JUDGING by the number of Western media and analytical queries I have received over the past two weeks, there seems to be a growing interest in Western capitals in the potential implications of the elections on Pakistan’s foreign policy orientation.

The interest is perhaps triggered by Pakistan’s self-acclaimed and much-touted ‘strategic shift’ that has continued to receive attention in Western capitals (and in New Delhi and Kabul for that matter). At best, the shift is only partially understood and there is no sense of whether it is likely to have any longevity.

Therefore, the very basic question: what should we (external watchers) expect from the next five years?

One can answer this with some confidence since, perhaps driven by Pakistan’s acute internal challenges, the establishment and the three major political parties (the PPP, PML-N and PTI) seem to have converged on the key markers — not necessarily in terms of the pace with which things should move but at least on the broad directionality of the key foreign relationships.

The continuing civilian-military disconnect on a number of foreign policy questions notwithstanding, the convergence began to emerge during the last PPP government. At its core, it entails a subtle recalibration of the country’s regional outlook coupled with a status quo approach on relations with China and the US. The next five years are likely to see a consolidation of this.

Conceptually, as far as I can decipher, there are six major pillars of this outlook.

First, positive movement with India: The inevitable vocal and perhaps violent challenge from the right-wing notwithstanding, the leadership of the three major parties seem to be fairly sanguine on the options. We’ll have to find the right political jargon and face-savers to pursue this fully but the bottom line is set: the way forward is trade. Jaw-jaw will continue on Kashmir in parallel but it won’t hold the rest hostage. The establishment has found this difficult to swallow but it is also aware of the internal compulsions. The pace of movement will remain up for discussion but the directionality will not.

Second, hedging on Afghanistan: The Afghan policy can take one of two very different directions depending on what transpires in Kabul post-2014. The current desire is to see Pakistan reduce its reliance on hardcore Islamist Pakhtuns and open up with the northern factions. Behind-the-scenes efforts to reach out to the north have been ongoing for some time. The desire for greater attention to the economic aspects of the relationship is also part of this thinking.

Quite to the contrary, a return to civil war in Afghanistan will inevitably trigger the good old proxy game with Pakistan falling on the side of the hardcore elements and the traditional supporters of the northern factions reviving their erstwhile ties. Pakistan will find itself squarely on the wrong side of global opinion if this outcome transpires.

Third, rebalancing of the Sunni-Shia divide — read, the Saudi-Iran equation: For years, Pakistan has been firmly in the Saudi camp with all its attendant economic benefits and ideological repercussions. This has begun to undergo some correction for two reasons. First, the ideological repercussions seem to have caught up with us fair and square. Among other fallouts, the ‘Arabisation’ of the Pakistani religious right’s mindset and its ability to intimidate its opponents has quite obviously exacerbated the Sunni-Shia divide in Pakistan. The state, with the history of tilt towards the Sunni crescent, is increasingly finding it hard to pledge neutrality. It is quickly losing control of the situation.

Second is energy where the Pakistani decision-making enclave seems to be taking the Iranian option far more seriously than one thought it would given the Western opposition. President Zardari’s last visit to Iran had both goals in mind. Admittedly, the PML-N government with its closer links to the Saudi royals may be less sympathetic to this recalibration but again, it could tamper with the pace, not directionality. The latter seems to be coming out of a deeper realisation that the traditional policy has run its course.

Fourth, consistency on China: There is zero dissent on this all-weather friendship despite the clear Chinese signalling that it will not get into the business of bailing Pakistan out with free handouts on a regular basis. The attachment to China however is almost reflexive. The future policy will continue seeking Chinese investment and increasingly also use Beijing as a buffer against the geo-political squeeze Islamabad feels it is under. The Chinese presence in Gwadar ought to be seen in this light.

Fifth, more of the same with the US: For all the seesawing and finger-pointing we have seen from both sides over the years, the bottom line is that neither can afford to alienate the other completely. Pakistan worries Washington and this will not allow it to walk away. Islamabad realises it has been treading on thin ice and cannot afford isolation. There will continue to be a lot of lip service to decreasing dependence on the US (especially from the likes of PTI). It won’t happen though — neither the establishment nor the political parties wish to forgo the assistance that flows from Washington. So there will be angst; there will be mudslinging; but the relationship will continue.

