EDITORIAL : THE DAWN, PAKISTAN

Sibi nightmare

WHAT lows can our society possibly plumb? Pakistan is a country that has come to be overrun by barbarity, not by the majority by any means but a fringe element that is bent on destroying the values seen as sacrosanct by right-thinking people. Take, for instance, the horrific attack on a bus near Sibi late on Monday night in which a number of passengers, mostly women and children, were burnt to death. What was their crime? They were simply going from one destination to another, minding their own business.

While at this point it is difficult for investigators to say who carried out the attack, circumstantial evidence suggests personal or inter-tribal rivalry may have been behind it. Baloch insurgents have routinely targeted settlers from Punjab, and apparently none of the passengers fitted that description. In this context, it is also too early to say whether the attack marks the advent of a new trend in violence in the province, one where targets get increasingly blurred for political groups or clans wishing to impose their respective agendas. But what can be said with certainty is that when the woes of a province like Balochistan, which has for decades been denied its rights by the state, and has, in fact, been subjected to a high degree of oppression, remain unaddressed, the criminalisation of society is almost inevitable. Criminal elements thrive in an atmosphere of general lawlessness, as is becoming increasingly clear in Balochistan where a nationalist insurgency continues to rage. Unfortunately, the current government`s grand promises to give the province the autonomy, development and resources it demands have yet to materialise. Although the richest province in terms of natural resources, Balochistan continues to have some of the worst human development indicators in the country as well as poor infrastructure. Also, given the province`s appalling human rights record, as evident in the number of cases where suspected Baloch nationalists have been allegedly whisked away by security forces, only to be heard of no more or be discovered dead, it is no wonder that anger is growing in Balochistan. This has only added to the politics of hate and given impetus to the activities of ordinary criminals.

Whatever one`s ideology, killing innocent people is a coward`s game, and in the Sibi case there ought to be vociferous condemnation by all political groups, nationalist or otherwise, of a dastardly deed. Unfortunately, such acts of violence may become the norm unless the state makes an effort to deliver on its pledges and bring those guilty of committing crimes against ordinary people to justice.

Fresh leaks

ANOTHER spurt of WikiLeaks and we have a reconfirmation of much of what has been already revealed. We are living in far more open times since the original leaks last year, and consequently the mutual suspicion with which the ISI and the US have eyed each other has been quite well documented in the media. This new wave of leaks would have been significant even without the generous nuggets of information the public has been served in recent weeks with regard to the uneasy, in fact tense, relationship between the US and the spy agency. The other details in the new leaks are as much corroborative, and constitute additional evidence of America`s own flawed tackling of the war on terror — in particular, the treatment meted out by the US to Guantanamo inmates.

All the stories based on the fresh leaks that appeared in Dawn on Tuesday contain references to the force and torture that the Americans had applied to extract confessions. The infamous water-board technique has got many mentions and it has been pointedly stated that many of the inmates had spoken “under duress”. On their part, the leaks do speak of “plans” as horrendous as one to set off a nuclear bomb in Europe in case Osama bin Laden was caught, to target Heathrow and Canary district in England and to hijack an Australian plane; the veracity of all these “schemes” severely challenged by bits about the blundering ways of desperate interrogators. The facts about the detainees kept at the infamous Guantanamo Bay are not just mind-boggling, they are soul-scarring. That suspects — Pakistanis, Afghans, drivers, farmers, chefs, et al — were detained in Guantanamo on the basis of “often seriously flawed” information — is nothing less than scandalous and will probably lead to greater anger against Washington in the country. Nevertheless, these disclosures also provide the impetus for louder calls for reason to prevail. There is plenty of information about how various actors have gone about this war. This is not an occasion for a display of arrogance but a moment for offering some much-needed explanations.

Political vandalism

REGARDLESS of what Shahbaz Sharif did or did not say about Karachi becoming a separate province, the boorish attacks targeting a PML-N office in the city, as well as a restaurant owned by a party leader, are shameful and unacceptable.

Circumstantial evidence suggests both attacks were linked, reportedly carried out by supporters of a small Sindhi nationalist group. Individuals ransacked the party office while staff was beaten up and shots were fired in the air at the restaurant.

That the government hardly did anything to stop the rampaging ‘protesters’ is evident; the police did not bother to make an appearance at the N-League office during the attack; the law enforcers did manage to arrive at the eatery but only after the attackers had done considerable damage.

It is surprising that armed individuals managed to terrorise an establishment located in a supposedly high-security area, as the restaurant is a stone’s throw away from Bilawal House, the president’s Karachi residence. It is also perplexing why the attackers chose to strike at the eatery, since it is a commercial concern, not used for political activities.

The mainstream parties that enjoy popular support in Sindh had taken a more or less unified stand against the division of the province. Then what was the need for such vandalism? Due to the mainstream parties’ swift reaction to Mr Sharif’s comments the wind was taken out of the sails of fringe nationalist groups. Perhaps that is why the attackers resorted to such uncouth behaviour, to extract whatever political mileage they could.

People have every right to express their disapproval of an idea or a suggestion. However, the right to disagree must be exercised within the bounds of civilised behaviour and must not degenerate into displays
of violent vandalism, the likes of which we witnessed on Monday.