Who guards the guards?

A grim reminder of how easily extremism can flourish, given the right fertiliser, is provided by the shooting of a British-Pakistani prisoner in Adiala Jail recently. The prisoner was shot by one of the prison guards and the subsequent enquiry has discovered that the attack was religiously motivated and was incited by the imprisoned policeman, who had shot dead former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer. The 70-year-old is mentally ill and had been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic in the UK in 2010. Delusions are not uncommon in those with schizophrenia, but it was Mohammad Asghar’s misfortune to be mentally ill in Pakistan. The man responsible for inciting this attempted murder is Mumtaz Qadri, who reportedly enjoys special status in the prison, does not receive the same abuse from the guards as other prisoners and is treated with considerable respect by the prison administration.

The internal report finds that Mumtaz Qadri also incited two other guards to hunt down and kill those convicted of blasphemy. The guard who shot Mr Asghar had spent two weeks guarding Mr Qadri, who convinced him in that time to carry out the attack. If this can happen once, it can happen again. Prisons are overcrowded and hold a population of extremists and terrorists, who may be incarcerated, but still propagate their ideologies, with a poorly paid and motivated prison staff as their audience. Prison breakouts in recent years have had inside help, and the discovery of an escape tunnel in Karachi Central Jail earlier this month was also found to be supported from inside. Whilst our prisons are burdened with those who may be nothing more than petty criminals, they also hold some of the most dangerous men on the planet. Hardened and experienced terrorists who will exploit their surroundings wherever they are. Our prisons are not always ‘fit for purpose’ and present an unacceptable risk to the state. Terrorists and extremists must be held in the most secure environments, and if they do not exist already, they need to be created — quickly.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2014.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.