LAHORE: For Niaz Ahmed, his dream of seeing his grandson join the police was never fulfilled. Niaz Ahmed, son of Khushi Muhammad, arrived at the CM House at around 10am on Tuesday, and waited there to speak to the CM, for about half an hour, before he suffered a massive heart attack and died instantly.
The 68-year-old had apparently come to see the CM for a meeting so that he could request him to help employ his grandson in the police. The man originally hailed from Mandi Bahauddin, but had settled in Lahore and was running his own kiosk in Walton Police Station precincts.
Sources told Pakistan Today that Niaz wanted a special recommendation from Shahbaz Sharif, as his grandson, Rizwan, had passed the required age for police enrollment by two years. An eye witness described the incident as pathetic, saying that it was just ‘wrong timing’ for the old man to die at. “His desperation was very obvious,” the eye witness said.
“First he tried to meet the CM through a proper channel, by reaching his house. But he was stopped by the security guards deployed there. Then he tried to dodge them and attempted to cross the barricades, but before he could be stopped, he suddenly fell down.”
Security officials said that when they saw the old man collapse, they called the Rescue 1122, whose officials tried to pump his heart through cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) but Niaz remained unconscious. Upon reaching the General Hospital, he was pronounced dead by the doctors. It was discovered later, that the deceased had been a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) worker. His body was handed over to his son.
The CM has called for an investigation into the old man’s death. But eye witnesses were disturbed by the man’s death, and even more so when they associated his arrival at the open court for a meeting with the CM. “People’s lives are so miserable, and yet no authority realises this or wishes to take this into consideration,” said one eye-witness. “In the end, no one would care to investigate the death or what his life had been like,” he added.
Another eye-witness said that if the deceased was a worker of the PML-N, it was shameful that he had not been allowed to go inside. “Workers like him support the party leaders and bring them into government and when they need help in return, they are treated like an insect by the leaders’ guards!” the man said while his voice was wavering with anger. “He wasn’t doing a crime, he was only asking for help,” he said.
The old man’s death might have only affected his own family and relatives, but the fact of the matter remains that he died trying to get help from the CM. His attempt to approach the heavily guarded CM House symbolised the level of inaccessibility that party leaders have from the general public, even their own workers.
