Riot police were patrolling urban neighbourhoods near India’s capital on Wednesday following a second night of sectarian riots that have killed six people so far.
The unrest began on Monday when mobs hurled stones at a Hindu religious procession and set cars alight in the predominantly Muslim district of Nuh, around 75 kilometres south of New Delhi.
Arson and vandalism attacks broke out the following evening in parts of nearby Gurugram, a satellite city of the capital and a key business centre where Nokia, Samsung and other multinationals have their Indian headquarters.
One neighbourhood saw a mob of around 200 people armed with sticks and stones loot several meat shops and set fire to a restaurant while chanting Hindu religious slogans.
Haryana state chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said six people had been killed in the violence and 116 arrested so far.
“Those found guilty will not be spared. We are committed to the safety of the public,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
Two of the dead were security personnel on their way to help contain the unrest in Nuh, state police said on Tuesday.
Police in New Delhi said they had increased security in some neighbourhoods as a precautionary measure.
Local media reports said tensions first flared after prominent Hindu nationalist activist Monu Manesar, a member of the radical right-wing group Bajrang Dal, announced he would attend Monday’s procession in Nuh.
Manesar is wanted by police over accusations that he was responsible for the lynching of two Muslim cattle traders in another part of Haryana state.
The alleged vigilante leader regularly posts videos celebrating attacks on Muslims accused of transporting or killing cows, which are considered sacred by Hindus.
Police said Manesar was evading arrest and ultimately did not join the procession.
Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014, India has seen numerous outbreaks of violence between majority Hindus and its 200-million-strong Muslim minority.
Critics accuse the ruling Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party of marginalising the Muslim community since coming to power.
Religious riots in New Delhi left 53 people dead in 2020.
And at least 1,000 were killed in 2002 during violence in Gujarat, where Modi was serving as chief minister at the time. Most of the victims were Muslims.
Tax officials raided the BBC’s India office in February after the British broadcaster aired a documentary on Modi’s actions during the riots.
A probe appointed by India’s top court said in 2012 it did not find any evidence of wrongdoing by Modi.
A thick cloud of grief hangs over Bajaur district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Malakand division. Nearly every village in the district has held funeral processions to bury victims who had attended the ill-fated rally of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam — Fazl (JUI-F), a religio-political party, on Sunday that was hit by a suicide bomber. At least 54 people were killed and over 100 others injured in what was one of the deadliest attacks in the province this year.
The militant ‘Islamic State’ group’s regional affiliate, known as the Islamic State Khorasan Province, or ISKP, has since claimed responsibility for the bombing through its Amaq News Agency channel, saying the attack was part of the group’s ongoing war against the democratic system, which it believes contradicts Sharia law.
In the past, the ISKP has targeted several local leaders of the JUI-F in Bajaur, suspecting them of having close ties with the Taliban administration in neighbouring Afghanistan. In recent years, some of the more prominent leaders to have been targeted by the militant outfit include Mufti Sultan Muhammad, Maulana Abdul Salam, Qari Ilyas, Maulana Shafiullah, and Mufti Bashir.
Sunday’s bombing, however, marked the first major suicide attack claimed by the ISKP in Bajaur.
Understanding the JUI-F
The JUI-F is one of the leading Islamist political parties in Pakistan with a strong presence across the Pashtun belt, including regions bordering Afghanistan. Much of the party’s support is derived from its connections to Pakistan’s network of Deobandi madrassas.
According to experts, the JUI-F’s local leadership often echoes the views of the Taliban in Afghanistan, irrespective of the party’s central policy.
“In Balochistan, most of the JUI-F Balochistan leaders as well as those of its splinters — the JUI-Nazriati — are allied with the Kandahari region and their leaders on their own, without necessarily representing the party’s central policy over the Taliban,” explained Muhammad Israr Madani, head of the International Research Council for Religious Affairs (IRCRA), an Islamabad-based research body that studies Islamic movements. “In Bajaur, JUI-F leaders have established strong connections with the Taliban in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces of Afghanistan, which has made them susceptible to being targeted by the ISKP based on those associations.”
Following the 2008 general elections, several other Pakistan-based militant groups started carrying out suicide attacks and targeted killings against the JUI-F leadership for various reasons, mainly criticising them for focusing on electoral politics instead of supporting the Jihadi groups.
