Azhar Hassan Nadeem, Pakistan: The Political Economy of Lawlessness (Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2002), pp. 375. Price Rs. 495/--
Azhar Hassan Nadeem is a police officer as well as a trained criminologist. He also hold a doctorate in Economics from the University of the Punjab. With these qualifications it is not surprising that he should venture to relate lawlessness with the economy. In a vague way we are all aware that when crime increases and neither life nor property are safe, businessmen do not invest their money in the country. However, this needed quantification and the author’s book is a step towards doing that.
The book has twelve chapters, a conclusion, bibliography and several appendices. It begins with a general overview of issues in lawlessness and development. After this introductory chapter it looks at socio-economic development in Pakistan and crime with special reference to the period between 1969 to 1996. It then goes on to the nature of violent crime in which political crime is the focus. After this there are three chapters (5, 6 and 7) on the history of crime, their nature and magnitude in the last fifty years. Then comes the crux of the issue, the impact of this crime on the economy as a whole (chapters 8 and 9). In chapter 10 the author describes a cost-effective community policing model and in chapter 11 a unique experiment in policing conducted by himself in Gujranwala. Then comes a chapter of recommendations for improving policing and finally the conclusion.
The author tells us that, whereas the total number of cases registered in 1947 were 73, 105, the total reported crime in 1999 was 4,08,760. Even though the population in 1947 was 30 million and now it is 130 million plus, this increase does not correspond with the increase in crime. The fact stares us in the face: Pakistan is becoming an increasingly criminalized society.
The author brings out that war, instability, political turmoil and crime all affect the economy. Table 8.2 (chapter 8) tells us that GDP growth was highest (6.8) upto 1968 because the country was stable. The 1965 war did, however, have a negative impact. However, the instability of 1970s brought it down to 4.8. After this, from 1980 to 1986 it again picked up (6.4) because there was stability but after that it has been low and unstable. Similarly unemployment seems to increase when there is political instability. Besides giving this relationship between these two variables (political instability and economy); the author has also created a composite Index of Law and Order situation. Unfortunately, it is expressed in rather technical terms and defies immediate and easy comprehension.
The author has also given the most complete picture todate of the cost of political violence, especially strikes, in Karachi. He has taken sectors such a stocks, national savings, Karachi Port Trust and insurance to calculate the cost of strikes and other forms of political violence in the city. The figures he comes up with are really sobering---especially when one finds that Karachi is again sliding towards the same pattern of violence which had once plagued it in the late eighties and early nineties of the last century.
The last chapters are about what can be done to make policing more effective. Above all, there is a case-study of Gujranwala where the author had worked with the local community to make policing effective. In this the author tells us how the police officers had elicited the views of the locals before going in for anti-crime activities. Moreover, he narrates incidents of the bravery of individual police officials in various situations including floods.
The author’s suggestions that the local community and the Panchayat system should be revived are very well taken. However, in my view the Gujranwala experiment was based more on the personality of the author than anything else. It would not have met with success had it been tried by somebody else. What one needs is a foolproof system which should run no matter who controls it. For this the changes have to be radical and they must touch the very system of power distribution in the country. The author should have looked at power distribution in the urban as well as the rural areas. He should also have looked at the tribe and biradari units to see whether there are local power-brokers which do not allow the police to function except as partners in crime. In the cities he should have looked at the role of the bureaucracy, the military and other powerful power-brokers. Above all, he should have looked into the police sub-culture about which we learn from him that many are criminals. He does mention how the police extracts information from people but he does not tell us that this phenomenon too is class-based, power-based and differs from place to place.
Another problem is that the author does not refer to the overall political and administrative pattern which has caused both instability and criminalization. This should have been mentioned in some detail to understand how some of the most heinous crime, such as sectarion murder, has been condoned by agencies of the state itself. The book actually appears to absolve the state and its most powerful components which does not help in explaining crime.
Another problem with the book is readability. This, however, is always a problem with any study of a theoretical nature. It is, of course, necessary to quote figures to establish a relationship between two or more variables but it does appear to me that some of the more abstruse formulas and symbolic devices need not have been included in the main text. Moreover, the charts etc could have been simplified further. Essentially, the book reads like a doctoral thesis whereas a book for the general public must contain all that a doctoral thesis has to offer but still be easy to read. This is not at all easy as I myself, furstrated with my own unreadable books, must be the first to confess. However, the effort to make them readable should be made. Above all, there are really two disparate books: first, on the impact of crime on economy; second, on improving policing. The two parts do not mesh together and, in my opinion, the second can be developed by the author into a separate book.
These faults, however, do not take away the significance of the study as the first of its kind in Pakistan to probe deeply and precisely how much we are suffering from lawlessness. The author has worked very hard to collect figures and other information to determine the correlation between crime and economy. This is a great contribution, indeed, and one for which the scholarly world as well as the general reader should thank Dr. Azhar Nadeem.
Dr. Tariq Rahman