Systemic deficiencies need to be addressed
Over the last few decades the institutions in the country have been in a steady state of decline. This partly explains the intervention of the SC in matters that sometime are beyond its competence. The dastardly killing of a serving General Officer Commanding (GOC) by the terrorists raises questions whether those entrusted with his safety had conscientiously followed the standard operating procedures (SOPs) which require that the methods and means of travel of an officer holding the position are to be constantly reviewed and are subject to change even at the last moment. The interior minister has told the NA the other day that over the years some 100,000 foreigners have setup illegal slum settlements around Islamabad, and many of them were criminals. This indicates a gross and prolonged neglect on the part of the security agencies. While the TTP is collecting big money through extortion from the Islamabad business community, criminal elements from the police and the CDA are also reportedly involved in lower level exactions of the sort. If the report concerning security personnel having arrested two Al Qaeda sympathisers from the UET Lahore campus is true, this would show that the institutional malaise is not confined to the Punjab University alone. The unresolved case of the five-year girl subjected to gang rape is like giving birth to a new, difficult-to-answer question almost every day. A vital portion of the CCTV footage that could have provided crucial clues is reportedly missing. Another report tells of the victim having been kept at the police post for an hour despite her precarious condition. This speaks volumes about the police working.
It is highly unfortunate that those in power have shown little willingness to face up to the deficiencies in the system. Those put in charge of various institutions react sharply whenever the media points out to the deficiencies in their departments. Everyone is in a state of denial. Everything on their watch, they claim, is under control. Whenever things can no longer be pushed under the rug, there is a tendency to find scapegoats. Conspiracy theories are fabricated to cover up personal and institutional failings, or the buck is pass on to the lowest denominator. Powers that must not be named, claimed Rehman Malik, were involved in the killings of the Hazara community and also in forced disappearances, the torture and the dumping of dead bodies in Quetta.
Patriotism is invoked as rationale to support cover-ups. Those taking up the issue of acid attacks, increasing gang rapes, human rights violations or excesses committed on minorities are dubbed as elements that are out to damage the image of Pakistan to please their foreign masters. It’s time to stop masking the malaise. The government needs to face the reality. A country strengthens itself by cleansing itself. There is a dire need on the part of the government to improve the working of institutions and departments to avoid the failures that threaten to spell further and greater disaster.