Sixth, more outreach to the traditionally neglected. Efforts to reach out to Moscow over the past two years are examples of efforts at diversification of foreign policy options. None of these are likely to be consequential in the foreseeable future. Net positive or negative? It depends.

The best case implies improved ties with the region without losing out on Western engagement. A more realpolitik analysis on the other hand suggests a major problem: continued outreach to Iran may well be non-negotiable in Riyadh and Washington. How Pakistan manages to deal with this challenge will determine the fate of the reorientation.

The writer is South Asia adviser at the US Institute of Peace, Washington, D.C.

http://dawn.com/

With the scrutiny of the candidates’ nomination papers over, the pre-election process has entered the final stage of appeals which will end on April 17. After that the ongoing election campaign will gain full momentum. While a number of parties have already held big rallies, the three parties marked by the terrorists have yet to follow suit. Bilwal Bhutto has come back after a week of uncertainties but the party has yet to fulfill its promise of holding twenty big rallies in cities and rural areas. The ANP which lost one of its leading lights in a terrorist attack tested the waters in Bannu with a rally which was hit by a remote control bomb. The party is now hesitant to put the life of Asfandyar Wali to risk. The MQM which claimed to contest seats nationwide has yet to come out of Sindh.

Holding a peaceful election remains the biggest challenge for the caretaker government. Any major act of violence could create panic amongst the voters, dampening their enthusiasm, thus bringing down the voter turn up. The major responsibility to ensure peace lies with the caretaker federal interior minister. He has already held meetings with the top officials of intelligence and law enforcement agencies but unless there is a well thought out security plan, these would not be productive. A close coordination with the provinces is required to keep the situation under control. Malik Habib should be able to share real time information about the impending threats instead of providing imprecise and raw intelligence reports as Rehman Malik did. So far the stress is on providing security to some of the major political leaders. What is needed is a more comprehensive security plan for the entire election campaign.

There are already ominous signs on the horizon. Karachi continues to be a new hub of terrorist activities. In interior Sindh, armed motorcyclists snatched or burnt the copies of a national daily. It seems that Kayani’s visit has brought little solace to the Baloch. The BNP chief Akhtar Mengal claims that there are still no go areas in the province and people are still being abducted and killed in different areas of Balochistan. There is an urgent need to redress the grievances so that no section of the Baloch leadership is forced to boycott the polls as happened in 2008. The ANP and PPP have also put up candidates in South Waziristan. The TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud has on the other hand threatened of violence. He has advised the displaced Mahsud tribesmen to avoid returning to their homes as they could be killed in the ongoing war between the government and the Taliban. The performance of the caretaker set up will be judged by its ability to provide security to all political players in every province.

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/editorials/

It is a blood chilling report. The last five years of so-called democratic governance saw a horrendous rise in heinous crimes all over Pakistan. According to the National Crime Data (NCD), a total of 3,170,889 offences, including 456,552 against persons and 611,852 cases against property, were reported during the last five years. The number of murders recorded was 65,446, while 22,253 people died in road accidents during the last five years. This gives an average of 18,000 killings per year.

If we take 2007 as the base year, the NCD statistics indicate that while overall crime in the country increased at the rate of 17.86 per cent, crime against person and property curved up at the rate of 24.12 per cent. In 2007, 172,140 offences against person and property were recorded, but the figure rose to 203,035 in 2008, marking a 17.94 per cent jump. The number of incidents further rose to 205,259 in 2009, touching the figure of 229,948 in 2011, a 33.58 per cent rise as compared to 2007.

The 5-year crime statistics point to an average increase of 27.53 per cent as compared to the previous regime. According to NCD figures, 1,366 women were gang-raped and 15,082 women were raped, while 2,640 people were kidnapped for ransom. Moreover, 88,161 men and women were kidnapped or abducted. The 5-year crime figure also includes 611,852 cases of street crime, 350 bank robberies, 698 petrol pump dacoities, in addition to 2,357 highway robberies. The highest rate of kidnapping for ransom was recorded in Sindh during the last five years. In all, 946 people were kidnapped for ransom, constituting 35.83 per cent of the total number of such offences in the country.

