Daily Times

2019 was a busy year for lawmakers in Pakistan, having amended and legislated Acts of parliament and temporary laws in shape of Ordinances issued by the President under article 89 and Governors under article 128 of the Constitution of 1973. We are believed to have covered in the legal framework, more or less everything humans are exposed to. Some were enacted for us by the British Parliament while we made the rest and keep making more. Start to the new year witnessed Army (Amendment) Act, 2019, followed by passing a bill like Zainab Alert, Recovery and Response Bill, 2019 in the National Assembly and tabling Vagrancy Restraint Bill, 2020 in the provincial assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

This is a praiseworthy feat by the governments, but why does it not change the prevailing conditions of the society? While the Human rights situation should be getting more desirable with every law passed, but in reality, the more the laws we engineer, the dirtier things get in real.

When legislators introduce Bills, it’s often not their own; A common belief in our society is that we elect members of legislative assemblies to make laws, and they in-fact make all the laws practiced throughout the country; It may be right to some extent that some of the amendments proposed/ made and bills introduced/ laws enacted are drafted and passed on to members of the legislative assembly by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) funded by foreign donor. Member Provincial and National Assembly are given a prepared draft and all they have to do is to introduce/ present it in the house; to our disappointment, they do not understand somehow on what to include or exclude and have no understanding and expertise in the bill they introduce/ pass. We may criticize external forces interfering in our internal affairs, but in reality, they are the driving force behind most of the laws enacted and even delegated legislations.

Tricky that we are as a Nation: These copycat bills introduced/ passed are deliberately left with lacunas by the local NGO’s and members of parliament, who aim at demanding more money from the donors/ interest groups to fulfill the gaps diagnosed in the relevant laws.

We may be making laws but unless they are enforced in letter and spirit, they are nothing but a piece of paper. For instance, The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Protection and Welfare Act, 2010 is enacted by the Provincial Assembly. A commission is established under it. Members of the commission meet now and then, portraying themselves to be actively protecting children who are underprivileged and exposed to societal threats who are labeled as “Child at Risk”. However, we regularly get to see children begging on traffic signals, bus stands, marketplaces et cetera.

Seeing the inefficiency of the commission, A Peshawar based Human Rights activist and Lawyer, captured photos of children begging all over Peshawar, even outside the provincial assembly, office of the Child Rights Commission and the worst of all child labor outside the newly established Child Protection Court in the premises of Judicial Complex. He filed a writ petition, against the government to make effective the commission by directing the government to rescue the children. To the dismay of all, the commission in its reply to the petition gave a report saying there are no begging children or child labour “Child at Risk” in Peshawar. Nevertheless, the petition is still pending adjudication in Peshawar High Court, Peshawar.

Under the watch of Child Protection and Welfare Commission, Case of Sohail Ayaz, who was convicted for pedophile sexual offenses in the United Kingdom and later on deported to Pakistan on completion of jail term, was appointed as a consultant in a planning and development department project. His services were terminated after he confessed of raping at least 30 boys, child pornography and acts of sexual abuse. How was a No Objection Certificate (NOC) issued to a convicted person and who did it, is a question which may or may not is decided as this accused seem to be the favorite child of not only the law but also the protectors.

Recently Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has tabled Vagrancy Restraint Bill, 2020, which is likely to be passed. It’s not that we don’t need the law, it is a positive step towards the development of society by giving social security to beggars and discourage professional beggary but will it be enforced positively? or just another team of people extracting money from the public exchequer and foreign donors while they sip tea and laugh at the deaf and dumb public and authorities.

Our constitution is based on “Doctrine of separation of powers” which separates three pillars of the state from each other like Legislature, executive, and Judiciary. While through “Doctrine of checks and balances” these three cannons of the state are required to restrict each other to their constitutional limits, however, the executive is a part of the legislature and the legislature is either won over or too weak to hold the executive accountable. Our only safe haven in Pakistan is the Judiciary. Tired of the national fiasco, the judiciary either turn toward “Judicial activism” and thus starts taking Suo moto actions or issue writs in petitions filed by members of Civil Society as Public Interest Litigation to make the indolent lively by force of law.

Media has emerged as the 4th pillar of the state and especially social media is proving to be instrumental for and against Laws, policies and formulation of public opinion by the awakening of masses through feeding information; but how do you wake up the living dead.

Who do we blame for the faulty laws and inefficient enforcement mechanism? Government officials, judges and bureaucracy are all filling their pockets on our tax money while we sleep on our rights. We are letting everybody rob us, violate our rights, experiment on us and get away with it. It’s time we start asking questions, perhaps in this lifetime.

The writer is a Student of Law based in Peshawar, working in Kakakhel Law Associates. Tweets as @kakakheln, Email: kakakheln@gmail.com