The problems are complicated. It is not that there is terrorism in this country because there are no adequate laws. In fact, there are too many laws including the ones in the existing penal code, the Anti-terrorism Act, the Security of Pakistan Act, Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, Defence of Pakistan Rules etc.

Yet these laws were considered inadequate and a new legislation called Protection of Pakistan Ordinance (PPO) was promulgated in October 2013. That was criticised by the human rights organisations because it clashed with the fundamental rights and civil liberties of the citizens. While that Ordinance is still pending before the parliament (it was passed by the National Assembly’s Committee on the Interior), there have been further amendments introduced to the said Ordinance (since Jan 22, 2014).

This has again become a subject of many discussion. Or is it? While the common people are led to believe that the PPO is an answer to the extraordinary law and order situation in the country which needs extraordinary legislation, there are huge problems with it.

The underlying issue is that there is lack of trust on one’s own institutions. This particular piece of legislation is said to have come about to serve the interests of some elements of the state that are distinct from the elected government.

The recent amendments seek to grant immunity particularly to the security and intelligent agencies for illegal and undisclosed detentions at unspecified locations. This is what we know as the case of missing persons or enforced disappearances. People actually feel that the legislation has come about to specifically protect the agencies in the cases being heard in the Supreme Court.

The human and civil rights groups see the Ordinance as a draconian piece of legislation. To think that such legislation has come about in a democratic period of our history is sad, to say the least.

In today’s Special Report, we have tried to address the concerns of citizens of this country against the "arbitrary actions" that this Ordinance aims to take. We have spoken to the representatives of Amnesty International, International Commission of Jurists and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan about their views on the PPO.

We hope that these concerns are addressed and debated aggressively once the Ordinance comes before the parliament for approval. Our contributors go to the extent of suggesting that the parliament should reject the PPO.