Since then, dozens of JUI-F leaders, including former parliamentarians, have been killed. The party chief, Maulana Fazlur Rehman, has himself survived several suicide attacks.
Why target the JUI-F in Bajaur?
In contrast to the situation in the rest of the country, leaders and scholars affiliated with the JUI-F have been specifically targeted in Bajaur by the ISKP.
“The ISKP has a long history of enmity towards JUI-F in Bajaur which goes back to 2019 when the group started systematically assassinating JUI-F activists in Khaar, the district’s main town,” said Riccardo Valle, director of research at The Khorasan Diary (TKD), an Islamabad-based news and research platform that monitors militant groups. “Ever since, the ISKP has conducted many attacks in Mamund and Khaar areas, either claimed or unclaimed by the outfit.”
In July, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in a press briefing in Peshawar disclosed that 18 of his party workers have been killed in Bajaur in recent years. He, however, refrained from identifying the perpetrators responsible for these killings. The TKD, which also monitors and documents attacks carried out by militant groups, has noted that the ISKP has claimed responsibility for at least 23 attacks, exclusively targeting the JUI-F in Bajaur alone.
In April 2022, the ISKP issued a series of fatwas (Islamic rulings) allowing the assassinations of JUI-F religious scholars and activists. Following the Bajaur attack, the militant group also published a 92-page book about the JUI-F, explaining their reasons for targeting religio-political parties.
Ties with the Afghan Taliban
Primarily, the ISKP perceives the JUI-F as the political wing of the Afghan Taliban in Pakistan, believing them to be closely aligned.
Over the years, Pashtun religious scholars and leaders in Pakistan’s bordering districts, such as Bajaur, have maintained strong connections with the Taliban movement in Afghanistan since the 1970s.
“Many students from Kunar and other Afghan provinces have studied in Bajaur’s madrassas and now hold significant positions in the Taliban administration at various levels,” Muhammad, a teacher at a madrassa in Bajaur, who requested to use only his first name due to threats from the ISKP, told Dawn.com.
Moreover, a considerable number of individuals from Bajaur have actively participated in the conflict in Afghanistan since the Soviet invasion, further influencing the dynamics in the region, he said.
“When the Taliban established its government in Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul in August 2021, several religious scholars and individuals from Bajaur were appointed to important positions,” said the IRCRA’s Madani. “Some of these individuals were also associated with the JUI-F.”
As the threat of ISKP grew in Afghanistan, the Taliban administration initiated a crackdown on the group in Kunar and other adjacent provinces. Consequently, leaders from Bajaur who held positions in the new administration also became involved in the operation against ISKP, Madani told Dawn.com.
The Usman Turabi factor
Among the individuals appointed to key positions was Haji Usman Turabi, hailing from Gabbary village in Bajaur’s Mamond area. Soon after the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul, he was appointed as the Governor of Kunar province in August 2021.
Turabi, who himself served as a Jihadi commander in Afghanistan, and his family command immense respect among the leadership of the Afghan Taliban movement due to his grandfather, Akbar Khan, who was known for his bravery in the war against Soviet forces in Afghanistan, villagers told Dawn.com.
He was, however, replaced in September of the same year due to a controversy arising from a photo he shared with Pakistan’s hardline cleric Mufti Nadeem at his office. Mufti Nadeem is known for his strong opposition to the Salafi community, and the photo of Turabi with him at the governor’s house angered Kunar’s local residents and the Salafi community.
“Under Turabi’s governance, the Taliban administration initiated various operations to eliminate ISKP militants from Kunar province,” the madrassa teacher said. “In retaliation, the ISKP began targeting Taliban sympathisers in Bajaur, resulting in the killings of numerous religious scholars associated with the JUI-F as well as Turabi’s relatives in the region.”
Last month, Haji Najibullah, a relative of Turabi, along with two colleagues, was killed in an attack on their car in Bajaur. In April, the ISKP claimed to have killed Turabi’s guard.
Villagers said that Turabi has also restricted his movement and has been mostly staying at his residence due to the ISKP’s threat.
The Taliban-ISKP rivalry
In early 2015, the Islamic State’s central leadership established a chapter in Afghanistan and Pakistan, known as ISKP, sparking a rivalry with the Taliban, its new jihadi competitor. Over time, this competition intensified, leading to conflict between the two groups.
