IT is a matter of concern that yet another journalist has been attacked in the capital city, which has been described as the most dangerous place for mediapersons in the country. Asad Ali Toor was attacked by unknown assailants, who thrashed him inside his apartment in Islamabad’s Sector F-11. Mr Toor later uploaded a video in which he said that the attackers had demanded information about the “source” of his “funds”. In recent years, the modus operandi of those intimidating journalists has become more brazen. There might still be warnings, calls for explanations or threatening messages but now, the quarters who want critical voices silenced have gone one step further and demonstrated that they have no qualms about ‘disappearing’ journalists or subjecting them to brutal assault in broad daylight outside their homes or in some other part of the city.
According to the latest report put together by the media watchdog Freedom Network, there has been a 40pc increase in attacks on journalists over the past year. Only last month, senior journalist Absar Alam was shot at while strolling outside his house in the F-11 sector of the capital. Last year in July, senior journalist Matiullah Jan was kidnapped from outside his home in G-6 in broad daylight. He was lucky to be released 12 hours later after vociferous protests from the journalist community and human rights bodies. All this is happening under the watchful eye of a democratically elected state and its law-enforcement apparatus. Why is the government so hesitant to issue regular warnings that silencing criticism in this way will simply not be tolerated? It is appalling that the latest attack should have occurred soon after the detailed Protection for Journalists and Media Professionals Bill, 2021 was tabled in the National Assembly. The provisions aim to ensure the independence of journalists and let them work without fear of intimidation and harassment. Once the bill is passed, will the government ensure the law’s enforcement in letter and spirit?
Sindh’s dacoits
EVERY few years, Sindh’s dacoit problem becomes too big to ignore, the violence too egregious to overlook, and the impunity with which the outlaws operate too shocking to brush under the carpet. Once again, action is being planned against their hideouts in the riverine forests of upper Sindh. Precipitating this sense of urgency is the bloody encounter that took place between law-enforcement and dacoits in Shikarpur district’s Garhi Tegho area on Sunday.
The clash left two policemen, an SHO’s private guard and a police photographer dead. Seven cops were wounded in the operation to rescue six kidnap victims. On Monday, Shikarpur police along with local police claimed to have arrested a tribal chief and his two sons in Karachi for allegedly patronising criminals in the katcha areas along the Indus. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah told the press yesterday that an ‘operation clean-up’ is being finalised against the dacoits and their abettors in Kashmore and Shikarpur districts.
The dense riverine forests provide excellent cover for the outlaws where they can disappear after committing their crimes, which run the gamut from murder and extortion to kidnapping for ransom. While that is true, there is also a political dimension to the perennial law-enforcement problem. In the 1980s, Gen Ziaul Haq gave a free hand to the outlaws in order to counter the resistance movement, which had its primary support base in Sindh, against his military regime. Later, the PPP’s political opponents in the province were said to have patronised the dacoits so as to keep parts of interior Sindh in a perpetual state of lawlessness, which of course reflected poorly on Benazir Bhutto’s government. However, a report by former SSP Shikarpur Dr Rizwan Ahmed that came to light last year contained explosive allegations about a nexus between certain Sindh cabinet members and notorious criminals of the area leading to a complete breakdown in law and order. The episode ended without a credible investigation into the charges by the senior police officer, who was himself then subjected to an inquiry and transferred out of the province.
Now, matters have again come to a head, as they were bound to do. It is high time the Sindh government dealt with this menace comprehensively without fear or favour. If the dacoits have no support within influential segments of the area, how are they able to evade capture time and again, and how do they get their hands on sophisticated weaponry like anti-aircraft guns that can kill policemen inside their APCs? Law and order cannot be sacrificed to political expediency. If the government’s actions cost the support of some tribal leaders, so be it. At the same time, the centre is chomping at the bit to get involved in what is a provincial subject. It must refrain, unless the Sindh government itself asks for its assistance in what is bound to be an ugly denouement.
Assets unfrozen
THE decision of the High Court of Justice in the British Virgin Islands to unfreeze PIA properties Roosevelt Hotel in New York and Scribe Hotel in Paris is a victory for Pakistan. The court reversed its earlier orders to attach the properties in a case initiated by the Tethyan Copper Company that was seeking enforcement of the $6bn Reko Diq award. The court also removed the receivers from the two properties. Yet the fact remains that withdrawal of the attachment orders does not affect the status of the award given by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes against Pakistan for unilaterally revoking the mining contract in Balochistan’s Reko Diq. The liability will continue to stand unless Pakistan’s request for the annulment of the award is granted by the ICSID or the government succeeds in striking a negotiated deal with the mining company. Though the government has vowed to vigorously pursue the proceedings initiated by TCC in “any jurisdiction” in order “to protect national assets”, it may only be able to delay the inevitable, not avoid it. The award is equal to about 2pc of the nation’s GDP and the money borrowed from the IMF to support a weakened balance-of-payments position.
Pakistan’s decision to cancel TCC’s mining licence in Reko Diq, famous for its gold and copper reserves, underscores the crisis of governance as well as the bureaucracy’s incompetence, and the general inability to protect the country’s economic interests while negotiating large contracts and agreements. This is not the first time we have failed to honour our contractual obligation and faced embarrassment by reneging on our commitment to global investors — sometimes witnessed after a change of government. More importantly, it is a major reminder of how unsolicited judicial interventions in complex commercial contracts for public approval can have an adverse impact on the country’s image as a safe destination for foreign investment. The fact is that when the apex court began in 2012 to hear civil and criminal petitions challenging the agreement between TCC — an Australian firm — and the Balochistan government, there was full awareness of Pakistan’s responsibilities under international law and the country’s bilateral investment treaty with Australia to protect the mining company’s investments. We should be worried about payment of the massive fine. But we should be more worried about how to address poor governance to avoid such embarrassment in the future.
