I found foreign ministry’s spokesman’s statement quite amusing that the US has not provided any evidence against LeT/JD’ supremo Hafiz Saeed, that’s why Pakistan can’t take any action against him and his colleagues. I heard the same argument just a decade back when Taliban were asking proofs against OBL.
It means that our entire criminal judicial system – intelligence, investigation, prosecution, courts, all are dependent on someone from the outside world to provide the proof otherwise we are helpless. We are the people who are unable to punish even a single terrorist while thousands of civilians and security personal have laid their lives in terrorists’ attacks in last few years.
We keep hearing that hundreds of militant extremists arrested from Swat and tribal areas are in army’s custody – have not been handed over to civilian authorities because in absence of any meaningful prosecution, it is feared that they will be back in the field in just few months time. This has been proved time and again whether it’s Abdul Aziz of Lal Masjid, Malik Ishaq of SSP or Hafiz Saeed of LeT/JD himself. Either no one can dare to prosecute and punish them or no one is serious as sing the same song.
As you go deeper, it’s a tug war between intelligence agencies; someone must have gathered all the rightwing extremists (including several officially banned outfits) at one stage under the banner of Difa-e-Pakistan, allowed them to openly hold rallies to threat the government functionaries, provided material to fire the general public sentiments. Their overseas counterparts come up with the idea to announce a $10 million bounty on Hafiz’s head.
This is to make the case in coming days why Pakistan is not taking action against a person who in the past led the now defunct organization – LeT, of which few members were arrested by Pakistani authorities after 26/11 Mumbai attacks (trial is running at snail pace for obvious reasons). It is to make a case that if Pakistan doesn’t help the US to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan and also facilitate a safe exit from Afghan’ quagmire, the US will be justified in its actions.
There shall be no two opinions that our justice system has miserably failed to prosecute and punish the criminals. Everyone has to take the blame – parliament for not amending the laws to help courts not to limit their judgment on availability of human witnesses only, police for not investigating the cases on scientific lines, government for not devising witness protection systems, prosecution for not fighting their cases based on scientific evidences, courts for falling prey to intimidation, pressure and sometimes sharing views of extremists, media and general public for not putting enough pressure to bring about the change in the judicial system.
Till that time our heroes are OBL, Ayman Zawahiri, KSM, Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed and many more of the same cadre.
MASOOD KHAN
Jubail, Saudi Arabia
