Troop deployment: Election day security
IF the Election Commission of Pakistan has deemed troop deployment necessary and GHQ has given the green signal, we fail to understand what has prompted the care-taker interior minister to reject the deployment of army men on election day. At a news conference on Thursday, the minister said army troops would only be called out should the police and paramilitary forces fail to keep the peace. The ECP had previously called for deploying army troops at all polling stations in Karachi and elsewhere in locations deemed sensitive. There is no denying that the threat of violence exists; the interior ministry itself said last month that several militant groups were seeking to derail the polls through acts of terrorism. Various places in the country were singled out as possible targets and in the days since two major militant strikes have occurred in Peshawar, while Rangers’ personnel have been attacked in Karachi.
Indeed, the police are the first line of defence and it is impractical to assume army troops can be posted at every polling station. However, there are places which need the army’s presence to decrease chances of rigging and to counter violence. Security experts point out two major areas of concern. Firstly, there are parts of Karachi considered ‘no-go’ areas — basically fiefdoms carved out by certain ethnic and political groups — as well as remote areas of Sindh dominated by feudal elements, where ballot box stuffing may occur. In such locations, the army’s presence may act as a deterrent to elements seeking to stuff the ballot. Secondly, there are parts of the country, such as in Fata, affected by militancy and insurgency where militant groups call the shots. While some of these areas might be inaccessible to the state, thus making the holding of polls practically impossible, larger army deployment may come in handy for security in areas cleared of militancy but where the threat remains. A task force has been set up comprising members of police, intelligence agencies and the ECP; this body needs to chalk out a comprehensive security plan about where to deploy whom.
Ultimately, whatever steps that need to be taken regarding the free, fair and secure conduct of polls lie within the ECP’s domain, not that of the interior ministry or any other government body. All stakeholders need to stay within their respective domains and the caretaker set-up should work to enforce the ECP’s decisions in all election-related matters and refrain from setting or changing the agenda.
Damning indictment: Human rights in 2012
PUT together, the numbers are shocking: in the past year, over 2,000 people were killed and more than 3,000 injured in 1,577 militant attacks across the country. In Karachi, more than 2,000 died in ethnic, sectarian and politically linked violence. Over 900 females were killed in the name of ‘honour’, and more than 100 members of the Shia Hazara community massacred in Balochistan. Even as the courts pursued the issue of ‘missing persons’ alleged to be in the illegal custody of various branches of the security forces, the bodies of at least 72 such people were found in Balochistan. Meanwhile, Pakistan is ranked at 151 out of 179 on the Press Freedom Index — at least 14 journalists were killed over the last year while the murder of Saleem Shahzad remained unsolved. Pakistan also continued to be among those countries where the highest number of people are dying of preventable diseases such as tuberculosis, polio and malaria. Whichever aspect is examined, the picture is utterly dismal.
These unpalatable facts were revealed on Thursday in the report on the State of Human Rights in 2012 put together by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. According to HRCP chairperson Asma Jahangir, the gravest issue is the killing of minorities — from Quetta to Gilgit-Baltistan and Karachi. Such has been the crisis of governance that, as HRCP secretary general I.A. Rehman pointed out, people are rapidly losing confidence and trust in the country’s institutions, including the courts. Things could not bode worse, perhaps, as the elections draw near. But there is a lesson to be learned and the country’s political parties ignore it at their own peril: while the handover of government from one elected assembly to another is especially laudable in Pakistan’s context, what the people desire is the firm hand of governance to steer the ship of state on the right course. The mantra of democracy will not go far if the country remains wracked by violence and poor policymaking that results in state institutions being in a shambles.
Must anarchy continue? Displaced Syrians
VIOLENCE alone is not driving the Syrian people out of their country. Instead, as an American refugee care official said, it is the decline in the means of livelihood and food availability that is leading to homelessness. Internally, according to UN estimates, there are four million displaced persons. Add to this the one million who have taken refuge in neighbouring countries, and we have almost one-fourth of Syria’s population of 23 million homeless. The number of fatalities is a matter of speculation, because mediapersons and rights workers find it difficult to enter Syria. Last month alone, over 6,000 reportedly died. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has not updated its figure of 70,000 dead for nearly two months, now estimates that the number could be in the vicinity of 120,000. The figure may be exaggerated, but it should nevertheless serve to focus the world’s attention on the humanitarian disaster in the heart of the Middle East.
Fighting continues because arms are available to both sides. The UN Security Council has not passed a single resolution banning arms sales to the Damascus regime. This permits Russia and China to keep supplying arms to the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The European Union is divided on arms for the rebels, because Al Qaeda fighters have now become a major component of the militias. The small arms supplied to the dissidents by Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey can keep the fighting going but the rebels cannot defeat the regime. This means the two-year-old slaughter will continue, with the miseries of the Syrian people increasing by the day. It seems some world powers and perhaps regional states want the anarchy to continue in a country that is considered Israel’s most implacable foe.