Deweaponisation bill: Weapon-free Pakistan?

Deweaponisation bill: Weapon-free Pakistan?​

ISLAMABAD:
In the backdrop of fresh violence in Karachi, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) submitted on Monday an elaborate and ambitious draft bill in the National Assembly Secretariat seeking to rid the country of weapons.
The ‘Deweaponisation of Pakistan Bill of 2011’, filed as private members’ bill, calls for banning the production, proliferation, smuggling, import and use of firearms and ammunition and explosives “to restore public order in the country”.
Yet, experts and analysts are sceptical about the fecundity of the bill.
MQM’s parliamentary leader in the National Assembly Dr Farooq Sattar said that his party would also introduce the bill in the Senate on Tuesday and contact other parties to secure endorsement for it.
The bill provides “measures for banning the unauthorised production, illicit trafficking, possession and use of arms and weapons, so as to eradicate killings, kidnapping for ransom and extortion by terrorists, criminals and anti-social elements for waging guerrilla war against the state, indulgence in vandalism, mass destruction, suicide bombing, desecration of places of worship, killings of innocent citizens, and to restore peace, tranquility, sanity and public order in the country,” the MQM leader said reading from the bill.
Highlighting statistics, he said that between 2006 and 2009, terrorists and criminals had struck 6,894 times using illicit arms across the country, killing 9,643 people, injuring 18,788 more, besides kidnapping thousands of citizens for ransom.
The bill, if passed, will be applicable in four provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) but it would not apply on arms, ammunition in the possession of armed forces and law-enforcement agencies working under government control.
Reaction by experts and analysts
The Express Tribune contacted analysts and experts for comments on the bill, and its possible out*come.
Ejaz Haider, Contributing editor for The Friday Times and columnist for The Express Tribune: “Officially, Pakistan goes by the UK framework, that no one except authorised personnel of the military or police can carry weapons. The other paradigm is the US where everyone can. So while formally Pakistan follows the UK model, de facto we’ve allowed arms to proliferate. You have MNAs, MPAs and senators with quotas to buy weapons and you can also get illegal arms here. In the US, they do not allow people to buy automatic weapons. In Pakistan, you can find Uzis or Kalashnikovs, which are essentially used by armed forces.
“The funny thing is that the last time I checked, the interior ministry had three different figures for the number of arms licences issued. So if you don’t have an exact figure that’s a problem. It’s difficult to have a guesstimate but whatever the number of legal weapons is, multiply it by at least 10 and that’s the amount of illicit weapons. I had also suggested to the interior ministry that one way to check this is to start tracing the ammunition. It gives you a trail to what kind of ammunition this was and where it was produced. If illegal arms are coming in then obviously the law enforcement officials are also involved.
“The last three to four times they tried to do this deweaponisation plan they badly failed. It also has to be evenhanded. You can’t target specific people or areas – the whole idea of prosecution becomes lopsided.”
Imtiaz Gul, analyst, author of The Al Qaeda Connection: “This is a very complicated matter and it is not in the hands of the government, but of the political parties. The PPP, ANP, MQM and Jamaat-e-Islami all have militants in their fold – any law you bring about would be ineffective if it is not enforced on them. The parties don’t seem to have the political will. Even if they did have the political will, it would take quite a lot of time for the weaponry that has been amassed to be dug out.”
Mosharraf Zaidi, analyst: “Deweaponisation programmes haven’t been that successful in Afghanistan – which is geo*graphi*cally closest to us – and that was a sponsored, funded campaign. The top line issue here is that in a society where laws do exist and are misused or not used at all, what value does a new law have.
“So a new law is a probably a good first step, but a miniscule step. The idea of deweaponising Karachi – let alone Pakistan – is a big deal. It is ironic and interesting that the MQM is the one to sponsor the bill. If implemented, this would be the first time since in the mid-1960s that Karachi would be free of weapons. It is a good initiative, but there is a bigger structural problem in Pakistani society – a lack of respect for existing laws. Traditionally, where we’ve seen deweaponisation programmes work is not really on a national level but on a smaller one – towns and villages and so. The other key issue is finances – it is a really expensive programme to run and the only incentive you can offer people is to give them an above market value for the arms. Given the quality of public policy in the country, I doubt that this is a consideration for the interior ministry and any of the provincial home departments. Will the government have the wherewithal to challenge political interests that have weapons – to go after stores that supply to political parties? That’s a big question – so if it happens, hallelujah, but it doesn’t seem possible.”
Former interior minister Moin*uddin Haider: “There is al*ready a law in the country to deal with weapons. Now if you can’t implement that, then what use will it be to have a new law? In Pakistan there is a huge proliferation of arms right now, everyone from the security guards with women shopping to policemen are armed. Whether it is the UAE or the UK, it is hard to find police officials who are armed like they are here. You need to create a culture to carry out a programme like this. When we implemented it during General Pervez Musharraf’s time, there was a lot of resistance. We ran campaigns for the general public and educated policemen on it as well. The idea was that, till 15 days after the campaign was initiated, people could hand in their weapons to the police and there would be no questions asked. It was so successful that we received 80,000 illegal weapons and we were asked by the provinces to extend the deadline by a few months but we refused to because it would mean we would go back on our word. After the deadline, we carried out raids and implemented the law very strictly. I do not think anyone in Pakistan is serious about deweaponisation right now. These look like political tactics to show that ‘we are peace loving’ etc.”
Propositions: Salient features
Ban on issuance of licence:
No arms licence shall be issued by the government to any person with effect from the commencement of this act.
Punishment
Whosoever contravenes, such arms will be seized and forfeited by government and he shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not less than seven years and not more than 12 years and shall also be liable to fine up to Rs5 million. In case of default, he shall be liable for a further imprisonment period of three years.
Surrender and seizure of arms and weapons:
All persons who are in possession of arms, ammunition, and weapons without any authorisation or valid licence, would be required to surrender them to the authorised person or agency designated by the government in the district where they ordinarily reside, within three months.
The licences of all arms and ammunitions issued to individuals, companies and dealers by the government prior to the commencement of this Act shall stand cancelled without any notice after three months from the enactment of this law.
Prohibition on illicit manufacturing of weapons:
No person shall manufacture, produce and assemble arms and ammunitions illicitly anywhere in Pakistan after three months from the commencement of this Act.
Contravention of illicit manufacture:
Whosoever contravenes the provisions of Section 10 shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of not less than twelve years and shall also be liable to fine not less than ten million. In case of non-payment of fine he may be punished with further imprisonment up to a period of three year.
Prohibition of illicit trafficking in arms and weapons:
Whosoever indulges in the illicit trade or trafficking in firearms, ammunitions, weapons and their parts and components within the territories of Pakistan shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not less than nine years and shall also be fined not less than rupees seven and a half million and in default of such payment shall undergo imprisonment for a further period of three years.
Prohibition of display of arms:
Whosoever displays new, operational, old or ancestral non-operative arms or weapons in public shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding seven years and fine not more than rupees five million only.
Disposal of arms, ammunitions and weapons deposited by licencees:
All licenced arms, ammunition and weapons deposited under Section 8 of the act shall be sold to government agencies at market price and the proceeds so received shall be paid to persons who had held the licence and owned the said arms and weapons.
Committee to supervise whole process
An 11-member committee headed by a retired judge of a High or Supreme Court will supervise the whole process of implementation of the law and give its recommendations to fulfill the objectives of the law.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 18th, 2011.