With 1953,209 registered cases, Punjab contributed over 61.59 per cent to the total crime volume. There was an alarming rise in crime as a total 723,051 criminal cases were recorded, including 268,173 against person (52,219 in 2008, 51,898 in 2009, 53,958 in 2010, 56,701 in 2011 and 53,397 in 2013). With 1,075 women gang-raped during the last five years, 78.69 per cent all gang-rape incidents in the country occurred in the Punjab. The crime statistics also revealed that 832 people were kidnapped for ransom in the last five years - 213 in 2008, 174 in 2009, 146 in 2010, 184 in 2011 and 115 in 2012 - while the total number of kidnappings and abductions was 67,960. 15,658 cases of armed dacoities, including raids on banks and petrol pumps and highway robberies, and 49,157 incidents of burglaries and thefts were reported.

The NCD indicates an average increase of 41.77 in Sindh as compared to the crime data of 2007. Overall, the Sindh province contributed 430,814 cases to the 5-year statistics. In all 16,121 people were murdered during the last 5-year tenure of the democratic government. The number of women gang-raped in Sindh during this period was 172, while 946 people were kidnapped for ransom - 217 in 2008, 198 in 2009, 175 in 2010, 178 in 2011 and 178 in 2012 - and 13371 were kidnapped or abducted - 2,168 in 2008, 2,424 in 2009, 2,926 in 2010, 2,954 in 2011 and 2,899 in 2012.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, a total of 658,386 cases were registered during the last 5 years. Of this there were 64,627 cases of crime against person and property. In all, 14,764 people were assassinated which gives the yearly average of 2,953. As for Balochistan, it contributed 45,071 cases in the total 5-year crime figure. 335 people were kidnapped for ransom, with an average of 67 cases every year. That shows a disturbing situation, as until 2007 an average of only 15 such cases were reported till 2007. A total of 3,131 people were murdered in Balochistan - 605 in 2008, 626 in 2009, 596 in 2010, 593 in 2011 and 711 in 2012 - with the average of 626 incidents per year. Islamabad Capital Territory too was not free of the rising crime wave. In the last five years, 31,964 cases were reported, with 62 people kidnapped for ransom 49 women were gang-raped and 778 women raped.

The crime figure recorded by NCD does not include the incidents not reported to the police. If the unreported crimes are also included in the overall calculation, the statistics will become more gruesome. It is clear from the crime picture that the government has miserably failed to curb crime and maintain the law and order in the country. A case in point is Karachi which has now been named the murder capital of the world because of the endless killing of innocent people there on a daily basis. The same goes for Balochistan where killings and kidnappings have created a highly volatile situation.

Punjab was supposed to be doing better than other provinces on the law and order front. But crime figures show that the situation here has also been deteriorating fast. For quite some time past, the crime trend has remained strong in the Punjab, but it seems things are now in a worse shape. As in Karachi and elsewhere, police are part of the problem rather than of the solution. Some parts of the rural Punjab are specially notorious for murder and crimes against women. In the last five years the menace of sectarian killings has also assumed alarming proportions. Kidnapping for ransom is a growing industry everywhere.

We look like living in a country where crime rules, murder is king and kidnapping is a flourishing business. Political appointments in the police is one of the main reasons why crime cannot be curbed in our society. Since there is no pressure on political favourites to perform; the result is that the thana culture keeps thriving. Despite substantial increases in the pay and allowances of the police, corruption flourishes and the poor man is a helpless victim. The police force is under-manned and under-equipped and not trained in the latest scientific techniques of crime fighting. In many cases, the police protects the criminals, instead of nabbing them. The crime dens in various parts of the big cities cannot exist without police connivance and patronage. The latest crime statistics are a warning signal to policy and decision makers. They must wake up and take the necessary remedial measures before the situation gets out of control.

http://www.weeklycuttingedge.com/

the TTP had announced that it would target the candidates belonging to the PPP, the ANP and the MQM and attack their gatherings. It has further warned the voters to shun the rallies organized by what it calls “the secular parties”. While the militant network has rejected democracy as an Un-Islamic contraption and has opposed the elections, it has intriguingly maintained an ambivalent attitude towards the PML-N, JUI-F and JI. Its approach towards the PTI is equally ambivalent despite having categorized Imran Khan as a secular leader. The question is whether those looking after the elections are prepared to meet the challenge.

