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The state within a state
continues to thrive
(In the
national interest)
Kamal Siddiqi,
October 22, 2007
The blame game has started.
Politicians are blaming the government, while Ms Bhutto is specifically
pointing her finger at certain elements within the government for last week's
bomb blasts in Karachi. Important functionaries of the state have been
indirectly named.
Thankfully in Pakistan
people are not hanged on mere accusations. Not yet. But the government has to
get serious about trying to find and punish those who are behind such
incidents. Present day indications are that the government is unclear and
unsure about what to do when such things happen.
This incident left 140 dead
till last count and hundreds others injured — many of whom will die over the
next couple of weeks mostly from the serious burn injuries that they have
suffered. Others who recover may have to live their lives with permanent
disabilities. Another thing that became quite clear in the incident was the
total lack of planning on the part of the authorities to deal with such a
situation when it arises. Despite the warnings given, the government and its
disaster management wizards were nowhere to be seen when the tragedy struck.
Thus people had to fend for themselves.
Is it not surprising that
while the government has millions to spend on building flyovers and underpasses,
it has little left over to buy and maintain a set of ambulances and proper
emergency services in Karachi. We can build a multi-million rupee tower in
Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre but if one was to look for a wheelchair
there, it would be a miracle to find one that is not damaged or in poor shape.
Coming back to the blast,
the real cost of the attack goes beyond the death and injuries caused. Such was
the intensity of the blast that some people say they have lost their hearing,
while others complain of a permanent ringing sound in their heads. And yet a man
with so powerful a bomb was able to enter a crowd and blow himself up. The
daring of the people that did this is a direct challenge to the government. And
yet, the government is unwilling to rise to the occasion.
Police officials along with
others associated with security are arguing whether it was a suicide attack, a
time bomb or a remote control device. Others complain that the jammers which the
government provided were not working. Yet more question why the streetlights on
that section of the road were shut off when the PPP convoy was passing
through. Conspiracy theories abound.
These are largely academic
debates. The fact is that despite the much publicized threat to Ms Bhutto and
her convoy, and the tall claims made by local police officials that they had
left no stone unturned, a carnage took place on one of the city's most important
thoroughfares. And the government is still groping in the dark about who the
perpetrators of this heinous crime could be.
In typical Pakistani style,
no one will be sacked. Not even the person charged with the responsibility of
ensuring the security of the convoy. There will be much hue and cry and then it
will be as business as usual. Till the next blast. In all this, valuable ground
is being surrendered to the militants. People are now fearful of going to
political rallies. There will come a time when they will be fearful to cast
their votes. Democracy will be sabotaged.
Why is it that the
government almost never manages to arrest those involved in such crimes. Is
there no system in place to trace out those who were the masterminds? The Sharae
Faisal bomb site, complained one foreign journalist, was opened within hours of
the incident taking place. Were there no clues to be collected, no bits of
evidence that could be found to trace those who were behind this? Why is it that
in other countries, such sites of blasts are closed for days as experts scour
for scraps and clues? Are our police so efficient that no such exercise
was undertaken. Or is it that they don't care?
A policeman with rather
questionable credentials has been appointed to investigate. By the looks of it,
neither the government nor the police are serious about finding who was behind
the attack. We employ thousands of intelligence personnel who harass common
citizens and routinely target and pick up many. Who judges their performance and
what happens when, as in this case, there is a major intelligence failure? Does
any one get punished. Possibly not. But we can't talk about this. These
are state secrets.
What is more frightening is
that while General Musharraf seems keen in restarting a political process that
he himself cut short in 1999, there are some within his government who are keen
that it should remain dormant. What is he doing about this? This brings one to
the most important question. Who is in charge of Pakistan today? Clearly when
Ms Bhutto was PM last time round, despite all the tough talk and operation in Sindh,
she was not in control. That is why, through a very obvious series of incidents
and moves, her brother was killed and her husband blamed for it.
In present day Pakistan, is
General Musharraf in control? If he is, what does he know of the involvement of
some state players in the bomb blast of last week? What is clear is that as the
situation in Waziristan and the Tribal Areas worsens and fighting intensifies,
the militants will divert the government's attention by attacking in parts of
Pakistan. As Ms Bhutto rightly pointed out in her press conference on
last Friday, the real sufferers of such action will be the common people
of Pakistan who will die in the blasts that follow.
So far our evidence suggests
that the government is reluctant or unable to trace those who are behind these
blasts. Those that are caught sit happy in jail and the government is not quite
keen on following up on their cases. This makes one wonder where is this all
leading to. Are we winning or losing the war on terror. General Musharraf calls
it's a war between the moderates and extremists. It's not as simple as that.
In between there are other wars as well. The war between those who have power
and those who don't. Those who can get away with murder and those who are
punished despite being innocent. The privileged and the deprived.
As the world marked World
Poverty Day last week, most in Pakistan remained silent. Its best to forget
one's failures. In the rally to welcome Ms Bhutto, the people who came from all
over Pakistan kept on talking about only two things: unemployment and inflation.
These are the biggest challenges facing the government but little has been done
to address them. Prime minister Shaukat Aziz keeps on talking fondly about
the trickle down effect without realizing that its not working. And the bad news
is: things are not going to get better any time soon. Email:
kamal.siddiqi@thenews.com.pk
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