It takes all parts to make a system work
The system can work only if all the players adhere to the rules of the game. The Rangers performed a highly vital role in bringing down the incidence of crime and acts of terrorism in Karachi. Their services were recognised by all the political parties. However as the Rangers extended their sphere of activity to areas considered outside their original mandate, complaints started piling up. Some of the complaints were genuine. Criminals break laws but civilised societies treat them in accordance with laws. The suspects need to be handed over to police and prosecuted in the prescribed way. There is no place in law for delivering instant justice to the accused. There have been instances of media trial, pubic accusations and resort to innuendo to malign certain political parties. This is foul play. Among other things this can lead to suspicions about the motives of the LEAs.
Political leaders are considered to be highly responsible. They are expected to be careful in the choice of words. Certain leaders have reacted in a way they are not supposed to. Losing self-restraint they have maligned the institutions of the state and thrown challenges to them which calls into question their maturity.
Political parties are competitors. Once they start treating one another as enemies, the game of politics turns into warfare which can only lead to the derailment of the system. What one sees happening is worse than a repetition of the 90s’ no-holds-barred fights between two mainstream parties. This is a reversion to the Hobbesian state of nature where the hand of every man was against very man. Political parties are registering cases, approaching courts, and introducing resolutions in provincial assemblies against one another. This looks like an act of mass suicide which characterises cults.
A section of the media is meanwhile encouraging the mudfest, oblivious of the fact that in case the wrangling brought down the system, there is no guarantee of the preservation of the media freedom. There has to be a halt to the irrationality.
