A penchant for violence

There is this image of a man sticking his tongue out at us in a mocking, mischievous gesture. I am sure it has stayed in the minds of many of us. And it tells a story that tears our hearts out. But what do you see in this mirror? Does it relate only to the standard operations of law-enforcement agencies or is it a graphic manifestation of the nature and the attributes of Pakistani society?

I would hesitate to go into the painful details of the custodial death of Salahuddin Ayubi after his arrest on the evidence of CCTV footage of his breaking into a bank’s ATM in Faisalabad. There are videos that have gone viral on social media, snatches of which have also been shown by news channels. There are glimpses of his encounter with the police, while in their custody.

So gripping and frightening is this tale that it has figured in many talk shows and newspaper columns. This is another reason why I need not dwell on all the relevant facts of this case. Yet, I feel compelled to repeat a question that Salahuddin had for his interrogators: “Aap ney maarna kahan sey seekha?”

This haunting phrase has reverberated in many comments. It should find its place in the popular lexicon. Imagine a helpless prisoner making this statement in a police lock-up during a beating session. It would be hard for an accomplished screenplay writer to coin this phrase in that situation.

The real twist here is that Salahuddin was a mental patient. So much so that his father had inscribed his name and address on his hand. We can be sure that this fact was known to the police since he had previously been arrested for some reason and released because of his mental condition. In that sense, it was not a routine business of the police functionaries for they were not dealing with a hardened criminal.

Here, I think, is a great opportunity for a screenwriter to create a scene that depicts a similar interrogation. It would be worthy of a Francis Ford Coppola. The audience would have to figure out as to who is more mentally challenged – the prisoner or the interrogators?

Let me make a diversion with this thought: has the system nurtured individuals in its law-enforcement apparatus who are inherently not even human? Obviously, all those who exercise authority cannot be cast as villains. That is why they talk about the ‘black sheep’ in the police department and in other institutions that interact with the general public.

At the same time, it is the system that breeds such horrifying delinquencies. The unbearable reality is that Salahuddin’s case is not an exception. A focus on it in the media has gained credence because there have been a number of other fatalities in police custody. Torture is believed to be a common practice in police investigation and its intimations, in the context of rude and offensive behaviour, are widespread in the police’s dealings with the public.

Critics have also found a justification for blaming the PTI government for not being able to introduce the promised reforms. After all, the police department was identified as one specific area to execute ‘tabdeeli’. What has emerged, apparently, is that the police are the standard-bearer of the system that has shaped our society, though it is just one aspect of how power is exercised to assert the supremacy of ruling ideas.

This has particularly been the week of a number of stark reminders of how Pakistani society is losing its sense of balance and how its rulers seem unable to deal with crises that have seriously undermined the quality of ordinary citizens’ lives. To a considerable extent, citizens themselves have surrendered to the rising forces of collective disorder. Just look at how they behave on the streets, irrespective of their class and educational status.

The spotlight so far has been on police torture, including in so-called private cells. But a sense of violence permeates most of our social relations. We are an exceptionally intolerant society. The extent to which our people have been radicalised could be measured in the lives we have lost to terrorism and sectarian strife.

So far, our exertions to heal this wounded society, including through such measures as the National Action Plan, have not been very successful. Like the Salahuddin episode, there have been many more incidents that could independently serve as a parable to portray the state of our society and how it is governed. Just one example: remember how a teenager was lynched by a mob in a Karachi locality just a few days ago?

On Thursday, a student of 10th grade died in Lahore after he was allegedly beaten by his teacher. It led to a violent protest by the students. There have been other similar tragedies. We sometimes get a hint of the kind of corporal punishment that is prevalent in our madrassahs through social media. When you look around carefully in your everyday existence, you will notice that intimations of aggression and of anger are rampant.

The big question is whether this is business as usual or if this disequilibrium in our society is gaining pace. If you read your newspapers carefully, many small items buried in the inside pages could create an impression that violent crimes and suicides and cases of child sexual abuse are increasing. Similarly, we are told that mental illness is on the rise. Clearly, the issue I have raised is too complex and too extensive for a newspaper column.

Anyhow, if Karachi is any measure of what is happening to the country, there is incontrovertible evidence that we are on a slippery slope. Again, there is no need to go into details. We can see what it is. And also smell it, for the story of Karachi’s uncollected garbage has attracted global interest. The New York Times published an extensive report from Saba Imtiaz, with the title: ‘A Plague of Flies Descends on Karachi’.

Far more alarming was the discovery made by Wasim Akram’s wife Shaniera when she went for a walk on the beach one morning this week. As BBC World stated in its report on “the beach strewn with needles and blood”, the Clifton beach was swamped by syringes and medical waste.

Incidentally, the Economist Intelligence Unit released this week its list of liveable cities of the world and Karachi was found to be the fifth least liveable city in the world. It is clear that they had not taken into account the garbage and the flies and the medical waste strewn on the beach.

The writer is a senior journalist.

Email: ghazi_salahuddin@hotmail.com