By 2019, the ISKP faced mounting pressure from various quarters, including the Ashraf Ghani-led administration, US forces, and the Taliban’s crackdowns, which resulted in the group relinquishing its territorial control in northern and eastern Afghanistan.
Despite these setbacks, the ISKP has managed to maintain its strength even after the Taliban takeover in August 2021. The group has endured significant losses, with many of its members having been arrested or killed by the Taliban after the fall of Kabul. However, the ISKP has strategically used the US withdrawal agreement with the Taliban to portray itself as the last standing jihadi movement in the region, seeking to exploit the situation to its advantage.
Currently, the ISKP’s primary objective is to thwart the Taliban’s efforts in fulfilling their promises to Islamist supporters and the Afghan people. To achieve this, the group has been targeting not only Taliban fighters but also international entities such as China, Russia, and Pakistan within Afghanistan. These attacks aim to create tensions between the Taliban and neighbouring countries and complicate their relations.
The sustained attacks as well as the latest suicide bombing in Bajaur indicates that the Taliban-ISKP conflict has entered Pakistan, taking on a more dangerous and intensified form.
Presence of ISKP in Bajaur
The exact strength of the militant ISKP in Bajaur remains unclear, but it is believed that a faction of local militants affiliated with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, led by Abu Bakkar Bajauri, switched allegiance to the ISKP a few years ago.
According to law enforcement officials, the ISKP operates in Bajaur through cells and has an extensive network of informants.
Having carried out almost two dozen attacks against the JUI-F over the last few years, Sunday’s bombing was the most brazen and deadliest in the tribal belt this year so far. As general elections draw closer and political parties start canvassing for support, it remains to be seen how security forces and the local administration will mitigate the challenge posed by the ISKP in the region.
The Swedish government said on Tuesday it would present measures to protect its citizens amid growing concerns in both Sweden and Denmark that the incidents of the burning of the Holy Quran could lead to attacks.
Separately, the country also made clear that it did not plan to make sweeping changes to freedom of speech laws, but at the same time repeated it would look into changes that would allow police to stop the burnings of holy books in public if there was a clear threat to national security.
“We stand up for the Swedish freedom of speech,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a news conference today.
Both Sweden and Denmark have seen a string of protests in recent weeks in which copies of the Holy Quran were burned, or otherwise damaged, prompting outrage in Muslim countries and demands that the Nordic governments put a stop to the burnings.
More incidents of the Holy Quran’s burning, permitted under freedom of speech laws, took place on Monday as the governments of both countries said they were examining ways to legally limit such acts in a bid to de-escalate tensions.
In Denmark, the Police Security and Intelligence Service (PET) believes the incidents have led to an elevated risk of attacks, PET late on Monday told public broadcaster DR.
Also on Monday, the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) convened in an extraordinary session to discuss the recent developments where it strongly condemned the Holy Quran’s burnings.
It also said in a statement after the meeting ended that it called upon member states to take appropriate action, whether political or economic, in countries where the Holy Quran was being desecrated.
After the meeting, the Danish and Swedish foreign ministers separately wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that they would continue their dialogue with the OIC.
A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Tuesday granted pre-arrest bail to a woman — the wife of a civil judge — in a case pertaining to the alleged torture of an underage domestic help in the capital.
According to the girl’s medico-legal certificate (MLC), she had “laceration on head from vertex, on forehead, right side above eyebrow, swollen upper lips, laceration under upper lip on right side, broken left incisor and left canine, laceration on check, nose bleed, laceration on left side of vertex, multiple bruises on lower leg, fracture on right forearm, swollen left and right eyelids, bruise on right skull, laceration on back, multiple bruises on back and attempt on strangulation.”
After showing reluctance, Islamabad police had registered a first information report in the case on July 26. Initially, the police booked the judge’s wife for criminal intimidation and wrongful confinement, without mentioning physical torture in the FIR. However, eight more sections — including murder — were added to the FIR a day earlier.
On July 28, the Lahore High Court had granted protective bail to the judge’s wife till August 1.
Today, Somia appeared before the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Dr Abida Sajjad for the confirmation of her bail.
At the outset of the hearing, the judge asked the petitioner to submit her identity card in court. She then approved Somia’s bail till Aug 7 against surety bonds worth Rs100,000.
ADSJ Sajjad, who served as the duty judge during today’s proceeding, instructed Somia to appear before the court of ADSJ Farrukh Farid at the next hearing.
