THE timing and modus operandi of the ‘burglary’ at the home of a Human Rights Commission of Pakistan consultant in Lahore is suspicious, to say the very least. On Thursday night, a couple of individuals broke into Maryam Hasan’s residence and took away her laptop, two hard drives, phones, some cash and jewellery in an operation that lasted over an hour. Ms Hasan is the editor of the recently launched HRCP annual report, a damning indictment of the rising incidence of enforced disappearances and other tactics being used to coerce the media and civil society into silence.

According to the HRCP, the intruders told Ms Hasan they had come the day before as well but had left upon not finding her home; they also questioned her about her professional engagements. Such brazen intimidation cannot be condemned enough. Clearly, the men’s intention was not only to break into Ms Hasan’s home and take into their possession material on which the findings of the HRCP report may have been based. They also sought to terrorise her and, by implication, anyone else who chooses to take a stand or share information with the commission that the powers that be do not want exposed. In fact, the men may as well not have bothered with the token theft of cash and jewellery. The HRCP has rightly said it “will hold the provincial authorities responsible for any attempt by state or non-state actors to harass any person associated” with the commission. It also called upon the Punjab government to identify the culprits and arrest them swiftly. The raid, and a raid it was, on the home of Ms Hasan illustrates the issue that lies at the core of the HRCP’s latest assessment of the human rights situation — a state that believes it is accountable to no one, and will stop at nothing to achieve its objectives. Unless members of civil society rally together to protect their hard-won freedoms, there can be no viable pushback.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2018