Politicians’ reactions
November 10th, 2012
With refreshing maturity and more than a little cleverness, the ruling party and the PML-N have managed to spin the army chief and chief justice’s recent remarks as cooperative steps forward for Pakistani democracy. This was, for several reasons, the wise thing to do even as some commentators and public figures were ringing hasty alarm bells about clashes of institutions and threats to the current set-up. For one, Gen Kayani’s statement seems to have been designed to boost morale within the army rank and file and demonstrate a show of strength in the face of a media and a judiciary increasingly willing to hold the army to account. Best for the civilians then, including Nawaz Sharif, to stay out of the fray and focus on the less hard-hitting bits of Gen Kayani’s speech. And while the information minister did take the opportunity to reiterate that it is parliament that sets the constitution, his welcoming of the chief justice’s remarks was a sensible response. Whether or not it was appropriate for the chief justice to opine publicly on good governance, little would have been gained from reviving the not-so-distant antagonism between the government and the Supreme Court, especially given the relative calm that has followed the much-awaited writing of the letter to Swiss authorities.
More importantly, both politicians emphasised a specific and quite critical point: they focused on the two chiefs’ remarks about upholding the constitution and law. The constitution as it stands, though, is more supportive of elected representatives than it has been for several decades, and recent judgments have left little room for doubt about the unconstitutionality of military interventions. So by focusing on this aspect, both Mr Sharif and Mr Kaira managed to use Gen Kayani and Justice Chaudhry’s remarks to strengthen the argument for democracy and for institutions remaining within their defined roles.
There was much hype in the hours following the two chiefs’ statements: who was Gen Kayani sending a message to? Were his words an indication that the military’s patience was running out, a veiled threat that things were about to change? And even if the timing of Justice Chaudhry’s speech was simply a coincidence, was he once again trying to assert the superiority of the judiciary over other state institutions? Would Pakistan make it to the next elections? Reactions from the ruling party and the main opposition not only defused the impact of such overexcited speculation, but also cleverly offered interpretations that bolster the case for upholding the importance of parliament and the democracy it represents.
A welcome step
November 10th, 2012
Life is hard enough for the average Pakistani, but for those unfortunate enough to belong to certain marginalised communities, the scale of the challenge is much more intense. Where religious minorities face the threat of violence, for others on the margins the hurdles are often placed by the government itself. It is encouraging, then, that in the recent past the way has been made smoother for members of two such communities. Last month, the Supreme Court reiterated during a ruling that transgender people are entitled to all the rights afforded to citizens by the constitution, and directed the police and provincial administrations to ensure that such people have no complaints. Last year, following an SC order, the National Database and Registration Authority fixed things at its end and created a third gender-related category for transgender applicants for the computerised national identity cards — the requirement for accessing practically everything. Now comes the news that Nadra has taken another laudable step: on Wednesday, it announced that henceforth it would issue CNICs to people with unknown parentage.
As matters stood earlier, children of unknown par-entage could not legally obtain B-Forms, which are the basis on which CNICs are issued after the age of 18. It cannot be ascertained exactly how many people will benefit, but the figure is bound to run into several thousands. The move is the result of a petition filed in the Supreme Court by Abdul Sattar Edhi in 2010, and Edhi Home alone says that some 15,000 babies have been left in its cradles — i.e. abandoned by their parents — over the past two decades. There are several other reasons, too, due to which children may not be aware of their parents’ names or not have proof of their parentage. This category includes runaways and street children amongst others. In the case of transgenders, there are in many cities entire localities of people who cannot access their most basic rights, including the right to vote or file a police complaint, because they lack a CNIC or have to resort to fraudulent means to obtain it. Nadra has taken a progressive step, and this must be appreciated.
Dangerous location
November 10th, 2012
It is a small miracle that Thursday’s truck bombing which targeted a Rangers’ compound in Karachi’s North Nazimabad area didn’t cause more havoc. The vehicle was reportedly laden with 150kg of explosives, yet fatalities were mercifully few. Considering that the compound is located — as in many other cases where the paramilitary Rangers are stationed in Karachi — in a densely populated residential area, and that the early morning bombing occurred at a time when vans are on the roads taking children to school, the number of deaths could have been high. The incident bears a resemblance to 2008’s bombing of Lahore’s FIA centre, which is also located in a heavily populated area. Over the last year, the Rangers have been targeted in Karachi several times. Though the paramilitary force has been involved in operations against political and religious militants in the city, this attack appears to be the handiwork of the Taliban. Mullah Fazlullah’s faction of the TTP has reportedly claimed the bombing as “revenge” for the security forces’ actions against the terrorist group.
The Rangers are often called out in Karachi whenever violence spins out of the police’s control. However, while the force’s presence in the metropolis may be necessary due to the police’s deficiencies, the state needs to think seriously about relocating the Rangers’ barracks and offices away from residential and commercial areas. One idea is to house the force in isolated areas, such as the city’s outskirts. But then questions about quick deployment in times of trouble arise. It is true that Karachi’s growth has been haphazard, thus security installations once located in isolated zones are now surrounded by urban sprawl. Yet for the security of both the Rangers and civilians, the force needs to be relocated in such a way that while remaining far from population centres, rapid deployment of personnel is still possible.