| May 14, 2002 | Tuesday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 1, 1423 |
Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)
What sanity demands
Safety on sufferance
THE government has rightly decided to radically overhaul the law and order machinery and create a specialized anti-terrorist unit following the May 8 suicide bomb attack in Karachi. A high-level meeting in Islamabad on Saturday, presided over by President Pervez Musharraf, decided that the recent suicide attack signalled a new and more dangerous phase of terrorist activity in the country and required an extraordinary response from the authorities. It was decided that the intelligence gathering and investigation methods and skill of the law enforcement agencies would be improved to enable them to deal more effectively with the problem of terrorism. A new well-equipped investigative force would shortly be raised to specifically deal with such cases. The proposed Central Investigation Unit would be provided with the latest crime fighting equipment and manned by the most capable officers of the law enforcement agencies. These officers would be sent abroad for training in current counter-terrorism techniques. It was also proposed to set up a modern forensic laboratory at the federal level to complement the provincial forensic facilities, which would also be upgraded.
While it is good to see the government displaying a sense of urgency following the latest upsurge in terrorism, it is also necessary to remove the public scepticism that traditionally greets such announcements. The people of Pakistan should be forgiven their sceptical response to such government displays of resolve. They are accustomed to seeing successive governments express their outrage following terrorist attacks and vowing to stamp out the menace with an iron hand. Unfortunately, such strong words are seldom followed by concrete action. A typical response to such incidents is to set up various task forces and committees whose interminable proceedings rarely lead to action — until another violent incident sees the setting up of a new task force. One hopes that the government means business this time and acts to improve its capacity to fight terrorism. There is no disputing the need to focus on improving the woefully inadequate intelligence gathering and investigative methods and skills of the law enforcement agencies. Equally pressing is the need for better coordination and information sharing between the numerous agencies in the field, a weakness which a specialized anti-terrorist unit could possibly rectify.
In the past, there has been a great deal of overlapping of functions between the various agencies, which often seemed to be working at cross-purposes with each other. It is also crucial that the aims of all the agencies should be clear and synchronized. It would be folly to have agencies in the field whose agenda and priorities are at odds with the primary task of curbing terrorism. The creation of a specialized anti-terrorist force, while undoubtedly needed, is also fraught with certain potential pitfalls. The country has a depressing history of such elite units misusing their extraordinary powers to harass innocent citizens rather than carry out their crime-fighting tasks. The government must make sure to provide safeguards to protect the civil liberties of ordinary citizens while going ahead to create this powerful new unit.
UNDER diplomatic and internal pressure, Ariel Sharon’s government has decided to leave the Gaza Strip alone for now. Some 50,000 pro-peace Israeli activists took to the streets of Tel Aviv on Sunday to demand cessation of Israeli action against the Palestinians, as Sharon presided over a cabinet meeting in occupied Al Quds. The decision came at the end of the 38-day Israeli siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and the release of 123 of Israel’s ‘most wanted’ Palestinian men who had sought refuge inside the church. Meanwhile, cracks have appeared within the ruling national government, as the right-wing Likud Party hesitantly allowed Sharon to call off the planned Gaza offensive but vowed to oppose any move that would lead to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
It seems that most Israelis, save the extremist elements, are now catching up with reality, especially after last month’s brutal action in Jenin refused to yield any positive results for them. The alleged massacre of the Palestinian civilians at the refugee camp under the pretext of ‘taking out the terrorist infrastructure’, and Israel’s subsequent refusal to allow a UN fact-finding mission, too, have had their expected effect at home and abroad. There is now widespread international sympathy for the Palestinian cause, and the retaliatory suicide bombings in Israel proper have continued. In the final analysis, Ariel Sharon’s military adventures and killing sprees into the Palestinian territories have only made life more miserable and insecure for his fellow Israelis. What Tel Aviv needs to understand is plain and simple: there can be no military solution to the Middle East crisis. Thus, the sooner the military option is abandoned the better. A meaningful and lasting peace can only be achieved through negotiations between the two sides, and by restarting the abandoned peace process — possibly with the help of an honest third-party mediation. The Palestinian Authority has consistently demanded this. It is time Tel Aviv shunned its militarist approach to the crisis, which is largely of its own making, and got back to the negotiating table.
FIGURES of road casualties in Lahore during the last two years paint a horrifying picture of traffic safety in the city. Some 607 were killed and 959 wounded in 1,516 accidents. Mishaps involving wagons and pick-ups caused the highest number of fatalities. Up to 175 buses, 171 trucks, 134 tractor-trolleys, 107 motorcycles, 46 rickshaws, 323 cars were involved in these accidents. Reckless driving and speeding, coupled with negligence of the traffic police, emerged as major factors. How high would be the overall accident rate in the country can be well imagined, given the fact that hardly a day passes without fatal mishaps occurring somewhere or the other. Yet, no serious efforts are being made anywhere in the country to make our roads safer.
Negligence by drivers, speeding and dangerous overtaking, wrong turns and failure to slow down and stop at signals have contributed greatly to the rising number of accidents. Adding to the problem is the lack of footpaths as well as road sense among the people, causing an increasing number of accidents involving pedestrians. Most people who die are either pedestrians, cyclists or motorcyclists. Poor safety standards and road condition and improper designing of important arteries, intersections and bridges not only cater to the growing volume of traffic but also contribute to serious accidents.
The situation is becoming grimmer by the day, with the rise in population and transportation pressures. Although most accidents are caused by heavy transport, no serious effort has been made to check overloading and reckless driving. Driving standards remain generally poor while a craze for higher earnings, racing with other vehicles, overtaking and playing of loud music on cassettes remain unchecked. How easily driving licences are obtained without having the necessary skills and how easily violators go scot-free make a farce of safety on the roads. When transporters pay ‘monthlies’ and when many wagons belong to police functionaries, this is only to be expected. Not only has enforcement to be improved, but modern traffic signalling and better traffic engineering for better road capacity is also imperative.