An opaque shambles

Some years ago I lost a friend over the issue of honesty in Pakistan. They objected to my position that this was the most dishonest country and culture I had ever worked in, and that there was a national tendency towards dishonesty in all things, great and small. I lost the friend but remained of the same mind, which is why I approach the arrest of the alleged killer and rapist of poor Zainab with a degree of scepticism. If this truly is the man that committed a hideous crime on a truly innocent child then all well and good. And if he is found beyond a shred of doubt to have raped and murdered other children in the Kasur area then again all well and good — and a degree of closure for the parents of the dead all of whom will have a host of questions, if any of which are going to be answered.

The alleged perpetrator does fit the pattern of a serial killer/abuser. He was known to Zainab and her family who allegedly protested when he was originally arrested and were instrumental in his release. He lived locally. He allegedly took part in the search for the child. He allegedly changed his appearance regularly to confuse those interpreting CCTV imagery. From the little we know for certain it is possible that he is what is known as a ‘creative psychopath’ who has a personality disorder and is not mentally ill. The disorder is untreatable. I have worked for years with people in the special hospitals in the UK where such people are detained, and whilst not a doctor does have considerable experience of forensic social work.

The man is to be brought before the courts quickly, and the Chief Justice of Lahore High Court has ordered that there be daily hearings until there is a resolution of the case. Those hearings will presumably reveal details of other offences he is alleged to have committed which may or may not also reveal what the police and other agencies did or did not do to catch the killer of seven or eight other children that are also bundled now with the Zainab case. The police are unlikely to want their faults, if any, to be displayed in public. Any evidence relating to other deaths is probably tainted and inadmissible in court.

Evidence relating to the rape and murder of Zainab may also be tainted and ruled inadmissible if the accused’s lawyer chooses to question its validity — if he has a lawyer that is. It may be that the accused will be denied due process as the case is being tried by an Anti-Terrorism Court which means that it will most likely be held ‘in camera’ — all of which means that we may be forever in ignorance of events leading up to Zainab’s murder and the state has once again muddied the waters of justice.

The very last thing that Zainab is doing to get in death is transparency. Instead she will be wrapped — indeed already is wrapped — in a shroud of dishonesty, subterfuge, lies, denied accountability and a proliferating set of myths all carefully nurtured by those that benefit from their promulgation. That a child already grossly despoiled should in death have to suffer the ignominy, the indignity that is being cynically foisted upon her corpse is a clear picture of the moral position of Pakistan today. There is no peace in her death, just a tawdry tissue of obfuscation and dishonesty to cover her broken and defiled body.

Add to all the above the ignition of latent vigilantism that is nationwide and has romped into the upper reaches of the judiciary and all of the legislatures both federal and provincial. Calls for the public hanging of the accused are being seriously considered. It is a hop and a bloody skip to up the ante to drawing and quartering in addition, completing the circus that a baying populace would lap up avidly and probably pay good money to spectate. The handbrake is off and we are rolling downhill faster than a speeding tumbril. The Romans fed Christians to the lions. Anyone up for a night at the Coliseum?

Published in The Express Tribune, January 25^th, 2018.

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