The broken chain of evidence!

After three years, seven months and eight days, the Anti-Terrorism Court has yet again postponed the verdict of the alleged architect of the Lal Masjid massacre which left almost a thousand people displaced, 248 injured and 108 killed. The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) has only now, on 20th April 2011 , indicted former chief cleric of Lal Mosque Maulana Abdul Aziz and 20 others for killing a Rangers soldier on July 7th, 2007, while the charges on these suspects have been struck down from twenty to one during this time.

This is not just one case which has gone unattended. According to Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the provincial minister for information, almost 98% of the alleged terrorists are acquitted on the basis of insufficient evidence or lack of witnesses.
The amount of such cases is appallingly increasing and the presence of militants in the society is posing a major threat for the civilians. A staggering 1,591 people lost their lives in these attacks while 10,161 militants were arrested in 2010. But the puzzling question is that why many of the extremists behind this butchery have never been punished or even trialed.

A major reason for this trend could be attributed to the inefficacy of the police. “Most of these cases lack eyewitnesses and are based on circumstantial evidence. A single missing link in the chain of evidence, it shatters the prosecution case,” said Shahnawaz Khan, expert in terrorism-related cases. A review of the nastiest terrorist attacks in the history of Pakistan also points towards the absence of appropriate evidence because of the lack of any proper procedure for the police.

On December 27th 2007, the whole country quivered as Benazir Bhutto was assassinated by a 15 year old boy. But even a case of this significance has not been solved as yet, and according to the United Nations report, Rawalpindi District Police has played an important role in its delay. The absence of; on the spot investigation, evidence collection and autopsy report and hosing down of the crime scene were the major contributions by police to the failure of this case in court.
Similarly, the four core suspects of the Islamabad Marriott Hotel bombing on September 20th 2008 were acquitted in July 2010, because out of the 128 witnesses, 84 didn’t show up.
Many of police officers don’t even record information of the location from where the suspect was arrested. For example, the suspects of the Ashura procession blast on Dec 28th 2009 were released in July 2010 because of the contradiction in the statements of the Interpol officers about the location from where these suspects were arrested. This is not a single occasion rather approximately, 23 alleged terrorists, in the past six months, have been freed merely because police didn’t record the exact location from where these people were arrested.

The irresponsibility reaches its pinnacle when the police don’t even collect ‘any authentic proof’ against the suspect. As on 10th April 2011, an Afghan suspected of attacking a checkpost and stealing arms was freed on bail. Though the person was in custody for one month but the investigative officers didn’t present a single evidence for the allegation against him.
We need to rectify this negligent attitude by the police to ensure that the terrorists don’t openly challenge the autonomy of civilians in Pakistan. To eradicate this unprofessionalism, the authorities will have to take an active part and form an official ‘protocol’.

A protocol would describe as to how to proceed in terms of collecting evidence, sending samples for forensic reports and collection of supporting data. A separate provision for the witness’s protection and code of conduct for the police must be constituted in it, under the general curriculum of laws. Another plausible provision could be to reduce the time for custody so the verdict could be granted as soon as possible. And in case of failure to abide by the rules of the protocol, either heavy fine or suspension should be the consequence.
This proper code of conduct can strengthen and organize the local police procedures to a great extent. A code would facilitate the authorities in objectively reviewing the performance of the police officers.

In Pakistan, many innocent people lose their lives in acts of terrorism every day. We won’t be able to sustain the increasing burden of terrorism with a corrupt and dissipated legal system. If we keep on acquitting these extremists due to our negligence, then one day they will rip off the already fragile society into pieces!

In the name of Humanity!

With earphones pouring melancholic tunes in my heart, the wind slowly pulling me back from numbness, I felt a lot…a lot happening in my mind today on my way to university.

My eyes were closed, was stuffed in the seat and barely fixed my feet on the ground with a lot of strangers around me in the bus, but yet I tried to sort out the knots within my mind.
A look at the crowd; the rush they were in, the irritation they showed and their struggle to surpass each other in getting a seat, struck my mind. While some were trying to observe other people, others were already commenting on them. How they looked at each other and if their eyes met they pretended as if they were never looking, it was all a snapshot.
A snapshot which encompasses a whole ‘Lifetime’; just like you try to feel the ocean in an aquarium, you can also feel the livelihood of the humankind within a small bus.
People everywhere, some stuffed in seats, a few competing to get a seat and one or two pretending as if they don’t care about the seat at all. These people are of various ages and backgrounds. There are a few; elderly women and men maybe coming from work, teenagers coming from school or college and some middle aged fella’s.
A sheer look at their face can unravel the most vicious and ferocious features of human nature.
Beginning from the oldies; the ones sitting are looking at the youngsters with such a critical eye as if they loathe their each and every movement. But the ones standing are trying their maximum to look as friendly and motherly as possible (to get a seat of course). They pretend to look motherly to a person just until she sacrifices her seat for them and a few seconds later they start critiquing the same ‘adorable’ person. This small sight can show the selfishness which we try to conceal, the tactics we use to get our work done and the apathy we show in other’s hour of need.
The middle aged ones are no less in their cunningness and in their display of ‘unveiled humanity’. With all the stress and responsibilities aside, they are still dressed according to their own best standards. They laugh, pretend to be friends to one another and wave to those who are sitting in the opposite row. How angelic their whole persona is! They seem to be enjoying their journey after a tiring day. But if heard closely, they are backbiting to their neighbors about the same people sitting on the opposite row of benches. Shocked that you thought they are friends? Oh of course they are…hypocrisy is the baseline of friendship in the world of today!
Abhorred and tired, let’s review the youngsters who are still not exposed to the world of the ‘adult folks’. They look simple, cool, innocently beautiful and reserved. They are not talking to strangers, look indifferent and naïve. With iPods in their hands they’re busy on their cell phones, texting and talking to their friends. In the meanwhile they take a look across the bus and especially to any new member who enters the bus. If another cool or modern looking girl/guy enters…they become attentive. Their gaze becomes focused on the new entrants’ clothes. Look deeply in their gaze and attention, yes! They are jealous. They are threatened, just like an animal gets angry when a new and fresh animal enters the field.
Hypocrisy, jealousy, backbiting and bold tactics….The whole humanity kept in a bus of sixty people!
These sixty people remind me of my absurdities and my sins, as I’m also a part of them. They make me look back at my life and that realization is horrifying.
I feel stress as knots of friendship and hypocrisy cross their lines multiple times. Some friends turn out to be people you never knew and some people turn out to be friends you always wanted.
I feel joy as I relive a lot of hidden pleasures in small moments. I discover how joyful it was to dance the way I wanted to without anyone looking at me. It was my little of moment of happiness to find a coin in my jeans just when I was in desperate need of it.
I feel pain as I see how I intentionally or unknowingly I had hurt those who I loved the most. The valuables were undervalued and maltreated by me at some point in life.
I feel despised, as I had been an active user and bold player in the game of tactics too. Without realizing my intentional errors I had committed sins which are not worthy of forgiveness.
I feel broken as the astute animal of humanity comes in front me as a reflection. But it’s not just me or you; it’s all of us carrying a shrewd and concealed beast within us. We all see it in each other’s eyes and sense it in our ambiance, but we ignore it in the name of Humanity!