It’s not just the terrorist violence that puts Pakistan among the most violent places in the world. The society at large, it seems, has adopted violence as a cultural trait. The capital city, Islamabad, known for its security and planned neighourhoods was no less violent. No fewer than 143 people were murdered in the federal capital area alone. With a population base of under a million, 143 murders and 191 attempted murders put even Islamabad in the league of the most violent cities.
A serious introspection is in order that must go far beyond blaming the State for failing to protect the lives and property of its citizens. Yes, terrorism is ubiquitous, and yes kidnapping for ransom is the new cottage industry in Pakistan. Still, doesn’t the society at large have a responsibility to reject violence and adopt peaceful means of dispute resolution?
A look at the crime spree in the federal capital reveals that crime intersects with the society at all possible avenues of conflict. Police statistics reveal that ordinary folks lost 700million rupees worth of goods in 1,400 theft and burglaries. A total of 7,500 criminal cases were registered by the Islamabad police. Police registered theft of no fewer than 600 automobiles and 110 motor cycles. Given the police’s reluctance to register theft complaints, these numbers are likely to be the tip of the iceberg.
Such high crime rates require a police force that is professional, competent, well-trained and equipped, and in sufficiently large numbers to combat the domestic sources of violence. That is hardly the case. An ill-equipped, poorly compensated, and sparse police force is mandated to meet the ever increasing complexities of violence in Pakistan. No wonder that the Capital Police was able to arrest only 947 of the over 4,000 proclaimed offenders. Or the fact that the Islamabad Police could complete investigation for only 4,553 of the 7,500 complaints registered in 2013.
The fact that over 3,000 proclaimed offenders are loose in the Capital or its surroundings, and that a large number of police complaints remain partially investigated should be sufficient to rob citizens of their sense of security.
The war on the terrorised
Several franchises of religious fundamentalists continued to terrorise the nation by targeting civilians. 2013 was yet another year when the militants suffered much less pain than what they were able to inflict on civilians who paid the heaviest toll in the war against terrorism in Pakistan. In 2005, civilians constituted only one in five victims of terrorism-related violence in Pakistan. By 2013, that proportion had increased to 56 per cent. While the insurgents and security personnel deaths continued to decline year over year, the number of civilian deaths remained the same in 2003 when almost 3,000 civilians against 1,700 militants died in terrorist violence in Pakistan. And while one could see a decline in terrorist related deaths since 2009 in Pakistan, the decline is primarily in the number of casualties suffered by the militants.
All segments of the Pakistani society are being affected by extremist violence. The religious and sectarian minorities though suffer the most. The bombing of a Church in Peshawar in earlier September killed over a 100 Christians. Shias are being targeted all across Pakistan as they account for 96 per cent of the 500 who died in sectarian violence. The question one would like to explore is has the terrorist violence subsided sine the Nawaz government took control in May 2013.
A look at the graph below suggests that terrorism-related civilian casualties have been on the decline in Pakistan since January 2013. While civilian casualties increased in the months after the May elections, the overall trend suggests a decline.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government has the opportunity to root out violence from Pakistan. This will though take more than mass prayers at Raiwind. A professional police force equipped and trained in sufficient numbers, and a legal system that has the means to convict terrorists could be a good starting point.