Is Punjab more prone to terrorist violence and crime than Sindh? Is Punjab’s administration less efficient than Sindh’s? The debate has been fueled by the recent bombing of a bridge on the Raiwind road to the prime minister’s estate, followed by another sectarian massacre in Multan.
Punjab’s chief minister, Shahbaz Sharif, is desperately flogging statistical ratios to prove that Punjab is “better off” than Sindh. Punjab’s home secretary has been fired. The military will beef up intelligence gathering. The anti-terrorist courts will be fortified. Have the Sharifs got hold of the stick by the right end?
No. Violent crime and terrorism have sunk deep roots not just in Sindh and Punjab but all over Pakistan. Their specific origins may differ but the phenomenon is derived more from a generalised, widespread and long-drawn out political, social and economic breakdown of civil society than from the immediate or particular administrative shortcomings of any government. The truth is that we are reaping a whirlwind sown by General Zia ul Haq in the 1980s and nourished by the Sharifs in the 1990s.
If the MQM is responsible for the troubles of Karachi (as Mr Sharif claims), it is worth recalling that the MQM was midwifed, armed and funded by Gen Zia in the 1980s. If the MQM was instigated by the “agencies” to help destabilise and overthrow the first Benazir Bhutto government (1988-90), the unmistaken hand behind the conspiracy was that of Gen Zia’s military proteges like General Hameed Gul (then DG-ISI) and civilian disciples like President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and CM Punjab Nawaz Sharif. If the MQM was given carte blanche to rape and pillage Karachi from 1990-92 by CM Sindh Jam Sadiq Ali, it was done at the behest of President Ishaq and PM Sharif. If COAS Gen Asif Nawaz was thwarted from cleaning-up Karachi in 1992, the same duo was responsible for the fiasco which followed. And if the MQM has been resurgent in recent times, it is only because PM Sharif has romped in the hay with Mr Hussain for over 18 months.
The roots of violent “Islamic resurgence” (sectarianism and fundamentalism) in Pakistan were also sown by Zia ul Haq and his disciples. The hypocritical “Islamisation” of the law and constitution was formally codified in the 8th amendment in 1985. Then PM Sharif bulldozed the Hadood laws in 1991-92 via the 11th and 12th constitutional amendments and paved the way for a violent attack on the rights of the women and minorities of Pakistan. Now Mr Sharif seeks to carry his mentor’s “mission” further via CA-15 (Shariah laws).
It may also be noted that the cry of “jihad” — or the call to arms in “defence of Islam” — was first spouted during the Afghan war at the behest of General Zia. It was then taken up during PM Sharif’s tenure by his hand-picked DG-ISI, General Javed Nasir, whose self-avowed mission it was to hoist the flag of political Islam not just in Kabul long after the Russians had departed but also in Islamabad and Srinagar. The international terrorist bases and training camps in Jalalabad and Kandahar date back to that time, as do the formations of various domestic Islamic lashkars which now seek to destroy the social fabric of Pakistani state and society. Mr Sharif’s recent testing of the “Islamic bomb” in pursuit of some sort of misguided “Islamic nationhood”, his continuing exhortations for a “jihad” against political opponents of CA-15 and a Punjab minister’s fulminations against women’s NGOs are the most recent manifestations of the same opportunist adventurism.
The causes of societal violence, however, have now transcended militant Islam or violent mohajirism. The economic decline in the last decade of democracy is palpable enough — 3% growth pa compared to 6% in the earlier decade. The rate of inflation, too, has doubled. This has meant increasing unemployment and economic hardship — a sure shot recipe for large scale alienation and criminalisation.
Finally, the criminalisation of politics under the garb of democracy has begotten large-scale plunder and loot of state assets by the ruling classes. Bank loan defaulters, plot grabbers and kabza groups have proliferated. This has led to a multi-billion dollar capital drain which has impoverished the economy and fed the perception that crime pays handsomely in Pakistan. Worse, the law makers have turned out to be the worst law breakers in society, with Mr Sharif leading the assault on the judiciary.
In the face of such long-term societal breakdowns and social and economic upheavals, what can short-term administrative measures achieve, whether via military courts and executions in Sindh or via anti-terrorist courts and extra-judicial killings in Punjab or via military brigades in WAPDA? These are all ad-hoc palliatives aimed at skirting the problem. The fact is that law and order all over Pakistan have broken down irrevocably. The fact is that our democratic political leadership has failed to make good laws and uphold them. The fact is that our ruling classes have plundered the exchequer and impoverished the people. The fact is that unless we sweep away such obstacles, we will be unable to exorcise the demons that haunt Pakistan.