Dawn Editorials & Opinions
DAWN
EDITORIALS
28th July 2021
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Renewed threat of militancy
Editorial 28 July 2021
AS the security situation in Afghanistan
continues to deteriorate, ‫ خراب‬the
prospect of foreign militants relocating
‫ آباد ہونا‬there from conflict zones ‫تنازعہ‬
‫ زون‬elsewhere is becoming more likely.
That development is certain to have a
dangerous spillover ‫ پھیالؤ‬effect in the
region, particularly in Pakistan where
signs ‫ آثار‬of an uptick ‫ اضافے‬in militancy
are already being felt. According to the
28th report of the Analytical Support
‫ تجزیاتی اعانت‬and Sanctions Monitoring
Team, ‫ پابندیوں کی نگرانی کرنے والی ٹیم‬،
prepared for the UN Security Council,
so far there has been “only limited
relocation” "‫ "محدود آبادکاری‬but it could
increase “should the environment there
become more hospitable ‫ موزوں‬to ISIL
(a militant Islamic fundamentalist group
active particularly in Syria and Iraq.Also
called ISIS, Islamic State) or groups
aligned ‫ اتحاد کیا‬with Al Qaeda”. The
report also says that Al Qaeda is present
in at least 15 Afghan provinces, and that
in Kandahar, Helmand and Nimruz
provinces, its Indian Subcontinent
chapter, or AQIS (Al-Qaeda in the
Indian Subcontinent,) “operates under
Taliban protection” and consists mainly
of Afghans and Pakistanis. If this is
indeed the case, then the Afghan
Taliban’s assurances ‫ یقین دہانی‬to the US
that they will not allow transnational
Islamist outfits to operate from its soil
cannot be taken at face value ‫ظاہری شکل‬
‫و صورت کو قبول کرنا‬. Unlike the case with
the militant Islamic State group, a
comparatively ‫ تقابلی طور پر‬new entrant
‫ نیا داخلہ‬in this conflict zone, the Afghan
insurgents ‫ شورش پیدا کرنے والے‬and Al
Qaeda have had a mutually ‫باہمی طور پر‬
beneficial relationship which goes back
decades. Those links have clearly
endured ‫ برداشت کیا گیا ہے‬and may even
strengthen further..
It is also well known that the banned
TTP ‫ تحریک طالبان پاکستان‬has sanctuaries
‫ پناہ گاہیں‬inside Afghanistan’s border
areas, which neither the Afghan
government — for strategic reasons
‫ — اسٹریٹجک وجوہات‬nor the Afghan
insurgents ‫ —باغی‬for ideological reasons
— have tried to disturb. The fact that the
Taliban, despite Pakistan’s support to
them over the years, have never
condemned ‫ مذمت نہیں کی‬any atrocity ‫ظلم‬
carried out ‫ ذریعہ کیا گیا‬by the TTP in this
country should have been a telling
indicator ‫ اشارے‬as to where their
sympathies ‫ ہمدردی‬lay. As many analysts
had long predicted, the ‘strategic depth’
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policy is proving to have been a oneway street, affording the TTP space to
regroup and replenish ‫دوبارہ بھرنا یا پورا‬
‫ کرنا‬its ranks rather than bringing any
discernible benefit ‫ قابل فہم فائدہ‬to
Pakistan. The TTP was already in a
resurgent mode after five splinter
groups, ‫ ٹوٹتے ہوئے گروپس‬، including
Jamaatul Ahrar and Hizbul Ahrar,
returned to its fold ‫دوبارہ شمولیت اختیار کی‬
some time last year in Afghanistan. The
reunification, ‫ دوبارہ اتحاد‬which may have
increased the umbrella group’s strength
to 6,000 armed fighters, was overseen
‫ نگرانی کی گئی‬by Al Qaeda . Several
attacks in Pakistan have been claimed
‫ دعوی کیا گیا ہے‬by the TTP over the past
few months, perhaps due in part to this
development. Worse may follow if the
Taliban manage to seize control ‫کنٹرول‬
‫ حاصل کرنا‬of Afghanistan..
The only possible way out of a scenario
‫ منظر نامے‬that threatens ‫ دھمکی دیتا ہے‬the
hard-won ‫ مشکل سے حاصل کیا گیا‬peace
against militancy in this country and
could plunge ‫ ڈال سکتا ہے‬the region into
chaos ‫ افراتفری‬once again, is for all sides
to engage with the Afghan Taliban. In
return for the economic cooperation that
Afghanistan desperately ‫بے چینی سے‬
needs, they must demand that the
Taliban give iron-clad ‫آہنی یا مضبوط‬
guarantees of reining ‫ لگام ڈالنا یا قابو کرنا‬in
international militant groups on their
soil. Otherwise, Pakistan’s worst fears
‫ بدترین خوف‬may come true.. ‫سچ ہوسکتا ہے‬
Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2021.
