In one respect we are more unfortunate than the rest. We believe everything that we read in the newspapers and watch on television as nothing but the truth. We have to learn to read between the lines because truth is always open to interpretation. This acute scepticism, this skill of reading between the lines, is urgently needed in our supposedly free society today. Take the case of terrorism on the streets of Karachi. The oldest cliché is that truth is the first casualty of war. I disagree; incompetence is the first casualty. Not only that, it has become a blatant and regular response of our law enforcement agencies, but added to this is a virulent helplessness that goes unrecognised in the provincial government and federal headquarters whose power is such that in war against terrorism it can mean the difference between life and death for people on streets.
Extortion, threats, kidnapping and violence has made Karachi one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Now the criminal gangs have a new target: showbiz personalities. It was that macabre threat on top of blasphemy charges against Amjad Farid Sabri that incited the ire of terrorists. It perhaps got to the point in which people like him are kidnapped or disappeared or tortured or even killed. Life as an artist in Karachi has never been easy. Shaista lodhi and Junaid Jumshed have suffered. Add to that a new and critical challenge. In cities like Karachi, the country’s kidnapping capital, terrorists seem to have an easy new target. It is a vicious cycle of a problem on top of a problem. Criminal groups have significantly advanced their goal of controlling drug addicts and suppliers, and use them as operators and facilitators. There are also signs of collusion between political militant organisations and militant kingpins. This is something we never expected.
Ransom for kidnapping and terrorism is the country’s long-standing problem, but we still have undefined counterterrorism strategies. Fear, violence, and a long history of collusion between extremists and government have combined to create an almost impossible environment for foreign businessmen to invest in Pakistan.
There are many reasons people disappear. It may be for belonging to a rival gang, or for giving information to one. If a person is considered a security risk for any reason, he may be disappeared. Some are kidnapped for ransom. Each kidnapping starts with locating the target. The best place is at a home, early in the morning, “when everyone is asleep.” But sometimes they are kidnapped from public areas. If the target is unarmed, two men are enough to carry out a “pickup” or “levanton,” as the gang kidnappings are known. If he is armed, it requires more manpower.
Provincial government has so far done nothing to correct the behaviour of law enforcement agencies including the police. Their incompetent conduct is partly responsible for the conflict in Karachi, the longest-running, most violent and most important of Pakistan’s regional conflicts. Throughout the decades of war on terrorism, leaders have made several efforts to have a solution of compromise, but the conduct of the country’s security forces has left the ordinary families to live in fear and hopelessness.
The careless brutality and incompetence stems in part from a simple problem. As the federal government supplies only a quarter of the budget for its police forces, the provincial government must make up the rest. To do so, they often turn to corruption. In Sindh, the rampage of the police and special anti-terrorist units is unchecked. They fail to stop killing, extortion or kidnapping of hundreds of people every year. The principal issue today for many in power is the behaviour of the security forces, and the failure of the police to bring to justice those who have killed civilians. There is a war within a war, and corruption within police forces is malignant. Many of the abuses of the security forces, however, are committed for money. The police run protection rackets all over the country, and it is not easy to stop them in the middle of a war on terror, where the police and law enforcement agents can force businesses to pay for protection from terrorist threats. Most of the police personnel in Pakistan lacks training, have outdated weapons and are paid poorly. Hardly a surprise they supplement their income through extortion at roadblocks, other extortion and silence on kidnappings.
Many political leaders, including the prime minister, realise that the government needs to professionalise the police. A bigger budget would be counterproductive unless the government also improved training and created strict rules for conduct and an end to impunity. But in a nation too broke to pay its teachers or doctors, there is little chance the law enforcement budget will suddenly rise. Powerful and corrupt officers, in addition, will fight to keep a system that allows them to get rich and shields them from accountability. If the Pakistan government hopes to end terrorism it must take responsibility for the behaviour of its police force.
We need a security force that is effective, highly disciplined and under the control of the government. National policy should make no such exception for terrorists, even if families and employers choose another course. What makes sense for a government can be unendurable at a personal level, and blocking family members or colleagues from doing whatever they can to rescue a kidnap victim would hinder arresting the culprits. In practical terms though, the price and the conditions demanded by groups such as the Taliban have gotten so high that only government can afford it. That is further proof, if any were needed, that the way to try to save hostages is to create a national task force with clear focused principals. And the way to deal with terrorist kidnappers is to finish them, not buy them off.
Even if terrorists manage to get away, surely it is not impossible to track down at least some of them. They use getaway vehicles and they rarely conceal their faces. Some of them may be locals with known relatives or friends who can be questioned. Law enforcers are supposed to know the drill in pursuing crime suspects. Murder, extortion and kidnapping are not in pursuit of any ideology. Those who commit these crimes must be caught and brought to justice. State security forces should stop twiddling their thumbs in the face of blatant disregard for the law.
The writer is a professor of psychiatry and consultant forensic psychiatrist in the UK. He can be contacted at [email protected]