LAHORE: On March 11, the National Assembly demanded that a new law be made for the protection of minorities. The demand is valid but the tragedy is that our ruling elite always enacts new laws for political point-scoring, not for implementing them. In Pakistan, new laws are often made to enable the enforcement of already existing laws and a new department is created for mitigating corruption in the existing departments. Unfortunately, all of them fail to deliver.
In the last five years, thousands of people have lost their lives due to drone attacks, bomb blasts, targeted killings, sectarian violence, poor law and order situation and bad governance. Article Eight to 25 of the Constitution provide fundamental rights to all citizens of Pakistan, regardless of their religion, sect, caste, creed, colour and gender. Besides the supreme law of the land, special laws and acts are also present that protect these rights. What we lack is the implementation of these laws. In the reign of this government, I have never seen any parliamentarian — barring a few exceptions — seriously talking about the violation of the special laws, general laws, and even the violation of the Articles pertaining to fundamental rights.
Our ruling elite cannot exploit the people of Pakistan anymore by merely chanting slogans of new laws. If they want to be a part of parliament again, they will have to deliver on their promises. Our government must form an impartial commission for probing the Badami Bagh arson attack, and the arsonists and instigators must be punished according to the law. This should provide deterrence for such attacks in future.
Suleman Mansha
Published in The Express Tribune, March 14th, 2013.
