Supreme Court on Karachi violence
September 3rd, 2011
There is no greater indictment of the political system than the fact that the Supreme Court has had to take suo motu notice of the violence in Karachi. Over 400 lives have been taken in the last three months and the response of the various political parties has been to pass the buck and shift the blame. Expecting the Supreme Court, no matter how well-intentioned, to be able to bring an end to the violence or even provide justice to the families of those who have been murdered is far-fetched and fanciful. What it can do through its hearings is to hold the law-enforcement agencies, and by extension the politicians who command them, accountable for the worst violence the city has seen in 15 years.
In just a couple of days of hearings, the Supreme Court has already been able to embarrass the Sindh police and for good reason. The Sindh Inspector-General Wajid Durrani was told that his presentation was no better than a police report. It has quickly become obvious that the law-enforcement agencies are either unable, or more likely unwilling to identify who is behind the violence in Karachi. The Supreme Court too may not be able to get answers out of them but at least this is the first time the police will be strongly questioned about their inaction.
Questioning just the police, however, is not enough. Until the political parties that have inflamed the violence are held accountable, the Supreme Court will be unable to get to the bottom of the matter. Zulfiqar Mirza’s press conference on August 28 may have been quickly disavowed by the PPP leadership but what he said resonated with those who are opposed to the MQM. Similarly, those in the city predisposed to oppose the PPP and the ANP would level similarly heinous charges against those parties. The violence in Karachi is a failure of politics, not police work. Those placing great hope in the Supreme Court to sort out the situation should also be wary. This suo motu action feels more like an inquest than an investigation. It may point a few fingers and embarrass those in power but it is extremely unlikely to change the ground realities in Karachi.
Death and joy
September 3rd, 2011
Eid is of course meant to be an occasion for joy, as well as for prayer. But it seems even this is to be denied to some in the country. For the families of the 11 people killed and 13 others injured in a bomb attack at a Quetta mosque immediately after Eid prayers, the day of happiness turned in to one of mourning. As has happened before in the city, Shias were the target of the attack. A car bomb planted near the Shia mosque caused the explosion — but such technicalities are of course largely irrelevant. The fact is that 11 more graves have been dug, 11 more people have been buried and even on an occasion such as Eidul Fitr we are incapable of demonstrating the kind of unity we so desperately need as a nation.
More and more fissures are appearing everywhere, cutting through our society and dividing it up into smaller and smaller groups. We are split on the basis of ethnicity, of social status, of gender, of religion and of sect. Quetta over the last few months, appears to have emerged as the focal point of the attacks on Shias — often members of the minority Hazara community. The latest act of violence directed against them shows they are not to be allowed even to observe one of the most holy days on the Islamic calendar without being stalked relentlessly by death.
Why, we must ask, are we so helpless against the forces that carry out such attacks? Why have the culprits not been apprehended despite the presence of a vast security and intelligence network? Even after the hundreds of sectarian deaths that have taken place over the last decade there is a lack of clarity as to precisely who is responsible. We must also ask why there has not been a louder outcry: from civil society groups, from the media, from political parties and from clerics. After all, the persons carrying out such attacks cannot claim to be Muslims, to be members of a religion that preaches peace and tolerance. They must then be openly condemned as the murderers they are, to restore to our nation the harmony it so badly needs.
Check on freedom
September 3rd, 2011
The freedom of the internet is, it appears, to be curbed. Authorities do not like the licence it gives people everywhere to freely gather information from around the world and gain access to opinions of all kinds. According to a report in this newspaper, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTAs) powers to monitor the information people exchange over the internet is growing, with a new notice to ISPs ordering the prohibition of the use of technology that allows the private browsing of the internet. Right now it is possible to use such services, which include encrypted virtual private networks, to exchange messages and information that cannot be accessed by the PTA. Blackberry to Blackberry messaging, and other similar services, are presumably to be included in this.
In our particular situation, it can of course be argued that security concerns make such steps unavoidable. Al Qaeda and other groups have in the past been known to use text messaging and internet services for dangerous purposes. But there is reason to believe the PTA measures go beyond this. Lately, there have been more and more instances in which websites have been blocked; those run by Baloch nationalist groups remain prohibited, we have in the past seen the shutdown of Facebook and, most recently, in what is a particularly absurd move, the website of the radical music magazine Rolling Stone has been shut down, to prevent people from viewing an article that lambasts Pakistan’s high military spending. Of course, for the tech savvy, it is possible to get to the item through more roundabout means. This makes the act of censorship even more ridiculous.
But we are treading into very dangerous waters. Freedom to information is a basic right of every citizen. It is protected under the law of the land. The last thing we need is measures, such as those imposed by the Iranian state, to restrict internet freedom. This would only add to the frustrations we see everywhere and create new dangers in our society.