A step that should have been avoided
After recording serious reservations and receiving firm assurances, parties which strongly opposed the setting up of the military courts agreed to their formation in the larger national interest. The need felt for these courts indicates that the country’s judicial system has failed to deliver. The army has expressed dissatisfaction with existing courts maintaining that they often let important terrorists free. The judiciary on the other hand has blamed the prosecution for preparing weak cases which led to such acquittals. Witnesses and police officials have frequently been killed on the directives of jailed terrorists who can freely access mobile phones inside the prisons. The higher judiciary and the government could have jointly worked out a solution to these issue that have been frequently highlighted in the media. Had former CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry given more time to urgent matters of the sort rather than get bogged down in high profile cases, a solution other than invoking military courts might have been worked out by now.
Failing to set up a rapid response force the Interior Minister has requisitioned five thousand army men to do the job. After providing them immunity from normal courts in Islamabad and Punjab by extending the cover of Article 245, Ch Nisar has called on Sindh, KP and Balochistan to follow suit. The government has thus conveniently transferred yet another burden of responsibility to the army. The deployment of the army for tasks reserved for civilian bodies has damaging effects on the discipline and efficiency of the military personnel while it hinders the development of civil institutions.
The government needs to be reminded that quick fixes of the sort could leave behind permanent problems. There is no alternative to the normal judicial system. Instead of becoming complacent after shifting the burden on the shoulders of the army, the government has to improve the efficiency of the prevailing system of dispensation of justice. Similarly it must develop a rapid response force led by police officers through necessary training and provision of modern equipment.