The inquiry report on the Quetta Carnage has raised some very serious and vital questions on the internal security mechanism of the country. In the past few years since the Operation Zarb-e-Azab, the security analysts believe that the security paradigm of Pakistan has changed. Now internal security is an essential part of the new security framework. Both the civilian and military security agencies will take some very serious measures to deal with it. In this regard, a new framework had been designed under which civilian and military authorities would work together to address the problem. The framework was called National Action Plan (NAP), and all the political parties agreed to it.
The proper implementation of NAP has always remained an important issue. From day one, military and civilian leadership have not been able to deal with the implementation plan appropriately. The idea of “Apex Committee” has been flopped. The mistrust between civilian and military authorities has also created some very serious problems. In this scenario, a couple of terrorist attacks also took place; one of these attacks was a blast in Quetta, where lawyer community were the target and hundreds of people were martyred. A one-man inquiry commission had been formulated to inquire the terrorist attack under Justice Qazi Faiz Essa. The investigation commission has completed its report in three months, which have been made public by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The inquiry report has identified some very serious issues. From the implementation of NAP to bad rules of business of the interior ministry, everything has been discussed in the inquiry report. The issue of the western border has also been discussed in the report. The poor working of the provincial government has also been discussed. According to inquiry report, in last three and half years, the incumbent interior ministry is not able to functionalize NACTA.
The findings of the report are eye opening. It explains the miserable story of ill planning and political hypocrisy. The Operation Zarb-e-Azb began three years ago. Since then, the civilian authorities are not able to practically functionalize the civilian security agencies. A number of terrorist attacks took place in these three years. Although the frequency of terrorist attacks has come down, still the loss of the nation is something inventible. The terrorist attacks in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park Lahore, or in the Quetta were one of the deadliest attacks. In these circumstances, the government is still not ready to accept the responsibility. The Chotu gang adventure of the Punjab police had also opened the eyes of many analysts, when Punjab police failed to deal with a group of dacoits and government had to call army for the help.
The response from the interior minister was quite egoistic and harsh. He tried his level best to politicise the inquiry commission report by questioning the findings of the report through a press briefing. The worst is that yet again the current government is not ready to accept an inquiry report, which is against them and questioning the inefficient working of the government. Previously similar things had happened to Model Town Incident Judicial Inquiry report.
The political atmosphere of the nation has also been affected due to this report. The PPP, which has been targeting the incumbent interior minister for the last couple of months, is now openly criticising him over inefficient working, and PTI has also joined hands with it. In these circumstances, it looks that politics will come into bossiness, and like many other inquiry reports, this report will also be digested. The government and opposition parties will play on the questions raised by the report. But they will never want to discuss the findings of the report on a serious note.
Democracy is revenge; yes indeed it’s revenge. The kind of political and administrative nepotism Pakistan has experienced in the last couple of years, it’s getting clear now that democracy is the deadliest revenge.
The writer is a freelance columnist and visiting faculty member at Department of Economics, GC University Lahore. He can be reached at [email protected]