A culture of secrecy
APS atrocity is one instance where greater transparency is vital, & anything less, a cruel disservice to the survivors
The committee that reported on the APS attack in February 2015 exonerated everybody, claiming that nobody up, down or sideways bore any responsibility for it by virtue of error, mischance or simply failing to do their duty. PHOTO: REUTERS
There has been a call by the lawmakers of the upper house of parliament on January 1 that the inquiry reports into the December 2014 attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar be made public. Not only the reports into this tragic incident, but a whole slew of other incidents as well, where the government has failed to make public reports on incidents large and small. The first anniversary of the APS attack has recently passed and as yet there is no judicial enquiry — which given the gravity of the event is nothing short of a shameful dereliction of duty on the part of the government. It is also a smack in the face for the survivors and the victims’ families who deserve better.
Also highlighted in the Senate debate was the absence of enquiries into attacks on prominent journalists, the Bannu jailbreak and the killing of Osama bin Laden by an American raiding party. These are just a few of the events where the public’s right to know is willfully blocked by a government that is determined to deny that right, and has consistently refused to properly investigate any number of incidents in recent years and present a face of accountability to the electorate. In the majority of instances, there were individuals to be held accountable, yet the committee that reported on the APS attack in February 2015 exonerated everybody, claiming that nobody up, down or sideways bore any responsibility for it by virtue of error, mischance or simply failing to do their duty. Commissions of enquiry are not only about apportioning blame. They are just as importantly about identifying what went wrong and making the necessary recommendations to ensure that a similar event does not happen in the future. As things stand, there have been innumerable reports and commissions of enquiry that seem to be dead-ends, falling short in most respects of even the most basic level of public accountability. The APS atrocity is one instance where greater transparency is vital, and anything less, a cruel disservice to the survivors.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 5th, 2016.
Also highlighted in the Senate debate was the absence of enquiries into attacks on prominent journalists, the Bannu jailbreak and the killing of Osama bin Laden by an American raiding party. These are just a few of the events where the public’s right to know is willfully blocked by a government that is determined to deny that right, and has consistently refused to properly investigate any number of incidents in recent years and present a face of accountability to the electorate. In the majority of instances, there were individuals to be held accountable, yet the committee that reported on the APS attack in February 2015 exonerated everybody, claiming that nobody up, down or sideways bore any responsibility for it by virtue of error, mischance or simply failing to do their duty. Commissions of enquiry are not only about apportioning blame. They are just as importantly about identifying what went wrong and making the necessary recommendations to ensure that a similar event does not happen in the future. As things stand, there have been innumerable reports and commissions of enquiry that seem to be dead-ends, falling short in most respects of even the most basic level of public accountability. The APS atrocity is one instance where greater transparency is vital, and anything less, a cruel disservice to the survivors.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 5th, 2016.