No quick fixes
Going for the easy route will only come back to haunt the government in days to come.
The writer is Editor of The Express Tribune
Conventional wisdom tells us that there are no quick fixes to long-term problems. Take Pakistan’s law and order situation. It will not be fixed in a day. Even the peace talks that we have entered into will not yield immediate results. It will be a long and drawn out process.
Possibly prime minister Nawaz Sharif understands this. And that is why he has held firm to the belief of talks, irrespective of all that has come in between. The alternative is to go for military action. That should be the last option and not the first.
The challenge, of course, would be to know when to abandon the talks and go for the military solution, if one may call it that. Here too, we are under the belief that one or the other would solve the problem. Possibly neither will. In the past, we have seen that force has resulted in worsening the situation.
The bottom line is this: no quick fixes. Let us now move on to the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance (PPO). It is a black law. That is why it has been opposed tooth and nail by the opposition parties. Even some members of the treasury benches have rejected it.
One can understand the frustration that the government is facing in its war against crime and terror. But for an elected government to give unquestionable powers to unelected servants of the state to detain, question, interrogate, monitor and harass ordinary citizens in the name of security leaves a lot to be desired. It is an easy way out. We need to look for long term solutions.
It is easy to espouse the principles of the rule of law, human dignity, tolerance and compassion. Very much harder to abide by them. That is why, time and again, governments that come in by democratic means end up using short cuts to fight the country’s deteriorating law and order situation.
While military governments have been keen to usurp the fundamental rights of the people of Pakistan, democratically elected governments have not been far behind. We have seen speedy trials, Anti-Terrorism Courts and legislation for quick disposal of cases. This is all well and good. But this hasn’t helped check terrorism or crime.
With the PPO we are entering a grey area. We are enhancing the powers of those state entities who have usually stayed out of the gaze of public accountability. The move is to give those activities legal cover. In many respects, the PPO goes against the spirit of our constitution. We are told that these are the teeth that the government needs. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Chief justice Tassaduq Gilani has rightfully said that while the country faces a multitude of challenges, it is our duty to hold fast in believing in the rule of law and in human dignity.
Where do we go from here? Possibly look at putting into place workable solutions. The government may do well to focus more on strengthening its police and civil defense forces and also working at improving the quality of intelligence it receives. With regards convictions, it may have to invest heavily in training and upgrading the investigation branch of the police to ensure that cases are properly presented in courts. We need a better-trained and better paid police force that is run by career police officers with recruiting done on merit.
Better policing will go a far longer way than any special powers to the state’s law and order machinery. This however, should not translate into hiring more policemen. This idea appeals to politicians like the Sindh CM who uses it to hire party faithful while his ministers use it to enrich themselves.
The courts themselves need help. An earlier move, which was aided by the Asian Development Bank, to improve the functioning of the judiciary has yielded limited results. The workload on the judiciary can be lessened through diverting many cases to arbitration, as suggested by the chief justice. Like the police, the judiciary also needs attention. Better pay scales and better training of its members.
These are just some ideas that come to mind. We should not go for the easy route. More so, because it will come back to haunt the government in days to come.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 14th, 2014.
Possibly prime minister Nawaz Sharif understands this. And that is why he has held firm to the belief of talks, irrespective of all that has come in between. The alternative is to go for military action. That should be the last option and not the first.
The challenge, of course, would be to know when to abandon the talks and go for the military solution, if one may call it that. Here too, we are under the belief that one or the other would solve the problem. Possibly neither will. In the past, we have seen that force has resulted in worsening the situation.
The bottom line is this: no quick fixes. Let us now move on to the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance (PPO). It is a black law. That is why it has been opposed tooth and nail by the opposition parties. Even some members of the treasury benches have rejected it.
One can understand the frustration that the government is facing in its war against crime and terror. But for an elected government to give unquestionable powers to unelected servants of the state to detain, question, interrogate, monitor and harass ordinary citizens in the name of security leaves a lot to be desired. It is an easy way out. We need to look for long term solutions.
It is easy to espouse the principles of the rule of law, human dignity, tolerance and compassion. Very much harder to abide by them. That is why, time and again, governments that come in by democratic means end up using short cuts to fight the country’s deteriorating law and order situation.
While military governments have been keen to usurp the fundamental rights of the people of Pakistan, democratically elected governments have not been far behind. We have seen speedy trials, Anti-Terrorism Courts and legislation for quick disposal of cases. This is all well and good. But this hasn’t helped check terrorism or crime.
With the PPO we are entering a grey area. We are enhancing the powers of those state entities who have usually stayed out of the gaze of public accountability. The move is to give those activities legal cover. In many respects, the PPO goes against the spirit of our constitution. We are told that these are the teeth that the government needs. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Chief justice Tassaduq Gilani has rightfully said that while the country faces a multitude of challenges, it is our duty to hold fast in believing in the rule of law and in human dignity.
Where do we go from here? Possibly look at putting into place workable solutions. The government may do well to focus more on strengthening its police and civil defense forces and also working at improving the quality of intelligence it receives. With regards convictions, it may have to invest heavily in training and upgrading the investigation branch of the police to ensure that cases are properly presented in courts. We need a better-trained and better paid police force that is run by career police officers with recruiting done on merit.
Better policing will go a far longer way than any special powers to the state’s law and order machinery. This however, should not translate into hiring more policemen. This idea appeals to politicians like the Sindh CM who uses it to hire party faithful while his ministers use it to enrich themselves.
The courts themselves need help. An earlier move, which was aided by the Asian Development Bank, to improve the functioning of the judiciary has yielded limited results. The workload on the judiciary can be lessened through diverting many cases to arbitration, as suggested by the chief justice. Like the police, the judiciary also needs attention. Better pay scales and better training of its members.
These are just some ideas that come to mind. We should not go for the easy route. More so, because it will come back to haunt the government in days to come.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 14th, 2014.