CM Naqvi updates PM on teenager’s health
Meanwhile, in a telephone call today, Punjab caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi updated Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the teenager’s condition.
According to state broadcaster Radio Pakistan, Naqvi apprised the premier about the victim’s medication and health.
A day earlier, Lahore General Hospital Executive Prof Al-fareed Zafar had declared the next 48 hours highly crucial for the girl, saying the special board of senior doctors treating the girl feared that she may need ventilator support.
He had told Dawn that the girl’s mother had suspected that Rizwana had been administered poison by her employer(s) during domestic violence in Islamabad. At this, the doctors sent blood and other samples of the girl to the laboratory.
Prof Zafar had said an emergency meeting of the special medical board was called when the duty doctors informed him about the deteriorating condition of the girl.
He also said that girl had a severe infection in one lung and blood clots in the other and her saturation level was constantly decreasing.
On Monday, investigators also told Dawn that a police team was with the injured maid in Lahore and was in contact with the girl’s family and the doctors of the hospital where she was admitted.
The team will bring the girl to Islamabad on the doctors’ advice after her condition stabilises, they added.
The case
The case was registered at the Humak police station in response to the complaint from the girl’s father, a labourer by profession. According to the FIR, he sent his daughter to the house of the judge at Zartaj Housing Society through an acquaint against Rs10,000 per month salary.
On July 23, he along with his wife and brother-in-law came to the judge’s house to meet his daughter and found her injured and weeping in a room, it added.
They found infected injuries on his head besides wounds all around the face, both arms and legs, the FIR said, adding her tooth was also found broken and swilling on both lips and eyes.
“Her ribs were also found broken, and injuries were found on her back. Marks of strangulation were also found around her neck.”
When asked, she told her family that the judge’s wife used to torture and beat her with batons and spoons daily and did not provide her with dinner.
The FIR said the girl was detained in a room since her arrival at the house. Later, the family took her to the Sargodha DHQ hospital where the girl’s condition deteriorated and was then referred to Lahore.
It’s Faf du Plessis on strike as the famous Bollywood song Aaj ki party blares from the loudspeaker and a tantalising aroma of spices fills the air while the spectators — holding love for cricket in their hearts and biryani in their trays — roam around trying to get to their seats.
The setting has all the makings of a cricket match in India or Pakistan but if that’s your guess, you’ve got the geography completely wrong.
In the outskirts of Dallas, Texas lies a city named Grand Prairie that many have not heard of, and likewise is the town named Morrisville in North Carolina. One thing common between the two places is that they co-hosted United States’ first franchised T20 league, which came to an end on Monday with the victory of MI New York.
Cricket in the land of baseball, and that too at two lesser known venues could give sceptics the reason to doubt if the twin experiments would work. However, the heart pounding cricket encounters that displayed the determination of players to the electrifying music that resonated with the rhythm of the crowd, Grand Prairie Stadium and Church Street Park turned cricket’s American dream into reality.
“It is in our blood, us Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, cricket is in our blood,” said Swethan Srinivasan, executive committee member of Triangular Cricket League (TCL) in Morrisville.
TCL is a non-profit organization that aims to promote the game in Nirtg Carolina among both adults and youth.
It started as a recreational league for adults to play cricket but now boasts multiple youth programs with a coaching staff that has produced many players for the U-19 national team in the US.
It also contributed to getting the Church Street Park facility built, which has hosted many notable events, including the 2018 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Americas Qualifiers and Minor League Cricket.
Swethan, who is originally from Chennai and has been in the US for last sixteen years, works tirelessly as a volunteer to help cricket grow merely out of his love for the game that roots back to his time in his home country.
“Everybody is a volunteer here and nobody gets paid except for some of our employed coaches. All the management and people who do other various things are volunteers.”
The love for cricket among South Asians runs deep and transcends boundaries, encompassing national pride, communal celebration, and a sense of identity that unites millions under one captivating bat and ball symphony.
“I am supporting the team with Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan because I am very very Pakistani,” said Memhudah Rehman while holding a Pakistani flag during San Francisco Unicorns’ match against Los Angeles Knight Riders at Grand Prairie Stadium on Tuesday.
A fan holds up the Pakistani flag during Major League Cricket match. — Photo provided by author
Rehman, who is originally from Karachi, lives in Dubai and was in the US to visit her family in New York. They travelled all the way from the east coast to Texas only to watch an MLC match.
