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Abbas Nasir //DAWN: May 4, 2025
SOUTH Asia is on tenterhooks this weekend, as many informed experts are saying that the window of opportunity for India to embark on some ‘kinetic action’ against Pakistan, which it blames without evidence for the Pahalgam incident, is fast closing because the significant global support New Delhi was hoping for is missing.
While the hysteria that the governing Hindu nationalist BJP-dominated media has whipped up makes it impossible to rule out such an eventuality, it is also becoming clear that the international community, most notably the US, is telling India to desist from any action that could ignite a conflict in the region.
Later in the year, India is heading to state elections in key states such as Bihar and, after jumping the gun and blaming Pakistan, as has been its wont, it would be hard-pressed to explain to its Hindu nationalist support base why it failed to take action. In such a scenario, it is not clear what face-saving would suffice for the governing party’s support base.
India’s hard-line prime minister has left it to his military leaders to decide on the target and timing of any action to be taken against Pakistan as he, like his Pakistani counterpart, seems not to buy the argument attributed to French prime minister Georges Clemenceau that “war is too serious a matter to be entrusted to military men”.
The world is not prepared to react as it used to in the past to charges of Pakistani complicity.
In Narendra Modi’s case, at least, it looks like an attempt by the Indian PM to shield himself from any adverse fallout from any such possible adventurism. Or perhaps he could cite the counsel of his military leaders for not plunging the region into a spiralling conflict, the course of which cannot be predicted or controlled.
Why is the aggressive Indian leader — who scrapped occupied Kashmir’s special autonomous status, did not seem to care about the consequences and triggered new tensions between his country and Pakistan — now trying to insulate himself from the repercussions.
There could be a number of factors. Despite the size of the growing Indian market and economy, he must also realise that growth and investment are risk-averse. A rapid climb up the escalation ladder in any conflict in a nuclear-armed region could prove to be the kiss of death for his economy.
Secondly, India’s policy, reportedly developed by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and endorsed by the Modi government, to assassinate/ seek to eliminate supposed threats to national security abroad from Canada to the US to other Western countries to Pakistan has raised more than one brow, with Canada going public with its evidence where a Sikh citizen was killed and the US filing murder-for-hire and money-laundering charges against an Indian government employee.
While neither has affected its economy nor scared away foreign investors and business interests, the incidents have eroded India’s credibility in the West. So the world is not prepared to react as it used to in the past to charges of Pakistani complicity or instigation in terror attacks on Indian soil or in occupied Kashmir.
This is not to say that India does not remain a strategic ally of the US, especially with respect to containing China. China seems mindful of the Indian hostility towards its presence in Pakistan. Security sources claim Pakistan has shared evidence of some roleattributable to India in attacks against Chinese nationals working on CPEC projects in Pakistan.
One is not sure if China found what was shared with it verifiable and credible, but something must explain the change in language Beijing has started using of late. From the foreign minister to state-sponsored think tanks down to social media handles representing official positions, the Chinese seem to have moved from their unequivocal ‘business first’ stance.
Both Pakistan and China have often acknowledged their ‘time-tested’ friendshipas being manifest in close Pakistan military-PLA relations but even so, in the past, Beijing has not hesitated to tell Pakistan to step back, as it did during the Kargil confrontation. In the wake of the Pahalgam incident, China has gone on record as saying it would stand by Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
I doubt this level of Chinese support is carte blanche for wild adventurism by Pakistan. But it surely does mirror China’s concerns regarding an outbreak of hostilities between the two nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours, as Beijing may not itself remain immune from devastation in the worst-case scenario.
One strategic blunder committed by India, in blaming Pakistan within hours of the Pahalgam massacre and then being unable to share verifiable evidence with Western powers, also seems to have undermined its case and may explain the lack of endorsement of its stance by the West unlike in the past.
It is also true that while the Israeli military campaign continues against the mostly unarmed Palestinians in Gaza, the Ukraine-Russian war shows few signs of ending soon and the US-Israel duo tries to defang Iran’s nuclear capability, Washington and its (somewhat estranged) European allies are not interested in another distraction which has the potential to turn into a nuclear war.
