Columbia tragedy demands global solidarity

This editorial is based on a news story published in Minute Mirror newspaper. Punjab’s government promised that buying medical supplies centrally would save public money. It has done the opposite. Minute Mirror’s investigation into the province’s Rs40 billion procurement deal for surgical and medical disposables shows a system that looks broken from top to bottom. The numbers speak for themselves. Out of 125 medical device categories, 50 attracted only one bidder. That is 40 percent of the entire deal decided without any real competition. When only one company bids for a contract, there is no pressure to keep prices fair. This is not how public procurement should work. The price hikes are shocking. Surgical blades that should cost around Rs14 are being bought for Rs 78. Sutures that cost Rs77 are now priced at Rs 289. Even simple IV cannulas and blood transfusion sets have jumped far beyond reasonable benchmark rates. These are not luxury items. These are basic supplies used every single day in emergency rooms and operating theatres across Punjab’s public hospitals. Taxpayers were told centralizing this system would bring bulk discounts. Instead, it appears to have opened the door to inflated rates and limited competition. Even more troubling, the final financial outcomes seem to contradict objections raised earlier by vendors before the Grievance Redressal Committee. Such contradictions cannot be brushed aside. They must be explained clearly and honestly. This is public money. It belongs to the people of Punjab, not to a handful of favoured suppliers. The Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Department owes the public a full explanation. An independent inquiry should be launched immediately. Every contract award must be reviewed, and every price hike must be justified. Minute Mirror urges the provincial government to act now. Transparency is not optional when public health and public money are both at stake.

The Senate Sub Committee has once again put the Federal Board of Revenue in an uncomfortable spot, and rightly so. FBR has failed to explain what happened to Rs1120 billion worth of tax exempted imports that entered former FATA and PATA regions between 2018 and 2026. That is not a small sum. It is a number large enough to demand answers, not silence. Why has FBR not provided complete records? Why is a manual tracking system still in place for imports worth over a trillion rupees? These are basic questions, yet the Board seems unable or unwilling to answer them. Every day without proper automated verification is a day that opens the door to goods slipping illegally into taxable markets, undercutting honest businesses and draining public revenue. The tobacco sector adds another layer of concern. Major companies like Pakistan Tobacco Company and Philip Morris Pakistan Limited are now under scrutiny, alongside serious cases of cigarette theft and a tax charge sheet against a senior tax official. When 2,828 cigarette cartons worth Rs25 crore go missing from an FBR warehouse, it raises a simple question: who is minding the store? FBR must stop treating Parliament’s demands as optional. Consumption certificates, tax records, and clear Standard Operating Procedures are not favours to be delayed. They are basic obligations of an institution meant to protect national revenue. Senator Saifullah Abro’s Committee deserves credit for pushing this issue repeatedly. But pressure from one Senate committee cannot substitute for real reform inside FBR. The Board must answer, and answer now, before more billions disappear into the gaps of its own negligence.

The Supreme Court has given a landmark ruling on women’s rights. It has declared that a woman’s right to seek khula, or judicial divorce, is a constitutional right. The court said that violence against a woman for exercising this right is an attack on the Constitution itself. A three member bench dismissed the jail petition of convict Waseem Abbas and upheld his death sentence. Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar wrote the four page detailed judgment. The court said women are fully protected under Articles 9, 14 and 25 of the Constitution, which guarantee their security, dignity and equal rights. It said anyone who uses violence against a woman seeking khula will face the full force of the law, and called the killing of a woman for exercising her legal right an act of brutality and open defiance of the law. The court also ruled that a person involved in a cold blooded and planned murder does not deserve any concession. It clarified that the testimony of relatives cannot be automatically rejected in cases that happen inside a home. Forensic evidence, including a match between bullet casings and the weapon linked to the crime, gave conclusive proof against the accused. The court found no flaw in the lower courts’ decisions. According to the case record, Waseem Abbas shot and killed his former wife, Shehnaz Bibi, on October 11, 2020, about 48 hours after she obtained a khula decree from a family court. A trial court had sentenced him to death, and the Lahore High Court upheld that sentence. This judgment sends a strong message and gives justice in this one case. But the law alone cannot protect every woman in Shehnaz Bibi’s position. Many women never even reach the court, because they fear exactly this kind of violence at home. A verdict can punish a killer after the fact, but it cannot undo the loss of a life. To truly protect women, society itself needs to change how it views a woman’s right to leave a marriage. Courts can deliver justice, but only a shift in mindset, at home, in communities, and among families, can prevent the next Shehnaz Bibi.

