Economic Perception and Reality
Blessed with a bountiful supply of economy-sustaining resources, the country’s economy has been successively mauled by a cabal influenced by Harvard Business School model theorists, populist leaders charmed by the romantic socialist economic notions of the 50s and 60s and commercially ignorant bureaucrats bent upon imposing their Kafka-esque will on the economic destiny of the nation. We happen to have one of the most resilient economies in the world. It had to be in order to survive some very destructive economic Rasputins over the years. Notwithstanding the fact that we Pakistanis love to run ourselves down, the economy is certainly in better shape than 3 years ago.
Vigilante Justice
Rome came into its own during 1st Century BC as the capital of a vast empire. The loot and plunder from countless cities and towns went towards making grandiose public buildings and theatres. Even as the lifestyle of the Roman rich became more opulent, life for the poor became more oppressive. Thousands headed for Rome, as much as 500,000 lived on free grain at one time. Confined to narrow alleys and the dirt and squalor of extreme poverty, anarchy prevailed. Having disposed of his co-ruler Marc Antony (and with him Cleopatra), to maintain law and order the nephew (and adopted son) of Julius Caesar, Augustus, created a corps of fire-fighters. They had a secondary task of keeping “vigil” to prevent crime, helping the Praetorian Guard on an “as required” basis. Called “vigils”, they were the forerunner of the self-appointed “Vigilance Committees” in the US in the nineteenth century, keeping a very public eye over wrongdoing. “Vigilantes” is a term normally used for those citizens who take law in their own hands and mete out crude justice, targeting mainly those who have the influence and money to escape the clutches of justice.
Vigilantes ruled supreme in Argentina for a number of years in the 60s and 70s, killing criminals and the corrupt in the judiciary and law enforcement alike, not to mention corrupt bureaucrats, crooked businessmen, anybody amassing inordinate wealth, etc. A movement from a small village called Nagalbari spread in the 60s in India throughout the East and South East as the “Naxalite” movement. Naxalites even today remain a potent force to contend with in some Indian States. Vigilantes may come from law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and/or from the public, those who are frustrated by the injustice of a corrupt judicial system and/or the procedural delays because of lacunas in the law and/or the system being overwhelmed by numerous cases and want to bring criminals to justice. Frustrations can be contained in a society where the intent of rendering justice is sincere, but if the whole system is corrupt and the justice meted out is unjust and unfair, frustration boils over, forcing those seeking justice to take law into their own hands. Many times the target is the person who sits on judgement. One can describe individual crime to an extent, how should one classify the individual who murders out of vengeance rather than murders out of profit (or even sheer lunacy)?