State of terror

Terrorism and militancy continues to affect aspects of our lives in ways we could never have imagined. The Information of Temporary Residents Act, 2015 passed by the Sindh Assembly demonstrates this. Fear, suspicion and with it all kinds of complications have become a part of our lives. The new law requires owners of residences to inform police about occupancy by new tenants within 48 hours of their moving in. Hotel and guest house owners must pass on similar information within three hours. In both cases, those renting out space or offering rooms are expected to ascertain identity by inspecting relevant documents. A failure can result in jail for six months or a fine of between Rs10,000 and Rs45,000 or both. The offence is considered a non-bailable one.
While MQM legislators protested the provisions of the law, stating it would turn the province into a police state, they eventually agreed to the law on the basis that its spirit was right. The Sindh parliamentary affairs minister had told the house that the steps being taken were a part of the National Action Plan and were aimed at terrorists entering Karachi. This has been a concern in the past. The passage of the legislation illustrates the difficulties in balancing personal liberties against our growing security needs. As other nations have found the two do not always go well together. But while accepting that for now security is a huge concern, the more pertinent question may revolve around the practicalities and logistics involved. As was pointed out in the assembly we need to ask if in a city as gigantic as Karachi, with a constantly shifting population, it is even possible for police to keep track of information provided to them, should landlords put this forward within the allocated hours. We wonder if systems to compile this have been installed at police stations, and how this massive flow of daily data will be processed. The new law also places a big burden on ordinary citizens and it will have to be seen how the law moves off the paper it been drafted on and is converted into reality.­