IT is never a pretty sight when the apparatus of law enforcement and justice fails to protect vulnerable members of society, but it is particularly disturbing when it fails in the case of children.

The kidnapping of children, with the intention to sell them into forced labour, has been an ongoing concern in Pakistan for many years now, with reported cases reaching the hundreds almost half a decade ago.

But in 2016 this figure has reached 767 in Punjab alone, with five months still to go in the year. The only reason we even have the figures at this point is because of the Supreme Court.

The rising number shows that the phenomenon of abducting children and selling them into forced labour has entrenched itself into a sizable racket while law enforcement officials have failed to mount any kind of vigorous effort to halt the crime. There can be no excuse for this failure.

Yet time and again, whether in the context of the recently unearthed cases of child abduction and sale into slavery, or last year’s example of the Kasur child abuse ring, Punjab’s law minister Rana Sanaullah has sought to invoke details that serve to deflect blame away from the provincial government’s law enforcement agencies, and has tried to place the facts in a context that muddy the government’s response rather than clarifying it.

Last year he tried to argue those involved in the Kasur child abuse ring were members of a close-knit community and their disputes with each other over land and other issues were the key driving force behind the abuse.

This time, he is quoted saying that parents of the abducted children have the primary responsibility in not letting their children play in the streets and keeping them under close watch.

Additionally, Mr Sanaullah and members of the provincial police force are also quick to point out that the rackets are based in other provinces, and quite likely run by demobilised members of militant outfits.

It would be better if they were equally quick to concede that multiple crimes are committed when someone abducts a child and sells him or her onwards.

Apprehending such people, along with their facilitators and clients who ‘purchase’ these unfortunate children, is the number one priority for the government that the minister belongs to.

On Monday, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif ordered the setting up of a task force on missing children. Yet there is little introspection on the improvements required in his police forces to apprehend the perpetrators.

The relationship that the police has with local communities is key to this, as is technology to build a database of those charged with crimes against children. If the police had been taking its responsibility more seriously, we would not have seen the growth of this heinous racket to such enormous proportions.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2016