Nonsense. How about the MQM abandon their weapons first.

YouTube - Karachi (Street Crime)

YouTube - Gun Free Zones - 1/2 Hour News Hour

I personally believe that Pakistani society should be deweaponized. And people (including political workers) in possession of illegal arms should be severly punished. This law should be applicable to all citizens of Pakistan barring law enforcement agencies and the military. Weapons should be permitted to citizens only under special circumstances. This issue is indeed one of the major causes behind such high crime rate in our country.

But first, we need a transparent law and order system. Police force should be properly educated on how to handle domestic issues. Unfair treatment from law enforcement agencies will only compel people otherwise and the purpose of this law will be defeated. Unless people will have faith in law and order system, the armed ones will not easily give away their weapons. This is a matter of insecurity.

What do you think "De-weaponization of Pakistan" means? Does it mean No weapons all over Pakistan or does it mean No-one can carry weapons except MQM? It is a piece of legislation, Dont know how well it will work but poking sticks at the people who say they want no weapons in the country is kind of rash. How about you wait till the MQM say that 90 is not part of Pakistan to actually start the taunting.

forcetrip said:

What do you think "De-weaponization of Pakistan" means? Does it mean No weapons all over Pakistan or does it mean No-one can carry weapons except MQM? It is a piece of legislation, Dont know how well it will work but poking sticks at the people who say they want no weapons in the country is kind of rash. How about you wait till the MQM say that 90 is not part of Pakistan to actually start the taunting.

