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THE latest controversy in relation to the ongoing Karachi operation was the publication last week of advertisements about ‘missing persons’ allegedly taken into custody by ‘unknown Rangers’. It remains unclear how and why the ads came to be but police officials have been suspended and the Sindh chief minister has denounced those trying to create a rift between the police and paramilitary forces. Furore aside, the ads raise questions about the dynamics of the Karachi operation and the role of paramilitary forces in securing the city.
The ads highlight how public discourse about the Karachi operation has been dominated by the Rangers’ narrative. The paramilitary PR machine has been in full swing, with the decision to launch an FM radio show during which the public can engage with the Rangers, and the regular release of statistics about the high number of suspects apprehended, the halving of crime, and the drop of the daily murder rate from 8.9 in 2013 to 2.7 in the first six months of this year.
These impressive stats have distracted from a dialogue about whether a paramilitary operation is the right security solution for Karachi. Many, myself included, have argued before that a security operation is merely a band aid for a deep, festering wound. Violence in Karachi is not simply the result of militants and criminals on a rampage; it is the consequence of structural issues related to political representation, land use, and access to scarce urban resources. The current operation may stabilise Karachi in the short term, but problems are likely to resurface since no attempt has been made to address the urban planning, policy and political dynamics that fuel violence in Karachi.
The ads are also a reminder that the operation is unfolding in a national and global context in which extrajudicial violence has been normalised. Notably, the ads have raised more questions about their source than the allegations contained within. This is not surprising given that the ‘encounter’ is fast emerging as the most effective tactic of the National Action Plan, from Muzaffargarh to Lahore, where the alleged killers of Khanzada were recently gunned down.
Sindh must clean up and depoliticise its police force.
Pakistan is not the only place where extrajudicial solutions are the new norm. As drone strikes continue in Pakistan, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Middle East, the democratic preoccupation with due process has been accepted as a victim of the state of perpetual war we find ourselves in. But global precedent should not make us lazy about asking serious questions about the use of extrajudicial means as a preferred tactic.
Due process is the basis of justice and state institutions must be held accountable. But in the Pakistani context, extrajudicial means are deemed palatable because it is widely accepted that our criminal justice system is in a shambles and incapable of delivering justice.
This view led to widespread support and constitutional sanction for the introduction of military courts. But this is a short-sighted, contradictory position. The same country that is so quick to abandon its faith in the judiciary and accept extra-judiciality as a necessity rejoices when the judiciary upholds democratic principles and delivers justice — as in the recent case of Mumtaz Qadri’s appeal — acknowledging that in those decisions lies the precedent that offers hope for the future. We cannot have it both ways.
Back in Karachi, the realities of the limited impact of a paramilitary operation and judicial flaws beg the question: what’s the solution? Policing, which used to be the pat answer of democratic diehards, is no longer a serious option. Rampant politicisation has rendered the police force nearly useless, and the morale of police officers has also been seriously affected by the brutal militant campaign to target officers in the hundreds.
Caught between bad choices, it is imperative that we make the right choices. The security operation cannot succeed if it isn’t followed up by robust and sustained policing. For this to work, the Sindh government has to clean up the police force. It is, however, unlikely to do this because political appointees help protect vested interests in the city. The provincial government is also likely to continue to extend the Rangers’ remit in full knowledge that while the paramilitary forces can target criminals, they do not have the capacity or mandate to address the city’s structural problems of which political parties are the main beneficiaries at the expense of citizens.
Here’s where Karachiites can take advantage of the democratic façade we enjoy upholding in Pakistan. Provincial governments can be held accountable by the electorate in ways that law-enforcement agencies and security forces cannot. The time has come to put pressure on the government to depoliticise the police force. This may not be the ideal place to start, and it’s a solution that requires patience. But it may be the only option we have to course correct in the long run.
The writer is a freelance journalist.
Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2015
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