Order and Anarchy

Dawn had this to report today:

MULTAN, May 28: A young woman, said to be the victim of an honour-related crime, has undergone preliminary plastic surgery on her slit nostril at the Nishtar Hospital. A similar surgery on her upper lip will be done next week.

Surgeon Dr Naheed Chaudhry told Dawn that 18-year-old Ayesha Baloch had been brought to the hospital from Dera Ghazi Khan a few days ago with deep slits in her nose and upper lip.

He said the complete surgery and subsequent recovery would take at least eight weeks. “Expenses of her treatment are being met by the hospital on the orders of the provincial government,” he added.

Ayesha’s nose and lips were cut allegedly by her husband Esa Khosa, his brother Akbar and father Mir Jan in Peepalwala village.

Police said she had been living with her parents since her estrangement from her husband following a domestic dispute.

On May 21, Esa, his brother and father came to her parents and persuaded them to end the dispute and send Ayesha with them.

On their way back, Esa and his brother Akbar reportedly dragged her to a field, held her down and cut the nose and upper lip and ran away, leaving her unconscious and profusely bleeding.

She was taken to the Dera DHQ hospital where she was provided first aid. Later, she was referred to the Nishtar Hospital because plastic surgery facility was not available at the Dera hospital.

Police have arrested Esa, Akbar and their father Mir Jan. The accused are in judicial custody. A police official at Dera’s Saddar police station said that during interrogation the accused claimed that they had doubts about Ayesha’s character.

Ayesha’s sister is married to Akbar while Esa’s sister, who was married to her brother Mohammad Shakir, reportedly committed suicide about eight years ago under mysterious circumstances.

Whatever is done to purge the society of honour – related crimes, it seems that such instances are becoming the norm, probably because they weren’t reported as widely previously as they are now. There is an urgent need to address this issue more forcefully than just getting a law passed from the legislature. A more vigorous approach has to be adopted in terms of protection accorded to victims and prosecution of the perpetrators. Additionally, I would want to say that NGOs should stop making money out of sufferings and perform their part in a more humane fashion.

The Daily Times reported last week that Chaudhry Shujaat has justified the Establishment’s interference in Pakistani politics, adding to mean the Pakistan Army by the word ‘Establishment’. He reportedly also concedes that politicians play into the hands of the ‘Establishment’, either openly or behind closed doors. It is true that Pakistani politics has fallen prey to the whims of an invisible hand for a long time now but equally true is the fact that the so – called politicians have willingly allowed this invisible hand into the political arena to achieve their own nefarious ends, a prime example being the King’s Party formed for the sole purpose of looking after Musharraf’s butt; power and pelf being the returns of this great service.

The fact is that such interference has proved to be lethal for Pakistan and has only damaged our political dispensation. It has eroded public trust in public representatives, wreaked havoc with the economy by bringing never – ending uncertainties, nurtured endemic corruption and most importantly, has led the once most respected institution – Pakistan Army – of the country to be derided across the board. There is, however, a large number of people who fail to appreciate this and love militarism, perennially remaining unmindful of the political, economic and social consequences of military adventure, or rather misadventure, in civil affairs. Substantiating their belief, they often put forward the argument that our country has seen more economic growth under military regimes than under civil administrations. And in modern day Pakistan, such people call themselves enlightened moderates e.g. Chaudhry Shujaat. What these people see is an impressive GDP growth rate figure and an expanding nouveau riche class. What they don’t see is an equally increasing number of people for whom life is becoming unlivable day by day.

Anyways, coming back to our news item.

It adds that Chaudhry Shujaat has conceded that the MQM is a terrorist group. But it further quotes him as saying that ‘they’ wanted to bring MQM to the center stage of national politics. What is unfathomable is the reason for which this was done. I mean on the one hand you say that a particular party is a group of terrorists and on the other hand, you want to join hands with them to bring them to the center stage. It is said that a man is known by the company he keeps. So shall believe that the rulers, or anyone who has sought MQM’s support, are so power hungry that they went so far as to bring a terrorists’ gang for their support? Yes we should. And it’s an open secret that virtually whoever has gotten a chance to rule this country has sought each and every measure to retain a firm grip on power, whatever may happen to the country. These are the same people who worship the invisible hand and make a fool out of the poor Pakistani nation. They would indulge in all sorts of activities that would help them amass reaources. And these are the resources that come from the pockets of the common man and land into these people’s bank accounts.

This ‘Establishment’ and its bootlickers have had a field day during the last fifty – nine years in this country. It’s high time now that Pakistanis wake up to the reality and work together to bring this house in order.