Mixed priorities

Should we have had a holiday on April 4 in Sindh? Should schools have been closed? Should it have been a provincial government holiday? With all due respect to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the answer is “No”.

Caretaker Chief Minister Justice (retd) Zahid Qurban Alavi seems to be getting his priorities mixed up. In a city where almost a month has been lost since January to strikes, strife and off-days, one would have expected that such impromptu public holidays are best avoided.

Other than this, the decision to hire 8,000 policemen at a cabinet meeting in which the only other item on the agenda was the shortage of funds defies logic. As does the hiring of an 18-member cabinet, when in Punjab, a quarter of that number is enough to make do.

If we were hoping for some relief through a caretaker government, we have been sadly mistaken. Possibly this reinforces the belief that we need to elect the right candidates in the coming elections.

However, we may elect whoever we want. But if the bureaucracy is as strong as it is now, it may be an attempt at futility. Take the law and order situation in Karachi. The chief justice has done all he can to make the provincial government realise the folly of its ways. But it hardly makes a difference.

Our esteemed judiciary has put things in perspective by asking the government to eliminate the no-go areas in Karachi. Taking notice of a report on no-go areas in this newspaper, the chief justice ordered the government to give an explanation. Till then, the police refused to concede that there were any no-go areas in the city. Then grudgingly they did, only after being berated and threatened.

The Rangers, working without any coordination with any other law enforcement organisation, continue to conduct random raids in which no one of any value is ever arrested. Possibly, they are trying to justify the millions that are spent on them by the Sindh government.

In the background, we have the din of the oncoming elections. Who will be able to stand, who will be disqualified. What are the alliances that are being formed or broken? These are exciting times.

But most of the larger questions continue to be ignored. None of the parties have come up with a concrete and clear policy on terrorism. Imran Khan’s rather simplistic approach that with the end of drone strikes, the suicide attacks will also end, suggests a lack of seriousness on dealing with the issue.

I would like to ask Mr Khan: why is his party a member of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council? Why does his party continue to flirt with extremists?

The other parties are no better. In other parts of the country, candidates are breaking bread with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and getting their blessings. Some have entered into political alliances with them in Punjab.

What we are seeing is that the number of bank robberies in Karachi and other parts of the country has risen significantly. This is possibly an indicator of funds being gathered by the extremists to play havoc with the elections.

Our intelligence agencies, which are usually not so clued in, have warned leading political personalities of possible attacks. But then, what exactly is the job of these outfits that we maintain at great cost to ourselves — do they simply issue warnings or actually prevent such things from happening?

The security angle was a convenient excuse to explain away the sudden departure of our crown prince to Dubai after a tiff with others. Now it seems his recommendations will be taken more seriously. Possibly more deserving people will be given tickets by the ruling party.

It is usually the common person who suffers the most in the end. Take the example of the guard who valiantly fought with robbers at a Habib Bank robbery last week — one of the several that took place in different banks. The man — who was shot multiple times — received basic treatment and is now left to fend for himself — injured permanently and jobless as he was laid off by his employer, the Police Foundation. So much for rewarding the brave.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 8^th, 2013.