I think it’s great what Zulfiqar Mirza did today in Badin.

Now, take a deep breath and read the rest of what I have to say.

Sure… an FIR was registered under sections 365, 395, 324, 337 h2 of the PPC and sections 6 and 7 of the ATA against Zulfiqar Mirza, 26 known and 60 unknown people at Badin Model Police Station. Zulfiqar Mirza has already said that he will not allow the police to arrest him, preferring to be martyred instead. I’m confused, when you commit a crime and refuse to let the police arrest you for that crime… are you still a martyr?

We have long known that our politicians were from the MC Hammer generation of “You can’t touch this” politicians, no matter what they do above or below the law. When the PPP government was in power, Zulfi issued weapons licenses like he was giving candy to children. He was also accused of giving high powered weaponry to the gangs and target killers under his command in Malir and Lyari. I’m not going to comment on the incident with the TV show and Lord Zulfi’s comments.

What this incident, along with the many others in our recent history, shows us is that politicians in Pakistan need to be summarily taken to task by the courts, stripped of all their assets and forced to live like the serfs working on their vast agricultural lands and sweat shops.

Remember #ArjumandHussain had an FIR lodged against him because he demanded that a public flight leave in a timely manner, including de-planing the two MNAs who arrived close to 2 hours after departure time to board. The National Assembly Standing Committee is trying to make an example out of him so that no other Pakistani will dare to stand up against them again.

But let’s understand this in more simple terms:

If you take a loan from a bank and don’t repay it, your assets are seized. If a politician does it, it’s written off even though they have plenty of money to repay the loan.

If you steal from your place of employment, you will be fired and asked to repay the amount, if not arrested. If a politician does it, they are re-elected and made Prime Minister, Senator or Federal Minister.

If you kill someone, you will go to jail for life. If a politician orders the execution of someone either through a target killing or extra-judicial encounter, they walk scot free.

If you don’t pay your taxes, the FBR will make sure that they collect what is due, plus interest. If a politician doesn’t pay their taxes, they will be patted on the back and sent on their merry way with a police escort, because they can fire anyone from the FBR.

And if anyone of us had dared to do what Zulfi did, we would be hung from our feet and have the crap kicked out of us in a police station. Zulfi is walking free because he is the landlord of the area and the police and courts answer to him, not the other way around.

The list is endless of the contradictions of the #RuleofLaw in Pakistan between citizens and politicians/influentials.

Either the courts decide now that they will uphold the Constitution of Pakistan, the Pakistan Penal Code and all terrorism related legislations for everyone, or they sacrifice their moral authority to call anyone before their benches. Either the law applies to all of us equally or none of us because terrorists and politicians cannot continue to walk free, while regular citizens are punished for the exact same crimes.

I ask that you share this status update with this hashtag – #OneLawForUsAll

This article was originally published on Khalid Muhammad’s Agency Rules website.