Phantom terror: Fast results neededDAWN: AFTER the bomb explosion earlier this month in a crowded Lahore locality, there has been another one in Hyderabad. This occurred on Monday in a bus leaving two people dead and several others injured. A fax message sent to newspaper offices on behalf of an organization no one knows about, Al-Nawaz, claimed responsibility for the blast, saying that it was part of its protest against the overthrow of the Nawaz Sharif government.For the Lahore blast also, it will be remembered, the responsibility was claimed by this very phantom organization. But these are clearly spurious claims since the Muslim League has been at pains to dismiss any link with this mysterious organization. All the same, this does not absolve the authorities of the responsibility of trying to get to the bottom of these terrorist acts. Who are behind them and what are their aims? And how is it that in each case the perpetrators of these criminal acts manage to vanish into thin air never tobe caught, unmasked or brought to justice? In a military dispensation it is always assumed that, if nothing else, the law and order situation at least will improve. But with such high-profile terrorist acts taking place in major cities and the authorities seeming clueless and helpless about them, public anxiety regarding the state of law and order can well be imagined.The authorities first need to find out whether this is the work of internal elements or whether a foreign hand is in fact involved. Mercifully, the interior minister has not come out with any of the resounding platitudes that are the norm on such occasions.Violence against Pak womenDAWN: With the intention of making it an annual feature, the United Nations recently observed its first International Day to End Violence against Women. Studies in Pakistan reveal that at least eight women are raped every 24 hours, while the incidence of domestic violence against women is anywhere between 70 to 90 per cent. It is indeed a matter ofgreat shame that the country's ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) has hardly yielded any positive results.The legal dispensation bearing on the rights of women is weak. There are also deeply ingrained societal prejudices against them. For instance, in the 15-24 age group, the number of literate women is 30 per cent less than that of men in the same age bracket.Women are also discriminated against in the health sector where child mortality rate for girls is higher. Even if the laws were more thoughtfully conceived with regard to women's rights it would not effect much of an improvement unless accompanied by a radical change in society's attitude towards women in general.A change in perception can only be brought about by a sustained conscientising campaign, making women aware of their rights and highlighting their contribution to the national economy and their crucial role in rearing children.