The US secretary of state and vice president have both underlined the need for India not to do something rash and for the two countries to calm things down. The EU and major Gulf leaders have also made similar calls, with Saudi Arabia and Iran even offering to mediate.
Against this backdrop, the naming of the ISI chief Lt-Gen Asim Malik as the prime minister’s national security adviser brings hope, however faint, of a backchannel. This hope is based on the excellent rapport established between Ajit Doval and his Pakistan counterpart, retired Lt-Gen Nasser Khan Janjua, from 2015 to 2018, when the two smokers developed bonhomie during cigarette breaks as they engaged in backchannel talks in Southeast Asia.
One can only hope that having ignored Clemenceau once, South Asian leaders will do so again and prove him wrong, because he said: “It is easier to make war than to make peace.”
The writer is a former editor of Dawn.
abbas.nasir@hotmail.com
Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2025
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DAWN EDITORIAL: 04 May 2025
INDIA’S BJP-led government had apparently thought that it could exploit the Pahalgam tragedy to internationally isolate Pakistan, blaming this country for the atrocity without a whit of evidence.
Yet few in the global arena, including India’s traditional foreign partners, particularly the US, are buying New Delhi’s narrative, with most states urging both sides to de-escalate and prevent a fresh conflagration in South Asia. For example, American Vice President J.D. Vance, who was in India when the attack took place, has urged New Delhi to avoid taking actions that could “lead to a broader regional conflict”. He also asked Pakistan to “cooperate”.
The EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has similarly observed that “escalation helps no one”. The fact is that while many in the Indian government and its hyper-nationalist media outlets are baying for Pakistani blood, the international community, already preoccupied with the Ukraine war and the slaughter in Gaza, has little appetite for hostilities in the subcontinent.
The government has done the right thing by continuously staying in touch with foreign friends and partners to explain Pakistan’s point of view and calling for restraint. The prime minister on Friday met the envoys of key Gulf allies, while the foreign minister has also been in contact with global players. The military’s top brass, meanwhile, has signalled its readiness to respond to Indian shenanigans.
Sadly, New Delhi remains committed to its dubious goal of isolating Pakistan in the shadow of the Pahalgam episode. Along with the paring back of bilateral ties, Indian officials have called upon multilateral agencies, including the IMF, to “review” support to Pakistan. This exemplifies a petty, malicious approach being used by the Hindu revivalist Indian government to hurt Pakistan by using the terrible attack in IHK as a convenient alibi.
To date, India has not produced any credible evidence linking Pakistan to the attack, while it has also ignored calls to jointly investigatethe matter. In the meantime, the hateful rhetoric being spread by India’s hardliners will poison bilateral ties for a long time to come and will be difficult to undo.
While foreign powers have called for de-escalation, the UN Security Council should take up the issue as India’s war cries present a threat to global peace. Greece, which is currently holding the UNSC’s presidency, has said a meeting may be called “sooner rather than later”, while Pakistan’s UN envoy has also said the matter can be taken up at the Security Council.
Instead of ‘fighting’ a war against Pakistan through hyperactive TV anchors and issuing inflammatory statements, India can argue its case and present evidence — if any — at the UN. Pakistan can also fully defend itself at the global forum and reply to India’s accusations. This can provide an off-ramp to all sides to defuse the crisis.
Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2025
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Rida Tahir // DAWN: May 4, 2025
TECHNOLOGY-facilitated gender-based violence is escalating at an alarming rate globally. According to a report by the Digital Rights Foundation, 3,171 TF GBV complaints were reported from across Pakistan in 2024. The lack of a standard definition used to be a significant and persistent gap in the protection of women and girls. To address this, UN Women and WHO, through a joint global programme on Violence Against Women Data, convened an expert group in 2022 to define TF GBV. It was described as “...any act that is committed, assisted, aggravated, or amplified by the use of information and communication technologies or other digital tools, which results in or is likely to result in physical, sexual, psychological, social, political, or economic harm, or other infringements of rights and freedoms”.
According to a 2024 UN report on technology-facilitated violence against women and girls, women in the public eye and marginalised females are most affected by TF VAWG — they include women journalists, politicians, activists and young women and girls.
