Express Tribune Editorials 1st March 2025

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New unit, same cops

The Punjab government is hailing its establishment of a new Crime Control Department (CCD) as a major step toward ensuring public safety and reducing crime rates, but the specialised anti-organised crime initiative remains fraught with the same challenges and shortcomings that undermine policing in general.

First and foremost, the effectiveness of any law enforcement agency hinges on the training and competency of its personnel. Unfortunately, the CCD is little more than window dressing, as cops involved are recruited from the same pool that has helped earn the Punjab Police its less-than-sterling reputation. Meanwhile, the large recruitment that will be required to replace officials assigned to the CCD could actually lower standards even further in the 'regular' police force. A specialised CCD is also likely to be missing any element of trust with the community, since officials are unlikely to be serving in areas where they are 'local' or trusted on a personal level. We have seen the creation of new departments lead to unnecessary bureaucratic expansion that actually complicates the work they were supposed to do. Even with the CCD, there are legislative gaps which some experts fear could lead to inefficiency through jurisdictional overlap with local police stations, and even problems in court during trials.

But perhaps most importantly, there is the question of who actually wanted this new unit, because several reports have suggested that senior officials did not even know that it had been proposed until it had already been launched. Similarly, the Punjab IG recently noted that the provincial force has also requested setting up a cybercrimes division, even though we already have a federal-level force for exactly that, and despite its own flaws, the FIA's cybercrimes wing has done a reasonable job. Instead of all of this investment to create new redundancies, the government should focus on improving the quality of existing law enforcers.


Whither austerity

The federal government has more than doubled the size of the cabinet, expanding it from 21 to 43 members - in addition to advisers and special assistants - raising serious concerns about the government's commitment to austerity, and its claims of reducing the size of the government by abolishing or relocating dozens of departments in several ministries. At a time when Pakistan's economy is struggling under the weight of inflation, an unsustainable debt burden and dwindling foreign reserves, such a significant expansion appears contradictory to the belt-tightening measures that the PML-N-led coalition has repeatedly promised. With the latest additions, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's team now comprises 51 members, including eight special assistants. Political considerations are sure to have played a role, with coalition partners rewarded with ministerial positions. The most questionable is the inclusion of Pervez Khattak, a former PTI leader who the PML-N leaders would never cease to criticise for his alleged involvement in corruption.

While the current expansion does not technically violate the prescribed 11% limit of total parliamentary membership, it does raise concerns about efficiency and governance. A bloated cabinet risks becoming unwieldy, with overlapping responsibilities and increased bureaucratic inefficiencies. The timing of this expansion is also problematic. Pakistan is in the midst of negotiations with international financial institutions and donors, seeking relief and assistance to stabilise its fragile economy. An oversized cabinet, with its associated costs, sends the wrong message to both the international community and the public. It suggests that while citizens are expected to bear the brunt of economic reforms, those in power remain exempt from the same principles of financial restraint.

If the government wishes to restore public trust, it must rationalise its decision-making and prioritise efficiency over political expediency. Reducing unnecessary expenditures should start from within, and that includes limiting cabinet appointments to only those essential for effective governance.


Nowshera attack

It seems to be a target-precision attack by anarchist elements who wanted to eliminate the JUI-S leadership. The suicide bombing at a mosque situated inside Darul Uloom Haqqania, Akora Khattak in Nowshera district of K-P has resulted in the martyrdom of Maulana Hamidul Haq Haqqani and, at least, five others prior to Friday congregation.


A glance at the modus operandi clearly reveals that the aim of the unscrupulous elements was the reputed religious scholar who, despite his learned contribution to the seminary, preferred to keep a low profile and was, of late, seen instrumental in brokering a thaw between Afghanistan and Pakistan. His father, Maulana Samiul Haq, known as 'Spiritual Father of Taliban' was stabbed to death in 2018 in mysterious circumstances. The attack seems part of a plot to spew hatred in an already volatile province.

While K-P and Balochistan are in the eye of the storm with the intrusion of unchecked men and material from across the western frontiers, the Nowshera killing must be closely read in detail. It could lead to attacks on other sects just to convey the impression of retaliatory sectarianism, and further push the country towards the brink. That has been a nomenclature on the part of sleeping cells and their foreign handlers, and the revulsion that is being witnessed in settled areas and newly-merged districts, especially Parachinar, is a case in point.

The Nowshera attack also indicates undercurrents of realpolitik. There has been persistent pressure on authorities to distance from the Haqqani network on both sides of the divide. It is common knowledge that several stalwarts in the Kabul dispensation are students of Samiul Haq tutoring, and they beg to differ in their policy prescription for the war-ravaged state. Thus, a plot to pitch Kabul and Islamabad cannot be ruled out either.

While we lack retribution and stringent follow-ups after terror attacks, this bombing necessitates some forensic detailing to unearth the monster in our midst.