On Thursday the TTP claimed its first victim when the MQM’s Fakhrul Islam contesting for a Sindh Assembly seat from Hyderabad was gunned down. The militant network immediately claimed responsibility for the act. Earlier in the day an attempt was made in Peshawar to blow up the car in which Arbab Ayub Jan who is the ANP candidate for NA-4 was travelling. Last week the militants attacked an ANP rally killing two and injuring a former MPA belonging to the party in Bannu. Mir Hazar Khan Khoso has ordered an immediate tightening of security for all candidates in the wake of the shooting. The problem is that there are thousands of candidates all over the country. What is more, in every province the terrorist threat has its own peculiarities. In Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, towns bordering the tribal areas or FRs are particularly vulnerable to the threat as is the case with Peshawar and Bannu. The military operation in Tirah valley needs to be intensified and taken to its logical conclusion to improve the situation in Peshawar and adjoining cities. In Karachi, political appointees need to be transferred so that professional officers unconcerned about who wins the elections can concentrate on the TTP hideouts, sleeper cells and ammunition dumps. In Balochistan the agencies should concentrate on those who want to disrupt the polls and provide security to those who are participating in them. In all these places including Punjab the security agencies should act with unprecedented vigilance and share real time information with law enforcement agencies. There is a need to strengthen the check posts to stop the influx of suicide bombers and weapons from the tribal belt.

The Sindh caretaker PM should have transferred key political government officers after April 2 as was done in the Punjab. The Sindh administration must immediately carry out the ECP directives to transfer the 65 bureaucrats. The army commanders have given their nod of approval to the security plan for the polls. So far the entire focus has been on providing security on the day of the election and to major political leaders. While this is understandable, this is by no means enough. Extra efforts have to be put in to make the entire campaign from April 17 to May 11 violence free.

- See more at: http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013....ETtBtLW8.dpuf

With gangs of criminals striking with immunity on account of the negligence or connivance of the ruling alliance during the past five years, Karachi has become ungovernable. Unless a serious attempt is made to restore peace it would be difficult to hold violence-free elections in the city. For five years, each one of the three parties previously in power blamed the other for the target killings and lawlessness. When it came to action there was none. When the issue of lawlessness in Karachi was taken up by the Supreme Court, there were eye-opening revelations. Murderers sentenced by the courts had been released on parole and subsequently disappeared in thin air. Police officials involved in crimes were not only retained but also promoted. A serving Sindh IG confessed he could not take action against his subordinates because they were political appointees.

After remaining in power for a decade at one stretch, it has come as a shock to the MQM to be treated like other parties by the law enforcement agencies. It has complained about the operation on Friday because it was “unannounced”, was carried out in areas considered to be MQM’s strongholds and has led to the arrest of “innocent people.” Not long ago, the MQM had demanded the initiation of an operation against the Peoples Aman Committee in Baloch dominated Lyari area which was then considered to be a PPP stronghold. It had also demanded an operation in the Pukhtun dominated areas. The lawlessness in Karachi is fairly widespread and no area in safe, which implies that there are criminals not only in Lyari and Sohrab Goth but also in other localities. The caretaker government needs to take an even handed action to root out crime irrespective of the localities’ voting pattern or their ethnic or political identity. What is more, the operations need to be conducted without prior announcement to ensure that the criminals do not manage to disappear or remove their lethal weapons and instruments of torture to safe places. There should be no sacred cows in the city.

The MQM’s complaints are incomprehensible. Even now it has a staunch party member as Governor. The caretaker Chief Minister too is reportedly its nominee. The Saturday’s operation in Lyari indicates that the law enforcers are acting without any prejudice. One expects them to remain neutral. All suspects need to be thoroughly probed irrespective of their affiliations. Any lenience shown in this regard would nullify whatever good one expects from the ongoing operations.