“When I walked in here I got stunned; the vibe, the environment, the lighting, the stadium itself, there is (are) actually good pitches here, in America. I never thought I would see actual cricket pitches so it is really amazing and the turnout, it is not even the weekend night. It is crazy,” she said excitedly as flocks of people moved by.
MLC is first of its kind T20 franchise marquee event in the country featuring six teams and numerous international stars including Rashid Khan, Andre Russell, Faf du Plessis, David Miller, Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf, Aaron Finch, Jason Roy, and many others.
The league is founded by Vijay Srinivasan and Sameer Mehta, co-founders of Willow TV, the largest broadcaster of cricket in North America.
Vijay Srinivasan, co-founder, Major League Cricket — Photo provided by author
“We wanted to prove that the US is capable of holding and staging an event of this stature and scale and I think we have accomplished that,” said Vijay, who grew up in Delhi and migrated to the States in 1989 for his undergraduate studies.
He has been involved in cricket in the country for over twenty years now.
“I grew up in India, playing cricket and watching cricket. It meant everything to me,” he said. “I have been very fortunate that I have been involved in cricket for a good part of my professional life through Willow and now through Major League Cricket and I’m very lucky that I have managed to make cricket part of my professional life and also my personal passion. Very few people are lucky that way.”
The businessman plans to grow the game in the US by bringing in international stars, building new stadiums and training facilities in hopes of growing domestic talent. The idea behind creating a cricket league in the US was also to bring the game closer to fans who never had the opportunity to watch their favorite stars here.
“We have only managed to bring MLC to two cities so far but the response in both those cities has been amazing, and the fans have come out in huge numbers,” Vijay said. “We are really excited to bring this game here that so many fans love and have grown up.”
Hamza Khan, a 12-year-old from Austin who plays cricket for Hill County Cricket Association, was sporting Pakistan’s cricket team jersey at Grand Prairie Stadium to show his support for Shadab Khan.
It was his first time watching a cricket match in the US. He previously traveled to England in 2019 to watch his favourite players play in Edgbaston during ICC Men’s ODI World Cup.
“I am very happy that I have a chance to actually watch a game and I do not have to go to a different country like I did for the other match,” the 7th grader said. “It is my favorite sport; I really enjoy watching it. Some of my favorite players are here today.”
It was Texas Super Kings (TSK), however, whose fans outnumbered the fans of all other franchises. The Yellow Army supported the home team not only in Dallas, but showed up in huge numbers in North Carolina as well in bright yellow jerseys and their signature buckets hats as they waved TSK flags.
But one could have wondered if it really was Texas they were supporting or the popular Chennai-based franchise from the Indian Premier League. The suspicions grew as even when David Miller smacked sixes off Adam Zampa and Sunil Narine in the opening game, the crowd was busy chanting “Dhoni, Dhoni”.
Fan holds up a banner inviting the ex-Indian skipper M. S. Dhoni to Major League Cricket. — Photo provided by author
“I am supporting TSK in the memory of MS Dhoni,” said Jisha Patel, who had come from Coppell to watch Texas play against MI New York with her family on Monday.
“TSK is a part of CSK and Dhoni is a part of CSK so, me and family are really hoping that Dhoni would come and play for TSK,” said the 40-year-old, who was watching her first MLC match. “If Dhoni comes, I would not miss a match.”
While the US is known for its diversity, there was not much of it on display during the ongoing T20 tournament. From the investors to the crowd, from team owners to the players, from food vendors to event officials, a vast majority of it was formed by the South Asian diaspora.
As this budding love affair continues, and cricket’s roots dig deeper into the American soil, one could hope for an even more vibrant community that brings people together regardless of their cultural background.
At least five people, including two police personnel, were killed in clashes between Hindus and Muslims in India’s Haryana state, neighbouring capital New Delhi, on Monday, police officials told Reuters.
The violence erupted when a Hindu religious procession passed through the Muslim-dominated Nuh region, located around 50 kilometres away from New Delhi.
“The procession was meant to move from one temple to another but clashes broke out between two groups on the way, which resulted in the death of four people,” Krishan Kumar, spokesperson of Nuh police, told Reuters.
He said two of the dead were members of the home guard, a voluntary force that helps police control civil disturbances.
Another 10 police personnel were injured in the clashes, he added.
