ON August 11, 1947, prior to the birth of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah firmly informed the members of his Constituent Assembly that their first duty, in the country he had created, was to enforce law and order.

The stress was laid on good law, not law amendable to suit the needs and ends of the transient occupiers of our seats of power. We did have law and order, to a certain extent, for the first two decades of our existence. Then, suddenly, it faded away, never to return.

On May 26, Imran Khan was sent an Order emanating from the Government of Punjab, Home Department, under the name of Khusro Pervaiz Khan, Secretary of the Home Department, but without his signature. The Order reads :

“Whereas there is credible information that Mr Imran Khan, Chief of Tehreek-e-Insaaf, Pakistan, r/o Lahore is planning to leave for the Province of Sindh on 27.5.2007 by Flight No.PK-315 and whereas the Government of the Punjab has received an order from the Government of Sindh through which the entry of Imran Khan has been banned for a period of 30 days.

“Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred upon me under Section 5(1)(b) [‘Power to control suspected persons’] of the Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance 1960, Mr Imran Khan, Chief of Tehreek-i-Insaaf, Pakistan, r/o Lahore shall reside or remain within the revenue limits of Lahore. This order shall remain in force for 03 days with immediate effect.

“The grounds for restrainment will be conveyed in due course of time.

“He is at liberty to make a representation to the government against this order.”

Copies were sent to eight other officials, among them “The SSP (Operations), Lahore, with the request that the restriction order may be served on Mr Imran Khan. This order may also be brought to the notice of the Civil Aviation Authority.”

This was in response to a letter sent by Shafi Uddin, Section Officer (Staff), for Home Secretary Sindh, of the Government of Sindh, Home Department, also dated May 26, 2007, addressed to The Secretary, Home Department, Government of the Punjab and to The Chief Commissioner, Islamabad. The subject : “Service of Orders upon Mr Imran Khan. Its content : “I am directed to enclose herewith copies of Order issued under Section 5(1)(a) & (c) of the West Pakistan Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance 1960 in respect of Mr Imran Khan. It is requested to kindly serve these orders upon Mr Imran Khan.”

The Order reads : “Whereas the Government of Sindh is satisfied that with a view to preventing Imran Khan, Chief of Tehreek-i-Insaaf, Pakistan, resident of Lahore, from acting in a manner prejudicial to public safety and maintenance of public order in the province of Sindh.

“And whereas it has been made to appear to me through reliable sources that Imran Khan intends to visit Karachi with a view to indulging in such activity which could be prejudicial to peace and tranquility of the province which is returning to normal after the tragic events of May 12, 2007, in that Mr Imran Khan reportedly intends to make objectionable and provocative speeches/statements which could possibly ignite hatred among different sections of society as is evident from the statements which have appeared in electronic and print media, such activities would be highly prejudicial to public safety and warrants immediate legal action with a view to maintaining peace in the province of Sindh.

“Now, therefore, I, Brig ® Ghulam Muhammad Mohtarem, Secretary, Home Department, Government of Sindh, Karachi, in exercise of the powers vested in me under Section 5(1)(a) & (c) of the West Pakistan Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960, do hereby order that Imran Khan shall not enter, reside or remain in the province of Sindh for a period of thirty (30) days commencing from 26.5.2007, to 23.6.2007.

“He is at liberty too prefer (to) appeal to the Government of Sindh against this order.”

This was typed under the “Secretary to Govt. of Sindh, Home Department” but was also unsigned.

(Obvious anomalies in all this : the grounds for restrainment have yet to be spelt out. What does the restrained man tell the court if he can get to it? He may be at liberty to make a representation to the government against the order, but then he is appealing to the power which has trampled on his fundamental rights.)

Now, from reading all this it becomes crystal clear that the administration and the police were not at all worried about Imran inciting violence. What they were concerned with is their helplessness in the face of the coalition partner in the Sindh government whose leader, Altaf Hussain, a proud Briton, sits at the end of a telephone line in a building on Edgware High Street in the Borough of Barnet in far away London Town. It was the fear of the violence which would be let loose by the party people of the Pir of London were Imran to come to Karachi and hold a public meeting. After all, the strength of Imran’s Tehreek can in no way be compared to that of the coalition partner.

It is a good order, for had Imran come to this city, in which there is but a thin veneer above the violence that is always latent, chances are that he would have been shot and killed along with a good number of his followers. Happily for Imran, the frightened officials of this province refused to gamble with his life – for there is no way in which they could have protected him. They would have been given ‘orders’ as they were on May 12.

It should be a matter of shame to us all that we now find ourselves as citizens of a country in which the federal government and the head of state are so in thrall to a political party of highly dubious credentials which harbours known practioners of violence that they are unable to protect individuals from being killed or maimed and cities from descending into uncontrollable mayhem.

As for President General Pervez Musharraf, the kindest one can say about him is that having been ordered by the Supreme Court to hold elections, he did so and then found himself with no alternatives but to appoint criminals, crooks, incompetents and yahoos into positions of power and to align himself with political parties and political individuals who should have either been behind bars or banished from our shores.

The Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance 1960 has been used and re-used over the years to get our governments out of sticky situations or to harass and intimidate citizens or to deal with them in a manner unlawful.

This morning, at dawn, all going well, Imran Khan will have landed in England, a relatively safe haven. He will be allowed to petition a court of law, or approach the Secretary for Home Affairs, and ask how and why the United Kingdom is harbouring Altaf Hussain. He has travelled with the consent and approval of our spooks, aka ‘the agencies’.

Another brave man, Nasirullah Babar, former general of our gallant army and former federal minister for interior, has provided Imran with all the ammunition he needs. Good luck to them both.

arfc@cyber.net.pk