of life&#39; the leaders of our times propound? And are our votes in the ballot box stamping upon their powers?

Surely then, with our votes, genocide has won and humanity has lost.]]>
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			<title>American strategic deception</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2518072/american-strategic-deception</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2518072/american-strategic-deception#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 24 Dec 24 20:24:21 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Zamir Akram]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2518072</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The US also maintains massive nuclear deterrence capability in comparison with which Pakistan's assets are miniscule.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Speaking at an American think-tank on 19 December, Jon Finer, the Deputy National Security Advisor in the Biden Administration, claimed that Pakistan&#39;s development of long-range missiles &quot;will have the capability to strike targets well beyond South Asia, including the United States&quot;. He added that it was &quot;hard for us to see Pakistan&#39;s actions as anything other than an emerging threat to the United States&quot;.

This sweeping and speculative assertion coming only two days after the US imposed sanction on Pakistani entities allegedly involved in missile development could hardly be a coincidence.

This is obviously part of a well-orchestrated charade intended to deny Pakistan the capability to ensure credible deterrence against India&#39;s rapid development of its strategic arsenal including long range air, land and sea based missiles to be deployed on offshore Indian assets and nuclear powered submarines.

This blatantly discriminatory American policy behind the smoke-screen that Pakistan seeks to threaten the US itself is patently ludicrous and disingenuous. Even objective Americans would find this hard to digest. Indeed, this is strategic deception at its worst.

The US is well aware that ever since Pakistan&#39;s nuclear tests in response to India&#39;s in 1998, its strategic doctrine is focused on ensuring credible deterrence exclusively against India.

Accordingly, Pakistan&#39;s strategic capabilities are not directed against any other country except India, least of all the US. Besides, there is no rationale for Pakistan to threaten the US with which it has no dispute and where millions of Pakistanis reside.

The US also maintains a massive nuclear deterrence capability in comparison with which Pakistan&#39;s assets are miniscule. For Pakistan to attack the US would, therefore, be suicidal.

In open forum discussions on this issue over the recent past with American officials and experts, Pakistani interlocutor, myself involved, have sought clarity and rational arguments that would explain American concern. But none have been offered.

There have been vague and weak arguments that since Pakistan is China&#39;s ally, its strategic capabilities are a part of the threat from China. This begs the question as to why Pakistan, even as a Chinese ally, would jeopardise its own existence by attacking the US?

The truth is that these American allegations are a ploy and an obvious deception. The objective is to protect India&#39;s strategic interests against China. To achieve this, the US wants India to focus on China and not be distracted by competition from Pakistan.

But from Pakistan&#39;s perspective, Indian capabilities ostensibly against China can also be used against Pakistan. In fact, after the thrashing India received from China in 1962, it has no inclination whatsoever to engage in a conflict with the Chinese. But New Delhi will continue to exploit the threat from China to benefit from American hand-outs as Washington&#39;s &#39;Net Security Provider&#39;.

However, for Pakistan, the Indian military build-up presents an existential threat. India has used the American supported nuclear waiver to increase its nuclear arsenal. It has developed short, medium and long range air, land and sea based missiles. It has acquired nuclear powered and nuclear armed submarines. In 2019, India tested an anti-satellite missile (ASAT) and has developed a multi-layered Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) System, involving American Patriot, Israeli Arrow and Russian S-400 missiles.

India is also developing hypersonic missiles while inducting new and emerging technologies into its weapon systems with American assistance. At the same time, Indian strategic bases are being set up in the Indian Ocean, most notably in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and possibly in the Indian Ocean. Additionally, as a part of the US-backed Quadrilateral alliance in the Asia-Pacific, India may obtain basing facilities in the territories of its alliance parties - the US, Japan and Australia.

For Pakistan these developments present existing and potential challenges in the future for which it must be prepared to ensure credible deterrence. Pakistan has already ensured, through its full spectrum deterrence policy, deterrence at the operational, tactical and strategic levels.

It maintains credible second strike capability adequate for its needs. Its land, air and sea based Babur cruise missiles and the MIRVed Ababheel missiles provide capability to penetrate Indian BMD systems. The Shaheen 2 and 3 long range missiles cover the Indian mainland and offshore assets.

However, since deterrence is dynamic depending on changes in technologies and policies, Pakistan cannot afford to foreclose its future options. For instance, development of Indian bases with nuclear armed missiles deep in the Indian Ocean would require Pakistan to develop longer range missiles.

Similarly, Pakistan&#39;s space assets including satellites which are becoming increasingly vital for civilian and military purposes, may come to be threatened by ASATs which India has already tested.

Therefore, for effective deterrence to protect its satellites in future, Pakistan would need an ASAT capability for which long range missiles are essential. Also, to benefit from future space operations, Pakistan would need the capability to launch satellites which require developing a Space Launch Vehicle (SLV) capability. For all these reasons, Pakistan has a legitimate right to develop its long range missile/rocket programme.

