ISLAMABAD: A contradiction between the politicians’ public rhetoric and on-the-ground conduct is furthering the crisis, like the missing persons and Balochistan issue.
Crocodile tears are being shed by the media-centric politicians — whether in the government or in the opposition — but without taking any practical steps to address these issues of high national importance.
It was good to see the PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif on Friday visiting the camp of missing persons in Islamabad and condemning the mysterious death of four out of 11 missing persons during their custody with the agencies. But on-the-ground reality is that these 11 “missing persons” were not released, despite having been acquitted by the court of law, by the PML-N’s own government in the Punjab. Instead, they were kept under police custody on the orders of Shahbaz Sharif government for several weeks under (Maintenance of Public Order).
When the Lahore High Court suspended the Punjab government’s order and asked for their immediate release, these 11 “missing persons” were handed over to agencies personnel on the premises of Adiala Jail. This “kidnapping” was done with the apparent support of the Punjab government, but it was the intervention of the Supreme Court that led to the suspension of the then jail superintendent and locating the “missing persons” in the custody of agencies.
Today, Nawaz Sharif, whose real brother rules the Punjab, said that the Constitution and law are helpless and wonders who is responsible for this. The PML-N chief’s pain for the missing persons is though commendable; can he explain what practical steps he and his party had taken to address the issue of missing persons? Has he suggested any legislation? Did the N-League ever call a meeting of political parties to address this issue?
The crisis of missing persons, other than Balochistan, is connected with the so-called US war on terror. In this category of missing persons, there are two types i) those Islamists who were waging Jehad against occupation US forces in Afghanistan or were their supporters like Dr Aafia Siddiqi, and ii) those who in retaliation to the post-9/11 persecution of the Islamists and continuing drone attacks are allegedly involved in violence i.e. terrorist and suicide attacks within Pakistan.
In the above cases, what is the official policy of the PML-N? Does it support the Jihadis or justify the government’s policy of continue owning and fighting Washington’s war against the Muslims? One wonders what the PML-N did during the last four years to address the root causes of terrorism and extremism and if supporting the Swat military operation was the right solution.
On the missing persons issue, the government’s politicking is exposed as the president, prime minister or any other leading PPP leader has not yet uttered a word of sympathy or ordered an inquiry into the mysterious death of four of the 11 missing persons. Farhatullah Babar, representing his party, had filed a petition in the court in 2007 on the issue of missing persons and had then asked for legislation to control the agencies.
When it suits the rulers’ vested interest, they don’t hesitate to target their own Army chief and DG ISI but when it comes to serious issues like the missing persons, neither any word is uttered nor legal and administrative solution is derived. The PPP is a great supporter of the US war on terror, which was the reason for the first category of missing persons discussed above. On the issue of Balochistan and its “missing persons,” the role of politicians and present rulers has been pathetic as things are allowed to get from bad to worse without any political intervention to a problem that requires a pure political solution.
Only after four years of their rule and opposition, the PPP prime minister and PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif announced, during the recent weeks, to convene their respective APCs on the Balochistan issue.
Instead of convening such meetings of politicians at the earliest, the Balochistan unrest is fuelled by irresponsible statements where the politicians ignore their own failing and shortcomings and directly or indirectly shift the whole responsibility on to the military.
While focusing on the Baloch “missing persons” and the alleged separatists and terrorists, the crime committed in Balochistan is not fully reflected. If there is a reality of excesses being meted out to the Baloch separatists, the killing of several hundreds of settlers from the other provinces by the Baloch “terrorists” is simply ignored. If a faction of the Baloch people was unjustly treated, the settlers in the same province have been dealt far gravely. The federal and provincial governments are completely aloof to the issues like the missing persons and Balochistan crisis and have shifted all the burden to the military establishment to settle them through their own way.
Politicians, instead of blaming others, should blame themselves for these failings. Military operation is not a solution to any problem whether it is Balochistan, Karachi, Swat or the tribal areas of Pakistan. It instead aggravates the problem and furthers the sufferings. Interestingly, for their own interest and for their party interest, they meet and reach consensus but why such consensus could not be developed and seen on issues like missing persons, Balochistan issue, setting up of independent Accountability Commission and neutral tax collecting authority. Pakistan can only be saved if the politicians rise to the occasion and take responsibility. Will they? Perhaps, no!



Wide gap between reality and rhetoric on key issuesPerspective