Original Article

“We demand the armed forces take over the city, restore law and order and ensure safety to innocent people’s lives,” Khalid Tawab, vice president of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), told AFP.

“Business activity has been disrupted because of incessant killing. People don’t want to go to market because of risks to life,” he said.

Ethnic and criminal violence blamed on gangs has killed 101 people in the last week, the latest bout in the worst criminal and ethnic violence to hit Pakistan’s largest city and financial capital for 16 years.

“At least nine people were killed since Monday evening, so far 101 people have been killed since Wednesday morning,” a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to media.

Security officials said they had found the bodies of victims who had been kidnapped and tortured, stuffed into sacks and thrown on the streets with notes warning of more violence.

Two bodies trussed up in gunny bags, bearing torture marks and gun shots, were found dumped in Pak Colony and at Orangi Town’s Qasba Mor on Tuesday.

Separately, a resident of the Marwari Lane was kidnapped, shot at, and thrown in the Lyari river. He was shifted to the Civil Hospital subsequently.

In another incident, two people were injured when their car came under attack by unknown gunmen in the city’s Gulastan-i-Johar area.

A government official working in the health department confirmed the casualties.

On Tuesday, markets were closed, streets deserted and attendance at offices thin after the MQM called for a “day of mourning” against the killings.

The associations of transporters, wholesale and retail markets and fuel stations on Monday evening announced one by one that they would stay away from regular business on Tuesday, blaming police and security administration for failing to protect their businesses in such a situation.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday flew to Karachi and asked the provincial government to restore peace as quickly as possible.

Sharjeel Memon, Sindh provincial information minister, said a “surgical operation” was planned to end the violence.

The main ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which was elected in 2008 after nine years of military rule, insists that civilian authorities are capable of controlling the situation.

But members of other political parties are increasingly calling for army intervention, a sensitive issue in a country that has been ruled for more than half its existence by the military.

“We want to see law and order in Karachi improve. Anyone, including the army, who can get results and improve the situation should take control,” Wasay Jaleel, a spokesman for MQM, told AFP.

“We demand the army across the board to restore peace here,” ANP’s provincial chief Shahi Syed told AFP on Tuesday.

People on the streets also expressed dissatisfaction with the ability of the police and the paramilitaries, technically answerable to the interior ministry, to control the situation.

“The armed forces should be deployed in Karachi, because police and paramilitaries have failed to save our lives,” said Khalid Ali, 45, a shopkeeper in the main downtown market area that has seen some violence.

“We feel no enthusiasm for the coming Eid (religious festival). Please, soldiers take the city in their hands and return smiles to our children,” Noshaba Hameed, 37, a schoolteacher, told AFP by telephone from the east.

Original Article

Syed Samsul Haq Badal, special public prosecutor of the Speedy Trial Tribunal-2 of Dhaka, said this while he was talking to The Daily Star yesterday.

The 76kg bomb was recovered at the Sheikh Lutfor Rahman Ideal College under Kotalipara upazila in Gopalganj on July 21 in 2000 which was planted aiming to kill the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was supposed to address a rally there the next day.

Badal said police did not take any serious step to produce witnesses before the court for the last one year even though the tribunal summoned them on each date.

Badal said he would be serious from now on to produce witnesses before the court for quick disposal of the case.

Court sources said the case which was pending with Gopalganj District and Sessions Judge’s Court was shifted to the tribunal on August 18 last year for its quick disposal following a home ministry order.

Since then the public prosecutor had been submitting prayers for adjournment of the hearing on every date on the same ground that witness could not appear before it due to illness. But the prosecution could not mention in his petition who could not appear before it.

The last date of recording statement of witness Abdul Hannan Howlader by Gopalganj District and Sessions Judge’s Court was on July 27 in 2005.

The Gopalgonj court, however, recorded statement of 41 prosecution witnesses, including complainant of the case.

Meantime, Judge Dewan Mohammad Shafiullh yesterday adjourned the hearing of the case till August 11 following a time petition from the prosecution saying that witness could not appear before it due to illness.

All the nine accused, including Harkatul Jihad Chief Mufti Abdul Hannan, now in custody, were produced before the court yesterday. Besides, all the detained accused were produced before the court on every scheduled date.

Hannan’s brother Anisul Islam alias Anis, now on bail, was also present in the court while 15 other Huji leaders and activists remained absconding since the case was filed.

A high police official, on condition of anonymity, yesterday told The Daily Star that on every scheduled date, additional police have to deploy on the court premises to avoid any untoward incident.

Following the recovery of the 76 kg bomb, Sub-Inspector Nur Hossain of Kotalipara police filed a case under the Explosive Substances Act on July 21, 2000.

