Missing persons
THE reaction of the interim Balochistan government to criticism of enforced disappearances in the country lays bare a deep disconnect with reality, and indicates how little the administration cares about the wholesale violation of human rights. Where past governments buried their heads in the sand or paid mere lip service to the issue of missing persons, the current set-up has effectively gaslighted the families of missing persons by saying that the issue has been ‘politicised’. The government’s reaction comes after BNP-M chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal declared that his party would contest the next election under the slogan of ‘the recovery of missing persons’. Mr Mengal talked about the enforced disappearance of his own brother in the 1970s, and the anguish his family feel even today, despite being told that his brother had passed. His phrase that “we are still waiting for him” describes the trauma experienced every day by scores of families that have marched, begged and pleaded for the return of their loved ones — with little success. His words that “there isn’t a single home in Balochistan which hasn’t received a dead body or is not awaiting the recovery of a missing relative” are simply chilling.
The Balochistan government’s reaction, therefore, is shameful. To claim such remarks are politicising the issue of missing persons is tone deaf, and will fool no one. What those at the helm need to realise is these are not ‘issues being exploited’ but brutal human rights violations that are causing Baloch families generational trauma. Unexplained disappearances with scant information, no trials and virtually no trace of the victim points to a callous mentality. If the state is going to pretend these protests and cries for recovery are ‘agenda-driven’ and not the genuine pleas for help they are, it risks further alienating young people in a province that has always been a low priority for successive governments. The state may end up paying a heavy price.
Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2023
Bannu ambush
TERRORIST violence continues to take a heavy toll on our security personnel. At least nine troops were martyred when a suicide bomber targeted a military convoy in Bannu’s Janikhel area on Thursday. Only a few days earlier, militants had ambushed a police vehicle in neighbouring Lakki Marwat district, resulting in the martyrdom of two police personnel. According to reports on social media, a little-known group calling itself Lashkar-i-Sufyan Karvan has claimed responsibility for the Bannu attack. Though this group may not be a known entity in the murky world of terrorism, it is said to be linked to the Hafiz Gul Bahadur outfit, which has a well-earned reputation for militant violence, and is part of the TTP conglomerate. In a related development, two militants reportedly associated with the Lashkar-i-Islam outfit were eliminated in Peshawar’s outskirts by KP’s Counter Terrorism Department in an intelligence-based operation. This outfit was at one time headed by dreaded militant Mangal Bagh, now dead, and is also linked to the TTP.
After analysing the latest acts of violence, two major concerns need to be addressed by the state. Firstly, terrorists have a wide footprint across KP and northern Balochistan, and have, in fact, indulged in acts of violence within the KP capital. Their freedom to act across an extensive geographic space needs to be curtailed. Secondly, the recent acts of violence are nearly all linked to the banned TTP. While the terrorist group owns some attacks and keeps quiet about others, there is little doubt that it retains its penchant for lethality, and neutralising it should be the security establishment top priority. In the world of militancy, it is not unusual for fighters to adopt new names for their groups. Therefore, the authorities should not get caught up in nomenclatures, but go after key individuals and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure. More also needs to be done to protect the security forces — both military and police personnel. Militants have reportedly had access to sophisticated American gear abandoned in Afghanistan; these supply lines need to be choked, and our forces equipped with gear to defend themselves. And while the state should turn up the heat on the Afghan Taliban to shut down terrorist sanctuaries on their soil, protecting Pakistani territory and ejecting and/ or eliminating militants operating here is the responsibility of our military.
Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2023
ECP’s mantra
JUST because the chief election commissioner keeps insisting on it, and the government keeps repeating it, does not make it an incontestable fact: determining when a general election is to be held is arguably not the ECP’s ‘sole prerogative’, whether one goes by the Constitution or even by the updated statute books the watchdog has been citing.
This questionable assertion continues to be repeated ad nauseam, but it does not change the fact that the Elections Act, just like other laws, remains subject and subservient to the Constitution, which is rather clear regarding how long the election watchdog has to hold elections in case any assembly is dissolved before its tenure is up (Article 2242), and the president’s responsibility to appoint a date for a general election when the assembly in question has been dissolved by his hand (Article 483).
The ECP has recently been assuring political parties that it intends to hold general elections in the country by late January or mid-February 2024; once constituencies have been delimited afresh under the census notified by the PDM and its allies shortly before the National Assembly was dissolved. Regrettably, only a handful of political actors appear concerned that this will necessarily entail yet another violation of the Constitution.
It may be recalled that, earlier this year, the ECP had refused to hold elections for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab assemblies within the mandatory 90-day period. It did so in direct defiance of the Constitution as well as the Supreme Court’s orders.
At the time, the ECP had offered to hold the due elections at a later date — Oct 8, to be precise. However, it clearly seems to be in no mood to stick to that timeline now.
It is also worth recalling that, as recently as July, the ECP had ruled out any delay in the general elections, promising it was ready to hold polls within 60 or 90 days, depending on whenever the National Assembly was dissolved.
In a July 20 press conference, addressed by ECP Secretary Omar Hamid Khan and Special Secretary Zafar Iqbal Hussain, the latter had also ruled out the possibility of fresh delimitations, saying that elections would be held under the previous census and delimitation. Within a month, the ECP abruptly changed its stance.
Its volte-face was immediately protested by the PPP, which later revealed that it had been assured that the notification of the census would have no bearing on election dates.
Given these precedents, how can the ECP be trusted? As long as it continues to believe that no law or court order can compel it to do its constitutional duty within stipulated time frames, it may find it more convenient to continue delaying the exercise on one pretext or the other.
Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2023