Cover Story 
 

Cover Story

State vs. State

Apparently, the Pakistan government has accepted the TLP’s demand that it be allowed to operate as a regular political party.

By S.R.H. Hashmi | December 2021


At age 83, and having seen Pakistan right from the beginning, when I look back and see where we have reached after this long and arduous journey, I do not really get a happy feeling. Worse still, there doesn’t seem to be much hope for recovery from this dreary state anytime soon. And I say this despite being an optimist.

What enhanced this pessimism was a news report in Dawn of November 14, which read;

‘Sindh government to close 5,000 unviable schools: Minister’

The heading somehow created an impression that perhaps there was such an abundance of schools in Sindh that these 5,000 schools could not find any students and were therefore declared unviable and fit for closure. The alternate use of the school premises had also been worked out as the report stated that recommendations would be made to the government to use the buildings for community welfare purposes.

In view of the actual situation in Sindh where more than a third of children are out of schools - with other regions not faring significantly better, except Northern areas perhaps – plans for closure of 5,000 schools hardly seem reassuring.

The news followed another depressing one of November 13, also published in Dawn, which was headlined ‘Education department seals two schools for ‘not imparting Quranic education’ .

With millions of children already out of school, sealing of two schools and that too, by the education department – and throwing more children on the streets for an indefinite period - hardly made sense. Surely, the matter could have been resolved by taking appropriate disciplinary action against the school management, instead of punishing children and disrupting their education, which has already been disturbed immensely during the Coronavirus pandemic. Also, at least the department of education should realize that educational institutions are vastly different from commercial outlets like shops, hotels, etc., which are occasionally sealed because of violation of rules, but this does not cause people much hardship, since they can avail the same facilities at other similar outlets.

The report also stated that on the orders of the Chief Justice of Lahore High Court, the district and sessions judge has deputed three subordinate judges each in as many tehsils of the district to monitor the compulsory Quranic education in public and private schools.

Now, the involvement of judiciary in routine monitoring of public and private schools could only be justified - if at all – in the circumstances where judiciary’s own performance was, if not perfect then at least near-perfect, and additionally, it had spare capacity, which it wanted to utilize for doing some voluntary national service. However, with the actual situation not being exactly that, how could the exercise be justified?


These examples also clearly demonstrate what priority, the Pakistan government and its institutions, including the education department, give to education, which is the essential and basic ingredient for the development of any nation and country. No wonder, we are where we are, after over 74 years of the birth of our country, which we finally gained after making so many sacrifices during the process of its creation and thereafter. What a pity, we could not even hold the country together for long and are struggling to secure what is left, and trying unsuccessfully to bring it to a level where the state meets the basic needs of the people.

Another factor is the resurgence of over-religiosity, caused by extremist and erroneous interpretation of religion in clear violation of religious stipulations and tenets. Unfortunately, like Gen. Ziaul Haq, PTI leader Imran Khan is also trying to use over-religiosity to reverse his plummeting popularity, caused by his massive failure on nearly all fronts and u-turns from nearly all of his promises made earlier. Just as well that through the mercy of God, we have been spared the extreme devastation by the Coronavirus pandemic which other developed and developing countries suffered.

Imran Khan’s abject surrender before the TLP, may be followed by similar outcomes with the TTP. However, the continuation of outgoing DG ISI till November 19, may have won Imran Khan a battle at the joint parliamentary session on November, 17 but political turbulence caused by all this plus rising public dissatisfaction and anger may eventually make him lose the war.

The primary responsibility of the state is to provide security to life and property of the people. Of course the masses have a right to stage peaceful protests in support of their genuine demands. However, if such protestors become unruly, disrupt public life, damage government and private property, and cause injury and death to members of the public and law enforcers, the government’s duty is to stop them by using an appropriate level of force. This is a duty which permits no discretion.

The caving in to violent TLP, led by Khadim Hussain Rizvi, was started by PML-N, which probably did not want to face the consequences of taking serious action against the outfit, and conspired to pass these on to the establishment which did the best it could at that late stage. While PTI leader Imran Khan, known for having a soft corner for such elements, alternated between declarations of toughness and timidity, ultimately staging a complete surrender. Surprisingly, a group of maulvis, including Mufti Muneeb ur Rehman, played an important part in concluding the agreement, with the terms of the agreement remaining secret. Even the Federal Minister of Interior claimed that he did not know who had signed the agreement with whom and what were its exact terms. Federal Minister of Information Fawad Chudhry, who seemed insistent on establishing the writ of the state, seemed dismayed by the outcome and warned that the agreement could result in isolating Pakistan.

Unfortunately, the negotiation process with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan is following the same pattern, and is being conducted with the help of present Afghanistan rulers. One can understand the reluctance of Afghan Taliban to take tough action against the TTP, but Pakistani negotiators should have demanded hand-over of those elements who were clearly identified and found involved in heinous crimes in Pakistan which, in their totality, have caused the deaths of over 70,000 Pakistanis. While pledging support to the Afghan Taliban government and pleading with the whole world to treat them likewise, Pakistan should have demanded something in return. Unfortunately, negotiations with the TTP are also likely end up in a sort of blanket amnesty for all TTP elements, which would be unfortunate. The relatives of children and others martyred at the Army Public School and yet others who have lost their near and dear ones at the hands of TTP terrorists must not be abandoned. If left completely unpunished and given an opportunity to regroup and strengthen, they could become an even bigger threat to Pakistan and Pakistanis in the future.

Finally, with PML-N and Pakistan Peoples Party already tried, and PTI experience proving just as bad, in fact more nightmarish, it is quite obvious that no single party is equal to the task of running the government. It is definitely time for a national government comprising reasonably honest and competent persons picked up from various political parties.

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