EDITORIAL : THE DAWN, PAKISTAN

Courage in adversity

THE scale of the tragedy that has hit Japan is overwhelming. The earthquake, registering 8.9 on the Richter scale and the most powerful since the country started keeping relevant records 140 years ago, triggered a 10-metre-high tsunami. The consequences have been calamitous, even for a country that is no stranger to natural disasters. The world watched in horror as dramatic footage rolled across their television screens: the massive tremor caused at least 80 fires to erupt in the coastal areas, while the churning torrents swept away vehicles and wrecked homes, engulfed buildings and left ships flung on their sides. Contact was lost with trains and ships. A huge explosion at a nuclear power plant has added to concerns and led to evacuations. The costs, it is clear, are going to be enormous. The world`s third-largest economy had just been showing signs of recovering from an economic contraction. Now, it faces a massive repair bill likely to run into tens of billions of dollars. The world grieves with Japan, as it prepares to help it deal with the crisis.

Yet the world must also salute the Japanese state and society, which even in the throes of such a tragedy managed to keep chaos at bay, demonstrating how planning can mitigate the consequences. Estimates of the death toll stood at a little over 1,000, although this figure may well increase. By contrast, the 7.9 Great Kanto of 1923 killed more than 140,000 people in the Tokyo area. Japan has built scores of breakwaters and floodgates to protect the coastal areas. The latter would have been far more badly hit and many more lives would have been lost had these measures not been in place. The Japanese people themselves showed remarkable courage. Footage of Friday`s tragedy showed people filing out of buildings in an orderly fashion, bracing themselves for aftershocks and even waiting at traffic lights as they sought to exit cities. There was none of the blind panic that would normally be expected in such a situation.
The lesson is that while natural disaster can hit at any moment, proper planning and the existence of coordinated standard operating procedures can save lives. Since the 2005 earthquake, Pakistan has made attempts to develop procedures and instil safeguards against any future disaster. Yet the response to last year`s floods showed the inexperience of organisations such as the National Disaster Management Authority. And while buildings in Islamabad are being constructed to earthquake-proof standards, there has been little effort to replicate this in other seismically sensitive zones. Pakistan must better prepare itself against natural disasters.

 

Assembly spectacle

WHO knew Punjab`s MPAs were bursting with such creativity and artistic talent? Armed with every variety of lota , from plastic lotas for hurling at enemies to clay ones for smashing, from lota finger puppets to lota footballs to drawings of lotas , the provincial assembly`s opposition benches — now including the PPP — pulled out all the stops on Friday. Decorum, or, for that matter, effectiveness, did not seem to be a priority in their effort to protest the appearance on the treasury benches of the PML-Q splinter group, the Unification Bloc. Nor did their inventiveness stop at employing as a weapon every conceivable form of the humble household object. Verbal insults from both opposition and treasury benches against the other`s leaders added colour to the proceedings. In the midst of this circus, some well-meaning MPAs thought they would try to get a resolution passed to condemn the assassination of minorities` affairs minister Shahbaz Bhatti. It seems to have escaped them that creating pandemonium and playing football were the only things the Punjab Assembly wanted to achieve on the first day of its current session.

Bizarre comedy aside, however, the day`s events highlighted some very serious issues that need to be tackled in an equally serious manner. This was the first day of business since the PPP and PML-N parted in Punjab, and it hardly set a promising precedent for the role the former party aspires to play as the opposition. Will the PPP`s MPAs simply use their new position to complain about their political foes, or will they use this opportunity to demand the improved governance they had claimed they were not being allowed to deliver when serving as coalition partners? Another serious matter has to do with the charge of defection by the Unification Bloc. It remains a matter of debate whether or not the constitution calls for disqualification when a substantial number of lawmakers leave one party for another. Given the legal complexity of the issue, it would be far more constructive for the provincial opposition to seek a judicial opinion rather than launch verbal and physical attacks in the assembly, even if these provide some much-needed comic relief.

Rule of the mob

THURSDAY’S gory incident in Karachi’s Kharadar locality, in which a suspected extortionist was lynched by a mob, points to two disturbing trends: first, that criminals are harassing the business community in the metropolis without fear, and second, that growing incidents of mob ‘justice’ in the city show no sign of abating. The suspect was set upon by a crowd after he had shot a trader who had resisted the extortion attempt. The mob made short work of him while an aide was badly injured. While all this was taking place the police was nowhere in sight. This is the fourth incident where a mob has administered ‘justice’ in Karachi this year. The injured suspect has admitted he and his colleague were involved in the extortion racket. A number of traders who have refused to oblige extortionists have been shot in the recent past while one figure says over 100 businessmen were kidnapped last year. Also, reports say that criminals active in the extortion business enjoy the backing of elements within political parties and the police.
Due to the state’s decreasing interest in keeping the peace, citizens are stepping in to fill the void. Like so much else, this crude behaviour is bound to become the norm if the state remains complacent when it comes to maintaining law and order. The reality is that people don’t trust the police or the courts to respectively apprehend culprits and punish them. That’s why there has been a continuation of such vigilante behaviour. Administering justice and punishing criminals is solely the government’s responsibility. Should it choose to ignore it, then the law of the jungle will prevail in Pakistan. There is still time to take corrective measures, but this can only happen if those in power are bothered to do so.