THE enlightened sections of society have been shocked at the acquittal of two killers in the tribal area on the ground that local custom permitted ‘killing for honour’.

The incident should be seen not only as a denial of the fundamental rights of the population of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) but also in the context of erosion of the rule of law throughout the country.

The case was decided by the court of the assistant political agent, Landikotal (Khyber Agency), a stone’s throw away from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa capital. The assistant political agent acquitted the two murder accused by accepting the jirga’s finding that they could not be punished as they had killed two close relatives, a woman and a man, for having developed illicit relations and the rivaj (custom) granted them immunity.

All attempts to abolish the FCR in Fata have been foiled by vested interests.

The complainants’ testimony, including that of the woman’s husband, to the effect that the crime was the result of a financial dispute between the parties was rejected.

Any further comment on the case will be unfair as an appeal may be filed before the appellate tribunal, except for inviting the attention of the government to the grave injustice being done to the Fata population by keeping them bonded to a lawless regulation.

Several decades have passed since the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) of 1901 was held by the judiciary to be ultra vires of the constitution and the population of the Provincially Administered Tribal Area (Pata) was freed from its clutches. However, all attempts to abolish the FCR in Fata have been foiled by vested interests.

That keeping the FCR alive is a painful anomaly has often been demonstrated. The position has not changed after the amendments made in 2011. There is no end to the talk about reforms in Fata. The confrontation between those who wish Fata to be merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and those who want it to be recognised as a separate province does not appear to be ending soon. Meanwhile, the FCR remains in force.

The public has not felt duly outraged at the Landikotal case perhaps because the trend towards curtailment of due process has persuaded the custodians of power to blink at FCR-like regulations and practices. Unconventional tribunals, denial of due process and the theory of collective punishment, for which the FCR has been assailed, have permeated ‘normal’ laws, such as the Protection of Pakistan Act and the Actions in Aid of Civil Power Regulation.

We find the system of collective punishment being applied on an increasing scale in all parts of the country. The practice of detaining innocent relations of persons wanted by the police or other law-enforcement agencies, for any crime or merely for questioning, has visibly increased. Those who pay their electricity bills also have to pay on behalf of the defaulters, that include quite a few state institutions. In Karachi, a whole area can be punished with denial of electricity connections because some of the residents cannot be prevented from using kundas to steal power.

The theory of punishing whole communities for the wrongdoings of a few also seems to have inspired the authorities who have devised the ‘security clearance form’ that public servants, including employees of education institutions, in Punjab are being asked to submit.

The employees are required to disclose their faith, caste and creed (sect) and provide a list of family members, including father, brothers and brothers-in-law. Further, an employee must disclose whether he has ever taken part in training as a militant/ jihadi. If the answer is yes, the name of the organisation and the office held in it should also be mentioned. Such information should be provided about each member of the extended family as well.

Finally, the form carries an affidavit to the effect that the employee will be liable for legal action and departmental proceedings if he has withheld any information or made a false statement.

The form does not show who has authorised collection of the data but the employees dare not evade compliance.

It is easy to prove that the demands being made on public servants violate their fundamental rights. Even in ordinary circumstances, the state has no right to ask citizens to disclose their faith and sect, nor does it have a right to keep the caste system alive in a Muslim society. But we are living in a situation where revealing one’s sect could amount to inviting death by a target killer’s bullet.

Besides, some of the information sought from public servants apparently falls in the category of self-incriminating evidence.

Suppose a cousin of a brother-in-law of an employee had some association in the distant past with a militant outfit. No court will be able to hold him guilty of anything, and surely not guilty of an act that was not an offence at the time of its occurrence. But who will protect him from harassment by the police? Not only he but his entire family will be at the mercy of services that are becoming increasingly notorious for transgressing their powers and harbouring extortionists in their ranks.

This dangerous attempt to turn state employees into witnesses against themselves must be given up forthwith. There is no fun in telling the tribal victims of the FCR that instead of allowing them the rights and freedoms available to other Pakistanis the latter are being brought under the shadow of the FCR. No room for cynicism here. The citizens’ rights are at stake.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2016