Wanted a Ban on the Public Display of Politicians
THE contempt with which the much trumpeted ban on the public display of arms was flouted by the Jialas on the return of Mr. Khalid Ghurki (a man I love) in Lahore the other day; must have embarrassed Chief Minister Wattoo , that is, if he is capable of being embarrassed.
If the ruling clique cannot maintain discipline in its own ranks, with what face can it claim to rule the province? Mr. Ghurki himself is not to blame for the blatant display of arms, I am sure. The ban was imposed a day before he returned home, and he must not have known anything about it or he would have himself ordered the removal of the arms. One hopes that when he resumes normal life, the fist thing he will do will be to discipline his minions. It is ironic to recall that Mr. Ghurki lost his leg because of the over enthusiasm of a Jilala who was careless with his gun not too long ago.
In the meantime, how have the criminals reacted to the ban? Well, with gay abandon. And The Mall has been their favourite field of action. They began by raiding a jewellery shop the day the ban was announced, and shot a salesman dead. Then they broke into the offices of an insurance company and took away Rs. 350,000 at gunpoint. This happened on the second day of the ban (Sunday ) just when The Mall traders were on strike in protest against the jewellery shop outrage. As a trader said, the dacoits appeared to have been incensed at the business community's temerity to go on strike.
On that very day in the Punjab Assembly, Law Minister Mr. Mohammad Farooq , winding up a debate on the crime situation in the province, claimed that lawlessness had declined, and things were improving. The law and order situation, he said, was a legacy from the past rulers. Yes, indeed, Mr. Farooq, this has always been the case. The previous rulers are always to blame for what we are going through today. Your successors will also blame you for their problems you may be sure.
Among the steps the government had taken to improve law and order were the ban on the public display of arms, and restrictions on the use of loudspeakers. I am sure that when he was addressing the House, he had not heard of the armed ardour with which Mr. Ghurki had been received. Nor, one is equally sure, has Mr. Farooq been anywhere near a mosque. Or perhaps he is hard of hearing.
Dawn is not too keen on crime reporting. When it does report crime, it does so in low key; but the day it published Mr. Farooq's speech, it also carried the following stories:
Sahiwal: Two killed over minor dispute.
Pattoki: Several cases of armed hold-ups.
Shakkargarh: Three thefts in Khindrian.
Okara : Van looted near Karmanwala.
Sahiwal: Farmer robbed of Rs. 37,000 in Khunday.
Shakkargarh: Man shot dead over minor dispute.
Plus, of course, the insurance company case in Lahore . The crimes listed above were committed in six places. The number of crimes, which went unreported by Dawn that day, must indeed be legion. The Punjab is not a small province, you know.
But back again for a minute to the ban on the public display of arms (can there be a private display?) Here is a welcome development. On Tuesday, newspapers reported that police has registered cases against 700 PPP workers for violating Section 144 and for carrying arms. We have it on the authority of the Punjab Information Minister, Mr. Saeed Ahmad Zafar that those who had violated the arms display ban will not be spared. There were also reports that at least one arrest had already been made in this regard. This is good so far as it goes, but I still feel that a ban on the public display of politicians is the ultimate solution of this intricate problem. No politicians in public and there will be no arms. Or very little.
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THERE is an interesting legal tussle going on in Bangladesh . On Sunday , a division bench of the Dhaka High Court ruled that the Opposition's continuous boycott of parliament was illegal, unconstitutional, and void. It also ruled that the salaries, emoluments, allowances, and others financial benefits received by the absentee parliamentarians were "illegal and were recoverable by the authorities."
The opposition boycott has been continuing since March 1-for almost nine months now. Their demand? Fresh elections under a neutral caretaker government . Shades of Pakistan ? Well, the Bangladeshis were with us for 24 years and a bit, after all. The Dhaka High Court ruling has since been stayed by the Bangladesh Supreme Court till January 15. What is all this, though? When they win, political parties in these two sister-countries insist that elections had never been fairer or more impartial, but when they lose, they shout foul play and demand that the winners resign and new elections held. When will this madness come to an end? Pakistan and Bangladesh are poor countries, which above everything else, require long periods of political stability without which economic progress is not possible.
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PREPARE now to shed a tear or two for the beautiful people of the beautiful Kaghan Valley . There was this report the other day that the NWFP government was planning to set up a Kaghan Development Authority. I think the people of Kaghan should rise in protest against this and I'II tell them why.
What has the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) done for the people of Lahore or the Bahawalpur Development Authority for the people of Bahawalpur , or the Faisalabad Development Authority for the people of Faisalabad ? Precious little. All "development authorities" are unrepresentative in character, and therefore, ultra vires of the constitution.
In this region, I think, it all started with the establishment of the Lahore Improvement Trust (LIT) way back in the forties. It continued, I think, for some years after independence before being wound up. The LIT was anyhow a horrid failure and so, one is constrained to say, is the LDA and similar other authorities elsewhere in the country. So no Kaghan development authority please.
I AM not qualified to write on Zaheer Kashmiri who died in Lahore the other day. Mrs. Bhutto was kind enough to send a condolence message to the bereaved family, but I'II eat my hat if she can tell me who was he. I'II bet a million dollars to a dime if she can do so without the help of the ministry of information.
It was in 1975, or thereabouts, that Mr. Zaheer Kashmiri was dismissed as Editor of the PPP mouthpiece, the daily Musawat . He had contested his removal as illegal, and his case was still pending with the Labour Court No. 2. He became editor of the Musawat once again in the eighties.
To the best of my knowledge, he was never paid his dues such as the provident fund, gratuity etc. If this is so, Mohtarima, why don't you help the Zaheer Kashmiri family now? And spare a thought for Khalid Chaudhry too, who spent five years in jail for the PPP and whose wife, Elizabeth, attempted self-immolation after Mr. Bhutto 's execution. As for your condolence message,
Ki merey qatl ke baad uss ne jafa se tauba
Hai uss zood pashiman ka pahsman hona.
Friday, December 16, 1994
