I was intrigued by the post by Potohari about the need for stronger police force, and it made me remember the article Pakistan Must Now Reform or Perish by Raza Rumi. Here is what he says:
The recent years of internal challenges have exposed the weaknesses of law enforcement, state-writ, and the inadequacy of the legal and judicial system, and most importantly, the skewed access to opportunities and denial of a large portion of the population of their rightful share in the economic and political process.
Therefore, a consensus around reform is absolutely essential. This is the least a bourgeois democracy can do: undertake incremental reform. In today's Pakistan, the process of reinventing government and governmentality needs to be accelerated. First, the 1973 compact between the provinces and the centre is outdated. A new dialogue especially with the smaller provinces is necessary. A start could be made by what a recent report by Selig Harrison suggests with respect to the implementation of the 1973 constitution, negotiations with the Baloch, and alleviation of the economic hegemony of the centre. The federation must not appear to be what its detractors call it: a Punjabi state with ethnic minorities.
The second imperative relates to provision of financial resources for the implementation of the national judicial policy complemented by strengthened administrative justice that makes public institutions accountable. Otherwise we will have thugs posing as messiahs and propagate a jaundiced version of Islam as an alternative to rule-based governance. Third, civil service reform at all levels should be carried out. The system should offer better incentives and also put into place internal accountability measures that are driven by the political executive. The national commission on governance reforms has made plenty of recommendations in the past, only if they were to be read. The layers of duplicative functions, structures and institutions within government(s) need to be simplified.
Fourth, the local government question ought to be settled as soon as possible. The pendulum need not swing to pre-2001 situation. But a system that is owned by the provinces is the only way out. To encourage the provinces to share powers with the local governments, centre-to-province devolution is necessary. The state is too remote, and now literally cordoned off for the citizen. It has to reach out. The concurrent list should be abolished as promised by main political parties in their manifestos.
Finally, reforms around distribution of resources – land, water and other entitlements – are as vital as other court-centric notions of justice. It has been too long that powerful lobbies have blocked all attempts for social change. Citizen pressure on political parties will be essential since the current electoral systems are built around patronage and reproduction of power at the local and national levels.
Without these vital reforms, public trust in state cannot be restored. And, citizen-confidence will erode further if the state fails to deliver. Protecting the Pakistani state some argue is a pointless agenda. But in the given domestic climate, this should be a key priority for Pakistanis not to mention for the region around us. If the state fails, we all know who will benefit and fill in the power-vacuum. Given our previous record, reform may be a distant dream. We are faced with stark choices in these desperate times. Survival, as the laws of evolution tells us, is the preserve of the fittest.