Creeping National Security State

THE taliban strike in Police Lines in Peshawar created a usual trajectory of reaction from the key figures of the state as well as institutions, replete with familiar statements and visits to the wounded. However, there were no answers to the queries as to after so many costly offensives and operations; the situation on the ground has not changed. similarly, there was no query why such games with the militants, signaling negotiations or resettlements, were being played or are being played with impunity by powers who control the state.

a deeper analysis of the developing scenario clearly suggests that Pakistan is in for another bout with the ‘creeping national security state’ syndrome, if not a renewed wave of terrorism. the reaction as well as likely action plan; which emphasis adherence to the post-aPs national action Plan (naP), it is going to another long period of Pakistanis making amends with the abovementioned state in their daily lives. With unlimited powers to the LEa, which is the hallmark of a national security state, while the terrorism might not subside as predictably, Pakistan will soon be an oppressive ‘police state’ at war with an unknown enemy, but known populace.

to make the argument more convincing; Pakistan has come a long way to transition into a democracy. the 1870 general elections, which brought ZaB to power, were the first show of civilian power in the political arena. the 1977 coup undid all that and Pakistan returned to the police state days in full force. Many would argue that the PPP under ZaB was too a one-party dictatorship; however at that point the institutions were independent enough to register a FiR against the sitting PM; a privilege not available during the period between 1977-1988.

in the ‘democratic interlude’ from 1988 to 1999, though fraught with unstable governments had the characteristics of development of a democratic culture in one way or another, Pakistan was a democratic state where no political opponent was a traitor and the police role was restricted to that of law enforcement and not enforcement of undocumented dictates of the deep state. Courts martial in the 1992 sindh operation as well as a court martial related to a failed coup characterized that period in 1996.

in the backdrop of that developing culture, it took another military dictator, Musharraf, to mellow his takeover with first reluctance to suspend the Constitution; secondly, it was not a ruthless takeover, where the first week is usually characterized by a clampdown on the press. the Press had breathing space and soon the electronic media was to be allowed development; a thing not commensurate with military takeovers. it was no miracle that the Musharraf government opened the 1971 debacle report without any hang-ups.

However, fate has something else in store for Pakistan. the 9/11 incident and Pakistani linkages were a bolt from the blue for the established order, whose reach was receding with each passing day until 11 september 2001. it was a new life for that receding state. that dreaded conceptual state with ironic complete backing of the ‘free world’ unleashed a ‘police state’ on the polity, economy and above all the democratic culture. after that, it was no surprise that people were picked at random for their religious or ide-

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The missing link in Pakistani system

POLyBius, an eminent ancient scholar, analysing the Roman Empire, came to the conclusion that it was made of a mixture of aristocracy, monarchy and despotism. He was the first analyst to say that despotism is prevalent only when one power is concentrated in one single hand. to check the despotic tendencies, he introduced the system of checks and balances in the organs of state; the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. Later, a large number of philosophers propounded the concept of the theory of separation of powers and of putting checks and balances within systems of governance. Even if the theory of separation of powers is largely attributed to French philosopher Baron de Montesquieu, the fact is that philosophers like John Locke and William Blackstone had already expressed thoughts on the matter. in the present era, when we see that the united states is far more successful in practising the theory of separation of powers, it should serve as an example for the developing countries, including Pakistan. the us has a long tradition of state organs working efficiently and functioning in a balanced manner. the way it runs the machinery of the government makes it more pronounced than many other states. the executive branch of the us system is entrusted with vast powers, but it cannot be the sole powerwielder as its actions are under scrutiny of the legislative branch. For instance, the us president is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, but the power of purse lies in the hands of Congress. He is required to take financial action only with the approving nod of Congress. and he cannot declare war without the mandatory consent of the senate. it is clear that what the political system is missing in Pakistan is the mechanism of checks and balances. Our institutions are almost dysfunctional, leading to grave issues at all tiers of society. For instance, the civil service is under the influence of politicians, so public service delivery is rare to find. Flawed and politicised organs cannot be expected to have operational autonomy; rather, everything goes in the wrong direction.

ABDUL QADEER SEELRO LARKANA

Putting record straight

ological orientation. the emerging police state ensured the transformation of a sympathizer to a ‘hardcore militant’ through its newly acquired power. that state of mind was a blessing for the established order. Holding the society hostage under the pretext of bouts with terrorism. the facilitated assassination of the Generation X leader of many Pakistanis of that period; Benazir Bhutto, the trapping of the succeeding political order in the War on terror, the periodic talks with the same terrorists and accommodation with them on the basis of ‘operational expediency’ became the order of the day. the animation was predictable. a militant group massacres civilians or the military. it is followed by surprisingly precise intelligence, detailing which mud house the terrorists are sitting in, sipping tea; PaF jets appearing in the sky and finally the statement that ‘terrorist backbone has been broken’; followed by candlelight vigils and self-appreciation. at that point, no civil polity had the courage to ask the deep state, what was the logic of the talks, ceasefire or negotiations, when the outcome was predictable. to connect the dots, the current wave of terror has its origins in the tta or taliban takeover of kabul in august 2021, followed by the ttP getting the required sanctuary there. the deep state approval of the tta can be gauged from the fact that in august 2021, Moharram orators were advised by sleuths not to criticize the taliban tearing down Muharram banners in afghanistan then. taliban were also ‘asked’ to behave accordingly. the recent wave of terror too was preceded by talks taking place in kabul and in Pakistan. there was even talk of settling them in kPk by the outgoing Pti government in the centre. However, during the same time the ttP was free to target the kPk police as and when they liked to strike. if one studies through the fact sheet from any newspaper archive based in kPk, the Monday strike was all but expected. the enemy struck with devastation. However, the big question is whether the state is ready or even serious this time to root out the scourge or if it is something else?

