The unarmed peaceful ordinary citizens of Pakistan - the people who do not have the connections, resources or inclination to acquire these weapons. The life and property of citizens has thus been rendered hostage to the powerful warlords who frequently unleash their armed goons to spread shock, awe and terror amongst innocent citizens.

Saturday, February 06, 2010

On January 25, 2010, a list of yet another kind of beneficiaries was submitted to the National Assembly. It revealed that a total of 29,000 licenses of both prohibited and non-prohibited bore weapons were issued by the interior ministry since 2008. The interior minister had issued 255 prohibited bore licenses to himself, while the Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira was granted over 130 arms licenses, Railway Minister Ghulam Billour 143 licenses, Minister of Power Raja Pervez Ashraf 69 licenses, Senator Rahat Hussain 85 licenses, MNA Rana Tanveer Hussain 59 licenses, MNA Malik Azmat 68 licenses, Tourism Minister Moulana Attaur Rehman 56 licenses, Defense Minister Choudhry Mukhtar 51 licenses, and scores of other ministers and parliamentarians conveniently distributed some 7200 prohibited bore licenses between themselves.

Interestingly, and much to the horror of a common citizen, another 713 licenses of prohibited bore weapons were issued to four individuals, whose names the interior minister refused to divulge, as quoted by the News of Jan 26, 2010.

The noteworthy point here is that the distribution of licenses for weapons of mass destruction has been kept exclusive to the high and mighty ministers and parliamentarians of Pakistan. There are no labourers, plumbers, gardeners, postmen, clerks, or carpenters on this list. Clearly it is a discriminatory benefit used as a political enticement for the people in power.

The question that arises here is that what would our ministers and parliamentarians do with this truckload of weapons? Do they maintain private armies of their own? Do they patronise killer gangs? Or on a more horrendous note, are they involved in illegal arms trafficking? After all, weapons are not used as seeds for growing flowers. Who will be the victims at the receiving end of their barrels?

The unarmed peaceful ordinary citizens of Pakistan - the people who do not have the connections, resources or inclination to acquire these weapons. The life and property of citizens has thus been rendered hostage to the powerful warlords who frequently unleash their armed goons to spread shock, awe and terror amongst innocent citizens.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Annual Report 2009, in Karachi alone, as many as 1,747 people have been killed in separate incidents of violence during 2009. In just four fateful days - May 12, 2007, December 27, 2007, April 9, 2008 and December 28, 2009, Karachi lost hundreds of innocent lives and damage was caused to property worth Rs50 billion.

Only in the first few days of February, over 50 lives have been lost due to the ongoing battle for control of land and power in the city. These barbaric episodes could have been prevented if the armed gangs were not patronised by the powerful politicos of Pakistan.

According to the Article 9 of the Constitution 'No person shall be deprived of life and liberty save in accordance with law'. However, the Pakistan Arms Ordinance is designed to do just the opposite - to deprive ordinary citizens of their life and liberty in all manners except those stated in the law. Not only that the Arms Ordinance takes away the right of life and liberty from ordinary people, it also hands it over to a small powerful group that has acquired the control of weapons through their influential positions. 

What good is a law that serves only to deprive citizens of their life and liberty? That serves only to spread violence. That enables a lawless minority to engage in mass murder. Each time this law is put into practice and a new license issued, the days of some more innocent citizens are counted. It is a law that enables the criminal politicians to satiate their greed for power by killing ordinary citizens. 

The Pakistan Arms Ordinance is a highly discretionary law. It says nothing on why a license should be issued to anyone, or how many licenses should be issued to a person or persons for that matter. The issuance of arms license is completely dependent on how well-connected a person is with powers that be.

The federal deputy interior minister's recent announcement that a quota of 25 licenses has been fixed for each MNA speaks volumes about the discretionary nature of this instrument of violence. Not to be left behind, the quota of licenses that may be issued by the Sindh home minister is unlimited. If possessing licensed arms is such a necessary thing, why don't the government make it possible for every citizen to have access to such weapons instead of their being exclusive to the parliamentarians and people in power?

One could perhaps make an argument that the Arms Ordinance itself never demands such dishonesty and greed from those responsible for issuance of licenses. However, the design and discretion permitted within this law has proven beyond doubt its vulnerability for misuse and discriminatory application. It is a tool for political bribery and appeasement and stands no chance of being used in any fair and equitable manner.

It has raised violence to new heights and threatens the life of every law abiding non-weapon carrying citizen. Do we still need a law that acts as an instrument of power and control in the hands of feudals, politicians, criminal gangs and the banned militant elite of Pakistan? A law or custom that confers the right to kill to a small coterie of criminals should be struck down.

Will Pakistan not be a safer country if no citizen, regardless of his political affiliation or status, was issued a license, nor allowed to own or carry a weapon - licensed or otherwise?