Pakistan in Media

Dawn, Pakistan
Sunday, 31 May, 2009

DISCRETION is the better part of effective administration. A careful administrator will always weigh the pros and cons of his decision before implementing it in order to ensure positive results and minimise the risks of a negative fallout. In advising the residents of Lahore to carry their original Computerised National Identity Cards with them at all times, are the police following this golden rule? Surely not. Issued a day after the deadly terrorist attack of May 27 on law-enforcement agencies in the heart of the city, the advice comes across as yet another knee-jerk reaction to a situation that demands a cool-headed approach and well-thought-out planning and implementation of safety measures. Nevertheless, residents might still be prepared to comply with the advice meant to stave off dangers to their city if they are sure that some good would come of it. If, in this specific exercise, policemen can distinguish between troublesome elements and ordinary peace-loving citizens, it is fairly certain that Lahore residents would not hesitate to extend their cooperation to the police. On the contrary, if it becomes yet another ruse for cops to intimidate and harass anyone they believe is in need of official mauling, then the city’s people would be justified in questioning the wisdom behind the decision.

However, in both cases, and under the current circumstances, it is not clear whether carrying the CNIC at all times would prove to be part of the solution to protect the city from crime and terrorism that are fast assuming horrendous proportions. A comprehensive security strategy that works on multiple levels including capacity-building and morale-boosting among police ranks is what is urgently required at the moment. Such a strategy cannot work through any official advice issued on the spur of the moment, without taking the medium- and long-term consequences of any such action into consideration. That there can be no substitute for a well-thought-out policy cannot be stressed enough. It is this lesson that the government needs to learn if it wants to put up an effective fight against terrorism. No piecemeal measures can resolve Lahore’s security problems.

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Editorial, The News International, Pakistan

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Within two days of the Lahore blast, they have struck again – multiple times, in Peshawar and DI Khan. At least 14 people have died; hundreds have been injured. The trauma in terms of the panic that hit Qissa Khwani bazaar in Peshawar, where two of the blasts took place, followed by a gun-battle in the alleys of the city's biggest market is immeasurable. There is a limit to what we can do to safeguard ourselves. Measures announced, such as the checking of all trucks as they enter cities, will be effective only if they are properly implemented. In the past this has not happened even in Islamabad. There is also a need to seek public vigilance and ask citizens too to keep a watch out for potential bombers. It has been seen that in the aftermath of every attack, as blood stains streets, there is chaos first at the site of the incident and later at hospitals. This is an area that can be corrected. Rescue services can be bolstered and given better training, as can hospital staff. Trauma care is a specialized sphere. Our allies overseas can help us improve the limited expertise we currently have.

The war being fought in the north has entered our cities as well. The militants have in the past used their ability to strike here as a tactic of blackmail. This time round there can be no question of giving in to them. The COAS has stated Pakistan will not give in to terror. The resolve is a welcome one. But we must also face up to the fact that the fighting will continue for some time; that the Taliban will not simply disappear. Even now, though we hear that they have 'retreated' from a specific area, one wonders where they have gone – and whether they are hoping to save men so they can one day, strike again. Until they are finally vanquished, we will see more mayhem in our cities. We must do all that is possible to secure them, and take measures, like any nation caught up in war, to minimize casualties and ensuring victims of bomb attacks receive the best possible care.

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