The Herald Annual, January 1999

Law and Disorder

By Azmat Abbas

No coherent policy on sectarian terrorism has so far emerged from the Punjab government. If the local administration continues to drag its feet, the new year may well turn out to be even more bloody than the last…

On the night of November 20, 1998, two armed men flagged down a black Toyota Corona in Lahore's Defence Housing Society, dragged out the driver and drove away in the vehicle. The car, bearing an army insignia and stars on the number plate, was being used by General Officer Commanding, Kharian, Major-General Rizwanullah.

A massive hunt for the car was launched amid rumours that General Rizwan was actually in the vehicle when it was hijacked. It took an extra effort by the police to convince the press that this was not the case, especially since the army itself remained tight-lipped about the matter, furious that the police had not been able to immediately track down such a conspicuous vehicle. Despite police barricades and the involvement of various intelligence agencies, the car was spirited out of Lahore. Four days later, it was found parked by the roadside near Kasur. The culprits, of course, were never apprehended.

Earlier on September 18, MPA Amanullah Khan Babar, a candidate for the chairmanship of the Narrowal municipal council, was gunned down in broad daylight on the Lahore-Muridke road near Qila Manwala. A murder case was registered against the MPA's rivals but no arrest has so far been made.

A few months ago, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif stopped holding open kutcheries at his Model Town, Lahore, residence on the advice of his security staff. Word within official circles was that following the government crackdown on the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, most-wanted terrorist Riaz Basra had visited one such kutchery disguised as a complainant. He apparently had himself photographed on the occasion, and later sent a copy to the prime minister. Basra's audacity, insiders claim, demonstrated how easily the PM's security could be breached by members of a militant sectarian organisation.

But the incident, if it did indeed take place, also drove home another frightening reality. Criminals of all shades have begun to operate with impunity in Punjab, especially in the provincial capital. In a desperate bid to check the increasing lawlessness in the province, the Punjab chief minister has for his part taken a number of initiatives, none of which appear to have produced any real results so far. In fact, on the graduation day itself of the first batch of the CM's much touted elite force, a member of this crack commando unit was arrested by the Shadman police, accused of being the leader of a gang of motorcycle thieves.

Other security measures have also failed miserably, the most noteworthy among them being the ban on pillion riding. The restriction was imposed throughout the province in August 1997 in the wake of a wave of sectarian killings, but terrorists have continued to wreak havoc across the province. This effort proved to be so meaningless that the government was forced to admit during the December session of Punjab Assembly that of the 1,900 people arrested in Lahore for violating the ban, not a single detainee turned out to be a terrorist or wanted criminal. The Lahore High Court incidentally, has been moved against the ban and a decision is expected shortly.

The government's inability to come up with a viable strategy to curb lawlessness in the Punjab appears to have emboldened sectarian terrorists in particular. Until a year or so ago their criminal activities were largely restricted to targeted attacked on rival sectarian organisations. But this is clearly no longer the case.

In December 1997, five alleged terrorists of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi escaped from the Dera Ghazi Khan prison. The police arrested a local activist of the organisation, Allah Wasaya, who was believed to have masterminded the jailbreak. He subsequently died in custody, apparently due to severe torture. Furious at the death of their comrade, Jhangvi militants struck at a graveyard in Mominpura, Lahore, on January 11, last year, gunning down 25 people including women and children. Later, an arrested Jhangvi activist, Aziz Gujjar, who had apparently led the Mominpura attack, confirmed that the massacre was carried out to avenge Allah Wasaya's killing.

Punjab police officials readily admit that sectarian activists are largely responsible for the wave of crime that has engulfed the province. "Several sectarian militants have already been put behind bars, but a lot remains to be done," says one officer.

"Young people must be prevented from joining these organisations, but that is the government's job, not the police's responsibility." He points out that no action has been taken against the thousands of madrassahs that are sowing the seeds of sectarian hatred across the country.

Moreover, senior police officers warn that the government's recent policy of killing sectarian terrorists, allegedly in staged encounters, will only make matters worse.

"[By eliminating suspects in armed encounters] we are telling them that they are marked men even if they surrender," says the officer. This only makes the terrorists more desperate."

So far, three sectarian militants have been killed in "encounters" in smaller towns of the Punjab (one each in Rahimyar Khan, Sharaqpur and Sheikhupura), while five have been gunned down in the provincial capital. Another 14 militants, accused of the Iranian Cultural Centre killings in Multan and the attack on the Al-Khair mosque, have also been sentenced to death. Meanwhile, Mehram Ali, the main accused in the Lahore sessions court bombing which killed Sipahe Sahaba leader Ziaur Rehman Farooqui, was hanged despite warnings from religious leaders that his execution might incite his supporters to retaliate. Shia leaders too fear for the welfare of community. Senior Tehrik-e-Jafria members have expressed concern that the recent spate of extra-judicial killings could prompt a violent backlash against Shias.

The government's short-sighted policy is also yielding other dangerous dividends. Over the last few years, hard-line sectarian parties such as Sipahe Sahaba and Tehrik-e-Jafria had begun to distance themselves from the militants within their ranks. But many of these parties are now once welcoming such elements back into the fold.

Meanwhile, intelligence reports suggest that the Shia militant group, the Sipahe Mohammad -- which had practically disintegrated following differences within its ranks and the superior might of the Sunni hard-line Lashkar-e-Jhangvi -- is now beginning to reorganise. This time round, the Imamia Colony in Shahdara has been chosen as the group's headquarters. The police claim to have gathered enough information to launch a crackdown, but insist that for such an operation to fully achieve the desired results, militants from other sects must be targeted simultaneously. But no coherent policy on sectarian terrorism has so far emerged from government quarters.

If the local administration continues to drag its feet, the new year may well turn out to be even more bloody than the last.