What a petitioner told a three member bench of the Supreme Court should not be new to a common newspaper reader. There is a complete breakdown of law and order and no security of life in Balochistan, the largest province of the country. The increasing frequency of the incidents of torture and murder of political activists reported every other day has added a new dimension to forced disappearances which, according to the petitioner, have now reached the 5,000 figure. Targeted killings have meanwhile increased. The situation has deteriorated to an extent that not even the provincial governor and chief minister, who are powerful tribal leaders in their own right, feel safe. Despite attempts by the SC spread over four years, a vast majority of those reportedly kidnapped by the agencies remain untraced while media reports tell of many more being taken away in clear violation of due process.
Protection of citizens life and property is a duty of every government in a civilised society. The law enforcement agencies are duty bound to assist the government in the fulfillment of this constitutional obligation. In Pakistan Article 9 of the Constitution (security of person) enjoins on the provincial as well as federal governments to protect the lives and properties of people. Taking a human life is the most heinous crime. Whenever and wherever the perception has strengthened that peoples lives and rights are not being safeguarded and that injustice is being propagated, it has invariably led people to challenge the legitimacy of the of the state and to struggle to overthrow it. As things stand, people pin high hopes on the independent judiciary.
It is the duty of both the federal and provincial governments to help recover hundreds of those who remain untraced and put an end to the killings of the political activists and innocent people. That both have failed to do this would be written down in their performance report which will be out in the next elections two years hence. The court has asked both the Attorney General and DG ISI to take up the issue with Prime Minister Gilani and called on the federal government to play an effective role in controlling the situation. One can only hope the nudging would jolt the two governments into action.