By Monday night, however, the violence spilled over into neighbouring Gurugram, where a mosque was torched around midnight, killing one person and injuring another.
Gurugram, formerly known as Gurgaon, shares a border with New Delhi and has emerged as a business hub for the country, housing several multinational companies.
Prohibitory orders had already been issued for the district after some cars were set on fire on Monday evening, and schools and colleges had been directed to remain closed on Tuesday.
“The attackers (who torched the mosque) have been identified and several of them have been rounded up,” Gurgaon Police said in a statement on Tuesday morning, adding that security around places of worship had also been tightened.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, in a post on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, also condemned the incident in Nuh, where curfew orders have been imposed and the internet shut off.
Screengrab taken from Manohar Lal Khattar’s Twitter account
“The guilty will not be spared at any cost, strictest action will be taken against them,” he said.
Over the last few weeks, Pakistan has aggressively pushed for increased control over cyberspace, with the federal cabinet hastily granting approval to three new bills.
One of the primary objectives of the new legislation is to realise the long-standing ambition of data localisation. Among these bills, one proposes amendments to the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (Peca) — a law notorious for enabling state-led political censorship.
As for the second bill, called the E-Safety bill, there is neither a published draft nor have any consultations been held, leaving citizens uninformed about its potential implications.
Section 31(2) of the PDPB requires organisations and businesses that handle “critical personal data” to process and store such information within servers located in the country. However, the responsibility of defining what constitutes “critical personal data” has been entrusted to the National Commission for Personal Data Protection, which is expected to be established under the law. Concerns have also been raised regarding the independence of this Commission.
Although the government received feedback and recommendations on the bill, it remains uncertain whether the draft, recently approved by the federal cabinet, addresses any of the concerns raised or incorporates the feedback received.
Why the govt wants data localisation
Pakistan’s pursuit of data localisation is driven by two primary motivations. First, the challenges it faces when dealing with social media platforms, particularly in obtaining access to user data that it wants censored or removed. These demands are often justified under vague terms such as “national security” and “national interests.” Social media platforms push back against this proposition, citing data privacy concerns as the main reason for their reluctance to share certain data with the government.
Second, the government aims to adapt to the new political landscape by asserting ownership over user data of its voters. In recent years, the impact of user data on shaping political landscapes has become increasingly evident. Political entities use personal data to create detailed psychological profiles of voters, categorising them based on personality traits, values, attitudes, interests, and behaviour. These intricate psychological profiles provide insights into the preferences and inclinations of different voter segments. Equipped with this wealth of information, political actors strategically tailor content to manipulate and sway public opinion in their favour, thus advancing specific political agendas.
This use of personal data raises significant concerns about its potential impact on human agency and autonomy. When personal data is exploited to target and manipulate individuals without their awareness, it undermines their capacity to make independent and informed decisions, thereby posing a threat to the essence of democratic participation.
Consequently, the push for data localisation, which essentially means transferring the ownership of critical personal data to the state, has triggered apprehension among rights activists and privacy advocates, who are worried that such measures could jeopardise user privacy and provide the government with greater control over online content and communications.
While the PDPB does mandate user consent for data collection, the reality presents a different picture. In many instances, this consent is either uninformed, as users are not provided with sufficient information about how their data will be used, or it is coerced, meaning that users may find themselves compelled to consent to almost any form of data processing if they wish to access essential digital services. The alternative would be to forgo access to these services entirely, which is not viable in a world where people have transitioned to the digital world for their daily-needs.
Genuine data protection does not come from adding provisions for superficial consent or data localisation. The real emphasis must be on curbing extensive data collection and restricting it to what is genuinely necessary for specific purposes, such as advancements in education or healthcare sectors.
Unfortunately, the reality today is quite different with user data stockpiled in surplus, left dormant within archives for future possibilities of exploitation. Moreover, promoting community participation in data collection processes is essential to empower people to take ownership of their own data and gain actual control over what information is collected, for what purpose, and how it is shared.
However, such progressive developments in data protection can only be made through inclusive policy-making processes that actively seek input from privacy experts, tech companies, and, most importantly, citizens.
For Pakistan to progress towards data protection, it must prioritise transparency from the outset. Holding public discussions and debates about proposed laws is crucial to address concerns and foster trust in the government’s efforts. Unfortunately, the current approach of secrecy and haste to policymaking stands in stark contrast to these principles.
