PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif made a statement that was both alarming and puzzling when he said on Monday that setting up military courts in Sindh would be an option if he came into power through the next general elections. For one, the idea goes against the spirit of the pro-democracy stance he has been taking over the last several years. Mr Sharif has been speaking out bluntly against an outsized role for the security establishment in the business of running the country. His endorsement of a system of justice dispensed by the military that operates outside the bounds of the law is blatantly inconsistent with this, especially given his past experience. The Supreme Court ruled against the military courts he had permitted in the province during his second tenure as prime minister in the 1990s. Coming on the heels of his petition in the SC regarding the ‘memogate’ controversy, this statement once again calls Mr Sharif’s pro-democracy credentials into question.

Second, the roots of Sindh’s law-and-order problem, especially in Karachi, are political and commercial. Setting up military courts is a cosmetic measure that would address the symptom rather than the cause, as has already been demonstrated by their failed use in the past as well as the military operations that have been carried out in Karachi. The summer of 2011 proved that these extreme measures may have created respite from violence in the short term but did not lay long-lasting foundations for peace in the city. And even if the problem is seen as primarily a law-and-order issue, the responsible way to go about it would be to improve existing investigation and judicial procedures, not replace them. It is true that conviction rates are unacceptably low, but that is an argument for reforming the anti-terrorism court system, not bypassing it. Resorting to a method that he has tried before also demonstrates an inability or unwillingness on Mr Sharif’s part to come up with new solutions to the problems Pakistan faces at a time when fresh approaches are exactly what the country needs.