Islamabad, Pakistan: The statement of Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Jiang Zaidong regarding deadly terror attacks on Chinese citizens should be considered as an eye opener and Pakistan should come out from the state of slumber.
Addressing a seminar in Islamabad on Tuesday, Jiang Zaidong said that two terror attacks within six months were unacceptable and the government (Pakistan) should launch a crackdown against all anti-China terrorist groups.
He categorically mentioned that security was the biggest constraint to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and added that “without a safe and sound environment nothing can be achieved”.
Chinese Ambassador said that Pakistan should severely punish the perpetrators and crack down on all anti-China terrorist groups. To punish terrorists, Pakistan needs a mechanism that is directly linked with Pakistan’s justice system and it has been testified that the normal judicial system has totally failed to cater to the demands of dealing with terrorists.
Right now, China is the only country that is present in Pakistan and thousands of Chinese are physically present in Pakistan working on several projects of infrastructure development they have been a target of terrorists who do not want any foreign investment in Pakistan. The bitter reality of the situation is that having blurred ‘Afghan Policy’ Pakistan is yet to control the infiltration of terrorists from Afghan soil and the redundant justice system is yet to punish terrorists.
The much-publicized 26th Constitutional Amendment offers nothing to overhaul the justice system because it neither offers much-needed changes in the judicial system for lowering the burden of case-pendency in lower courts nor it offers a justice system based on speedy trials. The only offer was to place one of the three judges as the new Chief Justice instead of following the previous system of placing the most senior as the new Chief Justice. Even in the Supreme Court, the number of judges would not increase and the Constitutional Hearing Bench would borrow/lend/place judges out of the available strength of judges within the Supreme Court. The whole text of the 26th Constitutional Amendment is silent about any change in the judicial system that can offer any relief to a common man who faces the brunt of the redundant judicial system. It was hoped that the provision of speedy trial courts or military courts would be in the 26th Amendment but it is not there and it is said that such clauses were removed from the draft for getting the ‘political consent’ needed for number game for passing the Amendment. For how long lawmakers would keep giving priority to their political optics instead of thinking about the public and the state? Now, there are talks about the 27th Constitutional Amendment that would definitely be drafted by the same novice team that drafted the 26th Amendment. Will it serve the extraordinary demands to deal with unusual law and order situations in the country? this is an important question to be answered by the politicians.
Almost every week, personnel of our security and law enforcement agencies offer their lives and every hour of the day they put their lives in danger during operations against terrorists but taking life risks is futile because terrorists get support from the legal system and the conviction rate is too low to be realistic.
The sacrifices of the Pakistan Army, police, and security agencies are in front of everyone and everybody knows what the judicial system and lawmakers contributing to purge terrorism in Pakistan. The fate of the Military Court trial is hanging in the Supreme Court while the 26th Constitutional Amendment does not offer anything for speedy justice at lower courts and no change in the Criminal Procedure Code is in sight thereby nothing available to stop hardcore criminals and terrorists from getting their bails from courts.
When terrorists are presented in the anti-terrorism courts established across the country, as mentioned earlier, due to the legal loophole, these terrorists are released due to lack of evidence against them. Then they regroup, launch fresh waves of terrorist activities, harm the Pakistan Army, kill innocent people, and dance on their dead bodies. The acquittal ratio of people involved in terrorism is high because of several reasons that include non-availability of witnesses, fear among lower judiciary as well as of public prosecutors in cases of hard-core terrorists, and provision of bail available to terrorists. Judges and public prosecutors know that hard-core terrorists can get bail anytime from higher courts and then they (terrorists) can harm the families of public prosecutors/lower staff, resulting in delays in deciding cases. When the anti-terrorist courts are overwhelmed with cases, the terrorists will undoubtedly get the benefit of this, their cases will be suspended. Failure to provide evidence and delays in recording witnesses to courts by the state prosecutors always provide benefits to the accused (terrorists). Sometimes investigative teams become under life threats and they leave loopholes in the case with an announced arrangement with the accused (terrorists).
All these factors emphasize the importance of establishing military courts and hearing cases through them. The establishment of military courts was approved/implemented under the National Action Plan made in 2014.
In a country where the judicial system is visibly weak to punish hard-core criminals and terrorists, and law enforcement agencies are overloaded with ever-spreading crimes and terrorism, why a foreigner should take the risk of his/her life by working on infrastructure projects spreading over remote regions? Chinese who have a strong commitment to working with Pakistan are also losing interest and Chinese Ambassador Jiang expressed his views without having a peaceful environment, work is not possible.
Diplomatic circles of Islamabad claim that President Xi will definitely talk with President Zardari during the forthcoming meeting in China about the security of the Chinese people in Pakistan. It is pertinent to mention that terrorists twice targeted Chinese nationals in the past six months, first in March and then again in October just 10 days before the visit of the Chinese Premier to Pakistan. It is a proven fact that security is a prerequisite for development projects in any country.
