DAWN - Opinion; 10 November, 1998
The governor's challenge
By Eqbal Ahmad
HARD news and mean spirit greeted me in Karachi on October 30. A day earlier, the prime minister had accused the MQM of involvement in the murder of Hakim Said and, as though Nine Zero was a country, demanded that it surrender MPA Zulfiqar Haider and seven others suspects in the crime. MQM leaders rejected the chief executive's demand for 'extradition' of the alleged criminals. Instead, they accused the prime minister of Hakim Sahib's murder. This completed the cycle of accusation and counter-accusation, signalled the end of a marriage of convenience between the ruling Muslim League party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.
The motives of the one were as suspect as the innocence of the other. The official assertion of guilt was just that - an assertion. Yet given MQM's attachment to violence, its protestations of innocence sounded hollow. The only certainty was that the end of the unworthy alliance marked the beginning of another round of warfare between a Pakistani government and its former ally. The event once again symbolized the sorry state of this nation. There was little in it to celebrate except the end of an ill-fated alliance, and no cause to take sides. I was shocked, therefore, to find that the spirit of partisanship had been so aroused that even in the normally responsible section of the press there were those who jettisoned the fundamentals of good journalism no less than of the rule of law. One example should suffice.
In a well known English daily I read, on October 30, a front page "News Analysis" which carries assertions like these: " Confronted with overwhelming evidence [sic] implicating not just MQM activists, nor just an MQM MPA, but placing the scene of conspiracy at 90 Azizabad itself, the PM had no option left. ... if the PM was to become party to covering for the killers [sic] of Hakim Said, then that would have meant giving up the government's writ in Karachi." And this: "The MQM theoretically had the option of sacrificing the killers [sic] of Hakim Said, dissociating themselves from the deed [sic] as an aberration. ...." This is the language of prosecutors in dictatorships, not of journalism in a democracy. Here, the distance between allegation and conviction is traversed without evidence, and with official claims served up as proof "beyond reasonable doubt". Here we witness the crossing of a not-so-thin line between the rule of law and lawlessness, between the presumption of innocence and pronouncement of guilt. I can only hope that writers and editors, conservatives and liberals alike, shall ponder the price of such slips - for society, for themselves, and for their children's future.
Governor's rule has been imposed in Sindh. The judiciary shall rule on its legality. In Karachi, the prime minister's decision was cautiously welcomed by most middle and upper class people. Nearly all I spoke with supported Islamabad with caveats: 'provided Nawaz Sharif is not engaged in a power grab'; 'provided state terror is not substituted for official terror'; 'provided the enforcement of law is rational, selective, and evenhanded'. The working class folks I queried were less articulate and more cynical. "It's all politics", said a construction worker. "Nawaz Sharif wants all the power", said a mason. "Good if it brings peace and jobs; bad if it does not", was the cryptic comment of an unemployed matriculate. The ambivalence suggests that people are fed up with the violence and instability in the city, and behind the cynicism and doubts lie a deep-seated distrust of the government which is based on past experience. The prime minister and the governor will do well to take these facts and public attitude into account.
The MQM is expressly the prime target of the government's born-again "principled policy." That is at the same time understandable and wrong. Understandable, because Pakistan's first urban, middle and lower class party, was born and has remained trapped in an evil triangle. A decade ago, two ranking MQM leaders had asked how I viewed their party and its future. MQM will have a bright future, I had said, if it can rid itself of three cults: the cult of personality, the cult of violence, and the cult of victimhood. A decade later, it is clear that this party has become so decisively ensnared in the deadly triangle that only an outside force can disentangle it.
But that demands from Pakistan's ruling establishment, which invokes Islam so often and opportunistically, the knowledge and wisdom of the ahl al-hall wa al-aqd of bygone days. It is wrong to make the MQM the sole target because Karachi suffers from other sources of violence and crime, including organized mafia, religious zealots, the break-away faction of the MQM, and elements even of the forces of law and order. It will take evenhanded integrity, time, intelligence work, and organization to sort these out.
