The system in Pakistan often blurs the line between the victim and the culprit
BEFORE I narrate a true story that leaves us pondering how to tackle a terrorist, let us briefly examine two forms of terrorism. It would make our issue comprehensible.
Terrorism is divisible between high-profile terrorism and low profile terrorism. Let us describe low-profile terrorism as an individual’s personal experience of terror. It hardly catches attention of the rulers, and the people at large. Hindu engineers, doctors, and businessmen are intermittently kidnapped for ransom in Sindh. The rulers do not take this type of terrorism seriously. A friend of mine established a high-tech information technology institute in a populous part of Karachi. A group of armed men terrorized him for extortion. Every month they turned up, and collected chanda, bhatta, and ‘monthly,’ from him. Police did not come to his rescue. Totally fed up with the system, my friend was left with no option but to wind up the institute.
Kapil, a 13-year son of a businessman was kidnapped last month for ransom on his way to the school in Clifton, Karachi. The kidnappers have demanded Rs50 million for Kapil’s life and liberty. The agony of the family continues. This is an example of low-profile terrorism that seldom attracts the universal attention. A boss who threatens to spoil your service record, demote you, or transfer you to a godforsaken place in case you disobeyed his illegal orders, plays the part of a low-profile terrorist in your life.
Recent act of terrorism in Russia that left 900 persons wounded or dead, most of them children, was high-profile act of terrorism. It caught the attention of the entire world, and was beamed across the globe. In high-profile terrorism, authorities swiftly step in, and tackle the terrorists. In the ensuing battle between the terrorists and the forces of the state it is of no consequence as to who kills whom, and how. The killings appear legal, and within the parameters of the law of the land. But, in a low-profile act of terrorism one must be very careful while tackling the terrorists. Killing apart, you can’t even inflict an injury on one of them. It is unlawful.
Now read the story that momentarily shook Islamabad more than a decade and a half ago. The victims in the story appear with pseudo names. One dreadful night two armed bandits broke into the house of a newly married couple with the intention of collecting jewellery and cash. One bandit held the couple hostage at gunpoint. The other bandit collected the jewellery and cash. Before leaving, one of the bandits tried to molest the bride. The husband (Rafi) ignoring the gun aimed at his temple pounced upon the bandit. The sudden surge panicked the bandit with a gun in his possession. He opened fire on Rafi as he grappled with other bandit. The bullet pierced through Rafi’s arm and hit the flattened bandit in the abdomen. Seeing the situation out of control the bandit with the gun fled from the scene.
Rafi wound a muffler around bandit’s profusely bleeding abdomen. He then telephoned the nearby police station and told them what had happened. In about 30 minutes a police party headed by a sub-inspector (Dilawar) arrived. They took the injured bandit in their custody. As they were leaving Rafi handed them factual happening in longhand, and requested for its conversion into an FIR. The SI casually looked at the piece of paper and said, “Mr Rafi, have faith in us; don’t go to the PIMS (Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences) for treatment. It won’t do you any good. Crime reporters are nasty people. Go to a private hospital.”
Rafi, a brilliant young man belonging to superior services cadre was cleverly deceived by a matriculate sub-inspector. He went to a private hospital for treatment. His arm was bandaged, and he was sent back home. In the morning he went to the police station. He asked for the sub-inspector Dilawar. He was left agape when told that the sub-inspector he had desired to see was on a long leave. His application for an FIR was not on the record.
Rafi couldn’t fathom what was going on around him. He lost his temper. He threatened the duty officer of dire consequences if he did not register the case against the two bandits, and the sub-inspector who had vanished along with the injured bandit. “Cool down, Rafi Sahib,” the duty officer asked, “Are you really interested in pursuing the case?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Are you sure?”
“Why do you ask?”
The duty officer handed Rafi a few handwritten pages in Urdu. Rafi repeatedly went through the contents in disbelief. It was draft of a preliminary report. It revealed that Rafi’s wife was a woman of questionable character. Shera (the injured bandit) was her paramour. On the night of the incident Rafi woke up and saw his wife in the company of the victim (Shera). Rafi pulled out a gun and intended to kill Dilawar, who miraculously survived with a bullet lodged in his stomach. Rafi was liable for prosecution for attempt to murder.
Rafi banged the table with his fist, and shouted, “This is preposterous.”
“Well Rafi sahib, it will be argued thoroughly in the court. Your wife will be cross examined by the prosecution in front of the public and press.” The duty officer asked, “Do you still insist on pursuing the case?”