- See more at: http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2013....2G2SPDVE.dpuf

The fighting in the Tirah Valley claimed nine more brave Pakistani soldiers during the recent clashes. Seven extremists were also killed during the same clash. The geo-strategic location of Valley makes it an ideal launching pad for the Taliban to stage attacks on Peshawar as well as providing them with a safe passage into Orakzai agency. Since it is near Landi Kotal, which is close to the route used by the Nato supplies’ containers, it further adds to the importance of the valley. But all these factors are secondary before Pakistan’s security and peace. The valley is dangerous because in it the militants have found a hideout. They must be stamped out at all costs. The military that was earlier relying on air power is now using ground forces to drive out the militants but is facing considerable resistance.

Despite the terrain, the ground forces of the army have been able to move forward and capture some of the crucial posts under the control of Taliban. Complicating the matter is the fact that the Taliban are reportedly equipped with advanced weapons. Obviously, unless and until there is sustained funding, any such campaign of violence and that too against a state army cannot be prolonged. The sources of funding, from the most benign seeming mosque and madrasahs to the most obvious campaigners for ill conceived concepts of violence in the name of religion, must be caught and presented to the courts to be made an example of for aiding and encouraging terrorism and anti state propaganda in Pakistan. It is also necessary for the army to maintain hold of the captured areas; vacating them means allowing the miscreants to reclaim their turf.

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-ne...ons/editorials

Indeed, the terrorists have foxed the well trained army led entire security crop. None of the pledges of the armed forces to have raised arrangements to protect common man has been proved a success.. Men, material, machinery and the modern technology, that the professional armed forces of Pakistan have, are either ineffective or futile. The terrorists are out-maneuvering the strategies laid out by the forces at their sweet--any time any where. Despite, the best that the armed forces can do in Peshawar, had proved either superficial or artificial in the wake of successive bomb blasts. Another bomb exploded on a bus in Peshawar on Saturday that left yet another nine people dead and wounded seven others, exposed the security arrangements. The question is where was the police force that raises check-posts at every nook and corner of the city why can’t they detect the movement of the bombers when the terrorists were doing spade work to carry out the blast. Yet again, the police inability to check the bombers strengthens the general belief that the police force is too good to harass the public not the criminals. An intelligence official in Peshawar says the attack is a likely reaction to a fresh military push in the Tirah valley.

Of course, this is a reactionary bid to off-guard the forces meaning thereby, the security agencies have failed to take pre-emptive measures to match the network of the terrorists, raising fears and apprehensions amongst the masses that the history of the Pakistan’s security agencies, God forbid, may not succumb again against the planning of black-water agents and CIA financed Taliban. So far, earlier the PPP led Government and now the Caretakers rulers are totally hapless and helpless and the security strategy envisaged for protecting the life and property of the common man of the country is non-existent. Like it or not, the success against terrorists is a distant reality. It warrants far more sincere efforts, a concrete planning and a fearless fight against terrorists, extremists and nationalists. Contrary to the need to enhance overall security at the national level, after two attacks on election candidates in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and assassination of a contestant in Hyderabad, Sindh, the elections contestant are now allowed to keep five civilian bodyguards with licensed arms during the polls campaign. Oh, if the five armed civilians will be good enough to protect the rallies. Why are the security agencies including police finding it difficult to raise the security system? Pakistan spends a huge budget for its security that either is going down the drain or it is just meant to save ‘favourite sons’ like Zardaris, Sharifs and many others. It is pertinent to mention here over 750 personnel of law-enforcement agencies are deployed for the security of the Sharif brothers.
The ECP has trimmed the personal security of the leaders though. So far the sleeping giant—the ECP has taken reactive measures, mostly turned out to be eyewash, to ward off the security threats. The proactive fool-proof security arrangements for the common voters are yet to put in place. The Election Commission and the top brass of the armed forces should join their heads together to chalk out consensus on spreading out an impeccable security cover for the entire country rather than concentrating on just sensitive polling stations. Each Pakistani should be given protection not just ‘valued sons’ Zardaris or Sharifs. Human life should be valued alike.

http://www.thefrontierpost.com/category/46/

Battle lines appear to have been drawn between the rightist and the leftist forces of the country. Guess work and speculations are no more relevant in the equation. Now the divide has become so pronounced that hypocritical concealment ends up as a failed recipe.

