The inseparable relationship between weapons, Pakistani elite and militancy had always been speculated upon. However it surfaced with great clarity when a recently arrested former senator was found to be in possession of five prohibited bore assault weapons — four licensed and one unlicensed.

The police, press, media and the uninitiated swung into high gear about the ‘breaking news’ of a senator having being found with an unlicensed weapon. No one however questioned or even raised an eye-brow about what reason the senator could have for carrying the other four licensed, albeit prohibited bore assault weapons. The truth is that that the weapons have become a key identification feature of every Pakistani parliamentarian. This was also confirmed by the Interior Minister’s confession in the National Assembly, some 5 years ago, that parliamentarians had been issued with the staggering figure of 69,473 prohibited bore gun licenses.

One assumes that the parliamentarians are elected to peacefully work for the interests of ordinary citizens. But a parliament loaded with 69743 prohibited bore gun licenses (the number has increased substantially since then) would seem to have other priorities.

Why does the government of Pakistan need to appease its ruling elite by allowing them such a large cache of deadly weaponry ? Issued entirely without any verification or back-ground check.

So when the state looks for causes of militancy in Pakistan, it may be best to start with  Constitution Avenue in Islamabad. It may be appropriate for the honourable parliamentarians to voluntarily disarm themselves and surrender their weapons. Alternately the police ought to raid their homes to recover the huge armouries of prohibited bore weapons that they have stock-piled.

They were sent into Parliament to work for the good of the people and not to organize private armies. This is an essential and critical pre-requisite for initiating a national movement for civilian de-weaponisation in Pakistan.