A fresh middle-class leadership above political expediency can be the ray of hope. Currently, any spontaneous public disapproval of the state and deep state can set into motion events, which may force the entrenched to vacate their ‘trenches’ that dowry is accompanied by an increased role of the deep state in almost every aspect of public life. a trader having windfall profits in kPk might have to be at pains with his bank to prove why his receivable is not a ‘suspicious transaction’. a person posting his viewpoint on social media will have to be careful, not to invite an unceremonious ride in a toyota Vigo. in such a scenario, the head of an institution might be calling all the shots, with the popularly elected prime minister not more than a ‘company secretary’. such scenarios regretfully continue to progress in a state like Pakistan. it is even more painful that while many states or even ideological states are revisiting their stances regarding the extent of ‘headscarves’, Pakistan is increasingly being groomed as a police state. a state, where it is necessary for the common man, especially the middle class professional, student etc. to have his or her CniC or any other identification document handy, to ward off inconvenience. tHis refers to the letter ‘1971 in perspective’, which, among other things, said 70 per cent of Pakistan’s revenue was generated from jute, “but the share of East Pakistan was reduced to less than 30pc by the military rulers”. the fact is that the jute cultivators were saved from the colonial era exploitation by Calcutta (now kolkata). Besides, as academic anwar H. syed showed: “american advisers guided the ordering of priorities in Pakistan’s development plans (which some of these advisers later chose to condemn as having been exploitative of East Pakistan)” (China and Pakistan: Diplomacy of an Entente Cordiale, OuP, 1974, p.35). By 1968, cotton had overtaken jute as the largest foreign exchange earner. Why did the year 1971 spell the end of the jute industry in Bangladesh? it is a relevant question on all counts. as regards the contention that yahya khan had refused to hand over power to the majority party of sheikh Mujibur Rahman; here is what yahya said in his deposition before the Hamoodur Rahman Commission: “i offered to appoint him the deputy chief martial law adminis- trator there and then. He laughed and rejected the idea as too ridiculous” (a. Basit, the Breaking of Pakistan, Liberty, 1997, p.32]. as for Operation searchlight, there is overwhelming evidence that it was preceded by 25 days of atrocities against the non-Bengali population. above all, the six-Point agenda of Mujibur Rahman, as per the awami League manifesto, was not a recipe for the separation of the eastern wing, but of the disintegration of West Pakistan.

While the terrorist continues to strike, the deep state is orchestrating ‘candlelight vigils’ with the aid from ‘fifth generation’ assets. it is the degeneration of the civil state, which is taking place at a faster speed. as a result, resources end up around the deep state and the common poor have all the incentive in the world to join a willing rank of non-state actors, for rent or for sale among the horde of undernourished and unemployed. Lesser investment in HD indicators, slow or nonexistent trade and commerce, cannot sustain a state for long.

DR MUHAMMAD REZA KAZIMI KARACHI

Wireless operators

WHiLE there are growth opportunities in sindh police, its telecommunication department makes the whole process stagnant. there is no police officer in sindh police telecommunication department above the rank of sub-inspector. this step-motherly treatment is meted out only to this particular department of sindh police. there should be inspectors and deputy superintendents of police (DsPs) in districts and range in-charge, but subinspectors are holding all these positions. Wireless operators who were recruited in 1982-83 have not been promoted above the rank of subinspector after over 35 years of service, which is blatant injustice. they should have been DsPs by now, but have been ignored.

Many wireless operators, who were appointed head constables were still head constables when they retired despite having put in such long service. in the beginning, wireless operators used to be recruited as constables in 1983. the then inspector-general of police (iGP) in sindh changed the policy and approved their appointment as head constables, but there has been no particular benefit of that change because the wireless operators remained deprived of any promotion during their entire careers. they have also been facing issues like denial of technical pay and official vehicles to district officers in charge. the relevant officials, including the provincial iGP, should devise a new strategy for the promotion of wireless officials, and fill the posts of inspectors and DsPs that are lying vacant for long. MUMTAZ ALI BULEDI LARKANA

Midnight nuisance

Experience and observation points to the fact that any government which might be in the position to form government in the aftermath of the 2023/2024 general elections, will have to inherit the ttP headache as the proverbial ‘bridal dowry’.

Regrettably, the developing scenario is that a client deep state with the outer tier of a frontline one and the inner tier of a police state is here to stay in Pakistan. that state is not interested in trade, so it has decided to be on iMF injections perpetually. Given the fact that the Pakistani on the street understands the mechanics of the corridors of power and ‘bayonets’, it will not be easy to repeat the previous experiments for another soft nss takeover. a fresh middle-class leadership above political expediency can be the ray of hope. Currently, any spontaneous public disapproval of the state and deep state can set into motion events, which may force the entrenched to vacate their ‘trenches’.

The writer is a freelance columnist tHis refers to an incident that caused great nuisance and distress recently to my community in karachi’s kDa scheme no. 1. a few years ago, a private television news channel opened its head office next to our apartments. Every few months, the place is used to host private ceremonies, such as weddings with extremely loud and noisy activities that run well past midnight. Recently, there was one such night-time event. i wonder if the people running the so-called media houses and news channels have any empathy or care for the mental wellbeing and peace of a residential area. the people who do this and arrange such functions do so without any fear of action or remorse for the distress their rowdy functions and gatherings mimicking a school concert regularly cause to the residents of the area. i hope the authorities or someone will take action and look into controlling the people behind such rash activities that disturb and scar the environment of the whole residential community. Laws need to be implemented strictly to make sure such noisy events do not take place in the middle of a residential community.