Islam Alone Can Solve the Global Growing Crime Problem Part 1

Wherever capitalism's ruling system, Democracy, is implemented, soaring crime rates are evident, and Pakistan is no exception. Ranging from target killings to kidnappings, and rapes to robberies, the media carries shocking news of crimes. What’s worse is that in Pakistan, many criminals continue roaming free due to their influence or status. In fact many times the criminals seem to have the protection of the government itself. As a result justice is something very distant. However, before discussing how to deal with criminals, it’s important to understand what pushes people towards crimes.

A factor that pushes people towards crimes is the non-fulfilment of their basic needs. A man is unable to fulfil his basic bread and butter for the family through legal means and the state does not care for him. So in frustration he succumbs to committing sin by adopting illegal and corrupt methods to fulfil them. Under a neglectful government, that does not look after the needs of the people, crimes become a necessary act for some men. So in a country where poverty is widespread, and other basic needs are not provided, the tendency towards crimes arises. Moreover, when society is bombarded with materialistic ideas of greed in which wealth and fame are defined as symbols of status and success, some start competing for them, adopting illegal means in order to achieve the target is considered fine. Consequently, when the under the regime's close and continuous supervision, the media and education institutions promote people only on basis of material benefit, many more exert all efforts to achieve them. The ethical, spiritual and moral values are not given their due weight. So as witnessed in Pakistan, where extravagance and showing off are promoted on media, whilst simplicity and seriousness are scorned upon, a people are only encouraged to adopt such lowly standards.

In order to control such crimes, states normally resort to the punishment system. However, despite having a judiciary, states, including the foremost champions of Democracy, continue to witness a growing crime rate. Furthermore, the failure of the judiciary in punishing criminals is evident when well-known criminals roam free and are left untouched. Recently, the mother of the murdered young man, Zain, in the well publicized case, gave a statement that “I have not forgiven the murderer but cannot fight the influential as I have two daughters.” Earlier the case of Shahzaib Khan was a hot issue where once again the alleged killers got free, simply because they were powerful enough to influence the judiciary and threaten the victim’s family. Even more shocking are the cases of missing persons, where the loved ones have been abducted by the state itself for years, while the family members run back and forth between useless hearings of courts, only to get new dates for even more hearings. Democracy really is the best revenge, punishing the people for allowing it to exist.

Injustice prevails because Democracy opens the door to it through allowing man-made laws. Firstly, the fact that rulers are free to make new laws and amend old ones allows the rulers to manipulate laws as per their will. Therefore, corrupt laws like Article 248 of the Pakistan constitution can be legalised, which gives immunity to the president and governors and prevents them from being called to court. Similarly, the NAP and POPA acts can be legalised which allows the detention and torture of suspects who hold the regime to account and yes its torture of suspects, not criminals, where even that is not allowed by Islam! All this is simply possible because the government has the right to amend laws and thus any oppression can be legalised under the pretext of "waqt ka takaaza hai" (Necessity of the time). Furthermore, according to this democratic constitution, if a criminal has been punished by death penalty, the president legally has the right to forgive him, which makes the president free to forgive whom he likes. In short, oppressive and unjust laws can be legalized when the parliament is given the free hand for making laws. The recent Criminal Prosecution Service Bill passed in Sindh assembly is just another example. So just like dictatorship, where the NRO and LFO can get legal backing to cover the crimes of the ruling elite, Democracy ensures injustice.

Furthermore, the judiciary in Pakistan allows the adversarial system rather than the inquisitorial. The adversarial system is the two-sided structure under which criminal trial courts operate that pits the prosecution against the defence and so is more dependent on lawyers, whereas the inquisitorial system is a legal system where the court or a part of the court is actively involved in investigating the facts of the case and so the judge is not a mere referee between two adversaries. In the adversarial system, justice is done, or more often than not merely seen to be done, when the most effective adversary is able to convince the judge or jury that his or her perspective on the case is the correct one. In an adversarial system, judges merely focus on the issue of the law and procedure and act as a referee in the contest between the defence and the prosecutor. Many legal cases in adversarial systems, and most in the United States, do not go to trial, which may lead to injustice when the defendant has an unskilled or overworked attorney, which is likely to be the case when the defendant is poor. Moreover, there are many appeals which prolong the judgement as the adversaries are given many forums in which to combat their case.

Deepening the misery of the common man are the expensive fees charged by the lawyers. If one doesn’t pay a heavy fee, the lawyer won’t push the case ahead, one has to buy justice. Consequently, the common man is forced to either take loans or continue rotting behind bars, where a huge proportion of the prison population are not convicted criminals, but suspects denied bail through not being able to afford adequate legal representation. Let’s not forget, this is not a problem of Pakistan alone. Rather, it’s normal in many democratic countries including India and America. Moreover, the prisons have their own corrupt mechanisms, where the poor have a different section while the graduates or rich may avail the class B and class A barracks respectively. Just imagine being behind bars for years simply because someone "influential" registered an FIR against you and you don’t have the money to ensure a bail. Yes, it’s true, that if you are accused, you can be in jail, even though nothing is proven against you. That’s why it’s a common saying that if you want to succeed in Pakistan's judiciary, a man needs three things: the age of Nuh (as), the wealth of Qaroon and the patience of Ayub (as)! Besides, the torture that a poor prisoner encounters just adds to the horrors, and many a times such tortured people tend to become a real criminal once they are released from prison.

As if this were all not enough, if one gets a verdict from a lower, sessions court it can be challenged in a High Court and eventually the Supreme Court. As a result justice keeps getting delayed, and simple cases like inheritance and corruption drag on for years, or even decades, prolonging the misery of the people. Besides, if your case is against an influential, the long duration allows the influential enough time to threaten or even kill the common victim or witnesses, and if he is "kind" enough he will only pressurise the victim and witnesses with threats to withdraw the case or abstain from bearing witness. Consequently, often witnesses succumb to the pressure. As an example is the case of Ayyan Ali where a simple case of money laundering was prolonged and during this time the customs officer who knew the reality best was murdered. These problems are not just limited to Pakistan but are readily witnessed in other democratic countries, like India and America.

So for instance the ordeal of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay or the sluggish and incompetent Indian judiciary that leaves the raped women in Delhi without justice are just a few of these examples. Looking at this situation many may suggest that if harsh punishments and quick justice was provided, the crime rates would fall drastically. Although this may reduce the crime rate, harsh punishment alone will not eliminate crimes and injustice.