TACKLING CIVIL COMMOTION
The Nawaz Sharif government has armed itself with yet another imaginative law, enabling it to declare virtually any Pakistani a terrorist. Under the new Anti-Terrorist (Amendment) Ordinance promulgated on 27 April as a presidential decree, "…go slows, lock-outs…distributing publishing or pasting of a handbill or making a graffiti or wall-chalking intended to create unrest or fear or create a threat to the security of law and order or to incite the commission of (certain) offence(s)…", all fall under the term "civil commotion", the punishment for which is up to seven years' rigorous imprisonment or fine, or both.
The new law is the latest in a series of ventures undertaken by the Pakistan Muslim League government to impose 'quick justice' on the hapless nation. Almost obsessed with the idea of "justice at the doorstep", the prime minister of Pakistan has been systematically introducing quick-fixes to the judicial system despite the many setbacks he has suffered.