Incorporated into the outer walls of houses, constructed with bricks, linked to drainage systems and covered with wooden seats. Such were the toilets of Mohenjo-Daro in the third millennium BC. In 2025, Pakistan barely treats 1% of its raw sewage, letting the remaining 99% pour into land, rivers, canals, lakes and sea. The file relating to SDG 6, which included our pledge for treating up to 50% of untreated sewage by 2030, was misplaced by the 'Naib Qasid' and has been missing since then.

In 2024, we proudly led the world in polio cases — outpacing our closest competitor Afghanistan by a factor of three — and have maintained that dubious lead well into 2025. Since 2014, Pakistan happily swallowed $1.2 billion in polio aid, much to the delight of those who prefer 'polio drops' over addressing the root causes of disease. It is therefore surprising that Pakistan makes no attempt to understand or to disrupt the faecal-oral link between contaminated water and polio.

Cynics often admire the masterstroke of our policymaking — that enables........

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