The Karachi judgement

EDITORIAL:

The Supreme Court has read out its judgement in the Karachi suo motu case and here’s the bottom line: federal and provincial authorities have failed to fulfill their constitutional duty to protect law and order and, right under their noses, hundreds have been butchered on the turbulent streets of Karachi. The court has also candidly highlighted the role of political parties namely the MQM, the ANP, the PPP, Sunni Tehrik and Jamaat-e-Islami, etc – in nurturing and patronising criminals now involved in target killings, land grabbing, drug mafia, recovery of ‘bhutta’ (extortion money) as well as the forcible collection of skins of animals during Eid-ul-Azha. Due to the vested interests of these parties, and the criminals in their ranks, Karachi has turned into a turf war, says the SC. More depressingly, in light of overwhelming material brought before the court in daily situation reports of the Special Branch, IB and other sources, the court has been compelled to say that it will be hard to punish criminals for their crimes. The court was, after all, informed by none other than the inspector general of police that 40 percent of police officials had been recruited on political grounds and that he had little say even in transferring them. Thus, unless there is a complete change in the investigation process and improvement in the prosecution system by inducting non-political, honest and competent officers, nothing will change in Karachi. The court has also ordered the government to depoliticise the administration and prosecution. For this, it will monitor the functioning of Anti-Terrorism Courts through a nominee of the chief justice so that the vacancies of presiding officers and prosecutors are filled as early as possible and by following the right procedures. The court has ordered the deweaponisation of Karachi, banned ‘no go areas,’ and formed a committee to monitor the city’s law and order situation. The DG Rangers and IG police have been told to act without discrimination and a committee headed by the chief justice of Sindh will monitor their performance.

The SC has done a great job in its judgement of summing up the complexities of the Karachi situation and directly and tacitly pointing to those responsible for the grim state of affairs. What was till now public knowledge has become certified judicial fact. For this, the court deserves much praise, as it does for venturing into the murky issue of Karachi, full of pitfalls for the court itself. In sum, the SC deserves a tug of the forelock for its attempt to be more transparent, to educate the public, as well as adjudicate. However, it would have been even better had the court come up with more concrete short, medium and long-term measures for improving the situation – tangible milestones for the executive to follow to alleviate the plight of the masses. Nevertheless, with all said and done, the court’s suo motu notice of the Karachi situation and its subsequent ruling are the beginnings of a step in the right direction. In the next round, one hopes that the executive will do its part and follow the court’s guidelines, instead of being indifferent and hence creating room not just for more violence but also for the court to have to step in once more.