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A Chance for Accountability?

Only days after the President of Pakistan issued an Ordinance giving police powers to the para-military Rangers to arrest and prosecute law-breakers, seven of Mir Murtaza Bhutto’s bodyguards armed to the teeth were apprehended by the Rangers near the Jinnah Terminal of the Karachi International Airport for displaying arms in public inspite of Sec 144 which prohibits such public display. A week or so before this incident a half mile radius area around 70 Clifton (The Bhutto family residence) had been cordoned off by about a 150 plus rather aggressive youthful gunmen wielding automatic weapons as a protective measure for the Convention organised by the PM’s brother to convert the splinter faction of the PPP into a separate new party. Since the gunmen were brandishing automatic weapons (claimed to be legal by Murtaza Bhutto) and were stopping/diverting traffic on a public thoroughfare, one expected possible police action at this heaven-sent opportunity to round up some of the militants suspected to be contributing to the bloody mayhem and carnage in Karachi. However it seems that though he is publicly estranged from his PM-sister, Mir Murtaza remains the first brother, with the laws of the land not applicable on the same basis as for other citizens, bureaucracy on the spot deciding that discretion was the better part of duty. A deep sense of frustration pervaded the intelligentsia and the masses at the inaction of the law enforcement agencies (LEAs), the subsequent disarming of Mir Murtaza’s armed escort was thus a significant milestone in the process of accountability, giving the Rangers a boost in credibility that they were sadly lacking in the public perception. It must be said in all fairness that Mir Murtaza does have a major security problem from enemies near and far, a via media establishing a safety measure for him and his family is necessary.

Accountability can only be credit-worthy if the process is fair and transparent with an even application on everyone irrespective of the person’s influence and connections. A moral high ground is necessary for ensuring that the force of authority is totally dependant upon the integrity of the process. Equal justice may be the bedrock of western civilization today, the fact remains that the foundations of Islam were laid solidly on the basis of equality and justice which were sadly lacking in practice in the existing religions at that time, viz. Christianity and Judaism. Both society and religion demand even-handedness, the responsibility for which is clearly incumbent upon the conscience and sense of duty of those meant to implement the law on behalf of society. One cannot equate actions to be directly proportional to the influence commanded by the people who break the law, bend it or circumvent it at their discretion. One cannot say quote, “after all, Murtaza is the PM’s brother”. Any senior law enforcement officer would expect that even at the street level a constable or soldier on duty will apprehend anyone breaking the law, irrespective of the person’s status and connections. Since the Rangers have been given the same powers as the police in apprehending and prosecuting law-breakers, albeit in support of the police, they have an onerous responsibility to ensure that they will exercise their authority with absolute even-handedness. In this process there is no doubt they will have to bear pressure of all types on their person and their institution, some of it can be overbearing in the matter of career and reputation, both of which can be held to blackmail by administrative action or media campaign or a combination of both. To counter such pressure the process must be so transparent that it will elicit mass public approval and support, in a democracy this is supposedly a vital factor as opposed to a dictatorship where the guardians of law care little about public opinion in deference to the whims and caprices of the dictator.

The powers given to the Sindh Rangers devolve an enormous responsibility on their conscience. Though technically they are not part of the Army, being Civil Armed Forces, the fact remains that being officered by the Pakistan Army they are taken to be the Army’s alter ego by proxy in the eyes of the public and thus carry the onus of the Army’s fair reputation. Bound under the diktat of civilian authority, the blanket powers of arrest and prosecution also gives them suo motu powers to apply their conscience for the good of this country evenhandedly and not selectively at the behest of the political compulsions of the government as an FSF-type entity as is the general public apprehension in Karachi. There is always the possibility that down the line such powers can and will be misused on frivolous or private complaints. On the plus side, by default the Rangers have been given a unique chance to strike a major blow for accountability in Pakistan, exercising their new authority without fear or favour they can take anyone to task, particularly those who consider themselves above the law. Nobody would expect them to go berserk in this pursuit but a beginning can be made by striking at the high and mighty. To gain credibility in the eyes of the public this is a must exercise before the Rangers can go after the lesser (?) mortals in the streets with any modicum of moral authority.