‘Hepatitis can’t wait’
Editorial 28 July 2021
WITH a large part of the world’s health
resources diverted ‫ موڑ گئے‬towards
fighting wave after wave of Covid-19, it
is easy to forget about other viral
diseases that are just as dangerous and
that continue to take a heavy toll ‫بھاری‬
‫ نقصان‬on lives around the world. For
instance, at least one person dies of
hepatitis-related ‫ ہیپاٹائٹس سے متعلق‬illness
every 30 seconds, according to the
WHO. In Pakistan, there are between
12m and 15m people infected with
either hepatitis B or C, while at least
150,000 new cases are reported every
day. Independent data suggests that
hepatitis B and C have proved far more
lethal ‫ زیادہ مہلک‬than Covid-19 so far,
taking between 300 and 325 lives every
day in the country. The actual number
‫ اصل نمبر‬of infections may be far higher
since a large number of cases go
unreported. Unsafe medical practices
‫ غیر محفوظ طبی طریقوں‬and a poor system
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of sewage disposal and sanitation ‫صفائی‬
are responsible for the spread of all five
forms of hepatitis in the country. While
hepatitis B and C are transmitted
through direct contact with or
transfusion ‫ انتقال خون‬of bodily fluid
‫جسمانی سیال‬, such as blood, the other
forms — A, D and E — are caused by
consuming contaminated ‫ آلودہ‬food and
water..
Most patients in Pakistan become
infected with hepatitis B and C at
healthcare establishments, according to
the WHO. The virus spreads ‫پھیلتا ہے‬
through the transfusion ‫ منتقلی‬of
contaminated blood, improper
sterilisation ‫ جراثیم کشی‬of surgical
equipment ‫ سرجیکل سامان‬and dialysis
machines, the reuse ‫ دوبارہ استعمال‬of
syringes ‫ سرنجیں‬by quacks ‫عطائی ڈاکٹر‬
and drug users, and the recycling of
razors ‫ استرا‬at barbershops. This speaks
volumes for the negligence ‫ غفلت‬of the
authorities who fail to penalise ‫سزا دینے‬
quacks and crack down on unsafe
medical practices. Who can forget the
2019 HIV/AIDS outbreak in Ratodero,
Sindh, where the reuse of syringes by a
local doctor infected some 1,440 people,
more than 1,000 of them children?
Today, as the world observes World
Hepatitis Day, the authorities should
take a critical look at where they have
gone wrong and address their lapses
‫ خرابیوں‬to reduce the prevalence ‫ پھیالؤ‬of
hepatitis in Pakistan. It is deeply
unfortunate that Pakistan, despite
producing affordable medicines ‫سستی‬
‫ دوائیں‬to treat hepatitis C infections, has
the highest hepatitis C prevalence rate in
the world. The largest number of
hepatitis C patients are in Punjab where
7pc of the population is said to be
infected. ‘Hepatitis can’t wait’ is the
theme for this year’s World Hepatitis
Day, and the Prime Minister’s
Programme for Hepatitis must come up
to expectations ‫ توقعات‬by ensuring
nation-wide screening and establishing
diagnostic centres..
Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2021.
Door-to-door jab ‫انجکشن لگانا‬
Editorial 28 July 2021
THE Punjab government’s move to take
its coronavirus vaccination drive to the
doorsteps ‫ دہلیز‬of people in five high-risk
districts of the province is a
commendable ‫ قابل ستائش‬initiative given
the significant public hesitation ‫ہچکچاہٹ‬
against inoculation. ‫ ٹیکہ لگانا‬The
campaign launched on Monday aims to
vaccinate ‫ ویکسین لگانا ہے‬at least 40pc of
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the population above 18 in the four
districts — Lahore, Faisalabad,
Gujranwala and Multan — and 70pc in
Rawalpindi by Aug 14. The targeted
districts account for the most virus
infections ‫ انفیکشن‬and deaths in Punjab,
and, hence, ‫ لہذا‬the need to step up ‫تیز‬
‫ کرنے‬the vaccination effort. It is too
early to say if the government will
succeed in achieving its inoculation
targets in the said cities. But the initial
signs ‫ ابتدائی عالمات‬are quite encouraging.
It is also being hoped that the
government will extend this initiative to
other parts of the province, including
rural areas, once it is done with the more
vulnerable ‫ خطرے سے دوچار‬cities..
With Pakistan among the 30 countries
that have each reported more than a
million Covid-19 infections, the people
are already in the grip ‫ گرفت‬of the fourth
wave of the pandemic with the positivity
ratio spiking ‫ بڑھتے ہوئے‬around 12pc in
the last few days. That the new wave is
driven primarily by the more dangerous
Delta variant that spreads ‫ پھیلتا ہے‬more
easily than other strains ‫اقسام‬, as has been
evident ‫ ظاہر ہوا‬in a number of countries
across the globe, the only hope to halt
‫ روکنا‬or slow down its rapid transmission
lies in vaccinating the maximum number
of people since those individuals who
have not been fully vaccinated against
Covid-19 are most at risk. ‫ خطرہ‬It,
therefore, is essential ‫ ضروری‬that all
provinces replicate ‫ نقل کرنا‬the new
initiative ‫ نیا اقدام‬launched by the Punjab
government to vaccinate people by
going to their homes to vaccinate them
in order to ramp up ‫ تیز کرنا‬the pace of
inoculation. Additionally, they must
ensure compliance ‫ تعمیل‬with social
distancing guidelines and restrictions
‫ پابندیاں‬on crowded places. This is
especially crucial ‫ اہم‬in cities like
Karachi and Muzaffarabad, which have
reported the highest positivity ratio of
24.8pc and 19.76pc in recent days.
Laziness ‫ سستی‬can be as deadly as
complacency ‫الپرواہی‬..
Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2021.
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