Judiciary abets terrorism

By Muhammad Faheem Belharvi

The menace of terrorism is terrible and painful. The unending terrorism and neglect on arresting extremist trends and ideologies that are posing a serious challenge to the security of Pakistan. Interpreting these trends and ideologies by their sponsors through acts of violence against the people and the state is shaping up into a common norm. This sole critical security challenge to the state from extremists and terrorists remains unaddressed because of the existing weaknesses in our judicial dispensation of justice.

The terrorist strikes remain predictable as it brings destruction and social disorder with awful human tragedy. The entire society earnestly looks towards the Security Forces and LEAs to undertake steps to provide immediate relief to the victims break terrorist networks and make life safer.

Undoubtly, LEAs have been working very hard to fight the menace of terrorism and have paid heavy price by sacrificing their lives while fighting the terrorists. Unfortunately the terrorists have launched clever propagated to promote their agenda by associating themselves with Islam and creating sympathizers in social milieu knowing that majority loves Islam. Hence, a united national front could not be created to fight and eliminate the threat posed by terrorists. In this context Judiciary as part of national segment appeared more independent and did not join in the fight against terrorism. Although it is essential for the entire nation to get united to defeat the enemy, yet certain segments / institutions maintained their alienation.

Terrorism for sure is a potent tool at the disposal of belligerent powers to coerce, degrade and totally mutilate the society of the target state. Like war, it is also an instrument to continue state policy through other means. Wars have been fought for immediate results. In that warring parties confront each other on the battle ground. The valiant’s and powerful carry the day while weak get humiliated and are subjugated. War in spite of its evils has its norms; cruel yet noble. What we see in terrorism is nothing but cunning and deceitful manipulations of perceptual mosaic of the people. Dissent is created to mislead masses and to push them towards ultimate disaster. This is often done in the name of religion. Religion provides the strongest motivating force especially once people are already disillusioned due to deprivation and poverty. Such a situation is taken advantage of by the adversaries. They just continue to fund and arm such rouge outfits so that they could continue to degrade the state to a level where it collapses under its own weight.

Consequently the terrorists were glorified and felt encouraged to continue with their criminal acts of violence. Islamabad District Court was hit by terrorists and a honorable Session Judge (Rafaqat Hussain Awan), a young female lawyer (Miss Fiza) and many others lost their lives. It was a stunning shock for the entire nation as the awful event occurred when negotiation process with Taliban was being vigorously pursued by the Govt. The commonsense suggested that glorification of terrorists through media coverage of their pledges / claims etc provides them confidence and resilience to continue with their violent activities.

Moreover, it would not be wrong to state that the terrorists can get space media more conveniently and free of cost as most of the domestic channels appear more motivated and obliged to project their crimes while businessmen and state officials are required to make extra efforts to get their advertisements, stories and themes published through media. The war on terrorism has to be fought by the entire nation and Judiciary being part of the state will have to realize the threat. Terrorists must not be allowed to get freed and rejoin their main groups.

Meanwhile, media must not project the terrorist stance frequently. In this way they get encouraged and their pledges get glorified irrespective of their evil nature or wicked designs. All sections of society must get united against the terrorists to defeat them and eliminate the threat. Otherwise LEAs alone will not be able to eliminate the threat.

Simultaneously, the entire nation pays homage to those who lost their lives in Islamabad District Court in the hands of terrorists. The nation demands that terrorists produced before the courts must be punished for their crimes. Concluding, it is a collective responsibility of government, judiciary and media to bring these rogues to justice. Media has an important role in educating people and in removing the dissension from the minds of the public. It is through the collective effort that we can get out of this difficult situation.