Governor's rule is not a panacea. It can be a first step toward cleaning up a city long in the grip of violence, corruption and mismanagement provided other steps are taken - more or less simultaneously and in telescoped time. Some fundamental principles need be followed. Many of these have been identified in this space by colleagues and guests. As a reminder, and for the sake of reinforcement, I repeat the salients: One, the top echelon of administrators and enforcers must be men or women of the highest reputation for integrity and competence, and once assigned the objectives they should be allowed to function without political interference, which means without fear or favour. Ardeshir Cowasjee, who knows details which I do not, has written that this principle has been violated, and advocated the appointments of reputable officers as chief secretary and IG police.
Two, the rule of law must be observed. It is tempting to use second degree methods as a substitute for intelligence gathering and investigation. But they blur the distinction between law and crime, brutalize culture, and undermine the foundations of state and society. Lastly, in environments steeped in violence, corruption, and callous neglect of public services attempts at law enforcement do not succeed unless two conditions are fulfilled:
First, a link must be established in the public mind between government policy and the common good. Second, there ought to be a clear commitment to changing Pakistan's totally outdated structure of urban governance. During a brief encounter last week, I was impressed by Governor Moinuddin Haider's sincerity and open mind. He invited my suggestions for better governance. So, in the context of these two points, here are a few.
Sindh's resources - land, water, and energy - have long been appropriated by the few to the detriment of the majority. Successive governments have been effectively allied with the former against the latter. Given the complexity of urban life, in the city a variety of mafia and predators prey on the people. In the congested, fish bowl city environment these inequities and exploitations grate more than in rural areas, and citizens become dependent on false prophets, demagogues, and protection rackets. To break the hold of criminal or terrorist organizations, the state must demonstrate its will and commitment to serve public good.
This is not an easy and quickly deliverable challenge. Hence, it is important to begin by taking meaningful steps of lasting significance. If the government is genuinely serious, the governor ought to take decisions that can signal his government's good intent and changed priorities. Three opportunities are readily available.
Centrally located parcels of land can soon be available in Karachi as the Sabzi Mandi and the Central Jail are to be relocated from their present sites of some 15 and 25 acres respectively. Land grabbers await in great anticipation. The government can opt to serve the city's needs instead. To my knowledge, Karachi is the only metropolis in the world that has no central bus station. Illegal overnight parking of commercial vehicles is a source of great corruption in the city's traffic and police departments; in day time, it causes great congestion and traffic hazard in the city, and much inconvenience to citizens.
In 1992, a survey done by Arif Hasan, a well known architect and city planner, showed that on a strip of a mere one-and-a-half miles on Tariq Road, illegal vehicle parking and hawking yields traffic controllers and inspectors some 110 million rupees a month; their gain is of course the city's loss. The Sabzi Mandi site is ideal size and location for a comprehensively planned central bus station. Will the government make a legally binding commitment now to use the land, when vacated, for this purpose? If yes, it will have earned the right to a significant amount of public confidence. Similarly, the Central Jail site ought to be turned into a park. Karachi's public and the city's polluted environment beg for one.
There is another, easier opportunity to demonstrate a commitment to good governance and create some public confidence in government. In most cities of the world the ownership of public property is public knowledge. For example, New Yorkers can easily obtain information on their city's land holdings in Manhattan, Queens or Staten Island. Each year lists are published of disposable city properties. Transparency ensures, among other things, against corruption and mis-utilization of the city's resources. But not in Karachi. Citizens are permitted no knowledge of what the city owns. By design or not, secrecy aids corruption and underhand dealings. To his credit, as minister in the Sindh government Dr. Farooq Sattar agreed to make such information available and Rs. 500,000 was allocated to collect the data on the city's real estate holdings. The decision had not been implemented when he recently went out of office. I hope this commitment can still be enforced to the fullest extent.
Terror in Karachi shall end only when the enforcement of law is lawfully carried out, and the purveyors of violence are isolated from the people by the assurance of the government's genuine commitment to restoring the city to health. On the other hand such practices as killings in custody, generalized torture, search-and- destroy operations, blanket arrests and extortions by the police shall reduce the government to the level of a criminal mafia and further undermine the legitimacy of the state. But even if the government is successful beyond expectation in restoring order, peace in Karachi cannot be sustained unless the city is invested with a viable new structure of governance that includes a meaningfully empowered city government and a metropolitan police force.
The darkness that threatens to engulf this country may be averted after all if we can begin to rebuild Pakistan's cities. Karachi, Pakistan's first capital, is still a good place from where to begin.