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True but only 1 thing to say,

Apni TV/VCR becho or Kalashinkov kahreedho... Remember that little soundbite..

The presence of weapons does not mean that increased violence is inevitable. In Switzerland, adult males keep automatic rifles in their houses as part of their militia. These are NOT used in crimes.

Violence is social in origin; it doesn't come from inanimate objects.

I think it is a God-given right to be able to defend yourself, your family, home, neighbors. If only government forces have weapons, then whoever is at the head of those armed organizations is the de-facto ruler, and people can't do jack about it.

in FATA and even Peshawar, people have kept weapons in their home since forever. Some joke that it's been our birthright.

display of weapons in FATA especially has always been normal; and in fact this had made the job of security forces difficult since the enemy can easily blend in with innocent locals

i do think that in mainstream cities, the police need to make their presence more known; and there should be a de-weaponization program -starting with Karachi, which incidentally has the most weapons per capita -according to some statistics. Confront MQM, ANP and apply inexorable pressure on them to de-arm their activists and a lot of the problems at least in Karachi would be solved

guns dont kill people; people kill people......the crooked politicians who have ties to the mafias and the underground criminal or militant-leaning groups should be exposed and face justice

^^^^^^^ what else to expect from leftist fascists!
from my cold, dead hands, I say............

rightists, leftists, etc.

nobody has their hands clean......


i forgot to add in my last post --- aerial firing (during celebrations, weddings, cricket victories etc.) should also be banned. You have no idea how many people get injured or killed by this practice.

in my younger days we used to fire a lot in the air since we had nowhere else to go.....and that was in rural areas of Kurram. Even in Karachi and Lahore you see people doing firings and they should be educated on basic physics


i.e. what goes up, must go down.....you fire at a 60 degree angle and that bullet will come down hard and at an even faster velocity


then again, this practice has been going on for ages as well (goes on in other countries like Turkey and Russia) so it would be difficult to enforce a nation-wide ban on it

Chogy said:

The presence of weapons does not mean that increased violence is inevitable. In Switzerland, adult males keep automatic rifles in their houses as part of their militia. These are NOT used in crimes.

Violence is social in origin; it doesn't come from inanimate objects.

I think it is a God-given right to be able to defend yourself, your family, home, neighbors. If only government forces have weapons, then whoever is at the head of those armed organizations is the de-facto ruler, and people can't do jack about it.

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|Right in the case of Switzerland, their culture is always natural and not faced more conflicts.

Its always our right to protect ourself & family etc. But a loose legalization on firearms will make way to avail the same easy to criminals and anti social elements. A family man has to fear about the safely but this guys has nothing to think about. Now (in my society) they carry daggers and if there is any sudden outrage, they use it, what if they got gun? can a family man use the same to defend? yes, then go after the legal case + enemity of the bad elements.

I accept that in the old days, when people were living in frontier lands, there might have been a need to have guns to defend against wild animals or roving bands of criminals. But in a modern urban setting, there is no need for private citizens to have guns to defend their life and property. That is what we pay the police department to do.

The problem happens when law enforcement fails to do its job due to corruption, political pressure, or inadequate resources. Deweaponization is good, but the bigger urgency is to restore an independent and credible law enforcement system.

There should be massive Deweaponisation across the board in Pakistan and that will mean shutting down illegal arms manufacture and smuggling from Afghanistan.

A society based on the principles of the founding father.

Only Army and Police to a limited extent should carry Fire Arms.

Ban even the bloody hunting guns too.

Buy Pen and Paper and freely distribute it among the school going children.

logic said:

There should be massive Deweaponisation across the board in Pakistan and that will mean shutting down illegal arms manufacture and smuggling from Afghanistan.

A society based on the principles of the founding father.

Only Army and Police to a limited extent should carry Fire Arms.

Ban even the bloody hunting guns too.

Buy Pen and Paper and freely distribute it among the school going children.

Click to expand...

it isnt realistic or even reasonable to ban sporting arms, or ban arms to responsible people who have registered arms

it's not good to resort to either extremes....

i do agree on the pen/paper ideal though

i forgot to add in my last post --- aerial firing (during celebrations, weddings, cricket victories etc.) should also be banned. You have no idea how many people get injured or killed by this practice.

in my younger days we used to fire a lot in the air since we had nowhere else to go.

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sir u forgot to add colleges and universities
mayne is week may do bar firing dekhi hai campas may

in Lahore?? which campus, sister