The latest round of violence in Karachi has converted what was essentially a political problem into an ethnic one – a dangerous development by any measure. Fed up with bureaucratic rule, which in Pakistan’s case was simply a continuation of colonial mastery after Shaheed Liaquat Ali Khan’s assassination in 1951, the people of Pakistan in 1971 craved power at the grassroots level. These aspirations for a more just social order being championed by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto were overwhelmed by the predominantly ethnic agenda pursued by the Awami League’s (AL) Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in East Pakistan. The sustained violence, the likes of which one would rather not witness first hand again, saw Pakistan come apart at the seams.
Instead of learning from this traumatic experience and addressing the worsening situation politically, the government has added fuel to the fire by bringing back the commissioner-ate system. This is political bankruptcy at its worst, throwing in an administrative monkey wrench into problems of democratic governance. Asif Zardari has been politically sure-footed until now, successfully running circles around the Opposition, but someone has certainly given him very bad advice.
For bureaucrats and feudal alike, their nexus stands to benefit from turning back the clock on the people’s aspirations. On February 22, 1990, in the series “The Sindh factor”, I wrote, “the city of Karachi is a hotchpotch of overlapping administrative responsibilities. For a city of nine million people, this (is) tantamount to unmitigated disaster of the highest magnitude. Without local bodies elections or elected councillors, it becomes a farce perpetuated in the name of democracy. The violation of democratic principles at the very foundations of administrative tiers creates grounds for malfeasance up the line. Nepotism and corruption are endemic in bureaucracy, all the problems stem from appointments and promotions based not on merit but on corrupt practices which provide the fuel for corrupting authority,” unquote.
That the top down feudal mindset for dispensing selective justice cannot be in sync with the common man’s desires was quite apparent from the electronic images of the “Arab Spring” and Tahrir Square. This could very well happen in Pakistan, my article as far back as February 20, 1990, said, “Power must belong to the people in the real sense of the word, not just lip-service hypocrisy to stroke democracy. The judiciary must be separate from the executive, taking such action that must be necessary under the circumstances,” and then the implicit warning, “God help us if we have to resort to martial law. That would be a doomsday solution. The moves we must make should be political and economic, in that order of priority,” unquote.
To what end is Pir Sahib Pagara demanding that the army intervene in Karachi? To pit the army against the people so that after the death and destruction that would surely follow, a handful of feudals and their bureaucrat associates could implement “Constitutional” rule over the debris? This was avoided only by the skin of the teeth in Egypt when the army refused to fire at the people in the streets despite repeated orders from Mubarak and his cronies.
On September 22, 1992 in “The stabilising force of democracy,” I said: “We have a serious crisis on our hands because the representatives of the people have made themselves unaccountable to the people. Promises are media-fed to the masses while the real rulers, the feudals aided by bureaucrats, exercise their authority quite independent of the populace. Anyone can rule, history is replete with morons who have governed, posterity’s pages are full of their misdoings but is there anyone among us who can sit up and dare to change the system to one that is suited to the true genius of our people by allowing the people to really govern themselves?” Unquote.
Even within the bureaucracy the rank injustice is inhuman; consider the treatment meted out by the federal DMG to the provincial civil services (PCS) officers. Just ask Rai Mansoor of the (Punjab PCS) who has been knocking the door of the superior judiciary in a futile exercise against their stranglehold on power.
The expert opinion is that replacing local bodies with commissionerates runs afoul of the Constitution and is subject to legal challenge. The Zardari game plan may actually be to keep the matter in court for the next 18 months to successfully filibuster the NRO into oblivion. This already has repercussions in line with Newton’s third law of motion, “for every action there must be an equal and opposite reaction”. For example, the demand for a separate province suddenly surfacing out of the blue in Sindh? Or Hazara in KPK and the Seraiki in Punjab demanding separate provinces soon after their respective local bodies were dissolved? Remember, all these were commissionerates!
The Sindh government must be commended for revoking Police Order 2002. If it could not be implemented for nine years, far better to consign it to the dustbin. Jameel Yusuf and myself were part of the original task force mandated by Lt Gen Moinuddin Haider, than federal minister of interior, for effecting police reforms. The DMG representatives, effectively sidelined our suggestions by the normal bureaucratic sleight of hand of “being sent” intimations for committee meetings but never receiving them. Police Order 2002 effectively destroyed the remaining potential of an already frustrated and demoralised police service.
Three different models of Police organisation – commissionerate, directorate and inspectorate – came into being in South Asia. The worst one, the inspectorate model, was based on the Irish Constabulary, designed to be militaristic, its prime aim being to crush the people. Suiting the feudal requirement this was unfortunately adopted in (West) Pakistan on the creation of one unit in 1956.
Police Order 2002 focused on the perks and promotion of senior ranks rather than reforming the police organisation and making it people-friendly. The additional chain of supervisors in a society heavily dependent on a “client-patron” relationship only added to the deterioration in the efficiency of the police force. On the other hand, the focal point of service, the police station, was ignored in terms of resources and professional staff with consequent deterioration in the quality of leadership.
The overwhelming majority of provincial police officers (PPOs) are discriminated against by the powerful federal police services of Pakistan (PSP) officers. Instead of career planning for lower and upper echelons, the direct induction of police inspectors blocked the promotion prospects of constables and junior officers and became an unmitigated disaster for police morale. Merit is overlooked and deserving PPO officers are either sidelined or given promotions only when they were about to retire. Going back to 1861 is no answer, there should be substitute legislation emphasising accountability. PSPs and PPOs must work out an equitable formula between themselves, or by a properly constituted judicial commission.
Some feel that all this may be a deliberate attempt to foster total anarchy in Karachi, keep the army engaged on one more front while on the other create a legal limbo in the superior judiciary by refusing to implement their decisions. Things seldom go according to plan. In such a volatile situation anything can happen.
Copyright TheNews 13.7.2011
