Challenge to change

If there is one thing that ruffles the feathers of the average person in Pakistan, it is the so-called ‘culture of impunity’. Within this culture, ‘influentials’ — that can range from senators in the Upper House to the gangsters in Karachi and every type and stripe in between — are able to flout the law unchecked and unchallenged. They may have falsified their academic qualifications at one end of the scale or committed murder at the other end of it. They then use their influence or powerful family contacts to mitigate or erase their actions and their consequences, quite literally getting away with murder sometimes.

That culture is increasingly being challenged by a proactive media and some sections of the civil society, as well as a few politicians and in doing so they are beginning to erode the monolith of impunity. A case in point has been rumbling in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) in the last week. Chief Minister Pervez Khattak directed the Kohat police to arrest the brother of the K-P Assembly deputy speaker as it was being alleged that he had raped a 26-year-old woman. The whole matter is sub judice and still being investigated, but the point here is that one leading politician directed that public servants — in this case the police — discharge their duties properly, investigate the claims made by the woman and question the man who allegedly assaulted her. His familial position as brother of the deputy speaker is and must be an irrelevance in the eyes of the law. If a crime has been committed it must be prosecuted without fear or favour. The culture of impunity is firmly rooted in political patronage and the feudal system, to say nothing of the criminal ‘codes of honour’ that are to be found across the country. It is for a responsible citizenry and media working in concert with a responsible judiciary and set of lawmakers to challenge, and where possible, subvert this pernicious culture. Clearly this is not going to happen overnight, but even mountains can be moved with a little concerted effort and honest endeavour.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2014.

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