Criminal Investigation Department submitted the charge sheet against Mufti Hannan and 24 others on April 8 in 2001, showing 83 people as prosecution witnesses.

The Gopalganj District and Sessions Judge’s Court framed charges against Hannan and 24 others on July 2 the same year.

Original Article

Shumaila was Mohammed’s only child, born after he and his wife struggled for 12 years to have a baby. It took two stray bullets to bury all the hopes and dreams they had for the future.

“She was the one who gave meaning to our life. Now we have no reason to live,” said the tearful 36-year-old, a resident of Qasba Colony, one of a series of troubled neighbourhoods in western Karachi turned into a battlefield.

Shumaila was one of 300 people whom the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) says died in political and ethnically linked shootings in Karachi last month and one of the 800 killed since the start of this year.

She was carrying her books when the bullets pierced her abdomen and splintered a rib. Seriously wounded, she was eventually picked up by an ambulance after medics struggled to access the street under gunfire.

“Someone told me my daughter had been shot and I rushed to hospital despite all the risks, only to find her dead in the morgue,” Mohammed said.

Authorities appear powerless to stop the bloodshed, human rights activists say, pointing out that most of the victims are innocent civilians.

“People have been killed because of their political affiliations, but it seems most are killed because of their ethnic background,” Zohra Yusuf, chairwoman of the HRCP, told AFP.

“The majority of them are poor and destitute.”

Shumaila was Pashtun. Her father arrived in Karachi from the northwest 20 years ago looking for work and then settled down and got married.

Today the northwest is on the frontline of Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked bomb attacks and the migrant flow to Karachi is even greater.

Shumaila’s bereaved parents live on a congested street in a neighbourhood of Urdu and Pashtun speakers, where trigger-happy gunmen from both sides can quickly reduce the area into a battlefield.

HRCP says Karachi suffers political, ethnic and sectarian “polarisation”.

But the government blames vague mafias involved in land grabbing and drug pushing for the killings, and for creating “misunderstandings” among political parties and ethnic hatred.

“It should not be called ethnic violence,” said Sharfuddin Memon, an official in the home ministry of the southern province Sindh, of which Karachi is the capital.

“The mafias are killing people in such a manner that rival communities and parties are left with the impression of an ethnic war which is not there. The mafias do this to get stronger and weaken the writ of the state.”

The Urdu-speaking family of Anwer Ali, 22, say he was walking to work when unknown gunmen shot him dead.

“He was the only bread earner for his mother and two sisters,” said his cousin Mohsin Ali.

The family rent a one-room house in a squatter settlement near the area of Katti Pahari, a flashpoint for the most recent violence, and are deeply frightened about the future.

It is not just shootings. People have seen everything they own go up in smoke, with their houses, buildings and vehicles set alight by arsonists.

Despite the deployment of extra police and paramilitary forces, residents complain that the security personnel do nothing to help.

“Mafias are involved in the killings, but armed wings of political parties have played a big role in creating the mess,” said Tauseef Ahmed Khan, who teaches mass communications at Urdu University.

The armed wings work to maintain party influence, prevent rival groups from infiltrating their territories and force people to remain loyal, he said.

“There are killings on ethnic grounds while most of the victims are poor people who don’t know the reason why they are being killed,” Khan said.

Shumaila was Mohammed’s only child, born after he and his wife struggled for 12 years to have a baby. It took two stray bullets to bury all the hopes and dreams they had for the future.

“She was the one who gave meaning to our life. Now we have no reason to live,” said the tearful 36-year-old, a resident of Qasba Colony, one of a series of troubled neighbourhoods in western Karachi turned into a battlefield.

Shumaila was one of 300 people whom the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) says died in political and ethnically linked shootings in Karachi last month and one of the 800 killed since the start of this year.

She was carrying her books when the bullets pierced her abdomen and splintered a rib. Seriously wounded, she was eventually picked up by an ambulance after medics struggled to access the street under gunfire.

“Someone told me my daughter had been shot and I rushed to hospital despite all the risks, only to find her dead in the morgue,” Mohammed said.

Authorities appear powerless to stop the bloodshed, human rights activists say, pointing out that most of the victims are innocent civilians.

“People have been killed because of their political affiliations, but it seems most are killed because of their ethnic background,” Zohra Yusuf, chairwoman of the HRCP, told AFP.

“The majority of them are poor and destitute.”

Shumaila was Pashtun. Her father arrived in Karachi from the northwest 20 years ago looking for work and then settled down and got married.