During five years of PML-N administration in Punjab, headed by Shahbaz Sharif as the chief minister, the province, except for ethnic and sectarian violence, here and there, had been free of proclaimed TTP and Al Qaida terrorist attacks. The PML-N leadership had perhaps reached an understanding with the TTP that there had to prevail a virtual ceasefire between the TTP and Punjab government, or rather the PML-N. At number of occasions such conciliatory utterances by PML-N leaders, were pronounced, though in a slip of tongue fashion. But the conciliatory strategy is more openly advocated by repeatedly stating in favour of negotiations with the TTP and other banned outfits. Clamouring in favour of negotiations with the outfits, whose leadership is devoid of rationality, is an unreasonable demand to start with. But insisting on such a course is beyond comprehension, when such elaborate exercises of negotiations, including the set of negotiations with TTP leadership before the army operation was undertaken in Swat, have miserably failed in the past, on more than once. The trend only betrays the defeatist psyche of the political leadership, whose capacity to face tough situations demanding more than ordinary effort, has been liquidated.

With regard to the other rightist parties like Jamaat I Islam (JI), Jamiat e ulma e Islam (JUI-F), Tehrik e Insaf Pakistan (PTI) of Imran Khan and Difa E Pakistan etc, ambiguity, if any, clears off as the leaders of all these outfit have candidly expressed their avowed allegiance with all the terrorist organizations. None of their vanguard leadership has ever condemned the gruesome terrorist attacks on innocent civilians, police personnel and other security elements of the state. JUI-F joined the coalition government headed by the PPP after 2008 elections. The outfit comprehensively benefited while being in the government. Later the party faced some terrorist attacks on their rallies because of TTP’s disliking of their joining a party with leftist credentials. The Mualana conveniently chose to get out of the coalition and again paying lip service to the terrorist outfits.

The latest, unequivocal, proclamations by the TTP leadership that the election rallies of the leftist parties, like the PPP, the ANP and M QM will be attacked. The obvious aim of such a strategy is to sabotage the general elections. Although that collides with the interests of the rightist parties as well, but the leadership of these parties remains silent about it, for fear of annoying the extremists. That virtually implies that they want to eat a cake and also have one. The double edged weapon of TTP and Al Qaida is bound to inflict injury to all on the line, indiscriminately.

Despite reneging of Taliban from negotiations with government on more than one occasion, the leadership of the rightist parties, all the time, shamefully keeps harping on the theme of initiating negotiations with the militant groups.

So far the narrative has been covering the thought process of only the mundane elements, trading in politics. We now try to place on record the perceptions of the two most active institutions of the state, namely the higher judiciary and the eyes and ears of the nation, namely media.

First we take up the story of the custodians of justice and constitution of the federation, namely the higher judiciary. The activism of higher judiciary has been of an extraordinary during the last about four years. It has helped undoing so many injustices. It has also boldly pointed out so many wrongs being practiced in the society. But in some other areas it took some half measures in administering justice, due to certain expedient considerations. The Supreme Court of Pakistan earned an international fame due to the extraordinary frequency of the suo moto notices it took, including some insignificant administrative matters. It is generally perceived that the Supreme Court takes suo moto notice even on the drop of a hat. But, at the same time, it is rather enigmatic to note that the court meticulously stayed away from the events of terrorism that have shaken the very foundations of the state. Such a stance of the higher judiciary is so glaringly in line with the thought and acts of the rightist elements of the state, that it would rightly cause sleepless nights to the right thinking citizens of Pakistan.

It is equally upsetting to find the national media, inclusive of the state controlled electronic media’s apathy regarding militancy and terrorism. Although the English section of the print media keeps carrying the analytical stories by some of the analysts realistically, but that is not enough as there is a negligible percentage of English readership in the country. The real difference can be made by the Urdu print media, to some extent, generally and the electronic media to a great extent, particularly.

It is disgusting to note that the entire nation is caught up in inertia regarding terrorism. Even the leftist parties, despite identifying the threat in unequivocal terms, fail to recommend the right course for the eradication of the menace.

In the process, some golden opportunities have been missed to take on the militancy threat frontally and decisively. To mention only one opportunity that presented itself in the aftermath of assassination attempt on Malala Yousafzai. Almost the entire nation was emotionally conditioned to approve even the extreme measures to eradicate terrorism from our land. But the people at the helm of affairs remained ambivalent, caught in the worst kind of inertia and missed the bus.

