Op Ed: Pakistan’s Draconian National Security Doctrine

By Advocate Ali Kachkol

If Pakistan is seriously working on National Action Plan, then why it didn’t appreciate the Justice Faez Isa’s Commission of Inquiry Report on the deadly terrorist attack on lawyers in Quetta, Balochistan on 8th of August 2016 in which 70 lawyers lost their lives and more than 130 people received fatal injuries? By all account, it was an impartial and unbiased judicial report.

Ironically, Instead of appreciation, Justice Isa was strongly condemned by the former interior federal minister of Pakistan, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan by filing a joinder application before Supreme Court and terming the Commission of Justice Faez Isa report as an attack against the reputation of intelligence agencies of Pakistan, whereas, the commission of inquiry report was conducted by the sitting Justice Faez Isa was totally an impartial and unbiased report.

The learned justice had pointed out the irresponsibility of the interior ministry about the anticipated threat of extremists’ attack in Balochistan and his inquiry report was substantiated with inter alia of Balochistan government’s letter which was dispatched to the federal interior ministry regarding the imminent terror threat.

paradoxically, the interior ministry recently constituted a Financial Action Task Force cell which consists of four officers associated with the National Counter-terrorism Authority (NACTA) to ensure effective and timely implementation of NACTA’s measures. While justice Isa, in his enquiry report, had pointed out that NACTA had not even convened a single meeting to seriously combat the activities of terrorists and eliminate money laundering scourge.

The pressure of FATF has compelled the federal government of Pakistan to implement the Nation Action plan through NACTA properly, had the government implemented it earlier according to its commitment with the world community, Pakistan would have never faced the prevailing situation today.

Pakistan’s dilemma is that its intelligence agencies have never allowed the country to be governed through constitutional democracy and rule of law. Rather, due to their draconian and deterrent policies based on extraordinarily flimsy and imaginary grounds, they’ve turned Pakistan into a national security state which is now a permanent structure of extremely religious society that allows terror to be institutionalized.

The Tehreek-i-Labbaik-Pakistan of Khadam Razvi, Jamaat-ud-Dawa of Hafiz Saeed and others bear the hallmark of extremist organizations which are embedded in the state’s doctrine of national security. This national security doctrine has generated chauvinism and jingoism in all sphere of the state which is prohibiting and punishing all those who criticize the unbridled rule of the security agencies, thereby constituting a serious threat to fundamental rights of the citizens which have drastically curtailed the enshrined rights of the people in the constitution of Pakistan.

The intelligence agencies in Pakistan never bother the inherent rights and dignity of humankind which are non-derogable rights under Article 4 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. According to Peremptory Norms of the International Law, no state of emergency pursuits the state concerned to exercise the right of derogation in an absolute and arbitrary manner. No matter whatever the danger to the security of that state.

As we observed that Pakistan is permanently ignoring the international standards and principles set out for a normal state, the international community must make sure that Pakistan, being a party of ICCPR, ICESCR, UDHR and a member of United Nations, is duty bounded to compliance and implement the international Covenants, standards, instruments and laws accordingly. Otherwise, in this age of globalization, information technology, enlightenment and in particular rule of law and democracy, it is utterly impossible that Pakistan can survive if continued its misbehaviours.

Pakistan is flouting international law and instruments, its constitution as well with its illogical national security doctrine and constantly negating its citizens of their inherent rights and dignity, even infringing the non-derogable rights of the citizens, particularly in Balochistan where all civil rights including the right to life of Baloch peoples are at the mercy of security forces in the name of so-called national security. The notorious policies execution of collective punishment on a massive scale in Balochistan which includes forced-disappearances, liquidating, maiming, executive detentions and summary executions are the order of the day.

It is pertinent to mention that the aforesaid elements of atrocities are executed by Pakistani security forces on a daily basis in utter infringement of the non-derogable rights of the Baloch nation since decades. Regrettably the vulnerable Baloch nation – the state persecuted and a potential victim of state terrorism in South Asia – has frequently approached the UN and world powers and sought justice but all went in vain.

The upshot of my comments is that the menace of terrorism in Pakistan is its draconian national security doctrine which needs paramount attention of the international community for a permanent solution, as it has wreaked havoc in Balochistan and abroad as well.

Edited by Archen Baloch

Advocate Ali Kachkol is an ex-speaker of occupied Balochistan’s so-called Provincial Assembly exiled in Norway.