In Pakistan, many systems and special protection mechanisms have been established to protect women and children from TF GBV, including the FIA’s cybercrime wing and special sexual offences investigation units. The latter are dedicated police units under the Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Act 2021. Additionally, there are GBV courts to provide a safe and efficient environment for GBV survivors, along with the national sex offenders registry to monitor convicted sex offenders after their release.
However, few are aware that the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, was amended through the Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2023 to safeguard women and children from online violence. In fact, the decree defined new online crimes, including “child sexual abuse content” and “sexually explicit conduct”, under Section 2 (vib) and (xxviia), respectively.
It is essential to establish an online safety commission.
Further, Section 22A was inserted to address online grooming, solicitation, and cyber enticement, while Section 22B criminalises the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Section 22C focuses on the use of information systems for kidnapping, abduction or trafficking of minors, and Section 24A defines cyberbullying. Crucially, Section 30B introduced “victim and witness protection” measures: “(iii) distance recording of testimonies through video-conferencing audio-video links and by the use of modern devices”. Moreover, Peca 2016 outlines “offences against dignity of a natural person” in Section 20 and “offences against modesty of a natural person and minor” in Section 21.
Unfortunately, the current legal framework fails to criminalise several significant forms of online sexual harassment. These include the non-consensual sharing of intimate images or videos, the non-consensual taking, producing, or procuring of such content, and acts involving exploitation, coercion, and threats towards women.
Such lapses make females dangerously vulnerable due to the absence of avenues for justice and redress. Although laws and protection mechanisms to address TF GBV do exist, they often operate in an uncoordinated manner, limiting their overall effectiveness.
To address this gap comprehensively, it is essential to establish an online safety commission as an oversight body with a clear mandate to ensure a safer digital environment across Pakistan. This commission should focus on the general implementation and coordination of protection mechanisms by conducting research, raising awareness, and developing evidence-based educational resources and initiatives specifically on TF GBV. It can also ensure the implementation of the existing regulatory frameworks and effective investigation in online abuse cases, and offer accessible complaint mechanisms for victim-survivors and share information related to law enforcement, counselling, legal support, and harm mitigation strategies.
Furthermore, the commission can drive proactive and systemic change by monitoring emerging trends in online harm through environmental and horizon scanning to deliver timely and strategic responses to evolving threats.
An online safety commission can utilise modern technology to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls through a gender-responsive approach, including the use of AI for greater social good, and increased women’s participation in the technological sector through education and mentorship. The state must take early action to protect women and children from the curse of TF GBV, and ensure that the current protection mechanisms are coordinated and responsive and that there is vigilant supervision by such a commission.
The writer is a barrister of Lincoln’s Inn and an advocate of the high courts of Pakistan.
Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2025
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DAWN EDITORIAL: 04 May 2025
OVER the course of 18 months, the world has seen unspeakable images come out of Gaza, but none are seared as painfully into memory as those of the children there: skeletal figures, with bloated bellies and hollow eyes. Two months into Israel’s total blockade of humanitarian aid, Palestinian children are starving to death. Unicef has warned that over 9,000 children have been treated for acute malnutrition this year alone, and hundreds more in need cannot access treatment due to displacement and insecurity. Hospitals have run out of therapeutic food — especially formulated nutrition critical to saving malnourished children. Community kitchens are days from closure. Bakeries are shutting down, water production is falling, and market shelves are bare.
Nothing, not the pretext of war nor the failure of diplomacy, can justify this cruelty. The rationale that this pressure campaign will secure the release of Israeli hostages is an eyewash. There have been no breakthroughs since the ceasefire earlier this year. Instead, the blockade has turned Gaza into a slow-motion death camp. Human Rights Watch has previously called on Israel to cease “weaponising starvation”, noting that this too is a war crime. That call obviously fell on deaf ears. Meanwhile, in a tragic escalation, a vessel carrying aid to Gaza was struck in international waters. Activists suspect Israeli drones. If true, this attack violates international maritime law and further underscores the lengths to which Israel will go to enforce its siege — even beyond its borders. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, as an occupying power, Israel is legally bound to ensure the welfare of civilians. Instead, it is weaponising hunger, which is completely indefensible. The international community, particularly those nations supplying Israel with arms and diplomatic cover, must act. Children are not combatants. They are not bargaining chips. Every day the blockade continues, it is not just aid that is being denied — it is the very right to life.
Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2025
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