Injustice termed main cause of violence
ISLAMABAD, July 23: Speakers at a discussion here on Monday were of the consensus opinion that interference of the army in politics, inconsistency in education system and the inability of judicial system to deliver were the main factors behind increasing violence in the country.
The discussion on “Increase in violence – factors and actors” was arranged by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).
Former foreign secretary and Pakistan Muslim League senior vice-president Akram Zaki said, “terrorism and tyranny go together.” He said the United States wanted to destabilise, de-Islamise and denuclearise Pakistan.
Referring to a statement of a senior White House aide that the US would consider using military force to destroy alleged Al Qaeda hideouts in Pakistan, he said it would be a folly to carry out air strikes inside Pakistan on the basis of falsified intelligence reports.
He said the statements were highly regrettable as Pakistan and the US were allies in the war against terrorism. He said Pakistan was opposing and fighting terrorism in its own interest. He noted that since the civilian nuclear deal between United States and India, irresponsible statements against Pakistan continued to emanate from Washington.
He said addressing the root causes of terrorism was a must to effectively deal with the menace.
He said injustices inflicted on the masses were one of the main reasons behind violence in the country.
Presenting a chronology of events relating to violence, Mr Zaki said after the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, the western powers exploited religious sentiments of Pakistanis to help flush out the Russians from Afghanistan.
He said the government’s acts to please others were not digestible for the public. He urged a complete review of the foreign policy.
Former diplomat and Pakistan People’s Party leader Prof B.A. Malik said education system and failure of judicial system to deliver were the main reasons behind violence in the country. He said violence was nothing new to Pakistani society.
Mr Malik said military was a powerful actor behind all factors which led Pakistan to this critical stage. He demanded an immediate end to military’s role in politics.
He appreciated the recent SC verdict and said it would prove to be a first step towards an end to military’s penetration in politics.
Differentiating violence and terrorism, he said Nelson Mandela was once tagged as the biggest terrorist but now he was an icon of a statesman. He said injustices provided a valid reason for violence.
He said the army ruled the country in one way or the other for 53 out of 60 years since independence. He said the role of the army in politics was one of the reasons for spread of violence in the country.
He said, “enough is enough. The time has come to accept the responsibility,” he added.
Harris Khaleeque, chief executive officer of the Strengthening Participatory Organisation, said increase in violence related to our education policy and curriculum adopted by madressahs.
He said the system itself produced violence, adding inability of the judicial system to deliver caused violence in society.
He termed Pakistan’s foreign policy as well as that of India one of the main contributors to increase in violence. He said weaponisation was another contributor to the increasing violence. Access to weapons, he added, made a clash more bloody as happened in Karachi on May 12.
He identified revamping of educational and judicial system as the main tasks the government should undertake to make the country violence free.
Source: Dawn
Date:7/24/2007
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