Lack of opportunities breeds terror, says legal expert

Gap exists between public aspirations, govt goals

KARACHI: In an environment which does not allow a common man to lead a respectful life, deprived and dejected individuals become easy prey for groups promoting violence and extremism. The guarantee of human rights is the only answer to eliminate terrorism.

Ahmad Awais, an advocate of the Supreme Court, expressed these views on Sunday while speaking at the session on “human rights and terrorism” on the last day of the combating terrorism through law conference.

The three-day event organised by the Sindh High Court Bar Association in collaboration with the Sindh High Court failed to draw much audience on its concluding day as almost half of the seats were vacant at the Pearl Continental’s Marquee Hall. Though, Sindh High Court Chief Justice Musheer Alam, flanked by an impressive line-up of legal eagles, was all ears.

When the government, fails in its primal duty to protect an individual’s fundamental rights, it creates an environment conducive to terrorism, Ahmad Awais said. “Terrorism breeds in the environment where human rights are denied and trampled.”

“A smile on the face of the common man is the best measure of prosperity and tranquility in any society,” the prominent lawyer related. “We are living in such an environment where human rights have been completely denied to a common man.”

He further asserted that there seems to be a big void between the aspirations of the people and the objectives of the government. “I would say with utmost responsibility that the government of Pakistan is elected but is not its representative,” added Awais.

Unemployment, lack of education, and a repressive policing system are the main observable causes of frustration morphing into terror, observed Walid Ansari, an advocate of the Sindh High Court. From an economic perspective, he pointed out, a profit-making system heavily against have-nots; lack of free enterprise; exploitative labour laws; and a judicial system unable to deliver, contribute as the second set of factors that encourage frustration which later transforms into terror.

For Advocate Ansari, the inability of the public to remove an unpopular government by peaceful protests leads to violence as the next resort, which moves from display on the streets to targeted attacks on specific economic units and security apparatus.

The religious doctrine was used as a “tool of mobilisation” or a justification for terrorism, pointed out another speaker, Sarwat Israr Khan.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2012.