All stake holders have raised the spectre of a psychological barrier, without any rationale, that the common citizen of Pakistan is in alliance with the forces of militancy and terrorism. Although that is least the case but even if we suppose for a minute that that is the case, even then the national leaders are duty bound to come forward and reliantly pursue to correct the mistaken ideas of the people. Instead, all of us are closing our eyes to identify the malaise, hoping to circumvent it, but that will never succeed. This battle is to be fought in a decisive manner, sooner than later, before it is too late. Time is always at premium in such affairs. Every day’s delay is taking the spectre from strength to strength.

There was a time when the defence establishment’s thinking was at variance with the civilian establishment. The defence establishment had erroneously classified the terrorists in to good and bad militants.

But after the so called good as well as the bad militants have given a bloody nose to the army every now and then, the perception of the defence establishment has undergone a sea change. The security establishment, in fact, now eagerly awaits recovery of the civilian leadership from the inertia they are caught with, to initiate a united and deliberate offensive to root out the menace, once for all.

Let us hope the reality dawns on all the relevant quarters without further loss of the critical time any more.

http://www.thefrontierpost.com/category/40/

Reforming police force in Pakistan

Muhammad Uzair Niazi

At present the world is facing different problems on the societal level. The institution of police has the duty to control different problems of the society, and make the security of the society their utmost priority. In Pakistan the police department has been neglected from a long period.

The government has failed to introduce new reforms in this department, making it more outdated. Right after, Pakistan decided to plunge in the war against terrorism, the crime rate through out the country mounted up tremendously. This unrest has played a key role in disturbing the over all fragment of the society. Violent behavior is an actuality of existence in Pakistan. Terrorism, political aggression, thefts, and abduction persist across the country. The police structure is debatably one of the most inadequately managed institutions in Pakistan.

Crossways in the country, police forces are continually are not funded, with less staff and less access to trainings. A sequence of ill-timed events has brought Pakistan to a place where it is in a constant condition of war. At present Pakistan is facing severe economic slump, social disappointment, political wavering and a contagion of local and foreign militants.

The Police force has a momentous position to play in countering terrorism. In the 65 years of Pakistan’s sovereignty, the police department has hardly ever witnessed any reforms in administration and operations, leaving many grey areas, in dire need of attention. In state machinery, it is initial and leading responsibility of the government to institute a criminal justice system that enables its law enforcers and sufferers to clutch criminal answerable for their doings.

Pakistan after independence inherited the Police Act of 1861 which was destined to control rather than serve people. This law determined the composition and process of police forces until the Police Order was launched in 2002 by General Musharraf. The act addressed the desires of the citizens through certain periods of time.

There is an awful need to modify the police at this point in time. The narration of attempts at police reform has been complex in both India and Pakistan. For example, in India the recommendations of the National Police Commission in 1977 to insulate the police from outside interests were disregarded.

In Pakistan, in 2001 the drafted Police Ordinance was planned to create an autonomously controlled and people-friendly police force. In this observe it have been generally felt that 2001 Ordinance should be a blue print for police restructuring. However, as it presently depicts, that Pakistan’s police force is illustrated as poorly equipped, excessively politicized, and corrupt. Both the equipment and technology are old-fashioned.

In the meantime, the training provided to police officers ignores several vital aspects of the profession, such as questioning, and the handling of helpless factions such as children, women, and minorities. The police force itself comes under a lot of disapproval as the most visible agent of the state; as it would be unjust to leave all of the guilt on it.
The governments also stand up with blame for failing to mainstream police reform within this organization. It is a questioning fact that investment in law enforcement has never been an elevated concern. This has been uniformly accurate for military and civilian governments. The lack of political will is also a main hindrance to reform the overall police department in Pakistan.

The 2002 Police order incorporated procedures to perk up answerability and impartiality in law enforcement, but was unsuccessful, mainly due to politicians eager to hold authority.

The over all arrangement of Pakistani police is not well planned, as the merit based opportunities for the professional improvement are scare. The less pay aspect is also playing a vibrant role in this department, by gripping the police officers to do corruption.

