MEDIABITES EDITORIAL | Satire & Opinion Desk | MediaBites.com.pk
Pakistan is a remarkable country. Truly remarkable. Where else in the world would you award your most prestigious civilian honor to a minister who, in the same breath, announces that the system he has been running for nearly two years has completely collapsed?
Only here. Only Pakistan. And we do it with a straight face.
Mohsin Naqvi took oath as Federal Minister for Interior and Narcotics on March 11, 2024. He has now reportedly been nominated for the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, one of Pakistan’s highest state honors.
Let us pause and appreciate this.
The Numbers That Happened During His Watch
Before we present the award, perhaps we should read out some numbers. Just for the record. Just so future historians know what was happening while the Tamgha was being polished.
In 2024 alone, 358 security and law enforcement personnel were martyred in terrorist attacks. That includes 78 FC men, 140 policemen, 124 army officials, and 13 Levies members. Another 355 civilians lost their lives, and 621 were wounded.
In 2025, combat-related deaths rose by 73 percent to 3,387, including 664 security forces personnel and 580 civilians.
July 2026 alone saw 112 security personnel martyred, the highest monthly toll since January 2023 and the second highest recorded in more than a decade.
But please, do continue with the award ceremony. We are sure the families of those 1,700 plus martyred security personnel will appreciate the gesture.
The Punjabi Workers, A Chapter Nobody Wants to Read
In August 2024, approximately 23 Punjabi passengers were pulled off buses and trucks on a Balochistan highway, had their identities checked, and were shot dead for the crime of being ethnically Punjabi. Armed militants offloaded them, verified they were Punjabi, and executed them on the roadside before setting the vehicles on fire.
The Interior Ministry was watching. The Interior Minister was watching.
The Tamgha-e-Imtiaz nomination was apparently also watching and decided this was an award-worthy performance.
The Most Extraordinary Statement of 2026
Now here is the artistic masterpiece at the center of this satirical canvas.
Mohsin Naqvi, the Federal Minister for Interior, the man constitutionally responsible for Pakistan’s internal security, law enforcement, and the functioning of the state apparatus, recently told the nation that the system has collapsed.
Not your predecessor’s system. Not someone else’s department. The system is your responsibility. The system you have been running since March 2024. That system. Collapsed.
And the response to this admission of systemic failure?
A Tamgha-e-Imtiaz nomination.
In most countries, announcing that the system has collapsed while you are the minister responsible for the system results in a resignation or a parliamentary inquiry. In Pakistan, it results in a state honor.
We are truly blessed as a nation.
How Awards Work in Pakistan: A Brief Educational Note
For those unfamiliar with Pakistan’s awards philosophy, allow us to explain.
The Tamgha-e-Imtiaz is awarded for distinguished service and meritorious achievement. The criteria, as best as can be understood from observing the awards over the years, appear to include the following qualifications.
Being in the office. Being on good terms with the right people. Being in the office while on good terms with the right people. And most importantly, announcing that systems have collapsed in a sufficiently dramatic manner that suggests you are aware of the problem, even if awareness and accountability remain entirely separate concepts.
Merit, results, and the number of citizens who remained alive and safe during your tenure appear to be optional considerations.
A Modest Counter-Proposal
With the greatest respect to the awards committee, MediaBites would like to humbly suggest an alternative approach to state honors.
Perhaps the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz could be reserved for the police constable in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa who showed up to his checkpoint every morning, knowing that 2025 saw 134 terrorist attacks targeting police stations, posts, and checkpoints in his district alone.
Perhaps it could go to the Levies officer in Balochistan who guarded his post through wave after wave of coordinated militant assaults, knowing that his institution’s budget, equipment, and support remained perpetually inadequate.
Perhaps it could go to the family of one of the 23 Punjabi workers executed on a Balochistan roadside, who still await a proper accounting of what happened, why it happened, and what changed to prevent it from happening again.
Perhaps. But that would require a different kind of government than the one currently nominating itself for awards while announcing the system has collapsed.
In Conclusion
Congratulations, Minister Sahib. The Tamgha-e-Imtiaz is a fine award. It looks excellent on a shelf.
The families of the martyred security personnel, the survivors of targeted ethnic violence, and the citizens navigating a collapsed system will sleep much better tonight, knowing that the right people are being properly recognized.
Pakistan Zindabad. The system, however, is apparently not available for comment.
All casualty figures are sourced from publicly available data published by PIPS, PICSS, Dawn, Express Tribune, and VOA News. This is a satirical opinion piece.
