Village headmen as instigators of crime

THERE is one serious feature in the cases now decided by the Special Tribunal at Multan and by Mr. Dobson, Special Magistrate, Jhang. In the Kot Isewala dacoity case, and in the Kot Jhuggiwala dacoity case decided by the Special Tribunal as well as the Nekokara dacoity case decided by Mr. Dobson, the principal instigators, if not directors of this organised crime, have been the headmen of the villages concerned. No doubt, they have met with meet punishment, but it shows that the system of selection of village headmen in several places has been deplorably at fault, and that the ascendancy of men of extreme and unhealthy views in the village organisation has by no means been a rare occurrence. The selection of such men in the municipal committees and district boards is bad enough. But the evil is all the more intensified by the selection of such men for the posts of village headmen. The villages in the south-west are generally hot-beds of religious and sectional factions and caution has to be exercised in making future selections as to  avoid a recrudescence of violent outbreaks.