Today the northwest is on the frontline of Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked bomb attacks and the migrant flow to Karachi is even greater.

Shumaila’s bereaved parents live on a congested street in a neighbourhood of Urdu and Pashtun speakers, where trigger-happy gunmen from both sides can quickly reduce the area into a battlefield.

HRCP says Karachi suffers political, ethnic and sectarian “polarisation”.

But the government blames vague mafias involved in land grabbing and drug pushing for the killings, and for creating “misunderstandings” among political parties and ethnic hatred.

“It should not be called ethnic violence,” said Sharfuddin Memon, an official in the home ministry of the southern province Sindh, of which Karachi is the capital.

“The mafias are killing people in such a manner that rival communities and parties are left with the impression of an ethnic war which is not there. The mafias do this to get stronger and weaken the writ of the state.”

The Urdu-speaking family of Anwer Ali, 22, say he was walking to work when unknown gunmen shot him dead.

“He was the only bread earner for his mother and two sisters,” said his cousin Mohsin Ali.

The family rent a one-room house in a squatter settlement near the area of Katti Pahari, a flashpoint for the most recent violence, and are deeply frightened about the future.

It is not just shootings. People have seen everything they own go up in smoke, with their houses, buildings and vehicles set alight by arsonists.

Despite the deployment of extra police and paramilitary forces, residents complain that the security personnel do nothing to help.

“Mafias are involved in the killings, but armed wings of political parties have played a big role in creating the mess,” said Tauseef Ahmed Khan, who teaches mass communications at Urdu University.

The armed wings work to maintain party influence, prevent rival groups from infiltrating their territories and force people to remain loyal, he said.

“There are killings on ethnic grounds while most of the victims are poor people who don’t know the reason why they are being killed,” Khan said.

Original Article

Police in riot gear were deployed across the city to deal with trouble in Enfield, six miles north of the site of riots in Tottenham, while looters later pillaged shops in Brixton.

The scenes in Enfield, while reminiscent of Saturday night’s clashes, were smaller in scale, and they took place from about 7pm.

Teenagers gathered on St Andrews Road – said to have been a preplanned destination – broke down walls on terraced streets so they could collect bricks to throw at police. About a dozen shops were ransacked and a police car smashed on Church Street. Riot police moved in to secure the area and train station.

Shortly after 8.30pm, a crowd of about 100 mainly teenage boys broke into a jewellery store. When police arrived less than a minute later, there were chaotic scenes, with a number of people struck with batons and attacked by dogs.

Resident Mizu Rahman, 34, said a plainclothes police officer had told him at around 2pm that there was intelligence that disorder was imminent. “The officer came down the street warning us there would be trouble,” he said. “He showed me his ID. He said, ‘Do you live here?’ I said yes. He said, ‘St Andrews Road is going to be the frontline tonight’.”

There was no obvious reason why the rioting should have spread to Enfield, which is in the outskirts of north London.

Rahman, an engineer, said he had seen a message on Facebook that Enfield would be “next on the hitlist”.

At 9.30pm, Met police and reinforcements from Kent began turning the whole of Enfield into a sterile area. Hundreds of riot police arrived with vans and police dogs, charging at groups of teenagers, who melted into sidestreets. They smashed cars and shop windows as they ran.

Some teenagers knew exactly where they were heading, saying the plan was to go to Ponders End. A large crowd of youths then sprinted west, attacking a retail park and shops. Among them was a closed Tesco Extra store. Workers inside described hearing windows smashing as dozens of youths poured into the store. “They left carrying TVs, alcohol – they were stuffing trolleys,” said one supermarket worker.

Unlike the previous night’s disturbances, riot police were on the scene in large numbers. Their stance was also more aggressive, with baton charges and dogs used to disperse crowds.

At 11pm, on a nearby road called Elizabeth Ride, a young man was stabbed under the arm. He could walk to an ambulance but his friends refused to talk to police and disappeared, shouting: “Why would we talk to feds? You’re the reason this is happening.”

Amid evidence that locals were turning against the rioters, one young woman, aged about 20, was in tears, shouting: “What are you doing? Is this how you pay your respects to Mark? Is this what he would have wanted?”

The leader of Enfield council, Doug Taylor said he believed disturbances there were linked to events in Tottenham. He said: “There’s got to be a link to that extent that it’s the day after and the police are hugely well organised in Tottenham so maybe this was seen as the place to have a second night.”

In Brixton, crowds attending a daytime festival were good-natured but gangs of youths ransacked shops in the area as darkness fell. Branches of Vodafone, Footlocker and H&M were all targeted by looters, who made off in scooters and cars. Police in riot gear were pushing people up Brixton High Street at around 1am.