The government must give proper attention to this department by providing them training, equipment, etc to make it more effective. The intervention of politics in police department must be eliminated on emergency basis, so that the police officers can perform their duty efficiently and properly. Induction of more women police officers is also an important element of police reforms, as this strategy will help in safeguarding the rights of women in society. Women constitute 51% of the population, so it is important to streamline them in new fields.

At present Policing is also an important field, where women are playing a vibrant role throughout the world. By introducing gender friendly reforms in police we will be able to make the fragment of our society well coordinated and strong.

The induction of these reforms will generate positive results, and will help in maintaining peace and harmony in the society.

http://www.thefrontierpost.com/category/40/

The Awami National Party is certainly the main target of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan which has mounted deadly attacks on the party's rallies since the election campaign got underway. The party's election rallies have come under attack almost daily taking a heavy toll of life of the party workers and the common people. The latest of the rallies in Sardehri area of Charsadda where ANP leader Farooq Khan was targeted in a bomb blast in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Charsadda region on Wednesday. The blast occurred near the vehicle carrying Farooq Khan who escaped unhurt. Khan is the Vice-President of ANP in constituency of PK-17 and is also the coordinator of ANP President Asfandyar Wali Khan's election campaign.

On Tuesday a suicide bomber targeted a rally of senior ANP leader and former Pakistan Railways minister Haji Ghulam Ahmed Bilour at an election rally of the same party at Gilani Chowk in Peshawar. He sustained minor injuries. Seventeen people, including three children and six police personnel, were killed while 64 were injured in the attack. Nineteen of the injured were still under treatment at the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar; condition of two wounded was reported to be critical. Previously, ANP leaders Syed Mukarram Shah and Syed Masoom Shah were targeted in two separate attacks. While Mukarram was killed, Masoom Shah sustained grievous injuries.

The TTP, which has claimed the responsibility of all these attacks, had sometimes ago declared the Pakistan People's Party, the Pakhtun nationalist party ANP and urban Sindh-based Muttahida Qaumi Movement as its targets during the electioneering.

All the three parties have a secular agenda and are opposed to Taliban's extremist views and militancy. The PPP, the country's largest political organization, had to cancel its main rally at Naudero, in Larkana, on April 4 this year for the first time in nearly three decades owing to security concerns. If this is the situation in the beginning of electioneering, the future could hold an appalling scenario, particularly on May 11, the day appointed for polling across the country. Voters turn-out on the day is all wrapped in an environment of fear and there may not be keenly contested elections this time. Candidates and their supporters will not escape the impact of these fearsome surroundings. The possibility of the upcoming parliamentary elections turning out to be the bloodiest cannot be ruled out with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa the worst victim.

What appears a major snag in the overall state of affairs is that despite the menace of extremism and terrorism taking a heavy toll of l life for years in and years out, police and other law enforcing agencies have not equipped themselves with the professional knack that is required to combat the twin menace. The country also failed in working out a intensive security strategy to serve as the basis of fighting terrorism and civil and military intelligence agencies also faltered in increasing their much needed coordination to counter terrorism. The same is the story of the recently established Counter Terrorism Authority which is facing similar lacunas. Such a strategy was formulated initially under a resolution by an all-party conference in Islamabad on Swat and Malakand on May 18, 2009. Moving ahead, a joint session of parliament passed on October 22 the same year a national security strategy was founded after a two-week in-camera session in which top men in security fray, military and civil, gave briefing in the presence of all the provincial and Gilgit-Baltistan chief ministers, senators and MNAs. What is needed is to pick up the thread of the two sessions and polish finer points of their resolutions to work out an effective anti-terrorism strategy. Similar will be the requirement of the Counter Terrorism Authority in working out a policy in this regard.

The question arises as to what the caretaker administrations at the center and in provinces are doing to remedy the wrong. They have been assigned to hold free, fair and transparent election for the transition of democracy, but will they be able to achieve the cherished goal under the circumstances? True that the outgoing government, the Musharraf regime and earlier governments have not been able to raise an effective anti-terrorism edifice, the caretakers are, too, indulging in photo sessions and nothing concrete. They have a constitutional responsibility of passing on the baton of democracy to another in an environment where the electorate does not feel hesitant in going to polling stations for security reasons. This is their fundamental task which needs to be focused upon in all earnest.

http://www.thefrontierpost.com/category/46/