A government overcome by fear?

A government overcome by fear?
Pakistan Rangers-Sindh were given powers of the police to protect us, citizens of Karachi, from the spate of violence and killings that had gripped this city. Perhaps the policy was inspired by the idea of instilling fear, given the posture of Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza; a week later it seems that even the Rangers can’t, or won’t, protect a government seemingly overcome by fear.Benazir Bhutto (Shaheed) was always admired for her courage: to face multiple martial laws, to risk her own pregnancy for the sake of those she represented, for mingling amongst the commons in times of terror – amongst other things. BB made public appearances in times when General (retd) Pervez Musharraf and his prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, would inaugurate projects from the comfort of the Presidency and Prime Minister House respectively.It’s pertinent to remember BB’s legacy here – because the Sindh government of her party, the Pakistan People’s Party, now seems to be living under a perpetual cloud of insecurity. True, it is facing testing times, but much of the PPP’s support in Lyari eroded after presidential “trouble-shooter” Rehman Malik ordered an operation there.Given the enormity of the proverbial beast, the PPP should have come out with all guns blazing – politically. Twice in the last week, however, the government and its associated agencies locked themselves up, fortifying their own niches of comfort, while citizens were left – quite literally – high and dry.The city was struck by twin terror attacks on the Chehlum of Imam Hussain (Friday, February 5). The ghastly plot was planned to maximise human loss, and the terrorists succeeded in fooling our “fool-proof” security – not once, but twice, in a single day. On Ashura (December 28, 2009), claims of “fool-proof” security measures were made by the police. This time, it was the Rangers. End result: no one could stop the attacks from taking place.Following the blast, the Rangers simply barricaded themselves inside their headquarters, but surprisingly, the Chief Minister House was left open for attack. In such a scenario, it is maybe easy to rationalise why the government prefers to stay locked up inside the Chief Minister’s House. One is forced to wonder, however, if the government is so overcome by fear that it prefers to have the city centre remain gridlocked for over three hours – simply to protect itself from a group of Shia organisations from attacking, a thought that never materialised. Eventually, a PPP delegation led by Raza Rabbani stepped out of Fort Chief Minister’s House, and said yes to pretty much everything that was being demanded of the government.In other news, a seminar was organised to pay tribute to eminent journalist M.B Naqvi, who passed away in November last year. Speakers highlighted his “almost prophetic” writings about East Pakistan, with even the Pakistan Ambassador to the United Nations, Husain Haroon claiming that the country lost its ‘head’ in 1971. Pak-Iran relations were lauded, as is the custom, at another seminar to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the ‘Islamic revolution’ in Iran. While religion may act as a common denominator, it was pleasing to see that Iranian Consul-General Masood Zamani highlighted the cultural and linguistic bonds between the two countries.The last word goes to Naseema Labano, a teenage girl who was gang-raped in Ubavro, District Kotri. Labano made a public appearance at a seminar organised by War Against Rape (WAR) at the Sindh High Court (SHC) in connection with the Rape Survivor Programme, and highlighted the fact that only one out of 11 accused were handed a sentence. Six others were acquitted – something that highlights the lacunas in the current legal system for women. Will the government take note, and redress the situation? Only if it stops being overcome by fear.