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Samia Liaquat Ali Khan, ‘Moving the needle on GDP’
Dawn, 2 May 2024
“Pakistani policymakers need to engage in a process of dialogue to reconfigure our current approach to economic growth, with a view to building economic, social and environmental well-being for present and future generations. This will require time, but would lead to benefits for the entire nation. In the shorter term, there are opportunities to improve both GDP and well-being indicators. Take the labour force participation rate. In Pakistan, male labour force participation is at 81 per cent as of 2023. For females however, the rate is estimated at a worryingly low 24pc. The ILO has been charting this same indicator since 1990. In 30 years, the number of women in the workforce has increased by only abysmal 13pc. The population, meanwhile, has more than doubled in that time.”
Sa’adia Reza, ‘Journalists in Gaza’
Dawn, 2 May 2024
“Reporting on war is never easy. But for those in Gaza, the trauma of human suffering, bloodshed, sheer mental exhaustion, and the fear that the next fatality they report could potentially be a loved one are inescapable. Moreover, the struggle to cover the war while, at the same time, trying to meet basic everyday needs — given the extremely limited supply of humanitarian aid — is a reality that’s hard to imagine. Like all civilians in the Strip, journalists too have had to battle against hunger, thirst, mental and physical pain, and, often times, forced to make a choice between putting down the microphone or camera and focusing on finding a means to survive.”
Editorial, ‘Punishing evaders’
Dawn, 2 May 2024
“The FBR’s action appears to be largely limited to those whose names are already in its database. Many will justifiably ask what is being done to expand the tax base itself. Under the law, any person earning an annual income of Rs600,000 or more, or owning a 1000cc car or a house is liable to file tax statements. However, less than 2pc of the population (4.5m persons) had filed their returns last year, down from 5.9m a year earlier. Besides, a very large number of filers do not show taxable income in their statements.”
Editorial, ‘Freedom to question’
Dawn, 2 May 2024
“The recently concluded fifth edition of the Asma Jahangir Conference, a two-day moot themed ‘People’s Mandate: Safeguarding Civil Rights in South Asia’, has become an important platform for such voices. This year, the conference highlighted repression in the country and called upon political parties to talk to each other, sign a charter of fundamental rights, and refrain from involving unelected quarters in their quest for power. It was encouraging to note that a vast tract of violations was discussed, indicating that those dedicated to civil liberties will persevere.”
Editorial, ‘The interference conundrum’
The News International, 2 May 2024
“It isn’t just the IHC judges who have talked about interference by the security agencies, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) and the Lahore High Court (LHC) have also complained about this. In its response submitted to the Supreme Court, the PHC said that when some judges were directly approached by intelligence agency members seeking favours in political cases and they decided those cases impartially, “they received life threats through non-state actors from the neighbouring country, Afghanistan”.”
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