Quetta hospital carnage: Top bureaucrat blew the whistle on failures

Balochistan chief secretary exposes shortcomings of top govt functionaries

ISLAMABAD: In large measure, it was the testimony of a straight-shooting senior bureaucrat that formed the basis for a one-man judicial commission’s damning report into the government’s shambolic efforts to combat terrorism in the country.

Startling disclosures were made by Balochistan Chief Secretary Saifullah Chattha before the Justice Qazi Faez Isa-led commission about how the interior ministry and Balochistan chief minister had collectively failed to combat terrorism and extremism.



The commission was formed by the Supreme Court on October 6 to investigate the August 8 suicide attack on Quetta’s Civil Hospital in which at least 74 people, most of them lawyers, had lost their lives.

The report singled out the interior ministry for the ‘monumental failure’ to combat terrorism.



It also cited the ‘irresponsible’ post-attack statements of Balochistan’s chief minister and home minister and how these undermined the credibility of the provincial government.

A senior government official admitted that most of the findings of the commission against government functionaries were based on the testimony of the chief secretary.

Chaudhry Faisal Hussain, who is a lawyer by profession and personally knows Chattha, told The Express Tribune: “He (the chief secretary) is one of the country’s finest and quite possibly the most honest bureaucrat. An upright man indeed.”

Sources also told The Express Tribune that Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has started consultations with legal minds regarding the commission’s findings against him. Attorney General for Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf also met him at the Punjab House in Islamabad.

A senior PML-N lawyer stated that the report was sent to the court and it could not have been made public without issuing notices to the parties named in the report to seek their comments.



“They (government functionaries) have been condemned without first being heard. Their right to explain their position has been foreclosed which should have been a matter of great concern for everyone,” he added.

Meanwhile, a senior official of the Balochistan government, expressing satisfaction over the findings, said: “They are ready to implement its recommendations on the directions of the apex court.” The official, however, admitted that the commission’s report has “no legal status as long as the top court does not make the findings part of its verdict.”

Balochistan High Court Bar Association president Khan Abdul Ghani Khan also lauded the efforts of Justice Isa for giving a comprehensive report which, he opined, would be beneficial in combating terrorism in the country.

“Balochistan lawyers are fully satisfied with the findings and now the Supreme Court should pass directives regarding their implementations,” he said.

Chief secretary’s shocking revelations

The commission observed that the Balochistan chief secretary had expressed dismay over the inconsistency of approach in dealing with proscribed organisations.

When Justice Isa asked him what his experience was and what further steps can be taken to combat the menace of terrorism, extremism, hate speech and literature, Chattha responded: “He’ll attend to what can be done at the national level and what can be done at the provincial level.”

“At the national level, what is lacking is a national narrative and a counter-narrative to negate the extremist thought and propaganda of terrorist organisations, and those indulging in hate speech and in failing to do so terrorism will continue to breed.

“This is connected with the second problem which is that we cannot compartmentalise proscribed organisations or take efforts provincially alone,” he added.



“I can better illustrate this by giving an example: Balochistan does not permit Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) from holding any meeting or propagating its views, but the efforts of the province stand defeated if the very same organisation manages to hold a public demonstration at the Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore or is permitted to become a member or part of a larger organisation, ie, Difa-e-Pakistan Council. This example is not a notional example, but has happened recently,” the chief secretary told the commission.

He also testified about the lack of coordination between police, local administration and the FC. According to him, there was also a lack of cooperation between the FC and the local administration.

“As regards the FC, it reports to the Inspector General FC. At the local level, sometimes the coordination between the police, Levies and FC is not as good as it should be, and problems have also been encountered where the local commander of the FC may not agree to have a meeting in the office of the deputy commissioner even though the deputy commissioner is the local head of the committee constituted in this regard.”

On the basis of his testimony, the commission also observed that it is also not clear what exactly is the FC’s role in Balochistan, and whether it has policing powers, as was reflected in the confused response at the highest levels.

“The chief secretary and the Commandant Ghazaband Scouts of FC stated that the FC had policing powers whereas the interior secretary, the Government of Pakistan stated that, ‘no policing powers have been given’ to the FC,” the chief secretary said.

Chattha also revealed before the commission that another issue at the federal level which was not attended to properly was that the international border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan and between Pakistan and Iran at Chaman and Taftan, respectively, are not properly monitored.

“Till date there is no monitoring system at either crossing as compared to other crossings from where a person leaves or comes into Pakistan by which neither photographs nor thumb impressions of the person either entering or leaving the country is taken or kept.”

The chief secretary also exposed the undermining of the civil service structure by the provincial government. Chattha said he had opposed illegal appointments of the health secretary, who is the brother of Federal Minister Qadir Baloch.

“When the name of Dr Umar Baloch as health secretary was proposed by the chief minister, I, in writing, opposed his appointment as it was made in violation of the rules because he did not belong to any cadre -- Balochistan Civil Service or the Pakistan Civil Service -- however, the chief minister overruled my objection and directed that he be appointed,” the secretary testified.

He also revealed that three other non-cadre persons continued to hold the positions of secretaries in the government of Balochistan.

The commission also observed that the chief secretary made some startling disclosures: his candour was refreshing particularly when most other government servants -- both federal and provincial -- when not being obtuse were sparse with the truth.

The chief secretary disclosed that civil servants from grade 1 to grade 17 were posted by the minister concerned and grade 18 and above officers were posted at the discretion of the chief minister.

He stated that this system, which the province had adopted, has serious and adverse consequences, and brings civil servants in direct contact with politicians, which is prohibited by the rules.

“In making postings, the minimum two-year rule of keeping a civil servant at a particular post was also not observed. The authority of secretaries and chief secretary is eroded when they cannot post their subordinates.”

“As regards the province of Punjab, the system which is now in vogue in Balochistan is not so in Punjab. There the powers of the commissioner, deputy commissioner and assistant commissioner remain intact and ministers only exercises powers in respect of grade 16 and 17 officers.

“The system in Balochistan has been changed to accommodate ministers and political parties. The previous system was much better,” the secretary says in his statement before the commission.

“As regards the divisions, which are headed by commissioners, this system has also been completely destroyed. In this regard, previously the commissioner used to post assistant commissioner who in turn used to post the naib tehsildar, kanoongoh, patwari and all other postings up to grade 14.

“And deputy commissioner would make postings within his district from grade 1 to grade 16. Now all this is done by the minister which is completely unsatisfactory. This new system has concentrated all administrative powers in the hands of ministers which is a very bad development.

“The minister’s power should be restricted to policy matters whereas and the administrative powers in the tier mechanism of commissioners, secretaries and chief secretary,” the chief secretary states before the commission.

Meanwhile, the Balochistan government, welcoming the report, on Friday announced to submit replies before the Supreme Court commission hearing the August 8 incident.

“Being a provincial government, we are responsible to clear our position on the commission’s report to pre-empt any speculations regarding the issue,” provincial government spokesman Anwarul Haq Kakar said and added, “We welcome the report.”

Provincial Home Minister Mir Sarfaraz Bugti and Anwarul Haq Kakar was addressing a joint news conference in Quetta Press Club.

“We wish to submit a well-thought and well-exercised point of view before the honourable court during the next hearing called in the third week of January,” said Anwarul Haq, adding the missing links and deficiencies would be removed. (With additional input from Mohammad Zafar in Quetta)

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2016.