Licence to kill

As members of ‘Citizens Against Weapons’ striving for a peaceful and weapon-free society in Pakistan, we are deeply concerned at the recent decision of the federal government to remove the ban on the issuance of prohibited and non-prohibited weapon licences. This decision has been extensively reported in the press. We believe that getting rid of all weapons (except those in possession of the state) and eliminating all private militias ought to have been the first task of the National Action Plan (NAP). Not only has NAP completely failed to take any steps in this direction, it has now decided to add more weapons to an already weapon-loaded, violent and intolerant society.

Would it be incorrect to conclude that this act of the government conveys two stark messages: that the government’s decision supports proliferation of weapons and militancy in Pakistan and that the state has formally abdicated its fundamental responsibility of protecting the lives and properties of its citizens. We demand that the possession of arms be declared the exclusive domain of the state, all private militias regardless of their patrons be completely disbanded, issuance of new arms licences be banned and the already issued licences be declared null and void and all citizens be made to surrender their weapons through a planned buy-back scheme.

Naeem Sadiq

Karachi