Elsewhere, there were reports of disturbances in areas including Dalston and Walthamstow.

The latter area’s local Labour MP, Stella Creasy, said that branches of Argos, BHS and Barclays were all attacked, while angry locals said that looters asked them for directions to shops and banks.

The Metropolitan police said on Twitter on Sunday night: “Police are responding to a significant amount of criminal activity across London and are deploying officers to tackle it.”

Original Article

It was inaugurated by the Mayor, Mr Talukder Abdul Khaleq, Khulna City Corporation who emphasised upon the need for police reform and commended the organizations for holding the workshop. Other prominent guests included senior Bar Council members, district judges and lawyers, local NGOs and community leaders as well as district police officers. The discussions revolved around the major reform initiatives in Bangladesh under the Police Reform Program of the UNDP-Government of Bangladesh namely the establishment of Model Thanas in Dhaka, community policing initiatives, and the draft Police Ordinance 2007. A detailed summary of the workshop discussion will be published in the August 2011 edition of NIPSA newsletter (to be issued by 31st August 2011). For further information and subscription to the newsletter, please contact devyani@humanrightsinitiative.org.

Details of Events

CHRI in collaboration with Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust and Nagorik Uddyog
29-30 July 2011
Khulna, Bangladesh

CHRI is holding its third and final in a series of workshops on he role of police ina democratic society. Being held in Khulna district, the purpose of the workshop is to spread awareness about citizens rights vis-à-vis the police, facilitate interaction between local organizations and district police officers for the purpose of mutual understanding, and generate interest in and understanding of police reform debates in Bangladesh. Spread over two days, the workshop brings together various persons vested in systemic reform of the police including NGOs, local government officials, police, legal professionals and media.

The agenda of the workshop is as follows:

29 July, 2011

The horrific state of police governance in South Asia has been a pressing concern for decades. Deeply entrenched into the nations composition, the echoes of their former colonial dominance are apparent to date. In 2008, CHRI had published a report – Feudal Forces: Reform Delayed – Moving Force to Service in South Asian Policing. It provided a detailed account on the pace and state of police reform in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

In 2010, a follow-up report was published, which addressed similar issues, but went further to assess the progress and offer recommendations from hereon. It also encompasses an analysis of the Maldivian Police Service, which was formed in 2004, and is still in its nascent stage. The transition towards democratic policing has been a tedious one; whilst some nations have seen progress on this front, countries like India and Pakistan seem to be further diluting the concept of democratic rule.

Due to an internal dichotomy in the case of Pakistan, or the increased war on terror in India – reforms are only presenting themselves in more repressive formats. By enacting new legislation and amending laws to provide the police with more arms, impunity and less accountability, these nations are further suppressing the rights of citizens. Conversely, Bangladesh elected a new democratic government in 2008 and Sri Lanka saw its long-awaited victory against the LTTE. Maldives, which has a nascent police force, witnessed the defeat of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who governed for over 3 decades. Fulfilling the objective of both spreading awareness and catalyzing accountability-centered reform, the report and work of CHRI strives to strengthen regional networks work in this faction.

Pakistan

The 101 Questions in Urdu was a collaborative effort between CHRI and two partner organizations in Pakistan – SHEHRI CBE (citizens for a better environment) and The National Endowment for Democracy (NED). SHEHRI deals with a variety of urban issues and facilitates interaction between people and local governmental agencies in order to enhance mutual understanding, perpetuate transparency in law, and orchestrate effective local governments. NED, also a non-profit organization, drives to strengthen and expand democratic institutions the world over.

Bangladesh:

In Bangladesh, CHRI worked in conjunction with the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) as well as Nagorik Uddyog (NU) – The Citizens Initiative. BLAST is an organization centered on providing legal aid across the spectrum of systems. Additionally, it also helps in litigation, focusing on empowering disadvantaged men, women and children. With a vibrant team of paralegals it offers pro-bono aid across districts. It facilitates programmes of awareness in legal rights as well as engages closely with local administration to increase open dialogue. NU works on a multi-faceted agenda of spreading awareness as well as building capacity for people to recognize and demand their rights. The organization employs strategies such as setting up institutions and mobilizing citizens in attempt to institutionalise democratic practices that don’t exist for the underprivileged.

Maldives:

Working with the Maldivian Democracy Network(MDN), CHRI was able to successfully dispel 101 in the Maldives. The non-partisan organization focuses on the promotion of human rights and the spreading of awareness. The objective is to both advocate and lobby, through various mediums, for those whose voices are most often unheard. Working with the stressing need for democratic institutionalisation as a backdrop, the organization promotes and protects the rights of those at or below the grassroot level.

