Daily Times Editorial 4 September 2019

On PM’s ‘no-war’ announcement

 

rouble, generated from the other side of the border by India’s recent actions in held Kashmir, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s statement that Pakistan will never start a military conflict is promising and a pro-peace gesture. As Pakistan and India are nuclear-armed states, any deliberate or inadvertent step can be disastrous for both countries and for world peace. Pakistan has shown its strong resolve to diffuse tensions again and again in the recent past. It never escalated tensions when India claimed to strike locations deep inside Pakistan in the wake of the Pulwama attack. When Indian birds tried to breach its airspace, Pakistan downed two fighter jet but hastened to return the captured pilot, exhibiting its true intentions to bring things back to normalcy. The noble gesture by Pakistan, however, was taken by India as a sign of weakness. The prime minister, soon after assuming the office in 2018, said if India takes one step towards peace, we will reach out with two. The Indian leadership, however, flying high on the wave of nationalism, has been frustrating these offers in one way or another. First by creating jingoistic vibes and later making the most of anti-Pakistan sentiments, the Indian ruling party clean swept the recently concluded elections. Pakistan’s offers to resolve issues bilaterally were answered with conditions as if, as Prime Minister Khan said, India was a super power and talking to a poor country.
The government has struck well on diplomatic fronts in recent days. The world is speaking openly about the now month-long curfew in occupied Kashmir, confining millions to their homes. But back home, statements by some senior cabinet ministers and politicians about all-out war on the Kashmir issue are irresponsible, and the prime minister must take note. At a time when the prime minister is speaking against war because of the nuclear element, a statement by minister Sheikh Rasheed that Pakistan has several nukes ready to be struck is escalatory and dangerous. Another minister, Fawad Chaudhry, supported war while speaking in the House. Mustafa Kamal flew from Karachi to Azad Kashmir only to announce waging a war. Similarly, former legendary cricketer Javed Miandad brandished a sword to wage jihad. Side by side, the media is playing the role of a bully brat, inciting the nation to war.
In such a scenario, the role of the government as well as the armed forces is measured, calculated and pro-peace, which is a good omen. In the days to come, India will have to pay the price for its heavy-handed actions in occupied Kashmir and for creating jingoism among its public. *

 
 
 

Police brutality and reform

 

The killing of two people in police custody – one in Rahim Yar Khan and the other in Lahore – in as many days demands a moment of reflection from the ruling party, which had made police reforms in Punjab a leading point of its manifesto. Had the police officials involved in the killings of citizens in Sahiwal been punished, the recent incidents of the custodial killings would not have happened. In one of the recent incidents, Salahuddin Ayubi, the man caught after famously breaking an ATM machine, died in the custody of the Rahima Yar Khan police. In Lahore, a middle-aged man, Amjad Ali, died in hospital due to alleged torture by the Gujjarpura police in a torture cell unearthed some days back. He was kept at the building of the forest department in a jungle.
In the initial 100 days in power, in a zealous fit, the government also made a reform body with Nasir Durrani its head to make a turnaround in Punjab police culture, mainly to replicate the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police model. No doubt Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf did a wonderful job to reform the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police department during its 2013-2018 rule, and riding its success wave, the party swept the Punjab in 2018. Within months, Durrani quit the body because his work was allegedly being hampered by the ruling elite. The government never made a serious effort to bring Mr Durrani back to work, neither made the reform body reactive.
The custodial deaths of Ayubi and Amjad have one again brought the issue of police reforms to the fore. Though customary inquiries into the deaths have been initiated, the most important thing is the intervention of Prime Minister Imran Khan into the affairs of the Punjab police. Mr Khan has ordered the police chief to introduce aggressive and progressive reforms to bring about a visible change in police culture.
Is the police ready for reforms?
The force needs training to police communities along professional lines. It will need the strict enforcement of discipline. The statement of then Islamabad Inspector General Khalid Khattak to a Supreme Court bench back in 2018 should be read again and again, since it is a sort of surrender to the radicalisation of society and the collapse of the police force. During the hearing of the Faizabad dharna, he said the security personnel had a ‘soft corner’ for the protesters because of the religious cause of the protesters. Clearly, then, the police structure needs a complete overhaul so problems like custodial killings are finally rooted out. *

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