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Fight against terrorism
[Dawn]  IN addition to those living in Pakistain's conflict zones, in recent years the urban citizenry too has become uncomfortably familiar with acts of terrorism. The perpetrators seem to consider no place or occasion off limits. From public areas to places of worship, religious and political gatherings all have at some point come under attack.Has the law-enforcement apparatus met with any success in quelling such attacks? In pockets, it does seem that the situation is improving. Consider Bloody Karachi, ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... which has seen terrorist attacks in places frequented by the public -- as delineated from law-enforcement and military installations that the beturbanned goons claim are their main targets. Such instances include the bombing of the Ashura procession in December 2009 and that of the shrine of Abdullah Shah Ghazi in 2010. Yet, over the past year, various events and occasions that both ordinary people and the law-enforcement set-up feared would be targeted thankfully passed off without incident. Also, a number of high-profile bully boyz have been placed in durance vile, implying that protecting the people is possible if there is sufficient will on the part of law-enforcement personnel. While this is encouraging, it is clearly not enough. Combating the monster of terrorism requires a multi-pronged and holistic approach where different methods achieve success in concert. One area where law-enforcement efforts continue to under-perform is at the level of prosecution. Trials of suspected beturbanned goons or bully boyz tend to yield little because of either poor investigation or prosecution. A case in point is the 2006 Nishtar Park bombing, for which three men believed to be associated with the proscribed Lashkar-e-Jhangvi ... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... remain in jug. In the six years that have passed, the prosecution has presented merely one witness. This pattern is repeated around the country in terms of prosecution, and sends out all the wrong signals. True, there are difficulties: hard evidence in such cases can be difficult to gather and, given the profiles of the beturbanned goons involved, there is always the possibility of witnesses, prosecutors and judges being intimidated. If the police and prosecution could improve their performance in this regard, we would see greater success in combating terrorism. Posted by: Fred 2012-02-08 |
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