IT is a bold step; one that seems intended to force a much-needed breakthrough on an issue that has remained a persistent blot on Pakistan’s civil rights record. The Islamabad High Court has ordered the issuance of notices to every chief executive to have presided over government — from the era of retired Gen Pervez Musharraf to the incumbent, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. They have been asked to either satisfactorily explain their “tacit approval” of the state’s “undeclared policy” of disappearing citizens, or face the charge of high treason for knowingly allowing the subversion of civil rights laid out in the Constitution. IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah has also castigated the National Assembly for not doing enough to fulfil their constitutional obligations, as well as the media for not being persistent in highlighting the issue proactively.

The IHC chief justice is no doubt well aware which organ of the state is actually responsible for the policy in question. His decision to also hold the country’s rulers directly responsible seems to be a considered move to apply pressure on them to refuse in the future any support, tacit or otherwise, to powerful factions who operate from the shadows. It is necessary for the leadership to take a firm stance. A report submitted to the IHC on the performance of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances earlier this year had made clear that efforts to recover missing persons had yielded only modest results, with the commission sometimes unable to recover even those missing persons whose production orders had been issued by the courts. There can be no justification for disappearing any citizen by force, no matter how severe their crime. Those who favour and justify this policy claim it is sometimes the only way to check militancy and terrorism, when, in fact, it represents major failures on their part in pre-empting, investigating and prosecuting these crimes through the existing legal system. These failures only help sustain a vicious cycle of distrust: enforced disappearances cause more pain, more frustration and deeper feelings of alienation in marginalised communities, which in turn gives them greater cause to support activities antagonistic to the state. Balochistan, whose people face the highest incidence of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, remains difficult to govern as the state has failed to win the hearts and minds of its citizens due to its flawed policies. It is time to reset the strategy.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2022