God knows that all law enforcement agencies have their work cut out for them in Sindh, particularly Karachi. As a senior law enforcement friend of mine is fond of saying, quote “it is easy to make sweeping statements from the comfort of a drawing room”, unquote. For the most part he may well be right. For the record, other than outright criminals engaged in dacoity, car-snatching and kidnapping as well as drug smuggling and gun-running, militant gangs of various political parties have been running amok. Since MQM (A) is the largest political entity in Karachi, one cannot doubt that pre-Operation Clean-Up the militancy of some of their elements had gone to the extent of criminal activity, torture cells and coercive measures were the order of the day. Thereafter the ranks of the militants had been decimated, their combat effectiveness being replaced by the officially organised Quisling/Trojan Horse ploy of MQM (Haqeeqis). The death of Gen Asif Nawaz changed things, by late 1993/ mid-1994 MQM(H) had lost uniformed patronage. The fact that they now again seem to enjoy official backing in Karachi leads to the logical assumption that the uniformed factor may have been replaced by a civilian agency. Desperate for survival and virtually friendless in an increasingly hostile environment, the frustrations of the Haqeeqis is widely believed to have been harnessed for motivated and targeted violence, available to the highest bidder as willing guns for hire. With what conscience can we only target the original purpose of Operation Clean-Up in urban areas, the MQM, and make no reference to Al-Zulfiqar and the original Sindhi secessionists of Jeay Sindh who made it their business to spread bloody mayhem in Sindh and Karachi? Neither do we seem to face the fact that some former Al-Zulfiqar terrorists may have gone into business on their own.

When asked about the reasons for not taking Murtaza’s armed band into custody earlier, one senior law enforcement officer said, “after all, he is the PM’s brother!”, not so shocking a statement in third world countries as it would be in the first world. Since the PM is on record about a war against terrorism, the disarming incident should give a clear signal to the general public that no one can continue to be above the laws of the land. And why stop at Murtaza or for that matter single him out only? Are not there many other influentials in Karachi who flout their manhood by an open and vulgar display of firearms, some of them serving Cabinet Ministers? Holding no brief for the rather abusive and eminently dislikeable Shaikh Rasheed (and without reference to the evidence against him or the lack of it), can we punish him when many other such precedents exist on a daily basis? Since the Rangers seem to be developing an adverse image in the public perception (wrongly I might add in most cases), it is in the public interest that by being seen to be fair they get back to the pedestal of the moral high ground that they must command (and which the police have lost due to their integrity being compromised by politicisation) if they are going to be effective.

As was to be expected, Murtaza’s people have protested vehemently about this “discrimination” by Rangers, citing others who roam around in heavily armed convoys within the city. Their contention is that the Rangers action was only taken after the floating of the new political party by Murtaza and was an act of political victimisation by his PM-sister because she was upset at the challenge to her authority and defections from PPP. The timing of the Rangers initiative at incarcerating Murtaza’s armed crew was rather unfortunate as it does seem to give credence to Murtaza’s assertions while again raising the bogey of an FSF-type entity at the beck and call of the rulers to stamp out dissent. To shed this perception the Rangers will have to go all out to haul in a wide range of illegal gun-toters as examples of their neutrality.

From time to time a unique chance appears on the horizon for accountability to become a fact of life rather than a fact of fiction. It is true that by giving the powers to the Rangers to arrest and prosecute, the government may have strengthened their own hands vide their perceived “enemies” but it is for the Rangers to discern what is the public (and national) interest and what is sheer political victimisation. They should refrain from allowing politicians (and their bureaucrat mentors) from using the Rangers’ shoulders in the same manner that the police have been misused and thus discredited. On the other hand, if the Rangers decide that the supreme public interest of the nation can be served best by suo motu exercise of their authority if necessary, then inadvertently the political government has created a nemesis for itself that should snowball into a boon for the general public. Conceivably if the Rangers should conclude that there is evidence that some government agency is behind some of the bloody mayhem in Karachi then according to the powers vested in them by the President, they have the Constitutional powers to bring such recalcitrants to justice and hopefully they shall not refrain from using these powers for the good of the nation. Here is a unique crossroads of sorts, such that is only seldom available to man and/or nation. Who knows, there may be a chance for accountability after all!

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