Never immune to a tragedy, Pakistan recently witnessed a series of events that jolted the entire nation. These included news accounts of the cold-blooded murder of five Tajik and Russian citizens by the Frontier Corps (FC) and police personnel in Kharotabad, Balochistan. The victims included a woman who was seven months pregnant and two young girls. This sad event was followed by the news of abduction of the investigative journalist Saleem Shahzad from Islamabad, followed by the recovery of his body bearing torture marks in a canal in Punjab’s town of Mandi Bahauddin. It should be noted that the murdered journalist had feared for his life from Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), as a consequence of his unflattering exposés of the Pakistani security establishment. Most recently, the graphic video of an unarmed youth, Sarfaraz Shah, shot by paramilitary Rangers personnel while he was pleading for his life, deeply disturbed the nation. Visceral images of violence committed against Shah were unique for Pakistanis since such abuses at the hands of Pakistani security forces have not been broadcast in the past.
These tragic incidents are the proverbial tip of the iceberg. A day after Shahzad’s body was recovered in Punjab, a Baloch nationalist intellectual and poet, Professor Saba Dashtiari, was murdered. More than a thousand political opponents, Baloch nationalists, progressive intellectuals and journalists have been tortured and killed or remain missing over the last 10 years, according to estimates by human rights bodies. It is widely believed that Pakistani security agencies, and their client militias, are involved in much of these human rights abuses. All these events reinforce the Pakistani security establishment’s image as an extremely brutal force, which displays most efficiency in the oppression of the marginalised and vulnerable.
Some of my Pakistani-American friends mentioned they are ashamed of their Pakistani identity in the wake of such horrible news stories. This is indeed a very sad development. At the same time, being in the US, we also have the benefit to study evolution of the law and order system in this nation. The US has witnessed instances of extreme state brutality against the working class, minority ethnicities and progressive activists. The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and the Ludlow Massacre in 1914 saw brutal killings of working-class citizens. The establishment of white supremacy and Jim Crow laws in the Southern states led to extreme abuses and barbarity, including lynching of African-Americans. The Greensboro Massacre in 1979 shocked the nation through gratuitous murder of five unarmed social justice activists by members of the Ku Klux Klan, allegedly with police collusion. The videotaped beating of California resident Rodney King and subsequent acquittal of the police officials involved in the beating were followed by deadly riots in Los Angeles in 1992, resulting in the death of 53 people and thousands of injuries.
And yet, each such case of brutality committed by or sponsored by the state has also served as a rallying call for justice and the empowerment of common people. The Haymarket Massacre in Chicago in 1886 served as the catalyst for the May 1st Labour Day holiday across the world, with the ironic exception of the US. The Miranda Rights were established after complaints that an Arizona resident, Ernesto Miranda, was not informed of his legal rights before his confession for a crime was recorded in 1963. Citizen review boards to serve as vigilance against police misconduct were established in the 1970s. By 2003, three-fourths of the US’s major cities had such bodies. The abuses in the US law and order system are still far from over. Institutional racism in the US Justice System and growth of a prison-industrial-complex have attracted social justice campaigns across the US.
Many positive developments have taken place in Pakistan in recent years. The nation’s vibrant new media and judiciary, despite their flaws, have challenged the illusion of sanctity of the Pakistani security forces and demanded accountability. Many media commentators have challenged the Pakistani military and intelligence establishment’s subversion of democracy, its impunity in human rights abuses and support of extremist forces. Such calls have been unprecedented in Pakistan. Civil society organisations like Citizens for Democracy have been working at the grassroots to build a pluralist, democratic Pakistan. The assault of extremism and state abuses should be countered by such initiatives for civil society empowerment and peaceful coexistence.
The writer is an independent journalist and filmmaker based in North Carolina, USA. He can be reached at [email protected]