The laws of a country define socially acceptable behaviours that everyone is expected to follow in letter and spirit. Ideally, the government administration and its resources are dedicated to ensuring that citizens adhere to defined laws whose failure to obey holds them accountable. It is not enough to make laws, but their indiscriminate implementation makes the rules meaningful and builds the confidence of ordinary citizens in state institutions.

Sadly, the situation in Pakistan is depressing due to a fragile law enforcement mechanism. This has partly turned the country governed by the ‘Law of Jungle’ where the enacted laws are selectively invoked, mainly with poor people at the receiving end. This selective application leads influential people to take rules into their hands at the cost of the children of the lesser god.

The citizens are entitled to equal treatment of laws according to fundamental rights outlined in the constitution. The current taxation system enforced in the country discriminates against the poor by squeezing money out of their pockets, while a tiny elite primarily enjoys privileges with impunity. A cursory look at the revenue collection targets for the current fiscal year reveals that a significant onus is placed on the shoulders of the salaried class, while the affluent class largely remains untaxed.

Second, the state is under the constitutional obligation to provide free and compulsory education to all children aged five to sixteen. Due to gross failure to commit to its fundamental commitment, the state has been pushing thousands of children to the illiterate lot every year, while the privileged get their kids educated in expensive schools. The statistics show that Pakistan has the world’s second-highest number of out-of-school children. This has resulted in the widening social division between the rich and the poor, as the affluent class grab significant opportunities for upward mobility while the poverty-ridden segment remains stagnant at lower rungs of social status.

Implementing laws to their essence makes a country civilized, and citizens remain loyal to the state and its policies. The current lawlessness in society is mainly attributed to the weak and unequal enforcement of laws, and the state’s failure to live up to its responsibilities has turned citizens apathetic to the entire state functionaries and their utility.

ASAD AZIZ,

Khushab.