Opinion CAA is ‘BJP’s push to rig elections’: View from Pakistan

The editorial states, “Under the Sangh Parivar’s watch, Indian Muslims have faced discriminatory citizenship laws — such as the CAA and NRC — seen their homes and mosques bulldozed on flimsy grounds, and watched state functionaries publicly attack their religious and cultural practices.”

On the timing of this notification, it believes this to “clearly [be] an election ploy, though the BJP’s efforts to demonise Muslims in order to please its core constituency risks creating permanent communal fault lines.”

Express Tribune (March 13) calls it, “BJP’s push to rig elections” and believes that the party’s “support base is appearing weaker, as cracks in the ruling party’s propaganda appear to show.”

PM Sharif’s icebreaker meeting

Earlier this week, newly-elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a meeting with PTI leader and chief minister of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur, as an icebreaker less than two weeks after Gandapur refused to attend Sharif’s oath-taking ceremony. While the media believes that it is “too early to be optimistic”, there seems to be some room for hope of reconciliation among former prime minister Imran Khan’s PTI and Sharif’s PML-N.

The Nation (March 15) says, “Playing the statesman role, PML-N must not repeat the mistakes of its predecessor by victimising the Opposition and freezing them out of gov­ernment function.”

After this meeting, PTI leader Hammad Azhar clarified that the meeting “shouldn’t be seen as a compromise by his party on the alleged theft of its mandate and the incarceration of its workers and leaders”.

Dawn (March 15) hails the attempt at a breakthrough. Seemingly in response to Azhar’s comment, it says, “The federation cannot stop functioning while election disputes and the fate of arrested individuals are negotiated, and it makes good sense, therefore, for the PTI government in KP and the PML-N government in Islamabad to maintain a stable working relationship.”

Pakistan’s new finance minister

With another IMF review on the horizon, the country’s latest Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb will have his hands full. The media elaborates on what is expected of Aurangzeb, which is “not just… securing IMF funds but rather it is about reclaiming our economic sovereignty and charting a course towards self-reliance” (The Nation, March 14).

News International (March 15) is optimistic about Aurangzeb’s approach due to his lack of political loyalties. It says, “Probably the best thing about Aurangzeb is that he has zero political pretensions to distract him from the job at hand because he will have no constituency to serve except the cabinet.” Regarding economic challenges, it notes, “His biggest test will be boosting exports by creating a business-friendly environment to attract foreign investment with a strong focus on foreign direct investment.”

The Nation (March 14) comments on the ongoing IMF mission saying, “The IMF review is a make-or-break moment for Pakistan. The decisions we make today will reverberate for generations to come.”

Ramadan and Biden’s proposal for Gaza

US President Joe Biden has recently announced his plan to construct a temporary port on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast to be able to supply aid. Meanwhile, Israel’s aggression continues — in the month of Ramadan. There is collective denouncement from the media on both Biden’s plan and Netanyahu’s hostility. Both outlets urge leaders across the world to “unambiguously back calls for Israel to end the slaughter forthwith” (Dawn, March 11).

Dawn says, “Instead of dreaming up dubious projects to ‘help’ the devastated Gazans, Mr Biden can achieve much more by telling his Israeli friends to lift the blockade and allow aid trucks waiting in Egypt unhindered access to Gaza.”

Express Tribune (March 14) writes of the desperate situation in Israel, the lack of a “credible alternative”, that limits reform and says, “But the continuing failure of other Israeli political forces to end, or even pause the violence, raises questions of if there is even a credible alternative to Netanyahu, since all of his potential opponents seem to fully support his plans to bathe Palestine in blood.”

adya.goyal@expressindia.com