| 16 October 2004 | Saturday | 01 Ramazan 1425 |
Karo-kari bill: an eye wash
Dastardly killing
The death of one of the two Chinese engineers kidnapped by terrorists has saddened the nation. The circumstances of Mr Wang Peng's death are not clear. According to the Inter Services Public Relations Directorate, Mr Wang was killed in firing by his kidnappers.
It also said that the commando operation was launched after the security forces heard the sound of firing. According to the version or some officials, Mr Wang reportedly tried to hide behind one of the terrorists but a bullet pierced the kidnapper and hit Mr Wang in his stomach.
He died from excessive bleeding. The other hostage, Mr Wang Ende, was successfully rescued by the security forces. While the five kidnappers, three of them Uzbek, were killed, their ringleader, Abdullah Mehsud, who was not on the scene, remains at large.
One must now ask this fanatic from Guantanamo in what way he has advanced his cause - whatever it may be - by abducting the two foreign engineers and for being responsible for the death of one.
This is the second act of terrorism targeting Chinese nationals in four months. On May 9, three Chinese engineers were killed in Gwadar by unknown terrorists. Like the ones kidnapped in Waziristan last Saturday, the Chinese at Gwadar too were involved with Pakistan's economic development and building a major sea port in Balochistan.
In fact, some of Pakistan's major development projects - Gwadar port, the Saindak copper project and the new Chashma nuclear power project - are being carried out with China's technical and financial assistance. Thus anyone who does harm to our Chinese guests is no friend of Pakistan.
It is a measure of the deep and abiding friendship between Pakistan and China that the two sides have made it clear that such incidents will not affect their ties. China has shown extraordinary patience and understanding in the face of terrorist attacks on its nationals. Rescuing the hostages was not an easy task.
Islamabad had begun negotiations with Abdullah in earnest and sought the help of tribal elders, who tried their best to make the kidnappers see reason. But Abdullah was in no mood to listen.
The authorities then carried out the swift operation after intercepting Abdullah's message asking his gunmen to kill the Chinese engineers and get out of the area.
The reaction from Chinese ambassador Zhang Chunxiang was sombre. Calling Mr Wang's death "a tragic incident", he said it would not affect "the long-standing Pakistan-China friendship". He also said his country would continue to be involved in development activity in Pakistan.
In addition to diplomatic personnel, hundreds of Chinese are working in Pakistan. It is the government's duty to give them foolproof protection. The abduction of the two security guards along with those whom they were meant to guard showed that they were not alert enough to the possibility of a surprise act of terrorism.
The ease with which the Chinese engineers and their Pakistani escorts, one of them a driver, were taken hostage by the terrorists must be thoroughly examined and lapses in the security arrangement plugged.
Evidently, the Wana area harbours quite a few militants who are bent on hurting Pakistan. Abdullah Mehsud's threat that he would hit Pakistani cities must be taken seriously. Tribal leaders are an asset. Coordination with them is essential for unearthing terrorists, local and foreign, and for keeping tabs on those sheltering them.
Karo-kari bill: an eye wash
Human rights activists in Pakistan have been agitating for a law to ban honour killing in the country. Last week, they held a rally in Islamabad to impress on our parliamentarians that the demand for an effective and strong law against this reprehensible practice is backed by popular opinion.
With thousands participating - including a large number of women from the rural areas - the rally should have left no one in doubt about the strong public sentiments against this abominable tradition. The government's response to this demand has been strange.
With a number of high-profile legislators actually supporting karo-kari, the government has drawn up a bill which it has promised to introduce in the assembly. This bill will supposedly eliminate this heinous practice.
But as pointed out by the HRCP and the Aurat Foundation representatives at a press conference on Thursday, this is no more than eyewash, as a clause-by-clause comparison with the bill drafted by some human rights lawyers and circulated among the MNAs shows.
There is no doubt that the government's bill is designed to hoodwink the people and will be used to convey the false impression that the public demand to check honour killing has been met.
Actually this law will make no impact whatsoever on the high incidence of the crime in the country. The main obstacle to justice being done under the official bill is that it does not make honour killing a non-compoundable offence.
The Qisas and Diyat law will continue to be applicable to murders for honour. In other words, such cases are open to compromise. With the immediate family being invariably involved in honour killings, forgiveness is granted to the killer by the victim's relatives who also happen to be the murderer's next of kin.
Thus, he goes scot free. In view of this provision, enhancement of punishment serves no purpose. Not surprisingly, all fair-minded people have rejected this draft bill. It is important that the government should amend its draft and make honour killing a crime against the state on which no compromise is allowed.
Dastardly killing
The bomb attack at an Afghan refugee camp in Mardan district on Wednesday during a music programme seems to suggest that the Taliban ousted from power in Afghanistan still have their sympathizers in Pakistan and that such elements are more than willing to indulge in desperate acts to cause physical harm to those they disapprove of.
Five people died in the bombing and many others were injured, some of them seriously, in the camp, which also served as a polling station in the Afghan presidential election held last weekend.
According to reports, a good number of women refugees also exercised their right to vote at this polling station. This might have also angered the conservative elements among the refugee population in Pakistan or the so-called remnants of the Taliban who fled to this country after the fall of Kabul in 2001.
Not only is the loss of life and property most unfortunate, the circumstances leading to the attack warrant that the law enforcement authorities take prompt and decisive action in identifying and apprehending the attackers and bringing them to justice.
The country's law and order situation suffers seriously on account of the presence of home grown sectarian and extremist elements who attack places of worship with disturbing regularity.
Over and above this, to have foreign elements indulging in their hate wars is something that Pakistan can ill-afford. Besides, an attack motivated by bigotry, hate and intolerance like this one needs to be sternly dealt with in order to deny other narrow-minded zealots the opportunity and encouragement to follow the example elsewhere.
The incident highlights again the need for the security and intelligence apparatus to keep tabs on such retrogressive and disruptive elements, many of whom appear to be roaming around looking for targets of their own.