Balochistan Home Minister Ziaullah Langau escaped an attack on his security squad in Mastung. He praised the police for their quick response. Officers confronted the attackers and forced them to flee before the attack could succeed. Five police personnel were injured in the exchange of fire. Speaking at a press conference in Quetta, the minister said the people of Balochistan have suffered violence for a long time. He urged those hiding in the mountains and carrying weapons to understand that this path leads nowhere. He asked both Baloch and Pashtun communities not to fall for what he called terrorist propaganda. He also asked families to protect their children from this cycle of violence. Langau alleged that terrorists are getting support from India and Afghanistan. He said the government and security forces will keep working to stop terrorism and protect ordinary citizens. This attack raises a question that many people in Balochistan are now asking. For years, we heard about attacks on common citizens, on laborers, on travelers, and on ordinary security checkpoints. Now the attackers are targeting VIPs and even provincial ministers. This shift shows that militants are growing bolder, not weaker. If a home minister’s own security team can come under fire in broad daylight, ordinary citizens have every right to ask why the state’s counter terrorism strategy is not delivering real results. Press conferences and strong statements are not enough. People want to see fewer attacks, not more explanations after each attack. Balochistan has paid a heavy price in blood for many years. Every attack, whether on a common worker or on a top official, adds to that pain. The government must move beyond statements and build a strategy that actually reduces violence on the ground. Until that happens, incidents like Mastung will keep repeating, and the trust between the people and the state will keep weakening.

Pakistan has a major opportunity to increase its rice exports to China. Industry experts believe the country could potentially secure exports worth up to $1.5 billion if it moves quickly and adopts the right policies. China is looking for alternative sources of non-Basmati rice as its rice trade with India faces difficulties. This changing situation can open a new market for Pakistani farmers and exporters. But Pakistan must not allow this opportunity to pass by. According to industry representatives, Pakistan already has an advantage. Local farmers grow Chinese hybrid rice varieties, while the country also produces IRRI and other non-Basmati varieties. Pakistan therefore has the production base needed to increase supplies to the Chinese market. China is expected to remain one of the world’s biggest rice importers, with estimated imports of around 3.1 million tonnes in 2025-26. Even a reasonable share of this market could bring valuable foreign exchange to Pakistan. However, increasing exports cannot be achieved simply by asking farmers to produce more rice. The government must first make agriculture more profitable and easier for farmers. Farmers need affordable seeds, fertilisers, electricity, water and modern machinery. They also need access to credit at reasonable interest rates. The government should particularly encourage the cultivation of hybrid rice varieties that meet Chinese market requirements. Agricultural research institutions should work with private companies and Chinese partners to develop better seeds, improve yields and ensure international quality standards. Pakistan should also improve its storage, processing and transportation systems. Farmers often suffer losses because they do not have proper storage facilities and are forced to sell their produce at low prices immediately after harvest. Better warehouses, modern rice mills and efficient transport can reduce these losses and increase farmers’ incomes. The government should also ensure that farmers receive a fair share of the benefits from rising exports. Export growth should not become an opportunity only for middlemen and large traders. Transparent market systems and better links between farmers, exporters and processors are essential. The Pakistan-China Free Trade Agreement and CPEC-related connectivity can further support this effort. Pakistan should use these existing advantages to build a long-term agricultural export strategy. The rice opportunity is a reminder that agriculture can become a major source of foreign exchange and rural prosperity. But this requires a farmer-friendly approach. The government should act now, not after the opportunity disappears. Supporting farmers, improving productivity and opening new export markets can help turn Pakistan’s agricultural potential into real economic growth.

Exports rose sharply in July 2026, and this is genuinely good news. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, exports reached 2.939 billion dollars in July, up from 2.242 billion dollars in June. That is a 31 percent increase in just one month. Compared with July last year, exports grew by over 9 percent. This is a strong start to the new fiscal year, and it deserves credit. Much of this growth appears to come from sectors Pakistan knows well, including textiles, food products, leather goods, sports equipment, surgical instruments, and IT services. Government efforts to support exporters and improve industrial production seem to be paying off. But one good month does not make a trend. Pakistan has seen export numbers rise before, only to fall back a few months later. The real question is whether this growth can be sustained through the rest of the fiscal year. A single strong month should not be treated as proof that the country’s export problems are solved. The economy needs exports to grow consistently, not occasionally. The country still runs a large trade deficit, and one good month does very little to fix that. What Pakistan needs is month after month of rising export figures, not a single spike followed by stagnation. This will not happen on its own. It requires stable energy prices, a predictable exchange rate, and continued government support for exporters. It also requires our exporters to sell more products to more countries, instead of depending on the same limited markets. The government should treat this month’s numbers as a starting point, not a finish line. Pakistan does not need one strong export month. It needs many more of them, back to back, for this to actually mean something for the economy.