If the US has legitimate concerns about Pakistan&#39;s missile development programme, even as the assertion that Pakistan would threaten the US is nonsensical, a reasonable arrangement based mutual non-attack assurances can provide a logical solution. But, since the US does not seek this option, the conclusion is inescapable that America&#39;s true motives are different and the allegations made by the likes of Jon Finer are nothing but an elaborate deception.

America&#39;s true intentions are betrayed by its discriminatory sanctions imposed on Pakistani entities as was done again a few days ago. There are more than 160 such entities that have been sanctioned since 1998 while none in India.

If Washington was truly interested in South Asian security and protecting its own national interests, it should pursue a non-discriminatory and balanced policy towards Pakistan and India. Instead, India has been given a free pass to build up its strategic capabilities while restraint is only being sought from Pakistan. History has demonstrated that discrimination has never succeeded with Pakistan.]]>
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			<title>Time to heal the wounds with Dhaka, and beyond</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2518067/time-to-heal-the-wounds-with-dhaka-and-beyond</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2518067/time-to-heal-the-wounds-with-dhaka-and-beyond#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 24 Dec 24 20:24:21 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Ishtiaq Ali Mehkri]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[Five decades down the line as Bangladesh and Pakistan look back at the trauma, it pains.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The month of December reminds me of Fall of Dhaka in 1971, and the iconic poetry of Naseer Turabi, who in an instant heart-wrenching aura penned a poem reflecting the remorse of dismemberment of East Pakistan in all humility. To this day, the ghazal (ode) he wrote reverberates as a grim reminder of our fallacies in the national milieu, and the trust that the poet had in the truncated section of our erstwhile nationhood.

The legendary poet was felicitous as he wrote: &quot;Woh humsafar thaa magar us sey humnawai na thiKay dhoop chaaon ka aalam raha, judaai na thi&quot; (He was my companion, but with him I didn&#39;t have like-mindedness; Like the clouds and sunlight, together but as apart as can be).

Turabi went on to state the obvious with a big heart: &quot;Adaavatein theen, taghaaful thaa, ranjishein theen magar; Bicharne walay mein sab kuch thaa, be-wafaai na thi&quot; (There were feelings of animosity, indifference and anguish (between us) but; my departed lover had everything (but) hadn&#39;t had unfaithfulness).

Five decades down the line as Bangladesh and Pakistan look back at the trauma, it pains and has nothing to account for but regrets. It is, however, some great consolation that Dhaka is willing to bury the hatchet, and wants to normalise relations with Islamabad. The desire on the part of Dr Muhammad Yunus, the interim leader, to &quot;move on from 1971&quot; is statesmanship.

The new thinking, perhaps, hints at the Bengali nation having come a long way from the Bangabandhu psyche to a progressive, all-inclusive emerging society. The end of Shaikh Hasina&#39;s regime has also impacted in helping Dhaka realise that in an era of geo-economics, carrying the baggage of animosity is an undesired liability.

The plausible interactions are many. The first that needs to be done is to reorient the academia and intelligentsia, and let them brief and debrief over the checkered history in all openness. Trade, commerce and communication avenues are aplenty for a joint populace of around half a billion, with a collective GDP of more than $750 billion.

Apart from buoying trade, both the countries must work together for reviving the moribund eight-nation SAARC, which was conceptualised by Dhaka as a viable organic regional organisation in 1985. Bangladesh can prevail over India to give in its resistance to the regional bloc and help rewrite a new chapter of homogeneity on the pattern of ASEAN. As India sits fingers-crossed with the fall of its ally-dispensation in Dhaka, there can be a quid pro quo for regional amalgamation making it a win-win situation in bilateralism.

The opening up of our quondam eastern flank can unfurl lessons in pluralism, institutional building and respect for political mandate that Bengalis had cherished. Pakistan, unfortunately groped in parochialism these days, can learn a lot and work inwardly for strengthening national unity. With origins of our freedom movement and its founding fathers from Bengal, there is a lot of intellectualism that needs to be revisited, and made part of our national life.

To pick a thread from Faiz Ahmed Faiz, &quot;Kab nazar mein aaye gi be-daagh sabzay ki bahaar; Khoon ke dhabbay dhuleinge kitni barsaaton ke baad...&quot; (When will we see the unsullied green of spring? After how many monsoons will the stains of blood be washed?), it&#39;s time to take a leap forward and connect the dots with Dhaka. An apology from Pakistan - which has expressed regrets over the debacle though - is direly needed for a fresh start.

This also comes as an opportunity to touch-base on the Bihari legion and make an earnest effort to embrace them and heal the wounds of history. Indeed, this reconnecting desires some soul-searching as more than 300,000 Biharis are stranded in Bangladesh - poor souls who stood for Pakistan and paid a price in blood and misery.

If Dhaka can embrace Rohingya Muslims, what prevents Islamabad from bringing back Biharis and undoing their statelessness? Looking beyond the bitterness of 1971 demands an open head and heart, and a comprehensive leap forward is indispensable.]]>
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