Last week, it seemed that attention focused on the Middle East, Hamas, Israel and the so discussion of peace. But Pakistan is never far from emotion, even if he is abroad, and this time it was not different, from discussions under the glow of UN events to meetings in quiet rooms, hidden from garden eyes, it seems that Islamabad was always in the cycle.
But as events developed (to dismay from some and the emotion of others), at home he also highlighted the dysfunctional and confusing forms that the government continues to behave.
That Pakistan was working closely with Saudi Arabia had been evident for some time before the announcement of the defense pact. But that this collaboration was related to the situation of Gaza was only made public with the meetings held at the UN with the president of the United States, Donald Trump. One can only conjecture that the meeting at the White House with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Army Chief can also be linked to that. But those of us in Pakistan did not have to wait for the time that the White House meeting with the Israeli prime minister and the joint press conference with Trump made the plan to end the attack in Gaza.
However, inexplicably, Sharif tweeled in favor of the Gaza plan quickly, maybe too fast. The rest of the countries that had been part of the meetings with the president of the United States at the UN were more circumspects, especially when the details began to become public. Other days passed before Ishaq Dar, Minister of Foreign Affairs and vice president of Prime Minister, realized the need to clarify confusion. But how successful his efforts were open to debate.
Mixed government messages or simply confusion? It was difficult to know.
What followed first was a press conference. But it was long and a bit unclear, and currently media management, where journalists are often guided on what are the quotes to make holders, their words were open to interpretation. This was not only like that after the press conference, but continued being the case the next day. An English newspaper, in its owner, spoke of Pakistan who indicated a maintenance role of Gaza’s peace, while another said that Pakistan was hesitation because the draft Gaza’s agreement had changed.
Mixed government messages or simply confusion? It was difficult to know at that time. But when giving repeated the mixed messages in Parliament days later, it seemed that ambiguity was deliberate. It really was a case of bread of bread, in today’s jargon.
Dar continued arguing that the draft changed, but insisted that it was the only way to stop Gaza’s blood; The message was that there are few good options and that countries are forced to choose the least bad. He dismissed Prime Minister’s tweet when one ignored the changes in the plan and insisted that Pakistan continued to fulfill his policy of a solution of two states. Unlike Shama Junjo matter, he did not pointed his finger to the PM or distance himself from the matter.
But this ambiguity acquires a different light at the bottom of the comment of many people from the media who are also discussing the need to end the Gaza War. The rest, insist, will come and will be taken later, for now, whatever can be done to stop the murders. One can make a wild assumption where these arguments come from.
Is it simply an act of loose sane, hoping to keep the rich allies happy and a population that identifies with the Palestinians? Gossip in Islamabad has the answer but with little test. Meanwhile, the government ends up looking dysfunctional and confused.
But if this were the only problem, one could reduce the complexity of the Policy of the Middle East, as the West reminds us. However, dysfunction is a product of more than only limited options internationally. This came in the other crisis with which the Government had to deal with Kashmir. When the protests began, the government’s reaction was arrogance. Little attention was paid to the matter. In any case, the prime minister and his deputy were too busy with their foreign tours. It seemed that the media were so busy with international events that home protests were ignored and covered only by social networks, despite the fact that telephone services were suspended there.
This derogatory attitude continued even when the protests became bloody and lives were lost. The only sign that the government was aware of the matter was an answer given by ISPR during a question and answers session of the cameras. Perhaps an intrepid reporter or observer provided the information to the media, in which the DG seemed certain that the government was in its place in AJK and explained the need for everyone to pay taxes.
However, the government began abruptly to pay attention to the matter when the protests became violent. First Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and then a complete entourage of the PPP and PML-N leaders were selected to talk to the Protestant assholes. During the night, the problem catapulted the headlines and stayed there when the negotiation team agreed to most of the demands of the protesters. The need to pay taxes is supposed to wait.
Did the change of heart come with blood spill or the inexplicable attack on the National Press Club in Islamabad? I, for my part, are not aware of decision making. But it seems that the government and the media discovered the problem at the same time and the first hastened to solve it. (And then we wonder why people believe in social networks and their lies).
But between these two incidents, the image arises from a given government to ignore the broadest context of the policy in which it works, until a possible explosive situation becomes a complete crisis and requires damage control instead of skilled and timely management. This is a safe recipe for disaster.
The writer is a journalist.
Posted in Dawn, October 7, 2025
