Punjab Does
Not Approve of the Heinous Crime
By Nauman Nisar, MS,
MD Needham, MA
In
a recent interview, the self-proclaimed Baloch
leader Akbar Bugti has apparently put his foot
in his mouth. He pretentiously sits on a higher
moral ground and blasts Punjab for its alleged
"social acceptance and sanctioning" of rape against
women. He is wrong, nay, sadly mistaken. It is
definitely not an accepted practice to rape women
in Punjab. The last time I checked, rape was still
illegal in Punjab, and for that matter, in all
provinces of Pakistan. Violence against women
is a heinous crime and Punjab does not permit
it, endorse it, authorize it or justify it in
any way. Acts of random violence against women,
including rape, do take place from time to time
throughout the country and are duly tried in a
court of law.
In
fact, approximately 10,000 cases of domestic violence,
including rape, are reported by the Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) in its 2004 annual
report. The figures for different provinces are
not available, however it is safe to assume that
Punjab would have a significantly higher number
of such cases, partly due to its larger population
mass. The under-reporting of the crime due to
social pressures is also to be taken into account
and is no doubt a universal phenomenon. Inappropriate
handling of the evidence at the crime scene and
poorly trained personal, both within the criminal
system and the healthcare system, are the major
reasons for an embarrassingly low conviction rate.
The controversial Hadood and Zina Ordinance enacted
by late General Zia-ul-Haq in the late 80's introduced
harsher and even capital punishment for these
crimes against women. Unfortunately the ordinance
failed to achieve the desired results, with almost
no change whatsoever in the incidence of rape
in Pakistan. The Sui rape case has been lately
making headlines.
It is not the act of rape itself, but what happened
afterwards that has put the whole Baluchistan
province in the spotlight. The failure by the
authorities to act promptly has set in motion
events that are becoming difficult to control.
Allegations of a probable cover up by the army
are rampant. Seemingly a "planned riot" ensued
after the news of the alleged rape broke out.
Gas installations of Pakistan Petroleum Limited
(PPL) were targeted. Hundreds of people from the
Bugti tribe took upon themselves to participate
in this vigilante-style moral duty. Close relatives
of Akbar Bugti, including a grandson and uncle,
were reportedly involved as they were named in
the police report which was later filed. This
was by no means a street fight between few thugs;
it was a serious affair. Up to 600 rockets were
fired on the Sui gas field, as reported by the
governor of Balochistan. Mortars and rocket-propelled
grenades (RPG) were also used wantonly.
The siege ended only after the security forces
intervened. Eight people died as a result of the
violence, including five innocent civilians. Substantial
damage to the property and the Sui plant infrastructure
was also reported. Such wanton destruction cannot
be justified. Akbar Bugti was quite successful
in steering the misdirected anger of his people
for the sake of his personal gains. He evidently
had prior scores to settle with the government
on broader political issues. He remains un-apologetic.
To date, no other Balochi leader of has condemned
the violent outbursts. Most of them openly endorse
it for one reason or another. What happened with
an innocent woman in Sui, Balochistan, is reprehensible.
The death of eight innocent people who died subsequently
was more gruesome. Provision of justice cannot
be left at the whims of street gangs or private
militias run by feudal lords. It is clear that
dealing with a rape crime, as done by Bugti, is
fundamentally wrong.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