Ayub Khuhro was then home minister and the law was done away with through provincial legislation in order to introduce City Police Act for Karachi. That the implementation of this legislation could not see the light of the day due to bureaucratic hurdles created by the district management group, is yet another story.

It was realized soon after the creation of the country that the police system introduced by the colonial masters to subdue and subjugate the subjects in sub-continent, could not cater to the needs of an independent state, reveal the documents.

But successive regimes not only embraced it, an effort was made through Police Order 2002 for reorganization. But that has backfired with the current political setup reverting to the past system to punish its political opponents.

The latest attempt on the Police Order 2002 in Sindh is apparently to settle score in Karachi after break-up with the MQM is in contrast with what acting Governor Nisar Khuhro’s uncle envisioned in 1948.

As the bill named City Police Act, 1948, moved by Ayub Khuhro and then passed by Sindh’s Legislative Assembly awaits the formal issuance of a notification, Nisar Khuhro has restored the colonial Police Act, 1861.

The law was designed to introduce police reforms in the biggest city of the country, Karachi, according to the official documents.

While presenting the bill before the Sindh Assembly, Ayub Khuhro, had then observed in his Statement of Objects and Reasons: “The importance of Karachi City has very much increased recently. It is not only the capital of Pakistan, but it is also an international airport and the only seaport of West Pakistan. There is very big programme of industrial development round about the city”.

The requirements of the Sindh University and other educational institutions, and that of numerous cooperative housing societies, will lead to a very big expansion of the city, he further noted.

“The existing police organisation cannot cope with the law and order problems which will arise in near future. It is therefore proposed to reorganise the city police arrangements and to have a commissioner of police and deputy commissioners. The bill placed before the legislature follows the lines of the city of Bombay Police Act, and provides the necessary powers to the City Police to deal with law and order problems which will arise in near future.”

The Bombay Police Act was modelled on the pattern of policing in London and was introduced by colonial masters in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras, the cities housing Englishmen.

In the rest of the sub-continent, the Police Act 1861 was introduced that was designed on the pattern of Irish Police System being practiced in Ireland, then British Colony, in order to treat the subject citizens with the force to crush dissenting voices.

The bill for the establishment of city police in Karachi was introduced on February 7, 1948 and adopted the same day by Sindh Legislative Assembly. The act had been published in the Sindh Government Gazette of January 30, 1948, under rule 144 of the Sindh Legislative Assembly Rules.

Ironically, that this approved bill number XXV of 1948 was returned by the staff of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah when the latter was seriously ill and kept in Ziarat (Balochistan).

The objection raised over the bill by the staff, largely dominated by the officers of district management, was related to minor mistakes about the spellings.

A letter from the office of the private secretary to the Quaid-i-Azam, SM Yusuf, to the personal secretary to the Sindh governor, J Cordiero, dated March 12, 1948, said: “Bill No. XXV of 1948 is returned herewith, as desired. Unfortunately the Legal Adviser to the Governor-General has made certain corrections in the authenticated copy of the Bill signed by the Speaker and bearing the forwarding note of His Excellency the Governor of Sindh. A fresh copy will, therefore, have to be submitted for the Governor General’s orders.”

Before it was formally signed by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, he had died due to protracted illness. Now 63 years have been passed, and the formal issuance of notification is still awaited. Instead of doing so, the recent efforts of Police Order 2002 have also been shot down by the nephew of the mover of 1948 bill, now acting Governor Nisar Khuhro.

The reversion to Police Order of 1861 is also in contrast with the radical police reforms in Bangladesh, let alone India and other neighbouring countries.

Bangladesh that had opted separation from Pakistan in 1971 replaced colonial Police Act with Metropolitan Police Act of 1976 in Dhaka, Chittagong (1978), Khulna (1987) and Rajshahi (1991), all the big cities.

These reforms were introduced far before Police Order 2002 was enforced that instead of being practiced, is facing serious threats to its existence with Sindh taking the lead in abolishing it.

A retired officer, who was part of police reforms committee formed in first term of Benazir Bhutto, said the committee headed by SK Mehmood, former federal secretary of the district management group, was sent to study the policing in India and Bangladesh.

There could not have been big embarrassment when our counterparts in visiting states asked probing questions regarding Pakistan’s inefficiency towards reforming police, said the officer who then visited India and Bangladesh.

“You are still living in 1861. I wonder how are you maintaining the law and order by this colonial act and that too in big cities?” a Bangladeshi police officer had asked the Pakistani delegates.

By Umar Cheema