Daily Times

An evil spirit seems to have been hovering over the city of Larkana — the centre of politics of Sindh’s ruling party. Two of the recent spine-chilling incidents have sent waves of fear and furore among the people while exposing the appalling law and order situation of the city, and province at large.

It is with a heavy heart that I am penning down the incidents of murders of a 17-years-old boy Ahad Abbasi and a 9-year-old girl Saima Jarwar (after being rapped). Apparently, one is taken aback to see such menaces taking place around that tear the stature of humans as superior beings.

I had only met him twice in G/11 Islamabad where he was preparing for ISSB: Ahad seemed to be an introvert person and polite in nature. Probably it’s the effect of that short acquaintance, as a course of destiny, that has made me realise the heartache of his dears. It is always shocking to see a person in coffin whom you have known as a young and ambitious person, upon that, getting a death like this. He paid or rather was made to pay, the price of a liability he owed to no one. His only sin was that he was a younger brother of the person who had married a girl of his choice.

Apparently, the issue was a court marriage of a couple that became the reason for the murder of Ahad. His elder brother had eloped. On the pressure of bride’s family, she was returned to them. They also demanded to hand over the boy who married that girl and threatened that in case of a refusal they would murder his younger brother — Ahad. After five months of the disappearance of his elder brother, the miscreants shot dead Ahad in front of his house.

A few weeks earlier, a 9-year-old girl Saima Jarwar was murdered brutally after being raped. Although it sprouted rage among many of civil society workers and youth, it failed to catch the eye of the mainstream media. According to a recent investigation, the suspect has been arrested,and medical reports are underway. However, this case will face the same fate as that of Zainab from Kasur.

These incidents expose the abominable state of affairs in the city. In what has been appearing as atrocities, the role of media and law enforcement, and the writ of state has come under a big question mark.

Pakistan’s media, as has been experienced recently, is probably one of the most biased and partial media of the world. The people in the interior Sindh have been vying for media’s attention but to no avail. Insult to the injury is that when people themselves go to press club for recording protest, as the last hope, even then they are not given any coverage. What to talk of downtrodden, when we, the students of ‘Pakistan’s top university’, Quaid-i-Azam, were paid no heed the last three times when we held a press conference and two protests under the banner of our student union, Mehran council, pertaining to the issues of Qabil Chandio and Saima Jarwar murder cases.

It is imperative upon media to disseminate information impartially from all corners of the country, so that the authorities may come to know about the issues and take quick action

Added to this is the sorry state of our law enforcement agencies, who have left no stone unturned in making people ‘rebels’ to this system. More often than not, the law enforcement, especially the police, fails to nip crimes in the bud, and conduct a brisk and correct investigation in second place. The foremost job of the police is to make sure that crimes don’t spur time and again. Ironically, the DIG was seen recently cherishing the way they investigated Saima Jarwar case instead of being guilty to prevent that mishap. That investigation did not come so easy. It took place only after cumbersome efforts of people through protest, writings and the social media drive. Even in Ahad Abbasi case, many days have passed, but police have failed to bring the culprits to books. Except for launching an FIR, nothing considerable has been made out. Such lethargy and irresponsibility have led to distrust in the police. Consequently, people end up taking law into their own hands thus trampling it. The family of girl could have tried the boy legally, or Ahad’s family could have complained about threats, but nothing like this happened which cost a human’s life. Now anytime, in the course of future, the parties may reconcile through customary rules (jirga) under the auspices of the feudal system, but the soul departed can never return.

Most appallingly, the writ of the state, i.e. judiciary, provincial government and federal government, is absent in all this heart-wrenching scenario. More responsibility, in this regard, lies on the provincial government. As a matter of fact, PPP — Sindh’s ruling party, has been driving its political impetus from Larkana since long. Yet, it is the city littered with most of the inhuman atrocities in recent times. However, it does not mean that the government needs not to act anywhere else, neither it implies that other cities are overflowing out of virtues. It is to emphasise that the government has failed to maintain law and order even in province’s important cities.

The party has been ruling the province since last ten years, yet the situation is that of deep down misery. Apart from this, the federal government is busy protecting its corrupt mafia and has forgotten it’s primary duty of serving the people. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the federal government might not even know about these cases for they have not taken place in the centre of politics of the country. In addition to this, the role of the judiciary is also debatable. No doubt the suo moto in Zainab’s case was a landmark achievement plus the supreme court is also active in dealing other cases due to which the victim families have attached their hopes with the judiciary to act voluntarily. But due to one or the other reason, there has not been any considerable attention on the part of judiciary.

Admitted that the mainstream media has not aired these issues, the social media drive is proactive, just as it was in Zainab’s case. Although comparing Saima’s case with that of Zainab is not enough justification, but it surely has hurt the expectations of victim families. There has not been a comment of commiseration even from the chief justice, prime minister or chief minister. Political actors at the helm of affairs seem to have been caught in the quagmire of upcoming elections, thus turning their back from the responsibility of serving people and maintaining law and order. The media is also hand in glove with them, and they appear to be patronising each other.

The judiciary needs to ensure social justice as a primary priority rather than running after political cases. It is imperative upon media to disseminate information impartially from all corners of the country so that the authorities may come to know about the issues and take quick action, or else if these pre-requisites are not fulfilled, the state may be taken by a wave of movements as it is experiencing in current times. Alarming is that the scope of these movements may widen with the passage of time, if unheeded. Surely, the survival of state lies in cinching social justice. Those who fail to do so may pave the way to doom.

It is therefore emphasised that families of victims be provided justice without much ado, so that they may at least have a semblance of solace and peace.

The writer can be reached at saudhassan24@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, June 11^th 2018.